Bulldog Tank Destroyer

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*"Now you see me, soon you won't!"*

- Tank destroyer ambush plan B
## Tactical Analysis

* **They won't see me coming:** Despite its age, the Bulldog is still very effective in its role of destroying tanks with a single, well placed volley. Its regular AP rounds are effective enough against tanks, but if needed it can also fire a special high velocity round which can punch through multiple targets.

* **They will never find me:** The Bulldog's fibre optic camouflage affords it invisibility. While it can only be used while the Bulldog is stationary and not firing, it allows the Bulldog to be used as a very effective ambush tool.

* **They've found me!:** However, like all tank destroyers, the Bulldog is poorly armoured, and lacks a gun turret. It is not a main battle tank, and cannot stand up to one. Use its fibre optic camouflage to get the drop on enemy tanks as much as possible.

* **Now they won't find me:** Though fibre-optic based camouflage is often sufficient, PAWI based cloaking technology is generally considered superior. A limited number of Bulldogs have been retrofitted with small-scale PAWI devices that, when activated, will also cloak nearby units, for even more devastating ambushes.

## Operational History

 File:BulldogAttack.jpg  When Germany lost the First World War, it was forced to accept the Treaty of Versailles. Among other things, the treaty placed numerous restrictions on Germany's military, limiting the German army to 100,000 men, severely restricting the size of the German navy, and banning such weapons as armed aircraft, armoured cars, and tanks.

With such restrictions in place, the German military was hobbled. However, though Germany could not break the treaty restrictions imposed on it, it could try to find workarounds, by exploiting loopholes in the treaty. One such workaround was with regards to the restrictions on tanks; though Germany could not have tanks, there were no restrictions prohibiting it from using tank *destroyers*. This line of reasoning led directly to the development of the **PzJg. 44 Ausf. J Bulldog Tank Destroyer**, considered one of the most successful tank destroyer designs employed during the Second World War.

When the Bulldog was first introduced in 1944, it was only one of several different designs then in service with Germany at the time. Its 75mm gun, though impressive for a period when most tanks had guns of 50mm calibre or less, was considered by some to be unnecessarily powerful, while it was lacking in other areas such as speed or armour in comparison to other designs.

Things quickly changed, however, when the Second World War broke out. In the first few weeks of the war, it was quickly and conclusively proved that most guns couldn't hope to penetrate the armour of the formidable Soviet Anvil tanks; 50mm guns could at best make a few dents, while anti-tank rifles wouldn't even leave a scratch; only the long 75mm gun of the Bulldog was able to any real harm.

Though the 88mm armed Mastiff tanks were even more powerfully gunned than the Bulldogs or even the Anvils, they were too few in number at the time; only the Bulldogs were available in any bulk. German forces soon turned to employing these tank destroyers in ambush scenarios; a platoon of Bulldogs could lie in wait for an unsuspecting Anvil column, before springing the trap and opening fire on the vulnerable rears of the Soviet heavy tanks, which were considerably less well armoured. Such tactics helped to slow the Soviet advance throughout Germany, giving time for other countries to mobilise their forces.

The Bulldog continued to be employed extensively by the combined Allied forces even after the Allies had gotten Mastiff production up to full speed; indeed, several steps were taken to improve the effectiveness of the tank destroyers, such as the development of high-velocity armour piercing ammunition that boasted greatly increased armour penetration. The most game-changing of the improvements made to the Bulldog, however, was the development of fibre-optic camouflage.

Even before this, Soviet Anvil crews already had difficulties spotting well-concealed Bulldogs; now, it was nearly impossible for them to do so, particularly when taking into account the poor conditions of visibility that Anvil crews already suffered from. Even infantrymen unhampered by the limitation of being inside a tank would have a hard time picking out a fibre-optic camouflaged Bulldog from a distance.

Fortunately for the Soviets, the expense of fibre optic camouflage meant that, even by the end of the war, only a fraction of Bulldogs were ever equipped with such systems. Despite this, the Allies had a tank destroyer that was powerful and effectively invisible. For Soviet tank crews, the war had become a nightmare, with the ever-present fear that a Bulldog tank destroyer might be lying in wait somewhere nearby. By the end of the war, Bulldogs were accounting for a significant portion of Anvil kills, and had even claimed a few Mammoth tanks.

After the end of the war, thousands of Bulldogs were retired in favour of newer designs like the Mirage Tank, though others continued to remain in service. Like countless other vehicles, these Bulldogs were consigned to American boneyards; this would be to the Continental Revolutionaries' benefit when the group launched raids on military boneyards throughout the United States. Stolen Bulldog tank destroyers, upgraded with improved fibre-optic camouflage, are now one of the mainstays of the Continental Continental Army.

They remain hellishly effective at their task; though their 75mm gun, since upgraded to 100mms; is no longer all that powerful by modern standards, they compensate for this with an impressive rate of fire; additionally, the Bulldog's camouflage allows it to ambush tanks from behind, striking them in their vulnerable rear armour. Already, the Bulldog has proved its worth many times over to the Continentals and is particularly suited to their guerrilla tactics. Indeed, with the utter decimation of the 3rd Mechanised Peacekeeper Brigade by Continental Bulldogs, Allied vehicle crews in America are starting to feel the same fear and trepidation that their Soviet counterparts must have felt back in the days of the Second World War.

## Behind the Scenes

The concept for the Bulldog comes from the RA2 German Tank Destroyer, though visually the two look nothing alike. The problem with the RA2 version was that it was never quite useful enough against enemy vehicles and infantry to be worth buying. The Bulldog is much more useful to the rebels, as most of the Continentals' heavy hitting tanks are expensive (meaning there will be less of them on the field) and will need some anti-armour support.