Disintegrators

Disintegrators are the Scrin' anti-armor infantry in Tiberium Wars and Kane's Wrath.

Background
One of the first types of Scrin encountered by humanity were metallic walking creatures approximately the size of horses. Known to travel in packs, they were dubbed Disintegrators due to the large cutting beam attached to their backs. GDI tank pilots also soon discovered that, when crushed under the treads of their vehicles, the power cells from the Disintegrators' plasma cutters would violently explode.

Game unit
The primary role of Disintegrators is as a close-range anti-armor unit. However, they are fairly effective at combating enemy infantry though they tend to be cost ineffective in this role, functioning like a weaker version of Rifleman squads or militants when used against enemy infantry.

Unlike the anti-armor units of other factions, particularly rocket infantry, Disintegrators need to get up-close and personal to destroy their targets. The fact that they attack in a large squad and fire quickly makes them better at chewing through multiple vehicles at a time when they are deployed in groups (they cannot expect to overwhelm most vehicles in single squads) than other anti-tank units. They move quickly for infantry, allowing them to easily get within range in most situations. Once they are within range they deal large amounts of damage, regardless of whether their target is infantry or vehicles, though the damage to vehicles is more significant. As Scrin units they are not bothered by Tiberium radiation, they can run straight through Tiberium fields without fear of harm.

Due to their short range, Disintegrators are very vulnerable to being crushed. They partially make up for this by dealing damage to units that crush them, though for tanks, crushing them still tends to lend a better chance of victory than getting into a ranged battle with them. They are also very easy to kill; each of the six members of a squad has little health and can often be picked off by the counter-infantry of other factions, or anti-infantry vehicles like Guardian APCs easily, increasing the importance of deploying them in large masses.

Traveler-59 Disintegrator rush
A Disintegrator rush is a popular strategy in Kane's Wrath multiplayer. Once the player builds a Portal, construction begins on the Stasis Chamber while several Disintegrator squads are being trained. When the Stasis Chamber is built, research of the Advanced articulators upgrade begins as the Disintegrators move to the enemy's base, most often aimed at harvesters. After the upgrade is finished, the Stasis Chamber is usually sold to restore some of the lost credits, while the upgrade itself stays applied.

This strategy can catch the enemy off guard, but stalls the rushing player's economy.

Changelog

 * Tiberium Wars patch 1.05:
 * speed increased by 17%
 * added explosion effects for when Disintegrators are crushed by enemy vehicles
 * Tiberium Wars patch 1.09: when crushed by enemy vehicles, attack power of explosive revenge attack increased by 30%.
 * Kane's Wrath patch 1.01: range increased 36%, back-end members of the squad should no longer have trouble firing

Trivia

 * Disintegrators were called "Razor Drones" in the concept art and the game's source files.