Rise of the Reds Update: Under New Management Options

[MARS]

People's Republic of China, 2030

"What the HELL was she THINKING!?", despaired the young, freshly commissioned General Hu Tan Mau as he familiarised himself with the inventory list of a lone Special Weapons division stationed in a remote corner of the Himalayas. His frustrated anger was directed at the unit's former commander, ex-General Leang, also known as "The Tigress" for her ferociousness both on and outside the battlefield, whose quirky shenanigans had finally caused the patience of Chinese high command to snap after one particularly excessive public scandal. "How did she even get a hold of all this rubbish?", he wondered upon noticing the most ridiculous pieces of equipment, including badly maintained Scud missiles, random tunnelling tools, a crude particle accelerator and an entire arsenal of plagiarised faux-M16 rifles that were not even compatible with standard PLA cartridges. "Well, this is sure going to take a while..." Mau uttered to himself as he loosened his tie to relax for a moment. But surrender was not an option: It was this exact kind of monumental management challenge that had always intrigued him about the military life. Not so much the fighting, but the preparations, the planning, the streamlining of operations and the art of choosing the right tools and people to achieve maximum efficiency in all of these aspects.

As he leaned back in his chair pondering, Mau remembered the words that his famous father once said during one of his iconic key-note speeches in front of numerous investors and Party officials: "In the past, our great country has provided us with both the will- and the manpower to catch up to our foreign competitors and lay the foundation for a bright new future. Now, it is our task to exponentiate our advantage, to make ourselves wholly superior and unassailable through knowledge and technology in order to shape that very future according to our own desires!" With this grand, enterprising mindset, his father had created one of the most influential industrial companies in the world; a massive industrial conglomerate whose multitude of branches produced everything from consumer appliances over civilian and military electronics to efficient and (mostly) safe nuclear reactors. And it was this mindset that Mau himself would now apply to lead this devastated division back to new glory. Filled with new enthusiasm, he reached for his telephone and started requisitioning the necessary tools for his mission...

"Always stand behind the man with the flamethrower but never close to him" - PLA Infantry Primer
If you were born tall and assigned to the Chengdu region, chances are you would be picked to attend pyrotechnics specialization and carry one of these flamethrowers into combat. They are capable of spewing liquid flames that can light enemy soldiers and structures ablaze with a special napalm fuel mix courtesy of General Mau. They are however quite unstable and don't react very well to enemy fire. Seasoned Pyro Technicians are prone to develop mental disturbances and normally consult psychiatrist treatment at some point.

In 2014, a seemingly innocuous train crashed a few kilometres outside Mudanjiang in the North-East of China. Moments later, the residents of the city outskirts were shaken awake by a bright flash and the sound of a massive explosion. The military was quickly dispatched to lock down the surrounding area and recover the wreckage whilst official Chinese news agencies merely reported of a conventional gas explosion. However, leaked internal reports later revealed the disturbing truth to the world: The train was actually carrying an entire arsenal of experimental sub-kiloton nuclear shells, designed for short-range tactical delivery by means of a heavy infantry mortar. Shockingly, the weapons were only equipped with the most basic safety mechanisms, one of which had now failed catastrophically. Colonel Tsing Shi Tao, the lead designer of the new weapon, quickly realised that this disaster could cost him his entire career. In a surprising move, the man who would later become a hotly debated figure for his liberal use of atomic bombs against GLA holdouts in Central Asia donned a protective suit and organised the entire recovery of the remaining shells himself from within the blast zone, averting what could have easily become one of the most devastating nuclear disasters in history. The development of the new warhead was put on halt, as it was deemed too unsafe even by its creator. Several years later, the young General Hu Tan Mau gave the project another chance and has recently adopted a revised version with improved safety features for use by his mortar operators, who jokingly refer to themselves as "The Nukeneers" for their drastic approach to practical problems on the battlefield.

Addendum:
Noobtorial - How to use the Pyros properly

Due to the volatile nature of his weapon, the Pyro Technician is very vulnerable to enemy fire and goes up in deadly fireball upon contact with explosions, flames, lightning bolts and other special attack types, potentially damaging friendly units nearby. As such, they should not be used without cover and never in masses. Instead, the Pyros display their most effective performance whenever they fire from protected positions such as garrisoned structures, fortified bunkers or the fireports of an upgraded Overlord tank.

[Admiral FCS]

That is a very interesting back-story, and a proper exit for Leang, nice job. Also like the back-story for Tao's Mudanjiang Incident. Really dig the Pyro's glasses by the way.

A quality update as usual, nice work. Now, if only I could run ZH on my laptop.

[Alex1guy]

"How did she even get a hold of all this rubbish?", he wondered upon noticing the most ridiculous pieces of equipment, including badly maintained Scud missiles

Hahaha that made me laugh because I can remember saying the exact same thing when taking her on way back when...

Those flame troopers look to be exactly what China needs to help defend herself! Let the world burn!

[Cobretti]

Awesome...the Nukeneer looks cool, guy's got a Davy Crockett knock-off!

[MARS]

Glad you like both the new units and the piss-take at the expense of the so-called "Boss General".

[Comr4de]

Awesome...the Nukeneer looks cool, guy's got a Davy Crockett knock-off!

Indeed, now you can obtain the same rockets from the Han's in a nice protable recoiless rifle


They're quite nasty.

[Knjaz.]

Whoa, nice update! A nuke gen!

Few practical questions:

<...>Instead, the Pyros display their most effective performance whenever they fire from protected positions such as garrisoned structures, fortified bunkers or the fireports of an upgraded Overlord tank.

Are they capable of clearing out buildings, including doing it when they garrison another building or Overlord?

Second question - what's the range of these nuclear mortar guys? (and I guess they need to deploy before firing, right?)

[Admiral FCS]

Indeed, now you can obtain the same rockets from the Han's in a nice protable recoiless rifle


They're quite nasty.

Sounds like Tier 2/3 infantry?

[Comr4de]

Sounds like Tier 2/3 infantry?

For Tier 1 they are. Think of a slightly lowered Han Gunship nuclear rocket that can be massed as infantry do.

Oh yea they're nice, especially with the range of a Inferno canon

[MARS]

For Tier 1 they are. Think of a slightly lowered Han Gunship nuclear rocket that can be massed as infantry do.

Oh yea they're nice, especially with the range of a Inferno canon

For clarity's sake: When we say Tier-1, it means "after you built the Propaganda Center", since our Tiers are labelled 0 -> 1 -> 2 rather than 1 -> 2 -> 3

[Admiral FCS]

For Tier 1 they are. Think of a slightly lowered Han Gunship nuclear rocket that can be massed as infantry do.

Oh yea they're nice, especially with the range of a Inferno canon

EDIT: never mind, didn't see MARS' reply in time.

This post has been edited by Admiral FCS: 30 Jul 2012, 6:53

[__CrUsHeR]

Interesting update, these infantry units will give a new breath to China, seem to have great potential for destruction especially against vehicles and structures. I loved the style of the units they seem to be really specialized infantry.

The new general and very interesting as well as its history I imagine he will have many other cool things to entertain the players.

This keeps getting better.

[Nemanja]

Several years later, the young General Hu Tan Mau gave the project another chance and has recently adopted a revised version with improved safety features for use by his mortar operators, who jokingly refer to themselves as "The Nukeneers" for their drastic approach to practical problems on the battlefield.

Indeed, now you can obtain the same rockets from the Han's in a nice protable recoiless rifle

And in the end,do Nukeneers use Mortars or Recoilless rifles ?
Thing on picture looks like second one . . .

[Evan]

Splitting hairs. The tube shoots a small nuke x ammount of distance units, and that shit blows up.

[Razven]

Hong Kongers are not allowed to join the armed forces of China

And since his full name is: Hu Tan Mau, wouldn't his surname be Hu instead of Mau?

If you're going for the first name first, last name second, it should be Mau, Hu Tan

[Admiral FCS]

Hong Kongers are not allowed to join the armed forces of China

And since his full name is: Hu Tan Mau, wouldn't his surname be Hu instead of Mau?

If you're going for the first name first, last name second, it should be Mau, Hu Tan

By the time of post-ZH, the Hong Kong in this storyline probably would have been completely integrated into China proper. Granted, there's still that stuff about "50 years of self-governance" or something like that, but maybe the government decided to take...ah... more aggressive actions, perhaps?

[Admiral FCS]

Also, just a little bit of nitpicking: the dudes holding the M16's, the emblems on their hats looks like the seal of the Chinese police to me xD

[Nemanja]

Splitting hairs. The tube shoots a small nuke x ammount of distance units, and that shit blows up.

I don't like Wikipedia,but there you have good explanations :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recoilless_rifle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortar_(weapon)
Anyway I understand purpose,it is like you said to blow shit up,
and it probably blows it in very spectacular way (if it is doing half good as Nuke Han).

Also, just a little bit of nitpicking: the dudes holding the M16's, the emblems on their hats looks like the seal of the Chinese police to me xD

Probably because that is Norinco CQ,which is used by Chinese police forces.

This post has been edited by simeon5541: 30 Jul 2012, 9:10

[General Tatarin]

Great update. China is breathing again. I have one notice, that photos of both general's, secret police and special weapons, are very similar.

[Nemanja]

I have one notice, that photos of both general's, secret police and special weapons, are very similar.

they were taken same day

[Razven]

So let's assume this bloke is in his mid-30's. (Let's say 35) That would put his promotion at least 4 years ahead of the PLA's current youngest General of the same rank, Mao Xinyu, who is also Mao Zedong's grandson.

Mao Xinyu was made General at the age of 39 and it's still debated whether or not he actually deserved this rank or was it just "He's Mao's grandson, let's give him a cushy job". However, that's for another thread, back to my point.

So at 2030 (as listed in the update), assuming he just got the promotion and started tearing up Leang's ever built already, he would've been born in 1995, which would mean he was born during British rule of Hong Kong, making him all the more unlikely to have joined the PLA, let alone become a officer of importance.

[DELETED MEMBER]

Since right know there is not helicopter with fireports, will the nukeneers able to garrison? or will they still follow mortal troops logic?

[IPS]

they will be mortal troops, yes

[Nonchalant Gener...]

Very nice indeed!! I look forward to playing these new Chinese infantry in the update. Especially the new Pyro trooper, imagine combining it with an overlord!! I'm sure these two new units would be fun to play with in the new maps. At first glance, I thougth the Pyro trooper is a big guy with red hair and glasses. Maybe you can change the helmet (presumably) to black or grey with a red star on it, that would be better. Although I understand that all infantry models are low-poly models, it's just awkward

[Nemanja]

Especially the new Pyro trooper, imagine combining it with an overlord!!

Imagine combining him with Nukeneer !!
----------------
Will be Nukeneers will be available to enter bunkers ?