I mentioned in the comments to the previous post I had an alternative concept for the plinth pieces to raise the height of the walls for tanks to shelter, so today I knocked up a quick model to show the different alternatives.
Option A - The version previously seen, but developed a bit more.
Option B - The alternative I was thinking about, basically a lower plinth incorporating a firing step - so infantry still fire over the wall rather than through it.
Option C - The alternative, alternative. Basically a normal wall but taller and including a firing port. However this would mean doing a two part mould - or doing the wall in two parts. Not my favourite option (as it is also the most expensive).
Options B & C still need developing, for example the base of Option C needs to be wider - at the moment it is the same width as the normal wall.
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| Option A in place. |
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| Option B in place. |
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| Ditto for Option C |
A Russ set up with the current 'standard' wall looks like this, as you can see it is far too small for the tank to get any protection from it.
But adding only 15mm to the height means the lascannon just sees over the wall and the heavy bolters are knackered.
Now I have this in my head I can go back and develop the ideas more, I need to decide if I want just the turret to be able to fire over or if the turret and hull weapon are what should be done, or finally if I want the sponsons to be able to fire as well.
I may have to do a new design from scratch, incorporating some of the design elements in Options A. B & C to get the final wall piece. Possibly a firing slit which the hull & sponsons can fire through and a firing step to allow infantry to use it as well.
There may be a post tomorrow with more design ideas.
Any suggestions or ideas are always welcome and appreciated.
Have you considered an alternative? Perhaps rather than fiddling with the wall, which you have constructed perfectly for human infantrymen, you could create a slope or ramp for the vehicles themselves. I think it could be a good idea.
ReplyDeleteEr, I don't think that what I said made sense if applied to the single height wall. I intended it to apply to a doubled wall.
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of option A. Nothing wrong with the infantry using the holes in the wall as firing ports - in fact in a "real world" situation it'd be preferable and moral boosting, since it'd feel more like you had full bunker protection instead of just a Jersey Rail.
ReplyDeleteWhile you mention the multiple height crenelation idea, all in all, I don't think it's very practical from a casting and gaming perspective.
I actually prefer the look of Option A as well, unfortunately it just doesn't work due to the height issue, for it to work with infantry shooting though it needs to be of a height which is just too high.
DeleteWhat pete's saying (i think) is don't adapt the infantry wall for tanks... just make a tank wall.
ReplyDeleteWhilst I like option C, it won't work in "reality" the small columns that are created between the firing openings of infantry would be weak points in the defensive line. The cover would be relatively easily destroyed by incoming heavy fire, exposing the tank behind... option A suffers from a similar issue in my mind... so option B would seem the most successful.
However, I might be more inclied to look at modern day principles for "hull down" tank tactics (sorry, I always take things too far!)
Hull Down
The Russ is annoying 'cos of it's sponsons... (though not all russ have sponsons). You could take the princple above and provide a shallow ramp so that the russ could rise slightly to get its extra guns firing (of course, firepower at the expense of protection seems fair?)
Aside from the russ, what about the chimera?
Pete & oink: While in principle the ramp idea has merit it isn't something I want to do for this. I just won't have room to have them on the table and it is just too much hassle. On top of that I want the walls in front of any tanks to also be useable for infantry. Generally it just isn't practical to do ramps.
ReplyDeleteThe walls aren't going to be weakened enough to worry over, while thin at the front there is plenty of material there to give plenty of protection. The weight of fire it would take to expose the tank is great enough to warrant the ability to fire through.
I've not made my mind up yet which way I am going, I've been playing around with the 3D models though today so i'll do an update tonight to get more feedback. I've not looked at chimeras yet, not too fussed though as I don't use them much - especially in a force which is dug in. I also need to look at my gun turrets to see how they work with the various ideas.