Northern Vehicles Compendium 2

Rabbits in the Hole

"Enemy units at two hundred meters!"

Colonel Selene Münschtradler, commander of the legendary Roving Guns, did not like surprises. She was sitting in the command chair of a Murdock command vehicle racing over the dunes of the Barrington Basin. From there, thanks to a massive array of computer-assisted communications and electronic equipment, she had a constant link with her regiment as it attacked a Southern MILICIA position. There should not be enemy units at two hundred meters. Certainly not with out her knowing.

"Get me an ID, Lieutenant Marsh!"

"Ma'am," snapped her systems operator as he aimed the Murdock's sensors. The desert winds were high and the Roving Guns were using the cover to attack. It made identifying the enemy difficult, however. "Small units, maybe infantry."

Münschtradler moved swiftly to sit beside the driver in the cabin and used the night vision scope to search the sands for her enemy. In a burst of speed she saw them, a small group of desert bikes - Jackrabbits it looked like - darting over the dunes.

"Go evasive!" Münschtradler grabbed the commands of the Murdock's top-mounted grenade launcher and began to lay down a pattern of fire. Unfortunately, the fast desert bikes easily darted through and drove toward them. Only the Colonel's cycles of experiences allowed her to not jump at the first muffled explosion. A hand grenade thrown by one of the Southern bikers, exploding on contact with the Murdock.

"No damage," reported the systems operator, "but we can't take too many more of those hits. If they nail the wheels, we're in real trouble."

"Keep dodging them, but get moving over the ridge to the north. Lieutenant, patch me through Red Squadron." As she barked orders, Münschtradler operated her grenade launcher, trying to get a solid lock on the nimble combat bikes. It took only a few seconds before the lieutenant signaled at her - she had the comm. She spoke swiftly into her headset. "Red Squadron, close on way point epsilon. We are under attack by motorcycle infantry."

The Colonel changed tactics and simply lay down cover fire, hoping to keep the Jackrabbits away from the Murdock. The grenade launcher spewed out more rounds, and she thought maybe one of the attackers took a hit. She couldn't be sure - the curtain of sand greatly hindered the visibility and it might just have veered off. A grenade blew a few meters to the left of the vehicle, immediately drawing her attention away. They were flanking the Murdock and matching its speed.

From the corner of her eye, she detected movement to her right, something jumping at her. It was one of the bikes, which had just bounced off a dune and was headed straight for her position in the Murdock's cockpit. Its front wheel crashed through the side window and impacted against her face, breaking half the bones and sending her straight into a coma. The bike bounced off the cabin, then span out of control before crashing into the sand.

The Murdock was nearing the peak of a hill when three Jaguars with red-painted heads leaped above the hilltop, guns blazing. "You're clear, Murdock. We'll handle it from here." Jeysers of sand sprang closer around the pursuers as the Gears' hits became more accurate. The remaining two Jackrabbits veered off and quickly vanished into the sandstorm.

Just then the on-board computer finally came back on line. "Way Epsilon Reached," it intoned - too little and too late.

Introduction

The Terra Nova Vehicle Compendium series aims at providing a set of quick reference manuals for students of military history on Terra Nova. This second volume of the Northern Vehicle Compendium contains all the basic tank and artillery vehicle chassis and variants which previously appeared in such publications as the now out-of-print Northern Field Guides and the highly popular Tactical Support series. The only models listed here are those that are common to several leagues, city-states or other paramilitary organizations. In some cases, only certain leagues still use a given model or variant, but they are all widely available throughout the hemisphere. Vehicles which were designed and used only by certain leagues will be examined at a later date in other manuals.

While meticulous care was taken to ensure that these volumes are accurate and up-to-date, the ever-changing nature of the vehicles and the secrecy of military-related designs makes this task Herculean at best. We ask the reader to keep in mind that much of the information within these pages was provided by the manufacturers themselves and reflects generic, minimally trained Gears. Depending on indivdual machines and maintenance records, field performance might differ from what is published here. Since the last edition, some specifications and statistics may have been modified to reflect newer, more accurate information. Our editors are hard at work revising these statistics on a constant basis, ensuring that you get nothing but the most accurate information available on these war machines.

The present volume, like its predecessors, covers some of the manufacturers which are involved in the design and production of combat vehicles. While these companies are listed in a book dedicated to tanks and artillery vehicles, we do not imply that they are limited to the production of the latter but rather that they have either specialized in that field or have greatly contributed to it. In this particular case, we focus on Noveren Materials, Brok Enterprises, Hartmore Motor Company and Riley Weapons Systems.

This book also covers a number of vehicles which are presented by category: personnel carriers, tanks, specialized vehicles, single infantry vehicles and artillery pieces. More specifically, we provide full specifications for the Badger and its variants (Rabid Badger, Badger Cavalry Fighting Vehicle and Medevac Badger), the Camel (and its Stinger variant), the Aller (plus the Verder, the Hardy Aller and the Naval Support Aller), the Klemm (including the Jaxon, the Tyburr, the Baxter, the Bandit Klemm and the Stormhammer), the Behemoth (and the Behemoth Ammo-Loader), the Murdock (and its variant, the Seeker), the Antelope (plus the Spotter Antelope), the Wallaby (with one of its variants, the Sneak Wallaby) and the generic Field Artillery gun.

We also include at the end of the book a series of technical data sheets that can be used during tactical play. The chassis presented within are accompanied by several of the more popular variants. Each vehicle is fully detailed both in terms of background and game statistics. Lastly, we provide a clear and concise recognition chart for all vehicles within these pages. It contains carefully detailed illustrations to scale which are regularly used by foot soldiers and various combatants to identify the enemy they are fighting at a glance and to determine what his weaknesses are.

Chassis and Variants

For the reader's convenience, the vehicles in this book have been divided into two general categories: chassis and variants. For the purposes of the game and its background, there is no practical difference between the two. The division has been made purely to maximize the page content of this book and to indicate the origins of each vehicle. Both categories feature vehicles that are in full-fledged production (unless specified otherwise) or have been permanently modified into their current configuration.

A chassis is the basic production model of a certain vehicle type, often the first one of a series of derivative designs. The Aller Main Battle Tank is a prime example of this. Chassis are often mass produced and easily recognizable in shape and function; they also form the core of the armies. Because chassis are so common, three full pages have been dedicated to each one, alonw with a listing of their full gaming statistics. Variants based on a particular chassis will use this set of game statistics as a base for their own, through a set of modifications. The full explanation of the various sub-sections of the chassis section can be found in the Northern Vehicle Compendium 1.

Variants are vehicles derived from a basic chassis. In general,variants involve small modifications to the mass-produced chassis to answer a specific need. They can differ in terms of operational role, performance, equipment or weapon payload, but they tend to share the same basic structure as the design on which they are based. Variants can either originate from the factory or the field - unless specified otherwise, no distinction is made within this book. To save on space, the statistics of each variant are given only as modificationsto the statistics of the original chassis. For instance, the Naval Support Aller's statistics are given as modifications to the game statistics of the Aller. The Threat Values supplied have been calculated after the modifications were applied to the basic game statistics and can be used as is to evaluate the strength of a combat group.

Unlike Gears, tanks and most artillery vehicles do not follow a strict identification code. The tradition for the Gears is exceptionally restrictive in comparison to other ground vehicles, often due to more modern code attribution procedures that were not in place when tanks and armored personnel carriers were first developed on Terra Nova. In general, Gears receive their identification code from the group which commissioned its design whereas tanks, APCs, all-terrain vehicles and bikes receive their ID code from the engineers and designers which worked on them. As a result, the codes for the vehicles within this book are the result of internal choices rather than a coherent identification system.