Halo Reach: Gauss Cannon Vehicle Upgrade

Presenting the Halo Reach Gauss Cannon Vehicle Upgrade for the Warthog. Whoever said that "Size does not matter" never met the business end of a Gauss Cannon.

The Halo Reach Warthog is actually one of the first entries into Darklord Dungeon all the way back in November 2010 when this blog started. Please do take the time - and I do suggest you do look at it first - before reading any further just to give you a better appreciation for the Warthog and for this upgrade. The link to the Warthog can be found here.

You might also want to visit the Noble 6 Team collection here.

In a nutshell though, this upgrade removes the rear mounted M41 Anti-Aircraft gun (That, if you've played Halo, players love to lug around) and replaces it with an M68 Asynchronous-Linear-Induction Motor - AKA the M68 Gauss Cannon.  To the uninitiated, Gauss Cannons use high-powered magnets embedded in the Cannon's barrel to hyper-accelerate projectiles - usually spent Uranium. In Halo, you can find individually standing M68 Gauss Cannons and M68 Gauss Cannons mounted at the back of Warthogs.

No I've never seen a Spartan lug around a M68 Gauss Cannon, nor do I think they can.


What's to like about the Halo Gauss Cannon?

The Halo Reach Gauss Cannon vehicle upgrade is a fine addition to the Halo Reach Warthog. What the Gauss Cannon gives up in terms of rate of fire, it returns in terms of shocking fire-power. There is actually a rumor that in between Halo 2 - where the first mounted Gauss Cannon made an appearance -   and Halo 3, the decision was made to reduce the firing rate and power of the M68 Gauss Cannon because it was simply too powerful. The stationary version of the Gauss Cannon first appears in Halo ODST. 

Here is the Halo Gauss Cannon in next to the M41 Anti-Aircraft gun more commonly mounted on the Warthogs. Note the size difference and the sheer intimidation factor that comes with the M68 Gauss Cannon. Wouldn't you want that hanging from the back of your Warthog?

As with the M41 that it replaces, the M68 Gauss Cannon easily slides into place at the back of any halo Reach Warthog and rotates a full 360 degrees. Click on the images for larger perspectives:

The Halo Reach Gauss Cannon Vehicle upgrade also comes with a Spartan clad in blood red and gray Operator variant Mjolnir Spartan II armor. Unfortunately I am not quite a fan of the color scheme. Perhaps if they made his armor darker. You can make out the UNSC logo on his chest which is also borne by Noble team. 

Bad news is he comes unarmed. It would have been nice if McFarlane Toys gave him a weapon. McFarlane seems to be a bit stingy when it comes to giving its Spartans weapons.

I swear this is where I parked. 

What's not to like about the Halo Reach: Gauss Cannon?

Well the M68 Gauss Cannon is a tad bulky. Not all Spartans from Noble Team can use it. Jorge-052 Noble 5 can operate the M41 Anti-Aircraft gun. He cannot operate the M68 Gauss Cannon.

Carter-A359 Noble 1 can operate the M68 Gauss Cannon, but because of his shoulder pauldrons he has difficulty centering the Gauss Cannon onto his chest for support. If you use him he'll either be slightly askew or you'll bend the Gauss Cannon slightly. The only Noble Team member who did not have a problem handling the Halo Reach Gauss Cannon was Kat-B320 Noble 2.

But the worst thing about the Halo reach Gauss Cannon is the plastic. Be careful when taking the Halo Reach: Gauss Cannon vehicle upgrade pack out of its packaging, the Gauss Cannon inside is already elevated and there is a cord there that is already stretched and stressed. This is a point that easily breaks as shown here:

While this is by no means a major flaw and something that would take less than five minutes to repair, it would have been nicer if it didn't happen at all.

Still it's a wonderful after market upgrade that is a must have if you're a HALO fan. This particular piece was bought on the for PhP 1,600 at Greattoysonline in Greenhills. It is available in Amazon for around US$ 25.37 plus shipping (Roughly PhP 1,000 plus shipping).