u/Javalr

In keeping with their Landship tradition and doctrine (see here, and here) - high command realized as the war progressed they were lacking defensive capabilities - all armoured vehicles had so far been meant for assault and frontline combat, but, how to secure territory and establish strongpoints?

The answer was the Char de Defense - a series of mobile command and artillery positions meant to form a perimeter around and hold second line positions.

The first vehicle of the series (Photos 1-8) was designed as a long-range anti tank emplacement. A large armoured turret with 2 x 90 x 1200mm guns was designed to provide long range support firepower. The tank featured several features to serve this role: No commander cupola - rather a bridge, similar to ships, with radio equipment , ample vision blocks and an telescopic periscope for target location.

The two guns were meant to provide rapid fire - and had one loader and one ammunition handler each. High command imagined this working as a ship would on the sea - providing an artillery platform from which to destroy the enemy from afar.

A clutch-braking transmission was chosen to keep the powerplant on one side o the vehicle - allowing half of the rear to be occupied by a large door for crew to easily go in and out and replenishing supplies.

To assist in protecting the perimenter from close-range threats, sponsons equipped with HMG's were present.

The design was intentionally oversized to allow for crew comfort and cargo carrying capacity - all whilst allowing 200 rounds of 90mm ammo to be carried internally.

Specifications

Dimensions: 7.5m Long / 4.2m Wide / 3m Tall
Weight : 89 Tons / Crew: 6 , 8 with the two extra ammo handlers
Armour: Up to 200mm at the front - 80mm at the sides
Powerplant: 38.4 L 24 Cyl engine - developing 1300hp.

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Char de Defense 210. (Photos 9, 10)

In an attempt to standardise designs - high command demanded a heavy artillery piece to be mounted on the same chassis to provide indirect fire support. The result as a 210mm artillery piece mounted on an otherwise unchanged vehicle. This was slow to aim, terribly expensive, and very front - heavy. A sudden stop could make the whole vehicle tilt until the gun hit the ground.

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Char de Commande (Photos 11, 12, 13)

This was a command and control, cargo, and machine gun defense version. By adding a superstructure in place of the turret - this allowed for a commander and several officers to work comfortable around advanced radio equipment to liaise and transmit orders.

Versions with no accomodation for a command centre could be used as living space and cargo

Hello splendid people

My friend and I have been looking at this tricycle for a while but there is no information on its functioning:

This is in the Arts et Métiers museum in Paris - inventory Number 14028.

The pedals seem fixed and the one way to seemingly provide traction is through the articulated rods connected to the seat via the rear wheel axle.

The sturdy vertical handlebars and fixed footrest suggest support for this motion - we have thus called it the twerkmobile until proven wrong.

Any ideas/ anybody know anything about this?

Thanks!

Not sure if this is the right sub Reddit. I felt someone here might be able to answer it / find it interesting.

The pictures are from a tricycle in the Arts et Métiers museum in Paris. The museum has no information on its functioning. Inventory number is 14028.

The single connection to the rear wheel is the seemingly articulated backseat. The sturdy handlebars suggest the theory we developed: The method of propulsion is shifting one's ass back and forth using the feet and handlebars for support.

We have named it the twerkmobile until / unless proven wrong.

In continuing with my weird fantasy French inspired stuff - here's the last one, I hope you like it:

The Lore
After the trenches in WW1, and the success of the assault transporter concept - high command was convinced the future of the armoured vehicle lied in infantry. The thought was: If we're going to have to send men in with the armour, why not make the tank carry them?

So the Imperiale class was born. A monstruous landship designed to destroy anything the infantry could not - whilst carrying 12 men inside it - 6 of which would be expected to fire the heavy machine guns located on either sponson, whilst the rest poured out of the hatches between said guns.

Speed was decent for its weight and size - although it was almost incapable of turning if it did not stop. Only the transmission weighed 2.2 Tons, and this behemoth of a machine carried 3600L of fuel to keep it going. The Sprocket was 1.4m in diameter and a crane and a whole specialist crew was required for the most basic of maintenance tasks.

Overall - high command envisioned squadrons of these firing in all directions whilst men poured out of them - perhaps even scaring the enemy into surrendering just by their presence alone.

Specifications

Length - 9.5m / Width - 5.8m / Height - 4.2 m

Weight: 87.75 Tons / Armour: Up to 75mm

Crew: 9 - Grand Commander (on the bridge, behind the driver) + 2 turret commanders, 3 gunners, 2 loaders, 1 driver + 12 dismounts

Powerplant: 12 Cyl 60L engine - developing 1122hp at 2000rpm.

Armament: 200mm mortar on the main turret / 90mm high velocity gun on hull / 50mm multipurpose gun on the top turret. 7 High caliber HMGs , 5 rifle caliber MGs.

DISCLAIMER - This vehicle is very heavily based on a tank from a steampunk tank game in development which I am not sure I can mention here. The silhouette is not my original idea.
Having said that - I fell in love with it when I saw it and wanted to recreate it in Sprocket.

I thought the blocky shape would work well as a WW1 APC - which I am yet to name.

It can carry 12 dismounts, who exit through the side hatches in a classic WW1 example of terrible ergonomics and disregard for safety.

The engine is a 21.6L 6 Cyl - which allows the 20t vehicle to reach around 15km/h on flat ground

Firepower is provided by a 95mm cannon, which comes out of an open port, and uses a shield to protect the opening. Additional firepower is provided by a machine gun on a rotating turret, and two hatches on the roof can be used by the dismounts to fire their weapons at the enemy.

There are also firing ports on the driver's hatch, and on both side hatches.

The transmission and fuel tank are located inside the rear bulge.

As an assault vehicle - the frontal shield is 40mm thick, with the rest of the vehicle being 10mm all round.

Whilst I am yet to name this monstrosity - I'm rather pleased with how weird it looks.

Inspired by the Marines' AAV - I wanted to create a WW2 version. Expected to support the troops in combat - it is as armoured as a regular mid-war tank:
75mm at the front and around the cab, with 50mm of armour elsewhere, and a 30mm roof. The bottom is 70mm to prevent it from being top-heavy.

This is because it is 4.4m tall, 3m wide, 9.3m long, and the crew and engine are all located in the top hump - leaving space for cargo below.

The size and weight means this behemoth is 78 tons - Whilst originally expected to be powered by an engine borrowed from a tank - the hump had to be extended to allow space to fit the 44L engine of a patrol boat - this limits the available cargo space on the roof, although it is still substantial.

It can carry up to 34 passengers - although it is displayed here in the long range configuration - with some of the cab taken over by fuel tanks - allowing to carry 3500L of it for long-range operations and force projection.

Main armament comes in the form of 2x 75mm guns mounted in the side sponsons - each gun has a gunner and loader - bringing the whole crew to 6.

The engine's intake, exhausts, etc are mounted at the very top to protect them from saltwater - and passengers can dismount from either the front or rear doors. They also count with various hatches and turrets from which machine guns can be operated.

I hope you like it - I had great fun putting this thing together.

The early war Zerstorer (original here) was becoming outdated - thus the kaiser's engineer corps required an updated assault demolition vehicle.

The B version was a massive vehicle - a 5- man turret, 62 tons, 165mm of armor, and 2 guns. One 185mm howitzer for demolitions, and a 30mm high velocity gun to shoot at enemy positions behind softer cover.

It featured new additions, such as an armoured plow for removing barricades, and what was affectionately named "the window" - a hatch with an armoured "porch" to keep it open , so as to allow communication with supporting infantry. Said infantry could operate two machine guns located atop the rear fenders for extra suppresive firepower.

A key innovation was not having a mantlet - the guns were placed on a vertical opening allowing for an elevation of +45 degrees - perfect for urban combat when the enemy is on the rooftops. To protect the opening, both guns featured large shields.

The commander's cupola was placed far back, and a panoramic, telescopic periscope installed to compensate the lack of vision. Tracks were reinforced, and modular armour added wherever possible.

As an engineer vehicle - it carried an abundance of pioneer tools, a large log, and a large number of wooden blocks for extra traction - and was expected to also operate as a support vehicle of sorts.

Power came from a 38.7L engine - developing 1290hp and propelling to an (almost always theoretical and optimistic) 50 Km/h.

Designed to accompany the Chevalier (here) in the assault of trenches and other fortified positions - what was essentially an armoured truck with a series of pillboxes attached was designed.

The Transporteur D'assaut could carry 9 men behind its 60mm of all round armour - and had a crew of 5, a driver and 4 machine gunners who had to kneel in order to fit into the towers. The frontal machine guns would be manned by the passengers in case of need.

The driver sat on the transmission, and due to the central location of the engine, the fuel tank had to go on top of it. It was in general, a rather odd design.

It nonetheless featured several considered design elements, such as a large side hatch for quick emergency exit, and a commanders cupola for the platoon leader to assess the situation before dismounting. Said leader also had access to a rear-facing machine gun. There was also radio equipment installed.

The machine gun emplacements featured pistol ports to cover blindspots, and the large machine gun shields had lights fitted to illuminate the battlefield at night.

Designed around the largest anti-fortress campaign gun available, the Chevalier was conceived to take fortifications head-on. It was named Chevalier after the massive, shield-like mantlet and the gun, said by the designer to resemble a jousting knight.

By Interwar standards, it was huge: 36 tons and 80mm of frontal armour, with 100mm of armour on the shield, as the mantlet was known.
The massive gun meant it could not go in a turret - so a towering superstucture was built instead, and the large mantlet designed to provide maximum protection.

Power came from a 37.5L V10 engine - delivering 613hp, allowing the very heavy machine to reach 46Km/h if lucky and going downhill.

The gun was a 95 x 700mm - Capable of penetrating 127mm of steel armour. It was 3.9m long and weighed over 700kg.