Scandavian States
08-10-2004, 07:23
The landscape before Lieutenant Colonel Johansson was not unlike that of the infamous Fulda Gap, which is it was open and rolling in a way that only a plain could be. The sunny, cloudless day made it perfect for armoured engagements, if one were inclined to inflict death and destruction on a rarely seen scale. It appeared that his superiors at division command were so inclined, or if the divisional intelligence types were believed the enemy was so inclined and his commanders were not afraid to pick up the gauntlet once it was thrown down.
Unfortunately for Johansson’s brigade, that meant engaging a force three times his size in armour. In a streak of bad luck for the Imperial forces it was found that the enemy had stolen the designs for the armour system used for all Imperial vehicles, the new NERA system, and the isomer reactors. On the plus side the tanks that Johansson’s brigade were about to face were reminiscent of ‘70s era main battle tanks, small and lacking in any real protection against the main guns of real heavy armour, which meant the enemy tanks would only see a modest improvement in protection and that the reactors had to be miniaturized to a point where they weren’t any more effective than diesel vehicles. In short, the Short Colonel thought, overly expensive cannon fodder… literally.
Lying prone on top of his CFV and looking through a pair of high-powered binoculars, Johansson spotted what looked suspiciously like a division’s armour coming right towards his brigade’s position. Fortuitous, perhaps they shall present themselves as sheep to hungry wolves, thought the half Colonel with a feral grin. “Captain,” Johansson barked, “order the brigade to stand-to. Weapons are free.”
It began with a platoon of his Jackson Main Battle Tanks firing off their Korento anti-tank guided missiles at the outside envelope of their capabilities, about 20 kilometers. The poor enemy tanks, looking for all the world like hybrids between M-60s and T-64s, were helpless to respond as they sped across the open terrain, their 120mm ETC guns unable to respond at such an extended range. Next to speak were the huge 150mm ETCs of the Jacksons, the first deafening roar of firing occurring when the lead enemy tank reached 15 kilometers, which was somewhat inside the gun’s maximum range. Unlike most common tank rounds, these did not head straight for their target but instead went to just above the turret, tipped on axis, and then using a shaped charge fired a penetrating rod down into the turret. The enemy tank, called an ST-1, stood no chance and burst into flames just milliseconds after the rod hit its target. Many enemy tanks suffered this fate on the first salvo, although not all and those that survived were… serviced in second and third vollies. All that was left were the various fighting vehicles and the tanks lurched forward to close with and destroy the wannabe armour pieces up close and personal. A battalion of IFVs and their embarked infantry followed at a respectful distance, but still maneuvering with the tanks so that nothing and nobody decided that luck was on their side and got cute. Half an hour later the simulation ended and the sleep drugs were slowly cycled out of Johansson’s body by his natural functions.
A day later a report was filed to divisional command stating that in the Lieutenant Colonel’s opinion the new ERA system was best used on main battle tanks where the new armour system was supplementary instead of a primary feature trying to make up for glaring weaknesses. Johansson also concluded that the ERA system on both the ST-1 and the Jackson, despite the former’s miserable showing in Army-wide simulations, performed its function up to and past expectations and as far as he was concerned the system should be adopted immediately. Such reports, with varying turns of speech and in some cases completely different opinions, were filed by armour commanders for the next year while the system was tested by almost every major command in the Imperium.
[In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m adopting extra ERA for my M7A1 Jackson MBTs. My two other tanks won’t get the same treatment for varying reasons, but I thought it would be a good idea of the Jackson. Specifically this is NERA, not the hazardous-to-infantry-because-it-explodes vanilla ERA. I’m also taking this time to take a jab at “upgraded” tanks based on old Soviet designs. IMHO there are simply too many of them being passed off as front-line tanks when the best of them belong in reserve units.]
Unfortunately for Johansson’s brigade, that meant engaging a force three times his size in armour. In a streak of bad luck for the Imperial forces it was found that the enemy had stolen the designs for the armour system used for all Imperial vehicles, the new NERA system, and the isomer reactors. On the plus side the tanks that Johansson’s brigade were about to face were reminiscent of ‘70s era main battle tanks, small and lacking in any real protection against the main guns of real heavy armour, which meant the enemy tanks would only see a modest improvement in protection and that the reactors had to be miniaturized to a point where they weren’t any more effective than diesel vehicles. In short, the Short Colonel thought, overly expensive cannon fodder… literally.
Lying prone on top of his CFV and looking through a pair of high-powered binoculars, Johansson spotted what looked suspiciously like a division’s armour coming right towards his brigade’s position. Fortuitous, perhaps they shall present themselves as sheep to hungry wolves, thought the half Colonel with a feral grin. “Captain,” Johansson barked, “order the brigade to stand-to. Weapons are free.”
It began with a platoon of his Jackson Main Battle Tanks firing off their Korento anti-tank guided missiles at the outside envelope of their capabilities, about 20 kilometers. The poor enemy tanks, looking for all the world like hybrids between M-60s and T-64s, were helpless to respond as they sped across the open terrain, their 120mm ETC guns unable to respond at such an extended range. Next to speak were the huge 150mm ETCs of the Jacksons, the first deafening roar of firing occurring when the lead enemy tank reached 15 kilometers, which was somewhat inside the gun’s maximum range. Unlike most common tank rounds, these did not head straight for their target but instead went to just above the turret, tipped on axis, and then using a shaped charge fired a penetrating rod down into the turret. The enemy tank, called an ST-1, stood no chance and burst into flames just milliseconds after the rod hit its target. Many enemy tanks suffered this fate on the first salvo, although not all and those that survived were… serviced in second and third vollies. All that was left were the various fighting vehicles and the tanks lurched forward to close with and destroy the wannabe armour pieces up close and personal. A battalion of IFVs and their embarked infantry followed at a respectful distance, but still maneuvering with the tanks so that nothing and nobody decided that luck was on their side and got cute. Half an hour later the simulation ended and the sleep drugs were slowly cycled out of Johansson’s body by his natural functions.
A day later a report was filed to divisional command stating that in the Lieutenant Colonel’s opinion the new ERA system was best used on main battle tanks where the new armour system was supplementary instead of a primary feature trying to make up for glaring weaknesses. Johansson also concluded that the ERA system on both the ST-1 and the Jackson, despite the former’s miserable showing in Army-wide simulations, performed its function up to and past expectations and as far as he was concerned the system should be adopted immediately. Such reports, with varying turns of speech and in some cases completely different opinions, were filed by armour commanders for the next year while the system was tested by almost every major command in the Imperium.
[In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m adopting extra ERA for my M7A1 Jackson MBTs. My two other tanks won’t get the same treatment for varying reasons, but I thought it would be a good idea of the Jackson. Specifically this is NERA, not the hazardous-to-infantry-because-it-explodes vanilla ERA. I’m also taking this time to take a jab at “upgraded” tanks based on old Soviet designs. IMHO there are simply too many of them being passed off as front-line tanks when the best of them belong in reserve units.]