Monsterpocalypse: Will Exo-Armors Replace G-Tanks?
The new GUARD Exo-Armor unit is out and has me wondering, will this replace the G-Tanks in my Protectors lists?
With shiny new Exo-Armor units in hand, I’ve gotten to play a few games with them. Normally I run a handful of G-Tanks in my force as their DEF 4 makes them excellent at securing buildings and not dying trivially. The Exo-Armor fills a similar role and has me questioning if they should replace the G-Tanks. Let’s discuss!
But first, here are the G-Tank and Exo-Amor cards in case you aren’t familiar.
G-Tank & G-Tank Elite
Exo-Armor & Exo-Armor Elite
Survivability
This is why I am bringing G-Tanks, 1 cost DEF 4 models to sit back and hold my core power base. In a world of Rocket Apes, Abducts and Flings I want a unit that isn’t going to be easy to remove from the board. With a DEF of 3 the Exo-Armor is a slightly lower DEF, but brings along 2 interesting abilities to help it stick around.
Uncrushable prevents this model from being stomped, super helpful if there happens to be an enemy monster trying to disrupt your power base by killing units. It also means that if you group them together to do a combined attack, you don’t necessarily need to worry about losing all of them the following turn.
Hunker will save the Exo-Armors from all sorts of secondary damage effects. Rogzor and King Kondo both have the Devastation rule, which upon destroying a building – does 1 point of damage to all adjacent units. Rogzor often uses this on turn 1 to shoot at your secured buildings – destroying your power base and gaining 5 Power Dice in return(2 for the building and 1 for each unit). If that building is secured by Exo-Armors the Hunker rule prevents them from taking damage, which means Rogzor is only getting 2 Power dice and you aren’t losing any units.
Hunker is also great against models with the Fling rule, like Task Masters and Assault Apes. Fling is a trigger off of a brawl/blast attack, so if the Exo-Armor is the target of the Fling they can’t take damage! However, it’s important to note that they will still take damage if they are the initial target.
Control
The Hunker and Uncrushable rule brings an element of control that you won’t get with G-Tanks. When you are facing down models with rules like Devastation or Fling you can try to force your opponent into taking non-optimal attacks. Against Rogzor put Exo-Armors around the buildings you value the most. Now Rogzor will have to decide if it’s worth shooting your ‘important’ building and getting less Power Dice or going for another target.
These little control elements are hard to quantify, they won’t necessarily come up every game. But little things that make your opponents turn less effective add up over the course of a game and can give you an advantage that isn’t always obvious on paper.
Damage Output
This is where the Exo-Armor shines a bit more than it’s G-Tank counterpart. With an innate Blue die on the Brawl attack, the Exo-Armor will be able to spawn, move and attack with some reliability. Compare this to the G-Tank who needs to Aim to gain a Boost die, the Exo-Armor has more flexibility when it comes time to attack. In many games there will come a moment when my units need to spawn, group around an Elite for extra Boost dice, and then attack an enemy monster to deal a crucial 1 damage. Exo-Armors do this much easier than G-Tanks because they aren’t restricted by having to aim to gain a Blue die.
Granted, neither the G-Tank or Exo-Armor is a damage output powerhouse. But in most attacking cases I would rather have the Exo-Armor. I should mention that the G-Tank does have one advantage, RNG 5 on its gun means that sometimes the G-Tank will be able to Aim take pot shots and enemy models who happen to be nearby.
Mobility
This is a close category. While technically faster, the Exo-Armor lacks All-Terrain so any sort of rubble or trees will really slow them down. While the G-Tank has a RNG 5 gun and SPD of 4, as soon as it moves it can’t Aim which makes its attack pretty lackluster. I think the Exo-Armor barely…I mean barely…edges out out the G-Tank due to its ability to move and still have a Blue die on its Brawl attack.
Final Thoughts
It’s definitely a close call and in my mind boils down to the question of, is Uncrushable and Hunker worth trading 1 DEF for? Before getting games in with the Exo-Armors I was thinking the G-Tank would remain the designated building holder in my lists. But after some games, I think I’ve switched over to the Exo-Armor camp.
Obviously you can take both, but I don’t think you really gain anything by it. Neither the G-Tank or Exo-Armor is an amazing attacker – so you need to leave room for your aggressive units of choice; Assault Apes, Rocket Apes, Strike Fighters, etc… Once you start bringing other staple units like Repair Trucks, Interceptors, Shadow Gates and some flying units to secure spots over water, there isn’t a ton of room left. I also prefer taking more of the same type, either G-Tank or Exo-Armor, so that one Elite is passing out as many extra Boost dice as possible when it comes time to attack.
So which unit do you think is better at securing your power base, Exo-Armors or G-Tanks?
