Laser Crusader

Laser Crusader ready for engagement.

72 (Elite)

103 (Heroic)

450 (Heroic)

94 (Elite)

96 (Heroic)

## Introduction

The **Laser Crusader** is General Townes' main battle tank.

## Overview

Since the USA's defeat in the First War against the GLA, most USA Generals had turned down Crusader Tanks as it is said that the tank is not very cost effective. General Ironside has even signed a contract with BAE Systems to supply the US Army with Challenger II tanks. However, this is an exception to General Townes.

Staying true to his laser doctrine and his low-cost sense of economy, General Townes reconverted the Crusader Tank's armament and engine to replace them respectively with a powerful and pinpoint accurate high-caliber laser cannon and a radio-controlled locomotion system (there is a built-in radio wave receiver inside the tank to get the main base's control signal). The Laser Crusader is a laser-based Main Battle Tank, it has a small trapesium chassis with small tracks to move. The pilot inside is merely an engineer whose sole purpose is to maintain the tank in good condition. The Laser Crusader is an effective piece of modern military technology as it can blow enemy armor and structures wide open and thanks to its pinpoint accurate laser and its digital targeting cameras at the cannon's top to increase the firing precision, it will never miss its target. Besides that, the tank is rather cheap to build so it can be produced by the number.

Beware though: since the Geneva Conventions forbid the use of lethal lasers against infantry, the tank's A.I. was programmed to lower the weapon's firepower in case of an encounter against foot soldiers, much like the Laser Defense Turret. The player can expect his/her Laser Crusaders to not do much harm to enemy infantry. They even can expect the tank to fall rapidly to anti-tank infantry because of its poor armor. Thus it's better to use Laser Paladins to lead an armored assault with leaving Laser Crusaders to provide fire support. Furthermore, the Laser Crusader is absolutely unable to fire at aircraft so it's best to have a group of Laser Avengers as a backup. Last but not least, the Laser Crusader consumes power, although very little, so one should look at their power consumption, otherwise the tank will be deactivated until the power comes back. All is not lost however: like all American vehicles, the Laser Crusader can equip itself with drones to increase its combat efficiency (and perhaps its survivability depending on the drone it is equipped with).

## Upgrades

**Composite Armor**

* Increase the durability of the Crusader Tank by 25%, available at the War Factory at Rank 3.

**Carbon Lasers**

* Increase the firepower of the Crusader Tank by 25%, available at the Strategy Center at Rank 3.

### Drones

Rank 1:

* **Battlefield Mechanic**: Repairs the Laser Crusader on the field.
* **Scout Drone**: Detects stealth units, does not detects mines and traps.

Rank 3:

* **Jet Sniper Drone**: Anti-infantry drone, armed with dual sniper rifles.
* **Stinger Drone**: Anti-air drone, armed with two stinger missile launchers.
* **Squid Drone**: Anti-armor drone, armed with a laser cannon.
* **Zodiac Drone**: Anti-missile drone, armed with a point-defense laser module.

## Assessment

Pros:

* Very effective against tanks and structures.
* Always pinpoint accurate.
* Reasonably priced for an MBT (800$).
* Fast movement speed thanks to its light armor.
* Consumes very little power (1pt).
* Can equip itself with drones.
* Can gain veterancy.
* Does not get deactivated in case of low power.

Cons:

* Absolutely ineffective against infantry.
* Helpless against aircraft (unless equipped with a Stinger Drone).
* Even though it consumes little power, producing too many of these will result in a power outage.
* Sensitive to ECM/EMP attacks.
* Its light armor makes the tank fragile and very vulnerable to AT.

## Quotes

The Laser Crusader uses the cut vanilla Zero Hour quotes.

### When Selected

* Crusader tank responding.
* Heavy armor ready for action.
* How about a show of force?
* Armor detail reporting.
* On your command.
* Keep the power flowing!
* Laser cannon targeting set.

### When Ordered to Move

* Moving in.
* Clearing terrain.
* Taking new ground.

### When Ordered to Attack

* This will wake 'em up...
* Delivering ordnance.
* Blow them wide open!
* Let's grease them!
* In my field of fire.
* Lighting them up.
* Power up the lasers!
* Releasing energy pulse.
* Raising intensity.

## Trivia

* There is no tank called "Crusader" recorded in the history of the US Military. The tank's model is probably inspired from the M1 Abrams and its name was likely taken from the British WW2 tank of the same name.

## See also

* **Centurion**
* **Coyote**
* **Challenger II**