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Eyes open!
—A Riot Trooper is moving carefully

The Riot Trooper is an American infantry specializing in urban combat. Their riotguns and flashbangs can make short work of enemy infantry both in the open and garrisoned in structures.

Despite their durable body armor, Riot Troopers are surprisingly amphibious, allowing them to catch enemies off-guard.

Official description[]

It is a widely known fact that the United States joined late during the Second Great War. American soldiers, which were sent to Europe right after the basic training and without any knowledge on how to fight in the European theatre, had to face the Soviets in a harsh and brutal urban warfare. While the Soviets adapted to using spades, grenades and short but quick-firing submachine guns, the Americans were suffering heavy casualties against battle-hardened Soviet troops until they brought heavy weapons.

In time, the United States' forces decided to arm their troops fighting in urban areas with more frag grenades and shotguns, focusing their training on how to fight in towns and cities. Years before the Soviets attacked once more, specially trained soldiers with heavy flak jackets, riot shields, riotguns and flash grenades designed to flush out hostiles from the buildings, were prepared for battles to come.[1]

Overview[]

The Riot Trooper is a must have for any American battalion should skirmishes with large numbers of hostile infantry are expected - this is due to the fact that the US lacks a suitable endgame unit designed to deal with swathes of infantry. While the European Alliance's Prism Tank can flash-fry entire crowds into ashes and the Pacific Front's Blizzard Tank will make an ice sculpture out of any infantry unit foolish enough to stand in its way, the American Athena Cannon is far too cumbersome and unwieldy for the task, considering its inability to hit mobile targets and delays between attacks.

The specialized plate armor Riot Troopers wear provides them extra durability and resistance against anti-personnel weapons, to the point where they can withstand even the fearsome radiation cannons wielded by the Desolators/Eradicators. When fired upon, they take cover behind their shields, further increasing their resistance to physical weapons. In addition, Riot Troopers are also equipped with inflatable rafts that allow them to cross water.

Riot Troopers excel in neutralizing heavy infantry units where the Navy SEAL would have difficulty eliminating quickly (especially if they attack in large numbers), such as Brutes and Giantsbanes. The ammunition they fire from their riot guns will also decrease the speed of infantry units substantially, suppressing them and making it more difficult for them to advance/retreat when under fire. Given the area-of-effect nature of the riot gun, they can easily disperse and eliminate large hordes of infantry with little difficulty. If ordered to fire on garrisoned buildings, Riot Troopers will switch to flash grenades and launch them into said structures to quickly flush out the hostilities within while likely not suffering any returning fire given their considerable range. This in return will grant an opportunity for the American commander to fortify the structure with their own troops, as the flash grenades will deal little damage to said building after it has been cleared out.

When loaded into an IFV, they gain extra mobility and are able to launch flash grenades but they will be unable to use their riot guns.

Although a great unit to deal with large masses of infantry, Riot Troopers are only effective against infantry and garrisoned buildings - their riot guns and grenades will barely scratch vehicles and structures. They can also be pinned down by PsiCorps' magnetic weapons given the heavy nature of their armor. Riot Troopers are expensive infantry that are vulnerable to anti-personnel vehicles and aircraft and aren't available until the late game after a Tech Center has been constructed.

AI behavior[]

Riot Troopers controlled by the AI have the following attack patterns:

Medium/Hard[]

  • 1x loaded inside a Stryker IFV, then proceed to target infantry
    • This task force may be accompanied by 1 additional Stryker IFV with the same passenger
  • 3x targeting garrisonable structures
  • 3x targeting infantry, accompanied by 4 Navy SEALs and 3 Attack Dogs
  • 3x guarding Patriot Missiles or Prism Towers
  • 4x targeting infantry
  • 4x following friendlies

Appearances[]

Riot Troopers can deal with enemy garrisons and troops, and can swim.
—Allied intel during Operation: Bad Apple

Act One[]

  • Riot Troopers debut in Happy Birthday and the Soviet Co-Op mission Needlehead.
  • Riot Troopers are introduced as controllable units in Bad Apple, where they were crucial in eliminating Soviet and brainwashed Allied infantry on the streets and garrisoned structures in the city of New York.

Act Two[]

  • Because the Mercury Network Uplink is not a widespread American Tier 2 access building during Act One, they do not become trainable until Ghost Hunt and the Special Ops mission Obstinate.

Assessment[]

Pros Cons
  • Very effective against infantry.
  • Amphibious.
  • Can clear garrisoned structures from a safe range.
  • Riotgun slows enemy infantry on hit.
  • Good armor, more resistant to regular anti-infantry weapons than normal infantry.
  • Immune to Dogs and Spooks.
  • Ineffective against structures and armored vehicles.
  • Vulnerable to anti-infantry weapons.
  • Cannot use flash grenades to kill hordes of infantry battalion.
  • Flash grenades have a minimum attack range.
  • Vulnerable to magnetic weapons.
  • Cannot attack aircraft.
  • Only available late in the game, after building a Mercury Uplink and Tech Center.
  • Flash grenades sometimes do not kill garrisoned troops.

Trivia[]

  • The Riot Trooper's in-game model closely resembles the Peacekeeper from Red Alert 3, which is also equipped with shotgun and a riot shield. Some of the Riot Trooper's quotes and its firing sounds are also borrowed from the Peacekeeper.

See also[]

References[]

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