Human Alliance Forces “Kramer” Main Battle Tank (Grav):

"They want us to switch from out good old Human made Kramer tank to that Wolfen monstrosity known as the Phalanx. I am not one of those crazy Xenophobe but that thing weighs as much as a navy corvette. If I wanted to drive a hover tank the size of a corvette, I would have joined the Navy. Give me back my good old Kramer."

- Sergeant Marion Fredette, 12 Armored Brigade, Consortium Army (Ex Human Forces Army)

"A spotter detected a Dark Slayer tank and relayed the data back to my tank. I popped up on the Contra-Grav system and fired a blast from the particle beam. It melted a huge patch on his turret but did not penetrate. He responded as I expected and returned fire with a volley of medium range missiles. I dropped back down behind the hill with the missiles screaming down on me. If he had targeted with all of his missiles, my goose might have been cooked. Luckily my point defense missiles were able to destroy all but one. I moved a couple of klicks and popped up and gave him another blast."

-Corporal Myatt Kucera, Free Worlds Council Army, after the Fourth Battle of Lyons

When the Consortium was formed, much of both the Wolfen and Human militaries were joined into the Consortium Armed Forces. Prior to the formation of the Consortium Armed Forces, the Human Alliance operated the “Kramer” Main Battle Tank. It was only about one third the mass of the Wolfen design yet virtually matched the larger Wolfen design at long range firepower. The Tank is named after General Michael Kramer, who was one of the officers instrumental to the formation of the Human Alliance Forces Army. The government leaders in the Consortium chose the Wolfen Phalanx Hover Tank over the Kramer for the Army. Several reason were given for this, the Wolfen was faster, had a powerful bow shield, and mounted more weaponry. Still, many leaders in the military preferred the human design. After a couple of decades, the Human Alliance adopted the Wolfen design as well. Officially, the Human Alliance adopted the Phalanx Hover Tank because the Consortium Armed Forces operated the tank. Contradicting the official story is a report that the person responsible for the adoption of the Wolfen design was in collusion with the manufacturers of the Wolfen tank.

When the Human Alliance adopted the Phalanx tank, huge numbers of the Kramer were sold. Many military leaders would have preferred to mothball the old Human tanks but it was decided to sell them as surplus. The hover tanks were snapped up almost as quickly as they came up for sale. Parties who purchased large numbers of the Kramer included independent planetary militaries and mercenary companies. These tanks have soldiered on since and several companies specialize in making repair parts and upgrades for the old Human Alliance design. These tanks have found there way into the hands of the Free Worlds Council Military. Several companies producing repair parts for the Kramer produce advanced hover tank designs based on the Kramer. One of these was in the running for the replacement tank for the Phalanx in the Human Alliance Armed Forces but a Phoenix Armory design was selected instead. The Phoenix Armory design was much faster than the competing design and several other advantages. Still, it appears that the old Human Alliance tank design will be retired no time soon.

Propulsion for the Kramer hover tank is through a powerful Contra-Grav unit. While the top speed is not as great as the Phalanx, top speed is still almost 200 kilometers an hour low to the ground and almost 250 kilometers per hour when flying at altitude. The tank becomes far more of a target when flying high above the surface and most pilots avoid it. While the Contra-Grav has an altitude limit of 500 meters, it can be used to slow the descent of the tank so it can be dropped from orbit instead of being carried by an assault shuttle. The tanks are very vulnerable during the descent phase and assault plans usually involved the tanks being escorted to the ground by Starfighters. Power is provided by a small fusion reactor although most newer tanks plants are far more efficient than the fusion reactor in the Kramer. The Kramer is more effectively armored than the Phalanx but the Wolfen tank is also protected by a powerful front force field. Most new tanks also carry force field as well. Other than the ability to withstand more damage in combat, the fields allow for much faster descents during assaults. Several upgrades to the tank include force field generators. Crew of the Kramer is only three compared to eight in the Phalanx. Even with the smaller crew, the Kramer is very cramped due to its smaller size and weaponry using virtually all of the available space. Crew controls are holographic and give a 360 degree view as if the pilot and gunners are not even in the tank. While it is standard in most Phase World tanks, the sensor system design broke new ground when the Kramer was first fielded. The crew compartments have full life support and the tank can operate on airless moons and planets with a toxic atmosphere as easily as an earth like planet. The turret is actually unmanned and the gunner and commander sit below the turret.

The main gun of the “Kramer” hover tank is an eight centimeter particle beam. The particle beam draws a huge amount of energy when it fires and has to pull power from a bank of powerful capacitors. If the hover tank was to pull power directly from the reactor, the rate of fire would be severely limited. Range of the main gun is around 20 kilometers although the weapon is often blocked by line of sight. The main cannon on the Phalanx has a similar range but can be fired indirectly as well. Coaxial to the heavy particle beam, the Kramer mounts a one centimeter electromagnetic rail gun. Some owners have replaced the rail-gun with a pulse laser but the weapon is retained in most designs to deal with mystic targets which are impervious to energy. Above the main turret is five millimeter pulse laser mounted in a smaller turret. This mount mostly deals with infantry and incoming missiles. Some upgrades include a automatic tracking system for the pulse laser. On the rear of the turret are two mini-missile launchers. Each launcher has a payload of five mini-missiles and have an automatic reloading system. A total of forty mini-missiles are carried.

This Tank uses modified starship rules for its weaponry. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World / Three Galaxies for more details.

(Note: The power system is fusion not anti-matter because the author’s opinion is that anti-matter is to dangerous to be used in vehicles that may be used in an atmosphere. If a craft powered by anti-matter was to detonate in an atmosphere it would cause huge planetary damage. At GM option, this can also be applied to all vehicles or this MBT can be changed to anti-matter.)

Model Type: HAFA-MBT-12
Vehicle Type: Main Battle Tank (Grav)
Crew: Three, one driver, one commander, one gunner.

M.D.C. By Location:

	80 mm Heavy Particle Beam (Turret):	200
	[1] 10 mm Coaxial Electromagnetic Rail Gun (Turret):	80
	5 mm Pulse Laser Cupola / Mini-Turret (Turret):	100
	[1] Mini-Missile Launchers (2):	80 each
	[2] Turret:	400
	[3] Main Body:	1050
	Driver Compartment:	150
	Gunner / Commander Compartment	100

Notes:
[1] These are small and difficult targets to strike, requiring the attacker to make a “called shot,” but even then the attacker is -4 to strike.
[2] The Weapons turret is unmanned by the crew, and contains the main weapons; Destroying it will knock the weapons out action but the crew will survive.
[3] If all the M.D.C. of the main body is depleted, the vehicle is completely shut down and is unsalvageable; The crew can survive unharmed in the reinforced crew compartment.

Speed:
Driving on the Ground: 124.3 mph (200 kph) maximum. The tank can make sharp turns and float over any obstacle. Note: The maximum top speed can be actually higher than this, but that is under ideal conditions, like straight roads and flat terrain. The low level terrain avoidance systems cannot operate properly at speeds faster than this.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum cruise speed is 155.3 mph (250 kph), due to being a low powered Contra-Grav system, altitude is limited to 1640 feet (500 meters.) Contra-Grav system can also control descent speed so that the tank can be dropped from orbit.
Underwater: The Kramer can use its thrusters to travel up to a maximum speed of 37.3 mph (60 kph).
Maximum Ocean Depth: 1 mile (1.6 km)
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by drive system but only has supplies for crew for two weeks.

Statistical Data:
Length: 28.2 feet (8.6 meters) not including gun barrel and 37.7 feet (11.5 meters) with barrel forward
Height: 10.5 feet (3.2 meters) including top pulse laser.
Width: 12.5 feet (3.8 meters)
Weight: 93.7 tons (85 metric tons) fully loaded
Power System: Advanced Fusion with 10 year life span.
Cargo: Minimal storage space in pilots compartment; about three feet (0.9 m) in side dimensions for extra clothing, weapons, and personal items. Three carbines and one hand-held missile launcher with four loads each are stored in a compartment in the crew compartment.
Market Cost: 80 million credits. Often costs double that on the Black Market. Various knock-offs are also available with upgraded versions costing up to 120 million credits. Various upgrade packages are also available.

Weapon Systems:
Note: Space ranges are given for when the tank is used on airless moons and other similar locations.

80 mm Heavy Particle Beam (1): Main cannon in turret with the ability to depress 10 degrees and elevate up to 80 degrees. Turret is designed for rapid movement and can rotate a full 360 degrees in just three seconds. Because of this, the cannon can target high speed airborne targets. The heavy particle beam draws a huge amount of power and energy is stored in a bank of powerful capacitors. The capacitors allow for rapid firing but are limited to twenty shots before needing to recharge. The cannon can retain a rate of fire of 8 shots per minute only. Mounted with the cannon is a powerful fire control system. Main gun is usually controlled by the Gunner although both the commander have emergency controls.
Maximum Effective Range: 12.4 miles (20 km) in an atmosphere and 1,240 miles (2000 km) in space.
Mega Damage: 4D6x10+20 M.D.C. per Particle Beam blast.
Rate of Fire: Equal to the Gunner's combined hand to hand (usually 4 or 5).
Payload: 20 shots in capacitors, recharges at the rate of two shot per melee.
Bonuses: Has a special fire control computer that helps to aim the cannon. Gives +4 to strike with particle beam and vehicle does not have minuses to fire when tank is moving.
10 mm Coaxial Electromagnetic Rail gun (1): Mounted beside the heavy particle beam. Unlike rail-guns mounted on most phase world tanks, the rail guns work through the use of electromagnets instead of gravity. The rail gun still fires projectiles at incredible velocities compared to rail guns on Rifts Earth. Rail gun targets wherever the main particle beam targets. The rail-gun shares the same fire control system with the particle beam and is normally controlled by the gunner. Like the particle beam, the driver and commander have auxiliary controls.
Maximum Effective Range: 8,000 feet (2,440 meters) in an atmosphere and 150 miles (240 km) in space.
Mega Damage: 20 round burst inflicts2D4x10+10 M.D.C., one round does 2D6+2 M.D.
Rate of Fire: Equal to the Gunner's combined hand to hand (usually 4 or 5).
Payload: 2,000 Rounds (100 Bursts)
Bonuses: Has a special fire control computer that helps to aim the cannon. Gives +4 to strike with rail gun and vehicle does not have minuses to fire when tank is moving.
5 mm Mini-Turret Pulse Laser: Basically a squad support weapon mounted in the turret which is remotely controlled by the Tank's commander. Weapon is very effective for shooting down missiles and is useful against ground targets as well. Turret can rotate 360 degrees in less than a second and can elevate up to 90 degrees vertical.
Maximum Effective Range: 4000 feet (1220 meters) in an atmosphere and 75 miles (120 km) in space.
Mega Damage: 4D6 per single shot, 1D6x10+10 for a rapid fire three shot burst, or use machine gun burst rules for higher burst setting.
Rate of Fire: Equal the Commander's number of hand to hand attacks - Single Shot, Three Round Burst, and Extended Bursts (Use Machine Gun burst rules).
Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Mini-missile Launchers (2): One of these are mounted on the left and the other on the right side of the tank’s turret, and are fitted flush with the armor. These are standard mini missile launchers, usually used for close in defense purposes. The reloads are fed to the launchers from a small magazine in the main body. Missile has a top speed of Mach 10 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 2% of light per turn (slightly faster than any starship except if it is exceeding it maximum safe acceleration). Mini-Missile in phase world are normally guided.
Maximum Effective Range: Mini-Missile range is 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space.
Mega-Damage: Varies with mini missile type (See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details.)
Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in a volley of 2, 4, 5, or 10.
Payload: 5 mini-missile per launcher, with 3 reloads per launcher, for a total of 40 mini-missiles.

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Image drawn and copyrighted by Talis D. Merrill (taalismn@pop.tiac.net).

Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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