Battle Fortress

"Commander this new allied toy is called a battle fortress. This rolling monstrosity will crush even our tanks while the men inside can fire out its many gun ports."

- Zofia

The Battle Fortress is a heavy Allied infantry transport in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge.

Game unit
Essentially a much heavier version of the M113 APC, the Battle Fortress was a heavily armored mobile bunker with a machine gun and firing ports for up to five infantry. It was tied with the Kirov Airship for the strongest armor of any unit. The Battle Fortress was so large and heavy that it could easily crush walls and most other vehicles simply by driving over them, including the mighty Apocalypse Tanks. However, due to the Battle Fortress's slow speed, this ability was impractical against a competent enemy commander.

The Battle Fortress was known for its ability to dominate an area by providing mobile heavy fire support, using the immense firepower of the infantry garrisoned within. GIs and Guardian GIs were able to fire their heavier weapons (M60 machine gun and Javelin missile launcher, respectively) while inside the Battle Fortress. The strength of multiple Guardian GIs, combined with the ability of the Battle Fortress to fire on the move, meant that the Battle Fortress could used as a heavy anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapon. A single garrisoned Tanya, Boris or Navy SEAL could eliminate all infantry threats to the Battle Fortress. Garrisoned Snipers or Yuri Viruses could also eliminate them from a significant distance. Soviet Flak Troopers garrisoned within can also be used as an anti-aircraft weapon. And, Tesla Troopers can also be used as an anti-tank, anti-infantry, and anti-building weapon.

Many commanders opted to garrison a Battle Fortress with purely Chrono Legionnaires, as this allowed the Legionnaires more protection while also granting the ability to fire while moving. Mixing in other infantry along with the Legionnaires was not effective, as targets being phased out by Legionnaires were invulnerable to attack by other units.

A common criticism of the Battle Fortress was that it was not resistant to one of the most significant threats on the battlefield at the time, the ability of Yuri to mind control units. A poorly-managed Battle Fortress could become mind-controlled very quickly and easily, and after being mind-controlled the infantry inside would follow the mind-controlled Battle Fortress' orders.

In addition, the Battle Fortress was slow and could eventually fall to long range bombardment from the Soviet Siege Chopper. It was also vulnerable to being "lifted" by the Magnetron into water or into mind-control range. Furthermore, Apocalypse Tanks and Tank Destroyers possessed enough firepower to make short work of the Fortress if they were not crushed (though a Battle Fortress with Guardian GIs or Chrono Legionnaries loaded would easily solves this problem). They were also exceptionally vulnerable to massed tanks, even if garrisoned with the proper infantry.

Aftermath
The Battle Fortress was phased out or erased after the Soviets meddled with the space time continuum. This, however, paved the way for the Assault Destroyer.

Changelog

 * Yuri's Revenge patch 1.001:
 * if the player places an infantry unit with a Crazy/Chrono Ivan bomb on it into a Battle Fortress, waits for the timer to tick down, then deploys the infantry, the bomb will now explode right after the infantry exits the Battle Fortress instead of vanishing.
 * if any unit that can attack from within a Battle Fortress is placed in a Battle Fortress, then into an amphibious transport, then moved elsewhere, the player will no longer retain the ability to attack from the location where the Battle Fortress was loaded despite the unit being no longer there.
 * if a Battle Fortress full of infantry is deployed, the infantry will no longer become uncontrollable as they walk back where they came from or attack the enemy's base.
 * when a Yuri Clone is loaded into a Battle Fortress, then mind-controls an enemy unit, and that Battle Fortress is sent into a grinder, the player will no longer control that mind-controlled unit.
 * in a multiplayer game, if the host loads a Yuri Clone, Yuri Prime, or psi commando into a Battle Fortress, then mind-controls enemy units, then orders this Battle Fortress into a grinder and exits the game, the guests' games will no longer crash.

When selected

 * Preparing for battle!
 * Battle Fortress, on the alert!
 * Let's make a warpath!
 * Takin' in close!
 * We will trample our enemies!
 * Let's load up the troops!

When moving

 * Nothing can stop us!
 * Charge!
 * Mobilizing!
 * Rolling thunder!
 * Let's see some action!

When ordered to attack

 * Open fire!
 * Fire at will!
 * Wipe 'em out!
 * We will crush 'em!

Cameos
In order: English, French, German, Korean, Chinese. Top row is standard, bottom row is veteran.

Trivia

 * The Battle Fortress uses the same type of gun as the Soviet war miner and Yuri's slave miner.
 * The Battle Fortress vaguely resembles the German A7V from World War One, which was basically a bunker on tracks with a cannon on the front and six machine guns mounted all around the vehicle
 * The Battle Fortress speaks with a Scottish accent, being the only unit in the Command & Conquer series to have this particular accent, and one of the two units, alongside the Tiberian Sun Engineer, with a Scottish accent.