Machetero

**Key Features** | »Machete»Bottle of "Chupilca del Diablo"»Civilian uniform (To blend in with the population)»Sticks of dynamite»Feeling of being expendable

*"For the Revolution!"*

-Common Machetero Battle Cry
## Tactical Analysis

* **Machete Kills:** The basic infantry of the MIR, the Machetero's particular characteristic is that they are a melee infantry unit, while quite outdated and probably underarmed for warfare, they can make up for this by being trained spectacularly fast.

* **At Machete's Edge:** Macheteros aren't however completly useless on a heated fight, when the order is given, they'll take their ration of "Devil's Booze" which fills them with vigour and has let out a warcry. The inspirational sound of it empowering nearby allies to fight even harder, and this can stack indefinitely with other nearby Macheteros.

* **When all you've got is a Machete:** It can't be remarked enough that Macheteros are only armed with a Machete, trying to fight anything beyond infantry is unimaginable, never mind taking a fight against aircraft.

* **Bringing a Knifegun to Gun fight:** After a confusing incident that involved the Dominical Presidential Guard, Macheteros learnt the tactic of attaching dynamite to their weapons and throwing them at the enemy, labelled as "Knifeguns" by outside observers who weren't aware of the true nature of this weapon, this tactic allows the Macheteros to gain some sort of range to their attacks, as anything that isn't killed by the explosion will be killed by the machete shrapnel. Unsurprisingly, this tactic is very dangerous and only the most experienced and mad enough Macheteros would dare to even consider it.

## Background

The Machete is a tool so ubiquitous in Latin America to be almost part of the landscape, an useful tool both for cutting down the overgrowth in plantation or jungle, it’s no surprise that it has become a mainstay throughout the whole continent and elsewhere and just like that it’s no surprise either that it has become the weapon of choice for hundreds of valiant if desperate men fighting against caudillos and overlords from plantations for their very freedom.

Despite that their “weapon” of choice was all but competent against the modern rifles of their enemies, generals throughout the centuries and continents had learnt to make up make do with whatever was at their disposition and refine their tactics so they could take the maximum efficiency of the combat with Machetes. It was this way in which the Machete charge being a feared tactics amongst the Spaniards and the US Marine Corps after them.

Despite this however, technology still marches on and it became more and more clear than these types of tactics just wouldn’t make the cut anymore, the adage of not bringing a knife to a gun fight is as true in Latin America as elsewhere and there’s no real excuse for under equipping your soldiers when better choices were available.

By the time mechanized warfare had taken center stage, the Machete charge was all but phased out in favor of more sensible tactics.

The Technocratic Revolutions however did bring a sudden change to this particular mindset, their mindset and doctrine being built completely under the ideal of reexamining and reconsidering tactics of ages past, it was noticed by a few selected opposition groups that the Machete charge suddenly became a new a valid option.

Too staunch on their mentality to really reconsider their options, the United Technate turned to fighting against the rebel groups by building immense trench lines throughout the territory, through the jungles, marshes and plains alike, the “Mobile” Guard’s approach to warfare was anything but, waiting instead for their enemies to make the first advance, or to simply give in to their demands and ideally have them bend to the ways of Technocracy.

The fighters for the true freedom of their countries would have nothing of that of course and they soon turned onto looking for alternatives, trying to fly over them was of course over the question, nevermind using armored vehicles against them, many ill-adviced attempts were made of trying to sneak through their ranks at night, causing more casualties than real victories against the United Technate, for once, it seemed they had the upper hand.

Once the Guerrillas unified under a singular front, as it was the case of the MIR they started to share notes and soon an answer to their predicaments became clear: They’d best the Technocratic Combine at their own game.

Learning from the very same tactics of old the Mobile Guard used, the warriors of the MIR realized that Trench Warfare gave a particular advantage to people who found themselves in a predicament like the ones they were facing at that moment. It turns out melee combat is of particular importance when it comes to storming the trench lines, rifles are of little use on the cramped trench lines, the battles more often than not being decided by bayonet over bullet, the skill of the fencer taking a primordial stage over the capacity of your gunners, suddenly, the Machete had become a valid option again.

Dutifully training new recruits on the handling of the machete and giving them advanced lessons on hand to hand combat, the Macheteros, while still undersupplied to the point of rarely being able to afford actual guns, still became a force to be reckoned with, and many formerly thought unbreakable lines of defenses suddenly started to give back to waves of men screaming their lungs out, machete in high, cutting down men left and right in the names of their respective countries, shovels being no matches for the skills of an angry swordsman.

There was one problem that still couldn’t be surmounted though, as much as the Machete charge became a valid option when it came to storming the trench lines, the charge across no man’s lands was a completely different matter. Still as bad if not way worser than the days of the first world war, the Mobile Guard certainly didn’t lack in tools to make the move a fool’s ploy, mines, barbed wires, fungal zombies and other horrors best left to imagination made this attempt a suicide move, still leaving the forces of the proletariat stuck on their bases, waiting for their eventual demise.

This was something the Headquarters of the MIR couldn’t help with, they could, however, make some small concessions to make the charge a little more valid option for desperate and daring souls with nothing to lose.

Once again taking a cue from the history books, the formula for the “Chupilca del Diablo” was recovered, a brewage dating back to the Saltpeter war in South America, it’s mainly composed of extremely high grade alcohols mixed with special mushrooms that gave a particularly nasty side effect to anyone who drank it, they simply became intoxicated and, in a berserk rage, could move and charge and fight with inhumane endurance, caring not for any wounds or concussions they may get on their way, fighting until either them or their foe were dead.

While far from the ideal solution, sometimes the push that the infamous “Devil’s Booze” gives is often enough to give the extra edge to these desperate men and women who, having sorted their chances, charge straight into the maws of their enemies, dying by the dozens, but knowing that the casualties they cause to their enemies are the same if not worse and often that’s enough to be marked as a victory in their eyes.