Highlander

**Key Features** | »Family broadsword»Grenade bag»War paint»Oak shield»Clan tartan kilt (Worn improperly, thank God)

## Tactical Analysis

* **Alba gu bràth:** Allies to the Front due to how *insane* the world has gotten, the Highlander charges into battle armed with a massive broadsword to use against battlesuits and a small shield to cover their charges.

* **\*Incomprehensible screaming\*:** When truly fired up, the highlanders can take out a satchel of grenades and make a screaming charge to a target, throwing grenades the whole way at enemy units.

* **They *can* take our lives:** Effective against battlesuits and infantry, the highlanders are not as skilled against vehicles or defenses. And say it with me, "They can't target aircraft".

* **I'll show you how to carry a shield:** Highlanders find that the Legion riot shield is actually a more effective alternative than even their own metal and oak creations. Whenever they grab one, they take it for their own to increase the damage they can take.

## Background

*"There was once a Praetorian battlesuit,*

*With guns he can aim at soldiers and shoot.*

*Until some maniacs with swords in their hands*

*Came a-charging straight from the Scottish lands,*

*And bonked the 'bot hard and made him kaput!"*

- "The Ballad of the Highlander", a popular Front song by an unknown author.
The Scottish people have the dubious distinction of being both the most loyal members of the United Kingdom, and the most devoted to their own independence. Ever since their nation was chained to the English crown, many Scots have dreamed of becoming their own nation again. A fierce and strong Scottish independence movement has existed since 1853, and while the Scots have been loyal members of the Allied Nations there have been some issues driving wedges between the Scots and U.K. If possible, the Scots lean even farther to the left than the whole or Europe, believing in wholly subsidized education, health care, and social welfare. This has led to a fierce hatred of Margaret Thatcher and her *laissez-faire* attitudes towards the poor and workers.

With the rise of the Phoenix Front, many in the Scottish independence movement have realized that if Northern Ireland could defeat the Allies, then maybe the Scottish movement could gain traction. While many Scots gave what money they could, a group of Highland clans decided that to truly give aid, they would help the fight. So it was on a quiet night in Belfast that the Front watched with shock as off the boat stepped a collection of warpainted, kilt-wearing, broadsword and shield wielding maniacs. Lost for words, the Front tried to figure out what to do with the Scots when the shipyard was raided by a patrol of Praetorian battlesuits. Though easily able to take down the supporting auxiliaries, the Front was caught off-guard by the battlesuits. Ready to retreat, the Front watched as the highlanders shouted battle cries and charged the battlesuits, swinging their family swords with enough force that the suits were inevitably wrecked from sheer blunt trauma.

Satisfied that the highlanders could be a help, the Front decided that the men needed at least some weaponry. Given a supply of grenades that were meant to move from Moscow to Columbia until the check from MIR bounced, the highlanders again made a lateral move by deciding to only use the grenades when charging an enemy, forcing enemy infantry down and doing even more damage to battlesuits. While this may seem odd, the reality is that the Front has had great difficulty with facing down enemy battlesuits, relying on either sheer weight of numbers or running like hell. With the great swords of the highlanders, the Front now has a reason to both fight the battlesuits, and support Scottish independence.