Tesla coil

Tesla Coils are weapons used by the Soviet Union. They are a tower defense in the form of a large electrical turret generating extremley high and lethal voltages

Great World War III
The Tesla Coil was designed by Nikola Tesla after his discovery of Tesla Technology. He was at first an assistant of Albert Einstein, and helped him with the Chronosphere. However, he soon found himself in Russia, where he invented the Tesla Coil. The Soviets modified to make it into a weapon with great power and range, and it soon became a common feature at many Soviet bases.

World War III
Recent intel has shown that the Soviet Union had maintained their Tesla Coils from GWWIII. These towers remained lethal threats to any hostile infantry or armored unit that dares to set foot on Soviet soil uninvited. They can also now be deployed in water against naval units. Tesla-based units such as Tesla Troopers may be employed to charge up tesla coils, increasing its power and range. However, they remained vulnerable to air strikes and artillery attacks. Also, it may not detect disguised units such as the Allied Spy and the Imperial Sudden Transport.

Overview
This structure was shaped like a Christmas tree with a Van de Graaff generator at the top. Electrical arcs would travel up the structure and energize the generator, which launched powerful bolts of electricity for a considerable distance, potentially delivering 3 bolts of electricity with a single charge-up, depending on the number of enemies who were present in the area - obviously, additional charges would not be used on already destroyed enemies. Based on the unit's appearance, it seems as if the unit was acting as a giant staggered capacitor which is released by a maser-activated air ionizer, delivering power in massive surges to the generator ball at the top. Another Maser, more powerful, flash ionizes the air between the top collector and the target, and the simultaneous discharge travels through the air to the target, incinerating it.

The Tesla coil needed much power as it used a massive charge of directed static electricity to vaporize its enemies, charging up the above capacitors would be the major expense in power, and operating the masers would be another huge power drain. Later in GWWIII the Tesla Coil could be powered by Tesla Troopers in the event of a power failure.

Its strengths were that it had longer range than any Allied ground unit, that it could deliver multiple shocks, and that it eliminated infantry (including Tanya), in a single hit, and destroyed tanks with nearly the same power. It is powerful against Tanks and Ships again, only if it dares to shock the Shogun Executioner, it will not damage it.

The Tesla Coil was vulnerable to aircraft with air to ground capability, as it was unable to attack aerial units. Furthermore, it was expensive, required large amounts of power, and did not have enormous amounts of armor. Unfortunately, given the lack of long-range land-based options available to the Allies, only a swarm attack with large amounts of armor would reasonably defeat a Tesla Coil. A Coil surrounded by concrete walls was harder still, and two or three Coils, surrounded with walls, protected by SAM sites and backed up with V3 launchers for area-effect damage was nearly impenetrable. In GWWIII it is vulnerable to Prism Tanks and any other long ranged artillery, such as Soviet V3 Launchers or Yuri's Magnetron. Again, mass assaults did work, though with high casualties, due to the slow rate of fire. Perhaps a better strategy is to simply mass assault the Coil and charge right past it before all the units are destroyed.

In RA3 the Coil is weak against mostly Wave Force Artillery and Shogun Battleships as well as the Allied Athena Cannons, Aircraft Carriers and, by the time of RA3 Uprising, Pacifier Field Artillery Vehicles. It, as always, remains vulnerable to airstrikes, though the effectiveness of a Flak Cannon reduces this. Worst of all, however, the Shogun Executioner is not damaged by Tesla weaponry, it was intentionally designed to absorb the energy and use it to power its self repair systems.

Over-dependence on Tesla Coils proved disastrous for the USSR on several occasions, due to the fact that the Empire of the Rising Sun had been using the massive Shogun Executioner assault robot, which feeds on Tesla energy and restores its health. In the Imperial Perspective of the War this resulted in the complete destruction of the cities of Odessa and Moscow (the large number of Tesla coils in both cities allowed the Shogun Executioner get through largely undamaged) and bring about the end of the Soviet Union.

During the interim, Soviet Engineers managed to increase the power, allowing it to deal with the heavier Allied tanks, and installed a novel feature. Tesla troopers who fired upon a Tesla coil would not damage it - instead, they would power it up, supercharging it under regular conditions and keeping it powered under low-power conditions. A supercharged Tesla coil had even greater range and power than a regular Tesla coil. This tactic can't be used on water because Tesla Troopers aren't amphibious. (Note: in RA3, the Stingray and Tesla Tank are both capable of powering up Tesla Coils as well; Stingrays can do so both on land and at sea.)

The Tesla Coil technology was advanced into various fields producing numerous units that made use of the deadly electrical energy generated by the coils. This resulted in the development of the Shock Trooper, Tesla Tank, Tesla Trooper and the Tesla cannons on the Stingray.