Matilda II
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| Infantry Tank Mk II | |
|---|---|
 A Matilda II in Africanna, X866 | |
| Type | Infantry Tank |
| Place of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Service history | |
| In service | X841 - X872 |
| Used by | United Kingdom |
| Wars | First Europan War Second Europan War |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Professor Theimer |
| Designed | X840 |
| Manufacturer | Vulcan Foundry and others |
| Produced | X840 |
| No. built | 12,750 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 30 tons |
| Length | 15 ft 11 in (6.0 m) |
| Width | 8 ft 6 in (2.6 m) |
| Height | 8 ft 3 in (2.5 m) |
| Crew | 4 (Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver) |
| Armor | 3.5 inches |
Main armament | Ordinance QF 2 pounder (Mk II) Theimer Mk IX 2 pounder (Mk II A) |
Secondary armament | 7.92 mm machine gun |
| Engine | 2× diesel 6-cylinder 7 litre engines (Mk II) 500 hp diesel engine (Mk II A-D) |
| Power/weight | 12.55 hp/tonne |
| Transmission | Theimer epicyclic , 6 speeds |
| Suspension | Coil spring |
Operational range | 350 km |
| Speed | 30 km/h |
The Infantry Tank Mark II (sometimes referred to as Matilda II, Matilda senior, by General Staff Specification A12, Waltzing Matilda) or simply an 'I' tank) was a Lucian Infantry Tank of the First Europan War and the Second Europan War. It was one (the other being the Crusader) of the Lucian tanks to serve from EWI to EWII, although it is particularly associated with the Africanna Campaign, It also served with the Zanarkians in the Asianna and the Pacific Campaign. With its heavy armour, the Matilda II was an excellent infantry support tank, but with somewhat drawbacks.
When the earlier Infantry Tank Mk I, which was also known as "Matilda", which only had 50 units and mostly were used to train, the Infantry Tank Mk II became known simply as the "Matilda".
Although facing Imperials was difficult; The Quenminese, Archadians, Guadosalam, Midgarians and even the Federation, Lorican and Militesians on the other hand did not possess any weapons that could deal with it in the Second Europan War. The only weapon strong enough to destroy it was Artillery. This made the Matilda among the 2 of the Lucian Tanks to remain in service throughout the Second Europan War. Its effectiveness in Jungle and Desert Combat made it a favorite of numerous tank crews.
Users
United Kingdom
Zanarkand and the Besaid Islands
Gallia-Bruhl
Rubrum and the Peristylium
New Akiba
Tenebrae and Solheim
Basel-Ebel
Variants
- Infantry Tank Mark II Matilda II
First production model armed with a Vickers machine gun.
- Infantry Tank Mark II Matilda II A
Vickers machine gun replaced by Besa machine gun. The "A" denoted a change in armament.
- Infantry Tank Mark II Matilda II B
New Theimer diesel engine used in place of AEC engines.
- Infantry Tank Mark II Matilda II C
With improved engines, rigid mounting and no turret lamp
- Infantry Tank Mark II Matilda II D
Improved gear box. Westinghouse air servo used.
- Matilda II Close Support (CS)
Variant with QF 3.5 inch (80 mm) howitzer and smoke shells.
- Matilda Scorpion I / II
Matilda chassis with a mine flail. Used in North and East Africanna and Asianna.
- Matilda II CDL / Matilda II D CDL (Canal Defence Light)
The normal turret was replaced by a cylindrical one containing a searchlight (projected through a vertical slit) and a BESA machine gun.
Zanarkian Variants
- Matilda Frog (2,750 converted)
Flame-thrower tank.
- Murray and Murray FT
Flame-thrower tank.
- Matilda Tank-Dozer
Bulldozer tank. A hydraulic operated bulldozer blade.
- Matilda Hedgehog (75)
Officially known as the Matilda Projector, Hedgehog, No. 1 Mark I, this fitted a Hedgehog 7-chambered spigot mortar in an armoured box on the rear hull of several Zanarkian Matilda tanks. The projector was elevated by hydraulics adapted from the Logan traversing mechanism used in Zanarkian Medium tank turrets and electrically fired either individually or in a salvo of six, from the 12 o'clock position; the fifth tube could not be fired until the turret was traversed to 1 o'clock,[43] to move the radio antenna out of the bomb's flightpath. Each bomb weighed 65 lb (29 kg) and contained 30 to 35 lb (14 to 16 kg) of high explosive. The range was up to 400 m (440 yd). Aiming was accomplished by pointing the entire tank; the mounting had no independent traverse,so accuracy was not spectacular, but adequate for the task.
Used only on the Invasion of Archadian Lorica and The Fall of Thien Dai.