RE: OT[DS2]TD Design

I'm a big WW2 buff when it comes to history so I gotto jump in.  I once
read
that one reason that assault guns were made was due to the difficulty in
manufacturing turret rings.  I've only read this in one text (the name
excapes me) It even mentioned that they (Germans) would salvage the
rings
off of damaged tanks to be sent to the rear for use in new tanks.

Now, if this is true, I can imagine colonies having the same
manufacturing
restrictions.  I know we're talking 2300AD here but for a DS scenario
the
colonists could be forced to use Assault guns rather than full fledged
tanks.

If anyone else has heard of this I'd appreciate the source.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Barry Cadwgan [SMTP:bcadwgan@fl.net.au]
> Sent: Thursday, September 10, 1998 5:12 PM
> To:	FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk
> Subject:	Re: [DS2]TD Design
> 
> Mikko Kurki-Suonio wrote:
> > 
> > On Thu, 10 Sep 1998, Barry Cadwgan wrote:
> > 
> > > It was more a case of being able to fit a bigger gun (and actually
> > > useful) on a chassis you already had a production line set up for.
> > 
> > Yes, I fully agree. But some designs (e.g. StugIII, Hetzer) were
> actually
> > good AFVs unlike stop-gap measures like Marders.
> 
> Well, good defensive AFVs anyway.  Putting in an attack is a little
more
> difficult.
> 
> In games like Spearhead, open topped vehicles like the Marder have a
> firing order advantage over fully enclosed vehicles.	But then, given
> their armour, they need all the help they can get!
>  
> > > The Pz 3, likewise obsolete as a MBT gained a new lease on life as
an
> > > assault gun.
> > 
> > Except that StugIII production started long before PzIII became
> obsolete.
> > Long barrel Stugs did help with T34's before PzIVf2 came out,
though.
> 
> True.  My point was that by 1943, the Pz3 as a MBT was not a going
> proposition.	The Stug was still useful.
>  
> > > The Jagdpanther on the other hand was just plain _mean_..
> (Sillynesses
> > > like the Jagdtiger don't count.)
> > 
> > The Jagdtiger was simply a propaganda weapon. I don't think they
ever
> got
> > any to the front (or maybe something like 5 of them).
> 
> Oh, they did run one battalion (two operational companies), 512th,
which
> was wiped out on the western front in 1945 (Ruhr pocket) and was
> reformed in 1945 and again wiped out in the attack on Paderborn.
> 
> All in all it was not a significant weapon.  (Scary if it was shooting
> at you though.)
>  
> > > The point is, it takes time to set up a production line, and if
you
> can
> > > get more use out of an existing one, and even remanufacture old
tanks,
> > > so much the better.
> > 
> > Yup. The germans actually used quite a lot of captured/remanuctured
> AFVs.
> > Not as MBTs, but for SP arty, recovery vehicles etc.
> 
> Heh.	Lots of french stuff... the Lorrain-schlepper (sp) is a
> particularly clumsy looking beast.
> 
> -- 
> Barry Cadwgan ( BCADWGAN@FL.NET.AU )
> http://www.users.fl.net.au/~bcadwgan/homepage.htm
> "The end does not justify the means.	
>  The end is the sum of the means,
>  as the road travelled determines the destination." 
> Valijon Starbringer (Hellflower Trilogy, Eluki bes Shahar)