Another Contest? Sure!

When I first started Tales from Castle Destro, I began tying it together with my collection of custom Iron Grenadier action figures.  I have created (or am in the process of creating) a figure for every character featured in the stories.  Because I really like to keep you guys involved, I am going to hold a custom contest.  There won't be a physical prize for this one - instead, the winner will have his or her custom incorporated into the story.  This excerpt from the upcoming Chapter 63 will provide a bit of background:

"One of the things that had plagued them repeatedly throughout the SKAR War was an inability to respond to a specific location quickly enough, with the right forces. In the past, this had never been an issue. As a private military corporation, MARS and the Grenadiers normally chose their battles carefully, based upon the potential for business, and then deployed the appropriate forces to handle a particular mission. However, when forced to react to the actions of an aggressor, they often found themselves responding flat-footed. Destro’s intent was to reorganize a significant portion of the Grenadiers total force into all-purpose units that could respond quickly to any locale and then independently sustain combat operations for a period of time without relief or resupply. This was not a new concept; many nations had been structuring their militaries this way for years, but it was a fairly expensive one due to the redundancies required for each unit to be self-sustaining. Destro’s plan called for the creation of four Rapid Response Brigades, each commanded by a Colonel. A brigade was to consist of three infantry battalions, one artillery battalion, one mechanized battalion, one air group and a headquarters group. The core of the brigade would be the three infantry battalions. The artillery battalion would provide each of the infantry battalions with a dedicated battery for long-range fire support. The mechanized battalion would provide two companies of Ogre APCs to enhance the mobility of the infantry units. Additionally, the mechanized battalion added the firepower of one company each of DEMONs and Razorbacks. The air group would consist of three cavalry troops of Razor Gunships and one attack squadron of AGPs. This would give the brigade additional troop transport, as well as aerial fire support and fighter interceptor capabilities. The headquarters group would be the centralized command element for the entire organization."

So those that are paying close attention are probably wondering what sort of artillery assets the Iron Grenadiers have...  The answer is none.  It's your job to come up with some!  You are the MARS Industries Weapons Designer and you need to design weapon systems for the brigade artillery battalion.  This can be a towed artillery piece or a self propelled weapon.  You'll need to provide technical data and be able to explain the basic operation of the weapon.  My only real stipulation is that the weapon system must be able to fire conventional artillery shells (High Explosive, White Phosphorous, Illumination, etc) - nothing too far into the sci-fi realm. The winning entry will be included in future chapters of Tales from Castle Destro.  Additionally, I will copy it and add it to my personal collection.  And because I like prizes...  I'll also have a little something to send the winner.

Entries are to be submitted to sgthumpty@gmail.com no later than November 10th, 2012.  Please include all technical data and at least three (3) photos of the finished custom.

Now get to work - Laird Destro is waiting!