Yuri’s army has mind control and genetic mutation as its central themes. While vastly inferior to other armies in terms of firepower, Yuri uses lighter units in conventional combat. His infantry dominates in urban areas, and mind control capabilities allow him to steal even the strongest units of his enemies. What he can not control, he either drives insane with chaos gas or mutates to either obedience or death. His submarines are unmatched in the sea and decent against ground targets, but his air presence leaves a lot to be desired.
Infantry
Initiate
Cost: $200 | Prerequisites: none
The base infantry unit of Yuri’s army, Initiates use the power of their minds to deal damage. Against infantry, they are so effective that they lead literally combust them, but are not as effective against vehicles and structures. They are also capable of garrisoning civilian structures for protection and an immense firepower boost which lets no ground unit pass.
Engineer
Cost: $500 | Prerequisites: none
Although unarmed, the Engineer is a very useful unit. Surgical use of engineering teams can quickly turn the tide of battle. Engineers can be used to repair destroyed bridges (by entering bridge huts), steal enemy structures, repair your own/allied structures and repair or capture neutral tech buildings, or defuse Crazy Ivan bombs by targeting the affected unit or structure. Note that when an engineer is used, the unit itself is lost, except when defusing bombs.
Brute
Cost: $500 | Prerequisites: none
Yuri’s anti-armour infantry unit is the Brute, a genetically engineered monstrosity designed to crush everything that blocks its path. If a Brute reaches an infantry unit, his fists will smash the enemy infantryman to pieces. However, being one of the series’ few melee units, they are ineffective against most targets in practice, as they are defenseless until they get in “range”. Dogs will avoid Brutes and will not attack them.
Virus
Cost: $700 | Prerequisites: Psychic Radar
This deadly infantry unit is equipped with a sniper rifle, capable of slaughtering any infantry unit with a single shot. Worse yet, the victim is killed not with the bullet itself, but with a powerful toxin it contains which leaves a dangerous residue that damages other infantry units unfortunate enough to walk through the poisonous cloud left by a Virus’ victim. The Virus sniper herself is immune to this toxin.
Yuri Clone
Cost: $800 | Prerequisites: Psychic Radar
The Yuri Clone has the ability to mentally control most organic units and vehicles. When controlled, the enemy unit becomes, effectively, your own, and you can order it to move and attack just as if you had built it yourself. If the Yuri Clone is killed, the connection with the enemy unit is broken and it returns to its original owner. The Yuri Clone cannot control ore miners, Attack Dogs, aircraft or other mind control units. If not controlling another unit, the Yuri Clone can also generate a psychic blast which instantly kills infantry that surrounds him, friend or foe. Simply double-click on him and watch surrounding infantry sizzle.
Yuri Prime
Cost: $1500 | Prerequisites: Battle Lab
Yuri’s answer to Tanya and Boris is Yuri himself. Standing on a massive hovering chariot, Yuri Prime is a much more capable and deadly version of the Yuri Clone. Like the other heroes, Yuri Prime cannot be crushed by vehicles, regenerates automatically and is immune to mind control. Like his clones, Yuri Prime can control most vehicles and enemy infantry units, as well as most enemy structures, even turning enemy defences to his nefarious will. Additionally, Yuri is equipped with an improved psychic blast attack that instantly kills infantry in its area of effect and even damages units just outside of the immediate blast radius. Yuri Prime is in greater control of this effect than his clones are; when he unleashes a psychic blast, he does not damage friendly units.
Note: Only one Yuri Prime can be trained at a time per player, unless a Cloning Vat is deployed.
Slave
Cost: free | Prerequisites: Slave Miner
Miserable and malnourished, Slaves gather small amounts of ore with their shovels and return them to the Slave Miner they are assigned to. They are not directly controllable. Any Slaves killed by enemy action are automatically replaced by the Slave Miner free of charge. If the Slave Miner is destroyed, any surviving Slaves that were attached to it will join the army of their “liberators” as a weak melee unit, or will go neutral if the owner has surrendered.
Cosmonaut (campaign only)
Cost: $600 | Prerequisites: none
The Cosmonaut is only available in the sixth Soviet mission (Operation: To The Moon). It is an airborne unit like the Allied Rocketeer, and is the only infantry unit apart from the Desolator which can survive in the lunar environment. The Cosmonaut is armed with a laser that is effective against vehicles and structures.
Psi Commando
Cost: $1000 | Prerequisites: Any faction’s Spy infiltrating a Yuri Battle Lab
The Psi Commando is the same as in Red Alert 2, only with different prerequisites.
Vehicles
Slave Miner
Cost: $1750 | Prerequisites: Bio Reactor
Rather than using a standard miner, Yuri’s forces depend on the Slave Miner for their economy. The entire miner moves next to a mining site and deploys, releasing up to 5 Slaves to gather ore for processing. When mobile, damaged Slave Miners auto-repair, and when deployed, the structure can be repaired by sending an Engineer into it. Any Slaves killed by enemy action are automatically replaced by the Slave Miner free of charge. It can be built simultaneously from the Construction Yard and the War Factory. If it is destroyed, any surviving Slaves that were attached to it will join the army of their “liberators” as a weak melee unit, or will go neutral if the owner has surrendered.
Lasher Light Tank
Cost: $700 | Prerequisites: none
The Lasher Light Tank is Yuri’s standard tank, comparable to the Allied Grizzly and the Soviet Rhino. Like its counterparts, it is designed to attack and defend against enemy armour, as well as crush enemy infantry. It has the weakest armour of all main battle tanks.
Gattling Tank
Cost: $600 | Prerequisites: none
The Gattling Tank is equipped with twin 50-caliber machine guns that spin rapidly, spitting out hordes of deadly shells that rip through both infantry and aerial units in just a few moments. A unique feature of Gattling weapons is that the longer they fire, the faster the barrels spin and the more damage the weapons cause, having three firing “speeds”. Because of this, Gattling Tanks are most useful in prolonged firefights.
Chaos Drone
Cost: $600 | Prerequisites: none
This small drone has no conventional weaponry on its own. However, when deployed, it releases clouds of hallucinatory toxins that drive enemies berserk. Berserk units’ attack power is greatly increased and they will automatically target friendly units before they attack enemies. The effect lasts for a period of time, but the “timer” resets every time the unit gets in contact with the toxins.
Magnetron
Cost: $1000 | Prerequisites: Psychic Radar
The Magnetron is Yuri’s equivalent to artillery vehicles. When used against enemy vehicles (or ships if they can be reached), the Magnetron unleashes a powerful magnetic force that levitates the enemy vehicle, pulling it toward itself, where it can be dealt with by the units supporting the Magnetron. Additionally, the Magnetron can deal significant damage to structures by firing an intense magnetic beam at them. The main drawback of the Magnetron is that it is virtually defenceless against enemy infantry, having no effective weapon against them and no ability to crush them. Like other artillery vehicles, it is poorly armoured.
Mobile Construction Vehicle (MCV)
Cost: $3000 | Prerequisites: Grinder
As you will see in the section on Yuri’s buildings, the heart of every base is the Construction Yard. When deployed, this vehicle becomes a Construction Yard, providing you with all of the benefits of that building. To deploy an MCV, select the vehicle and hold the cursor over it. If the cursor changes to a golden circle with four arrows, left-clicking on it will deploy the vehicle. If the cursor has a red circle with a line through it, there is either not enough room to deploy or something is in the way. Move the vehicle (or the offending object) to find a suitable deployment site. The MCV is poorly armoured in its mobile state and must be protected at all costs.
Master Mind
Cost: $1750 | Prerequisites: Battle Lab
Another extension of Yuri’s mind control technology, the Master Mind vehicle is capable of safely controlling the minds of up to 3 enemy units at a time. However, this unit can’t stop itself from mind-controlling additional enemy units. Exceeding its unit limit causes the device to break down and self-destruct, releasing all of its formerly captured units, unless enough of the controlled units are disposed of in time.
Aircraft
Floating Disc
Cost: $1750 | Prerequisites: Battle Lab
The Floating Disc is a multi-functional unit. Its small laser is effective against infantry units, including Allied Rocketeers, and can also cause moderate damage to both vehicles and structures. More significantly, if placed over an enemy Power Plant, the Floating Disc immediately powers down the entire base. Floating Discs can also be stationed over enemy Refineries or Slave Miners, siphoning credits to feed Yuri’s war effort. A Floating Disc placed over any defensive structure that requires power effectively shuts off that structure.
Ships
Amphibious Transport
Cost: $900 | Prerequisites: none
The Amphibious Transport is used to transport units from place to place, having 12 slots available. While not invisible to radar like the Nighthawk Transport, the hovercraft is capable of carrying vehicles as well as infantry. It can cross both land and water, allowing for amphibious assaults of enemy positions. This vehicle has no armament, but has the same armour as the Soviet equivalent, meaning it is more resilient than its Allied counterpart.
Boomer
Cost: $2000 | Prerequisites: Psychic Radar
Like Soviet Typhoon Subs, the Boomer is a submerged unit, capable of closing in on an enemy position without being spotted. Against other naval foes, the Boomer is capable of launching deadly torpedoes. However, it is their ballistic missiles, which are used against ground targets, that make the Boomer such a deadly foe. However, much like the rockets from V3 Launchers and Dreadnoughts, the missiles can be destroyed mid-air by anti-air weaponry. Giant Squids are unable to envelop them like other ships, so they have to pound them with tentacles instead. When attacked or badly damaged, they are visible to all other units.
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