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Single Turret Emplacement I

This mass-produced turret emplacement was one of the most innovative defensive strategies put in place during the conflict. Built cheaply in imperial factories, it is uniquely crewed not by imperial troops but by a member of the local community, who is given a knightly title and accompanying legal privileges. In return for this greatest of honors, said knight is responsible for the upkeep of the weapon, which includes procuring the ammo and the manpower necessary to operate it properly. Uniforms for the volunteers are provided by the knight, and they are responsible for minor repairs, major structural damage being the responsibility of the state.

It quickly became a custom for those newly knighted to have their likeness engraved on the tower by a local artisan. Officials quickly realised that this cultural quirk could be exploited, and most later models of the turrets included a vaguely human slab of stone and a pedestal on the base for the citizens to turn into a proper statue. This greatly contributed to the popularity of these turrets, which became so numerous that they became sufficient for the defense of a number of villages, freeing some much needed resources for the fleet.

The drawback of this strategy are relatively minor. The defense force noted that these turrets tend to run out of ammunition rather quickly, as the townspeople often save money by providing the legal minimum amount of shells, and they seemingly only ever shoot at the largest target in sight, regardless of the defensive strategy currently in place. Thankfully, shooting at the largest target in sight is rarely a bad move. The men and women using these turrets, not being proper imperial soldiers, are also liable to run out of courage if outnumbered, which tends to be fairly useful information if one needs to take back a plot of land where some of these turrets were present.

EDIT: The blurb was made in an old update. This little guy used to have zero upkeep due to how crew works. It will still be cheap as chips, obviously, but it's not free anymore.