Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath - The Scrin Subfactions

When Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath ships next year, it will add more than just new campaigns to the C&C3 experience. This expansion pack will also introduce two new subfactions for each of the three key factions in the game. Each of these subfactions will offer completely new ways of playing the game, with new tactics and methods to explore. We previously covered the Global Defense Initiative's new offerings, and in this preview we'll take our first look at the two new subfactions for the alien Scrin. Kane's Wrath will ship sometime in the spring.

Scrin Subfactions

Reaper-17
It's a given that the Scrin are a violent race. However, inside the Scrin there exists a more violent caste known as the Cult of the Reaper. This cult acts as sort of the lethal enforcers of the Scrin, eliminating anyone who stands in the way of progress. The cult takes its mission seriously and wraps its ideology in religious tones as it exterminates whole worlds. However, inside the Cult of the Reaper there's a sect that's even more aggressive. This is the 17th sect, otherwise known as Reaper-17.

Reaper-17 is known for excessive tiberium infusion, which might explain why the sect is so violent and cruel. In fact, it's almost on the point of insane; the sect members practice self-mutilation. Between that and the tiberium, their bodies have mutated. Reaper-17 is for all purposes an outcast sect in Scrin society. The sect members are specialists in ground warfare. In fact, they do not practice traditional Scrin doctrine, such as mind control or aerial combat. They rely on tiberium-based conversion beams and shard weapons. The signature unit of Reaper-17 is the Reaper Tripod, a walker that eclipses the familiar Scrin Annihilator.

Traveler-59
Every society needs its spies, its infiltrators, its saboteurs. Scrin society gets these services from Traveler, a sect that specializes in skullduggery and stealth. Whereas Scrin units like to knock on an opponent's door with lots of firepower, Traveler forces instead prefer to teleport deep into hostile territory and deploy their Prodigy units, which are tiberium-mutated mind-control specialists. With these, Traveler can subvert an enemy population to the Scrin side.

Traveler-59 is the newest Traveler sect, and as such it has not proven itself in battle. It possesses the latest version of mind control: Prodigy offspring that are capable of being implanted directly into someone's mind. Traveler-59 relies more on subtlety than brute force. Its units will tap their teleportation and mind-control powers to infiltrate enemy lines and lure enemy forces into traps where they can be subverted and enslaved. With those forces until Scrin control, Traveler-59 can then attack the enemy. However, their rapid movement and teleportation ability comes at a price. Traveler-59 units lack the bulky force-field generators that protect conventional Scrin forces.