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Axon Hover Tank


 About the Axon Hover Tank
Combat brief: the Axon Empire employs a powerful main battle tank with a hover drive. The official name of this vehicle is unknown at this time, and is simply referred to as the "hover tank" in the field. The tank is crewed by a captain and driver in a cabin situated at the rear of the hull, using the forward bulk of the vehicle as protective armor. Two centrally-mounted plasma reactors power the craft, distributing power to four independant hover pods, only three of which need to be active for the tank to maintain a nominal hover between 2 and 3 feet above the ground. The operational ceiling of the vehicle is unknown at this time, but reports have verified atleast 5.5 feet is possible at a standstill. The rear of the tank contains a pair of magnetically vectored plasma engines for propulsion and steering. On the central hull directly below the forward viewport, between the forward hover pods, are a bank of four flood lights for night operations.

An offset turret carries the weapons, with a full hemisphere of traversal and elevation, meaning airborn targets are just as at risk as ground targets. The main weapon is a large plasma cannon fitted with a recoil mount. There is a smaller, faster firing plasma repeater coaxially mounted with the main cannon, intended to be an anti-infantry weapon.

What is known about this hover tank are some of its weaknesses. It lacks nuanced lateral and reverse movement, meaning in order for it to retreat, it must either move slowly, or show its back or sides, exposing less well-armored portions of the hull. The plasma engines are also a major weak point -- if they become unbalanced, the pilot will have to compensate significantly to maintain command and control of the vehicle at speed. We've also noticed that the turret cannot be depressed below zero degrees, requiring that the suspension of the hover pods be changed to fire below the horizon in order to hit lower targets. From this adjusted suspension position, it cannot immediately accelerate, and the driver must reconfigure before changing position. Seeing as the main plasma cannot and secondary plasma repeater are coaxially linked, this means that it is possible to get below the angle of fire of the driver, particularly in a faster vehicle or on foot.

Beware of the Axon Empire's hover tank on the battlefield. Even with these shortcomings, it is a threat to both ground and air targets within its field of fire.


   The Axon hover tank and crew of 2: driver and captain.


   Hover distance is usually maintained at around 2-3 feet above the ground.


   The main reactors are situated between the forward and aft hover pods.


   These tanks tend to feature a patchwork of repairs.


   Located on the center hull is an array of flood lights for night navigation.


   The main plasma engines are magnetically vectored for precise forward motion and turning. Rear-facing sensors help the driver see what might be sneaking up behind them.


   The turret has a coaxially mounted plasma repeater in line with the main plasma cannon.


   The port side contains the crew hatch, and it can be a bit of a tight squeeze.


   In the event of a sensor failure, the crew can look forward through a small central viewport, otherwise they have to open up the hatch to see what's going on.


   The turret can traverse in a complete hemisphere, able to attack airborn targets, even ones directly above it. However, the downside is that the coaxial gun cannot hit targets below the proverbial horizon without changing the hover suspension.


   The crew cabin is pretty sparse, with most of the controls dedicated to operating the hover drive, and keep all 4 hover pods plus the forward propulsion balanced.


   Frontal armor keeps the crew incredibly well protected... below the neck.



 Meta Description
This was the first time that I ever tried to make something for the Axons that wasn't a complete joke. I typically gave them single-color designs with no greebles, no detail, and no design sensibilities. This was an experiment in SNOT construction (studs not on top), and unorthodox part usage -- I wanted something with unique slope shapes to it. Unfortuantely, it's also really fragile. The forward hover booms aren't held on with much, and the rear simply doesn't have a ton of structural integrity to it.

It still looks super cool. It's been sitting in storage since atleast 2012, without any proper photos to document it. The design is inspired by the Predator Main Battle Tank, the primary armored unit used by the Global Defense Initiative in Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. That had tracks, so I mixed it with the hover tech seen on the Shatterer hover weapon and the Hover MLRS from Tiberian Sun. The main cannon is directly inspired by guns seen on Exoforce sets from 2006.
 
General Characteristics
NameUnknown
TypeHover Tank
AffliationAxon Empire
Armament1 x Plasma cannon
1 x Plasma repeater
Propulsion4 x Hover pods
2 x Vectored plasma engines
2 x Plasma reactors
Crew Compliment2




Gallery was generated using igal2 2.2
This page was last updated on 3/18/2023
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