Notes :
Apologies for the late upload, I fell asleep before setting it up.
Once again, this is a lore file by Cassissa.
This document compiles observation yatti yata I'll format it once I'm done editing, just copy what I had last time.
Director, if you read this, first off yes it's not very professional, and no I won't accept any criticism, I've seen what your own documents look like before they go through the final editing pass.
The Aurorean Empire seems to employ a variety of armored vehicles, all based on a single chassis. Those 'spider tanks', for the lack of a better word, appear to be an offshoot of Crystal's philosophy of manufacturing a single, basic design, then iterating upon it endlessly to refine into a weapon of war. If one digs into her 'Standard Combat Units', one will find a golem like those in her dungeon at their core. The same appears to be true of her regular armored units.
Spider Tanks
Armaments (Base version)
Two light ballistae
Multiple combat golems
This hasn't been encountered in a long time outside of her dungeon. Last recorded instance was in a fight against a manticore attacking the then small town of Rebirth. Though these continue to be produced and deployed as the bosses of the first floor, that appears to be their sole use.
Their light ballista -scorpios, really- give them some punch, but the vast majority of their combat power is their own body and ability to crush infantry. Impressively well armored, though the plating is crude and primitive. The crew is also of some help combat wise, being able to stymie boarding attempts, though they also need to man the ballistae.
Armaments (Templar version)
Two field guns
Multiple machineguns
These things have been the workhorse of Crystal's armored spearheads since she came to blows with the Republic. While their armaments have remained remarkably consistent, bar the new variants to follow, the way these armaments have been deployed has changed significantly.
Most notably, the main guns switched from being carapace mounted to individual...gimbal mounts ? I'll admit, half the words the engineers told me on the subject went right over my head. This had the effect of losing a significant amount of barrel length and potential range, in exchange for infinitely greater combat potential in close quarters.
Clearly, these changes were made due to the prevalence of infantry combat and total lack of enemy armor during the wars Crystal has fought. I advise, and the engineers agree, to not take that new configuration as gospel for our own counters, and assume they will return to a more traditional tank paradigm if faced with appropriate foes.
The machineguns have also evolved. The first versions had some crewed, and other coaxial to the main guns. Now all the machineguns are independently targeted.
All templar tanks have arcane wards, of increasing sophistication and strength as Crystal's power and reach advanced. (Am I the only one concerned how much better these things have gotten ? Seriously, everyone keeps telling me she stole them, like she stole the guns and armor materials, but where the fuck would she get the wards for vehicles ?)
They are also clad in armor plating. It has advanced from simple iron to steel, then composite and finally mythril. Where Crystal is finding the funds or resources to use so much rare metal is the subject of considerable debate, but most agree that she is receiving funds from the rest of her coalition. (See internal agency debate file #767-A116, please by the Gods tell these idiots to shut up) However this does not appear to be generalized, and the new armor plating is currently restricted to a limited amount of units in her field army, indicating it is a recent development and/or a limited production run for special units. It should be noted that all tank units damaged during the battle with the adventurers guild (see full analysis, page 11 through 14) had some kind of mythril plating, though it appears to be composite. So it is possible that the new plating is being rolled out on a more general scale and we are simply looking at obsolescent units being used until destruction. Which is consistent with Crystal's methods so far.
Please note that the name of this variant has been taken from the Aurorean Empire itself. Interestingly enough, it refers to the next variants as well, though that may have been a ploy to hide their existence.
Armaments (Tempest variant)
Twin autocannon turret
Multiple machineguns
These appear to have been tailor made to hunt mages and heavy infantry such as knights. Devastating brawlers, they have been shown to be able to sustain fights for a long time and remain deadly at most ranges. Overall, vastly more versatile than the primary variant, but lacking in shock power and the ability to simply vaporize entire clumps of infantry with canister shot or tear a hole through a formation with conventional high yield shells.
It feels like it should be a jack of all trades, yet it ends up as a specialized support unit, picking off high value targets while the mass of more generic tanks do the rest. I think that, on it's own, should be telling about Crystal's own design philosophies.
Armaments (Typhoon variant)
One twenty millimeter gatling gun
It doesn't need anything else
Basically a smaller version of the Mackie walkers' variant, with one of those guns to their three.
Otherwise, the weapons appear identical. With one exception : these things do not use those hellish mythril rounds, and appear to run out of ammo far more quickly. Clearly, the testing ground for the fully realized combo the Mackies have.
They may be upgraded with better ammo and storage, that is hard to tell as none have engaged in the battle of Rebirth. Possibly because they were held in reserve.
Our spy network has also heard whispers of a new 'Crusader' variant, possibly the tanks seen deployed in Rebirth. If they are a new variant, then it would explain the generalized mythril plating, though we have not been able to narrow down any further differences. Will update.