Centurion

Centurion upgraded with Advanced Energy Capacitors

79 (Elite)

99 (Heroic)

178 (Heroic)

Advanced Energy Capacitors

## Introduction

The **Centurion** is General Alexis Alexander's main battle tank unit, it's a lightly armored but powerful hover tank armed with a pulse cannon. It's capable of crossing water thanks to its advanced locomotive systems.

## Overview

The Centurion is a second-generation hovering main battle tank mounted on a rather odd trapezium/cuboid chassis with an air-cushion generator underneath to "float" at 10 centimeters from the ground and advanced locomotive systems to allow it to cruise through watery terrain smoothly. It is equipped with a pulse cannon that can quickly put vehicles and structures to ruin. The tank can be upgraded with uranium plated armor for greater durability, three advanced capacitors to increase its weapon's firepower and solar panels to self-sustain in power. Like Townes' units, it is entirely radio-controlled from her main base and its "pilot" just works as an engineer for its maintenance on the battlefield.

Amongst tier 1 tanks, the Centurion is best described as the glass cannon. Its armor is not very impressive, but it makes up for that with its powerful pulse cannon, which can deal considerable damage against structures and vehicles. So far, it's the only amphibious main battle tank in *Contra*, able to seamlessly transition between land and water combat, therefore giving General Alexander's Marines great flexibility.

Despite the fact that the Centurion lacks a turret, the tank is capable of using its hover drive to turn itself to face the enemy while still moving in the direction it's heading. Thus allowing the tank to fire on the move.

With certain upgrades purchased, the Centurion can serve as General Alexander's Tier 3 tank unit, as the composite armor upgrade allows it to take more punishment while the Advanced Energy Capacitors upgrade increases its firepower to the point that it can rival heavy tanks such as the Overlord.

Like most other USA combat vehicles, the Centurion can equip drones to increase its effectiveness in battle.

The Centurion can receive firepower bonus when positioned next to an Ion Power Plant by tapping starlight into the plant's power output.

However, the Centurion is not without its flaws.

* First of all, the Centurion consumes power directly from Alexander's base power grid, and the Advanced Energy Capacitors upgrade will cause it to consume even more power, thus putting additional strain on Alexander's already strained power grid. Should she decide to field them en mass, she'll have to construct even more Ion Power Plants to keep her fleet of tanks online. This also makes the Centurion highly vulnerable to infiltrations.
* Secondly, despite the impressive firepower the Centurion's pulse cannon provides, it's still ineffective against infantry, and groups of AT infantries will destroy Centurions quickly. It's recommended to escort these tanks with Hummers or Pathfinders.

## Upgrades

**Uranium Plated Armor**

* Increase the Centurion's durability by 20%. Available at Rank 3 at the Strategy Center.

**Advanced Energy Capacitors**

* Increase the firepower of the Centurion, but also increase its power consumption by 1 point. Available at Rank 3 at the Strategy Center.

**Solar Panels**

* Reduce the Centurion's power consumption. Available at Rank 3 at the Strategy Center.

## Assessment

Pros:

* One of the most powerful MBTs in terms of firepower, can be made more powerful via upgrades.
* Very effective against structures and vehicles.
* Can crush infantry and fire on the move.
* Amphibious, allowing it to strike from unexpected directions.
* Can be upgraded with drones to increase combat effectiveness.

Cons:

* Ineffective against infantry, especially against anti-armor infantries, without the Jet Sniper Drone.
* Fragile when composite armor upgrade is not applied.
* Consumes base power (2 points, 4 after Advanced Energy Capacitors are purchased), will be deactivated if power is low.
* Helpless against aircraft without the Stinger Drone upgrade.

## General's Challenge

In the Superweapon General's challenge, the enemy will send small groups of Centurions to attack the player's base from either the north coast or from the east coast, if AT defense isn't set up properly, these tanks will easily lay waste to your base. The best way to put an end to this raid is to use your offensive general's power to target the enemy's supply center, this will leave the enemy on a very tight budget.

In the unpatched version of Contra 009 FINAL, the Centurions had a pathfinding glitch and will clutter around the shores instead of continuing to the player's base.

## Trivia

* Before the release of Patch 2 for Contra 009 FINAL, the Centurion required a General's Promotion Point to unlock, making it the only main battle tank unit in the game that requires spending a General's Promotion point to unlock, meaning that one will have to choose between the Centurion or a potentially useful general's power.
* The Centurion reuses the Rifleman squad voice lines from Tiberium Wars and KW which makes it one of the few vehicle units in Contra to use an infantry voice lines from another game.

## See also

* **Laser Crusader**
* **Coyote**
* **Challenger II**