Dune Fortress

### Tactical Analysis

* **Daruq's Sandstorm:** The Dune Fortress might look like an average desert base, but in actuality, this is an entrance to the famed 'Underbase' where entire infantry troops and tanks are stockpiled.

* **Like a sandcastle:** However, Dune Fortresses are usually fragile, and when destroyed, will typically take a while to repair them, meaning that the Desert Corps can not travel to them for a while.

### Background

*"What's the plan, commander?"*
*"What plan? The plan that our enemies will predict over time and use it against us?"*
*"Oh... apologies, commander."*

- Common conversation in a Dune Fortress. .
At its early years, it is said that the main crippling flaw of the Desert Corps is their lack of forward thinking; as in their commanders literally make up their own plans as their soldiers walk or ride along the desert. This has led to some hilarious mistakes for them; from sending a couple of Volunteer troops straight to a GLA-controlled buildings only to be sprayed with DDT by rebels floors above, to miscommunication between two commanders that made them open for a Toxin Plane air raid. When many soldiers complained about such tactics, the higher-ups court-martialed the commanders responsible for the missteps and ensured hefty punishments on those who would screw up in battle.

Fortunately for the soldiers of the Desert Corps, this was just one of the many promised reforms by Mousa and the Socialist Government that are intended to make their jobs easier. Not only were incompetent commanders are immediately sent back to specialized schools for them, but they ensured that existing commanders still have a gist of what they should do and what kinds of plans they will make in the field. When a Mattock Tank commander complained about the sheer distance they have to travel from the Baghdad headquarters to the desert just to assist infantry in battle, another commander immediately suggested that they need to make massive underground tunnels connecting Socialist barracks and factories to the **Dune Fortresses**. When it was first announced, the members of the Soviet Union were eager to help out in the Underbase's construction, after all, it would be a great help for the ASG operations against the Global Liberation Army.

Dune Fortresses are typically headquarters in strategic areas, mostly to defend locations and ensure rapid deployment of troops into dispatched zones. Due to the urgent nature of rapid unit deployment, Dune Fortresses are connected to the Underbase - a massive underground complex and highway connecting various Socialist bases to the Fortresses that intends to ease the transportation of vehicles, as they can simply drive on that highway instead of driving along the desert, risking sandstorms and ambushes by the GLA. Even infantry have their part of their jobs done for them, as they can just ask Raider APCs and specialised Underbase transports for a ride to the Fortress of their choice.

It is said that Dune Fortresses generally take a week or more to be finished, this is mostly because the Fortresses are just glorified exits for Underbase segments. In fact, builders care more about the structural integrity of the tunnels than the actual Fortresses, meaning that they are usually fragile against artillery and other anti-structure weapons. This is the reason why Socialist commanders are advised to protect the Fortresses at all costs, for if a part of the Underbase is damaged, it would affect the Desert Corps' movement around the Middle East.
Template:ASG