This article is timeless and should be accurate for any version of the game.
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Powered by the Bassett Motor Society’s lightweight Grouper engine, this simple wooden boat is ideal for ferrying small groups of infantry across rivers and between islands.
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— In-game description
The BMS - Grouper (also known as a Motorboat) is a small and fast Naval Vehicle designed to transport soldiers over bodies of water.
The BMS - Grouper has 200 HP and is disabled under 50% health. It has "Unarmoured" resistance, even small arms fire and Flamethrowers are a danger to it. It takes 60 Basic Materials to fully repair it from 1% to 100% health with a Hammer. Its health can be instantly repaired at a Garage for 100 Basic Materials.
Motorboats are very fast naval vehicles, but they are also very fragile, and can be quickly destroyed by enemy fire. It has a limited ability to move on wet sand, but it can still run aground and become stuck on other surfaces like dry sand under certain circumstances. Ideally, running aground should not be the Driver's main priority, though they might have to if the landing requires it.
Motorboats are typically used for small partisan raiding, but can also be used in large scale naval invasions when used in large numbers (though this approach is not as beneficially if the invasion group requires armored vehicles). Motorboats are cheaper and more flexible than Bargees in terms of construction, making them the ideal choice for small coastal raids, where large scale vehicles are not required.
One of the major downsides of the motorboat is its lack of versatility in terms of equipment, as the passengers are only able to use their secondary firearms, while soldiers on barges are able to use nearly all equipment, including thrown explosive items like Anti-Tank Sticky Bombs.
With its two inventory slots, it's a useful vehicle to deploy a Listening Kit on a Tripod near enemy shores.