The air in the command tent was ripe with tension when General Charles Cutting commenced with the briefing: "All right, chaps. What do you have for me?" Various staff officers had gathered around him, hectically pointing at various hotspots on the map. "Forward company commanders report that we've got Russian landings along the entire coastline between Kingsdown in the south and Ramsgate in the north", one of them explained. "That's roughly 10 miles of flat, open beaches. We've got them covered with multiple layers of defensive emplacements and fortified structures in the adjacent villages. If they manage to get past that, their reinforcements are gonna have a lot of clear, manageable ground all the way to London". Charles nodded while the officers spoke, already working on a plan in his mind, when suddenly Colonel David Catt of the Royal Lancers line cavalry regiment barged into the tent: "Sorry to interrupt, Sir, but we've just received important information on the enemy's composition. The 'good' news is that the bulk of the invasion force seems to consist of regular Army and Naval infantry, supported by light vehicles. They're determined, but we're holding them for now...The bad news is...that our troops in Kingsdown and Ramsgate have reported heavy contact with Shock Troopers. Seems to be elements of the Second and Third Division. From the looks of it, these two towns seem to be the focal points of their attack." Charles let out an audible grumble of anger and pressed his hands on the map table: "Sounds like that sodding berk Aleksandr is going all-in. This island...has NOT been invaded ever since William the Conqueror, gents. Not by the Spaniards, not by the French, not by the Jerries and I'll be DAMNED if the Russians do pull it off on our watch! Bring me everyone: The Navy, the Air Force, Garcia's fleet in the Channel - Everyone! Colonel Catt, I want your Challengers to move out to Ramsgate and Kingsdown ASAP. We've got our work cut out for us, lads; let's get to it. Godspeed!"



Back in Ramsgate, several Zubr-class hovercraft had made it ashore, unleashing masses of fanatical Shock Troopers at the British defenders. "Running dry!" Derek reported as he burned through another drum of 40mm grenades. But the Russians kept on charging, vaulting over the wrecked bodies of their own comrades while their rocket rifles cut through the facades of the weaker buildings, sending deadly fragments of wood and masonry flying through the air. Many positions had already been bombarded to pieces by the sporadic missile volleys fired from the ships and it was only a matter of time until this pivotal landing ground would fall to the horde. "What the fuck are these guys, are they even human!?" Matthew wondered as he mowed down a group of Troopers that emerged from the burning husk of yet another BMP who flat-out ignored that their battle armour had been set on fire when their vehicle got blown open by a missile. Suddenly, a micro-rocket smashed into the window frame. Matthew dropped his rifle and fell to the ground twitching, grasping at his right leg. "There's a large piece of shrapnel in your upper thigh!" Meryl observed in a matter-of-fact tone as she inspected the horrid wound immediately. "Well, no shit, sweetie! Fuckin' pull it out!", her comrade screamed in shock. "It might have ruptured the arteria femoralis. I can't risk removing it here as it may plug the wound for the time being." Instead, the medic injected several shots of painkillers and wrapped a tight bandage around the upper part of Matthew's leg. "Is he stable for evac?", Sergeant Finley asked while taking pot shots out of a window. "He should be, but I can't get him through all that stuff out there on my own!", Meryl replied. "Just get the bloody hell out of here, I'm gonna hold them off!" Derek interrupted. "The entire line is gonna break soon and we might not make it back to you", Finley reminded MacLeod. "It's all good, now get yerselves out of my pub!" With Mitchell and Finley carrying the wounded Private Baker to safety, Derek once again reloaded his trusty weapon and opened up on the invaders: "Ye wanna play rough!? Come at me, ye fuckin' wankers!" Disciplined fire had given way to pure rage and as a result, Derek failed to spot the one Russian with a rocket launcher who peaked out behind a pile of fallen Shock Troopers that served as a macabre piece of improvised cover. Moments later, the Corporal and his grenade launcher were silenced forever when a thermobaric Shmel warhead found its way through the window, immolating the entire building.



"What's the situation, where's Captain Wallace?", Sergeant Finley asked a fellow soldier at the company rally point on Ramsgate's market square while Meryl lifted Matthew, who had falled unconscious, onto a med-evac vehicle. "The Captain got torn to bits when a Golem tank came right out of the sea! Now there's at least half a dozen of them moving through the city. W-We gotta get out of here, Sarge, this is insanity! These blokes are gonna kill us all!" The Sergeant hesitated for a while, contemplating the possibility that he was the only one left of the local command chain while more and more scattered soldiers rallied around his position, looking for orders, directions and even the most vague semblance of hope in a battle that would soon be decided one way or the other. He had to think quickly: The first group of Shock Troopers was already snooping around at the end of the street and he could only guess how many more were converging on his position. "We will stay here and fight! We have to hold out, delay the Russians as long as we can. If they hole up in this town, they'll control the docks and bring in entire cargo ships full of these bastards that'll swarm all over the country. We cannot let that happen. If you wanna run, I won't hold any grudges. If you wanna stay, grab a rifle and fight with-" "CONTACT!" reported one of the soldiers guarding the perimeter. The die was cast and the final battle for Ramsgate was about to erupt...

the mortar track reminds me of dragon fire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Fire_(mortar)

Interesting update.
Would this Skyshield be able to shoot ground targets ?
Mortar Track would be only Charles unit or . . . ?

Great update. The skyshield and Artillery Battery finally gets introduced. Does it mean the vanilla ECA won't have the Goalkeeper? The Mortar Track sounds really fun. Finally another gen specific unit. So it has the ShW Tomahawk's ability of relaying target to others? How fast is it when not deployed? The description sounds like it should be pretty fast.

Looks like things are getting heated up. Loved Charles's appearance in the first part. He seems like a common and caring man in the outside with a calm and ingenious mind and eternal Brit pride burning inside.

Would've expected the great general Alek to employ other slightly more sophisticated tactics than landing in a predictable spot to start steamrolling with everything he has, ignoring all his casualties. But I guess that serves to recreate a classical and typical scenario where brave defenders are fighting and dying to defend their motherland from hordes of nigh inhuman aggressors.

Are you guys recreating the RA2 Brit Sniper?

The Sky Shield will be anti-air only which is on-tone with the more specialised nature of ECA defences; they excel at what the one thing they're supposed to do but the only thing comparable to a 'jack of all trades' defence is the Bulldog which cannot be built by conventional means. The other structures have to be mixed in order to be truly effective, hence why the Sky Shield can only fire at air units. And yes, the Mortar Track will be in 1.8 - otherwise we wouldn't be showing it yet - but it's going to be a Charles unit in 2.0.



The Goalkeeper is indeed exclusive to Willem whereas the Sky Shield is for everyone else. The relay function basically allows one Mortar Track to switch from attacking to observation mode, paint targets and increase the ROF of other Tracks firing at said target. The vehicle itself should be fast enough to keep up with your tanks, as it's more suited for frontline fire support than the sluggish Claymore.

As for Aleksandr, that's kind of the point: He managed to create the impression that he's a sophisticated strategist - and Suvorov certainly fell for it - but in reality, even ordinary grunts realise that he's basically just wasting people to keep the enemy busy, chip away at their nerves and supplies, only to finish them off with Shock Troopers once they are too weak and exhausted to put up much of a fight (stated in 'Swamped'). He's still a brilliant tactician as seen with his victory against China -and- America in the shell-map battle which makes him good at organising smaller, local operations, but he's actually lacking when it comes to the greater scale of strategy. He's basically a complete bullshit artist and the one man who should have seen past that facade fell for it unfortunately. The rather transparent flaws of this landing are supposed to show that.

As for the sniper, the final picture is indeed a hint that we are adding a similar unit for Charles, although it'll be more than just the generic 'BAM, I insta-kill your infantry!' kind of sniper. He's getting custom voice overs, too.

Great update. Damn the speed of this updates is great.

Yeah as ^ said the speed is, like, Godly. Awesome.

And for some reason, as soon as I see that sniper and the quote that he will have more than one role, I think of spotting for artillery like TW. That's probably a bit lame though... idk.

^ It's not gonna be a spotting ability.

Well, that would be too boring, wouldn't it? Now I can go hide my head in a hole.

Silly me . . . Don't know why I have asked that since ECA have special defense for each threat . . .
And Goalkeeper would act in same manner or it will be "special" ?



Means that would Sniper actually do its role . . .
I assume that it would work in conjunction with artillery.

If it wasn't for the whole gravity thing I would have flown out of my seat with the image of the sniper rifle equipped infantryman, because of both potential impact on the story and as a hint at a new in-game ECA unit.

Really liking the story series by the way, bravo writer(s)! The renders and associated lore are looking good as well, can't wait for the updates that follow!

Haha ! I was expecting to hear word Wanker earlier Nearly didn't notice Tony Montana reference because of it !

Not really. But the Pathfinder kinda fills the spotter sniper role already. Guess it would be uncreative to have two sniper units having the exact same role.

Great story, I could imagine the British MW characters' voices as I read the lore.

That new Howitzer looks sweet. Can it fire marker flares or is there another unit that does that job?
Will the Sky Shield engage targets independently or in the same fashion as a Stinger site?

Great update, questions:

1. What's the range about for the mortar track and the Howitzer battey?
2. Can the Skyshield have each gun target a single target?
3. Does the mortar track have a fast ROF comapred to other artillery?
4. Talking about artillery is their any chance that the US (most likely Bradley in 2.0) will get a SPG? Say a M109 PIM coming into US service soon.
5. Story question, is Charles going to exploit the fact that since Aleksander wastes grunts so he can have his shock troopers gain all the glory?
6. Since Challengers are mentioned, does this mean that likewise with Aleksander having a Railgun Kodiak meaning that Charles will get say a Challenger 3?

1. They're in the same category as other artillery with a little plus, so they won't have the same 'shoot things across several screens' range as Howitzers and Claymores but they'll be able to provide counter-battery fire against other artillery
2. Yes, IIRC. Although they do concentrate on the same target most of the time.
3. It actually shoots faster the longer it keeps firing uninterrupted and by the time it's at full speed, this does get somewhat scary.
4. There are no plans for an American SPG at this time but I'll bring this up to The_Hunter because a test has shown that there -might- be something needed, although that's just my personal estimate.
5. He will do so in these sense that the landings in the two cities are the most crucial element of this amphibious invasion.
6. I think it's okay to say it now: Charles is currently planned to get a Challenger 3 tank, likely a bit more armoured and somewhat slower than the Leopard but that hasn't been finalised yet as it'd be a 2.0 thing in any case.

Another 3 things out of the list)
Can the crew of howitzer be killed separately like stinger site's crew?

Time for a confession - I couldn't help thinking of MW when I was reading this update.

Personally, I prefer to imagine the Company of Heroes Brits but to each his own, I suppose. They just have a more down to earth everyman vibe going as opposed to this "We're tough, hardened blackops vets!" machismo.

Now I'll really have to check out Company of Heroes when I can.

Anyway... so Charles gets his own unique MBT that's planned stats sound like it's gonna be a Kodiak with Leopard's versatility? And he is the fire support guy.

Current score of the Grandpa matchup:

Charles : 3 - Zhukov : 1

Kinda curious; what's the exact breakdown of these scores?^^

By which criteria do you give out points?

Damn you MARS! lol you cut it off too soon, I really cannot wait for the next addition to the story to be revealed! I am liking the defenses presented here, but as I said before, more targets for my frogfoot squadrons, even if it is a a flak station! So that's like... What 8 def structures now? Wall, med tent, pillbox, guard tower, flak station, artillery, R2D2 turret, and the bulldog...anything else missing? Lol ECA motto; defense-r-us

Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion in part 3
As for the defences:
1 - Fortification / Medic Outpost count as one because the second is merely an upgrade of the first
2 - Guard Tower
3 - Gun Turret
4 - Sky Shield Battery
5 - Howitzer Position
6 - Bulldog Turret
7 - Tank Trap Barricade

That's a very ace update, chaps. I could be yanking 'bout all kinds of stuff, but only thing I will say is; chivvy along and bring us 1.8!

Is that some new decision brought up because community cried for Challenger or that was in old plans yet hidden well from public ?

Bit of a spontaneous thing, really. The fact that the ECA is a multinational force just kinda asks for that kind of diversification and Charles needed a little something that made him more than just the arty and air force general. Plus, if there's one thing self-respecting Brits would likely never do, it'd be to purchase German tanks.

If you had not pointed out that alek lacks in offensive strategy here, I would have assumed that there was a backdoor plan as he would launch a distraction attack to make his more covert planning easier. Other than covert operations, I would have expected zholov to creat a flanking assault. But one can wait to see if MARS is merely manipulating us from seeing the true motives.

so they DODGE a piece of German engineering to purchase CHALLENGERS. Lol....well that's a very English thing. Haha...

8 - Mortar Pit?
Those stories are really amazing MARS, can't wait for the next part!

Forgot the Mortar Pit. Yeah, that'd be number 8 then although both the Gun Turret and the Bulldog Turret will later be Willem-exclusive anyway.

Typically English . . .
No offense.


Wait . . . No anti tank defense for other ECA generals ?
Or they will have something different ? Surely you can bombard them with stationary mortar artillery and punch them with garrisoned
Panzerfaust Infantry when they come closer,but faction with specialized defenses without dedicated AT emplacement ? So much about specialization . . .

They'll get something different. As it stands, the Gun Turret's 'niche' in our design plan is actually supposed to have a unique structure for all three of them.

1. The speed of updates is great!
2. The story is amazing!
3. I love the Skyshield!! Reminds me a little bit of the Tier 1 NOD defences in C&C 3 Tib. Wars and since I am sure that the 3 gun turrrets are actually seperate objects that could target different targets
4. Love the howitzer.. I am sure the solders operating it will be animated nice
5. I like the Mortar Track and that it looks kind a M7 Priest

6. British snipers I hope they get kind a laser target designator like the avenger..
7. Challenger 3 tanks!!!

=> I can not wait for 1.8, and even if it is released: I can not wait for 2.0 after that!!

@devs: You said that "In addition to the standard high-explosive shells, the ECA can also upgrade their artillery payloads to cluster shells which disperse an additional number of deadly sub-munitions upon impact. These rounds are compatible with all standard mortar and howitzer calibres." I think I can say for sure that the Claymore Artillery benefits from this upgrate ,but does this mean that the Mortar Track also gets a cluster shell and even the mortar pit?

It's basically based on how unique and interesting the units and mechanism sound,

VTOLs - not a plane, not a heli : 1-0

Topol - hitting anywhere on the map, only known unit that has to purchase ammunition per shot : 1-1

Claymore - arty that outranges defenses and functions like no other arty : 2-1

Tor - Will have to wait till I see it. So far it sounds less fun than the Grumble if anything. Not to mention it's RL counterpart is rather plain. No score for now.

Challenger 3 - sounds wow : 3-1

Uber splashy artillery - haven't seen yet. But even Juhziz has shown splashy artillery. Making an impression with something arguably so common isn't easy.

Both have artillery based defenses, not counting that.

This match is far from over though.

I've been asking myself something. Is there going to be a 1.9 version of RotR, or are you guys planing to release 2.0 after 1.8?

There will most likely be a follow-up version to 1.8 that'll be called 1.82 - I actually have no idea why there isn't a 1.9.

Oh . . . Alrighty then.
Meaning that those don't have to be Gun Turrets at all since there is a lot variety of different AT weapons such as . . . Rockets.



Oh man . . . That means months and months of painful waiting between different versions . . .

Glad to see "General Cutting" responding to it so quickly, godspeed.

It is looking more and more like a Xmas release to me

Since in ROTR players chooses their sub-faction in-game, is there any (even next to none) possibility that after 2.0 there might be a 2.2 or something where new generals will be created? Trololol

Maybe cause then you guys would need a secret new faction for that release... hey wait a sec!

Anyways are we talking about a bug-fix patch like follow up version or a big follow up version like 1.72? Again there might not be any real room left in the older factions for adding more units after 1.8.

Finally the Gen Charles went into action, the war in the UK has epic proportions.

It's very good news that Charles will get the Challenger in version 2.0 and a Sniper.

NOTE: The image of Shocktroopers landing on the beach was incredibly cool!

You forget the GLA demo track my friend

HOW DARE ALEXSANDER THROWS THE 20TH DIVISION TO THE BRITISH MACHINE GUNS!!!! I hope for all purposes, you guys pull a Red Storm Rising with Orlov and Zhukov overthrowing Suruov and Alexsander in a coup. Also, the ECA needs more artillery, just so we can kill off the Shock trooper hordes.

But to a question I have. Will the artillery firebase and the claymore get to have the ability to do something like Multiple Rounds Simultaneous Impact (MRSI), because that would solve so many problems, especially heavy tanks that have decided its a good time for a cup of tea (a bottle of vodka if its Russian tank crew).

Oh cut Father Leonid some slack. Demo Track doesn't primarily attack... it's more like it only builds a Demo Trap and carries it around before dropping it off somewhere.

If the US gets a Tier II artillery it should be the MLRS:



Though that's assuming they get one at all, which is up to the team.

I'm a little concerned about this - so this will mean that Charles will have at least 3 separate 'Howitzer-style' artillery units in 2.0? The Mortar Track, the generic "Howitzer", and then the Claymore"? That just feels a little redundant - having 3 different units which more or less function the on same principle, just with slight differences in stats.

Awesome update, keep up the work guys.

And I will not say my personal opinion on the prospects of a Christmas release.
Dev. team, you guys just keep working at the pace you want, check for bugs, make it all look good in the end, you pick the release.

Quick question, will the mortar track be able to deploy flares? Or is this the sniper secondary ability role? (I'm assuming there is a flare deployment as stated in the lore. Guessing the mortar will have this ability, possible Advance Wars: Days of Ruin reference(?) )

As for the sniper secondary, I have a few ideas on this secondary, that may fit with the ECA's turtle role.
1) anti-personnel mine (possibly redundant since we have the Mole minelayer, but a dedicated anti-infantry mine)
2) flare deployment (similar to the pathfinder's binocs, but with possible animation of launching a flare, or throwing a flare. But of course, redundant if the flare ability is for the mortar , which I am assuming it is)
3) surveillance camera (I dunno, this is just my random idea pitching)

Ho hum. I'll probably comment again if I think of anything else.

And the L96 is a fancy rifle...

@Vintorez

just because they shoot shells at stuff does not mean they "function the same" ; )

Ahh, the Howitzers, a.k.a. backbone of T2 ECA, is finally mentioned.

Those things are truly fearsome.

I wonder, what will happen next in the story.

Cool, I was sorta expecting that Charles would get a Challenger tank instead of the Leopard 3. The Mortar Track looks pretty awesome!



I'd choose the HIMARS (MLRS replacement), there's even a model for it from Shockwave (the Hurricane Missile Launcher)