Oil rigs and other offshore platforms.

[NARSES2]

The Maginot line was not, as is usually contested a failure.  It effectively channelled the Germans into attacking the low countries.  The French problem was that government penny-pinching (and deliberate misunderstanding of the purpose of the line) meant that the mobile, armoured forces which were to be deployed behind the line to counter any outflanking manoeuvres or breakthroughs were not created in sufficient strength to counter the German forces.   

Agree with that statement although I'd add that the fact the French placed some of their best troops in fixed positions didn't help either. There were plans to extend it to the coast but finance and politics came into play. You also have to remember that as a nation they were terribly scarred by their huge losses in WWI and would do almost anything to prevent that happening again.

Going back to defensive platforms. With their open structure they would be quite hard to destroy ? So as a base platform for helicopters and fast patrol craft with the defensive weapons to defend against both types ?

[seadude]

Probably the best idea IMO for a converted oil platform for military/defense purposes is to have a whole bunch along the southern coasts of the U.S. for drug interdiction a la Dale Brown's "Hammerheads" novel. Put a bunch of surveilience radars on the platform, multiple pads for copters and V-22's, launch and recovery areas for drones, and have areas for Coast Guard or other small military ships and boats to dock alongside the rig.
Put a bunch of these rigs around Florida, Key West, the Bahamas, and other strategic locations where drug smugglers like to run their routes.

[kerick]

So who will be first to build one?
Any suggestions for parts sources or scale?
Sheet plastic and PVC we can get easily enough.

[seadude]

Ok, so it'll be a few years before I do this, but........I bought the following at a game store. It was the only thing I could think of that might work for a militarised oil rig defense platform. I would of course have to sand/grind off all the Warhammer markings. This platform is big enough to use for 1/350 scale weapons, equipment, etc.






And here is a pic of the "Hammerhead One" Border Defense Platform from Dale Brown's novel HAMMERHEADS. It can be found at the end of Chapter 4.

[rickshaw]

I don't think the wind breaks around the helicopter/tilt-rotor landing pads are a good idea.

[Gondor]

I don't think the wind breaks around the helicopter/tilt-rotor landing pads are a good idea.

Very bad idea that. On real off shore platforms the Heli-deck is the highest solid structure. Only things higher are the Drilling Dereck, if its a drilling platform, and the burn off pylon and crane for hauling heavy or bulky items from support vessels. In fact you might add one of these as well as it would be far easier to ship your drones in crates to the platform.

Gondor

[kerick]

No doubt that you just have to have a crane on deck. The warhammer platform brings in a whole other look. Massive!