Mattias Nilsson, the Swedish mercenary who brought down two corrupt dictators in North Korea and Venezuela.
VS
Giacomo Dante, the Italian mercenary who sided with a terrorist group just for the thrill of hunting the cyborgs of the "Social Welfare Agency"
WHO IS DEADLIEST!?
Combatants[]
Mattias Nilsson[]
Mattias was born in Arvidsjaur, Sweden circa 1978, there is no record of a Mattias Nilsson in official archives. This has caused some to believe that "Mattias Nilsson" may be a pseudonym, others believing the records were lost due to a childhood experiment with explosives. As a child Mattias was a juvenile delinquent who rarely ever attended school and was always in trouble with the law.
Mattias first joined the Swedish Navy at the young age of 17, and became an artillery soldier. However his obsessive use of explosives eventually got him discharged. A short time later, Mattias joined the Lappland Ranger Regiment, commonly known as the Arctic Rangers. While serving with the Rangers, he would accept the most dangerous assignments, seemingly heedless of his own personal safety. His apparent need for a constant adrenaline rush concerned his superiors, who knew the Arctic Rangers existed in an unforgiving and merciless environment. Mattias accepted this and thrived, building up a rapport with his comrades. His loyalty caused problems however as he frequently fought on his fellow Ranger's behalf. Mattias was never liked very much, and after the injury of a fellow member because of Mattias, he was discharged in 1999.
Shortly afterward, he joined an outlaw biker gang known as the Wolfpack Brotherhood MC. Under his influence, the Brotherhood went from being a mild irritant to the Swedish authorities to becoming a host of the most wanted criminals of the nation. Mattias himself became infamous for his violent exploits and adrenaline-fueled stunts. Mattias began a war between the biker gangs by inflitrating army bases and stealing equipment which he used against rival biker gangs. He was eventually captured by the Swedish authorities, but never one to be chained down, he escaped while being transferred to another prison.
Now a fugitive in his native Sweden, he realized he could not remain there. He left the country and became a mercenary. He swiftly gained a reputation for overkill, often using high explosives and air strikes for jobs best suited for small arms. Despite this, he got his assignments done and his explosive reputation soon made him one of the most sought-after mercenaries in the world. After being a operative for Tactical Solutions Inc., he joined Executive Operations, where his first assignment was the "Song Initiative."
Mattias has served in conflicts around the world. The so far known ones are Kosovo where he worked alongside Josef, North Korea, Montenegro, East Timor, Senegal alongside fellow mercenary Blanco and most recently Venezuela.
Giacomo Dante[]
Giacomo Dante is a major antagonist in the manga Gunslinger Girl, and a member of the Italian separatist terrorist organization known as the "Five Republics Faction", apparently involved in the bombings that killed the parents of SWA personnel Jean and Guise Croche. Dante is a mercenary who joined the FRF not out of support for their ideals, but out of simple bloodlust, being "addicted" to the thrill of battle. Dante is involved in a bombing of the St. Marks Belltower in a Venice, which he actually uses as a trap to send the Social Welfare Agency out into the open. Dante manages to kill three of the SWA cyborgs, two of them with claymore mines and one, Beatrice, with a Denel NTW-20 20mm anti-materiel rifle. Dante later goes on to hold up a nuclear power plant in Turin with the aid of numerous FRF terrorists armed with NTW-20 and Barret .50 anti-materiel rifles to combat the SWA cyborgs, as well as rocket launchers, Stinger missiles, automated sentry guns and even a VBM Freccia armored personnel carrier and a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun to combat conventional Italian military forces.
Weapons[]
Handguns[]
Sig Sauer P226 (Mattias)[]
The Sig Sauer P226 is a 9mm semi-automatic handgun with a 15-round magazine. The weapon is similar to the earlier Sig Sauer P220, but with a larger capacity magazine.
Heckler and Koch USP (Giacomo)[]
The USP is a German-made semi-automatic handgun in .45 caliber, with a maximum range of 30 meters and a 12-round magazine.
119's Edge[]
Mattias' Sig Sauer for its superior magazine size.
Assault Rifles[]
XM8 Carbine (Mattias)[]
The XM8 was an experimental 5.56mm carbine that was cancelled by the US military, but nonetheless made an appearance in the Mercenaries series. The rifle has a rate of fire of 750 rounds per minute, and a muzzle velocity of 900 meters per second. The weapon is equipped with an unmagnified reflex sight.
M4 Carbine (Giacomo)[]
The M4 is the standard issue carbine for the United States Armed Forces, firing a 5.56mm round at a rate of fire of 750-900 rounds per minute. The weapon uses a 30-round magazine and has an effective range of 500-600 meters and a muzzle velocity of 884 meters per second.
119's Edge[]
Mattias' XM8 for its superior rate of fire
Sniper Rifles[]
Modified Barrett M95 (Mattias)[]
The Barrett M95 is a bolt-action .50 BMG sniper rifle with a 5-round magazine. The one used by Mattias is inaccurately depicted as a semi-automatic weapon. The weapon has a range of 1800 meters and a muzzle velocity of 854 m/s.
Denel NTW-20 (Giacomo)[]
The Denel NTW-20 is a massive 20x82mm bolt-action anti-materiel rifle intended for engaging light armor, radars, missile batteries, artillery, bunkers, etc, though it obviously can also engage personnel with devastating results. The weapon was used by Giacomo Dante to eliminate the Social Welfare Agency's child cyborgs, which were armored against conventional weapons fire. Dante successfully killed one of the cyborgs, Beatrice, using this weapon. The NTW-20 has a three-round magazine, and a range of 1500 meters. The weapon, however, is difficult to transport, requiring two men to move it.
119's Edge[]
In spite of the NTW-20's massive caliber, the Barrett has a longer range, and can be moved by one man, whereas in Dante's NTW-20 is so massive that is basically a stationary emplaced weapon. Edge: Mattias Nilsson.
Rocket Launchers[]
RPO-A Shmel (Mattias)[]
The RPO-A is a Russian rocket launcher firing a 93mm thermobaric rocket capable of leveling small structures with a blast equivalent to a 107mm artillery round. The rocket has a range of about 1000 meters, but in reality is only effective at around a few hundred meters or less and is fired from a disposible tube.
AT-4 (Dante)[]
The AT4 is an 84mm disposible anti-tank rocket launcher with a maximum range of 2100 meters from a point target, though in reality its effective range is more like a few hundred meters or less. The warhead is an armor-piercing shaped charge.
119's Edge[]
Dante's AT4 is better against armor and has a higher theoretical maximum range, however, the RPO has much greater destructive potential against buildings and personnel. Even.
Explosives[]
C-4 (Mattias)[]
C-4 is a plastic explosive capable of easily being handled without fear of detonating it, allowing it to be molded into any container. C4 has a detonation velocity of 8092 meters per second.
Claymore Mine (Giacomo)[]
The M18 Claymore mine is a remote-detonated directional mine filled with ball bearings that, when detonated, shoot out in one direction, like a giant shotgun blast. The weapon has an effective range of about 50 meters.
119's Edge[]
Mattias's C-4 has a more destructive blast, but the claymore is a useful anti-personnel weapon. For this reason, I deem this even, as they can both be deadly in this scenario.
Vehicles[]
M2 Bradley (Mattias)[]
The M2 Bradley fighting vehicle is a tracked infantry fighting vehicle used by the US military. The Bradley is armed with a 25mm Bushmaster autocannon, two TOW anti-tank missiles, and an M240 7.62mm machine gun. The vehicle has laminate armor capable of surviving 30mm shells and RPGs, and can carry six battle-equipped soldiers at speeds of up to 66kph or 41 mph.
VBM Freccia (Dante)[]
The VBM Freccia is a variation on the Italian Centauro wheeled armored fighting vehicle. The 105mm turret of the Centauro is replaced with a turret carrying a 25mm Oerlikon cannon and two SPIKE anti-tank missiles, as well as two 7.62mm machine guns. The vehicle has steel armor that can survive 14.5mm rounds to the side and 25mm rounds to the front, with bolt-on plates capable of surviving 30mm rounds available. The vehicle has a top speed of 110 kph (88mph), and can carry eight troops.
119's Edge[]
I'm calling this even as the two vehicle have similar armament, but Bradley has heavier armor, but the Freccia is faster.
X-Factors[]
| Mattias Nilsson | X-Factor | Giacomo Dante |
|---|---|---|
| 98 | Training | 97 |
| 98 | Combat Experience | 95 |
| 96 | Physical Strength | 96 |
| 97 | Marksmanship | 98 |
| 79 | Stealth | 81 |
| 96 | Killer Instinct | 99 |
| 90 | Intelligence | 90 |
Notes[]
Mattias will be accompanied by a squad of five Allied soldiers, and Dante by five fellow mercenaries working for the FRF.
Battle[]
Mattias Nilsson: 
Giacomo Dante: 
Square in a town in northern Italy
Mattias Nilsson's M2 Bradley APC rolled down the deserted streets, only barely wide enough for it. As it rolled into the square, several 25mm rounds pinged off the armor. Nilsson turned the turret to see a VBM Freccia APC with him dead in its sights.
Nilsson fired the Bradley's TOW missile launcher, sending a missile into the side of the Freccia APC, causing it to explode in a flash of fire, but only killing one of Dante's men.
A FRF merc on the roof one of the buildings retaliated, firing an AT4 at the Bradley, destroying it, killing one of the Allied Nations soldiers inside.
Nilsson and the other four soldiers he was working with, however managed to get out of the burning vehicle. Nilsson raised his RPO-A rocket launcher and pulled the trigger, firing a thermobaric rocket into building where Dante's man fired the AT4, killing him and blowing away the front of the building
Suddenly, the upper body of an AN soldier exploded in a mist of blood and gore. An AN sniper took cover behind the Bradley APC, spotting one of Dante's men, armed with a Denel NTW-20 in a building on the west side of the square. The sniper fired, scoring a headshot that caused the FRF sniper's head to practically explode.
Suddenly the sniper himself met the same fate as his target, blown apart by an anti-materiel round. . Nilsson spotted Dante in the tower of a church directly in front of him. Nilsson raised a second RPO-A tube and took aim at the tower.
Dante saw Mattias take aim with the launcher and ran down the stairs of the tower, making it out of the tower, and into the main church building just as the explosion leveled the church tower, killing Dante's spotter.
Nilsson led the two remaining AN soldiers towards the church, XM8s in hand. An AN infantryman burst in first, only the be caught in the blast of a Claymore mine.
Nilsson and the last surviving soldier advanced into the church. A FRF merc armed with an M4 carbine bursts out from behind a pew, only to be cut down by a burst from the last AN soldier's XM8. .
The last AN soldier, however, is cut down second later by Giacomo Dante, who fires his M4 down from the choir balcony.
Mattias fires at Dante with his XM8, driving down the staircase into the main area of the church. Dante fired a burst of fire that narrowly missed Mattias, who dove out of the way behind a pew. Nilsson raised his XM8 and took dead aim at Giacomo Dante, firing a three round burst, one of the rounds scoring a perfect headshot.
Mattias walked over to Dante's body and took a photo to confirm the death of the HVT.
WINNER: Mattias Nilsson
Experts Opinion[]
While both Nilsson and Dante were dangerous, highly trained mercenaries, Nilsson's superior firepower gave him the edge in this battle. As there was no voter turnout, this is a "exhibition match" decided by the author.
Original battle, weapons, and votes available here.