The Contra 009 generals are the core of the mod: there are 12 of them, each with an army of their own, and unit costs, health and damage in Contra 009 Final (Patch 3) are far from what you know in Zero Hour. There are still three sides, USA, China and GLA, but each side now has four generals. This wiki is built from the mod's own files: what each general can actually build, what it costs, what it fires and which units are copies of real hardware.
The 12 generals of Contra 009
The skirmish menu no longer has the base USA, China and GLA armies. Their slots went to the mod's new generals: General Ironhand for the USA, General Bao for China and General Huchum for the GLA. The nine Zero Hour generals are still there, but their armies were rebuilt as well.
| General | Side | Focus | Units | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Ironhand | USA | robots and automated systems | 24 | cyborgs instead of infantry, the walking Remiel, Uriel and Hadriel, Spider Tank, Seraph and Widow |
| General Granger | USA | air force | 24 | 12 aircraft: F-16XL, F-35 JSF, Pave Low, B-3 and B-4 bombers |
| General Townes | USA | laser weapons | 16 | Laser Crusader, laser Paladin, Libra, Omega Cannon |
| General Alexander | USA | weapons of mass destruction | 14 | Centurion hovercraft, Saturn, five superweapon buildings |
| General Bao | China | napalm and thermite | 22 | Flamethrower Infantry, Vortex Tank, A-100 MLRS, Zhu Rong |
| General Kwai | China | heavy tanks | 19 | Emperor, Banshee, Earth Shaker, Manticore, Guan Yu |
| General Fai | China | infantry swarms | 24 | 11 infantry types, four troop crawlers, Mobile Barracks, Suan Ni |
| General Tao | China | nuclear weapons | 22 | Nuke Cannon, Death Hand, Yan Wang, Nuclear Storm |
| General Huchum | GLA | assault army | 26 | Marauder, Aladdin, Rig Launcher, Karkadann |
| Dr. Thrax | GLA | toxins and acids | 26 | Sturm-S, Luna, Scolopendra, Karakurt |
| General Juhziz | GLA | explosives | 26 | Ratel, Bomb Truck, Zipper, Dolphin, Efreet |
| Prince Kassad | GLA | ambush and camouflage | 27 | Scorpion II, Ratel II, Jammer Station, Hazael |
The Units column counts combat and support vehicles and infantry, without builders, supply units and buildings. Generals and units go by the names from the mod's English text; the nine Zero Hour generals keep the same spelling as in our main wiki.
Each general's units with costs and weapons are on the side pages: the USA in Contra 009, the mod's Chinese army and the GLA generals.
How Contra 009 balance differs from Zero Hour in numbers
The mod changes almost every unit card, so the math you know from Zero Hour doesn't hold here. A few telling pairs from the files of both games:
| What we compare | Zero Hour 1.04 | Contra 009 Final (Patch 3) |
|---|---|---|
| USA and China Command Center | 2000, 5000 health | 2500, 6500 health |
| GLA main building | Command Center, 5000 health | Factory: 1000, 2000 health |
| USA Ranger | 225, 5 s, 180 health, 5 damage | 250, 2.5 s, 150 health, 9 damage |
| Colonel Burton | 1500, 200 health | 2000–2500, 850 health |
| Jarmen Kell | 1500, 200 health, 180 / 225 | 2000–2500, 800 health, 300 / 250 |
| Overlord (Tao's in Contra) | 2000, 1100 health, 80 / 175 | 2000, 1200 health, 120 / 180 |
| Nuke Cannon | 1600, 240 health | 2000, 500 health |
| Marauder | 800, 500 health, 60 / 170 | 1350, 650 health, 120 / 170 |
| China Nuclear Missile | 5000, 4000 health | 5000–6000, 5300 health |
| GLA SCUD Storm | 5000, 4000 health | Elbrus Storm: 5000, 5000 health |
The biggest difference is build time. For 247 of the mod's 303 units, the build time in seconds equals the cost divided by 100: a Ranger for 250 takes 2.5 seconds, and Guan Yu for 7000 takes exactly 70. Zero Hour has no such rule, and the same Ranger takes 5 seconds there.
Heroes became three to four times tougher, and every general got a rank 5 unit for 5000–7000: the Seraph, Guan Yu, the Karakurt and others. The button for such a unit only unlocks at general rank 5, so short matches often end before anyone gets there.
Real hardware in Contra 009
Many of the mod's new units are named after real vehicles or use their models directly:
- USA: the experimental F-16XL fighter, the F-35, the SA 330 Puma and MH-53 Pave Low helicopters, the RQ-3 DarkStar drone, the C-27J Spartan transport and the AMOS mortar turret;
- China: the Battlemasters of Bao and Tao, which the mod's Russian text names ZTZ-88 and ZTZ-96 after the real Type 88 and Type 96 tanks, the A-100 rocket launcher, the J-10, MiG-31 and MiG-35 fighters and the FN-6 MANPADS;
- GLA: the Czechoslovak DANA self-propelled howitzer, the Soviet BTR-50, Sturm-S and Luna, the South African Ratel IFV, the L-29 Delfín trainer, the S-60 anti-aircraft gun and the Dromader crop duster.
Ironhand's robots, Townes's laser hardware and almost every rank 5 unit are the modders' own inventions. Years and countries of the real prototypes are listed on the side pages.
Where the numbers come from
The data comes from the files of Contra 009 Final with Patch 3: 174 INI files taken from the mod's archives in the order the game reads them, so Patch 3 overrides older values. Unit names come from the mod's English text. We checked each army by following the chain starting building → builder → buildings → build buttons. Buttons that the files make available only to the AI were not counted.
Damage is per shot of the main weapon, range is in game units. Ranks, upgrades and general powers change these numbers. Contra 007 and Contra X have different army lineups, and regular Zero Hour is covered in the main wiki.
Contra 009 on a phone
We tested Contra 009 Final with Patch 3 in ZeroFront: the mod runs on Android, and the new generals and units are all there. The mod itself is in our Telegram bot, under "Game files & mods". How to connect the mod folder and what to do if the interface glitches is covered on the Contra 009 on Android page.
Contra armies are bigger than Zero Hour ones, and on a touch screen the group bar on the left helps. Save vehicles to "1" and aircraft to "2", and a double tap on a unit selects every unit of that type on screen. For your first matches General Huchum is a good pick: his army is balanced and has no exotic units.
FAQ
How many generals are in Contra 009?
Twelve, four each for the USA, China and GLA. Nine come from Zero Hour and three are new: Ironhand, Bao and Huchum. The newcomers took the slots of the base armies, so there is no plain USA without a general in the skirmish menu.
What are rank 5 units?
A general's most expensive units, from 5000 to 7000: the Seraph for Ironhand, Guan Yu for Kwai, the Karakurt for Thrax and so on. Their button unlocks at rank 5, and building them also takes a Strategy Center, a Propaganda Center or a Palace.
Why do units build faster in Contra?
For most units the build time equals the cost divided by 100: a Red Guard for 225 leaves the barracks in 2.25 seconds. In Zero Hour it cost 300 and took 10 seconds.
Do these numbers apply to Contra 007 or Contra X?
No. The data comes from 009 Final with Patch 3, and other versions have different prices and army lineups. If your folder holds older patches, the numbers may differ too.
Does Contra 009 work on Android?
Yes, version 009 Final with Patch 3 works in ZeroFront. The mod is in our bot, and to play you need your own original Generals folder and the Zero Hour folder with the mod.
Try ZeroFront on your own phone in the bot @generals_mobile_bot: the first 24 hours are free.