Gastador

**Key Features** | »»»»»

*"You see Pedro, when you carry mines like this, enemies will hesitate shooting for fear of **blowing up a whole city block.**"*

-  Gastador explaining his principles
## Tactical Analysis

* **Santa María la Blanca:** Gastadores are Combat Engineers of the MIR, they can capture buildings, plant mines or simply blow up certain structures.

* **Backbone of the Nation:** Their specialization doesn't mean they can hold up their own on a fight, if brought on melee range they can beat the enemy with the shovels they carry, while firing at them in retaliation may cause them to explode.

* **Humble Workers:** Despite their stronger "armor", Gastadores are still very vulnerable, as any Engineer unit, they are better well protected against any attacks.

* **Strike!:** If, for some unexplainable reason, a Gastador reaches veterancy, they'll show by creating better, stronger explosions, capable of easily blowing up any structure in a single strike.

## Background

Chile, due to its very particular and isolated nature, has a very long and proud history of military engineers and sappers, clearing the road for the passing armies, making forts on the field, constructing bridges to cross the various rivers that dot the zone, defenses against the fierce enemies in the territory, enemies who had their own caste of military engineers and field constructors, in a back and forth exchange of gambits on a war built over who had the best defenses. The Chilean sappers had a particularly bright action on the Pacific War at the turn of the 19th century, carrying most of the condecorations for their valiant action in the siege of the northern countries as well as laying the ground for the armies of the country to march at a steady pace even in the harshest of environements.

As a Rebel group however, the MIR couldn’t count on these people to help them in their action, as much as they’d like them and their help, most of the sappers had defected to the forces of the occupation in defense of the Allied Nations.

What the MIR could count with however was a similar, maybe even more skilled, if less formally trained, group, the ardorous miners that dot the many locations where they still could hold their ground in the north. Coming from generations after generations of people used to the harsh conditions that are working deep within the entrails of the Earth, the dangers of working with explosives, unstable mines, the oppression of the upper classes and the ordeals of the working people, it wasn’t a surprise that the many miners of the Andean regions heed the call of the revolution. Maybe they don’t have the training nor the tools of their military counterparts, but they can make up for that with sheer ingenuity and dedication to the cause.

Named after an archaic word for sapper, “Gastador” felt like an all too fitting appellative for them, striking at the enemy positions and grinding down their positions by whichever methods they found most effective, they proved to be as good as the best military engineer when it came to clearing roads, digging tunnels, planting explosives and being a general nuisance to the occupiers of the country.

When the revolution was carried over, the ranks of the Gastadores not only stood constant and proud, but actually grew greatly in numbers, many miners committing crucial strikes in various regions, sharing the same legacy of oppression from the oligarchs of their countries and finally seeing an opportunity to fight for their rights. Gastadores got know for being a big, loud, messy lot, but an indispensable one, as no one could ever match their skill when it came to hitting just the right foundation of a building, no one would be brave enough to rush headlong in the face of the enemy with nothing but a shovel and a good amount of explosives.