Combine APC

Armoured personnel carriers are the main ground vehicle used by both the Combine's Civil Protection and Overwatch forces, for transport as well as for combat. Resembling large armored trucks or vans, Combine APCs are a good example of how Earth-based designs are often adopted by the Combine and re-interpreted with their alien technology.

The APC has a door on its right side as well as a set of double doors at its rear. The rear doors are designed for troops to enter through, while the front door is intended for the driver who also serves as the vehicle's gunner as well when not driving. The APC has unusual tires which are made out of a special alloy plates arranged on the wheel. The hubcaps are made out of plates of metal arranged in a semicircle, leaving the rest of the wheel exposed.

It uses a very quiet engine even when driving at high speeds, and is a four wheel drive vehicle and lacks an exhaust due to it using Combine-technology engine that doesn't utilize fossil fuels or produce exhaust, and thus has no need for an exhaust system. A cap on the front of the vehicle covers a plug reel, allowing it to be powered from Combine energy outlets as well as power up Combine technology where regular power is unavailable (for example, as a power source force field pylons)

The APC can carry a driver as well as four fully equipped soldiers and is armed with a mounted pulse gun and integrated missile launcher. The APC's biggest asset, however, is speed. Civil Protection units use APCs as rapid response vehicles to reach conflict sites and crime scenes within minutes. Overwatch soldiers, on the other hand, use the vehicles mostly as fast and reliable transportation through the wastelands outside the City 17 metropolis. An APC can also be quickly carried over problematic terrain by a Combine Dropship if required.

The APC has a siren which will typically be activated during a Civil Protection raid. This siren is never used by Overwatch members. Personnel inside the APCs can attack using the powerful short-range gun turret and volleys of longer-range, very accurate but slow homing missiles. Luckily, enough gunfire can blow these missiles out of the sky or, at least, force them off course. APCs are sturdy enough that they are often used to simply smash into or run over the enemy. They are also very well shielded, offering complete protection from most conventional weapons (a hunter-chopper's Gauss Cannon, however, can easily destroy them. Certain APCs have also been witnessed taking damage from explosive munitions, such as sub-machine gun launched grenades and rocket propelled grenades).