Crewmate and right loader Parker has seen better days, but not since the war began. It’s hard to keep it together in these crazy times, but that’ll be your job in  Steel Battalion Heavy Armor, which comes out for Xbox 360 next week. 

If you’ve been keeping up, you may recall that we began a giveaway for a snazzy  SBHA canvas bag filled with military-themed goodies. Hit the jump to see our winning submission, plus a couple other ones we thought were exceptional. 

Steel Battalion Heavy Armor releases June 19th in North America, June 22nd in Europe. If you’ve got a Microsoft Kinect, download the playable demo today!

Winner

Einhanded

November 17, 2082
Sovereignty doesn’t seem to hold any meaning to me these days. It’s amazing to think this land was once a place to raise a family and call home. Our Launch vehicle was way off target due to some bad weather at sea, dropping us off north of New York. We’ve been driving these damned VTs through snow-covered, burning debris of Massachusetts for the past 2 months trying to meet up with the main battalion, weeding out any hostiles holding up in the area with little success. Platoon numbers have dropped heavily with every sortie we find ourselves against; our last encounter left us running with our tails between our legs down a ravine headed in the wrong direction, with only 3 VTs remaining, minimal ammo, low rations, and a handful of wounded men, I don’t think we’re meant to make it out of here alive….man, what I would give for some beef ravioli and meat sauce right about now. The rest of the troops are finishing up pouring hot water onto the gears so we should be ready to head out soon to find a high point and hopefully find a damned radio signal from command. I’ve got a feeling we’re still being tailed, so time is of the essence…signing out.

Private Desmond Goforth
347th Ravens

↑ Well written, relevant to the game, and that beef ravioli shout-out gave us quite a chuckle. Thought we felt a little guilty for laughing immediately afterward. 

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Honorable Mentions

William

↑ Bonus points for presentation!

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Sam

They say war never changes.

God, I hope they’re wrong.

We took a big first step today, landing on Manhattan. But the price was steep. The view out of a VT may be small, but the things I saw out of them as we landed–things you can’t ever un-see.

It only got worse on the beach. Things got rough fast and we took some big hits. Our subcom panicked and tried to bail out the top hatch. I grabbed his legs and pulled as soon as I realized what he was doing, but only his legs made it back inside.

Somehow–for the rest of the crew, I guess–I kept it together until we’d secured the beach, but I can’t get his scared face, the look of panic in his eyes as he popped the hatch.

Poor kid just wanted to go home. We all want to go home. He just got there first.

It never ends though. Before we head to UN HQ, we’ve got to do something with our prisoners. We’re short on food as it is, and I’m worried about what will become of them.

Someone was saying kill them. We can’t. It can’t come to that. We’re Americans. The look in the prisoners’ eyes is the same one I saw in my subcom’s. Those poor ****s aren’t here by choice any more than we are.

Whatever happens next, I hope it happens soon. I can’t stand this waiting, reliving the past few hours over and over. The sooner we move out the sooner this ends.

I keep thinking that I’ll feel better when the sun comes up, but it never seems to rise.

War never changes.

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