| “ | Cha-ching! - Tanya on the attack |
” |
Tanya Adams is a mercenary commando who appears in Command & Conquer: Red Alert and its Counterstrike and The Aftermath expansion packs. She works closely with the Allies during the Second World War.
Contents
Background
| “ | General Von Esling, she is a civilian! - General Nikos Stavros |
” |
Tanya Adams is a "professional volunteer" (i.e. freelance mercenary) who works for or with the Allies, but has not been officially enlisted in their forces. A self-styled and lethal guerrilla, she enjoys the patronage of General Gunter Von Esling, who regards her as one of his most valuable field agents. His second-in-command, Nikos Stavros, was troubled by a "civilian" becoming involved in Allied military operations, but soon deferred to his friend Von Esling's judgment on the matter.
Personality
The most capable member of the Allied irregular forces throughout the Second World War, Tanya's attitude is independent and somewhat dismissive of authority. When General Nikos Stavros vehemently expresses his disapproval about "a civilian" being deployed in classified missions, she snatches a file out of his hands, and snaps back with the comment: "That's why I don't get killed". The reason Adams wasn't discharged from service is because her covert skills were more than a match for her unruly personality—a fact not lost on General Von Esling's pragmatic thinking.
Character development
Allied Campaign
| “ | Let's rock! - Tanya ready for action |
” |
Tanya Adams is a major character during the course of the Allied campaign of Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Under the direction of Field Commander A9, Adams rescues Albert Einstein from a Soviet research facility. After Einstein's retrieval, she successfully demolishes key bridges in Eastern Europe to impede the Soviet advance into the centre of the continent.
While gathering intelligence behind enemy lines, Adams is captured and General Gunter von Esling orders an immediate retrieval operation led by A9. A spy infiltrates the Soviet prison compound and manages to halt the commando's imminent execution. Adams' interrogator and would-be executioner mortally wounds the spy, but the diversion is enough for Tanya to use the pistol thrown to her by the spy to kill the guard and free herself. After knocking out the six SAM sites guarding the prison she is evacuated by a Chinook. Adams' intel alerts the Allies to the Iron Curtain project.
After A9's men infiltrate a ballistic missile control complex following Stalin's launch of four nuclear missiles at Europe's largest cities, Adams joins the commander's forces and helps them remotely deactivate the nukes as they are in flight to their targets. Tanya then spearheads the final push on Moscow, by helping clear the way for Allied thieves to steal funds at a nearby Soviet outpost, allowing A9 to build a base and enough firepower to defeat the last Soviet stronghold, winning the war for the Alliance.
In the Counterstrike expansion pack, Adams ensures General Nikos Stavros' safety and evacuation in Greece as the country fell to the Soviet offensive earlier in the war.
Soviet Campaign
Adams infiltrates a nuclear reactor deep within Soviet territory and sets it to overload, in a desperate attempt to stall the offensive. However, a Soviet commander manages to lead his forces inside the complex and kill her, saving Mother Russia.
Game unit
| “ | Kiss it bye-bye! - Tanya demolishing a Soviet base |
” |
Adams is superb against structures and most infantry. However, units with heavier armor, such as vehicles, are almost completely immune to her. Like all infantry, she is vulnerable to attack dogs and can be instantly killed by being run over.
As the standard commando unit of Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Tanya can be trained by both the Allies and the Soviets in multiplayer games. As of The Aftermath expansion pack, she is no longer available to the Soviets in multiplayer games, who instead receive the new Shock trooper unit.
Assessment
Pros
- Can be used as a literal one woman army, as she will single-handedly decimate scores of basic infantry
- Can destroy whole bases with C4 explosives if they're not properly defended
- Could be trained by both Allies and Soviets in multiplayer
Cons
- Somewhat expensive
- Next to useless against vehicles
- Helpless against aerial attacks
- Vulnerable against base defenses, as she has to get close to them before planting C4 charges
- Can be run over by enemy vehicles
- Doesn't fire at enemy unless been giving orders or they fire at her first, which makes her an easy target (especially for attack dogs)
Legacy
Tiberium universe
The concept of an infantry commando unit would be inherited by both the Global Defense Initiative and the Brotherhood of Nod, rendering Tanya Adams something of the "mother of special forces" in the Tiberium Universe.
Red Alert universe
Tanya Adams was eventually succeeded by Tanya during the Third World War and Psychic Dominator Disaster.
Development
The character of Tanya Adams was created by Adam Isgreen, largely as a result of his fascination with John Woo's Hong Kong films at the time. To highlight the differences between Command & Conquer '95 and Red Alert, he changed the commando unit from a male to a female wielding dual pistols. Originally, Adams also was to be paired with a second character called Megan, an ex-IRA demolitions expert and stealth unit, but this idea was dropped.[1]
Behind the Scenes
Tanya was portrayed by Lynne Litteer in Red Alert 's FMV cutscenes, but the voice-overs for the in-game Tanya unit were provided by Lanae Freeborn.
Quotes
| “ | Yes, sir? - When selected |
” |
| “ | Yeah? - When selected |
” |
| “ | What's up? - When selected |
” |
| “ | I'm there! - When moving |
” |
| “ | Let's rock! - When moving |
” |
| “ | Chew on this! - When attacking |
” |
| “ | Cha-ching! - When attacking |
” |
| “ | (laughter) - When attacking |
” |
| “ | Kiss it bye-bye! - When attacking |
” |
| “ | That's all you got? - When attacking |
” |
| “ | Give it to me! - When attacking |
” |
| “ | Shake it, baby! - When idle |
” |
Gallery
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References
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 Allied Second World War Arsenal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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