Irving Morrell[]
Irving Morrell started the First Great War as an infantry captain, serving with distinction until he received a leg wound. Even while in the hospital his mind was never idle, conceiving a helmet that would help soldiers survive on the front. After recovering, he continued to serve his country, rapidly making a name for himself as a resourceful and competent officer. He was transferred to the Canadian front after some time. While there, he displayed his talents as a field commander again, using the Canadian military's aggressiveness against them. His victory in that front saw him promoted to lieutenant colonel. Around this time, he moved from infantry to barrels.
He transferred to the front again, this time under George Custer on the Tennessee front. He was one of the masterminds behind the Barrel Roll Offensive. The offensive involved a massed attack of barrels, supported by infantry. It was wildly successful, pushing the Confederate forces back miles along a front whose advances were typically measured in feet. The smashing success saw him promoted to colonel, and quickly won the war. Afterwards he transferred into the Barrel Works, the US Army's R&D Department for Barrels.
While there, he tested and designed new models of barrels for the US Army, as well as getting married. The Socialist administration elected after the war ended closed down the Barrel Works, however, and he was transferred out to British Colombia to keep the conquered Canadians in line. After nine years of success, he was reinstated in the Barrel Works until General Daniel MacArthur required his services to repress riots in the state of Huston. Morrell did so, even resorting to canister shot to keep the hostile crowds at bay. After a plebiscite returned the state to the Confederacy, he was stationed in Ohio to try and stem the eventual Confederate tide.
When the Confederacy attacked, Morrell was sorely undersupplied and underequipped. Regardless, he beat a fighting retreat and managed to both delay and harrass the Confederacy enough to make them take notice. In consequence of said skill, the Confederates hired a sniper to kill him. When he survived the blow, the Confederate General Staff went into a mass panic. This proved justified, as Morrell and his plans were instrumental in cutting off the Confederate army assaulting Pittsburgh and throwing them back along their original salient into Ohio. This victory was a turning point in the war, and lead to them cutting the salient in two.
After throwing the Confederates out of the United States, he then went on to formulate a plan to invade the Confederacy. He replicated the real world's Sherman's March to the Sea, using armor, air power, and infantry to cut the Confederacy's eastern section in half. After successfully doing so, he coordinated strikes deeper into the Confederate heartland from the General Staff in Philadelphia. He was nearly caught in a nuke, but was outside the blast radius and survived. At the end of the war, now a full General, he was chosen to receive the Confederacy's unconditional surrender and return to the United Staes. Afterwards, he was appointed the military governor of the Confederacy's east coast, essentially everything he had conquered; while there, he was a leading figure in creating racial equality.
- Main Armament: 90mm cannon
- Armor-Piercing
- Canister
- High Explosive
- Secondary Armament: 3x(?) 7.92 mm(?) machine guns
- Sloped, thick steel plating
Detachment[]
Irving Morrell has 20 other soldiers at his command. They are as follows:
M1903 Springfield
- Length: 1,097 mm (43.2 in)
- Barrel Length: 610 mm (24 in)
- Weight: 3.94 kg (8.7 lb)
- Round: .30-06 Springfield
- Effective Range: 550 m (601.4 yd)
- Magazine: 5-round stripper clip
- Fire: Bolt-Action
Model 24 Steilhandgranate
- Weight: 595 g (1.3 lb)
Captured Confederate Anti-Barrel Rocket
- Length: 1.64 m (5.3 ft)
- Weight: 11 kg (24 lb)
- Round: 88mm explosive warhead
- Effective Range: 150 m (154 yd)
- Magazine: 1 rocket
- Fire: Semi-automatic
M1 Thompson
- Length: 810 mm (32 in)
- Barrel Length: 270 mm (10.5 in)
- Weight: 4.8 kg (10.6 lb)
- Round: .45 ACP
- Effective Range: 150 m (160.4 yd)
- Magazine: 30-round stick/box magazine
- Fire: Automatic
- Main Armament: 60mm cannon
- Armor-Piercing
- High Explosive
- Secondary Armament: 2x 7.92mm machine guns
- Sloped, thick steel plating
Welkin Gunther[]
Welkin was born in the small town of Bruhl, the son of the First Europan War hero and General Belgen Gunther. He enrolled in a university to study natural science, and while there decided to focus his secondary military education on tanks. After the Second Europan War broke out, he left school to help his adopted sister, Isara, pack up and flee the advancing Empire. The Empire attacked as he was doing so; after fighting through the initial wave, he took command of his father's tank, the Edelweiss, and bought time until the town fell after an artillery bombardment.
Welkin was then conscripted as a Second Lieutenant, and placed in charge of Squad 7 of the Gallian Militia, and was allowed to keep command of his tank. He won the respect of his men by leading successful and inventive campaigns against the Empire. One such battle was in the Barious Desert, where he ran into the Maximilian, Crown Prince of the Empire, and his durable, massive tank, the Batomys. After a long struggle, Squad 7 took the tank out of action.
After several successful operations, Welkin and Squad 7 were sent on a suicide mission to reclaim a strongpoint that guarded the Empire's sea supply lines. Despite the mission's success, his sister lost her life in the battle. With morale at an all-time low, Squad 7 was ordered to retake Bruhl, Welkin's hometown. With that boost in motivation, Welkin was then deployed to Naggiar Plains. After stopping an artillery barrage Squad 7 held off Selvaria Bles, a Valkyria who entered the battlefield after single-handedly destroying a Gallian tank regiment, long enough to complete their objective. Despite Alicia - his Sergeant and love interest - receiving an injury and subsequently awakening as a Valkyria, the operation was a success.
Later, Welkin would lead Squad 7 on another suicide mission to reclaim a border fort that would fully cut Imperial supply lines. They took a frontal assault as a diversion to allow a train filled with explosives to blow a hole in the entrance, and they then funneled in. They took the base with an all-out assault on its defenses, and captured Selvaria Bles; the general sacrificed her life to set off a nuke her Last Flame, which obliterated the fort. Maximilian took advantage of the situation and unleashed the Marmota, a massive armored vehicle that bulldozed all in its path.
- Main Armament: Theimer 40/88 mm KwK cannon cannon (88m shells)
- Armor-Piercing
- Mortar
- ISARA Smoke Rounds
- Secondary Armament: Theimer 12.7mm tank machine gun
- Sloped, thick steel plating
Squad 7[]
Welkin Gunther has 20 other members of Squad 7 at his command. They are as follows:
Gallian-A
- Length: 997 mm (39.2 in)
- Barrel Length: 560 mm (22 in)
- Weight: 4.6 kg (10.1 lb)
- Round: 7.92 mm
- Effective Range: 400 m (437.4 yd)
- Magazine: 7-round box magazine
- Fire: Semi-Automatic
B-Type Grenade
- Weight: 720 g (1.6 lb)
Theimer Anti-Tank Lance
- Length: 3.2 m (10.6 ft)
- Weight: 18.1 kg (39.9 lb)
- Round: 141 mm explosive warhead
- Effective Range: 600 m (656.2 yd)
- Magazine: 1 explosive warhead
- Fire: Semi-Automatic
Mag MXX
- Length: 992 mm (39.1 in)
- Barrel Length: 459 mm (18.1 in)
- Weight: 4.8 kg (10.6 lb)*
- Round: 9 mm
- Effective Range: 200 m (218.7 yd)
- Magazine: 20-round stack/box magazine
- Fire: Automatic
- Main Armament: Breda 24/75mm PaK mk.II cannon (75 mm shells)
- Armor-Piercing
- Mortar
- Secondary Armament: Erma 7.92mm tank machine gun
- Sloped, thick steel plating