It's that time once again, sports fans!
It's time for another update on the progress of "My Tank is Fight" as well as a look at some of the exciting artwork being done by Mike Doscher and Josh Hass. Stick around until the end of this email for details about a great contest we are holding to help get the word out about the upcoming book.
I would like to start things off with an update on the overall progress. I have written fourteen of twenty chapters and the art has been completed on twelve of these chapters. Once all twenty chapters are finished I will be going through and tightening things up, correcting spelling or grammar (particularly getting those umlauts in the right places), and then writing the forward and the acknowledgements. A lot of people are going to deserve credit for helping me with my research and while this is a "fun" book (I'm not foot-noting every page) I think it's important to give a nod to my great sources. Serious historians will probably scoff at the joking manner in which I have approached the subject matter but I stand by my research. If you can't laugh about giant tanks then God strike me down because it is a hateful and humorless world.
On to the fun stuff! Mike has just completed his illustrations for the HMS Habbakuk. If you have ever ready anything about the Habbakuk you might have noticed that "Habbakuk" is often spelled differently depending on the source. That's because it was incorrectly designated the "Habbakuk" by a clerical error. It really should have been "Habakkuk" in honor of the Biblical prophet Habakkuk. It was a giant (and I really mean giant) aircraft carrier made out of a special wood-pulp ice called Pykrete. I think Mike's artwork gives a great sense of scale by setting the HMS Habbakuk next to the USS Missouri and USS Nimitz, two titans of the seas.
Those weird little pods along the sides and the stern of the Habbakuk are actually engine nacelles. Each engine was powered by centrally located generators and even with all of those engines the Habbakuk could reach a lightning fast top speed of six knots. Six whole knots.
Josh Hass is currently working on his color version of the mammoth Habbakuk, but in keeping with the nautical theme I would like to show you his recently completed rendering of the Type XI-B U-boat or U-cruiser. In my opinion it turned out to be one of Josh's finest works so far.
Josh depicted U-113 of the 5th Flotilla engaging in its last battle with an American destroyer after raiding an Allied convoy heading for Scapa Flow. You can read the fictional story of U-113 in the book.
Finally, the contest!
Go to message boards other than the Something Awful Forums, websites, and blogs, and spread the word about My Tank is Fight. Try to encourage people to sign up for the mailing list and come check out the site. I don't want you to spam forums, go to forums on which you already post or sites you already visit, don't register just to spam the link. If you have a website or blog write an article about this site and tell people they should sign up for the mailing list. You can share any images that I have up on the My Tank is Fight website, but DO NOT LEECH. As some have discovered our anti-leeching script is quite horrific.
The contest will run until September 1st. Either on or before September 1st anyone who participated should send an email including their name and mailing address to zackparsons@somethingawful.com with MY CONTEST IS FIGHT in the subject.
The person who I judge did the best job promoting the book without spamming or being annoying to people will receive the "Band of Brothers" DVD series tin. Two second place participants will receive a copy of the recently-released and critically acclaimed "Downfall." Winners will be announced in the mailing list on September 5th.
If you have any questions about the contest or about My Tank is Fight you can email me and I'll do my best to get back to you.
I'm looking forward to seeing the creative ways you guys get the word out about the book!
- Zack
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