KAR

KAR Logo

### Overview

Karlsruhe Automat Rüstungsaktiengesellschaft (Karlsruhe Automatic Arms Stock Corporation) is a corporation based out of Vienna in the Austro-Suisse Staatenbund and Cyrene, Paxem. It is a major European small arms manufacturer.

### Founding

KAR was founded in 3001 within the manufacturing district of Karlsruhe, in southwest Arkania, by Swiss businessman Berthold Günnsar and Romanumite inventor Vasily Kirikev. Kirikev had previously worked for Marinisev Arms Conglomerate before splitting off to found his own company with Berthold, taking his work on the Marisinev AM-30 and rechristening it as the KAR M1. The rifle would go on to see widespread success in the Novus Imperium Romanum, becoming a favorite of warlord armies due to its reliability and ease of use. Large numbers of the weapon can still be found on the Doggerland bank today despite being over twenty years old. It is a preferred weapon of raiders and terrorist forces.

In 3005, the floundering Marinisev Arms Conglomerate sought to take revenge on Vasily Kirikev and gain an advantage over their new competitor. Kirikev's car was bombed on its way to a convention in Moscow, killing the 41 year old inventor. This led to a short conflict, as KAR quickly hired private security forces and decimated the Marinisev Arms Conglomerate, killing their entire twelve-man board and absorbing the corporation. Rumors have sprung up that the assassination was actually ordered by Kirikev's business partner, Berthold Günnsar, in order to seize full control of the company and justify the absorption of Marisinev Arms Conglomerate.

In 3006, the KAR headquarters was moved from Karlsruhe to Vienna in the Austro-Suisse Staatenbund due to increased Arkanian governmental control over the weapons manufacturing sector.

### Expansion

The corporate expansion of KAR came in mid 3019 following a series of intense conflicts between warlord factions in the east NIR, providing for a large market for KAR's newest weapon, the M12. The weapon would go on to prove itself time and time again in these brutal battles, demonstrating KAR's design prowess. In 3020, with the impending Great Corporate War in the Doggerland bank, numerous European factions sought to bolster their armies in preparation for the conflict expanding beyond the Doggerlands. KAR was all too happy to supply them, the M12 becoming the main battle rifle of the various European powers that could afford them.

Following the end of the Great Corporate War, interest in expansion into the Doggerland bank, a region historically difficult for international corporations to enter due to its technological advancement and isolationism grew. KAR had already tried to make inroads into the Doggerlands in 3018, offering to supply the Novanite Federation with the M10 assault rifle. However, KAR was rebuffed, with Novanite politician Martino Freye calling the corporation's weapons "technologically obsolete by Doggerland standards". This would become the status quo for the next three years, with Doggerland technology easily surpassing anything KAR or other corporations outside the continent had to offer.

This changed as the M12 proved itself in the NIR, and as Paxemese interest in adopting a new standard issue rifle blossomed. For the first time, serious interest was taken in what KAR had to offer, with the M12 competing alongside the Chisel Enterprises Type 45 and 37 assault rifles to become the new standard issue rifle of the Paxemese Homeland Security forces. Eventually, the M12 was accepted alongside the Type 45, the Paxemese military choosing to adopt both due to their respective advantages. Chisel Enterprises had been pressing for the adoption of the Type 37 over the M12 in this two-weapon system, but to no avail. This put KAR in direct competition with Chisel Enterprises and began a corporate rivalry which has seen assassinations and smear campaigns.

### Modern Day

In March of 3022, KAR announced that it would be moving its main headquarters to Cyrene, Paxem, stating that the "Doggerland Market is (sic) perfectly open". Cyrene welcomed the move, as a new multi-million CM headquarters was built in downtown Paxem, in East Winden. It is within walking distance of their largest competitor, Chisel Enterprises.