Rise of the Reds Update: There'll always be an England Options

[MARS]

Ramsgate, United Kingdom
8 September 2047, 05:12

A grey morning at the coast of England. A mild fog hung above the Channel while a lone group of four soldiers patrolled the shoreline. "Sarge?", one of them, Private Matthew Baker, asked his superior, Sergeant Shawn Finley. "What's up, Private?", the NCO asked back while taking a bite out of his breakfast sandwich. It was only a few minutes past 5 and his team was among the unlucky few that had been scheduled for patrol duty while the British Army field garrison in the nearby town of Ramsgate was still asleep. "Mind if we stop for a second? I gotta take a piss", Matthew explained, cheeky and boyish as usual. "Uuh, too much information, Matt", complained the team's medic, Private Meryl Mitchell, who had only recently been assigned to the unit and wasn't quite used to the men's casual tone yet. Finley signalled the team to halt while Baker disappeared behind the treeline. "So...", the Sergeant attempted some small-talk with his new squadmate, "What was your motivation to join the Army, Mitchell?" The young woman who was only a mere 17 years old remained pensive for a brief moment, then proceeded to explain: "Well, I've always had a thing for helping people and it's a way to pay my dues to our country. I was planning on serving a few years, then apply for the advanced education programme to study medicine." Her tone got increasingly idealistic as she went on. "I even considered signing up for a tour with the ECA; always wanted to visit the other countries on the continent, see different places..." The Sergeant nodded: "Too bad that's all out of the window now with the war going on there." Meryl agreed: "Yeah...But now I'm here and I gotta do my part!"

"GUYS!?", Matthew's voice sounded through the bushes. "Come here, you've GOT to see this!" "No, mate, we don't need to see whatever the heck yer doing over there!", Corporal Derek MacLeod, who had been too busy lugging the team's heavy grenade machine gun to take part in philosophical navel-gazing barked back, expecting another one of Baker's 'hilarious' pranks. Nonetheless, the soldiers followed his call, only to find Matthew pointing frantically at the sea: "There, Sarge, y'see those things in the water!?" Finley's face froze up in shock as he peaked through his binoculars, only to recognise the shapes of amphibious landing craft and BMP troop transports slowly emerging from the fog. The team stood above the cliff for several minutes, watching in awe as more and more Russian vessels approached the coast before the Sergeant gave the order to retreat and warn the local garrison. "This is bad...", Derek stated the obvious while the unit sprinted down the coastal road. Suddenly, the quietness of the morning was ruined by the noise of aircraft engines as several squadrons of Russian Il-76 transports, escorted by an armada of Frogfoots and PAK-FAs zoomed across the land. "Oh shite, this is REALLY bad!" Derek repeated, struggling to carry his heavy weapon. After a few minutes of running, the winded soldiers reached their garrison in Ramsgate whose population had already been evacuated in anticipation of this unlikely, but possible worst case scenario that had just become a reality. The British troops swarmed out of their quarters, grabbed their gear and took shelter in prepared defensive positions scattered along the shore, manning countless mortars, howitzers and gun emplacements.

Sergeant Finley and his fireteam holed up on the upper floor of a tavern, with only some 150 metres of open ground between them and the harbour front. As the sun slowly rose in the east, more and more vessels came out of the ghostly mist and somewhere in the far distance, the vague, threatening shapes of Russian warships manoeuvred into position. "Bloody hell, this is it, guys!" Matthew observed, his voice torn between thrilled anticipation and suppressed fear. "Our longest day, our finest hour! We will fight them on the beaches! We will fight them on the landing grounds! We..." "Shut your gob, Private! No time for fancy speeches - Focus!", Finley interrupted his tirade. "This is the moment we've been training for and we need to keep our wits about. Equipment check!" Derek worked the charging handle on his grenade launcher, which was safely mounted on the window ledge: "Ready to give 'em what-for, Sah!" "Rifle zeroed, loaded and ready, Sarge!", reported Matthew while Meryl took inventory of her elaborate collection of bandages, painkillers and surgical tools and recapitulated the standard emergency routines in her mind: "Medical equipment on-hand...God help us." Moments later, the first wave of Russian vessels came ashore and all hell broke loose...

These field physicians possess all the necessary knowledge and equipment to heal European infantry forces out in the field and evacuate wounded comrades. Since their primary job is to provide emergency medical care, Medics are protected by the Geneva Convention and must not be attacked. However, in the light of numerous atrocities reportedly committed by General Aleksandr's barbaric Shock Divisions, many Medics have resorted to arming themselves with old, surplus machine pistols such as the Skorpion vz.61 or the Austrian TMP in order to protect themselves from attacks. This has the unfortunate side effect that the now-armed Medics lose their status as non-combatants and become valid targets, a circumstance that is nevertheless prefered over the possibility of running into a Shock Trooper while unarmed.

Armed with a fully automatic 40mm grenade machine gun, these heavy weapons specialists can lay down a devastating barrage of suppressive fire, wrecking entire concentrations of light vehicles and infantry within seconds. The cumbersome weapon weights over 30 kilograms and needs to be mounted on a tripod in order to fire, which is why it takes the operator several seconds to set up or displace; an issue that should be considered when choosing a fighting position. Aside from the standard armour-piercing/high-explosive grenades, the weapon can also be loaded with a special rubber-capped anti-personnel round that is designed to bounce and detonate in the air, releasing a vicious hail of shrapnel that shreds even the most heavily entrenched enemies.

[Pickysaurus]

I know this is kinda teasing, but I love the Grenadier's accent

[Dangerman]

Nice update, I assume that grenadier was the one firing out of the structure in the trailer at the last part.

One nit pick about the MTG, wouldn't make more sense to evacuate the Royal Family to say Canada?

This post has been edited by dangerman1337: 5 Dec 2012, 13:40

[MARS]

The unit firing in the trailer is not actually the Grenadier. In fact, these blokes are basically mobile turrets and they can't fire from garrisons in-game because they'd be unkillable then--although it makes sense for them to do so here for dramatic purposes. As for the royals, evacuating them across the entire Atlantic right away seems kinda defeatist, especially considering that the King would most likely have a military background himself by then, so they merely moved up north so they can still be with their people in these troubled times. They could still high-tail it to Canada if things get REALLY messy after all.

[SpiralSpectre]

Holy **** they actually made it all the way to England? How are things in the other sectors then? Did they topple over France so quickly? Is this the beginning of another continuous series update? Did Alek turn the Eiffel Tower into a giant tesla coil like in that weird RA2 mission? Questions keep popping up from left and right!

Moving the Royal family to Scotland seems like the better move. Moving them to a non-Brit, non-ECA place like Canada would effectively demoralise the troops. And they could use all the moral they have when facing those tesla units. Luckily from the way that soldier was giving a fancy speech it seems like the move worked and the troops still have a good bit of moral.

Totally love everything about the Grenadier. The idea of "portable turrets" sound awesome. I guess their deployment and fighting is similar to the RA2 GI? Nice to see them carrying the faction theme with totally unique weaponry. Interesting lore on the medic. They should be pretty handy.

Will either of these two units become unique to Charles later?

[The_Hunter]

Nope both are generic ECA units

[Genmotty]

When Europe falls, at Russ-ian aggression,
Aro-o-oose our pilots to meet them fair,
Arose, arose, to defend our friends,
This was the action, the action of the land.
Our guardian a-a-angels flew against the bear!

Rule Britannia!
Britannia rule the skies
Britons never, never, never shall be Red slaves.
Rule Britannia!
Britannia rule the skies
Britons never, never, never shall be Red slaves.

Still hark, the ru-u-umble of artillery as it rise,
More dr-r-eadful than has had been heard before,
As the loud blast, the blast that tears the skies,
That serves to rout thy enemies more.

Rule Britannia!
Britannia rule the skies
Britons never, never, never shall be Red slaves.
Rule Britannia!
Britannia rule the skies
Britons never, never, never shall be Red slaves.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Heh...Britian might be in the ECA, but we're still our aloof egotistical selves. Top show! Huzzah!

This post has been edited by Genmotty: 5 Dec 2012, 14:12

[MARS]

Holy **** they actually made it all the way to England? How are things in the other sectors then? Did they topple over France so quickly? Is this the beginning of another continuous series update? Did Alek turn the Eiffel Tower into a giant tesla coil like in that weird RA2 mission? Questions keep popping up from left and right!

Moving the Royal family to Scotland seems like the better move. Moving them to a non-Brit, non-ECA place like Canada would effectively demoralise the troops. And they could use all the moral they have when facing those tesla units. Luckily from the way that soldier was giving a fancy speech it seems like the move worked and the troops still have a good bit of moral.

Totally love everything about the Grenadier. The idea of "portable turrets" sound awesome. I guess their deployment and fighting is similar to the RA2 GI? Nice to see them carrying the faction theme with totally unique weaponry. Interesting lore on the medic. They should be pretty handy.

Will either of these two units become unique to Charles later?

I've actually just noticed this when I posted the update: There's almost a whole year between this (September '47) and Swamped (August '46). According to Swamped, the Russians got completely bogged down in the Be-Ne-Lux countries until the mud froze over and even though Aleks wanted to do a parade on Champs Élysées by Christmas, it took another half year until Paris was taken. This gap is not actually an error, but a space that could potentially be used for future updates. I always like to keep a few different options open.

But yeah, by the time this happens, it's basically the ECA's darkest hour and the next two updates will deal with this invasion in-detail. Both the Medic and the Grenadier will have Brit accents in-game but they'll be a common unit.

@ Motty:
Yeah, right? Speaking of the other countries 'on the continent' and the war going on 'there' seems kinda typical and considering that the UK pulled out of the in-universe EU BEFORE the GLA showed up, it seems kinda reasonable for them to be a bit more at a distance but nonetheless important in the course of the war.

[X1Destroy]

So we have IG Heavy weapon teams now? Great!!!

BTW, can the medic revive dead troops?

This post has been edited by X1Destroy: 5 Dec 2012, 14:16

[MARS]

Medics actually have an 'evacuate wounded' ability. ECA infantry units that reach zero health don't 'die' per se; they actually drop to the ground and remain there as wounded for several seconds (much like Russian wreckages) and a Medic who uses the ability will turn them into a cash-refund for you. And yes, you can ONLY recover them if they did NOT die due to flames, tesla, toxin, high-explosives etc.

[Panzer4life]

Interesting to see the ECA actually seems focused on bring A-game infantry to the fight. This makes the ECA have the most number of infantry, doesn't it?

[MARS]

They certainly feel very infantry-heavy considering the number of stuff they can simply -do- using foot soldiers.

[X1Destroy]

So the corpses will disappeared and we got cash back instead of reviving them? This is quite a unique idea.

Seems like i will make a lots of infantry rush game playing as the ECA when 1.8 is out

[MARS]

Basically, we chose refund over revive because it'd look a bit odd to see a bloke who just got shot up with bullets to just jump up back at full health and move on until he gets shot up AGAIN. The refund basically allows you to get some of your lost money back in order to spend it on other stuff as needed. It also makes sense for the ECA to have this kinda thing story-wise because a.) they're being invaded so they need EVERYONE and b.) Europe is already suffering population shrinkage today and regardless of how the war ends, they just couldn't afford to let all of these people die on the battlefield. It may seem more like a USA thing, survivability and all, but the American's seem to be more focussed on not getting dangerously hurt in the first place.

[Knjaz.]

Large scale landing attempt on a fortified beach without turning the coastal zone into smoldering ruins?

I bet this is not going to end well

This post has been edited by Knjaz.: 5 Dec 2012, 14:43

[X1Destroy]

1 more question: Do we have to manually click the refund button on the corpses just like the Russian recovery vehicle or will the medics do this automatically? Or will it be clicking with a large refund radius as it will be very stupid to keep selecting every medics and clicking over on every corpses just to get less than 1000 $.

This post has been edited by X1Destroy: 5 Dec 2012, 14:46

[MARS]

The moment your selected Medic is ordered to evacuate the wounded, you'll get a refund for all fallen ECA infantry units inside a radius around her.

[SpiralSpectre]

Basically, we chose refund over revive because it'd look a bit odd to see a bloke who just got shot up with bullets to just jump up back at full health and move on until he gets shot up AGAIN. The refund basically allows you to get some of your lost money back in order to spend it on other stuff as needed. It also makes sense for the ECA to have this kinda thing story-wise because a.) they're being invaded so they need EVERYONE and b.) Europe is already suffering population shrinkage today and regardless of how the war ends, they just couldn't afford to let all of these people die on the battlefield. It may seem more like a USA thing, survivability and all, but the American's seem to be more focussed on not getting dangerously hurt in the first place.

The way I see it it's unique and quite different from US's doctrines. US focuses on keeping their units alive, enables them to gain veterancy faster and focuses on transferring veterancy if a veteran vehicle is destroyed. On the other hand ECA "refunds" the fallen troop as more of an economic measure.

Gotta love the "counter GLA-ish" theme ECA presents every once in a while.

Large scale landing attempt on a fortified beach without turning the coastal zone into smoldering ruins?

I bet this is not going to end well

Same here. I bet the Pandora is gonna come in the end and blow their asses into oblivion.

[MARS]

You'll get to see the Pandora soon enough, albeit not as part of this sub-plot...and it's not going to be as glorious as you might imagine for reasons I cannot reveal yet.

[Planardweller]

You'll get to see the Pandora soon enough, albeit not as part of this sub-plot...and it's not going to be as glorious as you might imagine for reasons I cannot reveal yet.

Good update, will the team continue english sub-plot for some time?
Do grenadiers get deploy button? In short, how will they function?

This post has been edited by Planardweller: 5 Dec 2012, 15:16

[__CrUsHeR]

Yeah another update!

The General Charles was pretty cool, I like your MTG card.

Finally the bears stepped in England, this was the dream of the Soviets and now has become a reality, the Russians must have planned this invasion with details and detached a large number of troops for the invasion.

There will be a continuation of the battle between the Russians and the British in a future update?
-----------------------------

The idea of increasing the female presence among the units of the game is something valid about the new healing system of the ECA I can only say one thing: AWESOME! It will be really cool to play with ECA and resurrect the infantry who fell in combat, I already imagine this technique being used at large scale in multiplayer matches.

The Grenadier unit is another fantastic, I loved the concept of the infantry he seems deadly against all types of land unit and its second attack me curious to discover their true potential.

[Planardweller]

Yeah another update!

The General Charles was pretty cool, I like your MTG card.

Finally the bears stepped in England, this was the dream of the Soviets and now has become a reality, the Russians must have planned this invasion with details and detached a large number of troops for the invasion.

There will be a continuation of the battle between the Russians and the British in a future update?
-----------------------------

The idea of increasing the female presence among the units of the game is something valid about the new healing system of the ECA I can only say one thing: AWESOME! It will be really cool to play with ECA and resurrect the infantry who fell in combat, I already imagine this technique being used at large scale in multiplayer matches.

The Grenadier unit is another fantastic, I loved the concept of the infantry he seems deadly against all types of land unit and its second attack me curious to discover their true potential.

It's not resurrect as such, we'll have to drive the reinforcements all the way. But very very handy in infantry vs infantry combat near bases.

This post has been edited by Planardweller: 5 Dec 2012, 16:02

[DELETED MEMBER]

You'll get to see the Pandora soon enough, albeit not as part of this sub-plot...and it's not going to be as glorious as you might imagine for reasons I cannot reveal yet.

I hope Venom at least is glorious

so stalemate in france and then they decide to open a new front in the UK? wonder if thats an actual good idea

[__CrUsHeR]

It's not resurrect as such, we'll have to drive the reinforcements all the way. But very very handy in infantry vs infantry combat near bases.

Hmmm, I read again the explanations, now I understand how this system will work.

[MARS]

Not just Pyros. ECA infantry killed by flames, toxin, radiation, tesla as well as those that got run over by vehicles or splattered to pieces cannot be saved either. Wouldn't make much sense to get a refund for a bloke that now fits into a soup can.

As for the Grenadiers, they do have to deploy before firing which takes a few seconds.