At 10:51 PM 8/1/98 +0900, Rhialto wrote:
first, the run down on a little used weapon of WW2 :)
Maus - super heavy MBT
crew - 5
mass - 188 metric tons (modern MBT is ~60T, WW2 MBT ~30-55 T)
max speed - 13 kmph (8mph) (very slow)
length - 10.09 m
width - 3.67 m
height - 3.66 m
guns - 5" cannon, 3" secondary cannon, (MG probable)
armour - 40mm - 240mm depending on facing
Developed by Porsche, variants with 6" and 6.7" main guns were also
proposed but not built. At teh front, the armour was considerablt
thicker tahn many modern tanks. Prototype first tested in 1943. It was
so heavy that no bridge could hold it, and had to have a snorkel
arrangement for crossing rivers.
2 prototypes were built, 9 in varying stages of construction by 1945.
One prototype was in a Moscow museum, at least until 1995.
If anyone wants the rundown on other WW2 tanks, I recommend Janes Tanks
of WW2 published by COllins. 'Twas 4 GBP.
IIR, according to Guderian, Hitler was entranced with the idea of the
Maus although the it was not only a diversion of resources at a time when
Germany couldn't afford to decrease existing tank production, but the
design itself was badly flawed, most notably by not having machine guns as
part of the original armament. Also, that slow speed would make it a
sitting duck (Hmmm... a mouse which is a duck, that sounds familiar) for
airplanes, artillery, etc...
America itself could conceivably build one of these monsters. But it
would be fun trying to get it to teh battle front, as it was too heavy
for any airlift, and ships with one of these would sit *very* low in the
water, if the thing could even get into the cargo space (remember, no
supertankers like we have today). Similar problems would exist with a
British model, although it could be useful for defending Blighty. France
was basically devasted. A Russian walker might be viable though - after
Germany, they had the second best tank at the end of WW2, and they had a
land frontier, and huge production facilities (Tankograd, just beyond
the Urals).
How would anyone get these to the battlefield? There was no land transport
which could carry a full size EVA either. Would they walk from the factory?
Actually, there's an easy way to take the Manhattan Project out of the
scene.
Have an 'accident' occur with the bomb device while in production
(instant
'Second Impact' like event.)
Well, I wouldn't say second impact... the bombs used in WW2 were almost
as powerful as the (relative) pea shooters India tested not too long
ago. ie they were around 20-100 kilotons. modern weapons being
multi-MEGA-ton warheads, often mirv-ed too. Still, it would mean a bit
of Nevada would be even less hospitable than it already wasn't.
The US and Russia don't have that many megaton bombs anymore. The
accuracy of modern missiles is such that they aren't necessary against all
but the hardest targets and it makes more sense to use physically smaller
warheads that leave more room for electronics or additonal warheads (MIRV
capable missiles).
Hmm, dodgy here. One of the main reasosn Germany lost was lack of fuel
(they could synthesise explosives easily). While a walker wouldn't need
to carry fuel if powered by a line, teh power generators would still
require vast quantities of fuel. Also, teh wasted power from those lines
would be considerable - I imagine superconductors would eliminate that
wasted power problem by teh time of Evangelion.
Germany was also cut off from supplies of many strategic materials
including tungsten and chromium. However, the main reason Germany lost was
that it ended up in a two front war with the Soviet Union on one front and
the US on the other (I'm not putting down UK and Canada, but the sheer
quantity of manpower and weapons that the US could mobilize far exceeded
the resources of UK and Canada).
Regardless of the technology, NGE was not just another giant mecha
series. What about the Angels, the HCP, SEELE, and all the mysticism and
conspiracies? So far, your idea sounds more like a mecha series such as
Kishin Corps.
dml