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Soviet tank off road capability.


Hilts

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Got a situation where I have some T34/85s and some JS2 tanks. I just noticed that the T34 off road capability is only 3 yellow bars whereas the JS2 has 4 green bars! Can this be right? I always thought the T34 was legendary for being one of the best off road tanks in existence at the time and would have thought  that the heavy JS 2 was much more likely to bog.

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There's no telling what exactly the 'bars' are detailing.
T34 and IS-2 are pretty close on ground pressure with just one pound difference. T34 was 10.5 psi and IS-2 was 11.5 (VVSS Sherman was 13.7psi). IS2 has the more powerful engine at 600 hp, T34 was 500 hp but still bested the IS2 by 6 horsepower-per-ton at 18.9. T34 tracks were 500mm wide, IS-2 tracks were 650 wide.

Perhaps Charles is biased against the bell-crank Christie flat track suspension, prefers torsion bas suspension with return rollers. :mellow:

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18 hours ago, MikeyD said:

Perhaps Charles is biased against the bell-crank Christie flat track suspension, prefers torsion bas suspension with return rollers. :mellow:

Maybe that's it because 3 yellow bars is only one bar better than a Soviet truck although according to the manual the T34/76 and the T34 flame tank both have 5 green bars!  I have a feeling though that are going to be some angry folks on here when we start playing in the mud and the snow and all their T34/85s have bogged down.

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1 hour ago, Chibot Mk IX said:

T-34/85’s off-road capacity was not so great compare to T-34/76.  The new turret changed the center of gravity, it also made some part the suspension system reach the overweight limit.

Well that'll be it then. Thanks for the info.

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Been consulting 'The Bible', so far the most pertinent info I've found is a ground pressure for the T-34/76 of 0.62kg/cm2 with 550mm tracks or 0.7kg/cm2 with 500mm tracks.  This increased to 0.85kg/cm2 with the T-34/85 with 500mm tracks.

To put these figures in perspective the M4 Sherman is quoted at 1.1kg/cm2, the Pz.IV E-F at 0.88-0.91kg/cm2.

An interesting related quote:

Quote

For a tank type such as the T-34, the maximised ground pressure values that were reached in 1941 were simply overkill and it was possible to easily sacrifice them partially for the sake of a thicker armour, better armament and other unnecessary design features

Not sure the last bit made it through translation unscathed, but it seems to me that only the earliest production T-34/76s (m.1940 & m.1941) should have all the green bars.....Things should start to go downhill (relatively speaking) with (IIRC) the T-34/76 M.1942, then take another dive with the T-34/85.  ;)  

PS - Still looking into the situation with the suspension, the tank's weight certainly took a jump. 

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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  • 2 weeks later...

many factors go into a AFV's off road capability, i.e. ground pressure, suspension design, MMP rating, durability of components, etc. The game does not rely on any one factor.

the Bar rating is only a rough indication of off-road capability.

I had run some bogging tests of the T34-85 (3 bar) vs Tiger I (4 bar) some times back and in game performance of both was very similar:

Quote

So I ran some more tests. 4 km long map, mud, cool temp, damp ground, overcast. 10 AFV each run, 5 run.

1st test: T34-85 (1944 late)

-17 made it to the end

-33 immobilized

-total distance travelled: 122,707 meters

-average per tank: 2,454.14 meters

2nd test: Tiger I late

-17 ok

-33 immo

-total distance travelled: 125,394 meters

-avg per tank: 2,507.88 meters

So results are basically the same.

 

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