H.15 Bulhond Infantry Tank

The H.15 Bulhond is an infantry support tank of the Kalonaser Staatsleger.

 

1924 had seen the loss of a significant portion of the Top-Kek heavy armored car fleet in the failed Ordenric Expedition ((more on that here)), which left the old Republikeinsleger, and thus the subsequent Staatsleger, without any serious armored capabilities. Various ideas had been thrown around between the High Command as early as 1921 for a heavy infantry tank, but these plans only materialized in 1924 in the form of ~10 TK-47 heavy tanks; these tanks were the first domestic Kalonaser foray into heavy armor, and they were predictably addled with issues. They were slow, hot, cramped, and the A variant was under-armed, sporting only a single 47mm main gun. The B variant attempted to solve this issue by strapping a low velocity 75mm gun into the hull, but this only worsened the cramped, hot conditions. Luckily for their crews, they arrived too late to embark on the Ordenric Expedition, and only a small run had been produced when Grootmaarschalk Barentsz seized power in 1925 and put a stop to their short, useless lives; the newly established Staatsleger finally got something out of them as training vehicles.

 

The matter of heavy armor, or armor at all, for that matter, was largely shelved during the final quelling of the Spartacist Urpisings in the far north from 1925 to 1926. The Spartacists, though supplied with small arms and instigated by Tongoria to the north, had no armor save for a couple improvised armored cars, and very few anti-armor capabilities. The few Top-Kek armored cars still in service performed their jobs well enough and after the Uprisings had been dealt with once and for all most of them were given to gendarme units across the Kalonaser Staat.

 

This state of affairs remained largely unchanged until the Battle of Voorst Pass in 1927. The Battle of Voorst Pass was the final culmination of the short but hot Kalo-Tongorian Border War, which for four months up until this point had been purely infantry-on-infantry skirmishes. At the dawn of October 4, the Kalonaser border garrison stationed in and around the area was awakened by a Tongorian infantry battalion rushing up the pass, supported by a section of new Tongorian medium tanks. It was only through the efforts of a very determined artillery company that the advance was halted; luckily, cooler heads prevailed after this crescendo, and peace returned to the border.

 

Nonetheless, Grootmaarschalk Barentsz knew that proper armor was desperately needed by the Staatsleger if they wanted to stand a chance against any other modern foreign incursion. As usual, a design competition was held, and once again, Top-Kek had the contract stolen out from under them by a small company: this time, by the Hoogovens Steel Works. This would be the beginning of the end for the Top-Kek corporation, who's product quality had fallen far and as a whole served as a reminder of the corrupt Republican Era.

 

The H.15 Bulhond, the design submitted by Hoogovens Steel, is an infantry tank designed to support the footmen who make up the backbone of the Kalonaser Staatsleger while they march into battle. While a few motorized infantry units do exist, they are by no means common, and so the pedestrian speed the Bulhond sports is no real problem. In return for this lowly pace, the Bulhond sports thick, cast armor, well suited for shrugging off artillery and anti-tank shells and pushing forwards to take out emplacements, and even some armored vehices, with it's low velocity 57mm main gun. It is the most numerous armored vehicle of the Kalonaser Staatsleger, and it promises to be of use for years to come.

 

Seen here in Kalonaser northern sub-tropical camouflage.

 

~~~~~

 

I'm actually super proud of this build. Thanks to Awesome O' Saurus and Ian MacDonald for their help with designing the aft. This interwar stuff is real fun.

 

 

FUCK YOU BEAN, CALONACIA RIDES AGAIN WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT

Done