Manual Index | Units | Laser Troopers
These Troops were the first to use the powerful weapons known as the M3 Laser Rifles. At first release of this powerful weapon, it was used as an offensive weapon. The unfortunate downfall to this was the fact that the M3's power suply weights approximately 50 pounds, causing the trooper to be overburdened, and unable to manuever like those carrying standard issue assault rifles. The Laser Troopers became nothing more but cannon fodder, unable to move fast enough to do much damage before they were shot down. This is when it was decided that they should be used for defensive purposes only.
The Laser Troopers are currently trained in defensive battle tactics. They know exactly where to go to take cover, and because of their defensive status they have the advantage of taking cover in bunkers before the enemy arives. The Laser Troopers are also trained as top notch marksman. Mixing that with the fact that the beam emitted from the M3 can shoot 3-4 times as far as the assault rifles, gives them the ability to snipe down enemy units before the enemy units get into combat range to fire back. The downfall still exists however that the Trooper is encumbered by the powerpack making them unable to maneuver very quickly.
Research is currently being done to reduce the weight of the power pack, but all new designs have failed to show their value. The latest 2 designs had flaws of either having very slow recharge times leaving troopers standing defenseless waiting for the ability to fire another round, or the problem with the power packs exploding when they got too hot, or got jolted around too much. The Federation refused to allow either of these to be added to the military arsenal.
Due to the fact that the M3 Laser Rifles cost a bit more then the Assault Rifles to produce, the cost of training one of these units is slightly more expensive then the standard Trooper.
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