| “ | Commander, these are Guardian GIs. They're armed with both machine guns and anti-tank rockets. When deployed, they are able to reduce a tank into scrap metal in seconds. - Eva Lee(src) |
” |
The Guardian G.I. is an Allied anti-armor/anti-air infantry unit in Yuri's Revenge.
Background[]
In the aftermath of the Third World War, the Allies realized that they lacked any infantry who were capable of countering the Soviet Union's heavy armor. Commanders were often especially frustrated by the Union's Tesla Troopers, who could deliver shocking amounts of damage to Allied armored columns without fear of being crushed, thanks to the sturdiness of their armor. Allied engineers set to work remedying this hole in their arsenal, and thus the Guardian GI entered the field.
When mobile, Guardian GIs are equipped with a rifle that allows them to engage enemy infantry. Like the standard GI, Guardian GIs are able to deploy into personal fortifications; however, instead of sandbags, the Guardian GIs use collapsible steel emplacements that not only protect them from small arms fire but also render them immune to being crushed underneath tanks and other vehicles. Once deployed, they swapped their rifles for anti-tank missile launchers, capable of tracking both ground and aerial threats. A group of three deployed Guardian GIs can easily turn all but the toughest of enemy tanks (and aircraft) into scrap metal in seconds.
The primary weakness of the Guardian GI's is the slow pace at which they move while undeployed. This is due to the heavy weight of their armor, anti-vehicle weaponry and the collapsible steel fortifications which they carry on their backs when not in use. They are also slightly less durable than their GI counterparts, which makes them better suited for a fire support role for friendly forces. The combination of GIs and Guardian GIs is especially devastating; the two can take on infantry, vehicles, and aircraft and have excellent chances to emerge victorious.
Guardian GIs first appeared in Time Lapse, defending the last bastion of Allied forces against Yuri's armored attacks.
Aftermath[]
Guardian GIs were decommissioned following Yuri's defeat, having been replaced by Javelin Soldiers by the time of the Post-War Crisis and the third iteration of the Third World War.
Game unit[]
| “ | We're uncrushable! - Guardian GI |
” |
When undeployed, they carry an automatic rifle that is effective against other infantry. This weapon, while not the most effective, does give them the ability to ward infantry off and engineers should such a need arise. Internally, it uses the same M60 that an undeployed GI does, and its less-than-optimal damage combined with the Guardian GIs' 25 fewer hitpoints discourages their usage as a dedicated anti-infantry unit. When deployed, they become immune to being crushed by almost all vehicles and take out a rocket launcher that fires anti-tank missiles at long range. These can strike enemies well before they get within firing range and rip through ground and aerial armor with vicious efficiency, but deal next to no damage to infantry and structures.
Usage[]
The Guardian GI is a formidable anti-tank infantry unit, especially against vehicles that lack anti-personnel weaponry. Small squads of deployed Guardian GIs pose a threat to even some of the heaviest armor and aircraft in the game, as their long range launchers can get a few shots off before tanks can close the distance and begin firing back themselves. Reasonably cheap and easy to mass in the early game, they can stop Soviet players' early-game tank rushes in their tracks and buy the Allies enough time to tech up to their stronger units. Guardian GIs become even more versatile when placed in a Battle Fortress. Inside the heavy vehicle, they are completely immune to anti-personnel weaponry and can fire on the move at a faster rate than normal. The Fortress's impressive durability also makes them hard to bring down. With this method, they are excellent counters not only against tanks but also slow-moving aircraft such as Kirov airships and Yuri's Floating Discs.
However, Guardian GIs are not without their weaknesses. Should an enemy be able to crack the hard shell of the Fortress, the Guardian GIs would be ejected and attempt to walk to adjacent tiles like any other infantry. Their slow speed, weak armor, and lackluster damage when undeployed, against what is typically armored foes, means that they are often slaughtered within a few seconds of the Fortress's destruction, unless it somehow happened away from immediate danger. When outside of a Fortress, they are vulnerable to anti-infantry weapons. As with most foot soldiers, British Snipers, Iraqi Desolators, and Yuri's Viruses can all make short work of them when alone. Antipersonnel vehicles, such as the Yuri Gatling Tank and the Soviet Flak Track, can also quickly eliminate them should they be able to close the distance or if they catch a Guardian repositioning. Beyond that, though, they lack much of a counter against infantry at large. Even the humble Conscript can close the distance and gun down Guardian GIs while they are deployed, all the while taking little damage due to the ineffectiveness of the Guardian's launchers against infantry. Undeploying Guardian GIs when they found themselves facing infantry certainly helps, but is something of a half measure; they often lost anyway because of their smaller health pool, the difference being in damage inflicted to the attacker instead of victory or defeat. Note that this also applies to Rocketeers, as they are classed as infantry, making them the only exception to the Guardian GI's impressive anti-air ability. As a result, they are often deployed in conjunction with regular GIs (or IFVs in the case of Rocketeers) to cover each others' weaknesses.
AI behavior[]
Guardian GIs controlled by the AI have the following attack patterns:
All difficulties[]
- 3x guarding Allied Barracks, accompanied by 3 GIs
Easy[]
- 2x targeting buildings, accompanied by 2 GIs
Medium[]
- 2x loaded inside a Battle Fortress then proceed to target infantry; accompanied by 2 GIs and 1 Navy SEAL
- 3x targeting buildings, accompanied by 3 GIs
Medium/Hard[]
- 1x loaded inside a Nighthawk Transport then proceed to unload near a Weather Control Device or Nuclear Missile Silo before targeting it; accompanied by Tanya, and 3 GIs
- 3x guarding Allied Ore Refineries, accompanied by 3 GIs
Hard[]
- 2x loaded inside a Battle Fortress then proceed to guard Allied Battle Lab; accompanied by 2 Chrono Legionnaires and 1 Navy SEAL
- 2x loaded inside a Battle Fortress then proceed to guard Allied Battle Lab; accompanied by 2 GIs and 1 Navy SEAL
- 5x targeting buildings, accompanied by 5 GIs
- 4x targeting production buildings, accompanied by 6 GIs and 2 Engineers
Changelog[]
- Yuri's Revenge patch 1.001:
- GIs and Guardian GIs under the effect of a chaos drone can no longer be (un)deployed by their owner.
- Guardian GIs no longer have trouble firing at paratroopers.
Quotes[]
| When selected |
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| When ordered to move |
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| When ordered to attack |
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| When suppressed |
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| When ordered to perform ability: Deploy (unused) |
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Trivia[]
- Their missile launchers look identical to flak troopers' flak guns, maybe due to lack of new modelling.
- In their pre-release appearance and the cameo, their helmets are gray. In their final SHP sprite, they are black.
- In the concept art, a Guardian GI seems to be holding a Beretta M12 submachine gun.
Gallery[]
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Concept art -
SHP sprite -
Pre-release appearance (mobile)
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Pre-release appearance (deployed)
Cameos[]
| English | French | German | Korean | Chinese |
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See also[]
- Flak trooper, Soviet anti-air infantry
References[]
- ↑ Westwood Pacific, Red Alert 2 official site: New Allied Units (archived). Retrieved 16 August 2001.
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