One Daen-fen 28mm tractor!
The Daen-fen’s primary role is infantry support and the hunting of small tractors and wagons. Standard doctrine has the tractor just behind the advancing line of Nodd Ffae rhyflers when on the attack with the Daen-fens providing obscuring smoke rounds and high explosive fire support against enemy trench works and fortifications.
The Daen-fen has a crew of 7 made up of a commander, gunner, 2 loaders, driver, assistant-driver and a mechanic. The fighting compartment is cramped, and unlike other Arnyaran combat tractors the crew does not treat the Daen-fen as a home.
The main gun is a short barreled 84mm smoothbore cannon. Arnyaran factories were not capable of casting and machining reliable rifled barrels on a large enough scale to meet all of their heavy weapon needs. The 84mm cannon is inaccurate at long range and not able to penetrate the armor of heavier tractors at distance. The gun mount and armored shell rotate without an internal “basket” for the crew making aiming too far off the center line difficult on the crew operating the tractor unless stationary.
Much like the heavier Telu-harn tractors the Daen-fen utilizes thick slabs of Haefyn tree lumber as a second layer of armor over steel. This has greatly reduced spalling from small arms fire that many other tractors of Alwyd suffer from.
There are several advantages to the Daen-fen: The steering linkage and gearbox are very reliable and responsive, making the tractor nimble for its size and capable of delicate maneuvering. It is also capable of lengthy travel before a refueling is required with an extra large reserve tank between the heavily armored treads. Many crews have welded extra armored
sheets over these fuel tanks to avoid their igniting from the Daen-fen encountering an anti-tractor mine.
The tractor does suffer from a weight imbalance and is “front heavy” and is prone to bogging in mud and soft ground. A set of tow cables have become common kit for Arnyaran tractors of all sizes to help keep these tractors in the fight.
Many Creevish and Coftyran tractor crews were taken by surprise by the turning radius and speed of steering of the Daen-fen. A common tactic utilized by Arnyara’s enemies is to attempt to immobilize and bypass Daen-fen tractors rather than closing the distance and attempting to penetrate the heavy armor while in range of the Daen-fen’s main gun.
