| “ | Don't play with matches! - Crazy Ivan |
” |
"Crazy Ivan" is a code-name given to various Soviet demolition experts employed during the first and second iterations of the Third World War. Given an unlimited amount of explosives to work with, they can cause considerable destruction if they get close enough to strap bombs to their targets.
Background[]
| “ | Happy birthday! - Crazy Ivan "congratulating" with a bomb |
” |
These skilled, obsessed and insane bombers were shown to have quite a liberal attitude to their art, and they are able to strap bombs to nearly anything: they were seen strapping bombs to enemies, strapping them to their own soldiers (presumably so the soldier could charge forward into the enemy lines when the bomb goes off), and they were even seen putting bombs on passing cows. They apparently gained immense pleasure from the sound of an explosion.
During the second iteration of the Third World War, the bombs entrusted to these psychopaths were improved enough to destroy war factories and ore refineries, making them much more valuable.
Crazy Ivans were not known to be employed during War of the Three Powers. Presumably, the Soviet leadership considered them too dangerous.
Carville's assassination[]
A Crazy Ivan sent to assassinate General Carville
General Ben Carville had just finished briefing the Allied Commander before he was sent to the Black Forest in Germany. As he opened the door of his quarters, an assassin was waiting for him with some explosives hidden under his trenchcoat. Carville was unfortunately unaware of the assassin as he said a final goodbye in German as he was killed by the explosion.
Usage[]
Crazy Ivans are willing to strap a bomb to anything, including their own forces. Once explosives are attached, they will go off and deal heavy damage in medium radius after a short time. If a unit or a building with explosives is destroyed, the bomb detonates immediately. A Crazy Ivan cannot attach explosives to themselves, but can do so to each other. An Engineer can safely remove explosives with a single touch. Note that a unit cannot detonate if inside a transport (will explode immediately after disembarking instead).
Russian commanders with large sums of cash can use attack dogs produced in massive numbers as suicide bombers - once close to a base, Crazy Ivans could place bombs on about 1-3 attack dogs and send the dogs to rush the target (due to dogs' speed, they have a better chance of making it to the target). Dogs without explosives can be used for cover. Make sure there are plenty of reinforcement dogs to replace dogs used. Terror drones armed with explosives can be used as an alternative choice of suicide bombing with higher movement speed (can bomb farther targets than attack dogs), immunity to sniper fire and the ability to infect vehicles (the bomb will not detonate until the vehicle is destroyed by infection).
They can also demolish bridges in a similar fashion to that of the Navy SEALs. The only unit type that they prefer to keep undamaged are transports. Flak tracks are the best solution for quickly transporting Crazy Ivans across the battlefield, best accompanied by other vehicles. Additionally, when packed into Allied IFVs, they would turn them into miniature demolition trucks. Alternate solution is packing 5 Conscripts with explosives and putting them into the Flak track. As soon as the Flak track is destroyed, all five Conscripts will detonate with devastating results.
However, Crazy Ivans had a major disadvantage. As far as technology goes, the Allied Command always issued the latest weapons to their forces, including explosives. While Tanya and Navy SEALs were equipped with C4 explosives, the Soviets still issued the older trinitrotoluene (TNT)-based weapons to the Ivan. In the field, this meant that, unlike the C4 used by the Allies, which exploded instantly and guaranteed the total destruction of the targeted building, TNT took much more time to explode and heavily armoured buildings and units could withstand the explosion, requiring another TNT charge or a conventional attack to finish off.
Counters[]
| “ | I lost a bomb... do you have it? - Crazy Ivan "misplacing" one of his devices |
” |
The best defense against Crazy Ivans is to ensure that all entrances to a base are guarded (to prevent them from sneaking into the base). Pill boxes are a cheap solution for this, as they can gun down Crazy Ivans before they get close enough to do any damage. Engineers can defuse their bombs.
As their weapons are only effective at melee-range, any unit with anti-personnel weapons can easily shoot them down (and watch them explode in a spectacular manner) before they got too close.
Assessment[]
Pros[]
- Highly destructive against buildings
- Able to strap bombs to literally anything
- Can destroy bridges
- Bombs do splash damage
- Can bypass defenses by blowing up walls
- Very effective at harassing Allied Chrono Miners, because even if they teleport back to their refinery, the bomb will not be removed unlike terror drones
- Explodes when killed as a last resort suicide unit
Cons[]
- Very poorly armoured
- Anti-infantry weaponry can eliminate Crazy Ivans before they get close enough to do any damage
- Must plant the bomb at close range
- Engineers can defuse their bombs but the Crazy Ivan can strap a bomb on the engineer himself as he cannot defuse the bomb on himself
- Unlike Allied Chrono Miners, Slave miners and rogue War miners can gun them down before they plant bombs
- Cannot target aircraft
- Causes friendly fire through both bombs and own explosive death
- Unlike the C4 used by the Allies, the TNT takes a while to explode and does not immediately destroy the building or unit it is attached to
Quotes[]
| “ | Yaah! - When selected |
” |
| “ | (short maniacal laughter) - When selected |
” |
| “ | (long maniacal laughter) - When selected |
” |
| “ | It's too quiet here. - When selected |
” |
| “ | KA-BOOM! - When selected |
” |
| “ | Yaah? What's that? - When selected |
” |
| “ | Ivan's not home! - When selected |
” |
| “ | I'm going - When moving |
” |
| “ | Heh-heh-heh-heh - When moving |
” |
| “ | Ha-ha-ha - When moving |
” |
| “ | What's over here? - When moving |
” |
| “ | (unintelligible grumbling) - When moving |
” |
| “ | Happy birthday! - When ordered to attack |
” |
| “ | Here, hold this - When ordered to attack |
” |
| “ | I lost a bomb... Do you have it? - When ordered to attack |
” |
| “ | Don't play with matches! - When ordered to attack |
” |
Gallery[]
See also[]
Behind the scenes[]
The Crazy Ivan is voiced by Neil Ross, who also voiced the Kirov airship and British taunts in multiplayer.
Trivia[]
- Crazy Ivan itself is a naval designation referring to a particular submarine maneuver. As Red Alert is a parody of the Cold War, it is likely the developers appropriated the phrase to suit their needs.
- There is some debate as to whether a Crazy Ivan or terrorist was responsible for assassinating General Carville during the Third World War; the assassin detonated explosives attached to himself, which supports the Cuban terrorist theory. However, Lieutenant Eva identifies the attacker, and their use elsewhere, as Crazy Ivans.
- Red Alert 2's official webpage mentioned that "zombie-like cows, laden with high-tech explosive devices" converged en masse on Alamo Air Force Base during the initial stages of the Soviet invasion. This was most likely the work of Crazy Ivans and Psi-Corps troopers .
- Whenever a Crazy Ivan is killed, he will violently explode, leaving a skull-shaped cloud behind. The unit's own death animation consists of his body parts scattering through the area, a somewhat gory and violent death animation for Red Alert 2.
- Their physical appearance later inspired the design for the Fanatics in Tiberium Wars.
