Sky Fortress Side: Imperium Type: Air Movement Type: Flying Ground Weapon: Fortress Cannon Anti-Air Weapon: None Range: 7 Damage: 650 Hit Points: 266 Sight Range: 9 Movement Speed: Average Cost: 2500 Requirements: Rearming Deck Built At: Assembly Plant

When the Imperium wish to show that they can dominate the skies, they can turn to the massive Sky Fortress to send a definite message to their foes.

Ruling the Skies

The Sky Fortress’s cannon packs enough of a punch to wipe out just about any vehicle or infantry unit with a single strike. It does less impressive damage against structures, but it can still make a dent. Each time the fortress fires, it uses its entire charge of energy, and must recharge between shots. (It does not need a Rearming Deck for this; it simply recharges where it is.) This does mean the rate of fire is extremely low. The cannon recharges in about 25 seconds. You can look at the bar underneath the Sky Fortress when you have the unit selected to see its present energy level.

The Sky Fortress is a flying unit, but it cannot strike other flying units. So you will generally want to add some escorts that can make up for this deficiency. Cyclones are an obvious possibility because they can accompany the Sky Fortress anywhere; however, they also require ammunition and they cannot recharge their weapons themselves, which means frequent trips back to the Rearming Deck. Ground-based units will only be feasible if you keep your Sky Fortress over land.

Another tactic is to micromanage your Sky Fortress carefully, directing its every strike and retreating if it encounters opposition. Since most units and defenses cannot hit air units anyway, you will find there are not many things which can threaten your Sky Fortress to begin with. But it is a good idea to retreat your fortress if it comes under attack in any case, since when you put this much time and credits into something, you don’t really want it to be destroyed.

Since the Sky Fortress is an air unit and has decent range, try to place it over water or cliffs or somewhere where it is protected and less likely to be in danger.

Note that, like the Cyclone, the Sky Fortress will not shoot at things unless it is manually directed or unless its Independence is HIGH.

If you have the funds to spare, you can actually build multiple Sky Fortresses. A small group of them, even as few as three, can go a long way toward making up for their slow firing speeds. Try to stagger their firing so that they are not all recharging at the same time, or retreat them as they recharge and return when they are armed and ready to go.