Act of Aggression/Cartel Units

The enigmatic Cartel is among the most difficult factions to fully grasp. One players become familiar with them, however, Cartel shows a combination of power, stealth, and fluidity. They favour helicopters to do just about everything, and use powerful experimental units and railgun technology. Most of their units use niche, less well known weapons; their vehicles and aircraft are all technology demonstrators or otherwise not created for mass production.

More than any other faction, Cartel uses rare earth often and in much larger quantities than the other factions.

Several units in the Cartel have anti tank abilities, giving them a variety of options to try to counter a tank spam.

Contractor
What they lack in range, Contractors make up for in relatively strong close-quarters engagements and extremely low prices. Equipped with the American KRISS Vector submachine gun, Contractors fill the early game anti infantry combat role and bank unit. With a total lack of a standard turret, filling civilian structures with Contractors is a good idea to defend against enemy infantry.

Viper
An intermediate range anti tank unit, Vipers fire faster and pack a larger punch than their longer ranged cousins, the Shershen. Causing large amounts of armour piercing damage in addition to high explosive damage, Vipers are an ideal first contact unit against an armoured attack.

Grinch
Grinches are armed with the 9K338 variant of the Russian Igla anti aircraft missile. This anti aircraft unit can set up shop in civilian units closer to the back and fire large volumes of missiles at flying targets. Although they will rarely prevent a bomber attack, enough of them can ensure the bomber doesn't survive afterwards.

Shershen
A long ranged anti tank unit, the Shershen missile launcher operates similar to the Chimera's Grenadier unit. It fires slowly but at a great distance, making Shershens ideal for backing up Vipers and other units in an attack. Unlike the American Mortar, the Shershen can enter buildings.

Punisher
The Punisher is a heavy combat unit with the ability to heal nearby infantry. Having a few along for an attack, especially by a Shadowhawk raid, can extend the health of your infantry considerably. Their range is short, so include a large group so as to cover everyone. This also lets them heal each other.

Vanguard
The Vanguard special forces unit is an extremely cheap unit to field, notably costing only credits instead of rare earth (for the American Delta Force) or aluminum (the Chimera's Exosoldier). Unlike the latter two, however, the Vanguard is equipped only with a submachine gun and has no anti tank weapon. The main benefit to the Vanguard is that unlike Contractors, they are stealthed and can run faster. Otherwise, the two units are very similar. Inserting a large group of Vanguards into an enemy base via a Shadowhawk can be used to punish an opponent who slacks of stealth detection.

Scorpio
A powerful skirmish tank equipped with a railgun, the Scorpio is the early game attacking unit for the Cartel. It packs quite a punch, and can be built the moment your Vehicles Bay is finished. This makes it a common early game harassment unit. Even late game it can continue to support Spectres, LOSATs, and other units.

Otomatic
The Italian Otomatic anti aircraft platform is equipped only with an autocannon. While it packs a punch, the Otomatic is poor in comparison to the Chimera's Pantsir and the American Blazer anti aircraft platforms. It can however be upgraded with Advanced Software that grants it the ability to intercept enemy missiles. Including a few with your attack force is a good idea to protect your expensive units from missile threat.

Jackal
This light recon vehicle is unique to the Cartel. Equipped with a PHASR energy rifle, the Jackal utilizes long distance, single shot, anti infantry attacks like a sniper despite being mounted to a vehicle. Like the SAS and the US Army's Sniper, the Jackal can ignore enemy cover and quickly eliminate enemy garrisons in structures.

AMOS
The AMOS is a powerful unit that fires large volleys of mortars. Costing very few resources, the Advanced Mortar System can be deployed in large groups and act as a powerful force multiplier.

AMOSes can be equipped with anti tank Strix Shells, which fragment in the air and cause extra damage to vehicles. Strix Shells, however, cause very little damage to infantry and buildings. Unlike the American Humvee and TUSK upgrades, upgrading to Strix Shells irrevocably changes all AMOS units to fire them, making this upgrade a poor choice for players who use the AMOS against buildings or infantry. However, the upgrade causes plenty of damage to enemy tanks and can still suppress infantry, making it a good overall upgrade. Be sure to fill in the anti structure and anti infantry artillery roles with the Koalitsija later in the game.

Scout CGS
This stealthed infantry transport is used as an early game raiding party transport. It can also be used as an anti infantry weapon in a pinch, with a pair of machine guns.

The Scout CGS can be upgraded with the Scout Combat Kit, equipping it instead with flamethrowers. While the description is stated to remove the Scout's stealth when firing, the Scout already loses its stealth when firing anyway.