ClearHorizon Miniatures Preview Their 15mm Apocalypse Tank!
February 18, 2015 by brennon
ClearHorizon Miniatures have shown off a rather neat looking 15mm tank for their Sci-Fi range. If you ever wanted to roll an Apocalypse Tank onto the battlefield then this could well be your dream come true...
You can see the tank here in it's two guises and with the same amount of firepower on the front end of it! In the background is a 15mm Nemesis to show you the scale of this thing and of course a soldier too.
I particularly like the second version of the Apocalypse Tank which has raised itself up to become a firing platform come turret to be more defensive on the battlefield.
Some great detail in this sculpt and while I know that it's probably an impossible dream it would be pretty neat to see how it looks in 28mm too!
Will you be driving an Apocalypse Tank?
"You can see the tank here in it’s two guises and with the same amount of firepower on the front end of it!"
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never seen this game in my local store, but it looks really good. I wonder if the fluff is good. How are the others factions? It would be great for BoW to do an article about this game, the setup, etc. looking good anyway.
ClearHorizon are just a 15mm SciFi manufacturer, they aren’t for a specific game rule set. There are LOADS of rule sets for 15mm SciFi, it’s great to have so many options.
Harold, the guy who is ClearHorizon, did create a small ‘add-on’ for the GRUNTZ rule set though, called Spec-Ops. I have GRUNTZ but haven’t got Spec-Ops yet.
thanks. hope they will be at Salute. I am very curious to see their lineup, and the 15mm rules that can be found as well.
Wish I could go to Salute.. one of these years! We’re based out of California, so it’s a bit of a trek…
And rowlybot is right, out models can be used for any game… we’ve partnered with Gruntz and I’ve written SpecOps as one option, but if you like a set of rules I promise they’d be better in 15mm! 🙂
okay, so all the lineup is from the Gruntz website? I am very curious to try 15mm. I like the idea on playing regular 28mm on a smaller table, or playing big massive games on a regular 28mm table.
would have been good to see you at Salute. Maybe next year.
If you want to discover 15mm at Salute , look out for Ground Zero Games , they will be attending.
Gruntz is a generic system , you create your units , your not limited to codex values or lists, thats the beauty of it…..one mans apocalypse tank is anothers vindicator weapons platform, its limited by only your imagination….
And Ground Zero Games (http://shop.groundzerogames.co.uk/) is an amazing company with awesome products!
Dont forget Brigade Models as well
http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/
It does look rather awesome in that over the top way.
I think Clear Horizon are an American company if I am thinking of the right lot so might not be there
Looks great, very similar to the Mammoth tank from Command and Conquer video games.
Nice tank. Crap musak.
Not fond of the two sets of tracks… somewhat impractical. And of course, a lot of 15mm sci-fi stuff is coming out now… since I’ve started working on 28mm sci-fi lol.
The two sets of tracks have a couple of uses:
1) it allows the tank to raise up into Sentinel mode.
2) They provide redundant and independent drive trains within the four self-contained modules.
3) On deep-space colonization missions they are easier to replace than larger tracks, especially of this size.
The Apocalypse tank is designed to be a one-size fits all mission capability, and part of that is having easily replaceable and redundant parts. Even with one drive section destroyed, the other three drive sections can still move the tank.
Why aren’t modern tanks built this way?
My guess would be a lack of proper power source for the independent drive-train modules, and the nano-materials that create incredibly strong but lightweight combat chassis.
Could maybe make that chassis out of Limpets teeth?
Sorry. Just can’t buy that.
1) Sentinel mode: One of the fundamentals of tank design is to make it as low as possible, so that it is harder to hit. If a tank needs a better vantage point that is a function of terrain, not of a tank getting up on its hind legs. Find a hill or a rise and go hull down.
2) Independent operation: If one of those modules gets shot up that tank isn’t going anywhere, even if it just strips a track. It will dig itself in right quick, and the guys in the wrecker following you will be pissed. Power packs in modern tanks can be popped out and replaced in half an hour or less. That gets the tank back into action quickly, while the wrench benders take the old engine and tranny back to their echelon hidey-hide and work on it at their leisure. Four power packs means you’re four times more likely to have a breakdown. That sort of redundancy also adds weight.
3) The length of the track is irrelevant to fixing it. You’re not replacing the entire track, just the portion that is damaged, where it snapped. An ugly job in any environment, to be sure. My fondest memory is repairing one on an M113 in Alaska in January… in about three feet of snow. Ugh.
You should have gone with ‘It looks cool.’ 🙂
First, I just want to say I enjoy discussing, so please don’t take our back-an-forth as me arguing 🙂
1) Since the Apocalypse is designed to be an all-in-one solution to deep space combat missions and garrisons the sentinel mode allows it to take on multiple rolls, including pop-up base defense and urban combat. While raised it also increases the ground clearance and decreases its vulnerability to tank mines.
2) The track modules store better on deep space transports and are used on vehicle designs as well. No need to fix them, just put on a new one! Very convenient and they can be returned the manufacturer for a refund! 🙂
Of course the reason it looks the way it does in reality is because I wanted something big and unique and the new tanks in the CoD:AW had something similar which I thought was really cool!
But, in the end I think you’ll enjoy repairing the Mark VI Track Module on the Apocalypse-class tank. It has best in class modularity, reliability and replacement lead time. Keep an eye out for our advanced nano-materials/Mark VI replacement course coming soon to your area!
“From the volcanic wastes of Denab 8, to the garden planet New Eden, the Apocalypse starts here!”
Sorry… still not sold.
1) In base defense you would build a revetment with a ramp so the vehicle can roll up (still hull down), fire, and back down. Making it a function of the vehicle, once again, adds weight. As for urban combat, I’m going to guess your take is that it could fire over a taller obstacle. In that case a cherry-picker with a weapons system on it, like the TOW 2, would be far more versatile, add less weight, and offer better crew protection. As for mines, tiptoeing through a minefield does not make the mines less dangerous. The shape of the hull is the primary factor, to direct the blast away from, or around the vehicle i.e. a boat shape. You also don’t want to be driving in that configuration, as you increase your ground pressure by about 200 percent, not to mention putting tremendous pressure on the idler or drive sprocket. It wouldn’t go anywhere.
2) I would buy the whole modular thing, if they were used in all your vehicles. 🙂
And it looks cool.
P 1000 ratte mark II