the General

The General is a monstrous mobile battle platform devised by the GI Joe team in 1990 to act not only as an implement of mass destruction, but as a makeshift command center when necessary. It takes several Joes to operate the General, which is almost always commanded by Major Storm - and usually to devastating effect. The General has the following vehicular characteristics:

Armored Construction (s): the General is made of sturdy, dependable materials, and most of the people manning it are typically at least partially 'covered' by its bulk while operating it. As such, they should be considered to have intensity 8, or +2, protection while manning its weapons or riding on the thing. The cockpit itself is further armored, as seen below.

Communications System (i): the General is equipped with an intensity 10 radio transceiver with which to relay orders and intel from headquarters and then to troops in the field. Its standard range is twenty-five miles, but it can also tie into satellites in low earth orbit, about five hundred miles away, giving the General a global communications footprint.

Crush-proof Titanium Cockpit Shields (s): these protective shields enhance the ability of the General's driver (usually Major Storm) by giving them added protection from enemy fire; after all, disable the driver and the General comes to a screeching halt. While in the cockpit, the Major (and his crew; the cockpit can hold up to four Joes) enjoy intensity 12, or +3, protection from attack.

Dual-Barrel Corner Cannons (a): while the General's tri-barrel machine guns are controlled by the pilot, these are instead manned by assistant personnel, allowing them to cover the areas the main guns cannot. They can move with a 120 degree arc and are mounted on the corners of the General, and can each be fired to inflict the gunner's Agility +7 damage with each deadly burst of lead.

Headlight Array (i): mounted on the General's radar array is a huge series of flood lamps that it can use to illuminate a large area in front of it. Producing an effective light display of intensity 12 strength, it can brighten up everything within firing distance in front of the General - or in a pinch, it can serve as one heck of a surprise, blinding attack.

the Locust (i): the General never rides out into battle alone, oh no. It has room for a small helicopter such as the Locust to land atop it if it is not firing its mortar. In fact, one is typically issued with it to provide the General all the air support it may need while on a mission, though admittedly it doesn't need much. The Locust is described in its own vehicular entry.

Locust Landing Deck (a): this deceivingly simple surface is provided so that the Locust assigned to the General (or any other small aircraft, such as JUMP jets) can land on the platform when necessary. However, it can open up to reveal the General's greatest weapon, its mortar cannon. While open, this landing deck serves as a stabilizer and rear loading platform for the General.

Mortar Cannon (a): this immense cannon is the 'star' of the General's arsenal. It is a 200mm cannon that can fire huge shells at at a target up to 20 miles away, to devastating effect. These mammoth shells will explode on contact to inflict one's Agility +9 in damage to everything within near missile range of where they hit - usually enough to level most lesser strongholds in just one strike.

Propulsion (a): this mundane but essential function describes the General's ability to be a mobile battle platform. Working at intensity 2, it showcases how fast the General really is; for something its size, driving about at 45 miles per hour is really quite an impressive feat of engineering. It normally goes slower, but in an emergency it can surprise you with its speed!

Radar Array (w): behind the cockpit of the General lies a large pulse doppler radar rack that it can use to get a very good visual 'read' on the area, even if the headlights aren't working. It can use this equipment to know every moving target within artillery distance of the General, and thanks to the General's advanced computer targeting systems, use this to direct the vehicle's arsenal at them.

Recoiling Tow Hook (s): this heavy duty implement, rigged up in front of the General's cockpit, allows it to pull a staggering amount of weight in a pinch. The cable on this front-mounted winch is tested at up to 50,000 pounds, which means the General can pull up to 25 tons of material if necessary wherever it needs to (an effective Strength score of 15).

Sensor Array (w): the General has a massive sensor grid to back up the basic radar antenna on the thing, including third generation image intensifiers, laser range finders, and infrared detectors. All of this serves to 'light up' just about anything hostile within line-of-sight range of the General - which is enough range for it to pick off said hostile with its immense mortar cannon.

Surface-to-Air Missiles (i): on each side of the Locust landing deck is a rack of surface-to-air missiles the General can use to supplement the air defense the Locust provides it. Each of these racks are armed with four such missiles, which allows the driver to fire them to inflict intensity 11 damage singly, adding +1 for each additional missile fired (up to 19 for all eight).

Surface-to-Surface Missiles (i): the General is equipped with twelve of these on a given 'load', three of which are mounted above each tri-barrel machine gun station; in other words, six point forward and six point backwards. This allows the driver to fire them to inflict intensity 13 damage singly, adding +1 for each additional missile fired (up to 19 for all six on a side).

Tri-barrel Machine Gun Stations (a): the General has four of these, one on each side of the cockpit, and one on each side of the mortar cannon enclosure; two are facing forward and two are facing backwards. These guns can swivel 120 degrees, and when fired will inflict the gunner's Agility +7 damage when striking singly, or his Agility +8 damage when both are trained on a single foe.

Extra Goodies:

GI Joe directories featuring a version of the General:

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