General Granger: the US Air Force General in Zero Hour

General Granger is the US Air Force general in Zero Hour. His army rests almost entirely on aircraft: planes cost less than in the regular US army, he gets the King Raptor and the Combat Chinook, and he has no Crusader or Paladin tanks at all. The breakdown below uses the Zero Hour INI files, version 1.04.

Who is Granger

In the game he is Malcolm "Ace" Granger, a four-star general of the US Air Force, 62, stationed at Fort Belmont near Houston, Texas. His bio card sums up his tactics in two words: air power. He likes to throw every aircraft he has at the enemy.

He takes defeat lightly. After a loss he jokes that it's time to find a job with an airline.

How Granger's army differs from the USA

On the general select screen the game lists his features: King Raptors, Combat Chinooks, laser point defense on vehicles, a stealth upgrade for the Comanche, cheaper aircraft, the Spectre Gunship at a lower rank, the Stealth Fighter from the start, and no tanks.

In numbers (Zero Hour 1.04 files):

Unit or building	Granger	Regular USA	What changed
King Raptor	1100, 240 health, missiles 125 / 350	Raptor: 1400, 160, 100 / 320	cheaper, tougher, longer range
Combat Chinook	1200, 25 s, 350 health	Chinook: 1200, 10 s, 300	infantry can fire from inside
Comanche	1200	1500	−300
Stealth Fighter	1250, 180 health	1600, 120	cheaper and tougher
Aurora Bomber	2000, 120 health	2500, 80	−500, +40 health
Air Field	800, 2500 health	1000, 1500	cheaper and sturdier
Humvee	800	700	+100
Tomahawk	1300	1200	+100
Sentry Drone	850	800	+50
Crusader and Paladin	none	900 and 1100	no tanks

The pattern is plain: everything that flies is 300–500 cheaper and tougher, while ground vehicles go up by 50–100. The King Raptor beats the regular Raptor on almost every stat: 300 cheaper, one and a half times the health and 25% more damage.

Real-world prototypes of Granger's units

• King Raptor. An improved F-22 Raptor. The real aircraft has no "King" version, and the F-22 itself has been in US service since 2005.
• Combat Chinook. Armed Chinooks did exist. In 1965 Boeing built four ACH-47As with machine guns, 20 mm cannons, rockets and a 40 mm grenade launcher, and in 1966 they were tested in Vietnam under the nickname Guns-A-Go-Go.
• Stealth Comanche. The RAH-66 was designed to be stealthy from the start: it retracted its gun under the fuselage and carried missiles in internal bays.
• Spectre Gunship. The power calls in a gunship modeled on the AC-130 Spectre: a transport aircraft with guns along its left side, in combat since the late 1960s.

Strengths

• Aircraft are cheaper, so by mid-game Granger has more planes in the air than any other US general.
• An Air Field with 2500 health is hard to kill in a quick raid.
• The Combat Chinook drops infantry and shoots back with the troops inside.
• The Carpet Bomb general power helps crack defensive lines.

Weaknesses

• With no tanks, nothing holds the ground. Against a mass of Battlemasters or Overlords you have to hold with Humvees, Tomahawks and Comanches.
• Against opponents with heavy anti-air (China with Gattling Cannons, GLA with Stinger Sites) aircraft die faster than they pay for themselves.
• Planes fly back to rearm after each attack, and the army is exposed between waves.

For comparison, General Townes keeps laser tanks, and General Alexander bets on defense and superweapons. Faction-wide numbers are on the USA units page.

Playing Granger on a phone

Granger is about constant air strikes, and on a touch screen they are simpler than they look:

1. Put Raptors in group "1", Comanches in "2", Auroras in "3". A tap on an empty slot in the left-hand bar saves the selection.
2. To strike: tap the slot, pan the camera to the target with two fingers, tap the target. The planes return to the Air Field on their own.
3. A double tap on the slot jumps the camera to that group, an easy way to check whether the planes have rearmed.

Keep a Humvee ground defense in group "4" near the base. To cancel a Carpet Bomb you've already aimed, a long press of about 0.6 seconds is enough. All gestures are on the controls page.

FAQ