The M850 Main Battle Tank, commonly known as the Grizzly, is a heavily armored UNSC tank developed by Sergeant John Forge.[2] It is similar to its older brother the M808B Main Battle Tank but much larger and far more powerful.[1]
Overview
The Grizzly is protected by thick armor plating which allows it to survive even the fiercest attacks and features dual M310 120mm Smooth-Bore High-Velocity Cannons mounted in its turret. These cannons can easily punch a hole through almost any Covenant vehicle and fire S1 canister shells to decimate infantry formations. A co-axially mounted M247T Medium Machine Gun gives it additional firepower.[1][3] Smoke grenades were mounted near the turret.
Despite its advantages the Grizzly was only employed sporadically during the Human-Covenant war because of its cost, maintenance, and transportability. Grizzlies were used to great effect during the Liberation of Harvest, and the UNSC Spirit of Fire contained a robust inventory of M850s during the extraordinary events of 2531.[1]
Halo Wars
In the Campaign, the Grizzly is available during the level Relic Interior. In Skirmish and Multiplayer, it is available after completely upgrading the Scorpion when Sergeant Forge is selected as the player's hero unit.[4] Once it has been researched, it can be purchased at the Vehicle Depot.
The Grizzly is an extremely capable vehicle, capable of defeating large numbers of enemy troops and vehicles. Since it possesses a secondary canister shell attack, it can crush infantry with ease due to its large blast radius. The armor plating has also been improved, able to absorb multiple shots from a Hunter's assault cannon, and can survive a sustained hit from a Scarab's main weapon 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 is the cost it requires to be researched, its reduced effectiveness against other vehicles and its ineffectiveness against airborne units; it is also extremely slow because of its increased weaponry and armour. As with the Scorpion, it is "hard countered" in-game by Cobras, especially while they are in lockdown mode.
- Resources: 1800 (upgrade for Scorpion) 500 (for individual unit).
- Minimum Tech Level: 4 (upgrade for Scorpion) 2 (for individual unit once researched).
- Population Count: 3
Trivia
- Originally, the Grizzly was stated to be equipped with a flamethrower, but this was removed from the final game.[4]
- The Grizzly is noticeably 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 armor available to their respective factions.
- The Grizzly is Sergeant Forge's exclusive unit in Halo Wars.
- The Grizzly is first featured in Relic Interior, the third campaign level in Halo Wars, and are the player's starting units.
- It is unusual that Sergeant Forge developed it on his own, as he is only a NCO. He may have had special permission from Captain Cutter.
- However considering it is produced by the manufacturer of its "older brother" and Forge's statement that he modified these tanks, along with Anders' statement of knowing at the very least of how to repair them indicates that Forge likely was unhappy with the standard design and modified the units assigned to the Spirit of Fire, indicating that the Grizzlies in game are not standard models but "field modified".
- This was a common practice among military forces in wartime as they had to be more self-reliant due to the distance resupply ships had to travel (such as in the Pacific Theatre of World War II), or to solve an existing problem (in the case of the "bocage" in the European Theatre of World War II or in multiple situations in the Vietnam War), in this Forge is following a traditional practice, due to the Spirit's constant movement through the game.
- A 14 star Grizzly is strong enough to take down a Scarab. It is also enough to survive multiple MAC Blasts.
- Ironically the Grizzly is actually weaker than a Power turret Scorpion when both are being "micro'd" (a term for actively moving units around while they are in combat). This is either a programming error or for balancing reasons.
Gallery
List of appearances
- Halo Wars(First appearance)
- Halo: Spartan Assault
Related Pages
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 86
- ↑ Halo Wars, level Relic Interior: Serina refers to the Grizzly as Forge's "pet project". Forge remarks that he had personally supervised the upgrading of the Scorpion to the Grizzly units, stating that he had "...made [his] own special upgrades."
- ↑ Halo Encyclopedia, page 251
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Official Xbox Magazine, January 2009, pages 38-43
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