Rise of the Reds – or ROTR for short – improves upon the C&C Generals formula while also adding its own distinct elements to it. Most notably, the mod adds two completely new factions, the tank-heavy Russian Federation and the defence-oriented European Continental Alliance. In addition, the three original factions China, USA and GLA have been greatly expanded and redesigned in a variety of ways, with several new units, buildings, powers and abilities to explore and combine in your in-game tactics.

Report RSS ECA update: Ultima Ratio Regum

Happy Sunday Generals! This week we are exploring the ECA Trident and the ECA Prometheus.

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Happy Sunday Generals!
We hope you've all had a great week. If not, then the following update should at least put a smile on your face and a spring in your step. At least, we can hope it does anyway. This week we are back for another exciting ECA update, featuring the Trident multirole artillery and the much anticipated Prometheus missile launcher. Before we jump into their lore, we want to quickly explain the purpose of these and create some context for their creation.

It's no secret that the ECA is a faction designed around its artillery, it is after-all one of their core themes. However, over time we have noticed a shift in the way the ECA has been played and players have been prioritising the use of howitzers above all else in-game. It is extremely common to see 1.87 and earlier versions pretty much follow the same script when it comes to ECA: Game starts, ECA rushes mid, sets up a wall of Gun Turret and just enough other defences to force the opponent to go for artillery as they transition to Tier 2, The ECA then uses a few Tigers to hold back any advance and zone off enemy artillery, and then spams secondary economy and a massive amount of howitzers as they farm experience to get to rank 5.

Whilst this is certainly on brand for ECA, gameplay like has been noted to be extremely frustrating to play against, and also foregoes the majority of the ECA unit roster in favour of just getting more and more howitzers. So as a part of 1.9, we have decided to mix up ECA's backbone and core, and make some pretty far reaching and somewhat controversial changes to try and mix up the core of how ECA is played. We want to see is more emphasis on using units to defend and hold the line, and more aggressive army-based all-in attacks over all matchups, rather than the standard play being focused on building base defences. So, what are these changes?

Those who have been following MaelstromX103's streams will already know, but for those that haven't been tuning in: Howitzers are limited to 4, Gun Turrets and Mortar Pits have been placed in separate Generals Powers and are no longer available by default, and the Fenris cryo tank is now a default crowd control option available from the Vehicle Assembly. These changes have already pushed ECA to be far more reliant on units for defence than previously, however there is still a huge gap in their roster in this setup. With no ability to scale howitzers indefinitely, and with no precision aircraft to make up the difference, ECA lacks a major backbone artillery unit to engage in counter artillery batteries, and cover themselves when their Howitzers are on cooldown.

This is where the Trident comes in. This new multirole artillery fills this hole and gives ECA the range it needs to engage in mid-late game artillery combat in a replayable way that Howitzers simply can't, turning them from the core that ECA is played around, to the force multiplier, and splash damage solution they were always intended to be.

EU Trident

EU Trident Rocket

Against the backdrop of the Global War on Terror in the 2020s, the Ukrainian government invested heavily in the modernisation of its armed forces and military industries. One result of this was the Trident, a uniquely modular artillery system: The armoured 8x8 chassis was originally conceived for a personnel carrier by the famous Morozov Design Bureau and can change between a howitzer and a six-tube rocket launcher in the field with minimal setup. The howitzer fires Western standard 155mm shells, ideal for the destruction of buildings and infantry, while the launcher accepts a unique type of rocket-launched, glide-capable guided munition optimised for precision use against tanks and other vehicles. Originally sourced from Germany and the US, the howitzer and rocket launcher were later built under licence domestically within Ukraine. By the early 2040s, this latest version of the Trident saw service with the Ukrainian Army as well as numerous export customers including Poland, the Baltic states and a number of Middle Eastern and African countries. During this time, the government applied for membership in the European Continental Alliance, though the process was cut short by the Russian invasion of Europe in 2045. Nonetheless, Ukraine entered the war as a co-belligerent of the ECA, defending its own territory and thereby frustrating Russian ambitions in the Black Sea and south-eastern Europe.

Render Description by MARS2588

As we said above, the Fenris becoming a default unit also created an exciting opportunity for us to create a new Pandora Protocole unit. We wanted something that could play into the increased emphasis on Ballistics as well as something that could play into the idea of the Pandora Protocole being a devastating desperate show of force - like it was the final option the ECA were throwing at their enemies. As such, we created the Prometheus.

EU Prometheus

The fall of Paris in mid-2047 marked the third major defeat of the ECA after the early success of the Russian invasion of Poland and the surrender of Germany following the battle of Berlin. Both prior events saw little involvement of France, whose forces were largely tied down by a resurgence of GLA offensives in north-western Africa. Thus, by the time the brunt of the French Army arrived to partake in the defence of Europe, fighting had already reached Metropolitan France itself. With the German and Benelux forces in exile forced to recuperate, the defence of Paris fell largely upon the French themselves. Fighting for the city was ferocious in a battle that was widely named the "Stalingrad of World War III." Despite fierce French resistance however, following a successful Russian encirclement, the city fell and with it much of the French Army, exposing more of the country to further Russian offensives. It was after this disaster that ECA high command considered the most desperate and distasteful options, such as the deployment of weapons of mass destruction. Under the direction of the Pandora protocol, strategists drew up competing plans for the use of chemical nerve agents or tactical nuclear weapons. The former was ultimately discarded, due to prohibitive mass production and safety concerns, in favour of the nuclear option. In addition to the experimental Pandora railgun artillery, ECA forces now fitted nuclear warheads on their existing stocks of the Prometheus, a road-mobile, short-range ballistic missile developed in the 2030s as a counter to Russia's tactical missiles. Most commonly used were low-yield warheads distributed to allied forces by France and Britain, though some would also use special neutron warheads, which not only destroy targets through heat and blast, but also produce a surge of intense radiation that penetrates even the heaviest of tanks, killing their crews in a matter of moments. In May 2048, the box of Pandora was opened...

Render Description by MARS2588

In reading these and other render descriptions you may have noticed seeming contradictions of previous lore. Assume these to be never by error and always deliberate, as we are taking the opportunity to introduce a few retcons and modifications to the lore as we go forward. We do this because much of the story was written a decade or longer ago at this point and during that time, the range of knowledge, perspectives, story-telling style and composition of our writing team naturally haven't remained static, but changed as well. Rest assured that the core character of the ROTR story and world-building remain the same, but changes to certain specific details of the timeline will be made, by way of render descriptions and future expository texts, to declutter, streamline and generally improve the narrative, flesh out underexplored aspects of the setting or adjust certain bizarre or reductive portrayals of entire countries or conflicts. Despite the highly fictionalised and video gamey nature of ROTR, it is after all a piece of fiction that invokes certain real world motifs, which should not be painted with too broad a brush, given the wide range of perspectives within our highly international audience.

So, that's all for this week. We hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned for more updates and we will see you soon.
Till next time Generals!



Post comment Comments
NekoChan123
NekoChan123 - - 385 comments

Awesome europe *****

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ThiccestRicc Author
ThiccestRicc - - 47 comments

Same

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Machine-Reaper
Machine-Reaper - - 2,236 comments

Yes officer, these two right here~

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Tleno
Tleno - - 1,057 comments

Oh sweet it's that HIMARS psycho grin :D

Honestly really glad for retcons on Eastern Europe, being a Lithuanian and seeing Baltics as part of Russian faction core, even factoring in the the fact this is a dystopian timeline settimg with EU collapsing loathed after overdosing on unitarianism, was kinda ehhhh post-2014 and even more post-2022.

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Lord_Mordja
Lord_Mordja - - 460 comments

Realistic as it is, I don't love ECA getting nukes because it feels like it gets rid of some of the faction asymmetry and makes China and Russia feel less special.

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apm483
apm483 - - 13 comments

Which is probably why it's locked by the Pandora protocol. I'm more of an armoured assault kind of guy, so more often than not I go for Manticore instead.

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The_Hunter649 Creator
The_Hunter649 - - 445 comments

It is indeed locked behind the Pandora protocol so its not a very comon unit unlike the Chinese weapons that use nukes.

Reply Good karma+5 votes
Gittish-Lad
Gittish-Lad - - 114 comments

Let me guess.. the Trident.. they switch weapons? One for concentrated fire while the other is for large amount of units?

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ThiccestRicc Author
ThiccestRicc - - 47 comments

They do swap weapons, yes.

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Major-11
Major-11 - - 27 comments

just like Mortar Buggies yes?

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ThiccestRicc Author
ThiccestRicc - - 47 comments

Pretty much. You can gleam the specialised targets for each weapon mode from the unit's description :)

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Guest
Guest - - 693,824 comments

May i ask. what of shockwave?
any new versions you guys planning, the multiplayer servers you guys got, or anything related to shockwave?

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ThiccestRicc Author
ThiccestRicc - - 47 comments

Nothing new planned for Shockwave at this time

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Guest
Guest - - 693,824 comments

this time? so you guys are planning to return to update shockwave mod again in the future?

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ThiccestRicc Author
ThiccestRicc - - 47 comments

Not at this time.

Reply Good karma+1 vote
Jester_6873
Jester_6873 - - 731 comments

Shockwave is complete what more does it need?

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liberty_wings
liberty_wings - - 928 comments

Double the nuclear assets in the game, double the fun.

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RevolterOcelot
RevolterOcelot - - 35 comments

That coat of arms on the back of the cabin looks redundant.
And the rape-face is way too corny.

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Guest
Guest - - 693,824 comments

in my opinion, a cross would be suitable, similar to the Wehrmacht, which the APU uses on equipment

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abdelrrahmannegm
abdelrrahmannegm - - 6 comments

guys i hope you add some air transportation for ECA and China.
I'm frustrated that there's no way i can transport my troop even soldiers in ECA.
and hope you return Helix in China to allow us again to transport units over seas and Ridges.

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MaelstromX103 Creator
MaelstromX103 - - 2,140 comments

I suggest you read a couple of previously published articles. You might find some useful info

Reply Good karma+3 votes
abdelrrahmannegm
abdelrrahmannegm - - 6 comments

any particular article

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MaelstromX103 Creator
MaelstromX103 - - 2,140 comments

All of them. So that it will answer all your questions

Reply Good karma+3 votes
abdelrrahmannegm
abdelrrahmannegm - - 6 comments

did it release or not yet. and do I have to update it myself.
I use Genlancher

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ThiccestRicc Author
ThiccestRicc - - 47 comments

We literally re-added the Helix about 2 months ago.
Go look at the previous articles and you'll be able to read all about it.

If you watch the 1.9 livestreams (of which there is one this weekend) you will also see that ECA does have an air transport for infantry now as well.

Reply Good karma+2 votes
8ft_Robot
8ft_Robot - - 341 comments

With gun turrets being GP locked, maybe now there is a reason to start putting the Leopards in the tank bunkers im guessing

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MaelstromX103 Creator
MaelstromX103 - - 2,140 comments

That, and using open top fortifications

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mycroes
mycroes - - 1 comments

Is 1.9 already downloadable? Or is 1.86 still the most recent version? New to ROTR, so any pointers are appreciated!

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MaelstromX103 Creator
MaelstromX103 - - 2,140 comments

Welcome !
1.9 is not out yet, we are still working on it.
However, verion 1.87 releaed a few year ago, in a beta stage. The easiest way to install it is through Genlauncher. Here is a tutorial on how to install all of that: Youtube.com

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Guest
Guest - - 693,824 comments

will the armed forces of Ukraine be added as a sub-faction of the EКА?

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MARS2588 Creator
MARS2588 - - 983 comments

The sub-factions of the ECA will remain unchanged - Mechanised Assault, Royal Guard and Fire Support, represented by a German, a Dutch and a British general respectively. While each of these will naturally feature some prominent units of their own respective country, they all remain mixed in terms of the national backgrounds of their units.

It is not impossible however that there might possibly be more Ukrainian ECA units in future, or units of other, currently undepicted nationalities as well. No guarantees for anything though, because the faction designs are not set in stone and always subject to potential change or spontaneous new ideas.

Reply Good karma+5 votes
Guest
Guest - - 693,824 comments

I think the missile of the Prometheus TEL should be based on iconic French Cold War ground-launched ballistic missiles, like the S2, the S3, the Pluton or the Hades, or, to spice things up, should be named something like "V-3" or "V-4" in honor of Germany's Vergeltungswaffen lineage, as their purpose is retaliation.

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MARS2588 Creator
MARS2588 - - 983 comments

It doesn't need to be based on any of these, because it already exists as a completely finished unit in the game, with a fictional missile design suited for the game's art/graphical style.

Also, any familiarity with actually existing German people would tell you that they -aren't- going to name any missile "in honour" of the Nazi terror weapons that killed mostly civilians and slave labourers.

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ThiccestRicc Author
ThiccestRicc - - 47 comments

No.

Reply Good karma+2 votes
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