The MS series were the main pioneers for experimental technology for use in my tanks. This first part is gonna be the first few of them, while the second and third will be for the more recent ones, along with variants.
MS-1 "Thunderer"
The MS series originally were meant to be turretless tank destroyers, but seeing the potential of the MS-1 it was decided to make it a medium tank. It was my first production tank to ever actually use tracks, although there were issues with them so it was slower than planned. Armed with a 75mm cannon, it was also the first of my tanks to have logic that allowed it to select different rounds and reload automatically, with a selection of three shells: HE, APS (armor piercing shredder), and APD (armor piercing destroyer). (I will possibly talk about my different ammo types in detail in another extra post). The MS-1's design was partly inspired by the Churchill and the T20 experimental tank, however it wasn't very good, not having many sloped angles but at least it protected enough, but possibly too heavy. Unlike my first few tanks, this one didn't get stuck in places so easily. It completely changed the way I built tanks with all its sudden revolutionary features (at least for me at that time), and a model B was considered, but cancelled in favor of the...
MS-2 "Fury"
Made to fix some of the issues with the MS-1, the MS-2 was a whole new tank but with the same basics as the one before. The tracks were replaced with simpler ones, and new building techniques allowed them to be effective as well, allowing it to be extremely fast, even keeping the title of my fastest tank up until late December of 2018, or 2019, it's impossible to check dates with LBP servers being down. It retained pretty much the same design and ideas as the MS-1, but armed with a 105mm cannon firing the same type of ammo as the Thunderer, just with a slightly better performance. Its great speed did come with a problem, due to the small weak roadwheels breaking apart inside the tracks and acting as bumps and deteriorating the insides quite easily, as well as wobbling a lot at max speed. A model B of the MS-2 was made, giving it a slight upgrade to the 105 cannon and adding Divided Armor (DA) on the front, but it was lost in a corruption and only one picture of it remains in my profile. Another model of the MS-2 had add-on armor, mainly on the front of the hull but also on the barrel and the sides of the turret (UAP). Both MS-1 and MS-2/MS-2 UAP saw actual combat against the Axis Alliance, fighting against "P. 5000 Ratte" (I need confirmation on the name) landships, a tank similar to a KV-2, and enormous SPG's. MS-2 UAP performed excellently, knocking out various tanks even with its tracks destroyed.
MS-3 "Mártir" (Model A to F)
Focusing on armor more than anything else, the MS-3, designed in early 2018, was more of a heavy tank than a medium tank, being slower yet better protected thanks to divided armor that would make APS/APD type shells harder to destroy it. The A model was equipped with a laser cannon, originally mounted on the P-2, that fired a sort of laser ball that would destroy anything in its way, however this was changed in later models due to it not being reliable enough. MS-3 also served as the base of experimental weapons/technologies, such as a half-guided missile launcher (MS-3A LC, pictured above) and testing of gun stabilizers.
The MS-3B variant replaced the laser cannon with a normal 105mm one, as well as adding a cupola and coaxial machinegun (ATC type 1) on the mantlet, also fixing the armor on the turret, yet still retaining the completely flat angle on the front.
MS-3C increased the length of the barrel, and added a new transmission to increase mobility, not many changes overall. MS-3D was the heaviest model, having increased armor as well as a slight slope on the front of the turret, and also making use of new tracks, and a newer ATC type 2 machinegun. However, the heavy weight would make it unstable and slower, while the new, faster firing machinegun would misfire sometimes. So redeem this, model E and F were made, getting rid of some armor and changing some materials to make them less armored. Model E was quickly replaced by F, because it replaced the coaxial machinegun with an ATC type 3 that fired even faster and was more reliable, as well as making the tank in general more effective and adding suspension to the roadwheels. (MS-3F below, showing the extended barrel, new tracks, and other mentioned upgrades)
MS-3 also saw service on clans, namely the Ashina Clan, GDR, and even an LBPU variant was made. It also was just used as target practice.
MS-4 (No pictures available)
The MS-4 was supposed to be focused on fighting infantry, having a 15cm howitzer as well as an automatic turret on the side of the main turret. It was wheeled unlike the former MS-3, and much more smaller, but possibly better armored than early MS-3's, having armor over the wheels and mainly focusing on urban warfare. MS-4B was going to upgrade the automatic turret, as well as the cannon and possibly the armor, however both were lost in a profile corruption and only one picture of the MS-4A remains.
MS-5
MS-5 was meant to be purely a heavy tank, being slow, heavily armored, and something to fear if you were at the end of its extended 105mm barrel. The MS-5 carried over the design of the MS series up to a heavy armor massive platform, which actually wasn't too good of an idea. Unfortunately the MS-5A model was lost the day after it was finished because of (surprise surprise) a profile corruption, so not enough tests were made with that, if any at all. Because of that, the MS-5B was made quickly after the loss, and it ended up possibly being worse than the first model. During testing, it was so front-heavy that it could not cross trenches, and its armor proved insufficient for the mass that it had. Because of that and the fact that it was huge, slow, and unreliable, the MS-5 mainly saw use as a target practice and never got any further upgrades.
MS-6 "Guerrero" (Model X to B)
After the failure that were the MS-4 and MS-5 projects, I decided to take a better approach at the MS series, with a medium tank that was fast and reliable. At first, the MS-6 was gonna have the typical MS design of the trapezium-shaped turret at the front of the hull, but from what was learned with the MS-5, it was moved to the middle of the tank, with the turret staying the same for the most part. This was named the MS-6X (above), it was the prototype of the MS-6 and it housed the same 105mm cannon that the MS-3C had. It was my first tank to ever actually use suspension effectively.
For the official production model of the MS-6, the turret was completely redesigned in order to house the newer 90mm cannon that had been used as a stationary anti tank gun and on the SüZ-2 SPG before. The official MS-6A (right) came as a result, with the new turret and cannon, but despite the redesign, the breech was partially outside of the turret, giving the mantlet that distinct shape. The MS-6B model was virtually the same as the A model, but with different side skirts and changes to internals.
The post started getting kinda long so I'm just gonna stop here. I will make other posts talking about the Süz series, as well as tank parts used and mentioned here, such as shells and all that. At last, I hope you at least found this interesting, if you even read through it all.