RPG trooper

"Be on watch for the enemy!"

- RPG Trooper exiting the Barracks

The RPG trooper was the basic anti-armour infantry unit of the GLA during the War against the GLA.

Background
Armed with the Type 69 RPG, a Chinese copy of the famous RPG-7, the RPG trooper was trained to fire at both ground and air targets. A pair of RPG troopers would emerge from the Tunnel Network to protect its entrance when it completed. Dr. Thrax equipped his RPG troopers' weapons with toxin-tipped rockets, increasing their damage output.

In-game
RPG troopers fulfilled the basic function of anti-vehicle infantry in the GLA. Garrisoned in buildings, RPG troopers could provide a solid defense against attacks by enemy vehicles. As the war progressed, the GLA developed the battle bus, which could also allow infantry to fire from within it, acting as a moving bunker. This protected RPG troopers from machine gun fire and simply being run over, allowing them to hit-and-run better against slow-moving tanks. Like all other infantry, they were vulnerable to anti-infantry fire, and their weapon was ineffective against other infantry.

Dr. Thrax
Dr. Thrax modified RPGs used in his ranks to fire rockets that spread toxins (with Anthrax Beta enabled by default) on detonation. They can be upgraded with Anthrax Gamma do increase damage output by 50%. Hence, his RPG troopers have a particularly effective Stinger tracking ability which quickly nullifies nearly all airborne threats.

In the mission Area Fifty-Two, Dr. Thrax's RPG troopers are renamed to toxin troopers, sporting a different icon and a slightly different model.

Rodall 'Demo' Juhziz
Rodall Juhziz' RPG troopers have warheads which have a more explosive impact than the standard ones. His RPG troopers, like most of his other infantry, are also equipped with explosives when upgraded and will detonate when killed.

Prince Kassad
In skirmish and multiplayer, Kassad does not have a unique variant of the RPG trooper. However, in the mission Hidden Agenda, his RPG troopers are fully stealthed.

Changelog

 * Zero Hour patch 1.01: fixed the RPG trooper animation that fires from hip
 * Zero Hour patch 1.03: the effect of the Anthrax Gamma upgrade has been reduced (Dr. Thrax only)

Trivia

 * During development, the RPG trooper was called the tunnel fanatic and tunnel defender, as seen in the game's INI files. In the Rise of the Reds mod, they are renamed to tunnel defenders.
 * Both the Juhziz' and Thrax's RPG troopers were supposed to have additional exclusive quotes (see Quotes section above), but they were left unused.
 * RPG troopers carry what resembles the Chinese Type 69 RPG as seen in the icon (note its bi-pod), which, like other Chinese-made weapons, is in common use among Middle Eastern armed groups in reality. However, the in-game unit depicts them as using the RPG-27 instead.
 * Although the RPG troopers function as anti-air units, RPGs are not very useful against aerial targets aside from incredibly slow, low-flying aircraft (such as hovering helicopters) in real life. They are not the same as missiles fired by missile defenders or tank hunters that can track a target. This also applies to the ECM tank, which should not be able to deflect unguided rockets such as those fired by the RPG trooper.
 * In real life, RPGs are very effective against infantry and tanks, but for balancing reasons, it is only effective against tanks and aircraft in-game.
 * Dr. Thrax's custom campaign-only RPG trooper variant, dubbed the toxin trooper, is armed with the M72 LAW. Like the Type 69, it too is a poor choice as an anti-air weapon as it lacks tracking capabilities. In addition, the M72 LAW is a single use recoilless rifle in real life. After a rocket is fired, the tube becomes useless, and one has to grab another.

Internal

 * Missile defender
 * Tank hunter (Generals 1)

External

 * RPG-7
 * RPG-27