- "Highly armored vehicle equipped with heavy cannons. Strong against ground targets. " — In game description
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Battlecruiser
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| Vehicle Information | |
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Classification
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Cruiser
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Purpose
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Anti-Armor
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Vehicle Type
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Battlecruiser
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| Technical Information | |
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Length
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111 meters
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Speed
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50 km/h
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Armaments
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2x Dual Heavy Cannons
Smoke Launchers |
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Damage
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300
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Rate of Fire
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LOW
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Hull
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6500
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Armor
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25
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Build Time
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75s
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Fleet Supply
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6
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| Usage | |
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Eras
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Affiliation
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Note: These are stats are from multiplayer.
Campaign units have different stats. | |
The SBC-34 Vanguard-class Battlecruiser is a heavily armed and armored cruiser-class landship designed by Kiith Soban, and used by the Coalition of the Northern Kiithid during the voyage to the Jaraci Object.
Lore[]
- "This powerful battlecruiser has had a troubled start in military service. While initially launched by Kiith Soban and lauded for its amazing durability and heavy firepower, combat maneuvers in the deep desert revealed the design was too heavy for the width of its forward drive tracks. Seven units were lost in dune slides before Soban recalled the design and removed the forward heavy artillery mounts. While the current Mark 2 version has to depend solely on its dual heavy cannons, the change has made this battlecruiser a solid anchor to any battle line, under any conditions." — Expedition Guide
Campaign[]
Battlecruisers are heavily armored, heavily armed with a very strong hull. They are capable of taking an exceeding amount of damage, with their armor rendering them impervious to light weapons from Gaalsien sandskimmers and assault ships. They are first seen in use at the battle in Whispering Gallery, where a Kiith Sidiim battlecruiser is mounting a desperate defence against the Gaalsien carriers K'had Sunder and K'had Retribution. Kapisi gains the capability to build these battlecruisers when it reaches Kashar Plateau.
Few Gaalsien vehicles can challenge battlecruisers. Gaalsien siege cruisers can inflict massive amounts of damage from long range and without the need of line of sight. Large formations of heavy railguns can also threaten battlecruisers. Sidiim battlecruisers are also severe threat, as well as cruise missiles. However overall, battlecruisers can largely supplant railguns and armored assault vehicles in the final stages of the expedition since they bring more firepower and protection to the fleet.
Indirect fire ability is available for battlecruisers, which when active, temporarily eliminates the need for line of sight to its target.
Battlecruisers are slightly faster than their variant in multiplayer, with different defensive abilities. Battlecruisers in multiplayer lack self repair and indirect fire, instead they have smoke screen to break line of sight. They overall perform the same in combat, with identical hull, armor and firepower.
Abilities[]
| Name | Effect | Cooldown | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indirect Fire | Can target over obstacles for 20 seconds | 60s | None |
| Self Repair | The hull will regenerate when out of combat | 0s | None |
Veterancy[]
| Rank | Effect | XP Required |
|---|---|---|
| Officer | +2 Armor | 6500 |
| Lieutenant | +200 Hull | 9500 |
| Lt. Commander | +4 Armor | 14000 |
| Commander | +300 Hull | 21000 |
| Captain | +75% Damage | 32000 |
Research[]
| Name | CU Cost | RU Cost | Time | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battlecruiser Fabrication | 950 CUs | 175 RUs | 45s | Enables battlecruiser production |
| Battlecruiser - Indirect Fire | 350 CUs | 15 RUs | 15s | Enables ability to target over obstacles |
| Battlecruiser - Ability Recharge | 500 CUs | 50 RUs | 20s | Reduces ability recharge time by 50% |
| Battlecruiser - Payload | 750 CUs | 25 RUs | 25s | Increases its cannon's blast radius by 25% |
| Battlecruiser - Self Repair | 950 CUs | 75 RUs | 30s | Enables battlecruiser's passive self repair ability |
Multiplayer[]
Coalition battlecruisers are heavily armored and highly durable, being able to sustain an exceeding amounts of damage, second only to command carriers. Their high armor make them near-impervious to damage from a number of vehicles that deal low damage such as Gaalsien Sandskimmers, gunships and armored assault vehicles. They can even survive a direct hit from a cruise missile. They are equipped with dual heavy cannons that deals massive damage in an area at a moderate range. Battlecruisers can quickly destroy any ground vehicle within their cannons range, including carriers.
Battlecruisers' greatest weakness is their limited range coupled with their slow speed. They are easily outranged by railguns, and several railguns can heavily damage battlecruisers. Gaalsien heavy railguns in particular can easily remain outside a battlecruiser's heavy cannons range while engaging it. Battlecruisers do have smoke screen to break line of sight, and they can take cover behind dunes, but these options only provides a window of opportunity to either escape or for reinforcements to arrive. Only a very large number of battlecruisers can brunt the sheer damage of a large railgun formation by pushing forward until they are cornered. However this is generally not economically feasible as battlecruisers are quite expensive and require time to build, whereas railguns are cheap units built in almost any match. Should railguns enter the weapon range of battlecruisers, however (which is roughly as far as its sensor range), they're easily destroyed in several shots. Battlecruisers are also vulnerable to air strikes, specifically bombers. Support cruisers with anti-air missiles are ideal escorts, both repairing any damage and deterring air strikes. Finally, battlecruisers' slow speed make them easy targets for artillery.
Battlecruisers are best paired with units that can shore up their weaknesses of speed and railguns. LAVs and air units can quickly eliminate more distant threats while battlecruisers push back the medium vehicles that counter such units.
Battlecruisers are cumbersome vehicles, accelerating and turning even slower than carriers. Generally, battlecruisers rarely have the power of surprise and building them closer to the fight is recommended. Their high hull strength, also incurs the drawback that they take a very long time to repair. Battlecruisers also require an exceedingly highs amounts of XP to rank up.
The smokescreen ability has no effect on aircraft as they do not require line of sight to attack their targets.
The battlecruiser chassis is also used to build the Eclipse-class artillery cruiser, replacing the cannons for artillery missile launchers. Kiith Soban's battlecruisers carry railguns instead of cannons.
Strong against:[]
Coalition/Soban:
- Light Attack Vehicle
- Armored Assault Vehicle
- Coalition Carrier (early game)
Gaalsien/Khaaneph:
Weak against:[]
Coalition/Soban:
- Coalition Railgun
- Soban Railgun
- Soban Battlecruiser
- Strike Fighter
- Tactical Bomber
- Soban Carrier
- Coalition Carrier (late game)
Gaalsien/Khaaneph:
Abilities[]
| Name | Effect | Cooldown | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke Screen | Generates a smoke screen temporarily at its location | 60s | None |
Veterancy[]
| Rank | Effect | XP Required |
|---|---|---|
| Officer | +3 Armor | 3200 |
| Lieutenant | +200 Hull | 6080 |
| Lt. Commander | +10% Damage | 11552 |
| Commander | -15% Reload Time | 21949 |
| Captain | +300 Hull | 41703 |
Research[]
| Name | CU Cost | RU Cost | Time | Effect | Prerequisites |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battlecruiser Fabrication | 700 CUs | 450 RUs | 110s | Enables battlecruiser production | AAV Prerequisites |
Trivia[]
- Battlecruisers are always crewed by Kiith Soban, with a complement of 35.
- Artillery cruisers and battlecruiser appear to share the same chassis with different weapon systems installed.
- Kapisi engineering upgraded their battlecruisers with Gaalsien munitions recovered from a Gaalsien base they had encountered during Operation Khadiim.