Alternate Weapons of War thread...

[Ulfrsson]

The chamber should align with the magazine.

Tell that to the Volkssturmgewehr 1-5, which is a gas delayed blowback rifle; and in fact the basis of my posted project (excluding the grossfuss sturmgewehr influences here and there).

As shown here:
http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/fhsw/images/9/99/53b1eee8fd01.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131231172042

Were it using any other action, you would be entirely correct, but as this video shows, that is not the case for the greatly enlarged and altered take on the volkspistole design that lead to the Volkssturmgewehr 1-5's existence to begin with: https://youtu.be/CicZg6kvgDo

 

[Zor]

 

[Zor]

 

[Zor]

This is a sparklock musket. Said weapon was developed by a civilization which had a different history of industrial development to ours. Basically in this world four hundred years earlier a continent the size of North America was unified under the rule of a single empire as it's centralized government (aided by semaphore usage) could put together a proper standing army using pike formations and (after some time refining handgonne designs) arquebusiers and use it against the various feudal kingdoms with their feudal armies. The process took more than a century to achieve, but dominance was asserted never the less. To ensure that the stability of the empire and to deal with the risk of rebellions laws were put into place laws about weapons which included an out and out ban on the private ownership of firearms. All firearms were the property of the government (specifically the army).

This policy ultimately worked, for four centuries this Empire knew peace and stability. Some efforts were made to explore the world beyond this continent but only found iron age primitives on a few distant continents which posed no long term threat. Trade thrived, the economy improved and the Empire entered a scientific and eventually industrial revolution. The army was retained but atrophied as time went on. It's role became ceremonial and to suppress the occasional riot or bandit gang that got too big for police to handle that came up once every few decades. Without any pressing external or internal threats the army stuck with it's gear and it's state controlled gunsmiths continued to make single shot matchlocks even as railways and telegraph lines connected increasingly large and industrialized cities.

Then one day things changed. In one of the provinces a group of industrialists became resentful of a battery of new labor laws which forbade the employment of anyone under 12 and limited the work week to 45 hours managed to make a deal with a romantic garrison commander and started an insurrection against the "corrupted" Imperial government, thus sparking a civil war in the Empire's western provinces that lasted four years and spurred a technological arms race as the old tactics of pike blocks, arqebusier formations supported by lancers and cavalry archers proved to be way behind the time. Among their developments was the sparklock.

Replacing the older matchlocks the sparklock uses a battery powered electrode to generate a spark to ignite it's powder and fire. This system is far more reliable than matchlocks, could work in rain and is more accurate as their is minimal delay between the pulling of the trigger and firing, though it is more expensive due to the batteries. This designed was developed by the rebels as they established their own firearms industry, but was soon replicated by the Imperial government. the insulation is made of waxed cloth reinforced paper. The design would be refined as time went on and the war progressed.

 

[MAX1217]

From Cupola Dreams, the AFVs of the United Islands of the Celedon sea

 

[Zor]

 

[Petike]

Great designs as always, guys !

 

[Zor]

 

[Zor]

Shotguns have been used by the Infrastructure since 5 IA, but the have always been considered a specialist weapon. While powerful at close range against massed enemy formations or wildspawn, their low effective range and heavy weight limited meant that in most military situations either a pistol or a rifle was superior. Regardless several models were produced over the years for use by both the military, auxiliaries and enforcement as well as for export. The most recent of these is the Type-4S Lever Action Shotgun.

The Type-4S was first put into production in 32 IA to replace the Break Action Type-3S. One of it's reasons for introduction was for service in the Petrolium Colonies and another was to get soldiers more use to the idea of repeating long-arms as the Type-4R was introduced, even though the two weapons have considerable mechanical differences. The Type-4R has a fixed tube magazine able to carry five shells with a sixth chambered. After each shot the user simply has to push the grip mounted lever forward and reset it until the magazine was exhausted. It's cartridges were 19mm cardboard shells with brass bases, each containing 40 grams of lead pellets. Solid slugs are also available and were hoped to be of use against runic armor. Most of these shells are loaded with black powder, though it is fully capable of accepting 'N-Shells' loaded with Nitrocellulose pellets. Even so it's effective range using shot is limited to about thirty meters. The weapon weighs in at 3.8 kilograms unloaded.

Like with most weapons production has stepped up with the onset of the escort war, with several thousand weapons being manufactured. Many have been provided to the navy and naval infantry with others being issued to the army, enforcement and to prisons. Each Battlesteamer is provided with one of these weapons in case of enemy assault. Reception has been positive, though the weapons are more maintenance heavy than their predecessors. A few of these weapons proved their worth at the battle of Daagsgrad, even though the effectiveness of solid slugs against runic armor was not fully satisfactory.

 

[Undeadmuffin]

Silly thread, what are you doing on page 2 ?

A little space ship I designed, I have no real background around it but i imagined that the crew would operate from a rotating torus to have artificial gravity and be able to operate with greater efficiency in battle.
Of course it expose them but the ship is small and manœuverable, the designer being more from the ''avoid being touched'' school than ''tanking the shots'' one.

The Commonwealth is the fictional (duh) faction that built it.

 

[La Rouge Beret]

I have a request for the thread in general.

For an ASB TL that I am drafting I have WW 1 (circa 1917) Germans transported to another planet where they resurrect a derelict space ship (think Robotech Macross) to return to Earth.

Anyways I was after some German WW 1 themed power armour (my mental image is a cross between Dystopian legion / Fallout 4 / WH 40 k) and mecha as well.

 

[Angry_scottsman_1989]

Cyborg, Military, Individual (CMI)-10

The CMI-10 was Australian Scientific industries follow on to the successful CMI-8, which had entered service in 1991 a was adopted as the primary cyborg body of the ADF. The CMI-10 built on the experience gained from the CMI-8 to produce a superior and flexible body system.

The CMI-10 is a "full body" type cybernetic unit, with most or all of the users organs replaced. The CMI-10 comes in teo different models: the CMI-10A "90%" maintains the users original head and some of the digestive tract. These models were developed to serve in "peacekeeping" role to present a friendly face. The CMI-10B on the other hand completely replaces the users body; the Brain is contained in a specialised hardened case located in the body. These "100%" models have greater combat efficiency but lack any "living" traits.

Unlike the CMI-8, which utilised a rigid armoured shell, the CMI-10 uses a semi-rigid shell to provide greater flexibility and mobility. Ceramic armoured plates are embedded in a kevlar infused rubber inner layer; this allows the body to stretch and flex in a greater range of movements while still maintaining impressive armour resistance: the shell is rated impervious to 7.62mm NATO rounds and shell fragments, and the body can withstand F1 grenade detonations at 2m.

Electronically, the CMI-10 features four expansion slots to connect smartlinked systems. In heavy combat situations, the CMI-10 can be equipped with the FH-92 helmet system with low light and infra-red camera systems; The CMI-10B head already has these integrated. Standard load bearing equipment for the CMI-10 consist of the LAND-125 vest with camouflage covers. In urban and CQB situations, the CMI-10 can utilise the JUGGERNAUT over armour system with an intergrated three shot 40mm grenade launcher

 

[Binky the Clown]

Oso ("Bear")
Type: Main Battle Tank
Place of Origin:

Spain

Service History
In Service: 1979-Present
Used By: Spanish Army
Wars: Spanish-Moroccan War (1975-1991), Spanish Revolution of 1992

Production History
Designer: Empresa Nacional Santa Bárbara de Industrias Militares SA
Manufacturer: Fábrica de armas de Trubia
Number Built: 2,000

Specifications
Weight: 30.5 Tons (33.6 Short Tons)
Length: 6.75 M
Width: 3.25 M
Height: 2.42 M
Crew: 4 (Commander, Driver, Gunner, Loader)

Armor: RHA Steel
Main Armament: 105 MM FM K.4 Modelo 1L Tank Gun
Secondary Armament: 2 x 7.62 MM Machine Guns
Engine: MTU MB 833 Ka 500 6-Cylinder Diesel Engine; 720 HP
Suspension: Torsion Bar
Operational Range: 590 KM
Speed: 75 KM/H

By the early 1960's, Spain had assembled one of the largest armies in Europe. Francisco Franco's "military first" policies had resulted in the Spanish Armed Forces possessing nearly as many tanks per capita as Greater Germany or the Italian Social Republic. Some 1,800 Panzer VII's and 1,700 Panzer VIII's made up the bulk of Spain's armored forces. Unlike the RSI or France, Spain did not produce its own license-built copies of German tanks. Tank production at Bilbao's Fábrica de armas de Trubia consisted of assembling knock-down kits and manufacturing spare parts for Spain's armored vehicles. After Ramon Serrano Suñer condemned the German invasion of Croatia in 1968, Spain began to take an independent course in European affairs, forging ties with the United States and Great Britain.

Unfortunately, Suñer's policies meant Spain faced great difficulty when acquiring new weapons from its traditional suppliers. Thus, Suñer and the Chiefs of the General Staff ordered Spain's Instituto Nacional de Industria to begin work on an indigenous tank program. The obvious place to start was by reverse-engineering the Panzer VII/VIII. Unfortunately, the dependable Panzer VII/VIII had been rendered obsolete by the introduction of the Leopard I in 1968. Spanish engineers came up with an ingenious solution, namely acquiring a Leopard I from the United Arab Republic and reverse-engineering it.

The resulting tank was essentially a hybrid of the Leopard I and the Panzer VII/VIII. The Oso ("Bear") entered production in 1979, becoming the primary tank of the Spanish Armed Forces in their war with Morocco. Despite proving to be a match for Moroccan M48's, there was significantly less to the Oso than met the eye. In 1985, the CIA was able to get its hands on a captured Oso, courtesy of Morocco While superficially resembling a Leopard I, the Oso owed more to the Panzer VII/VIII than it did to the Leopard. Its transmission was unreliable, it lacked a laser range-finder or an electronic ballistics computer and it was fitted with obsolete night-vision equipment.

In addition to being Spain's first indigenous Main Battle Tank, the Oso has the distinction of being the only tank ever exported by Spain: some 400 Osos are believed to have been exported to the U.A.R. during their war with Iran.

Lince ("Lynx")
Type: Main Battle Tank
Place of Origin:

Spain

Service History
In Service: 1986-Present
Used By: Spanish Army
Wars: Spanish-Moroccan War (1975-1991), Spanish Revolution of 1992

Production History
Designer: Empresa Nacional Santa Bárbara de Industrias Militares SA
Manufacturer: Fábrica de armas de Trubia
Number Built: 500

Specifications
Weight: 49 Tons (54 Short Tons)
Length: 7.10 M, 9.068 M (Length With Gun)
Width: 3.74 M
Height: 2.50 M
Crew: 4 (Commander, Driver, Gunner, Loader)

Armor: Composite Armor (Prototypes), RHA Steel (Production Models)
Main Armament: Rheinmetall 120 MM L/44 Tank Gun
Secondary Armament: 2 x 7.62 MM Machine Guns
Engine: MTU MB 871 Ka 501 12-Cylinder Diesel Engine; 1,200 HP
Suspension: Torsion Bar
Operational Range: 550 KM
Speed: 70 KM/H

By the late 1970's, Spain's relationship with the United Nations had soured, due to its refusal to pull out of the Rif and the Sahara. Spain's relations with Germany began to improve, but not to the point where Germany was willing to allow Spain to license-produce its newest, most powerful tank. Indeed, Reichspräsident Kurt Waldheim is reported to have said "I would sooner shoot myself in the foot than give that megalomanic [Serrano Suñer] a single division of Leopards!" Nevertheless, Spain managed to acquire a handful of Leopard II's for evaluation and promptly went about reverse-engineering them.

By 1986, Spain had rolled out the first protoype for the Lince ("Lynx"). Theoretically, the Lince should've been one of the most powerful Main Battle Tanks on the planet, but the increasingly prostrate condition of the Spanish economy resulted in - as one Spanish tank commander put it - "a cat without claws." Spain lacked the expertise to replicate the Leopard II's advanced fire control system and night-vision equipment, thus the Lince was fitted with the same obsolete package as the Oso.

On top of it all, Spain struggled to replicate the Leopard II's composite armor, as well as its main gun. While Spain was able to utilize RHA steel to make up for the Lince's lack of composite armor, it was never able to successfully replicate the Leopard II's 120 MM cannon. The Spanish-built copies of the L/44 Tank Gun had dramatically shortened main gun tube lives, less than half that of their German counterparts.

Quality control issues, along with the poor state of the Spanish economy resulted in only 500 out of a projected 1,500 being produced before the end of the Spanish-Moroccan War and the fall of fascism in Spain.

 

[Saphroneth]

The CSS Magnolia State, two days out of Charleston.


Magnolia State was the third in a class of thirteen planned ships built starting in 1867. Armoured frigates intended to form the centerpiece of a Confederate blue-water navy, the Old Dominion-class was dogged with problems from the start.
The original design brief was probably impossible at the time, calling for a ship with draft shallow enough to threaten Washington and her forts while also being able to sail and fight on the open sea in all weathers. The resultant ships were compromises, only able to get up the Potomac if half their guns were removed and still prone to trouble in heavy seas, and were hard to control under sail alone - forcing them to use their engines in most conditions.

The ships were slower than hoped for, with a design speed of 14 knots under steam coming out at only 11 knots at full speed (though they made 14 knots with sails and steam, which was used to argue that the contract had been fulfilled), and the accomodation and machinery was cramped for a ship expected to cruise with sails and steam together. There were also complaints about the sailing rig, and the duration of roll was sub-optimal.

That being said, though, the eventual eight ships built before the construction company folded proved to be entirely worthwhile fighting ships. Their Tregedar-rolled armour (actually made with Pennsylvania iron, in fact) was robust and shot-resistant, at eight inches stem to stern and pierced only by the main battery. (A minor curiosity is that the armour was formed in two four-inch layers, with wooden backing.) The two-inch armoured deck was somewhat vulnerable to plunging fire, making them less than ideal against major fortifications, but the broadside (2 11" rifles, 7 9" rifles and 2 6.5" rifles from the ends, all modified Brooke pieces) proved to be quite capable of piercing most armoured ships at fighting ranges - especially once armed with Palliser bolts purchased from the United Kingdom at a quite exorbitant markup.

(It is believed that Palliser bolts were used on the acceptance trials for the guns, and that cast-iron balls were used on the acceptance trials for the armour - which, ironically, simulated the actual conditions of the Civil War quite well.)

At 3,900 tons standard displacement each, these ships were a point of pride in the Confederate navy for many years - probably beyond their actual date of usefulness.



(p.s. this is actually the HMS Terror, a floating battery from the Crimea. She certainly looks in fine fettle!)

 

[Saphroneth]

USS Puritan, line engraving of her on her maiden voyage


The USS Puritan had a troubled construction. Conceived of as a super-monitor with two 20" guns (the largest bore ever fitted to a warship) and a design speed of 15 knots, problems surfaced almost immediately.

It became apparent as she neared launching that the ship's design capabilities were impossible. The engine required to make 15 knots weighed over a quarter of the total design displacement of the ship, and the immensely thick armour totalled over a thousand tonnes despite the use of a main belt only four feet high.
The congressional committee on construction took over the project in early 1865, and began making drastic changes to obtain some value from the expensive boondoggle. The guns were retained, having actually finished their prolonged casting process by the time the alterations were done, but the turret armour was reduced to 12" instead of 15" and the engines replaced with considerably lighter (and less powerful) versions. Some of the volume thus obtained was used to increase the bunker.
Calculations still showed the ship was dangerously heavy, so the second step was taken - the construction at great extra expense of a double bottom to add extra flotation capacity. This finally got the Puritan in a state she would show her design draught with her belt on the waterline, but the result of the intervention was drastic - more powerful machinery had to be installed, pushing the weight closer to that of the originally rejected installation, and the resultant ship displaced nearly 2,000 tonnes more than originally intended while carrying less armour at lower speed.

Coming while the Casco debacle was so fresh in peoples' minds, this led to a major enquiry and John Ericsson was raked over the coals in the press for his overoptomistic boasts. Contemporaries pointed out that the ship was expected to greatly outperform Dictator in speed and firepower for a ship fundamentally the same size and displacement, and that this had led to many of the knock-on effects on weight. (The difference in the gun and turret weights was enormous between the two classes, with the engine required to rotate the five-hundred-tonne main armament significantly contributing to the ship's overall problems.)

This event is considered a major contributing factor to the USN pivot towards rifled guns instead of smooth bore muzzle loaders, and future USN ships were built with an eye towards weight right from the start.



(This one was harder to simulate in SpringSharp than the above - SpringShasp has the combined weight of a pair of 20" muzzle loaders at nearly 600 tonnes, which seems outrageously large and led to the results described above as I tried to kludge it into workability, but then again I suspect it also includes the handling gear. It certainly simulates Dictator fairly well if you use the SpringSharp 15" muzzle loader weight.)

 

[Laqueesha]

Post deleted.

 

[Mr Twincal]

MAM-14 medium tank

Alpha version of the MAM-14, 1st Mechanized Cavalry Brigade, 1937

Type: medium tank
Place of origin: Kingdoms and States represented in the Council of State

Service history
In service: 1937-1948 (Imperial and Royal Army)
Used by: Imperial and Royal Army, Polish Army, Hetmanate of Ukraine
Wars: the Bucharest Intervention, The Defensive War, The Continuation War, the Eritrean Uprising

Designer: ΓMM (Office of Mechanization and Motorization of the Armed Forces)
Designed: 1934-36
Manufacturer(s): Typhonas AE, Imperial-Royal Arsenal № 5, Bénedek Mechanikus Üzem
Number built: 6,756 (excluding licence-built and vehicles on the chassis)

Specifications
Weight: 23.0 Tons (25.4 Short Tons)
Length: 6.65 M
Width: 3.30 M
Height: 2.39 M
Crew: 5 (Commander, Driver, Gunner, Loader, Radio operator/bow machine-gunner)

Armour: up to 50 mm (glacis), welded rolled plates.
Main Armament:
Alpha-Gamma: 40 MM M-12/42 AT gun
Delta-Epsilon: 50 MM M-15/45 AT gun
Digamma-Eta: 50 MM M-16/60 AT gun

Secondary Armament: 2-3 x 8 MM Machine Guns
Engine: 12-cylinder Typhonas KK-67 320 HP engine
Suspension: Torsion Bar
Operational Range: 290 KM
Speed: 37 KM/H

In the first half of the 1930s the leadership of the Imperial and Royal Armed Forces deemed the EAM-12 light tanks to be sufficient backbone of the rapidly expanding mechanized troops. It was argued that the 40 mm AT gun of that vehicle was sufficient against all contemporary constructions, thus the development of a "hunter-tank" of new class was delayed.

The rapid growth of the Soviet armoured troops, as well as the emergence of such machines as French SOMUA or Char B1bis convinced the Office of Mechanization and Motorization of the Armed Forces that a new tank in the weight-class of approximately 20 tonnes was necessary. At that moment, nobody considered upgrading the MAM-12 medium tank with a more universal gun; it was decided that a new type of tank was necessary.

The ΓMM laid down the specifications, calling the biggest defence companies to compete for the contract. Eventually, it was the proposal of Typhonas AE that was selected. The new medium tank received a torsion-bar suspension, developed from the one employed in EAM-12. The three-men turret was initially fitted with the same gun as EAM-12's, as the dedicated 50-mm gun was still under development.

The tank was officially pressed into the service in 1937 and has served the Imperial and Royal Armed Forces, as well as armies of the allies of Kingdoms and States represented in the Council of State up to late 1940s.

The final (Eta) version of MAM-14. 17th Armoured Cavalry Brigade, North Front, 1943.

 

[Zor]

 

[22iron thunder]

[FONT=&quot]Floating Battery [/FONT][FONT=&quot]USS Independence[/FONT][FONT=&quot] off Fort Point 1863[/FONT]

 

[Captain Reynolds]

I'm wondering if there is anyone on here who is good at drawing space ships. I have some sketches but that's it, if anyone would like to try and add more detail to them