Rise of the Reds Update: Whistleblower Options

[MARS]

Michael Deng (name changed)
Ex PRC Ministry of State Security

"When I majored in computer science at the university of Shanghai in 2044, I was approached by a recruitment officer. My very own professor had recommended me and a number of other top graduates to the Ministry of State Security. It seemed like a lucrative and honourable job to me at the time - young, naive and foolish as I was. After a slew of agency bureaucracy, we had to attend several classes on the subjects of law, self-defence, intelligence and counter-intelligence however the most extensive lessons were ideological in nature; endless lectures about the righteousness of the Party and the supremacy of our Middle Kingdom. The Ministry ran a full background check on ourselves, our parents, grandparents, siblings and other close relatives. We were all in our early to mid 20s; awkward student boys who'd been wipped through school and university, who spent their days looking at lines of code while others went out socialising, but if anyone of us would have had a wife or children, they would have screened them too. The political officers jokingly refered to this invasive practice as the 'nine familial examinations'. The moment you enter a career in the administration, the Party, the Army or any other state organisation, your privacy ends. You become a little cog in the machine that is expected to function and your reward after a lifetime of service is that you get to be an individual once again."

"After our introduction, I was assigned to the MSS' signal intelligence branch and ordered to Vietnam, where I worked in the the city of Hanoi which had once again become the country's capital at Beijing's command. The Party wanted to keep its Vietnamese puppet government close to our own border and did not like the symbolism of Ho Chi Minh City, which was named after the man who - in his own words - would have prefered to sniff the faeces of the French for five years rather than eat ours for the rest of his life. He must be spinning in his grave since the day the GAPA agreement was signed back in '31. The People's Republic has changed a lot in the last decades. I owe my very existence to the Modern Way programme: After the coup of 2018, our new Chairman Zhao Wei enacted a number of quick reforms. He expanded the social security and healthcare system, introduced basic elements of local democracy and free speech and did away with the One Child policy to tackle the demographic challenges that our country was facing. I wouldn't be here talking to you right now if it hadn't been for him. But then, tragedy struck and he was among the thousands who died in the GLA terror attack against our capital. His successors turned him into a martyr and skewed his ideals to justify their own imperialistic plans."

"He would be ashamed of what our country has become since then: The press is nominally free, but the critical journalists get little exposure because the state media still hold an enforced monopoly and the liberalisations did not grow beyond the communal and provincial level, at which we are at least able to elect which Party representative we want. And ever since Cheung Liu has taken over, our new demographic growth is being abused to slowly erode the populations of our neighbours in preparation of their eventual annexation in a century or so. For all the precious reforms and advancements back home, our current leadership is treating the people of Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and the other GAPA countries as second-rate citizens...serfs, rather. Back in Hanoi, it was my job to assist them at that. My task was to infiltrate the computers of individuals that were suspected to be dissidents, alleged terrorists or even just ordinary people who somehow got caught in the gears of bureaucracy. I gathered information to build a case against them until someone higher up clicked his fingers and told the Secret Police to pay them a visit. Some of them got harrassed into submission, others got detained...and more than a few of them were whisked away and disappeared entirely. In these cases, it was also my job to 'clean' them, as we called it; purge all official records and erase their digital life...We wiped them out, made it look like they'd never even existed. Other colleagues of mine worked as political sock puppets on the internet or flat-out censored it while SinoNews did its own part by discrediting the opposition, spinning the stories and fooling the rest of the world with a facade of lies."

"The whole system worked disturbingly well but soon, I could no longer look at myself in the mirror or salute our flag. I felt ashamed. The GAPA was founded through deception and intimidation alone and now we are bleeding our so-called 'allies' dry. We erode their cultures, take their resources, steal their lands to extend our influence at sea and deny them the fundamental rights that Chairman Zhao had given our people. I could no longer bear this hypocrisy and I did not want to return home, for I knew that our future was going to be built on their bones. I had enough. I used my clearance and skills to manipulate the Ministry's database and handed out exit permits to many locals so they could flee the GAPA and make it to the Philippines, India or Australia before I arranged my own defection. Now I live in a foreign country as a traitor under a fake name. Every day, I must be on my guard, for the Ministry does not take kindly to whistleblowers. But I hope that this tyranny will come to an end; that the Party will return to the path of decency and honour the true vision of Chairman Zhao, who famously said that the transition to a real democracy would be China's final revolution. It might not appear that way on the surface, but behind the facade of extreme nationalism, unquestioning loyalty and state worship, our country has changed over the last two decades, and more so than Cheung Liu and his technocrats would like to admit: The modernisations have given birth to a new, politically sensitive generation that is no longer interested in military glory and territorial conquests. These people want to make a difference back home. They want a nation of liberty and justice that does not impose its will upon others through brutality and deception. And one day, they -will- speak up!"

Presented at the Beijing Anti-Terrorist Trade Show in 2009, the Hua Qing minigun was designed as a six-barrelled 7.62mm Gatling-type machine gun for Chinese infantry forces. Ever since then, the PLA had taken a great interest in rotary cannons and developed many indigenous designs that were often 'inspired' by American models and internationally marketed as the 'Gattling' series. Many US weapon manufacturers have filed lawsuits against what they perceived as a blatant intellectual property violation while the Chinese designers churned out model after model. During the Global War On Terror, this obsession with rotary cannons escalated to the point where the entire PLA Marine Corps was equipped with handheld 5.8mm Gattling rifles. Despite producing an undeniably impressive volume of fire, the weapons quickly earned the ire of the soldiers who often had their shoulders dislocated by the immense recoil. After the war - and the death of the erratic PLAMC General Shin Fai amidst the nuclear destruction of Hamburg - the weapons were phased out. However, the People's Army still maintained that a heavy-duty rotary cannon would be an excellent fire support asset for infantry forces and issued the latest three-barrel model of the Hua Qing to squads of dedicated weapon specialists, most prominently those of General Mau.

First shown to the PLA Macau garrison in 1999, the PF-98 is a 120mm rocket launcher which was designed to replace the Type 78 and Type 65 recoilless rifles. Thanks to the use of fibreglass materials, the launcher clocks in at only 10 kilograms, making it an ideal anti-tank weapon for the specialists of General Mau. Once deployed, it can be loaded with two types of rockets: One with an armour-piercing flak warhead and the recently developed 'Disruptor' warhead, the most compact EMP weapon in the Chinese arsenal, which can instantly disable even the heaviest vehicles.

Personally designed by the aspiring General Mau, the ZTZ202 Shenlong (which literally translates to 'Spirit Dragon') is a heavily modified version of China's iconic ZTZ200 Overlord Tank whose entire turret has been replaced with two heavily armoured, high-pressure flamethrowers. In addition, the tank has been equipped with an auxiliary engine unit which provides its turret swivel with extra power to perform a fast, finely aimed sweeping motion with the flamethrowers which can be set to a narrow, medium and wide angle in order to cover a smaller or larger area in a literal sea of hellfire. Beyond that, it is rumoured that General Mau is currently working on a further modified version of the tank which can be equipped with modular weapon systems.

We have also decided to update the models of China's Propaganda Towers.

With Jammer Towers upgrade

Finally, here's some new ROTR-themed wallpapers, including one with the new Shenlong heavy tank.

[JamBai]

okey this is a really stupid question but are the Chinese minigun/disruptor teams going to replace the tank hunter/redguard for Mau or are those just addition?



This post has been edited by JamBai: 7 Sep 2013, 11:55

[The_Hunter]

No they act simmulair like the ECA grenadiers except that the gunner of the team basicly has 2 buddies walking with him at all times (unless they get killed).

And before anyone else asks no the gunner cannot be killed before the extra guys so you will not end up with a useless group of 2 people who can't do anything.

[Just a Random Gu...]

So is the Shenlong gonna be Mau's heavy tank (like the overlord), or just a higher tier Dragon Tank?

[Svea Rike]

I thought Chen was the only General who would get an Overlord like tank, or am I mistaken? Anyway, really nice update and that Shenlong looks beast.

[Lobo Solitario]

The Shenlong looks brutal! Lovely model and looking forward to seeing it on the battlefield.

How are the minigun and rocket launcher teams supposed to fit in with the other infantry units? Do they have more of a support/defensive role? Will they be transportable?

This post has been edited by Lobo Solitario: 7 Sep 2013, 11:58

[The_Hunter]

Cannot be transported and just like grenadiers basicly mobile turrets.

[JamBai]

I thought Chen was the only General who would get an Overlord like tank, or am I mistaken? Anyway, really nice update and that Shenlong looks beast.

Well i remember a while back that it was mentioned that General Jin would also get a Heavy tank or at least similar to a Heavy tank.

[Corpsemania]

Actually, "Shenlong" in Chinese means "sacred dragon",rather than "spirit dragon"

[Die Hindenburg]

Finaly some nice additions!!

& very well made as well!! Espically the Minigun team, i like how their minigun has the same look as the Gatling Tank!

General Mau is an very well guy, i like that he is somehow the "elemental" type general, fits China pretty well.

[JamBai]

Sorry for off-topical question but it has bugged me for a while and i would love just a simple yes or no for answer, it's about the "2 out of 3" rule does this effect every unit category?

An example: Let's take the Gattling tank, Will all 3 of the Chinese generals have it or will one of them have an exclusive unit instead?

PS. i am horrible at explaining things.

[Pepo]

damn...that tank is awesome...i just want to burn cities with it
some questions:
will these weapon teams be able to replentish dead menbers?
are we going to be able to use this units on 1.85?

[IPS]

Sorry for off-topical question but it has bugged me for a while and i would love just a simple yes or no for answer, it's about the "2 out of 3" rule does this effect every unit category?

An example: Let's take the Gattling tank, Will all 3 of the Chinese generals have it or will one of them have an exclusive unit instead?

PS. i am horrible at explaining things.

The two in three rule is more of a guideline atm.
We do keep it in mind with most of the additions, but we don't force it.
So there are some unit types that are excluded from the two in three (like the special units), and some units are the same for all generals.

This post has been edited by IPS: 7 Sep 2013, 14:34

[JamBai]

Understood! Thank you!

[MARS]

Sorry for off-topical question but it has bugged me for a while and i would love just a simple yes or no for answer, it's about the "2 out of 3" rule does this effect every unit category?
An example: Let's take the Gattling tank, Will all 3 of the Chinese generals have it or will one of them have an exclusive unit instead?
PS. i am horrible at explaining things.

The "2 out of 3" rule generally refers to standard units like basic infantry, medium anti-air, main battle tanks, etc. Basically, we have this Excel file which contains all the planned faction content in a table. Every faction is broken down into its Generals and a whole bunch of roles. Any units that belong to the same role are subject to the "2 out of 3" rule in the sense that only one General is eligible for a unique rifleman, MBT, etc. Beyond that, some roles are designated as 'special', either because all three Generals are supposed to have a special exclusive infantry/vehicle/aircraft in that category OR because one General gets something that is not directly equivalent to something else.

damn...that tank is awesome...i just want to burn cities with it
some questions:
will these weapon teams be able to replentish dead menbers?
are we going to be able to use this units on 1.85?

In the case of these units, the extra crew members are purely cosmetical; they all count as one unit and if the healthbar is empty, all members of that particular unit die. This is because the extra crew members do not operate any weapons, so they naturally have to disappear the moment the actual weapon becomes inoperable whereas units like Mobs or Volunteers consist entirely of armed sub-units which don't have that problem. Also, anything you see in an update will be in the version that is next on the release list. There wouldn't be a point in us showing 2.0 content BEFORE the release of 1.85 after all.

[Panzer4life]

Nice lore to go with the Chinese units. I like the introduction of crew-served weapons in the ECA and Chinese army. But a question about the 'flame Overlord'. How does it compare to the Dragon tank, and what can it do that the dragon tank can not?

Also, are other nations going to get CSW systems?

[JamBai]

Nice lore to go with the Chinese units. I like the introduction of crew-served weapons in the ECA and Chinese army. But a question about the 'flame Overlord'. How does it compare to the Dragon tank, and what can it do that the dragon tank can not?

The Hunter wrote this on the Shenlong Moddb page Moddb

The_Hunter649 replied:
It actualy fires flames that damage everything in its stream which basicly forms a cone of damage infront of the tank

unlike the dragon tank which basicly just fires a steady stream of fire only damaging the impact area.

This post has been edited by JamBai: 7 Sep 2013, 15:19

[MARS]

Basically, the Shenlong is like a decently armoured Dragon Tank that uses the sweeping wall of flame ability as its standard attack and you can switch between three different angles that cover a narrow or wide area in front of the tank. It's an excellent crowd control and urban combat unit and the modular weapons that we'll likely add in a later version will make it even more versatile.

[ubermensche]

Is the Shenlong gonna be Mau's T2 artillery or something? Like it fires a huge jet of fire at very long range so the defenses cannot target them.

[MARS]

It does not outrange defences. You use this thing as a heavy support tank and to wipe out a base once you've forced a breach.

[GDIZOCOM]

First impression made me feel like we'll see more infantry with squad-based mechanics

And that Shenlong is just darn awesome. I find it funny it still benefits from the Nuclear Tank upgrade though. It seems the Chinese manage to fit so much in one unit nowadays

Also, regarding scaling, how large will it be? Same as the Overlord or bigger?

[MARS]

It has a chassis the size of a regular Overlord, so you can imagine the overall size of this monster.

[Nemanja]

Now this is an awesome update . . .
I have few questions tho,since I got little bit confused.
Is this new tank gonna be Mau's replacement for Overlord,and will he use regular Dragon Tanks ?
Will Shenlong use same upgrades as Overlord (Bunker/Gattling/Propaganda) or it will get new ones ?
How many Generals would use Overlord ?
Will Minigun Squad be able to deal with threats from air ?

[X1Destroy]

I have 1 question, will the minigun team be able to attack aircraft?

If they can't I don't think there's much of a use for them, as China are already devastating in anti-infantry firepower.

BTW, the first update that include info on the GAPA, yay.

Actually, they didn't built a grave for him. He's have a freaking tomb and they're preserving his corpse for tourist to visit.

[MARS]

The Overlord is exclusive to Chen, so the Shenlong can't really be considered a replacement even though the two are related in the lore. For Mau, the Shenlong is a special unit with no direct equivalent in the other factions available at tier 2. Right now, he is planned to use the same Dragon Tank as everyone else because you wouldn't get a Shenlong to clear buildings; you get a Shenlong to wipe out the entire town in a wave of fire. As for the upgrades, the modular weapons will most likely operate under a different mechanic and they will not be lifted straight from the Overlord. The Minigun Team is exclusively anti-ground because it'd look mighty weird if they fired at air units with a gun like that.