PAX Class Amphibious Transport

For their initial landing on Vulpesant territory, the Venrocks employed an array of amphibious vehicles, including massive landing crafts, amphibious tanks and vehicles, and even tanks capable of driving across the ocean's floor. Vulpesant commanders defending their homeland knew that to prevent sub-surface amphibious vehicles from landing, they could lay barriers in their paths, as it would be easier to defend a beach from surface-based amphibious vehicles than it would from submerged ones, who you couldn't engage till they had made landfall. Frustrated, the Venrock military simply utilized their surface amphibious vehicles to overwhelm the Vulpesant defenses, and landed forces on their beaches none the less.

The PAX class Amphibious Transport is an enormous multipurpose vehicle, capable of transporting tanks, trucks, supplies and troops. It was designed to be able to carry the heaviest and largest common Venrock ground vehicles, which meant it could just barely fit the Maganacor MK 6 (shown) in it's bay. It was moderately well armored, and decently armed with a heavy machine gun mount on its port bow, and a twin AA "Four-Lob" autocannon turret mounted rear of the command tower.

When driving on land, the vehicles track assembly would be lowered, allowing it to cruise across relatively rough terrain. It was utilized as a heavy support vehicle, being capable of recovering all fielded units, or carrying enough stores to resupply a large contingent of vehicles or troops. Some PAX-class transports were used as mobile command centers, mine layers, and even field hospitals. Many were given bulletproof roofs to protect troops and contents from light fire, and were used as immense APCs, when a second deck was installed within the bay.

When entering water, the ramp would be folded up and locked shut, and once the vehicle had attained positive buoyancy and was floating on its own, the track assemblies would collapse into the vehicles hull and the main hull panel would lock shut behind them. The track-well would then be purged of water, to add to the buoyancy of the vehicle. While in water, it was propelled by a pair of water-jets, allowing it to close distances between it's mother ship and a beach relatively quickly.

The PAX could either beach itself to unload its cargo, or deploy its treads, which would allow it to maneuver on the beach and move with its fellow units.

Made in sketchup 7, approx 4 hours on and off. See middle-left image for man for scale.