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The Saxon Heavy Machine Gun or HMG is a weapon system built by the Saxony Empire. It can suppress and mow down entire squads of infantry from a distance but must be placed tactfully to be put to best use.
All faction's HMG's are currently functionally and aesthetically identical (except for their crews in the latter case.
General Description[]
Alongside mech units, these weapons show truly how war has changed, turning battles that once relied on masses of infantry in strict, tight formations into crushing massacres. The machine gun itself is a conventional design with a water jacket to keep the gun from overheating, a huge box containing an ammunition belt mounted to the right and a pair of thick shields which protect the crew from the front. However, instead of a bipod or wheel carriage the gun is mounted on a set of many small mechanical legs that makes the machine gun easier to move.
The HMG is absolutely deadly for infantry units to face alone. It can very easily suppress infantry, forcing them to crawl which makes escape or further assault impossible while they are quickly killed by the machine gun or any forces supporting it. It is also decently powerful against light-armored targets like exo-suits and mechs. Having multiple guns with overlapping fields of fire is nearly impossible to assault without armor support.
This weapon does have a number of limitations, however. Its range is inferior to other weapon systems and against medium armor or heavier it is more or less useless. This leaves it vulnerable to armored pushes or artillery like mortars. In addition to these, being a weapon system it shares the same weaknesses as its fellow systems: In order to move, it must redeploy which leaves it unable to fire and deploying again takes a moment before the gun is brought to bear again. This primarily makes them support and defensive weapons, but very deadly ones in the right hands.
Pros[]
- Devastating against infantry and light armor
- Suppresses infantry
- Good range with no dead zone in front of it
- Can sustain fire
Cons[]
- Limited firing arc
- Relatively short range compared to artillery
- Less effect against to medium or heavy mechs
- Becomes abandoned if three crew members are killed
- Slow moving and cannot fire unless deployed
- Crews take full damage from the side, rear, or from flamethrowers
Trivia[]
- The HMG is closely based on the British Vickers machine gun, chambered in .303 British among other cartridges which was also heavily used in aircraft, vehicles, and naval warfare.
- The Vickers itself, based on the Maxim machine gun, is famous for extreme reliability; one gun was tested to fire a million rounds nonstop over the course of seven days and nights without a single failure (and even afterwards was perfectly functional).
- The gun shield is reminiscent of that used on the German version of the Maxim gun, the MG-08.
- The fact that all factions use the same HMG model is possibly a nod to all the major powers in World War I standardizing their own versions of the Maxim gun (except France.)