In Command & Conquer 3, last year's real-time strategy game from EA, three factions battled for control of Earth. There were the "good guys" in the form of the Global Defense Initiative, the chaotic forces under the Brotherhood of Nod, and an alien race that was introduced to the franchise known as the Scrin. In Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath, the expansion, the story and the war will continue. Only this time, the action will focus on the two new subfactions for each of the three main factions. In an earlier preview, we introduced you to the two new Scrin subfactions in Kane's Wrath. First, there was Reaper-17, a hard-hitting and powerful offensive faction. Then, there was Traveler-59, a much more devious faction that relies on mind control to win battles. Each of these factions will have its own unique units, and we'll go over those below. Kane's Wrath ships in March.

　　Reaper Tripod

　　The Reaper tripod is an extremely mutated version of the standard Scrin assault pod. This mutation is a result of Reaper-17's dangerous and excessive Tiberium consumption. The tripod is equipped with the powerful conversion beam, a weapon that can shred opponents. And the bad news keeps on coming if you're facing the tripod in battle because an upgrade allows the conversion beam to fire for long stretches. As such, this towering war machine is a formidable unit in battle.

　　Just try to stop the new Reaper-17 units; they're going to be tough to take down.

　　Shard Walker

　　Like a number of Reaper units, the shard walker is a mutated version of an existing Scrin unit; in this case, the gun walker. Transformed by Tiberium infusions, the shard walker is much faster and tougher than a gun walker, packing a bigger punch. In fact, it hurls pure Tiberium at devastating speeds. This makes the shard walker an ideal unit to deal with enemy infantry, as well as aircraft. There are a couple of upgrades that give the shard walker an even more powerful weapon, as well as tougher protective force fields.

　　Prodigy

　　One of Traveler-59's tactics is to enlist the enemy's forces to its own side thanks to mind control. This means that a single Traveler unit can recruit an army instantly. That unit is the prodigy, another genetic mutant, but one blessed with the power to not only take over the minds of its foes, but also teleport around the battlefield. That's a potent combination because the prodigy can jump around the map, seize control of enemy regiments, and raise havoc in the rear areas of an opponent. The downside is that controlling the prodigy in battle will require a lot of micromanagement.

　　Cultist

　　Another mind-control unit at Traveler-59's disposal is the cultist, which has limited mind-control abilities but is more of a frontline fighter. The cultist is a human abductee who is transformed by the implantation of the insectlike spawn of a prodigy into the brain. Each cultist can mind control a single squad at a time. Its captives can also surround and accompany it in battle. Aside from their mind-control abilities, the cultists are unarmed. They can be upgraded to increase their movement speed, which helps them close the gap with an enemy squad and subvert it.

　　Here's a tip: Build defenses around your bases or else this will happen.

　　Ravager

　　The ravager isn't so much a new infantry unit as it is a lightning-fast creature that is perfect for hit-and-run raids. A valid ravager tactic is to exploit its speed and use it to go after the enemy's harvesters, thus crippling an economy. Or, you could use ravagers to swarm into a base. Ravagers are the fastest of all the new units in the expansion, capable of even outrunning vehicles when upgraded with the "advanced articulators" upgrade, which is only available to ravagers that belong to the Traveler-59 sect. Those that belong to Reaper-17 can be upgraded with more powerful weapons.

　　Mechapede

　　Just like it sounds like, the mechapede is an insectlike Scrin unit that has a body consisting of many segments. The mechapede is very tough to take down because it can spawn new segments to replace those that have been destroyed. These segments can have different weapons on them, giving the mechapede a large amount of versatility on the battlefield. With up to eight weapon turrets total, this is one of the most potent Scrin units in the game.