first, the run down on a little used weapon of WW2 :)
Maus - super heavy MBT
crew - 5
mass - 188 metric tons (modern MBT is ~60T, WW2 MBT ~30-55 T)
max speed - 13 kmph (8mph) (very slow)
length - 10.09 m
width - 3.67 m
height - 3.66 m
guns - 5" cannon, 3" secondary cannon, (MG probable)
armour - 40mm - 240mm depending on facing
Developed by Porsche, variants with 6" and 6.7" main guns were also
proposed but not built. At teh front, the armour was considerablt
thicker tahn many modern tanks. Prototype first tested in 1943. It was
so heavy that no bridge could hold it, and had to have a snorkel
arrangement for crossing rivers.
2 prototypes were built, 9 in varying stages of construction by 1945.
One prototype was in a Moscow museum, at least until 1995.
If anyone wants the rundown on other WW2 tanks, I recommend Janes Tanks
of WW2 published by COllins. 'Twas 4 GBP.
---
This tank was essentially the nearest thing in scale to a walker. At
that speed (its contemporaries did 20-40mph depending on weight), it
would have been too slow to mount a serious offensive. Now walkers have
all teh weapons in hard-to-reach places, and without autoloaders (except
MG), you could only put MG in the arms. I would also be worried about
recoil on a bipedal model. EVAs used energy weapons which are virtually
recoillless so there was no problem, right?
America itself could conceivably build one of these monsters. But it
would be fun trying to get it to teh battle front, as it was too heavy
for any airlift, and ships with one of these would sit *very* low in the
water, if the thing could even get into the cargo space (remember, no
supertankers like we have today). Similar problems would exist with a
British model, although it could be useful for defending Blighty. France
was basically devasted. A Russian walker might be viable though - after
Germany, they had the second best tank at the end of WW2, and they had a
land frontier, and huge production facilities (Tankograd, just beyond
the Urals).
The date is early 1946. World War II is still raging and the Axis
is
desperite
for any weapon that will turn the tide. Thus armored walkers are
introduce.
Germany first deployes the armored walkers in late 1945. <<
Two words: Manhattan Project. Unless you remove the A-bomb from the
scene,
Germany will get nuked instead of Japan if WW2 is still going on by
1946.
Walkers won't be of any help. With the attitude of the time, they
would have
been lobbing A-bombs all over Europe to stop those walkers if they
had to.
This isn't too difficult, I could elaborate if no one else knows what
I'm
talking about.
Actually, there's an easy way to take the Manhattan Project out of the
scene.
Have an 'accident' occur with the bomb device while in production
(instant
'Second Impact' like event.)
Well, I wouldn't say second impact... the bombs used in WW2 were almost
as powerful as the (relative) pea shooters India tested not too long
ago. ie they were around 20-100 kilotons. modern weapons being
multi-MEGA-ton warheads, often mirv-ed too. Still, it would mean a bit
of Nevada would be even less hospitable than it already wasn't.
The armored walkers are humaniod war machine. Like the EVAs they
are
powered
by an electric line. Due to lack of strategic materals, the armored
walkers
are made small (about 30 feet high).<<
Hmm, dodgy here. One of the main reasosn Germany lost was lack of fuel
(they could synthesise explosives easily). While a walker wouldn't need
to carry fuel if powered by a line, teh power generators would still
require vast quantities of fuel. Also, teh wasted power from those lines
would be considerable - I imagine superconductors would eliminate that
wasted power problem by teh time of Evangelion.
At whats to stop a clever infantryman from walking up and cutting teh
power line? Unlike teh angels, who only seemed to appear in ones and
twos, a hundred (or more) infantry could easily rush teh walker and cut
teh power line. Ok, many would die, but small price to pay for capturing
a walker intact.
That physical size corresponds well with the Maus the Germans tried to
build.
[snip]
This small size plus the fact that they
are built with 1940's technoligy, force the size of the cockpit to be
vary
small. Thus requiring a very small pilot.<<
fyi: tank crews are specially picked from physically small soldiers in
many armies.
Shinji and his friends should feel lucky they have automatic loading
systems. In WW2 tanks (and modern ones like the M1) the shells are
loaded
manually. An auto-loader using 40's tech would NOT fit onto a walker
of the
size you specified. You need 3 people per walker. Driver, loader and
commander.
This means no arm-mounted autocannon. Heck, no arm-mounted cannon. I
suspect this limits teh weapons potential somewhat. Also, arm mounted
chainswords etc would be useless unless you expect your enemy to have
similar walkers.
[snip]
Were you planning to use machineguns only on the walkers? It'd be fun
shooting troops, until they drove a tank to knock out your legs.
Rockets might be feasible, but they'd have to be aimed by the crew
through
the viewports (no auto-targeting remember)
The Walkers, again, if designed like a Guymalef, would be capable of
using the
gun of a tank as there standard side arm. The Germans were great
weapons
designers and probably could rig a armoured backpack-like thing to the
back of
the walkers with the ammo for the gun chain fed to the weapon (probably
use a
Howetser (sp?) 6" gun.)
'Howitzer'. And these are Indirect fire weapons if anyone isn't in the
know.
6" is vast for a tank gun. The M26, USA's final WW2 tank, had a 3.5"
gun. Russia's T34 had a 3.35" gun, and the Germans considered that tank
to be the best in the world.
Are you proposing a system where a batch of explosive shells are
essentially strapped to the back with no armour protection? Hmm, can you
say 'roman candle'? I knew you could.
I'd really like to read it if you or someone else did it. Please,
someone do
this idea. Please?
---
Rhialto
Do not try.
Do, or do not.
There is no try.