[Tak]

Originally Posted by Lucky

Good call on headlight (that's what it looks like at least), however track guards you point out are actually more of the old WW1 model type. You'll note that all of the tiger series has the singular large wheels as well, unlike edelweiss. The reason for the change came from the different demand on the tank speed and handling - tanks in ww1 were designed around supporting infantry in trench warfare advance, where they generally had to move at speed comparable to that of a running soldier in full gear.

In WW2, tanks became an autonomous attacking unit, and as a result the flank speed on bad terrain had to go up significantly. Small wheel base was no longer practical, and given room for harder to manifacture and more expensive set of single row of large wheels instead.

I have noticed that the Edelweiss is actually a mix of German tank designs all the way from the Panzer III to the King Tiger. Its tracks took an obvious inspiration from the Panzer III, the turret is a mix between the Panzer IV and the King Tiger, while the chassis retains largely the appearance of the King Tiger. The track guard is an obvious supplementary unit to the Edelweiss, comparable to the armored skirts of the Panzer IV. Vanilla King Tigers also came without track guards. However, armored skirts seem to be a distinct feature of the Gallian army, but this to me, is an obvious artistic feature, and the emphasis here is not to design a tank that would realistically work. Then again, one should not expect too much from a work of fiction.

Originally Posted by Lucky

This made tank a harder target to hit, and even in case of a successful hit, the ballistic form of hull and turret had a chance to deflect the shell (like what happened to edelweiss in this episode). This meant that hull actually partially covered the tracks from the top (as seen in the image you link on tiger2), and track guard only had to cover the top side of the track to avoid grenades getting thrown in from the side - not the top as well.

Ironically, vanilla King Tigers had no track guards. The picture I shown you with the track guard was actually an optional feature. Then again, this might have something to do with what the King Tiger was designed to do, it was after all, expected to out-range and outgun enemy vehicles before the latter become a threat. Being heavily entrenched in urban combat where engaging waves of infantry was not its original purpose. The Germans only discovered the Tiger series usefulness in that aspect later on.

Originally Posted by Lucky

It does have the ballistically shaped low profile turret through, which is what makes it look so weird and out of place. What makes it especially out of place is the turret size, as the turrets essentially grew larger as bearing and motor technology advanced, allowing to fit more instruments into the turret rather then having to put them into the hull.
Which is why having the large hull of WW1 tank and a turret of WW2 tank just doesn't make sence - there is no need to have so much room inside the tank. Though the ridiculous amount of free room inside edelweiss, as seen in ep2 seems to collaborate that.

Finally there is width of the tracks. Higher speed requirements as well as increased weight caused tank tracks to get wider to allow tank to function properly. You'll notice that tiger2 tracks appear at least twice as wide as those on edelweiss, while being just about right for Panzer 3 and Panzer 4 tank.

While the image you captured shown a slightly smaller profile, in reality, the specifications of the Edelweiss is comparable to the size of the Panther, but slightly wider. Moreover, it is worth noting that the Edelweiss is only half the weight of the King Tiger, at 30+ tons compared to the latter's 64 tons!

Therefore, at some levels, it can be accepted that the Edelweiss can cruiser at a higher speed (60KM/H vs. 40KM/H of the King tiger).

Originally Posted by Lucky

The interesting note is that while prototypes often have revolutionary advances, many of them end up being very impractical to mass-produce due to implementation costs. It is quite possible that for example, metallurgy was simply not advanced enough to mass-produce bearings and suspension nessesary for larger wheel set. Germans for example didn't even have the tech until they reverse-engineered some soviet BT-series tanks in the late 30s (the line which culminated in T-34, considered the "tank that won the war").

The problem is that the Gallians obviously learned nothing. Not that this little detail would distract me from my enjoyment of the show, but I thought I should point out that although the Gallians have went through developing a working, operational prototype, they retained nothing from it (not even superficial factors) and instead opted for vehicles from the previous generation that had already been outclassed on the battlefield. In the game, the Shamrock can act as an infantry support fighting vehicle, but going against an Imperial tank, like the Standard Imperial Tank that was in the 2nd episode, is actually not an easy thing to accomplish.

- Tak