The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Mauler heavy tank

Description
The Mauler heavy tank was the Kraechar Arms response to a Yanibar Guard call for a heavily armored vehicle to serve as a frontline combat tank and also provide fire support. Unlike previous Kraechar Arms designs such as the ScorpTail APC or the Challenger light tank, the Mauler heavy tank was not a repulsorlift vehicle. Instead, 8 sets of sturdy treads propelled the sizable vehicle along. Large and ungainly, the Mauler was not an elegant vehicle, and the tons of armor it mounted gave it the appearance of a rolling slab of weapons and metals. Nor was it swift&mdash;alone out of the Yanibar Guard Army vehicle types during its era, the Mauler was designed to both give and take punishment. In addition to its thick armor, the Mauler also carried energy shields capable of deflecting laser cannon fire, though the shields did not defend against projectiles, rockets, or ballistic weapons.

The primary armament was three 300mm rail cannons mounted together in a sizable turret. Each one fired a magnetically-accelerated shell. The cannons could be fired either all at once, or in volleys if the Mauler was stationary. If it was moving, only one cannon could be fired at a time. To reduce wear and tear on the turret assembly, the rail cannons were usually only fired one at a time. Secondary armament was a pair of laser cannon turrets mounted on the forward tread housings. The laser cannons provided 180 degree coverage against terrestrial threats and could also elevate up to 60 degrees above the horizontal to track airborne threats. However, the Mauler's weapon arcs meant that it was vulnerable to both aircraft and attacks from the rear as the secondary weapons could not fire behind the vehicle. Mauler commanders were advised to never to show the rear of the vehicle to the enemy if at all possible.

The Mauler had two firing modes, befitting its dual role. The first was referred to as "artillery mode." In this mode, the Mauler had to remain stationary and two supports extended from its sides to brace the tank. The turret was elevated to an angle of up to 60 degrees above the horizontal. In this mode, the rail cannons could be fired for greater range and with greater energy, as more power could be diverted from the engines to the magnetic accelerators. In this mode, the Mauler had an effective range of 50 kilometers, but decreased accuracy was experienced even with rocket-assisted projectiles. As such, armor-piercing solid slugs were usually not employed in artillery mode; high-explosive was the ordnance of choice.

In "tank mode", the Mauler was mobile, but funneled less power to its magnetic accelerators in order to power its engines. This mode was typically employed at close ranges and in anti-vehicular combat. As such, the ammunition of choice was a solid armor-piercing tungsten-durasteel slug magnetically accelerated to well over 3,000 m/s. A single rail cannon slug could demolish an AT-ST walker, with a range of 8 kilometers. Each Mauler typically carried 60 rounds of each type of ammunition, for a total of 120 rounds carried internally.

The Mauler required 6 crew to man properly: pilot, turret gunner, commander, 2 laser gunners, and engineer. Crew training took several months to complete and all crewmembers were required to wear helmets with sonic damping, as the inside of a Mauler was deafeningly loud, especially during firing. However, though expensive, slow, and ungainly, the Mauler served as the heavy armored vehicle and the primary medium-range fire support vehicle for the Yanibar Guard for many years.

History
The Mauler heavy tank's design and planning was begun in 5 BBY, after Spectre Kraen requested a proof of concept model for a heavy armored vehicle for the growing Yanibar Guard Army. At the same time, an artillery vehicle was also requested. In order to streamline costs, Kraechar Arms put together a hybrid vehicle that would handle both duties. The vehicle was the Mauler X-1. Originally, the prototypical Mauler had a different turret style and four secondary laser turrets. Both of these were changed for weight and energy consumption reasons. To save even more cost, the Mauler chassis was the same basic design as used for the earlier CargoMax transport and ScorpTail IFVs, but with a heavy treaded system and a larger turret in place of the lighter ScorpTail turret and repulsorlifts. Additional armor and structural support was added as well.

As such, for such a large vehicle, the production cost of the Mauler was fairly low and it proved effective in field trials. Elated, General Kraen ordered several dozen of the tanks. More exhaustive testing revealed that the Mauler did have its shortcomings, namely a lack of speed and mobility due to the treads as well as a slow turret traverse rate. Furthermore, the vehicle was relatively vulnerable to missiles, a significant weakness. However, the Yanibar Guard Army was more than satisfied with the Mauler. Mauler crews particularly enjoyed the size and power of their vehicle, which was the single most powerful platform in the YGA.

The first combat trial of the Mauler tank came in 4 ABY, when the forces of the Zann Consortium landed on Yanibar. Several batteries of Maulers were deployed at the entrance of the Daizon Valley, shelling the oncoming invaders in fire-support mode. They then ended up in an artillery slugging match against Zann's Missile Attack Launchers, which resulted in five Maulers lost in exchange for eight MALs. They continued their bombardment later as the Zannists advanced, inflicting numerous casualties. Those same Maulers, reinforced with additional armor, helped spearhead a later assault against the Zannist lines, dueling with the Zannist Canderous tanks. The Canderous tanks were faster and more mobile, but the Maulers were larger and carried more firepower. The two sides were fairly evenly matched until the Yanibar Guard triggered a rockslide and a flood that destroyed much of their base camp. Further aerial bombing finished off the majority of the Zannist force. Salvaged technology from the Canderous tanks was later used to provide the Maulers with a faster turret rotation and increased turning rate.

Behind the scenes
The Mauler tank derived much of its original concept from the Starcraft Terran Siege Tank, namely the idea of a dual-role fire-support/front line combat vehicle. However, the design of the Mauler was significantly different and went through several iterations of design before author and creator Atarumaster88 arrived at the final design. The Mauler's latest draft design carried four secondary turrets, but Atarumaster88 felt that was too much weaponry on one vehicle and discarded it. He originally planned on drawing the Mauler in a 2-D sketch using CAD software, but later found a vehicle in the game Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath that was a close approximation to his concept of the Mauler: the Mammoth Armed Reclamation Vehicle. As such, he modified the Mauler design (including the turret shape) in order to use a picture of the MARV for the Mauler. The name of the Mauler was derived from a 90-ton Assault Battlemech in the BattleTech universe.

Appearances

 * Force Exile IV: Guardian