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The Armodon APC is the first in the newly established Mackensen Designs‘ Pocket series that are essentially a set of 20 tons or under vehicles created to solve a number of logistical problems that the company‘s founder, Lilo Mackensen, encountered during her time with Gustav and Dakks‘ Irregulars. The Armodon in particular was created to eliminate the hard choice of having to chose between carrying main battle tanks or troop carrying transports given the limited bay space on any given DropShip. Though there are designs that blur the line between battle tank and APC, the Bandit in particular comes to mind, these designs will always be outclassed by dedicated combat machines. Furthermore such vehicles will be continually handicapped by the fact that they must forever be at the disposal of the infantry that they support, barring them from being relocated to a position where their presence would be more advantageous. Mackensen Designs seeks to address these problems by introducing the Armodon, a light yet heavily armed and armored APC that is specifically tailored for the task infantry support.

By far the Armodon‘s greatest selling point would be the fact that it weighs in at a featherweight 20 tons, allowing it to be stored in a DropShip‘s cargo bay as opposed to taking up dedicated slots for heavier designs. Given her time with the Irregulars, the Armodon is marketed by its creator primarily for Battle Armor equipt units and as such features enough space to carry a full squad of battle armor in its cargo bay along with the equipment to maintain and recharge them. Like its contemporaries the Maxim and Centipede, the Armodon is a nimble machine with a top speed of 130 kilometers per hour, a pace only exceeded by the Bandit and Fulcrum yet unlike its competitors, the Heavy Hover and Maultier, the Armodon is no paper tiger. The boxy APC boasts an impressive 5 tons of ferro-fibrous armor, allowing it to withstand a full barrage from a star of Elementals. Its weapons are no less impressive, mounting a duo of Medium Lasers on side sponsons and pair of ER Small Lasers on a turret on the front hull slope, allowing it to feasibly threaten adversaries that are twice its weight. This reliance on energy weapons allows the Armodon, and by extension its supporting battle armor, to operate independently of supply lines for prolonged periods of time.

The first Armodons are slated to begin rolling off the assembly lines by early 3078 from Mackensen Designs‘ Alice Springs factory. Predictably, the lion‘s share of the initial production run has been pre-sold to the 235th Terran Lancer Grenadiers, the present iteration of the Irregulars, slightly delaying its debut with other commands until the second quarter of 3078, when Mackensen Designs will open its second factory line for production.

Ever a fan of efficiency, Lilo Mackensen has concocted an array of designs based on the Armodon‘s roomy chassis, allowing her to expand her fledgling company‘s product line up while at the same time cutting down on development and production costs. Presently she manufactures the following variants on a by order basis but also sells field modification kits for those wish to have the option of converting their APCs into another variant.

The first variant converts the Armodon into a Fire Support Vehicle, replacing its cargo capacity and its suite of weapons with a single long barreled PPC, turning the APC into a cheap yet unbelievably fast long-range sniper.

On the opposite side of the spectrum is the Mobile Assault Gun. This design features a quartet of forward mounted Medium Lasers, carefully clustered closely together to resemble a single big gun for effect, giving it the calculated punch of 200mm autocannon at similar ranges with none of the ammo constraints. The design also dedicates an additional ton to its armor, focusing principally on its front and sides, to give it the staying power in a head to head brawl. The MAG is designed specifically as a competitor to the venerable Saladin and recently introduced Gladius boasting equivalent firepower at half the weight and twice the armor of either design. A third variant, the Missile Launcher Carrier, turns the Armodon into a low cost missile boat, equipping it with a forward facing LRM-10 launcher with one ton of ammunition and an ER Medium Laser as a back up weapon. The MLC is an oddity among the Armodon series as it actually must operate close to friendly lines due to the limited amount of ammunition that it carries.

The fourth variant, the Light Scout Tank, is designed to be a far ranging scout as well as electronic warfare unit. For the most part it retains the Armodon‘s suite of weapons save for replacing the twin ER Small Lasers with a single Medium Laser and fills its cargo bay with a sophisticated array of electronics that include a Guardian ECM Suite, a Beagle Active Probe and Target Acquisition Gear.

Finally for officers, Mackensen Designs offers the Field Command Center which is essentially a stripped down Armodon equipped with all the accoutrements of an advanced headquarters, ensuring precise control even the heat of battle without being tied to a static position.

This unit has not seen combat as of yet.