Development questions, please respond.

[pdoktar]

Is a tank with a 175mm gun feasible? It would weigh like 100 tons if it carried enough armour and ammo.

[Marcello]

"Is a tank with a 175mm gun feasible?"

More likely a Jagdtiger style vehicle. Feasible ? Probably yes. Sensible ? Absolutely no.

[Marek_Tucan]

Questionable whether such gigantomaniac designs would come to life under other than Hitler's (ie by default more rational) leadership... I'd rather envision tank main gun stopping at 105mm, later advancing to 120mm (or around- say US and Brits going for 120, Germans for 128, Russkies going 107mm->122mm->130mm), with this caliber reserved for heavy tanks, so... 1950's, med. tanks 88/90/85/20pdr, heavies 105/120/107, later medium 105, heavies 120/128/122/130... with maybe the German 15cm KwK coming to life but for exceptional use on some übertank with minimal practical employment or some SPG with a little bit better one
If you really don't want to leave the 175mm thing, I recommend you go for 17cm as that was caliber used in German artillery already. Also it would come with bonus - the 17cm field gun had practically same lavette as 21cm howitzer IIRC so your wunderpanzer may have two versions, one with HV gun and one with destructive howitzer.

[RecruitMonty]

In answer to PlasmaKrab, yes I am still talking about that, heaven knows what the others were talking about. I did reference my mod earlier on in this post.

There are three main Tank classes in the Imperial arsenal: Medium/Light (75mm then 105mm), Medium/MBT (88mm/105mm/110mm and 120mm) and Heavy (88mm/110mm/128mm/130mm and 140mm).

The first set, the Medium/Light tanks are numerous, easy to produce, fast and are, later on, capable of being airlifted straight to the heart of a War Zone by Helicopter or Plane. They work along side Airborne and Heliborne forces.

The second set, the MBTs are the mainstay of the Imperial armoured force. Think of them more as a medium tank rather than an MBT though, at least that is what the Imperial Military thinks. The MBT is by no means a special weapon, in other words the Soviets, Allied Remnant and, later, even the Islamists can field them. Together the enemies of the Empire can field large numbers of these tanks. With that in mind it makes sense for the Germans to develop heavier tanks, tanks which can out perform the enemy in terms of range, firepower and more importantly a tank which can soak up punishment.

These vehicles, the Heavy Tanks, are less numerous and act in a supporting role. They are primarily defensive weapons, hence they are more prevalent in the East and around key cities in the heart of the Empire. Don't get me wrong, they can, and do, go on offensive operations and as the engines, weapons and of course materials used to build the tanks improve they also become more mobile.

The USA, Soviet Union and Communist China also field similar weapons. However the USA lacks a decent Heavy tank in the period between the 60s-80s and the Soviets pursue better MBTs (or rather better MBTs in support of the basic models) from the 80s onwards. China lacks decent heavy tanks until the late 70s.

As was common in Germany all the tanks, bar the lighter one in this case (not decided yet), have their Pzjaeger variants. So you get Jagdtigers, Jagdpanthers and then later PzJgr. Leopards. The heavier Jagdpanzers are again not very numerous and serve a dual role, they look good in parades and they lack credible competition. They mount (128mm/150mm and 175mm - the last being the rarest).

Bearing in mind that the Empire is more than ready to invest in its military (it does consdier itself to be surrounded on all sides by enemies after all) it seems quite narrow minded to limit the Imperial Army to present day Military frugality.

SP-Howitzers, Flak tanks/APCs, APCs and Heavy Armoured cars are also available to the Empire.





Anyway, all this is really immaterial as I did not ask whether or not it was sensible to have a tank with a 175mm gun, I asked if the figures I provided were accurate. So are they?

[RecruitMonty]

Well?