Author Topic: 40ton tracked tank  (Read 2124 times)

kaliban

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40ton tracked tank
« on: 06 January 2019, 00:43:28 »
I have worked in two tank designs, one with a Gauss Rifle and the other with one AC/20. One is supposed to support the other. I have seen similar tanks, like Patton and Rommel, but they are too big and expensive (3x more). I prefered a more compact design of 40ton and costing around 1M C-bills.

Do you think they are good for the money?

MBT40 Gauss Rifle

Mass: 40 tons
Movement Type: Tracked
Power Plant: 160 Fuel Cell
Cruising Speed: 43.2 kph
Maximum Speed: 64.8 kph
Armor: Standard
Armament:
1 Gauss Rifle

Cost: 1,100,633 C-bills

Overview
Produced by Michaelson Heavy Industries, also responsible for the Yellow Jacket VTOL, the MBT40 is meant to take full advantage of the combination of heavy hitting ballistic weapons, in particular the Gauss Rifle, and Fuel Cell engines to produce a compact and affordable tracked tank with good mobility, protection and firepower.

Capabilities
The main version is equiped with a single Gauss Rifle and reaches a maximum speed of 65km/h, enough to keep the pace with most of Heavy Mechs. The 8 tons of standard armor are appropriate for a 40ton tank. Due to the innacuracy of Gauss Rifles, the MBT40 should not be deployed with the close support from other units and AC20 version was developed with this purpose. A lower cost version equiped with a more conventional ICE is available also.

Deployment
The MBT40 became a natural substitute for older Rommel, Pattons and POs around the Inner Sphere.

Type: MBT40
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Movement Type: Tracked
Tonnage: 40
Battle Value: 848

Equipment Mass
Internal Structure 4
Engine 160 Fuel Cell 7.5
Cruising MP: 4
Flank MP: 6
Heat Sinks: 1 0
Control Equipment: 2.0
Power Amplifier: 0.0
Turret: 1.5
Armor Factor 128 8

Armor
Value
Front 40
R/L Side 24/24
Rear 16
Turret 24

Weapons
and Ammo Location Tonnage
Gauss Rifle Turret 15.0
Gauss Rifle Ammo (16) Body 2.0

MBT40 AC20

Mass: 40 tons
Movement Type: Tracked
Power Plant: 160 Fuel Cell
Cruising Speed: 43.2 kph
Maximum Speed: 64.8 kph
Armor: Standard
Armament:
1 AC/20
2 Rocket Launcher 10

Cost: 1,117,433 C-bills

Type: MBT40
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Movement Type: Tracked
Tonnage: 40
Battle Value: 689

Equipment Mass
Internal Structure 4
Engine 160 Fuel Cell 7.5
Cruising MP: 4
Flank MP: 6
Heat Sinks: 1 0
Control Equipment: 2.0
Power Amplifier: 0.0
Turret: 1.5
Armor Factor 128 8

Internal Armor
Structure Value
Front 4 40
R/L Side 4/4 24/24
Rear 4 16
Turret 4 24

Weapons
and Ammo Location Tonnage
AC/20 Turret 14.0
2 Rocket Launcher 10s Turret 1.0
AC/20 Ammo (10) Body 2.0
« Last Edit: 06 January 2019, 00:45:32 by kaliban »

Caedis Animus

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Re: 40ton tracked tank
« Reply #1 on: 06 January 2019, 02:01:37 »
Wrong forum location. You are looking for https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?board=20.0. IE the Combat Vehicle designs subforum.

Daryk

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Re: 40ton tracked tank
« Reply #2 on: 06 January 2019, 08:57:01 »
Looks like the mods already moved it.

On the AC/20 version, as much as I like RL-10s in general, I think I'd have gone for a third ton of ammo for the AC/20.  That will also drop the price a little, which is important, because it's directly competing with the Hetzer.

tomaddamz

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Re: 40ton tracked tank
« Reply #3 on: 06 January 2019, 11:29:34 »
To me this is not a tank, it is a support vehicle as it has no anti infantry capability ( but, that's just like my opinion, man).

As a more general purpose tank have you considered an AC-10 and either MG/LMG combo? (or if you are feeling frisky, Heavy Flamer)

Code: [Select]
MBT40G(fc) Tank Base Tech Level: Experimental (IS)
Level
Era
Experimental
-
Advanced
-
Standard
3145+
Tech Rating: E/F-F-F-E 40 tons BV: 573 Cost: 943,133 C-bills  Movement: 4/6 (Tracked) Engine: 160 Fuel Cell  Internal: 10 Armor: 128

  Internal
  Armor


Front
2
40

Right
2
24

Left
2
24

Rear
2
16

Turret
2
24

 
Weapons
  Loc
  Heat
AC/10
TU
3

Machine Gun
TU
0

Machine Gun
TU
0

Machine Gun
TU
0

 
Ammo
  Loc
  Shots
Half Machine Gun Ammo
BD
100
AC/10 Ammo
BD
10
AC/10 Ammo
BD
10
 
Equipment
  Loc
Cargo (0.5 tons)
BD
Cargo (0.5 tons)
BD
With the Flamer I get the weird 1/2 ton...but you could just jam in something like a searchlight, RL-10, Recon Camera...Armored Beer Fridge, boiling vessel, microwave, samovir...whatever

 
Saying that because the equipment isn't up-to-the-minute, bleeding-edge tech therefore not a threat is like saying an M2 Browning isn't dangerous to modern infantry because it is 100 years old.

kaliban

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Re: 40ton tracked tank
« Reply #4 on: 06 January 2019, 11:56:31 »
You can always trade 1 ton of ammo for a Machine gun and ammo, but I hardly see this tank facing infantry if deployed with other units. Most of the tank designs I see in the TROs are a combination of long and short range weapons making them bigger and expensive - which is a waste because tracked vehicles are fragile whatever the armor is (will may get immobile, stunned, etc before your armor is gone).

Regarding the AC10, I like it very much. To use, I would prefer to downsize the entire vehicle to 35ton, and save some 300k c-bills. I have added a flamer for close combat, taking into account the shorter range of the AC10. An AC20 version is also possible in this case:

MBT35

Mass: 35 tons
Movement Type: Tracked
Power Plant: 140 Fuel Cell
Cruising Speed: 43.2 kph
Maximum Speed: 64.8 kph
Armor: Standard
Armament:
     1 Flamer (Vehicle)
     1 AC/10
Manufacturer: Unknown
     Primary Factory: Unknown
Communication System: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking System: Unknown
Introduction Year: 2750
Tech Rating/Availability: E/C-D-D-D
Cost: 783,900 C-bills

Type: MBT35
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Movement Type: Tracked
Tonnage: 35
Battle Value: 537

Equipment                                          Mass
Internal Structure                                  3.5
Engine                        140 Fuel Cell           6
   Cruising MP: 4
   Flank MP: 6
Heat Sinks:                   1                       0
Control Equipment:                                  2.0
Power Amplifier:                                    0.0
Turret:                                             1.5
Armor Factor                  120                   7.5

                          Internal   Armor   
                          Structure  Value   
     Front                   4         32   
     R/L Side               4/4      24/24   
     Rear                    4         16   
     Turret                  4         24   


Weapons
and Ammo                   Location    Tonnage      
Flamer                      Turret       0.5     
AC/10                       Turret       12.0   
Vehicle Flamer Ammo (20)     Body        1.0     
AC/10 Ammo (10)              Body        1.0     
   

kaliban

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Re: 40ton tracked tank
« Reply #5 on: 06 January 2019, 12:07:23 »
Looks like the mods already moved it.


sorry
« Last Edit: 06 January 2019, 12:09:24 by kaliban »

Daryk

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Re: 40ton tracked tank
« Reply #6 on: 06 January 2019, 12:12:27 »
Nothing to be sorry for!  The mod staff here is pretty friendly, especially with new users (speaking of which, welcome to the forum!).

Caedis Animus

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Re: 40ton tracked tank
« Reply #7 on: 06 January 2019, 17:37:19 »
Looks like the mods already moved it.
Good, because I'm the one who reported it.

Anyhow, I like the designs as is, but I'm a sucker for cheap gauss. 1mil is a steal for something that can oneshot a Flea, Locust, or really any 20-25 tonner and cripple everything else under 45 tons.

Sartris

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Re: 40ton tracked tank
« Reply #8 on: 06 January 2019, 21:22:17 »
This is a good budget gauss platform. Kudos

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kaliban

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Re: 40ton tracked tank
« Reply #9 on: 08 February 2019, 22:12:55 »
actually these designs haven't done so well in the battlefield. I have played a Clan invasion scenario circa 3052 and they just lack armor to fight Clan mechs and battlearmor. However, I was surprised to discover that a Gauss Rifle is a good weapon against BA (one shot, one down)

For the same BVs, I have added some VTOLs armed with AC20s and LRMs with better results.

Empyrus

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Re: 40ton tracked tank
« Reply #10 on: 09 February 2019, 02:17:36 »
However, I was surprised to discover that a Gauss Rifle is a good weapon against BA (one shot, one down)

Expensive weapon against BA. The Gauss rifle is feared by 'Mechs because it can decapitate one regardless of their weight class, so using it against BA is a bit of waste. That said, the Inner Sphere has very few things that can kill Elementals with one shot, so it is a bit of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation, if a point of Elementals is a large threat.
Against Inner Sphere medium BA, anything that does 10 damage is nearly always sufficient.

I'll note that basically anything the Inner Sphere has will have difficulties against the Clans circa '52. In straight fight, the Clans have advantage. But use your tanks from ambushes (hidden units), along with other dirty tricks, it gets easier. Though the tanks probably aren't making it back home all the same, not after the angry Clanner whose paintjob you ruined comes after them.


Anyway, your tanks. With their mediocre mobility, single weapon systems and weak armor, they're more like fire-support vehicles. Not a bad idea for vehicles, and a given the limits you've given to yourself, you've done good job with them. Their use requires some care though, both of them will attract more attention than they can handle otherwise.
Budget-wise, there's certainly something appealing using several smaller vehicles with massive combined firepower. Though logistically, it is unlikely you can effectively spend all your budget on lighter units, you'd need to provide all the crews and maintenance and whatever.
But in BV-balanced game, that won't work out so well, as it is you can get a couple of your Gauss vehicles (and some extra) for a single Challenger mk. X, but the Challenger will most likely win that fight (at least i'd bet on the Challenger).

One reason BattleTech vehicles are loaded with weapons is that they can actually fire them all at once, unlike most 'Mechs which are heat-limited (though naturally double heat sinks mitigate this to an extent).
Existing canon vehicles (especially the big, expensive ones) don't necessarily have good combination of weapons, possessing something for multiple ranges usually, but they may have alpha strike capability way higher than many 'Mechs, and thus make for large threats.
Also don't discount the threat of infantry against vehicles, especially in cities where infantry shines. There's a reason many vehicles mount anti-infantry weapons, and relying on escorts may not always work out. That said, in a tightly designed vehicle, spending tonnage on a MG and half a ton of ammo probably isn't particularly useful.

 

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