"Khurasan previews Objekt 2536" Topic

We are pleased to preview the first piece we will be releasing for our upcoming 15mm "Nova Respublik" line of NF/sci-fi models. As is appropriate for Nova Respublik (also known as the Union of Planetary Socialist Republics, or UPSR) -- a revolutionary breakaway Freehold of the Federation which emphasises tank onslaught above all other methods of warfare -- this model is that glorious instrument of people's revolution, Objekt 2536.

Excerpt from Martha's Armoured Fighting Vehicles (2596 Ed):

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First seen in 2542AD was the initial variant of the Objekt 2536 tank design, called the Red Banner (Krasny Znameni). Designed to be cheap and easily transportable, but still pack a punch, the initial configuration of the vehicle is at present outdated, its 160mm "Kudgel" main gun system firing F&F plasma core penetrators which are no longer competitive on the 26th century battlefield, and having only passive armour with stabilised osmium sheathing. That said, the vehicle still serves on over 40 war-torn worlds along the Eastern Rim, where Red Banners, rusting and battered though they may be, remain the heavy land combat system of choice with revolutionary movements, tinpot dictatorships and transplanetary drug cartels.

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In the 2560s, the vulnerability of the armour of the Red Banner became increasingly obvious to the tank design bureau of the UPSR. As a result, aftermarket force-field shielding technology was reluctantly purchased from the Garn aliens ("reptilian bourgeois landlord oppressors whose own technology will be used to bury them"), who sold the tech for a modestly effective set of field generator bricks because the price was right and to promote strife within the Federation. Now all tanks in the first and second echelon Tank Shock Divisions of Nova Respublik carry these "Konkrete" add-on bricks, giving much needed additional protection. This upgraded vehicle is designated Krasny Znameni-U, and referred to by the Federation as the Banner-U. Countless thousands have been built and are still in service.

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15 years ago, the UPSR surprised Federal intelligence circles by unveiling the newest iteration of the Objekt 2536 series, the Red Eagle (Krasny Oryol), at the annual victory parade in Star Square (during which elite parade formations of the Respublik drive over the bones of the overthrown Romantoff Freehold tyrants as inspiring music blares). At first blush the Red Eagle was extremely alarming, appearing to be a different Objekt altogether, but is now known to be the Red Banner with a large armour add-on pack on the turret front, and a substantial stowage bin/electronics-digipack for the rear turret. The turret armour add-on, called "Krown," includes more sophisticated force-field tech than that of the crude Konkrete bricks, suggesting that Nova Respublik designers have had success reverse-engineering the Garn-sold system. The tanks still use the dated 160mm "Kudgel" cannon, but are provided with enhanced F&F guidance optics and armour penetrators with superior performance. This tank equips the three People's Interplanetary Guards Tank Shock Divisions, as well as a handful of other first echelon Tank Shock Divisions whose commanders have the appropriate political connections. Federal battlefield experience has indicated that the tank is still substantially inferior to the M5A3EPS "Siler" heavy tank, and is completely outclassed by the Marine Corp's L-HAC main battle platform, but is capable of overwhelming both if sufficient numbers and motivation are present.

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Sketchy reports from Federal Intelligence have revealed a revolutionary new use of the venerable Red Banner chassis, an ungraded Red Eagle with a high-performance laser cannon which is reported to be capable of penetrating the frontal armour of the Siler at close range. There are indications that this may be the mysterious Red Lightning (Krasny Molynia) weapons system referred to in intercepted communications. A large external battery pack is mounted on the rear of the turret to provide power for the deadly laser. There is considerable speculation that this most expensive and powerful of all Objekt 2536 variants is slated to be added in only small numbers to the Guards Tank Shock Divisions due to budgetary contraints, perhaps one vehicle for every three-vehicle platoon, in a manner similar to the use of the Firefly by the British Army in the 20th Century. Unsubstantiated reports indicate that crew safety may not have been the first priority in development of the new main armament, and that the laser is subject to catastrophic malfunction on occasion.

John Bear Ross designed this handy Neo-Soviet vehicle, which will be available as the basic Red Banner variant, with add-on packs separately available to build the Banner-U, Red Eagle, and Red Lightning. Meant to be more the size of tanks of today or the near future, the hull is about 75mm long, a bit longer than the hull of a T-72.

This kit is the advanced guard of our upcoming Nova Respublik range which will hopefully have additional items starting in the second quarter on 2011, with comprehensive releases like we have slated (and well underway) for the Federal Army. We will be releasing the Red Banner tank so far in advance because we thought a NF/sci-fi cognate of modern Russian tanks (vehicles we dearly love) might find a place on your tabletop even before joined by the infantry and the other vehicles in the early summer of 2011.

I should get the prints of Objekt 2536 and have them cleaned within a month, possibly having the Red Banner and its progeny moulded and available for your games by January 2011. Best laid plans and all, but that's the goal.

I'm detecting some black eagle :P

although I dont do sci fi the reactive armor packages will be a godsend for us modeler types

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!!!
MORE ARMORED AWESOMENESS!!!
AND NEO-SOVIET TO BOOT!!!
Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!!!

Spahseebah, Tovarish Jon!

Good looking stuff there.

Woohoo! Way to listen to the market there Jon!

An absolute smash, I predict.

Thanks for doing the variants as seperate kits.

The only minor note I can see woth making is that the basic designs seems to go too far back on the evolutionary tree of Soviet tanks and looks too much like a T-54/55 turret.

The more modern Russian tanks no longer have the oval shaped turrets as a base with the T-80 and 90 having a turret that is more hexagonal with rounded corners.

I don't know if it's too late for a retool of the design, but this might help to keep them looking a little more modern.

-Eli

Would agree with Eli, always looking for vehicles to fit in my 15mm SF project (2100 Hard SF Earth), even have a "Pan-Slav Federation" army, but the design of this tank just does not do anything for me. The basic design screams vanilla T-72, while the advanced one resembles the Black Eagle concept tank (which could be useful for near future games). Just does not look advanced enough IMHO, YMMV.

I'm detecting some black eagle :P

Yeah, the eagle was one inspiration. I liked the idea of making something that could be used in both NF gaming and sci fi, which actually was the target for the Siler too, although the Siler got a little funkier with the details and is substantially bigger than current tanks.

looking gooood.

Looking very nice.

My turn to weight in…

#1) I like the look of it. The AAA MG is a nice touch and Ill probably find lots of use for these aside from this tank. I would recommend you sell a bag of these (5 or 10) as a separate item.

#2) This one I like. I will probably use it for some of the backwards countries in my near-future games.

#3) My favorite of the four. I like the combination of the "horseshoe" armor (that is prevalent on modern upgraded T-64's) and the reactive armor. Ill probably use this version the most.

#4) This ones not for me. Im not using any laser-based weapons in my games.

Overall, a very nice product and a very smart way to go with the multiple options on a basic chassis. If I can be so bold as to make another suggestion, I would go a step further and use the basic chassis to create anti-aircraft versions similar to this:
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and an urban infantry support version like this:
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Even without those additions, youve got a great product here and I look forward to seeing more pieces in this armies line of goodies!

Very very nice. More money to send Jon, his sculptors and caster.

Jeff

I could imagine these in a mid-late 21st century Russian / Russian client state army. Would love to see some weapon and turret variants available for each chassis, and would appreciate one or two separate hatches to allow the addition of commanders, but otherwise, get casting!!

Actually there's only one chassis, and there are weapon variants (conventional and laser cannon) and turret variants (plain turret with or without ERA blocks, red eagle reconfiguration with the armour add on and turret bin, which together completely change the shape of the turret, and the laserpak version of the red eagle).

Also the turret hatches are separate. I'll have some Nova Respublik half-crewmen made up like the upcoming Federal crewmen.

I can't wait to see the glorious workers' revolutions brought about by these Objekts! Pass the wodka!

Best,
JBRski

Very nice, love the generational-upgrade variants. Look forward to seeing them duelling Silers and Garn gunsleds.

These are very good. I've been hoping for something along the lines of this T-95 concept illustration – picture – and these are close enough. My preference is for near future gaming so I'm happy that they don't look too 'advanced' and are not ridiculously large. I also like the turrets because they are characteristically 'Russian'. There are many real-life precedents for returning to older designs, and there are plenty of western-looking tanks already so I welcome some different aesthetic choices for my gaming table.

I'd also like to see a BMP-T style turret.

When will these new minis be available?

Actually ninjasaurus that's an interesting pic as it shows just the kind of look we were going for with the red eagle modernization package. The Black Eagle was the competitor of the T-95 and they shared some superficial design traits, including the armour add-on for the front of the turret. I went with the bigger turret bustle for the display, but JBR made a smaller bustle too which will be similar to that on the T-95 concept you linked.

The design of the initial turret has a retro look because currently the most common tank in third world arsenals is the t-55 including various upgrade packages.  So to reflect that on a jerk-water world we have the sci fi T-55.  For those who want something advanced we have turret overlays to change the look and for something completely different as Monty Python says, a laser cannon and laser battery bustle!

The Red Banner/Red Eagle/Red Lightning line of kits is inspired by use of soviet/Russian tank operations in the 60s-present, it is not a model by model duplication of it, so it won't have a mirror of every single variation that saw service in real life.

BMP-T is definitely part of future plans, in fact the basic IFV may be based on the Red Banner hull as well.

I'm hoping to have the kit available mid January 2011, depends on how quickly I clean the print and then how quickly the moulds get made during the holidays.

The upgrades also look sufficiently unusual that they would double as good hard SF type alien vehicles (ie sticking to the same precedents and not going for outrageous things like tall sides and huge wheels which equals instant destruction). Moving the hatches around (front/back) and a few greebles would be sufficient to make it look somewhat alien.

Any chance of more civilian type vehicles from Khurasan, such as the Rockjumper?

The challenge of civilian vehicles lampyridae is threefold.

First, gamers tend to use toys, so you start off competing with very cheap and basically ready to go vehicles.  So you lose part of your customer base.

Second, many people really only want military vehicles in their gaming, so you lose some more potential customers there.

Lastly, opinion is quite varied as to what future civilian vehicles will look like.  I was interested a year or so ago in sticking my neck out on a civilian vehicle and asked around here about what people wanted to see, but was sort of scared off by the lack of consensus and also by the high expectations once you do take the plunge.  What I think some folks may not realize is how expensive and risky it is to make even one vehicle type for sci fi, and if the consensus is "make everything," what often happens is you end up making nothing.  

That's a frank answer and I know it's not always a great idea from a customer service perspective to be frank with customers (and I've actually had some problems with that in the past) but my theory remains that you guys are grown-ups and want the straight scoop.

Thanks for the feedback. I guess the best bet would be to push for a single multi-role type of vehicle; Antenociti's 28mm cars double as Police vehicles, for example.

And as you say, toy / HO models a-plenty exist.

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Phwoar.

Keep making cool military vehicles Jon. We really like what you are doing and it is easier to find some various things for civi stuff than it is for high quality military vehicles.

just my opinion . . .

Jeff

Perfect I want a company of them!

BMP-T What variant features were you considering?

The Nova Respublik Infantry are eagerly anticipated.

AAA and IFV versions are definitely a must here too and you could certainly use the same hull, though for the IFV, you might have to do somethign to accomodate troop doors.

-Eli

Nothing firm yet dragon, probably would wind up being a turret with multiple missile launchers and maybe a double barreled autocannon. Something BMP-Tish. .

Haven't really decided what the NR infantry will look like yet, as there are a couple of different ways to do it.

A suggestion make the BMP-T have several different configurations.

1. The double barreled auto cannon. (multi role)

2. ATGM racks/pods (For stand off attacks where the infantry are expected to dismount and provide support or security)

3. Flamethrower (Close assault variant where the vehicle races up to the objective, hoses it down with flame and dismounts troops in your face.)

The NR infantry please make some lower to mid tech types without body armor. The market is flooded with good choices for power armored troopers. Great Coats would be fantastic.

A suggestion on the laser turret: it doesn't really scream "laser" to me. It still fundamentally looks like a science fiction cannon to me.

To me, a laser weapon will be something like this, adapted for ground use:

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The laser itself is contained inside the hull. The turret is replaced by an optical system which lets the vehicle shoot in every direction including at airborne targets. A pair of remotely-operated machine guns are mounted just under the axis of the turret for AP use.

The vehicle itself therefore looks like a standard tank chassis with an "eyeball" instead of the turret. Some crews paint their vehicles to emphasize this (against regs but still done).

Lasers lack in punch but have range and accuracy-- so you can do cool things like close air defense that is distributed across a networked formation rather than housed in a specialist vehicle. I think many sci fi vehicle ranges miss the real potential of laser weapons.

I hear you wellspring but I don't think a tank with an eyeball would resonate with most gamers. Also the assumption is that by the 26th C. lasers would be effective at penetration.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

Call it a railgun!

A suggestion on the laser turret: it doesn't really scream "laser" to me. It still fundamentally looks like a science fiction cannon to me.

On the other hand, that can be an advantage- you can call it what ever sort of sci-fi weapon you want if that fits the background better.

I hear you wellspring but I don't think a tank with an eyeball would resonate with most gamers.

I'm actually not so sure about that- it might look 'off' but it definitely would be different and interesting looking- a good way to distinguish a vehicle from the 'crowd'. Something that has obvious weapons that aren't nondescript gun-barrels might actually be a hit- it's something that doesn't exist in the market right now.

-Will

I agree with Dragongunner about the mid-tech look for the Neo-Sov's infantry. I think a "near-future" look and not too power armored looking troops would fit in well with the above tanks.

As for an MICV, a BMP-esque APC and Ifantry support vehicle would be an outstanding addition to the neo-sov themed troops.

Almost for got…for the infantry support/urban combat vehicle, I would recommend 2 auto-cannon, 2 auto-grenade launchers, 1 ATGML, and 2 heavy machineguns. That should 'bout cover everything.

No eyeballs for me certainly. I like gun barrels, tracks, and other conventional elements in my scifi tanks.

Will said:
"Something that has obvious weapons that aren't nondescript gun-barrels might actually be a hit- it's something that doesn't exist in the market right now."

We have a couple: the HEL (High Energy Laser) option on the V15-28A Paladin II, shown near the bottom of this page:

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…and the same weapon unit mounted as an AA laser on the V15-43B here (near top of page):

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Jon (GZG)

We have a couple:

I had completely forgotten about these- I stand corrected! I need to remember to grab a High Mobility wheeled force with my next order….

-Will

Even those have barrels though, although short ones, seems it's still not really what wellspring had in mind. (Also personally not a fan of GZG's vehicles, shapes with bits of sheet styrene stuck to them.)

I think it remains true that no one makes a laser with an omnidirectional optical system instead of a barrel.

I like #2 and #3, may end up getting a couple-four of each.

Not entirely sold on #4, and #1 looks too much like a T55 for my midfuture desires.

And Slovakian reality comes up with a different design :o)…

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I love that thing! But then there's this:
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I think it remains true that no one makes a laser with an omnidirectional optical system instead of a barrel.

Yes, the GZG lasers are stubby barrels- I could see one housing an optical system, but I'd also love to see a 'proper' laser turret with an obvious lense.

-Will

DP9's version of a laser for their Gear Krieg game is cool

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-Eli

I wonder, Will, how a Siler turret mod would be received with maybe two laser systems to act as an anti-air system mounted on a blocky gunless turret?

It might just be the way the action is cropped, but I get the impression that the tank on the cover of Tomorrow's War does not have a traditional gun barrel and find it to be most evocative.

Yes the BMP-T is something I have been waiting on. Please make a Heavy APC based on the hull. My infantry would rather ride in a vehicle with tank armor then something prove only against HMG.

As for the infantry, I tend to like what the most current Russians are wearing. Helmet, body armor over shoulders and torso and an AK type rifle.

Oh while I play near future and like the vehciles for that. I think a colony world would have vehicles that are easy to build and maintain. The idea of them being simple T-55s and improving on them from there is spot on.

Remember in 90% of the Earth today a T-55 is good enough against most opposition. The ony time a T-55 is not good enough is when you come up against a real military.

I like the idea of using the Red Lightning as a rail gun system. I plan on mainly getting the Red Eagle as my front line tank and upgraded Red Banners as 2nd line tanks.

I wonder, Will, how a Siler turret mod would be received with maybe two laser systems to act as an anti-air system mounted on a blocky gunless turret?

I think that would look ace! The turret could fitted to look like it had extra generators/heat sinks/whatever in it, with the laser 'ball turrets' on top. Could be multi-purpose as well- anti-air, cruise missile defense, engaging lightly armored targets directly….

-Will

Kenshin, that's a thing of beauty and looks like something I kitbashed for Starguard complete with multiple secondary and self-defense weapon systems… very nice!

Mr. Khurasan, your Neo-Sov MBT looks just fine and dandy, a real Chariot for the Proletariat IMHO!

Leland R. Erickson

I wonder, Will, how a Siler turret mod would be received with maybe two laser systems to act as an anti-air system mounted on a blocky gunless turret?

It would look terrible… not something that humans have business driving anyways. Maybe for a robot army that lack a consideration for aesthetics.

@ Kenshin

I'm guessing that your Spetznatz badboy was the inspiration for "Devastator", which as I understand it was reused from the movie XXX.

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Dude! Nice pic Astranagant!

Blog entry on this build… link

Best,
John Bear Ross
(aka Ivan Medved Rosski)

No eyeballs for me certainly. I like gun barrels, tracks, and other conventional elements in my scifi tanks.

Agreed. Anti-tank capable lasers would be housed in something more like a Maus and be capable of a shot every couple of minutes. :/ Plus the heat generated would be enough for the entire battalion to have a BBQ on the radiators.

I prefer it to just look like an SF gun barrel. Then it can be whatever you want. Besides, an eyeball turret hardly says "death to the capitalist scum!"