Command & Conquer: Generals/GLA

The GLA is a terrorist organization that towers over anything in the real world, networked all over the Eastern Hemisphere and attacking the superpowers wherever they are stationed. The GLA's weapons are limited by tech: they piece units and equipment together in outdated designs, which naturally come cheaper, but prove to be no match for the likes of Chinese and American units. The GLA is able to raise funds for its cause very quickly and flawlessly in comparison to the other factions, and uses that as a main advantage.

Their various tactics, early, mid, and late-game alike, all loop back to map control; control the map, and you control the game.

GLA Structures

• Command Center
• Supply Stash
• Barracks
• Tunnel Network
• Stinger Site
• Arms Dealer
• Palace
• Black Market
• SCUD Storm

When a GLA structure is destroyed, a GLA Hole is revealed among the wreckage. This Hole has unique properties.

GLA Units

As a GLA player you may notice that something is left behind when enemy land vehicles are destroyed. These are scrap piles, visible and tangible only by GLA players. Moving over them with GLA units will normally provide a cash bonus, although where applicable your unit may receive a weapons upgrade or a promotion. Also all GLA vehicles can get Junk repair Upgrade at the Black Market. This allows them to self repair in the field.

Infantry

• Worker - The Worker, deployable from both the Command Center and Supply Stash, is the GLA's take on the Construction Dozer. It fills the roles of both a Construction Dozer and a Primary Resource Gatherer. Although it can't build very quickly compared to the machines of the other factions, the Worker is very expendible because of its low cost. It can clear mines and traps.
• Rebel - Rebels are the GLA's basic infantry. Like all other basic infantry they can capture buildings after an upgrade. In late game at the Palace, you can upgrade them with camouflage, making them very useful.
• RPG Trooper - Arguably the weakest of the rocket infantry. In the late game their weapons can be upgraded with more damaging AP Rockets. The RPG trooper remains a main component of the GLA effort for the entire game.
• Terrorist - A suicide unit. They do notable damage, and move faster when told to attack. You can also put them in civilian cars, increasing their speed and damage. Beware, as the cars can still be run over by tanks.
• Hijacker - The hijacker is a relatively fast, unarmed infantry unit. He can capture any land unit that is not occupied by extra units. He is stealthed unless moving or attacking.
• Angry Mob - A deadly post-tech unit for the GLA, consisting of armed civilians functioning as a single unit. Before their upgrade they work okay vs tanks and buildings. After you 'Arm the Mob' via palace, they will tear apart anything in seconds. The mob however is easily countered by airstrikes, flames, toxins, and high explosives[assuming you reach it before it reaches you] and has less fire power as it loses its men. However, it quickly auto-heals.
• Jarmen Kell - The GLA hero unit, feared for his exclusive ability to neutralize vehicles. When a vehicle is neutralized, all units inside spill out, making for easy sniping for the revealed Jarmen Kell. As of the recent patch, Jarmen Kell cannot detect other stealthed units. Kell, Like the USA Pathfinder, can hide in structures and snipe at enemy infantry without revealing his location.

Vehicles

• Technical - This very fast unit is the GLA's transport. It can carry 5 soldiers to any place on the map, and can also make for a decent combat unit, with an anti-infantry machine-gun turret in the rear. The turret can be subject to a salvage upgrade, offering increased firepower as a cannon, or with another salvage, a rocket launcher, which is effective against vehicles, infantry, and structures alike. Each of the three possible weapons benefits from the AP Bullets. The technical sees use throughout the game playing many roles, but should normally carry infantry, preferably RPG Troopers or Terrorists, for an effective high-speed assault against structures and tanks.
• Scorpion Tank - The fastest and cheapest tank in the game. They don't have any chance in a stand-up fight vs other tanks, but have many upgrades. The rocket upgrade is menacing to anything on the ground, but reloads very slowly. You can get Toxin Shells via the Palace to increase their effectiveness vs Infantry, and light vehicles. Anthrax Beta increases the effectiveness of their Toxin Shells, and AP Rockets bolsters their Rocket upgrade.
• Marauder Tank - Requires a General point and is slower than the Scorpion. This is more of a stand up tank, and can't fire on the move. However, after two scrap salvages twice it gets a dual cannon comparable to the Overlord in power. The Toxin Shells upgrade affects it like the Scorpion Tank. The Marauder is less flexible than the Scorpion once the rocket has been removed, but proves quite useful against China.
• Quad Cannon - Armed with four heavy guns, the Quad tears apart infantry and airplanes with little difficulty, and is effective against light vehicles and buildings. Because of its wide range of targets despite its thin armor, many a GLA strategy focuses on the mass production of these units. It benefits from the AP Bullets upgrade.
• Radar Van - Unarmed, fragile, and slow, this vehicle provides radar for the GLA, and also serves as the GLA's only mobile stealth detection unit. With the Radar Scan upgrade, Radar Vans can temporarily reveal an area of the map, detecting stealthed units in that area. The Radar Van cannot function at all from the safety of a tunnel.
• Toxin Tractor - Lightly armored, but resistant to rockets and immune to anthrax and radiation, the Toxin Tractor is a utility, annihilating infantry at short range, even those inside civilian structures. Their toxin nozzles are also effective against vehicles, but can't be used at all against dozer-built structures. The Toxin Tractor can contaminate a considerably large circle with anthrax toxins, reducing the health of any infantry that cross it. Benefits from the Anthrax Beta upgrade.
• Rocket Buggy - This miniature unit is the GLA's main siege weapon. When in range, the buggy fires an impressive barrage of small rockets at a distant target, dealing significant damage to anything that doesn't flee. The Buggy is fast, but also is lightly armored and therefore in danger from aircraft and anything else that can catch them.
• SCUD Launcher - A deadly long range unit. Requires a Generals point and a Palace to use. You can choose between a Anthrax warhead, and a High Explosive one. The HE warhead is deadly vs Groups of vehicles, while the anthrax SCUD pollutes an area to hinder approaching infantry. The Launcher itself is thin-skinned and slow, not to mention expensive, so these units must be well-supported.
• Bomb Truck - This unit delivers a significant explosive charge to its destination, and can disguise itself to appear as any friendly or enemy vehicle, making it easy to hide in an oncoming force. Moderately fast, its primary function is to soften up incoming ground forces or to finish off a crippled enemy. They can be individually upgraded with extra explosives, an anthrax compliment, or both. These units are expensive, and should not be used in excess when the more dependable tech-terror strategy is available. The Bomb Truck loses its cover when an enemy detects for stealth.

Building Order

Beginner build order for use against the computer in a skirmish

1. First use your promotion star to get the Technicals. Get the Marauder Tank later.
2. Build a supply stash with your first worker.
3. Build 6 or 9 more workers depending on how much money is around.
4. Send each new worker near his own supply pile and build each their own supply stash.
5. As each stash is built, build 6 workers for every stash you built.
6. With your new workers, build a barracks and then an arms dealer.
7. Build maybe 4 more workers and get ready for the first attack by the computer (try to get steps 1-7 done as quickly as possible).
8. Send 3 workers near the main entrance to your base, where you think they will attack you first (and probably the most), and strategically place a tunnel network, a stinger site behind that, and then build another stinger site next to that one (spreading out the stingers a little bit). Remember to aim them forward when you build.
9. Your barracks should be done; as soon as it is, set the rally point for the entrance to your base, just behind the stinger sites.
10. Build at least 4 or 5 rpg troops.
11. As soon as your Arms Dealer is done, set the rally point to the same spot as your barracks and build 3 or 4 Technicals.
12. Build a second barracks at this point.
13. Use whatever money you have to build 2 more workers per supply stash.
14. Use whatever money you already have and continue to make to keep building more rpg troops and technicals until the computer's first attack.
15. Even the U.S. cannot stand up to this defense, and as soon as their attack has been defeated, you should have a bunch of money and be able to attack however you want.
16. Protect the air! Build some anti aircraft trucks and more stinger sites, and of course more rpg troops.
17. It's time for a retaliation; one attack strategy at this point is to build as many terrorists from both of your barracks as you can, and set the rally points next to each other in an open space. Build as many technicals as you can and build another arms dealer (try to do this as early as you can because they will be building their superweapon soon!); that way you can produce twice as many troops and vehicles. Load up as many terrorists as you can and simply drive all the technicals directly next to an enemy building (re-group close to the enemy's perimeter before attacking so you go in a large force, not a long drawn out line!). When you get all or most of them near a building, deploy all troops, re-select the whole group, and attack the building. This usually works out to be timed so that you leave your base around the enemy's superweapon's 2 minute mark to give you enough time to get to their base and re-group and attack to take out their superweapon before they can use it. Once you do this, you can easily build up whatever troops you want, build a whole bunch more workers, build your palace, (you should have around $10,000-$20,000 by this point on large money maps) then build your black market and scud, then purchase as many of the upgrades at both that you can afford.
18. Continue to dominate however you wish!