Raider buggy (Tiberium Wars)

"Let's go on a raid!"

- Raider Buggy, looking for trouble

The Raider buggy is Nod's recon vehicle in Tiberium Wars.

Background
It has four wheel drive, with each wheel on a separate mount and a centrally mounted cockpit with a rear-mounted machinegun that deals excellent damage to infantry and enemy aircraft. However, it is almost useless against tanks and heavy armour.

It's primary role is reconnaissance, but when equipped with EMP coils from the Tech lab, it can be surprisingly effective at countering enemy armor assaults and neutralizing base defenses in one swift attack by disabling them. Another upgrade is the Spitfire laser capacitor, which replaces the machine gun with a medium power laser, increasing the buggy's firepower.

Using EMP coils, many Nod units are able to reach well defended enemy targets. First, they send in a storm of buggies and order them all to EMP in the middle of the enemy AA defenses, just as the bombers come in. This is generally countered by spreading out defenses rather than building tight clusters or building a defense tight enough that no buggy would break through. The Raiders serving in the Black Hand sub-faction are also fitted with stealth detection kits, not unlike those on the Attack Bike.

Interestingly, despite being an open-air vehicle, Raiders can drive through Tiberium Fields without their drivers suffering from Tiberium poisoning. It's possible that the drivers receive Tiberium infusions by default, or that their suits are Tiberium-proof.

Assessment
"I'm outta here!"

- A retreating Raider Buggy

Advantages:
 * The only fast reconnaissance vehicle that is good against infantry (Besides APCs and Gun Walkers/Shard Walkers).
 * Very fast and agile.
 * Can target aircraft.
 * Later versions can detect stealthed units.
 * The cheapest vehicle in the war (500 credits).
 * EMP coils can disable groups of vehicles, once upgraded.
 * Laser chaingun upgrade available for increased firepower.
 * Good for Eliminating snipers, commandos, and basic infantry.

Disadvantages:
 * Light armor.
 * Machine gun is ineffective against all but the lightest of enemy vehicles.
 * EMP attack must be used at very close ranges, and also affects itself.
 * Mammoth Tanks, Avatars and Annihilator Tripods can crush it easily.

Tactics
The Raider Buggy performs nicely in slaughtering infantry in the same tier and scouting the map. However, preparing large packs of cloaked Raider Buggies with EMP coils in the later stages of a game can literally toss an unstoppable armada of Mammoth Tanks into disarray. A similar tactic can be used to shut down base defenses, as a commander can simply toss Raider Buggies at the opposing defenses and use the EMP ability to shut them down, while they use their more powerful and expensive units to demolish everything and anything in the base.