Maultier

Description
Like its larger cousin the Maxim, the Maultier was a Star League Defense Force Hover APC capable of transporting an entire platoon of Infantry, seeing extensive action during the second half of the 26th century. The design was thought to be lost forever until a young Taurian farmer on Celano stumbled on the remains of a Star League storehouse while plowing his fields in 3019. His discovery provided the Taurian Concordat with significant volumes of technical information, weapons and vehicles, including several Maultiers. Concordat scientists studied the recovered equipment and attempted to replicate the designs, with the Maultier being one of the simplest and relatively straightforward to copy. The Taurian Defense Force has been using the Maultier as an infantry transport since before the Fourth Succession War, mainly in actions against pirates, and the design has now spread with sales to its Trinity Alliance allies.

Built around a conventional chassis, the Maultier uses a 50-series Internal Combustion Engine which is relatively easy to obtain even in the Periphery. With a top speed of around 150 kph, the Maultier is able to deploy its infantry troops more quickly than most other vehicles, minimizing the time it had to spend in the combat zone. While the Maultiers engine, targeting and communications systems were easy enough for the Concordat to replicate, the vehicle's armaments and armor however posed more of a problem as the Concordat lacked the technological know-how to duplicate Ferro-Fibrous armor until the early 3040s, and the sophisticated Streak Missile Launcher had to be replaced with a conventional system until Pinard managed to duplicate the Streak system in early 3054.

Weapons and Equipment
Like many APCs, Maultier carries a single purely defensive use weapon, a Pinard Reaper Streak SRM-2 rack. The Streak launcher refuses to fire until a solid target lock is acquired however, ensuring it maximizes the single ton of ammunition.

Variants

 * Basic : The Taurians' first downgraded replication, it featured standard armor plate and a normal SRM-2 launcher, the weight saved from the lighter standard launcher being used to boost the volume of armor, giving it comparable protection to the "standard" version. BV (1.0)= 96,  BV (2.0) = 197


 * Battle Armor : With the appearance of Battle Armor, the Taurians have attempted to modify the Maultier to suit such armored infantry. Still at the investigation stage trying to find the right balance, having boiled down to three unpalatable options: either stripping out the Streak launcher, reducing the already minimal armor, or using a Fusion Engine and greatly driving up the expense of the vehicle. BV (2.0) = 165


 * Fusion : This variant drops the I.C.E. for an Fusion Engine. As it also drops the Streak SRM-2 for an ER Medium Laser, this configuration needs no ammo. BV (2.0) = 301


 * Intermediate : Using the Basic Maultier variant as a base, this version replaces the standard armor with Ferro-Fibrous Armor. BV (2.0) = 210


 * Machine Gun : This variant uses the Intermediate version as its inspiration. By dropping the SRM and ammunition, the Infantry Bay is expanded to four tons. The only weapon on this variant is a single Machine Gun with a half-ton of ammunition. BV (2.0) = 170