"We have yet to find the best of battle tanks." - Marc Chassillan
For the new, the confused, the intrigued - welcome one, and welcome all, to Nationstates' premier and only thread dedicated to the study into and creation of Armoured (and occasionally Unarmoured) Fighting Vehicles of all persuasions, the most radical thing to happen to the realm of the tracked and wheeled since the invention of digital computing. This thread is designed for NSers of all persuasions to come together and discuss matters that relate to AFVs of any sort, from the Mark II tanks of 20th century yore to the hyper-modern Main Battle Tanks of the battlefields of today. Any vague interest relating to armour in NS (or just questions relating to armour in general), any questions, thoughts or creations can be posted here without hesitation - so long as you follow the rules, of course.
Oh, and yes. As promised, welcome to the French thread.
The IRC is #NSMilitary at irc.esper.net (with a browser client accessible through the site itself, here).
Just a bit of a trial at the moment. If it works/people express an interest in using it, I'll go about setting the whole thing up properly.
What sort of context you choose to discuss tanks in is, really, as open as you'd like it to be. If you need people to talk to about how to use armour in Nationstates, whether as part of your roleplaying, simply because you want to construct a factbook or just because you want to know, you can pose your questions here and get them answered. If you've gone off and actually created your own tank, whether in the form of an elaborate work of art or a collection of stats and description - perfect! Come on right in, post it here, and get the discussion going! Need advice on your lineart or some other tank images you've created? That's what we're here for. And if you just want to talk about tanks, or AFVs in general, you've come to the right place. Kick back, relax and start talking away.
It's all very nice and relaxed in here, with common courtesy and understanding keeping this thread ticking - which means, of course, that you need to follow the rules. They'll be posted below, and rigid adherence to them is expected of all posters.
As handed down to us by Risen Britannia, with minor alterations.
TWO (2). Post something, anything - whether it's an idea, a vehicle, some vehicles or just a photo - and whatever you post can be criticised, discussed, examined and cross-examined by the other posters on this thread. So make the most of it - there're plenty of learned fellows here, and they're all happy to make sure you get the feedback you want. If you don't want people talking about something you've posted, don't put it here, put it in your factbook.
THREE (3). Do play nice. That means: civil behaviour, common courtesy, smooth discussion and general friendliness. That means absolutely no: trolling, flaming, baiting, gloating, scratching or biting. Stay on topic, don't be rude and if somebody starts flaming or baiting you, don't fight fire with fire - follow forum procedure and report it.
FOUR (4). Discussion can be conducted both ICly (in-character) and OOCly (out-of-character). There can be sudden transitions between the two, which is a tad jarring, but you'll get used to it soon enough.
FIVE (5). If asked to use spoilers in excessively long posts, use them. Don't clog up a page that other people are trying to use.
SIX (6). Rule 3 reiterated - don't play ball with the rule-breakers. Don't keep the trolls going, don't flame the flamers, follow the SOP outlined above and ignore provocation as needed.
SEVEN (7). If you're starting to feel cocky and/or arrogant, remember: you, just like all of us, are a hairless ape sitting in front of an electronic box. And while some apes are better than others in different regards, you really aren't that much better. Really.
EIGHT (8). This thread is not 'owned': the existence of this thread's basic premise and its modus operandi is an inherently shared effort, and as such, no single player can lay claim to the right to use or refer to this thread. Everybody is welcome under this roof so long as they observe the rules, without exception.
NINE (9). That does not mean, however, that players' creations are not theirs. No plagiarism, no copying, nothing of that ilk, please.
No mechs. This means no legged vehicles, or any sort of vehicles that rely on legs for movement, even if designed to fulfill the same role as tanks. This includes hybrids like Ghost in the Shell think-tanks and Tachikomas. If you're looking for a thread about mechs, please follow this link
NS Military Realism Consultation Thread
NS Infantry Discussion Thread
Your Nation's Air Force Thread
Your Nation's Warships
Argument Thread OOC Future Tech Only
Advice Thread OOC Future Tech Only
Why Mecha fail
The purpose of this list is to bring together in one place any resources the erstwhile denizens of this thread have deemed worthy of attention while following the difficult path of an NS ground vehicle designer. Separated into categories for easy browsing, this listing will be available for use by any looking for further guidance in designing vehicles, with (hopefully) fairly consistent updates keeping the list up-to-date and in line with current designers' needs.
Armaments
Electrothermal-Chemical Technology for Tank Gun Propulsion [Macabees|NSDraftroom]
Ergonomics in WWII Soviet tank design [Archive Awareness]
Large Caliber Tank Guns for Lightweight Platforms [Macabees|NSDraftroom]
Problems Encountered with Higher Caliber Tank Guns [Macabees|NSDraftroom]
Why Dual Cannons Fail [Dostanuot Loj]
Tanks
Merkava Ammunition Stowage Explained [Dostanuot Loj]
Strv 103 - Comparisons with turreted tanks [Mechanised Vikings]