Blogs - ManGa.Tail

Global Defense Initiative
General GDI changes
A new GDI anti-air unit called the Slingshot is available to all
three GDI factions; it is a fast hover vehicle resembling the Hover
MLRS from the Second Tiberium War,
capable of great damage to any aircraft but is defenseless against
ground targets. GDI also has a new aircraft, the Hammerhead, at its
disposal; it is equipped with an anti-infantry machinegun and is
capable of garrisoning a GDI infantry squad who can fire upon targets
from inside the Hammerhead. GDI has also developed their sonic
technology onto a tank platform, producing the Shatterer - a lightly
armoured hover vehicle with a weapon similar to the Sonic Emitter -
however, this vehicle is unavailable to the Steel Talons. Several new
upgrades are available to GDI. AP Ammo increases the attack power of
Riflemen Squads, Watchtowers, Hammerheads, APCs and the Steel Talon
Wolverine. Tungsten AA Ammunition increases the attack power of AA
batteries and the Slingshot. Hardpoints can be purchased to increase
the ammo capacity of Orcas and Firehawks.

Steel Talons
A post-Second Tiberium War battalion, the Steel Talons were an experimental task force
specialized in field testing cutting edge technologies for GDI's
original and traditional "superior frontal firepower" doctrine, before
future policies retired the bulk of the organization's walker arsenal
in favor of improved space-based assets. This sub-faction features the
Titan and Wolverine units from Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun,^[7].
The Titan replaces the Predator Tank and fills a similar role, although
it is more powerful and can crush smaller tanks than itself. It also
can make use of the Railgun upgrade. The Wolverine is a fast walker
capable of dealing great damage to enemy infantry, and can make use of
the AP Ammo upgrade. The Steel Talon has a modified version of the
Juggernaut, called "Behemoths" - the Behemoth has a bunker in which a
Steel Talon infantry squad may garrison itself and fire outside to
defend the Behemoth. However, the Behemoth cannot use the Juggernaut's
long-range "Bombard" tactic in conjuction with a sniper team, since
sniper teams are not available to the Steel Talon faction. Tiberium Wars-era
sonic technology - the Sonic Emitter and the new Shatterer - are not
available to the Steel Talons; instead, the Railgun upgrade for Titans
and Mammoth Tanks is also applied to Steel Talon Guardian Cannons.
Minor upgrades to standard units are also featured: the engineer is
adapted to the Combat Engineer armed with a pistol, and Steel Talon
harvesters have a one-slot infantry bunker instead of the light
machinegun. The APC is replaced by the Mobile Repair Transport that has
a repair drone to repair friendly vehicles in the field and it also has
a bunker where a Steel Talon infantry squad may garrison itself and
fire outside to defend the Mobile Repair Transport. Additionally, Steel
Talon Titan battlemechs and Mammoth Tanks can be upgraded with heavy EMP-proof
armor. To counterbalance their sheer prowess in vehicles, the Talons
are not able to build Armories, limiting their infantry to riflemen
squads, rocket squads, grenadier squads and their new pistol-armed
combat engineers.^[8]

ZOCOM
Short for "Zone Operations Command", ZOCOM is an elite unit established after the Second Tiberium War which comprises the most veteran, high tech troopers of GDI, who have been equipped specifically to tackle the planet-wide Tiberium infestation and to begin the reclaiming of the Earth's
Red Zones. ZOCOM units cater to technologies related to advanced sonic
weaponry, special Tiberium-resistant powered armor as well as
suppression and area-of-effect tactics. This sub-faction replaces GDI's
Zone Troopers with "Zone Raiders"^[9], a newer power armored infantry unit equipped with anti-air rockets and sonic rocket propelled grenades.
Their Orca gunships utilize special sonic payloads instead of their
original weaponry, and ZOCOM also receives the most powerful
incarnation of GDI's new sonic-based "Shatterer" unit. The standard
harvester is replaced with a Rocket Harvester. Their lower-end infantry
also see the composite armor upgrade replaced with the more potent
"Tiberium field suits", which increase even more so the armor of ZOCOM
infantry squads, make them more resistant to Tiberium-based attacks,
and render them immune to the effects of Tiberium radiation on the
battlefield. For these benefits however the sub-faction does not have
any access to rail gun technology and cannot produce Juggernaut
artillery walkers.
[edit] Brotherhood of Nod
General Nod changes
A new Nod artillery unit called the Specter is available. It resembles the Nod artillery vehicle from the Second Tiberium War,
although it is faster and capable of stealth. It also has the ability
to bombard near a beacon dropped by a Shadow Team. Another new vehicle
is the Reckoner, a fast transport vehicle with two infantry slots. Its
passengers cannot attack targets outside the Reckoner and the Reckoner
itself does not have a weapon, but the Reckoner can deploy itself into
a heavy-armored infantry bunker. Once deployed, it cannot move again
but gains an additional infantry slot, cannot be targeted with
explosives, and cannot be clear-garrisoned (for example, by the
Grenadier Squad). A new structure called the Voice of Kane is
available, a statue which calls out Kane's message. Friendly infantry
nearby receive an inspirational bonus in battle, while enemy infantry
are suppressed. Only one Voice of Kane can be deployed at a time. New
upgrades are available to Nod in the form of Tiberium Core Missiles,
which increase the attack damage of SAM Turrets, Attack Bikes, Stealth
Tanks, and the Black Hand's Mantis. The Quad Turret upgrade can be
purchased which improves all triple-turret base defenses by adding a
fourth turret to the hub. Disruption Pods can be purchased for Vertigo
Bombers, allowing them to drop a stealth-generating disruption pod that
will last for a temporary period of time. Finally, the Laser Capacitor
upgrade is now also applied to the Laser Turret. Nod Militants have
also been remodeled to look like Nod's Light Infantry from Tiberian
Sun. This is a purely aesthetic change and does not affect gameplay.

Black Hand
A feared order of warrior priests within the Brotherhood of Nod^[10], specialized in powerful and highly trained shock trooper infantry.
The Black Hand’s standard infantry is the "Confessor Cabal"; a squad of
six Confessor units armed with hallucinogenic grenades (this time a
manually activated ability), as well as anti-infantry Gatling guns
which can be upgraded with "Charged Particle Beams" to increase their
firepower (Charged Particle Beams are also applied to the Shredder
Turret for increased firepower). Confessor Cabals also give other
nearby allied infantry a buff
that increases their rate of fire, their endurance on the battlefield
and which renders them more resistant to suppression. All Black Hand
shock troops come with veteran status by default, and the Commando
starts out at the heroic rank, with two such commandos being trainable
at any given time, although the commando is not stealthed for this
faction. The "Black Disciples" upgrade adds a Black Hand shock troop to
all Confessor Cabals and Militant Rocket Squads, in similar fashion to
how Confessors are added to the militia squads of Tiberium Wars.
The Black Hand's warmechs, an earlier model of the Avatar warmech, are
called "Purifiers" and automatically come equipped with flamethrowers,
yet cannot be further upgraded. All flame weaponry of this sub-faction,
whether infantry or vehicle-based, can be upgraded with Purifying Flame
for much greater damage against all ground targets. In return for all
this offensive and destructive prowess however, the Black Hand forgo
stealthed or air units entirely - including the Call for Transport
ability - and the Laser Capacitor is also unavailable to them. Since
the Stealth Tank and Venom are both unavailable, a new vehicle called
the "Mantis" serves as a specialized anti-aircraft vehicle for the
faction - it is very powerful against aircraft, and can also detect
stealth units, though it cannot attack targets on the ground. The new
Specter artillery unit is still available to the Black Hand, but is not
itself stealthed.^[8]

Marked of Kane
A sinister sub-faction which epitomizes both the Brotherhood of
Nod's stealthy methods and reliance on radically advanced cybernetic
and Tiberium-based technologies and weaponry. The Marked of Kane replace the militia squads of Tiberium Wars with the "Awakened" cyborgs;
heavy infantry units that are devastating against enemy infantry and
which come with the innate ability to disable vehicles through EMP
charges. Their elite "Enlightened" cyborg infantry squads are
comparable to GDI’s Zone Troopers, and are armed with super-charged particle beams
and an EMP attack that has an even bigger radius than that of the
Awakened. These cyborg units, along with the sub-faction's Saboteur
units and Tiberium Troopers, can be upgraded with cybernetic
enhancements to greatly increase their rate of movement. The Black Hand
flame infantry are replaced by "Tiberium Troopers" within this
sub-faction, which are capable of dealing damage over time, clear out
garrisoned structures and slow the rate of movement of their targets.
The Marked of Kane also receive deadly magnetic mines that slowly kill
vehicles (unless removed by repair drones).^[8]
[edit] Scrin

Reaper-17
Themed as the heavy “shock” faction of the Scrin,
Reaper-17 possesses more powerful and effective vehicles and ground
units. The trade-off for its enhanced ground power is a marked lack of
the Mastermind and air units, except for Storm Riders and Drone Ships.
The Gun Walker is upgraded and renamed as the "Shard Walker", whereas
the Tripod has been upgraded to "Reaper Tripod", which converts
Tiberium into extra damage in the same way the Devourer Tank can. An
upgrade is "Conversion Reserves", which allows for Reaper Tripods and
Devourer Tanks to store more absorbed Tiberium. They also receive an
upgrade that allows Seekers, Shard Walkers, and ravagers to shoot blue
Tiberium shards for extra damage. Reaper-17 Harvesters now come with
shields of their own, similar to those that can be added to Tripods.
Reaper-17 also has a new structure called the "Growth Stimulator",
which functions as a normal Growth Accelerator in addition to providing
a steady trickle of income like a Tiberium Spike. The aforementioned
lack of a Mastermind means that Reaper-17 can not upgrade its hexapod
with teleport capabilities.^[8]

Traveler-59
The polar opposite of Reaper-17, Traveler-59 focuses on speed,
teleportation and mind-control. It features new "Cultist" infantry
units, as well as an upgraded Mastermind unit called the "Prodigy".
Cultists have no regular attack, but can control units just like
Masterminds without the build limit, but cannot take over air and epic
units or structures. The Prodigy receives area-of-effect mind control
and a personal blink pack in addition to its old abilities. Traveler-59
doesn’t get Devourer Tank units or shields, however their Seekers are
upgradeable, also the "Advanced Articulators" upgrade gives infantry
units a significant speed boost and "Traveler Engines" give a speed
boost to Traveler's heavier aircraft units. Traveler aircraft are
cheaper compared to the other two Scrin factions.^[8]