History Videogame / CommandAndConquerRedAlert2

* CanadaEh: The American government briefly [[TheExile takes refuge]] in Canada. The ''mooseland'', icy and forestal version:
-->'''Gen Carville''': I know, Canada... more cows up here than people.
** In a cutscene from the Soviet campaign, they try to claim that's it's an [[BlatantLies "unknown secured location"]], [[FunnyBackgroundEvent but a G.I. accidentally drops a Canadian flag right in front of the camera]]. That said, Dugan eventually resurfaces in ''Texas'', so it may have been a ploy.

** The Soviet long-range missile units - the Dreadnought at sea and the V3 launcher on land - carry huge missiles that can do massive damage to buildings and any units unlucky enough to be hit. However, their missiles are slow to fire and they lack any other armament, making them hideously vulnerable to even the most basic enemy units.

** The Allied Aegis Cruiser and Patriot Missie defense, as well as the Soviet Flak Cannon [[AntiAir utterly destroy most air units]] but can't attack anything else. The Soviet Flak Troopers and Flak Tracks can at least shoot both ground and air targets, but their ground damage is pretty worthless against anything but infanstry.

** Attack dogs for the Allied and Soviet factions. They're available once a barracks is built, cost only $200 and can insta-kill any infantry. They're also immune to mind control - hence being the cheapest counter to psychic infantry - and are the only unit in both factions that can automatically detect and kill enemy spies.

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: The highest level of difficulty in skirmish mode is Brutal, and the AI cheats unabashedly on this difficulty. This is easy to see if you infiltrate an AI refinery with a spy - this allows you to steal 20% of that AI's current cash reserves, and that often amounts to tens of thousands in credits when the AI has a full base, military, and just 2-3 miners. The AI also always seems to know exactly where your key buildings are in your base, even early in the game when they haven't scouted you.

-->-- '''Soviet Rhino tanks'''

** Apocalypse Tanks might seem intimidating to beginning players and seem very difficult to kill, but experienced players can exploit their pronounced weaknesses. They also ended up being on the wrong side of PowerCreep in the expansion ''Yuri's Revenge'' and are a especially good example of a SkillGateCharacter in this case. Among the new ways for the Allies to counter tanks, Guardian [=GIs=] can fight them (deployed) by themselves or up to five may load into Battle Fortresses to battle the tanks on the go. Meanwhile, the Yuri faction has abundant MindControl powers to steal the massive tanks and turn them against their makers. In multiplayer their lack of speed is also a major downside that ensures they will almost never be built in serious matches; the baseline Rhino Heavy Tank may seem BoringButPractical, but it isn't heavily offset by slow speed, still packs a respectable punch and acts like a double-barrel mini-Apocalypse at Elite Veterancy. That being said, a group of Apocalypse Tanks ''will'' wreak havoc if given the opportunity be built and gain promotions.

-->-- '''Soviet tanks'''

* BookEnds: ''Yuri's Revenge'' starts with the White House receiving a surprise message from Yuri, who emerged back from the Soviet defeat. The Allied Campaign ends with the White House receiving a surprise message from [[spoiler:General Carvill, who avoided death thanks to time travel]].

** The final Allied mission in the original campaign can be made a lot easier if you use Chrono Legionnaires to [[RetGone erase all the Nuclear Reactors in the map]]. Likewise with [[BossInMooksClothing the four black Apocalypse Tanks]].

* ArbitraryGunPower: All over the place. The [=GIs=] when deployed use a 7.62x51mm NATO [=M60=] machine gun which should be the most powerful gun used by infantry, but instead Tanya's [[GunsAkimbo dual]] Colt [=M1911A1s=] (a .45 ACP handgun) and the Navy [=SEALs' MP5s=] (a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun) can one-shot infantry, while the [=GIs M60=] cannot (although their M60s ''can'' chew up tank armor, especially at Elite veterancy, which Tanya and the [=SEALs=]' guns can't do). The Conscripts packing PPSH-41s (firing a 7.62x25mm Tokarev round) are drastically weaker than the [=SEALs=] even though in real life the muzzle energy difference between 7.62 Tokarev and 9mm Parabellum isn't ''that'' drastic. See also Boris, who does a LOT more damage than a Conscript(especially after getting promoted) despite having the ''exact same weapon''. On some maps civilians have handguns that would likely fire the same kind of bullet as the Navy [=SEALs=] or Tanya's weapons, but they do [[CherryTapping pathetic damage]]. [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality Of course]], it's all in the name of RuleOfFun and gameplay balance, as otherwise the commando units would be incredibly weak and outclassed by basic infantry.

* ArbitraryGunPower: All over the place. The [=GIs=] when deployed use a 7.62x51mm NATO [=M60=] machine gun which should be the most powerful gun used by infantry, but instead Tanya's [[GunsAkimbo dual]] Colt [=M1911A1s=] (a .45 ACP handgun) and the Navy [=SEALs' MP5s=] (a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun) can one-shot infantry, while the [=GIs M60=] cannot (although their M60s ''can'' chew up tank armor, especially at Elite veterancy, which Tanya and the [=SEALs=]' guns can't do). The Conscripts packing PPSH-41s (firing a 7.62x25mm Tokarev round) are drastically weaker than the [=SEALs=] even though in real life the muzzle energy difference between 7.62 Tokarev and 9mm Parabellum isn't ''that'' drastic. On some maps civilians have handguns that would likely fire the same kind of bullet as the Navy [=SEALs=] or Tanya's weapons, but they do [[CherryTapping pathetic damage]]. [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality Of course]], it's all in the name of RuleOfFun and gameplay balance, as otherwise the commando units would be incredibly weak and outclassed by basic infantry.

* TemptingFate: Being an expert of his psychic craft, Yuri will also build his own superweapon if you '''ever''' build one yourself in a mission against him, be it in the semi-final [=RA2=] Soviet mission or the final [=RA2YR=] mission, sometimes in a '''MUCH''' more advantageous variation than yours, '''especially''' during the final [=RA2YR=] Soviet mission in that, if you dare to build either of the two [=SWs=], be it the support SW "Iron Curtain" or offensive SW Nuclear Missile, he responds in kind not just with his '''two''' mind-controlled Soviet and Allied forces doing the same with their own respective [=SWs=] along with his own, '''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck tripling]]''' the amount of offensive/support [=SWs=] you now have to deal with after building either SW, but also audibly comments on your built support/offensive [=SWs=] and says the following harrowing words...

** The Soviet Tesla Tanks are slower, more frail, and have shorter range than their ''RA: Aftermath'' predecessors. Their electric charges still pack quite a sting, however.

* CloningBlues:
** In the base game, the Soviets have the Cloning Vat structure that freely produces a duplicate of every infantry unit purchased. Add to this that they have the cheapest infantry unit in the game and the result is [[ZergRush obvious]].
** In the expansion, Yuri takes the Cloning Vat away, compensating for the horribly high price of his basic infantry. It also gives the possibility of having two out of any hero units at a time (Tanya, Boris and Yuri Prime).