Infantry Suppression, also known more succinctly as Suppression or Going Prone, is an instinctive defensive tactic used by human infantry when they come under enemy fire. A form of self-preservation, infantry go prone when under heavy fire to protect themselves from fatal injury. In this state, their defensive and evasive abilities are drastically boosted at the expensive of a significant portions of their movement speed. Generally, more powerful weapons will suppress enemy infantry more easily.
In most Command and Conquer games, nearly all infantry will enter a state of suppression upon being attacked. However, later Command and Conquer games have slight variations or expansions upon the concept.
Note that, regardless of game, suppression only applies to infantry. In some games vehicles may slow down upon sustaining too much damage, though as they do not gain an armor bonus while in this state, this is not considered suppression and is closer to its substitute in Generals.
Generals & Zero Hour
In Command and Conquer: Generals and Zero Hour, the suppression mechanic was completely removed. Instead, all infantry begin to limp upon passing a certain threshold of damage. This vastly decreases their movement speed, as suppression does, but does not confer any additional armor increase. Otherwise, their stats remain the same while in this state, and they fight with the same efficiency. This "limp" will disappear if they recover above the aforementioned threshold.
Tiberium Wars & Kane's Wrath
While GDI focused its efforts on technological development, Nod continued its research into the human mind (along with their other projects). While these efforts are most known for the creation of the Rage Generator and the Confessor Cabals' Hallucinogenic Grenades, they also helped make the enforcers of Nod even more intimidating. As a result, certain especially symbolic infantry and vehicles attached to the Black Hand were designed to appear especially imposing to enemies and inspiring to allies. This research physically manifests itself in a boost in morale (and therefore combat ability) gained by nearby infantry whilst being the presence of these units, and the automatic suppression of enemy infantry who are similarly in close proximity. Additionally, all Nod forces can deploy a morale-boosting support structure dubbed the "Voice of Kane", whose subliminal messaging similarly aids allied infantry and suppresses enemy ones. The aura generated by this structure is much larger than those instilled by mobile units.
As suppression is an instinctive tactic, some who are devoid of such instincts do not go prone, even in the face of heavy attack. The Marked of Kane's cybernetic warriors, having been freed from the burden of independent thought and selfish self-preservation, are prepared to fight and die for Kane's cause without a second thought and will continue fighting upright until they emerge victorious or are killed. Fanatics, too, are completely convinced of the nobility of their cause and their will not waver even in the face of sixty GD2s firing directly at them. Additionally, smaller Scrin biomechanical combat units that could be considered infantry, whether by culture or by combat optimization, do not even comprehend the idea of suppression and will never use such a tactic no matter how desperate a battle becomes.
Note that both Nod and GDI's expertly trained commandos will always go prone after destroying a structure, presumably to protect themselves from the blast of their own explosive charges and shrapnel from their detonated target. However, this process does not actually injure them in any way.
Uniquely, infantry can be ordered to exit their state of suppression (if applicable) and move to a specified location at their normal speed, a mechanic referred to as "Force Move". In doing so they will lose the armor bonus conferred by suppression, so the advisability of such an order is highly conditional. Note that the command's usage does not mean that they cannot be suppressed again if attacked while moving.
Trivia
- Infantry in Renegade cannot be suppressed, and as a result can be stun-locked by Havoc.
- In Red Alert 2, deployed GIs (and, in Yuri's Revenge, Guardian GIs) will not gain a suppression bonus upon being attacked. This means that they are ironically more vulnerable in their entrenched state than otherwise, though the utility of their heavier weapons is usually deemed sufficient to outweigh the cost in survivability.
- All infantry in Tiberium Wars and Kane's Wrath are given unique voicelines when suppressed.
- Flame-based weapons of the Third Tiberium War can easily force suppression upon infantry opponents due to their high and continuous damage. However, this is typically irrelevant, as the aforementioned target infantry are burned to a crisp a few seconds later.
See Also
- Garrisoning, similar infantry-exclusive defensive tactic