New Allied Afvs

[Korona 0]

There are some holes in the new tech tree that needed filling. The Americans needed a Tech 3 med tank, the British needed a way to shift their guns about before the Americans with their M3 halftracks turned up, and the French, with the Somua overpriced and the FT-17 not strong enough to serve as more than a reconaissance unit, needed a light battle tank.

 

So over the last week or so I have been working on new units to fill these roles.

 

Firstly there is the M3 Lee, a convert job from Killa's Grant:

 

 

The US entered the war late, and had only a small standing army with an under-funded tank corps. Basically a stop-gap tank, the Lee was rushed into service to plus this gap as soon as possible. It was a compromise between quality and mass production which led to its somewhat wacky layout, but although unconventional it was a solid tank. The 75mm main gun was mounted in a sponson, and is broadly equivalent to the main gun on a Sherman. However its position means it was used against static fortifications and buildings rather than mobile units like tanks. The 37mm gun on the main turret was the same as the Stuart, and was used to engage enemy vehicles. On top of this there was another turret which houses a machinegun.

 

As you may notice the triple armament means the Lee can actually engage many different targets. It is a jack of all trades that is very flexible. The main gun will make short work of defensive positions and the HE blast can knock out troops garrisoned in buildings (a couple per hit). Combine this with fairly decent armour and a low price and build time, and the US tank corps end up with a very nasty unit.

 

Second up is the Universal Carrier, more commonly referred to as a Bren Carrier (even when it doesnt have a Bren gun in it!)

 

 

The Bren Carrier was the most produced AFV in history, with over 100,000 made across the world. It is basically an all terain vehicle, with a driver and gunner's position mounted at the front, and space for about 4 troops in the back. The open top made it easy to dismount but was also a bit of a liability,shared with other troop carriers of the day. There were many variants made and sometimes the crew compartment was gutted and a heavy weapon mounted inside instead, such as a mortar, or a flamethrower. Captured Bren carriers were even used by the Germans as mobile AT guns.

In Blitz the Bren carrier will replace the M3 halftrack for the british. It will tow all their artillery, and also be buildable ready stocked with "mechanized infantry". This means SMGs and flamethrowers, ready to jump out and storm enemy buildings.

 

 

Finally there is the French R-35.

 

 

This tank was designed to replace the hugely successful FT-17 to augment the french infantry. The tank itself was built in large numbers, over 1500. It has a poor armament, its 37mm gun needing to be fired at nearly point-blank range to defeat anything stronger than a light tank. However it's armor is quite respectable, and it was cast rather than riveted. Thus it is survivable enough to get into these close ranged firefights.

In Blitz the French will be based around static defenses, infantry and expensive tanks. The R-35 plugs the gap between the FT-17 and the Somua. The AT capabilities are very limited, and it has a top speed of only half the german Panzer 2 and 3. However it is stronger than the Panzer 2 which is its most direct equivalent, and so can help defeat enemy light tanks such as this in street fighting,

[From Norway 0]

I am very, very impressed.

As always. :)

[dave1001 0]

This looks awesome...fap fap fap

[ironduke57 0]

Ahhh. More target´s. :P

 

Viel Feind, viel Ehr! B)

 

Regards,

ironduke57

[stumpster 0]

I'm interested to see how the Grant works, I didn't think that it was possible to have arcs in Generals (or was that BFME2?)

[Comrade Raptorkov 0]

It just keeps getting better and better.

 

Do you mean multiple weapons? Of course it's possible, need I remind you of Overlord with gatttlin cannon.

Edited November 3, 2007 by Derelict_forum_noob

[Korona 0]

It doesn't use overlord code (i.e. an extra independant gun blasting from on top). Yeah acceptable aim arcs do work in ZH, so basically it acts like a tank destroyer when it engages buildings and bunkers, but will behave like a normal tank vs infantry and vehicles. It's still a case of picking the most suitable weapon for each task :)

[usafirewarrior 0]

Finally i get to use the M3 Lee :D

[killakanz 0]

I'd like to add that the Lee was originally made as a Grant for the Afrika missions, however it was captured by Von Braun's minions and converted.

[Neo 0]

killa + KoronaVB = mc2............You rock guys!

Edited November 3, 2007 by Neo

[Kaiser_Smeghead 0]

That is some very cool stuff. Well done everyone. :)

[DrShrinker 0]

I'm diggin that Bren Carrier. They all look great though.

[Mr.48 0]

Kick ass!

[SovietSteel 0]

Wow,now i can feed german tanks with both 37mm and a 75mm at once :lol:

 

M3 Lee - what a tank!!

[Lt Albrecht 0]

Bren Carriers forever!!!!!!!!! Those little sods are great for everything! Carrier+Bren+Inf=APC with support weapon; Carrier+mortar=mobile light Arty; Carrier+(BrenX2)= Infantry destroyer... And so on!

 

M3 lee is class as well, always wanted to drive through a german base spraing the area with MGfire, 37mm AND the occaisional 75mm HE round!

[killakanz 0]

Bren Carriers forever!!!!!!!!! Those little sods are great for everything! Carrier+Bren+Inf=APC with support weapon; Carrier+mortar=mobile light Arty; Carrier+(BrenX2)= Infantry destroyer... And so on!

 

Carrier + Smith Gun = Tank destroyer

 

Carrier + 25pdr Howitzer = ZOMG!