US Prototypes MOD (v1)
The United States did a lot of experimental one shot prototypes, and actually did place mass production orders for many vehicles which never entered service.
This mod is to put these vehicles in so that players can see what would have happened if they had reached the battlefronts.
Version 1 is just a basic data/OOB mod representing the T20 series which led to the M-26 Pershing, there's no graphics done except for the LBMs; SHPs will come later.
The modifications so far are in:
Unit Slots 900 to 903 in OBAT 12 (USA)
Formation Slots 900 to 902 in OBAT 12 (USA)
I picked a nice high number, to allow for a lot of space in the OBATs to avoid confliction.
From 4/1944, you will be able to pick:
Prototype Unit
Prototype Plt
Prototype Co
in the ARMOR selection screen.
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New Units:
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T20 Series
The T2x series was the planned successor to the M-4 Sherman series of tanks, with design work beginning in 1942, just as the first Shermans were reaching the combat zones, in order to stay abreast of the gun/armor race with the Germans. Several different prototypes were ordered, eventually culiminating in the T26 series which led to the M-26 Pershing.
There is a considerable amount of debate over the T2x series, with many people considering the skipping of the lighter T20/T22/T23/T25 tanks in favor of the heavier T26 tank to be a serious error, which significantly delayed the introduction of an advanced US tank until late 1945, at which point the war was essentially over. With this mod, you can see if the T20/T22/T23/T25 would have made a difference compared to the Sherman.
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T20 Medium Tank
The first T20 pilot was completed in May 1943, but was deemed insufficiently advanced and with too many drawbacks, and the project was cancelled in December 1944.
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T23 Medium Tank
The first T23 pilot was completed in January 1943, and was deemed promising enough that a production contract for 250 tanks was approved in May 1943.
However, when the ETO was informed in February 1945 that 200~ T23s were available, they were rejected due to difficulties such as maintenance concerns (the T23 had a electric transmission), and problems in retraining mechanics to work on the electric drives. However, the design work on the T23 did not go to waste as it's turret was used on the later models of the M4 Sherman armed with the 76mm gun.
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T23E3 Medium Tank
Version of the T23 tank with a torsion bar suspension, instead of the HVSS suspension on the earlier T23's. It was proposed in July 1943 to standardize the T23E3 as the Medium Tank, M-27. However this was not approved.
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T25 Medium Tank
Version of the T23 tank with a new turret mounting a 90mm gun. First pilot model was completed in April 1944, but did not attract further attention due to attention being centered on the heavier T26E1 tank's line of development, which eventually became the M-26 Pershing.
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Hybrid Mode
