Hexguard · Heavensteel unit: Ranged chaff, hits air and ground

On the battlefield

Hexguards are ranged chaff: eighteen rifle frames that can shoot air as well as ground, at 75 m. That makes them the cheapest anti-air in the game, and the launch tests bear it out: Hexguards beat the Rotor, the Mirage and the Seraph, and from 800 supply up they even bring down the Dreadnought. They also overwhelm slow single-target guns (Aurochs, Heron, Breaker, Salvo) by numbers. Their weakness is anything with splash or speed: Skitters reach them, and Ridgebacks, Torches, Weavers and the Cutter mow them down.

Wins against

Loses to

From equal-supply battles of each pair at 400, 800 and 1,600 supply (no techs, 20 seeds each). Real armies mix units, so read these as tendencies.

Where to deploy

Just behind your front line, where they can shoot over it at flyers; keep them out of reach of flamethrowers. A squad near your artillery protects it from air raids.

Early and late rounds

One of the two starting squads for one commander, useful all game. Early it is a cheap screen; late it is the answer when the enemy commits to flyers.

Techs that change its job

Hex Shield adds a 900-point shield to every frame and turns the squad into a sturdier wall. Grenadier gives the rifles splash, so they start winning against other chaff. Long Barrels (+40 m) lets them hit flyers before the flyers hit back.

Anatomy

Drag, hover and tap the parts. Open it full screen.

Stats

Deploy cost: 100; supply
Unlock: Free; unlocked from the start
Squad: ×18; 18 machines
HP: 234; per machine
Damage: 63; per hit
Attack interval: 1.5 s
Squad DPS: 756; whole squad, before armor
Range: 75 m
Speed: 6 m/s
Targets: Air & ground
Splash: None
Layer: Ground
Footprint: 5×2; tiles of 10 m

Level 1, no techs. Distances in metres (one board tile is 10 m).

Techs

Tech	Cost	What it does
Hex Shield	150	A 900-point shield on each machine
Grenadier	150	Splash radius 7 m
Long Barrels	100	+40 m range
Heavy Plating	100	+40% HP, blocks 60 damage from every hit