Duelist Main Battle Tank

The Duelist Main Battle Tank is a heavy front-line battle tank designed and built in House Thunda for its own military.
Duelist Main Battle Tank	
Duelist Main Battle Tank
Production Information	Production Information
Manufacturer 	Thundan Armored Enterprises
Product Line 	Combatant-series Tanks
Model 	Duelist-type
Class 	Main Battle Tank - tracked vehicle
Technical Information 	Technical Information
Size 	8.13m x 3.12m x 2.0m
Weight 	66 tonnes
Maximum Speed 	54kph
Armament & Equipment 	
*120mm autocannon (turreted, 62 rounds)
*7.62mm heavy machine gun (co-axial with the main cannon, 2,200 rounds)
*Particle & deflector shielding, capable of defending against most missiles and laser-based weaponry
Crew 	4
Prototype Designation 	R-15 Main Battle Tank
Elite Upgrades 	High-explosive shells
Usage 	Usage
Role(s) 	Anti-surface
Affiliation 	
*House Thunda
*United Elemental Republic
Other Information 	Other Information
Appearances 	
Original Creator 	Flashfire212
==Design History==
The Duelist was designed and built after a fairly fierce confrontation with the Pyranic Empire, although both countries passed it off as a minor dispute to their populations. In that battle, the array of light and medium tanks that the Thundan Army brought to bear was easily crushed by the highly co-ordinated and enemy armor, spearheaded by an array of assault walkers and superheavy tanks, supported with an array of lighter combat units and infantry. After that conflict, feelers went out as the country began to investigate the possibility of creating a tank or walker of their own, capable of going toe-to-toe with sixty tonne tanks and walkers and winning, as well as heavier units. 
There was the traditional tenders, ranging from G.U.N. surplus to Hammerforge walkers, Tasfira Armaments amphibious units and Anvil Corp. hovertanks, but the winning tender was an original design by a local weapons producer, the Thundan Armored Enterprises. This group had experience with medium tanks, and proposed a standard 66 tonne main battle tank. The concept was cleared to proceed due to three factors - it was a local build, so more jobs would be created, it had a number of parts compatible with some of the older medium tanks, and, the most importantly, it was not solely dependant on armor for it's defence. As such, three designs were chosen for consideration - the Hammerforge Blackvein-class Heavy Mech, a G.U.N.-built main battle tank, and the new R-15 design from TAE. 
A year later, and the three demonstration vehicles were unveiled on a military testing grounds. The Blackvein was shown first, and it easily destroyed a number of targets at range with its twin torso-mounted large lasers, before closing the distance and demonstrating the sixty-ton walker's power with its shoulder-mounted missile racks and arm-mounted medium lasers. However, it had issues when an enemy began to shoot tactically, with each weapon easily disabled or destroyed through skilful shots, not to mention the fact that limbs and even the torso armor could be destroyed simply through standard damage. The established tank was the next to be shown, but the downside to this unit was displayed by its difficulty hitting moderately-sized targets at range with its 120mm main cannon, and the slow speed of the turret traversing. 
Finally, the R-15 was demonstrated. The turret could rotate faster than it's established opponent, and while it had nowhere near the weaponry or speed of the Blackvein, it was also a lot smaller a target than the large walker, increasing the crew's survivability. It's cannon was the same size, but the targeting systems were top-notch, and the vehicle's accuracy was rated slightly higher than the G.U.N. -built unit. In addition, the co-axial machine gun was of a heavier calibre than the rival tank. However, the trait that had the main attention of the viewers was the energy shield. Capable of draping over the unit like a second skin, the one-way shield was good for projectiles and energy weapons, and took a lot of energy to disable, and when it happened the enemy then had to puncture the heavy armor on the tank itself before the shield could be re-enabled. Soon after that point, the R-15 was chosen as the main battle tank of the House of Thunda. Soon after that point, it was then chosen by the United Elemental Republic, an ally of the House. It was at that point that the name, "Duelist", was provided, due to the tank's ability to face off against almost any other armored vehicle and come out without major damage.
==Features==
With a standard diesel engine, common to most non-Technomage constructed vehicles, the Duelist has a maximum speed of 54kph, a factor not unusual in the realm of tracked vehicles. With heavy, thick armor and it's signature energy shield, these main battle tanks are some of the most dangerous vehicles produced on Mobius by a Mobian design team. 
The primary weapon of this tank is a 120mm autocannon, which reloads itself per shot. These rounds are devastating to armor of all kinds, although single infantry are too small to be struck directly without a fluke shot. However, in order to deal with single infantry, the tank is fitted with a 7.62mm co-axial heavy machine gun, which can easily shred groups of infantry with its 2,200 rounds, saving the 62 main cannon shells for anti-vehicle use.
However, the most outstanding piece of this tank is the energy shield, which earns its own crewman to operate it, raising the crew on board to a team of four. This energy shield is incredibly powerful, and covers both the ballistic and energy-based sides of the spectrum. The shield is rated at taking a 150mm howitzer shell, three 120mm high-explosive shells, four anti-tank missiles or a single PPC blast to disable the shields protecting the tank, and then they have to penetrate the heavy armor before the shields can be reactivated, a challenge for most other tanks to achieve, although assault walkers often carry weapons capable of doing the same. However, anti-shield weaponry are more effective against these energy cloaks, making anything fitted with such weaponry a major threat. In addition, the particle shields seem to react to magnetic fields, making railgun and gauss-based weaponry equally effective against these units. 
Elite tank crews are provided with new high-explosive shells to replace the standard shells, which makes the tank even more devastating to enemy vehicles.
The greatest weakness of these tanks, however, is simple - aircraft. While it's shields can hold while it retreats, neither of its weapons have the elevation to hit a flying target, and it is too slow to outrun anything in the skies, making anti-air support a must. 
==Variants==
*Duelist E - the Export variant, which was armed with a slightly smaller engine and a slightly less potent shield generator, although it also sported more ammunition for both weapons and slightly stronger armor. The United Elemental Republic, however, had received standard spec tanks, and as such nobody was prepared to risk these units, so the project was pulled.
*Duelist H - better known as the "Hammer" modification, the Duelist H was a trial design that altered the weaponry on the vehicle to be compatible with experimental ammunition types, and to also improve the protection of the crew, who were vulnerable to chemical attack. Four tanks of this variation were produced, before production was halted due to spiralling costs.
*Duelist P - otherwise dubbed the "Pathmaker", the Duelist P is an unarmed bridgelayer, designed to carry a single 26 meter bridge to allow armored units to cross.
*Duelist R - a Recovery variant, dubbed by the crews as the "Rescuer", the Duelist R has no weapons, but instead a powerful winch, a crane, racks to hold replacement parts for disabled tanks, a dozer blade and an array of mechanical tools, in order to serve as a battlefield recovery unit, to collect and return to base critically damaged tanks. 
*Duelist S - the Support modification, known to the crews of combat engineers who employ them as the "Sword" variant, although other crews prefer the nickname "Shovel", is an unarmed engineers unit equipped with an excavator arm, a dozer blade and explosive covers to detonate mines, a vital unit for assault runs.
Category:Vehicles
Category:Tanks
Category:Thundan Armored Enterprises Products
Category:Thundan Army Vehicles
Category:United Elemental Republic Vehicles