Doublepost because reasons.
This is the only know photo of AS-T15 "Glorious" and it's crew, proably shoot somewhere before September 1918, when the crew got awarded Medal Of Good Hunting for high number of casualties inflicted on enemy. By modern historians they're considered first and most successful tank aces of Arstotzka but, because of political reasons, they were never called ones in official documents. With over 50 enemy vehicles and emplacements elminated in years 1916-1918, they are most effective tank crew to this point. During the offensive of 1918 they were leading the spearhead into last enemy positions on plains of Forenia, but were knocked out before reaching the desert, because of artillery fire (to this day it's unknown if it was Moskurgian or accidental Arstotzkan fire, due to "Glorious" pushing very far into enemy positions and lack of communication) that disabled the tank.
The crew of Glorious consisted of:
Fyodor "Crunchies" Billotzic (leftmost, standing beside the "Glorious"), the driver and de-facto commander of the vehicle, he excelled at both functions, and possesed the most magnificent moustache amongs the crew members. He liked to think he had French origins, despite there is no evidence of that, and he was truly an example of old-school French officer, never surrendering to enemy. Before he joined the Glorious Army, he was hunting tigers with his automobile. His nickname comes from the word he used to describe enemy soldiers very (like, all the time) often. In 1918, after the tank was immobilized, he and Cutter went to contact main Arstotzkan forces. What exactly happened is unknown, but intelligence says that he got captured by Moskurgians, and sentenced to death by tigers.
John "Cutter" Grendel(center, sitting on the gun), the gunner and on-paper commander of the vehicle. Descendant of one of English nobles (he quickly learnt to drink Arstotzkan vodka instead of tea, but he always used his porcelain cup to do it) that decided to stay on the continent, he was most educated of crewmembers. This caused him to be assigned as the commander of the tank, but he gladly let the Billotzic do the actual job, so he could focus on shooting enemy targets. Despite his skills in doing that, he enjoyed swordmanship. He actually managed to capture an Moskurgian scimitar which he frequently used in challenges he gave to captured Moskurgian officers. Before joining the Glorious Army, he was hunting tigers for fur and also was first (and only) Arstotzkan fencing master. While it's unknown what exactly happened, he was found dead about five kilometers from the tank, holding his Scimitar, with numerous dead Moskurgians around him, dozens of holes and cuts in him and chopped off arm and head. The head was never found, and his arm was later discovered under pile of four bodies, all impaled by another scimitar his hand was still holding.
Artyom "Coalmaster" Korchasko (rightmost, with the shovel), he was the fireman of the crew. He was responsible for much of the tank combat performance and the fact they managed to live so long. He took care of the engine himself, causing it to be less prone to cooking the crew and actually managed to squeeze more horsepower out of it. His mechanical knowledge allowed him to set up an Vodka distillery in the tank with Sergiej Kolobanovski, but the former was more skilled in making said beverage. He was an train coalmaster (known for making it go so fast that tigers couldn't outrun it) before he joined the Glorious Army, and he initially volunteered for infantry, but after he lost his leg to crazed Moskurgian officer with a sword (which caused him to sleep as far from Cutter as possible, also looking with distrust everytime he sharpened or even touched his scimitar) he got moved to tank corps. After the tank got disabled, he defended it from Moskurgians and tigers with shovel, until help arrived, despite being badly burned (he was in right coal chamber when "Glorious" got hit). After being discharged (and not accepted again, due to his burns, lost leg and left arm bitten off by a tiger) he became the master distiller of Arstotzkan Five-Star Vodka, which caused it to become most popular Vodka in Forenia. In a interview he stated that his Vodka is nothing compared to the one made by Spiritman. Few years later he apparently commited suicide, but the public belives that he was assasinated.
Viktor "Left" Kalugin (on top of the tank, with flag) was the (ironically) right machinegunnner of the tank. True Arstotzkan body and mind, he was also tasked with safekeeping the squad flag. He was youngest member of the crew, but he was also pretty good at shooting Moskurgians (he wasn't drunk most of time, unlike Sergiej) despite the horrible conditions. Before joining the Glorious Army he studied tigrisology and practical applications of weaponry to keep tiger population down. He was first to die when artillery shell struck the right side of the tank, causing the hot steam, flames and sharpnel to unload on him, but the damage also let the rest of crew come out almost unscratched (only the Artyom got burned), as the steam vented through the side.
Sergiej "Spiritman" Kolobanovski was the left machinegunner of the tank and best distiller in the crew. He frequently made vodka and refilled old Arstotzkan Five-Star bottles to sell to other units or use for themselves. Perpetually drunk, was the second thing (the first being his vodka) that tied the whole crew together. He was also known for being able to contact "unofficial" supply lines of the army. He possesed the second most magnificent moustache in the crew. Most of the time he wore a distinctive red scarf, which he apparently got from a girl. Before he joined the Glorious Army he was a prospering farmer and Voyt of a village in northern parts of Arstotzka, known for frequently organizing self-defence militia and tiger hunting parties. He got badly wounded when laying the covering fire for Crunchies and Grendel when they broke through Moskurgian encirclement. He died out of wounds in field hospital few days after.
All of them were posthumously rewarded Medal Of Glory, highest Arstotzkan military decoration.
Shows more fuckups tho. Also it's based on some Saint-Chamond model (I couldn't get it right myself really, but I'm quite happy with how the front turned out) image on the nets
Also the perspective is shit (it's even more visible on unedited one), my portrayal of the tank is not true to source enough, uniforms don't have enough pockets, etc. Also, I wrote the story in middle of night (It's also bad, but hey, I spend too much time on writing it to scrap it) so there is proably a lot of errors and I proably ommited some shit. Other stuff is bad too, too tired to point out which.
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