Omni-Lander

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## Tactical Analysis

* **Coming to a shore near you:** A bizarre looking WWII-era amphibious transport, the Omni-Lander is capable of carrying Continental vehicles across large bodies of water (or Continental boats over land, for that matter), making it vital to amphibious landings.

* **Unsinkable:** The Omni-Lander is heavily armoured and can take significant punishment. Anything short of a capital ship will have its work cut for it when trying to sink this transport. Which it uses to its advantage by playing painful and annoying sounds on its loudspeakers that forces enemies to attack them to silence the horrid noise (Continental and allies are given special earplugs).

* **I need a gun:** A lack of any armament whatsoever, however, means that an Omni-Lander has no way to defend itself against threats, apart from crushing infantry on land. Attempts to fit Omni-Landers with weapons have all failed.

* **Don't go alone**: For this reason, Omni-Landers should always be escorted, particularly since the loss of one will also result in the loss of any transported units, which can add up to quite a large sum.

## History

One of the more bizarre Allied designs used during the Second World War, the ***Vertigo*-class Omni-Lander** was originally developed in Finland by Toivo J. Kaario as a heavy transport able to rapidly and easily manoeuvre through the Åland archipelago, keep a substantial number of men and armoured vehicles safe under heavy armour, and come right up to the beaches to disembark their cargo. The solution was a ship that committed more sins against the conventions of naval engineering than any before or after it - although the Empire of the Rising Sun and Atomic Kingdom of China seem intent on giving the *Vertigo* a run for its money. Despite the acknowledged tendency to make naval engineers break down in tears upon seeing the ships, these boxy transports served the Allies well throughout the war. It was so successful that the Soviets stole a few examples and copied it for their own use.

Following the war's end, a shift in Allied naval and logistical thinking led to the retirement of the *Vertigo* from active service, and almost every single example ended up in the hands of private companies. The *Vertigo* had earned a reputation as a manoeuvrable, rugged short-distance transport with a large cargo capacity and the ability to ride out even the fiercest storms without risking capsizing or sinking, thanks to their unconventional design and powerful manoeuvring thrusters on all four sides. The Allies had also neglected to strip the heavy armour plating from the ships, which a number of less ethical buyers were all too happy to take advantage of.

As the Continental rebellion gained strength, they were able to come into ownership of a small fleet of *Vertigo* transports, most of them donated by private companies sympathetic to the rebellion and then written off as accidental losses in the company books. The rebels couldn't have asked for a finer transport: still just as tough and manoeuvrable as they were during the Second World War, these venerable ships once again serve to transport men, vehicles and equipment. And, thanks to one accident involving an Omni-Lander with unauthorised subwoofers playing their music too loud, all Omni-Landers have been upgraded with loudspeakers that plays a variety of obnoxious and painful noises (from nails on a chalkboard to new age hip hop and death metal music) that forces anyone who hears it to shoot at their heavy armour to stop the noise pollution, often ignoring the other forces sneaking up on them.