HA Eridanos

The below files include a combined .lcp file for the Lancer utility Comp/Con which includes the Eridanos license and the Allenby alternative frame, as well as a .pdf document which contains the license, alternative frame, and rules for a Legionnaire Squad of infantry.

----

Though most amateur military historians are familiar with the near-mythical story of the Armory’s chassis leading them to victory over doctrinally armor-focused Baronic forces, such stories overlook the vital role armor plays in modern times within the Purview’s armed forces. The Eridanos (named after tank ace Adrian Eridanos, with whose exploits any Purview child is familiar) is one of the finest examples of that role: oft described by essayists as being as ubiquitous and unpretentious as grains of sand in a desert, it is nevertheless one of the premier short-range air defense platforms in Union space.

The Eridanos retains the modular capabilities common to almost every military vehicle in the modern era, but was designed around the Phaethon five-tube missile launcher and TALOS-R multimodal radar system; this combination renders it capable of acquiring and eliminating aerial targets at ranges exceeding thirty kilometers without requiring the assistance of any other weapons systems. As such, Eridanos variants have incorporated anything from infantry-support autocannons to mortars and exotic DE weaponry without compromising its core role, though the license as factory-fresh from the Armory is designed for a high-power laser weapon that can be slaved to the fire-control radar and a set of lower-power “hot” painting lasers for secondary missile guidance.

The invention of chassis has undoubtedly changed the modern combat environment, but not so much so that the capabilities the Eridanos offers for the Armory and its export customers are no longer necessary. Until that time, its low-profile, heavily armored silhouette will continue to be an immediately recognizable symbol of Purview influence - its hand, reaching for the sky.

----

The Allenby, like its sister vehicle on the same basic hull, is one of the most familiar signs of Purview influence. Where the Eridanos is often stationed around Armory-affiliated spaceports and operating bases in “hot” environments where drones - or even aircraft - might attempt to strike against Armory assets, the Allenby is everywhere on the roads and trails. And, given its cross-country capability and the ruggedization of its design (some features of which, some assert, are the result of corporate espionage from IPS-N), well off of either road or trail. No matter the world in the Purview, no matter the environment, an Allenby with the characteristic aubergine or crimson identification stripes of the Armory can be found taking the Legions’ assets where they need to go.

Such is because of its purpose. Infantry are slower than vehicles, especially in the age of mechanized chassis cavalry - thus, they require vehicles to transport them overland in order to keep up with the pace of modern maneuver warfare. Given the prominence of air power and the defensive/offensive capabilities of infantry hardsuits and man-portable weapons, that vehicle must be armed and armored akin to any line chassis, but less heavily than a battle tank. Equally, the vehicle must be able to present a credible threat to tanks and chassis from an ambush or flanking position. All this is necessary in order to deliver that first and most ancient practitioner of war, the poor damn infantry, to the enemy’s doorstep safe and ready for the fight.

Time and time again, the Allenby has been there at the common soldier’s side, to do just that.

----

The HA Eridanos is not an official Lancer product; it is a third party work, and is not affiliated with Massif Press. The HA Eridanos is published via the Lancer Third Party License.

Lancer is copyright Massif Press.