The Guardian Drone is an USA drone armed with a 40mm cannon to engage vehicles, added in 1.85.
Lore
"Back in the Corps, we always had two major rules that we were to follow at all times. First: Do not -ever- leave your fellow Marine behind in a fight. Second: If you can't drop an enemy dead with your gun - use MORE gun! The second rule must have been one of the few things that the R&D eggheads have actually learned from our previous engagement with the GLA, so they created this little guy right here: The Guardian Drone. This amazing box o' fun on treads is basically a remote controlled mini tank - I bet you would have loved to find one of these under the tree on Christmas. Armed with a short 40mm cannon, the Guardian packs enough punch to blast holes through light vehicles and it is both small and agile enough to support our grunts in close quarters. Its treads are built to be very sturdy to compensate for the recoil of the weapon, which also allows the drone to bury itself into a hull-down position for added protection. The Guardian stands as a fine example of our new doctrine: First you send in the robots to secure a foothold and then you get boots on the ground to seal the deal. Rumour has it that the Chinese are currently developing a new type of light tank for the exact same purpose. I hate to break it to the guys in Beijing, but... manned tankettes have been out of fashion since World War II. I guess they missed the memo."
Abilities
| Ability | Description |
|---|---|
 Dig In |
The Guardian drone digs into the ground, increasing its weapon range by 45% and damage resistance by 100% but makes it unable to move. |
 Emerge |
Returns the Guardian drone to its mobile state. |
Overview
Guardian drones are very versitale because they can be used for both offensive and defensive purposes. Being able to dig itself into the ground which allows the drone to obtain certain abilities such as increased range and damage resistance, it can be used as a form of an anti-raid defence by your opponent in early-game. As for its offensive capabilities, it is mainly used as an anti-vehicle unit due to its main gun which can be very dangerous threat to lightly armoured vehicles. These units are also deployed in packs consisting of other drones such as repair and sentry drones making them extremely versatile against both infantry and vehicles.
Counters
Since these drones only have an anti-vehicle gun, it possesses no defence against infantry which are a good counter against these units most notably anti-vehicle infantry such as missle defenders, tank hunters, etc. Additionally, using aircraft against this vehicle is very effective as a result of the units' lack of AA abilities making it virtually defenceless against aircraft. A notable weakness is the units power requirements making it totally dependant on power provided back at the main base, thusly if a commander manages to cripple the base power infrastructure, these units will shut down making them unuseable and defenceless in the field making them an easy target for your units.
Gallery
See also
Trivia
- The Guardian Drone was based on an unused concept art for the original Generals.
