THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE HAMMER’S SLAMMERS THE CRUCIBLE RULES SYSTEM HANDBOOK

The Thunderbolts post 348TW Chirho had rebuilt his force after the debacle at Meridienne and, after ten years, he as ready to retire. Chirho had seen what Alois Hammer had done on Nieu Friesland - declaring himself President - and he began to look for a suitable planet or system, perhaps one with a less formidable reputation than Friesland, to see if he could emulate Hammer's example. However, after much thought, Ernst Chirho decided that his ultimate goal would be to retake his own home world of Antargra: to avenge the death of his mentor and great friend General Fredrick and to claim the ruling seat on the Bundestag - the government of Antargra - was his ultimate ambition. To achieve this, however, he needed to re-build his forces and possibly to take on some of the Antargran controlled outer systems in the Gorgon Cluster. If he could recruit disaffected units of the Antargran regulars to his cause, so much the better, he thought: they tended to be badly led and trained but at least they had some decent equipment! To start his plan, Chirho, and his son Lt Col Erwin Chirho - a young, enthusiastic and motivating young officer following very much in his fathers footsteps - had finished re-equipping their forces. Mostly, they used upgrades of both battle-salvaged vehicles from Meridienne and replacements purchased second hand from Scania MV, but some newer equipment did materialise. Vehicles, Technology and Equipment The Thunderbolt Division post 348TW used the newer Scania MV Br50 range of half-tracks. These are an improved version of the BR40 (see in the Crucible rule book) with high output, multi-fuel turbine engines, high mobility, dual tracks and redundant, double front wheel systems - now driven - all leading to a faster, more reliable vehicle with a ballistically enhanced shaped rear hull. By 350TW, the majority of the Division's needs were fulfilled by the Br54 Dragoon 2 M/ICV (Mechanised/Infantry Combat Vehicle) variant. With a crew of ten (including eight infantry) who can exit from top and side hatches plus a rear ramp, the Dragoon 2 can be equipped to support those troops with a variety of weapon systems. The Bofors-SAAB Pansar/Luftkanon m/8i 2cm auto cannon of the Dragoon was replaced with a New Ukrainian made 12mm Coil-Gun, still in the remote turret.

The Thunderbolt Division - post 348TW