Subject: Three Prototypes, v0.2
From: "Onno Meyer" <[email-masked]>

Here come three 'old' prototypes in new shapes. As you can see, I followed
some of the suggestions (especially by Mr. Pulver and Mr. Cole) and ignored
others. And I found a lot of errors ...

Number one got a bigger hull, a smaller turret and a slightly higher overall
mass, plus better armor distribution. I didn't change the engine - 1943 is
pretty late in TL6, and I had no solid data on the power plant weight to go
from, the new weight checks out.

T-34/85 v0.2 (TL 6)

        The T-34/85 was introduced in 1943 and served well into the 1960s. It
    outclassed the earlier German armor (compare the Panzer IIIs described by
    James Lowry).
        The main gun is a 85mm cannon firing HE or AP rounds. Coaxial to that
    is a MG (crit|cr|7d|17|13|700|3,900|10). In addition to two gunners, the
    turret contains the seat of the commander with access to the radio. The
    body holds a driver and a hull machine gunner. The diesel engine had clear
    advantages over gasoline engines, especially safer fuel.
        The tank is a TL06 vehicle [2nd ed.].
        
    Subassemblies and Body features:  Fully rotating turret, tracks, 60 degree
        front slope and 30 degree rear slope.
    Propulsion:  370 KW tracked drivetrain (HP 100).
    Weaponry:  One 85mm tank cannon (TuF, HP 100) with 30 APC rounds and 20 HE
        rounds. One coaxial .30 MG (TuF, HP 4) and one casemated .30 MG (F, HP
        4) with a total of 2,000 rounds.
    Electronics:  Medium radio (turret, 10 mi., HP 2).
    Controls:  Mechanical. Crew:  Three cramped workstations half in the
        turret, two cramped workstations in the body, environmental controls.
    Power:  372 KW HP diesel engine (HP 100) with 140 gallons diesel (self-
        sealing, HP 50, fire on 9), uses 16.74 gph for 8 h 20 min endurance.
    Space:  141.84 plus 17.4 cf waste or cargo space (gear crammed into nooks).
    Volume:  Turret 100 cf, body 504 cf, tracks 302.4 cf.
    Area:  Turret 150, body 400, tracks 300, total area 850.
    Structure:  Heavy frame.
    Hit Points:  Body 1,200, turret 450, tracks 450 each.
    Armor:  100 points expensive metal armor. With slopes F400 B90 R90 L90 T80
        U80; TuF180 TuB80 TuR80 TuL80 TuT80.
    Surface features:  Waterproof.
    Statistics:  Empty weight 63,162 lbs., usual payload 1,000 lbs., loaded
        weight 32.1t, volume 906.4 cf, size modifier +4, Cost $329,351, HT 9.
    Ground Performance:  Speed 34, acceleration 3 mph/s, deceleration 20 mph/s,
        gMR 0.25, gSR 6, low GP, off-road speed 2/3.

I switched over to electromag weapons, corrected some mistakes and adjusted
the volumes.

I've just learned the little guns are wrong and I don't have Vehicles with
me. Assume _two_ six-barrel 1mm gatlings, linked, for a RoF of 200.

Infantry Fighting Vehicle v0.2 (TL 8)
        
        This infantry fighting vehicle costs more than a 20th-century MBT, but
    it is nearly as effective as well.
        A small turret on top of the big turret contains two ladars and a gauss
    gatling (Ver|Imp|4d|10|13|600|3,000|240|120,000) for missile defense. Below
    that are a cannon (with APFSDS Ver|Cr|6d*20(2)|21|17|3,600|12,000|8|300) as
    vehicle-killer and a MG (Ver|Cr|10d(2)|13|15|1,700|6,600|20|8,000) against
    soft targets. All three EM weapons can be emptied completely with the power
    in the rechargeable cell (this would take 500 seconds). Last but not least,
    a missile launcher (Crit|IIRHPU|Sxp|6d*60(10)|800|17|13,600|20|19|1/3|10)
    handles enemy tanks. In the rear of the vehicle sit six dismount troopers
    who leave through two hatches in the backside. There is space for a few
    hundred pounds of extra ammo and spares as well.
        The IFV is a TL08 vehicle [2nd ed.].
        
    Subassemblies and Body features:  Fully rotating turret, small turret on
        the main turret, two improved-suspension tracks, 60 degree front slope.
    Propulsion:  750 KW tracked drivetrain (HP 100).
    Weaponry:  1mm "Gauss Gatling" (sTuF, HP 3) with 120,000 needles, fully
        stabilized 2mm "Gauss MG" (TuF, HP 4) with 8,000 rounds APS, fully
        stabilized 40mm "Gauss Cannon" (TuF, HP 40) with 300 rounds APFSDS, 300
        rounds HEPD, 100mm "Tankbuster ATGM" with 10 missiles (stored in body).
    Instruments and Electronics:  Two scrambled radios (Tu, HP 1, 100 miles),
        medium lasercom (Tu, HP 2, 200 miles), LLTV (x30, +4/+9, HP 3), two
        ladars (sTu, 10 miles, scan 17, HP 6), two thermographs (Tu, 10 miles,
        scan 17, HP 4), two IFF (HP 1), two military GPS (HP 1), two HUDWAC
        with pupil scanner, laser rangefinder (Tu, 20 miles, HP 3), two
        advanced radar/laser detectors (HP 3), four dischargers (HP 6), three
        genius minicomps (C4, HP 6) with three terminals (HP 10). Software:
        Datalink, three targeting (C4, +5), gunner (skill 12).
    Miscellaneous Components:  Compact fire extinguisher, winch (ST 30, HP 8).
    Controls:  Computerized. Crew:  Three normal workstations, two of them half
        in the turret. Passengers:  Six cramped seats. Environmental controls
        and NBC kit.
    Power:  800 KW turbocharged ceramic engine (HP 75) with 240 gallons diesel
        (self-sealing, HP 75, fire on 8) for ten hours. 37.48 KW excess power.
        600,000 KWs rechargeable power cell (HP 5) for all ready ammo.
    Space:  246.76 cf plus 3.242 cf waste, access and/or cargo space.
    Volume:  Small turret 2 cf, turret 60 cf, body 750 cf, tracks 450 cf.
    Area  Small turret 10, turret 100, body 500, tracks 400, total area 1,010.
    Structure:  XH frame.
    Hit Points:  Body 3,600, turret 600, small turret 60, tracks 800.
    Armor:  240 points expensive laminate armor, with slope DR 480 on front and
        DR 280 elsewhere (including small turret, tracks, ...).
    Surface features:  Seal, basic IR cloaking, basic stealth.
    Statistics:  Empty weight 28 tons, usual payload 2 tons, loaded weight 30
        tons, volume 1,262 cf, size modifier +5, Cost $3,016,802.8, HT 12.
    Ground Performance:  Speed 70, acceleration 4 mph/s, deceleration 20 mph/s,
        gMR 0.75, gSR 7, very low GP, off-road speed 4/5.

Again a railgun as main cannon, the little electromag weapons went in as well
and I used ablative armor, plus massive error corrections and volume
adjustments.

- I went from five crewmembers to three. People on the net told me earlier
  that three-man tanks get trouble handling extra tasks like guard duty, but
  then I've read that far-thinking tank designers consider two-man crews to
  reduce the armored volume. Comments?

- I'm still using ceramic engines. At TL8, the mass-wise break-even point for
  1.8 MW turbocharged ceramic engines vs. standard gas turbines is 5.7 hours,
  while my endurance is 12 hours.

MBT v0.2 (TL 8)
        
        Sophisticated armor in trained hands can be decisive, and this MBT is a
    nice example what one can do with a little real money - that saves a lot of
    grief later on, especially if the crew is more than cannon fodder.
        The turret contains the commander, the gunner and the main 60mm railgun
    (Ver|Cr|6d*64(3)|26|20|13,000|30,000|1|180|32.4 MW) with the coaxial gauss
    MG (Ver|Cr|10d(2)|13|15|1,700|6,600|20|8,000). The rounds are light enough
    to remove the loader - each cu.ft. to be armored counts. Missile defense is
    handled by a dedicated minigun (Ver|Imp|4d|10|13|600|3,000|240|120,000) and
    two ladars. The armor package consists of a relatively thin layer of cera-
    metal with ablative packages over the most exposed spots.
        The MBT is a TL08 vehicle [2nd ed.].
        
TL8 60mm Railgun
    This tank cannon isn't exactly cheap, but it fires saboted darts at
    incredible speeds. The main drawback is the poor performance with other
    ammo types.
    60mm Railgun           $2,240,000   5,400   lbs.   108      cf
      10 rounds APFSDSDU       $7,776      54   lbs.     0.54   cf
      10 rounds HEDP           $1,944      54   lbs.     0.54   cf
    Round    Malf Type Damage       SS Acc 1/2D   Max    RoF Power
    APFSDSDU Ver  Cr   6d*64(3)     30 20  13,000 30,000 1   32.4 MW
    HEDP     Ver  Sxp  6d*10(5)[6d] 30 19   8,700 20,000 1   32.4 MW
    
    Subassemblies and Body features:  Main turret with full rotation, 60 degree
        front and 30 degree side slopes, small turret with full rotation on top
        of main turret, improved-suspension tracks, total compartmentalization
        and 60 degree front slope.
    Propulsion:  1.5 MW tracked drivetrain (HP 125).
    Weaponry:  1mm "Gauss Gatling" (sTuF, HP 3) with 120,000 needles and fully
        stabilized 2mm "Gauss MG" (TuF, HP 4) with 8,000 rounds APS coaxial to
        a fully stabilized 60mm "Railgun" (TuF, HP 150) with 20 rounds HEDP and
        180 rounds APFSDSDU.
    Instruments and Electronics:  Two scrambled radios (Tu, HP 1, 100 miles),
        two medium laser communicators (Tu, HP 2, 200 miles), three LLTV (x50,
        F, TuR, TuL, +5/+10, HP 4), two ladars (sTu, 10 miles, scan 17, HP 6),
        two thermographs (Tu, 20 miles, scan 19, HP 6), two IFF (HP 1), INS (HP
        4), two mil. GPS (HP 1), two HUDWAC with pupil scanner, laser
        rangefinder (Tu, 20 miles, HP 4), two advanced radar/laser detectors
        (HP 3), 18 dischargers (HP 6), three genius minicomps (C4, HP 6) with
        three terminals (HP 10). Software: Datalink, three targeting (C4, +5),
        gunner (skill 12).
    Miscellaneous Components:  Fire suppression.
    Controls:  Computerized. Crew:  Three roomy workstations, two of them half
        in the turret. Environmental controls and NBC kit.
    Power:  1.8 MW turbocharged ceramic engine (HP 125) with 648 gallons diesel
        (self-sealing, HP 150, fire on 8) for 12 hours. 10 KW ceramic engine
        (HP 6) consuming 0.3 gph (only for standby power). 8 GWs rechargeable
        power cells (HP 27). 297.51 KW excess power.
    Space:  298.52 + 24.42 cf waste space.
    Volume:  Small turret 2 cf, turret 320 cf, body 937.5 cf, tracks 562.5 cf.
    Area:  Small turret 10, turret 300, body 600, tracks 500, total area 1,410.
    Structure:  XH frame.
    Hit Points:  Body 3,600, turret 1,800, small turret 60, tracks 1,500.
    Armor:  320 points advanced laminate armor over all locations and advanced
        ablative armor providing additional F4,200, B900, R900, L900, TuF3,250,
        TuR1,250, TuL1,250.
    Surface features:  Seal, basic emission cloaking, basic sound baffling,
        basic stealth, basic chameleon.
    Statistics:  Empty weight 59 tons, usual payload 1 ton, loaded weight 60
        tons, volume 1,822 cf, size modifier +5, Cost $9,569,200.6, HT 11.
    Ground Performance:  Speed 70, acceleration 4 mph/s, deceleration 20 mph/s,
        gMR 0.75, gSR 7, low GP, off-road speed 2/3.