Buzzard

Introduction[]

An evolution of the Wolf Battle Armour, the Buzzard Jumpsuit sacrifices a small amount of protection to give the wearer a limited flight capacity.

Statistics[]

The Buzzard Jumpsuit weighs 10 kg and 35 resistance to kinetic/energy/incendiary attacks.

Research & Production[]

The Buzzard Jumpsuit can be researched after Wolf armor, and also requires inspiration from some form of flying alien unit, e.g. the Harridan or the Light Drone.

A Buzzard Jumpsuit costs $40,000 and 4 Alien Alloys to manufacture, the same as the Wolf. However, the added complexity of the jump pack brings its construction time up to 60 man-days. Meaning a complement of 10 engineers can construct a single Buzzard Jumpsuit in 6 days.

Xenopedia entry[]

The Buzzard Jumpsuit is a variant of the Wolf Battle Armour designed for mobility over protective ability. It is fitted with an integrated jump unit, a device that allows the wearer to move vertically on the battlefield. Refinement of the armor plate has decreased weight, slightly reducing protection but letting the soldier carry more into battle.

The jump unit is a rather substantial device worn in a back harness. It consists of a miniaturized Alenium reactor connected to a pair of thrusters that sit above the wearer's shoulders, paired with various gyroscopic flight control systems and sensors. Though the jump unit is not powerful enough for a prolonged flight, the user is able to hover for short periods if necessary. Even those who are not trained as pilots should find it easy enough to use in combat - input from the wearer is recorded via touchpads in the gloves, allowing them to steer their intended flight path (sadly also preventing them from using weapons while airborne). A complex array of vectored thrust ports copied from the alien directional thruster design provides fine control and auto-stabilization when in flight.

Clearly, the ability to "jump" atop buildings or leap impassable terrain has utility on the battlefield - particularly for your scouts and marksmen. Soldiers regularly exposed to enemy fire will likely still need the added protection of the Wolf, however.

Strategy[]

The introduction of the Buzzard Jumpsuit adds an entirely new dimension to the game.

At its core, the Buzzard is an upgrade over the Jackal Armour, it weighs the same as the Jackal at 10 kg, and it provides slightly better protection, in addition to a personal jet-pack. Because of this many commanders may find more soldiers using the Buzzard Jumpsuit over the Wolf Armour simply due to it not as heavily weighing down their soldiers.

Since the Buzzard offers a jet-pack, this can allow your soldiers three dimensions of movement. Simply just flying your soldiers in the air to scout over a wall can dramatically change the battle. Let alone positioning snipers on rooftops, surprising aliens, and more.

The disadvantages of the Buzzard tie in similarly to the Wolf Armour, it costs $40,000 and uses up 4 Alien Alloys. In addition, the Buzzard takes longer to manufacture.

Sustainable Damage[]

This chart will list how the armor stands up against different alien weapons. The chart first lists the base damage a weapon can do, then it shows how much the weapon ignores armor (So a weapon dealing 40 damage, with 10 mitigation, against armor that has 40 defense, would deal 30 damage), the third row shows how much damage the weapon would deal after the armor has absorbed its maximum. The final row attempts to account for the damage variance that can occur, showing the minimum and maximum amount of damage the weapon can deal.

Alien Weapon	Base Damage	Armour Mitigation	Damage after resistance	Accounting for variance
Alien Pistol	50	0	15 +	0-40
Alien Rifle	60	0	25 +	0-55
Alien Assault Plasma	40x3	10	15 +	0-35
Alien Heavy Rifle	65	30	60 +	27-92
Alien Battle Rifle	80	30	75 +	35-115
Alien Sniper Rifle	40	99	40 -	20-60
Alien Plasma Cannon	110	0	75 +	20-130
Praetor Gun	120	60	120 -	60-180
Light Drone Blaster	15	15	0 +	0-2
MediumDrone Cannon	85	0	50 +	7-92
Heavy Drone Cannon	120	0	85 +	25-145