Siege turret

A siege Turret.

The siege turret is a type of emplaced artillery system employed by the United Nations Space Command on their defensive fortifications. They consist of an M5 Talos base turret mounting equipped with a 152mm M4131 rapid-fire howitzer.

Overview

Design details

Main article: M5 Talos

The M5 Talos modular base turret system is an incredibly versatile design, with a number of upgrades and components that can be applied to specialise it into specific roles. The siege turret is the apex of this design, mounting the M4131 howitzer more commonly used on the M400 Kodiak self-propelled artillery. When deployed as part of a firebase's defensive mission, they can be airlifted via Pelican dropship and installed at one of the firebase's four turret mounting slots.

Development history

Siege turrets were designed in the early years of the Human-Covenant War. Due to the rapid pace of fighting and the Covenant's precision orbital striking on static military command and control installations, the UNSC were forced to adapt with the development of the modular firebase concept that could be rapidly deployed from an orbiting spacecraft in relatively short order. A problem these buildings faced is that they proved vulnerable to long-ranged Covenant fires such as glassing or the the Emp'seam-pattern Antlion "mega turret" - with superheated plasma rounds not susceptible to detection, deflection, or being shot down. They are designed for the counter-battery role, deterring enemy artillery from attack by matching or exceeding their range.

In-game information

Halo Wars 2

Campaign

• Info: Long Range, High damage, Vulnerable at close range
• Tier: 2
• Cost: 0, 900, 0

Skirmish

• Info: Long Range, High damage, Vulnerable at close range
• Tier: 2
• Cost: 0, 800, 50
• Additional Cost: 150, 150 (For the extra cost of each Siege Turret).

Siege turrets are effective at engaging enemy ground units at range, but cannot fire at units nearby or aircraft. Avery Johnson is able to call in a siege turret anywhere on the battlefield. Ellen Anders' siege turrets are able to spawn swarms of Aggressor Sentinels. Serina's siege turrets are able to freeze enemy ground units. Due to enemies largely ignoring players' firebases in Terminus Firefight, siege turrets are a popular choice in place of standard M5 Talos base turrets. The siege turret's base function is similar to the M400 Kodiak's artillery turret complement, where it cannot attack at close range but it deals high damage to all units except air units.

The cost, however, increased constantly as every additional Siege Tower requested, the player will be charged with additional 150 Supplies and 150 Power. On Campaign, however, the price was fixed to 900 Supplies and 0 Power and the player can requisite it first-time during Hold the Line mission.

Phoenix log

Phoenix Log - Siege Turret

Artillery turret. Siege Turrets are long-range artillery systems built to counter enemy bombardment platforms that would otherwise be out of range of standard Turrets. These structures occupy a turret slot. The UNSC learned the dangers of relying on fixed installations against enemies with orbital fire support early in the war against the Covenant. The modular firebase system was developed in response to pinpoint Covenant targeting of large military command and control installations with orbital strikes. and the inability of standard counter battery systems to detect, deflect, or defeat plasma-based artillery bombardment. The siege turrets can do little against threats in the orbital high ground, but they will deter enemy artillery systems by matching or exceeding their range, making ad-hoc assaults on UNSC firebases a costly proposition.

Gallery

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  Unused blitz artwork for the siege turrets.

List of appearances

• Halo Wars 2 (First appearance)