Russia Update: Heavier Hitters news - Rise of the Reds mod for C&C: Generals Zero Hour

Good evening everyone, we hope your week has been well.

We know ours has been extremely productive, and there have been a bunch of interesting changes and updates behind the scenes. I'm sure we'll be reporting about those changes soon. In the meantime, we have some very exciting new Russian units for you. From a gameplay perspective, we have always imagined Russia's gameplay themes to be based around hard-hitting powerful - albeit slow - units that emphasise breaking through your opponent to devastating effect. As such, we have been re-evaluating Russia's current unit lineup and have decided to expand their mid-late artillery roster with some new long range ballistic-themed units, to both expand the late game Russian unit roster away from just Gorgon and Sentinel spam. We also wanted to create some more opportunities for Russia that can be used against late game ECA Pandora defences, for when the Howitzer, Neutron and Solar Burts become too overwhelming. Hopefully this will lead to some more varied unit compositions in these late game battles, and give Russia the edge it needs to compete with the heavy artillery arena.

So, without further adieu, let us introduce you all to the Volga, and the Kanuk.

President Nikolai Suvorov inherited an army torn between its Soviet legacy and realities of the 21st century, asphyxiated by bureaucracy and bled white by decades of corruption, with innumerable crony procurement contracts and abortive development efforts. A 220mm rocket launcher mounted on a shared platform, the Volga broke conventions: One of MLRS vehicles being named after storms or tempestuous winds and another of spiteful, self-aggrandizing claims of superiority. Whereas in the past, Russian rocket artillery was falsely advertised as being "without compare" in the West, the Volga's reputation was never inflated, appearing only occasionally on parades or army broadcasts. The vehicle was not dissimilar to the BM-27 Uragan; inheriting the wide range of payloads designed for its predecessor, its modernized chassis offered nothing of note to the paper stat-obsessed military observer.

Its service history, however, is deceptively impressive. A notable failure of the GLA was attributed to the presence of the Volga: An incursion into the East African Federation ended in spectacular disaster as a single launcher, procured by the state for trials, delivered devastating barrages on the invading guerrillas outside Kampala. In another episode, the sale of these vehicles to the Republic of Cuba was cause for great diplomatic tension due to its ability to bear newly-developed ballistic missiles, potentially threatening US control of the Gulf of Mexico. Both incidents give an impression of the Volga's versatility, being capable of both saturation fire and point attack. Fielded too late into World War III to see decisive breakthrough action, it nevertheless served with distinction, providing heavy covering fire to retreating Russian units and frustrating numerous European counterattacks.

Render Description: Hanfield

Development of the Su-34 began in the 1980s, when the Soviet leadership identified the need for a heavy fighter-bomber in response to the European Tornado and the upcoming American F-15E Strike Eagle. What followed was a drawn out and complicated process from the first flight in 1990 to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and subsequent disruption of Russian military funding, to its eventual introduction to service in 2011.

Essentially a super-sized cousin of the Su-27 fighter, the aircraft features an unusually spacious cockpit in which the two pilots sit side by side, allowing for direct communication, standing up and even sleeping breaks during extended flights. Intended for a long range strike role, the Su-34 can be equipped with a wide variety of weapons, including many types of air-to-ground, anti-ship and cruise missiles deployed at stand-off distance to destroy enemy air defences, fortifications and key facilities.

In the late 2030s, a new variant entered service: The Su-34K (K for "korabelniy", meaning "ship-based") was specifically designed for the Russian Navy, featuring a reinforced undercarriage and arrestor hook for use on a new class of aircraft carrier. The K designation earned this variant the unofficial monicker of Kanyuk, or buzzard. The Kanyuk quickly became a commercial success, with orders from India, Turkey and Brazil.

During the opening attacks of Russia's invasion of Europe in 2045, carrier-launched Kanyuks delivered strikes against European ports, airfields and other strategic infrastructure throughout Scandinavia and the Mediterranean. However, with the entry of the United States into the war three years later, the seas quickly became indefensible for the Russian Navy. Following the sinking of its two carriers in the European theatre, the few surviving Kanyuks were recalled to inland airbases and reserved for high-value targets. As a result, commanders can only call upon a limited number of Kanyuks at any given time.

Render Description: MARS2588

So, there you have it. Welcome to our new heavy russian hitters. Thank you to MARS2588 and hanfield for their Render descriptions, they are top tier as always. So, that's it right?

Wrong, MaelstromX103 is hosting another exciting ROTR 1.9 Live stream next week! This time at a new time zone more friendly to our Asian community members. As usual, details will be posted on the announcement image's description.



That's all for this week, we hope you enjoyed and we hope you're all able to join us for what promises to be an exciting livestream with lots of exciting new stuff to show off. So, get hooked, save the date, and we will see you there!

Till next time Generals!