Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Chameleon ZSU

""I am the true gunner!" "No, sweetie, I am!""

-ZSU Gunner(s)

The Chameleon ZSU are the League's primary SPAAG vehicle, based on the old ZSU-44 of Voshkod era. Voiced by

Tactical analysis

 * Fly catcher: The Chameleon is ideal for taking the Guardians's helicopter force down a notch, with its inaccurate but powerful 50mm Flak cannons, and a supply of airbursting shells that can easily swat thin skinned aircraft from the sky. The Chameleon does reasonably against surface targets as well.


 * Trouble with fast movers: The Chameleon does have problems with faster aircraft, though. The Flak cannons are rather inaccurate, which means that they tend to miss fighters, and also have problems with large numbers of aircraft, as they need to be reloaded every few bursts, although the splash damage of the shells does help deal with groups of aircraft.


 * Safeties off: By twisting off a restraining bolt, the guns can be put into mechanical overdrive, firing as fast as the bolt is knocked back until the heat build-up makes the gun unsafe to fire.


 * Keep swatting: Some crews have managed to jury rig autoloaders for their guns, allowing them to be fired continuously without having to reload, as well as removing the strain on the loader.

Appearance
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History
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ZSU is the catch all acronym for anti-air gun vehicles in the Voshkod era. A huge variety of these vehicles, most with very short production runs, served during the Great Voshkod-Aquilan War alongside various Voshkod tanks; the ZSU-44 was the most common, though one of the least capable. Sharing the double-barrelled design with its contemporaries, the ZSU-44's 50mm flak cannons were effective at seeing off helicopters but unreliable when used against faster fixed-wing planes and hopeless against jet fighters; by 1957 V.C., most commanders would leave them behind, relying on SAM emplacements, specially made wire-guided rockets in the pods of their Mammoths or disposable SAM launchers used by infantry. As a side effect, a rather large number of ZSU-44s survived the war while other variants were expended on the front lines, and after the war they were sold or given away to other communist nations.

The League initially attempted to field ZSUs en masse to protect their forces on the Old One Trail and the front lines. However, the open topped design made them vulnerable to simple airburst weapons or even just thrown grenades in the dense jungle, and the Lizardmen lost hundreds of them over the course of the years. However, the damage was usually minor enough to see them recovered by the League after the fact, who know them as Chameleons. Though the frontline League forces has come to rely on towed SAM emplacements, the Skinks swear by their aging ZSUs, and have begun assembling their own knockoffs in their workshops.

Guardians of the Tacitus

 * LAV-AD Blazer/Avenger (Aquila)
 * Vulcan 'Avenger' (Task Force Wolf)
 * Ironfire (Alliance)
 * M163 VADS (ADI)
 * Type 87 SPAAG (Protectorate)
 * Gepard (Andora)
 * Type 95 Zhuge SPAAG (Empire)
 * Biho (Community)

Destroyers of Balthazar

 * Tunguska (Voshkod)
 * Shilka
 * Otomatic (Brotherhood)
 * AA Trukk (Horde)
 * Quad Cannon (MLA)
 * Gattling Tank (Collective)
 * ZU-23-4 (Encantadia)
 * ... (Scrin)

Neutrals

 * Dune Half-Track (Coalition)
 * Norsca Shilka (Heralds)
 * Archangel Anti-Air Track (Order)
 * M16 "Lee" AA (Survivors)
 * ... (Syndicate)
 * Abrams AGDS (Conglomerate)
 * Hydra Flak Tank (Legion)

Bonus Factions

 * ZSU-39 Tigris (ASA)
 * SIDAM (Bastion)
 * SPAAG Creep (Rangers)
 * AMX-13 DCA (Pirates)
 * Shilka (Elona)
 * Flak Tractor (Ascalia)
 * ... (Dominion)
 * Hovet (Security)
 * ... (Ascendancy)

DLC

 * ... (Federation)
 * Magbow (Corona)
 * ... (Party)
 * Equailzer AA Tank (Skynet)
 * ... (Dominion)
 * Yastrebok (Elemental)
 * ... (Autocracy)
 * Chameleon ZSU (League)
 * ... (Swarm)
 * Rykov (Confederation)
 * VEAK 40 (Kingdom)
 * ... (Goo)
 * Wirbelwind (Imperium)
 * ... (Dynasty)
 * KV-1 AA (Warlords)
 * ... (Cult)
 * M42 Duster (Raiders)
 * Pierce Arrow (Theocracy)
 * AA Technical (Insurgents)
 * Solarions (Guardians)
 * Hacker Walker (Hierarchy)
 * ... (Sundered)
 * Thunder Tunguska (Ecumene)
 * Centaur AA (Concordat)
 * Skyranger (Contingent)
 * ADATS Bradley (Eden)
 * Recluse Skysweeper (InGen)
 * Fireworks Carriage (Hallows)
 * MGMC (Commune)
 * Ta-Se (Guild)
 * ... (Threat)
 * Niska Mk. V AA Vehicle (Traders)
 * Falconer AA Tank (Entente)
 * Revenant (Oblivion)
 * ... (Corporation)
 * ... (Covenant)
 * Hidalgo Anti-Air (Institute)
 * Stout IFV-AA (Eremite)
 * ... (Nimbus)
 * ... (Carnival)
 * ... (Wraiths)
 * ... (Chronophage)
 * ... (Privateers)
 * ... (Foundation)
 * ... (Spartacus)
 * ... (Regency)