War Cow Mobile Headquarters
| War Cow Mobile Headquarters | |
|---|---|
 Brains and bread for a company | |
| Tech Level | TL–10 |
| Mass | 25 tons |
| Cost | Cr5,114,700 |
| Mode | Ground (Tracked) |
| Type | Combat Support Vehicle |
| Speed | 80 kph |
| Cargo | 0.25 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Passengers | 8 (in command center) |
| Needs protecting | |
A War Cow Mobile Headquarters is a articulated tracked military vehicle designed to host the command staff for a company and manufacture food.
Description (Specifications)[edit]
The idea behind the War Cow is to free a company in the field from its logistical tail, instead scavenging the minerals it needs from the land it travels over and manufacturing food, fuel, and ammunition. In practice it leaves something to be desired, but works well enough in most cases.
A typical articulated tracked vehicle, a War Cow's front cab carries the operators' controls, a command center with seats for 8, a fusion power plant, most of the electronics, and very basic crew comforts (a fresher and a pair of bunks). Its rear trailer hosts a set of manufacturing plants that would be more at home in a factory, plus a crane to scoop up dirt and offload finished products. The whole works has basic stabilization to isolate it from small bumps as the vehicle progresses.
Most of the factories are optimized for food production. Depending on the diet and nutritional needs of the audience, the quality of the soil traversed, and assuming water is generally available, the factories can feed (and provide other daily consumables for) up to 250 people per day. It is common to feed a lesser amount but richer rations. It can also manufacture 0.2 tons per day of fuel and ammunition, which can sustain a company encountering at most light combat operations. In practice, the output is best added to a supply cache (which may be on a truck travelling alongside the War Cow) rather than relied on every day.
History & Background (Dossier)[edit]
Although there is little direct historical evidence, allegedly this design was a product of the Interstellar Wars. As Terran Confederation units made headway into First Imperium territory, they would often find themselves without supply. This was particularly a problem for invasion forces, which had to secure local supply lines shortly after (or even before) landing.
The War Cow was a somewhat expensive solution, but worth it when the alternative was to spend several more megacredits obtaining spaceships to ferry supplies. Adding a command center was an afterthought, to centralize headquarters functions and give the company just one target that needed protection.
Low armor and slow speed are undesirable traits on a juicy target. Further contributing to the unpopularity is that a War Cow leaves depleted soil in its wake, which will not grow anything for a long time after the operation. (Politically sensitive operators will find courses through wilderness - which often also gives cover - rather than across farmland.) Soil depletion forces it to remain on the move during an operation, lest it run out of nutrients in the soil it is on and become unable to manufacture food.
References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]
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- Author & Contributor: Adrian Tymes