Silverback

One of the more humble elements of the Midasian Hoard, the Silverback is one of the lessons of Terra that the First Legion chose to bring with them.

History
Fighting throughout numerous places on Terra, the fledgling 1st were charged with facing many an old-tech threat or techno-barbarian warlord, one of these was the Cyrulean Count of Partha.

Holed up in his mountain fortress, the Count had proven to be a thorn in the side of the advancing forces of the Emperor, holding up the mortal contingent there for several weeks. It was thanks to a combination of high-sided mountain chains, alongside the well-defended fortress and artillery at the Count's command that eventually drew the attention of the Lords of the First.

Brought in to bring swift ruin to the fortress, the First Legion commanders chose to adapt to their situation. Mounting heavy mortars within early Imperial APC chassis of the time, they harassed the fortress for a full week with sporadic and untouchable artillery fire as the mortars and their crews simply moved to avoid counter-artillery fire. Soon the Count's heavy guns fell silent as more and more were damaged or destroyed beyond repair by the swarming mortar fire, and not long after, he surrendered to the commanders of the first.

While no doubt an example of two of the original vehicles remains within the Midasian Hoard to this day, it was only the beginning. Soon after signing a treaty with Mars the same commanders -Now Captain's of the Third Chapter- were happy to continue their tradition. Modifying the Rhino chassis they used the new vehicle to extreme effect, helping clear the remnant xenos within the Sol System and beyond.

Design
A particularly simple design the Silverback is simply a variant of the generic Rhino chassis. In exchange for it's ability to house a squad of marines, or a heavy weapons turret it uses the rear of the vehicle to mount a formidable heavy mortar instead. While this whole arrangement means getting rid of the top and rear armour to operate properly, the open space allows for a full 360° traverse. With enough space to allow for racks of ammunition and the crew of 2 marines to operate it it is a particularly simple, but versatile vehicle. Even when forsaking it's top and rear armour, the weight of the mortar system and it's accompanying ammunition make the vehicle slightly slower that it's sister designs.

Thanks to the simple nature of the weapon it doesn't take much in terms of maintenance or supporting technology, along with a plentiful supply of various kinds of ammunition it can suppress and harass with ease. Crewed by 2 marines who take up the roles of loader and fire controller, feeding the heavy rounds and making the complex calculations necessary to cover the battlefield in waves of high explosives. With such a simple system and a heavy chassis like the Rhino, the Silverback can fire while moving, but significantly decreases the accuracy of any fired rounds while doing so.