General Patton

I suppose the reason why the Abrams isn't in Zero Hour is because Zero Hour takes place about 20 years in the future: the US military is planning to develop lighter, more easily transported armoured vehicles (the Crusader can be paradropped, something you could never do with a 70-ton Abrams). The Crusader (has some cosmetic similarities to the cancelled M8 Buford paradroppable tank) is a lightweight but powerful tank used for rapid deployemnt- the Paladin seems to be the Abrams-style heavy hitter.

Russia is quickly going down the drain: their economy and their military is falling apart. And France and Britain are nowhere near as powerful militarily or economically as the US.

We already have UAVs in service; the Predator Drone is used extensively for reconnaisance and can even carry Hellfire anti-tank missiles in a combat role. And Prism Tanks may not be far off... http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001437.html

The Allies aren't worthless (Battle Fortress, Prism Tanks, Navy SEALs, Spy Sattelite, Aircraft Carrier, GI & GGI, et al.) but I prefer the Soviets myself. And the Soviet Campaign in YR was better (though the Hollywood mission in the Allied YR campaign was fun).

Yeah...Prism Tanks are a favourite unit of mine- never go on a base assault without a a few of 'em. And Battle Fortresses, when combined wioth the right infantry, can indeed be devastating (SEAL/Sniper with 4 GGIs, for example).

Cool...big explosions are always appreciated.

I wasn't making a big deal over Hitler (personally I think Pol Pot, Mao, and Stalin were worse than Hitler ever was),read my posts- I wasn't offended at all, just curious why- I guess it will all make sense when I dl and play the mod.

I heard the methane gas reducing the density of water theory; very plausible. As for aircraft, I heard that there are magnetic rocks in the Bermuda triangle area that interfere with the navigation equipment of aircraft -this can be deadly for pilots flying out in the middle of the ocean.

I wasn't whining/offended- I was wondering why choose that symbol if they weren't Nazis (the hammer and sickle was acceptable because the enemies in Red Alert are Soviets/communists)? Obviously there would be people who would be offended-but now I have my answer and I'll have to wait and see until the mod comes out to understand why.

The swastika was not created by the Greeks- it was an ancient Germanic religious symbol that was the symbol of the thunder god Thorr (a popular god)- the swastika's shape was supposed to represent crossed lighning bolts. The Nazis were appealing to the Germanic national history by choosing the swastika as the symbol of their party. The swastika (reversed) is also a Hindu religious symbol as well. And why choose such a loaded symbol for a new faction if it isn't going to be related to the Nazi party?

For me playing as the Allies, I like to use Grizzlies and BFs filled with SEALS and GGIs with Prism, air, infantry and Mirage support (as situations require). As the Soviets, I use Apocalypses and Rhinos with V3, air, Terror Drone, Siege Chopper, and infantry support (as situations require). I don't play as Yuri much, so my tactics aren't as well laid out for his army.

As I said, the Swiss would probably remain neutral, as they have for hundreds of years. Japan was allied to the US due to fear of Soviet expansionism (USSR had claimed ownership of certain islands in northern Japan) and may have aided the US had a US/Soviet war broken out. And the Japanese definitely would have reason to fear the USSR in the RA universe if the USSR was able to make a landing on the US West Coast in RA2.

Interesting ideas...I thought that a South American military alliance would make a good new faction, as perhaps a South African led African faction. As for this "amazon" country, I think you're referring to Brazil - the country where the Amazon river is. And Afghanistan was a Soviet ally during the Cold War...the muhajideen rebels were causing trouble for the pro-Soviet government, so the Soviets sent troops in..the CIA sent weapons and advisors to the mujahideen (who took over Afghanistan and set up the Taliban regime), with no way of knowing that it would bite the US in the ass 20 years later. And as for Switzerland, neutrality has been a part of Swiss politics since the 16th century, I don't see them taking sides in any war (despite having one of the best militaries in Europe if not the world). Turkey (major US ally in Cold War) would be a good addition to the Allies, as would Greece (remember Col. Stavros in RA1?)

I've got some ideas for more countries to be added: Allies: Japan, Australia, Italy, Spain, Norway, & perhaps Iran (I suppose the Shah would still be in power) and Peru Soviets: (Ok, some of these have been mentioned before) North Korea, Ukraine, Belarus, Viet-Nam, Mexico, Nicaragua, China (even though in real life China & the USSR were closer to being enemies than allies-oh well)