Scorpion tank (Generals 1)

"Scorpion, ready to sting!"

- Scorpion rolling out of the Arms Dealer

The Scorpion tank was the GLA's primary armoured vehicle during the War against the GLA.

Background
While fast, they are a poor match for more modern armour in direct combat. This was demonstrated amply in Iraq, when a division of USA Crusader tanks took on an equally-sized division of Scorpions, annihilating the latter without suffering any losses. Nevertheless, the GLA have plenty of upgrades available to make the Scorpion a viable weapon, such as the Scorpion rocket and the toxin shells upgrades. Like most combatant GLA vehicles, they could upgrade their primary weapon by salvaging parts from destroyed enemy vehicles in Zero Hour.

Salvage
In Zero Hour, the Scorpion can also be upgraded with salvaged parts. The first upgrade improves its cannon, while the second upgrade will improve its cannon even more and add a second rocket to its weapons systems, bringing the Scorpion tank up to par with the Battlemaster and Crusader tanks in terms of damage output. A Scorpion can only receive the second improvement if Scorpion rockets have been researched. Otherwise, the salvage will be converted into money.

Game unit
Speedy and inexpensive, Scorpions are good for hit-and-run missions in the early phases of a battle. The Scorpion's cannon is most effective against lighter vehicles and structures. The Scorpion rocket upgrade is very useful, significantly adding to the Scorpion's firepower and giving it an edge against stationary anti-tank infantry.

However, direct confrontation with technologically advanced USA and China heavy weapons is ill-advised in most cases. Furthermore, Scorpions remain vulnerable to anti-tank infantry (although the toxin shells and rocket upgrades help resolve this) and aircraft.

On the contrary of other MBT in the game, upgraded scorpion tanks can be extremely effective against enemy infantry, as scorpion rockets can exterminate hordes of enemy infantry and toxin shells can deliver a fair sum of damage too. That gives scorpions an ability not available to any other anti-armor tank (except the gattling cannon overlord) making the use of scorpions less risky.

Changelog

 * Generals patch 1.05: build time increased from 10 to 14 seconds
 * Zero Hour patch 1.03: now displays upgrade cameo for Anthrax Beta

Trivia

 * The model/design Scorpion tank is similar to several medium tanks of the real World War II, such as the P-40 and the Panzer 38(t).
 * The concept and unused turretless model suggests the Scorpion was originally going to be a modified M113 or M114 APC.
 * The Scorpion tank was originally meant to be a Chinese tank. While only an unfinished model (shown in the gallery) is available inside the game files, the original Scorpion tank looked like an actual scorpion, with its double barrels and a rocket launcher "tail".
 * The second model of the Scorpion tank looks like the real life King Scorpion.
 * If a Scorpion tank is destroyed in vanilla Generals, it uses the wreckage model of the Crusader tank. This is corrected in Zero Hour, where the Scorpion receives its own wreckage model.