War miner

"Building Soviet economy!"

- Miner

The War Miner was the basic resource gatherer used by the Soviet Union used during the Third World War and the Psychic Dominator Disaster.

Background
Soviet military analysts saw a major problem with the Ore Truck used during Second World War. It had been easy for the Allies to overwhelm the Ore trucks with small groups of infantry wielding anti-tank weapons. Other than trying to run them down, which wasn't often successful if they were spread out, it had no defensive capabilities. To counter this, the new War miner was equipped with a machine gun to fight off enemy infantry and rogue Terror drones. However, it still does not have a decent defense against tanks, especially the German Tank Destroyer. Airstrike is another omen the miner should avoid.

Game unit
Only requiring the placement of a machine gun, the War miner has lots of alloted space to stow ore. Superiority in metalurgy science also makes the Soviet able to make more use of the material usually considered unnecessary. This difference benefits the Soviets, as their War miner can carry home up to 1000 credits (or 2000 if the miner was placed on a gem field). However, it is much slower than its Allied counterpart, the Chrono miner.

When elite, its machine gun upgrades into a powerful auto-cannon which is effective against tanks, infantry, and structures, and can easily ward off a squadron of GIs or Initiates, especially if it finds the firepower, armour and speed upgrade crates. Like all heavy vehicles, it can also crush enemy infantry by driving over them.

War Miners can be effective assassination tool against soldiers with mind-control ability, as they're resistant to all forms of mind controlling, this includes Psychic Towers.

Aftermath
After Soviet time travel that led to the War of the Three Powers, it was replaced by the unarmed but amphibious Ore Collector. However, the Imperial ore collector can protect itself in the same fashion as the War miner with its kinetic burst gun.

Pros

 * Armed, while the Allied Chrono Miner is not
 * Kills infantry with ease
 * Heavily armoured

Cons

 * Can not deal with large vehicle groups
 * Still vulnerable to aerial attacks
 * Slower income due to no teleporting ability
 * Can not outrun all vehicles