megaplayboy Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 At 1000 tons, that puts it about half the mass of a WW2 destroyer, or about the mass of one of the smaller WW2 submarines or destroyer escorts, I think. With two 280mm (11 inch) guns, six 75mm, two 88mm, and sixteen 20mm, that's an armament comparable to a 10,000 ton cruiser or 8,000 ton monitor. The power requirements (and hence fuel requirements) for a monster like that are staggering. Still, it could have been attacked with known technology; naval guns (which could be mounted on wheeled carriages) were intended to fight that class of opponent, and the Japanese were successful in converting naval gun AP shells into aircraft bombs, which worked quite well at Pearl Harbor. I believe the plan was to use 4 submarine diesels to power it(or that may have been the plan for the 1500 tonner.) I also suspect the weight would have crept up about 50%. A pair of 280mm usable for direct fire would have been devastating on a battlefield--since their range would have been considerable(5km doesn't seem out of the question). Mobile defense against amphibious invasions and mass formations, as well as offensive use against static emplacements seems like the most likely uses of such a monster. If it could fire a couple volleys against a cruiser, then move to another emplacement, it might be pretty useful. But obviously the speed would have been NASA-crawler level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 I believe the plan was to use 4 submarine diesels to power it(or that may have been the plan for the 1500 tonner.) I also suspect the weight would have crept up about 50%. A pair of 280mm usable for direct fire would have been devastating on a battlefield--since their range would have been considerable(5km doesn't seem out of the question). Mobile defense against amphibious invasions and mass formations, as well as offensive use against static emplacements seems like the most likely uses of such a monster. If it could fire a couple volleys against a cruiser, then move to another emplacement, it might be pretty useful. But obviously the speed would have been NASA-crawler level. OTOH, you can do with this, what I recommended for Maus. Slap a fusion powerplant in it and sic it on the Xenovores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megaplayboy Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 OTOH' date=' you can do with this, what I recommended for Maus. Slap a fusion powerplant in it and sic it on the Xenovores.[/quote'] well, heck, if you have gravitic tech, the sky's the limit for massive supertanks:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 The Ratte still sounds like a great weapon for a Champions campaign, be it Golden Age or otherwise (why can't some second-grade master villain dig up a German supertank and use it to destroy his least favorite city?). And if you're running a 'Weird War Tales/DC War Comic' kind of military story, then facing the Ratte would make for about as dangerous a story as the PCs could ask for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 well' date=' heck, if you have gravitic tech, the sky's the limit for massive supertanks:D[/quote'] Not sure anti-gravity tech exists in Alien Wars... does it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 The Ratte still sounds like a great weapon for a Champions campaign' date=' be it Golden Age or otherwise (why can't some second-grade master villain dig up a German supertank and use it to destroy his least favorite city?). And if you're running a 'Weird War Tales/DC War Comic' kind of military story, then facing the Ratte would make for about as dangerous a story as the PCs could ask for.[/quote'] I plan to offer a theoretical character sheet for it at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megaplayboy Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 I plan to offer a theoretical character sheet for it at some point. suggestion: offer a few "variants"(such as one carrying rocket racks, one with a radar dish and perhaps additional AAA, one with a "death ray" and maybe one with a special "bombproof" experimental forcewall generator) in the options section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Omega Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 There's a Maus on display at the Russian Tank Museum in Kublinka. Perhaps I'll go there sometime...I play a WWII game called Steel Panthers: World At War. There is a scenario in that where they wonder what would have happened if the Maus had not broken down on the way to the battle. Pretty hellacious weapon. Totally impractical, but it's fun to blast the hell out of all those Soviet tanks until I break down or they finally surround me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 I play a WWII game called Steel Panthers: World At War. There is a scenario in that where they wonder what would have happened if the Maus had not broken down on the way to the battle. Pretty hellacious weapon. Totally impractical' date=' but it's fun to blast the hell out of all those Soviet tanks until I break down or they finally surround me.[/quote'] A friend of my made a SQUAD LEADER 1st Ed. counter for a Maus. Scared the crud out of the other player. Until it bogged down in a field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 So the Wikipedia entry for the Maus has a link to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_A-40 which is about the Soviet tank glider program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 So the Wikipedia entry for the Maus has a link to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_A-40 which is about the Soviet tank glider program. Had all of one flight, IIRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 Didn't the Japanese toy with a tank glider, too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 Didn't the Japanese toy with a tank glider' date=' too?[/quote'] Dunno, but the Japanese did launch balloons with firebombs attached with the intend of having them drift via jet stream and land in American to burn up all the forests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 Those balloons actually killed some curious civilians, IIRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 Those balloons actually killed some curious civilians' date=' IIRC.[/quote'] Yes... 6, IIRC, in Washington or Oregon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 But did they look like one of those super-deformed cartoon characters? 'Cause that would have been funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 This thread makes me grin like a chimp - more funky weapons please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 So the Wikipedia entry for the Maus has a link to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_A-40 which is about the Soviet tank glider program. Wow. Now there's "thinking outside the box" for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 Those balloons actually killed some curious civilians' date=' IIRC.[/quote'] Yep, in WA and OR, as Susano said. Led to the US govt. paying guys to sit in towers in the forests in WA (and I suppose OR), with binoculars, looking for Japanese airplanes---and balloons and such---all through the war. Yep, plane spotters in the Pacific Northwest. Kept it up even after Japanese forces had been knocked all the way back to the Home Islands. Interesting side-light on the war effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 A friend of my made a SQUAD LEADER 1st Ed. counter for a Maus. Scared the crud out of the other player. Until it bogged down in a field.They did an ASL counter for it in the ASL Annual magazine. I don't own that year's copy, but have seen the article, which is the source of all the information I have on it (filtered through my memory, so add salt to taste). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 I plan to offer a theoretical character sheet for it at some point. Heh, I started a DH article on it a little while ago. Mayhap we should chat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 Heh' date=' I started a DH article on it a little while ago. Mayhap we should chat? [/quote'] Was this part of our planned weird and whacky armor article? (Note to self, get back to that one.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 Was this part of our planned weird and whacky armor article? (Note to self, get back to that one.) No, we decided to stick to things less than 200 tons. You had the monster in that one with the Maus. My biggest "toy" is the US T-28 Assault Gun. I started on the Ratte after watching the Justice League episodes of "The Savage Time" in reruns. Depending on page count though, we could probably append it. I was going to toss it Dave's way as a quickie article about the size of my Mythic Hero stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 No, we decided to stick to things less than 200 tons. You had the monster in that one with the Maus. My biggest "toy" is the US T-28 Assault Gun. I started on the Ratte after watching the Justice League episodes of "The Savage Time" in reruns. Depending on page count though, we could probably append it. I was going to toss it Dave's way as a quickie article about the size of my Mythic Hero stuff. I need to work on the AV-7 and the Russian Tsar tank and the T-35 (nuthin' says "Pulp-Era" like a 5-turreted tank). I finished Maus and sent him over to you for review. Need it send again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Re: Wunderwaffen!!! - Secret German Warmachines of WW 2 I need to work on the AV-7 and the Russian Tsar tank and the T-35 (nuthin' says "Pulp-Era" like a 5-turreted tank). I finished Maus and sent him over to you for review. Need it send again? Let me check tonight. I have to see what survived that OS reinstall I was telling you about. Oh, do you have our original list? I can only remember two from my list and I know the original list is gone. I had the Char Bis 1 and the T-28, but there were two more.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.