M26 Gunboat

Template:Historical Ship Infobox The M26 Corsair Gunboat was the first of it's type to be developed by the Corsairs, built shortly before the outbreak of war between the Corsairs and the Red Hessians in Omega-5. Laying plans to drive the Red Hessians out of the Omegas, the Council of Elders devoted significant resources to the development of new vessels at Tripoli. The M26 was initially developed to be a platform to be used to lay siege to Ronneburg Base. Previously relying entirely on Fighters, the Corsairs constructed a fleet of new M26 Gunboats in preparation for the eventual siege of Ronneburg that took place in 740 AS. Whilst they proved ineffective as siege weapons during the initial push, as the war in Omega-5 fell into a stalemate, the M26 continued to be used for piracy and against other, normally smaller craft. For a long time the gunboats were the only capital ships of Corsairs - until The Order assisted them in building their own fleet of Osiris-class dreadnoughts. Though many believed the M26 would become obsolete when the Osiris was introduced to Corsair assault fleets, it continued to be a mainstay for the Corsair fleet up until 817 A.S, when it was gradually replaced by the M42 Imperator Gunboat.

Since the development of the M42 Imperator, production of the M26 was ceased, and all M26 vessels in Corsair hands were replaced by the newer state-of-the-art design. Scrapped M26 Gunboats were destroyed to prevent valuable technology falling into enemy hands, but rumour suggests a small number of these ancient vessels may have fallen into the hands of the Junkers.

Handling

Also known as the "lunchbox" and "jack of all trades", this exceptional vessel is the biggest human-made gunboat in Sirius. With 8 mountable turrets, a significantly strong hull, a generous recharge rate and abundant with energy this vessel could easily be classified as a light cruiser. The agility is not much better than that of a Talarca Cruiser, but in its cost-effectiveness its definitely cheaper. Trying to dodge fire from gunboats or smaller ships is often futile. The most effective way to victory over such opponents is moving at top speed in a single direction and using the turret view. Larger opponents can be defeated by careful positioning of the vessel at maximum fire range on a "weak-spot angle". The Corsair gunboat itself has less significant weaknesses against other gunboats. At best, the front and rear are capable of shooting all 8 turrets while shooting at 3 or 9 o'clock and 60 degrees upwards turns 2 of the 8 turrets off, it still has the standard amount of 6 gunboat turrets to fight with. The other obvious flaw is its size, making it an easy target for any vessel.

Weapons

8 Class 8 Turrets

Availability

• No longer produced.