M-1 tracked personnel carrier

M-1 tracked infantry carrier

During the middle of the war, after the Axis and Allied high commands had become aware of the presence of the Atlanteans and Martians, but before the conflict between these two ancient enemies was openly renewed, the old, advanced cultures secretly provided assistance to their chosen sides. Rather unfortunately for the Allies, they didn't like the assistance they were getting from the Atlanteans.

The first major aid (as the Atlanteans viewed it) was delivery of a new rifle. This was a selective-fire weapon, designed for mass production and using an intermediate-power cartridge (initial samples were chambered for the Winchester .30-30 round, but the Atlanteans suggested production models use something like the .276 Pedersen cartridge). The Allies balked as this 'help' The gun was considered too crude, too inaccurate and too underpowered for use by a professional soldier. Further, the large magazine capacity (30 rounds) combined with selective fire would only encourage wasting ammunition and discourage precision aimed fire in the opinion of most generals. The weapon was flatly turned down in the summer of 1942; about half the 100 test models were kept by the OSS and the rest were covertly sent to Russia.

In early 1943, the Atlanteans made a more significant attempt to covertly provide the Allies with improved equipment. In their first war against the Martians, it was driven home to the Atlanteans that men were more valuable than machines. As a result, the more men a combat vehicle carried, the better the armor it had. The 'Infantry Carrier, Tracked, M-1' (as the US designated it) reflected that philosophy, offering fairly good (almost tank-like) protection for it's three crew and six dismounts. The idea was not well-received by the Allies, who also didn't like the weight (21 tons), speed (32 mph) or small number of soldiers carried. About 50 were provided for testing, but were not used much. The US asked for a lighter version to evaluate for use as a support vehicle for recon units; this roughly halved armor and was known as the M-1A1. The US were better disposed to this version (despite being better armored they they felt necessary) began producing this version in very small numbers by mid-1943, with two issued per recon company.

Things changed after the invasion of Italy in 1943. The Martians, fearing the tide was turning too far against the Axis, began overtly aiding them (completely abandoning their treaty with the Atlanteans and dragging them into the war). this included releasing large stocks of their infamous 'black smoke' which were then used as the filler in artillery shells and dispersal bombs. Allied infantry, either on foot or in open trucks and halftracks, were decimated. Only those soldiers in the sealed M-1A1's were fully protected. This created some friction with the Atlanteans, as accusations flew that they knew what the Martians had planned and had callously not told Allied command. The Atlanteans claimed that sealing combat vehicles was merely standard design practice for them. Regardless, with the M-3 halftrack now being a deathtrap, the M-1A1 entered full production to replace it as the primary infantry carrier. Given the heavy losses the black smoke was taking on Allied soldiers, fielding six-man squads was actually a challenge.

(As a side note, the Martians were not concerned with the large number of Italian civilian casualties from black smoke, considering it a good display of the price of failure to other Axis powers. Of course, the Martians had secretly planned to turn on the Axis after the Atlanteans/Allies were defeated anyway ...)

Two standard bazookas are affixed to mounting brackets on the right side of the turret but can be removed in a matter of seconds. The electrically fired rockets have their leads connected to insulated posts on the side of the turret, which allows the commander to fire either or both from inside. A total of twelve rockets are carried (two in the tubes). The bazookas are really intended for use by the dismounts but are carried in a fashion to allow them to also be used as emergency anti-tank weapons for the vehicle. It was intended to eventually replace these with semi-permanent 57mm recoilless rifles, which were still in development. The APC also carries three M-1 carbines, six fragmentation grenades and three smoke grenades for the crew. Additionally, the coaxial MG can easily be removed and placed on a tripod if required.

The M-1A1 has a crew of three. The commander sits in the turret and mans the open-mount A/A machine gun. The gunner also sets in the turret; he fires the modified 37mm M-1 autocannon and coaxial machinegun. The driver is in the hull, to the left (with the engine and fuel tank to his right). Six troops are carried and exit either via two roof hatches or a rear drop ramp. They sit facing each other, in the rear section of the vehicle, with the cargo evenly split on the walls behind them. The turret is electrically traversed at 21 degrees per second. The M-1A1 uses 4.3 gallons per hour at routine usage.

Subassemblies: Sealed Medium Tank chassis +4, full-rotation Small AFV turret [Body:T] +3, full-rotation Mini Weapon open mount [Tur:T] +0, fixed Mini-Weapon mount [Tur:R] +0, tracks +3.
Powertrain: 95-kW gas engine w/ 95-kW tracked drive train and 54 gallons fuel in self-sealing fuel tank [body]; 4,000-kWs batteries.
Occupancy: 1 CS Body, 2 CS Turret, 6 PS Body Cargo: 4 Body.

<>Armor
Body: F 4/120, RL 4/100, B 4/100, TU 4/40
Turret: F 4/120, RLB 4/100, T 4/40
Open Mounts: 3/5 all
Tracks: 4/20 all

Weaponry
37mm Medium Ground AC/M-1 [Turret:F] (120).
Ground LMG/M-1919A4 [Tur:F] (2,500).
Very Long Ground HMG/M-2HB [OM1:F] (400).
2x2.36" rocket launchers/M-1 bazookas (OM2:F) (12).

Equipment
Body: Fire extinguisher, NBC kit (10-man), 2x medium radio receivers and transmitters. Turret: 4 smoke dischargers. Open Mount 1: universal mount.

Statistics

Size: 21'x9'x7' Payload: 1.57 tons Lwt: 14.34 tons

Volume: 103 Maint.: 55 hours Price: $13,300

HT: 10
HP: 750 [Body], 75 [Turret], 270 [Each Track], 30 [each Open Mount]

gSpeed: 39
gAccel: 4 gDecel: 20 gMR: 0.25 gSR: 6 GP: Very Low (4/5)

wSpeed: 3.5

wAccel: 0.2

wDecel: 10

wMR: 0.1

wSR: 2

Draft: 2.2'

Floatation: 14.84 tons

Design Notes
The cost, weight and HPs of the chassis and turret were divided by two. Track DR was also divided by two.

The bazooka mountings are set to fire at a tank-sized target at 100 yards. Acc should be reduced for targets at other ranges. Note that the bazookas themselves are not protected by any armor.

While the dismounts have vision blocks, they do not have firing slits.

Variants
The M-1 was 20.7 tons and had a top speed of 32 mph; it was not amphibious. DR was 250 on the hull and turret fronts and 200 on the sides. Turret reat was also 200, while body rear was 150. It had only one radio set.

Size: 21'x9'x7'	Payload: 1.57 tons	Lwt: 14.34 tons
Volume: 103	Maint.: 55 hours	Price: $13,300