Carpet Bombing was a technique used in war against the GLA in Generals and Zero Hour. In case of the former, carpet bombing was only seen sporadically in the single-player campaign. In case of the latter, however, it became a standard gameplay element available to Chinese generals as well as the United States air force.
China[]
In Zero Hour, carpet bombing is available once a Chinese general is promoted to level 4 (level 5 for Ta Hun Kwai). The volley of standard dumb bombs is delivered by Iron Dragon H-6 bomber over a selected area. The attack is most effective against concentrated units or buildings, spreading heavy damage in straight line. The aircraft is heavily armored, but could be downed by heavy anti-aircraft fire.
Tsing Shi Tao's carpet bombers employ tactical nuclear weapons, which inflict greater damage and briefly irradiate their impact point with a longer cooldown.
Bug[]
Due to a bug in Generals: Zero Hour, carpet bombing is available in all single-player missions, even those that must not have it. For instance, in Operation Defending The Fire, the player is tasked with capturing a listening outpost, with the alleged prize being the ability to requisition carpet bombers. This, however, does not happen: Carpet bombing may be acquired after reaching the rank of 4-Star General in this mission and accomplishing the objective triggers nothing.
Inspection of the campaign maps with modding tools and World Builder reveals that the game code attempts to modify a superpower that corresponds to General Ta Hun Kwai's carpet bomber. Hence the player sees no effect.
United States[]
American B-52 carpet bombers first appeared in Generals. In Operation Scorched Earth, Chinese forces requisitioned a U.S. carpet bomber for the operation. This is the only time in Generals where the player can call in carpet bombers. Later in Operation Stormbringer, U.S. deployed three B-52 carpet bombers to level a GLA base.
Starting with Generals: Zero Hour, Air Force General Granger can call in carpet bomber from his Strategy Center in much the same way that Chinese do. However, these strikes were carried out by a faster B-2 Bomber with a larger payload.
Changelog[]
- Zero Hour patch 1.03:
- cooldown increased from 2:30 to 3:00 (Tao only)
- now has to be activated in the general's experience menu (Level 1 – experience point), and is deployed from the strategy center (Granger only)
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