ChalkLine's Desiderata

[ChalkLine]

On my quest to make the perfect Twilight 2000 Sheridan I think I've finally found it.

Believe it or not but way back in 1967 there was already concerns that the M81 (as it was then) Gun/Launcher may not be a good idea. As such Rock Island Arsenal did a crash program of four other weapon systems to fit in the M551 turret should the M81 develop problems.

Of the four only two were recommended mainly due to space problems, although it was mentioned that if serious redesign work was done all four would fit in the turret. The two weapon systems were:

- M32 76mm Cannon, the same as was on the M41 Walker Bulldog
- XM180 105mm Gun/Howitzer from the XM104 super mobile lightweight howitzer (which really should have gone into service)

Of the two the XM180 was the preferred weapon system as it coupled low pressure and trunnion loading with high damage output and ammunition that was still largely in service.
This weapon fired much faster than the existing M81 because it didn't need a compressed air purge to blow out the bore so the combustible cartridge cases wouldn't ignite prematurely. It's likely that by the time of the Twilight War an A1 version of the gun/howitzer would have been developed with a bore evacuator for even faster firing. Notably the XM108 could fire any 105mm howitzer ammunition in US stocks and new racks for the vehicle gave a stowage of 50 Rounds. (I note the UK ammo has a squash head round)

If the M551A1 is the M81-armed standard version with vision upgrades and a minor modernisation package that would make the M32 76mm the M551A2A1 and the XM108 105mm the M551A3A1

Here's an image of the gun way back in 1967

[ChalkLine]

The Polish PT-91 Twardy MBT really should exist in the game, it's awesome.
Although prior to the dissolution there was a strong drive to keep military equipment the same across the board, invariably Russian equipment, it's obvious in hindsight this was impossible to maintain. I guess to ease the problems that might arise from this situation there'd be lots of cross-training with Russian kit so when they resupplied other national armies with gear in case of loss of industrial capacity due to strikes or being overrun there were fewer problems.
Of special interest is the PT-91EU which was an Urban Warfare variant. Although in real life this vehicle turns up way later in 2011 the exigencies of war would see it being developed far earlier. Due to its high survivability it's likely more of these would survive than the other variants.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PT-91_Twardy

[ChalkLine]

ZSU-23-4M2 "Afghan" version.

What, it gets worse?!

The deadly "Zoo" or "Shilka" evolved over its ongoing lifetime and the ZSU-23-4 in the books is not necessarily the ones your PCs will meet on the battlefield.

During the Soviet-Afghan War of 1979-1989 the Soviets developed the M2 kit for their Shilkas. This was the following and converted the weapon from the anti-air role to the ground support role:

- Removed the Gun Dish J Band anti-air radar
- Installed enlarged ammunition bays doubling ammunition capacity from 2,000 to 4,000 rounds.
- Installed the TPNZ-49 tank night scope.
- Installed the PSNR-5 man-portable ground surveillance radar.
- Ammunition was a mixed belt of BZT API and OBZT HE-T ammunition to destroy by blast and penetration.


Now, it's important to note that these modification kits exist in the Twilight 2000 era. It just a job of dropping the beast back to a workshop and having them fitted. It's likely this will happen wholesale when the air threat diminishes.

However, what you can use against Afghan rebels and what you can use against NATO regulars are not the same thing. NATO troops can reach out and kill things at night time and the Shilka can only accurately hit targets at around 1,500m in the ground support role. It's going to need some sort of mix of Applique armour, ERA and bar armour.

I can't tell if the Shilkas in the book had the old, unmodified engine that was slow in the book and all the upgrades the vehicles had by the Twilight 2000 era M3 vehicle.

[ChalkLine]

I do love vehicles that, to put it bluntly, were no good.

If it was that they lost their raison d'être due to technological advances, if they were good ideas that were ahead of their time or in case of the vehicle coming up, they were simply a crap boondoggle, I do love my failures.
The M247 Sergeant York SPAAG could have been awesome. It's one of those vehicles that simply "looks right". It was an utter failure, but the failure was mainly due to its design criteria as much as dodgy corporate swindling and corruption.

What the US Army wanted: A ZSU-23-4 with bigger guns and a fast engine.
What the US Army asked for: an SPAAG using two heavy guns and a heavy radar on an out of date chassis that still had to keep up with the M1 Abrams, one of the world's fastest tanks.

They specified the M48A5 chassis because they had lots and they were very reliable. They also stated that it had to use off-the-shelf equipment so the radar was a repurposed air-to-air radar, not even a ground attack radar. Now, Ford Aerospace seemed to have been thinking if they got the contract the could simply deal with the issues later. Issues like making it work.
Really, the whole sorry tale is too long to go into here. I do recommend you look it up now that 35 years have passed.

What I want to do is suggest that the M247 didn't ignominiously end its days being blown to pieces on live-fire ranges but that the 50 that were made in our alternate universe languished in a boneyard simply because everyone was too embarrassed to talk about them. There they sat, essentially useless and incapable of even defending themselves until the final phase of resupply for the European campaign. By this time the Mil-24 Hinds were all gone and the USA is desperate to send its troops ground fighting vehicles. They looked at the M247s sitting there and gave them the ZSU-23-4M2 "Afghan" treatment.

The hypothetical M247A2 is purely a ground support vehicle. It has had its radar stripped out and the AN/PPS-15A(V)1 ground search radar (1,500m for personnel, 3,000m for vehicles) placed in the forward radar nacelle.
The ammunition is increased from 580 to 650 rounds.
The turret armour is given applique panels that bring it up from STANAG 4569 level 3 to level 4 armour protection, capable of resisting the KPV 14.5mm. A sliding mantlet is provided to protect the crew from direct fire of the same level. The rear of the turret is kept the same and the hull is of course the basic robust M48A5. In the European theatre ERA blocks and wire/bar armour were occasionally used by some units. This extra armour drops the road speed to a slow 40kmh, a speed demon it is not.
The turret had a large bustle rack at the rear and is still roomy after the removal of the large radar even when the extra ammunition is fitted.

The commander's cupola from the LAV-25 was fitted and has a NATO heavy mount capable of accepting the M240E1 GPMG (spade grip version), the M2HB HMG or the Mk19 AGL. Many were equipped with gunshields at various times.

The sights are upgraded. The optical sights are retained and light intensification added. The commander has no override for the gun. At least one of these vehicles was fitted with thermal sights during its war service.
Note that the 40mm twin autocannon are belt-fed, a huge improvement over the crew-intensive five round clips normally used. Its crew remains three with commander, gunner and driver, making it something of a bear for maintenance and an endurance test when keeping watch.

[ChalkLine]

The ubiquitous Polish FSC Żuk A-07

[ChalkLine]

One of the things that always irked me a tad is that GDW liked to resurrect ancient titles for modern commanders. It seems to have been based on some sort of "hey, it's Europe right? They'd love someone called "baron"!"

Looking at failed states, and everywhere in T2K is a failed state, tinpot dictators tend to give themselves military monikers, sometimes extremely grandiose ones (Idi Amin? "His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, CBE, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular"), to legitimise themselves and to let their goons fool themselves into thinking they're part of a properly constituted and respectable force.

I think the players will meet a certain Marszałek ("Field Marshal") Czarny when they get to Warsawa

[ChalkLine]

Lublin and the Warsaw Pact in the Central Polish Corridor. The WarPact MSR.

Way over near the Ukrainian/Belarusian border of Poland is the large town of Lublin, seat of the Reserve Front Head Quarters.
Oddly enough most of the headquarters' actual units seem to be at least about two hundred and thirty kilometres west, the nearest being at Piotrków Trybunalski which is the base for the Fourth Soviet Guards Tank Army.
This implies there's an MSR (Main Supply Route) connecting the two. Now, it will probably eventually fail but when the 5th Infantry Division (US) gets nailed at Kalisz it's definitely still in operation.

The route crosses the Vistula/Wisła river at Pulawy, then heads due west to Piotrków Trybunalski and then heads north west to Łódź itself.
Now, it's written in the various sources that the Polish government and the Warsaw Pact command is having trouble with bandits in this area, so you can expect heavy contingents of anti-partisan elements from both Reserve Front HQ and its security elements in Lublin, the formidable Soviet 20th Tank Division and the 6th WOP Brygada (BGB) from Łódź and the nearby 11th WOP Brygada (BGB) from Lask. Not listed will be the various OTK local defence units, formations not to be discounted.

While the 11th are cavalry you can expect the 6th to be mounted in light vehicles with possible guntrucks, UAZ-469 and Tarpan Honker technicals if they send a rapid reaction force. The 20th Guards Tank Division however is a different proposition. They can send actual APCs, IFVs backed by their 8 remaining MBTs along the route and won't hesitate to do so. Players running into a patrol should think carefully about attacking as the situation will simply escalate until the 20th take a serious interest in eliminating the threat to its rear areas. Note that as these are all experienced Warsaw Pact units they won't be mindlessly attacking from the front but will hit hard and fast from all directions.

Along the MSR you'll find a series of fortified checkpoints possibly stiffened by dug-in light and heavy armour. It would not be unreasonable to find these checkpoints using hardened concrete bunkers and even with things like IFV or MBT turrets installed. At this point the supply routes are actually more important than combat capacity.
The checkpoints will send out patrols to dominate the area and fly the flag. Apart from fighting marauders and bouncing player characters they'll also do things like gather up Displaced Persons and then send them towards collection points and relief camps. They might reconnoitre interesting sites for salvage and collect intelligence on things too large to handle themselves.
Support for these units will be at a premium so they can't expect much, but they definitely will be able to call on mortar support if they're close to their base.


As movement is often restricted to infantry endurance there are large checkpoint/bases for platoon sized elements at Zwolen, on the outskirts of Radom, the Pillica river bridge at Inowłódz and at Tomaszow Mazowiecki (all available on Google Maps)