The Grounder's Arsenal

[Skymonger]

Welcome to my little art page in a setting of mechanical creativity.
Here we combine three things, Pictures, Story, and Concepts based from the game.
For this little thread, Im focusing on Ground equipment. Why?
...lets face it a lot of our Sky captains think they are hot Sh*t compared to armies of the ground.
So lets change that.

Welcome to the Grounder's Arsenal.

"Men of ground, Against Men of Sky,
Whilst they look down, Haughty and Spiteful,
We look up, With our Ironclad guns,
And laugh as they fall down to meet us."
-Baronies Landguard.

The Grounder's arsenal is a exhibit showcasing the many Anti-aircraft weapons that all Land armies have at their disposal to defend against Aggressive Air fleets. Whether its organized pirates or Sky fleets, these weapons ensure that the enemy WON'T leave without losing half of their ships.

The exhibit is divided into Three Categories.
-Pokers
Infantry based AA weapons. Ranging from High powered rifles to Horse drawn Artillery pieces and Machineguns.
Generally weak alone which is why they are always seen in  Massive numbers.

-Cloudpoppers
Stationary AA Weapons. Comprised of Upgraded versions of Airship weaponry to Old world Firearms.
These are always the first line of defense in protecting the remains of civilization.

-Groundwinds
Mobile AA weapons. Outfitted with AA tanks to Siege walkers.
These are Always fielded with Poker weaponry as support.

Each weapon comes with a visual representation, a small history behind their conception, and when they were first fielded.
(As a word of warning, these creations might NOT be faithful to the GOI universe And might be butchered from the game  but its Fan art so meh.)
Due to how large each of my pictures and stories can become, They might come with their own individual posts. so...Also word of warning.
Two more pictures are showing up after this, Keep an eye out please?
Thank you for viewing my Black and white pictures. Try not to laugh.

[Skymonger]

First up, The Barettosutomu

-The Baretto Aerial point defense gun is a standard to all known Skyguard fortresses. Being inexpensive to build, easy to maintain, yet powerful enough to turn a fleet of 8 goldfish and Pyrams into shredded steel, This AA battery ensured every city wouldn't be violated without remorse.
Armed with 4 beltfed Whirlwind Gatlings and a Single Flak cannon, It easily shreds the armor off of ships and detonates them from within.
 
Firing angles: Upwards of 135 degrees. Sideways of 35 degrees.
Ammo: Special Combination ammo of Lesmok and Charged.
Crew: Single gunner, Engineer as Reloader optional.

-The Baretto was first created by the Yesha empire out of desperation against the Arashi League.
It was cobbled together out of spare parts and destroyed ships during an Arashi siege in the battle of Yao ling pass.
Having been ambushed by Arashi Skirmishers and strafed constantly by Planes, The Yeshan defenders at Yao ling pass had lost their support fleet and were forced to repel Air raids with Infantry rifles and a few fort artillery pieces.
With the nearest Yeshan fleet 3 days away, Engineers in the fort simply strapped 4 Gatling guns to a large Wooden castle door and Tied that abomination onto a Turret mount.
The result was a disgusting rattletrap that was unmatched in tearing apart the light constructions of Arashi planes and ships.
Since then the design has been rebuilt to be more professional, with a Small flak cannon squeezed into a Special mount shown above.
A New combination Ammo of Lesmok and Charged was created for the gun to further increase it's effectiveness.
A Favorite defensive tactic was also invented from the Amount of Smoke this Gun creates.
By Using the Large clouds of smoke as a screen for defending ships to hide behind, Aggressive Fleets would often be caught between an retaliating fleet and a Storm of bullets from the ground. 

Because of its Low cost to build, it's often seen in moderate numbers to compensate for it's small sideways angles.

[Skymonger]

Next up is the Fureshetto Kumo

-The Fure, quite simply is a Massive Shotgun built for putting As much shrapnel into the sky as possible in as little amount of Time as possible.
Armed with 13 modified Barking dog light Carronades, and Special Charged ammo, This Shotgun is Guaranteed to separate a ship from its balloon.

Firing Angles: 75 Degrees upward. No sideways angles.
Ammo: Modified Charged
Crew: Single gunner

- The Fure was created by Chaladonian Coast guards as a deterrant against the Barons.
Due to Chaladon's natural borders protected by Straits and Seas, Chaladonian guards simply needed to build their entire defense strategies against a naval and sky invasion. Defending from the sea was easy, Sea mines and Coastal Artillery Turned any unwanted ship into a Sinking bathtub.
The sky however, proved to be more tricky. Without any Natural land protection from a coastline, Anti aircraft Batteries would be easily targeted and bombed into oblivion by Airships.
One option was to build Huge concrete AA forts into the ground, but that proved to be too expensive and ambitious when Chaladonians attempted to fortify the Coastal city of Lutessa.
And so, the second option was to use the Sea against the Sky, as weird as it sounded. The idea was to create Trenches in the ground and Field massive Balloon popping guns to Drop Airships into the Drink.
And so the Fureshetto Kumo was born.

First fielded on the Coast of Amida, The Fure saw its first use when Amida was attacked by an ambitious Baron hoping to loot and bomb the city with his fleet of 7 galleons. Unfortunately for him, he was met with a Metal hailstorm from 2 Fures, and promptly drowned within the Teeth.