Po

Revision as of 00:51, 4 February 2010 by 72.161.147.92 (talk) (Removed: Dark Age Vehicle.)
Po.jpg
Po
Production information
Manufacturer Ceres Metals Industries
Mission Main Battle Tank
Type Tracked
Cost 1,064,800 C-bills
Technical specifications
Mass 60 tons
Armor Starshield Type V Standard
Engine 240 Ceres I.C.E.
Speed 65 kph km/h
Crew ???
Armament
BV (1.0) ???
BV (2.0) ???


Description

While often derided as a poor man's Rommel/Patton tank, the simply constructed and dependable Po Heavy Tank, named by Romano Liao for the mischievous and vengeful spirit of Chinese tradition, has become the principal combat vehicle on Capellan worlds lacking 'Mech units.

Desperate to rebuild after the devastation wrought on Capellan Confederation by the Fourth Succession War, Romano Liao sent out call for affordable weapons with which to defend her realm. An up and coming military weapon designer, and more importantly Liao's paramour at the time, named Ivan Maladev took a page from history of ancient Terran Soviet Union and designed what would become the Po. Even with the design hastily rushed into production, due to Capellan court intrigue he never survived to see how popular his design would become. [1]

Introduced in 3038, the Po is built around the rugged, dependable and cheap Ceres 240 internal combustion engine, which gives the tank a maximum flank speed of 65 kph. Ten and half tons of armor provides respectable protection for a heavy tank. Along with its ease of maintenance and decent firepower, this protection has made the Po a popular choice among cash strapped mercenaries, lower ranked garrison units, the Free Worlds League and Word of Blake, with such export sales keeping much needed funds flowing into the Confederation's coffers. [2]


Armament

The Po carries an uninspired but serviceable weapon array, main offensive punch coming from a turret mounted Ceres Arms Model T Class 10 autocannon. A weapon with an excellent combat record, the Model T makes the Po a serious combat threat to light and medium 'Mechs. Two Maxi Mini Machine Guns - one turret-mounted alongside the autocannon and another mounted in a ball joint on the front of the Po - constitute the tank's secondary weapons. [2]

Variants

  • Light Gauss - Selected as a Light Gauss Rifle testbed by the FWLM in the late 3050's, while boasting far superior range compared to the old AC/10, the reduction in firepower made it unpopular with tank crews with Ceres discontinued production of the variant in 3064. [2]
  • LB 10-X Variant - Introduced in 3069 and seen in large numbers in the CCAF's "shadow lances", this variant replaces the standard autocannon with an Oriente Model O Class LB 10-X AC, the weight saved being devoted to an extra ton of autocannon rounds, allowing it to use both standard and cluster rounds and doubling its combat endurance. [2]
  • Po II - A late Jihad upgrade to the original Po tank, the so-called Po II was designed to counter Blakist forces. By upgrading the original ICE to a 240 Pitban XL Fusion Engine, the Po II was able to replace the Ceres Arms Model T with an advanced Inokuma Gauss Rifle. Liao engineers were also able to fit a pair of Harpoon SRM-6 racks and two Hovertec Streak SRM-6 racks into the turret.

A note on the Po II - The power plant entry of the Po II is cut off. While the commentary can be read to suggest it's a standard fusion plant, this would leave the vehicle drastically underarmored at 2 tons. Changing the entry to an XL engine results in the same armor profile as the original Po.

References

  1. McCarron's Armored Cavalry, p. 22
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Technical Readout: 3058 Upgrade, p. 100