M3 GMC

     Notes: The M3 GMC (Gun Motor Carriage) is an elderly tank destroyer based on the chassis of the M3A1 half-track armored personnel carrier of World War 2.  The 75mm gun is mounted in the rear compartment and has limited traverse of 19 degrees left and 21 degrees right, and elevation of 29 degrees and depression of -10 degrees, firing over the front of the vehicle.  The main gun was equipped with an M2A3 gun shield (taken from an earlier carriage for the M1897A5 gun), which gave good armor protection to the front and somewhat less to the sides. Three pintle mounts are included on the rear and both side walls, as well as a heavy machinegun mount, for local and antiaircraft defense.  Power is provided by the standard half-track engine, the White 160AX 6-cylinder 147-horsepower gasoline engine, a modified commercial truck engine. This is coupled to a manual transmission.

     The M3A1 is similar, but uses the M5 gun shield and mount as supplies of the M2A3 gun shield and mount were insufficient to equip all M3-type GMCs built.  The M1897A5 main gun of the M3A1 can traverse 21 degrees in either direction, but can only depress to -6.5 degrees.

     The M3 GMC was sort of a stopgap vehicle, and was supplanted in production in 1943 by purpose-built turreted tank destroyers line the M10 and M18 Hellcat. 2203 M3s and M3A1s were built from 1941-1943.  Most were retired to museums, displays, and to ranges for an ignoble fate as gunnery targets. Some were acquired by collectors and kept in running status, though these usually had weapons with plugged barrels, depending upon which licenses and permits the owner possessed and the local laws and regulations.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This vehicle was very rare in the Twilight War, but still used by a few Latin and South American countries. In addition, some were kept in running condition by museums and collectors in various parts of the world.

*Except for the hood, the M3 GMC is open-topped and has a roof AV of 0.

Chrysler M10 “Wolverine”

     Notes: This is a tank destroyer based on the early-production M4A2 Sherman tank chassis.  It was developed to provide, fast, lightweight antiarmor vehicles, but was used primarily for infantry support as it could not go toe to toe with German tanks due to its light armor.  By 2004, most of these vehicles were found in South American countries to provide fire support to mechanized infantry units, rarely being used to combat tanks.

     The M10 was armed with the M7 76.2mm high-velocity gun. This gun had a telescopic direct fire sight and a panoramic indirect fire sight.  The M2HB was mounted on the rear of the turret for antiaircraft use, though it could also be used in an anti-infantry role.  Normally, an M1 Thompson submachinegun was stowed in brackets in the right rear of the turret, along with ample ammunition. (This is not included in the cost of the vehicle.) Next to the assistant driver in the hull was stowed an M1903 Springfield rifle with a rifle grenade adapter and ten M9 rifle grenades (also not included in the vehicle cost) for use in close range antivehicle combat. The M10 is powered by a GM 6046 twin diesel 375-horsepower engine, coupled to a manual Synchromesh transmission. A sore spot among crews is the hand-cranked turret traverse, which could take up to two minutes for a 360-degree rotation; most crews preferred to pivot-steer the hull and then use the turret traverse for final adjustments.

     The M10A1 is the same vehicle as above, but based on the M4A3 Sherman instead of the M4A2.  It uses a shorter-range but higher horsepower Ford GAA 8 450-horsepower gasoline engine and is somewhat lighter. The transmission is the same. The last 300 M10A1s were armed with the M1 3-inch gun, which had a higher muzzle velocity due to a longer barrel and could fire heavier-warhead ammunition. The M1 gun, however, is lighter than the M7 despite its longer barrel, so the resulting M1-armed M10A1 is lighter than the standard M10A1.

     British M10s and M10A1s were armed with the QF 17-pounder antitank gun, which had a long barrel and fired different ammunition then the M7 or M1. These were designated the 17pdr SP Achilles tank destroyer. The Mark Ic was the equivalent of the M10 and the Mark IIc was the equivalent of the M10A1. However, the Achilles is the same weight as its M10 and M10A1 counterparts, despite its longer barrel, due to the lighter construction of its gun.

     The Republican Chinese modified seventeen M10s into self-propelled howitzers, using captured Japanese Type 91 10cm (105mm) field howitzers.  These conversions were all done in 1949. The M10 SPH is also fitted with a different turret which has a roof which has several vision blocks and a rear access door, used to resupply the howitzer during long bombardments. It is a less armored, but larger turret. A bow machinegun was also added, fired by the assistant gunner/radio operator.

     The M35 Tracked Prime Mover was thought up after the M10 was supplanted by the M18 Hellcat.  This was essentially a turretless M10 with a rearranged and re-equipped interior, to suit the M35’s role as a prime mover for 8-inch howitzers.  The M35 carried part of the gun crew as well as some ammunition for the howitzer it towed. The opening where the former turret ring was could be sealed with a canvas cover. The M35 was unarmed, relying on the crew’s small arms.

     The name “Wolverine” was often found in Chrysler advertising literature, but was not used by US troops.  US troops simply referred to the M10 (and other tank destroyers of the period) as a “TD.” Other countries using the M10 may have had nicknames for it, but I have not been able to find them. Other than US use, the M10 was used by Britain, Canada, France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Israel, and Taiwan; Taiwan may still have some kept in working order in the reserve role.  From those countries, M10s were sold to various Third World nations. Like the M3 GMC, some are kept in working order by collectors, but most existing examples are in museums and displays, and many have been used as range targets and blown to hell.

*The turret is open-topped and has an AV of 0.

**The center of the hull roof (where the turret used to be) is open and has an AV of 0.

Buick M18 Hellcat

     Notes: This old World War 2 tank destroyer is still in use by some South American and Southeast Asian countries, most notably Venezuela, who used them in fairly large numbers until recently.  It was designed to be smaller, faster, and lighter than a tank, while using a more powerful gun (for the time), but it was not meant to go toe to toe with a tank, using fire and maneuver to outflank tanks and strike them in the vulnerable sides and rear.  Early models used a Continental R975-C1 350-horsepower gasoline engine, while most M18s used an uprated Continental R975-C4 400-horsepower supercharged engine. Both were coupled to the innovative 900T Torqmatic automatic transmission, something which contributed to the M18’s agility; however, testing discovered that the gear ratios of the Torqmatic was set wrong and luckily this was found out before its combat debut. Steven J Zaloga, a military vehicle author, attributes the M18’s excellent service and kill record to the bravery and skill of its crews, calling the M18 an “ill-conceived design” due to its thin armor. The vehicle is hampered by high fuel consumption due to its high-horsepower gasoline engines.

     A strange shortcoming is that the engine air cooler pulled some of its air through the turret.  This, in effect, turned the turret into a refrigerator, and in the cold of Europe in 1944-45, this led to suffering among its crews.  The open-topped turret did not help in this regard. The GM might want to keep this in mind for flavor during game play.

     By 2004, most of these vehicles were in infantry fire support roles or static antitank defensive positions.  The Yugoslavians were noted users of the M18 in the postwar period; decades later, in the Yugoslavian Civil War, they were still soldiering on.  As many Yugoslavian M18s had less-then-reliable chassis by then, the turret was sometimes mounted on T-55 tank chassis which had damaged turrets (see Yugoslavian Self-Propelled Guns). The M18 is notable for being one of Harley Earl’s first military vehicle designs. As, with time, the M18 revealed a number of shortcomings, only about a third of the originally envisioned amount of M18s were actually produced, being stopped at 2507 vehicles. Some were sent to the British and Russians for possible Lend-Lease sales, but they were not impressed and declined the M18. The republican Chinese received 214 M18s, and basically drove them until they wore out, after which some of the turrets in better condition were put on M42 Duster AAA chassis to produce the Type 64 light tank. The Greeks also wore out their M18s, after which the turrets were taken from the hulls and used as fixed gun emplacements along Greece’s northern border and on some Aegean islands. Venezuela operated 40; at least one was heavily modernized in the 1990s, though I have no information about this upgrade and I will therefore not cover it here. Several more are found in museums and displays, and in collectors’ care.

     The M39 Armored Utility Vehicle was similar to the M35 version of the M10 (above), in that it was a “stripped” version of the M18. 640 were modified from M18s after World War 2, and these were used primarily as artillery tractors, though they were often used as general cargo and personnel carriers. All were modified from M18s equipped with the 400-horsepower engine.  They had a large open-topped space where the turret was; though by March 1945, it was advised by many officers that a fully-armored roof be designed, this never came to pass, and the M39 was replaced during the Korean War with the M75 APC. The opening did have a large canvas cover designed for it. As manufacture of the M18 base had concluded in 1944, spare parts for the M39 eventually became difficult to source, and they were withdrawn from service. The only other country to use the M39, West Germany, retired theirs in 1956, and the M39 left service as a military vehicle in 1957 in the US.

*The turret is open-topped and has an AV of 0.

**The center of the hull roof (where the turret used to be) is open and has an AV of 0.

GM M36 “Jackson”

     Notes: This old warhorse is still in use by some South American and Southeast Asian countries.  It combines the hull of the M10/M10A1 with a new turret mounting the M3 90mm gun. It replaced the M10 and the M18 (eventually). The M36 used the hull and engine of the M10A1, while the M36B2 used the hull and engine of the M10. These hulls were equipped with somewhat larger fuel tanks. The M36B1 used the hull and engines of the M4A3 Sherman, and is heavier than either the M36 or M36B2, as it retains the bow machinegun armament. Some M36B2s had armored covers for the turret added, but this was not a standard installation. The turret is a different shape than the M10 and has a more rounded profile. The turret bustle/counterweight stores 11 rounds for the main gun, with the rest being stored in the hull.  The M3 90mm gun does not have any autoloader, but it does have an electrically-powered rammer, which somewhat increases fire rate (not enough to affect game terms). Some M36B2s have the M3A1 gun; this is an M3 with a single-baffle muzzle brake and bore evacuator (again, not applicable in game terms, except for flavoring elements, but the muzzle brake and bore evacuator do help keep gunsmoke from obscuring the line of sight for follow up shots). The M2HB is again mounted on the rear of the turret, but units often moved this mount to the front of the turret due to the difficulty of firing the M2HB at targets directly to the front of the M36, or a mount for an M1919A4 was positioned at the front of the turret.  Turret appointments are much similar to the M10 series.

     The M36 is similar to the M10A1, but has a 90mm gun instead of the 76mm gun.  The name “Jackson” was applied after World War 2 in some publications, but was never used by the US Army or those countries it was sold to. Other than the US, users included Yugoslavia (who fought them as late as the Yugoslavian Civil Wars), France, Iraq (captured from Iran, and mostly destroyed during Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom), Iran, Italy, Pakistan, Philippines, Taiwan (who used two of them until 2001), South Korea (some of the turrets are still being used as fixed artillery at some border firebases), and Turkey.

GDLS M1128 Stryker MGS

     Notes: Since before the retirement of the M551 Sheridan, the US Army has been looking for a replacement MPF (Mobile Protected Firepower) to provide an assault gun solution to light and airborne forces and armored cavalry formations. The Stryker MGS (Mobile Gun System) emerged in 2002 as the inheritor of that mantle, and though it served until 2022, it was itself retired due to operational and design deficiencies and though it was supposed to be replaced by the M10 Booker light tank, this project was also shelved before it could become operational, again due to operational and design deficiencies. Canada briefly considered replacing its 66 Leopard C1s with Stryker MGS systems, but decided to buy a specialized example of the Leopard 2. The Stryker MGS proved to not be well-protected in Iraq and Afghanistan, and three were destroyed in combat, with another three written off due to combat damage. Questions arose as to how effective the MGS would prove on a drone-dominated battlefield; the Stryker MGS also used the original hull of the Stryker, which is flat bottomed and is not well protected against mines and IEDs. It should be noted that the MGS is not a tank and would not survive well in a slugfest with main battle tanks; in addition, the MGS operates as an assault gun and is armed primarily with HESH and Canister rounds, though it can also fire HEAT and APFSDST rounds.

     The base chassis is a modified form of the Stryker APC, with the rear and roof hatches deleted and a low-profile turret on top mounting a 105mm rifled cannon. The driver is on the front right of the vehicle, and has a conventional set of controls.  He has vision blocks that ring his position except in the rear.  The driver has an AN/VAS-5 Driver’s Vision enhancer, which provides image intensification and a backup camera, with a passive IR viewer. The commander is on the right side of the turret; he may man a station inside the turret basket, or in a hatch on a sponson on the right side of the turret. The standard commander’s armament is the M240C heavy machinegun, but some vehicles in combat have been seen mounting a Mk19 automatic grenade launcher. The gunner is on the left side of the gun and below it, and his sights are downlinked into the turret basket.  The turret is mounted low in the body of the Stryker base in order to allow the MGS to be loaded into a C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft.  The turret, a GDLS Canada LPT (Low-Profile Turret), is mounted low enough in the hull that firing the main gun could cause concussion to injure the driver; to this end, the pepperpot muzzle brake that was at first on the main gun was covered by a cylindrical flash suppressor. The main gun is a 105mm rifled M68A1E1 gun (also referred to as the M68A2), which is a lightweight, low-recoil version of the M68 and M68A1 105mm guns found on US tanks for many decades before the advent of the 120mm gun. This gun is fed by an eight-round automatic loader, which is also connected to the replenisher, a 10-round magazine in the rear of the vehicle that feeds fresh rounds into the autoloader. The replenisher may feed one round into the autoloader per phase.  Spent shells are ejected from the vehicle via a small circular door in the rear of the turret; this door is NBC sealed.

     The M1128 is equipped with a full BMS system, providing the crew with information on enemy and friendly positions, navigation, and intelligence updates.  The commander has screens that give him this information and information on the vehicle state; the driver has a navigational screen and one that gives him the vehicle state as far as automotive condition is concerned. The BMS, of course, includes a ruggedized internal computer and copious digital storage space.  The BMS system includes GPS with an inertial navigation backup.

     The MGS is equipped with a 350-horsepower turbocharged diesel engine coupled to an automatic transmission.  Some of the automotive components have redundancies.  The engine used is unusually quiet, and when burning JP8 fuel, also has a reduced exhaust plume.  The MGS has ABS and traction control for more positive braking and traction, especially off-road, and it has a locking differential.  The ABS is on the last three axles, and those wheels also have power brakes. The tires are run-flat and puncture-resistant.   The MGS is normally 8x8, but can be switched to 8x4 for road use; in this case, the four rear wheels become the drive wheels.  The MGS has central tire pressure regulation.  The crew compartments have air conditioning and heating, as well as an automatic fire detection and suppression system.  The engine compartment and fuel tanks also have an automatic fire detection and suppression system.

     The base armor of the Stryker MGS is a steel/ceramic sandwich, giving it the equivalent of spaced armor over much of its hull. The floor and suspension are also reinforced to give it enhanced mine and IED protection.  However, the MGS is almost never seen in combat with its cage of bar/slat armor, which surrounds the vehicle. The turret is not protected by the bar/slat armor cage. The MGS can also take a MEXAS composite appliqué armor kit, which can be applied to every face of the vehicle except the rear of the turret, to varying degrees.  The bar/slat armor and the MEXAS appliqué armor can be used in conjunction with each other to provide superior protection to the vehicle, but this does substantially increase the weight and mobility of the MGS. The hull front and sides and the turret front also have lugs for ERA. IR suppression is also employed on the Stryker; detection by IR devices, thermal imagers, and FLIRs is one level more difficult, as is targeting with IR-guided missiles.  When not equipped with the bar/slat armor, the rounded shape gives it some stealth characteristics; detection by radar in this case is at -3 and targeting by radar-guided weapons is one level more difficult.  (The use of bar/slat armor negates this advantage.)

(1) Roof AV is 3; Floor AV is 4Sp.

(2) The bar/slat armor provides a sort of “double spaced armor” effect depending upon the face it hits – if the front or sides of the hull are hit, 4D6 damage is removed from the hit’s penetration if the MGS is hit by HE-type rounds.  Roof AV is 3, Floor AV is 4Sp.

(3) Roof AV is 4, Floor AV is 5Sp.  Hits from certain angles (front and sides of the hull) will have a “composite-spaced” armor effect – divide incoming hits by two for HE-type warhead hits, then subtract 2D6.

(4) Roof AV is 4, Floor AV is 5Sp.  Hits from certain angles (front and sides of the hull) will have a “spaced-composite-spaced” effect – divide incoming hits by two for HE-type warhead hits, then subtract 4D6.