M850 Grizzly

The M850 Main Battle Tank, commonly known as the Grizzly, is a tank used by the UNSC Defense Force. It was developed by Chalybs Defense Solutions, the manufacturer of the more common M808 "Scorpion" Main Battle Tank.

Operational history
The M850 MBT is not as old as Chalybs Defense Solutions' better-known, more widely deployed M808 Main Battle Tank, which has been in service since the Insurrection. Its first known deployments occurred during the Harvest Campaign, during which it performed exceptionally. While investigating a Forerunner structure on Harvest in early February 2531, a platoon of Marines assigned to the, as well as Professor Ellen Anders, were attacked by Covenant forces. Two Grizzlies, which had been personally upgraded by Sergeant John Forge, were sent to the structure to rescue the survivors. They made their way through several Covenant blockades, killing dozens of infantry and destroying large amounts of matériel while sustaining very little structural damage. As Anders and Forge were airlifted from the site, the Grizzlies remained behind to cover their escape.

On February 23, 2531, Spirit of Fire was suddenly drawn toward the interior of Shield 0459; three platoons remained groundside, prompting the crew to attempt a hasty retrieval operation. Alpha Platoon was escorted by an M850, which was used to provide cover fire for the Marine infantry as they fought numerous Flood forms. Though the Marines were highly susceptible to infection while on foot, those inside the sealed cockpit of the Grizzly were immune; this allowed the Grizzly's crew to clear a path for the infantry and other vehicles, who eventually arrived at a hastily established firebase. When the survivors reached the evacuation zone, the Grizzly was presumably left behind.

The M850 MBT saw limited use later in the war. This was not due to poor performance, as the Grizzly was considered to be very powerful and reliable. Rather, it was due to the tank's exorbitant cost, stringent maintenance requirements, and relative lack of transportability.

Design
The M850 Main Battle Tank shares a similar design to the M808 Main Battle Tank, and, less noticeably, the M145D Mobile Artillery Assault Platform, which were also developed by Chalybs Defense Solutions. Though the Grizzly is considerably larger than the M808, they share a very similar four-bogey tread system. While the Grizzly's bogeys are more heavily armored than the Scorpion's, they lack "jump seats", preventing passengers from "riding shotgun". As with the Scorpion, the driver's access hatch is located in the center of the chassis, in front of the turret.

The turret is larger than that of the Scorpion and features a separate access hatch, as it is designed to support two M310 120mm smooth-bore high-velocity cannons, as opposed to the M808's single M512 90mm cannon. The cannons can be outfitted with S1 canister shells, which produce a high explosive blast radius, increasing the weapons' lethality against all targets. Like the M808's B variant, the Grizzly features a single coaxial M247T Medium Machine Gun mounted on the turret to the right of the cannons. Smoke grenade launchers are affixed to the forward edges of the turret.

Gameplay
In-game, the Grizzly is an extremely capable vehicle, suitable for defeating large numbers of enemy troops and vehicles. Since it possesses a secondary canister shell attack, it can kill infantry with ease due to its large blast radius. The armor plating is superior to that of most vehicles, able to survive multiple shots from a Hunter's assault cannon, and can survive a sustained hit from a Scarab's main gun twice as long as a Scorpion. The coaxial machine gun has a faster firing rate and inflicts more damage per hit than the Scorpion's, at the cost of a longer reload time. Its main disadvantages are the cost it requires to be researched, its reduced effectiveness against other vehicles and its minor ineffectiveness against airborne units. Like the Scorpion, it is "hard countered" by Cobras, especially while they are in lockdown mode.

In Halo Wars ' s skirmish and multiplayer modes, the Grizzly serves as one of Sergeant John Forge's unique units. It is accessed as an upgrade to the Scorpion.


 * Resources: 1800 (upgrade for Scorpion); 500 (for individual unit)


 * Minimum Tech Level: 4 (upgrade for Scorpion); 2 (for individual unit)


 * Population Count: 3

Trivia

 * Like most UNSC vehicles, the Grizzly vaguely resembles its animal namesake. Both the tank and the grizzly bear are extremely large and resistant to harm, and both possess powerful attacks; the bear is capable of decapitating a human with a single swipe of its paw, while the M850 MBT can destroy all but the most powerful ground targets with relative impunity.
 * Originally, the Grizzly was stated to be equipped with a flamethrower, but this was removed from the final game.
 * The Grizzly is remarkably similar in appearance to the iconic Mammoth tanks of the Command & Conquer franchise. Both the Grizzly and the Mammoth rest on four independently suspended tracks, possess dual cannons and secondary weapons, and are the heaviest tank available to their respective factions.

List of appearances

 * Halo Wars