MG144-GT09 Grand Marauder

Galactic Terrorists

144th (10 or 12mm)

    The Grand Marauder is the heaviest GT tank in general use. The existence of the Grand Marauder came as a nasty surprise to the Soviet Remnant defenders during a large GT attack on Xueheun in 2332. The Grand Marauder is a modification on the Merkava 44 hull. As with so much of the GT, exactly how they came to acquire the design (as the Merkava 44 has never been made available for export, nor has the surplus stock been known to have been stolen).
    Rather than opting to mount a larger weapon, the GT instead elected to design for maximum fire output instead. The Merkava’s main gun was replaced with the same 60mm gatling cannon mounted on the Hyena. This is supplemented by the addition of the same 20mm gatling used on the GT Scorpion, in place of where the Merkava mounted its machine guns. The pintle was replaced with the GT’s standard automated quad autocannon. The mortar has been retained, but the Grand Marauder typically deploys a lighter version of the Scud Mortar’s toxin rounds, rather than typical high explosives,
    The GT improved the Merkava’s already respectable armour by the straightforward addition of ERA blocks.
    However, as typical for the GT’s design philosophy and total lack of safety features, once the armour s penetrated the Grand Marauder’s excess ammunition to detonate – and in addition to the usual problem scatter the toxin over the immediate area as well. Crew death in such in instance is thus almost ensured, but with the GT’s fanaticism, there never seemed to be any shortage of volunteers.