BattleTech Vehicle Technical Readout
VALIDATED
Type/Model: T-72 Block 3c
Tech: Inner Sphere / 3062
Config: Tracked Vehicle
Rules: Level 3, Standard design
Mass: 40 tons
Power Plant: 120 I.C.E.
Cruise Speed: 32.4 km/h
Maximum Speed: 54.0 km/h
Armor Type: Standard
Armament:
1 Ceres Arms Model T Autocannon/10
1 Voelkers 200 Machine Gun
1 Anti-Missile System
Manufacturer: People's Struggle Tractor Complex
Location: Sian (subsidiary factories on other worlds)
Communications System: Ceres Metals R-273 FM suite
Targeting & Tracking System: Ceres Metals 3A50-2
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==Overview:==
Manufacturer: People's Struggle Tractor Complex
Location: Sian (subsidiary factories on other worlds)
Communications: Ceres Metals R-273 FM suite
Targeting & Tracking: Ceres Metals 3A50-2
Overview:
Developed in the early 3030s as part of the Capellan Confederation's attempt
to recover from the devastation of the Fourth Succession War, the T-72 was
designed around a rather archaic, but effective, series of design principles.
Designed by a Tikonov refugee with a strong affinity for Old Terran military
history, the design steals both philosophy and name from a Soviet tank of the
20th Century. The use of improved diesel engines rather than a fusion reactor
made the design much cheaper, as did the use of solely ballistic weapons
commonly available. Indeed, the entire design was an off-the-shelf construct.
That said, it performed its job admirably. Given that Capellan doctrine could
not emphasize offensive action in the years of its development, its low speed
compared to many of its contemporaries was considered forgivable by the CCAF's
acquisitions officers, and its low cost more than made up for its somewhat
limited armament. Orders for several thousand T-72s were placed between 3032
(the design's rollout date) and 3045, when production was halted pending
upgrade of the design... a project that House Liao never completed.
Today, production of the T-72 continues in both of House Liao's Periphery ally
states, and Liaoist militia forces continue to deploy the tank in large
numbers.
==Capabilities:==
The T-72 was not designed as a fast-moving heavy-hitter, but rather as an
economical solution to the Capellan military's shrunken resources. It succeeds
admirably in this role - Capellan staff officers estimated in 3035 that, for
the cost of training and equipping a scout lance, they could deploy a full
company of these tanks. They were nowhere near as fast or as well-armed as the
'Mechs they were supposed to face, but they were more than adequate
replacements for the hated UrbanMech. Those militia commanders who saw past
the stigma of dispossession were more than happy to accept the two-for-one
trade-in rate that CCAF was offering for UMs in those years. The result was an
expansion and hardening of Capellan planetary defenses, while 'Mechs were
pulled back and conserved as a reaction force.
The T-72's strengths are not solely economic, however. Deployed in the numbers
that CCAF intended, the tank poses a threat tolight and medium 'Mechs at
roughly two-to-one odds, and it is quite effective against dismounted
infantry.. The use of a class-10 autocannon gave the T-72 a respectable punch
at all ranges that it was likely to encounter resistance, and outside the
range envelope of most light and some medium 'Mechs. The use of "shoot and
scoot" tactics in open country gives the T-72 decent odds for survival,
delaying a fast unit's closure long enough to inflict respectable damage on an
individual tank basis. CCAF commanders were dubious of this tank's abilities
until the Warlock Exercises of 3039, discussed elsewhere.
==Battle History:==
The T-72 has never been involved in large-scale fighting, so it is unknown how
well it would perform against the intended enemy, a strong Davion force.
However, it has been used for repulsing minor raids, maintain crowd control,
and even civil-engineering construction duties.
The Warlock Exercises of 3039 were the T-72's brightest moment. These
exercises, originally planned as a small-scale seies of maneuvers by
battalions, became a full-blown multi-regiment exercise after House Davion
invaded the Draconis Combine. During these exercises, a company of militia
taking advantage of the exercise to conduct their annual drill came under
attack unexpectedly by a scout lance from McCarron's Armored Cavalry.
The tankers responded impressively, breaking their vehicles out of laager
before the Big Mac 'Mechs could sight on them adequately. Breaking down into
platoons, they scattered over a half-kilometer area in low hills. Each platoon
maintained contact with at least one other platoon in the company at all
times, allowing them to coordinate their fire more effectively than the
scouts, who tried to hunt them individually for several minutes before losing
a Wasp and a Jenner to the tankers' guns. By the engagement's end, five of the
dozen T-72 had been destroyed, and only the scout lance leader, his Hussar too
fast for the T-72s to adequately track, was able to withdraw, his 'Mech at
approximately 60% effectiveness.
This, and a number of other similar engagements on Warlock during the
exercise, silenced any remaining doubts about the T-72's effectiveness.
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Type/Model: T-72 Block 3c
Mass: 40 tons
Construction Options: Fractional Accounting
Equipment: Items Mass
Int. Struct.: 20 pts Standard 0 4.00
Engine: 120 I.C.E. 0 8.00
Cruise MP: 3
Flank MP: 5
Heat Sinks: 0 Single 0 .00
Cockpit & Controls: 0 2.00
Crew: 3 Members 0 .00
Turret Equipment: 0 1.30
Armor Factor: 107 pts Standard 0 6.69
Internal Armor
Structure Value
Front: 4 35
Left / Right Sides: 4 15/15
Rear: 4 7
Turret: 4 35
Weapons and Equipment Loc Heat Ammo Items Mass
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1 Autocannon/10 Turret 0 30 2 15.00
1 Machine Gun Turret 0 100 2 1.00
1 Anti-Missile System Turret 0 12 2 1.50
1 C.A.S.E. Equipment Body 1 .50
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TOTALS: 0 7 39.99
Items & Tons Left: 6 .01
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 824,460 C-Bills
Battle Value 2: 561 (old BV = 327)
Cost per BV: 1,469.63
Weapon Value: 146 / 146 (Ratio = .26 / .26)
Damage Factors: SRDmg = 9; MRDmg = 5; LRDmg = 1
BattleForce2: MP: 3T, Armor/Structure: 0 / 4
Damage PB/M/L: 1/1/-, Overheat: 0
Class: GM; Point Value: 6
Someone, over here, had given me this fluff, ages ago …
So it's taken me moar than a lifetime to figure out "an AMS is cheaper then Reactive armor", but you then quickly get into the "tanks are for offense" argument, even with Cappies, which leads to a thing about relative armor weights for the turret and the glacis plate.
Here, I believe tanks, if only for Cappies, are for defense, and so have to be presumed ether hull-down, or else pantsed.
The magazine sizes are also a gamble …
