Who is the KPC?

Two of the largest and most imposing armies in modern history are now one in the world of Risen.  Without an immediate threat from Germany, Russia went eastward to deal with old rival Japan and subsequently help Mao overthrow the Chinese Nationalist Party.  What resulted was the Sino-Russian Alliance, or in Cyrillic, KPC.  Basically the good ol’ communist side you expect to find in most RTS’s.

Why the hell are they involved?

The collectivization of 75% of the Asian landmass was sure enough to get Unigov’s attention.  Even so, Unigov feared getting involved in direct military conflict with the KPC. But behind the iron shroud of military expenditure, lay an impoverished populace and political corruption. Unigov decided it could break down the KPC into manageable chunks by exploiting this. It sent in incendiary task forces to incite division and rebellion. Now the KPC has had it up to here and has decided to respond with it’s own remaining strength.

The look:

The KPC army units will probably be the most recognizable of the bunch.  Everything from the 40’s to the 70’s is thrown in there. Infantry dress in long overcoats with less visible body armor than the other armies. Vehicles are large, low profile, with big guns, and rather utilitarian exterior (ya know, all the techno junk like reactive armor and the like, makes for a less than smooth exterior).  Buildings largely have a bunkered look about them, with a mixture of onion domes and terra cotta roofs as flair.

The theme of KPC gameplay:

Numbers and firepower are what it’s all about for the KPC.  The standard infantryman has little training and is poorly equipped, but they are expendable when you are overpopulated by about a billion. This means that KPC has a much higher pop cap and quicker and cheaper unit production than the other guys, but with the average soldier being not as capable.  To further emphasize the mass and throw philosophy, no units have healing or repair capabilities, except for workers on buildings; and squads require less micromanagement to get the most out of them.

Buildings and Tech:

Due to the vast and harsh KPC territory, buildings are transported in by helicopter They are comparatively sturdy but can be ever more protected by adding defensive guns on them.  The Party Headquarters goes through two additional tiers that can be added in any order, though you will have to satisfy additional requirements no matter what the second add-on is. In addition to your starting units, the Onion Dome Add-on will give you access to more Russianesque units, like the Minigunner and Pavlichenko Sniper Squad, and more fire rate researches.  The Terra Cotta Roof Add-on gives you more Chinese units, like the Shuriken Driver and the Cycling Soviets, and more flame researches.  The Red Square is the main research building. In addition to the aforementioned you can also develop your propaganda machine (reduces enemy morale while bolstering your own).  Defenses include a Minigun Turret and SAM Site. The Nuclear Plant lets you develop nuclear-powered vehicles and weapons, however accidents have been known to occur…

Infantry:

The Conscript will be your basic unit for awhile, they are cheap and plentiful, but start out with only half morale, so bolster every squad with a Commissar to keep them from running away.  Assign a member to be a standard bearer to increase the resolve and firepower of the rest of the squad.  The Red Guard is pretty much upgraded versions of the conscripts.  More advanced units brought by the HQ add-ons are more specialized in their role. The Russian upgrade brings in Minigunners and Pavlichenko Snipers.  The Chinese upgrade brings the anti-tank Fire Lancer, and the Shuriken Driver, which is a higher mobility anti-infantry. Each side also has some sort of General for the hero unit.

Vehicles:

I haven’t really assigned all the vehicles to a certain tier yet so I’ll just list some of them. The Cycling Soviets are fast but very weak so they are best used as spying units.  The BMP is the main transport. It’s mainly anti-infantry but can be upgraded to fire AV shells or missiles.  The T-105 Twin Eagle is the MBT. It has two barrels (for twice the fun) and can be upgraded to run people over.  The Chain Tank is used mainly against aircraft or heavy infantry.  The Katyusha Rocket Artillery has an ability to shoot all of its rockets in one volley, though it’s more inaccurate than regular fire.  The Hurricane is a large helicopter with the dual-role of assault and transport..