"Halberd" Armoured Half-Track: A LEGO® creation by Lee Barton : MOCpages.com

"Halberd" Armoured Half-Track

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About this creation

The M.P.M.T is a true workhorse of the Tarakian military, praised by all that use them, or have worked on them. Excelling at almost every job that is asked of it, however there are some tasks that are a bit too much, even for a vehicle as tried and tested as the M.P.M.T.

Lacking in only a few areas, such as load capacity, complete lack of crew protection, and a medium sized rear bed, which inhibits mounting larger, and heavier equipment. However, these problems aren't really focused on in any great detail, because the vehicle is so good at what it can do. Being able to mount a wide array of equipment and weapons, several of which would be vital to any fast moving front line during war time, questions have been raised about the conditions in which crews would be exposed to during these deployments. With zero crew protection, some have asked whether these vehicles are right for such hazardous roles.

Taking these concerns, the Tarakian military, as always, turned to it's ever reliable research and development department, which tried many different approaches to try and improve any area in which was deemed inadequate, but it quickly became apparent that in trying to make this vehicle an armoured front line unit, they would be taking away from what makes it so great to begin with.

So with this conclusion in hand, and on their own initiative, the personnel at the R&D department designed a new vehicle in an incredibly short amount of time, and presented both their findings, and their solution to the military. With cost not an issue, the military acquisition board were impressed with the findings, and the solution of the research team, and after some deliberating on the matter, gave them the green light for their new project.

Even though the designers had a free reign with this project, they wanted to keep it close to what crews love so much about the M.P.M.T, but also create a vehicle that had it's own characteristics and abilities, as well as creating a new vehicle that achieved what they were aiming for in the first place. The new vehicle, designated the Halberd, is a half-track design, which is the most popular of the M.P.M.T variants, due to it's load capacity, it's off-road performance, as well as it's ability to mount, and tow heavier equipment than the other two variants. Another feature of the M.P.M.T that the designers wanted to incorporate, was the many different variants, and given the longer, and wider rear bed of the Halberd, plus the greater load capacity, larger and heavier equipment can be mounted.

Weighing in at 25tons, the Halberd has fantastic crew protection, with the front, and sides of the crew cabin able to handle anything up to 20mm incoming fire comfortably. The rear of the crew cabin is open, but can be closed with a protective plate if necessary. Fitted with a 520hp turbocharged diesel engine, the Halberd can mount, and tow loads of up to 20tons each simultaneously, giving it the ability to mount all but the heaviest weapons, as well as carry vast amounts of supplies. An enormous fuel tank is located underneath the main bed, giving it an extended operational range. Also located under the main bed is a water tank for the crew, and a spare wheel. This unit can be operated by just one man, but different variants will have different personnel numbers.

This particular variant mounts a modified variant of the 106mm artillery piece from the "Ballista" 106mm Self Propelled Artillery, which has been rebored to 110mm, and paired with specially designed anti-tank ammunition of the same calibre. With an impressive rate of fire of 10 rounds a minute, this variant can project an incrediable amount of firepower. Ammunition is kept in an armoured compartment located at the rear of the vehicle, which has the same level of protection as the crew cabin. The fold down sides are also 20mm thick, and can be raised to give additional protection to the crew from small arms fire. Carrying 24 rounds, split into two types, which include an APHE round, and an APFSDS round. A high explosive round can also be carried when called for. Crew of this variant consists of a commander, a gunner, two loaders, and a driver.

Due to the relatively low on board ammunition storage, a specially designed trailer was built to be paired with this, and any weapon carrying Halberd variant, which carries up to 64 additional rounds, as well as other equipment and supplies.

A lightweight trailer designed specially for the Halberd half-track unit. The main purpose of this trailer is to carry additional ammunition for any variants which mount offensive weaponry, but also carries supplies and equipment for the crew, as well as spares for the unit itself.