WinSPMBT

[RecruitMonty]

From now on the finished icons will be available in this post as an attachment. When the mod is finished, some time in the Fall of 2008 or Spring 2009 it will be posted here too. All other icon files (those which are subjected to constant chages) will be appended in later posts the older ones deleted.

Finished items include:

#All German aircraft.
#"Tsarist" T-34s.
#US heavy tank M104 and Paladin.
#Bergepanzers.
#Jagdpanzers.
#US and German APCs.
#Helicopters.
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Anyone who recently checked out the Cold war mod thread by Plasmakrab will have noticed some rather curious posting from me there. Some of you, four to be precise. Have even got a chance to check it out.

What is it? I hear you ask; well it is first and foremost a combination of the late war (WWII) German OOB and the West German OOB in the place of the Danish OOB. It is compatible with the latest version of Winspmbt and all the shp files provided are up to date as well. Thrown into the mix are speculative designs (including some of the "E" Series tanks) and Plasmakrab's late cold war German units. This is topped off with some interim units that are purely speculative.

The late war units present are as follows:

# Panzer IV G
# Panzer IV H
# Panzer IV J (I also created a variant with the initial K, Pz. IV K, as a replacement for the earlier Pz. IV series and to simulate an attempt at a stop gap measure to upgrade the tank fleet just after the war ended).
# Panzer III J
# Panzer III M
# Panzer III N (all Panzer IIIs are presently maintained until 1960 as light tanks for policing actions, they have undergone mild improvements so duplicate vehicles that have been improved replace the ones listed here in the 50s).
# Panther D
# Panther G
# Panther F
# Panther II (E-75 replaced by Leopard series).
# Loewe (A forerunner of the Kingtiger).
# Koenigstiger (replaced later by Kaisertiger and Mammut E-100 based vehicles).
# Stug. III G
# Stug. IV
# Hummel
# All the Jpz IVs (I think).
# Jagdtiger and Jagdpanther.
# Hetzer (PAK and Flamethrower).
# Flammpanzer III
# Wirbelwind
# Ostwind
# SdKfz 7/2 FlaK
# SdKfz 7/1 FlaK
# SdKfz 10/2 FlaK
# SdKfz. 251 (Mortar, Camo, Grey, Stuka zu Fuss, light Pak, heavy Pak, Stummel, flamethrowing, Speculative late war turreted variants).
# SdKfz. 250 (250/1, 250/9, 250/10).
# SdKfz. 222
# SdKfz. 221/2
# SdKfz 234/1
# SKfz 234/2 Puma
# SdKfz 234/4
# Opel Blitz (+ speculative improvements).
# Buessing-NAG (+ speculative improvements).
# Kubelwagen and Schwimwagen variants.
# Luftwaffe: #Me 109
#Stuka (JU 87 G Kanone)
#Me 262
#HE 111H
#JU 52/3m.
Additional planes will be added in later. Most of these are based on the stuff the Germans were working on just before the war ended. Already two, or three planes have been created by me that represent these planes. In addition all the planes inthe old West German OOB are still there (with some minor exceptions). There Icons have, in some cases, been changed and their names altered (e.g. "Falke"). The Aiforce will need to be overhauled as some of the units within were stop gap measures.

In addition to those wwii units already mentioned. Many of the late war PAK and FLAK have also been added including 88s, the PAK 40 and PAK 44 as well as the Nebelwerfers (41 and 42). Both Austrian and Swiss units have been incorporated into this OOB as well. Only some transport units and AA from the Austrian OOB and a number of light recon cars (The MOWAG Adlers) from the Swiss OOB.

The engineering vehicle section has also undergone enlargement with the incorporation of new Engineering tanks (Minenpanzers) fromthe Leopard family of MBTs (3 in total).

Airmobile and light (colonial/border) infantry as well as heavy and guards units have also been created. Extensive work has been done on sounds and new weapons have been "cooked up" for the late era infantry units. All the weapons, unit and formations now carry German names or abreviations where possible.

That is a fairly brief summary of the work that has been done so far.

[RecruitMonty]

Any suggestions and drawings data on planes you would like to see in the game would be appreciated.

[Marcello]

If you are into german experimental planes this is a good place to start:
http://www.luft46.com/

[RecruitMonty]

Ok, here are some Messerschmitt designs I think you will all love. These will be in the mod too. I just made them a few hours ago.

[RecruitMonty]

Ok, this is a question for Don and the devs. Where can I put new planes?

[RecruitMonty]

I estimate it will take about two weeks to overhaul the OOB, by that I mean take out old or unwanted units and put in new/better units. I am also waiting on some feedback from testers.

[oragus]

So may I ask for a bit more detail into what this actually is? Is this a "Germany has some how extended WWII out past 1950?" If so interesting. If that actually happened, who knows what crazy thing the Germans would have ended up producing. You doing a total mod or just Germany? Because the Allies would have developed a bunch of new things too?

[RecruitMonty]

Ok, you are partly right. I did start out wanting to create an extended WWII mod and so a lot of what you see within, at least in the late 40 and 50s is all about that.
As for extra OOBs, well as it happens I did do some OOB work. A lot of the stuff I did in my Icon thread (the one where I ask for suggestions) had something to do with that. The Soviet tanks I made are supposed to equal or at least be capable of holding their own against the German heavy tanks. The JS VII, the heavier KVs and the Soviet tank with 4 tracks are all supposed to do just that.

At the moment the later models of Kaisertiger and Mammut (E-100 based vehicles) are matched by the soviet stuff until we reach the late 60s. When the tank with four tracks is set up and when a few more heavier tanks are available this disparity should vanish or decrease long enough for the Soviets to develop the later T70s etc.

As for the USA, well all I could find is that heavy SPG of theirs. I found an icon that is. Asside from that the other M60 variant is all I could come up with. The T95 (USA not to be confused with the Soviet one), that is what it is called, will be an interim vehicle in my mod. It will have a bigger gun earlier on so that, if a battle is fought between the USA and the Germans, it won't be a total cake walk.

In short, both the US and the Soviets have enough good equipment to deal with the bulk of the German equipment. The heavy stuff is expensive as are the high end infantry units. The new German OOB is a fairly expensive one.

Both the USA and Russia do not need better planes or infantry to deal with the German units. Some bigger and better AT-guns wouldn't go a miss, but right now I don't feel like making them.

Speaking of airforces, I have just over hauled my Luftwaffe for the early post-war period.

I am fine tuning dates and such since, as we know, the German companies had a habit of producing great designs at around the same time. All of the ones here are plausible, the only problem is picking start and end dates for them. If I use the predicted entry dates then I will have about six or seven, really amazing planes flying around while everyone else is still flying around with one or two decent jets tops. That seems stupid.

Instead I decided to slow down and stagger German aircraft development so I could fill the gaps out evenly and so the more futuristic designs can crop up later (A couple are popping up in the late 50s and will stay in service till the late sixties and so on). This is also done to simulate a war weary and somewhat complacent German Empire more interested in keeping pace and consolidating colonies rather than going nuts on the whole aircraft and tank development front. They would have had a sizeable advantage anyhow.

Although a lot of what the Soviets and Americans built after the war had its roots in pilfered German technology or plans, I will leave the 40s 50s airforces etc untouched. As Britain has been knocked out I will transfer some of their late war designs to the USA OOB at a later date. I will shift the rest over to Canada later still.

[RecruitMonty]

~~##Time for the Plot:##~~

The Germany I present to you here is a culturally very different one than the one of the real post war era. It retains its militarism although it is decidedly less Anti-Semitic and more oldy worldy imperial than before.

The real Germany as we know in the 30s and 40s was run by Adolf Hitler etc and lost the war. The USA and the USSR then initiated the Cold War yadda yadda yadda. Well here is the change. Replace Hitler and the nazis with an Emperor (Kaiser if you will), his various cronies (Barons and so forth) and the Ultra-Conservative (Nationalistic) party that keeps the Reichstag etc functioning.

That is the only change. Pretty much. The Germans still lost WWI, they still had years of strife etc and the Weimar Republic still colapses. The only difference is that the Germany that all this is taking place in is a little different to the historical one.

The roots of this lie far back in the disjointed Holy Roman Empire at the time of the reformation. As we all know a sizeable chunk of the German nobility, the French and the Danes (I think it was them) got embroiled in a nasty war (30 years war) which, at its end saw the demise of a large part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Well, in order for this whole plot to work the results need to be a little different. Germany still falls to bits etc but crucially the lower bit and a hefty bit of what would later become Prussia stay loyal to the Emperor and Pope. Much like the West Prussians and Bavarians and Austrians.

By the time Bismarck etc decide Germany needs tobe one country again both Austria-Hungary and its territories and Prussia are similar and cordial enough to join together. This was the other model touted by German nationalists in the 1840s. So we hve a Grossdeutschland instead of Deutschland.

WWI happens, it drags on a little bit longer (1919 or 1920) and the result is the same. Commies in Russia, no colonies for Germany and bye-bye most of the Eastern German territories (including those of what was Austria-Hungary).

Fast forward again to the 30s and the Germans are doing the Nazi thing only this time they are led by a "1st Reich revivalist" who wants to restore the territories of the Holy Roman Empire (at its zenith) to Germany. Appeasement etc function the same way except in this case the anschluss is not with Austria but with a portion of Hungary. The Jews are left by and large to their own devices as they were in the Kaiserreich. WWII starts the same way too with an invasion of Poland.

In 1941 the Germans invade Russia and by late August/september the Soviet capital is under German control (laregely because the Germans don't muck about as much as they did in reality). 1942 sees German movement towards the Urals and the Caucuses. Stalingrad, although a bloody battle ends without the envelopment of he 6th Army. In this timeline the Soviets lack the forces to mount a winter offensive there as last year's in the centre fell hard on dug in and reinforced (Army Group North was no longer engaged in Leningrad as Moscow's fall left the city without much needed logisitcs). No declaration of war on the USA leaves Japan quite busy and the USA out of Europe and Africa (well they are there in spirit and are bank rolling Britain's war effort). 1943 sees the defeat of the British in Egypt and the establishment of a defendable border, near the Urals, with the Soviets. A bloody battle in the Atlantic picks up the pace as the USA and Germany declare war on one another because of the German penchant for sinking US esscorts (vice versa). The comonwealth nations are still largely involved in protecting British colonies from the Japanese (by now they are being captured back) and the Germans (The Afrika Korps and the Southern forces in Russia are quite a problem). In 1944 the Germans begin preperations for the seizure of the UK. Blah Blah...

By 1950 the Germans and the USA have signed a truce and the Soviet's new border is in Siberia. Not too far in though as they were able to rally and push the Germans back marginally. The Allied remnant retains control over its Colonial territory in the Far East and Southern Africa. The USA is the dominant partner in this coalition. French colonies are reapropriated to the Germans.
Including those in Southeast Asia. These are quickly given away in much the same way as they were in reality.

A Tsarist "puppet" State exists on the small sliver of ground between the Soviets and the Germans. From the 50s to the 70s this State is slowly eroded by the Russians and Germans, the Russians through conquest, the Germans, through the ruse of extending security for the regions closest to hand. The Soviets and Chinese gain strength, the USA gets embroiled in Vietnam along with the British and comonwealth nations (the comonwealth is more like the Empire in this scenario) and the Germans spend most of their time jumping on Arabs and other unruly colonial subjects.

Across North Africa and the German Middle Eastern frontier small and large colonial wars rage. By the mid 60s all is well in Africa (by well I mean the rebels are no longer in the Capital) but in the Middle East the Empire, due to its misguided restructuring of the regional map, is facing a doozy of a war in an area that encompases bits of north-eastern Syria, some of southen Turkey, some of northern Iraq and some of north-western Iran. This province and everything south of it are a big problem for the Germans.

Both Israeli and Arab history has also remained largely unchanged, although this time there are more Israelis as a lot of them were shipped to Israel or headed there after the war had ended. (Israel was created a little later).

Germany was just getting involved in the Middle East by the late 50s so the Israelis and Arabs still had numerous cracks at one another in the mean time. Israel receives aid from the USA and increasingly from Germany too. The Arabs get aid from the Allies (this aide is not meant for the war against Israel but the one against the Germans) and the Communists.

The world is divided along these lines: The USA and the "Allied Remnant" control North America, southern Africa, Southeast Asia and a large chunk of the Pacific (including Australia, New Zealand etc).

South America is contested between German sympathisers (Fascists and Catholics), Communists and other revolutionaries and the USA.

The German Empire eventually controls all of Europe, Western Russia, the eastern coast of Greenland, parts of Eastern Russia, nominally the whole Med. and its coastlines, Turkey, all the former French colonies in Africa as well as the Italian ones, the Suez Canal (partially), most of Syria, Lebanon etc etc. It holds sway over bits of the Congo, its former colonial holdings (Pre 1914-18), bits of South America and later Israel.

The Muslims, who only really come into their own later on, control, well everything they control now except the bits that the Germans pinched.

Finally, the Communists hold sway over all of China, eventually the whole of French Indo-China and of course what remains of Russia. Wherever German troops are under attack you can be sure the Communists have despatched arms or advisors.

[RecruitMonty]

I also have done a lot of work on the Mujahadeen OOB to create the various Islamic forces encountered in the Colonial conflict mentioned above.

[oragus]

Wow, that is quite a bit of detail Monty. It sounds cool. With WWII not ending till 1950, there would have been lots of new technology fielded. You got your hands full there. lol...

Keep us up to speed on this project, very interesting.

Have you thought about looking into all the Heavy tanks the US experimented with? Bunch of monsters that never went past prototype. They were thought up to counter the Soviet Heavy Tanks, but they could find a home in this reality maybe. For example, the T29, T30 & T34. Just food for thought.

[RecruitMonty]

Here is a little bit of background on the political situation in the UK in the lead up to the invasion. A brief comment, nothing more.

Something I noticed about British politics during the war years was the rise in popularity of socialist, communist and populist figures. From what I read there were
two particularly influential men, both leftists, one visited Russia and was a keen supporter of Uncle Joe, the other remained in the British Isles and agitated a bit, in
support of the government, but only just.

It seems that when defeats etc occured and when America was still out of the war in Europe a lot of people looked to these men and men like them for inspiration. If the British continued to sustain defeats, like they do in this timeline, then they might have gone further to the left. They did pick a Labour government after the war after all. I am not saying they would get rid of Churchill or anything like that, but it is possible that by the time the Reich (not the historical one) came knocking the government could very well have lost its support.

When the invasion comes, and it did, Churchill and co. pull out leaving the lefties behind to take the heat.

[MarkSheppard]

Although a lot of what the Soviets and Americans built after the war had its roots in pilfered German technology or plans

This is a common misconception. The MiG-15 was not inspired by the Ta-183 Huckbein; it was a completely separate line of development.

From a Friend of mine, Stuart Slade; a defense analyst:

The Russians first started work on jets in the early 1920s. They set up a specialized gas turbine engine reserach group in 1926 and in 1930 the group was headed by V Oovarov. At that time, the primary focus was on turboprop engines and, in 1936, the group developed the 1,150 shp GTU-3 turboprop that was proposed as a powerplant for the TB-3 bomber. The prototypes of the GTU-3 were first test-flown in 1938. That year, the group split into two parts, one of which developed turboprops, the other of which started work on turbojets. That part was headed by Arkhip Mikhailovich Lyulka. By 1941, he had developed the RD-1 jet engine that delivered 1,100 pounds of thrust. Meanwhile, the Oovarov group were assembling a turboprop that could deliver 4,400 shp.

When the Germans invaded Russian all that work came to a halt. Development design continued but all actual production capacity was devoted to war production. When work restarted in 1944 Lyulka was responsible for the production of the TR-1 turbojet engine that delivered 2,866 pounds of thrust. The prototypes flew in 1946 and were installed in the Il-22 bomber in 1947.

In 1944, the USSR established two specifications. One was for their production jet fighter. There were three primary requirements for this aircraft, these requirements were called "whales" by the USSR because it was recognized they presented an enormous challenge. These whales were (a) the use of a turbojet rated at over 4,400 pounds thrust, (b) the use of swept wings and (c) the use of an ejector seat. In addition the aircraft had to be equipped with a heavy armament and be easy to both manufacture and maintain in the field.

Why swept wings and high power? In elementary terms (please remember I'm not an aviation engineer) there is a shockwave that stretches outwards from the nose. At slow speeds, this is a straight line but as the aircraft gets faster, that line starts to form a V with the nose at the front and the shockwave angled backwards. Eventually, the shockwave angle gets so acute that the shockwave itself touches the wingtips. that causes a dramatic increase in drag and it gets worse as more and more of the wing becomes immersed in the shockwave. If the wing is swept back, the tips are kept clear of the shockwave longer so the sudden increase in drag is delayed. The sharper the sweepback, the longer the delay. By the way, one can get the same effect by havinga long fuselage and short, razor-thin wings. Now you know why the F-104 looks like that.

The original work on swept wings was done by a German, Dr Alfred Busemann in around 1935. There was nothing secret about it, the work was published in open literature and everybody knew about it. It was of theoretical interest only since nobody could get up to speeds where the effect mattered. What wasn't in the open literature was that a Russian, V Stroominsky had carried on with research into swept wings in the early 1940s and made some discoveries that Busemann had missed completely. One was that if wings are swept, the airflow over the wings had two components, not one. The air flowed from the leading edge to the trailing edge as normal but also flowed spanwise along the wing causing the tips of the wings to stall. Another aspect of that was that the airflow along a swept wing significantly reduced the effects of the aircraft's controls. The other discovery was that the swept wing is much less efficient at generating lift than a straight wing.

So, unless the aircraft had a powerful enough engine to drive the aircraft up to the point where the drag reduction characteristics of a swept wing were significant, the advantages of a swept wing were much offset by its disadvantages. The critical speed turned out to be around 600mph; if a fighter could get up to 600mph, then the benefits of a swept wing kicked in and the aircraft got a lot faster (or, more precisely, it didn't show the dramatic increase in drag exhibited by straight-wing aircraft). If it couldn't get that speed, it didn't get the benefits and was a lot nastier to fly - and, by the way, since altitude performance is directly related to engine power and lift, underpowered swept-wing aircraft suffered severe altitude penalties.

By 1945, the basic layout of what would become the MiG-15 were already determined. A 35 degree swept wing, a single engine generating enough thrust to push the aircraft over 600 mph, a tail that was high enough to keep the tailplane out of the turbulence form the wings but not a T-tail (that suffered problems all of its own). This aircraft was known as the object I-310 and models of this configuration were test-dropped from Tu-2 aircraft in 1945 and 1946. Those test-drops validated the configuration of the I-310 (which became the MiG-15) and the La-160.

However, it was also apparent that the engines available didn't develop enough thrust to push the airframe fast enough to gain the advantages of a swept wing. So the Russians decided to build an intermediate generation of aircraft using whatever engines were available. At that time, these were the BMW-003 which the Russians built as the RD-20 (it generated 1,750 pounds of thrust) and the Jumo-004 which the Russians built as the RD-10 (it developed 1,950 pounds of thrust). They mated these with interim airframes, essentially converted piston-engined fighters and they were a stopgap until The Real Thing (TRT) arrived.

The Russians also captured a whole load of experimental aircraft, a lot of dirty paper that purported to be 'advanced designs" and some prototypes. They made an interesting discovery; the Germans had lots of swept wing fighter designs but no engines to power them. They had the BMW-003 and the Jumo-004 and that was it. 2,000 pounds of thrust, tops and that was nowhere near enough to push a plane fast enough so that it would benefit from the swept wings.

There were three "more" engines. They were the Heinkel-Hirth He-011 that was to be rated at 2,800 pounds of thrust, the Jumo-012 that was supposed to be rated at 6,600 pounds of thrust and the BMW-018 that was supposed to generate 7,700 pounds. None of these engine sactually existed; they were all nothing more than designs on paper. (Note, in Wikipedia it states that the Jumo-012 was test flown in 1944 and was "the most powerful jet engine in the world". This is untrue; only a few non-critical metal components of the 012 had been made and the engine was far from completion. Likewise claims that the BMW-018 whad been test flown were also false; the engine was even less advanced than the Jumo-012).

The Russians spent a lot of time trying to get those engines working and couldn't. There were fundamental design errors in them all that made it impossible that they could work. None of them were practical and the Germans (now the Russians) were stuck with the BMW-003 and the Jumo-004). The Rusisans decided to solve the problem by buying British Nene and Derwent engines which they built as the RD-45 and the RD-500 respectively. Important note that - the Russians were forced to buy British engines because German ones couldn't cut the mustard. Mikoyan selected the RD-45 to power the I-310 and he was in business.

The Russians also captured a semi-complete Ta-183 prototype. They looked at it, compared it with their I-310 and decided that the German aircraft was already obsolete. It was grossly underpowered - less than 2,000 pounds of thrus - and the Russians had already realized that 4,400 was inadequate - and it was structurally much inferior to the MiG being badly overweight and complex. In addition, the russians realized the germans had no idea of the problems caused by spanwise drift and the aircraft would have viciously bad flying characteristics. What was even worse, the Russians couldn't put their new RD-45 into it because the RD-45 was a centrifugal flow engine and had too great a frontal area for the Ta-183 that was deisgned around an axial flow engine.

It got worse, as the Russians experimented with swept-wing fighter models, they found something very interesting. Before the drag reduction benefits of a swept wing cut in, the aircraft would drop one wing, stall and spin out. A vicious flat spin that prevented the pilot getting out. the reason was that the complex airflow over a swept wing was such that both wings had to be exact mirror images. Even slight differences caused tip stalling and the loss of the aircraft. Swept wings couldn't be built the same way as conventional wings and a different manufacturing technique was needed. The Ta-183 had its wings built the older way and would have suffered from wing-drop.

The Russians concluded that the Ta-183 would be a slow, clumsy, treacherous dog and they rejected any possibility of proceeding with it. (By the way, the Argentines did build the Ta-183 and found the Russians were quite right; the aircraft was a flying death trap.)

The I-310 with a 5,000 pound thrust RD-45 was completed in mid-1947 as the S-1 prototype and was test-flown by the end of the year. It became the MiG-15. Later, it was re-engined with the 6,000 pound thrust VK-1.

Yefim Gordon wrote the definitive history of the MiG-15; its published by Aerofax. Worth getting - in fact all Yefim Gordon's books are.

Also; in Wide Body, a book on the development of the 747 it's revealed that an engineer in the USA, Robert Jones, independently invented the Delta Wing separate of German work by Lippisch.

Sorry if I do come off a bit pedantic Monty, but this is a brainbug that I hate. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[RecruitMonty]

So other than the Mig 15 and Delta wings what else did the allies come up with during the war in terms of jet aircraft? The Gloucester Meteor... thats about it really. I was going to keep the allied and Soviet jets anyway.

Just out of interest does anyone know the answer to my questions on aircraft design in-game. I need to know where to put the new icons and how to convert speeds etc for them.

[MarkSheppard]

So other than the Mig 15 and Delta wings what else did the allies come up with during the war in terms of jet aircraft? The Gloucester Meteor... thats about it really

Well, there was the P-80, it actually flew a few combat missions in europe...at least the YP-80A did...Linka (http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/p80_12.html).

And there were lots of whacky allied proposals as well:

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/9140/jetboltpv5.gif

Just out of interest does anyone know the answer to my questions on aircraft design in-game. I need to know where to put the new icons and how to convert speeds etc for them.

Well, you put them into any SHP file that is single icon slot, e.g. the same SHPs that you use for non turreted vehicles.

As for speed:

Fighter-bomber and level bomber Aircraft Speed: 1 pt of Speed for every 100 km/h (round up past 50)

Helicopter speed: 1/3 of actual maximum speed in km/h

[MarkSheppard]

And now we can do this with the das reich mod:

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8417/covercommandobp7.jpg

[RecruitMonty]

?

[MarkSheppard]

Recreate Commando 3118 "Time Trap" in which a pair of Chieftains get sent back in time to the Battle of the BUlge in 1944!

[Suhiir]

Reminds me of the movie "Final Countdown" where the USS Nimitz winds up at near Pearl Harbor on Dec 6, 1941.

Ya know, I think the Nimitz could destroy the entire Japanese navy all by it self *chuckles*

[RecruitMonty]

Oh... right, I get it now. That would be interesting. I bet you not one Chieftain would evenhave it's paint scratched, well maybe it would get scratched but not much else.

[Marcello]

It would be nasty for any germans running into them but they would hardly be invincible. The the side hull and the rear should be vulnerable to several high end german weapons. Besides there would not be any ammo and spare parts for them in 1944 and they would need them soon. They would not be able to do much more than the B1 bis at Stonne or those KVs during Barbarossa.
The Nimitz in 1941 on the other hand would probably be able to win the war in the Pacific by itself. With its conventional weapons arsenal and historical knowledge it could have wiped out the bulk of the japanese fleet without breaking a sweat and if it carried nukes onboard Japan was in a world of hurt. All of this before spares shortages would have become an issue. Submarines would have been pretty much the only thing capable of touching it and the odds would be against them.

[PlasmaKrab]

Now in the frame of the mod itself, Chieftains being sent to some remote corners of the Empire where reserve units still run on 1940s tanks could wreak havoc (provided with decent support) at least until the Mammuts come in play. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[RecruitMonty]

#Update#

The Imperial units of France,Switzerland and Austria have been upgraded and the Reich OOB itself has seen a major reworking of the infantry formations within it. Discrepancies between my Soviet OOB and the regular one have been cleared up although my new Soviet tanks have, as of yet, not been added.

The USA OOB just requires the addition of some new Heavy tanks. I have some icons around that will be suitable.

I would like some suggestions about how I can go about safely combining the British and Canadian OOBS together.

The new Luftwaffe units are ready. All the historical ones that is. I am now working on some interim fighter bombers and bombers. Suggestions for credible 1960s 1970s and 1980s designs would be appreciated.

A prototype "White Russian" OOB has been set up in the Red OOB. At the moment they are equipped with Imperial weapons and so on. The Mujahadeen OOB is complete (with American, Chinese, Russian, Reich and Allied weapons available to the infantry).

The Israeli, Iranian, Syrian, Lebanese and Greek OOBS still need work. I am not so sure what should be done about the rest of the middle eastern OOBS. Any suggestions.

Belgium and Skandinavia still need work too.

That is about it at the moment. I would like some help later with the development of a splash screen and a new icon (if allowed).

[RecruitMonty]

#Update#

The Luftwaffe units are now implemented. I will run the new units by my tester soon.

[RecruitMonty]

~~##REDUNDANT!##~~

Do not download these icons anymore please. They are out of date. go to the newer post on page 5 of this thread for the up to date US Heavy Tank icons. Thankyou.

[oragus]

You are welcome Monty. That is why I post them. For you guys. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif.

I will be posting an updated Pershing Icon set. It was brought to my attention, that my source for the Pershing dimensions were not accurate. I corrected the problem. I will be releasing the Pershings and M-46 Patton hopefully before days end.

[RecruitMonty]

I recently hit upon the novel idea of coding in a .50 Cal. Assault rifle. Apparently an American firm produced what they dubbed a mini-50 rifle (12.7mm). What do you guys think?

Oh and by the way, I still need confirmation on those US heavy tanks and if possible some decent reference material on their armament and so on. Armour values are a must.

[RecruitMonty]

~~##REDUNDANT!##~~

Go to age five of this thread for the Up to date icons of this US Heavy Tank. Thankyou for your understanding.

[RecruitMonty]

How do you post pictures up on screen as opposed to putting them in a file for download?

[PlasmaKrab]

Post the image to an image hoster (Imageshack or similar) or your own website and then use an "[img]" tag with the URL.

[RecruitMonty]

Thanks. I think, for the moment I will skip that.

[MarkSheppard]

I can provide detailed drawings and specs of all the US WWII/Early 1950s Heavy tank programs; just give me some time and I'll do it in a huuuuge US-mega thread

[RecruitMonty]

Excellent. Thankyou very much. I look forward to it.

[MarkSheppard]

And here it is, over in the WW2 forum. (http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=521933&page=0&view=collap sed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1)

[oragus]

So Monty, do you want me to try my hand at those Monsters? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Mark, I haven't seen so much info on those before. That is awesome! That makes me want to try them out...LOL... But it your gonna do them Monty no need for both of us to do them...LOL...

[MarkSheppard]

It's not as hard as you think:

------

"Jumbo Pershing": Take your normal Pershing icon, and change a pixel or two to represent the thicker more bulged turret and hull front.

----

"Super Pershing:" Take your normal Pershing Icon, and then lengthen the gun to be longer

------

M6 Heavy Tank , M6 with 90mm, and M6A2E1 = The hull is shared across all of these, and to get the M6 with 90mm, you just lengthen the gun, and delete the 37mm coaxial on the M6 turret.

For the M6A2E1; you'll need to do some work on teh turret, sadly.

------

The T29, T29E3, T30, and T34 all share the same basic hull and turret; the only difference really is perhaps a rearrangement of the engine deck louvers and the number and location of the turret hatches. You can simply lengthen or shorten the gun barrel length as needed.

EDIT:

I included my rough renditions of them in that link. Perhaps you can take a look at them and see what I'm talking about, and majorly improve on my crude renditions.

[RecruitMonty]

Your "crude" renditions are already better than the ones I knocked together from my side shots. I just blew some Pershings up. I will have to redo those using those icons and your rough copies.

Oragus, if you want to have a bash as well, then please do. I would love to see what you come up with. Could you perhaps work on the earlier heavy tank. The one with the massive turret. Thanks.

[oragus]

You referring to the M6 & M6A2? I will have to do to both. That is kinda how I work. I start with the base model and work from there. No problem, I will put that on the list for sure.

I can try my hand at all of them...LOL...If its wanted. scribble, scribble on the list....lol..

I have seen some of those big dawgs. I think I may even have some pics from Fort Knox KY now that I think about it. The Patton Armor Museum has a couple of those if my memory serves me right. I'll have to dig around for them. If I find them. I'll post them.

[RecruitMonty]

Great. The M6 and M6A2 are indeed the models I was refering to. I have re-done the others and am now working on redoing the winter icons as well.

[RecruitMonty]

~~##REDUNDANT!##~~

Go to page five of this thread to pick up the new USA Heavies. Thankyou for your understanding.

~~Original Message:~~
Once again I would like to thank everyone for their interest and in particular Mark and Oragus for their help with this project. I would also like to take this chance to add another semi-fictional model, the M104, into the mix. I think you can guess which vehicles this tank has gotten its inspiration from.

[RecruitMonty]

Hey Mark,

I take it in order to calculate the armour values for these monsters all I need to do is find the averages for the front sides and back (Turret and chasis respectively) and then work out the angles of the armour slope. Any idea as to what they might be?

As for speeds and what not what are the conversions for land based vehicles? I have only ad t work out speeds for aircraft thus far.

[Marcello]

"As for speeds and what not what are the conversions for land based vehicles?"

max km/h speed divided by 3

For example a vehicle with a maximum speed of 75 km would have a speed of 25 in the game.

[oragus]

The "M-104" of yours looks just like the M103A2 with a couple additives. The M103A2 don't have the search light though. If you look in the "Master Icon List" you should find it. To save time look for the M103 in Mobhack find what icon number the M103 is and it should be right there. I submitted that a LONG time ago for MBT but it never got used to the best of my knowledge.

Just a thought.

[RecruitMonty]

You guessed it. It is a larger version of the M103 including some of the refinements found on the M60. The search light, the camo scheme, parts of the chasis and of course an upgrade on the gun. It will be a little heavier than the M103 and will begin production in tandem with the M60.

~~#UPDATE#~~

Here are the new Luftwaffe models I worked on. Bombers, fighters and some hypothetical stuff for the sixties, seventies and eighties.

[RecruitMonty]

Some of the aircraft might be missing. If someone would be kind enough to send me back a list of names of the planes within then I will post up those that are missing. If indeed they are that is.

[MarkSheppard]

I take it in order to calculate the armour values for these monsters all I need to do is find the averages for the front sides and back (Turret and chasis respectively) and then work out the angles of the armour slope. Any idea as to what they might be?

The way I do it is I calculate the different slopes and thicknesses like

Upper Glacis 100mm @ 55 degrees = 281 mm effective
Lower Glacis 65mm @ 40 degrees = 106 mm effective

281+106 = 387

387/2 = 193.5

So effective total frontal thickness is 19cm.

Of course this all presupposes that both glacis angles are of equal height. I really need to do some measurements of actual tanks and suchlike to find the proper ratios.

But I do like this system, because it allows me to represent the changes in the JS-2s frontal armor as time goes on

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6020/js2frontalle7.gif

[MarkSheppard]

Here's the thickness and Slope data for a bunch of tanks:

M6 Heavy Tank

HULL (angle w/vertical)
Upper Front: 83mm @ 30
Lower Front: 102 to 70mm @ 0 to 60
Upper Sides: 44mm @ 20
Lower Sides: 70mm @ 0 (incl Track Armor)
Rear: 41mm @ 17
Top: 25mm @ 90
Floor: 25mm @ 90

TURRET
Gun Shield: 102mm @ 0
Front: 83mm @ 7
Sides: 83mm @ 0
Rear: 83mm @ 0
Top: 25mm @ 90

-------------------

M6A2E1:


HULL (angle w/vertical)
Front: 191mm @ 0
Upper Sides: 44mm @ 20
Lower Sides: 70mm @ 0 (incl Track Armor)
Rear: 41mm @ 17
Top: 25mm @ 90
Floor: 25mm @ 90

TURRET
Gun Shield: 191mm @ 0
Front: 191mm @ 0
Sides: 89mm @ 0
Rear: 208mm @ 0
Top: 25mm @ 90

---------------------

Superheavy Tank T28 (105mm GMC T95)


HULL (angle w/vertical)
Gun Shield: 292mm @ 0
Upper Front: 305mm @ 0
Lower Front: 133mm @ 60
Upper Sides: 64mm @ 57
Lower Sides: 152mm @ 0
Rear: 51mm @ 9
Top: 38mm @ 90
Floor: 25mm @ 90

--------------

Heavy Tank T29


HULL (angle w/vertical)
Upper Front: 102mm @ 54
Lower Front: 70mm @ 58
Front Sides: 76mm @ 0
Rear Sides: 51mm @ 0
Upper Rear: 51mm @ 9
Lower Rear: 19mm @ 62
Top: 38mm @ 90
Front Floor: 25mm @ 90
Rear Floor: 13mm @ 90

TURRET
Gun Shield: 203-279mm @ 0
Front: 178mm @ 30
Sides: 127mm @ 5
Rear: 102mm @ 0
Top: 38mm @ 90

-------------

Heavy Tank T29E3

HULL (angle w/vertical)
Upper Front: 102mm @ 54
Lower Front: 70mm @ 58
Front Sides: 76mm @ 0
Rear Sides: 51mm @ 0
Upper Rear: 51mm @ 9
Lower Rear: 19mm @ 62
Top: 38mm @ 90
Front Floor: 25mm @ 90
Rear Floor: 13mm @ 90

TURRET
Gun Shield: 203-279mm @ 0
Front: 178mm @ 30
Sides: 127mm @ 5
Rear: 102mm @ 0
Top: 38mm @ 90

-----------

Heavy Tank T30


HULL (angle w/vertical)
Upper Front: 102mm @ 54
Lower Front: 70mm @ 58
Front Sides: 76mm @ 0
Rear Sides: 51mm @ 0
Upper Rear: 51mm @ 9
Lower Rear: 19mm @ 62
Top: 38mm @ 90
Front Floor: 25mm @ 90
Rear Floor: 13mm @ 90

TURRET
Gun Shield: 203-279mm @ 0
Front: 178mm @ 30
Sides: 127mm @ 5
Rear: 102mm @ 0
Top: 38mm @ 90

------------

Heavy Tank T32

HULL (angle w/vertical)
Upper Front: 127mm @ 54
Lower Front: 95mm @ 59
Sides: 76mm @ 0
Rear: 51mm @ 9
Top: 38mm @ 90
Front Floor: 25mm @ 90
Rear Floor: 13mm @ 90

TURRET
Gun Shield: 298mm @ 0
Front: 298mm @ 15
Sides: 197 to 152mm @ 9
Rear: 152mm @ 0
Top: 25mm @ 90

----------

Heavy Tank T34

HULL (angle w/vertical)
Upper Front: 102mm @ 54
Lower Front: 70mm @ 58
Front Sides: 76mm @ 0
Rear Sides: 51mm @ 0
Upper Rear: 51mm @ 9
Lower Rear: 19mm @ 62
Top: 38mm @ 90
Front Floor: 25mm @ 90
Rear Floor: 13mm @ 90

TURRET
Gun Shield: 203 to 279mm @ 0
Front: 178mm @ 15
Sides: 127mm @ 0
Rear: 203mm @ 0
Top: 38mm @ 90

----------------

90mm Gun T15E2
70 Caliber
3420 lb total weight
Separated Ammunition
4 rounds/minute

Muzzle Velocity
AP T43 (APBC-T) = 3200 ft/sec (975 m/sec)
HVAP T44 (APCR-T) = 3750 ft/sec (1143 m/sec)
HE T42 = 3,200 ft/sec (975 m/sec)

Muzzle Energy
AP T43 (APBC-T) = 1711 ft/tons
HVAP T44 (APCR-T) = 1628 ft/tons
HE T42 = 1654 ft/tons

Penetration
AP T43 (APBC-T) 127mm of Homogenous Armor at 30 deg obliquity at 1000 yds (914m)
AP T43 (APBC-T) 122mm of Homogenous Armor at 30 deg obliquity at 2000 yds (1829m)
AP T43 (APBC-T) 74mm of Homogenous Armor at 55 deg obliquity at 1000 yds (914m)
AP T43 (APBC-T) 71mm of Homogenous Armor at 55 deg obliquity at 2000 yds (1829m)

HVAP T44 (APCR-T) 221mm of Homogenous Armor at 30 deg obliquity at 1000 yds (914m)
HVAP T44 (APCR-T) 173mm of Homogenous Armor at 30 deg obliquity at 2000 yds (1829m)
HVAP T44 (APCR-T) 94mm of Homogenous Armor at 55 deg obliquity at 1000 yds (914m)
HVAP T44 (APCR-T) 64mm of Homogenous Armor at 55 deg obliquity at 2000 yds (1829m)

Maximum Range
HE T42 = 27,000 yards (24,689 m)

------------

105mm Guns T5E1 and T5E2
65 Caliber
6300 lb total weight
Separated Ammunition
6 rounds/min with Autoloader

Muzzle Velocity
AP-T T32 (APBC-T) = 3000 ft/sec (914 m/sec)
HVAP-T T29E3 (APCR-T) = 3700 ft/sec (1128 m/sec)
HE T30E1 = 2,300 ft/sec (717 m/sec)

Muzzle Energy
AP-T T32 (APBC-T) = 2433 ft/tons
HVAP-T T29E3 (APCR-T) = 2335 ft/tons
HE T30E1 = 2232 ft/tons

Penetration
AP-T T32 (APBC-T) 135mm of Homogenous Armor at 30 deg obliquity at 1000 yds (914m)
AP-T T32 (APBC-T) 119mm of Homogenous Armor at 30 deg obliquity at 2000 yds (1829m)
AP-T T32 (APBC-T) 84mm of Homogenous Armor at 60 deg obliquity at 1000 yds (914m)
AP-T T32 (APBC-T) 69mm of Homogenous Armor at 60 deg obliquity at 2000 yds (1829m)

Undetermined Maximum Range

-----------

120mm GUN T53
60 Caliber
7405 lb total weight
Separated Ammunition
5 rounds/min with two loaders

Estimated Performance:
AP (APBC) 198mm of Homogenous Armor at 30 deg obliquity at 1000 yds (914m)
AP (APBC) 173mm of Homogenous Armor at 30 deg obliquity at 2000 yds (1829m)
AP (APBC) 102mm of Homogenous Armor at 60 deg obliquity at 1000 yds (914m)
AP (APBC) 91mm of Homogenous Armor at 60 deg obliquity at 2000 yds (1829m)

HVAP (APCR) 381mm of Homogenous Armor at 30 deg obliquity at 1000 yds (914m)
HVAP (APCR) 318mm of Homogenous Armor at 30 deg obliquity at 2000 yds (1829m)
HVAP (APCR) 112mm of Homogenous Armor at 60 deg obliquity at 1000 yds (914m)
HVAP (APCR) 76mm of Homogenous Armor at 60 deg obliquity at 2000 yds (1829m)

--------------

155mm Guns T7 and T7E1
40 Caliber
5,100 lb total weight
Separated Ammunition
2 rounds/min with two loaders
HE = 2,300 ft/sec (717 m/sec) Muzzle Velocity
Undetermined Maximum Range

NOTES: The T7E1 differed from the T7 in that it was modified
for use with power rammer and ejection equipment.

[RecruitMonty]

Excellent work Mark. I have added the icons in now so I am most greatful for this data. The new units should be in-game shortly.

[RecruitMonty]

Ok, I am increasingly thinking that the subordinate OOBs, those which would be regions within the empire or those still part of the Allied Remnant, should just have all of their real world units cut and have the bulk of their units, formations and so on tailored to the Imperial or allied line. What do you guys think?

How should I go about this. Just gut the OOBs or replace things systematically to cut dowwn on picklist work?

[PlasmaKrab]

Think you can do a bit of both? What would be the room allowed by Imperial authorities to local manufacturing and design? For those countries that are going to be integral Imperial provinces, I'd suggest going for the "official" imperial pack, or maybe some Warsaw-Pact-style variations (with more or less variation depending on the freedom allowed for said country, and local initiative.
Allied Remnant countries can have a more patched-up kit IMHO, at least for the early years. Look at the early Israeli OOB for similar results given by similar context.

[RecruitMonty]

~~#Time for another update#~~

Here we have some Helicopters for you to look at and play with. Introducing the: Do. 205 (a grey and elongated version of the Huey), The Kormoran, again it will look familiar to you but it is slightly different (it is also jet black, looks more imposing that way) and finally the Kaiser, this you will also recognise.

All have undergone some structural changes and the paint scheme has also been edited a little. Enjoy!

[MarkSheppard]

Oh, if it's not too much work, perhaps you could write a little manual to go with the mod; so that we know what is what, and why it was developed.

I mean, all of us when we play WinMBT, we know what a Leopard 1 and 2 are; along with M-48, M-60 and M-1; but we don't know that for your alt history units.

[RecruitMonty]

With pleasure. I will work on it after I have finalised all the units. I hope you don't mind reading it yourself. Not all the units are new so I won't be producing notes on everything.

[RecruitMonty]

OK, I have some more questions for you guys.

Where should I stick single icon unit shps? What file numbers should I create?

I am also trying to come up with some new COIN aircraft for my Imperial OOB. I thought about using the Stuka, Me 109 (jet and propeller version), the Me. 1099 C and much later the Alpha jet and the Tornado. Any suggestions on plane types or on armament?

[RecruitMonty]

(Previous material deleted by Recruit Monty).
~~#UPDATE#~~

I found schematics and pictures for these aircraft and have made icons for most of them. Thus far I have made icons for:
#EWR VJ101 C
#EWR VJ101 C X4A
#Me. VJ101 B
#Me. XVJ101 B
#VJ101 D
#VJ101 E
#AVS
#EWR A 400

I now have the VFW VAK 191 MK. 2 and 4. and the Do. 31 to do. Attached you will find the icons and the PDF file I got the inspiration from. I hope you like them. BTW I still need advice on where to put new single shp icons and now I could do with some suggestions from you guys for where I should place these new planes in my timeline.

OK, Where is everyone? I have noticed a lack of activity here. Is everyone on holiday or what? BTW I need some advice on developing a cheaper and lighter tank for the Imperial forces. At the moment I am using the Swiss tanks, with minor alterations to the paint scheme and the layout of the turrets. They don't look German enough though. I am looking into using the Buford for the States and the Marines.

[RecruitMonty]

Post deleted by RecruitMonty

[PlasmaKrab]

What do you plan on doing with the Bergepanzers? Do you include ARVs in your orbats? If so, how do you use it?

Nitpicking aside, the icons are great http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif The Hyaene turret is a step forwards in detail. Which weapons is it supposed to use? There's something looking like a rocket pack on the latest version, or is it uparmoring?

[RecruitMonty]

The Bergepanzers will function in the same way as the existing ones. In OOB 44 they also fulfill an ammunition resupply role. As for ARVs, well I hadn't thought about that. I know for a fact that that is what a Bergepanzer is for, but the game doesn't really allow much scope for that (from what I have seen) otherwise the vehicles that are already in-game (the ones that represent bergepanzers) would fulfill that role, oder?

Thanks for the compliments. The other Tiger III icons will also be upgraded in a similar way. The Hyaene sports a 105mm gun, like the Leopards, but will be cheaper and more mobile. The late era vehicles do indeed have rocket packs on them. The pack itself is a port off of another vehicle (with some minor alterations).

The addition of ATGMs to the tank in the later stages of the game allows it to punch above its weight a little more. As it is a lighter tank, it also travels quickly. I also foresee it taking on reconaissance roles and supporting paratroop and airmobile operations.

[RecruitMonty]

Post deleted by RecruitMonty

[MarkSheppard]

Hey monty; how about these:

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/8043/pict1442th2.jpg

Panzer IV with cleaned up forward hull, same basic engine and suspension, and aft hull.

http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/9149/conwalterpz4w05groxp4.jpg
http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/2166/conwalterpz4w02grozg0.jpg

Same thing as above, but with new side skiry design + a schmallturm mounting some version of a 75mm L70.

[Marcello]

Frankly I have to wonder how the suspensions, drive train etc. would cope with a L70 and substantially heavier armor added at the same time. What components could you atually retain ?

[Marek_Tucan]

The armor needs not to be heavier (dunno about the specific case), better shaping with the same weight might do the trick... Or even spare some weight.

[RecruitMonty]

I'll Think about it. It might make a good "Panzer IV K" It would be the missing link between the Hyaene and the Panzer IVs.

[arc3371]

Some questions is there a complete OOB to download? And in that case which one does it replace?

[RecruitMonty]

There will be a number of complete OOBS. Imperial OOBS in the 1st release will include: Germany (44), Denmark (35) as the primary German OOB (long story), Switzerland (50 something), Austria and France.

Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada will need some work and the French and Belgian OOBs will contain "Free-" variants as well. The Canadian OOB wil be a composite of the British OOBs.

Oh, By the way, if you read the previous entries I am fairly sure that the set up of the OOBs and so on is discussed.

[RecruitMonty]

Post deleted by RecruitMonty

[RecruitMonty]

~Update~

The Canadian and British OOBs have finally been spliced together. Early on there is a lot of US equipment and real world British equipment of the time is scarce. Later on however the "British Canadians" begin developing their own tanks, APCs and so forth. I am thinking of creating some extra Arctic formations and stripping the BOV series vehicles from the Europeans. I will have to cook up an arctic version of the S-Pz. 115 D (Reich APC) though. The arctic formations will be fully mechanised (BOVs a plenty) and they will have BOV support units too (SAM, ATGM, Recoilless Rifle, Mortar etc).

As for heavy tanks, well what do you guys think? Should the British Canadians have a dedicated Heavy Tank or should the Americans be the only ones to field Heavy Tanks (amongst the allies)?

The German OOBs (35 and 44) have undergone some recent changes too. The Leopard 1 class tanks now come in two varieties, Light and Medium. The original spec. is light, the new and improved up-armoured spec. is heavy. Late variants, from the 80s onwards will be fitted with a 110mm gun. The regular vehicles will be used by lighter and more mobile armoured formations, (paratroop support, light infantry, colonial infantry etc) and the bigger ones will be used by high end units, like the ISS (die Imperialische Schutzstaffel) the mechanised Jaeger (elite "Gross-Deutschland division like" heavy infantry) and other select units.

Development of a new fully integrated and air mobile combined arms unit is also in the cards. From the Late 60s onwards the Imperial Airmobile arm will be using haevy helicopters to transport light tanks and mechanised mortars alongside the infantry.

A new interim MBT, the Panther III (name subject to a change if required) has also been added in with an improved 105mm gun. It runs from 1950-1964 and looks a lot like the Hyaene (if anyone has seen it) only the chasis is longer and the turret a little more rudimentary. The Loewe II A has been erased from service.

The American Heavy tanks now run from 1946-2020 and are performing well. The early Soviet heavies have been bolstered by the JS 7 and some other vehicles are on the cards.

The German heavy tanks are facing one final set of alterations. The early Kaisertiger series was fitted with a 110mm gun instead of the 128mm. I think that as the Loewe class vehicles are meant to be the compromise vehicles, a compromise between the super heavies and the MBTs, then surely they should mount the 110mm gun. Any thoughts?

That's all, for the moment folks.

[RecruitMonty]

Just a little update. I am reworking the USA heavies, the earlier ones. Due to limited space I have moved the early heavies (40s) to the Green OOB. I re-worked the icons and I am re-working their guns. Problem is I can't figure out the correct figures from the info. Marksheppard gave me. I will need some advice folks.

Along with these alterations I also matched my USA and Soviet OOBs up with Plasmakrab's and I have begun work on the White Russian Revivalist OOB.

[RecruitMonty]

Ok, here are the re-worked US heavies. I am not sure about their in-game armour values so I will reproduce them here for comment.

T 29:
Hull Front: 15
Hull Sides: 6
Hull Rear: 5

Turret Front: 23
Turret Sides: 13
Turret Rear: 10

Top: 4

T 29E1:
Hull Front: 15
Hull Sides: 6
Hull Rear: 5

Turret Front: 23
Turret Sides: 14
Turret Rear: 10

Top: 4

T 30:
Hull Front: 15
Hull Sides: 6
Hull Rear: 5

Turret Front: 23
Turret Sides: 14
Turret Rear: 10

Top: 4

T 34:
Hull Front: 15
Hull Sides: 6
Hull Rear: 5

Turret Front: 21
Turret Sides: 13
Turret Rear: 10

Top: 4

[RecruitMonty]

Oh and as a little surprise, my version of a late 90s - 21st Century US Heavy Tank.

[RecruitMonty]

Here are the latest versions of my Aircraft icons. Some have been made smaller others have undergone minor cosmetic alterations.

[PlasmaKrab]

Yay! 21st century Paladin heavy tank! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif
How's this one supposed to go, OOB-wise?
And, er, do I have a wee bitty sense of déjà-vu in the chassis design? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[RecruitMonty]

The Paladin originally looked a lot like the one out of C and C Generals, hence the name. I took a good, long hard look at it and decided to re-do everything as it was too fat on the bottom and too thin on the top.

The Turret was too thin so I fattened her up a bit. I thinned the gun down a bit and then began to experiment with extra weapon configurations (borrowed some of yours). The front part of the Hull is a reworked version of your Abrams and I borrowed the side armour off of your M11 series vehicle and changed the camo pattern and so on.

I took out the Block 3 series vehicles as they were too advanced for my time scale. In order to understand how the new armour works in te OOBs youfirst need to understand how the primary opponent's OOB works. The Imperial Armed Forces are that opponent and as they possess a good number of different tanks for different jobs it is necessary for others to broaden their selection too. It breaks down like this.

At the top we have the Super Heavy Tanks and their TD/Engineering variants. These vehicles play a supporting role (TD in defence and Heavy Tanks as the sharp end of any major armoured spearhead).

In between Super Heavy and MBT class tanks we have the Loewe Class of Heavy MBT (this vehicle is lighter than the other two classes of Heavy tank and is also faster and more highly engineered).

Then we have the MBTs which can either come in uparmoured or lighter forms (depending on the missions, climate, terrain etc). A series of dedicated TD and engineering variants exists for these weapons as well.

Right at the bottom we have the highly mobile Cavalry Tanks. They are used in an infantry support role or as a rapid responce armoured force.

In order to cope with this other nations, like the US and her allies, need a more developed force structure rather than the one size fits all approach embodied by the MBT.

For the USA it works like this:

Heavy tanks: From the T-29s to the Paladins. These weapons were developed to handle the Imperial heavies and work in conjunction with TD units and air support so as to maximise chances of a kill and in turn prevent being killed. During the 50s and right through to the 80s parity with the Germans is difficult to achieve but from the 40s-50s and the 80s-90s (and beyond) the heavy tanks of the USA are more than capable of handling the German heavies.

TD: (Under development) up armoured and mounting heavier guns than the medium tanks of the US.

Medium/MBT: Needs no explanation. Primary task is to deal with the enemies medium tanks/MBTs and to support the heavier armour when needed.

Light Tanks: Cavalry tanks designed for use alongside mobile infantry formations and as a rapid response armoured formation.

For the Soviet Union a similar force structure is in operation, the primary difference being that the Soviets do not lack heavy tanks comporable to those of the Germans.

[PanzerBob]

DL'd your fine artwork, very nice E10 & E20 creations. I was equally impressed with the rest. Of course the other half of the fun is putting them in to my OOB's. Thank you again. Love this game.

Prosit!!

[RecruitMonty]

Thankyou very much. I am glad you like them. If you need any advice on anything or, if you have any requests, then don't hesitate to ask.

[RecruitMonty]

Post Deleted.

[RecruitMonty]

Post Deleted.

[hoek]

hi
thanks for the work done.

but perhaps im too dumb, how do i install/play this mod?

[RecruitMonty]

It isn't ready yet. There is nothing to install. All there is at the moment are a number of icons which I have prodced and will be in the mod.

[RecruitMonty]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hello everyone, just wishing you a very Merry Christmas. Oh and a nice little update.

[RecruitMonty]

The thread has been reformated. All of you who want the current stuff that is 100% done and dusted go to the first post in this thread and download the attachment. You will find a lot of good stuff in there but none of the tanks (heavies) from Germany as I am still not 100% happy with them. I also kept back some APCs and Armoured cars for later releases in conjunction with the latest batch of new tank icons.

Also you will be happy to know that work on my principle German OOB (OOB 35) has now come to an end. Work on 44 continues but now that 35 is finished the other Imperial OOBs will be quick to follow. 35 is the template OOB after all.

[RecruitMonty]

Here is the update. It changes the Heavy Armour icons (which, for now at least, are complete), adds in the Coelian and makes a nice big Russian transport plane available.

Observant forum users will have noticed that this post has yet again been edited. What that means is that I have changed the Heavy tank icons again (this time only the Kaisertiger turrets and the little Tiger III MBTs) and added in a Bergetiger IIIB (with a nice 28mm gun, a crane and an enclosed Casemate).

[RecruitMonty]

For a long while now one thing in particular has bothered me about the West German units I am using. The ATGM Panzers (Racketen-Jagdpanzers I and II and the Jaguars). On a recent search on the web for information on them I discovered some fine photographs and set to work developing some new icons (in grey I am afraid).

The Mk. I is guess work (it is based on the HS30 chasis (at least that is what I read).

The Mk. II is based off of the Kanone-Jagdpanzer 90 (without extra armour).

Finally the Jaguar, is just the regular icon, but this time in grey. Colours are uniform so if you want them green just use the original icons for the HS30, KanJgdpz. and Jaguar as a colour template.

I will probably make some winter and desert schemes and some camo. Camo if it is wanted by anyone else. I personally am after a different feel so if you want some camo you need to let me know.

[paganize]

Just so I'm clear on this, there isn't a usable in-game post-ww2 OOB for all this incredible sounding stuff, right? I have to be a pessimist about this, it sounds like something I've been looking for ever since Steel Panthers 1 first came out.

[RecruitMonty]

Panzer Bob is working on one for the Germans in Winspww2. He is re-doing a lot of it. But you might still like to take a look. Mine is still in development.

[PanzerBob]

Just a quick update, I'm still plugging at it.

[RecruitMonty]

With the arrival of the new patch, I will have to update my version of the game. I have saved all the files etc so this should not slow development down too much. As usual I spoke too soon. Development ground to a halt as I realised that I had all of a sudden run out of space for new units. I have swapped a couple of things around and now I can finally begin OOB comparison work (for the Marines etc)again.

[ccruler]

Has this mod died? I haven't heard about it in ages.

[RecruitMonty]

No, not at all. I am in the process of finalising the German (Reich) OOBs. New Assault rifles, new icons and of course updates regarding the nw patches. If you like, once I have completed the German OOB to my satisfaction you can have the OOB (along with associated files) to test. Feedback is absolutely necessary.

I am glad you are following its development. I can PM you some of the new icons if you like.

[ccruler]

Certainly, I wouldn't mind testing out the OOBs, and to see how it's progressed. I'm glad this mod hasn't died, it's one of only two mods I keep track of (the other being the Cold War 2020 mod)

[paganize]

I, also am waiting impatiently. I tried to do one myself and failed miserably.

[RecruitMonty]

Well, I have a lot more free time again so I am giving the OOB more attention. Infact I am in the middle of updating my light tank fleet. I could, of course use some help with the Allied OOBs. I'll get the German one out first, so the rest of you can take a look at it and then we might brainstorm some units for the Allies and Russians to help balance things out a bit.

A little help on the OOB designing side wouldn't go a miss when I come to re-visit those OOBs. Eventually the South American and some of the Middle-Eastern OOBs will need editing as well. I am also planning to hand the Green OOB over to the USA for good as I think the various different armoured units you will all want me to add will take up a heck of a lot of space.

[cbreedon]

Any news on this mod?

[RecruitMonty]

Hi,

I am the modder.

Here is a little progress report for you all ;):

Heavy Tanks:

1) E-90 "Kaisertiger" - Ausf. A bis F - finalised thru to 2000 +, Bergetiger models in the works.
2) E-100 "Mammut" - Ausf. A bis D - finalised thru to 1970, Ausf. E etc need work. Problem is the damn thing has a 150mm gun and, well no other tank I know of has one that big after the war. Don't want to make it smaller as the E-90 already sports a 128mm gun thru to 1990 or so. Hit a snag with the Jagdtiger variant (gun ever bigger 175mm:eek:) and am sort of thinking about maybe just limiting it to the immediate aftermath of WWII as I am lacking ideas to implement it later on.
3) E-75 "Tiger III" - Ausf. A bis D - finalised thru to mid 60s (replaced by Leopard MBT). Jagdtiger II ? Maybe!
4) Löwe - Ausf. A - finalised. Had thought about maybe making this into a kind of Heavy (H)MBT that would keep pace with the Leopards but am not so happy with the idea now. Am lacking inspiration here.

MBTs:

1) PzKpfW. V "Panther" - Ausf A bis J - finalised (incl. FlakPzs., Bergepanthers etc.).
2) E-50 "Panther II" - Ausf. A bis B - finalised (incl. FlakPzs. and Bergepanthers etc.), Ausf. C etc. (? - most probably just be replaced by E-75 and is definately finished with when Leopard shows up in 65).
Leopard 1 - Ausf. 1 bis 1A5 - finalised (with up armoured variants as well as flak and mine clearers for all available models).
PzKpfW. IV - Ausf. G bis M - finalised (incl. Flak and some mine clearers).
"Hyäne" Cavalry (lt.) Tank (? - may need some revisions).

In General:

In general the mod is progressing slowly at present. The Marders, Luftwaffe stuff and the most recent "paper Panzers" posted up are a product of that work.

Regarding the Marders, mine are a little different from the ones I posted up (13,2mm FlaMg on the back of all five models instead of the 7,62mm MG 3 on the back of just the first etc). The ones on the forum are just vanilla Bundeswehr. The Paper Panzers are just the 1945-46 stuff. I will post up the newest versions of those in the next couple of days.

Have pretty well finalized the fleet of heavy tanks for the Germans - Am working on my APCs at the moment. Hit a snag with the Marders - see Marder Begleitpanzer 57mm post - and so have gone back to reviewing my SWS instead. Will need to review my SPz. Büffel icons and add a mortar, flak etc to the series. Will also need to think about coming out with some more models for the HS30 - maybe an interim design based on the early Marder prototypes.

Will need to concentrate on support units like Bergepanzers and self propelled Arty (Selbstfahrleffeten etc) after the APCs are done. Will then need to take a look at my Helos again.:doh:

Made some Stug IVs and some Luftwaffe stuff (may add more).

Hope that gives you all some insight. When I started this project I had not quite understood the shear volume of units I would need to produce. As it is I have made a lot of icons and when I get back to OOB work the West German OOB will be full. I will need to use a second OOB probably. Will eventually coopt the Austrians, Swiss etc too. It is a big project. :)

[Suhiir]

Just out of curiosity has anyone tried to make a Landkreuzer P1000 "Ratte" ?

[RecruitMonty]

Dear All,

Please see new post in Mod section of this forum for further info regarding developments on this mod.

Monty.