EuTube: The Chieftain's Hatch

[Gaellicia]

Nicolás Moran is a Ceannfort (Commandant) in the Gaellician armored reserves. In his spare time he runs The Chieftain's Hatch EuTube channel where, drawing on his experience as a history enthusiast and tanker, he explores the human side of armored warfare. The mainstay of his channel are his videos where he details the end user experience of armored vehicles, both modern and historical.

[Gaellicia]

WIDE SHOT CHIEFTAIN NEXT TO A TANK.

Greetings all. As you can see, I’m videoing here from the southern highlands of Gaellicia. Today I’ll be introducing you to the beasts that I work with for my day job. Officially, it’s the H5 Oliphaunt, but a lot of you may call it the Oily Fun. Let’s take a look. 

WIPE TO HANDHELD

Now I’m starting here on the side. Just at a superficial level here, you can see some of the basics. Six road wheels here, an idler up front, and drive wheel in the back. Just a nerd fact for you, there’s ninety two track links per side. But what I really want to show you is this. Let me move the camera in. You see that? Suspension is just helical springs. Certainly not the most comfortable ride, but they are cheap, and more importantly, very easy to fix or replace in the field. Torsion bars would provide a smoother ride, but they’re certainly a pain to replace if you’re on the plains of say Ryderia. Even here in Gaellicia though, it’s a much simpler work order than a torsion bar replacement. 

*He knocks the side skirt.* 

Now the armor on the other hand was more innovative at the time this thing was built. Modular composite. For those of you who aren’t entirely sure what that means, imagine a sandwich of different materials. Aluminum, steel of different hardness. This offers better protection to the tank than simple cast steel. Modularity means it’s designed with the ability to upgrade and improve in mind. Back in a depot, mechanics could cut the existing armor modules out and replace them with something different. To boost that protection, these side skirts here contain explosive reactive armor. If you look up at the big ol turret there, the front arc is extra strong. Ceramic matrix. If you’ll follow me, let’s go take a look at the engine. 

CUT TO CHIEFTAIN STANDING BESIDE THE REAR OF THE TANK

Alright here we are at the back of the tank. Now first off, you’re probably wondering what this little box is so let me get it out of the way. 

*Chieftain opens a small door on an externally mounted box. He removes a field telephone attached to a curly cord.*

Hullo? Oh, a pleasure to speak with you, your majesty. Yes, I'll call again soon. Sorry, it was just Princess Margaret. Hahaha. In all seriousness, that’s the infantry tank phone. It lets infantry speak with us inside the tank. 

*He puts the phone back in the box.*

So… we’ve got a pretty basic setup here. Tail lights, brake lights, even blinker lights back here. And this grate here expels exhaust from the engine. You can see it’s a little sooty. As for the engine itself, well the advantage of doing a video on the tank I use means I can show you something in detail that with most tanks I can’t. It’s a small surprise. 

WIPE TO CHIEFTAIN STANDING BESIDES A V8 TANK ENGINE 

Surprise! This is an actual V8 engine that’s used on the Oliphaunt. Not from the same tank I’ve been showing you, we’re back in the depot now. This engine is being worked on. Now the engine here is a diesel V8. It’s a bit hungry for diesel, but it’s a lot easier to work on than a multifuel engine. This engine was designed new for the Oliphaunt, but a neat feature of it is that it’s essentially backwards compatible with the engines of previous H tanks and other heavy equipment made by MacNamera. Now if you look here, I’ve got a cylinder head from an H3 tank. 

CUT TO CLOSE UP OF OPEN TANK CYLINDER

Now look at this. This H3 cylinder head fits right on the H5’s engine. The fasteners even line up. Now this isn’t as huge a deal for Gaellicia, but for nations that have operated previous H tanks, or continue to operate them besides the Oli, it means your existing spare parts stockpile can apply to your H5s too. It helps anyone in the fact that the price of tank engine parts is lower all around. 

WIPE TO CHIEFTAIN STANDING BESIDE THE REAR OF THE TANK

Now that I’ve shown you this thing’s heart, let's see how easy it is to get on. Now bear with me here. 

*Chieftain climbs the rear of the tank, placing his feet on little rungs.* 

The climb here is steep, but at least there’s footholds. 

CUT TO CHIEFTAIN STANDING ON THE ENGINE DECK

Right. Well here I am standing on a big ol grating. Beneath here are air intakes and the like. Something neat I want to show you though is the grating. Now I know that’s a dull sentence but bear with me here. 

*He grabs a bed roll from one of the external stowage bins.* 

Now I’ve got my bed roll here. Watch this. 

*He enrolls the bedroll on the engine deck.*

Do you see how the bedroll just slots in on the grating? The bumps in the grating actually conform to the divots and creases of the standard issue bed roll. It makes for an ever so slightly more comfortable sleep. Now back here on the rear of the turret bustle you’ve got the NBC system. Creates an overpressure in the fighting compartment. Keep nasty stuff out. Also has the added benefit of expelling fumes when guns are fired. I’m sure all of you viewing are itching to see the fighting compartment, we’ll be going inside in part 2.