Artillery (Tiberian Dawn)

Artillery is the main long-range unit of Nod in. Although a fictional design, it bears a vague resemblance to the real-world M110 howitzer.

Background
This piece of machinery, like much of Nod's lower-tier equipment, is a "dust off" from Second World War-era and post-war surplus. It had been phased out in the decades following WWII, and most of the old vehicles were either scrapped, sold off to third-world armies, or relegated to storage in warehouses along with other older equipment. Through various means, Nod acquired a large number of these vehicles and overhauled them to cope with modern battlefield conditions, including modernizing the armament and utilizing newer ammunition designs. The result is a (still) slow-moving and vulnerable vehicle, but sufficiently improved to remain effective in modern warfare. As an indirect-fire weapon, it shoots its HE projectile in an arc, surpassing walls and other obstacles to hit any targets cowering behind it. One large drawback of this type of cannon is less accuracy. The projectiles may deviate from target by random chance. It is also still thinly armoured.

By the time of the Second Tiberium War, it was replaced by the next generation of artillery.

Game unit
The Artillery is Nod's primary long range building buster. It excels at taking out Guard Towers (even the AGT), but has to be protected at all times, as its armour is pathetic and very vulnerable to almost every weapon in the game (including fire from Minigunners, Apaches, Guard Towers, and so on). It is also very slow, and has a long reload and turnaround time, making it very vulnerable on its own.

However, while weak in direct combat, the Artillery sports a very powerful and long-range weapon that can outrange most enemies and basic defensive structures. However, the unit AI is a bit foolish and tends to fire only after getting very close to the target. The best way to use the Artillery is to give it a move order to a target and press S (stop) when the unit is in range, it will then proceed to fire from its regular range.

The weapon itself is deadly against infantry, able to mortally wound, if not kill, large groups of infantry units with one shot. It is also very effective against structures, even the defensive ones (except the Obelisk of Light, which is tricky anyway) able to pound them from far out of their range. It is also somewhat effective against light vehicles, such as the Humvee, but near useless against tanks, which are often able to close the distance and destroy the Arty while taking minimal damage.

Counters
The Artillery's sheer attack power and low health make them a prime target in any engagement. You need to kill these things fast, before they cause major damage to your structures or army.

As GDI, simply pushing forward and targeting the Artillery with a few Medium Tanks is often the safest and most efficient way to get rid of it. If, however, the enemy defends their artillery with an army too large for your liking, then the ORCA Assault Craft is also an efficient counter. Do not, whatever you do, try to counter with a MRLS, as it is actually weaker than you might think and the Artillery will often kill the MRLS before.

As Nod, if you have some tanks handy and the Artillery is vulnerable, just go ahead and shoot it. Nod also has some other, more tricky tactics for killing off Artillery. The best and arguably most efficient way is to simply do a hit 'n' run with Recon Bikes, killing as many Arty units as possible while AVOIDING THEIR FIRE (Artillery shots are particularly powerful against Recon Bikes) by attacking from the rear. A second method is to push forward with Flame Tanks or Light Tanks, which can quickly destroy the Arty while taking minimal damage. Another method is to simply use Stealth Tanks to cause as much damage as possible before the enemy can retaliate. If all these methods fail or seem unsafe, Nod can simply use Apaches to try and cause as much damage as possible (Apaches work, but are less effective than ORCA's).