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The original halftrack was intended as an all-weather transport and prime-mover for ammunition, towed weapons and supplies through mud, shell craters and interdiction artillery fire missions. The vehicle's requirements were supposed to be laid out by a committee of the various pre-Alliance German service branches and then sent to manufacturers for bidding. However, the committee quickly fractured into three camps. One group wanted armor plating sufficient to protect against heavy machine gun fire. Another insisted the proposed single defensive machine gun was simply inadequate. The third group wanted to take the front wheels off and just make a light tank. By the time the German defense industry received the list of desired features, transporting hot soup to the trenches somehow required more combat power than an infantry platoon.
Mired in an engineering nightmare, the sudden rise of air power provided both a new threat and purpose. Aircraft, and less so artillery, were expected to be used against supply columns in the next war. Ordinary trucks had no defense against strafing runs, but a sufficiently armored vehicle in their convoy could fire back with impunity. Shrewdly anticipating their customer's needs better than their customers themselves, one firm after another presented a half-track intended not to carry supplies, but to protect them under an umbrella of flying lead. The committee, which by now represented the Alliance as a whole, was so pleasantly surprised at the prototype that nobody noticed the original members' sneering disapproval. In fact, many wondered why it should stay behind the lines at all, since it was such an obvious compliment to the newly invented tank.
The resulting halftrack is based on an eight-ton truck chassis with two leading wheels for road steering plus caterpillar treads for all-terrain traction and powered by a V8 engine. It is capable of travelling through mud, over ice and under fire despite its considerable weight, although steering suffers off-road. Its armament is four 8mm machine guns, quad-linked with full 360 degree rotation and 85 degree elevation. The weapon is operated by an enclosed gunner via a periscope; reloading being performed by connecting additional belts from within the hull. The weapons system can be ranged not only for the drop of the projectile but also to converge all four guns on a specific point at a specific range. It is also able to hit ground targets thanks to fifteen degrees of depression below the horizontal. The parallel mobility and versatility means the halftrack is an asset which shouldn’t be overlooked for its heavier mechanised brethren, or underestimated as a threat to infantry.
Special Abilities
1. Weapon: [Burst]: Fires its Quad-machine guns
Type: Targeted Attack
Damage: Medium
Range: Medium
2. Weapon: [Suppress]: : Lays a curtain of fire on an area, suppressing any infantry
Type: Area Attack (medium)
Damage: Medium
Effect on enemies: Infantry in the suppressed area lose 50% movement and 50% fire power until their next turn
Cooldown: 2 turns