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SOVIET STRUCTURES

The Soviet Union still remains a deadly enemy.  Even with our future forces here to tell us they will fall we cannot underestimate their strength.  The war is still destined to go on for some time, and the Soviets have made a number of rapid advances to their base construction in response to our growing presence and Yuri's defection.  This includes utilizing similar construction techniques to our own which make their own base structures harder to destroy...:

CONSTRUCTION YARD

No one can argue about the reliability and effectiveness of using Mobile structures to build up remote bases.  Not even our enemies, who have also always used this same technique.  Since the first Great War our Soviet rivals have competed with us in the aspect of remote base setup.  While they continue to beat us in the sheer speed of their first strike tactics, they have always tended to grow cocky of their progress.  This is one of the contributing factors which led to their downfall under Stalin.  Romanov does not appear to have learned much from the failures of the past.

In any case, their own construction improvements have strengthened their structures considerably like ours.  We are already feeling the effects of this and our future forces are equally at a loss wondering why this did not happen in their timeline.  We can only hope our own armor improvements can match theirs.
 

TESLA REACTOR

It didn't take long for Professor Tesla to present detailed plans of using his electrical technology to generate power as well as expel it in his giant Tesla Coils (which we have experienced all too much).  Tesla power is an effective, renewable, cheap source of power considering miniscule amounts are needed to generate enough to maintain basic systems.  Their Power Plants are cheaper than ours, but produce less power per structure and also take up more room with the giant tesla orb in the center.  These are the only advantages we have over the Soviet power abilities.  While they can set up a power system quicker than us, it requires more space to expand; at least until their Nuclear Reactor is available.

On the whole we have experienced no differences in Tesla Reactors now than in the past.  Apart from their armor upgrade of course.
 

BARRACKS

How vain can these communists get?  Instead of settling for a flag they decide to place an entire statue of the typical conscript taking up space that could much better be served improving the training of their troops!  Oh well...  We cannot exactly complain about this, since it works in our favor.  Other than regular polishing of these statues, they haven't made any changes to their Barrack's abilities.
 

ORE REFINERY

The Soviet's have adapted to the Yuri threat in the same way we have by making their Miner's radio-controlled.  I can't say I blame them...  No one would want to see their primary way of gathering resources taken from you so easily.  Their Ore Refinery behaves in the exact same way as ours like always.  It's amazing to see how much we actually have in common with our enemies, especially after Yuri's defection.  In the few times we have been forced to team up to fight our common enemy we've seen how similar we actually are in our tactics and base management.

Anyway, enough rambling.  No changes here Commanders, I should keep the small talk to a minimum so I can have more time to talk about the buildings the Soviets have changed.

Gameplay Enhancement: Ore Refineries now scatter Ore around when destroyed.
 

WAR FACTORY

Why fix what's not broken?  We have not observed any noticeable changes in the Soviets vehicle production methods either.  For the most part we are all concentrating on what's coming out of them it seems.  Our enhanced Spies have made it easier for us to assess our enemies' plans, so I am confident that you will not have any surprises thrown at you with this structure.
 

NAVAL YARD

I am concerned that our enemies spying abilities are growing.  The Soviets have learnt about our enhanced maintenance methods when it comes to repairing units and have applied them to both their own Naval Yard and Service Depot.  During naval battles we have seen Soviet Subs retreat only to have them reappear fully repaired within a much shorter amount of time.  I am also presuming repair costs are also reduced like ours.

Thankfully though this is the only enhancement they have made to their Naval Yard, although it really doesn't need much more improvement.  Especially it's armor: Like ours, you'd be lucky to destroy one of these with Superweapon strikes.

Gameplay Enhancement: Removed the Tesla Reactor prerequisite for this structure to keep prerequisites in line with the Yuri's Revenge manual.
Graphical Enhancement: Swapped it's position on the Soviet Sidebar with the War Factory to keep it in line with the other two sides.
 

SERVICE DEPOT

As previously mentioned, the Service Depot receives the same benefits from the same improved repair techniques as the Naval Yard.  With deadlier results too: Soviet tanks have always made their mark on the battlefield by sporting the strongest weaponry possible.  Now they can repair them even quicker, ensuring they are out for the maximum possible time in battle.  Thankfully though we have held our own with our enhanced Grizzly's and wider use of the Robot Tank.

Gameplay Enhancement: The AI will now build and utilize this structure in battle.
 

RADAR TOWER

The Soviet's Radar Tower continues being a sole Radar-producing structure.  Their improved Airforce does not share this structure like ours does.  Whether this is due to funding issues or Romanov's preference we don't know, but regardless of this it helps make up for our initial cost deficiency in producing Power Plants over their Tesla Reactors.  I still think their radar dish is still overly large.  But at least it gives it a large profile.  Easier for us to hit it's critical areas, even with it's boosted armor.

Multiplayer Enhancement: Can be built after the Ore Refinery instead of the War Factory in Unholy Alliance to balance it with the other sides.
 

AIRFIELD

This is where things begin to change!  The first new structure the Soviet's have introduced into their arsenal since Yuri's defection is the central base for their airforce.  Instead of relying upon their War Factory to produce and manage aircraft it seems they have separated all airforce management operations to a dedicated structure.  This one.

The Airfield appears to be the prerequisite for all of their aircraft now, including the ones manufactured still at their War Factory.  Not only that, the Airfield builds and houses its own aircraft as well, and has space for two of such craft per structure.  The Soviet's will need to build multiple Airfields to manage a large team.  We still have the numbers advantage when it comes to cost, but their reactivation of aircraft that dominated the skies in the first Great War is a bit unnerving for us.  I guess we shall see what effect this will have in battles to come.

Spy Plane: Spy Plane management has been shifted to the Airfield over the Radar Tower now.  We noticed the transmissions have shifted structures almost immediately after we first began to see Airfields on the battlefield.

You notice the modified cameo above?  That is not a good sign.  The Soviet's have decided to switch back to their MiG-based U2 Spy Planes.  To be honest we weren't too surprised by this move considering their older Spy Plane was such an inefficient model compared to what they have used previously.  Maybe their increased funding to their airforce has brought about this change.

For those of you unfamiliar with how the U2 compares to their old craft, it deals with terrain scanning in a much more stealthy manner compared to their lumbering obvious Yak-style plane.  These planes fly so high and fast that it's impossible for the targeting systems of our defensive structures to lock onto them, or for our overhead radar to detect them.  There's nothing really we can do now to stop them revealing their targets short of installing a Gap Generator to block the scanning signals.  Long story short: Don't waste your resources to try and prevent this new Spy Plane, concentrate on the rest of their improved Airforce.

Mine Drop: It did not take us long when China entered the war to experience China's special ability first hand.  The horrific images showing victims of Land Mines seemingly do nothing to dissuade the puppet Chinese government to utilize this kind of inhumane weapon.

The Chinese have, on call, a transport plane ready to fly over and drop five Proximity Mines anywhere on the battlefield.  These mines camouflage themselves in with the surrounding terrain making them virtually impossible to discover.  They lie in wait for any movement.  The slightest bit of pressure will set them off, devastating infantry and heavily damaging vehicles nearby.  Thankfully we have observed that they cannot (at the present time anyway) differentiate friend and foe.  They will blow up even when neutral or friendly units pass over them, so the Chinese have had to show some forward thinking as to finding appropriate spots to drop their Mines.  The problem is, they know where the mines are, we don't, so don't underestimate them.
 

BATTLE LAB

I do not want to know what kind of research goes on in this structure.  It is still a great target for our spies to gain Soviet technological knowledge to combine with our own.  Battle Labs in general have always been weakly armored compared with other base structures.  While the relative differences are still the same, these structures benefit the most from the construction enhancements we have undergone lately.

Gameplay Enhancement: Now explicitly requires a Radar Tower to build.  Meaning enemies must capture one of them along with a Soviet War Factory to construct a Battle Lab, not just simply have their own Radar structure available.

Force Shield: I am quite surprised by this move.  The Soviet's have also pulled the Force Shield from active use even though they acquired the modified technology from us which in turn was based on their own designs!  This might not be due to component breakdown like our own, since I am sure they have the knowledge to keep them operational.  Instead they could be looking at the long term for once; keeping two almost identical superweapons that require twice the resources is quite risky in their current situation.  Whatever the reason, now we only have to deal with the shorter-yield Iron Curtain protecting critical base structures during superweapon attacks.
 

NUCLEAR REACTOR

We all dream about a cheap, easy source of power.  The Soviet Nuclear Reactor is still the best power plant available anywhere.  Unfortunately, it is still just as unstable when under enemy fire, so you will not want to be anywhere near it if it is destroyed.  As mentioned in our section of the briefing, we have developed our own alternative to boost the power output of our bases in the later stages, but our addition doesn't even come close to the power/cost ratio of this structure.  We have observed no actual changes here though to warrant further discussion.
 

INDUSTRIAL PLANT

I wondered how long it would take the Soviets to discover this.  Based on intelligence we received it seemed Soviet funds were being diverted elsewhere when it came to dismantling Industrial Plants.  Only 1000 Credits were being refunded to the base upon selling the structure!  It was relatively easy for us observers to spot the difference, but it sure took a while before they rectified this problem.  In any case, Industrial Plants now refund the full 1250 amount to Soviet Commanders when it is sold.

The rest of the building's operation remains the same as before we believe.  It still gives a very healthy 25% cost reduction on units.  Something we still don't know how they manage with the Empire being in it's current position.

Gameplay Enhancement: Removed the Ore Refinery prerequisite for this structure to keep prerequisites in line with the Yuri's Revenge manual.

Of course just like our bases they need to be defended regardless of how advanced they may get, so now will I move onto discussing the Soviet's armory structures.

Soviet Armory »« Allied Vehicles