Maginot's Char 2C by HotFlags on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

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What will be read below is not canon in Girls und Panzer.

Model: FCM Char 2C
Classification: Super-Heavy Tank
Manufacturer: Lignes d'assemblage Maginot (French: Maginot Assembly Lines, 1966-Present), Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée (1921)
Armaments: 75 mm APX mod. 1897 cannon (Main Weapon), 4x 8 mm Hotchkiss Mle 1914 machine guns (Secondary Weapons - Three in gimbal ball mounts at front and both sides forward, one mounted in a rear turret)
Affiliations: Maginot Girls' College

Background

Although Maginot Girls' College, with its French tanks, is now a bit of an underdog in sensha-do due to its strict adherence to pre-planned and inflexible strategies, in the past the school was one of the great powerhouses of sensha-do, and all this was largely due to Maginot's great heavy weapon: the Char 2C super-heavy tank.

This 2C has an iconic history: initially, it was a modified 2C with a 155mm howitzer and two new turrets, which was called the "2C Bis". However, this change was temporary, as the tank was brought back to its previous condition in 1934. In World War II, this 2C was nicknamed "Champagne", and a few years later it was captured more or less intact by the Germans and taken to Berlin to be displayed as a war trophy. In 1948, however, the Champagne simply disappeared from Berlin and no one knew its whereabouts. What actually happened was that the Soviet Union had taken the 2C that was stored in a hangar in the Soviet occupied zone of Berlin.

1948 also marked the emergence of a very popular sport in the coming years, the famous Tankery, or Sensha-do as it was known in Japan. In fact, after much insistence, Japan was involved with the British and Americans in research to develop new technologies that would be used to this day in tank sports. The Soviets, seeing that the 2C was of absolutely no use, sent it to Japan to help with research and testing of safe armor.

In 1949, the 2C was finally completely modified to the standards of the new sensha-do, but it remained in the possession of the Allied administration that occupied Japan at the time for a few years. In 1952, with the Allies leaving Japan, the 2C was purchased by a school with a strong winemaking tradition and a French lifestyle: Maginot Girls' College. The following year, Maginot debuted at the 4th Sensha-do Tournament, and fielded the 2C as the flag tank, along with a handful of Renault FT-17 light tanks and Saint-Chamond heavy tanks, which sported the same cannon. In this tournament, Maginot practically massacred the enemy teams and became champions, being the first Sensha-do team still active to win a tournament. In addition, they also managed to win the following tournament, being the first team to win a tournament more than once in a row. However, in the 6th Sensha-do Tournament, they were defeated in the finals by St. Gloriana Girls' College and their Mark tanks and the A1E1 Independent.

In subsequent tournaments, Maginot would soar to new heights, and would remain a sensha-do powerhouse for many years. To increase the team's firepower, they also purchased several more 2Cs, with one of them being modified and transformed into the 2C Bis. The 2C always served as Maginot's flag tank, since the defensive tactics they implemented were extremely comfortable for its cannon, which could take out enemy tanks at long range. And despite the deployment of better armed and armored tanks over the years, such as the Kuromorimine with the early variants of the Panzer IV and the St. Gloriana with its Crusaders, Maginot continued to triumph throughout the 1960s, always reaching at least the semi-finals of the tournaments.

However, from the second half of the 1970s onwards, Maginot saw its rivals operating increasingly modern tanks, such as Kuromorimine's Panthers, St. Gloriana's Churchill Mk.VIIs and Pravda's IS-2s, and taking sensha-do even more seriously. Maginot could not keep up with its rivals, and even with its 2Cs, it fell further and further behind in the sensha-do scene, until it became nothing more than a minor player. The last time Maginot reached a high level was in the 30th Sensha-do Tournament, when they reached the semi-finals after defeating rivals as weak as themselves. However, they were crushed by Kuromorimine Girls' Academy and their Panthers.

With their competitors becoming even stronger and the high cost of maintenance, the same year they lost the tournament, Maginot had no choice but to retire most of their 2Cs from service and store them in garages. Occasionally, one of these would be fielded, but it would have little impact on the match due to the tank's obsolescence. Their defeat in recent tournaments and the retirement of the 2C spelled the end of Maginot as a sensha-do powerhouse.

In the years that followed, Maginot's outdated defensive tactics doomed them to perpetual underdogs. They remained active in the Sensha-do tournaments, but rarely qualified for anything beyond the opening round. The school's only fully operational 2C would continue to be used, mainly in matches against schools they knew they would defeat if they fielded it, such as Anzio High School and Waffle Academy. However, prior to the 63rd Sensha-do Tournament, a mechanical failure resulted in the tank being out of action for an indefinite period of time, and it is still under repair. This proved to be a major blow to Maginot, who would be defeated by Ooarai Girls' Academy in a friendly match, and by Anzio High School in the 63rd Sensha-do Tournament, in which both enemy flag tanks were knocked out at the same time, but the judges ruled Anzio the victor, ruining Maginot's chances of a possible rematch against Ooarai. To this day, some Maginot students hold a grudge against the judges who made Anzio's victory official, with some even theorizing that the judges were bribed by Anzio with pizzas and pastas to conspire against Maginot so that they could not battle Ooarai.