- Allied Vehicles - Confidential briefing from President Dugan, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces: Our forces have been sufficient to meet their challenges in the past, but changing times mean we must be flexible to change as well. Not only that, but several of our major defense contractors are large campaign contributors of mine. Without further ado, let's complete our discussion by reviewing our land, air, and naval units:

Chrono Miner Commander, we have moved to a more high-tech ore-processing technique, but it is also a more dangerous one. Our Chrono Miners enjoy a more efficient internal design, which not only gives us the ability to build them at a lower price ($1000 vs. $1400 previously), but which makes the miner itself uncrushable. Further, our War Factories use an optimized construction process that allows the building of Chrono Miners even faster than this reduced cost would suggest. This lets us get more miners out to mine in less time, without having to waste capital on building extra refineries just to get extra miners. The downside of this new design is that miners are now explosive. Handle with care. The $400 reduction in price of a Chrono Miner is reflected in an identical $400 reduction in the price of an Allied Ore Refinery. New effects: Chrono Miners now generate an engine sound when they begin to move, and will emit yellow smoke when damaged.

Grizzly Tank Our commanders have always bemoaned the inadequacy of our Grizzly Battle Tanks when faced with Rhino Tank attacks. This has historically left us at a disadvantage early in the battle, before we can build Mirage Tanks. Efforts to redesign the Grizzly to fire heavier, more destructive tank shells have all met with failure. So we took another approach. We have armed our new Grizzly Tanks with lighter tank shells, which actually do less damage. While at first glance this certainly sounds counter-productive, the lighter shells allow us to increase the rate of fire. In the same amount of time, today's Grizzly will do just about the same amount of damage to infantry and structures as the old Grizzly, but it will do significantly more damage to armor. You must remember though, that each individual shot still does less damage. In practice, this means that a single Grizzly will probably fare more poorly in battle than before. But when in groups, they will achieve much more favorable results. Graphical enhancement: The tank shot now appears to fire from the correct location.

IFV The only performance-oriented change made to the Infantry Fighting Vehicle itself has been to speed up its rockets. Beyond that, changes center around improvements to the various IFV Combo weapons, nearly all of which use unique turrets! Graphical enhancements: Firing animations added for many IFV weapons which lacked them, and elite IFVs will fire red-trailed missiles.

Robot Tank Robot Tanks have had their artificial intelligence augmented so they now can learn. This means they can be promoted when they gain experience. Unlike most other promotable units, an elite Robot Tank does not use a better weapon than a newly-built Robot Tank. But, it does learn radar jamming. This means elite Robot Tanks are invisible to enemy radar.

Allied Amphibious Transport Our strategists have concluded that it can often be too expensive to construct a shipyard and build the forces necessary to defend it, when all that a commander may desire is to build Amphibious Transports. Therefore, our transports today are built from the War Factory instead. To reduce build option clutter, Amphibious Transports are now side-specific. When playing as Allies, the Allied Amphibious Transport is the only hover transport you will be able to build. This unit can be built from any of the 3 War Factory types. Note that all these changes only apply in multiplayer/skirmish games. In single-player campaigns, the Allied Amphibious Transport is still built from the Allied Shipyard. Graphical enhancements: The Allied Amphibious Transport uses an updated build option icon.

Tank Destroyer - Germany's Special Unit  No tank in the Allied arsenal is as deadly to enemy armor as the German Tank Destroyer. Sadly it has often been stymied by fast-moving vehicles which dance out of the way of the Tank Destroyer's shells. In response, the Germans have separated the tank gun from the body, and mounted it as a rotating turret. The resulting redesign is a tank that is faster and which can turn rapidly. The tank gun's range has been increased slightly as well. Now its success rate at hitting moving targets has increased dramatically, making the Tank Destroyer even more lethal. Note that this structural redesign does weaken the tank somewhat. Just make sure you get in the first shot and you should have no problems. Graphical enhancements: Tank Destroyer barrel recoils when it fires, and vehicles hit by its shells will rock from the impact.

Mirage Tank It can be argued that the Mirage Tank needs no improvement to its perfomance on the battlefield, but it certainly does need less predictable disguises. Simply pretending to be the same 4 trees doesn't fool our enemies very well. The Mirage Tank will now disguise itself as any one of 8 different trees, making it harder to tell the Mirages from the trees. If desired, you can order your Mirage Tanks to disguise themselves as the terrain object of your choice - any tree, rock, lamp post, stop sign, and the like will do. Furthermore, it now has a more powerful weapon when elite, rather than continuing to use the same weapon as when newly built. And last but not least, you will be relieved to know that your enemies can no longer detect your disguised Mirage Tanks by hovering their cursors over all the trees that they see. Unless your tank reveals itself, no attack cursor will appear on it.

Prism Tank We have convinced (well I think it was Lt. Eva who actually did the convincing) Professor Einstein to perfect the focus of the Prism Tank's weapon. Its splash damage is now more localized, with the additional prism laser fragments traveling less distance. This added control over its destructive properties frees us to modify its targeting system, so that it can now acquire and fire on targets while it is in motion. Yes, that means Prism Tanks can do drive-by attacks (and can fire on pursuers as they are retreating). As with all such weapon modifications, you can expect a downside, and the change made to the Prism Tank's weapon is no exception. Now, the tank's Prism laser is a bit less effective against heavy tanks than it used to be. Make sure you take some backup along to take care of any armor that threatens your Prism Tanks. Graphical enhancement: The rendering of Prism Tank laser beams will take a little more time to fade away.

Battle Fortress Some self-styled budget watchdogs have been criticizing the high cost of the Battle Fortress. I happen to be very good friends with the CEO of the corporation which manufactures the Battle Fortress, and he assures me it is worth every penny. But when I told him that there was a rumor that Congressional hearings were being scheduled, he managed to find a way to strengthen the BF substantially, and to equip it with the Self-Healing ability.

Allied Base Expansion Vehicle - New Unit! We have added a new strategic option to your arsenal - the Base Expansion Vehicle. Like an MCV, this vehicle has no weapons whatsoever, and is instead used to deploy into a building: The Base Expansion Node. Why build this unit rather than another MCV? Well for one thing, an Expansion Vehicle is just half the price ($1500). For another, the Expansion Node that it deploys into has a very small footprint, allowing it to be set up in places where normal MCVs cannot deploy. The prerequisites for building these new vehicles is the same as for building MCVs: You need an Allied War Factory and an Allied Service Depot. You will find this vehicle to be very useful for setting up remote ore refining operations, placing defenses at strategic locations around the battlefield, and establishing bases close to the front lines. But be aware that the Expansion Vehicle can only be deployed ONCE. Once deployed, the Expansion Node building CANNOT be repacked. Make sure the Expansion Vehicle is where you want it to be when you give the order to deploy, since you won't get a second chance. Note: The Allied Base Expansion Vehicle, and the Allied Base Expansion Node, are only available in multiplayer/skirmish games.

Allied Construction Vehicle Our MCVs are now 50% stronger. This matches the strength increase afforded to our Construction Yards.

Nighthawk Transport This transport workhorse has been given a significant speed boost, and can also climb and descend at a far greater rate than before. Not only does this mean that it can cover more ground in less time, it also means it will spend less time exposed to enemy AA fire. Nighthawks are a bit sturdier (more hit points), self-heal always, and can no longer be promoted.

Harrier The Harrier is now much faster and is capable of tighter turns. Since it spends less time flying over hostile territory, it is more likely to survive. Even better, its increased speed means it will get to its target faster and return to base faster, where it can reload and be ready for another attack run much sooner. Expect to get a lot more use out of your Harriers now, Commander. A complete overhaul of the Harrier's weapons systems was performed. The composition of the explosives in the Harrier's missiles has been changed, so that they are more effective against vehicles, but are less effective against buildings. Further, when infantry units are the target, the Harrier will use cannon fire, which is much more accurate and has an area effect. Graphical enhancements: Harriers bank while turning, fire red-trailed missiles when elite, and feature an updated build option icon.

Black Eagle - Korea's Special Unit  The same speed increase given to the Harrier is enjoyed by the Black Eagle. However, the BE can make even tighter turns, enabling it to get in and out of enemy airspace even faster. An added advantage of the new Black Eagle is its stealth capability - it does not appear on enemy radar. And, as a country-specific special unit, it gains the Self-Healing ability starting at the Veteran level - meaning that Veteran and Elite BE's can repair themselves even while in flight! The changes to the Harrier's weapons systems apply to the Black Eagle as well. So the aircraft is more effective than before against vehicles, but is less effective against buildings. However, rather than use cannon fire against infantry like the Harrier does, the Black Eagle will drop a napalm canister instead. Graphical enhancements: Black Eagles bank while turning, fire red-trailed missiles when elite, and feature an updated build option icon.

Destroyer Our Destroyers are unmatched when it comes to detecting submerged enemy vessels. In practice, they have been less than completely effective when such submerged vessels are backed up by AA. To allow them to dispatch enemy AA vessels more quickly, the Destroyer's deck gun can fire slightly more frequently. In addition, welcome improvements have been made to the Osprey. Like all our aircraft, the Osprey is now faster and more maneuverable, and its weapon range is somewhat increased. While these changes are unlikely to make the Osprey more likely to survive AA, they will make it more likely that they will actually get a few shots on their target before they are destroyed. And, should they survive to attack again, you will find their reload time is slightly reduced, getting them back in action that much quicker. As an added bonus, an elite Osprey now has an elite weapon, which does more damage. But, the range of the Osprey is no longer unlimited - you should never again see them fly clear across the entire theater of battle. Also, Ospreys that are shot down will not count as kills/losses. Graphical enhancements: Ospreys use rotor animations (when stowed on deck, the rotors are folded); Destroyers no longer 'morph' when launching Ospreys; Ospreys fire red-trailed missiles when elite.

Aegis Cruiser I think you will agree that this already-amazing anti-aircraft missile vessel needs no improvements, so none have been made. Graphical enhancement: Aegis Cruisers fire red-trailed missiles when elite.

Dolphin Our faithful Dolphins have not been changed, but be mindful that the seas are more dangerous for them than ever, given the weapons our enemies have brought to bear against us.

Aircraft Carrier As you are well aware, our Aircraft Carrier's Hornets are quite vulnerable to enemy anti-aircraft fire. While we have been unable to do anything to improve the Hornet's survivability, we have increased the carrying capacity of our Carriers so that they will launch 4 Hornets rather than 3. Hopefully this will result in more aircraft getting past defenses. There is a trade-off: We have had to decrease each Hornet's loadout to 75% of what it was before. Overall this means that these 4 Hornets have the same destructive power of the 3 used previously. Any improvement in performance will come from there being more targets for enemy AA to shoot down. We have succeeded in increasing the range of our Hornets slightly, so that they can reach targets a little further from the shoreline. And, Hornets that are shot down will not count as kills/losses. Also, because our Aircraft Carriers cannot be promoted, they can never attain self-healing status by becoming elite. So, our Carriers have been given the ability to self-heal at all times. All of these changes mean that our new Carriers require our own Allied Battle Lab as one of their prerequisites; no longer will just any side's Battle Lab suffice. Graphical enhancements: Carrier Hornets fire red-trailed missiles when elite, and an updated build option icon is used for the Aircraft Carrier itself.

Well, that concludes my briefing, Commander. At first this war was thrust upon us, but I think you will agree that we are as well prepared as we have ever been. Now go out there and win some battles, and make it easier for me to win re-election, OK? Do this for me and I might be able to do something for you too. How does Chairman of the Joint Chiefs sound?

Continue the tour of CannisRules with the Soviet briefing by Premier Romanov here.