Sickle

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*"Let's mow some people down!"*

- Sickle operator

## Tactical Analysis

* **All round coverage**: Each Sickle has three heavy machine guns, each covering a 130-degree firing arc around the vehicle. Sickles may effectively fire while moving and can engage multiple independent targets, but cannot bring their full force to bear on any one target. And the KDB uses an inexpensive alloy to keep Sickle costs very reasonable, which makes this unit plentiful in modern battles.

* **Flea jumping**: The "flea jump" has proven to be extremely useful for reconnaissance purposes, as Sickles may leap right up onto plateaus unreachable on foot, for example. Some Sickle gunners have even been known to literally jump right on top of enemy infantry. Should the enemies receiving this attack survive, Sickles wind up poised to finish them easily.

* **Those annoying birds**: While Sickles have an unparalleled ability to attack in any direction around them, their turrets cannot swivel vertically far enough to engage enemy aircraft, and while its armour can all but shrug off the sort of small-arms fire that might erupt after a disappointing ice hockey contest, it cannot withstand much more than a brush with anti-tank weaponry. Speculation that KDB purposely designed this limitation to ensure that both its Sickles and its KDB-2 Bullfrogs get purchased in bulk is patently false.

* **Balls of fire**: The latest and greatest weapons out of the Soviet research facilities, the cyclotronic gun fires supersonic fireballs that rips through vehicles and immolates infantry.

## WWIII Operational History

 File:Sickles.png
Originally designed as a police vehicle for use in fringe-republics noted for their "heightened" risk of revolt, the Soviet Union's **KDB-5 Sickle** has a compact form factor, four durable steel stilt-legs, and three articulated gunnery positions that make it ideal for urban operations and crowd control. It exceeded expectations in its original role, becoming a mainstay in Soviet mechanised divisions while escalating the Ukraine's Kazminov Design Bureau to the upper echelons of the Soviet Union's weapons manufacturers.
The Sickle's dramatic spiderlike shape quickly deterred crime in some areas. However, occasionally the Sickle had the opposite effect, provoking an already-disrespectful and ungrateful populace into full-on riots and street fighting. It was through several of these incidents that the Soviet military took notice of the vehicle, for it managed to cut down a staggering number of traitorous men, women, and children in record time. (How foolish they were to poke fun at the Sickle!) In spite of the spindly look of the vehicle, it proved stable and fast enough to allow its three machine gunners a near-perfect vantage point for silencing enemy combatants.

 File:SickleArtwork.jpg  The militarised version of the Sickle features a much sturdier, reinforced leg design that allows the entire vehicle to leap long distances, sending it clear over obstacles such as roadblocks or traffic intersections. The manoeuvre was intended only to provide these types of tactical advantages, though Soviet authorities have conceded that the Sickle's ability to "flea jump", as Sickle gunners affectionately refer to the technique, has increasingly been used for recreational purposes. Appropriate punishment is still being vetted in military courts, though for now, all Sickles in the field have been hard-coded with a strict limit on how frequently the jump manoeuvre may be used.

Some concerns abound about the Sickle, despite its patriotic name and purpose. From interviews and ongoing psychological profiling, it is becoming apparent that Sickle gunners--typically three once-normal young men per vehicle--are fully twice as prone to acts of sadism, excess, or disregard for authority than the average Soviet conscript. This perhaps explains that the average life expectancy of Sickle gunners is but 31.8 years. In spite of repeated safety video screenings, operators of these vehicles seem unable to help themselves from engaging in senseless acts of violence or self-endangerment. At any rate, the Soviet Union continues to use Sickles extensively as part of its military operations, and citizens continue to volunteer by the throng for a chance to drive one.

## Post-War Operational History

 File:VM-SovietSickle.png
An incident in Milan where a Sickle patrol shot into a crowd of protesters prompted outrage from the Politburo, who demanded this and similar incidents be stopped. It was put forward that Sickle pilots might be less sadistic if they were at long last allowed to jump recreationally. The humbled military now no longer punishes any pilot for jumping too much. Though many country areas of occupied Europe are plagued with hopping Sickles, civilian deaths are at a fraction of what it was. An unexpected side effect is that Sickle commanders have more practice jumping, which means on the battlefield they can jump to more places, more often. As further incentive, crews that prove themselves to be responsible enough are being issued with electroarc guns, which fires supersonic flaming pellets rather than bullets. The spectacular light show alone has generally proved reason enough for a Sickle crew to be on their best behaviour.

## Just the Stats

 **Armour Type** | Light Armour

 **Kill Reward** | 6400

 **DPS** | 30

 **DPS** | 150