An epic unit is defined as an incredibly powerful unit, often taking a long time to produce. An epic unit is able to engage and defeat entire armies of ordinary units. Only another epic unit (or a unit the epic cannot attack, such as air units), or Heroic high-tier units can fight them one-on-one with any hope of surviving, let alone winning.
They usually make use of experimental and/or classified technology, hence their considerable price and power. Even commanders wealthy enough to afford two or more can ordinarily only obtain one at a given time. They often require customized and dedicated infrastructure in order to produce or maintain, further adding to their cost and rarity. Epic units may announce their construction across the battlefield.
The term was first used in Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath.
The Epic Units[]
The MARV
Mammoth Armored Reclamation Vehicle[]
| “ | MARV assembly complete! - MARV completion announcement |
” |
The Global Defense Initiative has the Mammoth Armored Reclamation Vehicle (MARV), a massive tank that also functions as a Harvester and a mobile Tiberium Refinery. It is built from the Reclamator hub.
The Redeemer
Redeemer[]
| “ | I live! - Redeemer's completion announcement |
” |
In response, the Brotherhood of Nod manufactured the Redeemer, a massive walker, using the Rage Generator to manipulate hostile units' minds into a wild frenzy. It is built from the Redeemer Engineering Facility.
The Eradicator Hexapod
Eradicator Hexapod[]
Due to the threat the MARV and Redeemer pose on the battlefield. The Scrin started deploying the Eradicator Hexapod to counter their enemies' epic units. This massive alien war machine is known to "recycle" the remains of its enemies into credits for the Scrin war effort. It is too large to be warped in through normal Warp Spheres, thus it can only be brought in through Warp Chasms and announces its presence by roaring.
De facto epic units[]
Tiberium series[]
Second Tiberium War[]
- The Mammoth Mk. II was the largest walker of Global Defense Initiative during the Second Tiberium War. Only one can be produced at a time and it uses experimental railgun weaponry.
- CABAL's Core Defender - a massive bipedal walker, known to be the strongest weapon seen during Firestorm Crisis. Even deployed alone, it was hard to defeat with entire armies and did great damage.
Third Tiberium War[]
- The Scrins' Mothership, which may only be summoned by a Signal Transmitter - served both as the Foreman's Command and Control center and a powerful superweapon.
Ascension Conflict[]
- The Arcus, GDI's prototype superheavy bomber, is a de facto epic unit that appears in the end of the Nod campaign as the final challenge to the player.
The Arcus
Red Alert series[]
Shogun Executioner emerging in Odessa
The Shogun Executioner of the Empire of the Rising Sun was the sole epic unit in the Red Alert series, able to devastate anything in its path. Even most air units were not a threat to it, as it can destroy them by simply walking into them. Unlike previously mentioned epic units, the Shogun Executioner is able to move across water. Since it was specifically designed to combat the Soviet army, it has a unique system that allows it to absorb the energy from Tesla weaponry and use it to repair itself.
Its beam katanas can destroy any and all ground forces with ease, and when surrounded, it can unleash an Omega Shockwave by driving all three katanas into the ground, annihilating everything around and beyond.
It was a campaign-only unit, and appeared in one Uprising map as an uncontrollable enemy unit to all sides. Several mods for Red Alert 3 include the monster walker as a playable unit.
Drawbacks[]
- Epic units are slow and a big target for enemy commanders
- Easily outgunned if not escorted
- Every time one is deployed, it will announce its presence to all players
- All epic units take 50 seconds or more to deploy and costs between $2000-beyond
- Garrisoned infantry cannot be evacuated
- They take a long time to promote, and either do not survive long enough to reach Heroic, or the match ends before a chance to promote is given
- Only one epic unit can be deployed at a time, per player
- Vulnerable to artillery, superweapons and support powers
- When loaded with infantry that is part of a Strike Force in Global Conquest, the Strike Force is then labelled as "damaged", while the "upgrade" itself is not taken into the next battle phase
See also[]
- Commando - infantry equivalent
Trivia[]
- Epic units are similar to the Titans from Age of Mythology: The Titans in these respects:
- Both classes are the largest units in their respective games, with the strongest attack and highest HP, but are extremely slow.
- Each player can only deploy one single unit of this type at a time.
- Both classes can only be deployed from special buildings that take a high amount of resources and time to build.