Stinger site

Stinger Site
Structure
Faction	Global Liberation Army
Role	Anti-vehicle/anti-air base defense
Armament	FIM-92A Stinger missiles
Protection	Sandbags Camouflage Net
Tier	1
Properties
Hit points	1000
Production
Cost	$900
Build time	0:15
Produced by	Worker
Requires	GLA barracks
Hot key	T
Combat
Sight range	400-600
Function
Upgrades	AP Rockets Camo Netting
Abilities	Detects stealth

The Stinger Site was a simple defense that served as the basic anti-air and anti-tank defense of the GLA.

Background

Consisting of a circle of sandbags with a camouflage net overhead, inside were three soldiers equipped with FIM-92A Stinger missile launchers. The soldiers were vulnerable to some enemy weapons, but would be eventually replaced if killed at no extra cost.

Upgrades

Armor-Piercing Rockets Increases the Stinger's rocket damage by 25%. Purchasable at the Black Market for $2000.

Anthrax Gamma ( Dr. Thrax only) Increases the Stinger site's penetrating fire by 50%. Purchasable at the Palace for $1500.

Camo Netting ( Global Liberation Army only) Upgrades the Stinger site with camo netting, rendering it invisible to enemy forces until it is fired upon, or detected by stealth detectors. Purchasable at the building for a cost of $500.

Game Unit

Stinger Sites are missile-based defensive structures. They detect stealth units and can fire at both ground and air targets. Should the Stinger infantry inside be killed, they would gradually be replaced by reinforcements from the GLA tunnel networks. However, if the structure itself was destroyed with the soldiers still alive, the men would perish with the destruction of the building.

Variants

• Dr. Thrax's Stinger site, have a special rocket base weapon system called (Toxic-tipped missiles) and also comes Anthrax Beta by default, This missile can deal 25% more damage.

• Prince Kassad's Stinger site are camouflaged by default at no additional cost.

Strategy

With stealth detection, Stinger Sites can be an effective source of defense against enemy vehicles and aircraft. While they cost just as much as three RPG Troopers, their ability to eventually replace these soldiers makes the site more resilient and valuable in the defensive role. They are most effective against tactical aircraft and light vehicles.

Counters

The firepower of an individual Stinger Site was somewhat limited, and they were only effective against heavy tanks when built in large numbers or supported by other units. Like all other static base defenses, they can be bombarded at range by artillery units. While the missiles were somewhat effective against tactical aircraft, they struggled against the more durable support power aircraft such as bombers.

The Stinger Site's reliance on disposable infantry units is also a liability at times, since losses took some time to replace. The structure offers no protection from anti-infantry attacks, particularly flame and chemical weapons, and the soldiers inside can be indefinitely suppressed by snipers. Like most missile-armed units, they are ineffective against infantry. For these reasons, the Quad Cannon was often a better anti-aircraft choice.

Changelog

• Generals sneak peek patch 1.02:
  • cost increased from $750 to $900
  • technicals, Humvees, and Gattling weapons no longer kill the soldiers inside Stinger sites
  • Stinger missile fuel reduced from 10 to 5 seconds so they do not chase a target as far across the map as they used to
  • splash damage reduced
  • stealth detection radius cut from 360-400 down to 200
  • Raptors and MiGs slightly more effective against Stinger sites
• Zero Hour patch 1.02: fixed a bug that caused Stinger site occupants to remain forever disabled after they have been attacked by a microwave tank

Trivia

The fake version cameo.

• The GLA were originally meant to be able to construct fake Stinger Sites in Zero Hour.
  • For obvious reasons, it was removed, as fake structures cannot attack, train or research anything (apart from being upgraded to their real counterparts). As a result, it would have made it too obvious that the structure was fake, necessitating its removal. The cameo still remains within Generals' art archives, however, as seen below.
• The crew cannot exit the Stinger site (selling the structure will remove the soldiers from the field). However, the second USA mission in the vanilla Generals depicts the soldiers outside the Stinger site, shooting down Comanches in the city. They were not seen while during the mission itself. They were also seen in the opening cutscene of the first USA mission, shooting down a Raptor, and in the last USA mission, defending the GLA stronghold on tops of walls, but only during the first cutscene.

See also

• Patriot missile system