| Jager Air Defence Walker | |
| |
| Faction |  Order of the Talon
|
| Unit Type | Walker |
| Designation | Heavy Anti Air |
| Prerequisites | Temple |
| Secondary Ability | Harpoon Missile immobilises targeted unit |
| Cost | Unknown |
| Production Time | Unknown |
| Veterancy Upgrade(s) | • Increased speed and reload speed (vet) • Arm-mounted flamethrowers (elt) • Weapon jammers (her) • Chest-mounted autocannons (div) |
| Dev. Status | Conceptual |
| Country of Origin | Palestine |
| Forged by | Aperta Scriptum Holy Forges |
| Key Features | » Congreve shrapnel rocket rack (×2) » Bipedal walker chassis » Harpoon steam cannon » Powerful crushing claws » Clockwork calculating mechanism |
"Coward! Get down here and face me like a man!"
- - Sir Landry the Stalwart, to unidentified Mesofortress pilot
Tactical Analysis[]
- Protecting the heavens: Talon commanders should rest assured that as an anti-air weapon, the Jager is a very, very good one. It is a hard counter to even the mightiest aircraft with its lethal rocket battery and enough armor to shrug off all but the most devastating aerial bombardment. While its rockets can only target air, it can use its claws to take swipes at ground units.
- Get back to earth: These machines take a long time to reload once their rocket load is spent, but that need not concern Talon commanders. Once their Harpoon cannon locks on, an enemy aircrew will not be returning home: the Jager uses itself as an anchor, immobilizing the aircraft until additional firepower can be brought to bear.
- Heavy *armor*: Engaging the Jager on the ground may shield one from its deadly arsenal of rockets, but bringing one down is no easy task. Layered in Talon Steel, a Jager can absorb harrowing amounts of damage, and one should not overlook the walker's crude but effective usage of its two powered claws.
- *Heavy* armor: That said, the Jager shares the unfortunate weakness of a plodding speed at best. These walkers cannot rapidly respond to unexpected airstrikes or hit-and-run engagement tactics.
Operational History[]
Radio Transcript between Charlie Airborne Recon Squadron and Delta Base in Turkey
1:12 am, January 9th, 1968
<Charlie 6> Charlie 6 to Delta base, come in Delta Base.
<Delta Base> Roger Charlie 6, reading you loud and clear.
<Charlie 6> Delta base, We are requesting final authorization for recon mission, over.
<Delta Base> Charlie 6, permission is granted. Good luck finding our boys.
<Charlie 6> Thanks Delta Base, catch you on the way out of Syrian Airspace, over.
- ...
<Charlie 6> Delta Base! Come in Delta Base! This is Charlie 6! We are under missile attack by unidentified hostiles!
<Delta Base> Delta Base to Charlie 6, repeat last, repeat last!
<Charlie 6> We are under attack by an unknown number of hostiles! We have missiles inbound! Shit! Executing evasive manoeuvres!
<Delta Base> Charlie 6, do you have any identity on those hostiles? Are they Reds?!
<Charlie 6> Negative! NEGATIVE! Unknown units! Shit! They got Charlie 4 and Charlie 3!
<Delta Base> Charlie 6, you are advised to evacuate the hot zone! Do not engage! Repeat, Do not engage!
<Charlie 6> We got more missiles inbound! I’m dropping to low altitude to evade. Will try to disengage and retreat. Goddamnit! Charlie 1 and Charlie 5 are down!
{sound of explosions is heard}
<Delta Base> Come in Charlie 6! Repeat, come in Charlie 6!
<Charlie 6> I...thi............radio! .... Char...2..down. I ...visual ......stiles now. Somethin...bipedal...kers! What the...! Shi......Its....arg...Cable!
{transmission breaks into static}
<Delta Base> Charlie 6! Come in Charlie 6! This is Delta Base, do you read? Repeat, this is Delta Base! Notify SAR!
Though the mecha of the Empire of the Rising Sun and walkers of the Soviet Union shocked the world with their first appearances, no one knew that the concept of a walking fighting vehicle existed for nearly a century beforehand. The sketches of the walkers were drawn by the Order of the Talon's most ingenious Forgemaster, Aperta Scriptum, along with other vehicles. One of these sketches was the Jager Walker, a twenty foot tall walker, armed with an array of powerful shrapnel rockets.
The Jager is a bipedal walker, relying heavily on clockwork systems for movement. Its sole duty is as the Order's specialized sky guardian. Its two Congreve rocket racks are large enough to fire a large salvo of solid-fueled rockets. The high-energy-density fuel, used in the rockets as propellant, is able to give a rocket an impressive turn of speed and height, allowing them to easily eliminate any enemy threat in the skies. The rockets aren't accurate like modern spectrum or infrared-guided missiles, but they are still able to easily bring down a fighter. They work not with precision, but by sheer numbers. The rockets are usually fired in huge groups to extend the area of effect, and when the rockets reach the target, they will explode in the manner of modern flak; spraying the air with burning magnesium shrapnel, capable of tearing apart even massive aircraft like the Kirov Airship.
However, the rocket racks cannot reload quickly, taking a substantial amount of time to reload all the racks. This problem was resolved by adding yet another weapon to the Jager: a side-mounted steam cannon armed with a harpoon missile. This weapon is fired by a pressurized steam cannon, which also ignites the fuel of the missile, giving the Harpoon an extremely high velocity. This allows the weapon to catch any aircraft, and pierce its outer airframe. At this point, the heavy walker chassis is used as a anchor, with the Jager's mechanical legs clamping into the ground to secure itself. The Talon Steel cable that connects the harpoon to the Jager is now used to tether the aircraft to the Jager, and the impressive properties of Talon Steel means that the cable cannot be easily snapped. This way, a target can be prevented from escaping or held in place until the Talon can bring in more firepower to bear.
Additionally, the Jager also employs a set of claws for engaging ground targets. While they lack the range of its other weapons, the heavy duty appendages can simply be employ to smash apart lesser foes, or crush them in a powerful vice grip. Foes have been surprised by the Jager's claws on more than one occasion, having failed to consider such crude weapons as a threat.
Behind the Scenes[]
- Sir William Congreve was a 18th/19th Century artillery officer from the British Empire, who was known for his skills and the invention of the Congreve rocket.
- Aperta Scriptum, which in English means Open Book, is a reference to the leader of the Paradox mod, Open sketchbook.
