| “ | They will never cross the river. | ” |
| —A Gharial keeping enemies at bay |
The Gharial is a heavy assault infantry fighting vehicle used by the Last Bastion.
Description
The Gharial is a companion unit to the Mastodon, designed to support the Mastodon in situations that the super heavy tank cannot take on (except attacking airborne units). Striking a balance between armor and speed, the amphibious Gharial is equipped with two powerful ground-based weapons: a powerful dual power cannon similar to the one used by Kingsframes, and grenade launchers; in tandem, these weapons can quickly pummel structures and defensive emplacements, leaving them in ruins. The Gharial also serves as an armored personnel transport, carrying two Knightframes within its vast hull, ready to take the fight to the enemy.
But that’s not all: Gharials are built with survivability in mind. As such, Gharial plating is greatly reinforced to prevent a host of battlefield hazards from affecting it, its crew, or its occupants. Thus, Gharials are completely immune to the effects of – among other things – radiation, chemical poisoning, freezing, EMP, and even Foehn confusion rays.
Overview
Last Bastion's Gharial, as its official description puts it as, is the polar opposite of the Mastodon. While the super heavy plasma railgun-armed tank excels at reducing vehicles into charred scrap, it cannot do much against infantry and structures. This is where the Gharial comes in to use - its weapons are very effective against both infantry and structures. They are also amphibious, meaning a wily commander can slip them behind defense lines and inflict some serious damage where the enemy might not expect a waterborne assault from. It is also pre-loaded with two Knightframes straight out of the War Factory in order to provide it with some infantry backup if needed.
While they are already formidably armored in their own right, Gharials are also immune to almost every known battlefield hazard (radiation, poisoning, electromagnetic pulses, etc.) meaning they are often an ideal unit that can effectively remove specialized threats without too much fear of retaliation, such as Desolators. The big exception is mind-control; since version 3.3.2, Gharials are now prime targets for mind-control, meaning the Last Bastion will have more difficulty assaulting Epsilon bases which are riddled with psychic defenses.
Gharials cannot attack aircraft and even with their heavy armor, will likely suffer heavy casualties if forced to deal with heavy base defense lines. It does not help either that Last Bastion lacks a Tier 3 dedicated anti-aircraft vehicle and artillery unit, meaning the Gharial must rely on large numbers to break through defenses while anticipating costly casualties.
In conclusion, the Gharial is an important complement to any Last Bastion armored column - especially if the commander in question plans to use Mastodons to their full potential.
Appearances
- Gharial prototypes bearing the Chinese color scheme, then unnamed, appear in Heartwork at the start of the mission.
- Gharial prototypes can be found among Yunru's forces in Machinehead. These Gharials are unmanned and/or unarmed, as it will not fire on the player's units.
Assessment
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Quotes
The Gharial is voiced by De'Lante Capers (previously credited as Rhys_Dallows).
When selected
- Armed to the teeth.
- Gharial, fully equipped.
- A starving croc is never pleasant...
- They will never cross the river.
- Fish... fish everywhere!
- I've got everything you need!
When ordered to move
- In a snap.
- Don't step on the crocodile.
- Take me to the feeding grounds.
- Down the stream.
- Gharial on the move.
- I'll bank on that.
When ordered to attack
- Don't mock the croc.
- Fire all weapons!
- Strike the weakest spot!
- Such big fish, such a little pond.
- Blow it away.
- And here we go!
When ordered to attack air (unused)
- Slippery thing you are.
- Flew too low.
- Start the electronics.
- Got you now!
- Little fish wants to fly.
Gallery
Trivia
- The gharial is a species of crocodilian native to Northern India notable for its long thin snout and mainly feeds on fish.
- While Gharials cannot attack air units, they still have unique lines when ordered to attack them.
- Prior to the release of 3.3, the Gharial was first revealed as an "unidentified Chinese unit".[1]
- Bu7loos is credited as the voxel artist for the Chinese variant of Gharial.
References
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Items in italics are heroes and epic units Items in bold are superweapons |
