You all know what to do. Let's say that the submissions should be posted by next Thursday... does that work out for everyone?
Team Britain (Ricky and Roel) Alecto V light tank destroyer Having read the design brief from the Republic of Draftees, the British design team debated for a long time what kind of vehicle to put forward. The first question was whether it should be wheeled or tracked – and it was eventually decided that, despite the quartz outcrops, a tracked vehicle would be preferable from a mobility point of view. The next question was whether to have a big, heavily armed vehicle, or a small ambush predator – this debate was mostly solved by the design brief, and it was decided to go for a small ambush predator, with as much armour as was feasible. The next step was to find a suitable chassis – the Valentine was looked at, as it formed the basis of the successful Archer tank destroyer. However, the awkwardness of not being able to fire unless the driver was not in his seat made it less that desirable for the ‘shoot and scoot’ role, and no real practical method was found to rectify this. Then one of the Design team remembered a project he had worked on – the Alecto. This was a very small tank destroyer adapted from the ‘Harry Hopkins’ light tank, and fitted with either the 6pdr or the 95mm gun – and studies had been made to fit it with a 25pdr or even the 32pdr anti-tank gun. The basic vehicle seemed perfect for the job, with a few alterations necessary. Firstly, the 6pdr was replaced with the 77mm OQF Mk II tank gun – the 17pdr was considered, but it was felt to be just too big a gun for such a small carriage, and at close range the performance of the 77mm was essentially the same. Secondly the armour had to be drastically increased to meet the requirements. The frontal plate thickness was increased to 100mm, and the sides to 30mm. An extra 12 inches was added to the height of the hull, and a roof (also of 30mm armour) was added, as a protection from both the weather and from treebursts. The engine deck was raised somewhat but kept below the level of the crew compartment, and a rear driver’s position was added, offset to one side to prevent it from interfering with the breech of the gun. The rear driver’s position was also made the radio operator’s position, as the rear driver has a very light workload. All this work increased the weight of the vehicle by a good deal. To counter this, the suspension had to be heavily reinforced, and the tracks were widened to double their original width – this was achieved by doubling up the road wheels, as in the Russian T-34. This system not only kept the weight evenly distributed across the track width, but also had the advantage of curing the tendency of the Alecto to shed its tracks in difficult terrain. Secondly a new engine was installed to replace the original 148hp Meadows 12 cylinder model. Initially it was thought that the 340hp Nuffield Liberty V12 would be sufficient, especially as that would fit into the vehicle without any extra modification. However, it was determined that the extra horsepower gained would not offset the extra weight to any great extent, and so the 600hp Rolls-Royce Meteor was adopted. This engine was considerably larger than the Meadows or the Nuffield, and so the vehicle had to be extended by 12 inches in width and length to accommodate it. Although this made the vehicle larger, it still remained relatively small, and the extra width was used to add a hull mg. It had been debated whether a small turret mounting an mg would be better, but it was decided that any extra height was unacceptable to the vehicle’s primary purpose as an ambush predator. Two smoke-discharging mortars were incorporated into the roof of the vehicle, aimed to fire ahead and slightly to either side of the vehicle – although both are capable of a 360 degree traverse. The mortars are designed to be easily reloaded from inside the vehicle. Normal steering is still achieved by the ‘warping’ of the tracks, although the installation of a Merritt-Brown gearbox allows for the tank to rotate on its own axis if necessary. An effective heater was installed, which included a small urn to boil water for drinking or cooking purposes, and racks were added to the hull sides to hold a plentiful supply of spare track links. Essentially, the Alecto V is an ideal vehicle for the Republic of Draftees. It is a low vehicle with a gun that can penetrate the glacis of its most formidable adversary (the German-designed Fledermaus) at 500 yards – greater than the expected combat range. It is also heavily armoured, giving a high chance of survival should the Kanganevian forces be able to return fire, and its wide tracks and enviable power to weight ratio (37.5 Hp/ton) make it superlatively mobile, even in the most adverse of conditions. The rear driver’s position also enables it to make a quick retreat when necessary. The basic vehicle is also very adaptable, and can easily be converted into AVRE, ambulance, command vehicle, ammunition carrying, anti-aircraft, and a host of other variant vehicles. Alecto V, Technical data Crew: 5 (commander, gunner, driver, loader, radio operator/rear driver) Battle weight: 35,000 lb (15,875kg) Length: 15 ft (457cm) Height: 5ft 10 inches (178cm) Width: 9 ft 10 inches (300cm) Track width: 1ft 9 inches (53cm) Armament: 1x77mm OQF Mk II + 1x7.92mm Besa mg Armour Thickness: Glacis: 100mm Hull front : 100mm Sides: 30mm Roof: 30mm Rear: 6mm Traverse: 15 degrees to either side Engine: Rolls Royce Meteor V12, 600hp Max. Speed: 40mph (64km/h) Max. cross-country speed: 30mph (48km/h) Road radius: 150 miles (240km) Ammunition stowage: 30 rounds 77mm + 2,000 rounds 7.92mm Apologies for breaking the page.
Very good job, loved the description. Great artwork as always. Go ahead Zhukov! Might as well post a vehicle I drew for fun. It is a modified T-44 with a 85 mm gun, IS 2 engine, and wider tracks.
Damn, nobody seems to be playing except the judge and a single contestant. I could calculate specs for mine, and then someone (Christian Ankerstjerne, for example) could volunteer as a neutral judge perhaps?
Sorry boys, my internet connection has been going crazy lately. The only time I've had to work on the computer come in 10-15 spurts! :evil: I apologize for my withdrawl, but I'm afraid to hold up the game any further. :cry:
Righto... looks like we'll need a neutral judge if there is to be any contest at all. Perhaps we should take a hiatus.. interest for the game appears to be dwindling...
