| “ | A truck fitted with an advanced rocket propulsion rack, the “Retiarius” webs the sky with deadly, screeching rockets shot at a high frequency over long distances. Holds sixteen rockets. | „ |
| — In-game description |
The R-17 “Retiarius” Skirmisher (coloquially known as a Katyusha) is a mid-game Colonial Rocket Artillery Truck. It is equipped with a Rocket Battery that uses 3C-High Explosive Rockets.
The R-17 “Retiarius” Skirmisher houses a crew of two soldiers:
FMouse Scroll Wheel to adjust the firing distanceThe R-17 “Retiarius” Skirmisher is equipped with one main armament:
It has a dedicated ammo slot that can hold one 3C-High Explosive Rocket.
As Large Items, rockets can be submitted into the inventory while on foot by pressingV without having to open any interface.| Structure | Input(s) | Output | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
Small Assembly Station  (Battery Line) |
70 x Processed Construction Materials  10 x Assembly Materials I  8 x Assembly Materials III  2 MW of power  R-1 Hauler  |
R-17 “Retiarius” Skirmisher  |
00:05:00 |
Must be fully researched in the Vehicle 
Tech Tree in order to be produced.
The R-17 “Retiarius” Skirmisher can be stored in a Storage Depot, Seaport or Storage Ship.
It can be packaged into a large Shippable and transported only by certain Shipping Vehicles (Barge, Freighter, Flatbed Car, Storage Ship). It can be lifted by any crane but only a Large Crane can undeploy and move while holding it.
Rocket Barrage
Rocket batteries excel at burst damage, compared to regular artillery which is suited for sustained barrages. Due to the rocket's high dispersion, they are most effective when attacking in groups, as the large volume of rockets increases the chances of hitting targets. Since rocket vehicles can be reloaded prior to their actual deployment, they can be used in hit-and-run tactics: drive to the location, fire all rockets, and evacuate before any enemy responds.
With their extreme range, only surpassed by Storm Cannons, 3C-High Explosive Rocket batteries operate beyond the range of regular artillery. They can serve as counter artillery, disturbing enemy operations and potentially destroying their pallets of shells from a safe distance. They can fire across wide rivers or over large mountains and hit deep in the enemy's defense lines. However, rockets cannot be fired across Region borders unlike 300mm.
Rockets also have a lower "angle of attack" than regular artillery. Taller structures like Town Bases are easier to hit but targets obscured by hills or other structures are harder to hit.
In order to change the azimuth, the entire vehicle must be rotated, which reduces the overall flexibility of the vehicle, especially when working in small environments with tight corners.
Defenses
The R-17 “Retiarius” Skirmisher can survive a small amount of retaliatory fire from the enemy Artillery Garrison it hits (4 direct hits to be disabled, 6 to die).
When not used in a hit-and-run, the R-17 “Retiarius” Skirmisher should follow standard artillery defensive precautions due to its vulnerability to even small arms fire. A defensive perimeter must be present around it to protect it from enemy infantry, vehicles, or counter-artillery.
Spotting
The extreme range of rocket platforms means the spotter has be far away and close enough to the targets to determine the effect of the wind and the effect of tall obstacles. Determining the correct aim can be a slow and tedious process. This can be sped up using a Wind Sock. Aim adjustment is more tedious for rocket batteries on Colonial vehicles since it requires the vehicle to undeploy, move, and redeploy.
Tips
Unlike most artillery platforms, rocket vehicles can be operated by one crew member acting as both driver and gunner. The only downside is that loading rockets alone takes much longer than with two players.
Do not package a loaded rocket vehicle as this will delete all rockets in the battery.
