Flak Jack Side: Freedom Guard Type: Vehicle Movement Type: Foot Ground Weapon: None Anti-Air Weapon: Chaff Range: 8 Damage: 50 Hit Points: 100 Sight Range: 9 Movement Speed: Fast Cost: 500 Requirements: Headquarters 2 Built At: Assembly Plant

Two-legged mecha armed with anti-air missiles, Flak Jacks have but one mission: to shoot airborne enemies straight out of the sky.

Combat

Flak Jacks are fairly situational in that they are only of value if your opponent is sending air units at you. However, for the job that they do, they do it fairly well. Their anti-air attack hits hard and deals splash damage to nearby air units. Their only real disadvantage in that department is they are not air units themselves; thus their targets can flee over water or some other terrain where the Flak Jacks cannot follow.

If you have some air units around, you do not want to cluster them when an enemy Flak Jack is in the area. Hit the x key to scatter them, or better yet, avoid the Flak Jacks altogether.

Like Construction Rigs, Flak Jacks are, rather incongruously, classified as vehicles, even though they look fairly humanoid and cross terrain like infantry. This means they are constructed at the Assembly Plant, serviced at the Repair Station, and repaired by Mechanics.

Flak Jacks make good escorts for tanks that cannot themselves hit air units. The tanks can take care of ground-based threats, and the Flak Jacks can protect the tanks from anything that approaches from the air. You might also want to have a few Flak Jacks scattered around your base to protect yourself from flybys—especially later in the game when you are depending primarily on Heavy Rail Platforms for defense, as those cannot hit air units.