| “ | Your small Chinooks are efficient, but I prefer the strength of our Helixes. - Black Lotus, to Colonel Burton |
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The Helix is a heavy transport helicopter used by China, introduced in Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour.
Abilities[]
| “ | Like a ton of bricks. - A Helix dropping its napalm or nuclear bomb |
” |
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Drop Napalm Bomb | The Helix drops a napalm bomb into the designated area. Unless ordered to do something else, it will keep bombing the same spot with napalm bombs. The Helix doesn't fire its Gattling Cannon while dropping the bomb (it will use its standard machine gun, though). |
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Drop Nuke Bomb | The Helix drops a nuke bomb into the designated area. Unless ordered to do something else, it will keep bombing the same spot with nuke bombs. The Helix doesn't fire its Gattling Cannon while dropping the bomb (it will use its standard machine gun, though). (Tao only) |
Upgrades[]
Unit[]
These upgrades are purchased individually. They are not reversible and permanently occupy their respective Helixes.
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Bunker | Adds a Bunker to the Helix, allowing any infantry in transit to fire from within. Costs $400. |
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Gattling Cannon | Adds a Gatling Cannon to the Helix, granting the weapon's stealth detection and improving the Helix' matchup against infantry as well as lightly armored vehicles. Costs $1200. |
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Speaker Tower | Adds a Speaker tower to the Helix, applying any respective bonuses to the Helix itself and nearby friendly units. Costs $500. |
Base[]
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Subliminal Messaging | Increases effectiveness of any mounted Propaganda Towers by 25%. | Purchasable from any Propaganda Center for $500. |
Weapons[]
| “ | The Napalm Bomb is ready. Hehehe. - Helix, after getting the Napalm Bomb |
” |
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Napalm Bomb | This upgrade allowed Napalm Bombs to be dropped directly under the Helix, which after each release there would be a short recharge time. This costs $800. |
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Nuclear Bomb | This upgrade allowed Nuclear Bombs to be dropped directly under the Helix, which after each release there would be a short recharge time. This costs $800 (General Tsing Shi Tao only). |
Game Unit[]
| “ | Make it worth my time. - Helix |
” |
The Helix has 5 transport slots, which can be used to carry infantry and vehicles (barring the Listening Outpost, Nuke Cannon and Troop Crawler).
In terms of armament, Helixes come with a nose-mounted machine gun that can target ground threats, similar to the USA Comanche. Napalm Bombs are available as individual upgrades. They share the same attachment catalogue with Overlords, and each is only compatible with one.
Strategy[]
| “ | Punish them! - Helix in combat |
” |
Perhaps the most useful Helix upgrade was the Battle Bunker upgrade, in spite of the fact that it removed the Helix's capacity to transport vehicles, as it turned the Helix into a very useful weapon to counter early tank rushes, particularly by inexperienced generals who may have forgotten to supplement their tanks with anti-air protection. A Helix filled up with Tank Hunters essentially becomes a slower, more expensive, but more powerful Comanche, that could fire upon both tanks and aircraft from within. This flying bunker could also prove deadly against structures. For those who wished to use their Helixes for tactical redeployment of units, the Gatling Cannon was a good option, providing some protection against lightly-armored anti-air units.
Counters[]
| “ | Heh, more room for weapons. - Helix dropping off its cargo |
” |
While being a rather sturdy aircraft, the Helix was also large and relatively slow-moving. This meant that while it could shoulder a heavier amount of anti-aircraft fire it was a very easy target, especially when damaged. Stinger Sites and Patriots in particular were useful for taking it down. General Alexander's EMP Patriots were nearly unapproachable because of their EMP capabilities. It was a poor match for concentrated anti-aircraft fire. Aircraft such as the Raptor could defeat them easily thanks to their high speed.
Variants[]
- Shin Fai's Helixes are replaced with Assault Helixes.
- Tsing Shi Tao's Helixes' Napalm Bombs are replaced with Nuke Bombs, which deal heavy direct damage and irradiate their target point.
Changelog[]
- Zero Hour patch 1.03:
- now displays upgrade cameo for black napalm (China only)
- now displays upgrade cameo for nuke bomb (Tao only)
Selected Quotes[]
| “ | The thunderstorm begins. - When emerging from the Air field |
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| “ | Helix on the scene. - When selected |
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| “ | We're going to ruin somebody's day. - When selected |
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| “ | Yeah, what? - When selected |
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| “ | What do you have in mind? - When selected |
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| “ | Make it worth my time. - When selected |
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| “ | Let's haul these guns. - When moving |
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| “ | You have a target for me? - When moving |
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| “ | Take it over there for now. - When moving |
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| “ | Making a fly-by. - When moving |
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| “ | Something down there? - When moving |
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| “ | It's our turn. - When ordered to attack or drop a Napalm/Nuke Bomb |
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| “ | Who are they? - When ordered to attack or drop a Napalm/Nuke Bomb |
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| “ | Punish them. - When ordered to attack or drop a Napalm/Nuke Bomb |
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| “ | Load the guns, now. - When ordered to attack or drop a Napalm/Nuke Bomb |
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| “ | Pull no stops. - When ordered to attack or drop a Napalm/Nuke Bomb |
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| “ | Like a ton of bricks. - When ordered to attack or drop a Napalm/Nuke Bomb |
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| “ | They looked so small from up here...! - When ordered to attack or drop a Napalm/Nuke Bomb |
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| “ | Get out there and take care of business. - When unloading |
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| “ | Come back when you are ready for some more. - When unloading |
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| “ | Heh, more room for weapons. - When unloading |
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| “ | Install the Bunker. - When upgrading with Bunker |
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| “ | Get the Speaker Tower ready. - When upgrading with Speaker Tower |
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| “ | Prepare the Gattling Cannon. - When upgrading with Gattling Cannon |
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| “ | Make room for the Napalm Bomb! - When upgrading with Napalm Bomb |
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| “ | Make room for the Nuclear Bomb! - General Tao's variant, when upgrading with Nuclear Bomb |
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| “ | The Bunker is ready. - When the Helix's Bunker upgrade is completed |
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| “ | The Speaker Tower is ready. - When the Helix's Speaker Tower upgrade is completed |
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| “ | The Gattling Cannon is ready. - When the Helix's Gattling Cannon upgrade is completed |
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| “ | The Napalm Bomb is ready. He he he. - When the Helix's Napalm Bomb upgrade is completed |
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| “ | The Nuclear Bomb is ready. Ha ha ha. - General Tao's variant, when the Helix's Nuclear Bomb upgrade is completed |
” |
Trivia[]
- The Helix resembles an over-sized version of the real-life Kamov Ka-29 (NATO reporting name Helix-B), a Russian marine assault helicopter developed from the earlier anti-submarine warfare Kamov Ka-27.
- The Gatling Cannon upgrade was to override the Helix' own machine gun. This is the reason why its machine gun is a sub-object in the model which can be hidden and also why the Helix has an upgraded weapon set that is identical to the normal one. It was likely changed because the Gatling Cannon has to spin up before firing.
- The Helix was supposed to drop pairs of napalm bombs from its stub wings instead of deploying them one at a time.
- Tsing Shi Tao's Helixes would have contained radiation trefoils on its tail rudders, but the model goes unused.
Gallery[]
Unused model for Nuke Generals
See also[]
- Assault Helix, Shin Fai variant
- Combat Chinook, Malcolm Granger counterpart
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