Wars are not won on courage alone, and they are certainly not won without funding. The Ore Refinery is where raw ore, gathered by harvester vehicles from fields scattered across every theatre, becomes the credits that pay for everything else on this list — no Refinery, no war effort.
| Role | Processes raw ore into usable funds |
|---|---|
| Armour | Medium |
| Power draw | Low |
| Comes with | A free ore harvester on construction |
Function
A single Refinery and its harvester can sustain a modest base, but any commander planning a serious offensive needs several running at once — economic capacity, more than any single unit, is what decides how long a commander can sustain a war of attrition once the opening skirmishes are over. Ore fields on most maps deplete over time, which makes early, aggressive expansion to fresh deposits a recurring theme of the mid-game on both sides.
Priority target
Raiding an enemy's Refinery and harvester does not end a war outright, but it starves the opponent's ability to keep fighting one — a favourite tactic of both Allied Ranger patrols and Soviet armoured raiding parties alike. A base that loses its economic engine mid-battle often finds itself unable to replace losses fast enough to keep pace, even if its remaining forces are otherwise intact.
Field notes
Protect harvesters as though they were combat units, because to your economy, they effectively are. A lost harvester costs more than the tank that destroyed it, and a Refinery left undefended near the edge of a base is an invitation every experienced enemy commander will eventually accept.
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Sources & credits