Chimera (Resistance) vs Chimera (AoA)

Chimera - Resistance: Hmmmmm, Daedalus was never really an inspiring commander. His plan in Resistance 2 was... lackluster, to say the least, but the reforms he implemented (going from angels to using Primarchs) was a far superior command system making it far harder for their command/'communication' lines to be cut off. He is intelligent, but I am not sure if I would say Daedalus is an accomplished tactical commander, but when it comes to organizing supply routes, command/'communication' lines; he is going to excel. Daedalus is also incredibly deadly on his own thanks to his psychic power making assassinating the Chimera leadership rather difficult.

Chimera - AoA: Greg C. Schaefer is the opposite of Daedalus. A purely front-line commander, this has its own pros and cons. While he is going to be very adept on the battlefield and tactics, his skills organizing a large campagin is just not here. That wasn't his job. That was the job of other people, essentially, he was just given resources and objective and told to do it. Setting up those resources, those supply lines, etc, were done by other people that aren't here. That is going be difficult, a steep learning curve, if you will. G

Overall: Leaders like Schaefer win the battles, but leaders like Daedalus win the wars. Armies march on their stomachs, and Daedalus is going to be far better at keeping his supply lines clear and orderly then Schaefer is going to be able to (likely, he will delegate this task to one of his sub-commanders). This alone doesn't determine victory, but while Schaefer is a more accomplished battlefield commander then Daedalus, his death will not crush the AoA Chimera. Their command structure is rather fluid, like most modern militarizes, it will not collapse as it can be fairly autonomous if needed. Daedalus' death will utterly cripple the Resistance Chimera as they are a 'hive mind', of sorts, and they all connect to Daedalus. Replacing him would be extremely difficult and will leave them dangerously exposed (as seen in Resistance 2). Buttttttt hive minds have a massive advantage to cover that disadvantage, and that is, control. Daedalus is linked to his men, he knows where they are and what they are doing to an extent that Schaefer will never, ever, be able to match which gives him an unparalleled control of the battlefield. Coupled with his superior logistical and organization abilities leads me to believe Daedalus gives the Resistance Chimera the edge as far as Leadership goes. 6/10 advantage for the Resistance Chimera. Only 6 since Daedalus is not a great field commander and his death, while difficult to accomplish, will crush the rest of their campaign all but handing the victory over to the AoA.

Chimera - Resistance:

Men: 100,000 Grims. 8,000 Leechs. 3,000 Leapers. 3,000 Drones. 300,000 Type I Hybrids. 300,000 Type II Hybrids. 200,000 Type III Hybrids.

I am going to work my way left to right, Grims are... they are worthless in terms of damage potential. They are more of a meatshield/bullet absorber/.... that is it really. Since this is in Russia/Siberia, there won't be a huge risk of them overheating like they would in other terrain, but... yeah, the AoA Chimera should have little problems putting the Grims down, the only time they will be a problem is in large numbers against isolated enemy. Well, no, they could be useful as screeners for the Leechs... which are just... suicide bomber variants of the Grims. This doesn't sound as effective as you might think since Leechs love to, you know, scream at their enemy which lets their enemy know they are there (they also tend to glow a bright yellow... so, yeah, but hey, using a crowd of grims as meatshields and bullet blockers is still viable.. just.. not all that viable.) They would be far more useful in urban/forest terrain then anywhere else. Leapers... are... eh, I mean... they are more of a distraction/outflanking/terror tactic then anything. (I don't care who you are, foot tall spider looking monsters are creepy). They aren't going to be all that effective on their own, but sneaking large groups of them into buildings and such to engage enemy infantry will do.. something. Drones are more of a patrol/infantry support weapon, and should be used as such. Providing extra, disposable, firepower for Hybrid squads.

Hybrids are the real charm. Their bullseyes are neat, useful and effective, the Chimera, themselves, are clever (well, their commander decides that), but they have shown to have an adept understanding of infantry tactics (cover, ambush, etc), and they are utterly fearless. They are also very tough and durable (regeneration) and thanks to the rather cold location they are at, their heat susceptibility isn't nearly as prominent as it is in other locations. Hybrids are a very solid, very reliable infantry unit.

Chimera - AoA:

Men: 700,000 FÉLINs. 40,000 Grenadiers.

Felins... well, they are a light infantry unit. I would say they are comparable to modern day light infantry units. They use the FAMAS... but theirs has been 'tacticooled', seriously, look at it sometime. So much stuff on it. Just looks bloodly unwiedly.) They are very fast, as far as infantry are concerned, the FAMAS is a nice weapon, all things considered. The 5.56mm is a fine caliber round (as that is what a lot of the SRPA weapons used as well) and is capable of bringing Hybrids down. They are very experienced in assaulting and clearing out buildings. Really, not much to say on them. Just imagine modern French Infantry... and there you go.

Grenadiers, well, to make this easy, just imagine two Felins carrying around an automatic 40mm Grenade Launcher static weapon. That is right, they are a weapon team, not really one guy running around with a 20mm or 40mm grenade launcher. The range on it isn't amazing, but the firepower it puts out is awesome. An extreme threat to infantry (especially closely packed infantry like the Grims) and light vehicles. As a static weapon, it isn't very mobile (I mean, obviously, it is mobile, but it isn't going to amaze or stun people with its speed), but it can provide good infantry support.

Overall: Hybrids are better then the Felin. The other basic Resistance Chimera infantry is nothing to write home about, but the Hybrids are better then the Felins in.. pretty much every way. They have greater durability (thanks to their natural toughness and regeneration), they have superior weaponry, they come with hedgehog grenades (I am assuming the FELIN do have frag grenades even if we never seem them used in-game), and are fearless. The Felin are going to be better able to think and react on their feet, but compared to all the other advantages the Hybrids have.. and, well, the Hybrids are just a better infantry choice.

The Grenadiers are better then the other infantry brought by the Hybrids, but they are a support unit, and I do not feel they tip the scales enough between the Felin and Hybrids. They are going to be excellent at holding choke points or hard points, but just not enough, as such, I feel the Hybrids take this category in a 7.5-8/10, strongly but not impossibly or overwhelmingly so.

Chimera - Resistance:

Men: 100,000 Advanced Hybrids. 5,000 Steelheads. 3,000 Longlegs. 800 Ravagers. 800 Howlers.

Advanced Hybrids are just.. better Hybrids. They are even tougher thanks to their armor, they are 'smarter', they use superior bullseye... they are the US Rangers to the Army Infantrymen. They make very good crack commando teams, they are often used as leaders for their lesser variants.. and, well, they are, just like the other Hybrids, a very, very solid unit. The only real weakness they have is they aren't as 'quick on their feet' as other units (mostly due to being hive mind), but they aren't necessarily ponderous or slow on the uptake and they have the advantage of being fearless.

Steelheads are very awesome. They are very tough and durable, but what makes them awesome is their weapon. The Auger is.. the auger is, hands down, one of my favorite guns in Sci-fi. The auger fires radiation rounds that burrow through cover to hit whatever is hiding behind it. This doesn't just mean it can shoot through walls, but it can also shoot through tanks (within reason) and kill the crew without having to blow through the ponderous heavy armor. Augers can also deploy energy shields around the user that protects them from incoming projectiles while still letting the Auger rounds out (someone using an Auger can fire through the shield at the one who put it up) letting them deploy their own cover... the Auger lets the user see bodyheat and so see their targets behind walls giving them greater accuracy at killing them. Yeah, Steelheads are just awesome. There are only 8,000, and that really hurts them, but they are an invaluable infantry unit.

Longlegs are Hybrid snipers. They have extremely powerful legs that allow them to leap dozens of meters into the air and latch onto walls which gives them an unparalleled mobility. This makes them extremely dangerous in urban or heavily forested environments and their sniper rifle, the deadeye is very awesome. Like many Resistance Weapons, it has two firing modes, one is a standard sniper round while the other is.. well, extremely powerful and can be anti-light armor. (It is like having a .50 cal sniper rifle and a standard 7.62mm sniper rifle rolled into one.)

Ravagers are large, and extremely powerful. Thanks to Daedalus, they serve as sub-commanders and lead other Chimera into battle making them very valuable (especially since there are only 800 of them..), but if they die, the Hybrid aren't helpless (like, say, Tyranids), but they aren't as effective as before. Ravagers come with a variety of heavy weaponry from miniguns, plasma guns that can put up auger-like shields, to the atomizer which.. does what it sounds like. Auto-targets and disintegrates the target. Ouch. They are, as I said before, very powerful and awesome, but they are extremely limited in numbers making each loss brutal and costly for the Resistance.

Howlers are scouts/dogs... really. They are fast, agile, and thanks to their howls, make very good recon units. The only way I would want to see them employed would be in recon or taking down enemy snipers, as they aren't very tough on their own.

Chimera - AoA:

Men: 100,000 SAS snipers. 200,000 Exosoldiers.

Yeah, the AoA strikes back hard here. SAS Snipers are great. They are special forces, extremely skilled special forces since this world is based on ours, and they come with .50 anti-material rifles (especially if they get the DU rounds). There are sooooo freaking many of them too. They are going to make the Resistance Chimera life hell. Their weaponry is more then strong enough to bring down hybrids in single shots, and even take down their larger creatures like Ravagers and be a threat to light-vehicles. Yeah... Especially when the only snipers Resistance Chimera bring number to by 8,000 comapred to the 100,000 SAS snipers. While the SAS don't have the Longleg mobility, their numbers more then make up for it.

Exosoldiers are neat. They aren't powered armored, so they aren't as tough as you think they are. They are kinda like a lesser version of the exoskeletons from CoD. Their suits make them stronger, faster, etc, but they don't really give them super protection. What their exoskeletons do let them do is bring 15mm HMGs to the field... Yeah... 15mm.. ouch. For reference, a .50 HMG round is 12.7mm. So, they are fairly tough, intelligent infantry bring around supped up .50 HMGs... while they doesn't sound as impressive as, say, a Ravager, the fact there are 200,000 of them is insane. A Ravager could certainly take on an Exosoldier, given the right equipment and terrain, perhaps a squad of Exosoldiers... but that doesn't matter given the sheer number of Exosoldiers, and Exosoldiers are more then equipped enough to down Advanced Hyrbids with little issue.

Overall: The sheer number of AoA elites should tell you which side I am going to say wins. While the Chimeran Resistance has, pound for pound, better elites (Steelheads, Longlegs, Ravagers), they are so outnumbered that it isn't funny. Their use is going to be extremely limited, compared to the SAS and Exosoldiers who can be freely deployed in numerous locations and in large numbers, and each Chimeran Resistance lose is going to cripple them while the AoA Chimera can afford heavy losses. That... is pretty much it. AoA simply has way too many elites for the Chimeran Resistance to compete in this field as Advanced Hybrids aren't enough to overturn that, not even close. 8.5/10 Advantage to the AoA Chimera.

Chimera - Resistance:

Units: 1,000 Brawlers. 800 Titans. 2 Angels. 1,000 Stalkers.1,000 Hammers.

Brawlers are... large hand to hand Titan Variants. They are very, very physically strong, they are extremely tough, fairly fast and extremely aggressive. They will decimate unsupported infantry, but will also be good against light and heavy vehicles thanks to their strength (flipping or just beating on a vehicle will certainly hurt it). They aren't armored... almost at all, and rely more on their natural toughness and regeneration, so if they go in unsupported, they are likely to get put down by heavy weapons or light vehicles.

Titans are the ranged variants... mostly. They are strong, just like Brawlers, so can go into hand to hand just fine. IIRC they come with different weaponry, the only one I can remember off the top of my head is a plasma/grenade/cannon thing. Good against infantry and light vehicles. They are extremely naturally tough and have great regeneration, but they have a natural weakness in large coolant tubes on their back that, if damaged enough, will cause them to overheat and... explode. So... yeah. They are good, great for infantry support, but should never be sent in alone, and they can get some work done.

Glad to see some Angels. With so few Ravagers, it comes down to them, Titans and the Angels to spread the command chain over the rest. Angels have really good range on their command skill though, so that isn't a problem. (Daedalus had them replaced), but they are extremely valuable here. They should be in combat, and they won't last long in combat. They are a commander unit, so, well, keep them in the back!

Stalkers are awesome. They have anti-aircraft cannons, anti-tank missiles and anti-infantry hmgs. They are an all-rounder light mech that is fast, mobile and potent. Their armor isn't all that great, but they are more of a weapons platform, so that makes sense. Their rear armor is really weak, and any half-competent commander knows to target a vehicles rear armor anyways since that is almost always the weakest one, and since it is a mech, its leg joints should also be a prime candidate.

The Hammer is a lot like the Stalker. They are both light mechs with heavy weaponry. The Hammer has an anti-infantry pulse machine gun and anti-air rockets, but unlike the Stalker, isn't really suited to take out enemy heavy armor. As they never appear in 2 and 3, they were probably phased out by the superior Stalker. They only have two legs, so they are... less stable then a Stalker (I am reasonably sure a Stalker could walk with just three legs, just do so with difficulty), if a Hammer loses a leg it goes down.

Chimera - AoA:

Units:1,000 Recon UGV's. 1,000 Metal Storms. 900 Crushers. 600 Fennek ADS's. 600 LGS Fenneks. 800 Namers. 600 SPz Pumas.

The Recon UGV is a scout land drone. It has an automatic 40mm grenade launcher which makes it great against infantry and light vehicles, but as a drone, it isn't nearly as quick or intelligent as normal infantry. It is, well, made to be a disposable scout unit which it should do a decent enough job at. I wouldn't expect them to cause anything decisive in a battle. Metal Storms are the same thing just with the recon equipment, so less recon, more squad support which it should be able to do just fine, to a lesser extent then the grenadiers due to being less mobile.

The Crusher is their supply carrier, I am going to assume it has the 20mm autocannon upgrade. It is very lightly armored, and is, again, meant to ferry resources (could probably carry men if it had to), so it isn't really designed to be in combat. That said, it has a 20mm autocannon which will make it extremely deadly against infantry and other light vehicles. So... a... weak glass cannon.

Fenneks are just Humvees, really. The standard LGS Fennek has a Mk.19 40mm grenade launcher which is, again, great against infantry and light vehicles. The ADS Fennek is more of a support version with the Active Denial System... which... really doesn't effect the Hybrids. It is meant to heat up enemies nearby, but... the Chimera already have heat countermeasures on their guys... since heat is really bad for them. Given this is siberia, plus their own countermeasures, I don't see the ADS doing almost anything to the Chimeran's besides being a minor annoyance. Could work well against the Grims, but no one really cares about them. Each hold four or so men and are more of a recon/light support vehicle.

The Namer is an APC. Has a remote controlled .50 HMG, so good at warding off infantry and enemy light vehicles... Can hold 10 men. Doesn't sound special, because it really isn't. Just an APC. But the roles the APC play in this campaign are immense. Mobility is a must especially in a large setting like Russia/Siberia.

The Puma is a good IFV. Can carry 4-5 people, has a 30-50mm (never tells you, but that is what I would assume. 40mm sounds right as that is what the Cartel variant has, but better safe then sorry) autocannon for anti-infantry/light vehicles, and can have TOW missiles for anti-tank. They are a solid all-round vehicle. Provide excellent infantry support and add much needed mobility.

Overall: The AoA - Chimera have good light vehicles. They are fairly durable, for the most part, and come with heavy weaponry and can transport their troops fast and efficiently. But, that said, I am giving the Resistance Chimera the edge in this fight. The Chimera light vehicles are better suited against a larger variety of foes (Infantry/Light Armor/Heavy Armor/And Aircarft) and they are more disposable. That sounds odd, I know, but consider it from the AoA-Chimera. They need their vehicles to move their men around. Russia/Siberia is rough on human foot sloggers (The Resistance Chimera are going to love the terrain, but more on that below) while the Resistance Chimera don't need theirs. Their vehicles are great infantry support, but it isn't vital to their war effort like the AoA - Resistance's is. That means the Resistance Chimera can afford to apply them in dangerous pushes and other such advances that the AoA-Chimera simply can't. I wouldn't call this a large advantage as the AoA-Chimera light vehicles can certainly lay the hurt on the Resistance Chimera light vehicles if they need to. 6.5/10 advantage to the Resistance Chimera.

Chimera - Resistance:

Units: 400 Marauders. 400 Widowmakers.

Marauders are neat. Imagine a T-Rex that can breath fire. There you go. A marauder. (Just wish they could have a Titan riding one. That would be so freaking cool). They are large, fairly fast and powerful. Their flamethrower makes them great against infantry, and you know, being a fire breathing T-Rex is going to be terrifying to fight. They have powerful teeth so a threat to light vehicles and their size and weight make them dangerous to even heavier vehicles (although, I wouldn't use them against a heavy tank with a 110 or above mm cannon more likely to end up with a dead T-Rex than anything).

Widowmakers are freaking awesome. They really are. They earned their name. They also act as a sort of 'mobile command' able to bolster nearby Chimera. They can spew out a sticky explosive, but where they really shine is in hand to hand. They are incredibly fast, extremely strong and stupidly agile... as such, they are going to have no issues in dense terrain and are going to be able to chew up heavier vehicles. While they can be brought down by heavy fire, it isn't easy, and you have to deal with the morale issues that comes from facing a giant spider monster.

Chimera - AoA:

Units: 900 BMPT Terminators. .

The BMPT Terminator is a glass cannon... an all-rounder not even that effective glass cannon. Why they built it on the T-72 chassis I will never understand. There are so many better tank chassis to build it on that.. I just don't understand. Did they blow their budget on the Exoskeletons or something? So, yeah, their armor is... blegh as far as heavy tanks go. (An Abram would tear it apart.... which they do in-game). They have dual 30mm autocannons which are great against infantry/light vehicles, they have anti-air missiles (which are meh), anti-tank missiles (which are meh, not that great), and they have a 40mm grenade launcher which will help them clear out buildings and cover of infantry. They are just... I don't like them. Won't lie to you. I feel like they are a poor tank. They have a, "We want to try to make a tank that can do everything!" and failed at not only achieving their objective but making a worthwhile tank.

Overall: Yeah, I made no effort to hide my distaste for Terminators. The Chimera are going to take this category. While the Terminator can support the rest of its force well, it simply doesn't have the firepower to effectively deal with heavy threats. It tries to be too many things at once and fails at them all. Its chassis isn't tought and so it will be easily threatened. The Widowmaker really shines in this. I would expect a single Widowmaker to take out multiple Terminators (Honestly, I would give it very good odds against an entire platoon of terminators depending on the terrain). While the Marauder doesn't offer nearly as much as the Widowmaker... it is meh. But I would rather have them then naught even if their use against other heavies (good thing the AoA doesn't really have those) is questionable. 9/10 in favor of the Resistance Chimera.

Chimera - Resistance: N/A

Chimera - AoA:

Units: 200 G6-52 Rhino. 200 TOS-1A Buratinos

The Rhino strongly resembles a M109A6 Paladin from the USA military. 155mm of howitzer pain. Incredibly vulnerable, but it has great range and incredibly potent damage. None of the Resistance Chimera really have 'armor', so the Rhino is going to be extremely deadly even to the larger Resistance Chimera like the Widowmaker. These things are vital to the AoA - Resistance war effort.

The Buratinos is a MRL (Multiple Rocket Launcher) unit. It comes packed with multiple 220mm rockets (although, I would guess they are unguided given how they preform in-game). It has great ranged and powerful damage capability, but it comes with reloading and supplying issues compared to its Rhino counterpart. Powerful, but limited.

Overall: Lol one has Artillery, the other doesn't. I don't think you need me to explain why the one with artillery takes this category with a 10/10.

Chimera - Resistance: This is the Chimeran home. They LOVE this kind of terrain. It is cold (for the most part, can get to 60ish degrees Fahrenheit in summer) and the Chimera love the cold, they kinda need it to survive. This is where they started their quest for world domination in Resistance, as such, they are going to know the terrain intimately. Their troops are durable and tough, and as such, are going to be able to traverse the cold, swampy terrain far better then the AoA Chimera will be able to. Really, outside of the Arctic, there is no better terrain for the Chimera then Siberia.

Chimera - AoA: This terrain is bad.... It is cold and has a lot of marshland which is going to be a massive pain for the AoA's Infantry to deal with and even their tracked vehicles aren't going to enjoy it all that much. This terrain is miserable weather for a human force to attempt to get over, especially, one that isn't as mobile as it would like to be. They aren't going to be all that familiar with the terrain despite being a UN force since most of their force comes from Britain, France and the United States (From what I have seen). In game, it was notable enough that the Russians wanted to help them in one of their missions to suggest that Russian assistance to the AoA - Chimera is not something that happens often, especially, often enough for them to have field training and experience in the land.

Overall: Really, this is tailor suited to the Chimera. 10/10 in favor of the Chimera.

Eh, hm. Artillery gives a nice advantage to the AoA as it allows them to pick the battlefields. They are going to rely heavily on their artillery in this battle as it is going to force the Chimera to come to them, it is going to let them, somewhat, cover their limited mobility in this terrain and, given Siberia is full of marsh/wet lands, help them pin down the enemy. But what really kills the AoA is their mobility. They are going to have to stick to western Russia and try and force the Chimera to come to them. Going east would be suicidal.

They can't afford to spread out because they don't have the mobility to really resupply or reinforce, but they can't afford to just bundle up because they can be cut off from supplies... really, I would hate to be the AoA commander. I imagine they would attempt to occupy all the major cities they could, like Moscow, and hunker down and try to engage in light skirmish battles using their infantry/elite infantry with limited armor support and artillery support... but I can't imagine the Chimera engaging in the same.

The Chimera are likely to push their mobility advantage (while they lack APCs and IFVs, Hybrids and such are fairly quick and won't have trouble traversing the Russian Terrain like the AoA infantry will, hell, they might even enjoy the walk) and go on the offensive. I do not believe the AoA has the heavy weaponry to really hold out in such a push, and as the fight goes on, they are only going to lose more and more of their mobility as their light vehicles are forced to engage.

Their elite infantry, like the SAS Snipers and Exoskeletons, are going to be invaluable, but they don't have the transportation needed to really keep them mobile. The lack of transportation reallllllllllly hits the AoA too hard in this terrain. I can imagine they might win, but I doubt it. I expect the Resistance Chimera to win most of the time, 8/10.