|
Post by Infinity Blade on Oct 3, 2023 2:09:15 GMT 5
In this matchup, we will be pitting two American criminals who went on a rampage in armored vehicles, causing thousands, if not millions of USD in property damage. Shawn Nelson (in his unloaded M60A3 tank):Marvin Heemeyer (in his modified armor-plated Komatsu D355A bulldozer dubbed “Killdozer”):Heemeyer is equipped with all firearms he had during his rampage, including: A .22 caliber Ruger Mini-14: A .303 caliber FN FNC rifle: A .50 caliber Barrett M82: Heemeyer also apparently possessed three handguns on his person in Killdozer ( link->); online these are stated to be a .357 Magnum revolver and a 9 mm Kel-Tec P-11. Specifications:- Both men are motivated to kill each other.
- Both men are equipped just as they were during their actual rampages. This means A) Nelson’s tank is unloaded as it was in real life and B) Heemeyer is equipped with all firearms and ammunition as he had in real life.
- Victory condition is that one man kills the other through whatever means.
|
|
|
Post by Infinity Blade on Oct 3, 2023 19:57:30 GMT 5
Well, I suppose I should voice my take on this match.
Heemeyer has a distinct range advantage, given that his Killdozer is equipped with gun ports that allow him to shoot three different rifles from the inside. The tank Nelson stole was unloaded, and as far as I can tell he was completely unarmed, so his only real option is to ram his tank into Killdozer. The problem for Heemeyer, however, is that I'm pretty sure none of his weapons will be able to do any real damage to the tank. A quick search of online opinions suggests to me that not even a .50 caliber round (at least, a standard round) will be able to do serious damage to most MBTs, let alone Heemeyer's less powerful rifles. So despite Killdozer's weaponry, it probably means jackshit here.
Interestingly, Killdozer would have been the more massive of the two vehicles. With the armor added, the bulldozer would have apparently weighed a total of 61 tons, while an M60A3 is supposed to weigh 54.6 short tons (whether this figure is for a loaded or unloaded tank, Killdozer would be more massive regardless). But Killdozer would also be considerably slower. Figures I find online suggest that a regular Komatsu D355A bulldozer has a top speed of <8 mph (whether it's 7.9 mph or 7.45 mph); the armor would have probably slowed it down at least somewhat. An M60 tank, however, has a maximum road speed of 30 mph (maximum cross country speed is considerably slower at 10-12 mph). So if Nelson is motivated to actually kill Heemeyer (in contrast to the former's actual rampage, where IIRC he tried to avoid actually harming people), he might think to ram his tank at high speeds into Killdozer, and I doubt Killdozer would have anything to counter that. Killdozer was also eventually stopped in real life when its radiator was destroyed while trying to destroy a hardware store, and the engine leaked fluids and eventually failed.
The question for me, then, is whether or not Nelson would survive such a collision, or however many are needed to achieve victory (i.e. kill Heemeyer). After all, it is going at 30 mph to ram into an armored vehicle even heavier than his own. Alternatively he could try ramming into Killdozer at lower speeds to damage it, and then...I don't know, ramming into it more to kill him?
Really weird matchup, but I couldn't help myself lol
|
|
|
Post by Supercommunist on Oct 3, 2023 21:42:51 GMT 5
In ramming contest the tank probably wins. It's a safe bet that military grade steel is stronger than whatever improvised armor the kill dozer was equipped with.
|
|