Avenger (Generals)

The Avenger was an American support vehicle based on the Humvee's chassis and introduced later in the War against the GLA.

Drones
Drones can be further upgraded with Drone Armor.

Advantage
The Avenger could paint ground units with a laser designator, improving the accuracy of friendly units in the vicinity. In addition, it was equipped with a Point defense laser similar to, but more advanced than that of the Paladin tank, providing impressive protection against enemy missile attacks both for the Avenger itself and nearby units. Lastly, the Avenger had two large anti-aircraft lasers cannons mounted on the back of the vehicle. While the weight slowed down the vehicle somewhat, these lasers provided efficient anti-aircraft support. In this way, they improved the survivability of other US units in battle and were virtually untouchable by aircraft, falling only to vastly superior numbers.

Disadvantages
Unfortunately, all of these equipment meant that the Avenger was slow and quite fragile, as well as possessing virtually no weapons for defending itself against ground forces, requiring an escort at all times. Because they utilised such advanced laser technology, Avengers were also quite expensive for most American generals to obtain (they were naturally cheaper for General Townes). They were also easy targets for hijackers, Jarmen Kell's snipe ability and any other units that did not utilise missile based weaponry. In addition, the advanced technology of this system meant that in order to be manufactured, the base required a Strategy Center to be built first, meaning it was typically only available later in a conflict. Due to its focus as a support vehicle, its point defense laser was not calibrated for targeting enemy infantry like the Paladin tank.

Tactics
Used sparingly in most offensives due to its cost, it was still nonetheless an effective countermeasure against units that used rocket attacks, such as Rocket Buggies and missile-armed infantry. The Avenger's PDL meant that these vehicles would have a hard time destroying an Avenger or any nearby troops unless greatly outnumbered. Additional Avengers are used to take down large aircraft faster, like the Chinese Helix and cargo planes. In particular, a strong combination involved with the Avenger consisted of General Townes's Laser Crusaders. The Laser tank fired more quickly thanks to the Avenger's targeting designator, which made the deadlier the duo quite deadly, not to mention covering both spectrum of anti-ground and anti-air combat.

Changelog

 * Zero Hour patch 1.01:
 * now leaves tire tracks
 * bomb trucks disguised as Avengers still have the Avenger turret (however the turret is lowered unlike the normal unit which has the turrets raised)
 * Zero Hour patch 1.02: now available without the strategy center (USA and Townes only)
 * Zero Hour patch 1.03:
 * laser turret no longer has sight range
 * composite armour upgrade has been removed
 * now displays upgrade cameo for the Hellfire drone
 * damage received vs. jet missiles improved from 30% to 23%
 * fixed the bug where the map would become slightly uncovered when building an Avenger
 * locomotor has been corrected
 * bomb trucks now disguise themselves as Avengers using the correct model
 * now available without the strategy center (Alexander only)
 * cost decreased from $2400 to $2000 (Alexander only)

Trivia

 * This unit is named after the real life M1097 Avenger anti-aircraft and anti-missile system. The real vehicle uses Stinger missile launchers instead of lasers. However, prototype laser weapons have successfully been mounted on and tested with Avengers.
 * The Avenger's laser pointer originally granted a damage increase, this has been changed to a rate of fire increase in the final game.
 * The Avenger suffers from some graphical glitches. The laser turret on the back may sometimes disappear if it comes out of the fog of war. Additionally, if one was pilot sniped (or hit by a neutron blast), then the laser turret turns white like for every other vehicle, but the actual vehicle remains the same color, even if it is captured by enemy troops. Furthermore, if a bomb truck disguises as one, the laser turret on the back will be invisible. The latter was fixed in Zero Hour patches 1.01 and 1.03.

Avenger