[Vehicle] The Blue Lioness

.. And everything you need to know about her! Hopefully.

[1] The what is?
[2] The how did we get her?
[3] The what does it look like and how does it work?  
[3.1] Exterior
[3.2] Interior
[3.3] Weapon and Ammunition (WiP, not in yet)
[4] The come again now?
[5] The who's in it?
[6] The rest?


The Blue Lioness is the name given to Wild Tempest its not so recent addition to the team, I planned to write and post this a while ago but having been sidetracked by levelling and other things, I'm going to go ahead and introduce her still anyway! The Blue Lioness (or TBL from now on) is an Iron Horde  vehicle; Wait what, an Iron Horde vehicle? (Yes, an Iron Horde vehicle, shut up). It is not just any Iron Horde vehicle, to be more precise, it is an Iron Horde scout vehicle. A tank which plays a supportive role on the battlefield by laying down covering fire from range, by heading out to an unsafe location to pick up wounded, injured or fallen soldiers or to otherwise reach locations deemed unsafe to get to by any other means. (And when stealth isn't a high priority, it is a tank, it makes noise.)

The design in short is very much akin to the Iron Horde siege vehicles in-game, being build for Iron Horde Orcs, a human can stand in it with ease yet an elf for example, will have to hunch a bit once inside. It is not build for comfort and really, some consider it a death machine on wheels (for those within more then those outside) but we from the first mechanical unit of the 157th deem it to be an asset nonetheless. We may also just be suicidal. This thread was written without confirmation from the other squad members. More in-depth information below.


It was actually one of the first events I was with in Wild Tempest and things weren't going all too well; Annarith Starweaver decided to improvise with last-chancer Inlaei and through supportive fire from a certain (by now) Corporal Shatterstar, we cleared a line of blood thirsty Iron Horde orcs. They actually had two of these babies (till the swamp reclaimed one) but through some luck and improvisation, us heroic (or suicidal) elves managed to fight our way to the still remaining tank and captured it shortly after. Now of course, such was not without ignoring an order or two and being punished by it, but after you spend a day cleaning it with a toothbrush (and some help from others) and then painting it blue (very blue), you find yourself attached to this majestic beast of a tank and we decided to keep it.

The following is what made sense to me, based on what little I know of tanks and my research on the Iron Horde -- If you got improvements, ideas, suggestions, let me know. Actual pictures are coming to visualize it and make it easier to work with. Placeholder.

Starting at the exterior and appearance of the tank; It literally is an Iron Horde tank design, painted blue. There are a few key differences to what siege engines the Iron Horde currently use and I'll do my best to describe it. The wheels of the tank are brutal looking things, meant to cross plains and slightly rocky terrain with ease. It does not allow for much grip when it comes to larger hills, nor are they really effective in swamps or watery environments. Puddles and such are no problem, traversing through entire mud covered sections or otherwise slippery slopes may cause the tank to lose grip entirely. It was meant to reinforce the Blasted Lands with and as such, was primarily to be used in that and similar terrains. The wheels are connected with iron chains to the centrifugal coal engine the Iron Horde has been known to use, though this tank uses one at a much smaller scale and as such has less speed then one may expect. It is certainly faster then running or traversing somewhere on mount, after all, it was designed to get in fast and get out fast; It however, in terrains with obstacles will have difficulty beating those in speed who chose to use the sky as travel method.

Going to the hull of the tank and its design -- TBL is covered by relatively thick plating meant to withstand arrows, gunfire or similar; It may or may not be penetrated with certain types of magic or siege weaponry, depending on impact location, force and such things.  TBL keeps the spikes that the Iron Horde has planted on it with its original design, serving as a weapon and giving it a meaner and scarier appearance; These spikes are located at the front of the tank and as such, standing in front of it while it drives your way is particularly a bad idea. You'll either be impaled or ran over in short. Smaller spikes have been added on the barrel of the actual gun that the tank has, more meant for decoration. (Though, we never know for sure with Iron Horde design). When thinking of length for the tank, keep in mind that it was designed to be used by the Iron Horde, the average male Orc is around 7 ft. Unlike other siege vehicle designs, this scouting vehicle has a tower located at the center with a single hatch as main entrance/exit. The lid is fairly heavy, you could see it as simply another metal plate to cover the top of the tank with. (Rounded)

Now, that tower that allows for entering and leaving the vehicle also allows for the position of the gun. The gun can be adjusted slightly to aim further left or right, up or down but it will never be able to turn more then 90 degrees. The tower is stationary and as such, the gun is mostly meant to fire directly forward with. (Ammunition will be detailed later) The tower tends to house two members of the squad, the gunner and the actual squad commander (to fire at and point out targets with); To allow for view inside of the tank, the tower has two hatches at the front of it which can be opened/closed, think of them as narrow windows of which a thinner piece of plating is that can be pulled to the side to allow for view. These hatches are also at the sides of the tank (left and right) and the back of the tank (opposite of the gun) to allow for sight behind them. (Limited sight, mind you.)

At the back of the tank, one can see several exhaust pipes to regulate the heat of the coal engine with. It also has a hatch to serve as emergency shutdown, which triggers a mechanism inside of the actual tank to roll the entire engine out. The mechanism disconnects the engine from the actual tank, rendering it to be nothing more then a hull though possibly saving the crew's life in case of engine failure or pending explosion. Now, this engine is heavy as can be and actually lifting it back up and into the tank, to connect it with everything disconnected takes time and skill (and manpower); There is only one way to do it and if that goes wrong, the engine will not reconnect thus rendering the tank completely useless. With four people it still ain't pleasant to lift, but doable.


Inside and at the front of the tank one can find everything one needs to actually steer the tank with. The driver of the tank has a hatch to open completely when it is safe, or when the situation is unsafe, can slide it open partially to get some vision on what's coming ahead. (Hey, it helps seeing where you are going.) The mechanics consist of levers to steer with, break with and put the actual thing forward.

In roughly the center of the tank, at the floor there is an emergency 'hatch' which is really nothing more then a plate held in place by several slide-on hinges; Slipping those to the side allows for the plate to be moved and dropped under the tank, revealing a hole big enough for one to escape the tank through if necessary.

At the opposite, the back of the tank, one can find the charcoal engine that powers the wheels outside. It too has its set of levers and valves to increase the power of the engine and with that the speed; The valves show things such as the temperatures inside of the engine and if read properly, the mechanic can prevent it from overheating, melting down or otherwise exploding in the hold. (That is the theory at least!) Behind the engine is the hatch mentioned before, which the mechanic can operate to disconnect the entire engine. The engine is connected to the wheels with iron chains and through rotating faster (which generates more heat) the tank goes faster.

Now, the ammo is stored in the center of the tank; Two racks, one at the left and the other at the right side of the tank, set near the gunner to allow for 'efficient' loading and shooting the shells. It also means, that the tank is vulnerable at the sides since the ammunition is stored against it. (Iron horde cares not for your safety.) It can store eleven shells which gives the tank a surprising amount of firepower, extending its time in the field; Five on each rack with one loaded in the barrel of the actual gun.

Strengths:

• Carries a lot of ammunition.
  
• With a trained gunner, the tank can reload and fire quite rapidly.
  
• Firepower.
  
• On plains and slightly rocky terrain, the tank can rush in and out of unsafe zones.
  

Weaknesses:

• Taking a hit at the side of the tank can be disastrous.
  
• Limited view from the visors. (Though, one can still see.)
  
• Limited fire range.
  
• Centrifugal engine can explode within the tank if wrongly operated.
  
• Lacks anti-infantry and anti-aerial weaponry.
  
• Does not stealth. (Don't even think about it.)
  
• Does not like steep hills or slippery terrains.
  

Commander: Private Annarith Starweaver

Gunner: Last-chancer Inlaei

Driver: Private Kyryi Lightbane

Mechanic: To be filled up!


After a lot of writing around, rewriting, reconsidering and staring at; The above is the direction I want to take TBL in and will (hopefully) RP her out in WT missions and beyond. It is by no way finalized but this introduction was long overdue; Pictures (as mentioned earlier) are coming but I am unable to give a time on those. Feedback is very much desired on the whole idea and this post, strengths and weaknesses, things that just don't make sense and so forth. I hope in the end, this vehicle will be a fun addition to RPs as a whole and an interesting thing to use as we take the path into WoD!

References used:

Spoiler:

I am hoping (expecting) that every member of 1st mechanized ground unit squad will have a look at this to have a good grasp of the mechanics for rp's sake.