Soviet ore collector (Red Alert 3)

"Ready for the collection."

- Ore Collector

The Ore Collector was the Soviet Union's resource collector vehicle, first seen during the Third World War.

Background
The Soviet Union's nearly unaccountable military spending required the nation to rapidly fill its coffers with resources that could be directly applied to production. Therefore, fleets of vehicles known simply as ore collectors became a common sight in resource-rich areas, transferring ore between mines and nearby refineries.

Each ore collector is dutifully assembled by loyal Soviet men, women, and children from recycled parts taken from other Soviet vehicles expended in battle: Their cockpits are based on the same bubble canopies used in flak cannons and in Kazminov Design Bureau's own Bullfrogs; their collapsible pontoons are taken from Sputnik exploration vehicles; their reactive-armor coats are composed of sheeted alloys smelted from Hammer tanks and Apocalypse tanks; their cargo bins are made from the recycled fuselages of downed MiG fighters, and so on. Each collector's designated driver is given a framed, commemorative list of names and addresses of all the loyal soldiers whose vehicle parts were used to create that particular unit. Ironically, in spite of the rather conservative original design principle behind the ore collector, each one turns out to be fairly costly to manufacture, in part because of all the formality and ceremony around the respectful use of recycled vehicle parts.

Ore collector pilots are civilian drivers who are, for various reasons, unable to fight on the front lines. The Soviet Union created an expensive and elaborate publicity campaign that brought in collector drivers by the thousands, promising that volunteer drivers would not be incarcerated for thought-crimes for not enlisting in military services. These drivers were assured their personal safety as well, due to the ore collector's ability to deploy full-body reactive armor that easily withstood 70mm tank shells during tests. Individuals particularly gifted in mathematics were given the cushiest ore-collection posts, where they could readily apply their skills to tabulating massive sums of the resources they themselves would bring in for the good of their countries. This gave these men some legitimate work to do on the job, in between occasionally having to defend themselves from Allied counteroffensives.

Creater

 * Ready for the collection!
 * The Union must be funded!

Select

 * Collector!
 * It is in good hands!
 * A noble task!
 * We must all do our part!
 * Without questions!
 * It is for the good of all!

Select when use Reactive Armor

 * Precautions are necessary!
 * We are closed!
 * We must protect it!
 * Is danger still near?
 * Are they gone yet?

Moving

 * We still have collecting to do!
 * Shouldn't we be working!
 * Laziness will not be tolerated!
 * And what about the collection?
 * Is this necessary?
 * A detour?
 * If need be!
 * Transporting!
 * Updating manifest!

Return to Refinery

 * The Union will redistribute!
 * Ready the paperwork!
 * All will be accounted for!
 * The wealth must be shared!
 * To the Motherland!

Harvest

 * We must meet our quota!
 * The Union requires it!
 * War is expensive!
 * It will be well spent!
 * This is for the people!

Retreating

 * Save the collection!
 * Take it back to the people!
 * We must return it to safety!
 * Quickly!

Under fire

 * The collection is in danger!
 * We are being attacked!
 * Help! Bandits!
 * They're trying to stop me!
 * Do something before it is too late!

Changelog

 * Red Alert 3 beta patch 1.3: reactive armour buff increased to 75% from 50%.
 * Red Alert 3 patch 1.05: now has a proper cooldown time on its secondary ability.
 * Red Alert 3 patch 1.08: fixed a bug that would cause ore collectors to stop gathering when a building with repair drones was placed while the collector was docked at the ore node.

Trivia

 * If a Terror Drone infects a Soviet ore collector, and the collector deploys reactive armor afterwards, the Terror Drone will deal less damage, this is strange, considering the Drone is already inside the collector.