Designed for southern forces as the super heavy fire support Gear in the Constrictor Series produced in the early 19th century, the Boa never made it to the field as a general use Gear during its initial development. When Mandeers designed the Boa, they wanted to make it the most well protected Gear on the market at the time; however, the added armor weight of the unit caused the Boa to be useless as a fire support Gear since it could not carry heavy weaponry needed to fulfill the intended role.
For decades, the Boa design languished in the design vaults of the company, and with crippling debt mounting at Mandeers military systems division, the company decided to sell off the useless constrictor designs to Neil Motor Works, a manufacturing company in NuCoal, for a premium price.
With the assistance of expatriate Humanist preceptors, Neil Motorworks, the capable Badlands-based manufacturing company, was able to solve the long-standing issues that had previously plagued the chassis. This solution came in the form on an ingenious quad-engine design. The new power plant was more than sufficient to allow the Boa to mount the various weaponry that its class of Gear was expected to carry.
In TN1940 the Boa returned to the South through a licensing agreement between Mandeers and Neil Motorworks. In return for licensing the Copperhead to the Badlands outfit, the Boa, and its overhauled engine design, was licensed back to Mandeers for production in its Atsi facilities, with the intention of marketing it to Southern armed forces.
Rather than marketing the design to the Republic, Mandeers approached secondary markets, notably the Mekongese Peacekeepers and MILICIA forces stationed in and around the Mekong Dominion, knowing full well that both parties would always be interested in acquiring cheap but effective tech.
