Some responses. Since quote-boxing each thing you said would likely fall afoul of the spaghetti posting rules...
"2)We know Nod cargo aircraft, and by extension GDI cargo aircraft, have transpacific range, because the Brotherhood flew from China/Siberia to Colorado with full loads of Marked of Kane combat troops and military equipment to steal the Tacitus. For reference, a direct flight from San Francisco to Manila is about 14 hours 40 minutes commercial.
That suggests that a naval patrol variant Carryall or V35 with maritime sensors, extra fuel instead of passengers and ordnance is going to have unrefuelled endurance on the order of 18 or 20 hours.
Think a S-3 Viking with better endurance."
Observation: It is very likely that when Nod wants to equip a VTOL transport aircraft with trans-Pacific range, it equips said transport aircraft with a tiberium fuel cell of some kind. This does not mean all Nod Carryalls use tiberium fuel cells, and certainly GDI Carryalls don't use tiberium fuel cells. Therefore, we should not assume our standard maritime patrol aircraft has trans-Pacific range, necessarily.
...
Not that the merchant ships would be completely unarmed.
Something like SeaRAM point defence is essentially automated, and light enough to be bolted anywhere the ship has free space. One forward. One aft.
Add a couple of remote weapon stations on each broadside for heavy machinegun or 25mm autocannon to discourage boarders, and underwater active sonar to kill enemy divers.
You can even fit ASW torpedoes if necessary.
Observation: It is unclear whether GDI merchant vessels actually have defensive weapon stations. It is logical that they might, but there are advantages and disadvantages (such as the part where this results in the weapons being more widely distributed and potentially more susceptible to Nod theft, or a Nod saboteur hacking a merchant vessel to hose down a GDI hydrofoil with autocannon fire from its automatic weapon stations). What I'm saying is, we don't know if the Navy and merchant marine DO this.
4)Even CVEs need escorts in order to avoid getting shanked by some sneaky or lucky bastard.
The GDI Navy is explicitly short of bluewater escorts. Where to find the escorts for a new batch of 30 to 60 escort carriers without building frigates is a question that I dont think anyone has considered fully.I think we'll have to start building Shark yards either simultaneous with the second half of the escort carrier yard rollout, or immediately after.
But what is important is to not make the mistake of delaying or diluting the initial escort carrier launches, which are being done mainly to free up fleet carriers from duties they really shouldn't waste time on, so that the CBGs can concentrate on proper military operations.
Oh yeah, this reminded me about the Wingman drones. Specifically about how they reminded me of the Dummy system in GFL. There your androids have copies of themselves to take hits and add to their firepower. So I'm wondering if after developing and deploying the Wingman, we could do a similar thing for mechs?
If the Talons think that's a tenable idea, we'll get a project for it. I'm skeptical, because navigating a land battlefield is, oddly, more complicated than navigating an air battlefield, at least from the point of view of an armed combat drone.
Oh yeah, this reminded me about the Wingman drones. Specifically about how they reminded me of the Dummy system in GFL. There your androids have copies of themselves to take hits and add to their firepower. So I'm wondering if after developing and deploying the Wingman, we could do a similar thing for mechs?
Unlikely.
ZOCOM and ST are the only two mech users in GDI.
ZOCOM is two corps, and Steel Talons are even smaller.
It just doesny sound cost-effective. If you want decoys, build decoys for cheaper.
Fire support? Call an artillery battery.
Just dont attempt to control another mech mid battle while controlling youw own.
Some responses. Since quote-boxing each thing you said would likely fall afoul of the spaghetti posting rules...
"2)We know Nod cargo aircraft, and by extension GDI cargo aircraft, have transpacific range, because the Brotherhood flew from China/Siberia to Colorado with full loads of Marked of Kane combat troops and military equipment to steal the Tacitus. For reference, a direct flight from San Francisco to Manila is about 14 hours 40 minutes commercial.
That suggests that a naval patrol variant Carryall or V35 with maritime sensors, extra fuel instead of passengers and ordnance is going to have unrefuelled endurance on the order of 18 or 20 hours.
Think a S-3 Viking with better endurance."
Observation: It is very likely that when Nod wants to equip a VTOL transport aircraft with trans-Pacific range, it equips said transport aircraft with a tiberium fuel cell of some kind. This does not mean all Nod Carryalls use tiberium fuel cells, and certainly GDI Carryalls don't use tiberium fuel cells. Therefore, we should not assume our standard maritime patrol aircraft has trans-Pacific range, necessarily.
...
Not that the merchant ships would be completely unarmed.
Something like SeaRAM point defence is essentially automated, and light enough to be bolted anywhere the ship has free space. One forward. One aft.
Add a couple of remote weapon stations on each broadside for heavy machinegun or 25mm autocannon to discourage boarders, and underwater active sonar to kill enemy divers.
You can even fit ASW torpedoes if necessary.
Observation: It is unclear whether GDI merchant vessels actually have defensive weapon stations. It is logical that they might, but there are advantages and disadvantages (such as the part where this results in the weapons being more widely distributed and potentially more susceptible to Nod theft, or a Nod saboteur hacking a merchant vessel to hose down a GDI hydrofoil with autocannon fire from its automatic weapon stations). What I'm saying is, we don't know if the Navy and merchant marine DO this.
4)Even CVEs need escorts in order to avoid getting shanked by some sneaky or lucky bastard.
The GDI Navy is explicitly short of bluewater escorts. Where to find the escorts for a new batch of 30 to 60 escort carriers without building frigates is a question that I dont think anyone has considered fully.I think we'll have to start building Shark yards either simultaneous with the second half of the escort carrier yard rollout, or immediately after.
But what is important is to not make the mistake of delaying or diluting the initial escort carrier launches, which are being done mainly to free up fleet carriers from duties they really shouldn't waste time on, so that the CBGs can concentrate on proper military operations.
If the Talons think that's a tenable idea, we'll get a project for it. I'm skeptical, because navigating a land battlefield is, oddly, more complicated than navigating an air battlefield, at least from the point of view of an armed combat drone.
1)Very unlikely.
We've been seeing the modern aircraft industry attempt to design electric aircraft.
Going from a jet fuel powered aircraft to an electric-powered one requires wholesale redesign of the aircraft.
If Nod wanted a cargo plane that ran on Tib, they'll design it that way from the start, and we'd have made note of it when reverse-engineering the Carryall.
Besides, its not extraordinary performance even by today's standards.
A Boeing 777-300 will do San Francisco to Manila in about 15 hours.
The US Navy's P8 Poseidon MPA is a modified 737. The C-17 has an unrefuelled range of 2400 nautical miles while carrying around 70 tons, and its a 1980s design.
2)I would bet on it.
Merchant shipping in WW2 was allegedly strapped because of the enemy threat, and in wartime GDI owns the cargo ships anyway.
They're built to the approval of GDI's navy, and the personnel who run them are screened by InOps.
I'd be surprised if they werent armed.
As for Nod fuckery, most of these things are going to be vessels multiple tens of kilotons in mass. If a Nod hacker has physical access to your ships computer systems, he controls a much deadlier weapon than an autocannon with several thousand rounds, or a point defence missile installation.
Just program the ship to scuttle itself in the approach to the port, rendering the port impassable for weeks if not months.
Or to ram the docks at 30 knots.
Or another cargo ship.
Hydrofoils are massproduced vehicles, and have a crew of 20-40 ppl, extrapolating from RL hydrofoils.
3)I think I've mentioned here that I think we should do frigates first.
Not because I dont like carriers, but because frigates are the fastest way to meet the Navy's need for more hulls.
CVEs are more powerful, and more flexible than frigates.
But we get to build 240x frigates as a first batch, compared to around 30-60 CVEs.
And in this particular case, an escort carrier running around without escorts is begging to be ganked.
We need the escorts to protect the bigger ships anyway.
If the Talons think that's a tenable idea, we'll get a project for it. I'm skeptical, because navigating a land battlefield is, oddly, more complicated than navigating an air battlefield, at least from the point of view of an armed combat drone.
True, but one of the main advantages of mechs is superior maneuverability, hence why I suggested it for mechs and not other combat vehicles. I doubt you could do anything like that with tanks or APCs or the like on anything but the most open and flat terrain, but mechs could hack it.
Unlikely.
ZOCOM and ST are the only two mech users in GDI.
ZOCOM is two corps, and Steel Talons are even smaller.
It just doesny sound cost-effective. If you want decoys, build decoys for cheaper.
Fire support? Call an artillery battery.
Just dont attempt to control another mech mid battle while controlling youw own.
This doesn't make sense to me. As has been pointed out, metal is cheap for GDI. Besides, a dummy would be decoy and fire support in one that you'd know is always on hand, you'd never not want that. It should need minimal directing. If a mech can't hanlde one in combat, then how is an aircraft supposed to use one? That does not take less attention.
Plus if you think that the forces that'd use them are few, then they should be a cheap project. Maybe not in development, but then definitely in production.
I think one of the better arguments for building the frigates before the carriers is the matter of time. While the carriers might be better and maybe more nescesary, with the war on geting usable hulls to the navy faster becomes a priority. Doesn't mean we shouldn't also work on carriers if we can afford it, but I think the frigates have priority in the current circumstances.
There's no way they want frigates before the carriers. Maybe after building half the carrier yards we can consider it, but they have been wanting escorts for years.
1)Very unlikely.
We've been seeing the modern aircraft industry attempt to design electric aircraft.
Going from a jet fuel powered aircraft to an electric-powered one requires wholesale redesign of the aircraft.
If Nod wanted a cargo plane that ran on Tib, they'll design it that way from the start, and we'd have made note of it when reverse-engineering the Carryall.
Besides, its not extraordinary performance even by today's standards.
A Boeing 777-300 will do San Francisco to Manila in about 15 hours.
The US Navy's P8 Poseidon MPA is a modified 737. The C-17 has an unrefuelled range of 2400 nautical miles while carrying around 70 tons, and its a 1980s design.
Nod tiberium power is different from GDI tiberium power. GDI uses a direct electrical conversion system, Nod uses tiberium as an additive for its gas turbines to get more power out of them. As such, for Nod the main issue would be designing the engines to be able to take the extra power, rather than having to redesign the entire aircraft to work in the first place.
And besides that, even if Nod used a direct electrical conversion system like GDI, propellers can be powered with electrical energy just fine. How propellers provide thrust is quite different from jet engines.
Unlikely.
ZOCOM and ST are the only two mech users in GDI.
ZOCOM is two corps, and Steel Talons are even smaller.
It just doesny sound cost-effective. If you want decoys, build decoys for cheaper.
Fire support? Call an artillery battery.
Just dont attempt to control another mech mid battle while controlling youw own.
Actually, GDI has been fielding mechs for the general ground forces since the Second Tiberium War, its mobile heavy artillery has been the Juggernaut walker carrying a triple 203mm turret since the 2020's.
That said, for the general ground forces, Wingman drones are more likely to be followed up by (semi) automated tanks and other vehicles, but they do have a major issue that air forces don't have to deal with nearly as much. Clutter. Because in the air, every bit of air is just as easily traveled as any other bit of air, but on the ground that is most definitely not true.
There's no way they want frigates before the carriers. Maybe after building half the carrier yards we can consider it, but they have been wanting escorts for years.
They've also been wanting frigates for years, which, happily, are in fact escorts.
What the navy wants is hulls to do convoy escort with to free up heavier forces for harder duties. Smaller carriers is one way to do that, frigates are another. I generally favour frigates because it gets us more hulls, faster, which I see as more useful in the immediate sense. We should, of course, do both carriers and frigates.
I generally favour escort carriers instead. The navy has asked for ships, yes, but their status report explicitly mentions escort carrier first and then more hulls in general. Not the other way around. They haven't even mentioned frigates in their report, only a generic "more hulls." And even more hulls is after escort carriers, meaning the priority is for escort carriers first, then literally anything else. Not "more hulls" first.
Frigates build faster and can have more, but the navy is wanting the capability of carriers as much as hulls. They'll certainly not say no to more hulls.
This doesn't make sense to me. As has been pointed out, metal is cheap for GDI. Besides, a dummy would be decoy and fire support in one that you'd know is always on hand, you'd never not want that. It should need minimal directing. If a mech can't hanlde one in combat, then how is an aircraft supposed to use one? That does not take less attention.
Plus if you think that the forces that'd use them are few, then they should be a cheap project. Maybe not in development, but then definitely in production.
Mecha are not just metal though?
They are servos and myomers and gyroscopes and computerized control systems.
This is not the same thing as building the mechanically simpler tank or APC.
And the level of EVA autonomy required to operate a wingman mech on land is significantky higher than other environments.
There's a reason why the first semiautonomous wingman apps are air, and then maybe water, places with no obstacles or clutter to maneuver on and around.
Nod tiberium power is different from GDI tiberium power. GDI uses a direct electrical conversion system, Nod uses tiberium as an additive for its gas turbines to get more power out of them. As such, for Nod the main issue would be designing the engines to be able to take the extra power, rather than having to redesign the entire aircraft to work in the first place.
And besides that, even if Nod used a direct electrical conversion system like GDI, propellers can be powered with electrical energy just fine. How propellers provide thrust is quite different from jet engines.
1) I was replying to the suggestion of using a Tiberium fuel cell, generating electric power.
2)Nod Carryalls in Tiberium Wars are a ducted fan arrangement fed by power plants buried inside the main body of the aircraft.
Things like the cooling budget, radiation shielding and containment requirements are drastically different when you're carrying vore rock around as a power source instead of, or in addition to JP-8, on a mass-sensitive vehicle. We dont even know if Nod can operate Tib-boosted turbines that small; Tib-upgraded gas turbines are a Tier 3 upgrade in Nod for a reason.
I stand by my assertion that you would need a complete redesign of the Carryall at best, and probably a new design altogether, in order to accomodate Tiberium doping as a power source, instead of a plug and play arrangement.
Actually, GDI has been fielding mechs for the general ground forces since the Second Tiberium War, its mobile heavy artillery has been the Juggernaut walker carrying a triple 203mm turret since the 2020's.
That said, for the general ground forces, Wingman drones are more likely to be followed up by (semi) automated tanks and other vehicles, but they do have a major issue that air forces don't have to deal with nearly as much. Clutter. B
We have been explicitly told previously by the QM that what a service wants is not necessarily what is most cost-effective to give them, or for the Treasury to do. Note the fact that the military did not notice or say anything about Warfactory Refits, or the fact that they had no opinion on ICS until AFTER we finished them.
True, but one of the main advantages of mechs is superior maneuverability, hence why I suggested it for mechs and not other combat vehicles. I doubt you could do anything like that with tanks or APCs or the like on anything but the most open and flat terrain, but mechs could hack it.
The problem then becomes that mechs are complicated to drive around on rough terrain compared to wheeled vehicles on the flat. Designing a drone mech that won't fall on its ironclad autonomous ass while trying to maneuver around the battlefield is correspondingly complicated.
It's not that this is technologically impossible, but just because there exists, somewhere in fiction, a buddy drone mech program that worked, doesn't mean buddy drones for our mechs are a good idea.
This doesn't make sense to me. As has been pointed out, metal is cheap for GDI. Besides, a dummy would be decoy and fire support in one that you'd know is always on hand, you'd never not want that. It should need minimal directing. If a mech can't hanlde one in combat, then how is an aircraft supposed to use one? That does not take less attention.
Aircraft do take less attention, for this specific purpose.
Because there's nothing for them to smack into apart from the ground.
Because you can't easily lose line of sight to an aircraft serving as your buddy drone.
And because if you're flying in a plane, you're already relying heavily on a sensor suite to tell you where the enemy is. Which means that a robot that relies on the same kind of sensors can still be effective. A mech pilot is much more likely to be using the Mark One Eyeball more heavily.
If this point of debate is to be more than useless, stupid quibbling, then we need to bear a few important points in mind.
1) We only saw such a huge convoy of Nod cargo aircraft fly a trans-Pacific route ONCE. Specifically in the context of the Cheyenne Mountain raid. Bear in mind that this was a special operation, directed personally by Kane and LEGION, employing the Marked of Kane, a unique cyborg faction. There is absolutely no reason to assume that the Carryalls employed by this force, for this unique singularly important operation to seize the Tacitus, were standard unmodified craft. It would not be all that unusual by Nod standards for Kane to have commissioned a major research project for the sole purpose of designing an expensive "super ace custom" version of the Carryall that had trans-Pacific range solely for this operation, if that was what it took to ensure that the operation would succeed. Nod may or may not actually be deploying this Carryall variant on a large scale outside Kane's inner circle. It may be uneconomical and used only for this specific mission that absolutely had to penetrate deep into a continental landmass where GDI holds all the coasts.
2) Regardless of the exact details of HOW, Nod has a long history of using tiberium as an energy source that supplements its weapons, vehicles, power supplies, and so forth. Nod has done so in a quite sophisticated manner, many times, across all three Tiberium Wars. Nod using tiberium to enhance or replace the engine systems of a Carryall would be much less of a stretch than Nod using tiberium as a performance-enhancing combat drug, but Nod does the latter routinely. We don't know.
...
In conclusion, it is unreasonable to infer standard Carryall performance from the Cheyenne Mountain raid, because there are several reasons to think Kane might have used some sort of upgraded, extended-range aircraft for this operation. You do not, and cannot, know. Nor can you dismiss, this possibility in a reasonable manner. It would be great arrogance to dismiss it without clear evidence for why one should do so. Such evidence might exist, but it is not immediately in front of us here and now.
...
With all of that being said, it is largely beside the point, because yes, I acknowledge that extended-range maritime patrol aircraft likely can and do exist on both sides of the GDI/Nod war. Even if Nod may well have an advantage here thanks to being able to do Weird Shit with tiberium, as is the amply precedented case in many areas of military technology.
We have been explicitly told previously by the QM that what a service wants is not necessarily what is most cost-effective to give them, or for the Treasury to do...
Yes, but it is the height of arrogance for us to just do an out-of-character armchair analysis based on a long list of assumptions about what's going on in-setting that may or may not be correct, then decide that the in-character experts are wrong even when not supported by in-setting evidence that the in-character experts are making a mistake.
If the Navy says they need escort carriers more pressingly than frigates, we should default to believing them, not to concocting clever excuses for why we shouldn't believe them or shouldn't listen to them.
Note the fact that the military did not notice or say anything about Warfactory Refits, or the fact that they had no opinion on ICS until AFTER we finished them.
That is because those are not their problems, not their field of expertise. The war factory refits have more to do with simplifying production chains and moderately increasing production (often of somewhat obsolete equipment). That is not part of the fighting services' area of responsibility. I am sure that every general we asked said "yes, more military production is better than less." But none identified it as a critical priority because they were not in a good position to evaluate the merits of the program fully.
Likewise with the ICS. No one in the military was qualified to fully evaluate the impact of a complicated reworking of the entire global civilian logistics transport chain; if they were, they would be civilian logistics experts, not generals. I'm sure that if we'd asked them, they'd have said "yes, that would be a welcome development," but of course they weren't the main source of pressure telling us to do it.
We have been explicitly told previously by the QM that what a service wants is not necessarily what is most cost-effective to give them, or for the Treasury to do. Note the fact that the military did not notice or say anything about Warfactory Refits, or the fact that they had no opinion on ICS until AFTER we finished them.
There are a few things here.
1. They are a "not my donkey" type problem. As in they are a problem for you, but not for the military, because during the war, the Treasury secretary at the time surge built a lot of capacity. That capacity has left GDI with some significant administrative overhead, but that is your problem.
2. The military actually has "enough" of most extant hardware from that era. Would they say no to more battlebases? Would they say no to more Predators, or Firehawks, or grenades, rifles, and any of the other paraphenalia of war? Absolutely not. But at the same time they don't "need" more of any of it particularly desperately.
So, yeah, the War Factory Refits weren't as needed by the military, but also they, and pretty much anything outside the Military department, will not be listed as a priority by the military, because they don't care *how* we provide them with Logistics, just that we do.
So, yes, they are guides, but if you want to say "the Navy is wrong, we actually need X development rather than Y development, you need to say why you think they are wrong. Because they're in the same category of project, so any factors that might lead to them not being listed as a priority apply equally.
Edit: I believe that we need to start on Escort Carriers before we start on Frigates because they will free up our fleet carriers for other operations, while also doing pretty much everything the Frigates would do (if perhaps not quite as well). And getting a few fleet carriers available for what their job actually is, will force the NOD navy to operate a lot more cautiously. Imagine if the Cruiser squadron that got jumped by Bintang had carriers a few hours closer, so they could have dropped wings of Firehawks on her battleship and escorts, or at least taken out the destroyer ambush before it was much of a threat.
Yes, but it is the height of arrogance for us to just do an out-of-character armchair analysis based on a long list of assumptions about what's going on in-setting that may or may not be correct, then decide that the in-character experts are wrong even when not supported by in-setting evidence that the in-character experts are making a mistake.
If the Navy says they need escort carriers more pressingly than frigates, we should default to believing them, not to concocting clever excuses for why we shouldn't believe them or shouldn't listen to them.
To Balance the different demands and requirements from the various fractions of GDI. We decide which of their collective needs are most pressing, and direct resources towards them.
However, the different Ship designs are a purely internal matter for the Navy, and it is their job to know which ship role they need fufilled most. Our job is decide if their concerns are more deserving of attention then the various other branches.
No, priority in military is a little different, it indicates that one specific branch of the military wants something, with high priority indicating more than 1 branch.
Also, it considers escort carriers foundational to a multi role navy no matter what, while sharks strengthen its defensive role more and monitors and landing ships impacting its offensive capabilities.
Note, however, that the navy does want basically any hull whatsoever, because they are pretty stretched, and prefers hulls it can use to substantially improve its defensive capabilities because it's got a whole lot of territory to secure and not enough hulls to do it. It puts high priority on the escort carriers because it can turn them from defensive tools to offensive tools fairly easily in comparison to the more limited flexibility offered by the other ship classes.
Direct & Destroy (also known by the retronym Direct & Destroy: Ethereal Dawn) is a 1995 real-time strategy video game developed by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin Interactive. Set in an alternate history, the game tells the story of a world war between two globalized factions: the United Nations Army and a cult-like militant organization called the Global Occult Association. The groups compete for control of the World Gates, which enable travel to other worlds, and Ether Dust, a mysterious substance that enables use of magic.
Westwood conceived Direct & Destroy during the final stages of the development of Dune II, and it expands on ideas explored in that title. Inspired by the events of the era, particularly resource conflicts in the third world, the team gave the game a modern warfare setting mixed with fantastical elements heavily influenced by the works of Tolkien. The game contains live-action full motion video cutscenes, which star Westwood employees. The Nintendo 64 port was developed by Looking Glass Studios.
Direct & Destroy was a commercial and critical success, selling over three million copies and winning numerous awards. It has been cited as the title that defined and popularized the real-time strategy genre.
Gameplay
Direct & Destroy involves players operating as one of two playable factions on a map - the United Nations Army (UNA), and the Global Occult Association (GOA) - developing bases, gathering resources and using them to produce troops, and then defeating their opponents by eliminating their army and either destroying or capturing their base. Base production and unit training is funded by gathering Ether Dust, the game's sole resource, through the use of harvesting units, and processing them into credits through a processing structure. Each faction has its own unique types of units and spells, own superweapon, and its own combat strategy: The UNA relies on cheap and comparatively weak Peacekeeping units and a selection of expensive and powerful UNA Quick Response units in the endgame; while the GOA relies on a combination of their diverse unit roster, superior spells effects, and powerful upgrades to power up their forces over the course of the game.
Producing units requires establishing a base through a special unit called a Mobile Portal Anchor (MPA) - MPAs can only be deployed in open flat land, and structures must be placed within close proximity with each other. Bases can be protected with various defensive structures such as sandbags, gun or spell turrets and concrete walls, and units are produced in production structures (i.e. Barracks for infantry, Factory for vehicles, Helipad for aircraft), with tech buildings helping to unlock more advanced units, spells and upgrades; construction options function on a tech tree, in that certain buildings must be constructed to unlock new options. Silos can be built to store more resources, as the processing structures can only hold a finite amount, repair facilities can be built to repair damaged vehicles, and power plants are required to keep the base operational - low power slows down production, stops defensive weapons working, and causes buildings to slowly take damage over time until sufficient power is restored (either by constructing additional power plants, or selling off extra buildings to reduce total power requirements). In total, the game contains around sixty units and structures.
Direct & Destroy features two single-player campaigns, one for each faction, in which the player must undertake a series of missions across a campaign map for their chosen faction. The objective of most campaign missions is usually to destroy units, or destroy / take control of enemy buildings, with each mission beginning with a briefing conducted using a mix of computer animations and live-action full motion video (FMV). At times during the campaign, the player can choose which mission to undertake, which offer different scenarios to overcome.
Units
Rifleman
The basic infantry unit for both sides, riflemen are cheap, and have a relatively long range, making them effective general purpose infantry from early game to late, although they are increasingly relegated to defensive, or entrenched roles as the game progresses.
Grenadier
The Grenadier and the Arcanist fill the same roles for the UNA and the GOA respectively. Both are the "advanced" infantry of their faction. The Grenadier is generally considered to be the superior unit early game, but loses out to the Arcanist late game as upgrades expand its spell list.
Rocket Squad
The basic anti-vehicle infantry unit for both sides. They're slow, and easy to kill, but they're good early anti-air and deal large amounts of damage to vehicles.
Engineer
Engineers are used to capture enemy buildings or repair friendly ones. Since they carry no weapons, they are extremely vulnerable on the battlefield and must be directed very carefully. Engineers are very slow, so loading them into an APC is an ideal way to move them about the battlefield.
Elite Peacekeeper
The Elite Peacekeeper uses a Raptor 50cal. assault rifle with suppressor that is able to take out infantry units from afar. In addition, he carries C4 explosives which level structures instantly when placed. The Elven Ranger has the same statline but is armed with a Ether Bow in game. The UNA does not have a limit to the number of Elite Peacekeepers they can produce, while the GOA is limited to a single Elven Ranger at a time.
Harvester
Harvesters gather raw Ether Dust and transport it back to refineries. They're slow and unarmed, but heavily armored, allowing a harvester to stay intact until reinforcements can arrive as long as they're prompt about it, and like most vehicles they can crush infantry.
Armored Car
These all-terrain attack vehicles are fast and effective against infantry. Used in hit and run tactics on infantry and other lightly armored targets, the Armored Car shines. Against armor, it dies.
Recon Quad
Mounting twin rocket launchers, the quads have great flexibility, serving multiple roles in the UNAs ranks. Learn to use these units in groups, hunting down lone units or harvesters. When in guard mode, they will shoot at enemy aircraft, making them ideal at destroying incoming aerial assaults. Their speed makes them an ideal scouting unit as well.
Light Tank
This highly-mobile tread vehicle delivers maximum destruction with minimum weight, maintenance and weaponry. Faster than any other tank on the battlefield, these units can reach a target quickly. Used in conjunction with aerial assaults, these units are very effective. They are, however, weaker and more fragile than GOA Medium Armor Units.
Elite Peacekeeping Battle Tank
Armed with triple 125mm cannons and machine guns against lightly armored targets, this giant is a force to be reckoned with. These weapons help compensate for its lack of speed, and enable it to take on just about any target on land. When this unit takes a lot of damage, it can slowly regenerate its health back up to 50%.
Elite Peacekeeping MLRS
The UNAs artillery fires 227mm rockets and is effective against just about everything, including aerial threats. With no short-range fighting ability, this unit needs close-quarter backup.
Chinook Transport
Provides field transportation for up to 5 infantry units, rapidly deploying them into or out of battle. This unit is basically an aerial version of the APC without the weapon.
Patrol Helicopter
The Patrol Helicopter is fast, mobile, and carries a large quantity of ammunition. It is used primarily against infantry and structures. Use them to soften up bases before an Ether bomb is dropped, or gun through a horde of infantry coming towards your base.
Elite Peacekeeping Jet
These units are highly maneuverable, ground-hugging craft that level enemy units with napalm as part of the Airstrike support power. Since the jets bombs in a line, it is a good idea to pick a target that is part of a group.
Rifleman
The basic infantry unit for both sides, riflemen are cheap, and have a relatively long range, making them effective general purpose infantry from early game to late, although they are increasingly relegated to defensive, or entrenched roles as the game progresses.
Upgrades:
-Missile Shield: Increases health.
Arcanist
The Grenadier and the Arcanist fill the same roles for the UNA and the GOA respectively. Both are the "advanced" infantry of their faction. The Grenadier is generally considered to be the superior unit early game, but loses out to the Arcanist late game as upgrades expand its spell list.
Upgrades:
-Rapid Firebolt: Increases attack rate by 15 percent.
-Missile Shield: Increases health by 20 percent
-Stormcaller: Adds a new area of effect attack to the Arcanist, that is devastating against enemy infantry in the open.
Rocket Squad
The basic anti-vehicle infantry unit for both sides. They're slow, and easy to kill, but they're good early anti-air and deal large amounts of damage to vehicles.
Engineer
Engineers are used to capture enemy buildings or repair friendly ones. Since they carry no weapons, they are extremely vulnerable on the battlefield and must be directed very carefully. Engineers are very slow, so loading them into an APC is an ideal way to move them about the battlefield.
Dwarven Ethergunner
The Dwarven Ethergunnerr is an advanced infantry unit immune to the effects of Ether Dust. The Dust-thrower they carry produces a short-lived toxic cloud of unstable Ether Dust that will kill any infantry caught within its effects.
Upgrades:
-Missile Shield: Increases health.
Elven Ranger
The Elite Peacekeeper uses a Raptor 50cal. assault rifle with suppressor that is able to take out infantry units from afar. In addition, he carries C4 explosives which level structures instantly when placed. The Elven Ranger has the same statline but is armed with a Ether Bow in game. The UNA does not have a limit to the number of Elite Peacekeepers they can produce, while the GOA is limited to a single Elven Ranger at a time.
Upgrades:
-Missile Shield: Increases health.
Harvester
Harvesters gather raw Ether Dust and transport it back to refineries. They're slow and unarmed, but heavily armored, allowing a harvester to stay intact until reinforcements can arrive as long as they're prompt about it, and like most vehicles they can crush infantry.
APC
The APC transports and protects up to five infantry units heading to and from battle locations. Its heavy armour, fast speed, and long sight range make it an ideal scouting unit. It is also useful for crushing infantry.
Medium Tank
From its single barrel, the Medium Tank fires armour-piercing shells. It is faster, heavier and more destructive than Nod's Light Tank. It is effective against both vehicles and structures, but can be taken down by groups of infantry or aerial units.
Ether Tank
Particularly useful against infantry and structures, the ether tank can mow through swarms of infantry with little or no damage to itself, summoning from a list of elemental effects to damage enemies be they land or air. To top off its destructive capabilities, the ether tank is fast, able to avoid some of the slower firing weapons and get close to its target quickly.
Iron Golem
Heavily armored and slow, but devastating in combat, the iron golem is great at absorbing enemy fire to keep your other units healthy. Upon death he explodes in a cloud of ether dust that damages nearby infantry.
Chinook Transport
Provides field transportation for up to 5 infantry units, rapidly deploying them into or out of battle. This unit is basically an aerial version of the APC without the weapon.
Hover Gunship
This magically enhanced VTOL craft carries five salvoes of rockets that are exceptionally useful for taking out enemy armour. When an Hover Gunship runs out of rockets, it must return to a Helipad for reloading.
Fire Dragon
The Fire Dragon is the strongest unit in the game by stats alone. Has a colossal pool of HP and a devastating, mid range attack. However, its size means it can be attacked by anti-air and anti-ground weapons and it does not scale as well as the other units.
Plot
Setting
Direct & Destroy is set in an alternate history, and begins with the opening of the first World Gate in Berlin in 1995. The appearance of the World Gate brings with it the emergence of ancient and fantastical concepts and creatures, like Werewolves, Vampires and most importantly, Ether Dust, a glowing substance that enables use of magic either through technological means or by direct consumption by a human or an animal. An ancient, cultic society called the Global Occult Association, which claims to have foreseen the potential of this new substance and the new world that opened up to humanity, invests in the development of technology to harvest, refine and use Ether Dust, way ahead of the scientific community's own research, and use the resources it gathers to accumulate a rapidly growing army of followers worldwide.
By the beginning of the game, Gates and Dust have appeared everywhere around the globe with the GOA having control of nearly half the supply by the way of illegal mining operations in the new worldy spheres discovered, much to the dismay of the natives, and conducting terrorist campaigns in wealthy countries, while establishing footholds in some of the poorer nations. The United Nations Army, initially formed by the United Nations as a multinational peacekeeping force in the aftermath of an alternate version of World War II, has since been repurposed as a global magic and Ether Dust control organization, and makes its new goal the control of Dust harvesting, utilization, and import to Earth to stop the unsafe and unstable ways to utilize it propagated by the GOA. The conflict between the two sides eventually culminates in a worlds-spanning war between the UNA and GOA, with both campaigna taking place in Europe, Africa and the worldly sphere of Yggdrasil.
While all of the other Direct & Destroy games made by Westwood Studios featured campaigns with mutually exclusive storylines, resulting in absolute victory for their respective factions, it is never made explicitly clear that this is the case for the first Direct & Destroy. As a result, there has been speculation that both campaigns might be canon, with the UNA ending taking place after the GOA ending.
GOA Campaign
The GOA campaign begins with the player character assisting the rogue Red Army forces in their conquest of Russia and Europe. The Illuminate hopes that this will lead to the breakup of the UN and with it the UNA, the only force that could hinder their plans for control over Ether Dust. Their initial plan fails and the GOA engages UNA bases and harvesting operations in Yggdrasil with the help of militant elements of the native Elves and Dwarfs to compensate. When the UNA attacks their headquarters in Africa, the player has to delay the UNA until their most important assets can be transferred through the World Gate. The campaign ends with the GOA in control of harvesting in Yggdrasil, but the UNA in control of the major World Gates to Earth, a victory the Illuminate calls "satisfactory".
UNA Campaign
With the UN ordering the UNA to assist in combating GOA uprisings in Europe, the player assists as a UNA commander. After defeating rogue elements of the Red Army and stopping the attempted coup in Russia, the UNA focuses on retaking the occupied parts of Central and Western Europe. However, the GOA's masters, the mysterious 'Illuminate', use the confusion to try and take control of the World Gates and harvesting operations in Yggdrasil, the primary exporter of Ether Dust to Earth. Initially successful, the GOA finds themselves on the defensive when the UNA attacks their Earthside assets in Africa, establishing control over all the major World Gates on Earth with the help of the Quick Response Forces.
Direct & Destroy: Red Alert
Direct & Destroy: Red Alert was intended to be a prequel to Direct and Destroy, and both the Allied and Soviet campaigns contain references to it. In particular, some of the Soviet mission briefings feature Stalin conversing with a group similar to the Illuminate, while one of the cutscenes in the Allied campaign directly foreshadows the creation of the UNA. Also in the Soviet final cutscene, Nadia says "this temporary chaos in Europe will only help to fuel the Association's cause". However, Direct and Destroy has the Global Occult Association start out as an underground organization initially operating out of the African continent, not as a major political force in control of the late Soviet empire. With the release of Direct and Destroy: Red Alert 2, a hotly debated topic which arose among fans was whether Direct and Destroy follows the conclusion of the Allied or Soviet storyline, with evidence existing for both sides of the debate. Former D&D designer Adam Isgreen confirmed that Ethereal Dawn in fact follows on the conclusion of Red Alert's Allies campaign, while Red Alert 2 and Karin's Revenge take place in a second parallel universe, created by a new attempt to alter history in "Ether Incursion", the working title of Westwood Studios' canceled version of Direct and Destroy 3. The exact relationship between the events of the two games remains unclear, and their connection was later disregarded by Electronic Arts, who preferred to treat the Ether Dust and Red Alert series as completely separate universes.
Thanks to Crystalanon on the discord, I forgot again your SVname, sorry. But here is something strangereal for your all enjoyment.
No, priority in military is a little different, it indicates that one specific branch of the military wants something, with high priority indicating more than 1 branch.
And the level of EVA autonomy required to operate a wingman mech on land is significantky higher than other environments.
There's a reason why the first semiautonomous wingman apps are air, and then maybe water, places with no obstacles or clutter to maneuver on and around.
The problem then becomes that mechs are complicated to drive around on rough terrain compared to wheeled vehicles on the flat. Designing a drone mech that won't fall on its ironclad autonomous ass while trying to maneuver around the battlefield is correspondingly complicated.
It's not that this is technologically impossible, but just because there exists, somewhere in fiction, a buddy drone mech program that worked, doesn't mean buddy drones for our mechs are a good idea.
Honestly, any Ground Forces wingman drones are more likely to be something that flies, like the Gremlin/BIT from XCOM 2. And most likely it would just end up being a floating gun.
Honestly, any Ground Forces wingman drones are more likely to be something that flies, like the Gremlin/BIT from XCOM 2. And most likely it would just end up being a floating gun.
Honestly, any Ground Forces wingman drones are more likely to be something that flies, like the Gremlin/BIT from XCOM 2. And most likely it would just end up being a floating gun.
There is a project to develop an infantry support drone for ZOCOM (and nothing about the description suggests that Ground Forces wouldn't be able to use it, if we gave them power armor).
But from the description, I strongly suspect the drones in question would be little flying things, like a real life quadcopter or something. I'm not even sure the drones would be armed, though they could still be quite effective as spotters and scouts, especially in conjunction with the existing sonic artillery platform we've made for ZOCOM and with the backpack rocket launchers we also have as a design proposal.
Nothing currently on the table looks like an HWP from X-COM, for good reason, I suspect, because that's exactly the kind of weapon platform a CABAL-analogue would love to hijack.
Following the Carbon Creek incident, the Vulcan Science Council has ordered that a further survey be undertaken to ensure that the people of Sol-3 have not been contaminated by Vulcan culture.
Pursuant to this tasking, the T'Shol will make course for Sol-3, and observe. Contact is forbidden.
Report of Captain Tarsus
The inhabitants of Sol-3 have been severely influenced by outside cultures. An unknown substance that their data networks call "Tiberium" has consumed much of the world. It is, from reading over their material, a form of nanotechnology deliberately introduced to the world by actors unknown, that the humans call "Scrin." (Captain's Note. Known Scrin settlements make this hypothesis extremely unlikely, with none reflecting technology of this form)
As a result of this contamination, the world has fallen into what can best be characterized as a cycle of civil war, with both sides' data networks suggesting three major global offensives as part of a sixty year long war. The ongoing victor seems to be the "Global Defense Initiative" but it is an organization that has repeatedly failed to convert victory on the battlefield to strategic aims, and the destruction of enemy assets into lasting gains. Some of this seems to be the dual war that they are fighting against both Tiberium and their human enemies.
While this GDI does have technocratic and logical tendencies, it is controlled by the wants and demands of its more irrational population, who demand a life of luxury amid an ongoing crisis, rather than accepting that resources must be turned to a greater need.
Culturally, it is heavily warlike, with nearly every political leader from the last half century drawn from the military, if not from organizations that grew to support the military. These leaders are drawn from an extensive bureaucracy, but apparently have the concept of "consent of the governed" as a key element of legitimacy for them. There seems to be a contradiction, but at this time there is insufficient evidence to form a solid conclusion.
The opposition to this is a force calling itself the Brotherhood of Nod, a seemingly loose alliance of warlords, wrapped around a single Surak like leader by the name of Kane. While repeatedly reported killed in action, he, or a close facsimile thereof, has appeared each time the disparate leadership has been on the brink of losing, and lead them into battle against GDI once more.
The Brotherhood clearly rejects logic, and places a great emphasis on faith, with Tiberium serving as a keystone object. Many of its core tenets of belief are, however, not explicated in any available database, leaving the mechanisms poorly understood.
The humans are clearly more warlike than first reports suggested, and deeply divided. It is my recommendation that under no circumstances should contact be attempted, and for them not to be contacted by vulcans until they begin exploring nearby systems.
An additional recommendation is that this matter may be forwarded to the diplomatic channels towards the Scrin, so that we may obtain some explanation. If they have contaminated Sol-3 in some way in the past, it is vital that we clarify the nature of this. If they have been impersonated, it is equally vital that the interlopers be identified to avoid further incidents.
While this GDI does have technocratic and logical tendencies, it is controlled by the wants and demands of its more irrational population, who demand a life of luxury amid an ongoing crisis, rather than accepting that resources must be turned to a greater need.
Also. Sidenote: Our civilians were totally chill near the start of the quest when we needed to slam everything into harvesting and trying to recover the manufacturing economy and prop up the military. They specifically allowed us to delay consumer goods until we felt ready.
Yeah. They want consumer goods *now* but I feel they're being more than fair to us, with much of the blue zones still not at pre tibwar3 levels.
But here is something strangereal for your all enjoyment.
