Howitzer Turret

[Repconn]

TL;DR

It would be nice to see a tank shell-firing turret for base defense.

What ?

It would work similar to a regular gun turret, but could be larger in size to make it more difficult to build.
The range could be a little more than a flamethrower or laser turret, but nothing way too far.
It should of course be more expensive than a regular gun turret, but I think the high cost of tank shells (uses both explosives and plastics, thusly drains a lot of petroleum gas) should be enough of a drawback.
It would also be realistic to give it a "dead zone" directly in front of it, so it has to be combined with other methods of defense.
The reload time would obviously be long, so the howitzer can not be used by itself, only in combination with other types of turret.
A good additional way to balance the howitzer would be giving it a rather large range, but only the ability to shoot at monitored territory (i.e. within range of either a player or a radar). This would incentivise good radar placement as part of a working base defense.

Why ?

Firstly, it would make tank shells usable again the the later stages of the game. When I'm playing with my friends, tanks become more and more obsolete after the mid-game, due to the advanced handheld weapons and power armor. So all production lines for tank shells have to be either dismantled or are just not used. If tank shells could be used for base defense in late game, it would justify the research and resouces put in to them mid-game.

Secondly, it would give the player more ways to mix up base defence:

• Gun turrets: short range, cheap ammo, high rate of fire, low production costs
• Laser turrets: long range, no ammo, uses electicity(depending on the situation, either a pro or a con)
• Flamethrower: good range (but not able to fire 360°), can fire continuously, but has to be fueled
• Howitzer: pros: long range, splash damage, high amount of damage; cons: more expensive to build, ammo is expensive, can not fire close range, long reload time.

Thirdly, it would allow the player to prepare for larger hordes of aliens. The gun and laser turrets can only fire at one enemy at a time, making them useful for fighting smaller groups. The flamethrower turret does a little bit of splash damage, but takes some time to respond and doesn't do instant damage. The howitzer would be able to weaken the oncoming group with a first strike, but then has to reload while the other turrets do their work.
In conclusion, it would be a good way to make building base defense more complex and give tank shells a purpose in the later stages of the game.