Steam Tank

The first steam tanks were primitive armoured hulks transported onto fields of battle by trains of mules, before being filled with musketeers, pikemen and engineers. The Dwarves produced the first steam tanks, but only a pair of them.

When they entered an alliance with L'Imperium, their newfound allies provided research materials, resources and personnel so they could produce more.

The vehicles were only game changers on the small scale, affecting a few battles. The wheels could become stuck in many types of terrain and the tanks were so heavy, armies bringing them in on mule trains had to take numerous breaks and move at a slow pace lest they lose a great many mules.

Though steam tanks made excellent battering rams, visibility from inside was limited, and the tanks were vulnerable to large creatures, explosives, magical spells and booby traps. Quit a few of the models also broke down after being successfully used in combat.

Designs were sold, traded or stolen but fewer than a score of steam tanks saw use outside L'Imperium and the Dwarven Kingdoms and usually did not last long. Other tanks were produced, some powered by magical artifacts, but these met similar fates to the standard ones.

Prior to the age of industry, tanks proved too costly to produce. Very few were in use at the end of Caine Soulborne's lifetime. Officers preferred chariots, wagons filled with cannon or soldiers, and warships.

But when the Great War was on the horizon some 2,000 years later, hundreds of steam tanks based on L'Imperium's older designs were created, along with variations powered by coal, magic and various other elements. These were produced by all of the empires involved in the massive conflict and inspired manufacturers to create many lighter combat vehicles.