Part 42: ED Intro/Ural

Welcome to the last and longest campaign in Earth 2150. We'll be playing as the ED for the next 20+ missions. Before we get started though, let's see how the ED recruits its soldiers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tU7tgADBpA

Join us...or die. Damn. The ED sure gets aggressive in its recruitment. No mention of the Eurasian Dynasty anywhere in the ad though. Haven't they learned the importance of branding in the 22nd century?



We'll be playing as Vladimir II's son. If you recall from the OP's background info, Vladimir II came to power after a coup during the 2140 war. He's not a very nice guy, but he trusts his son enough to put him in charge of resource procurement.



The Gruz is the construction unit of the ED (in case you haven't figured that out from the other 2 campaigns yet). Our starting base is missing a few buildings but before we do that, let's show off the way the ED mines for resources.



The ED Main Base Mine has around 70,000 CR in resources, right in line with what the other two factions start with.



Unlike the LC, who also mine by building, the ED do not have an integrated refinery. So you'll need to use the ZK Taiga TRN to transport mined resources to the refinery. The green circle indicates which side of the mine or refinery the Taiga will grab the resources. Placing Refineries next to Mines can allow the Taiga to transport resources without ever moving. This is the fastest way to mine. In general, you should strive to minimize the distance between your Refinery and Mine



These transfer points are inefficient and should be avoided with one transport. If you need to you can put two transports on one Mine/Refinery pair though. Since there are two sides to the conveyor belts they won't interfere if you set things up properly.



Here's the ED's Spaceport. Just like the UCS they'll need 1,000,000 credits to get off the planet.



The Ukraine is the ED Main Base to battlefield transport. It works just like the Jupiter and Albatross except makes annoying helicopter sounds when it's near.



The first thing we'll need to build before we start the campaign is a Supply Depot. The ED, more than any other faction rely on physical weapons. With physical weapons come reloads. During the ED campaign I may even build forward resupply depots because of how crucial it is to keep your tanks in good supply.



The other thing we lack is 3 Research Centers. So I build 2 more.



Here's our basic tank, the TT 100 Pamir C 105mm. Quite a mouthful. It's already one of the fastest units in the game. If you recall, the fastest UCS units only had a speed of 19 and the Pamir already starts at 21.



Unlike the other 2 factions, the ED can build fake units. These units have a fraction of the health of their armed counterparts but they can help to absorb shots and confuse the enemy. The AI doesn't really fall for it though, so we won't be building any fake units.



Our other starting unit is the ZK Taiga 20mm. The Taiga has no armor and is totally unsuited for a combat role. Unfortunately, it's the only anti-air unit we'll have until we get the Siberia so we'll need to live with it. 15 damage is absolutely pathetic and serves as a reminder of how poor a weapon an un-upgraded chaingun is.




Just like the other two factions the ED starts out in the Urals. Unlike the other two, this is ED territory so we don't expect to encounter any enemy resistance.

The ED also has a weather update for us. Spoilers: it's cold out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM27ddeJf80




Quite a lot for our first mission briefing. The ED campaign is "supposed" to be played first so all the extra instruction is for new players. Also Dimitri Krutov is the guy in charge of getting the resources. We'll hear a lot from him.



We start with a Gruz and 2 Pamirs. Let's find this resource field. Based on what we've seen in the other two versions of Ural I'm thinking it's pretty close.



This upgrade to the Pamir is our only research opportunity this mission. What a bummer.



Here it is, right where we've found the ED base in the previous Ural missions.



Our base is ready to go, but we can't build anything other than the mining stuff here. Makes sense I guess, they don't expect any enemy resistance as we're deep in ED territory. I have to bring the ZK Taiga Transports from the Main Base.



Get to da choppa!

...I'm sorry for that awful joke.



Our Taigas are here in the taiga and all is well. Hooray.



The Pamir has also been upgraded to model TT 110. Speed is a blazing 25 and HP increased by 30 points.



I brought some Pamirs from HQ with me to do some scouting. We might find something interesting here. So far all we've found is a burnt out old Russian city. Any guesses on what city it is? I'm not too familiar with the Urals.



One advantage the ED has is the ability to arm their Mines. And they can mount the 105mm cannon.



What the... WHO THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS GIRLS!?



Thanks Dimitri. Can I build a Vehicle/Weapons Factory now too? Shipping people over from HQ is a pain in the ass.



Whoever they were, they couldn't stand up to a Pamir barrage. The might of the Eurasian Dynasty is unmatched.



Two of the damned invaders sneaked behind our Pamirs and are attacking our Taigas. Off to the Gulag with you, you incompetent tanks!



Or the heart of the invader's base. Same thing, right?



Damned Moon bandits



Good thing I put that cannon on our Mine earlier.



I don't know what this building is, but it looks important. Kill it!



Good job! You can come back from the Gulag now.



Please come back from the Gulag? The invaders have killed both Taigas. Dad's gonna be so pissed if I can't even get 20,000 credits in our own territory.



The invaders follow us as we retreat out of their base.



But our Mine is able to obliterate them as soon as they cross the bridge. That Mine is a true hero of the people!



Our last surviving Pamir chases down the last of them.



Our new army will be even better than the last one. This one has ZK Taiga 20mms in it!



We find some more invaders waiting for us on the hill to their base. They cannot stop ED!



Bah, more weak invader...wait why are our tanks dying? We're better than them! WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING!?



OUT OF AMMO!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN OUT OF AMMO!? A REAL EURASIAN SOLDIER WOULD GET OUT AND FIGHT THEM WITH HIS BARE HANDS! NO I DON'T CARE THAT ITS 40 BELOW ZERO OUT THERE GET OUT AND FIGHT!



In completely unrelated news we now have an Aerial Supply Depot with resupply helicopters assigned to it.




We also have two WPCs on two fronts working on new units.



Look at this new mighty army. There is no way they can't win now, especially because we have a whole bunch of supply helicopters now that were totally there before and weren't accidentally forgotten.



Die you stupid invaders! Die because you made me look foolish!



Yeah! Look at those explosions! Onward peasants!



The invaders had two of the exact same building. I wonder what they did? I also wonder why all those smaller things around them exploded after we destroyed the building they were by.



Either way, we're not being shot at now.




Our transport helicopters have brought over enough resources. And our first second spaceship heads up to work on our space dock.



While searching the rubble of the enemy base we found maps that indicate the enemy have other bases throughout our territory. I'll be asking my father for a formal declaration of war against these invaders once I'm back at HQ.




We lost a lot of units here. True, Major Win Su lost more but a dozen losses is pretty bad.



The UCS! Those bastards! Don't they know that all the ice in the world belongs to the glorious Dynasty?





Our first track for the ED is their main menu theme. I think it's the best of all three.



Our second track is the ambient, nothing's going on theme for the ED. It sounds creepy.