"A large melee-focused mech that becomes more powerful as it comes under fire."
The M-22 "Stark" is a medium mech unit produced by Usonia. Fairly fast and equipped with both a massive jackhammer and a flamethrower, it can wreak havoc on infantry and mechs in close-quarters.
General Description[]
Charging at the head of a Usonian force, the Stark is a fierce and menacing presence in battle. It is built with resemblance to a North American Bison, with a sturdy, boxy, and humped chassis carried on four legs with a pair of horns and grill at the front somewhat resembling a head. To the left of the head is a swiveling flamethrower unit, but on the righthand side is easily most noticeable part: a massive pneumatic jackhammer designed to punch through the thickest armor the enemy can only hope to hide behind. Its engine is located at the back with a set of exhaust tubes trailing thick smoke as it barrels madly at the enemy.
Fitting its strong visual resemblance to the Bison, the Stark is relatively mobile for its size and very dangerous at close range. Its flamethrower that has a devastating area-effect against infantry, and its medium armor lets it mostly ignore anything infantry can throw at it. Its jackhammer-like chisel can deal immense damage to any type of ground unit, particularly mechs. The more the enemy fights back, the more furious the Stark's onslaught becomes as its damage steadily increases the more it takes damage.
As is the case with most melee mechs, however, the Stark does suffer at range and as such cannot protect itself from air units. Having only medium armor, it cannot blunt artillery and field cannon attacks as well as heavier mechs, and thus should either come with ample support or carry out carefully planned ambushes to maximize its damage output against a larger force.
Pros[]
- Very high damage at close range vs. any ground unit
- Fast enough to catch/match the speed of most mechs and can avoid artillery shells
- Flamethrower works on the move, can melt through a swarm of infantry on its way to its target
- Has an active ability that briefly disables the mech in exchange for some repairs after a fight, making S3-55 Ward repairs even faster
- Has a passive ability that allows it to do more damage the less health it has
Cons[]
- Useless against air units
- Only able to fight at close range, field cannons can soften it considerably
- Relatively fragile considering population/resource costs
- Flamethrower only attacks mainly on the left side of the mech
- Emergency Shutdown ability does not restore much health on its own, wiser to rely on an attending S3-55 "Ward"
- Reliance on very close range combat makes it vulnerable to flanking/rear armor attacks
Abilities[]
- Emergency Shutdown: The mech disables itself for a few seconds to conduct self-repairs. Health will regenerate a little bit during this time.
- Berserk (Passive): Mech gains an increasing damage bonus the lower its health is.
Quotes[]
When Produced:
Idle:
Trivia[]
- It's named after general John Stark, a former British, then American general during the American Revolution, widely known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Battle of Bennington in 1777, where his forces inflicted disproportionately high losses on the British and captured many of their men.
- Visually, the Stark resembles an American Bison, also called American Buffalo (although not strictly a true buffalo). This species of huge bovid ungulates that once roamed America in massive herds before wholesale slaughter, hunting, and disease very nearly drove them extinct, from over 60 million animals to as low as 500, although they have begun recovering with over 31,000 today. They are the heaviest and longest North American land animal, and the second tallest only to the moose.
- The mech pilot constantly calls himself "Deuce", possibly a reference to the real-world nomenclature of the M2 Browning "Ma Deuce". As "deuce" can be slang for the number two, it is likely the reference is to the M-22 name; having two 2s in a row.
- The sheer size of the jackhammer and its being heavily offset from the vehicle's center of gravity with seemingly no counterbalance should mean the vehicle is likely to tip over.
Gallery[]
