The Stuttgart was first mentioned on turn 69, right after the Wulf Heavy Tank. One of the problems that the deWulf realized they had a good main battle tank, and some good light recon, but they were lacking mobile fire support. Especially something that could come in close and smother a target in precision firepower.
So, they took the body off the Dachs recon hover, ripped off the turret, and stuffed a massive box launcher filled with “dumbfire” plasma rockets. They aren’t truly dumbfires; they have guidance and control systems, but only so far as to have them fly straight and level. Part of the trick is that with no active tracking or homing systems, they’re impervious to short range jamming, decoys, and provide minimal warning to any active defense systems that they’re coming before they get off the launch rails.
A bonus is, that the less mass and volume you spend on tracking, the more you can put into your warhead, and the rockets pack an impressive punch. They’re enough to make most civilian structures regret existing, and even military structures will know they’ve been kissed.
It’s a pretty derivative design, all things considered. It owes a lot to the concept of “katyushas on everything” style of firepower that the Russians used in WW2, just on a somewhat more modern scale. I had intended it to actually occupy the same niche that hardware like a StuG or a BMPT Terminator would, but the massive cell of launch boxes on top really doesn’t make it fit this niche. I suppose the deWulf will have to discover this eventually…
Dollarton Proxima Shipyards 