Aotrs Shipyards February 2024 Release: Royal Elven Army Wave Two

[Aotrs Shipyards]

Aotrs Shipyards February 2024 Release: Royal Elven Army Wave Two

This month, I have the next three units for the Royal Elven Kingdoms Royal Elven Army. This time, the Aincaala APC, the Silmanordo-Talco-Neled command vehicle and the Lhúg recon cycle!

Ainaalca APC

MMF (file) $1.30

Physical Print
Only-Games £4.86
Shapeways $9.12
FDM £3.30

The Aincaala (“eye-n-caa-la”) APC is the most modern APC in the Royal Elven Army, but that still makes it just over half century old. The Aincaala is a significant improvement over the older Silmanordo, but the anti-military civilian-controlled purse strings regulated it to only modest production numbers in comparison to the cheaper Silmanordo.

The Aincaala’s largest gain over the Silmanordo is armour. The kinetic armour at the front is rated to Tier 16, and the energy to Tier 18, and the side only a tier less. This makes it quite well protected for a shieldless unit, and slightly better armoured than a contemporary Grand Terran Sovereign Republic APC, such as the Warrior. The Aincaala also boast a full-grav drive, giving it much better mobility than a tracked APC. The Aincaala also has the greatest speed and manoeuvrability in flight mode over the elves’ other APCs and heavy AFVs, but this is at best a marginal benefit in operational use.

The Aincaala’s turret is larger and more armoured than the Silmanordo’s, but it is still fairly small. The turret is equipped with two lazer point-defence cannons, which in concert can rate up to Tier 9. While not fully independently targetable, during interception or anti-infantry modes, the barrels are not synched together and thus provide a better coverage chance to hit the smaller targets.

The Aincaala does not have smoke dischargers, but instead carries a pair of mist emitters. The mist emitters are two globes, locates on the sides of the turret. These are magical items, enchanted to produce a thick, magical mist around the vehicle. While still almost useless against a modern sensor system, this mist is fully effective against anything short of a sensor and even disrupts magical targeting and scrying effects. The orbs are not limitless, but run on charges (not unlike many items like spell-carrying wands or staves). While it is possible to recharge these in the field, the number of spellcasters available to do so is limited, however, so most are recharged in factory facilities. This means that quite frequently, the orbs are treated as semi-disposable resources (not unlike drones).

The Aincaala only carries a squad of six, but was designed to do so from the start. Though it does not have the autohealer that was placed aboard the Silmanordo, it has better overall facilities and protection for the troops.

The Aincaala has one major variant, the command vehicle. This was produced against considerable civilian resistance due to the existing Silmanordo Talco-Neled and necessitated a very tight budget. The command Aincaala is thus an unhappy compromise. Externally, it is identical to a standard Aincaala, as even the planned additional sensor and communications mast was dropped. Inside, the troop bay is refitted to serve as a command vehicle, but it is cramped. The only advantage it offers over the Talco-Neled is the heavier armour. As such it was regulated to around company command level and failed to gain much traction with its entirely unremarkable performance. Production was stopped after only a decade.

Silmanordo Talco-Neled Command Vehicle

MMF (file) $1.30

Physical Print
Only-Games £4.96
Shapeways $9.49
FDM £3.30

The Silmanordo Talco-Neled Command Vehicle (lit. “silver oak mark three”) is the most common command vehicle in the Royal Elven Army. An early adaption of the Silmanordo itself, the Talco-Neled, following a prototyped (and eventually abandoned) reconnaissance vehicle.

The Talco-Neled does not suffer as badly from not being design for purpose from the ground up as some of the other vehicles, given its role is not intended to put it in the line of fire where the thin armour would be most detrimental.

In order to accommodate the command systems and personnel, the Silmanordo’s hull was extended upwards and slightly to the rear. This necessitated moving the point-defence turret further forward to make room.

The four petal-like hatches of the Silmanordo were reduced down to a more traditional clamshell-like upper and lower pair and lengthened so that they could fully accommodate a standing elf. Inside, the interior is completely re-designed and asymmetric, with three duty stations with mini holograph displays to supplement the main command systems.

Other than a slight improvement to sensor systems, the Talco-Neled’s combat performance is identical to that of the Silmanordo. Complaints were raised by the army that this put veteran commanders in a very fragile vehicle, which lead to the Aincaala APC’s command variant. However, that was a much less extensive (and expensive) refit and the lack of standing room makes it less suitable for the task. Thus the elven commanders continue to make do with the Talco-Neled.

Lhúg Recon Cycle

MMF (file) $0.95

Physical Print

The print version is in three versions, all single riders, all with pillions or a mix of both.

Single rider:
Only-Games (4) £3.14
Shapeways (4) $9.88
FDM (2) £3.10

Rider with pillion:
Only-Games (4) £3.26
Shapeways (4) $9.96
FDM (2) £3.10

Single Rider (2) and rider with pillion (2):
Only-Games (2+2) £3.20
Shapeways (2+2) $9.92

The Lhúg (“snake”) recon cycle is a dedicated scouting and reconnaissance vehicle. Production began in 2315 replacing two older designs from the early 23rd century, making the Lhúg the most modern vehicle overall in the Royal Elven Army – and the single most popular.

The Lhúg can be operated by a single rider, but is designed to take a second passenger. This has a variety of uses, from facilitating rescue or retrieval operations (particularly in peace time) to transporting an addition set of eyes for a spotting team.

The Lhúg is the fasted and most agile of the current crop of elven AFVs, with a modern power-plant. The four engines are mounted on a rotating housing that lets the Lhúg modify the direction of direct thrust, allowing it significantly higher climb, dive and even reverse speeds above what could be achieved by the anti-grav drive alone. It has only sub-orbital flight capabilities, with a ceiling of 85km (53 miles). However, it noticeably struggles at altitudes above the stratosphere (50-55km 931-33 miles)) and the Lhúg generally operates at tropospheric heights (12km (7.5 miles).

Like most recon cycles, the Lhúg is only lightly armoured. Only the front has any degree of armour, rating to Tier 12 verses kinetic and Tier 13 verses energy weapons. The sides and rear are much less protected, their armour rated only to around Tier 5 to 7. While this is still sufficient to make the vehicle resistant to modern small arms, the rider of course remains the most vulnerable point, especially from the side.

Armament consists of a fixed pair of lazer cannons, rated to Tier 9 in concert. This is backed up by six Falling Star anti-tank missiles, the same kind as carried by the anti-tank infantry.

Unusually, the launchers are placed in housing on the “wings” at the front of the vehicle, rather than mounted behind the rider as is normally typical for cycles. This is due to the fact that the Lhúg is expected to operate in the heavy forest which covers most elven worlds and permeates even into the cities. The “wings” thus serve partly as a deflecting barrier to shunt aside branches from the Lhúg’s path of flight – a similar principle to that seen in some forest animals.

By placing the missiles in these deflectors, it further removes the danger of such obstacles that otherwise might get caught in a more traditional cycle’s pods.

The advanced sensor system is mounted high enough to be above the rider’s head, so that the Lhúg can park safely for scanning or target designation duties without exposed itself to fire. The sensor systems have had continuous upgrades and are the best such systems in the REA.

Between the engines, below the sensor mounting, the vehicles storage system is located. This utilises the same magic-item based extra- dimensional storage system used by the infantry, replacing the rider’s (and/or passenger’s) standard pack. As a rider cannot easily access anything held in a pack (or use a two-handed weapon) while moving with any degree of efficacy, that the pack is essentially removed to a stowage box on the cycle is not a particular disadvantage. This system, while expensive, uses widely-available civilian magic item components. It grants the Lhúg to carry almost as much cargo as a conventional ground or grav car, albeit with a hard limit on the size of items that can be placed within the storage system. This is a great advantage for long-term reconnaissance operations, and it allows the one- or two-elf team to carry plentiful supplies for extended operations in the field.

 

In case you missed it, the free Maneouvre Group Sci-Fi expansion has been updated to v1.02 with the stats for all the elves and can be downloaded here.

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Photos respectively of Replicator 2 (Aincaala) and Prusa (Silmanordo Talco-Neled and Lhúg) versions.

Next month’s sci-fi release will be the last three REA models in the current line-up. The entire lot will be out at Hammerhead on the 2nd of March, fighting a historical battle set during the Zirakthargûm Divinity War of 2340-2341 (about five years ago) against the Zirakthargûm Divinity.

No further progress on any of the other side-projects, I simply haven’t had time, while playing catch-up with other stuff.

• This topic was modified 2 months ago by Aotrs Shipyards.

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