Helicopters decide who moves pallets and who gets flanked from above. The two FOB anti-air emplacements answer them in different ways, and both punish a lazy placement: a Talon behind a HESCO lip blows up on the lip, a CIWS on the ground cannot see the infantry at its own feet.
Side by side
| Talon 9K-SAM | Vanguard CIWS | |
|---|---|---|
| Menu cost | 601 ‡ (60 / 80) | 901 ‡ (90 / 1,201) |
| Hammer | Large (Support 8 places) | Large |
| Ammo | 50 per missile, starts with 1, 36 missiles per pallet | 250 per 500 rounds, starts with 500, 7 reloads per pallet |
| Guidance | heat-seeking, 200 damage, 2 m radius | 20×102 mm gun, ignores flares, ~1 km, 5 s reload |
| Against | helicopters, drones | helicopters, drones, vehicles, tanks |
| Weakness | minimum arming distance, flares | barely depresses, needs height |
| HP | 3,000 | 5,000 |
| Build | 1 builder is slow; 2 on the yellow X | 2 builders on the X, progress on body hits is negligible |
The menu costs are the biggest open conflict in our database: written guides say 601 and 901, the planner databases say 60 and 90 (and 801 / 1,201 full-build). The cost cards show the range until we measure the console delta in game.
Talon: nothing in front of the muzzle
Missiles arm after a minimum distance. A block, a wall lip or a parapet within that distance detonates the missile on your own wall. So:
- On a tower deck (module): the Recon Tower’s flat top is the best Talon mount in the game. Box the ladder, finish the tower to 100%, place the Talon in the middle of the deck. Nothing is in front of it at any angle.
- On the ground (module): large blocks behind and on both flanks, the front left open toward the sky sector helicopters come from.
- Feed it early: one Ammo pallet is 36 missiles. The starting stock of 100 Ammo is two.
Skivin’s guide calls the Talon “the first weapon a base should have”: cheap to run, and helicopters come before tanks.
CIWS: height and a box
The CIWS cannot depress far. On the ground it shoots over infantry at the wall. The fix is the platform module: sixteen large blocks as a 4×4, one layer (3 m), every block at 100%, then the gun on top, then a closed operator box (three blocks and a door) beside it because the gunner is the most valuable target in the base.
Check the arcs from the seat before you build anything taller nearby: a tower or a second wall layer in the wrong place blinds the gun on that side.
Ammo logistics
| Emplacement | Starting stock covers | One Ammo pallet | Pallet cost per shot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talon | 2 missiles | 36 missiles | ≈ $11 |
| CIWS | 500 rounds (in the gun) | 7 reloads of 500 | ≈ $0.11 |
| L81 Mortar | 3 shells | 60 shells | ≈ $6.70 |
All three draw from the same Ammo pool, so an AA nest with a mortar next door needs a second Ammo pallet before the first fire mission.
Placement summary
- Tower first, Talon on the deck, ladder boxed.
- CIWS platform second, two builders, operator box.
- Both inside the ring, never on the ring wall.
- Ammo pallet before either gun is placed; a placement can drain the kit’s Build stock (see the cost guide).
- Wire around the platform: the CIWS cannot defend its own base.
Verification list for this page: Talon on the tower deck allowed, minimum arming distance in metres, CIWS depression angle, both menu costs.
Sources: allthings-cluster · steam-skivin · wardogs-zone-db · yt-stoneprotocol-aa · yt-triple-g-ciws · fobplans-research