Turtling (Tactics)
From Command and Conquer Wiki
"Turtling" is a tactical choice that emphasizes building a strongly defended base, rather than focusing on offensive power. In the eventuality of a military stalemate, the "turtle" is much more likely to survive an assault on his base than someone who focuses on rushing. The viability of this tactic depends upon certain circumstances, including the power of the base defensive structures of a particular faction.
While a expert turtle would be able to outlast his opponents, this strategy has several drawbacks. The requisite walls and base defenses take time to set up, and a blitz with tanks could likely penetrate an enemy's defenses if it occured early enough. Also, turtling is fairly expensive, and the late-battle focus on defense can cost a military detachment due to the lack of collected reconnaissance and difficulty replacing depleted resources. Also, the best defenders are not always good at offense, and overly focusing on building an invulnerable base can lead to an atrophied strike capability. In addition, the most powerful base defenses are also the most power-hungry, and if the generators on a base are disabled, a turtle's plans may quickly fall apart. Finally, weapons of mass destruction can punch a hole in a base's defense, no matter fortified they are. Because the turtle has enough time to build up his base, he can make as much of these he wants.
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[edit] Soviet Union
Of the two factions in the Great World War II, Soviet forces were better suited to turtling, owing it to their Tesla coil base defense. Outranging all Allied units except the Cruiser, Soviet Coils in large enough amounts could easily halt any ground advance by their opponents. The only real danger was against Allied Aircraft. Sufficient numbers of Apache Gunships could tear down a Tesla coil network, or the power plants required to keep the coils active. During the war, the only decent choice for a passive barrier was the concrete wall. Other Soviet defenses included the Flame tower, which devastating against infantry, but had an extremely short range, and the SAM site, an anti-aircraft missile launcher, that possessed a decent range and energy consumption, but was somewhat lacking in destructive power.
[edit] Allied Forces
The Allies, unlike their opponents, lacked the proper tools to correctly turtle. Soviet FROG-7s had the range necessary to take out any Allied base defense, from well outside reprisal range, and up close, the turret was only moderately powerful, and unable to stand up to the raw destructive power Soviet tesla coils. However, Allied turrets and infantry slaughtering pillboxes were significantly less power hungry than Tesla Coils, which allowed them to remain operational even at low power conditions. The Allies did significantly more powerful AA than the Soviets in their ZSU-33 AA Batteries, and, like the Soviets, physical barriers took the form of concrete walls.
[edit] Brotherhood of Nod
The Brotherhood of Nod, especially during the earlier wars, was quite capable of turtling, due in large part to the mighty Obelisk of Light, a long range directed energy weapon that outranged any GDI opposition in the First Tiberium War. Nod also possessed gun turrets, similar to those of the Allies, but commanders often preferred the extra power and range of the Obelisk. Against aircraft, Nod used SAM sites.
During the Second Tiberium War, Nod supplemented its Obelisks with smaller laser turrets, which were highly effective against infantry, but lacked the range and power needed to successfully stave off tanks and walkers. Nod continued using SAMs against aircraft.
Even in the Third Tiberium War, Nod's potent hub defense system of anti-aircraft SAMs, infantry annihilating shredder turrets, and laser turrets (the design of which being optimized to destroy vehicles, at the expense of their infantry killing ability) combined with an upgraded arsenal of Obelisks, made turtling a viable option for many Nod bases.
In terms of barriers, Nod relied on concrete walls, alongside high-tech laser fence systems that posed an impediment to enemy advances.
[edit] CABAL
The rogue Nod AI, CABAL, utilized formidable defensive measures at his Core. Improving upon the basic design of the Obelisk, CABAL created the Obelisk of Darkness, which would vaporize any enemy aircraft within range, and the CABAL Obelisk, which possessed improved armor and recharge rate compared to a standard Nod Obelisk. CABAL also used a Firestorm Barrier, that could only be disabled with the capture of six control centers. Artillery were ineffective and large numbers of tanks or walkers is required for the rogue Nod AIs heavily defended fort.
[edit] Global Defense Initiative
In the First Tiberium War, GDI suffered as Nod possessed superior turtle-defeating artillery, and it's best base defenses, the advanced guard tower paled in comparison to the Obelisk, though it's versatility against infantry, vehicles, and aircraft still made it a force to be reckoned with. Guard Towers are short ranged structures for the infantry and light vehicles.
In the Second Tiberium War, GDI had much better defenses which, if deployed correctly makes turtling a viable option. The Firestorm barrier presented itself as a uniquely powerful defense, impenetrable to nearly any attack, but it was expensive and time consuming to set up, and the component tower was versatile, but it's upgrades still lacked the power of the Nod Obelisk. The available upgrades for the tower were the Vulcan Cannon Upgrade, for use against infantry, the RPG Upgrade, which could damage vehicles, and the SAM Upgrade, which was useful against aircraft. GDI could also deploy Juggernauts which could act as a powerful, though inaccurate defense and good counter against enemy artillery.
By the Third Tiberium War however, GDI Sonic emitters were capable of quickly dismantling anything on the ground with splash damage, and made turtling viable for GDI. The lower tier of GDI base defense included AA batteries, which were also able to make short work aircraft, watchtowers to shred infantry, and guardian cannons to defeat tanks. Rigs can deploy into Battle Bases to increase base defenses and repair tanks nearby.
[edit] Scrin
The alien Storm Column is an extremely powerful defense, capable of knocking aircraft out of the sky, and tearing apart many ground units with it's artificial Ion storm, making it perhaps the ultimate base defense of the Third Tiberium War. Buzzer Hives housed infantry shredding Buzzers and Plasma Batteries were capable of blasting aircraft out of the sky, and the Photon Cannon, which was useful against tanks. Turtling is definitely a useful measure for the Scrin. Specially because all Scrin units are very expensive.
