Template:OldBuildingTabs The Tactical Nuke Silo is the Soviets' superweapon capable of launching a tactical nuclear missile – basically a smaller version of the MIDAS – on their enemies.
Official description
For a long time, resolutions and treaties were created to limit the deployment of nuclear weaponry. Sadly, these agreements were cast out by the Soviets when they attacked the United States. The Tactical Nuke Silo builds, arms, and launches nuclear missiles. Infamous for its sheer destructive capabilities, the nuclear missile is an imposing weapon used only in the most dire of situations.[1]
Overview
For a detailed list of changes from the original game, click here.
| Superweapon | Description |
|---|---|
 |
The Tactical Nuke Silo prepares and launches its namesake, a tactical nuclear missile, upon the opposing forces, causing mass destruction with the lingering radiation finishing off those who are not destroyed outright. Tactical Nuke takes 10:00 (15:00 in Infantry Only) to recharge. |
General tips
- Superweapons are expensive and power hungry. In some circumstances (such as limited funds) it may be more beneficial to spend credits on other buildings or units.
- All players will be notified of the construction and activation of a superweapon via an EVA announcement, and every player can see the countdown of a superweapon. Unlike in Red Alert 2 however, the minimap will not show where a superweapon is located, nor the fog of war will be removed around the superweapon.
- Build a superweapon only when it is safe to do so. Building one in the wrong circumstances (such as insufficient funds or low power) can be costly.
- Place superweapons preferably at the back of the base, so enemy units will have to fight through your defenses to reach it.
- Surround a superweapon with walls to prevent a timer reset by sneaky spies.
- Superweapons do not guarantee victory. Apart from a long cooldown between activations, an experienced enemy player can destroy a superweapon before it is even activated.
- Enemies are able to recover quickly after a superweapon activation if they have a captured Tech Maintenance Center. Destruction of this tech building is vital to ensuring an enemy base stays crippled.
- In light of the above statement, be wary of certain support powers that can mitigate losses of a superweapon activation (such as European Alliance's Force Shield).
- A.I. opponents tend to build a superweapon in certain, predictable circumstances, such as the following:
- When the A.I. base suddenly has enough build space for one (usually after decimating a large portion of their base) if their base beforehand has occupied all the available space. This will often cause a low power situation, which can be used as an opportunity to finish them off.
- When a player has constructed the first superweapon in the match, A.I. opponents will surely build their own to retaliate afterwards.
Counters
- Arguably the best counter to a superweapon is to prevent the opposing player from building one in the first place.
- Destroying the enemy's Tier 3 access structure is the most direct option.
- Disrupt the enemy's economy, whether by eliminating ore miners or Tech Oil Derricks. Infiltrating the enemy's Ore Refinery is also another option. Note that this tactic is not effective against A.I. opponents due to their infinite money perk.
- Attentive players can occasionally tell if a superweapon is being constructed if the enemy player hasn't built a structure for a long time. If this is the case, eliminating other important structures may force the opponent to cancel the construction of said superweapon.
- Knocking out the power grid and/or the superweapon itself with anti-building capabilities are the most conventional countermeasures, whether in a direct assault or guerilla tactics. Examples include the following:
- The Allies' Barracuda bombers can drop their payload and return to base with few or no casualties. 4 of them can take down a superweapon in a heartbeat.
- If the superweapon is not defended by anti-infantry defenses, Tanya (if playing as United States) or Navy SEALs can plant C4 in the superweapon. The C4 detonation is enough to take it down in little time(1 C4 for Tanya, while 2 for SEAL).
- If the opposing base cannot be assaulted without taking significant casualties, delaying the countdown of a superweapon is another option. The methods for doing this are:
- Infiltrating the superweapon directly, resetting the countdown.
- Infiltrating power plants to shut down the entire enemy base. Since this causes most stationary defenses to become disabled, this is an excellent opportunity to eliminate the superweapon threat.
- The Foehn Revolt has the defining technology to completely block a superweapon from targeting a specific area, either through mobile Raccoons or the power-dependent Signal Inhibitor. Haihead subfaction has an additional way to do this through the Signal Jammer support power.
- In addition, the Foehn Revolt can also disable superweapons, halting their countdown. The Raccoon vehicle can do this indefinitely as long as its ECM jammer is locked on to the superweapon, whereas the Ramwagon stolen tech vehicle and the Haihead-exclusive support power Blackout Missile can perform the same for a short period of time.
- Once an offensive superweapon has activated, there is no way of stopping it. However, the best one can do as any faction is to order all units away from their base, averting extreme loss.
- As mentioned before, the European Alliance's Force Shield and the Soviets' Iron Curtain can render a few structures impervious to the offensive superweapon's onslaught, as long as they are used before the superweapon strikes; otherwise, the base may suffer low power, preventing these defensive measures from activating.
- The Maintenance support power can be used to recover from a superweapon strike much quicker.
Appearances
The Tactical Nuke Silo is the most common superweapon in the war, appearing in many missions where the Soviets are involved. Also, it is the only offensive superweapon to appear completely functional during the events of Act One.
Act One
- The Tactical Nuke Silo is first useable by the player in Death From Above. Once the player's AI ally constructs the Nuke Silo, the whole base will be handed to the player's control. It cannot be rebuilt if destroyed.
- In Zero Signal, the enemy Soviet forces start with a Tactical Nuke Silo. Its destruction is one of the objectives of the mission.
- In Sunlight, on Mental difficulty, the Chinese enemy will eventually build a Tactical Nuke. It will always target the topmost Gladius ABM unit, which will fall in a single strike without Force Shield.
- The Tactical Nuke Silo becomes first buildable in Dragonstorm, once the Pacific Front base is revealed. If the player decides to build one, the enemy general Xiu Rong Wu will respond in kind by building a nuke himself in the Pacific Front base.
Act Two
- The Tactical Nuke Silo cannot be built in The Raven, Exist to Exit, Juggernaut and Power Hunger.
- In Thread of Dread, the Foehn base (which still uses Chinese equipment) has no less than four Tactical Nuke Silos surrounded by Windbelts. They don't become active until a few minutes into the mission and three of them are powered by the Windbelts. Once active, they'll prefer to hit the two Epsilon bases over the player's until the Epsilon bases are destroyed.
- In Obsidian Sands (except on Easy difficulty), a nuke will be deployed by Scorpion Cell when Rashidi says that he gathered enough troops and weapons to prevent the Proselyte from getting to the palace.
- In Paranoia, Tanya and Norio are tasked with destroying Yuri's Psychic Amplifier and two nukes in the area. Both nukes must be destroyed within 30 seconds of each other and before the Amplifier is destroyed, or else a nuke will launch and the mission ends in a failure.
- In Earthrise, building a Tactical Nuke Silo will cause the enemy to build a Psychic Dominator in the area near two Rocket Launchpads in response.
- In the Covert Ops mission Dawnbreaker, the mind-controlled Soviets will build a Tactical Nuke Silo to strike the player's outpost. Of course when the player gets MCV, it is still available to build just like other missions.
Origins
- In Kill the Messenger, the Tactical Nuke Silo will become buildable only after the enemy Epsilon establishes a Psychic Dominator, but the mind-controlled Chinese will build one as well. Since this Psychic Dominator is not built on Easy difficulty, the Nuke Silo is also unavailable.
- In The Great Beyond, a Tactical Nuke Silo will be built at the main base automatically after Epsilon built their Psychic Dominator. However, Tactical Nuke Silo cannot be rebuilt even Chinese arsenal is chosen if it is destroyed.
