Battle Fortress

The Battle Fortress is an Allied heavy assault infantry transport and moving bunker in Yuri's Revenge.
==Background==
Essentially a giant mobile bunker, the Battle Fortress was the Allies' response to the Soviet Apocalypse Tank. Though mounted with only a machine gun, it could transport up to five infantry and allow them to fire independently from its many gun ports. Its sheer size and weight allowed it to crush enemy vehicles under its tracks.
==Game unit==
Unlike IFVs, passengers will fire as-is out of the Battle Fortress; that means promotion- and crate- bonuses are respected for passengers when they fire, similar to (but not quite the same as) garrisons. IFVs change their weapon based upon the passenger's type (disregarding promotion) but then do the actual firing. Despite this, Battle Fortress itself also gains promotion from kills made by infantry within.
The Battle Fortress was a heavily armored mobile bunker with a machine gun and firing ports for up to five infantry. It was tied with the Kirov Airship for the strongest armor of any unit. The Battle Fortress was so large and heavy that it could easily crush walls and most other vehicles simply by driving over them, including the mighty Apocalypse Tanks. However, due to the Battle Fortress's slow speed, this ability was impractical against a competent enemy commander. That said, the vehicle's crushing ability can be both useful and interesting for commanders to try. It can even crush exploding units like Crazy Ivans and Demolition Trucks without triggering any of their explosive / harmful effects. Moreover, it can oddly crush units that are currently frozen by Chrono Legionnaires which can be a much safer method of neutralising high value single targets without fear of retaliation.
The Battle Fortress was known for its ability to dominate an area by providing mobile heavy fire support, using the immense firepower of the infantry garrisoned within. GIs and Guardian GIs were able to fire their heavier weapons (M60 machine gun and Javelin missile launcher, respectively) while inside the Battle Fortress. The strength of multiple Guardian GIs, combined with the ability of the Battle Fortress to fire on the move, meant that the Battle Fortress could used as a heavy anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapon. A single garrisoned , Boris, or Navy SEAL could eliminate all infantry threats to the Battle Fortress. Garrisoned Snipers or Yuri Viruses could also eliminate them from a significant distance. Soviet Flak Troopers garrisoned within can also be used as an anti-aircraft weapon. And, Tesla Troopers can also be used as an anti-tank, anti-infantry, and anti-building weapon.
Many commanders opted to garrison a Battle Fortress with purely Chrono Legionnaires, as this allowed the Legionnaires more protection while also granting the ability to fire while moving. Mixing in other infantry along with the Legionnaires was not effective, as targets being phased out by Legionnaires were invulnerable to attack by other units.
A common criticism of the Battle Fortress was that it was not resistant to one of the most significant threats on the battlefield at the time, the ability of Yuri to mind control units. A poorly-managed Battle Fortress could become mind-controlled very quickly and easily, and after being mind-controlled the infantry inside would follow the mind-controlled Battle Fortress' orders. Loading a couple of snipers can help to neutralise Yuri Clones and Yuri Prime safely, though Masterminds can potentially withstand enough fire to get into mind-control range of one.
In addition, the Battle Fortress was slow and could eventually fall to long range bombardment from the Soviet Siege Chopper. It was also vulnerable to being "lifted" by the Magnetron into water or into mind-control range. Furthermore, Apocalypse Tanks and Tank Destroyers possessed enough firepower to make short work of the Fortress if they were not crushed (though a Battle Fortress with Guardian GIs or Chrono Legionnaries loaded would easily solve this problem). They were also exceptionally vulnerable to massed tanks, even if garrisoned with the proper infantry.
===AI behavior===
Battle Fortresses controlled by the AI have the following attack patterns:
====Medium====
* 1x loaded with 2 GIs, 2 Guardian GIs and 1 Navy SEAL, then proceed to target infantry
* 2x targeting vehicles
====Hard====
* 1x loaded with 2 GIs, 2 Guardian GIs and 1 Navy SEAL, then proceed to guard Allied Battle Lab
* 1x loaded with 2 Guardian GIs, 2 Chrono Legionnaires and 1 Navy SEAL, then proceed to guard Allied Battle Lab
* 4x targeting production buildings
==Changelog==
*Yuri's Revenge patch 1.001: 
**if the player places an infantry unit with a Crazy/Chrono Ivan bomb on it into a Battle Fortress, waits for the timer to tick down, then deploys the infantry, the bomb will now explode right after the infantry exits the Battle Fortress instead of vanishing.
**if any unit that can attack from within a Battle Fortress is placed in a Battle Fortress, then into an amphibious transport, then moved elsewhere, the player will no longer retain the ability to attack from the location where the Battle Fortress was loaded despite the unit being no longer there.
**if a Battle Fortress full of infantry is deployed, the infantry will no longer become uncontrollable as they walk back where they came from or attack the enemy's base.
**when a Yuri Clone is loaded into a Battle Fortress, then mind-controls an enemy unit, and that Battle Fortress is sent into a grinder, the player will no longer control that mind-controlled unit.
**in a multiplayer game, if the host loads a Yuri Clone, Yuri Prime, or psi commando into a Battle Fortress, then mind-controls enemy units, then orders this Battle Fortress into a grinder and exits the game, the guests' games will no longer crash.
==Quotes==
===When selected===
*Preparing for battle!
*Battle Fortress, on the alert!
*Let's make a warpath!
*Takin' in close!
*We will trample our enemies!
*Let's load up the troops!
===When moving===
*Nothing can stop us!
*Charge!
*Mobilizing!
*Rolling thunder!
*Let's see some action!
===When ordered to attack===
*Open fire!
*Fire at will!
*Wipe 'em out!
*We will crush 'em!
==Trivia==
* The Battle Fortress uses the same type of gun as the Soviet war miner and Yuri's slave miner.
* The Battle Fortress vaguely resembles the German A7V from World War One, which was basically a bunker on tracks with a cannon on the front and six machine guns mounted all around the vehicle
* The Battle Fortress speaks with a Scottish accent, being one of the only two units in the Command & Conquer series to have this particular accent; the other being the Tiberian Sun Engineer. 
==Gallery==
File:BattleFortress.jpg|Concept art by TJ Frame
File:Battle Fortress Render.jpg|Installer slide
File:Battle Fortress Voxel Render.jpg|Voxel
===Cameos===
==See also==
*NightHawk transport, aircraft counterpart
*Amphibious transport, vessel counterparts
*Apocalypse tank, Soviet heavy assault vehicle counterpart
*Flak track, Soviet infantry transport counterpart
*Battle bunker, Soviet infantry bunker counterpart
*Tank bunker, Yuri vehicle bunker counterpart
==References==
Category:Yuri's Revenge vehicles
de:Kampffestung