Technical (Generals 1)

"Bolted down and ready!"

- Technical assembled

Technicals were the GLA's basic transport and anti-infantry vehicles used during the War against the GLA.

Background
A technical was a small, speedy truck (often a pick-up truck), "sawed off" van, or jeep with a modified front bumper to root out "infidels". For its minimal armament, technicals were equipped with a simple machine gun.

Unlike the battle bus and the American Humvee, infantry transported inside could not fire out from within the vehicle. However, the mounted infantry in the technical would bail out when the vehicle was destroyed, often surviving to fight on.

Salvage
In addition, the technical's gun could be upgraded with salvaged parts:
 * If upgraded once, the technical's mounted gun became a recoilless tank gun, highly effective against infantry and light vehicles, causing splash damage in a small area upon impact.
 * If upgraded the second time, the technical acquired a rocket launcher. While slightly less effective than the recoilless rifle against infantry, it does considerable damage to vehicles, but it still cannot fire at aircraft. Also, its rockets can be intercepted by point defense lasers and ECM tanks.

Any further salvage picked up is converted into credits.

Strategy
The technical could transport up to 5 infantry units in addition to the driver and gunner. Its speed made it useful as a scout, and also as a way to transport infantry quickly across the battlefield to capture ground or launch surprise attacks early in a conflict, such as when loaded with terrorists. Their machine guns were effective against exposed enemy infantry, and to an extent, other light vehicles.

Due to their cost, technicals can be produced in relatively high numbers quickly, making them perfect for early hit-and-run tactics. Mopping up after an ally's confrontation allows for lessened risk when collecting parts, but the vehicles have to be destroyed by another GLA faction. The ones that survive, upgrade, and gain experience can act as elite hit squads, overwhelming infantry and small armour divisions with a relatively small numerical advantage.

This unit is also great for rushes; building half a dozen of these and then filling them with rebels and RPG Troopers would allow one to defeat their enemy quickly, potentially acquiring the Blitz Award.

Counters
However, technicals also suffered from very light armour and weaponry, and taking on enemy vehicles directly (without outnumbering them and/or upgraded parts) was a suicidal idea. They also had no defense against aircraft whatsoever. Unlike the American Humvee, which allowed its infantry onboard to fire at external threats, GLA soldiers had to exit the technical to attack the enemy, rendering them vulnerable to damage.

Changelog

 * Generals sneak peek patch 1.02:
 * hit points decreased from 220 to 180
 * 2nd level weapon changed to small-arms damage type instead of explosive to do less damage to tanks
 * 3rd level weapon no longer likely to miss infantry
 * can no longer kill the soldiers inside Stinger sites
 * Raptors and MiGs slightly more effective against Stinger sites
 * Zero Hour patch 1.02: Technicals build slightly slower and cost 50 more credits for Juhziz
 * Zero Hour patch 1.03:
 * cannon (salvage upgrade) damage now has different properties
 * machine gun damage reduced from 15 to 10
 * damage increases when purchasing AP bullets after the second salvage upgrade
 * increased build time from 3 to 5 seconds (except Juhziz)
 * with the demolition upgrade, the technical can only explode by manual command (Juhziz only)

Trivia

 * The name comes from the fact that the money to make such vehicles in real life often came from extorting members of various Medical Aid and Relief organizations, which would write off the money they were forced to give as "Technical Expenses".
 * Once disabled by Jarmen Kell or neutron shells, the vehicle driver is killed but the gunner remains in position. Only one infantry unit is required to capture the vehicle, despite it obviously needing at least two people to operate.
 * The technical is unique for being the only vehicle in the game with three different variants of models being used. The model that is used when the vehicle leaves the arms dealer is randomly chosen. They all have the same statistics.
 * The original wreckage of the technical can be seen if an Overlord tank crushes it.

Internal

 * Technical (Generals 2)
 * Humvee (Generals)
 * Battle bus
 * Troop crawler
 * Assault troop transport

External

 * Technical at Wikipedia