| “ | Conscript training finished! - Conscript exiting the barracks |
” |
Conscript is the Soviet Union's basic infantry in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 and its expansion, Uprising.
Background[]
Drafted by the millions as part of the Soviet Union's mandatory military service, conscripts were indoctrinated with a deep sense of patriotism since youth, and wholeheartedly believed in the glory of the Union and the inevitability of her victory. Because of this, as well as promises of handsome reward upon completion of their tours of duty, conscripts entered combat with an almost-giddy enthusiasm. They were armed with the cheap and effective ADK-45 assault rifle, as well as Molotov cocktails, a makeshift explosive invented by a great Soviet bartender of the same name.
Their training, lauded by the Soviet state as "highly efficient", centred on a series of training videos covering topics including how to fire their ADK-45 assault rifle, mix and throw Molotov cocktails, salute high-ranking officials, cry out authorized war cries, and more. However, they were never taught how to swim, allegedly to prevent desertion. Conscripts had the shortest life expectancy in the Soviet military, and rarely live past the age of 26.6 years before being killed or promoted.
Deployment history[]
| “ | Never we would have thought we would ally with the Allies. - Conscript in "Enemy of our Enemy". |
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The Allies often ran into en-mass Conscript attacks in the early missions, such as Ride of the Red Menace, but most were dealt with by superior defenses and tactics.
However, when the Allies and Soviets worked together against the Empire of the Rising Sun, they proved to be good defenders along with their counterparts, the Peacekeepers, specially when the coalition invaded the floating fortress in the North Atlantic (even as both parts were constantly in tension).
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The following is based on the Soviet campaign of Red Alert 3 and might contradict canon. |
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In the Soviet campaign, the lowly Conscripts actually play a much bigger role in the Soviet Perspective. They fought in many of the Union's most vital battles, including the Defense of Leningrad, the Battle of Vladivostok, and the Battle of Geneva. However, the greatest moment for the Conscripts was during Operation: To Tame a Living God.
During the operation, a Conscript and a War Bear, the sole survivors of a massive paradrop, managed to sneak past the Imperial guards inside the Emperor's Palace and assassinate Emperor Yoshiro himself in his own garden. Despite the fact that the "Emperor" they killed was actually a robotic body double, and the fact they were captured immediately afterwards by Imperial forces, they were eventually rescued and taken back to Russia, where they were presumably treated as national heroes and given many honors for their unquestionable bravery.
Game unit[]
| “ | Kill them like watermelons! - Conscript, probably taking his training video a bit too literally |
” |
Conscripts are an extremely cheap infantry unit to train at only $100. Their training time is 0:04, compared to the 0:05 Allied and Japanese infantry take, at higher costs each. It is very easy and quick to produce a Conscript army. Conscripts are also poorly armed and equipped; they have short range, weak weapons, and low health. However, their sheer spammability more than makes up for this; Conscripts are meant to drown the enemy in bullets. Conscripts are fragile, wearing only coats and no body armor; they will be easily slaughtered by enemy defensive turrets. Have another part of your army destroy these beforehand, or simply arm your Conscripts with Molotovs and hope for the best.
The biggest advantage of the Conscript lies in their secondary weapon; while the Molotov Cocktail is fairly weak against infantry except shielded Peacekeepers, the Molotov is the best anti-garrison weapon in the game and also effective against structures and stationary units. It can instantly kill shield-wielding Peacekeepers, an effective way of countering a micromanaged Allied squad. Unlike all other infantry in the game, Conscripts need not waste their (expendable) lives assaulting a building; instead, they can simply firebomb it either to ruins or enough to expel the usually more expensive infantry in an efficient manner. The cocktail also has superior range compared to all other basic infantry weapons and some anti-infantry units. This advantage could be exploited when the enemy units do not actively respond to attacks that out-range them. For example, in the first part of the campaign To Tame a Living God, it is possible to use Molotov Cocktail to out-range and kill almost all Imperial Warriors and Mecha Tengus (except one patrolling Imperial Warrior) near the garden to directly reach the Emperor without even setting up a distraction.
Conscripts are cost effective counter to enemy anti-armor units. While they lose to Tankbusters on a one-to-one basis, Tankbusters are 3 times as more expensive as the Conscript and only 2 Conscripts are needed to beat a Tankbuster.
Conscripts are expendable and entire armies can be easily rebuilt due to their quick training and cheap cost. For the cost of one Guardian MBT, one can train nine Conscripts, and their Molotovs can destroy a non-micromanaged Guardian fairly easily. It is often the Conscript wave that gives an army its real punch; superheavy tanks and bombers may do massive burst damage, but the relatively short interval between bursts means that a Conscript horde can lay down a practically unending wave of fire.
Garrisoned Conscripts are a difficult enemy to flush out, as the building counters their fragility, and the opponent faces the dilemma of wasting more expensive troops to kill cheap Conscripts. However, keep in mind that you cannot switch the Conscript's weapons inside of a building. If you plan on defending against a combined-arms assault, have some Conscripts enter with ADK-45s ready, and some with Molotov Cocktails. Building a Battle Bunker and staffing it with Conscripts is a cheap way of denying a certain building to enemy Engineers and for very cheap. It also counteracts smaller enemy assaults.
To counteract the slow speed of Conscripts, place them in Bullfrog transports and support these with tanks. This circumvents needing to waste time building Flak Troopers as well; and with the man-cannon of the Bullfrog, Conscripts can be launched deep into the enemy base, where wave-slaughtering turrets may not reach. Make sure to target any AA guns beforehand though. If you can't build enough transports to mobilize every soldier, they will lag very far behind your armor, leaving it open against enemy anti-armor infantry. A cash-strapped player with only Hammer Tanks and Conscripts may be forced to manually keep their tanks in line with their infantry advance - keep this in mind.
Abilities[]
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Assault Rifle
The Conscript utilizes his ADK-45, firing in long bursts to ventilate enemy soldiers. It is best used in mass-fire against infantry, as it is poor against armor and individually the least powerful main infantry weapon.
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Switches to Molotov Cocktails, allowing devastating effect against garrisons, stationary units and buildings, and passable damage against armored targets.
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Changelog[]
- Red Alert 3 patch 1.05: now has a counter-garrison cursor when hovering over valid civilian structure targets
- Red Alert 3 patch 1.08: gun damage increased by 25%
Quotes[]
Campaign[]
| “ | You want me to go alone?? - Conscript(src) |
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| “ | Bear, hurry up! - Conscript(src) |
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| “ | You are awfully moody for bear... - Conscript(src) |
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| “ | Dolphins are not lake creatures! What's happening here?! - Conscript(src) |
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| “ | As a child, I always dreamed of torpedo attack on dolphins... - Conscript([[March of the Red Army|src]]) |
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| “ | How they are supposed to get a carrier into the lake? It would take many men and hours to carry! - Conscript(src) |
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| “ | Neutrality, huh? Switzerland, please explain massive Allied military base! - Conscript(src) |
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| “ | IM AFRAID NOT MY FRIEND! COMRADES ATTACK NOW! - Conscript(src) |
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| “ | New York will soon be renamed Commandergrad! I think... - Conscript(src) |
” |
Created[]
- Conscript training finished!
- Ready to fight for Union!
Select[]
- Conscript excited to fight!
- Conscript here!
- I suppose to do something?
- Here I am!
- Huh? Me?
- I wasn't doing anything!
- Is it time?
- Show me what to do!
- This is nice clothes!
- We serve glorious Union!
- I make Premier proud!
Moving[]
- I can do!
- As fast as I can!
- Yes sir!
- Oh, okay!
- Moving!
- I go!
- Whatever you say!
- Have we won yet?
- Of course!
Garrisoning Structure[]
- Good, let's take a break!
- They have television in there?
- Ahh... Thank you!
- What's in here?
- It looks dark...
Attacking with Assault Rifle[]
- For the Union!
- Attack!
- For Mother Russia!
- Firing weapon!
- Kill them like watermelon!
Attacking with Molotov Cocktail[]
- They will burn!
- Ura!
- Throw the fire!
- Vot tak! ("Like this!" in Russian)
- Catch this!
Clearing Garrisoned Structure[]
- Get out of there!
- Make room for Mother Russia!
- Kick them out!
Move to Attack[]
- Now?
- Who's with me?
- Field promotion, here I come!
- I'll do it!
- Finally, the real thing!
- We march to victory!
- It's them!
- Premier will be very proud!
- At last, real battle!
In combat[]
- We're shooting the enemy!
- The enemy's here!
- Together comrades!
- Just like training video!
- I fight bravely!
- Dirty dogs!
Under fire[]
- I don't like this anymore!
- They have guns too...?
- They're shooting at me!
- Tell the Premier, I've been wounded!
- Next time I drive tank okay?
- Atas, patsany! ("Watch out, dudes!" in Russian)
Trivia[]
Bored conscript drinking Molotov
- When rifle-equipped conscripts are not selected, they're seen playing with their guns in dangerous ways, including swinging it around, rotating it like a stick, looking down into the muzzle, and even using the stock to crack walnuts. A reflection of their lack of adequate training.
- Conscripts, like most units, have comically oversized guns to make them visible and distinct when zoomed out; their ADK-45 rifles are as big as and about as long as a heavy machine gun when compared to them.
- When not selected, the conscript inside a sentry gun will snuggle down and begin drinking from a bottle, possibly vodka, or maybe even his Molotov cocktail.
- After selling an Outpost deployed by a Sputnik under the effects of Shrink Beam, a miniature conscript will emerge. Mini Conscripts deal full damage and move just as fast as a regular conscript, but they are much harder to see.
Gallery[]
Concept art
Propaganda poster #1
Propaganda poster #2
Propaganda poster #3
In cover art
Concept art by Huy Dinh
Propaganda poster 4
Render
Videos[]
See also[]
- Peacekeeper, Allied basic infantry
- Imperial warrior, Imperial basic infantry
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