User blog:SPARTAN 119/Blitzkrieg 1915: Burstyn Motorgeschutz VS Garford-Putilov Armored Truck

The Burstyn Motorgeschutz, Austro-Hungarian tank design proposed by Gunther Burstyn before the First World War, in 1911.

VS

The Garford-Putilov Armored truck, the Russian armored truck of World War I, armed with a 76mm gun in an unusual rear-facing turret.

History is rewritten as a prototype rises from the drawing board to determine WHO IS DEADLIEST!?

=Burstyn Motorgeschutz=
 * Armament: 1 x 47mm Skoda cannon, 2x 8mm machine gun
 * Armor: 8mm front, 4mm side and rear, additional 3mm around fighting compartment (for total of 11mm frontal crew protection)
 * Road Speed: 28 kph
 * Cross-Country Speed: 8 kph

The Burstyn Motorgesschutz was a proposed armored fighting vehicle, what would become known as a “tank” designed by Austro-Hungarian engineer Gunther Burstyn in 1911. The vehicle was a pioneering design in the development of the tank, and had it been built, would have been the first tank to carry a revolving turret. The proposed vehicle had a length of 3.5 meters, a diameter of 1.9 meters and a height of 1.9 meters. The vehicle was powered by a 60 horsepower engine, giving at a cross-country speed of 8 kilometers per hour, but a road speed of a 28 k/h, faster than any WWI tank. In order to further aid in crossing trenches, the tank carried a pair of a retractible arms with a length of about 1.5 meters on both the front and rear of the tank, with wheels mounted on the end. These would be lowered across a trench to aid in crossing.

The Burstyn carried a 47mm Skoda light cannon as a primary armament mounted in a turret that could revolve about 250 degrees from the front position. The turret rotation was obstructed by the rear machine gun turret. The vehicle also carried two 8mm machine guns, one co-axial to the main gun, and one in the rear turret.

Garford-Putilov Armored Truck

 * Armament: 1x 75mm howitzer, 3x machine guns
 * Armor: 6.5mm
 * Road Speed: 18 kph
 * Cross-Country Speed: Unclear, Minimal. Poor off-road performance

The Garford Putilov was an armored truck used by the Russian Army during the First World War consisting of an American-made Garford truck equipped with an armored chassis constructed by the Putilov Factory. The vehicle was armed with 75mm howitzer and co-axial machine gun in an unusual rear-mounted turret capable of rotating about 270 degrees, as well as two machine guns in forward sponsons. This usual design meant that the vehicle had to turn rearwards to the enemy to engage, a design useful for ambushes and stationary defense, but increasing the time it took to engage if it encountered the enemy on the move. The vehicle also had poor off-road performance due to its weight and top-heavy design.

The Garford was first designed in late 1914, and the first units were deployed in 1915, operating alongside other armored cars in support of Russian troops across the Eastern Front. During the Russian Civil War, the Garford was used by both sides, but most heavily by the Reds, who used them as mobile anti-tank guns to counter the British and French tanks operating in support of the White Army. Captured Garford-Putilovs also saw use by the German Freikorps after the war.

=The Stats Compared=

Note
Firepower, Speed, and Armor are given in actual stats, only combat mobility is given out of 100. The Burstyn scores far higher as it was designed to be able to fire while advancing on enemy trenches, while the Garford’s rear-facing turret and poor off-road performance was poorly suited to shooting on the move.

Non-Quantifiable
The Garford-Putilov had a rear-mounted gun, whereas the Burstyn had a more conventional layout. This means that Burstyn was better designed for engaging targets on the move.

The Garford has a bigger gun, but both vehicles guns were more than capable of piercing the other’s armor- neither was designed to survive anything bigger than small arms fire or grenade shrapnel. Likewise, the Motorgeschutz is better armored, but it is irrelevant against the main gun of the Garford. =Scenario= Somewhere in eastern Russia, an alternate 1915, the Austro-Hungarian Empire decided to put Gunther Burstyn’s Motorgeschutz into production and are steadily advancing across the Eastern Front, easily defeating Russian infantry and cavalry. In an attempt to stop the Austro-Hungarian war machines, the Russians deploy the new Garford Putilov armored trucks to hold a Russian FOB near a farmhouse.

The battle will be 5 vs 5. The Garford Putilovs will be defending an area of flat Eastern European farmland crossed by various roads, mostly dirt, but with a few major paved roads, with scattered farmhouses and barns, as well as occasional small dips and rises (no more than 5-10 meters). The Motorgeschutze will attack and attempt to destroy the Russia armor and take their position.

Other forces will not be involved for the purposes of voting, but may make an appearance in the simulation- since this is an alternate history, I might even include another prototype weapon that should be familiar to players of Battlefield 1.