Greetings, Commander! Updates of Rise of The Reds have been shared recently by SWR Productions covering one of the new factions of the mod: the European Continental Alliance. Rise of The Reds is a classic and popular modification for C&C Generals: Zero Hour that adds two completely new factions: the tank-heavy Russian Federation and the defense-oriented European Continental Alliance. It also greatly expands the three original factions with several new units, buildings, powers, and abilities to explore and combine with your in-game tactics. Here is what you need to know about the progress on Rise of The Reds:

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Good morning everybody! As usual, we hope you've all had a great week and that things are going well for you all. This week, we are jumping into some of the new changes to the ECA's support unit roster.

To understand why the Light Excavator (affectionately called the 'Bobcat" by the testing team) was created, we need to understand what it is intended to replace. Since the introduction of the ECA in 1.8, the Tear Gas Strike Generals Power has been a staple for the faction. It was intended to be a useful and reliable way of leveraging the ECA's inherent slow production times with an effective debuff power that could give the ECA units a fighting chance against more typical factions. As beloved and useful as the power was, unfortunately, the overlapping damage types needed to make the Tear Gas Strike work was one of the most consistent causes of game crashes in multiplayer.

As such, the decision was made to scrap the power and spread tear gas utility throughout the remaining unit roster, with units like the Heavy Sniper and Lynx receiving tear gas-based abilities to try and fill the hole that resulted from the removal of the old Generals Power.

However, this left ECA with a Generals Power slot that now needed filling. Whilst a huge emphasis has been placed on making ECA more reliable, aggressive, and unit-focused in 1.9, we still wanted to explore new ways that we could support defensive playstyles - after all, they are still a major focus for the ECA faction, even if it is in a more unit focused way now.

This has led to the creation of a new Generals Power, 'Combat Engineering'. This Power allows ECA engineering units like Engineers, Warhound AVREs, and Pioneers additional construction options to help build more defenses on a larger scale than ever before. It also allows them to call down a new unit, the ECA Light Excavator.



During Operation Nemesis, European forces in North and West Africa frequently had to contend with severely degraded or outright non-existent infrastructure in various GLA-controlled countries. As a result, military engineering resources for the construction of operating bases and lines of communication were spread thin. This led to the formation of a new doctrine where local commands would pool these resources as an on-call reserve that could be airlifted to any engineering element in the field as needed. As the stranglehold of the GLA receded and European control of the region expanded, these same engineering assets would also see increasing use in the construction of new infrastructure for the civilian populace.

Once authorized by the commanding general, European Engineers, Combat Pioneers, and Warhound AVRE commanders can requisition a 'Bobcat' Light Excavator to be para-dropped to their location by an A400M transport. Like its larger-sized cousin, the Light Excavator is a construction vehicle capable of erecting the standard assortment of European facilities and providing repair support. This allows forward forces to rapidly consolidate their position with defenses and establish new facilities without the delay and risk associated with driving a slow, vulnerable Excavator all the way from the base through potentially unsafe territory.

Early into the Russo-European War, many continental members of the European Alliance lost most of their air assets to an onslaught of air strikes, missile bombardment, and sabotage action. It was not until the decisive turn-around of Operation Pandora and the United States' entry into the war that the European air forces once again took to the skies with greater confidence, launching from secure bases on the British Isles, the Iberian Peninsula, and North Africa. It was from this point onwards that the same successful tactic of air-lifted engineering support would be used to greatly affect the liberation of France and the Low Countries.

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The following 2 units have been in the game since 1.86, but never previously received much attention due to their rather minimal impact on the unit roster. Originally intended to be a late-game use for Supply Tracks, both the Medic Track and Engineer Track have been remade from scratch to be dedicated units with their own quirks and abilities.

A popular choice of many European militaries is the Bandvagn family of Swedish all-terrain vehicles, whose unique articulated design gives them exceptional mobility in snow, swamp, desert, and mountain environments. Besides the many combat-oriented variants, such as the Lynx personnel carrier and the Fenris cryogenic weapons carrier, the simple Supply Tracks play a key role in the logistical sustainment of ECA operations and can be converted into medical or repair support vehicles as needed or ordered directly from a Field Command Post as such.



The Medic Track houses an emergency stabilization and treatment facility to heal wounded European infantry in the field. The Third World War produced an extensive list of highly distinguished medical personnel of whom some examples shall be provided:

Meryl Mitchell of the British Army fought in the defence of Ramsgate in 2047 and later deployed to the European mainland. When her medical post was caught in the path of a Russian breakout attempt near Utrecht, she operated a heavy machine gun under fire, thwarting the attack at the cost of her own life.

In late 2048, European and American forces liberated northern Italy. Amidst fighting in Cremona, a US Marine recon element was shattered by an ambush. Arriving in response, Bruno Husseini of the Italian Army ran 80 meters ahead of his unit under enemy fire to aid a wounded Marine before his comrades caught up and repelled the attackers.

During the liberation of Germany in early 2049, Dutch Army medical officer Hendrik Mulder stood his ground against armed members of an extremist resistance group that tried to force him to surrender wounded Russian soldiers under his care, saving them from deadly reprisal. The group was arrested by military police.

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The Engineer Track is equipped with a bulldozer blade and a utility crane to repair European hardware in the field. The Third World War produced an extensive list of highly distinguished engineering personnel of whom some examples shall be provided:

During the Russian invasion of the Baltic countries in the summer of 2045, Vladimir Cernavskis of the Latvian Army repaired a broken detonator while under fire to complete the destruction of a critical motorway bridge that bought additional time for the evacuation of Riga, sacrificing his own life in the act.

After the fall of Berlin and surrender of the German government in 2046, the Bundeswehr fought on, including Tobias Liang, whose unit was repairing battle-damaged tanks on the French side of the Rhine when a vanguard of Russian paratroopers attacked. The small engineer detachment held on for a half hour until reinforcements arrived.

During the counter-offensives of 2048, European forces had to clear thousands of unexploded munitions, including one dramatic instance where a thermobaric bomb was found near a historic church. Instead of detonating it safely, French Army specialist Gabriel Baron chose to dismantle it alone in a tense operation.

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We hope you've enjoyed this peek into some of the more personal stories of the more humble ECA support units. They may not be the units shooting the shells and destroying targets directly, but having these units in your army compositions is going to often be the decisive factor in whether you survive or perish.

That's all for this week. We will see you at the next one!


For further information about Rise of The Reds, visit the Official Website, Forums, ModDB Profile, Discord Channel, and YouTube Video Channel. And that's all regarding Rise of The Reds for now. Stay tuned at PPM for more news about Rise of The Reds!

Welcome back, visitors! The developers from and Contra have recently shared a first view of the Chinese Nuclear Facility. For those unaware, Contra is a modification for Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour that redefines the experience of the game with new units, new graphics and adds general's superpowers. It adds 3 new generals, improves the AI greatly, and introduces super units, among many other gameplay changes, balance changes, and bug fixes. Here is what you need to know about the progress on Contra:

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Hi all,

we are bringing another update, and this time, we have rewarded Nuclear general with a special structure "Nuclear Facility"

As you might guess, this structure is available at rank3.
It has several unique abilities, which makes it very important for this general.

The most obvious one is that it produces a great amount of power. This power will be required for Nuclear Storm, which now comes without GP and is unlocked with Nuclear Facility. This decision will make Nuclear Storm more accessible in the game, but since power consumption will depend on Nuclear Facility, it will be easier to sabotage Nuclear Storm. We believe that this will spice up the game.

Nuclear Facility will contain some important upgrades too. Testing will decide which upgrades will be better and more appropriate than in Propaganda.

Lastly, this structure grants the ability to give Nuclear Weapons to selected units on maps. It means that Battle Masters will have a nuclear shot (which we remember from previous Contra versions). Other units will benefit from nuclear shots as well. Time will tell how much damage and which units will be affected, but this ability will surely improve your units when needed.



Stay tuned for more updates as we are heading toward release, and thank you for supporting us. It means a lot!


You can learn more about Contra by visiting the Official Website, Forums at Revora, ModDB Profile, and Discord Channel. That's all, folks! Stay tuned at PPM for more news coverage on Contra!

Greetings, Comrade General! Updates of Rise of The Reds has been shared recently by SWR Productions. For those unfamiliar with it, Rise of The Reds is a classic and popular modification for C&C Generals: Zero Hour that adds two completely new factions: the tank-heavy Russian Federation and the defense-oriented European Continental Alliance. It also greatly expands the three original factions with several new units, buildings, powers, and abilities to explore and combine with your in-game tactics. Here is the official announcement from Rise of The Reds:

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Hello Generals!
How has your week been?
We've had a productive one with many continued code optimizations and bug fixes coming to fruition. We also have these shiny new toys we'd like to present to you all, the new Mishka kits.

The humble Mishka has always been a player favorite since its original introduction and has gone through a plethora of changes and role adjustments over the years. Being a basic scout unit it has always been a consistent sight on the battlefield, providing reliable vision and information to players as well as assistance in clearing out pesky minefields and explosive ordinances. There have been many attempts to find an extra 'role' for the Mishka and help it find more prevalence in the mid-late game environment - usually with it gaining some level of fireport-based combat ability. In 1.87, this eventuated with a meta of Mishkas becoming the primary combat unit for Russia, filled with RPG conscripts, Shock Troopers, and Iglas drilling over the map and through opponents' bases before they had a chance to respond. Although we love to see people's enthusiasm for the Mishka in combat, one thing we never want is a single unit invalidating the remaining unit roster, such as in this instance. Although the community balance patches both made changes to this to mitigate the impact and refocus the Russian meta within their own gameplay environments, for 1.9, we decided that rather than directly nerf the Mishka, why not explore how its role could be expanded upon and refocus the unit so it would not invalidate the other units, but support them directly?

Coincidentally, at the same time we began redeveloping the Mishka, a gameplay decision was made to allow all factions to start the game with radar by default. However, seeing as Russia was the only faction that needed a separate building-based radar that was not attached to their Command Centre equivalent, the idea was floated to combine the issues into one streamlined, drill-equipped solution.

Thus, the new Mishka kits were created to fill in 3 main holes within the Russian arsenal.
Firstly, a radar unit for the start of the game to allow Russian players to use their radar minimap whilst they tech up to their Radar Tower. Secondly, a unit that can act as a reliable support unit that can assist in combat without invalidating the rest of the roster with its fireports. Finally, a unit that can act as a Tier-1 bridge to give healing to Russian infantry should the player avoid the Infirmary tech route and focus on a Weapons Bunker. With these roles in mind, we set to work, and the new Mishka kits were created.



The MT-LB is a lightweight armored utility vehicle first introduced to the Soviet Army in the early 1970s. It was produced at the Kharkiv Tractor Plant in the Ukrainian Soviet Republic and licensed for further production in Bulgaria and Poland for an estimated total of 55.000, making it one of the most mass-produced military vehicles in existence. Used throughout the Warsaw Pact and many Soviet allies from Angola to Vietnam, it spawned a dazzling variety of variants made for every conceivable role, many of which would see service in conflicts far into the 21st century. In the 2030s, Russia introduced a new production series of vehicles featuring modern components, improved ergonomics, and a unique screw-based propulsion system. Optimized for amphibious operations and rough terrain from Arctic to marshland environments, the new MT-LB became a reliable favourite among the troops much like its predecessor, earning it the affectionate nickname of "Mishka". Like its predecessor, the Mishka spawned numerous variants available to commanders who requisition the necessary Assault Armaments to modify their vehicles in the field.

Although not designed as a combat vehicle, the Mishka often serves as a light assault carrier for Russian infantry, particularly with forward reconnaissance, expeditionary, and rear echelon security forces. In this configuration, the passenger hatches on the top side of the vehicle are opened and fortified with sandbags, plank covers, and other improvised elements for a degree of additional protection, allowing the infantry to fire their weapons on the move.

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For lightweight forces that cannot operate heavy artillery systems like howitzers or multi rocket launchers, portable mortars provide essential indirect fire support. The Mishka can be converted into a light mortar carrier and stocked with enough high-explosive shells to provide quick and effective supporting fire for infantry elements in early engagements when the bigger, more terrifying weapons of the legendary "God of War" cannot be brought to bear yet.

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Faced with a highly aged population and years of neglect in medical services, one major aspect of Russia's military reform was the improvement of safety standards and military healthcare. This led to the creation of new medical facilities, first aid training for all personnel, and the implementation of a reliable casualty evacuation system. Mishkas modified into mobile infirmaries play a key part in this, providing medical assistance to infantry in the field.

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A fourth, rarer variant of the Mishka is a radar carrier, which, according to doctrine, is to be deployed immediately at the beginning of combat operations to provide commanders with radar coverage prior to the construction of a dedicated facility. In addition, this variant benefits from extended vision compared to the default. It should be noted that only one of these "Radar Mishkas" can be deployed at any time as it is only intended as a temporary or fall-back option.

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That's all for this week. We wish you well and that your drills may be the drills that pierce the heavens.
We will be back next week with more exciting units and content to show you. Don't forget. Believe in yourself. Not in the you who believes in me. Not the me who believes in you. Believe in the you who believes in yourself. (10 points to anyone who gets the reference and what it has to do with Mishkas.)

Till next time, Generals!


You can find more information about Rise of The Reds by visiting the Official Website, Forums, ModDB Profile, Discord Channel, and YouTube Video Channel. That's all, folks! Stay tuned at PPM for more news coverage on Rise of The Reds!

Krita 5.2.3 has been released!
Jun 29, 2024 - 04:33
Hello everyone! We have news for you. Krita 5.2.3 was released moments ago by the crew of Krita fixing a bunch of bugs. For your information, Krita is a free and open-source graphics editor for digital art and 2D animation. It features an advanced brush engine, non-destructive layers and masks, group-based layer management, vector artwork support, color management support, and switchable customization profiles.  Here are the updates from Krita 5.2.3:

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Krita 5.2.3 is released after several weeks of testing of the beta. This is a bugfix release that primarily brings a complete overhaul of our build system, making it so that our CI system can now build for all 4 platforms (a Continuous Integration system basically builds a program after every change, runs some tests, and based on that helps us track down mistakes we made when changing Krita's code).

Beyond the rework of the build system, this release also has numerous fixes, particularly with regard to animated transform masks, jpeg-xl support, shortcut handling on Windows, and painting assistants.

In addition to the core team, special thanks go out to Freya Lupen, Grum 999, Mathias Wein, Nabil Maghfur Usman, Alvin Wong, Deif Lou, Maciej Jesionowski, and Rasyuqa A. H. for various fixes, as well as the first time contributors in this release cycle (Each mentioned after their contribution).

Changes since 5.2.3 beta:

  • Various fixes to tool canvas input shortcut behavior (Thanks, Aqaao)
  • Improved icons for Android (Bug 463043, thanks Jesse 205!)
  • Various fixes to how we use MLT for synchronizing audio to animation.
  • Python SIP type stub generation: this will help autocompletion in external Python editors that support using these stubs (Thanks, Kate Corcoran)
  • Crash fix with adding animation keyframe column on a locked layer (Bug 486893)
  • Fix update of the "read-only" state of the document when loading and saving (Bug 487544)
  • Ask to use PSD data in TIFF only if any was found (Bug 488024)
  • Reworked default FFmpeg profiles (Bug 455006, 450790, 429326, 485515, 485514, thanks Ralek Kolemios!)
  • Fix issue in KisMergeLabeledLayersCommand when masks where involved (Bug 486419)
  • Update batch exporter Python plugin to fix trim option issue (Bug 488343, thanks Nathan Lovato!)
  • Welcome Page: Fix "DEV BUILD" button going to a 404 (Thanks, Joshua Goins!)
  • Tablet Tester: Fix extreme lag with S Pen on Android (Thanks, Joshua Goins!)
  • Fix canvas fade-out when in 16-bit-uint mode on Angle (Bug 488126)
  • WEBP & JPEG-XL: preemptive check for animation (Bug 476761)
  • Fix copy-pasting selection of File Layer (Bug 459849)
  • Fix color sampler in wrap around mode (Bug 478190)
  • Replace old QML touch docker with QWidget-based touch docker to avoid problems on Android (Bug 476690)
  • Add support for XSIMD13
  • Redraw layers docker thumbnails if the canvas checkers color was changed
  • Fix animation playback freezes when pausing past the end of audio (Bug 487371 and 478185)


If you are curious about Krita, visit the Official Website to obtain further information about it. Grab the latest version of Krita by clicking Here. That's all, folks! Stay tuned at PPM for more news coverage on Krita!

Hello, ladies and gentlemen! Updates of Rise of The Reds has been shared moments ago by SWR Productions. For those unfamiliar with it, Rise of The Reds is a classic and popular modification for C&C Generals: Zero Hour that adds two completely new factions: the tank-heavy Russian Federation and the defense-oriented European Continental Alliance. It also greatly expands the three original factions with several new units, buildings, powers, and abilities to explore and combine with your in-game tactics. Here is the official announcement from Rise of The Reds:

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Good evening, everybody!
It's that time of the week again, so let's not dilly-dally and jump right on in.

A constant within all versions of ROTR has been GLA's inherent weakness in late-game environments. This is a natural inevitability for the faction and very much by design. After all, with the faction's themes being stealth, sneakiness, and hit-and-run gameplay, light-fast units can only scale so much before they get outclassed.

However, it has been noted many times that within late-game stalemates (especially on maps with narrow chokepoints or team games with lots of ECA players), GLA really has struggled to maintain momentum and react in a meaningful way when playing defensively without resorting to the sheer force of Rocket Buggies to overwhelm their opponents. Partly, this was due to a now fixed bug with the Grad's secondary damage not working as intended, but it is also linked to a lack of other reliable anti-tank options that GLA players can use in the game environment once so many crowd control options exist to counter close range AT infantry like Angry Mobs and Tunnel Defenders. Although we intend for GLA to be a more early-game-focused faction, the sheer lack of variety in GLA strategies and units we have seen because of these issues is something we do want to address with 1.9.

We decided to do a few things. Firstly, we fixed the Grads to have correct damage calculations. This was a great first step but still didn't really mix up the unit variety in the way we wanted. We decided two things were needed.

The first was some sort of super impactful late-game unit that had the power to break through enemy defenses or destroy enemy vehicle columns with high burst potential to act as an alternative to the existing artillery roster. With the inclusion of the Helix in previous builds, we thought, "why not bring back the Scud Launcher? It fits this role, and if China is getting a ZH favorite, why not give GLA the same?"

So, our beloved Scud Launcher has returned. You will note that this version of the Scud is extremely different from the ZH version, both in how it works and how it plays. It launches its missile much slower at a much higher range than before. The choice of choosing what type of warhead the Scud launches has also been removed, instead now firing the exact same Scud missile that the Scud Storm shoots - albeit a single missile instead of nine. Finally, the Scud Launcher is also limited to a maximum of four units. In practice, this makes Scud Launchers very prized and limited units that have the power to turn the game completely around, but only if players can keep them alive. This should make them the limited force multiplier they should be and not make them a must-pick Generals Power every single game.

We also wanted to add a lighter, more mid-game-focused anti-tank alternative to Rocket Buggies that could give GLA a more reliable counter to enemy armor without needing to rely on said buggies every single time.
Thus, the Spear Team was created.






From the late 1950s to the late 80s, Soviet engineers developed a series of ballistic missiles that were collectively designated as the Scud family by Western militaries. During the Cold War, these missiles were exported to all members of the Warsaw Pact as well as numerous Soviet-aligned states in Asia and Africa. Some of these states went on to develop their own derivatives of the Scud, such as the North Korean Hwasong, the Iranian Qiam, or the Yemeni Burkan series of missiles. With such an extensive proliferation, it came as no surprise that many Scud missiles wound up in the arsenal of the Global Liberation Army during the War on Terror. Operating from hidden bases in Iran and the Caucasus Mountains, the forces of Dr. Thrax, in particular, commanded a large number of these missiles and used them to devastating effect against coalition forces and population centers throughout the region. Even after the killing of Dr Thrax and the shattering of his organization, many of the missiles remained unaccounted for. A decade later, following the re-consolidation of the GLA under the leadership of Warlord Anwar Sulaymaan, intelligence agencies found new insights into their whereabouts. All three factions of the GLA possess several hundred Scud derivatives, typically arranged on stationary launch pads known as "Scud Storms". The anarchist faction of Tahar Ibrahiim also controls several wheeled launch vehicles that allow the use of Scuds, tipped with combined high-explosive/chemical warheads, as mobile battlefield artillery. Analysts have found out that this use of Scuds is not only rooted in tactical considerations but also in the peculiar politics of the anarchist faction, as operational command of these mobile missiles alternates between different elected and term-limited councils to prevent an excessive concentration of power. For this reason, only a limited number of Scud Launchers can be deployed at any given time.

Unit Description MARS2588



Despite being quite outdated in their role as anti-tank weapons in an age of guided missiles and smart munitions, recoilless rifles continue to see use in developing countries with limited military resources or absence of major armed conflicts, as well as by non-state organizations such as the Global Liberation Army. In this context, tripod-mounted rifles are frequently used by teams of more experienced fighters, whose long-honed skills in target identification and gunnery allow them to inflict serious damage to light vehicles and even tanks at long ranges by targeting their tracks, optics, and other weak points. Typically, these units are referred to as Spear Teams, a term whose specific origin is as enigmatic as anything else about the organization's army culture. Some analysts suggest that the operators liken themselves to "spearmen" in their historic role against cavalry and its modern "armored" descendants.

Unit Description MARS2588

We hope you have enjoyed this week's update, and we hope you're all ready to welcome back an old favorite as we have been. Till next time, Generals!


You can find more information about Rise of The Reds by visiting the Official Website, Forums, ModDB Profile, Discord Channel, and YouTube Video Channel. And that's all for now!

Hello everyone! SWR Productions, the leader of Rise of The Reds, has been busy recently working on it and shared its progress report with us. Rise of The Reds is a classic and popular modification for C&C Generals: Zero Hour that adds two completely new factions: the tank-heavy Russian Federation and the defense-oriented European Continental Alliance. It also greatly expands the three original factions with several new units, buildings, powers, and abilities to explore and combine with your in-game tactics. Here is the official announcement from Rise of The Reds:

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Good evening everyone. We hope you've had a great week.

This week, we are continuing our exploration of the American Armoured Company expansion, with the Paladin kits. Positioned as the American heavy tank, the Paladin - although tanky with the right upgrades and battle plans - was left in a rather vicarious spot when paired up against its contemporaries. When fighting other heavies like Golems and Kodiaks, it was often an even fight, and often the Paladin would need to have support, and when against super heavies like Overlords and Sentinels, it could not engage without some level of support at all. Although this was by design, this left the Paladin in a rather odd place within the US tech tree. It was a GP-locked unit that couldn't really do its job of being a breakthrough heavier vehicle, nor did it have the firepower to really go toe-to-toe with its contemporaries. So, when reworking the armored company Generals Point, we decided that instead of doubling down on one role or another for the Paladin, that we expand the unit and give it the capacity to do both and more with some kits.






Throughout the war against the GLA, the US Army invested in the development of new tanks tailored for rapid global deployment and asymmetric warfare. The M1 Abrams underwent a series of branching upgrades from the common CRSADR (CRew Smart Assistance & DRone package, dubbed "Crusader") to the novel PALADIN (Perimeter-Active LAser Defence INtegration). After the War on Terror and the crisis of the early 2030s, the US armed forces were streamlined to once again engage in overseas operations at only a fraction of the previous cost through the implementation of new automation, battle management, and propulsion technologies. An early product of this was the M10 Paladin II battle tank, which fused the decades worth of upgrades of the old Abrams into an all-new design that would serve as a clean sheet for future technological innovations. One such innovation was the Electro-Magnetic Projectile Accelerator, or EMPA for short - the world's first mass-produced heavy railgun fitted on a combat vehicle. While the US Navy had already introduced larger versions of these weapons for bombardment and air/missile defense purposes in the late 2020s, the US Army had initially deprioritized the development of railguns as they were deemed impractical in the face of light, if at all armored GLA vehicles. It was only after the rise of new peer-level competitors like China and Russia and advances in fusion power miniaturization that the concept of a railgun-armed tank rose to prominence. In tank-on-tank engagements, the EMPA significantly increases the Paladin's range and firepower. However, due to the kinetic projectile's inefficiency against infantry and hardened buildings, crews are instructed to only fire on vehicles to minimize rail attrition. By the time of America's entry into the Third World War, the development of dedicated anti-personnel and demolition shells had only just begun and would not deliver results until years later.

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As with previous American tanks, the Paladin II was also used as the baseline for a new combat engineering vehicle. Designed specifically to address the threat of land mines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and fortifications by the GLA in the previous conflict, the Clearing Roller / Assault Breacher, or CRAB for short, significantly improves the Paladin's resistance against roadside explosives. The traditional steel tracks have been replaced with a carbon nanotube composite alloy, designed to absorb the force of an explosion and cause less damage to roads in the area of operations. The bottom of the tank hull has been remade into a shallow V-shape designed to deflect the blast of a mine or IED away from the fighting compartment and towards the reinforced tracks. Hollow rubber pads filled with “smart” fluid help further absorb explosive force and fragments while simultaneously defeating the fuse triggers of older mines. In addition to these mine countermeasures, the Paladin II's standard cannon was replaced with a short-barrelled demolition gun, purpose-built to destroy fortifications and improve maneuverability in obstructed urban environments. While originally designed to deal with the roadblocks utilized by the GLA and other insurgent forces, this weapon also proved very useful in the Euro-American counter-offensives, as CRAB-equipped engineering squadrons were easily able to destroy Russian strongpoints in the key mountain passes of northern Italy, Austria, and Czechia.

Render Description: SayaAyane



Another common variant of the Paladin II is tailored to increasing the survivability of the tank and crew inside, especially in urban environments that have traditionally been difficult for tanks to engage in. Taking an already formidably armored vehicle with some of the most comprehensive defensive capabilities on the modern battlefield and upgrading it to an even higher standard of survivability is what the Tank Urban Survival Kit, or TUSK, is designed to do, using a combination of tried and true methods to attain maximum protection for both the vehicle and its crew. Explosive reactive armor is used to line the most vulnerable areas of the Paladin II, including the lower glacis plate and the turret. This provides a significant improvement to the tank's defensive capability. After that comes the Point Defense Laser Array System, sometimes referred to by crews rather melodramatically as “Hell's Crown”; that being multiple anti-projectile lasers ringed around the top of the turret. The PDLAS uses thermal, radar, and acoustics-based sensors to identify incoming rockets. It is linked directly to the tank's onboard AI, allowing rapid simultaneous interception of multiple projectiles. These modifications greatly limit the threat of common shoulder-launched rockets and even the most advanced anti-tank missiles to American forces.

Render Description: SayaAyane


Before we head out, we would also love to say a huge thank you to MaelstromX103 for hosting last nights ROTR Stream, it was a blast to watch and we all enjoyed it greatly. We would also love to give a huge shout-out and thank you to everyone who participated in #modlove2024 and supported Mod Appreciation Week.
If you voted for a mod and won one of the free games, you should be getting notification of your Steam keys now.

That's all we have for this week, we hope you've enjoyed!
We will see you all in the next one.


If you are curious about Rise of The Reds, visit the Official Website, Forums, ModDB Profile, Discord Channel, and YouTube Video Channel to obtain further information about it. And that's all for now!

Hi everyone! SWR Productions, the leader of Rise of The Reds, has been busy recently working on it and shared its progress report with us. For those unaware of what is being written here, Rise of The Reds is a classic and popular modification for C&C Generals: Zero Hour that adds two completely new factions: the tank-heavy Russian Federation and the defense-oriented European Continental Alliance. It also greatly expands the three original factions with several new units, buildings, powers, and abilities to explore and combine with your in-game tactics. Here is the official announcement from Rise of The Reds:

Quote:
Good evening, Generals. How are we all this week?
We're good, thanks for asking. What? You didn't ask that? Did you ask for a ROTR update? Alright, I guess you've all earned it.

One of our goals in 1.9 is to try and make the Generals Power system a more dynamic and fluid one. We want to make each GP have some level of viability at all stages of the game and challenge the established 'must picks' by making some of the lesser valued GP's more desirable and important. This has led to some interesting experiments of moving tech and upgrades around the tech tree and advancing the release of some planned 2.0 content to help fill some of these holes. We want to make all the Generals Powers valuable in all matchups, so for unlock GP's like American 'Armoured Company', the decision has been made to expand the scope of the GP and spread its unlocks out over the entire tech tree.

Enter the American Bradley IFV.
Originally removed in 1.85, we are re-adding the beloved Bradley back into version 1.9 to fill in as the tier 0 unit option for the 'Armoured Company' GP. This means that the Bradley will be extremely different from its previous 1.802 incarnation, now getting much of its planned 2.0 functionality from the get-go.
Within this return, we also looked at whether there was more we could do with the Bradley to expand its usefulness beyond the tier 0 environment and keep it as a valuable and desirable choice as the game goes on. Thus, we have added 3 rather robust and varied kits to the unit that should keep it relevant and specialized over the entire game's length.




In 2021, against the backdrop of the War on Terror intensifying after the devastating GLA attacks on China, the United States Marine Corps phased out all of its tank battalions that had existed since the Second World War. One of the most outspoken critics of this was Jeremiah Bradley, the future commanding general of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, who served as a battalion commander during the war. Foreseeing an inevitability of a future major war with China and Russia, Bradley insisted that the USMC would have to retain its own armored capability so as not to find itself outgunned in a conflict against tank-heavy adversaries with airspace denial and electronic warfare capabilities that would jeopardize America's ability to fight on its own preferred terms. During the 2030s, Bradley, who by then had become a general, used his political connections and popularity among the USMC community to lobby for the reconstitution of the Marine tank battalions, which were brought back to life with a mixture of Acolyte, Crusader, and Paladin tanks, alongside the M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle in a number of new mechanized infantry battalions. First introduced to the US Army in 1981 following a troubled development history and named after the non-related WW2 general Omar Bradley, the vehicle had been of no relevance to the USMC for decades due to its lack of amphibious capability. Under the new doctrine of the early 2040s, however, the Bradley, like its tank brethren, would be brought to shore via high-speed landing craft or Starlifter air transports. In its basic configuration, the Bradley is a multirole combat vehicle capable of transporting infantry, carrying out reconnaissance and detection duties by way of its advanced optics and sensors, and providing fire support with its 25mm autocannon. As with many other US vehicles, a number of field modifications exist.

Render Description: MARS2588






The first, most commonly seen variant of the Bradley complements the primary 25mm autocannon with a launch pod of TOW anti-tank missiles. The BGM-71 "Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided" missile has been a staple of American and allied forces since 1970. Somewhat of an anachronism in an age of advanced sensor- and AI-guided munitions due to its physical line of control, the TOW remains a favorite by virtue of its rugged reliability and decisive power. The latest version, with an improved tandem warhead, rocket motor, and guidance control system, provides the Bradley with a deadly, extended-range punch against even the heaviest tanks of the 2040s.

Render Description: MARS2588






Another variant of the Bradley replaces its common 25mm autocannon with a much more powerful 50mm gun, a variant of the one prominently featured on the heavy gunships of the US Aerospace Force. The larger caliber size allows the use of bigger, more advanced ammunition types, including a high-velocity kinetic sabot round and a programmable explosive round, either of which is automatically fed against the appropriate kind of target, in effect achieving greater damage per shot and area effect over the default cannon. In stark contrast to its deadly primary weapon, this variant of the Bradley can also discharge flashbang grenades for non-lethal suppression of crowds or high-value individuals.

Render Description: MARS2588






The third variant of the Bradley is designed for urban operations and counter-insurgency. It features fireports that allow passengers to use their weapons under armor protection, making it ideal for close-quarters combat in built-up areas. In addition, it has front-mounted rollers to safely detonate mines and roadside bombs away from the vehicle's hull, protecting its crew, passengers, and friendly forces following behind it.

Render Description: MARS2588

We will be going into more depth with some other Armoured Company inclusions soon, so stay tuned and keep your eyes on that article tab. In the meantime, however, we have an extra little treat coming your way.
This weekend MaelstromX103 is hosting another exciting 1.9 livestream, so if you're excited to see the Bardley's (and any of our other new stuff), the details are below, and will be on the description of the stream's announcement image.




That's all we have for this week. We will see you all soon!
Till next time generals!


You can check more information about Rise of The Reds by visiting the Official Website, Forums, ModDB Profile, Discord Channel, and YouTube Video Channel. And this is all we can offer for today regarding Rise of The Reds!

Greetings, Commanders! NeverLoseGuy, the leader of C&C Power Play, has posted a new version of C&C Power Play called C&C Power Play V.1.7. For those unaware, C&C Power Play is a total conversion modification for Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour. It comes with 5 original factions (Vulkan, Fulgura, Lamina, Solisia and Demons) and several new units and gameplay quirks to deal with. The changes from C&C Power Play V.1.7 were announced with the following words:

Quote:




--------------------
CHANGELOG V.1.7
--------------------

- This update brings new features for each of the factions to make them more unique from each other, as well as new buildings from which they can produce units.
- With the implementation of the new buildings, units now take longer to produce in order to decrease the risk of lagging the game.

GLOBAL:
- All suicide units (except Doomsdays) now use the "ARMOR_PIERCING" damage type, meaning they now deal 50% damage to the Command Center and full damage to other structures.
- All Command Centers now have their own variants of defense mechanisms:
-- Solisia fires a fast-moving projectile that deals heavy damage.
-- Vulkan fires a cannon that revs up in speed the longer it attacks.
-- Fulgura fires an EMP projectile that disables enemy vehicles.
-- Lamina fires a fast-loading cannon.
-- Infernus fires a volley of shells at its location.
- All factions now have their own unique take on "Artillery Cannon" special power:
-- Solisia fires a heavy projectile that deals heavy damage every 4 minutes.
-- Vulkan fires a small but stackable projectile every 4 minutes.
-- Fulgura fires an EMP projectile that disables vehicles upon impact every 2 minutes.
-- Lamina fires a small projectile every 1 minute.
-- Infernus fires a flaming projectile that creates a firestorm upon impact every 2 minutes.
-- These Artillery Cannons deal "ARMOR_PIERCING" damage, which is 50% effective to the Command Center, and 100% to other structures.
- Adjusted the number of vehicles spawned via the "Ambush" special power:
-- Increased Solisian vehicles number from 2/4/6/8 to 4/5/6/8.
-- Increased Vulkanic vehicles number from 2/4/6/8 to 2/4/5/6.
-- Increased Fulguran vehicles number from 2/4/6/8 to 4/5/6/8.
-- Increased Lamini vehicles number from 2/4/6/8 to 4/8/12/16.
-- Increased Infernal vehicles number from 2/4/6/8 to 4/5/6/8.









- All factions now possess their own version of production building that can be built by their dozers. Each faction now has different means of producing its units.
-- Solisia can only produce Prophet, Zealot, Crusader, and Cupid from its Command Center, with everything else (including aforementioned units) needing to be produced at its War Factory.
-- Vulakn can only produce Standard Whiplash and Super Heavy Tanks (Pugnax and Ultima) from its Command Center, with everything else needing to be produced at its War Factory.
-- Fulgura can produce all units from its Command Center, as well as its War Factory.
-- Lamina can produce all units from its Command Center, but one of its production buildings (called the "Rat Nest") can only produce Rats and their specialized variants. Alternatively, it can also build its own War Factory at a higher cost.
-- Infernus can only produce Tier 1 units (Termite and Scarab) from its Command Center, with everything else (including aforementioned units) needing to be produced at its War Factory.
- Several hotkeys have been remapped to accommodate new buildings and dozers, as well as restructuring of the commandset for some of the factions.
- Tech hospital is now indestructible and has the same functionality as the repair bay.
- Reverted the veterancy system; units will now gain health, fire rate, and weapon damage bonus by 125/150/200 percent, respectively.
- All AI difficulties now use the same script, with each level having innate buffs to their damage and health from 100/110/150%, respectively.
-- NOTE: The Brutal AI is now well, very brutal, possibly on the line of impossible. This is intended for those people who prefer playing with max money to start off, where you will find it hard to fight these even then.









SOLISIA:
- Prophet:
-- Decreased Prophet's weapon ammo count from 4/6 to 3/4.
-- Increased Prophet's weapon damage from 100 to 120.
-- Increased Prophet's build time from 1 to 3 seconds.
- Zealot:
-- Decreased Zealot's weapon ammo count from 2/3 to 1/2.
-- Decreased Zealot's build cost from 2000 to 1500.
-- Increased Zealot's build time from 1 to 3 seconds.
- Crusader:
-- Decreased Crusader's weapon ammo count from 3/5 to 2/3.
-- Decreased Crusader's build cost from 3000 to 2500.
-- Increased Crusader's build time from 3 to 4 seconds.
- Cupid:
-- Decreased Cupid's build cost from 3000 to 2500.
-- Increased Cupid's build time from 1 to 4 seconds.
-- Cupid now disables a vehicle in addition to disarming it when switched to the appropriate type.
- Warden:
-- Decreased Warden's build cost from 5000 to 4500.
-- Increased Warden's build time from 2 to 6 seconds.
- Priest:
-- Increased Priest's build time from 3 to 6 seconds.
- Seraph:
-- Increased Seraph's weapon damage from 100 to 500.
-- Increased Seraph's weapon cooldown from 3000/2000 to 4000/2000.
-- Increased Seraph's weapon burst cooldown.
-- Increased Seraph's build time from 3 to 6 seconds.
- Bishop:
-- Bishop can now switch between its single but lethal shot and a new continuous beam mode.
-- Increased Bishop's build time from 3 to 6 seconds.

VULKAN:
- Whiplash:
-- Increased Whiplash's weapon cooldown from 100 to 200.
-- Decreased Whiplash's health pool from 800 to 600.
-- Increased Whiplash's build time from 1 to 3 seconds.
- Ignis:
-- Decreased Ignis' health pool from 1000 to 800.
-- Increased Ignis' weapon cooldown from 400/200 to 500/250.
-- Increased Ignis' build time from 1 to 3 seconds.
-- Removed Double-Barreled Ignis variant.
-- Updated the visual aesthetics.
- Ignis Prime:
-- Increased Ignis Prime's build time from 2 to 4 seconds.
- Robus:
-- Increased Robus' build time from 2 to 6 seconds.
- Servus:
-- Increased Servus' build time from 1 to 4 seconds.
- Bothynus:
-- Increased Bothynus' build time from 3 to 6 seconds.
- Pugnax:
-- Increased Pugnax' build time from 3 to 6 seconds.
- Ultima:
-- Increased Ultima's build time from 3 to 6 seconds.
-- Fixed a bug that prevents Ultima from being seen by all players on the map.

FULGURA:
- Defender:
-- Increased Defender's build time from 2 to 4 seconds.
- Stormer:
-- Increased Stormer's build time from 2 to 4 seconds.
- Enforcer:
-- Increased Enforcer's build time from 4 to 8 seconds.
- Lawmaker:
-- Increased Lawmaker's build time from 4 to 8 seconds.
- Fortifier:
-- Increased Fortifier's build time from 4 to 8 seconds.
- Peacemaker:
-- Increased Peacemaker's build time from 6 to 12 seconds.
-- Increased Peacemaker's health pool from 2000 to 2500.
- Watcher:
-- Increased Watcher's build time from 6 to 12 seconds.
- Shieldbreaker:
-- Increased Shieldbreaker's build time from 6 to 12 seconds.
- Decreased the force field's laser-cutting weapon cooldown from Shieldbreaker from 500 to 50.

LAMINA:
- Rat Variants:
-- Decreased Standard Rat's weapon damage from 20 to 10.
-- Increased Standard Rat's build time from 0.5 to 3 seconds.
-- Increased Marksman Rat's build time from 1 to 3 seconds.
-- Increased Ripper Rat's build time from 1 to 3 seconds.
-- Increased Fake Rat's build time from 1 to 3 seconds.
-- Reduced the trajectory height of the projectile.
- Cobra:
-- Increased Cobra's build time from 1 to 3 seconds.
- Python:
-- Increased Python's build time from 2 to 4 seconds.
-- Updated the visual aesthetics.
- Hedgehog:
-- Decreased Hedgehog's weapon cooldown from 3000 to 2000.
-- Increased Hedgehog's build time from 2 to 4 seconds.
- Boa:
-- Decreased Boa's gattling weapon damage from 50 to 40.
-- Increased Boa's build time from 3 to 6 seconds.
- Warthog:
-- Increased Warthog's build time from 3 to 6 seconds.
- Toad:
-- Increased Toad's build time from 3 to 6 seconds.
- Lion:
-- Increased Lion's build time from 3 to 10 seconds.

INFERNUS:
- Termite:
-- Increased Termite's build time from 2 to 4 seconds.
- Scarab:
-- Decreased Scarab's weapon cooldown from 250/200 to 200/200.
-- Decreased Scarab's weapon damage from 40/75 to 40/60.
-- Increased Scarab's build time from 2 to 4 seconds.
- Harbinger:
-- Increased Harbinger's weapon damage from 50 to 100.
-- Harbinger no longer creates a small fire field with its weapon.
- Vanguard:
-- Increased Vanguard's weapon damage from 100/150 to 150/250.
-- Increased Vanguard's build time from 4 to 8 seconds.
-- Vanguard no longer creates a small fire field with its weapon.
- Conqueror:
-- Decreased Conqueror's weapon damage from 50/75 to 40/50.
-- Increased Conqueror's build time from 4 to 8 seconds.
- Hellstorm:
-- Hellstorm now fires its weapon in an arc rather than summoning its projectiles from above.
-- Hellstorm now fires in a volley of 4 projectiles and 6 when upgraded.
-- Decreased Hellstorm's weapon damage from 400 to 300.
-- Decreased Hellstorm's weapon cooldown from 1000/500 to 4000.
-- Increased Hellstorm's weapon scatter radius from 25 to 100.
-- Increased Hellstorm's build time from 6 to 8 seconds.
- Baron
-- Increased Baron's weapon damage from 300 to 500.
-- Increased Baron's build time from 6 to 12 seconds.
-- Increased the number of Termites spawned upon death from 4 to 8.
-- Baron no longer creates a small fire field with its weapon.
- Doomsday
-- Increased Doomsday's build time from 6 to 12 seconds.



You can download this mod via Genlauncher or from this website. For manual installation, grab the contents from the version folder and extract them to your ZH folder.


For further information about C&C Power Play, visit its Content at PPM Community, and ModDB Profile. Download C&C Power Play V.1.7 Here. And this is all for today! Enjoy C&C Power Play and provide your feedback about it so it can get better.