Act of Aggression/Resources

There are three resources to collect in the game, and each is collected in a similar manner. The methods of collecting, however, differ from faction to faction.

Resources are collected by constructing a refinery (or processing center) at a resource field. The refinery will then automatically start draining one of the resource nodes at the field until it is depleted, adding it to the refinery's stockpile. The Americans' M993, Chimera's Crusher, or the Cartel's K-MAX will then go to the refinery, pick up the refinery's stores, and then return it to the nearest drop off point.

When attacking, however, be warned that refineries are notoriously explosive. Destroying a refinery will easily destroy any friendly units in its vicinity and will spawn fires that are deadly to infantry and vehicles.

Credits
Necessary for all units, structures, and upgrades, credits are represented by dollars. They are gathered by building refineries at oil fields, which can be indicated by their golden-yellow glow. Each field has up to twelve resource nodes, and a refinery will switch from one node to the next automatically should its current node be depleted.

Once the oil fields are depleted, gaining credits proves considerably more difficult. All factions may use prisoners, expanded upon below, to generate additional income. The Americans have the easiest method of generating credits without prisoners: constructing administrative centers provides a small, steady stream of income.

Unlike aluminum and rare earth, credits are immediately deposited into an invisible bank account and do not need to be stored at a facility.

Prisoners
When defeating enemy infantry, there is a random chance that they will become wounded. Capturing an enemy prisoner of war in this manner will transport them to an American Field Hospital, Chimera Prison, or Cartel Barracks (with an appropriate upgrade). Captured prisoners generate credits. Similarly, ensure your own wounded infantry are treated by an infantry healing unit to return them to the fight.

Vehicles do not spawn wounded infantry, but instead the crew of the vehicle may bail out. Vehicle crewmembers are unarmed, slow, and will stop moving when enemy units are nearby. Enemy crewmembers can be captured in the same manner that wounded infantry can. Getting them back to your headquarters, however, will grant a one-time supply of credits.

Aluminum
Utilized for more advanced units and upgrades, aluminum is a secondary resource. Chimera is notable for using more aluminum than the other two factions, so this resource is considerably more important for them and could be considered a second primary resource.

Gathering aluminum without relying on refineries is much more difficult.

The Americans must rely on gathering enemy prisoners and using their Field Hospital's ability to exchange them for aluminum.

The Chimera can produce aluminum the easiest by constructing Syntech Labs. These structures will produce small amounts of aluminum over time.

The Cartel also has a structure that produces aluminum over time, but it is the Cartel's Barracks instead. The Barracks must first have the prison upgrade, and then must reach its maximum capacity of five prisoners. This unlocks an upgrade that removes the five prisoners and sacrifices the structure's prison abilities (and thus its credit generation) to instead generate 10 aluminum per second.