A3 (Armament Armed Arm) (Ａ３ アーマメント アームド アーム, A3 Āmamento Āmudo Āmu^?) is the third boss from Thunder Force V. It's a robot equipped with 6 legs and has multiple forms.

Description

" ---ALERT!---

The enemy is approaching fast!

Area Guard Name : A3 (Armament Armed Arm)

It died three times and was reborn twice.

Code : E3-RF04B-SS

Weak Point : Body, Sensor Eye, Missile Pod

Weapon :

• Missile pod x1
• Laser Vulcan cannon x3
• Spreader bullet firing tube x2
• Floating depth charge x2
• Continual-firing irradiation-type laser cannon x6
• Stick-and-harden bullet firing tube x2

Comment : Weapons developed for city occupation, modeled on earthly weapons."

Details

As its description demonstrates, it fires multiple bullets, 5 lasers and a missile which explodes before any contact.

Once its mechanical legs destroyed, it will ride on the road like a tank, but will keep its weapons, with the addition of multiple seeker bullets and a net to slow down the Gauntlet.

Upon defeating its 2nd form, A3 will transform into its 3rd form and will fly in the air. This time, aside from the bullets, it will fire its 6 continual-firing irradiation-type lasers and will even try to destroy the Gauntlet with its claws.

As it can't whistand too much damage, A3 will subsquently explode.

Boss Battle

Note: All attack names are purely conjectural.

Phase 1 (Walker Form)

• "Bullet Volley" - A3 fires a volley of circular bullets.
• "Guided Missiles" - A3 deploys missiles that target the player from its missile pod. This attack was also used until Phase 3.
• "Tackle" - A3 tries to tackle the Gauntlet using its 2 of the 6 legs. This attack was also used in Phase 3 when A3 is at its last two legs.
• "Laser Sweep" - A3 fires its red laser from its sensor eye at its arsenal. Also used in Phase 2.
• "Vulcan" - A3 uses its Vulcan gun to fire while sweeping from bottom to top. A3 also uses it in Phase 2 until its destruction in its subsequent phase.
• "A3 Bomblets" - When A3 stands still to perform either Vulcan or Laser Sweep, A3 releases multiple bomblets that explode upwards just to discourage the player from trying to cheese the aforementioned attacks.
• "Bullet Spread" - A3 recoils and fires a bullet spread. This occurred in all phases.

Phase 2 (Tank Form)

• "Beam Tangle" - A3 deploys 4 beam-like nets to slow the Gauntlet down to a crawl. This make avoiding attacks much harder.
• "Surface-to-Air Lasers" - A3 deploys 6 lasers that bounce once before targeting the player.

Phase 3 (Mecha Form)

• "Beam Annihilation" - A3 fires its 6 continuous beams to strike the Gauntlet.
• "Spread Bomb" - A3 changes its tactics by deploying multiple missiles that explode when they're near the player.

Trivia

• A3's name is a reference to the British electronic music band Alabama 3.

Thunder Force V
Characters	Cenes Crawford • REFFI • Guardian
Ships	RVR-01 "Gauntlet" • RVR-02 "Vambrace" • RVR-02B "Brigandine"
Stages	No Blue • Wood • Human Road • Guardian's Guardian • Judgement Sword • From the Bottom of One's Heart
Bosses	Deep Purple • Iron Maiden • A3 • Guardian's Knight • Vasteel Original • Guardian Animus • Khaos Ascendant