The Flipwagen is considered by many to be a substandard vehicle due to disadvantageous features such as its large size and poor DPM, which render it obsolete in the current meta of high tier LTs. It has neither the same passive scouting abilities as its contemporaries, nor the armament to compensate for this.
While buffing its camo value and firepower would be very much welcome, I believe the Flipwagen should be replaced with a better documented, historical project in the form of the 1960 Leopard Prototype from Borgward.
——— ——— ———
Known officially as Panzer Typ RRV EP1-15/16, we could instead just call it the Leopard Prototype C.
The main advantage of this vehicle vs the Flipwagen would be a lower silhouette (thus better camo), which is attributed to its considerably smaller turret. Admittedly, the Prototype C still has a fairly long hull, but potential camo rating could be 45-50 instead of low 40s. Armor would still remain poor.
But it doesn’t end there. This vehicle was supposed to have a 90mm autoloading gun, a 1500 horsepower power plant, and hydropneumatic suspension. The stats would look something like the following:
——— ——— ———
Mobility: 75 kph, 1500 hp, 30 tons. ~ 45.36 hp/ton.
4-round 90mm autoloader. 280/280/370 damage.
25.5 second reload and 1.5 intra-clip reload would result in 2,203 DPM. Burst potential would be 1,120 alpha.
1.5 second aim time, .40 dispersion.
Pen and shell velocity would have to be fabricated due to an absence of info, something like… 238/280/102 pen and 1,030/1,145/755 velocity, comparable to the 90mm on the Kanonen JgPz.
Manually enabled hydro suspension would enable greater gun depression and accuracy, at the expense of mobility. This would be similar to the Kunze Panzer’s siege mode.
410 meter view range.
——— ——— ———
Overall, all these features combined would make for a more effective, and far more interesting vehicle than the Flipwagen. While it should be buffed and not removed completely, the Rhm. Panzerwagen could be designated as a collector’s vehicle.
