Tracked Rapier

The Stat Card

In Team Yankee

Hailing from the Royal Artillery, the Tracked Rapier is an air defense weapon system at the Divisional level. As a dedicated anti-air unit, the Rapier is totally incapable of dealing with any ground forces whatsoever, to the point where the unit literally dies the moment it is assaulted by infantry. What it can do, however, is to destroy enemy aircraft and helicopters with impunity. Boasting a 3+ FP and stationary ROF 3, a battery (A section refers to an infantry unit of 8 men, not a vehicle!) of 4 Rapiers can comfortably put out 12 shots with guided, meaning that it does not suffer from the typical penalty for units beyond 16 inches. With an all-round armor profile of 1, the Rapier can withstand pepperings of artillery fire (compared to the unarmored Gecko and Chapparal).

HOWEVER, with all of these advantages wouldn't the Rapier be an auto-include? No. The current meta favors massive blocks of infantry with supporting arms, meaning that taking a Rapier battery would be a gamble. Should the enemy not take a single aircraft, it means that you have just wasted 6 points in your list and your opponent now has a point-advantage. With this issue, players in a meta with an unpredictable air presence may opt for a Blowpipe battery instead which sacrifices efficiency for versatility. Consider these two options very carefully.

Costing 1.5 points per vehicle and coming in units of 2 or 4, the Rapier is a brutally cost-efficient unit on par with Soviet Geckos, comfortably surpassing Roland and Chapperals.

In Real Life

In the proud NATO tradition of turning metal boxes into death machines, the Tracked Rapier is essentially an M113 variant designed to carry the British Rapier missile.