5,000 round box mag. 8.5kg unloaded, 11kg loaded. A rate of fire capability that needs the magazine configured to even keep up. This is the Lambda Defense Mk.48 GPMG.
The Lambda Defense Mk.48 General Purpose Machine Gun, a very faithful replica (right down to the weight!) of the widely-used FN Mark 48 (sometimes called the Maximi, in contrast to the other widely-used FN product, the Minimi Light Machine Gun), is a potent force in any Airsoft match, for as long as you've got the strength and stamina to lug it around!
The Internals
One of our Team's gunners, Henry, took it to the next level, getting the internals overhauled to improve performance and, importantly, increase longevity: the stock model has a known issue with wearing through the internals in short order. Upgrades or frequent repairs are a must, and Henry upgraded.
A full steel-toothed piston replaces the stock piston, a known early failure risk, and has been enhanced with an SHS 13:1 Super High Speed Gear Set.
The motor has been replaced with an Action Army 30,000 RPM motor and the piston head upgraded to a Lonex Aluminium Ventilated Head as well, to round out the internals overhaul.
The end result, on the battlefield, is a terror to behold.
With impressive range and a punishing rate of fire, Henry was the anchor of every defensive line the Yellow Team set up.
The right flank of Yellow's defensive effort around Valhalla base, centred on the GPMG covering the open ground approaching the base, was impenetrable: scything fire from Henry's position prevented any meaningful assault from gathering steam, while the team's two sharpshooters picked off any effort at a wider flanking attack.
The Mk 48 GPMG is a hungry beast, and controlling your rate of fire is critical if you want to stay in the game to see the end of it! 1-2 second bursts are more than enough to suppress effectively, and will keep you on the innocent side of overshooting or overkilling rules on-site.
For longer games, or for using it across a whole game day, carrying extra BBs and, crucially, extra batteries, proved to be a necessity. At one point our GPMG went out of action due to battery depletion!
It cannot be overstated just how effective a GPMG can be, especially in a team setting where you can structure an organised defence around it, or commence your pushes under a hail of BBs.
The Defence of Valhalla
In the initial defence, we positioned Henry behind some cover on the side of the road, with line of sight down the length of the road. We anticipated Blue would attempt to cross the road and take shelter in the long grass on the Valhalla-side (right hand side of the image). Using the rest of our team to guard Henry against flanking attempts up the left hand side of the road, the GPMG made any crossing attempt near to Valhalla impossible, forcing the Blue team to cross much further down the road, out of the GPMG's range, causing them to largely surrender the high ground advantage they could otherwise have by crossing closer to Valhalla (which is downhill from the road).
Our sharpshooters were instrumental in spotting enemy players trying to move up our flank, and in picking off enemy players attempting to use the tower on their side of the road to get line of sight on Henry.
Pressure and rising casualties on the defending side forced the Team to withdraw closer to the base, as our riflemen were increasingly needed to shore up the base's defences against Blue advances from their crossing point further down the road.
With our sharpshooters in the ditch to the right of the GPMG position, Henry's new field of fire was an open field. Blue team, sensing opportunity, renewed their attacks on our side of the defence, but again came up against a well-supported GPMG position. The few players that made it to the relative safety of the lone tree were soon picked off by our sharpshooters.
In the end, our defence only faltered when Henry was taken out of the game, the game's life rules giving defenders only two lives to use before being unable to rejoin the fight, and this only came after around 45 minutes of throwing back every Blue team attempt to approach our positions.
Conclusion
With 5,000 rounds in a single box mag (and no one says you can only carry one mag...) you can close off entire avenues of advance for the enemy team, and if you position your team-mates to support the GPMG position it can be extremely difficult for the enemy to overcome that position. We used our sharpshooters in a supporting role to both spot enemy movement and delay any flanking efforts, and our rifleman players were situated in nearby mutually supporting positions to keep the heat off the GPMG position for as long as possible, shifting to new positions as needed, as the enemy's attempted advances unfolded in front of us.
Do you want to maximise your own team's capability with enhanced firepower? Check out our guide on how to properly apply Suppressive Fire!
If you want to see this beast of a weapon in action, check out our video of the above game day!
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