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[Taricus]

Actually it isn't, just major effort. Thus, I'd say we'd switch it from being a general vehicle to a specialised one, if we actually want it to see action within the year.

[tryrar]

If nothing else, we get gun stabilizers from this, so it isn't a total wash. Though, we might need to put in an additional revision to correct the stabilizer glitch if we actually wanna use it, though I'm not sure how useful that is.

As for what we design next, what do you guys think about a mobile SPAAA using twin 25mm gast autocannons? not only would it have a pretty damn good rate of fire, but we can easily adapt the guns as aircraft cannons

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Looks like we rolled 1 for the tank, radio isn't great either... Ay least we got techs we will use in a real MBT and future electronics.

I vote to redesignate the to a specialized role, because it is not the tank we should give to every infantry unit.

In fact the tank is not that bad... it still can fire on the move even if not very reliably and it is deadly for tanks with a weaker cannon.

As for the next turn....

I see several plans:

Plan A aka prepare to fight for the future islands
a) Develop a very small ship\small vehicle to carry marines. 
b) Revise our troop transporter to make it helicopter and aforementioned very small ship carrier
c) Revise attack variant of Pigeon to act against enemy ships and support landings

Plan B aka ensure conquest of Java
a) Develop a light APC armed with a light autocannon
b) Revise either bolt or pigeon or yellowjacket to use the same autocannon for the ground support
c) Improve the tank

Plan C aka time to mess with enemy navies
a) Design small warship armed with bumblebee, helicopter pad, *insert some new weapon* and limited troop transport ability
b) Revise naval version of Pigeon
c) Revise recon version of yellowjacket or pigeon with transistor radio and on onboard radar

For A plan I am thinking about something like this:

Frog APC
A light wheeled APC (driver+5 passengers) created to be used by marine infantry and airborne units. Being armed with a single Sorraria on the roof and made from aluminium it is light enough to be loaded in a transport plane and has minor amphibious capability allowing it to cross river or be deployed near shallow waters by troop carries.
[small, general, 2 ore, 2 oil]

Rearming it with an autocannon is tempting, but I am afraid that it will be too heavy.

[tryrar]

Not if we go with the Gast 25mm autocannon idea I had. Even if we have it weigh 50 or even 100% more than the GSh-23, that's still 220 pounds max for the gun(call it 300-400 pounds with full ammo load), and will provide a nasty, nasty surprise for anything less than an actual tank. We can have a bow-mounted Sorraia for infantry work. Heck, if we design it properly we can have the gun elevate high enough to act as improvised light AA!

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Problem is that it may lead to +1 cost for being amphibious\+1 cost for gast system...  100-150kg additional weight is not a minor addition to weight for something that may need to be transported by air or cross few hundreds metres of water.

One way around it is a plan like this

a) Design a light APC with steel armor and gast autocannon
(or revolving automatic cannon). This version will be for general infantry use
b) Revise version of that APC with aluminium armor, lighter Sorraria and water crossing abilities
c) Revise our troop carrier to be able to unload such APCs close to the shore and carry helicopters.

Guys, if you want to switch the revised tank to a specialized role, please mention it to let Zanz note it

[Taricus]

+1 to switching the revised tak into a specialist role.

Now, firstly a ship with transport helicopters isn't going to be that useful, our opters just don't have the capacity to be effectively used as transports. We'd need a new helicopter for that.

So, depending how this turn goes for java, I'd likely go for either plan A or plan B

As for the tank, it looks more like we rolled a 2 after the espionage modifiers.

[tryrar]

Also +1 to switching tank to specialist

[tryrar]

Heh, I like your idea so much for the next turn UR I'm just gonna post my entry for the IFV.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

TFV-53 Weasel Infantry Fighting Vehicle. This light armored vehicle is purpose-built from the ground up to carry troops into battle, act as fast armored recon, and provide fire support against opposing scout elements. To that end, this tracked vehicle is armored against small arms, has a water-cooled, turbo-charged diesel engine, room for 6 troops(plus 4 crew members), and a small 2 man turret that houses a new, compact 25mm autocannon that utilises the gast principle to achieve a blistering rate of fire. It also has decent environmental sealing and provisions for equipment that lets it ford rivers. Finally, the autocannon has a high enough elevation to let it engage threatening helicopters and/or low-flying air elements.
[Vehicle, Medium, General][Target Cost:4 ore, 2 oil][New tech expected:25mm Gast Autocannon]

AC-25 Jackhammer Autocannon. A 25mm autocannon utilising the gast principle, which means it has two bareels at use the recoil of each to relaod the other. it is fed by two vertically mounted drum magazines that hold 250-300 round each, and fires a 25x110 cartridge.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

It looks cool, but

It also has decent environmental sealing and provisions for equipment that lets it ford rivers.

I am afraid it may be +1 from new tech

Target Cost:4 ore, 2 oil

It is 4 resources short now (+2 expnse levels), 3 resources short after we capture Java but that is true only in 1/6 cases, most likely it will roll for 1 or 2 more resources

AC-25 Jackhammer Autocannon. A 25mm autocannon utilising the gast principle, which means it has two bareels at use the recoil of each to relaod the other. it is fed by two vertically mounted drum magazines that hold 250-300 round each, and fires a 25x110 cartridge.

Doing this as a design action can be rather interesting because it spends no oil and we can field a lot of such things to our army.  Adding a line like - This autocannon is easy enough to install on trucks, in Pigeon's cargo hold on confiscated civilian vehicles gives us a good old ZU-23 with all its practical uses

but deployement... Deployement will suffer. I am really worried that we are lagging behind. I am rather sure that getting jet engine and rotors will benefit us in a long run but we have to do something with our naval deployement now

[tryrar]

No problem! The jackhammer can fit on just about anything we'd want a lightweight, rapid-fire autocannon, be it an IFV, a helicopter, a plane, or even a transport. Of course, if we do design is separately, that's cool too.

In fact, here's an idea for a transport while I'm at it:

ATH-53 "Bottlenose" Hovercraft Transport. This amphibious troop transport uses the principles of differential air pressure(achieved using large blowers) and an enclosing rubber skirting to "hover a few feet above the surface, allowing it to traverse water as well as land with equal ease. This allows it to access many more beaches than a traditional transport can, as well as ensure that it's cargo is deposited directly onto land.

The Bottlenose is large enough to carry a single T2 Breaker tank, as well as a dozen or so troops and a week or two of supplies and ammunition. it also has twin Jackhammer autocannon positions on side blisters, mounted in such a way to provide near 360 degree coverage between them(including the ability to fire at most close air targets), as well as positions to mount Sorraias as needed. Finally, the blowers and propulsion fans are powered by a turbo-charged marine diesel engine for maximum efficiency.

[Ship, very small, specialized][target cost:2 ore 1 oil][New Techs:25mm Autocannons, Hovercraft]

Yeah, I know makin gthis a hovercraft combined with the autocannon would mean we'd field a lot less transports than New Guinea, but ours would be a lot more capable so the tradeoff is worth it.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

That 25mm gun does almost nothing for the task of bringing more troops on the beach (If you ask me, our enemy did a huge mistake placing a heavy flak on theirs landing craft). Any tank carrier is awful to fight on land because of its size, howercraft or not. It will be a huge crawling underamored target in any land battle.

Minnow
Fast motor boat designed to deliver marines to the shore.  It is incredibly light because it is made from a mix of fiberglass and alluminium.. Furthemore it is light enough to be carried by a truck to assist river crossing and it is easy to pull on the shore by a landing party. While small it is durable and stable in ocean waters and can carry a lot of fuel.

[Ship, Very small, 1 ore (if we can choose +1 resource from bad roll should go here), 2 oil, 1 exotics(or is  it chemicals?) New tech: fiberglass]

Fiberglass will be rather useful in all branches of our army, unlike howercraft that is a very niche technology useful for one or two designs. Carrying vehicles to the shore is, IMO, overvalued, we may need such ships later but for now delievering infantry is enough. Maybe small instead of very small can work better. This boat has some revision potential for a light warship armed with missiles or torpedoes or depth charges should we immediately require one.

[Taricus]

Very small is fine, given that theirs is seemingly the same size for carrying a tank and infantry. Somehow.

That being said, hovercraft do have uses fighting in waterways and marshland where our regular tanks, as well as being able to secure a beachhead and being able to help secure ports for our larger transports to being in heavier units.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

I agree that howercrafts can be rather useful in some terrains, but ones large enough to carry tanks are way to large to act as IFV.

[Taricus]

Yeah, and I'll readily agree with that. Fibreglass, while useful, isn't going to be as much of a game-changer though, not as much as plastics and transistors are.

That being said, so long as we don't go over four expense levels anything we make will still be able to be built (Even if it is as a specialist unit), so that should be the upper limit of what we aim for. For a small vehicle or ship that means two new techs.


MALH-1 "Bottlenose" Hovercraft:
An ambitious small craft design intended to be fully amphibious, able to traverse over land and water with little difficulty on either. Capable of carrying a single squad into combat, whilst also able to engage light enemy units by itself with it's pintle-mounted .50 cal MG. Mounting enough armour on the vehicle's upper half (Leaving the skirt unarmoured) to stop a .30 cal round and able to reach speeds in excess of 100km/h makes the craft difficult for the enemy to deal with in it's preferred terrain.

[Vehicle, Small, General. Predicted Cost Of 2 Ore, 2 Oil. New Tech: Hovercraft]

(I'd throw in another tech, but I'm unsure what exactly we should mount onto it additionally.)

[10ebbor10]

Maybe [a Turboshaft engine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turboshaft).

Then again, we have a helicopter already, and I doubt it runs on a diesel engine.