Vehicle of the Week: Danai Support VehicleThe Danai is one of the fruits of the Trinity Alliance, a product of a Capellan attempt to salve Canopian complaints and concerns about some of the downsides of the Alliance. Designed with Capellan aid, the Danai was named for Danai Centrella, a fallen heir to the throne, and while the design program dragged on, the result is an effective, respectable vehicle built mostly from domestic parts. The armament, however, is supplied by the Capellans, with an initial shipment of 200 artillery pieces and twice that many lasers moved under heavy guard to make sure initial production was not delayed by logistical concerns. Once production started in 3073, the Danais scattered to the winds, with most Canopian and some Capellan units having at least one. A number have been shipped in the same convoys that move combat units and mercs have, despite requests, so far not been allowed access aside from state-sponsored units. However, that may have been changing at the time of TRO3075's publishing (January 3075). No less than two companies of Danais are part of the standing defense force at Detroit Consolidated Vehicle Works, watching over the factories where they were built, and judging from the remarks in the book and XTRO: Periphery, it looks like they've gotten some live fire gunnery practice, too.
The baseline Danai Support Vehicles are, despite the name, combat vehicles from the word “go”, although they're definitely in a support role, hence the name. At 45 tons with a wheeled chassis, they're similar to the Star League Defense Force's Thors overall but somewhat smaller. And unlike the Thor, Danais will fit comfortably inside a light vehicle bay - despite the places the SLDF vehicle is superior, that's enough of a gain right there to compensate for every one of them in my opinion. A GM 205 fusion engine gives you an 86 kph range, letting a Danai pace your typical medium lance without great difficulty in open terrain. The armor is 6.5 tons of centuries-proven Maximillian 43 standard plate arranged 29/17/15/26. From my Thor comment, some of you have probably already realized the main gun is a Thumper, provided by Binithian Ballistics. Only one ton of ammunition is available, so pick your load carefully, but at 20 rounds, you've got a pretty reasonable endurance nonetheless. A pair of Firmir ERMLs are parked in the turret for self-defense.
The Danai (Arrow) is ambitious and advanced, but I'm not entirely sold on the results. Work on the project started in 3075, two years after the Danai entered production, and it was based on efforts to salvage units damaged during the attacks on Detroit by the Word of Blake, which then snowballed into incorporating some additional advanced elements. Okay, fair enough. Exactly where they got the stockpile of 160-rated fusion engines from, I couldn't tell you unless there was a fire sale on
Locust spares, but it's enough to get you to 64 kph, cutting some speed down and preventing you from running with the cavalry forces if they're putting pedal to the metal. Part of the savings went to another half-ton of armor, arranged 31/19/16/27, and it's now stealth, making the vehicle harder to locate and harder to kill when someone does find it, although the effect is somewhat countered by the reduced movement modifiers the vehicle can pull off. The turret mounted weapons were completely replaced. That's not surprising, given the use of the stealth armor occupying the “free” heat sinks from engine, nor is the addition of a Guardian ECM module. The choice of a quartet of Magshots, not weapons I'd expect to be easily acquired in that end of space, is. A full ton of ammunition lasts you about as long as you want to be shooting them anyway - 50 rounds to split between the guns. Personally, I'd have opted for a brace of LMGs and more ammunition for the star attraction of the armament, an Arrow IV launcher fed by just two tons of ammunition. With artillery, up to a certain point, “more is better” is just as true for the ammo load as it is for the gun. As ambushers with homing ammo (or ADAs if you're trying to suddenly surprise someone in the air from an unexpected direction), they could be very effective, but the lack of endurance means the stealth is going to be used protecting you as you run back to the ammo trucks to reload. Apparently I'm not alone in my dubiousness about the benefits for the costs given the MUL's characterization of them as Unique (note that means “very very limited production” in MUL speak, not “There can be only one!”).
Whichever variant you're using, figure out one ammo type you want to use and use it exclusively. The originally literally can't be choosy and the variant doesn't have enough endurance to try. Otherwise, treat them like normal artillery units – take cover and don't expose yourself, but try to stay close enough to reduce flight times as much as you can. It helps that both Danais are on the speedier side for support elements. Some sort of “discouragement” for hunter-killer units should probably be contemplated, too. The lack of a turret mount for the artillery piece does ding their effectiveness a bit.
If you're fighting these things, there's not too much to say. A whole lance of them has enough firepower to make charging them a little dubious, especially if there's a guard dog or two sitting around, but not enough to make it out of the question, either. Counter-battery fire may be a little hard to land since either variant is mobile enough to make shoot-and-scoot tactics practical, but given that we're talking about vehicles, you've got a chance to disable them, which will make it easier.
References: The
Master Unit List only covers the original at the moment but this should soon be corrected. The only Danai on CamoSpecs to date is in the colors of the
3rd Canopian Light Horse.
