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SOVIET VEHICLES

The Soviet air force has undergone some major restructuring just like our own in an effort to counter our stronger air positions.  But it has not just been their air force which has new additions though Commanders, as we have seen more examples of modifications done to mimic abilities not been seen since the Great World War II:

WAR MINER

This cannot be completely confirmed, but observations of Soviet bases have shown that they have followed our lead in improving the speed of War Miner construction since past encounters.  Intelligence shows that the price has not changed, yet soldiers have distinctly seen War Miners appearing out of Soviet War Factories faster than we expected.  We will endeavor to gather more intelligence on the matter, but for now treat this as a valid change, as we cannot afford to underestimate our enemies' abilities at this point.

The purpose and abilities of the War Miner appear to have remained the same.  Like our Chrono Miners they are remote controlled from their base eliminating their vulnerability to mind control and additional construction costs, however their lack of Chrono ability still allows them to carry twice as much ore compared to our own Miner.  Overall the rate at which we receive funds is very similar, just keep your infantry out of range of its mounted machine gun.
 

FLAK TRACK

Flak technology has been infamous for it's hiccups and glitches known to occur at the worse possible times for their users.  This is one of the reasons why we have never utilized this technology, and it's still amazing that the Soviets picked it up.  While the low-profile turret allows the Flak Track to carry a lot more infantry inside of it compared with our IFV, we have seen it malfunction on the battlefield quite often, especially when it's experienced a lot of use on the battlefield - most notably the loss of weapon range when targeting air units once the unit progresses to elite status.

We have tended to exploit this in the past, but battle reports have suggested that this malfunction is quickly disappearing from within Flak Track divisions.  The Soviet's sure are spending more time with upgrading the quality of their weapons, so I advise that you assume an elite Flak Track's weapon no longer loses any range when targeting air units.

Gameplay Enhancement: Now 'accelerates' and 'decelerates' at source and destination movement cells.
 

RHINO TANK

The Soviet tank force certainly hasn't undergone as many changes as ours, at least from what we have seen on the battlefield.  While still only armed with a single 120mm cannon despite their predecessors' dual cannons in the first war, the Rhino Tank fires shells capable of tearing apart pretty much any enemy armor target in existence.  Despite our improvements to our Grizzly Tank, the Rhino still outmatches it in power and resilience, yet it sacrifices low cost for maintaining these benefits.  The Soviets have always had the ability to throw together tanks quicker than us (as much as it pains me to mention this fact), as although their increased costs should mean more time is required to construct one, they manage to balance it out and roll out these simple and effective tanks just as quickly as our Grizzly and Yuri's Lasher tanks.

Gameplay Enhancement: Now 'accelerates' and 'decelerates' at source and destination movement cells.
Graphical Enhancement: Adjusted the starting position of its tank shell when firing to a more appropriate position.
 

TERROR DRONE

These pests have been a thorn in our side since the war began:  Able to strike before projectile weapons can even target, let alone hit them, our most effective and cheap tactic remains to use rapid-fire, non-turreted defenses such as Pillboxes.  Our revised IFVs show some promise as well thanks to their change of weapon, especially with a GI or a Sniper inside.

It is still common for Soviet armies to use Terror Drones to try and take down our Chrono Miners (and consequently, our economy) although a less well-known fact about our Miners is that when they teleport back to our Refinery (when ordered to or automatically), it does not take the Drone with it -  I can't stress this enough Commanders.  If your Chrono Miners are infested, order them back to the Refinery, and then to any available Service Depot.  Then send an IFV or air unit to do the cleanup.

Based on our intelligence reports, they have however been experimenting with armor improvements over the last few months.  While they have yet to succeed in incorporating something stronger that would handle the speed stresses endured by the Drone, they appear to have successfully implemented a stronger heat resistant armor-type in response to the growing deployment of flame-based weapons in all our armies once again.  Our Mirage Tanks are no longer a viable defense any more, as are the Soviets' new Flame Turrets.
 

MOBILE CONSTRUCTION VEHICLE

Again, since pretty much every buildable structure on all sides of this war has undergone some sort of construction enhancement, the Soviet MCV has definitely been given that same boost, just like our own.  Come to think of it, I am surprised how radically different our armies are in the first place considering that We all tend to copy the same overall improvements. But it's interesting to review the differing philosophies our enemies have for the purpose and design of all their units and structures.
 

V3 ROCKET LAUNCHER

You veteran Commanders will remember the old V2 Rocket Launcher the Soviets used under Stalin.  While the vehicle itself was lightly armored, its rocket attacks were extremely fast, had a long range and did incredible amounts of damage.  To our benefit, the next-generation V3 Rocket Launcher did little to improve upon these capabilities.  The Soviet obsession with power was perfectly displayed here when they boosted the size and shape of the original V2 Rocket so much that it wasted a huge amount of time and energy rising and launching itself from the vehicle.  This made them easy prey for even a lone anti-aircraft unit or structure.  The rocket is bigger than the vehicle itself!  What kind of improvement is that?

It is a shame that this is no longer the case, as I'm sure we all took great pride in demolishing V3 ranks.  The Soviets have executed yet another uncharacteristic move on their part by sacrificing explosive space on the rocket for additional boosters.  While the rockets deal less damage to targets when they explode, they launch and travel much faster when fired; almost as fast as their predecessor.  This leads to our anti-aircraft defenses being less effective, but thankfully the vehicle remains unarmored and just as fragile as before, giving you more incentive to get rid of these units as quickly as possible.  While they were at it, they also made their V3 rocket radiation-immune to stop premature detonation from Desolators or nuclear explosions.

Gameplay Enhancement: Now explicitly requires a Radar Tower to build.
 

DEMOLITION TRUCK

I have just received an urgent intelligence report, so pay attention everyone!  We have received word that the USSR has expanded the Demolition Truck construction and development project to every single one of its affiliated and occupied countries!  This poses a great risk to us all now, as even the most remote of Soviet mobile bases are able to construct this unit without requiring special authority or materials from Libya!

If that wasn't bad enough, their construction is no longer detected by our early warning systems (what was left of them) so we have no idea if one has been built unless we have specific visual contact with their War Factories.  The unit itself has benefited from the more generic design by being slightly faster and poisoning the ground for a longer period of time when it detonates it's nuclear explosives inside.  I wish I could offer some additional strategies or words of comfort to you all, but I was caught off guard by this revelation as much as you.  Good luck.

Gameplay Enhancements: Now explicitly requires a Radar Tower to build.  In addition to attacking a specific unit, a Demolition Truck can now also 'deploy' to detonate it's explosives.
 

Nikola Tesla's genius was perfectly represented when he developed the ultimate Tesla technology during his life.  Probably the brightest and most idealistic of the Soviet Union's scientists, his perfection of the 'Tesla Coil' before the first European invasion was one of the Soviets' major victories of technological achievement over us, most notable in the breakthrough discovery of how to direct lightning at a specific target with near-pinpoint accuracy, something long thought to be impossible.  Since his death shortly before the first war, Soviet scientists are constantly looking at ways to improve and expand Tesla's vision.  Tesla Coil structures, Tesla Troopers and the Tesla Tank have been the most visible of the project's expansion over the years.

That being said, the Tesla Tank's discharges remain damaging as ever against all sorts of targets. The changes we've seen here have been to the Tank itself.  Most likely with help from the Ukraine's experts, the Tesla Tank's motor systems have been greatly improved to allow the turret to turn, power up and even fire even while the tank itself is moving!  While it's not the fastest of vehicles, this makes it particularly annoying to us with it able to fire while retreating or driving past.  Not only that, but somehow the Soviets have been able to reduce the cost of Tesla Tanks from 1200 to only 1000!  I'm not sure how they keep pulling off these sudden reductions in resource requirements, but what you need to worry about is that you'll most likely be facing these tanks more often when up against Russian forces.

Gameplay Enhancements: Now explicitly requires a Radar Tower to build.  Now 'accelerates' and 'decelerates' at source and destination movement cells.
 

APOCALYPSE TANK

There is no doubting the Apocalypse Tank's supremacy when it comes to pure strength and power.  The next-generation Mammoth-class tank, few tanks can ever hope to come out on top when encountering these behemoths.  Armed with twin 120mm Cannons for armor and missiles for Aircraft, there is literally nothing it cannot engage and defeat.  Look at me!  I sound like a Soviet recruiter!  Forgive me Commanders, I don't know what came over me.

It's missiles are actually the only thing that have been altered here, which is not surprising as what else could be improved?  Oops.  Sorry!  Anyway, if you recall, the classic Mammoth Tank fired it's missiles against infantry thanks to their better targeting when it came to smaller targets, but when the Apocalypse was released it tended to stick with its cannons for all ground targets, saving it's missiles only for Anti-Aircraft purposes.  This gave us a nice opening to use infantry as possible countermeasures, but unfortunately it seems the Soviets have reversed their earlier decision and the Apocalypse now uses missiles to engage infantry as well as aircraft.  They even get upgraded, like their cannons, when the vehicle gains enough experience!  Things are getting more complicated now...

Graphical Enhancements: Adjusted the starting position of its tank shell when firing to a more appropriate position.  Added in separate starting positions on the turret for its missiles.  Vehicles hit by the Apocalypse's shells now rock from the impact.
 

YAK

The first of two new (or should I say, resurrected) aircraft to the Soviet arsenal for use on their new Airfield.  They either are more nostalgic than we thought, or our continued assaults and Yuri's betrayal are really getting to them.  We have noticed that it is not the usual Soviet pilots driving these aircraft, but Chinese!  We think that China's growing support for the Soviet cause, most likely due to their manipulative propaganda in the years Yuri spent there in hiding, has grown to the point where the Soviets are actively using Chinese resources and pilots for their new airforce, most likely due to their own dwindling resources under pressure from our forces.

Anyway, Commanders familiar with the history of the first war will know how to deal with these aircraft.  They are armed with only a chaingun, making them deadly to infantry but a mere annoyance to more heavily armored targets, and are the cheapest and slowest of pretty much all aircraft in use.  This aircraft design is decades old, so the Soviets must be especially desperate to be using such antiques in their air force.
 

SIEGE CHOPPER

Since the Siege Chopper is still quite a new addition to their arsenal, it is not surprising that we did not see too many changes made here.  The only major change we've seen is a general improvement on its Machine Gun weapon to be more effective overall against all targets, but I'm sure they would still not want to engage enemy armor with it alone; at least not when undeployed.  Still, use caution when going up against these things when they are deployed...  Their Artillery Cannon remains as destructive as ever.

You'll also notice the price increase.  For some reason the cost to produce the Chopper has increased by 100 to 1200.  That could be a combination of the Machine Gun improvements or to help cover for the additional units at this aircraft level.
 

MIG

The second new aircraft for the Soviets is their familiar MiG unit, completing the image of their air force as it was back in the first war.  Again they are piloted by Chinese. You should remember that the Soviets did seem to have some MiG reserves of their own with Boris being able to call MiG airstrikes on structures, but with his replacement by Volkov their MiG ranks appear to have all but disappeared.

MiGs have a role on the battlefield pretty much identical to our aircraft.  While fast and agile, more so than our Harriers, they lack the velocity our Stealth Fighters can achieve, or the agility of Korea's Black Eagle squadrons.  Their missiles serve a dual purpose - while just as effective against enemy armor and infantry as the missiles on our aircraft, they are also highly explosive, causing decent damage to enemy structures as well.  As for their strength, they appear to be able to last longer than our Harriers and Stealth Bombers under enemy fire, but not as much as Black Eagles and their Yaks.

You should notice, though, that their cost is pretty intense, most likely due to the trouble the Soviets have to go to to get this relic back on the mainstream tech tree again.

Gameplay Enhancement: To stay consistent with the way the unit is designed, MiGs fire double bursts of missiles two times (4 missiles altogether) with distributed damage.
 

KIROV AIRSHIP

There have been some interesting changes to the Kirov since you last encountered them, Commanders: We believe the Soviets have overhauled their design, and have opted for an uncharacteristic approach where they sacrifice armor for speed.  These Kirovs are now twice as fast as they were before, but at the cost of now having basically half the strength they had before.  While that makes it easier for us to destroy them, they are able to get into position to devastate our structures much quicker than before.  We have yet to see whether these changes make things better or worse for us.

What is definitely worse however is that, like their Demolition Trucks, their construction is no longer detected by us as it is completed, so they can be constructed and sent off to attack with no one being any the wiser until they are spotted under conventional radar.  I would advise every Commander here to always make sure their base is well protected by Anti-Aircraft structures and units in case of any surprise Kirov assaults.  We are thankful that their cost and prerequisites remain the same.

Gameplay Enhancement: Kirovs now use an ammo system for their bombs.  When first built they start with 0 ammo, and while idle they slowly manufacture more up to a total of 30 until they begin to fire.  The 'pip' system underneath each Kirov is displayed above with the unit preview, with pips being shown in groups of ten with different colors to denote multiplicity. Manufacturing times increase as the Kirov fills up, as shown.
Graphical Enhancement: The Kirov's elite Tesla bombs now give off blue lighting when exploding.
 

AMPHIBIOUS TRANSPORT

Like our own version, the Soviet Amphibious Transport remains no different, from what we can tell from the latest encounters.  It remains identical in every shape and form, and just as we are considering how we can make our Transports more unique, it is a safe assumption that Soviet's researchers are thinking of their own possible improvements.  For now though, there is nothing new here to know.
 

SEA SCORPION

There are a few quite valid concerns being raised over the recent changes we've observed in this unit.  The Soviets have taken a major step and bumped this entire unit down the tech tree, allowing their Commanders to build them as soon as they have a Naval Yard!  They no longer need a Radar Tower first.  This gives them an Anti-Aircraft advantage in the sea considering our Aegis Cruisers still require an Airforce Command HQ to navigate properly, and it doesn't help that they are smaller and cheaper to construct in the first place, not to mention their Flak weapon being able to fire on ground targets also.  But it's this cheap investment that helps to balance this out...  They aren't too much of a threat on their own.

In addition to this, they have also restructured their construction of the ship with materials able to handle turret movement while on the move itself, allowing the ship to fire while traveling.  Not only that but, like the Flak Track detailed earlier, the Flak weapon itself has been fixed, so as to no longer lose range when firing on air targets once elite.

Graphical Enhancement: Sea Scorpions now sink instead of blowing up when destroyed.
 

TYPHOON SUBMARINE

With the introduction of the Sea Scorpion at the same basic tech level as their Subs, it's not surprising they didn't spend too much time reviewing the behavior of them in battle.  As Soviet Commanders how have the choice of two offensive units at this level, the two seem to complement each other quite well enough to not warrant any changes here.  This could always change in the future but I will let you know post haste if we pick up any new activity from them.
 

DIVER

The gap left in the Soviet naval arsenal since they lost control of their Squids to Yuri must have been pretty big to warrant an almost immediate replacement. Their new Diver units are technically an infantry unit, but are in fact trained at the Naval Yard and remain exclusively deep underwater and hidden, only to surface when they attack.  With what you ask?  Well, you probably wouldn't guess but under that diving suit is a Crazy Ivan unit!  I know!  I found it hard to believe myself but it seems they were so desperate to get a Squid replacement that they began training specialized Crazy Ivan units to function entirely in the water!  This gives them incredible experience with water maneuverability in being able to surface, plant their trademark dynamite packs on their target, and dive back down to wait for detonation, or do so themselves with the now-standard remote detonators!  As Engineers cannot function in the water to defuse any bombs, there is little the target can do once they have been attacked.  As he can function both above and below the water, he can even detect and plant explosives on other underwater targets like Subs, Dolphins and Squids!

Your best defense here would be to make sure you have Destroyers, Dolphins and even Tanya close by to detect incoming Divers before they get too close to attach any bombs.  Thankfully they do not have the new Dynamite Grenades given to their land counterparts for any ranged attacks.
 

DREADNOUGHT

Take a close look at the screen Commanders, and you should notice a change in how this Soviet vessel looks.  They appear to have redesigned the hull structure of their Dreadnaught to make it slightly more compact and sleek to move through the water quicker, slightly increasing it's speed over our Battleships and Aircraft Carriers.  While they were at it they've used stronger materials this time around, almost doubling their resilience to damage, again surpassing our own ships!  Our increasing strength must have those Commies worried, as I am sure they would not normally risk their economy so much by carrying out these improvements without any extra costs to the unit itself.  It is debatable whether these changes will remain in force for the long run, but in the mean time we will see how our new Battleships and improved Aircraft Carriers can match up.

Thankfully there has been no sign that the Soviets have remodeled the missiles in the same fashion as their V3 Rockets.  They fire in exactly the same manner as before: long range and deadly, but vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire.  Like the V3's though, their missiles are now radiation-immune.

Yuri's presence as an independent force has grown considerably since you've been away, and so I am also charged with making sure you are up to date with his position army, firstly with his base structures.

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