A heavily-armored mech built using cutting-edge technology. It can switch between an offensive and defensive mode.
The TF-987 "Čuvar" is a highly-advanced dual-mode mech that can adapt on the battlefield. Designed and fielded by Nikola Tesla's Factory, it gives the facility heavy hitting firepower that can take it in return. Currently unplayable, they appear during the Rusviet and Saxony campaigns as enemy AI units.
General Description[]
Like many of the Factory's exclusive units, the bipedal Čuvar is designed with an insect-like, almost alien aesthetic compared to contemporary mech units of outside nations like Rusivet or Saxony. It is covered in burnished, bronze-colored armor plates that are curved, smooth, and fit together cleanly, its lines are smooth and organic, and numerous glowing parts add to the otherworldly design. A large energy cannon sticks out of its "head" and its "arms" are each armed with a rotary machine gun. Above the cannon are a series of tubes which launches four tesla mines at one go, and the whole elegant assembly walks on two short legs. To add to the strangeness, the mech can fold up into itself; in this form it resembles a large metal egg standing on the ground on its narrow point.
Pros[]
Unlike the small and fast but much more vulnerable TF-377 "Sluga" mechs or the similarly lightly-armored TF-233 "Šetač" mechsuit infantry, the Čuvar brings durability and firepower to the defensive line around the Factory. Its medium armor grants it all but invulnerability to small arms fire, and its large health pool means it can take a fair beating from lighter anti-mech firepower as well. Its machine guns can suppress infantry and each gun can target a different infantry squad, pinning them down to for allies to finish them off or to deliver a coup-de-grace with its very powerful head-mounted cannon. Said cannon deals heavy blows to unarmored, light armored, and even medium armored units, and its large AOE devastates infantry. In its defensive mode, it gains significant damage reductions and can take a hefty battering to destroy.
Cons[]
Unlike its fellow Factory troops, however, the Čuvar is fairly slow and its overall damage output is fairly low on its own. The cannon, while strong, takes a while to charge and fire again, and its machine guns are effective for suppression but do relatively little damage even to infantry. This leaves it ill-suited to dueling heavier units. It is also fairly slow and easy to outmaneuver. Its medium armor also leaves it vulnerable to heavy anti-mech weapons like artillery; far more so in its defensive mode as it becomes entirely immobile. Moving between these modes causes a brief delay where the mech can neither move, fight, or take advantage of its defensive bonus. Thus it works best in small groups to tank damage and support its allied units with its powerful gun, being repaired by the Sluga or letting the melee swarm mechs chase down and dispatch the suppressed infantry, while being bolstered by the rapid firepower of the Setač.
Weapons[]
The Čuvar bristles with weapons, hefting a large gatling-style rotary machine gun on both of its upper appendages. The head segment houses a long-barreled energy cannon that seems to fire a collected ball of energy that has a distinct sound more like a dart being blown down a tube. On top of the head seems to be a series of four large tubes that fires tesla mines which are deadly to infantry.
Abilities[]
- Offensive Mode (Toggled): the Čuvar can move and use its weapons.
- Defensive Mode (Toggled): the Čuvar folds up into a ball and becomes immobile and cannot use its weapons but gains a significant defensive bonus.
- Tesla mines: Čuvars can launch up to four energy mines. [1]
Trivia[]
- The word "Čuvar" translates to "Guard" or "Guardian" in Serbian.
- Čuvar, like the Sluga mechs which are much too small to carry human pilots, seems to be automated and thus operate via some early form of artificial intelligence or similar programing.
Gallery[]
