Flak trooper (Red Alert 3)

"So this is what they call community service."

- Flak Trooper

The Flak Trooper makes a return appearance Red Alert 3 as an anti-air and anti-armour unit.

Background
Unlike their GWIII counterparts this generation of Flak troopers are convicts, forced to carry out the remainder of their sentence as a heavily armed flak-cannon operator instead of rotting in a gulag (Soviet forced labor camp). Furthermore, their portable flak cannons can turn vehicles and tanks into scrap metal in a few seconds. They wear heavy duty steel body armour and chains. They are also strapped with satchels of explosives, which they can use against enemy armour (or as a suicide weapon, if they are crushed by a tank).

Despite being a prisoner, or probably because of it, the Flak Trooper is allowed to speak freely in various ways, such as contradicting and complaining about how "awful" the gulag was. This may be because of the (real life) Geneva Convention that allowed prisoners to speak freely without torturing them, which seems unusual for the Soviet Union. Also, Flak Troopers themselves may actually be Polish, Slovakian or Yugoslav POWs captured by Soviet troops during the Soviet advance into Germany and such made the Geneva Convention useless if the latter was true (as the Soviets did not sign the convention). A different variant is that the real gulag had almost no ideological control, with freedom of speech limited only by fellow inmates. And who in his mind would listen to a convicted "enemy of the people", anyway?

In-game
They are especially formidable when garrisoned in buildings. They are cheap, moderately effective anti-tank units and very effective anti-air units, easily equal to the Javelin soldier and superior to the Tankbuster in terms of versatility. However, they are still very vulnerable to anti-infantry weapons and can be crushed by tanks. Even so, they are an essential complement to any infantry attack force.

Quotes

 * Flak trooper doing my time!


 * Your going to make me carry this?!!


 * Flak Ready!


 * Mines ready!


 * I'm going!
 * Just wait till I get these chains off!
 * THINK YOU'RE SAFE UP THERE?!!