[gurps] [VEHICLE] of the week 732 ? Land Dreadnought

[Onno Meyer]

> Another interesting design.  A couple of questions though.  What are the 
> IFF and Radar Detector for?  At 3rd edition TL6 radars are still mostly on
> ground stations, Medium and Large bombers, and night fighters.   The 
> bombers may be a threat to this, but I'm not sure that passive radar 
> detection is the way to go here. 

The IFF is probably more an identity transponder, but doing so without 
encryption could be unwise. Given the indirect fire range of those guns,
it seemed smart to allow tracking from an (as yet unspecified) headquarters.

And a major use of late TL6 radar was naval gunnery. While the vehicle 
does not use radar itself, the threat is real.
 
> Why not some additional top armor?  

That would have to come at the expense of something, either other 
armor faces or overall weight/mobility. A heavier vehicle would 
need a larger engine, which needs yet more volume, etc. 

> Airborne threats seem to be one of the
> largest weaknesses of this system (the AA will certainly discourage it 
> however).  

When it comes as a surprise, the Land Dreadnought should enjoy a
short period of invulnerability. Strategic bombers with bunker-busting
bombs are not designed to hunt moving targets, and fighter-bombers
with rockets and cannon will have to defeat the DR and HP of this 
behemoth. The ADA helps against naval dive-bombers with their 
battleship-busting bombs. 

Once it is known, medium bombers like those used as ship-killers in 
the Pacific fitted with heavy anti-armor weapons will be a real 
problem. 15 mph isn't that much when you try to dodge, and 20mm
is a low-end Flak.

> The other standard response to this at TL6 (besides an intrepid
> band of heroes) would be indirect fire Field Artillery.   

What about massed tanks (the Ogre scenario)? 

> The turrets can 
> probably take a decent hit but the body is a bit thin.  I'm betting an 
> 88mm or so could do some damage.  

Field arty wouldn't have the right ammo at first. 88mm AP isn't 
designed for indirect fire and 88mm HE lacks penetration. 8" 
naval guns would be another matter ...

> Granted indirect fire vs a mobile target
> isn't the best but I would hate to have my nefarious plans disrupted by a 
> lucky shot from some schmuck 4 miles away.

The answer to that would be HE/HEPF for the 200mm and a 
counterbattery radar. No way those 88 can win a duel.
 
> And one more thing.  How about two V-2 style rockets launchable from the 
> rear section?  Nefarious bad-guys with an agenda would love to be able to 
> launch their chemical or biologic agents on unsuspecting cities unless 
> their demands are met.  Plus then it would look even more like an Ogre. 

One could pull the second turret and enlarge the hull to make space for a 
rocket battery. That would also free weight for more top armor, at the 
expense of redundancy in the main punch. I wrote a launcher for VotW 666:

Weapon              Weight Volume Cost     Power WPS    VPS CPS      TL
790mm SRBM Launcher 20,000 400    $101,000   -   10,000 200 $400,000 6

Weapon              Guid Malf. Type Damage        SS Spd   End IFR
790mm SRBM Launcher IG   15    exp. 6d*3,850[12d] 30 3,200 60  545 mi.

But when all is said and done, that would work only in the "Evil Overlord"
scenario. The "Delusional Dictator" would not put the strategic missile 
force into the ultra-heavy tactical tank. 

Onno