[DEVBLOG#252] Burya and Goliath (Patreon)

Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new development blog!

I can see you enjoyed the 'Besiege This!' update for Vanilla Vehicles Expanded. It added a brand new rocket artillery vehicle called Scytheman, a tier 1 siege pod called Toad, and cool new tank traps and refueling stations.

I have decided that T3 mod also needs an update with some new siege capabilities. After all, Scytheman rockets are just so beautiful to look at as they blanket the area in absolute obliteration.

As such, I am bringing two new Tier 3 vehicles you will be able to find and restore, and then construct dozens of.

Behold the Burya: a formidable multiple launch rocket system designed for long-range obliteration. This siege colossus, operable by a nimble two-man crew, delivers rapid, successive volleys to saturate territories with armor-piercing explosions. Though its movement is deliberate and deployment methodical, once positioned, the Burya transforms landscapes into zones of denial. Vulnerability in enemy terrain is the trade-off for its unparalleled area control, a calculated risk for the tactical mastermind. If the battle was a game of chess, the Burya is your queen.

Burya is a first vehicle that will utilise the upcoming 'deploy' feature. This vehicle cannot fire until it deploys - deploying a vehicle is a process that in case of Burya takes 12 seconds. After that, the vehicle can no longer move, but the powerful rocket swarm artillery becomes usable. In order to move again, Burya needs to undeploy - once again using up precious time.

It's capable of firing non-stop barrages of missiles as long as you have fuel to spare. Of course, just like on Scytheman, an overheating mechanic is present to not allow you to fire hundreds of missiles without consequences.

Unlike Scytheman, Burya has two firing modes. You can either fire rapid bursts of 16 missiles (twice as much as Scytheman), or fire continuous single missile salvos with very little cooldown between shots.

Named Burya, which means Storm in Ukrainian.

Meet the Goliath: a flying fortress that's more a movable base than a pod. It's armed to the teeth with four turrets and a long-range rocket swarm, turning the entire sky into a no-fly zone. Nearly indestructible, it doubles as a portable command center, protecting all inside. Its massive weight requires one-time-use boosters for takeoff, making it as subtle as a flying mountain. Once those boosters are spent, it's grounded until you can rebuild them. Goliath: where overwhelming power meets unmistakable presence.

Goliath is the ultimate siege pod, a successor to the epic Toad. Inspired by nothing less than the flying bunkers in Starcraft, this insane base of operations can provide A LOT of covering fire as your troops advance on enemy positions. The four dual-barreled military turrets have limited angle of firing, 120 degrees each to be exact, meaning rarely more than 1 turret will be able to fire at a given target. Positioning is key.

A small rocket swarm turret at the top acts in a similar way to the Scytheman turret. You will be able to blanket a small area in missiles whenever you order the Goliath to do so.

This siegepod can carry 9 people in total. 1 Operator, 4 gunners and 4 passengers. Perfect for raiding.

It's very heavy and it's hard to get it airborne. As such, it's using external boosters to lift off. These boosters separate from Goliath as it reaches some altitude, and upon landing, they need to be repaired (rebuilt) in order to fly again. This means that wherever you attack, you need to commit - you won't be able to fly out anytime soon after landing.

Fear not: Goliath has the highest armor rating in Vehicles Expanded. Nothing can penetrate it. If you get stranded, simply send a second Goliath, lol.

Landing the Goliath is quite epic, if you can call it a landing. It crashes down, damaging everything in quite a large radius around it. Just remember about it when you inevitably fly back home - you don't want to destroy your own base!

Let me know what you think about these two new vehicles!