Command & Conquer: Generals: Difference between revisions

* [[Awesome but Impractical]]: A lot of units can go under this, due to [[Crippling Overspecialization]]. Case in point: the PRC Overlord tank and its [[The Same but More|elite counterpart]], the Emperor tank. Armed to the teeth, they are literally [[Military Mashup Machine|landcruisers]], but hey, these babies don't come easy: they cost a lot, are hard to maintain and are typically the first on any opponent's target list, are often slow and prone to [[Zerg Rush|Zerg Rushes]], which doesn't make suffering the fact that they're easy to counter any lighter for the one in possession of these crazy machines.

** And by extension, some of the [[Support Power|Support Powers]]. Here's one: the USA Propaganda Leaflet Drop. It makes enemies stop fighting for a mere minute, and it's not a total surrender. More often, pragmatic players would rather spend the Generals point on a [[Big Bulky Bomb|MOAB]]. The B-52 dropping the leaflets, on the other hand, is quite the bullet sponge, which comes in handy if [[We Need a Distraction|you need a distraction]].

** Also applies to some degree to the USA's ultimate weapon, the [[Kill Sat|Particle]] [[Wave Motion Gun|Cannon]]. Sure, it's fun to be able to break it out, but at the same time it is a very narrow-focused beam of light that doesn't do a lot of area damage compared to China's [[Nuke'Em|Nuclear Missiles]] or the widespread infantry-killing of the GLA's [[Trick Bomb|SCUD Launcher]]. However, it does have the shortest cooldown timer, and the fact that it can be redirected after firing makes it ideal for punching burning holes in defensive lines or to be unleashed on a tank blob at the most opportune moments.

* [[Awesome Personnel Carrier]]: The GLA Battle Bus. [[Garrisonable Structures|A 10-ton unarmed, but heavily armored rustbucket with seats for ten]]. If you think that's not enough, it can even apply scavenged vehicle armor scraps to itself for additional protection. The Battle Bus revolves around the concept of "there's no such thing as taking too many hits", for it has [[Multiple Life Bars|Two]] [[Life Meter|Life Meters]]. On its second [[Life Meter]], the bus loses its tires becomes an immobile bunker.

** Literally, just about ''anything'' with these four traits: plenty of seats, some decent off-road speed, a robust fire-support (or self-defense) weapon and most importantly, fire ports for passengers.

{{quote|I have ''many'' bullets to spare! -- '''Gatling Tank crewman'''}}

* [[Beam Spam]]: The American AN/TWQ-1 Avenger Humvee is nothing but lasers. Let's have a look, shall we? Two [[Anti-Air|anti-aircraft lasers]], four [[Point Defenseless|point-defense]] lasers for [[Destructible Projectiles|shooting down missiles]], and one [[Laser Sight|ground-only targeting laser]], which are [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|colored red, yellow and blue, respectively, for your viewing convenience]], of course. Now, take note: the Avenger can use ''all'' of them at once at multiple targets.

* [[Black and Grey Morality]]: The GLA, for all their talk, are horrible people and arguably the most evil faction the series. But on the other hand, the "good guys" aren't ''entirely'' altruistic on their part. America for instance comes across at times as motivated by self-interest and opportunism just as much as "defending the free world." While the Chinese meanwhile don't seem to have second thoughts about torching or nuking their way to victory if they have to, nor do they have second thoughts about blowing up large portions of their own cities or handing ''tactical nuclear weapons'' to terrorist turncoats. Also, one has to wonder how they're running their occupied portion of Kazakhstan if a general there defects and the GLA was able to convince mobs to burn down Astana and recruited several anti-China militiamen from an occupied fishing village in the first mission.

** It's even mentioned in the ''Zero Hour'' campaign that the Europeans eventually forced the Chinese to back down from nuking towns and cities infested with GLA terror cells.

* [[Easy Logistics]]: The PRC somehow gets thousands of troops shipped to Germany in hours.

* [[Elites Are More Glamorous]]: The Americans you're allowed to use are made up of nothing but elites or hi-tech regulars.

* [[Ejection Seat]]: When a USA combat vehicle expires, a Pilot will be ejected from the vehicle, assuming the vehicle's Pilot has seen enough combat to gain ranks.

* [[Enemy Exchange Program]]: Notably the only game in the entire ''C&C'' franchise that doesn't use an Engineer to seize a building. Instead, you train your basic infantry to place flags on a building for a set amount of time until it becomes yours.

* [[No Kill Like Overkill]]: While it's understood that anyone can pull this off, there's one in-universe case where Tsing Shi Tao starts off his scenario by routing most of your advance guard with his artillery. When the two surviving tanks try to flee, he drops a ''nuke'' on them.

* [[Nuke'Em|Nuke 'Em!]]: The PRC, as a whole, and Gen. Tsing Shi Tao in particular. He specializes in nuclear warfare, and when he isn't spamming nuke silos, he's steamrolling you with nuclear-powered tanks firing depleted uranium, or MiGs and Helixes dropping tactical nukes.

* [[Once an Episode]]: Each of the three campaigns in ''Generals'' features a dam getting destroyed and the water flooding some poor schmucks downriver. Seems the developers liked showing off the effect.

* [[Organization with Unlimited Funding]]: Any side can be this, even long after the supply docks run out:

* [[Pillar of Light]]: One of the coolest features of the American Particle Cannon is how you can direct the laser to "draw" on the map. Nothing like writing your opponent a message in the smoldering ruins of his base.

* [[Pink Girl, Blue Boy]]: Play as [[The Smurfette Principle|the only female general]] of the American faction and your Particle Cannon turns a lovely shade of pink as opposed to the blue color that the rest of the United States employs.

* [[Poisoned Weapons]]: One of the GLA's turfs is biochemical warfare. Namely, with weaponized mixes of anthrax and liquid chemicals. But for someone who's ''into'' this trope, look no further than the dastardly Dr. Thrax.

* [[Power Glows]]: Max veterancy units get red tracers for their weapons.

* [[Worker Unit]]: No Construction Yards here, but bulldozers, transport helicopters, trucks and certain men [[You Have Researched Breathing|who need shoes from the Black Market]].

* [[Wretched Hive]]: The GLA's main stronghold is Kazakhstan. The majority of the USA campaign and a large portion of the PRC one takes place there, and there capital is Astana. Aside from that, they also mantain de facto control of Aldastan, a fictional Central Asian nation made from the union of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

** [[You Have Researched Breathing|You Have Given]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZQdaEFa_60 surplus AK-47s For Angry Mobs!]

* [[You Require More Vespene Gas]]: Good ol' US Dollars (and power).