Sapper

## Tactical Analysis

* **What a sap:** Carrying cumbersome and unwieldy spring-loaded shell launchers, the Sapper crews are a step up from the simple sikh, packing a bigger bang that can arc their rounds to a target.

* **I want a trench here:** Sappers are also able to deploy into a defensive position on the field, giving their fellow infantry cover against enemy fire.

* **Spring loaded loser:** The sapper's inability to actually carry any other weapons thanks to his equipment, his slow speed, and the shorter range of his launcher mean that a commander needs to take care his sappers aren't overwhelmed by the enemy during battle.

* **Previous owner, Cpl Duffy:** After enough time being shot at, the sapper carrying the shells usually takes it upon himself to secure a rifle to at least give some protection to the team.

## Background

*"Today's forecast: rainy with a chance of debris and smoking craters."*

- A Sapper in the field.
During the early years of WWII, the British Army came up with an alternative to the world's rapidly growing bazooka production. Deciding that bazookas were too noisy, required too many logistical components for their complicated manufacture, and wore out too quickly due to how they were fired, the ordnance office created a fascinating sidestep: a spring-loaded anti-armor warhead launcher. In concept, the idea had merit. Without the flash and smoke of a bazooka, the operators could easily set ready ambushes against the Soviets. The fact that it was spring loaded eased production, since replacement barrels and batteries weren't needed to fire the weapon. Testing appeared promising, but the realities of the weapon were quickly found. To start, the spring-loaded mechanisms had less than desirable range in combat, forcing the operators to trust their own judgement in angling the shot. Another were the sometimes faulty detonators in the warheads, making destruction of the enemy a hit or miss affair. Finally the warhead sometimes just didn't penetrate enemy armor, meaning that the team needed to flee if their ambush only made them the targets. By 1951, the Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank was consigned to the Home Army and a few tacit frontier bases. The majority were snapped up by the Commonwealth.

With modifications, the PIAT in Commonwealth hands was actually a somewhat respectable weapon. With better detonators and improved launchers, the PIAT did turn out to be quite effective against the poorly maintained vehicles of the GLA, and the poorly designed vehicles of the Atomic Kingdom (once the shields were down). The greater difficulty was finding anyone to carry the system. Telling a sepoy he's carrying a spring-loaded bomb into battle is likely to get you a flurry of insults in Hindi.

Moving laterally, the Frontier Corps tasked their sappers to carry the PIAT. Combat engineers capable of turning any chunk of dirt into a defensive position, the sappers agreed after being assured that they would be able to still act as combat engineers first and tank hunters second. Agreeing, the Commonwealth has since sent their sappers wherever they're needed, acting as the first line of defense from which the sepoys can assault the enemy, of hold from their dug-in positions as PIAT shells rain hell on enemy armor. Despite the vast majority of sappers complaining that they'll never play cricket again thanks to the shoulder pain. Even without propellant, a spring packs a hell of a kick.