T2K Fortification

[Vespers War]

Originally Posted by Raellus

Good stuff, guys. Keep it coming.

Anyone know when Hesco bastions were introduced? I know the principle's been around for ages (baskets filled with earth). They seem super common nowadays (as evidenced by the pics of the French troops filling/stacking them in the article linked in the OP), but I don't recall seeing the current iteration before around 2005 or thereabouts.

The company was formed in 1989 specifically to manufacture them, so sometime around then.

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

I'm sure somebody posted a file here some time back that gave game stats for turrets from obsolete tanks being used as trench fire support.
Can't remember the name but I'm sure this particular design was Soviet in origin so the game stats used a Soviet name
I think I saved it so I'll check my T2k folders, if I find it I'll post it in this thread.

Totschka.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by Vespers War

Totschka.

Yes! That's the one!
Thanks for finding that thread and linking it here

[StainlessSteelCynic]

One thing to think about when using 44-gal drums in barriers/barricades - have two layers, the rear layer staggered so the drums fill the space between the drums of the first layer.
It's very easy for projectiles to slip between two barrels and the rounded shape even assists some projectiles to find that weak spot.

[ChalkLine]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

Yes! That's the one!
Thanks for finding that thread and linking it here

In Germany the wooden ones were Holzunterstand

From 1943, Panther turrets were mounted in fixed fortifications; some were normal production models, but most were made specifically for the task, with additional roof armour to withstand artillery fire. Two types of turret emplacements were used; (Pantherturm III – Betonsockel — concrete base) and (Pantherturm I – Stahluntersatz — steel sub-base). They housed ammunition storage and fighting compartment along with crew quarters. A total of 182 of these were installed in the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall and Siegfried Line (Westwall), 48 in the Gothic Line and Hitler Line, 36 on the Eastern Front, and two for training and experimentation, for a total of 268 installations by March 1945. They proved to be costly to attack, and difficult to destroy

Small, easily camouflaged and resistant to attack they were the bane of attackers. In Italy and France they had an evil reputation and they were building them in road intersections in Berlin at the end.
Of course they never worked alone. They had a compliment of infantry to defend them and could call on nearby artillery. Like everyone in The Second World War the Germans were all about manouevre so these were a potent backstop to deal with breakthroughs.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

There's a few decent images floating around of various German turrets used as a road blockades, typically they're Panther turrets on Berlin streets (although in some cases, they dug in the entire tank, burying the vehicle up to the hull roof).

[ChalkLine]

The problem with isolated fortifications such as the Panzerstellung is you can smoke them and then infantry can sneak up with HEAT weapons.

In a T2K context it's unlikely you'll see many until the final phase of the war but before the total breakdown. You still need to lift the turret into place and tank turrets are seriously heavy and fortifications aren't always on level ground.

The most likely final era versions would be the Holzunterstand "wooden stand" versions as they don't need heavy concrete or too much advanced technical and engineering ability.

[Raellus]

I would also imagine that modern Soviet MBT turrets would not be suited to Panzerstellung type fortifications because of their integral auto-loading systems. I assume it would need some sort of generator or external power source to remain functional? Can the auto-loader be removed and the canon remain operational (yet manually-loaded)?

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[Raellus]

I'm not stating that you wouldn't see Panzerstellung in the Twilight War, but one reason that they featured in the waning days of WW2 is that German manufacturing in the last months of the war* was so disrupted by allied bombing that they were having a hard time producing entire tanks, and fuel was in very short supply for the same reason. Chassis/engines were harder to manufacture that turrets, and there wasn't enough gas for new tanks anyways, so homeless turrets were used in fixed fortifications instead. In the Twilight War, manufacturing would be disrupted much more abruptly, so you probably wouldn't end up with as many "surplus" turrets as the Germans did during the last six months or so WW2. I reckon Panzerstellung would be a lot less common in WWIII than in its predecessor.

*Panzerstellung featuring obsolete tank turrets armed with MGs and light canon (Tobruks, I think they were called) were constructed and employed earlier in the war (like in some of the Atlantic Wall defenses). I know that in some parts of the Soviet Union and Switzerland, of all places, obsolescent tank turrets were emplaced in fixed fortifications defending strategic passes and such.

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