General Ironside

I got me the whole United States Military behind me, son. And we've just decided: we don't like you.

### Voice actor

Ivan Allen

*I have three things to teach you, kid: How to lose, how to cry, and how to die!*

## Introduction

**Ironside** is a general of the US Military who holds the coveted 5-star rank (a rank not seen since WWII) in Command & Conquer Generals Zero Hour: Contra. He's the general the player will face after defeating all four playable USA generals in challenge mode. His super unit is the Leonidas. His technologies are a combination of all four US Generals and advanced robotics.

## History

A hero of the Second Korean War in the 2000s, whose prowess was undisputable, Ironside was promoted Five-Star Army General. He was the first general to be promoted to that rank since Omar Bradley. During the First War against the GLA in 2013, he was the fiercest American general to stand against the terrorist organization but he was not expecting the GLA to be so powerful that it could strike the USA right where it hurt. The resounding defeat that followed turned USA's military might into ridicule but that never discouraged Ironside or cooled his determination to see the GLA vanquished for good. He tried everything that was in his power to convince the President in person to let him mount a punitive expedition against the GLA; however China's intervention and eventual victory frustrated him of his endeavors and he had no other choice but to live with it. During the ten years of peace prior to *Contra*'sevents, Ironside saw his budget decrease drastically to the point where he was compelled to dismiss most of his soldiers. Nonetheless, he had the idea of putting what was left of his budget to good use for the glory of America by creating the ultimate war machine known as Leonidas. At first, the Leonidas project was received with much skepticism from the Department of Defense but the GLA's sudden return in 2023 was enough of a point to convince the DoD's officials to give him carte blanche and make him Commanding General of the US Military. Thanks to his unrivalled skills and all the trust placed in him, Ironside immediately worked on Leonidas' production. He was able to create three units in barely three months thanks to advanced engineering and to the countless mechanics who relentlessly worked on them day and night. One of those mechs is currently deployed in the Middle East to fight the GLA and is bringing very satisfying results so far.

Entrusted with the protection of the National Gold Reserve at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Ironside had the somewhat crazy idea of digging some sort of moat just like in Medieval times to accommodate a Battleship as a means of seaborne artillery defense. It seems the general is also in charge of the NATO and counts the British Crown among his friends, explaining the presence of Challenger II tanks at his disposal.

## Unfair Advantages

Like most other boss generals, Ironside possesses some of the strengths of all other generals in his faction but none of their weaknesses.

* Has access to three super weapons.
* Beetle Mines allows Ironside to create AT minefields anywhere on the battlefield.
* Powerful and balanced selection of vehicles. (Challenger IIs are great tanks, Humvees are excellent skirmishers when loaded with Missile Defenders. Mammoth Tanks are good at both dishing out and taking damage, Tomahawk Launchers are great at precision strikes etc.)
* Vast selection of offensive General's Powers.
* Decent airforce (Comanches are fragile but versatile, Raptors and Mosquito mines are good against aircrafts, F-117s are good against structures, ***Aurora Alphas available as early as rank 3***).
* Very powerful defenses (Spider Web and Designator Bases were originally removed for balancing purposes).
* As of Patch 3, he can build all of the other USA generals' super units per type.
* EMP Tower is overpowered and is available at rank 3 without any tech requirements.
* Can build Leonidas, the most powerful unit in *Contra*.

However, General Ironside also has several weaknesses unique to him.

* Cannot build security systems like other USA generals.
* Both Spy Satellite and Spy Drone require unlocking.
* Defensive structures are very expensive.
* Has no engineer units.

## Arsenal

Like other "boss" generals, Ironside has his own custom made army list.

### Infantry

* **Ranger** - Basic infantry.
* **Missile Defender** - Anti-armor infantry.
* **Pathfinder** - Sniper unit, stealthed when not moving.
* **Beetle Mine** - Walking AT land mines, uncontrollable, will burrow into the ground at the barrack's rally point.
* **Colonel Burton** - Hero unit, a versatile commando.

### Vehicles

* **Dozer** - Builds USA structures.
* **Supply Truck** - Collects supplies.
* **Hummer** - Light scout, has four seatings instead of five, has fire ports.
* **Sentry Droid** - Scout drone, stealthed when not moving.
* **Challenger II** - (British) Main battle tank, has good armor and firepower.
* **M270 MLRS** - Artillery, fires clusters of unguided rockets, effective against hordes.
* **Avenger** - The Anti-Air half of the original Avenger.
* **SLID** - The designator/PDL half the original Avenger.
* **Microwave Tank** - Anti-infantry unit, clears garrisons, same as the Laser General's.
* **Mammoth Tank** - Super heavy tank, hailing from the first ever C&C.
* **Tomahawk Launcher** - Long range artillery, missile hit vehicles accurately
* **MTHEL** - Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser. Can shoot down both missiles and aircraft.
* **Antares** - Mobile Shield Generator. Can temporarily create a shield no missile or projectile can penetrate.

### Aircraft

* **ABL** - A C-27 Spartan modified to become an airborne MTHEL.
* **Comanche** - Helicopter gunship, same as Air Force General's.
* **Raptor** - Air superiority fighter, has two AA missiles.
* **F-117 Night Hawk** - Stealth bomber.
* **Aurora Alpha** - High speed bomber, cannot be intercepted until payload is dropped.
* **Mosquito** - Anti-air suicide drone.

### Structures

* **Command Center** - Builds dozers, provides radar and commands all general's powers. Provides one point of power.
* **Cold Fusion Reactor** - Provides power, can be upgraded with control rods.
* **Barracks** - Trains USA infantry.
* **Supply Center** - Builds supply trucks and stores resources.
* **War Factory** - Builds USA vehicles.
* **Airfield** - Builds, rearms and repairs USA aircraft.
* **Strategy Center** - Technology building, provides battle plans. Unlocks important upgrades and units.
* **Supply Drop Zone** - Provides additional funds.
* **Grendel** - Anti-armor defense.
* **Stix** - Anti-air & infantry defense.
* **Target** **Designator** - Fire base, summons an A-10 to bombard enemy positions.
* **Spider Web** - A combination of a spider mine dispenser and a Patriot.
* **EMP Tower** - Defensive super weapon, disables all enemy vehicles and causes aircraft to crash.
* **Tomahawk Storm** - Basic super weapon, bombards designated area with Tomahawk missiles.
* **Advanced Particle Cannon** - Tier 2 super weapon, standard particle cannon.
* **ICBM** - Tier 3 super weapon, bombards designated area with an ICBM.
* **Leonidas** - Ironside's super unit, the most powerful in *Contra*.

### Upgrades

* **Capture Buildings** - Allows rangers to capture natural and hostile structures.
* **TOW Missiles** - Gives the Humvee an additional anti-armor weapon.
* **Composite Armor** - Increase tank armor by 20%.
* **Drone Armor** - Increases durability for all drones.
* **Control Rods** - Individual upgrade, doubles the power production of a Cold Fusion Reactor.
* **Supply Lines** - Increase supply gatherer collecting efficiency, as well as money gained from oil derricks and supply drops.
* **Flash Bang Grenades** - Allows rangers to clear garrisons.
* **Counter Measures** - Allows aircraft to evade missiles and become 20% more resistant to AA weapons.
* **Laser Guided Missiles** - Increases Stealth Fighter and Comanche rocket damage by 25%.

### General's Powers

* Level 1
	+ **Spy Satellite** - Reveals a targeted area. Requires investing one point to unlock.
	+ **Spy Drone** - Summons a stealth spy drone to watch over the designated area, detects stealth units.
* Level 3
	+ **Clustered Tomahawk Level 1-3** - Launches a Tomahawk cruise missile which will scatter bombs all over the target area. (Can only be used by AI)
	+ **A-10 Strike Level 1-3** - Summons A-10 Thunderbolt to bombard the target area.
		- Level 1: 1 A-10 Thunderbolt
		- Level 2: 2 A-10 Thunderbolts
		- Level 3: 3 A-10 Thunderbolts
	+ **Paratrooper Drop Level 1-3** - Drops Rangers and Missile Defenders at the area.
* Level 5
	+ **High Explosive Bomb** - Summons a B-52 Stratofortress to drop a fuel air bomb at the target area.
	+ **Carpet Bombing** - Summons a B-52 Stratofortress to bombard the area.
	+ **EMP Bomb** - Summons a B-1 Lancer to drop an EMP bomb onto the target area. Disables enemy vehicles and structures.

## General's Challenge

Strap yourselves in, because we're in for one hell of a time.

Like most other boss generals, Ironside has three bases, the first one is located very close to your starting location in the north eastern direction. The second one is located in the center of the map, guarded by an EMP Tower. His main base covers the entire northern portion of the map, guarded by a Battleship, two EMP Towers and a laser barrier.

Like the other two boss generals, Ironside is not above unit spamming. Expect an endless torrent of armor and infantry pounding at your base. His forces will attack from the north and from the east, with more emphasis on the east due to the proximity of his forward base.

A major factor that makes General Ironside harder to take on than either General Leang or General Deathstrike is the fact that he provides much less time to prepare and set up defenses. It's strongly recommended to utilize every second of your preparation time well or expect to be overran.

It's strongly recommended to capture the tech artillery platform located between your base and Ironside's small forward base, because if you don't, Ironside will send a ranger to capture it and things will get messy. However, sending a soldier to capture it is still rather risky as he will put himself within the firing range of Ironside's Grendels. So it's advised to train up a squad of anti-armor infantry (RPG trooper, Missile Defender or Tank Hunter) and send them to demolish the Grendels. This will allow more space for base expansion and capturing the artillery platform easier. Be warned that there are Stix turrets positioned behind the Grendels. So sometimes it's easier to just force the infantry to charge through the fire and capture the artillery platform which will then demolish Ironside's first line of defence.

To make sure your defensive lines hold, build a good mixture of anti-infantry and anti-armor defenses. And have a few fast strike units on stand-by to take care of the occasional M270 or Tomahawk Launchers. And keep a few stealth detectors around, because Pathfinders and Colonel Burton will attempt to sneak into your base. Ironside's assault forces will mainly consist of infantries, Humvees, Microwave Tanks and Challenger II tanks, along with the occasional Mammoth Tank, Comanche or artillery unit. However, in some circumstances the A.I. will for unknown reasons amass a large amount of artillery units to bomb your base defences. This happens very rarely but it's recommended to reload an earlier save file if you do not have sufficient means to counter them.

There are two enemy oil derricks located on the southeastern corner of the map, they are barely defended. If you have access to air transport or cliff climbing units like Rebel Bikers or Shandian APCs, it's advisable to capture them early on to secure additional funds. Be wary as the area is littered with Beetle mines.

Ironside's small forward base is rather poorly defended, after eliminating the Grendels, it's possible to send in anti-structure units like Dragon Tanks to burn down some of his structures and relieve some pressure on the front line. One should keep an eye out for his Designator Base, the area where the air strike will land will be marked for you to see. And if things go well, the A-10 splash damage might end up doing some of the work for you.

Even so, it's strongly recommended to raze Ironside's first forward base as quickly as possible. As many of his assault forces are assembled in it, destroying the base will greatly lessen the stress on the player's defensive lines, especially when the player reaches higher rank. However, it's recommended to leave a couple of buildings standing. For example, Chinese players can destroy all but the supply center in the base, and use Black Lotus to hack the building to obtain a steady stream of cash from it.

Upon reaching Rank 3, Ironside will activate his two super weapons: the Tomahawk Storm and then the Particle Cannon (activates after the Tomahawk Storm is fired once). And a short while after that, he will begin the construction of his ICBM silo in his second forward base. He also has a variety of offensive General's Powers at his disposal: Cluster Tomahawks, Paratrooper drops, EMP Bomb and A-10 strikes. He will always use them to target the most valuable targets in your base, such as important structures and amassed troops. A durable super unit like the Suan Ni or the Zhu Rong can be used as super weapon lure, as Ironside will target it with his weapons, but usually none of the weapons are powerful enough to destroy it.

Between his second forward base and his first is a small defensive line consisting of Grendels, Stixes and Designator Bases. His second forward base contains an EMP Tower, meaning that one has to rely on his/her General's Powers or super weapon to destroy it or send in an infantry horde to do the job. Should one choose the latter, it's advised to use artillery or your support powers to soften up some of the base's defences as not only the Stix AA can easily mow down your troops, but there are also Pathfinders garrisoned in the guard towers. Also, the base is guarded by several M270s which can easily reduce your soldiers to red mist.

This base contains an unmanned USA Dozer, it's positioned behind a tech long range radar so one doesn't normally need to worry about accidentally destroying it. Capturing it grants access to the entire arsenal of Ironside, including all of his super weapons and powerful units like Mammoth Tanks and Aurora Bombers.

Before advancing to his main base, the player is faced with yet another hurdle: a Battleship. It will constantly lob barrages of shells at your advancing army as long as it had them in its sight. One can use air power, super weapons, general's powers or fast attack units to sink the vessel. The main weakness of the ship is that it cannot move, it has no AA weapons and it cannot target units positioned too close to it.

Once you have access to the EMP Tower, it's advised to build it near the only entrance to Ironside's base, this will pretty much deprive him of his ability to attack by disabling all of his vehicles. Without armor support, his infantry are nothing but sitting ducks. However, one should always have his/her troops cover the construction of the EMP Tower and guard it once it's completed as it's a rather expensive structure and takes a very long time to build.

Then we come to the final hurdle: trying to get inside Ironside's main base. The only entrance is blocked off by a laser grid that will destroy any unauthorized unit attempting to enter it. The only way to disable it is to capture a Tokamak (labeled as the "Laser Control Center" in this mission) to deactivate it. The Tokamak is completely invincible which leaves the player no choice but to capture it. However, you only need to capture it once. Even if the enemy retakes it, the laser grid will remain deactivated.

The Tokamak is positioned right on the edge of a cliff, guarded by a few Stix AAs. For Generals who have access to artillery and air transport, capturing the structure should be a piece of cake. However, the GLA will have to rely on the Rebel Ambush power. If you haven't invested your promotional points in that power, the only method you're left with is using Rebel Bikers. They can climb the cliffs easily, but make sure to destroy the defences in advance to prevent significant losses.

* NOTE: You can skip capturing the Tokamak if you have access to Mammoth Tanks, for some reason, Mammoths don't take damage when passing through the laser barrier. Although Mammoth Tanks cannot attack air, the Stinger Drone upgrade can solve this issue.

Two more EMP Towers are located in Ironside's main base. These, however, can be easily disabled, as instead of tapping into the base's main power supply, they're powered by several Ion Power Plants which are located near the entrance of the base. If the player takes out these Ion Power Plants, the EMP Towers will be rendered useless and Ironside can do nothing about it. But even without the EMP Towers, one should always expect heavy resistance, however, a major flaw of Ironside's base layout is that most of his production facilities are located fairly close to the base's entrance. Should these fall, the rest of his base will follow soon.

Once all power plants and production facilities are destroyed, Ironside will reveal his Trump Card: an enormous mech named Leonidas, the most powerful super unit in the game. Leonidas has virtually no weakness, it's armed with heavy cannons and lasers that can make short work of even the most powerful of armor, as well as missiles to fend off pesky aircrafts. It's armor is extremely resistant to damage. Most conventional units will not even have a chance to get in close and fire one shot before getting obliterated by Leonidas. There's literally no strategy but to throw everything you have at it. Before starting your fight with Leonidas, build up an armada of your best units and have all of your super weapons primed and ready, you'll need all the firepower you can get.

However, there's one fatal flaw in Leonidas' AI: if it's surrounded by enemy units, it will often get confused and not attack AT ALL. So Mammoth/Overlord/Comanche rush will slowly but surely destroy this giant mech. Once Leonidas is reduced to scrap metal, Ironside will finally admit defeat. And the player claims victory.

## Taunts

### Generic Taunts

* I got three things to teach you kid: how to lose, how to cry, and how to die.
* Here we come, kid. Try not to wet yourself, okay?
* So where's your army, boy? Or did you just wanna bare-knuckle it? 'Cuz I'll slap you down with my bare hands if you want. You wanna piece of that, boy?

* You got me out of bed for this? I oughta take you over my knee right NOW!
* I'm going march into your base and plant my foot in your ***butt***, general.

* And you call yourself a general? I call you a pain in the butt, that's what I call ya'.

* Boy, you think I am playing with you? You better think again!
* Can you feel my fist starting to close around your neck, **punk**?

* What part of ***die***did you not understand?

* Yeah Suzzie, I've read Sun Tzu too. Greater enemy, retreat. Smaller enemy, attack. Is that all you've got for me?

* Do you think this is a game? Well do ya'? Wait, don't answer that.
* I got me the whole United States Military behind me. And we've just decided... we don't like you.
* I've got more medals than you got teeth, boy. Which won't be saying much after I'm done knockin' 'em out for ya'! \*laugh\*
* So, you're not a real general are you. You're like, the surgeon general or something like that, right?
* Does mommy know you're out by yourself? \*laugh\*
* We're coming to attack soon, so get out all of your white flags.
* You-You can tell me, we're just generals here. Does your men know that you're incompetent?

### Specific Taunts

* I hope you're ready, 'cuz we're coming for ya! (Ironside begins to launch his attacks)
* Set the table kid, 'cuz we're coming for dinner.
* Look out! We're coming through the front door!

* Excuse me. Are you putting your defenses at the front of your base? \*Spit\* You don't think we can go around that? Well, do ya'?

* My Command Center! You think I'm just gonna sit here and take that?! (If the player destroys one of Ironside's command center)

* Good Work, general. I salute you. (Player victory)

* Did you know you've just lost a tech-building, sport?

* There goes your War Factory. you mad yet, boy? (If Ironside destroys one of the player's War Factory/Arms Dealer)
* Bringing out your nukes, huh? If Washington hadn't tied my hands, I'd show you some nukes, I tell ya! (When the player builds a Nuclear Missile Silo/ICBM Silo)
* How did you get a Particle Cannon, son? That was supposed to be top secret! (When the player builds a Particle Uplink Cannon)
* I feel like I am kicking over sand castles. How many of your buildings are you gonna let me destroy there, sport? (If Ironside destroys a lot of the player's structures)
* Well, there you are. Too late to run now, boy. (When Ironside spots the player)
* Maybe you can make some extra bucks polishing my boots cause, ya sure ain't no General. (Ironside's Victory)
* So here is where you're hiding your resources. Mind if I take a few? \*laugh\*
* Just blew up your Barracks, skippy. What ya gonna do about it? (If Ironside destroys one of the player's Barracks)
* You best leave my pilots alone, boy. Planes are one thing, but you best if my pilots return safe, you hear?!
* Do you know how much those jets costs?! I could've fed the whole world with what you've just destroyed! (When the player shoots down a lot of Ironside's jets)
* That's enough buildings, son. Why don't you try attacking my forces now? (When the player destroys a lot of Ironside's structures)
* Let's get armor and air support out there! Our grunts are getting torn apart! (When the player kills a lot of Ironside's infantries)
* Kid, that barracks was not a military target! You do that again and this is gonna get ugly! (When the player destroys one of Ironside's Barracks)
* Is that barracks a little close to the frontlines, kid? Hard sleeping with bullets in your barracks, you know. (When the player builds a Barracks)
* I hope those grunts know what you're getting them into. (When the player trains a lot of infantries)
* Let that oil derrick go, boy. This war ain't about the price of gas, you know. (When the player captures a Tech Oil Derrick)

## Trivia

* Ironside's new portrait is based on a real life retired Three-star American general Mark Phillip Hertling.
* The battleship on Ironside's new portrait background is the USS Iowa.
* Ironside's pre-Patch 2 portrait was actually based off that of General Thorn's. Thorn is the US Special Forces general in Zero Hour's beta, his portrait is often used by the playerbase to depict General Ironside due to his menacing appearance.