Yeah, sailing ships are a lot smaller than people think. In a book I have on pirate ships, one of the largest covert is only about as long as two WWII PT boats.

I was researching regular U.S. Army cargo trucks and I came across this in a Wikipedia article on the M35 2 1/2 ton truck. Apparently, other nations have used gun trucks since Vietnam, and very recently as well.

"The concept lived on well after the Vietnam War. El Salvador converted a number of M35 type vehicles into armored trucks in the 1980s, after successful conversions of Magirus Deutz trucks. These vehicles were nicknamed "Mazingers" in reference to the Japanese cartoon Mazinger Z.[8][9]

The Philippine Marine Corps also began converting M35 type trucks to an armored configuration by 2004. The first vehicle, dubbed "Talisman," utilized armor fabricated from derelict LVTP5 amphibious personnel carriers. Later gun trucks were built using more standard components and bear some resemblance to U.S. military vehicles of the Vietnam era.[10] The Philippine Marine Corps had also begun the creation of an anti-aircraft element by 2006, utilizing M35 based vehicles. Two types of vehicles have been seen so far. One utilizes the Mk 56 Mod 0 mount from the Patrol Boat, River, with two M2 Browning machine guns, while the other features another former naval mount with a single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon.[11]

Colombia maintains a fleet of REO M35 "Meteoro" armored trucks. These locally fabricated armored vehicles are used to guard tourist bus caravans as well as mobile checkpoints. Early vehicles were not fabricated to any particular standard and typically hosted three weapon stations that could be fitted with a 7.62 mm (.308-cal) or .50-caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun. The weapon stations may or may not have had a gun shield on any particular vehicle. More recent examples follow a pattern with the cab and fuel tanks armored and the drop side cargo bed converted to an armored box, atop which is a "gun tower," a set of four heavily armored weapon stations, one facing each direction. .50-caliber machine guns are mounted front and back, with 7.62 mm machine guns mounted to the sides. and mounting a machine gun. Losses in the Meteoro fleet instigated the purchase of the BTR-80 Caribe.[12]"

"Mazinger" huh? That's cool! Mazinger Z is a giant robot fighting machine. Cool article, I'd like to see photos of those Philippines gun trucks.

The only one I can find so far:

http://www.warwheels.net/images/TalismanALLAS%20(2).jpg

Looks like a quad .30 mount of some kind? Interesting digi-cam as well.

Here's a link to a photo of the Colombian Army's "Meteoro" armored gun trucks, also based on the M35 series of 2.5 ton trucks.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/isbi_ar...in/photostream

I also found this article on "narco tanks" (i.e. armored gun trucks) that at least one Mexican narco-gang was making.

http://insightcrime.org/insight-late...metric-weapons

This seems to reinforce how common armored gun trucks would be the world over in the T2K-verse.

Looks more like a single weapon to me with another on the other side of the vehicle.

I think you're right.

Well look at that 1919A4s still Soldiering on .

Rae, thanks for the photo. That truck looks pretty sweet. I can totally see building a model of something like that.

Cantonments with the ability to move these vehicles from one location to another will have a significant advantage over an enemy without gun trucks. As long as fuel and ammunition hold out, a gun truck with one or more machine guns can seriously affect a confrontation. I suspect many cantonment defense forces will become obsessed with keeping their gun trucks operable at any cost--once they get an idea of what two M60s or heavier weapons can accomplish against bandits (or the law). Marauders will be equally interested in fielding gun trucks, but a small and/or mobile group will have trouble supporting gun trucks. Hm. This dynamic may lead to lots of marauders evolving analogously into Black Barons or the Shoguns in that they exercise semi-governmental control over a swath of territory.

Gun trucks have been in use for longer than most people realize and I think this lack of recognition is mostly due to the lack of images available. For example, the French forces were using CCKW and later GMC trucks to carry various ordnance since WW2 and carrying over into the conflict in IndoChina

Model pics and history of 40mm Bofors gun truck
http://www.warwheels.net/40mmBoforsF...deleINDEX.html

French trucks in IndoChina
http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?...d=78165&page=1

Other armoured trucks in IndoChina (nearly at the bottom of page, includes armoured Dodge WC62)
http://members.multimania.co.uk/Indo.../afvs.html#top

A lovely machine. It certainly would come in handy while digging enemy troops out of buildings and bunkers.

I see fingerprints belonging to 7th SFG(A) all over this one.

They also helped export the idea of the Q Bus that the Selous Scouts used in Rhodesia to El Salvador during the war there.

After re-writing the introduction for a piece on gun trucks, I realized that I'm going to have to rethink certain aspects of a lot of pieces. Some of the infantry brigades and divisions operating in CONUS are going to have to have some gun trucks added to their rosters. The tracked AFVs simply can't be sent running all over kingdom come. In Sixth US Army's AO, where some oil from Bakersfield is available, gun trucks probably will be relatively common as escorts. Colorado probably has a fair number of gun trucks running on oil out of Wyoming. I'll have to think about 104th ID, though. They have great distances to cover, but I'm iffy about the fuel.

Last night, I started dusting off my work on gun trucks in northern New England. I did a lot of work before setting it aside. Now I'm having trouble decidig where the boundaries are. A simple write-up for the four organizations in northern New England using gun trucks seems too brief and too narrow. An in-depth history on northern New England through 4/01 seems too broad. Still thinking...

Love this thread, full of all kinds of interesting information. The Kenya module I am working on will have several different versions of gun trucks, both on the enemy side (hello Somali Technicals) as well as on the good guys side (the British Lions unit will have several gun trucks that a WWII vet who was retired to Kenya came up with)

Gun Truck OOB for Northern New England
 

The attached piece has been idling as I flesh out other stuff. I'm very much on the fence about whether this sort of thing is useful without a larger context. How much of a larger context is needed? Do players need to know about other armed bodies in northern New England for the organizations with gun trucks to be meaningful? Do refs need to know more about the organizations in question for the OOB to be useful? Is northern New England a meaningful subdivision, or should I be talking about all of New England?

Well I don't know about "needed", Web, but I like reading the material you write so I'd like to place my vote for more context, please :D

So would I, very much so.

I summon this thread to arise from the grave!

Ahem.

(Further gun truck cross-discussion here and here.)

Courtesy of the US Army's Foreign Military Studies Office, here's an interesting summary of improvised armored fighting vehicles (IAFVs) in use among the Mexican drug cartels. Relevance to our interests should be obvious...

- C.

a) Those cartels have some serious firepower. .50 sniper rifles and machine guns are bad enough but they actually have anti-tank weapons.

b) I would think that they would try to buy/steal real armoured vehicles by now. Maybe from the Mexican military or shipped from another country. I'm sure those would be better than putting some hill-billy armour on a SUV.

c) I wasn't sure if our team should build a gun-truck in Twilight but after reading this thread I think it should be our next objective.

I am exceptionally happy to see this thread revived.

I was thinking about gun truck Armaments today since that has been touched upon but more folks have talked about the actual trucks themselves and armor.

In Europe there would be several different weapons available. Clearly on the NATO side there would likely be M60, MAG-58/GPMG, MG-3, M249/Minimi
M2, Mark 19.

what else?

probably been mentoned already but rocket launchers, recoilless rifles, AA guns, how about a disabled M113?

If you haven't checked out Graebarde's 5th Infantry Division Reorganization document, try this link

http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.php?t=1920

He has a provisional cavalry unit equipped with gun trucks, including a HEMET with captured quad 23mm gun and another with a M163 Vulcan ADA chassis.

Here's a pic of a Vietnam era guntruck with M113 chassis

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zippo132/6794824507/

a different Vietnam M113 guntruck

http://www.warwheels.net/images/m54A...ruckLyles1.jpg

Here's a news article from the recent Libya conflict about the 'DIY' weapons, shows a rocket laucher mounted on a truck.

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2...rebels/100086/

Don't just limit it to Infantry weapons, there's other sources of armament that gets forgotten about - light AA guns and aircraft/helicopter weapons.
Both the Rhodesians and the South Africans mounted 20mm cannon taken from aircraft onto vehicles, a practice started as far back as WW2 when the Long Range Desert Group mounted Vickers K machine guns on their jeeps and Chevvies.

It can still be seen in the "technicals" in Africa and the Middle East with such installations as single and twin barrel ZSU-23 systems mounted on the back of trucks. The 20mm German cannon in the 2nd Ed. Heavy Weapons book would be a good choice.
Given what's been seen in Libya this year, helicopter rocket pods are not out of the question and maybe even the turret & basket from a BMP.

Edit: Hmm, I see BoogieDownDonovan posted similar ideas as I was typing my reply. And he has links! :)

60mm mortars would be useful indirect fire weapons and take up relatively little space. The IDF used to mount 60mm mortars on their tank turret roofs. A direct fire 81mm mortar, like the one mounted under M2 HMGs on Vietnam-era USN riverine craft would be a devastating weapon system for a gun truck (but would require a fairly sturdy mount).

Some Images from the Interweb

Page about a Mexican Cartels uparmoring 'factory'
 

http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/mex...n-nuevo-laredo

Also below are photos from US Army unit in Iraq.

I look at those pics and only think "When the Devil Drives, needs must"

I love these images!

Agree, odd that those OIF photos would not look too out of place in T2K
 

Agree, odd that those OIF photos would not look too out of place in T2K

I second what Webstral said - love these images and great ideas!!

I have always believed...

- That when true military vehicles cease to be available, civilian vehicles will be adapted - a pickup is better than walking; where a pickup is not available, two Ford Escorts (or compact car of your choice) will do (if they run). Beats walking and carrying all your stuff.

- Where armor is not available, soldiers will improvise as they always have. A wall of double-thick 2x4s is not as good as the armor of an M2 - but stops more bullets and shrapnel than air. Manhole covers are even better.

- As APCs die off, guntrucks and other vehicles will be improvised for use as APCs. MLRS launcher without missiles? Remove the launcher, weld on an armored box (although morelikely used for a transport.

- Military trucks are likely to last longer (as APCs) than civilian vehicles - though there are more civilian vehicles available (in Europe or the US).

And yeah, the pictures suit very well.

I ran across this image (a smaller version) today on a bicycling blog and thought this group might find it interesting.

More appropriate for a Victorian Science Fiction wargame ;)

Anyone who has ridden a bike where there are motorists, fully understands this photo.

The converted trucks used in A-Stan against the Soviets, Technicals in Somalia and other parts of Africa and now ISIS, many converted civilian trucks and even stripped cars with a heavy MG or even rocket launcher mounted and armor from various sources would be the norm even in Europe and N. America.

More gun trucks
 

More photos from Iraq plus some from Libyia including a M113 variant with what looks like a SALADIN turret with 76mm gun(?). Attachment 3259

Attachment 3260

Attachment 3261

Attachment 3262

Attachment 3263

More gun trucks
 

Including a Korean War era jeep.

One really has to appreciate the creativity of some folks. That M113 with the add-on turret is a work of art. The pickups are perfectly serviceable weapons carriers, though I'd tighten up pretty severely if there were return fire.

Found this big beaut while looking for pics for a supplement I'm hoping to post soon.