Name: Malder
Alignment: Zenebas Empire
Family: Snail
Registration Number: EMZ-19
Crew: 1-2
Height: 6.5 Meters
Length: 8.5 Meters
Weight: 34.6 Tons
Top Speed: 120 kph
Weapons: Dual 15mm Machineguns, Concealed 20mm Maxter Beam Cannon, Concealed AZ60mm Long-Ranged Artillery Cannon.
Special Abilities: Heavy Anchors.
Level: 1
The Malder is a curious little Zoid, originally developed by the Zenebas Empire as a cheap, long-ranged support Zoid. It’s a snail type, meaning that it actually has wheels, and a set of heavy anchors to keep its top-heavy self from tipping over. It also happens to be of the same family as the modern... wait for it... the modern Hover Cargo. That’s right, its the Hover Cargo at about 1/30th scale, and whether the two are evolutionarily linked is an open debate. However, the Malder is a slow Zoid, but is both heavily armed and armored for its size.
For starters, the Malder was designed for artillery support. As such, it has a long AZ60mm Long-Ranged Artillery Cannon, giving it considerable firepower. Next, the Malder is snail-type and boasts and thick and sturdy shell, capable of absorbing far more fire than any other Zoid in its class. It also has a fair set of smaller weapons which make it a formidable target. It’s essentially a smaller and cheaper version of the Cannon Tortoise, and while not quite as tough, still very potent and well-liked.
Weapons:
Dual 15mm Machineguns:
At first glance, these appear to be the Malder’s main weapons: a pair of 15mm Machineguns, one on either side of the Zoid’s head. They fire standard shells at a fully automatic rate, roughly eight per second per weapon. While not very powerful, this is often enough to keep smaller Zoids like Guysacks at bay. They can also both pivot up to 45 degrees up.
Concealed 20mm Maxter Beam Cannon:
The left side of the Malder’s shell can pop out to reveal a semiautomatic 20mm Maxter Beam Cannon. This cannon is more powerful than most 20mm weapons, able to deal improved surface damage and having improved penetration. While still not as good as an anti-Zoid weapon, the 20mm Maxter Beam Cannon is a reliable weapon. It can also pivot up to 45 degrees up or 10 degrees to either side. Using the 20mm Maxter Beam Cannon removes a piece of the shell and exposes some structure and internals, but the shell mostly still remains on one side of the 20mm Maxter Beam Cannon, and it doesn’t pop out that far, so the target is small.
Concealed AZ60mm Long-Ranged Artillery Cannon:
Underneath the top part of the Malder’s shell sits an AZ60mm Tri-Barrelled Artillery Cannon. As all artillery cannons, this weapon is very much like a ranged one-barreled Triple Impact Cannon, albeit with a different range and firing rate. The Artillery Cannon fires its shells in a parabolic arc, giving itself a maximum range of over a two kilometers, but a minimum range of 100 meters. Also, the cannon has a slightly less than semiautomatic firing rate, restricting to firing one shell only once every 1.5 seconds. The cannon can pivot nearly to a straight up, allowing it to fire in the aforementioned parabolic arc, but not at all to either side. Also, flipping up the shell to use the AZ60mm Long-Ranged Artillery Cannon exposes some internals, so it might not be wise to use it for too long at once.
Special Abilities:
Heavy Anchors:
The legendary immovable object. Well, not really. A Gojulas, for example, would have no trouble plucking the locked-down Malder right out of the ground. However, the heavy anchors allow the Malder to really hug the ground, and help to stop it from being flipped over when its engaged in melee or being hit with Heavy shells or something. They can be used as emergency brakes as well.
Available Modifications:
