Barkeep
Image Source: http://digital-art-gallery.com/
Intent: To provide a heavy assault/siege droid for Confederate forces to employ on the field of battle.
Development Thread: (If Required)
Manufacturer: Haor-Chall Engineering
Model: Hexaped War Droid
Affiliation: CIS
Modularity: No
Production: Minor Production
Material: Primarily Durasteel, Heavier Durasteel plating over key areas such as droid-brain and power cells and across the underside.
Classification: Class IV
Weight: 60 tonnes
Height: 6.5 metres
Movement: Hexaped
Description:
Although named a Droideka, the Groundbreaker variant has little in common with its smaller cousin beyond its insectile shape. Designed as a heavy assault and siege breaker droid, the Groundbreaker has the armour, shielding and weaponry to annihilate entire squads of targets, as well as any light or medium armoured vehicles.
The forward facing repeating laser cannons serve as primary anti infantry weapons and are effective at scything down any infantry attempting a frontal charge, while the mortar pods are capable of bombarding cover where targets are suspected of hiding. The main armament is the light turbolaser mounted on the prehensile tail, and unlike the repeaters is capable of firing outside of the 45 degree arc immediately in front of the Groundbreaker.
The placement and design of the shield generators enables each to support the other in the event of one being damaged, destroyed or overloaded, though the shield bubble as a whole is approximately 60% weaker if the droid is employing only a single generator. Use of heavy durasteel armour across vital areas and the vulnerable underside serves to mitigate against damage to vital systems. The six-legged design also has the ability to cross broken terrain with relative ease, although the considerable weight of the unit prevents it from safely crossing such terrain as thin to medium ice.
In addition to the above, the Groundbreaker has a number of key vulnerabilities. One is that the droid is entirely incapable of targeting a foe that manages to get beneath it, and though heavy armour serves to mitigate the damage such a foe would cause, support would be needed in fairly short order to prevent the Groundbreaker from being slowly taken apart. Likewise, a foe who managed to get onto the Groundbreaker's back would likely be able to cause considerable damage as the only weapon capable of targeting them would be the light turbolaser. Thirdly, as the majority of the Groundbreaker's weapons are forward facing, it has to turn to engage any threats attacking from the flanks or rear with any weapon other than the tail mounted turbolaser.
A key feature of the Groundbreaker is that, when not in battle, they can be stored in pods dubbed as shells or cocoons. These armoured pods can be launched from certain starships whilst in orbit, enabling the Groundbreaker to strike directly at the heart of an enemy's fortifications – and given the initial shock of impact from approximately 75 tonnes of droid and pod, the damage to the fortification is likely to be severe even before the Groundbreaker activates its weapons.
Armaments: 2x Heavy repeating laser cannon (front/'mandibles'), Light turbolaser (tail), 2x Mortar pods (back – sufficient ammunition for five volleys from each), twin shield generators (head and back, interlocking)
Misc. Equipment: (sensors, scanners, etc.): Medium range scanners, advanced targeting systems, multi-spectrum visual systems (thermal/standard/electromagnetic), Orbital drop capability (drop pod shell), EMP shielded circuitry.
