Rise of the Reds Update: Deterrence Options

[MARS]

Germany, May 2048
Russian High Command HQ, Berlin

Mere minutes after General Aleksandr received the news of the European nuclear attacks from Colonel Pushkin, he donned his trademark jumpsuit, put on his gasmask and quickly rehearsed a rallying speech for the Shock Divisions. In the meantime, his troops were called to assemble in front of the command centre for the special announcement that would, in one way or another, have a major impact on the General's role within the Russian war effort. Moments later, the loudspeakers were primed, the men stood waiting and their mighty leader stepped forth on the balcony, flanked by two enormous screens that lit up with the looming image of his mask.

"My fellow comrades. I stand here to inform you of grave news from the frontline. On this day, our wretched enemies have crossed the point from which there is no return: In a desperate attempt to delay our inevitable triumph in France, they have launched a massed volley of nuclear warheads and killed thousands upon thousands of our fighting countrymen in the most vile and cowardly fashion imaginable. This is no longer war. This is cold-blooded murder. Until now, the war has been conducted with honour, bravery, for the ideals of truth and justice and in the best traditions of mankind - until - this - moment. My brothers...The endless catalogue of bestial foreign atrocities which will inevitably ensue from this appalling act must, can and will be terminated! The forces of darkness and the treasonable maggots who collaborate with them must, can and will be wiped from the face of the Earth! We must break them! We must crush them! We must eradicate them all! We, as the proudest, most vigilant defenders of our sacred Motherland, will not rest until the final victory has been achieved. Death...to the eternal enemy of Mother Russia. Death - Death - DEATH!!!"

The rest of Aleksandr's speech was drowned out by a chorus of mad, fanatical chants that sounded all the way through central Berlin like a hellish cult ritual, scaring the residents into submission even though they could not understand a single word. The scene was eerie, the air burning with a wild, primal hatred that manifested itself in ever-renewing waves of ferocious exhaltations: "Kill them all!", "Peace through power!" and "All hail Aleksandr!" were among the more prominent bits that the General could make out from the uproar. He enjoyed the scene for several minutes, revelling in the moment. Then, he slowly raised his hands as if to conclude the twisted ceremony with an ungodly blessing. Suddenly, a glorious fanfare of trumpets blared through the base's loudspeakers. Within an instant, the wild crowd went silent, came to attention and the fanfare was followed by the official battle anthem of the Shock Divisions, with all attendants joining their voices in a passionate, unified chorus:

Shock wave after shock wave,
shock wave after shock wave.
Blood and glory await us.
Our leader gave the order - and off we go!
Our black banners flying in the wind,
towards the battlefield.

Camp life made us friends
with you, Aleksandr.
Together, we charged into battle.
The enemy recalls with anguish
our triumph at Kurmuk,
where eagle and dragon fell.

For victory, for victory
Day and night we'll be fighting,
crossing blades with blades.
And the rain will not wash away,
on the mound and in the trench,
the blood of brothers and warriors!"

The Hague, a few days later

General Leonid Zhukov was an old, weary man. Alcoholism had long gotten the best of him and his lauded military victories during the Ukrainian crisis of 2036 had since been forgotten, as were his warnings during the lead-up to the invasion of Europe. Decimated during the costly battle against the war machine of General Willem van der Meer and the failed invasion of the United Kingdom, his proud 20th Army had been relegated to the sidelines of the conflict while the ruthless careerist Aleksandr and his brutal Shock Divisions claimed every victory that would rightfully belong to the actual Russian Army for themselves. Thus, it came as a big surprise to Zhukov when a messenger entered his headquarters in the Binnenhof, the abandoned Dutch parliament building that day and presented him with a personal letter from the highest authority:

The Eurocopter Tiger was first conceived as a joint venture between France and West Germany in the early 1980s. However, when the new helicopter started to see action during NATO operations in Afghanistan, a series of problems became apparent: The German UHT variant was designed as a missile-armed support helicopter for use against Soviet era tank armies and had to make do with a static 12.7mm gunpod rather than a proper autocannon turret, making it unsuitable for counter-insurgency operations. In addition, the wiring in these early models was flawed, forcing the Tigers to remain on the ground for most of the time. Whilst the French HAP variant fared better in combat and was used as the basis for additional export versions, the German Tigers would not receive the necessary upgrades for years due to a general neglect of military matters by the government and thus delivered an abysmal performance during the GLA's incursion into Central Europe in 2028. After the civilian governments of Europe had collapsed in the wake of the attack, the Bundeswehr assumed temporary control of Germany and proceeded to develop a new version to iron out these critical flaws: Commonly dubbed the 'Koenigstiger' by the Germans, the updated model was armed with two chin-mounted, high-capacity rocket pods linked to the pilot's HUD that could be aimed in the same way as a turret, allowing the Tiger to lay down a deadly accurate barrage of high-explosive/armour-piercing rockets in addition to taking on flying targets with Starstreak anti-air missiles. Further adding to the gunship's versatility, it is also able to deploy the Icarus baloon mine to lock down down the airspace above an area of operations. The new Tiger showed its superiority during Operation Nemesis and was soon adopted by both the ECA and, somewhat ironically, the French Army as well.

Named after a Slavonian infantry force from the 18th century, the Pandur III is the third generation of the eponymous family of wheeled combat vehicles in service of the Austrian Bundesheer. Whilst originally designed as an armoured personnel carrier, the European Continental Alliance has decided to fill this particular role with the Swedish-made Lynx Bandvagn, choosing the heavy weapons carrier variant of the highly versatile Pandur as its standard infantry fighting vehicle instead. As such, the ECA Pandur omits its troop carrying capabilities in favour of additional storage space for a variety of heavy weapons that can be installed on the turret and operated by a dedicated specialist infantryman ordered into the vehicle. These include a 20mm auto-cannon, a self-loading, four-barrelled set of Panzerfausts, a rapid-firing grenade machine gun, an extendable repair arm, medical supplies and a short-barrelled canister gun. Its steel-encased polymer armour protects the Pandur against smallarms fire and keeps it light enough to fully utilise the mobility of its six wheels, making it a useful addition to any mechanised force. Oddly enough for a vehicle originating from a landlocked country, the Pandur is also equipped with inflatable rubber skirts to traverse stretches of water, such as the Danube river that runs through northern Austria.

There's still a few days to go until Christmas, but you'll be getting some of your presents early this year, starting tomorrow, one box every day!

[Dangerman]

Nice update, so is the Pandur the only wheeled vehicle or is there another (wasn't there a four-wheeled one during the trailer at the end with the Pandora?)?

Also Christmas release .

This post has been edited by dangerman1337: 20 Dec 2012, 11:49

[GuardianTempest]

OMG, these updates, they're too fast for me to handle.....ARGABLARRRGGHH!!!

[Darkfire Angel]

Yay for Christmas gifts.

I'm really seeing the influence of End War in the design of the Tiger gunship. :-P

Also as always amazing update.

[The_Hunter]

OMG, these updates, they're too fast for me to handle.....ARGABLARRRGGHH!!!

[Knjaz.]

Oh, even fully activating Perimeter? These guys are getting serious.

Also, Aleksandr is a truly faithful follower of Gebbels, I guess

[BLGMGL]

Holy fricking sh*t! You're really really spoiling us with updates.

My faith in Santa Claus restored!

[GDIZOCOM]

General Zhukov: Having the European's arses handed to them, one nuclear missile at a time


I'm surprised you raised the Tiger ground up though I miss the old design. I love how Berlin turned into Russian Hell with all those chants . The redesigned air force you guys gave for all factions makes me love it more. Good job on that.


(12 days of ROTR anybody?)

[Vidar]

Yeah, reminded mehr abit of goebbels too when i First saw it! Alex is a douchebag.

[MARS]

For added atmosphere, imagine this tune kicking into full gear when the Troopers start singing.

[Anubis]

Topol-M vs Pandora. The glow war will be awsome.

[Alex1guy]

Excellent updates! I can't wait for more!

[Zeke]

"Peace through power!

I see what you did there

[Col._Sandfurz]

I love to be right

So the Pandur can carry a autocannon (Felin inside), Panzerfaust (Panzerfaust soldier), Grenade MG from a Grenadier, repair abilities (Engineer inside, as seen on screenshots repairing both vehicles and buildings), medic capabillity and a "short-barrelled canister gun" that is used when Frank Jäger enters the Pandur?

And the Tiger helicopter is a little like the Hind? Unguided rockets and small AA missiles (though lacking the gattling gun of the Hind)

I hope Zhukov will not use the nukes, unless to put them in Aleks' a*s..

"The enemy recalls with anguish
our triumph at Kurmuk,
where eagle and dragon fell." <== ROTR 1.72 shell map battle?

Is there a posibility that the Shocktrooper who said: "Peace through power!" becoms Kane after his career in the Shock Divisions?

This post has been edited by Col._Sandfurz: 20 Dec 2012, 13:29

[Planardweller]

I love to be right

So the Pandur can carry a autocannon (Felin inside), Panzerfaust (Panzerfaust soldier), Grenade MG from a Grenadier, repair abilities (Engineer inside, as seen on screenshots repairing both vehicles and buildings), medic capabillity and a "short-barrelled canister gun" that is used when Frank Jäger enters the Pandur?

And the Tiger helicopter is a little like the Hind? Unguided rockets and small AA missiles (though lacking the gattling gun of the Hind)

I hope Zhukov will not use the nukes, unless to put them in Aleks' a*s..

I think Pandur will have autocannon by default and shotgun with Felin, but it could be the way you describe. Also, it's strange that there is no AA gun unless autocannon is AA capable.

[MARS]

The autocannon is their default weapon as the Pandur comes with a Felin inside. The canister gun is what you get if you put Jaeger in there.

As for the Tiger, it's very fast and the rockets are a lot more accurate/responsive than the ones on the Hind. They also 'reload' considerably faster and can be
fired on the move and while the Hind's Iglas are basically a nice extra feature to have, the Tiger's Starstreak missiles actually pack some very legitimate punch.

[Nonchalant Gener...]

Man, these updates are coming so fast, I'm gonna have a heart attack!

Glad to see Suvorov is finally able to see through Alek's gasmask. I'm starting to think that it will be Alek to launch the coup on Suvorov, coz he'll turn rogue if Suvorov ever decided to strip away his command. Then it'll be up to Orlov's or Zhukov's forces to stop him

[SpiralSpectre]

Hell yeah baybe!!!!!!! Crazy dreams can come true after all! This is too much awesome to handle.

I wouldn't count Alek as such a great propagandist until he actually manages to convince someone other than his own fanatical freaks who consider him a deity. His outburst was obviously a bit too extreme, hell even Suvorov didn't like how it sounded for obvious reasons. Poor guy maybe a genius in the lab but his people skills need fine tuning. But he sure has talent, after all he can lie without batting an eyelash or feeling any guilt.

But "Peace through power" never fails to get the blood boiling!

BTW is the Pandur gonna be unique to Wolfgang? The Tiger is for all ECA sub-factions, right?

[MARS]

Tigers for Willem and Wolfgang, Pandurs for Willem and Charles.

[Panzer4life]

Honor and Prowess tot he 20th division! Nice to see High Command fear their pit bull. Alexsander is going to be the target of my Topol-Ms, oh wait, they had 'guidence issues'.
A question though, the Pandur IFV, what tier is it, tier 2?

[Cobretti]

That's one hell of an outburst at a rally

Man do those new units look awesome. The Tiger looks almost exactly like the ECA attack helicopter from Endwar, nicely done on the design. I'm also liking the Pandur IFV...nice homage to Red Alert there.

[Raven]

wow...2 updates in one day is it? This update frequency is mind boggling by SWR standards. Well worth the initial wait . Really like the tigers cannon typed rocket pods .

[Panzer4life]

The best is yet to come. Also, where can I get that snazzy set-ip the Russian soldier has in the update, I love to get a matching pair of gas mask and chemical suit.

[wb21]

It doesn't get any better than this, all the drama, the action, the excitement...looking forward to this.

Also, Aleksandr is a truly faithful follower of Gebbels, I guess

Niemals! Das ist empörend!

[Shockfan42]

"Peace through power", it is for what Kane really exist in multiple dimensions and paralels universes? Only what in this not have Tiberium for initiate the Brotherhood? Too, great updates diary! really i is wrong, not is in March the release, if my mathematics are correct, the release is 1.8 is in this year, or in the january 2013 . Excelent work SWR team, thank you and happy merry christmas.