Red Army infantry

The infantry units of the Soviet Red Army are always in the first line. They’re cheap, equipped with submachine guns and due to a lack of extensive training, they can only be used effectively in great numbers. Same as other infantry really.

Background[]

Real world history[]

How many men could the Soviets deploy into battle? Consider this: by December 1, 1941, the Russians suffered between four and five million casualties — but after all that they managed to have 280 rifle and cavalry divisions and 44 tank or mechanized brigades in the field for a counterattack. About 500,000 men a month were drafted into the war until its end.

Characteristics[]

These units are equal to any other nation's standard infantry. With their Tech Level 3 upgrade, they become the fastest and cheapest to produce by far. Their ability to enter various APC including the awesome APC Mole also helps them. While other nations have APCs, and the Allied Helicopter is a great equalizer, the Mole can easily allow a squad of Red Army Infantry to capture key enemy buildings.

Availability[]

Read Army infantry are available from the very start of the game. They get a lot better once "Forced Recruitment" is researched at Tech Level 3.

Upgrades[]

Structure-specific[]

Flashlights — Increases view range by 50% at night.
Capture buildings — Allows the Red Army infantry to capture neutral and/or enemy buildings.
Forced Recruitment — Allows you to build 2 infantry for the price of one and almost as quickly as one.

Gameplay[]

Tactics[]

Red Army soldiers are perfect for capturing enemy and neutral buildings, which is why you will be making a lot of them well into the game. They can also support the more powerful specialized infantry like Molotov infantry or Commissars.

Abilities[]

Capture building
Capture a resource site or a hostile building. Requires the upgrade from the barracks.

Counters[]

Light tanks, heroes (most of them), Exoskeletons, light artillery, aircraft, and experimental weapons like the Sonic Tank or Ice Spitter can all make short work of small squads of infantry. They are indeed overall the weakest combat unit in the game. At least, when it comes down to direct fighting.

Assessment[]

Pros[]

Can capture the enemies and neutral buildings.
Can capture vehicles.
Easy to transport and haul around with APCs or helicopters of all kinds.
Extremely cheap and fast to produce after the "Forced Recruitment" upgrade.
Can fight other infantry and some heroes quite well considering their price.

Cons[]

Very vulnerable to most armored units.
Slow movement speed.
Barely deal damage to most buildings.
Require upgrades to capture buildings and be produced quicker.

Selected Quotes[]

Videos[]

Trivia[]

The PPSh-41 the soldiers use had a massive 71 round drum and high fire rate. Despite that, they fire just as much and as quickly as all other infantrymen in the game.