Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Weasel Utility Tank

"I ain't no rat!"

-Weasel Utility Tank

The Weasel Utility Tank is an type of combat vehicle used by the Minutemen. This unit is planned to be voiced by Katherine Pawlak

Tactical analysis

 * Scattergun: A light utility vehicle with combat modifications, the Weasel helps to support friendlies and harass enemy assets. Its oversized shotgun can put down infantry or allow the Weasel to skirmish with light vehicles. Its weapon is useless against heavier targets like vehicles and tanks, but it's often the best weapon the Minutemen can field early on against infantry.


 * Annoyance From Above: The Weasel's mortar can be used to blow apart light vehicles, but it will also impede the movement of larger vehicles, like tanks or ore collectors. This ability allows it to interfere with enemy supply lines by slowing ore collectors, or help tilt battles for the rebels by slowing the reactions of enemies or preventing them from turning to face targets.


 * Pop goes the Weasel: For all its advantages, the Weasel was not meant to be a combat vehicle. Its armour is thin and dated, and while swift it will be outrun by real fast movers. However, it can also be used in the support role; putting an engineer inside it will turn it into a repair vehicle.


 * Burn Stuff: Before the Allies placed laws against their use, flamethrowers were common weapons on Weasels. Though they were supposed to be destroyed after the war, examples keep turning up, and are retrofitted onto vehicles. Flamethrowers can clear garrisons as well as being more effective against traditional targets.

History
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A small Andoran tankette and utility vehicle built by the Carden Loyd company in the late 1930s V.C., the Universal Carrier was designed to carry detachments of infantry, towed artillery guns, and anything else that needed carrying over broken ground and under fire. Unlike the Ranger or similar vehicles, the Carrier was protected by bullet-resistant armor, sealed compartments, and a gun turret that could accept a wide variety of weapons. Initially not meant for the front lines, Carriers ended up seeing a lot more action than intended; they were cheap and simple enough to issue in large numbers, which greatly helped with the mechanization of the Allied army. Nevertheless, as production of Rangers was stepped up, the Carrier was eventually phased out, though the Wakfu-Tilean Concordat retained the Carrier as their main APC with modernization upgrades; while useful, it didn't have the Ranger's versatility. By the end of the war, thousands of Carriers had been sent to the New California Commonwealth to aid in their war, who then consigned more than half of them to the boneyards as they favored the Ranger and later the Wakfu-Tilean Concordat, which later given modern refits.

This proved to be a boon for the Minutemen when they broke into the boneyards. Though the Ranger was arguably more useful, the Minutemen needed all the vehicles they could get, and this included all the Universal Carriers they could get their hands on. Though few believed that the Minutemen would be able to find any use for their Universal Carrier; even if they did, the outdated tankettes would last seconds against modern vehicles.

Reports from the Voshkod shores later shattered such conceptions. Infantry patrols and garrison started turning up dead from massive burns, none self-inflicted. The tracks sighted at each assault were too small to be even a light tank, and commanders started to send out ever-increasing vehicles with patrols, only to have said vehicles covered in chains and unable to move in time to save their accompanying infantry from the raiding Minutemen. Only a lucky burst from an entrenched Highlander Team was able to shed light on the mystery. The vehicles had been the same Universal Carriers stolen from the Boneyard, modified with a homemade mortar capable of firing chain projectiles that were able to stop an enemy vehicle almost instantly.

For the Minutemen, the Universal Carrier, now upgraded into the Weasel Utility Tank, serves as combat support for their smaller operations, where a Mastiff is simply too much but infantry can't be left on their own. It is an excellent means of logistical harassment too, slowing enemy ore operations to a crawl with a few well-placed chains in the wheels. And are also armed with flamethrowers, prime weapons for urban-focused militia who need a small vehicular punch to help them. In a testament to Minutemen ingenuity, all of their Weasels have also been converted to combat engineering vehicles, and are used to repair tanks in the field.

For all its benefits, however, the Weasel has enough flaws to make up for them. Its armor is paper thin, to the point where a well-placed anti-tank weapon can destroy one with little effort. It cannot stand up to anything but the lightest of vehicles, and its flamethrower is useless against anything that's not infantry or light vehicles.

Despite these flaws, smaller cells swear by the Weasel for their effectiveness in their operations. Though not exactly as feared as Minutemen First Recon or the M55, Allied and Voshkod forces in Embry are starting to double-take when they hear the word "weasel".