Russian KV-tanks

[Törni 0]

Just a little something from the Eastern front since WW2 mods have appeared. The new model and configs are done. What remains is mapping. The first one is KV-2. One of these stopped a German division to its' tracks back in 1941.

Captured KV-tanks were also used against Allies in the western front.

[BadBenson 0]

beautiful model...also looks clean and perfect for arma according to "put the polies where they belong to" .

can't wait to see it textured!

[Törni 0]

The poly count is actually less than ArmA T-72

[modemmaik 53]

Hey Törni,

good to see you back in action

And I agree, nice looking model

BR,

mike

[DaSquade 0]

The track wheels (no expert on tank components naming), but i'm refurring to the ones that have suspension (so the 6 down and 3 up) are very unoptimized. Just saying .

Also, must be a 3d max or other protool geo form, but please for the love of optimized shapes, don't use a cilinder with a middle point. In case of last if you don't understand, let me know and i show in the pic what i mean.

All possitive and constructivly (word? ) meant. Keep it up.

[Törni 0]

Well now I don't follow. If you mean road wheel meshes they do not have a center vertex in the middle. There is a triangle polygon. I'll take a screen shot tomorrow. Wheels are not made from symmetrical cylinders.

EDIT: They were made by extruding, copying, moving and scaling from a 2D shape.

[Col. Faulkner 0]

One of these stopped a German division to its' tracks back in 1941.

Delayed elements of a panzer division that were equipped with inferior vehicles would be more accurate.

[manzilla 1]

Christ, anything else?

[Törni 0]

Well Russians had a good position. They did not abandon their vehicle despite that the track was blown apart by an artillery barrage.

Has anyone made any Russian WW2 tank crews yet? If not, have to make those as well.

[DaSquade 0]

Oeps, looks i misunderstood the wires there. But still very unoptimized, unless you decide it is easier that way (refurring to uv mapping as it works easier to fit the cilindershapes in the correct position).

Anyway, more optimized model (red lines -> contains faces that shouldn't be connected):

[Törni 0]

It could be optimized more - surely. I so far just checked that model has stayed within reasonable poly count. It runs ok in game atm. I have to experiment how little detail can I use in curved surfaces with smoothing for example.

Importing models into O2 seems usually cause some uncontrolled stuff to happen. Perhaps .obj is better file format than .3ds for importing?

[modemmaik 53]

It could be optimized more - surely. I so far just checked that model has stayed within reasonable poly count. It runs ok in game atm. I have to experiment how little detail can I use in curved surfaces with smoothing for example.

Importing models into O2 seems usually cause some uncontrolled stuff to happen. Perhaps .obj is better file format than .3ds for importing?

What import effects in detail?

But good to hear that you already test it in game

The BI-samples wheeled vehicles should show some examples for curved surfaces (hummer and ural for example).

[DaSquade 0]

I suppose Törni is refurring to auto edge creating when importing-exporting non specificly edged polys. Best is to manually define your edge on polys, especially where you think it can go wrong. Personally i only do that on non planar/linear faces and leave the rest as poly.

I always work with .obj instead of .3ds as 3ds already by default convers the model into full tries faces where .obj leaves it as it is. Also if not mistaken .3ds models will already split 'hard edges' so you end up with non connected parts. Something 02 (or the engine) does before it gets into the game. Not sure if doing the progress before give you less loading/performence....same thing as the poly->tries auto convertion before loading.

[-MCF- Frantz 0]

Sweet souvenirs from Close Combat III !

[bospor 0]

Quote from Wiki:

On August 14, 1941, the vanguard of the German 8th Panzer Division approached Krasnogvardeysk (Gatchina) near Leningrad (St Petersburg), and the only Soviet force available at the time to attempt to stop the German advance was five well-disguised KV-1 tanks, dug in within a grove at the edge of a swamp. KV-1 tank no. 864 was commanded by the leader of this small force, Lieutenant Zinoviy Kolobanov.

German tank vanguard attack plan and positions of three soviet KV-1 tanks

Soviet newspaper article of 1941German forces attacked Krasnogvardeysk from three directions. Near Noviy Uchkhoz settlement the geography favoured the Soviet defenders as the only road in the region passed the swamp, and the defenders commanded this choke point from their hidden position. Lieutenant Kolobanov had carefully studied the situation and readied his detachment the day before. Each KV-1 tank carried twice the normal amount of ammunition, two-thirds being armour-piercing rounds. Kolobanov ordered his other commanders to hold their fire and await orders. He did not want to reveal the total force, so only one exposed tank at a time would engage the enemy.

On August 14, the German 8th Panzer Division's vanguard ventured directly into the well-prepared Soviet ambush, with Kolobanov's tank knocking out the lead German tank with its first shot. The Germans falsely assumed that their lead tank had hit an anti-tank mine, and failed to realize that they had been ambushed. The German column stopped, giving Kolobanov the opportunity to destroy the second tank. Only then did the Germans realize they were under attack, but they failed to find the source of the shots. While the German tanks were firing blindly, Kolobanov knocked out the trailing German tank, thus boxing in the entire column.

Although the Germans correctly guessed the direction of fire, they could only spot Lieutenant Kolobanov's tank, and now attempted to engage an unseen enemy. German tanks moving off the road bogged down in the surrounding soft ground, becoming easy targets. 22 German tanks and 2 towed artillery pieces fell victim to Kolobanov's No. 864 before it ran out of ammunition. Kolobanov ordered in another KV-1, and 21 more German tanks were destroyed before the half-hour battle ended. A total of 43 German tanks were destroyed by just five Soviet KV-1s (two more remained in reserve).

After the battle, the crew of No. 864 counted a total of 135 hits on their tank, none of which had penetrated the KV-1's armour. Lieutenant Kolobanov was awarded the Order of Lenin, while his driver Usov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Later on, former Captain Zinoviy Kolobanov was again decorated by Soviet authorities, despite having been been convicted and downgraded after the Winter War for "fraternizing with the enemy." After the end of World War II, Lieutenant Kolobanov served in the Soviet occupation zone in Eastern Germany, where he was convicted again when a subordinate escaped to the British occupation zone, and was transferred to the reserves.

The battle for Krasnogvardeysk was covered up by Soviet propaganda. A monument dedicated to this battle was installed in the village of Noviy Uchkhoz in 1980, at the place where Kolobanov's KV-1 was dug in, due solely to the demands of the villagers. Unfortunately it was impossible to find a KV-1 tank, so an IS-2 heavy tank was installed there instead.[1]

The Soviet victory was the result of a well-planned ambush in advantageous ground and of technical superiority. Most of the German tanks in this battle were Panzer IIs, armed with 20 mm guns, and a few Panzer IIIs armed with 37 mm KwK 36 L/46.5 guns. The German tank guns had neither the range nor the power of the 76 mm main gun of a KV-1, and the narrower track width of the German tanks caused them to become trapped in the swampy ground.