Expand and Exterminate/Units

This page is a guide to the units in Expand and Exterminate. It is intended to give you some idea of what units are available, what they look like, and what they're good for.

Commander

As in most Spring mods, you start with a single Commander unit in EE. The Commander in EE is unarmed, but has a lot of HP and moves and builds very quickly. It is amphibious, so it can move into or across bodies of water to build shipyards, floating structures, or new bases.

Weapons

Weapons in EE are very standardized. Each side generally has a couple of "signature" weapons that many of their units use, combined with a few common or unique weapons. Understanding the weapon types will help you develop good force mixes, understand what your enemy's using against you, and quickly identify new units.

URC Plasma

The signature weapon of the URC, Plasma weapons look like a green beam. They're direct fire, so they cannot fire over units or terrain, and they have a slightly shorter range and lower damage than GD Cannons. They're still the best direct-fire weapon available to URC forces for unit-on-unit combat, and plasma units should form the bulk of most of your forces. Like all direct-fire weapons, their effectiveness increases significantly if they're lined up. (Click and drag when issuing a move order.)

GD Cannon

The signature weapon of GD's tank units, Cannons are slower-firing than Plasma, but longer range and higher damage. Cannon tanks will usually be the bulk of your battle force, and their effectiveness increases significantly when they're arranged in a line. (Click and drag when issuing a move order.)

Rockets and Missiles

Used by both GD and URC, rockets and missiles are practically identical. They have lower DPS than GD Cannon or URC Plasma weapons, but can fire over other units and have a larger area of effect. This makes them an excellent choice to support Cannon/Plasma units, as they can stay behind them and still engage the enemy, improving the group's overall damage.

GD Lasers

A specialist weapon used by some GD tanks, lasers have a shorter range than Cannons but a higher DPS. This makes them excellent at destroying buildings quickly, but poor at engaging enemy units.

URC Flamethrowers/Cannons

Like GD Lasers, URC Flamethrowers have a shorter range but higher damage. They, too, excel at demolitions, and can also be used as an anti-swarm weapon with cover from other units.

Medium and Heavy URC mechs carry cannons instead of flamethrowers. These weapons have little in common with GD Cannons and, like flamethrowers, are best suited for demolitions.

Anti-aircraft Weapons

Both the URC and GD use a wide variety of anti-aircraft weapons. They are generally fast-firing and hard-hitting, capable of doing substantial damage to enemy aircraft. They are, however, totally useless against ground units.

Artillery and Mortars

Artillery and Mortars are high-trajectory support weapons. Inaccurate and slow-firing but long-ranged and powerful, they are best used to engage units and structures visible only on radar. They typically require considerable support from other ground units, as they cannot effectively engage close-in enemies.

Torpedoes

Torpedoes are useless against land units, but do significant damage to water units. Note that torpedoes fired by underwater units may not be able to effectively damage floating structures.