Attack Dog

Unit

Old version(s)

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Changelog

Attack Dog
Unit
Faction	Allied Nations Soviet Union
Role	Reconnaissance Anti-infantry
Armament	Sharp teeth
Tier	1
Tech level	2
Properties
Hit points	75
Armor type	Animal
Speed	9
Sight radius	8
Training
Cost	$100
Estimated train time	0:04
Train time multiplier(s)	0.65
Trained at	Allied Barracks Soviet Barracks
Combat
Ground	300
Ground modifiers	200% vs. Basic/Animal 100% vs. Flak
Cooldown	30 frames (2 in-game seconds)
Range	1.83
Function
Ability	Amphibious Detects disguised enemies
Veteran bonus	+40% armor
Elite bonus	+40% firepower +25% speed Self-healing
Notes	Cannot be mind-controlled and turned into a Brute/Duplicant

Both the Allies and the Soviet Union employ attack dogs as reconnaissance units, which are capable of noticing disguised enemies and killing infantry with a lethal bite.

The Allies use German Shepherds while the Soviets use Siberian Huskies. Both are otherwise statistically identical, however.

Official description

Allied

A dog is a man's best friend. This age-old adage is proven time and time again with the effectiveness of military Attack Dogs. Trained to attack enemy troops with no remorse, these canines are a threat to any infantry on the battlefield. Their speed, excellent swimming ability, and above-human perceptiveness makes them excellent scouts. It also allows them to sniff out enemy spies effectively. Unfortunately, to make sure the dogs are able to remain agile, they are equipped with only the lightest armor. They are completely helpless against defenses and vehicles.

Soviet

With a thick fur coat and incredible survival instinct, the Soviet Attack Dog is capable of surviving in even the most bitter of winters. Enemies are wise to keep their infantry away from Attack Dogs to prevent unnecessary mauling. Light on their feet and great swimmers, the dogs serve as excellent recon units. Like their Allied cousins, they can sniff out enemy spies effectively and are just as vulnerable to vehicles.

Overview

For a detailed list of changes from the original game, click here for the Allies, and here for the Soviets.

Attack Dogs both maintain and expand their role they had in Red Alert 2; their high speed makes them excellent scouts, and they can now swim, which makes them able to explore further than their vanilla counterpart. They can detect infiltrators, including the new Arsonists and Hijackers, which makes them valuable at all stages of the game.

They have a very powerful bite attack; it can nearly kill any infantry that doesn't benefit from an immunity to it, which makes them especially useful in taking out engineers, other dogs, or lone infantry. This does, however, severely limit their usefulness against certain types of infantry, particularly against the Foehn Revolt's. They also no longer have a lunge on their attack (now exclusive to Chitzkoi), and coupled with their frail health and inability to attack buildings and vehicles, they are generally not suited for heavier engagements with a strong presence of anti-infantry weapons.

AI behavior

Attack Dogs controlled by the AI have the following attack patterns:

Allied

All difficulties

• 1x guarding Prism Towers, Gun Turrets and Pillboxes, accompanied by 2 GIs and 3 Guardian GIs
  • This task force will only be constructed if a Tech Center is not built

• 2x targeting infantry
• 2x targeting infantry, accompanied by 3 Navy SEALs
• 2x targeting infantry, accompanied by 4 Rocketeers
• 2x targeting infantry, accompanied by 4 GIs
  • This task force will only be constructed if an Air Force Command Headquarters is not built
• 2x targeting infantry, accompanied by 6 GIs
  • This task force will only be constructed if an Arsenal Depot is not built
• 2x guarding friendly base, accompanied by 2 GIs and 3 Guardian GIs
  • This task force will only be constructed if a Tech Center is not built
• 2x guarding Allied Barracks or Allied War Factory, accompanied by 4 GIs and 4 Guardian GIs
  • This task force will only be constructed if a Tech Center is not built

Medium/Hard

• 2x targeting infantry
  • This task force will only be constructed if an Arsenal Depot is not built
• 3x targeting infantry, accompanied by 4 Navy SEALs and 3 Riot Troopers or Snipers

Soviet

All difficulties

• 1x guarding Battle Bunkers, Tesla Coils and Sentry Guns, accompanied by 4 Conscripts and 4 Flak Troopers
  • This task force will only be constructed if a Nuclear Reactor is not built

• 2x targeting anything, accompanied by 3 Pyros, 2 Tesla/Shock Troopers and 1 Crazy Ivan
• 2x targeting infantry
• 2x targeting infantry, accompanied by 10 Conscripts
  • This task force will only be constructed if a Field Bureau is not built
• 2x guarding friendly base, accompanied by 3 Conscripts and 3 Flak Troopers
  • This task force will only be constructed if a Nuclear Reactor is not built
• 2x guarding Soviet Barracks or Soviet War Factory, accompanied by 5 Conscripts and 3 Flak Troopers
  • This task force will only be constructed if a Nuclear Reactor is not built
• 4x targeting anything, accompanied by 2 Terror Drones and Chitzkoi
• 4x targeting infantry
• 4x targeting infantry, accompanied by 6 Conscripts
  • This task force will only be constructed if a Radar Dish is not built

Medium/Hard

• 2x targeting infantry
  • This task force will only be constructed if an Field Bureau is not built
• 2x targeting anything, accompanied by 2 Flak Troopers, 2 Pyros and 4 Tesla/Shock Troopers
  • This task force will only be constructed if a Radar Dish is built
  • If available, Rage, Kinetic Barrier and Regen/Wonder Drugs may be applied
• 2x targeting anything, accompanied by 2 Tesla Troopers, 2 Pyros and 4 Mortar Quads
  • If available, Rage, Kinetic Barrier and Regen/Wonder Drugs may be applied

Appearances

“	- Be on the lookout for spies, comrade. It seems a little too quiet tonight. - Hehe, we don't need to worry about stupid American spies. That's what the dogs are for!	”
	—A Conscript and a Rhino Tank operator during Operation Eagle Fly Free

Special Ops

• The Allied Attack Dog first appears in Archetype as enemy unit.

Act One

• The Allied Attack Dog is first controllable and trainable in Red Dawn Rising, at the beginning of the Third Great War.
• Similar to the Allied one, the Soviet Attack Dog first appears as a controllable and trainable unit in Bleed Red at the beginning of Third Great War.
• In Act One, the Epsilon Army has not yet been established at this time. In most cases, the PsiCorps will use Soviet Attack Dog as their scout unit. Starting from The Conqueror, the Epsilon began to use Spook to replace the Soviet Attack Dog that previously used.

Assessment

+

Can kill most standard infantry instantly. Fast movement speed. Very cheap ($100). Immune to mind-control. Amphibious. Can detect disguised enemies. Excellent for early scouting purposes. Can be used as a meat shield for other units, especially vehicles since dogs are almost as fast as them.

-

Useless and helpless against vehicles, drones, ships and structures. Very fragile, easy to kill with anti-infantry weapons. Some well-armored infantry, for instance Siege Cadre, Tesla Trooper, Brute and most Foehn infantry, are immune to dog attacks. Can only attack at close range. As a result, sometimes a dog will either kill or severely injure itself after killing infantry units that can explode (Crazy Ivan, Saboteur etc.) Susceptible to friendly fire when charging and attacking enemy infantry that are being fired upon by allies.

Behind the scenes

• 
  In version 3.0, the Epsilon Army uses Attack Dogs, which are Rottweilers, before the Spook was introduced in version 3.3.
• In version 2.0, the Attack Dogs from different factions has their own features: Allied one has higher speed, Soviet one is tougher and the Epsilon one has virus effect and its immunity. In version 3.0, all Attack Dogs' status have been unified.

Trivia

• The Attack Dog reuses their original voiceset in the vanilla Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge.

See also

• Spook
• Clairvoyant

External links

• Attack dog in the Command & Conquer Wiki