Command & Conquer: Generals/GLA

The Global Liberation Army 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 The GLA's weapons are limited by tech: they piece units and equipment together in outdated designs, which naturally come cheaper, but prove to be no match for the likes of Chinese and American units.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 more effective units of the GLA are biological warfares, stealth units and self-destructing units. Its lightweight and low-cost units force it to scavenge resources and use tactics to compensate its lack in firepower. The GLA's main advantage is its strong economy, and its ability to quickly rebuild its base on the ruins of the previous one. Also, all its units can benefit from collecting the remains of destroyed enemy units.

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

Although poorly-reinforced and no match for heavy firepower, GLA structures has significant advantages over the other two factions. The major one being them require no power supply, therefore will not cease to function due to the shortage of power. Another advantage is they are cheap to construct, and when they are destroyed, the structures leave behind a GLA hole. If the enemy failed to destroy the hole, a GLA worker will emerge from it and starts rebuilding the structure on the wreckage - with no cost. However, if the ground is contaminated by radiation or toxin, the worker will die, forcing the player to wait for it to dissipate before they can send in another worker to finish the job.

• Command Center

Base of the GLA, the Command Center trains Workers to build constructions and collect supplies. It also allow the player to deploy Generals Abilities.

• Supply Stash

The resources storage, comes with a GLA worker, who automatically starts gathering supplies when the Supply Stash is built. Can also train workers.

• Barracks

Train and heal all the GLA infantries. The Capture Building upgrade is purchased here.

• Tunnel Network

Through a series of Tunnel Networks, the GLA can transport its troops to anywhere on the map where an exit is built. The Tunnel can hold up to 10 units and heal them while garrisoned. The Tunnel exit is guarded by a gun turret and two RPG Troopers who come with it.

• Stinger Site

The GLA anti-air structure, relying on 3 RPG Troopers fortified with sandbags to defend against armored units and aircrafts. It is highly unreliable because the soldiers can be killed by Pathfinders, flame and toxin attacks, radiations and even basic infantry if they are close enough, and redeem it harmless. However, the troopers will be eventually replaced after a while if the attack stops. When built in quantity, Stinger Sites can be annoying for aircrafts and armored units.

• Demo Trap

A more effective defence. The Demo Trap is cheap and is ideal to block choke points. Invisible to the enemy, the high-explosive bomb can heavily damage unsuspecting enemy units. When set in Proximity mode, The Demo Trap automatically detonates with the enemy is within range. When in Manual Mode, the player can wait for the enemy to close in, and detonate the bomb for maximum effect.

• Arms Dealer

Where the GLA acquire armored units, also used to repair vehicles. The Scorpion Rocket upgrade is developed here.

• Palace

The secret technology center of the GLA. It cannot be captured by enemy units, and provide spaces for five infantry to garrison inside it to protect the building. Upgrade includes Anthrax Beta, Camouflage, Toxin Shells and Arm the Mob.

• Black Market

Through the Black Market, the GLA can earn a steady stream of income, which can be handy when supplies are ran out. Player can also purchase Armor Piercing Bullets, Armor Piercing Rockets, Junk Repair, Radar Scan and Buggy Ammo upgrades from here.

• SCUD Storm

The GLA superweapon. The nine SCUD missile launched from here are armed with biological warheads, and can spread anthrax around the ground for a long time. SCUD Storm strikes randomly at the target and is ideal to destroy scattered units and structures.

GLA Units

GLA units tend to be light-weighted and poorly-armored, as a result, they are difficult to maintain a steady attack at the enemy and have to rely on numbers and tactics rather than the strength of the units. However, the GLA is the expert in scavenging outdated weapons and upgrade them with salvaged parts of the enemy. When an enemy unit is destroyed by the GLA, they leave behind scraps piles to be collected by the GLA. While scraps piles are collectible by all GLA units, only Marauder Tanks, Technicals and Quad Cannons can upgrade their weapons by collect them. If collected by other units, a small amount of cash is added to the GLA budget. When Scorpion Tanks collect scraps piles, however, they gain experience rather than bounty.

Infantry

• Worker - The Worker, deployable from both the Command Center and Supply Stash, is the GLA's take on the Construction Dozer. Although less efficient than Dozers, Workers are very cheap to train and when en masse, are far more quickly to collect supplies than either the Supply Truck or the Chinook. In addition to constructing and supply collecting, the Worker is also able to clean mines and small explosives. The weaponless worker is an easy target to enemy vehicles and should be protected by armored units at all time.
• Rebel - Although outmatched by both the Ranger and the Red Guard, the Rebel is expendable and works well when attracting enemy fire. Like all basic infantry he can be trained to capture enemy structure. When the Tech Tree is developed, GLA generals can upgrade Camouflage for the Rebel from the Palace, which hides he from the sight of the enemy when he's not firing. His firepower can also be improved by purchasing the AP bullets upgrade at the Black Market, making the Rebel more useful in the battlefield.
• 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. Two free RPG troopers are provided when a Tunnel Network is built.
• 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. Very useful against vehicles and large groups. Note that if the Terrorist is killed by flame or cannon shells, they will still detonate and harm nearby units.
• Hijacker - Require 3 Star Rank and one Generals Point to train. The Hijacker is stealth when idle, and when an enemy vehicle is nearby, he can jump in to kill the driver and take control of the wheels. He cannot take Elite or Heroic units, or transports which have troops in them. Is armed with a rifle for protection.
• Angry Mob - A deadly force against infantry and structures, require the Palace to train. Consisted of five people at the start and gain numbers as they gain Veterancy, the Angry Mob operates much like units such as Rifle Squads in C&C 3. They attack units with handguns and structures and vehicles with cocktails. Unlike the Rifle Squad, the Angry Mob will heal itself when left idle, and cannot be garrisoned, transported or move between Tunnel Networks. GLA generals can increase the Mob's firepower by upgrading Arm the Mob from the Palace, which places AK-47s in their hands.
• 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. For some reason, Jarmen Kell doesn't automatically attack enemy infantry when left idle.

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 Quad cannons for their anti aircraft capabilities 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!