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Menaulion Tank Destroyer

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 1:33 am
by Porphyrogenitus
It's been a while since I posted anything, so here is a nice little tracked tank destroyer I put together a month or so ago. I hope to post my anti-gravity tank soonish. The MOCpages link is http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/315277

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The Basilikoi military is divided into two main sections. The mobile field armies are known as the tagmata, while the planetary garrison troops are called the themata. These garrison troops are raised locally and expected only to defend their homeworlds, barring some emergency situation requiring full mobilization of all armed citizens.

Rather than spend countless resources and empty the treasury in a futile attempt to arm every single garrison unit with expensive and powerful anti-gravity tanks, the Basilikoi came up with a pragmatic alternative. Since the primary role of the themata is defensive, why not equip them with a defensively-oriented anti-tank vehicle? Thus, the Menaulion was born. Its frontal armor is thick and sloped, so that it can bear repeated blows from enemy heavy guns, while its own main gun, a massive gravity-accelerated kinetic penetrator cannon, is the same as that mounted on the heavy anti-gravity tanks of the tagmata. The Menaulion can take a beating and hit back just as hard, all while costing far less than a true tank would.

These savings come at a cost in performance, though. The Menaulion is turret-less, making it useless in a mobile battle. This weakness is largely moot, however, when the tank destroyer is deployed in the role for which it was designed. Whether firing from a prepared position or using the restricted quarters of urban warfare, it excels at dominating firing lanes and killing enemy vehicles.

It is also primarily geared toward frontal assaults. Its rear armor is relatively thin and entirely flat, without any slope to mitigate damage. Its armored skirts are designed to ablate, allowing the main hull to remain intact even as the skirts fall apart under enemy fire. That does not mean that it is defenseless, however. Mounted just before the well-protected hatch is a pair of gravity-accelerated kinetic penetrator rifles. This double-mounted weapon system is more than capable of fending off small-scale infantry attacks, and even provides a modicum of anti-air defense. Still, the tank destroyer was built with one thing in mind, and that one thing it does very well indeed.

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Re: Menaulion Tank Destroyer

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 4:48 am
by Bragallot
This is freakin' badass, it looks like it could plow through Michael Moore with a single shot. I like the gun turret on top immensely.

Re: Menaulion Tank Destroyer

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 5:27 am
by morganm
Damn dude that's an epic piece of mobilized artillery there!

Re: Menaulion Tank Destroyer

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 5:28 am
by Ben-Jammin
I like the addition of the big machine gun thing near the main gun. Sweet design. Very compact. :D

Re: Menaulion Tank Destroyer

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 11:56 am
by Silverdream
The Basilikoi are the coolest possible version of Space Greece.

Re: Menaulion Tank Destroyer

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:38 pm
by IVhorseman
Tank Destroyers are fuuuuun. nice job!

Re: Menaulion Tank Destroyer

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 7:24 pm
by Ben-Jammin
The Basilikoi are the coolest possible version of Space Greece.
I thought they were more like space Rome. Oh well, shows how much I know... :roll:

Re: Menaulion Tank Destroyer

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 8:48 pm
by Porphyrogenitus
Ben-Jammin wrote:
The Basilikoi are the coolest possible version of Space Greece.
I thought they were more like space Rome. Oh well, shows how much I know... :roll:
You are both right, actually. I based them on post-Diocletian Rome (the Byzantine Empire is what they are often called, though certainly none of their contemporaries thought they were anything but the Roman Empire). I try to take inspiration from the various troop types that their military manuals describe. The Menaulion, for instance, was a short, heavy spear designed to punch through horse armor while receiving a heavy cavalry charge. I figured it fit rather nicely for a tank destroyer.

Re: Menaulion Tank Destroyer

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:49 am
by Ben-Jammin
Yeah, especially when a horde of enemy tanks come rumbling across the battlefield towards your line. I'd say this thing is invaluable.

Re: Menaulion Tank Destroyer

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 4:10 pm
by BFenix
The top turret looks menacing, along with the tank's whole design. Good job.

Re: Menaulion Tank Destroyer

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:00 pm
by Tommy Oliver
A tank that destroys tanks... IT'S A CANNIBAL! :shock:

Seriously though, nice job. :)

Re: Menaulion Tank Destroyer

Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 8:20 pm
by Jbgarrison
I like this tank hunter a lot... interestingly though, with the turret elevation and high chassis profile I am actually reminded of self-propelled artillery. Either way, totally awsome build! :)

Re: Menaulion Tank Destroyer

Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 8:56 pm
by Porphyrogenitus
Jbgarrison wrote:I like this tank hunter a lot... interestingly though, with the turret elevation and high chassis profile I am actually reminded of self-propelled artillery. Either way, totally awsome build! :)
As it turns out, the profile (aside from the twin-rifle turret, which sticks up rather far) is about half that of my anti-gravity tank (still need to take better pictures so I can post that).

I could mod it pretty easily into an artillery piece. I've got plenty of dark bley trashcans, which make for excellent large-bore guns. Still, given the tek base of the Basilikoi (gravitically propelled munitions that rely on direct kinetic energy transfer rather than payload for damage), a tank destroyer seemed more appropriate than a howitzer or something. Even more so, given the STD preponderance of late.

In slightly related news, I decided to swap out the left arms on all my Firestorm infantry (red instead of black, to signify that they are rated to use the finicky and unstable Firestorm projectors). It adds a bit of accent to the army (breaks up the otherwise largely-unrelieved black).

Re: Menaulion Tank Destroyer

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 6:26 am
by Pwnerade
Now that is a beautiful AFV! :sparta: :guinness: