| rdfs:comment | - 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—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,
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| abstract | - 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—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.
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