Gunboat
Fast patrol boat with an autocannon that also fires at aircraft. Cheap naval eyes.
Stats
- Tier
- Tier 1
- Cost
- 130 metal
- Build time
- 10 s
- Hit points
- 260
- Armor
- Ship
- Speed
- 2.8 tiles/s
- Unit cap
- 1
- Vision
- 9 tiles
- Power
- −1
- DPS
- 32
- Range
- 4.2 tiles
Weapons
Autocannon
- Damage
- 16
- Reload
- 0.50 s
- DPS
- 32
- Range
- 4.2 tiles
- Traits
- Aimed from a mount that turns on its own: the unit fires in any direction without turning its hull, and can keep firing on the move. A fixed gun has to face its target first.
- vs Light
- ×1.50
- vs Medium
- ×1
- vs Heavy
- ×0.50
- vs Structure
- ×0.50
- vs Ship
- ×0.80
- vs Aircraft
- ×0.25
Counters
- Light
- Effective against: ×1.50; Countered by: ×1
- Medium
- Effective against: ×1; Countered by: ×1
- Heavy
- Effective against: ×0.50; Countered by: ×1
- Structure
- Effective against: ×0.50; Countered by: ×1.10
- Ship
- Effective against: ×0.80; Countered by: ×1.60
- Submarine
- Effective against: —; Countered by: ×1.30
- Aircraft
- Effective against: ×0.25; Countered by: ×1.70
The Gunboat is the Tier-1 patrol craft: fast, cheap and armed with an autocannon that is good against other light craft and shoreline targets. It is the Recon Buggy of the sea. The same gun fires at aircraft at a quarter of its damage: a few boats together see off a lone helicopter, though a Flak Track does that job better for the metal.
How to use
Build a couple as soon as the Naval Yard is up to scout the coastline, find enemy shipyards and kill landing craft before they unload. Gunboats can also strafe coastal extractors and engineers. They fall apart against frigates and destroyers, so retreat as soon as real warships appear. Keep a handful together near the yard: a helicopter hunting boats one at a time pays for it.
Anecdotes
“Gunboat diplomacy” is a real term of art: park something armed in somebody's harbour and let the argument make itself. The tactic is nineteenth-century, and the phrase has outlived every gunboat that inspired it.
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