Armoured Response Vehicle

**Key Features** | »Multi-alloy armoured plow»Pressurized sprayer cannon»Shamrock air freshener»Transport hold for eight»Highly visible profile (attracts attention)

*"I am the law!"*

-  ARV Driver

## Tactical Analysis

* **Police Bruiser**: A heavily armoured support vehicle, the Armoured Response Vehicle is far more durable than most Allied units and is available early on, which along with its tendency to draw the most fire from enemy units makes it useful for soaking up damage while other units dish it out.

* **Sticky Situation**: Though it's not capable of directly harming the enemy, the ARV's high-pressure GOOP cannon can utterly ruin an enemy formation. It slows, disrupts, and immobilizes enemy forces, leaving them floundering in rapidly hardening pink foam and making them easy targets for Allied forces. And if the enemy prove overwhelming they can fire a burst of GOOP bombs that leaves those hit immobilised and creates a barrier that can't be shot through.

* **The Pigpen**: In addition to its sheer bulk and GOOP cannon, the ARV has enough seating for eight infantry to ride inside. While there is no way for transported infantry to attack while inside, they can be ordered out at a moment's notice to deal with hostiles.

* **Need Backup**: Of course, the ARV is useless on its own, seeing as it lacks any means of damaging enemy forces by itself, apart from the unsavoury tactic of crushing. It should be used to support units that are actually capable of dealing damage.

## Operational History

The introduction of FutureTech's cryobeam technology revolutionised war, firefighting, and police work. Officers of the law were, with the aid of a single Cryocopter and a couple of seconds, able to easily suppress situations that could have otherwise resulted in violence. However, Cryocopters are slow and rare enough that policemen in rural areas were often required to wait up to half an hour for Cryocopter support. Riot Agents are expensive to train, and often require extra municipal expenses. Thus plans for a Riot Suppression Vehicle were drawn up.

The concept was simple: take an armoured van, add an inexpensive non-lethal weapon, and hold out until Cryocopter support showed up. The first RSVs were actually prisoner transports outfitted with GOOP, a cheap electric pump, and a fire hose. The first operational use of the RSVs were in Ireland, as a less controversial method to deal with the IRA, as shooting them simply seemed to make things worse.

The original, cobbled together designs had several flaws. GOOP had a tendency to get stuck in the wheels, effectively immobilising the RSV and leaving it open to attack or capture. Automatic weapons could cut through the side of the less-than-effectively-armoured police vehicles like tinfoil. After a stunning number of Peacekeepers died and one of the new vehicles was destroyed in a particularly nasty firefight, the UK commissioned the Beaver & Co. Motor company to revamp the design, and mass produce it.

The B&C **Armoured Response Vehicle** is a modified troop transport, equipped with a pressurized sprayer cannon and a reinforced aluminum-steel alloy armoured plow to scrape up the GOOP residue. While the highly visible profile of the ARV often caused it to draw the attention of rioters, this worked to the advantage of the police, as the ARV's thick composite armour plating could easily shrug off bullets, projectiles, and even heavier weaponry with relative ease (indeed, in one incident an ARV took a direct hit from an RPGL and managed to keep going). In addition, the ARV would draw attention away from less well protected police vehicles, allowing them to swoop in and make arrests while attention was still focused on the ARV. After a deadly terrorist attack in Northern Ireland involving the use of strange chemicals, the ARV design was upgraded with secondary sprayer-systems modified from street-sweeper technology, through which the ARV pumps out chemical neutralisers that render many forms of toxic substances non-lethal. The ARV also retains its transport hold, which can be used to transport up to eight people, from arrested suspects to police officers.

In the aftermath of President Ackerman's death, and the rise of the Continentals, the Peacekeepers, perhaps belatedly, decided that they needed to rethink their approach to combat. The success of the ARV in civilian riot control, and firefights with terrorists alike, made it the perfect answer to both the political concerns regarding violence against the Continentals, and the necessities of combat. Allied High Command has requested that field commanders attempt, whenever possible, to avoid major enemy casualties.

Thanks to the ARV, the number of terrorist attacks and riots in the UK has plummeted. However, in recent months Ireland has seen a spike in civil war as the Phoenix Front have proven to be a tough opponent to pacify, a great worry for the peace-loving people of England, but also for military commanders, who can requisition them from civilian bases even as the riots in Ireland, and other places, are worsening. Thus, they're increasingly seen on the front.

## Behind the Scenes

Accepted suggestion by Edge-2000.

The original name for this unit was the Armadillo Response Vehicle, but for a few reasons it was renamed as the Armoured Response Vehicle.

## Just the Stats

 **Armour Type** | Heavy Armour

 **DPS** | N/A