| Unit | Quotes | Gallery | Changelog |
| “ | I lost a bomb... do you have it? | ” |
| —A Crazy Ivan "misplacing" one of his bombs |
The Crazy Ivan are Soviet explosive specialists capable of causing mayhem and destruction within enemy bases and ranks.
Official description
"Crazy Ivan" is the umbrella term for the infantry divisions in the Soviet armies that specialize in demolitions and wholesale destruction. The explosives Crazy Ivans use are entirely self-made, time-triggered incendiary explosives. Having the Ivans create their own bombs with barely any safety procedures provides an unintended and rather unorthodox method of rooting out incompetence.
Unfortunately, the possibility of having your own weapons spontaneously explode at any time has taken its psychological toll on the Ivans, making them perhaps a bit too anxious to rid themselves of their bombs. Crazy Ivans are trained to swim, carrying their explosives in protective plastic bags.[1]
Overview
The Crazy Ivan is substantially buffed in Mental Omega, due to having $100 less cost, twice the speed, amphibious capability and creation of fire after his bombs have detonated. This allows the Crazy Ivan to plant bombs then retreat quickly; a tactic that is difficult to perform with conventional Soviet forces. Additionally, Ivans are able to perform sneak attacks to a poorly guarded base (combined with the fire from the explosions, it prevents reconstruction in the wildfire for a while and scorches infantry and vehicle alike). He could also perform anti-naval duty his Navy SEAL counterpart could do naturally, making the Crazy Ivan a threat to any enemy navy since Engineers, who can defuse the Ivan's bombs, can't swim. Lastly he is also capable of destroying bridges by planting a bomb in the bridge repair hut, denying paths to the enemy.
On the other hand, he still retains his fragile weakness, so it is wise for a Soviet commander to separate Crazy Ivans from his strike force to prevent unnecessary friendly fire from his explosion on death. Ivan bombs can also be detected and defused by Engineers, so it is necessary to eliminate such infantry to ensure explosive success. Units with the appropriate anti-infantry weapons will also gun them down quickly enough (and watch them detonate in a spectacular manner) before they can close the distance to deliver their explosives.
Appearances
Act One
- Crazy Ivan is introduced as a trainable unit in Side Effect.
- In Singularity, after Malver and Virus get in touch with PsiCorps Trooper, the player will be required to destroy the Field Bureau and Airbase in the North Korean bases by mind-controlling the Crazy Ivan who keeps patrolling the Wind Plant. The Crazy Ivan will always spawn from the east side of map if the previous one killed.
- In the Covert Ops mission Taciturn, after the Chinese Agent hides in a Russian base that has a Nuclear Reactor, the second squad including a Crazy Ivan will be sent. He has the ability of throwing his bomb at Nuclear Reactor from afar, and cannot be killed until the said reactor is destroyed.
Act Two
- In Awake and Alive, when the Soviet forces reach the bridgehead, an elite Crazy Ivan will help them to destroy the barrels on the other side of the bridge by swimming across the river and breaking up the defense there. He must survive until the enemy defenses are destroyed.
Assessment
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