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GD Unit Guide

2007-05-22T17:49:09Z

Hannes: Corrected the extra newlines at some places causing the images to become misplaced

[[Image:E&E-GD.png|200px|right|A well defended GD stronghold.]]

== Level One: Land ==

'''Vladost: Light cannon tank'''
[[Image:Vladost.jpg|left|100px]]
The Vladost forms the bulk of any Global Dynasty force. These durable tanks are equiped with a double-barreled cannon. They are best used in lines where their superior range and damage can inflict heavy losses on the enemy. Vladosts nearly always shoot first in an engagement.

'''Petra: Light missile tank'''
[[Image:Petra.jpg|left|100px]]
The Petra serves as a support unit for the GD forces. Their arcing missile fire allows them to bring their weapons to bear no matter their surroundings. Due to its inferior armor this unit should be put to the rear of a combat force, where it can use its indirect fire to greater effect.

'''Taiga: Light laser tank'''
[[Image:Tagia.jpg|left|100px]]
The Taiga fires a short-ranged continuous laser at enemy targets, rapidly cutting through their armor. Faster than other GD units as well as more heavily armored these untis excel at short range combat. Their superior damage against structures makes them ideal for flank attacks or especially as candidates for covert airdrops.

'''Vladost IIC: Radar tank'''
[[Image:VladostIIC.jpg|left|100px]]
The Vladost IIC is a GD forces eyes and ears. Equipped with a short range sensor suit these tanks can improve line of sight as well as providing mobile radar. However Armed with only a single-barreled cannon and reduced armor these are not a substitue for light cannon tanks. They will however tilt the balance in your favor allowing your forces to engage the enemy from maximum range and detecting flank attacks.

'''Tchernia LT: Ion Cannon Tank'''
[[Image:TcherniaLT.jpg|left|100px]]
The GD's ace in the hole when it comes to rapid strikes by the enemy, the Tchernia Ion Cannon Tank is literally a show stopper, armed with a single large bore ion cannon this tank is capable of stopping any enemy units in it's tracks with an EMP pulse. Due to its expensive cost and high energy use this tank should be built sparingly, however it can turn the tide should you face a numerically superior foe.

'''Pavost Light Artillery'''
[[Image:Pavost.jpg|left|100px]]
The Pavost light artillery is the back bone of the GD's early long range divisions. Capable of putting a hail of fire on a target area when grouped, The Pavost will get your enemy moving, weakened and confused. However Pavost light artillery have very thin armor, if caught alone it has no chance of survival.

'''Pavost AAI: Light Anti-air tank'''
[[Image:PavostAA.jpg|left|100px]]
The Pavost AAI is the first line in the GD's defense against aerial attacks. Its Light Flak cannon can easily dispatch light aircraft of all sorts, and built in mass it can even deal with medium aircraft. These should be included in all attack forces to protect against aerial attack. As heavier aircraft become present on the battlefield the Pavost AAI may require support from other anti air elements.

'''Vladost IAMP'''
[[Image:VladostIIA.jpg|left|100px]]
A perfect surprise for your enemies, this modified Vladost tank known as the IAMP version, has been refitted with a amphibious suit for navigating even deep water. Equipped with the same double-barreled cannon as its land going counterpart this tank can still pack a punch. However the Amphibious Vladost is easy prey for ships and submarines lacking anyway to retaliate against them. Use them with care, as a well planned and executed amphibious assault can breach even the most heavily defended stronghold.

'''Kamir I''''
[[Image:KamirI.jpg|left|100px]]
This light fast scout tank is capable of building remote camera's and camoflaged radar. Great for roving ahead of an attack force and determining the oposition. This scout tank is perfect for harassing the enemy, keeping tabs on distant parts of your territory, clearing minefields and quickly reclaiming debris on the battlefield.

'''Gurnz construction vehicle'''
[[Image:Gurnz.jpg|left|100px]]
The Gurnz is your ticket to victory. It may be ugly, it's crew may be surly and ill trained, it's paint might be chipped and it might smell, but the Gurnz is still your basic building unit. It can construct level one buildings and level two HUBs, allowing you to tech up to the next level of units.

==Tales from the Front==
January 23, 3132 AD
Denmark Campaign
24 km outside URC held Helden
(Formerly Odense)

Ã¢â‚¬Å“The Vladost battle tank's control room sounded like a better choice to me when I first joined up. It was either that or the helo division. And every single time I took the plane to Kong I spent the entire time in the head, retching.

It had 'sounded' good. Now I was seriously reconsidering that.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Explosive! Explosive rounds, damn it!Ã¢â‚¬Â Victor kicked me in the back. He was well situated, his head sticking out of the copula, his legs right near my upper back and head. I put my eye against the looker and spotted the enemy bots round the hill. I fingered the trigger, my other hand telling the auto-loader to give us a explosive. A bolt of plasma burnt into the side of our tank and I yelped as the room became boiling hot for a moment. Then the damage control systems kicked in and the air reached a livable temperature. For revenge, I pulled the trigger.

BOOM! BANG! I swear the second cannon sounds different from the first. I swear it, but neither the driver, nor my commander believe me. No matter. The explosive shell smashes into the ground between the two bots and smoke fills my scanner scope. A secondary explosion kicks up more dirt. The second shell hits and another explosion kicks up even more dust. The dust clears and I grin. Both bots are down.

WHAM! Something slams me in the back of my head. Smoke fills the cabin and Victor is screaming something. I reach for my escape hatch. It doesn't open. Victor kicks me in the back, scrambling out of his hatch. The gunner isn't screaming. I smell burnt meat. Another something slams into the tank and my head smashes against the wall. Then hands are grabbing me, pulling me up. I scramble out, stars dancing in front of my eyes.

Victor throws me off the tank and I hit the dirt, wheezing. He is about to jump when the tank itself explodes violently. I stand, my head ringing, blood running down the side of my head. Bits of the tank land all around me, piffing into the dirt ground. My knees knock together as it hits me. Victor might have been a bastard...and Hoe, the gunner, he'd been all right...

I hear the stomp stomp stomp of URC mechs. I turn around and see the four mechs that had hit us...bastards had crested the hill we were sitting against. Where was the rest of the battle group! I turned, trying to see some tanks.

None. I was alone.

I turned back to the robos. I supposed the plasma would be quick...I closed my eyes.

And that was what saved my eyes. A flash, brighter than anything I thought possible, burst through my eye lids. I hit the ground and heat washed over me. I opened my eyes in time to see the robos fall down. A brilliant, beautiful cloud rose above the city of Odense. It was shaped like the mushrooms I used to eat when I was a kid.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Holy shit,Ã¢â‚¬Â I muttered. Ã¢â‚¬Å“They did it. They really did it.Ã¢â‚¬Â

So thats why we had been stationed here. Thats why the GD had pulled back. I felt cold. If I had known how bad it was going to get...I'd have deserted. But at the time I only known one thing: The war had gone nuclear."

==Level One: Air==

'''Doppler: Radar/Sonar Helo'''
[[Image:Doppler.jpg|left|100px]]
The helicopter is small, cheap and can be used to patrol the area around your base, extending your radar and sight range. Useful as a mobile spotter and a submarine finder, the Doppler can make your day much easier.

'''Cossack: Interceptor Helicopter'''
[[Image:Cossack.jpg|left|100px]]
Equipped with air to air missiles, the Cossack is perfect for taking down the enemy bombers. Capable of destroying most enemy aircraft (assuming the Cossack team has numbers on its side) the Cossack is a must have for total air superiority.

'''Khan: Attack Helicopter'''
[[Image:Khan.jpg|left|100px]]
The Khan is a gunship, equipped with deadly heavy machine guns, the Khan is suited to destroying enemy patrols and harassing enemy forces. Remember to pull it back before it's fuel supplies run low, or it will not be coming back from it's mission. Best used in packs to destroy isolated pockets of resistance, hunt down fleeing enemies, or blasting apart undefended buildings.

'''Grund: Light Transport Helicopter'''
[[Image:Grund.jpg|left|100px]]
A swift transport, the Grund is capable of trasnporting light units. Unfortunately it's speed is balanced by a complete lack of armor, guns or anything that will allow it to survive enemy attacks. Use it to ferry unit's around safe territory, or carefully sneak it through the enemy's defensive line.

==Tales from the Front==

December, 25 3132 AD. GD 'tactical withdrawal' Somewhere over Siberia.

I bounced in my cockpit and watched my army fall back. It felt bad, It felt worse than the day Moriscaw was plasma bombed by the robo bastards. It felt even worse than when my first son had died.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Damn it. Damn it!Ã¢â‚¬Â I muttered, keeping my voice off the radio. The rest of my squad didn't near to hear me going to pieces. Hell, I didn't need to hear me going to pieces. A sudden buffet of wind shook my Cossack. That made me pay attention. Siberia killed. It had killed when my ancient ancestors had fought the Nazis, it had killed before them...it would kill after I and mine had gone by too.

But the one thing it wouldn't...couldn't kill was the robos. URC mechs marched underneath us, bolts of plasma lighting up the ground. Occasionally one of our tanks would fire back...more often, they would explode brightly. Like a star in the night sky.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Contact!Ã¢â‚¬Â Kim shouted, his voice crackling over my radio. I snapped back to focus, my training taking over. The red dots on my radar screen were going to fast to be tanks, too slow to be fighters. Bombers...and the computer in my radar projected their course to the bridge. Shit!

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Form up on my mark,Ã¢â‚¬Â I said. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Don't let a single one of those bombers get past!Ã¢â‚¬Â

I moved my joystick and the Cossack moves about. I see the bombers. Wide, engines glowing. They're not even trying to hide! I grin, reading my heat seeking missiles.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Missiles away!Ã¢â‚¬Â I shout. The missiles streak towards the bombers. One impacts, then the other. The bomber falls out of the sky, trailing smoke. It hits the ground and it's plasma hold lights up with a bright green flash. Missiles streak past me as my wingmates open fire. Two more bombers go down.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“This is too easy...Ã¢â‚¬Â I murmur. I let go two missiles and the last bomber explodes.

I wait for the shoe to drop.

Nothing. I bring my Cossack back to the patrol route.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hey, why can't they make it this easy each time?Ã¢â‚¬Â That's...Vlad. Then warning indicators flash and his helo's signals vanish. A flash bursts through my windshield and I look to the side. Vlad's helo, whats left of it, falls to the ground.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Missles! Break, break break!Ã¢â‚¬Â I shout. Another one of the helo's, this time Kim's, explodes. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Fall back!Ã¢â‚¬Â

The remains of my squad peels towards the bride. As we leave the operational area, my radar detects more URC bombers heading towards the bridge.

==Level Two: Land==

'''Khrushchev: Medium battle tank'''
[[Image:Krushchev.jpg|left|100px]]
Armed and armored like a...tank, the Khrushchev is a deadly weapon on the battle. Slow, but heavily armored, the Khrushchev is armed with two cannons and a mini-gun that can take down a verity of targets. The Khrushchev, in numbers, is a platform capable of handling any number of enemy ground units. Beware: It's lack of mobility and can lead it it's doom through enemy flanking maneuvers and sneak attacks.

'''Irveranguz: Medium Missle Tank'''
[[Image:Irveranguz.jpg|left|100px]]
With arching missiles and heavier armoring, the Irveranguz can destroy enemies located behind hills, around corners and so on. Use it to back up the direct fire power of your tanks, and to control crowds through it's high AOE.

'''Kirovich: Medium Laser Tank'''
[[Image:Kirovich.jpg|left|100px]]
With no less than four short range, high powered lasers, the Kirovich is a fast assault raider, capable of burning down enemy buildings in a flash. Beware: High energy usage make this tank a nuclear powered beast that can destroy your economy. Make sure your power plants are running at full tilt.

'''Aurora: Bombardment Artillery'''
[[Image:Aurora.jpg|left|100px]]
The Aurora brings death at long range, with two massive barrels and an infinite amounts heavy shells. Unlike its level 1 counterpart, it can fire horizontally. This feature, if used with care, can be used to devestate aproaching armies if their positions are wel known. It is also slower and more unwieldy than the Pavost light artillery. Use it with care, and be sure to protect it, as it is an expensive investment.

'''Tchernia: Medium Ion Cannon'''
[[Image:Tchernia.jpg|left|100px]]
A larger, longer ranged, more heavily armored version of the Tchernia LT, with duel cannons, the Tchernia is a non-lethal weapon that can turn the tide of battle by paralyzing your enemies and styming their advanced. Guaranteed Ã¢â‚¬Å“Blitzkrieg StopperÃ¢â‚¬Â

'''Yatioa: AA TankÃ¢â‚¬Â
[[Image:Yaota.jpg|left|100px]]
A heavy Flak wielding tank, this tank is capable of destroying URC VTOLS en mass. Keep it protected from a ground assault.

'''Yakovitch: ECM Tank'''
[[Image:ECM.jpg|left|100px]]
Equipped with nothing but a machine gun, the Yakovitch is still one of the most powerful weapons in your arsenal. Capable of hiding an entire attack force from enemy radar, the Yakovitch is the way to sneak your army behind the enemies gates.

'''Vaikovic: Minelayer Tank'''
[[Image:Minelayer.jpg|left|100px]]
Capable of building light and medium mines, use the Vaikovic to cover the entrances into your base. Capable of stopping all but the most determined (or suicidal) enemies, mine fields are your best friend when it comes to defense.

''' Khrushchev IAMP: Amphibious Battle Tank'''
[[Image:Anphib.jpg|left|100px]]
Equipped with standard suicide pills and self contained air supply, this version of the Khrushchev is perfect for delivering a nasty water born shock to the enemy.

'''Irveranguz IIAMP: Amphibious Missile Tank'''
[[Image:Amissle.jpg|left|100px]]
With watertight seals for the missiles and an air tight command cabin, this version of the Irveranguz can cross waters and support your Amphibious Khrushchevs

'''Kurzt IAMPT: Amphibious Torpedo Tank'''
[[Image:Torp.jpg|left|100px]]
The only amphibious tank that comes without suicide pills, the Kurzt is capable of firing torpedoes at sea targets. Use them to cover your amphibious assaults.

''' Yatioa IIAMP: Amphibious AA Tank'''
[[Image:AAA.jpg|left|100px]]
An anti air tank that's also capable of crossing water passages. Use them to create a all purposes water born assault.

==Tales from the Front==

August, 1, 3156 AD. Tokeyo Defense Campaign. 10 km outside GD held Yokohama

Five helos flew over head. They were...I grinned. I wondered if Dyana was in one of those. She and I had met...was it a year already? I had been in the Siberian pull back, the Denmark campaign...

Had it been a decade? A decade? This war had been going on longer than my sister had lived. Longer than Dyana's son. Now that had been a sobering conversation.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hey! Mal! Radio just chimed in and we're moving out!Ã¢â‚¬Â

I sat up, folding the mirror I had been using to aid my sunbathing. The thing they didn't tell you about Khrushchevs is that not only are they excellent main battle tanks, awesome engines of destructions and so on and so forth, but also amazing sunbathing...rest...things.

Maybe the sun was cooking my brain instead of just my skin.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Moving where?Ã¢â‚¬Â I asked, walking across the hood of the tank to my copula and slipped into my seat. Jaeger and Henekle got into their positions, Henekle near the front of the tank, next to the machine gun. She would be getting us where we were going. Jaeger sat in front of me, in a nicely kick able location. I refrained from abusing my command privileges such, instead slapping the side of the turret, grinning. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Where to!Ã¢â‚¬Â

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Point A-5,Ã¢â‚¬Â Henekle said.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Full speed!Ã¢â‚¬Â I said. Around us, the rest of the division was moving out. Some Tagia's paved the way in front of us, followed by some older Vladost tanks. I remembered when Vladosts had been the forefront of tank warfare. That was back when the robos had used light, four legged bots. Now they had started to use larger, two legged ones. They hit harder and packed more armor...but less armor than our stuff. They're first strikes against Yohohama had been rebuffed, their flanks broken by Iron Rain. Thats what we called the 432nd artillery division. Iron Rain.

The other Khrushchevs moved along our sides, each of their commanders relaxing in their cupolas. There was a jovial air to our movements. As if we were driving to a party instead of an attack. The URC must have regretted attacking the Japanise Islands by no-

A Tagia in front of us exploded. I ducked down, heart hammering in my chest. What the...bombers!

But the sky was clear. Two helos flew over head, as if to make sure. I knew Dyana wouldn't let a single robo fla through, let alone a tac bomber.

This time a Khrushchev next to me cooked up. It hit me, the same time it hit our commanders.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“You have entered a mine field at point A-3. Halt and wait for the sappers. Wait for the sappe-Ã¢â‚¬Â

Another Khrushchev cooked up. That one had been sitting still. A green bolt burned its way across my eyes and I pointed to the side, shouting at Jaeger. For a moment I slipped back into Russionease, but caught myself. My tank crew just had to be Repatriated East German. This time I got it right, but it had cost us valuable seconds. Another vehicle cooked up, a Kirovich.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Robos! That way!Ã¢â‚¬Â I pointed. Not exact, but it got Jaeger to turn the turret. Cannon reports sounded. The turret turned and I saw the mechs full on. Two leggers, all of them. Most were plasma...but a single one had a shotgun slung under one side.

Shit.

The shotgun blasted and the cannon rounds blasted into our sides.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Henekle, move us backwards!Ã¢â‚¬Â I shouted. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Jaeger, bag us that shotgunner!Ã¢â‚¬Â

Two other Khrushchev commanders had the same idea. The shotgunner exploded. The URC attack peeled off, but the damage had been done. Behind us, explosions sounded. The radio squawked.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Tank group, retreat back to Yotohama base. Total URC attack is under way. Repeat. Total URC attack is under way!

==Level Two: Air==
'''Zukov: Air Attack helicopter'''
[[Image:Inter.jpg|left|100px]]
Deadly air superiority fighter, this is the heavy fighter can take down enemy planes nicely and survives longer than the Cossack.

'''Kharkrov: Cluster Bomber'''
[[Image:DFA.jpg|left|100px]]
Capable of saturating an area with high yield explosives, this helo is affectionately referred to it's pilots as 'Cluster<explative deleated>er' Because it...er...screws the enemy up.

'''Kharkrov II: Ground Attack Helicopter'''
[[Image:GAH.jpg|left|100px]]
A rearmed Cluster Bomber, the Kharkroc II is capable of sticking around and delivering missile after missile to it's targets. Use it as a harassment or harrying role, capable of slowing or even destroying an undefended convoy.

'''Orsk: Tactical Bomber'''
[[Image:Orsk.jpg|left|100px]]
Where the Kharkrov is a weapon on massive destruction, the Orsk is a scalpel. Capable of destroying a single target then return home, the Orsk is useful for taking out a radar dish, a factory...whatever needs destroying.

'''Murnmansk: Anti-ship Bomber'''
[[Image:TBH.jpg|left|100px]]
The terror of the high seas, the Murnmansk is capable of destroying enemy shipping. Dropping a torpedo into the oceans at high speeds, the Murnmanks should be used to cover for your navy.

==Tales from the Front==

August, 1, 3156 AD. Japan Defense Campaign. 10 km above GD held Sydney.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Shit!Ã¢â‚¬Â I muttered, jerking on my stick. The missile locks blared. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I thumbed the flare button and the lock on failed. As I turned my Zukov round, I saw the base outside my window.

Bedlam. The robos were rolling through the defensive line, plasma fire and shotgun blasts shattering buildings, blowing apart construction vehicles. Then I saw mechs fall under cannon and laser fire. The tank group had returned. It was smaller...smaller enough to make my heart falter slightly. Mal might be in one of the tanks left back in that damned mine field...

I spun the Zukov around again, detecting inbound targets. Bombers. I triggered my missiles and they smashed into the air. Both hit and the first URC bomber went down. They're escort showed up, two fighter VTOLS breaking away from the fighter swarm. They fired and the missiles shot towards me and my wing mate. I dropped, turning off my blades at the right moment. The missile missed.

My wing mate wasn't that lucky. His Zukov exploded, smashing into the ground. I fired my next pair of missiles, locking onto both VTOLs. My missiles peeled off and struck both robos. One blew up and smashed into the ground. The other survived with minor damage, darting through the air at me. It fired it's missiles. In an instant I saw them heading towards me. I tanked on my stick, pulling off a maneuver that would have sent me into the ground...if the missile hadn't hit me first.

A warning blared in my ears and slammed my fist down on the eject. The cockpit exploded...then I shot down, away from the Helicopter, which smashed onto a URC mech. The mech, to my fury, didn't explode. I hung from the silk, looking over the battlefield. The URC bombers flew over the base.

A flurry of plasma tore though he ground, buildings, tanks. People. Smoke began to rise as URC flame throwers began to burn up the base. I saw the wrecks of half our tanks, the buildings burning, the helos downed or fighting a desperate battle in the sky.

But the URC simply had more. They always had more.

I hit the ground, rolling with the impact. I disengaged my parachute, trying to get as far away from the base as possible as I could on foot. I felt the ground shake, clomp, clomp, clomp. I turned around, slowly. A URC two legger stood, it's plasma barrels glowing. It fired again, the bolts of plasma incredibly hot. I gasped, ducking as the URC stepped over me, walking forward.

I stood and ran. The sky above me was filled with URC planes. The only other thing in the air...was smoke.

I got to the perimeter, where a massive hole had been torn by a URC explosive. I ducked out and looked around. Sydney was north...but where was north? A Khrushchev rolled past me, firing backwards as it drove forward. A plasma bolt impacted in its back and it exploded, the blast knocking me off my feet.

I stood up, brushing my shirt off. I chose a random direction, any direction away from the base...and ran.

==Level Three: Land==

'''Ural: Heavy Battle Tank'''
[[Image:Ural.jpg|left|100px]]
The Ural. A name that can inspire fear in the enemy. The Ural is a heavy death platform. Equipped with a staggering level of firepower, the Ural is a leviathan, capable of rolling over the enemy if used en mass. A single Ural can strengthen a battle line, while a battle line of Urals is deadly beyond belife. Warning: The Ural is equipped with two front cannons, two side turrets and a double barreled turret. The only way every gun can be fired would be if the Ural was facing straight forward. Ural is weak if flanked. Check your corners.

GD Unit Guide

2007-05-22T17:20:40Z

Hannes: /* Level Two: Land */ Corrected Tchernia and fixed a few typos

[[Image:E&E-GD.png|200px|right|A well defended GD stronghold.]]

== Level One: Land ==

'''Vladost: Light cannon tank'''
[[Image:Vladost.jpg|left|100px]]
The Vladost forms the bulk of any Global Dynasty force. These durable tanks are equiped with a double-barreled cannon. They are best used in lines where their superior range and damage can inflict heavy losses on the enemy. Vladosts nearly always shoot first in an engagement.

'''Petra: Light missile tank'''
[[Image:Petra.jpg|left|100px]]
The Petra serves as a support unit for the GD forces. Their arcing missile fire allows them to bring their weapons to bear no matter their surroundings. Due to its inferior armor this unit should be put to the rear of a combat force, where it can use its indirect fire to greater effect.

'''Taiga: Light laser tank'''
[[Image:Tagia.jpg|left|100px]]
The Taiga fires a short-ranged continuous laser at enemy targets, rapidly cutting through their armor. Faster than other GD units as well as more heavily armored these untis excel at short range combat. Their superior damage against structures makes them ideal for flank attacks or especially as candidates for covert airdrops.

'''Vladost IIC: Radar tank'''
[[Image:VladostIIC.jpg|left|100px]]
The Vladost IIC is a GD forces eyes and ears. Equipped with a short range sensor suit these tanks can improve line of sight as well as providing mobile radar. However Armed with only a single-barreled cannon and reduced armor these are not a substitue for light cannon tanks. They will however tilt the balance in your favor allowing your forces to engage the enemy from maximum range and detecting flank attacks.

'''Tchernia LT: Ion Cannon Tank'''
[[Image:TcherniaLT.jpg|left|100px]]
The GD's ace in the hole when it comes to rapid strikes by the enemy, the Tchernia Ion Cannon Tank is literally a show stopper, armed with a single large bore ion cannon this tank is capable of stopping any enemy units in it's tracks with an EMP pulse. Due to its expensive cost and high energy use this tank should be built sparingly, however it can turn the tide should you face a numerically superior foe.

'''Pavost Light Artillery'''
[[Image:Pavost.jpg|left|100px]]
The Pavost light artillery is the back bone of the GD's early long range divisions. Capable of putting a hail of fire on a target area when grouped, The Pavost will get your enemy moving, weakened and confused. However Pavost light artillery have very thin armor, if caught alone it has no chance of survival.

'''Pavost AAI: Light Anti-air tank'''
[[Image:PavostAA.jpg|left|100px]]
The Pavost AAI is the first line in the GD's defense against aerial attacks. Its Light Flak cannon can easily dispatch light aircraft of all sorts, and built in mass it can even deal with medium aircraft. These should be included in all attack forces to protect against aerial attack. As heavier aircraft become present on the battlefield the Pavost AAI may require support from other anti air elements.

'''Vladost IAMP'''
[[Image:VladostIIA.jpg|left|100px]]
A perfect surprise for your enemies, this modified Vladost tank known as the IAMP version, has been refitted with a amphibious suit for navigating even deep water. Equipped with the same double-barreled cannon as its land going counterpart this tank can still pack a punch. However the Amphibious Vladost is easy prey for ships and submarines lacking anyway to retaliate against them. Use them with care, as a well planned and executed amphibious assault can breach even the most heavily defended stronghold.

'''Kamir I''''
[[Image:KamirI.jpg|left|100px]]
This light fast scout tank is capable of building remote camera's and camoflaged radar. Great for roving ahead of an attack force and determining the oposition. This scout tank is perfect for harassing the enemy, keeping tabs on distant parts of your territory, clearing minefields and quickly reclaiming debris on the battlefield.

'''Gurnz construction vehicle'''
[[Image:Gurnz.jpg|left|100px]]
The Gurnz is your ticket to victory. It may be ugly, it's crew may be surly and ill trained, it's paint might be chipped and it might smell, but the Gurnz is still your basic building unit. It can construct level one buildings and level two HUBs, allowing you to tech up to the next level of units.

==Tales from the Front==
January 23, 3132 AD
Denmark Campaign
24 km outside URC held Helden
(Formerly Odense)

Ã¢â‚¬Å“The Vladost battle tank's control room sounded like a better choice to me when I first joined up. It was either that or the helo division. And every single time I took the plane to Kong I spent the entire time in the head, retching.

It had 'sounded' good. Now I was seriously reconsidering that.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Explosive! Explosive rounds, damn it!Ã¢â‚¬Â Victor kicked me in the back. He was well situated, his head sticking out of the copula, his legs right near my upper back and head. I put my eye against the looker and spotted the enemy bots round the hill. I fingered the trigger, my other hand telling the auto-loader to give us a explosive. A bolt of plasma burnt into the side of our tank and I yelped as the room became boiling hot for a moment. Then the damage control systems kicked in and the air reached a livable temperature. For revenge, I pulled the trigger.

BOOM! BANG! I swear the second cannon sounds different from the first. I swear it, but neither the driver, nor my commander believe me. No matter. The explosive shell smashes into the ground between the two bots and smoke fills my scanner scope. A secondary explosion kicks up more dirt. The second shell hits and another explosion kicks up even more dust. The dust clears and I grin. Both bots are down.

WHAM! Something slams me in the back of my head. Smoke fills the cabin and Victor is screaming something. I reach for my escape hatch. It doesn't open. Victor kicks me in the back, scrambling out of his hatch. The gunner isn't screaming. I smell burnt meat. Another something slams into the tank and my head smashes against the wall. Then hands are grabbing me, pulling me up. I scramble out, stars dancing in front of my eyes.

Victor throws me off the tank and I hit the dirt, wheezing. He is about to jump when the tank itself explodes violently. I stand, my head ringing, blood running down the side of my head. Bits of the tank land all around me, piffing into the dirt ground. My knees knock together as it hits me. Victor might have been a bastard...and Hoe, the gunner, he'd been all right...

I hear the stomp stomp stomp of URC mechs. I turn around and see the four mechs that had hit us...bastards had crested the hill we were sitting against. Where was the rest of the battle group! I turned, trying to see some tanks.

None. I was alone.

I turned back to the robos. I supposed the plasma would be quick...I closed my eyes.

And that was what saved my eyes. A flash, brighter than anything I thought possible, burst through my eye lids. I hit the ground and heat washed over me. I opened my eyes in time to see the robos fall down. A brilliant, beautiful cloud rose above the city of Odense. It was shaped like the mushrooms I used to eat when I was a kid.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Holy shit,Ã¢â‚¬Â I muttered. Ã¢â‚¬Å“They did it. They really did it.Ã¢â‚¬Â

So thats why we had been stationed here. Thats why the GD had pulled back. I felt cold. If I had known how bad it was going to get...I'd have deserted. But at the time I only known one thing: The war had gone nuclear."

==Level One: Air==

'''Doppler: Radar/Sonar Helo'''
[[Image:Doppler.jpg|left|100px]]
The helicopter is small, cheap and can be used to patrol the area around your base, extending your radar and sight range. Useful as a mobile spotter and a submarine finder, the Doppler can make your day much easier.

'''Cossack: Interceptor Helicopter'''
[[Image:Cossack.jpg|left|100px]]
Equipped with air to air missiles, the Cossack is perfect for taking down the enemy bombers. Capable of destroying most enemy aircraft (assuming the Cossack team has numbers on its side) the Cossack is a must have for total air superiority.

'''Khan: Attack Helicopter'''
[[Image:Khan.jpg|left|100px]]
The Khan is a gunship, equipped with deadly heavy machine guns, the Khan is suited to destroying enemy patrols and harassing enemy forces. Remember to pull it back before it's fuel supplies run low, or it will not be coming back from it's mission. Best used in packs to destroy isolated pockets of resistance, hunt down fleeing enemies, or blasting apart undefended buildings.

'''Grund: Light Transport Helicopter'''
[[Image:Grund.jpg|left|100px]]
A swift transport, the Grund is capable of trasnporting light units. Unfortunately it's speed is balanced by a complete lack of armor, guns or anything that will allow it to survive enemy attacks. Use it to ferry unit's around safe territory, or carefully sneak it through the enemy's defensive line.

==Tales from the Front==

December, 25 3132 AD. GD 'tactical withdrawal' Somewhere over Siberia.

I bounced in my cockpit and watched my army fall back. It felt bad, It felt worse than the day Moriscaw was plasma bombed by the robo bastards. It felt even worse than when my first son had died.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Damn it. Damn it!Ã¢â‚¬Â I muttered, keeping my voice off the radio. The rest of my squad didn't near to hear me going to pieces. Hell, I didn't need to hear me going to pieces. A sudden buffet of wind shook my Cossack. That made me pay attention. Siberia killed. It had killed when my ancient ancestors had fought the Nazis, it had killed before them...it would kill after I and mine had gone by too.

But the one thing it wouldn't...couldn't kill was the robos. URC mechs marched underneath us, bolts of plasma lighting up the ground. Occasionally one of our tanks would fire back...more often, they would explode brightly. Like a star in the night sky.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Contact!Ã¢â‚¬Â Kim shouted, his voice crackling over my radio. I snapped back to focus, my training taking over. The red dots on my radar screen were going to fast to be tanks, too slow to be fighters. Bombers...and the computer in my radar projected their course to the bridge. Shit!

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Form up on my mark,Ã¢â‚¬Â I said. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Don't let a single one of those bombers get past!Ã¢â‚¬Â

I moved my joystick and the Cossack moves about. I see the bombers. Wide, engines glowing. They're not even trying to hide! I grin, reading my heat seeking missiles.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Missiles away!Ã¢â‚¬Â I shout. The missiles streak towards the bombers. One impacts, then the other. The bomber falls out of the sky, trailing smoke. It hits the ground and it's plasma hold lights up with a bright green flash. Missiles streak past me as my wingmates open fire. Two more bombers go down.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“This is too easy...Ã¢â‚¬Â I murmur. I let go two missiles and the last bomber explodes.

I wait for the shoe to drop.

Nothing. I bring my Cossack back to the patrol route.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hey, why can't they make it this easy each time?Ã¢â‚¬Â That's...Vlad. Then warning indicators flash and his helo's signals vanish. A flash bursts through my windshield and I look to the side. Vlad's helo, whats left of it, falls to the ground.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Missles! Break, break break!Ã¢â‚¬Â I shout. Another one of the helo's, this time Kim's, explodes. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Fall back!Ã¢â‚¬Â

The remains of my squad peels towards the bride. As we leave the operational area, my radar detects more URC bombers heading towards the bridge.

==Level Two: Land==

'''Khrushchev: Medium battle tank'''
[[Image:Krushchev.jpg|left|100px]]
Armed and armored like a...tank, the Khrushchev is a deadly weapon on the battle. Slow, but heavily armored, the Khrushchev is armed with two cannons and a mini-gun that can take down a verity of targets. The Khrushchev, in numbers, is a platform capable of handling any number of enemy ground units. Beware: It's lack of mobility and can lead it it's doom through enemy flanking maneuvers and sneak attacks.

'''Irveranguz: Medium Missle Tank'''
[[Image:Irveranguz.jpg|left|100px]]
With arching missiles and heavier armoring, the Irveranguz can destroy enemies located behind hills, around corners and so on. Use it to back up the direct fire power of your tanks, and to control crowds through it's high AOE.

'''Kirovich: Medium Laser Tank'''
[[Image:Kirovich.jpg|left|100px]]
With no less than four short range, high powered lasers, the Kirovich is a fast assault raider, capable of burning down enemy buildings in a flash. Beware: High energy usage make this tank a nuclear powered beast that can destroy your economy. Make sure your power plants are running at full tilt.

'''Aurora: Bombardment Artillery'''
[[Image:Aurora.jpg|left|100px]]
The Aurora brings death at long range, with two massive barrels and an infinite amounts heavy shells. Unlike its level 1 counterpart, it can fire horizontally. This feature, if used with care, can be used to devestate aproaching armies if their positions are wel known. It is also slower and more unwieldy than the Pavost light artillery. Use it with care, and be sure to protect it, as it is an expensive investment.

'''Tchernia: Medium Ion Cannon'''
[[Image:Tchernia.jpg|left|100px]]
A larger, longer ranged, more heavily armored version of the Tchernia LT, with duel cannons, the Tchernia is a non-lethal weapon that can turn the tide of battle by paralyzing your enemies and styming their advanced. Guaranteed Ã¢â‚¬Å“Blitzkrieg StopperÃ¢â‚¬Â

'''Yatioa: AA TankÃ¢â‚¬Â
[[Image:Yaota.jpg|left|100px]]
A heavy Flak wielding tank, this tank is capable of destroying URC VTOLS en mass. Keep it protected from a ground assault.

'''Yakovitch: ECM Tank'''

[[Image:ECM.jpg|left|100px]]

Equipped with nothing but a machine gun, the Yakovitch is still one of the most powerful weapons in your arsenal. Capable of hiding an entire attack force from enemy radar, the Yakovitch is the way to sneak your army behind the enemies gates.

'''Vaikovic: Minelayer Tank'''

[[Image:Minelayer.jpg|left|100px]]

Capable of building light and medium mines, use the Vaikovic to cover the entrances into your base. Capable of stopping all but the most determined (or suicidal) enemies, mine fields are your best friend when it comes to defense.

''' Khrushchev IAMP: Amphibious Battle Tank'''

[[Image:Anphib.jpg|left|100px]]

Equipped with standard suicide pills and self contained air supply, this version of the Khrushchev is perfect for delivering a nasty water born shock to the enemy.

'''Irveranguz IIAMP: Amphibious Missile Tank'''

[[Image:Amissle.jpg|left|100px]]

With watertight seals for the missiles and an air tight command cabin, this version of the Irveranguz can cross waters and support your Amphibious Khrushchevs

'''Kurzt IAMPT: Amphibious Torpedo Tank'''

[[Image:Torp.jpg|left|100px]]

The only amphibious tank that comes without suicide pills, the Kurzt is capable of firing torpedoes at sea targets. Use them to cover your amphibious assaults.

''' Yatioa IIAMP: Amphibious AA Tank'''

[[Image:AAA.jpg|left|100px]]

An anti air tank that's also capable of crossing water passages. Use them to create a all purposes water born assault.

==Tales from the Front==

August, 1, 3156 AD. Tokeyo Defense Campaign. 10 km outside GD held Yokohama

Five helos flew over head. They were...I grinned. I wondered if Dyana was in one of those. She and I had met...was it a year already? I had been in the Siberian pull back, the Denmark campaign...

Had it been a decade? A decade? This war had been going on longer than my sister had lived. Longer than Dyana's son. Now that had been a sobering conversation.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hey! Mal! Radio just chimed in and we're moving out!Ã¢â‚¬Â

I sat up, folding the mirror I had been using to aid my sunbathing. The thing they didn't tell you about Khrushchevs is that not only are they excellent main battle tanks, awesome engines of destructions and so on and so forth, but also amazing sunbathing...rest...things.

Maybe the sun was cooking my brain instead of just my skin.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Moving where?Ã¢â‚¬Â I asked, walking across the hood of the tank to my copula and slipped into my seat. Jaeger and Henekle got into their positions, Henekle near the front of the tank, next to the machine gun. She would be getting us where we were going. Jaeger sat in front of me, in a nicely kick able location. I refrained from abusing my command privileges such, instead slapping the side of the turret, grinning. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Where to!Ã¢â‚¬Â

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Point A-5,Ã¢â‚¬Â Henekle said.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Full speed!Ã¢â‚¬Â I said. Around us, the rest of the division was moving out. Some Tagia's paved the way in front of us, followed by some older Vladost tanks. I remembered when Vladosts had been the forefront of tank warfare. That was back when the robos had used light, four legged bots. Now they had started to use larger, two legged ones. They hit harder and packed more armor...but less armor than our stuff. They're first strikes against Yohohama had been rebuffed, their flanks broken by Iron Rain. Thats what we called the 432nd artillery division. Iron Rain.

The other Khrushchevs moved along our sides, each of their commanders relaxing in their cupolas. There was a jovial air to our movements. As if we were driving to a party instead of an attack. The URC must have regretted attacking the Japanise Islands by no-

A Tagia in front of us exploded. I ducked down, heart hammering in my chest. What the...bombers!

But the sky was clear. Two helos flew over head, as if to make sure. I knew Dyana wouldn't let a single robo fla through, let alone a tac bomber.

This time a Khrushchev next to me cooked up. It hit me, the same time it hit our commanders.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“You have entered a mine field at point A-3. Halt and wait for the sappers. Wait for the sappe-Ã¢â‚¬Â

Another Khrushchev cooked up. That one had been sitting still. A green bolt burned its way across my eyes and I pointed to the side, shouting at Jaeger. For a moment I slipped back into Russionease, but caught myself. My tank crew just had to be Repatriated East German. This time I got it right, but it had cost us valuable seconds. Another vehicle cooked up, a Kirovich.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Robos! That way!Ã¢â‚¬Â I pointed. Not exact, but it got Jaeger to turn the turret. Cannon reports sounded. The turret turned and I saw the mechs full on. Two leggers, all of them. Most were plasma...but a single one had a shotgun slung under one side.

Shit.

The shotgun blasted and the cannon rounds blasted into our sides.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Henekle, move us backwards!Ã¢â‚¬Â I shouted. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Jaeger, bag us that shotgunner!Ã¢â‚¬Â

Two other Khrushchev commanders had the same idea. The shotgunner exploded. The URC attack peeled off, but the damage had been done. Behind us, explosions sounded. The radio squawked.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Tank group, retreat back to Yotohama base. Total URC attack is under way. Repeat. Total URC attack is under way!

==Level Two: Air==

'''Zukov: Air Attack helicopter'''
[[Image:Inter.jpg|left|100px]]
Deadly air superiority fighter, this is the heavy fighter can take down enemy planes nicely and survives longer than the Cossack.

'''Kharkrov: Cluster Bomber'''

[[Image:DFA.jpg|left|100px]]

Capable of saturating an area with high yield explosives, this helo is affectionately referred to it's pilots as 'Cluster<explative deleated>er' Because it...er...screws the enemy up.

'''Kharkrov II: Ground Attack Helicopter'''
[[Image:GAH.jpg|left|100px]]
A rearmed Cluster Bomber, the Kharkroc II is capable of sticking around and delivering missile after missile to it's targets. Use it as a harassment or harrying role, capable of slowing or even destroying an undefended convoy.

'''Orsk: Tactical Bomber'''
[[Image:Orsk.jpg|left|100px]]
Where the Kharkrov is a weapon on massive destruction, the Orsk is a scalpel. Capable of destroying a single target then return home, the Orsk is useful for taking out a radar dish, a factory...whatever needs destroying.

'''Murnmansk: Anti-ship Bomber'''
[[Image:TBH.jpg|left|100px]]
The terror of the high seas, the Murnmansk is capable of destroying enemy shipping. Dropping a torpedo into the oceans at high speeds, the Murnmanks should be used to cover for your navy.

==Tales from the Front==

August, 1, 3156 AD. Japan Defense Campaign. 10 km above GD held Sydney.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Shit!Ã¢â‚¬Â I muttered, jerking on my stick. The missile locks blared. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I thumbed the flare button and the lock on failed. As I turned my Zukov round, I saw the base outside my window.

Bedlam. The robos were rolling through the defensive line, plasma fire and shotgun blasts shattering buildings, blowing apart construction vehicles. Then I saw mechs fall under cannon and laser fire. The tank group had returned. It was smaller...smaller enough to make my heart falter slightly. Mal might be in one of the tanks left back in that damned mine field...

I spun the Zukov around again, detecting inbound targets. Bombers. I triggered my missiles and they smashed into the air. Both hit and the first URC bomber went down. They're escort showed up, two fighter VTOLS breaking away from the fighter swarm. They fired and the missiles shot towards me and my wing mate. I dropped, turning off my blades at the right moment. The missile missed.

My wing mate wasn't that lucky. His Zukov exploded, smashing into the ground. I fired my next pair of missiles, locking onto both VTOLs. My missiles peeled off and struck both robos. One blew up and smashed into the ground. The other survived with minor damage, darting through the air at me. It fired it's missiles. In an instant I saw them heading towards me. I tanked on my stick, pulling off a maneuver that would have sent me into the ground...if the missile hadn't hit me first.

A warning blared in my ears and slammed my fist down on the eject. The cockpit exploded...then I shot down, away from the Helicopter, which smashed onto a URC mech. The mech, to my fury, didn't explode. I hung from the silk, looking over the battlefield. The URC bombers flew over the base.

A flurry of plasma tore though he ground, buildings, tanks. People. Smoke began to rise as URC flame throwers began to burn up the base. I saw the wrecks of half our tanks, the buildings burning, the helos downed or fighting a desperate battle in the sky.

But the URC simply had more. They always had more.

I hit the ground, rolling with the impact. I disengaged my parachute, trying to get as far away from the base as possible as I could on foot. I felt the ground shake, clomp, clomp, clomp. I turned around, slowly. A URC two legger stood, it's plasma barrels glowing. It fired again, the bolts of plasma incredibly hot. I gasped, ducking as the URC stepped over me, walking forward.

I stood and ran. The sky above me was filled with URC planes. The only other thing in the air...was smoke.

I got to the perimeter, where a massive hole had been torn by a URC explosive. I ducked out and looked around. Sydney was north...but where was north? A Khrushchev rolled past me, firing backwards as it drove forward. A plasma bolt impacted in its back and it exploded, the blast knocking me off my feet.

I stood up, brushing my shirt off. I chose a random direction, any direction away from the base...and ran.

==Level Three: Land==

'''Ural: Heavy Battle Tank'''
[[Image:Ural.jpg|left|100px]]

The Ural. A name that can inspire fear in the enemy. The Ural is a heavy death platform. Equipped with a staggering level of firepower, the Ural is a leviathan, capable of rolling over the enemy if used en mass. A single Ural can strengthen a battle line, while a battle line of Urals is deadly beyond belife. Warning: The Ural is equipped with two front cannons, two side turrets and a double barreled turret. The only way every gun can be fired would be if the Ural was facing straight forward. Ural is weak if flanked. Check your corners.

URC Unit Guide

2007-05-22T17:03:39Z

Hannes: /* Level One: Land */ Added abit of info and corrected typos on light arty

==Level One: Land==

'''Grasshopper: Light ECM Mech'''

Capable of projecting a small scanner interference field, the Grasshopper is capable of protecting a small squadron of bots against enemy radar.

'''Spider: Light Plasma Mech'''
[[Image:Spider.jpg|left|100px]]
Sporting a four legged chassis and two light plasma weapons, the Spider is a deadly tool. Weaker, armor wise, than GD tanks, the Spider is faster and more maneuverable, capable of mounting hills and other forms of difficult terrain.

'''Fire Ant: Flame thrower Mech'''
[[Image:FireAnt.jpg|left|100px]]
Fast, deadly, and short ranged, the Fire Ant is a quick raider that is capable of burning down enemy bases with unprecedented speed. They're armor is weak, so getting them into the fight can be a problem, but at close ranges, the Fire Ant is a deadly mech.

'''Cricket: Light rocket mech'''
[[Image:Crickit.jpg|left|100px]]
Using the Spider chassis, the Cricket has switched the plasma pods for a rocket pod capable of firing arching missiles that have a high area of effect. Use these to back up the direct fire of your Spiders.

'''Fly Trap: SAM mech'''
[[Image:FlyTrap.jpg|left|100px]]
Using the Spider chassis, the Fly Trap has switched the plasma pods for a Surface to Air Missile pod. The Fly Trap is able to take down enemy helos with disturbing efficiency, though heavier helicopters can withstand its fire for longer, tough repeated shots can even bring down a level 3 GD heli after a while.

'''Stink Bug: Light Mortar Mech'''
[[Image:StinkBug.jpg|left|100px]]
The Stink Bug is not as powerful as the GD's artillery. The Spider frame is simply not big enough to handle the kick back from anything stronger than a light mortar. That, coupled with the GD's heavier armor, makes the Stink Bug seem ineffective. But they, like all URC mechs, are cheap enough to be built en mass, and their long range support is still very useful.

'''Lice: Stealth Plasma Mech'''
[[Image:Lice.jpg|left|100px]]
The Lice is nothing more than a Spider mech with a single add on. But when that add on is the Optical Camoflague Jamming System or OCJS, its an add on that can tilt the balance of battle. Completely invisible, for all intents and purposes, a few Lice can sneak through the enemy's lines and devastate and unsuspecting base.

'''LFC Mech: Light Field Construction'''
[[Image:LFCM.jpg|left|100px]]
The LFC is equipped with a Field Construction Set (FCS) capable of cranking out Level 1 structures and turrets. The LFC is also capable of building the next generation of HUB, allowing the URC to move up to the next level of technology.

'''Tick: Scout Mech'''
[[Image:Tick.jpg|left|100px]]
Equipped with a specialized FCS and a OJCS, the Tick is capable of building Recon Poles, very small land mines and perimeter cameras. Use these to shore up your defenses, keep an eye on your enemy and generally be a nuisance.

==Tales from the Front==

September, 24, 3129. Alaskan Defense Campaign. 22 Km East of the Siberian Land Bridge.

XZ-229. The name was printed under the Spider in probably the most inconvenient place imaginable. Which made it a freaken pain for someone (like me) to find the one that wasn't working. So who had thought that up? Maybe some stupid Compy that thought that names would help the enemy identify the spiders that had improved their programming using battlefield experience.

Yeah, it had blown my mind when they had let that out. Now not only were our armies bloodless, but they also learned from every engagement. Becoming better.

I slid out from under this Spider (XZ-331) and moved to the next one in line. The report had said, Ã¢â‚¬Å“Erratic Algorithmic BehaviorÃ¢â‚¬Â but it hadn't said what or where. Maybe using too much ink for a human was a 'inefficient'

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Damn it, where are you?Ã¢â‚¬Â I muttered. One of the Spiders stepped out of line, it's footsteps echoing loudly in the factory. I looked at it and glimpsed, under one of it's legs, the lettering Ã¢â‚¬Å“XZ-229Ã¢â‚¬Â.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“There you are-Ã¢â‚¬Â I started. 229 opened fire. Bolts of plasma slammed into the wall of the factory and I staggered as a wave of cold air hit me. The Alaskan night filled the room as 229 walked out of the factory wall.

It got as far as the defense perimeter of our base. I saw a plasma turret turn it's barrels on the 229 and fire. The faulty unit exploded violently and a LFC walked up. It started to spray a protective polymer over the side of the wall.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Well...my work here is done,Ã¢â‚¬Â I muttered, picking up my tool kit and walking out of the factory.

==Level One: Air==

'''Gnat: Sonar/Radar VTOL'''
[[Image:Gnat.jpg|left|100px]]
Though completely unarmed and unarmored, the Gnat is still a useful asset to your aerial forces. Capable of extending your radar and sonar ranges, the Gnat is able to spot enemy forces at longer ranges than simple scouts.

'''Fly: Interceptor VTOL'''
[[Image:Fly.jpg|left|100px]]
A deadly little fighter, the Fly is capable of taking down enemy aircraft with deadly missile barrages.

'''Bumble Bee: Ground Attack VTOL'''
[[Image:BumbleBee.jpg|left|100px]]
A small VTOL armed with two small plasma cannons, the Bumble Bee is a swift attack vehicle, capable of harassing the enemy's forces.

==Tales from the Front==

October 14th, 3157 AD. Indonesian Retreat. 15 Km East of the Coral Sea

I looked at the map...and wondered if this war could get any worse. If only I knew. This was what the 'book' called a 'Tri-engagement'.

Its what I called a Level A Crash Up. The computers had computed a 78% chance that our bots could drive the GD into the sea and destroy them, giving us Australia. And, for half a year, it had worked. We had pushed the GD out of Sydney, the Abo-zones and the bitox villages. Then the strangers had shown up.

Calling themselves the New Initiative, they hit both of us and the tankers...hard. I had been airlifted out of our forward base in a hurry. Now that had been frightening. When I lose a battle, normally the worst thing that happens is some of our robos get destroyed and we lose territory. Not like the barbarians...if they lost, they lose men and women. Ugh. Made me shake when I think about it.

But this time it had been scary. The VTOL had lifted into the air, fifteen or so Flies covering it. The NI's weird hover craft started to breach the outwards defenses. Plasma shots were smashing into them and I was heartened to see that yes, they did die.

Then lighting struck. The front three NI tanks opened fire and lighting arced from their weird guns. The plasma turrets exploded and the base's entire left flank was left wide open. More NI hover tanks began to fill the base and I turned away. No sense getting worked up over destroyed parts and pieces.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Sir,Ã¢â‚¬Â A computerized voice said. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Expect incoming turbulence.Ã¢â‚¬Â

I looked up from the map. The VTOL shook and I wondered who was shooting at us, the GD or the NI. Did it really matter? I glanced back at the map. The radar said 'unknown aerial targets'. NI.

The craft shook some more and I glanced out the window. I caught a glimpse of something smooth, silvery and very fast. Maybe being airlifted wasn't enough. Then I saw a missile impact in the side of the silvery thing and it exploded, falling out of the air.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Nice shot boys,Ã¢â‚¬Â I murmured. Then a Helicopter flew past, marked with red and green.

I glanced back at the map. GD dots were falling on NI dots. I grabbed my command stylus and tapped the map a few times. URC dots started to move in as well, a few bots I had kept in reserve. The VTOL shook again and I heard a missile streak past.

A glance out the window showed a Fly blowing apart a GD helo. I grinned. The Gnat was then struck by a strange blue sphere, fired from a NI fighter.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Now it gets interesting,Ã¢â‚¬Â I mutter, tapping my stylus some more.

GD Unit Guide

2007-05-22T16:53:41Z

Hannes: /* Level One: Land */

[[Image:E&E-GD.png|200px|right|A well defended GD stronghold.]]

== Level One: Land ==

'''Vladost: Light cannon tank'''
[[Image:Vladost.jpg|left|100px]]
The Vladost forms the bulk of any Global Dynasty force. These durable tanks are equiped with a double-barreled cannon. They are best used in lines where their superior range and damage can inflict heavy losses on the enemy. Vladosts nearly always shoot first in an engagement.

'''Petra: Light missile tank'''
[[Image:Petra.jpg|left|100px]]
The Petra serves as a support unit for the GD forces. Their arcing missile fire allows them to bring their weapons to bear no matter their surroundings. Due to its inferior armor this unit should be put to the rear of a combat force, where it can use its indirect fire to greater effect.

'''Taiga: Light laser tank'''
[[Image:Tagia.jpg|left|100px]]
The Taiga fires a short-ranged continuous laser at enemy targets, rapidly cutting through their armor. Faster than other GD units as well as more heavily armored these untis excel at short range combat. Their superior damage against structures makes them ideal for flank attacks or especially as candidates for covert airdrops.

'''Vladost IIC: Radar tank'''
[[Image:VladostIIC.jpg|left|100px]]
The Vladost IIC is a GD forces eyes and ears. Equipped with a short range sensor suit these tanks can improve line of sight as well as providing mobile radar. However Armed with only a single-barreled cannon and reduced armor these are not a substitue for light cannon tanks. They will however tilt the balance in your favor allowing your forces to engage the enemy from maximum range and detecting flank attacks.

'''Tchernia LT: Ion Cannon Tank'''
[[Image:TcherniaLT.jpg|left|100px]]
The GD's ace in the hole when it comes to rapid strikes by the enemy, the Tchernia Ion Cannon Tank is literally a show stopper, armed with a single large bore ion cannon this tank is capable of stopping any enemy units in it's tracks with an EMP pulse. Due to its expensive cost and high energy use this tank should be built sparingly, however it can turn the tide should you face a numerically superior foe.

'''Pavost Light Artillery'''
[[Image:Pavost.jpg|left|100px]]
The Pavost light artillery is the back bone of the GD's early long range divisions. Capable of putting a hail of fire on a target area when grouped, The Pavost will get your enemy moving, weakened and confused. However Pavost light artillery have very thin armor, if caught alone it has no chance of survival.

'''Pavost AAI: Light Anti-air tank'''
[[Image:PavostAA.jpg|left|100px]]
The Pavost AAI is the first line in the GD's defense against aerial attacks. Its Light Flak cannon can easily dispatch light aircraft of all sorts, and built in mass it can even deal with medium aircraft. These should be included in all attack forces to protect against aerial attack. As heavier aircraft become present on the battlefield the Pavost AAI may require support from other anti air elements.

'''Vladost IAMP'''
[[Image:VladostIIA.jpg|left|100px]]
A perfect surprise for your enemies, this modified Vladost tank known as the IAMP version, has been refitted with a amphibious suit for navigating even deep water. Equipped with the same double-barreled cannon as its land going counterpart this tank can still pack a punch. However the Amphibious Vladost is easy prey for ships and submarines lacking anyway to retaliate against them. Use them with care, as a well planned and executed amphibious assault can breach even the most heavily defended stronghold.

'''Kamir I''''
[[Image:KamirI.jpg|left|100px]]
This light fast scout tank is capable of building remote camera's and camoflaged radar. Great for roving ahead of an attack force and determining the oposition. This scout tank is perfect for harassing the enemy, keeping tabs on distant parts of your territory, clearing minefields and quickly reclaiming debris on the battlefield.

'''Gurnz construction vehicle'''
[[Image:Gurnz.jpg|left|100px]]
The Gurnz is your ticket to victory. It may be ugly, it's crew may be surly and ill trained, it's paint might be chipped and it might smell, but the Gurnz is still your basic building unit. It can construct level one buildings and level two HUBs, allowing you to tech up to the next level of units.

==Tales from the Front==
January 23, 3132 AD
Denmark Campaign
24 km outside URC held Helden
(Formerly Odense)

Ã¢â‚¬Å“The Vladost battle tank's control room sounded like a better choice to me when I first joined up. It was either that or the helo division. And every single time I took the plane to Kong I spent the entire time in the head, retching.

It had 'sounded' good. Now I was seriously reconsidering that.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Explosive! Explosive rounds, damn it!Ã¢â‚¬Â Victor kicked me in the back. He was well situated, his head sticking out of the copula, his legs right near my upper back and head. I put my eye against the looker and spotted the enemy bots round the hill. I fingered the trigger, my other hand telling the auto-loader to give us a explosive. A bolt of plasma burnt into the side of our tank and I yelped as the room became boiling hot for a moment. Then the damage control systems kicked in and the air reached a livable temperature. For revenge, I pulled the trigger.

BOOM! BANG! I swear the second cannon sounds different from the first. I swear it, but neither the driver, nor my commander believe me. No matter. The explosive shell smashes into the ground between the two bots and smoke fills my scanner scope. A secondary explosion kicks up more dirt. The second shell hits and another explosion kicks up even more dust. The dust clears and I grin. Both bots are down.

WHAM! Something slams me in the back of my head. Smoke fills the cabin and Victor is screaming something. I reach for my escape hatch. It doesn't open. Victor kicks me in the back, scrambling out of his hatch. The gunner isn't screaming. I smell burnt meat. Another something slams into the tank and my head smashes against the wall. Then hands are grabbing me, pulling me up. I scramble out, stars dancing in front of my eyes.

Victor throws me off the tank and I hit the dirt, wheezing. He is about to jump when the tank itself explodes violently. I stand, my head ringing, blood running down the side of my head. Bits of the tank land all around me, piffing into the dirt ground. My knees knock together as it hits me. Victor might have been a bastard...and Hoe, the gunner, he'd been all right...

I hear the stomp stomp stomp of URC mechs. I turn around and see the four mechs that had hit us...bastards had crested the hill we were sitting against. Where was the rest of the battle group! I turned, trying to see some tanks.

None. I was alone.

I turned back to the robos. I supposed the plasma would be quick...I closed my eyes.

And that was what saved my eyes. A flash, brighter than anything I thought possible, burst through my eye lids. I hit the ground and heat washed over me. I opened my eyes in time to see the robos fall down. A brilliant, beautiful cloud rose above the city of Odense. It was shaped like the mushrooms I used to eat when I was a kid.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Holy shit,Ã¢â‚¬Â I muttered. Ã¢â‚¬Å“They did it. They really did it.Ã¢â‚¬Â

So thats why we had been stationed here. Thats why the GD had pulled back. I felt cold. If I had known how bad it was going to get...I'd have deserted. But at the time I only known one thing: The war had gone nuclear."

==Level One: Air==

'''Doppler: Radar/Sonar Helo'''
[[Image:Doppler.jpg|left|100px]]
The helicopter is small, cheap and can be used to patrol the area around your base, extending your radar and sight range. Useful as a mobile spotter and a submarine finder, the Doppler can make your day much easier.

'''Cossack: Interceptor Helicopter'''
[[Image:Cossack.jpg|left|100px]]
Equipped with air to air missiles, the Cossack is perfect for taking down the enemy bombers. Capable of destroying most enemy aircraft (assuming the Cossack team has numbers on its side) the Cossack is a must have for total air superiority.

'''Khan: Attack Helicopter'''
[[Image:Khan.jpg|left|100px]]
The Khan is a gunship, equipped with deadly heavy machine guns, the Khan is suited to destroying enemy patrols and harassing enemy forces. Remember to pull it back before it's fuel supplies run low, or it will not be coming back from it's mission. Best used in packs to destroy isolated pockets of resistance, hunt down fleeing enemies, or blasting apart undefended buildings.

'''Grund: Light Transport Helicopter'''
[[Image:Grund.jpg|left|100px]]
A swift transport, the Grund is capable of trasnporting light units. Unfortunately it's speed is balanced by a complete lack of armor, guns or anything that will allow it to survive enemy attacks. Use it to ferry unit's around safe territory, or carefully sneak it through the enemy's defensive line.

==Tales from the Front==

December, 25 3132 AD. GD 'tactical withdrawal' Somewhere over Siberia.

I bounced in my cockpit and watched my army fall back. It felt bad, It felt worse than the day Moriscaw was plasma bombed by the robo bastards. It felt even worse than when my first son had died.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Damn it. Damn it!Ã¢â‚¬Â I muttered, keeping my voice off the radio. The rest of my squad didn't near to hear me going to pieces. Hell, I didn't need to hear me going to pieces. A sudden buffet of wind shook my Cossack. That made me pay attention. Siberia killed. It had killed when my ancient ancestors had fought the Nazis, it had killed before them...it would kill after I and mine had gone by too.

But the one thing it wouldn't...couldn't kill was the robos. URC mechs marched underneath us, bolts of plasma lighting up the ground. Occasionally one of our tanks would fire back...more often, they would explode brightly. Like a star in the night sky.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Contact!Ã¢â‚¬Â Kim shouted, his voice crackling over my radio. I snapped back to focus, my training taking over. The red dots on my radar screen were going to fast to be tanks, too slow to be fighters. Bombers...and the computer in my radar projected their course to the bridge. Shit!

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Form up on my mark,Ã¢â‚¬Â I said. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Don't let a single one of those bombers get past!Ã¢â‚¬Â

I moved my joystick and the Cossack moves about. I see the bombers. Wide, engines glowing. They're not even trying to hide! I grin, reading my heat seeking missiles.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Missiles away!Ã¢â‚¬Â I shout. The missiles streak towards the bombers. One impacts, then the other. The bomber falls out of the sky, trailing smoke. It hits the ground and it's plasma hold lights up with a bright green flash. Missiles streak past me as my wingmates open fire. Two more bombers go down.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“This is too easy...Ã¢â‚¬Â I murmur. I let go two missiles and the last bomber explodes.

I wait for the shoe to drop.

Nothing. I bring my Cossack back to the patrol route.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hey, why can't they make it this easy each time?Ã¢â‚¬Â That's...Vlad. Then warning indicators flash and his helo's signals vanish. A flash bursts through my windshield and I look to the side. Vlad's helo, whats left of it, falls to the ground.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Missles! Break, break break!Ã¢â‚¬Â I shout. Another one of the helo's, this time Kim's, explodes. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Fall back!Ã¢â‚¬Â

The remains of my squad peels towards the bride. As we leave the operational area, my radar detects more URC bombers heading towards the bridge.

==Level Two: Land==

'''Khrushchev: Medium battle tank'''
[[Image:Krushchev.jpg|left|100px]]
Armed and armored like a...tank, the Khrushchev is a deadly weapon on the battle. Slow, but heavily armored, the Khrushchev is armed with two cannons and a mini-gun that can take down a verity of targets. The Khrushchev, in numbers, is a platform capable of handling any number of enemy ground units. Beware: It's lack of mobility and can lead it it's doom through enemy flanking maneuvers and sneak attacks.

'''Irveranguz: Medium Missle Tank'''
[[Image:Irveranguz.jpg|left|100px]]
With arching missiles and heavier armoring, the Irveranguz can destroy enemies located behind hills, around corners and so on. Use it to back up the direct fire power of your tanks, and to control crowds through it's high AOE.

'''Kirovich: Medium Laser Tank'''
[[Image:Kirovich.jpg|left|100px]]
With no less than four short range, high powered lasers, the Kirovich is a fast assault raider, capable of burning down enemy buildings in a flash. Beware: High energy usage make this tank a nuclear powered beast that can destroy your economy. Make sure your power plants are running at full tilt.

'''Aurora: Bombardment Artillery'''
[[Image:Aurora.jpg|left|100px]]
The Aurora brings death at long range, with two massive barrels and an infinite amounts heavy shells. It is also slower and more unwieldy than the Pavost light artillery. Use it with care, and be sure to protect it, as it is an expensive investment.

'''Tchernia: Medium Ion Cannon'''
[[Image:Tchernia.jpg|left|100px]]
A larger, longer ranged, more heavily armored version of the Vladost, the Tchernia is a non-lethal weapon that can turn the tide of battle by paralyzing your enemies and styming their advanced. Guaranteed Ã¢â‚¬Å“Blitzkrieg StopperÃ¢â‚¬Â

'''Yatioa: AA TankÃ¢â‚¬Â
[[Image:Yaota.jpg|left|100px]]
A heavy flack wielding tank, this tank is capable of destroying URC VTOLS en mass. Keep it protected from a ground assault.

'''Yakovitch: ECM Tank'''

[[Image:ECM.jpg|left|100px]]

Equipped with nothing but a machine gun, the Yakovitch is still one of the most powerful weapons in your arsenal. Capable of hiding an entire attack force from enemy radar, the Yakovitch is the way to sneak your army behind the enemies gates.

'''Vaikovic: Minelayer Tank'''

[[Image:Minelayer.jpg|left|100px]]

Capable of building light and medium mines, use the Vaikovic to cover the entrances into your base. Capable of stopping all but the most determined (or suicidal) enemies, mine fields are your best friend when it comes to defense.

''' Khrushchev IAMP: Amphibious Battle Tank'''

[[Image:Anphib.jpg|left|100px]]

Equipped with standard suicide pills and self contained air supply, this version of the Khrushchev is perfect for delivering a nasty water born shock to the enemy.

'''Irveranguz IIAMP: Amphibious Missile Tank'''

[[Image:Amissle.jpg|left|100px]]

With watertight seals for the missiles and an air tight command cabin, this version of the Irveranguz can cross waters and support your Amphibious Khrushchevs

'''Kurzt IAMPT: Amphibious Torpedo Tank'''

[[Image:Torp.jpg|left|100px]]

The only amphibious tank that comes without suicide pills, the Kurzt is capable of firing torpedoes at sea targets. Use them to cover your amphibious assaults.

''' Yatioa IIAMP: Amphibious AA Tank'''

[[Image:AAA.jpg|left|100px]]

An anti air tank that's also capable of crossing water passages. Use them to create a all purposes water born assault.

==Tales from the Front==

August, 1, 3156 AD. Tokeyo Defense Campaign. 10 km outside GD held Yokohama

Five helos flew over head. They were...I grinned. I wondered if Dyana was in one of those. She and I had met...was it a year already? I had been in the Siberian pull back, the Denmark campaign...

Had it been a decade? A decade? This war had been going on longer than my sister had lived. Longer than Dyana's son. Now that had been a sobering conversation.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hey! Mal! Radio just chimed in and we're moving out!Ã¢â‚¬Â

I sat up, folding the mirror I had been using to aid my sunbathing. The thing they didn't tell you about Khrushchevs is that not only are they excellent main battle tanks, awesome engines of destructions and so on and so forth, but also amazing sunbathing...rest...things.

Maybe the sun was cooking my brain instead of just my skin.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Moving where?Ã¢â‚¬Â I asked, walking across the hood of the tank to my copula and slipped into my seat. Jaeger and Henekle got into their positions, Henekle near the front of the tank, next to the machine gun. She would be getting us where we were going. Jaeger sat in front of me, in a nicely kick able location. I refrained from abusing my command privileges such, instead slapping the side of the turret, grinning. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Where to!Ã¢â‚¬Â

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Point A-5,Ã¢â‚¬Â Henekle said.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Full speed!Ã¢â‚¬Â I said. Around us, the rest of the division was moving out. Some Tagia's paved the way in front of us, followed by some older Vladost tanks. I remembered when Vladosts had been the forefront of tank warfare. That was back when the robos had used light, four legged bots. Now they had started to use larger, two legged ones. They hit harder and packed more armor...but less armor than our stuff. They're first strikes against Yohohama had been rebuffed, their flanks broken by Iron Rain. Thats what we called the 432nd artillery division. Iron Rain.

The other Khrushchevs moved along our sides, each of their commanders relaxing in their cupolas. There was a jovial air to our movements. As if we were driving to a party instead of an attack. The URC must have regretted attacking the Japanise Islands by no-

A Tagia in front of us exploded. I ducked down, heart hammering in my chest. What the...bombers!

But the sky was clear. Two helos flew over head, as if to make sure. I knew Dyana wouldn't let a single robo fla through, let alone a tac bomber.

This time a Khrushchev next to me cooked up. It hit me, the same time it hit our commanders.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“You have entered a mine field at point A-3. Halt and wait for the sappers. Wait for the sappe-Ã¢â‚¬Â

Another Khrushchev cooked up. That one had been sitting still. A green bolt burned its way across my eyes and I pointed to the side, shouting at Jaeger. For a moment I slipped back into Russionease, but caught myself. My tank crew just had to be Repatriated East German. This time I got it right, but it had cost us valuable seconds. Another vehicle cooked up, a Kirovich.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Robos! That way!Ã¢â‚¬Â I pointed. Not exact, but it got Jaeger to turn the turret. Cannon reports sounded. The turret turned and I saw the mechs full on. Two leggers, all of them. Most were plasma...but a single one had a shotgun slung under one side.

Shit.

The shotgun blasted and the cannon rounds blasted into our sides.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Henekle, move us backwards!Ã¢â‚¬Â I shouted. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Jaeger, bag us that shotgunner!Ã¢â‚¬Â

Two other Khrushchev commanders had the same idea. The shotgunner exploded. The URC attack peeled off, but the damage had been done. Behind us, explosions sounded. The radio squawked.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Tank group, retreat back to Yotohama base. Total URC attack is under way. Repeat. Total URC attack is under way!

==Level Two: Air==

'''Zukov: Air Attack helicopter'''
[[Image:Inter.jpg|left|100px]]
Deadly air superiority fighter, this is the heavy fighter can take down enemy planes nicely and survives longer than the Cossack.

'''Kharkrov: Cluster Bomber'''

[[Image:DFA.jpg|left|100px]]

Capable of saturating an area with high yield explosives, this helo is affectionately referred to it's pilots as 'Cluster<explative deleated>er' Because it...er...screws the enemy up.

'''Kharkrov II: Ground Attack Helicopter'''
[[Image:GAH.jpg|left|100px]]
A rearmed Cluster Bomber, the Kharkroc II is capable of sticking around and delivering missile after missile to it's targets. Use it as a harassment or harrying role, capable of slowing or even destroying an undefended convoy.

'''Orsk: Tactical Bomber'''
[[Image:Orsk.jpg|left|100px]]
Where the Kharkrov is a weapon on massive destruction, the Orsk is a scalpel. Capable of destroying a single target then return home, the Orsk is useful for taking out a radar dish, a factory...whatever needs destroying.

'''Murnmansk: Anti-ship Bomber'''
[[Image:TBH.jpg|left|100px]]
The terror of the high seas, the Murnmansk is capable of destroying enemy shipping. Dropping a torpedo into the oceans at high speeds, the Murnmanks should be used to cover for your navy.

==Tales from the Front==

August, 1, 3156 AD. Japan Defense Campaign. 10 km above GD held Sydney.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Shit!Ã¢â‚¬Â I muttered, jerking on my stick. The missile locks blared. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I thumbed the flare button and the lock on failed. As I turned my Zukov round, I saw the base outside my window.

Bedlam. The robos were rolling through the defensive line, plasma fire and shotgun blasts shattering buildings, blowing apart construction vehicles. Then I saw mechs fall under cannon and laser fire. The tank group had returned. It was smaller...smaller enough to make my heart falter slightly. Mal might be in one of the tanks left back in that damned mine field...

I spun the Zukov around again, detecting inbound targets. Bombers. I triggered my missiles and they smashed into the air. Both hit and the first URC bomber went down. They're escort showed up, two fighter VTOLS breaking away from the fighter swarm. They fired and the missiles shot towards me and my wing mate. I dropped, turning off my blades at the right moment. The missile missed.

My wing mate wasn't that lucky. His Zukov exploded, smashing into the ground. I fired my next pair of missiles, locking onto both VTOLs. My missiles peeled off and struck both robos. One blew up and smashed into the ground. The other survived with minor damage, darting through the air at me. It fired it's missiles. In an instant I saw them heading towards me. I tanked on my stick, pulling off a maneuver that would have sent me into the ground...if the missile hadn't hit me first.

A warning blared in my ears and slammed my fist down on the eject. The cockpit exploded...then I shot down, away from the Helicopter, which smashed onto a URC mech. The mech, to my fury, didn't explode. I hung from the silk, looking over the battlefield. The URC bombers flew over the base.

A flurry of plasma tore though he ground, buildings, tanks. People. Smoke began to rise as URC flame throwers began to burn up the base. I saw the wrecks of half our tanks, the buildings burning, the helos downed or fighting a desperate battle in the sky.

But the URC simply had more. They always had more.

I hit the ground, rolling with the impact. I disengaged my parachute, trying to get as far away from the base as possible as I could on foot. I felt the ground shake, clomp, clomp, clomp. I turned around, slowly. A URC two legger stood, it's plasma barrels glowing. It fired again, the bolts of plasma incredibly hot. I gasped, ducking as the URC stepped over me, walking forward.

I stood and ran. The sky above me was filled with URC planes. The only other thing in the air...was smoke.

I got to the perimeter, where a massive hole had been torn by a URC explosive. I ducked out and looked around. Sydney was north...but where was north? A Khrushchev rolled past me, firing backwards as it drove forward. A plasma bolt impacted in its back and it exploded, the blast knocking me off my feet.

I stood up, brushing my shirt off. I chose a random direction, any direction away from the base...and ran.

==Level Three: Land==

'''Ural: Heavy Battle Tank'''
[[Image:Ural.jpg|left|100px]]

The Ural. A name that can inspire fear in the enemy. The Ural is a heavy death platform. Equipped with a staggering level of firepower, the Ural is a leviathan, capable of rolling over the enemy if used en mass. A single Ural can strengthen a battle line, while a battle line of Urals is deadly beyond belife. Warning: The Ural is equipped with two front cannons, two side turrets and a double barreled turret. The only way every gun can be fired would be if the Ural was facing straight forward. Ural is weak if flanked. Check your corners.

Tutorial:CompleteMapMaking(Wannes)

2006-09-02T13:48:18Z

Hannes: Typo's and 7zip link

== Complete Map Making tutorial == by Wannes

Hello everyone,
In this tutorial i'm gonna try to learn you everything you need to know to make your first decent map.

First i want to thank Maelstorm and aGorm for their tutorials, they learned me alot.

=== Things You need: ===

An image editing program like Photoshop (which I will use in the rest of this tutorial), Paintshop Pro, . . .

Mapconv: This is the program that converts the Bitmap files you will be making into something that Spring can use (meaning a .smf and .smt file)
This program comes in 2 versions, Mothers mapconv and the "normal" one
In the rest of this tutorial I will be using mothers Mapconv

Map creation tools (optional): These programs help you making heightmaps, generate heightmaps, and apply textures to them.
Examples are:
* Terragen (Mars was made with the random terrain function in terragen by SJ)
* L3DT
* World Machine.

-*add links later*-

If you are plannign to make big maps 16x16 and more you really need a good cpu and alot of memory and HD space. Especially when you are going to make everything in Photoshop.

=== The Parts of the Map ===

Each map contains 4 parts (3 parts on the normal mapconv)

=== The texture Map: ===

This defines how the terrain for your map will look.
It needs to be a 24 bit bitmap, with dimensions that are a multiple of 1024.
A 16x16 map (you see this at spring lobby) equals a 8192x8192 pixels bitmap.
As you will soon notice these bitmaps have huge sizes. In order to compress these large bitmaps to a small mapfiles they created somethign named tiles.

A tile is a a small picture of a terrain liek grass or sand or water. when you fill up your whole map with 1 or more tiles, mapconv can see this and make good use of it to compress your map. So its important you use tiles because it makes the map sizes alot smalle but you should pay attention your maps don't get too boring because of the same tile you see everywhere.

You can't just use tiles of any size. mapconv will check your map for tiles that are a multiple of 32 pixels. So you can use 32x32 64x64 . . . bigger tiles will usually be nicer on your map because its harder to spot u repeat the same tile over and over, but this also makes you map bigger.
You can even use tiles like 32x64, as long as its a multiple of 32

So it important you find a good balance between the number of tiles you use and their size.

If you wnat to use tiles in Photoshop, do this:
open the tile picture resize it to a multiple of 32, do edit->define pattern
then go to the terrain picture and use edit -> fill and select the wanted pattern. on large bitmaps this may take some time.
When u applied a couple of tiles liek this you can make em belnd in to eachother using the eraser on a low opacity.

You can also use terragen to generate you a texture map, using an imported heightmap or one you made inside terragen. Although I can give you no further info about the use of terragen because I don't know alot about it either.

===The Heightmap===

This is the key part of your map. It defines everything about the heights of your map (including water).

These are the basics: your heightmap must only contain black and white colors, and must be textmapsizeX/8 +1 x textmapsizeY/8+1 so if you have a 8192 x 8192 texture map you got to have a 1025 x 1025 heightmap.
The whiter something is, the higher it will be in spring and black is the lowest your map can be.

so basicly what you do is you paint your whole map grey (usually I take 127 127 127) and then add white and black where you want mountains and valleys

I'm not very good at making heightmaps myself so maybe someone else can write some things here
the way I do it: I only use photoshop , take a white brush on very low opacity and start drawling a mountain on my map. It takes alot of time and patience making it very smoot. the blur tools helps alot and the surface blur filter helps alot too (or any otehr blur filter). If you want to make your terrain you are going to build a little interesting you shouldn't leave it all perfectly flat. There are many ways of doing this, you can use the filter->render-> clouds or some things in the filer->noise menu(remember not to use colors!)
after applying these filers you can try to put opacity of that layer low or merge it with the other layers (don't use this, but might be better)

===The Metal Map===

Aah this is an easy one : )
it uses teh same dimensions as the heightmap.
The normal mapconv uses this map to place the metal and geovents on, but mothers mapconv has a special feature layer for the geo's (see later) so the metal map just keeps track of all the metal on your map.

It uses red to represent Metal , so you can use red goign from 0 -255 to defien your metal.
Remember that white = all colors so when you make a white map with red dots your whoel map will be covered with metal. on the normal mapconv this will be even worse because white allso contaisn green (which it uses for geo's) so the enire map wille b full of geo's, and because each green pixel represents a geo this will cause a big error when you start your map.

so allways paint your map black (love that song) first and then add red dots (unless you are makign a metalmap)

===The Feature Map===

This is for Mothers mapconv only
it uses same dimensions as teh height and metalmap.

GEO's:
it uses green 255 to represent a geo add 1 pixel to add one geo on your map don't place alot of green pixels next to eachotehr because this will make spring crash.

TREE's
it uses green color 200-215 to represent trees of 16 differant types

GRASS:

it uses blue color 0-255 0 = no grass 255 = full grass

FEATURES:
***taken from motehrs mapconv readme***
Red Channel:
255 - feature of type on first line of text file specified with
254 - " " second " " "

ie. fs.txt has armjeth_dead on the first line, so a pixel of 255 Blue places an armjeth_dead !

Format is one feature type per line.
These features currently must be found in the .tdf files in the mods/<modname.sd7>/features filesystem.
*** taken from motehrs mapconv readme ***

===Using Mapconv===

ok now you have your 4 maps, copy them into mothersmapconv folder

now you have to get mapconv to work. You can edit the .bat file or do this:
goto start-> run and type "cmd" this will open a dospromt
for those that don't knwo dos, use cd.. to go up one level cd "mapname" to change folder and "d:" to go to your D drive
navigate to the mapconv folder.

Then you need to type "mapconv" follwoed by a list of parameters

this is a list taken from mothers mapconv help:

USAGE:

mapconv [-l] [-i] [-c <compression>] -x <max height> -n <min height> [-o
<Output file>] [-e <tile file>] [-y <Typemap file>] -m <Metalmap file> -a
<Heightmap file> -t <Texture file> [--] [-v] [-h]

Where:

-l, --lowpass
Lowpass filters the heightmap

-i, --invert
Inverts the height map vertically (not the height values but the height map
(uhm someone rewrite this))

-c <compression>, --compress <compression>
(value required) How much we should try to compress the texture file.
Default value 0.8 . (lower=higher quality, larger file)

-x <max height>, --maxheight <max height>
(required) (value required) What altitude in spring the max(0xffff) level
of the height map should represent

-n <min height>, --minheight <min height>
(required) (value required) What altitude in spring the min(0) level of
the height map should represent

-o <Output file>, --outfile <Output file>
(value required) The name of the created map

-e <tile file>, --externaltilefile <tile file>
(value required) External tile file that will be used for finding tiles,
tiles not found in this will be added in a new tile file

-y <Typemap file>, --typemap <Typemap file>
(value required) Type map to use, uses the red channel to decide type,
types are defined in the .smd, if this argument is skipped the map will be
all type 0

-m <Metalmap file>, --metalmap <Metalmap file>
(required) (value required) Metal map to use, red channel is amount of
metal, green=255 is where to place geos (one pixel=one geo). Is resized to
fit the mapsize

-a <Heightmap file>, --heightmap <Heightmap file>
(required) (value required) Input heightmap to use for the map, this
should be in 16 bit raw format (.raw extension) or an image file. Must be
xsize*128+1 x ysize*128+1 in size.

-t <Texture file>, --intex <Texture file>
(required) (value required) Input bitmap to use for the map. Must be
xsize*1024 x ysize*1024 in size. (xsize,ysize integers determined from this
file)

--, --ignore_rest
Ignores the rest of the labeled arguments following this flag.

-v, --version
Displays version information and exits.

-h, --help
Displays usage information and exits.

This is an example of a command to convert your map (mame is crossroads)
I allways use the -i parameter else the texture map gets applied wrong

mapconv.exe -i -f w_crossroadsf.bmp -x 300 -n 50 -m w_crossroadsm.bmp -a w_crossroadsh.bmp -t w_crossroads.bmp -o w_crossroads.smf

if you run this you will see 2 new files in the mapconv folder yourmapname.smf and yourmapname.smt
but you still need an extra file yourmapname.smd
a smd file contains all things like wind speeds max metal sun direction map description, starting positions etc.
you can take a smd file from another map and edit or use Maelstorms SMD creator:
http://taspring.clan-sy.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2420

Now put these 3 files in a folder called "maps", download 7-zip [http://www.7-zip.org here],
open it and navigate to the maps folder
right-click on it and do add to archive. Just let it make a zip file, and later rename it to yourmapname.sd7 (you have to edit the extension)

Put this file in your spring maps folder and you're ready to test it!

I'm gonna cleanup this tutorial alter and add alot more stuff but if you aren't bothered too much because of all the typo's this should teach you how to make your first map

cheers!

[[Category:Map making]]