Odeo G24

= Oedo G24 =

Overview
Introduced in 1809RT, the Oedo G24 was main line Landship of the Shirudan Shogunate from ending stages of the Great War onwards. The Oedo G24 saw a lengthy period of service from 1809RT onwards, one that required repeated upgrades to keep the landhship competitive on the modern battlefield. An improvement on the previous tanks, the G24 places an emphasis on armour and armament over speed. It’s squat frame is protected by dense armour plating to the sides, and sloped armour to the front, which reduces its speed compared to many of its original contemporaries. The addition of armour track guards in response to  improvised anti-tank grenades and experiences in the Nordvest front were another new addition with this model. During the war it was manufactured by Daigo Heavy Industries, being one of the brainchildren of the noted tank designer Hiroka Daigo who designed it to replace the Gonto. However after the splintering of the company at the end of the Great War, Mima Heavy industries would become the principle producer of the G24. The whole tank is crewed by four: the Commander who occupies the top position, the Gunner to their left and the loader below and behind. The Diver occupies a reinforced compartment of their own to the front, with a narrow passage through and into the turret ring.

The landship is equipped with a single radio and suffers from an often short communications range- one that was rectified with the later DT-90. Another issue with the first iteration was the lack of chemical sealing and filter systems. In the gas-heavy battles of the Great War, G24 crews would have to wear their own personal gas masks while crewing the tank to ensure their survival. Later models would install a sealing system with chemical filtration pumps to allow the crew to operate freely without the threat of contamination.

It’s most high profile issue was the engine- underpowered for its time and the main limitation for Hiroka’s otherwise excellent design. This lead to issues in reaching high speeds and moving through steep terrain, though later models swiftly rectified this.

The G24 has long been the tank of the regular/Shirudan army, being the building blocks of the heavy Landship regiments. The Luftmarines instead use the lighter, faster DT-90 as the G24 is too heavy and too bulky for rapid airship transportation.

Armament
The armament for the G24 is principally built about the 90mm  cannon. Heavyset and bulky, it required a new, reinforced turret ring to take the weight, while boasting the same sights as the previous Oedo II. The 90mm gave the tank good range and accuracy at the time of the Great War, though in the postwar period it’s crews found it lacking. Therefore as part of its upgrade series, the G24 was refitted by Mima Heavy Industries to carry the 105mm smoothbore. This extended the range back out so that the G24 could viably trade shots with  Union and Royalist landships at long range. The 55 shells are stored beneath the turret ring in reinforced bins to help prevent magazine fires: these can include AP shells, HE rounds, Chemical Gas shells and Incendiary rounds. A single Z-99 machinegun is mounted alongside the main gun with 3,600 rounds of 7.62 ammunition available for anti-infantry purposes. A mount for a second Z-99 is affixed to the commander’s turret, though in practise vehicles are issued with only one and tend to acquire the second weapon later on. Upon the forward turret armour, four 50mm smoke canisters are mounted to provide cover.

History and Combat Service
The G24 saw service only in the late war period, coming straight out of development into Shirudan heavy tank units. The most prominent battles it saw were the fighting during the Arcean invasion of Gosumo and the final battles for Nordvest. On the home islands, it proved well against Arcean Cassidy’s though its lack of chemical filtration and subsequent forcing of crews to operate while in gas hoods proved some serious issues in working conditions. In the final Nordvest actions, the heavily armoured G24s worked well to hold rear guards and counter attack into advancing enemies though the engine issues would rear their heads constantly.

Notably loyalist G24 units with the Shirudan army would see action as Hathor removed the influence of the Office of the Arrowheads, in many cases destroying Arrowhead-operated older Landship models, though suffering minimal Landship losses themselves.

Variants

 * The Daigo model of the G24, being the first design that saw Great War service. 90mm main gun with issues in engine power and lack of chemical protection.


 * The Daigo G24(B) was the first upgrade, overseen by Hiroka Daigo. This late war model saw the instalment of a air filtration system alongside minor engine upgrades.


 * The Mima G24(C) was the second upgrade and the first by Mima Heavy Industries after the war. The original engine was completely removed in favour for a new design, significantly more powerful for the vehicle’s performance.


 * The Mima G24(D) saw quality of life and upgrades to the chemical protection and filtration systems.


 * The Mima G24 (E) is the most recent upgrade. A 120mm cannon designed by Hiroka Daigo was installed to replace the 90mm to increase lethality while further quality of life upgrades were serviced to the engine.Desert Base.jpg