Re: Musings

Brian wrote:
> This got me thinking that the future turret could be much more low
slung,
perhaps round and sunken into the hull, with the gun protruding from it
closer to the deck.  Perhaps the problem of gun depression could be
offset
by hydraulic systems, like in the Swedish S-Tank.  In general, this
would
lower the profile of the tank yet still leave it with a fully-traversing
turret.

There have been designs for a M1 with a remote turret. Somewhere in my
stack
of stuff, is a picture of a M1A3 with a remote turret, basically the gun
and
a magazine. Then there's the French tank with the remote turret.

> Then I realised that the HEL lends itself to this advantage even more.

Indeed it does. Have a look at the THEL here:
	http://www.smdc.army.mil/FactSheets/Photos/THEL.jpg
    Basically a ""telescope"" the size of a rubbish bin mounted on top
of an
APC.

> At first this was merely an exercise in aesthetics, trying to draw a
cooler looking tank. But then, inevitably, like any true gamer, I began
to
wonder about it's application to game mechanics. Here's what I came up
with
as tentative suggestions:
>
> 1. Since a lowered turret makes the tank inherently more stealthy,
make
stealth levels cheaper for any vehicle whose largest weapon is a MDC or
HEL.
(Perhaps 18 x Vehicle Size Class per LEVEL)

I would suggest that a turretless tank have a one step signature
improvement
over it's turreted tank equivalent.

Andrew Martin
ICQ: 26227169
http://members.xoom.com/AndrewMartin/
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