Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Marauder Tank

"Marauder tank assembled!"

-Marauder tank leaving the Arms Dealer

The Marauder Tank is the MLA's main battle tank that plays a crucial part in armored assaults. Its firepower dramatically rises with salvage upgrades. This MBT is planned to be voiced by *TBA*

Tactical analysis

 * Salvation Army: The Marauder Tank acts mainly as a tank destroyer, available for most MLA forces, in comparison to its superior derivative the T-63. Armed with two powerful 88mm guns, the Marauder can turn tank columns into heaps of scrap metal.
 * Pop some Smoke: The Marauder can also fire off a volley of smoke grenades, providing cover for friendlies and allowing them to advance unhindered or beat a quick retreat.
 * Scattershot: By tanking scrap metal from destroyed vehicles the MLA are able to further upgrade their Marauders. Starting with reinforced armor followed by making shells filled with anti-personnel ball bearings to provide superior anti-infantry protection.
 * Tunnel Vision: One of the flaws of the Marauder is its slow turret rotation; this leaves the Marauder very vulnerable to being flanked. In addition, it's rather fragile for a medium tank, and there is also the problem of aircraft...

History
"The world's cheapest tank destroyer!"

-Slogan used by encourage the building of Marauders

When the Askairan started work on the T-63 Marauder, they had intended it to be a one-off design for the White Guard, who had originally requested the design. During the development process, however, the engineers soon realized that the Marauder was a solid design, and for them to shelve it as soon as they completed their contract with the White Guard would be to abandon an excellent opportunity.

Indeed, even before the engineers had finalised the design for the White Guard, other countries began to show interest in the Marauder as well. Many of these countries, desiring a powerful armored vehicle that could take on heavy opponents such as the Voshkod Kodiak, realized that the relatively simple and affordable, yet powerful Marauder was the vehicle they were looking for. International Inc began looking into the possibility of adapting their design for these potential customers.

Despite their work being the stuff of legends among MLA sympathizers around the world, the names of the original creators of the Marauder self-propelled assault gun will most likely remain a historical mystery. All that is known is that a group of five Night Elf women released a viral video on the internet in the mid-2000s V.C. in which they provided a literal step-by-step 'tutorial' on how to build a crude armored fighting vehicle using off-the-shelf tools, metal scraps, and a truck engine based on the White Guards T-63 tanks, the original Marauders. Most preposterously, the guide suggested that an externally mounted camera connected to a consumer-grade television and a re-wired video gamepad could be used to monitor the vehicle's surroundings and help control its movement. This raw ingenuity did not go unnoticed by the Moonlight Liberation Army, whose followers in Kalimdor, Suramar, and (insert Draph location) soon followed their example and proceeded to build their own 'tanks' to engage Guardian forces head-on, with faith, courage, and craftiness making up for a lack of modern machinery and scarce parts for maintaining their Scarabs, even the Stormrage Cell, who is the only one that has the far superior T-63, are using this Marauder copy as they find it harder and harder to get parts to maintain their T-63s.

Several features were soon changed or cut outright. The T-63 Marauder, though a robust and powerful tank destroyer, was entirely tailored to the Askairan White Guard's demands and the conditions of desert warfare. One of the most obvious changes was in the armament; the 120mm gun, which the T-63 had been built around, was quickly replaced in favor of a single 88mm gun, which was then changed to two 88mm guns.

It was decided that the Marauder's original weapon was unnecessarily powerful; it had only been included in the T-63 at the White Guard's explicit request. The twin 88mm guns, though less powerful, would allow the Marauder to handle larger numbers of targets more easily, while still having the punch to destroy all but the most heavily protected of vehicles. Side-mounted smoke grenade launchers were also added, which could be used to provide cover in the event that it was necessary to retreat.

Most of the other modifications were to simplify the Marauder's design, so as to make it easier to produce and reduce costs. The result the engineers designated it simply as Marauder Tank, to distinguish it from the T-63 variant. It was soon snapped up by most MLA cells. Even today the Marauder Tank is seen as the icon of military might throughout much of Central Aquila, (Saharan Africa), and Central Cantha. The Marauder remains a robust and reliable weapon.

Indeed, the life of an MLA tanker has been a dangerous one ever since the start of the War Against the MLA but those who managed to survive throughout the decades have become hardened veterans and their heavily customized Marauder tanks are a testament of this experience. Armed with twin 88mm guns and protected by a variety of armor scraps cobbled together from foreign tanks of various ages and nationalities, the Marauder remains the most lethal ground combat vehicle in the arsenal of the MLA and should never be underestimated. By the early 2010s V.C., many Marauder crews had figured out how to equip their vehicles with fully rotating turrets without diminishing their engine power during a forward charge, something which the T-63 crews still struggles with, thus finally turning their Marauders into actual tanks at long last.

Trivia

 * The Marauder Tank in Gaiaterra is the ROTR version

Guardians of the Tacitus

 * M1A2 Abrams/Laser Abrams (Aquila)
 * Legion Tank (Alliance)
 * Challenger 2
 * Goliath Tank (ADI)
 * Type 10 Hitomaru MBT/Takashio MBT (Protectorate)
 * Taurus Tank (Andora)
 * Warmaster (Empire)
 * K2 Black Panther (Community)

Destroyers of Balthazar

 * T-14 Armata "Ogre" (Voshkod)
 * T-279 Golem (Voshkod)
 * Eclipse (Brotherhood)
 * Looted Ursa (Horde)
 * Marauder Tank (MLA)
 * Opus Tank (Collective)
 * T-72M (Encantadia)
 * AMX-30B
 * Progetto
 * P'okp'ung-ho
 * Manta (Scrin)

Neutrals

 * Fellblade (Coalition)
 * Rubric Abrams (Heralds)
 * Seductive Challenger
 * Blood Golem
 * Bloated Goliath Tank
 * Grey Steel Predator (Order)
 * T110E3 "Revolution" (Survivors)
 * Hammerhead (Syndicate)
 * Burning Legion
 * T-95 (Conglomerate)
 * Macharius (Legion)
 * Rogal Dorn

Bonus Factions

 * T-100 (ASA)
 * Ariete (Bastion)
 * MBT Creep (Rangers)
 * Straussler (Pirates)
 * Karrar (Elona)
 * M-84 (Ascalia)
 * Siege Tank (Dominion)
 * Merkava (Security)
 * ... (Ascendancy)

DLC

 * UNSC Scorpion Tank (Federation)
 * Hound Tank (Corona)
 * ... (Party)
 * Pilar (Skynet)
 * SKS 156 "Wotan" (Elemental)
 * XR-85 Tank Droid (Autocracy)
 * 122 TM (League)
 * Carnifex (Swarm)
 * Osorio (Confederation)
 * Strv 122 (Kingdom)
 * Fire Prism
 * ... (Goo)
 * King Tiger (Imperium)
 * ... (Dynasty)
 * EG-2 (Warlords)
 * ... (Cult)
 * Altay (Raiders)
 * Panther (Theocracy)
 * Tiger I
 * T-72 TURMS-T (Insurgents)
 * ... (Guardians)
 * ... (Hierarchy)
 * ... (Sundered)
 * T-10M "Bull (Ecumene)
 * Chieftain (Concordat)
 * Churchill
 * Black Eagle (Contingent)
 * PT-16 (Eden)
 * ... (InGen)
 * ... (Hallows)
 * M60 Patton (Commnune)
 * M103
 * LeClerc (Clique)
 * STA-2 (Guild)
 * Killer Stag (Threat)
 * Flood Ascension Mk. V (Traders)
 * Lewandowskiego (Entente)
 * Doom Hunter (Oblivion)
 * ... (Corporation)
 * ... (Covenant)
 * ... (Institute)
 * M84A Magloader (Eremite)
 * ... (Nimbus)
 * ... (Carnival)
 * ... (Wraiths)
 * ... (Chronophage)
 * ... (Privateers)
 * ... (Foundation)