Getting right into the next round of testing, things got started right off with an endurance test. You had high hopes for the light designs, mostly due to the fact that they couldn't possibly be worse than what you'd already tested out.
For this test, your control was a W-5, which ran for eight hours on the standard fuel load of seventy liters plus a pair of twenty-liter ferry pannier tanks mounted to the top. During this time, there would be an average of thirty six breakdowns or maintenance periods. Of these, four would involve operating the pannier tanks and dismounting them, one would be adjusting the track from ferry mode to run mode, one would be installing new leading road wheels, twenty four would be track failures, two would be crew related, and four would be related to the engine.
Once you'd sent Hansonson a thank-you note for the information and a bottle of vino, you got to work with the testing. All the entrants were fueled to one hundred and ten liters of fuel by means of a full main tank and panniers as necessary, or by just fueling the main tank.
First to drop out was the Armid, at six hours twenty minutes run time with fifty breakdowns. Since it only had a forty liter main tank, it needed four pannier tanks to get up to an acceptable load. Over it's run time, it had forty track issues, ten cases where the crew needed to stop moving and open every hatch possible to vent the tank due to fumes build up, and one issue in getting the pannier tanks to feed correctly.
Next up was the KTW-3, with one hundred and twenty liters of internal fuel storage. During its seven hour run, it suffered no less than ten engine and transmission failures, eighteen track failures, five crew breaks due to the difficulty of operating the system, and one emergency evacuation when the engine managed to catch itself on fire. Had there been a full load of ammunition or any fuel pannier tanks, the entire vehicle may have caught itself on fire and suffered a detonation of the ammunition.
Third to drop out was the Np-1. For fuel, it carried a hundred and twenty liters in three internal tanks, and lasted eight hours for driving. During the eight hour run, it suffered twenty four failures of the tracks and suspension, five engine failures, one crew shift to relieve the driver, and one incident where it ran over a burried and undetonated hand grenade causing it to lose a bellcrank- although this didn't end the test, surprisingly enough. The Np-1 team had devised an emergency track runner, good for three hours of operation, which while unsprung would also bolt into the standard bellcrank mounting mechanism to make self-recovery easier.
At this point, things had been running at ten hours of operation, and crew fatuige radically changed the distribution of accidents.
The next dropout was the Ukw-1 team, clocking in at ten hours and twenty minutes of continuous operation off the tank's internal one hundred and fifty five liter tank. For their run, they had forty five track incidents, three crew rotations, five issues with the engine, two instances of needing external assistance to un-ditch (normally the other Ukw-1 with it's tow hook) and one rather memorable instance of ramming the KTW-3 left on the field after dark and knocking it over.
The last vehicle to leave the field was the MrW-5, with a record eleven hours of endurance off of it's one hundred and fifty liter's of combined tanks. In operation, it had thirty eight track incidents, nine unditching incidents, four motor incidents, five crew rotations, and one memorable case of obstacle crossing when the MrW-5 rammed into the Ukw-1 that had rammed into the KTW-3.
Two days later, after Mair had set up a range, came the protective trial. Due to space limitations, your self-defense trials couldn't be preformed due to the needs of a giant circular range. Offensive trials were also tabled because there were only two new entrants, and it turned out Mair had managed to get an entire company to voulenteer for the testing. Not something you could brush off, that.
The test plan was simple. The tank would be parked two hundred meters from an entrenched platoon, which would open fire for two minutes. The tank would then be checked, and the platoon would resume fire, now with it's organic non-rifle assets such as light machine guns. After each check for functionality of the vehicle, more assets would be included, up to the batallion's organic 3,5cm guns or the regiment's 5,5s.
First up was the endurance champion, the MrW-5, and the results were rather disappointing. With the engine showing considerable wear after the light machine gunners and company mortars, the vehicle fell apart in the face of the company's heavy machine gun battery. Considering that the anti-tank machine guns were a battalion level asset nor were the company's anti-tank rifles employed, questions were loudly raised as to the vehicle's suitability to serve as an armored vehicle.
Continuing in reverse order from the endurance test, the Ukw-1 was put up on the stand. The platoon-level weapons test consisting of rifles, autorifles, light machine guns, and rifle-launched grenades was weathered with nothing more than scratched paint, as well as some mild spalling that the tank's internal liner caught admirably. Company level weapons were slightly more devastating- the 6cm light mortar caused some notable roof damage on it's one direct hit, and the anti-tank rifles and heavy machine guns only caused some severe spalling, and a handful of penetrations. Considering that the engine was running and the 'crew' dummies were only lightly injured, the decision was made to continue on up to battalion weapons. The 3,5cm gun, when firing shell didn't produce any serious damage besides a ruined track and severe spalling into a fuel tank, but when loaded with slug rounds neatly punctured the upper glacis, destroying the driver's position and continuing on through two firewalls into the engine compartment. This ended the testing, and the Seebatalioners conducting the test were quite happy with the result.
The Np-1 had a very lackluster test, unfortunately. The platoon weapons definitively shredded the forward bouyant compartments, and caused severe spalling on the internal bulkhead. Company level anti-tank weapons fairly definitively killed it, with the anti-tank riflemen managing to destroy both the driving compartment and disable the gun via a shot into the cheek that cracked a recoil cylinder. Observer noises were mediocre in response.
The KTW-3's performance was very disapointing, considering the fact a platoon grenadier managed to somehow lob an incendiary grenade into the tank's open top and set the fuel supplies on fire. After replacing the pork slabs and extinguishing the embers, it turned out the front could be very reliably pierced by company level anti-tank rifles. Observing Seebatalion officers were very unhappy, with several exchange officers from the Sumpfratten muttering in strange tongues from the Volta region to hide their thoughts.
The final tank, the Armid, had a surprisingly exceptional run. While platoon and company weapons managed to suppress and disable the top-mounted 8,8cm gun, the main hull compartment managed to remain mostly unbreached until dedicated mortar and anti-tank machine gun fire was brought to bear. When the regimental 3,5cm guns were towed about, shell was also found to be highly ineficent, as it blew through the outer shell of armor, but couldn't disable the engine nor kill the driver. Slug rounds were likewise ineffective, although this was more a question of shot placement than penetration- one managed to go through and through the bow compartment. When the regimental 5,5cm got called in to finally finish the job, though, you and the observers had to applaud as three shells turned the tank into scrap. You would probably need to track down the stills taken by the regimental photographers, though.
With this phase of testing done, you handed over the tanks to Mair, and got to reading the dispatches. There was a shocker, though- the War College wanted to you to come in for a speech on armor and the future of armor to one of it's graduating classes, and a paper to go with it. Good thing you had the next week free!
(PLAN VOTE: You're doing a white paper on current and possible future armor. Include at least two main points Don't be afraid to express your opinion. The GM uses this to find out what gets built next)
[]: Plan Name
-[] Current armor trends are GOOD (write in how/why)
-[] Current armor trends are BAD (write in how/why)
-[] Future armor trends are... (Write in what you expect/want to see)
