|  | The Total Annihilation WarGuide
4.20: The Penetrator | [Back to the WarGuide]
The Penetrator's damage and energy cost is the same as an Annihilator, but it has half the range, no radar, and less armor. One of their main problems is that they are very expensive to build, and they use a large amount of energy. This makes me wonder why anyone would try to build up a bunch of them and send them into battle, it just isn't practical. However, listed below I have some great uses for the Penetrator. 1) Base defense. What is better than an Annihilator that can move around? They are also good at guarding important structures from a ground assault, like Berthas or Protectors. Just keep them a lot farther away from each other than in the picture above. Their explosions are huge. And keep some missle towers handy for the air attacks that are always sure to happen. 2) Porc-Attacking. If you can couple a few of these behind a group of Panthers or Bulldogs, you may be able to crack through any Porc defense. My friend is a big Porc, and I paired 10 Penetrators up with equal amounts of Panthers and Bulldogs in front and cracked through his base in no time, leaving a hole for my Hawks to get into. 3) Combat drop. Can work as effectively as the Sumo drop. Drop off a few Penetrators near the enemy's base, and maybe some AA protection too, and watch the peices fly. Make sure you scout first though, and watch out for those missle towers. And onto the cons: 1) Their tracks turn faster than their turrets, often confusing them when after fast units or trying to scale hills. Also, this hinderance makes firing while moving very difficult, because the slightest bump or jolt can throw off their laser. 2) They have a large explosion. If you are using these guys for base defense, it would be wise to give them room, and don't put them near important structures, because they have a large explosion. On the offensive side too, one dead Penetrator can seriously cripple your ongoing force, so give them some room, and then have your fun.