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I hate violence, but...
—A Nuwa Cannon driver faces a moral dilemma

The Nuwa Cannon is the monster tank of China.

Official description[]

Having barely any siege capabilities, the Chinese needed to compensate. The Nuwa Cannon they have developed as their super tank is the fearsome alpha and omega of destruction. The unfathomable amounts of armor, and an atomic cannon firing depleted uranium shells, has caused some of the Allied strategists to reclassify it as a defense cannon instead of a vehicle. Outfitted with a nuclear engine just to keep it mobile, the Nuwa is equipped with several safety procedures to prevent the engine from rupturing violently when the tank is destroyed.

The fact it has no turret does not make them any less effective against the most advanced of enemy tanks. The Nuwa, though slow and not able to fire on the move, has been a massive success in the Chinese army, often used to take the brunt of the force in a nigh impenetrable wall of moving armor.[1]

Overview[]

Nuwa Cannons manifest the true nature of China's primary strategy of using overwhelming armor and firepower to crush all those who dare to stand against the might of the Chinese Dragon. Possessing ridiculous levels of protection and an equally powerful nuclear cannon that does unprecedented damage against anything it fires upon, these tough-as-nails vehicles are among the most powerful Tier 3 tanks available, with an added bonus of being effective against virtually any target that comes into its firing range.

The primary weapon of the Nuwa Cannon is an Atomic Cannon that fires low-yield nuclear shells at ground targets. Upon detonation, they will generate a small nuclear explosion that will leave behind radiation, making the Nuwa deadly against not just vehicles, but also infantry as well. As this unit is supposed to act as an impromptu artillery unit for China (since they don't have one aside from the even larger Centurion Siege Crawler) it is also very effective against structures.

Nuwa Cannons are excellent in both offensive and defense roles. Only massed anti-vehicle firepower can hope to destroy these behemoths before they unleash the power of their gigantic cannons and since their attack range is fairly large (for a tank at least), only specialized anti-armor artillery units and aircraft can evade their explosive wrath. A formation of these vehicles, supported by the appropriate units (Eradicators, Qilin Tanks, Sentinels, Dragonflies, etc.) can prove to be a very tough line of defense to crack. The effects of EMP inflicted upon it are also cut in half, thus ensuring China's other greatest asset cannot be turned and used against them as effectively.

Though their durability and explosive firepower is rivalled by few, Nuwa Cannons do have some critical weaknesses. They are abysmally slow, making them difficult to deploy to the front lines quickly and vulnerable to hit-and-run attacks. Their range for a siege weapon is also rather small, meaning Nuwas must rely on their armor and numbers to survive skirmishes with stronger base defenses. Firing on the move is not an option for them either, as the Atomic Cannon is locked in a fixed position - they must face their target directly in order to engage the enemy. While not the most expensive Tier 3 tank, it is definitely up there with a cost of $2000 per unit.

AI behavior[]

Nuwas controlled by the AI have the following attack patterns:

All difficulties[]

  • 2x guarding Iron Guard, accompanied by 2 Qilin Tanks and 2 Terror Drones

Medium/Hard[]

  • 1x guarding Soviet Ore Refinery, Radar Dish and Soviet War Factory, accompanied by 1 Dragonfly
  • 1x guarding Tesla Coils, accompanied by 1 Dragonfly
  • 2x targeting structures, accompanied by 3 Qilin Tanks
    • The AI will use Nuclear Path on this task force
  • 4x targeting Soviet Construction Yard then base defenses
    • The AI will use Nuclear Path on this task force
    • Targeting an enemy Soviet Construction Yard first before applying Nuclear Path is likely an error
  • 4x targeting vehicles

Hard[]

  • 2x targeting Radar Dish then structures, accompanied by 2 Armadillos
    • The AI will use Nuclear Path on this task force
    • Targeting an enemy Radar Dish first before applying Nuclear Path is likely an error
  • 2x targeting vehicles, accompanied by 2 Terror Drones and 2 Dragonflies
    • This task force may be accompanied by 1 additional Dragonfly
  • 4x targeting anything
    • The AI will use Invulnerability and Irradiation Beta/Gamma on this task force
    • If available, Rage and Shadow Ring may also be applied

Appearances[]

Be careful. On your path you will encounter Nuwas, the Chinese monster tanks.
—Soviet intel during Operation: The Lunatic

Act One[]

  • Nuwa Cannons first appear alongside most other China-specific units in Think Different.
  • In The Gardener (except in Easy difficulty), a Nuwa Cannon will enter the battlefield minutes after the mission begins. It must be avoided as both the Tsurugi and the Guardian GI are unable to destroy it. In addition, several Nuwa Cannons guard the upper left area of the map on higher difficulties. The Nuwa Cannons cannot be hijacked even if the easter egg is completed.
  • In Singularity, Nuwa Cannons that initially appear on the map have a defensive mechanism: if attacked, it will generate a temporary Iron Curtain effect around itself, which also affects nearby friendly forces. However, if destroyed, a health crate appears on its initial location.

Assessment[]

Pros Cons
  • Extremely durable.
  • Annihilates any types of unit and structures.
  • Immune to omnicrush and radiation field.
  • Can self-repair.
  • Duration of EMP effect on this vehicle is reduced by half.
  • Weapon deals splash damage in a small area.
  • Very slow-moving.
  • Cannot fire on the move.
  • Susceptible to mind control, hijacking and confusion rays.
  • Vulnerable against aircraft and heavy anti-armor threats.
  • Very expensive.
  • Slow rate of fire.
  • Weapon may cause friendly fire.
  • Has minimum range; cannot attack enemies too close to it.

Behind the scenes[]

NuclearReactorSpeedBoost

Nuwa Cannon speed boost from Nuclear Reactor attribute that existed in v3.0.

  • In 3.0, the Nuwa Cannon, along with the Qilin Tank, gained a speed boost when close to a friendly Nuclear Reactor. This feature was removed in subsequent patches.
  • The Nuwa Cannon was originally supposed to have a deploy ability that deactivated its primary weapon and reduced its armor in half but provided a substantial speed boost for it. However, the idea was scrapped.
    • There are unused recorded lines of this scrapped feature that is still present in the game files (see Quotes).

Trivia[]

  • Nüwa (zh-Hans: 女娲, zh-Hant: 女媧) is a goddess in Chinese mythology best known as the deity who created mankind and repaired the pillar of heaven. The literal translation of Nüwa is 'the goddess wā'. '' means the women; '' (or ''), the right side of '' (or ''), is the phonetic character part of it pronounced wā.[2] And for easy-spelling, two dots on 'ü' are removed in this unit and thus it becomes 'Nuwa' from 'Nüwa'.
  • Ironically, despite the Nuwa's destructive nature, their pilots appear to be pacifists.

See also[]

References[]

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