Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Kodiak Tank

"Kodiak Tank, full combat ready!"

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The Kodiak Tank is the backbone of the Voshkod armored corps. These heavy tanks are very well armored and equipped with enough firepower to engage even the strongest of enemy armor. This backbone of the Eorzean/Voshkod armor is planned to be voiced by *TBA*

History
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In a lonely corner of the sprawling Goblet Tank Plant sits Building 19, a large gray monolith whose only notable feature is a pair of oversized hangar-style doors emblazoned with the building's number. Perhaps it is fitting that the backbone of the Voshkod armoured corps, the so-called Kodiak Main Battle Tank, would be built in such an austere setting to roll out of it and other factories; both conventional and battlefield based. The Kodiak, formerly called the Hammer, Tank is truly a utilitarian weapon built to adapt well to unpredictable battlefield conditions; and to the Voshkod military and the nation's people, it is not a weapon at all, but a tool, as its name suggests.

The Kodiak's outward appearance is unmistakably Voshkod. The blocky hard-angled chassis, the aggressive exposed treads, and the bulky cockpit are reminiscent of earlier Voshkod battle tanks. However, the offset cannon and the unusual-looking protuberance in the front of the vehicle do set it apart from earlier models. The Hammer's heavy armor plating protects its crew from all but the heaviest concussive impacts. At the same time, it's standard 85mm autoloading cannon is a proven anti-vehicle weapon, offering excellent rates of fire and lower chances of ammunition accidents. One might expect the turret to spin wildly each time the cannon fires, but a complex recoil-management-and-stabilization system redirects the kick of the gun and keeps the gunner on target through multiple shots. Surprisingly, this technology was "off-the-shelf", being based heavily on the stabilization system used to keep Sickles and Terror Drones upright, modified to handle the explosive force of firing the cannon. Had a solution not been readily available, however, the design team would have created one from scratch, because the offset of the cannon was a critical part of the Hammer tank's most astounding innovation.

Like many discoveries throughout the annals of scientific history, the invention of the TS1 "Tsarsky" Leech-Beam was purely accidental. Arkhangelsk scientists researching magnetic harpoon technology for the Apocalypse project were surprised to find that concentrating the magnetic beam and increasing the frequency allowed the device to literally rip metal objects apart (a discovery that nearly caused the collapse of Building 19). The resulting weapon granted two significant boons to the already-impressive Hammer. First, by re-calibrating the magnetic field, segments of shorn vehicular debris could be melded into weak sections of the Hammer's armor, effectively regenerating hull strength in the midst of a battle while the beam was active. Second, by increasing the amplitude at the time of the vehicle's destruction, entire weapons could be incised from the enemy with little to no damage to the weapon itself. Using advancements in Voshkod mass production capabilities, Voshkod engineers devised a multifunctional weapon interface mounted on the left side of the turret, allowing nearly any weapon to be re-attached. Given its ability to simply steal the armaments of nearly any armed vehicle while patching up any damage sustained in battle, the sheer versatility of the Hammer eclipses that of nearly any other unit in the Voshkod arsenal.

Even with such an advanced weapon system, the Hammer Tank's image is not nearly as glamorized as that of other Voshkod weapon systems, such as its larger sibling the Apocalypse. Regardless, the workers in Building 19 take great pride in their creations. They must realize that the Hammer Tank represents the core of Voshkod military strength, and their calm determination and commitment show in the final product, for which every Hammer crew is thankful. So say the official sources, which have made no comments on accusations that some Hammer crews have increasingly shown thug-like, callous behavior in the field, perhaps as a result of wielding such a powerful device on the frontlines of their Motherland's many battlefields.

Unfortunately, however, while the beam was often praised by tank crews, it was also a nightmare for maintenance workers: a combat-seasoned Hammer tank typically had armor made of all kinds of materials welded together on a molecular level and damaged weapons permanently attached to its auxiliary weapon station, both of which were impossible to detach from the tank for maintenance using conventional engineering methods. This meant that Hammers often could not be completely repaired after battles, and had to be scrapped and recycled altogether. Not to mention that most Voshkod commanders considered it a massive headache to order the crew to switch between weapons, with many not even using the leech beam at all.

Additionally, the feasibility of the old strategic plan had always been shrouded by the looming shadow of the unpredictable deployment speed of Edenian troops; If Edenia's huge fleet of air and mechanized ground forces were to be delivered to Thedas in time, the idea of occupying all of that continent in two weeks would be nothing more than wishful thinking.

At the same time, the hypothetical opponents of the Great Red Army were beginning to incorporate heavy equipment into their armored forces. The 85 mm tank gun, which was previously just adequate for penetrating Western European armor, became increasingly unable to cope with the increasingly well-protected armor of its envisioned foes.

To make matters worse, a certain eastern power had been trying to rebalance the distribution of power between the sea and the land, putting unprecedented pressure on the Siberian Military Region. Forget the sophisticated "art of war" the Celestial Empire might use to guide its operations, the mere presence of its well-equipped, well-trained, and modern army across the border alone was enough to make the Soviet Army feel nervous and uneasy.

These shifts in the world situation gave the upper echelons of the Soviet Red Army no choice but to ponder: Is the current role of the Main Battle Tank in Red Army war doctrine still relevant to present conditions? Is the Hammer tank, which at the time had already been mass-produced, still up to its task of being the mid-end backbone of the Red Army in a future war? The military leaders of fraternal republics in Eastern Europe scratched their heads at the same concerns. It was in response to these pressing questions that the 18th Great Red Army Military committee proposed a new construction policy for future military equipment. Under the guidance of the new policy, the overall development and design of the tank and armored vehicles were to be completed by the Soviet Union. Upon receiving the approval of the top of the Soviet army, the General Administration of the armored tank corps informed the Nizhny Tagil machinery manufacturing design bureau, which had designed the Hammer tank, and the Kharkov-Molozov mechanical manufacturing design bureau, which had designed the Rhino tank, to start a new round of design competitions to create the next generation main battle tank of the Red Army.

Considering the unique environment in the Soviet Union, the competition was not so much competition between design bureaus as it was a competition between designers. Kartzev, a gifted designer at the Nizhny Tagil Design Bureau, installed a 2A20 115mm main gun which had been previously installed on the Rhino MBT on a Hammer chassis, hoping to mass produce the next generation main battle tank using already existing Rhino and Hammer production lines. However, the design of Kartzev omitted the Hammer's side secondary weapon station and allowed the TS-1 leech beam to be used only as a special tool to allow the tank to repair itself on the field by ripping apart vehicle wreckages, enemies and even allies, to supplement the damaged armor of the tank. This allowed the main gun to be centered so that a larger 125mm main gun could be mounted on the tank without causing problems caused by shifts in the tank's center of gravity or mobility issues, and the spare space can be used to hold HEAT rounds and the new Refleks Anti-Tank Missiles. Additionally, the old hammer tank production line could be directly converted to the updated one, and even the production line for the Hammer chassis did not need to be changed as the new tank only needed to adapt to the new turret to complete the firepower improvement, and the mass production cost is greatly reduced. Under the coercion and inducement of the accounting bureaucrats of the Commission for planning and economic planning, the top of the Soviet army were "very satisfied" with all aspects of this design, and even decided to mass produce the new christened Kodiak tank, which was derived from the hammer tank's modified turret, without further discussion.

During the booming years of the Voshkod economy prior to the Great Gaiaterran War, the Kodiaks managed to be more economical while almost as capable as the tank that was originally meant to replace its predecessor, even though it was by now apparent that the old pre-2000 V.C. era baseline no longer offered any room for improvement. Gentiana of the Advanced Weapons Research & Development Corps was therefore tasked to develop a new main battle tank for future mass production.

Trivia

 * The Kodiak's design in Gaiaterra is the ROTR version, which in turn based off the real-world T-90