Yuri's Revenge

And so the story unfolds...a new saga begins
The story follows the end of Red Alert 2 from the Allies side of things. As they said at the party, "of course the good guys always win." Even though the Allies managed to beat back the forces of evil, one particular component of that evil managed to escape. Yuri. Possibly the most dangerous of all of the bad guys due to his great understanding of mind control, he was not the person that the Allies should have missed. After the Soviets' collapse, Yuri broke out on his own to try to take the world through psychic domination. He's got a bunch more of the psychic emitter jobbies planted all over the world, poised for use. Lucky for everyone, good old Doc Einstein managed to dream up a little time travel device that will let you travel back to the war you just fought to try to eliminate Yuri. You'll plop right down in the middle of the fight in a few different cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, and Los Angeles while you try to track him down.

But you don't just have to worry about the Soviets this time. Yuri has his very own faction, complete with a whole lot of new unique units, buildings and technologies. That's right, a whole new faction. Multiplayer will be that much more fun now.

The Allied Update - Yuri Lives!

After the dolphins cleared out the Soviets' giant squids, the Allies sent in the amphibious transports and sweet hell broke loose. Mirage and Prism Tanks rolled over the island, pounding away at sentry guns and blowing away Tesla coils like they were saplings. With the ground cleared on this unmapped island in the Florida Keys, the one hope for an Allied victory was built: Einstein's highly experimental Chronosphere. While it was under construction, Allied forces still had to beat back persistent Soviet forces intent on stopping the Chronosphere from coming online.

But it did. When the tech engineers finally fired it up, the destination was set for the heart of the Red Menace: the Kremlin in Moscow.
It went down in history as the world's first full-scale invasion via time warp. Grizzlies and Prism Tanks thundered through the cold cobblestone. streets of Moscow while Rocketeers zipped across the sky, scouting ahead for the special forces team -- including one very angry Tanya -- to go in and capture Premier Romanov.
As expected, he was cowering in the Kremlin beneath his desk. Romanov was taken to England, where the contrite premire signed a peace treaty that effectively dismantled the Soviet war machine.
But where was Yuri?

The elusive psychic mastermind had slipped through the fingers of U.S. forces.

Now Allied generals have received intel that Yuri didn't exactly retire. In fact, while the U.S. was tangling with Romanov, Yuri had abdicated to forge his own schemes for world domination. Looks like he wasn't happy playing second in command to the obnoxious Romanov.

It looks like Yuri is finally getting his way. Intel reports tell of mysterious structures popping up worldwide from the California coast to the sands of Egypt. Civilians, apparently under the influence of Yuri's mind-control, have willingly joined his standing army.

Fortunately, the Allies have a few technological tricks up their sleeves as well. President Dugan has enacted "Operation Time Lapse," a plan to beat back Yuri's forces with radical new technology, seasoned soldiers, and a battle-hardened general like you.

The Soviet Update - Yuri Lives

A strong mind and a strong will -- is it any wonder that Yuri wanted so much? But his ambition was his undoing -- turning against Romanov and breaking off with the armies of Mother Russia to plot his own path to supremacy. The insolence. The selfishness. The stupidity! But it worked.

While the Allies grappled with Soviet forces in the heartland of Russia, storming the Kremlin to capture Premier Romanov, Yuri was hard at work. He and his team of crazed scientists developed terrifying new branches of mind control technology and genetic manipulation. Rumors abound: disembodied, psychic-enhanced brains piloting tanks, robot drones specializing in mind-melting biological warfare, and humans mutated to monstrous proportions.

Now Premier Romanov's office is receiving reports that Yuri is once again on the rampage, building mysterious structures from the coast of California to Egypt. The Allies have reportedly begun a campaign to travel back in time to pre-empt Yuri's plans.

If the premier's operatives could somehow get their hands on the Allied Chrono technology, perhaps they could short-circuit Yuri's plans and help Premier Romanov make one more bid for world domination....

Romanov must act fast. As long as Yuri is at large, he is a threat to Romanov's plans. Not plans for a lasting peace with the Allies. The treaty means nothing. Yuri must be destroyed. Then the Allies will be the ones signing a treaty -- a treaty of surrender.

Guardian GI Cost: 400
A specially trained anti-tank infantry unit, the uncrushable Guardian GI sports an assault rifle for normal encounters, but deploys to fire a tough anti-tank missile that is also useful against air units. Since he's a potent defense against tanks, it's a good idea to have these sprinkled throughout your base in deploy mode; your enemy will think twice next time about that tank rush.

Robot Tank Cost: 800
This speedy raider is the result of Allied research into anti-tank technology. The Robot Tank's maneuverability and speed make it an excellent hit-and-run unit; the fact that it's immune to psychic powers makes it especially useful against Yuri's forces. This hovering tank can move over water, and its cannon makes quick work of straggling enemy units. Disadvantages are that the Robot Tank cannot gain veterancy and doesn't fare well in prolonged conflicts, but always keep a few on hand for mini-assaults.

Battle Fortress Cost: 2000
This giant assault vehicle is the Allied's response to the Soviet's Apocalypse Tank. Mounting only a machine gun, the Battle Fortress might seem an easy target for enemy tanks, but its power becomes clear when it crushes enemy vehicles under its mighty tracks. The Battle Fortress also serves as a transport. Up to five infantry units can climb aboard and provide extra firepower as they travel by independently firing their weapons out of the Battle Fortress's many ports.

Spy Plane Since Yuri defected with the Psychic Sensor technology, the Soviets were left without an effective map intelligence-gathering unit. The spy plane, developed secretly during the US invasion, will fly toward its target and take a series of photographs that reveal the shroud around the designated area. This new line of spy plane will prove extremely effective for scouting and revealing your enemies battle plans.

Brute Cost: 500
This hulking genetic monstrosity was created by Yuri's twisted scientists as a walking wall of undescribable force. Since he can take a lot of damage and is completely devoted to Yuri's cause, the Brute has no problem mixing it up on the battlefield while bullets are zipping and missiles flying. He can also smash infantry and use his meaty fists to destroy buildings. The Brute laughs at dog attacks and is immune to any and all Allied K9 forces. While many vehicles will boast a speed advantage over the Brute, they're at his mercy when grouped together. Get a Brute in an enemy base and he can wreak serious havoc.

Boomer Cost: 2000
Yuri can't be said to boast a varied navy, but he can be said to boast a strong one. The Boomer, Yuri's one and only naval unit, is a versatile sub-surface leviathan with surface capabilities. It fires torpedoes against submarines and destroyers and can surface to pound land targets with ICBMs. This well-rounded naval warfare machine is at its most vulnerable when surfacing to take out land targets; that's when the Boomer is susceptible to aerial attack.

Yuri Engineer Cost: 500
Sure, his only weapon may be a clipboard and pocket protector, but the Yuri Engineer is not to be underestimated as both an offensive and defensive unit. If you're low on cash to repair your structures, send an Engineer into the building for a quick repair (note that the unit is "lost"). More importantly, Engineers can help turn the tide of battle by capturing neutral tech buildings that often dot the battlefield. Capturing an airport gives you the ability to produce paratroopers, which you can drop every few minutes to a selected location on the map. Capturing hospitals creates a center at which to heal wounded infantry units. Capturing an outpost turns it into a repair facility with defenses against both air and ground attacks.

But perhaps the most important tech building to capture is the oil derrick, which will boost your credit flow while occupied (plus a "finder's fee" upon first capture). An often overlooked way to ramp up your base's finances, oil derricks can mean the difference between biting your nails while you wait for ore miners to come home and building that weather-control device. On maps with lots of oil derricks, scout your Engineers early with a few tanks and attack dogs.

Best off all, however, is using the Engineer as an offensive unit against your enemy's base. After taking out perimeter defenses with tanks and ground units, try sending in a detachment of engineers into enemy structures. As soon as they've taken the buildings, cash in on a frenzied sell-off.

Yuri Clone Cost: 800
The Yuri Clone's only weapon is his scientifically altered brain, which can control most organic units and even vehicles, Miners, Dogs, and aircraft. Since his range for mind control is quite long, situate him outside an enemy base to aggravate your opponent by controlling powerful units within his own walls. Be sure and protect Yuri well with tanks and infantry, however, as an overdeveloped brain is no match for a pack of snarling Attack Dogs. His second attack, the Psi-Wave, creates a mind-melting energy blast, useful for taking out enemy infantry en masse -- if they're close enough.

Virus Cost: 700
This female mercenary is a seasoned sniper who fires virus-filled darts at her enemies, causing them to swell up and then explode in a toxic cloud of gas, which in itself damages nearby units and buildings. It's not pretty, but it's effective -- a Virus is excellent for use as a remote "tenderizing" unit against tightly grouped infantry formations as the gas from one victim will damage the others, softening them up for a closer-range assault. Virus is effective against infantry units only; but strategically positioned outside an enemy base, she can thin the ranks considerably.

Initiate Cost: 300
Yuri's basic combat soldier has all the firepower he needs in his highly developed brain, which allows him to fire a powerful Psychic Blast that can give enemy infantry, vehicles and even structures a serious headache. While his range is shorter than that of Allied or Soviet infantry, his damage rating is slightly higher, making him an excellent defense unit when garrisoned. He's three times as expensive as the Soviet Conscript, and can't deploy into a fortified position like the Allied Grunt, but when used craftily, the Initiate can make the enemy beg for Tylenol.

Magnetron Cost: 1200
The Magnetron is Yuris answer to long range defensive structures. It can use its magnetic beam to wreck enemy base defenses from well outside their range. When facing enemy vehicles, the Magnetron can levitate and pull them towards itself. An exceptional ability which allows Yuris other units and defenses to steal the minds of the enemy without putting themselves at risk.

Floating Disc Cost: 1500
To this day, not even top Soviet and Allied intelligence agents have determined the origin of Yuri's Floating Disc. Looking like it zoomed straight out of some '50s sci-fi flick, the Floating Disc is a sort of outerspace sapper unit whose transport beam can be used to drain energy from enemy power plants or credits from a refinery. An intelligently deployed Floating Disc can short out an enemy's power as a first-strike measure and its small laser beam can vaporize infantry and damage vehicles if they happen to get nosy.

Lasher Light Tank Cost: 600
Yuri's customized Lasher is a sleek, streamlined tank. Although moderately armored, its speed makes it ideal for devastating, hit-and-run attacks, and is also excellent as a "first-response team" for dealing with enemy vehicles knocking on your door. However, the Lasher performs poorly against infantry; its shell doesn't damage them much, so keep them clear of enemy GIs and Conscripts.

Boris Cost: 1000
A national hero in Mother Russia, Boris is renowned for his bravery and cool head on the battlefield; little wonder that the tales of his sneaking into enemy bases to call in air strikes are legendary. While he has an AKM to cope with ground units, Boris' real strength is against enemy structures. After targeting a building with his laser designator, Boris gets on the radio and calls in an air strike by MiGs who drop a payload of iron bombs on the target. Used stealthily, Boris is good for taking out crucial enemy infrastructures like Ore Refineries and War Factories to stunt the enemy's tech tree.

Siege Chopper Cost: 1400
This helicopter unit blends air capability with a Soviet love for heavy-duty firepower. In the air, the Siege Chopper uses its machine gun to harass enemy units. The real fun begins when it lands, however. It's then that the Siege Chopper literally breaks out the big guns, deploying a 155 mm cannon that is excellent for pounding away at heavily fortified enemy installations. A must-have for any assault force, as long as it's well-escorted.

Chaos Drone Cost: 800
The Chaos Drone is a robotic unit that messes with units' minds in a different way. By releasing clouds of hallucinatory gas, the Chaos Drone temporarily causes units to go berserk, attacking units and buildings -- at twice the usual attack speed -- in a fit of temporary battlefield insanity. An excellent unit for disrupting large enemy formations, a single Chaos Drone can be an effective unit to short-circuit an opponent who's gearing up for a big offensive. Effected units will attack friendly units before enemy ones, so the Chaos Drone is best used to soften up the enemy before an offensive.

Amphibious Transport Cost: 900
Yuri's Amphibious Transport is crucial on navy maps for getting your units on enemy land, and is instrumental in orchestrating combination attacks that take advantage of both naval power and ground units. On navy maps where the battle takes place over stretches of ocean, gather up a force of Amphibious Transports filled with mixed units and hit your enemy hard. It's also wise to keep one Amphibious Transport away from the fray, stocked with an MCV and some powerful defense units, in case you need to start a new base.

Master Mind Cost: 1750
The ultimate Yuri assault unit, the Master Mind is a veritable cloned brain-in-a-tank that can mind-control whole squads of units and turn them back on the enemy. This particular branch of Yuri's mind-control technology is highly experimental, though, and the Master Mind can only control five units safely; after that, mind-controlling additional units results in damage to Master Mind and will eventually destroy it. However, as Yuri's most formidable offensive vehicle, the Master Mind rewards judicious use.

Yuri MCV Cost: 3000
As with Allies and Soviets, the Yuri MCV creates the Construction Yard, which is the heart of his base. As you climb the tech tree, the unit will become available to build. It's heartily recommended for longer games to have an extra MCV or two at the ready to build a secondary base in case of, oh, say, a nuclear missile annihilating your original one. In that case, it's best to keep the MCV well guarded, but away from other crucial structures that your opponent may target.

Yuri Prime Cost: 1500
The ultimate in mind control warfare, Yuri Prime has refined his psychic abilities to the point where not even buildings are safe from his awesome mental powers. Indeed, Yuri can control any unit or building that is not psychic-immune; perhaps best of all, he can sell buildings that he mind-controls, making him a sort of dangerous long-distance Engineer who can set back an enemy base's tech tree to ready for a big assault. In addition, his enhanced Psi-Wave attack has a higher range and damage rating than the Yuri Clone, instantly killing infantry and even causing damage to units outside the immediate area of effect.