SMT-41/2 "Scutum" Halftrack
SMT-41/2 "Scutum" Half-Track
[b] Altiriorian Empire - Discord Server [/b]
Get updated on Project here -> [url=https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscord.gg%2FXbbhW2YSwB]https://discord.gg/XbbhW2YSwB[/url]
[b] Design history and background [/b]
The design of the Scutum half-track was nothing short than troublesome to all parties involved. By the end of 1937, the Altiorian Army was looking for a multipurpose platform: a vehicle capable of hauling troops and weapons and issue a request for all domestic producers in the empire.
One of these manufacturers, Scutum Motor Company, owned by Magnus Halter Scutum, one of the richest men at the time, was the first to respond to the request, submitting the "Scutunioum" truck pattern in April 1938. The Scutunioun embodied the philosophy of Magnus' company, a cheap vehicle that could do the task well enough to be approved, as such, the design just to barely met all the criterias requested by the army, using the most basic of components available at the time.
When the trials finally began in January 1939, Magnus, alongside his team, jury and competitors, watched the peformance of their craftmanship, each being more desastrous than the other. When it came to Scutum's turn, the Scutunioum proved be an unrealiable and underpowered. Although it had many shortcomings, it was still capable of passing through most trials, albeit barely clinging on to it.
Being only one of the two submissions that managed to finish the trials alongside Project JC, the jury sent a letter listing all modifications and fixes the Scutunioun would have to go through in order to be approved for production. When Magnus read the letter, he was outraged by the fact the army was even considering chosing Johan's design over his, a design of which couldn't even carry the troops as it was supposed to. As a response, Magnus launched a difamation campaign against his rival's company, publicaly mocking his creations, efforts, and philosophy, culminating into the "Cadium Debate" of 1939.
Due to his actions, the Altiorian Government, instead of pulling Magnus out of the competition, they instead decided to declassified all the footage of the trials, releasing it to the public in April of 1939, portraing all the issues Scutum's design had. All the newsletters at the time reported the peformance of both vehicles, debunking all of Scutum's allegations and turning the public in favor of Cadium's side. As a result, a massive boycott happened, with Scutum Motor's market share dropping 80%, going from the most predominant company to the least and in the brink of bankruptcy.
Magnus Halter Scutum went from one of the most powerful man to a broken one in a matter of days. As a last ditch effort, Magnus begged with the Empire for forgiveness and a chance for redemption. His wish was granted under the condition his new project would not only correct all the past mistakes present in the Scutunioun, but also the new design would also have to overpeform in all trials. Determined to not let his company die, Magnus Scutum would spend his last resources developing and prodicing a new protype. By October 1940, his last hope was finally finished and sent for trials a month later. At the testing site, unlike the previous one, journalists were amonsgt officials and jury, they were specifically sent there by the government to record the events and report them to the public.
Magnus swet profusely, watching the jury write note after note, not knowing if they were good or bad. As the event came to a close, the jury stood aside to review each other's note. The conversation was somewhat brief, seemingly unanimous, the jury gave one final look at the prototype, and with a monotunous voiced, declared the vehicle was surpassed their expections amd being ready to production. Designated as SMT-41/2, the vehicle was also nickname "Scutum" as a gift to Magnus from the Empire, granting his company would endure another century.
In total, 16782 Scutums would be produced from January 1941 to April 1944, with both prototypes being displayed outside of the Scutum Motors HQ, alongside a statue of the founder.
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Controls
The vehicle requires two people in order to be operated, one driver and one gunner. The gunner uses mouse countrols whie the driver controls are the following:
*DRIVER*
[list]
[*] WASD -> Steering
[*] Num 1 -> Reverse
[*] Num 2 -> HandBrakes (On by default)
[*] Num 3 -> Interior Light
[*] Num 4 -> Spotlights
[/list]
The halftrack is capable of carrying 6 dismounts in total, grab the handle on the rear to access the dismount compartment.
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Further notes
- The vehicle may take a while to reverse.
