Gatling tank (Generals 1)

Gatling tanks are light tanks deployed by China, armed with a single large Gatling cannon.

Background
A large Gatling gun mounted on a tracked chassis, this vehicle can fire at ground and air targets. Gatling tanks are very effective versus infantry and decent against light vehicles and aircraft. They are also among China's faster vehicles, and are cheap and easy to produce on the battlefield. This makes the Gatling tank a good scout early on in a battle until MiGs can be produced.

Game unit
Gatling tanks are great when deployed as anti-infantry and anti-aircraft protection for squads of heavier tanks, such as Battlemasters and Overlords. They are also effective as flexible, mobile anti-air defence for Chinese bases, or against GLA's light Scorpion tank (3-4 Gatlings can beat 1-2 Scorpions). However, they are no match for heavy weapons, and the gun's spin-up time was a weakness when compared to, for example, the GLA's quad cannon or USA's Avenger. A noticeable disadvantage is unlike any other anti-air unit, Gatling Tanks have a short wind up time before they start causing maximum damage. While not really significant if the enemy is crossing over, it becomes a nuisance and a very critical weakness if enemy aircraft or units are moving fast in and out of the Gatling Tank's range.

In choke points, gatling tanks are good gatekeepers against enemy infantry or suicidal units. Being a tank, its armor is superior to enemy equivalents (quad cannons and Avengers). Avoid urban settings as they do not have much punch against fortified buildings.

Changelog

 * Generals sneak peek patch 1.02: can no longer kill the soldiers inside Stinger sites
 * Generals patch 1.06:
 * now correctly moves slower when damaged
 * now requires line of sight to fire.
 * Generals patch 1.07: can no longer force-fire through buildings
 * Zero Hour patch 1.01: can no longer force-fire through buildings
 * Zero Hour patch 1.03:
 * experience required to level up is more spread out (gets to level 2 sooner and to level 3 later)
 * evened out the experience points needed to level up (0/80/200/300) (Tao only)