| “ | I've located a group of rocketeers in Colorado Springs. They're ready to moving in on our orders. - Eva Lee(src) |
” |
The rocketeer is an Allied airborne infantry unit in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge.
Official description[]
| “ | The Rocketeer is the aerial assault version of the simple Allied GI. Armed with a powerful weapon and strapped into an equally powerful jetpack, the Rocketeer hovers over the battlefield. Rocketeers are excellent in providing anti-air defence and air-to-ground attacks on weaker targets. - Red Alert 2 manual(src) |
” |
Background[]
Equipped with a high powered jetpack and high-calibre semi-automatic carbine, these brave men can stay in the air almost indefinitely.
During the war, their first notable deployment was to assist Tanya in retaking the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs from Soviet control.
Judging by their noticeable accent, they are likely recruited from the southern United States.
Aftermath[]
They are not known to operate after the events of the Psychic Dominator Disaster. After the erasure of Einstein from the timeline, these flying soldiers did not have an Allied-aligned equivalent during the Third World War's third iteration, although the Empire of the Rising Sun developed a similar unit called the rocket angel, whose weapons are more effective against tanks and aircraft.
Game unit[]
| “ | Rockets in the sky! - Rockeeter |
” |
Being the peak of the Allie's development of air technology, the Rocketeers focuses on high speed and hit-and-run tactics. Their guns can effectively take out infantries and even light vehicles, and their fast speed makes them excellent scout units. Therefore, they can do various jobs from guarding Oil Derricks against enemy Engineers to taking off Mirage tanks and making way for other armies, and pose great threats to those who forgot to take some anti-air with their army, especially hordes of infantries. They can also support naval forces since they can attack both air and sea units. Note that, since they never ground in usual gameplay, they can not enter IFVs and if you see one walking it often means Spies.
When massed, they prove to be quite powerful, able to overwhlem IFVs in groups of five and almost anything in groups of ten. They can also fight against other air units such as Kirovs, Siege Choppers and Floating Discs and harass enemy harvesters, even take out buildings despite their relatively low damage against buildings.
Counters[]
Though fast-moving, they have weak armor, therefore vulnerable from many anti-air units. They can take a few Flaks, but point-to-point defense (especially Yuri's Gattling Tanks and Cannons). Note that bunches of Rocketeers would make Soviet Flaks extremely effective, taking off multiple (possibly all) at once. Utilize the Rocketeer's great speed and use hit-and-run tactics to kite your enemies (Tech Hospitals would help your Rocketeers recover, so grab one if you can).
AI behavior[]
Rocketeers controlled by the AI have the following attack patterns:
Medium/Hard[]
- 5x targeting Grand Cannons
Hard[]
- 4x targeting ore miners, accompanied by 6 Grizzly Tanks
- 5x targeting ore miners
Quotes[]
When selected[]
- Rockets in the sky!
- All fired up!
- Check out the view!
- I can go anywhere!
- Got a clear view, sir!
- Ready to soar!
- Fuel tanks are filled!
When moving[]
- Pushin' away!
- Igniting boosters!
- Ridin' high!
- Up and over.
- Got a steady flow.
- I'll take the high road.
When ordered to attack[]
- He's got no place to hide!
- I can see him!
- I got 'em!
- Clear out the place!
- They won't see us comin'!
When suppressed[]
- I'm losin' compression!
- There's too much flak!
- My rocket's hit!
Gallery[]
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Early concept art -
Final concept art by TJ Frame
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Alpha appearance
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SHP sprite
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Manual/website render
Cameos[]
English and German versions share the same cameos.
| English | French | Korean | Chinese |
|---|---|---|---|
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Trivia[]
- The rocketeer is voiced by David Fries, who also voiced the chrono legionnaire and Propaganda Truck.
- The rocketeers are based on jump jet infantry from Tiberian Sun, since the name of this unit is JUMPJET in the game files. They fill the same role, but unlike their Tiberian Sun counterparts, rocketeers always fly from the moment they spawn from the barracks. They only stand when placed on a map (the only instance of which is seen in the mission Mirage), and only walk when being impersonated by spies.
- The Rocketeer is identical in gameplay to the Cosmonaut. Even the JumpJet stats are the exact same.
Design notes[]
The idea of the rocketeers is probably taken from a superhero of the same name. The Rocketeer is a superhero which has been used in comics and a movie created in 1991.
Some similarities exist between the two:
- They are both used in a world war (WWII and Third World War)
- They both have the same name
- They are both sided with the Allies and are using hit and run tactics
- The design of the jetpack used in Red Alert 2 resembles the one used by The Rocketeer. Whether the rocketeer appearing in Red Alert 2 was a reference to the superhero or the concept was just based on it is uncertain.
- There are real rocket pack designs that really fly, albeit only for several minutes. The development of this equipment (also called jet packs) come from the World War II era. Rocketeers seem to use the rocket pack design in a similar fashion to one designed by Bell Aerosystems (a real life company). Cosmonauts from Yuri's Revenge also use a similar system.
See also[]
 Allied Third World War Arsenal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- ↑ Westwood Studios, Red Alert 2 official site: Allied Units page 1 (archived).