Actually if I am reading future tactics correctly, any tank or large armored 
vehicle is a target for ortillery.  Most warships are already designed to hit 
small fast moving targets, they are called missiles and fighters.  That means 
concealment is life.  Which means most tanks will fire from a hull-down 
concealed ambush position. And when changing positions, they will tend to move 
in nap of earth sprints from cover to cover rather than high altitude flight.  
All of which means the turret has become even more important.  Also most 
fighting is going to be in built up areas, such as cities or starports, that 
makes all-around armor important.  And to some extent negates long range 
missiles or guns.  Although in my opinion, most grav-tanks will probably retain 
their long range main weapons, just because they are also high damage.



Tim Pristash

It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press. 
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech. It is 
the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate. 
It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose 
coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag. -- 
Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, Sergeant, USMC


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On 
Behalf Of Onno Meyer
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2013 12:40 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [gurps] A flying tank

Hello everybody,

I was thinking about a TL13 grav tank. 

The classic tracked tank consists of a hull, tracks for mobility and a gun 
turret to get 360° fire and hull-down firing positions. 
Those are the main reasons for turrets on 20th century tanks, I believe.

Should a grav tank have a hull and turret, or is it enough to mount the gun in 
a heavily armored hull? 

- The flyer can easily turn in the air. No need for a turret to
  get 360° coverage.
- If the flyer uses terrain for partial cover, it can easily pop
  up on contragrav to unmask a hull-mounted gun.

Are there other reasons?

Regarding game mechanics in 3E Vehicles:

- It is possible to give a turret stronger armor than the hull.
  There are no good game mechanics if you want to reinforce the
  upper half of a hull, say.

- If you have a separate hull and turret, the turret volume
  requires rotation space in the body. No such loss if you put
  everything into the body.

- If the grav tank is streamlined, that reduces the effective
  body volume, not the turret volume.

- Streamlining will be pointless until it becomes very good,
  since even a brick will reach the 600-mph cutoff for
  unstreamlined vehicles. That much streamlining requires
  'concealed' weapons at 20 lbs. per cf instead of standard
  mounts at 50 lbs. per cf.

Do you have any useful brainstorms?

Regards,
Onno
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