Command & Conquer: Generals game guide v0.2 alpha by [uw]ghost General information for both multi and single player. What is Command & Conquer Generals? It is a real time strategy game set in a slightly futuristic environment. It requires resource management, quick reflexes, and good tactics to win. There are three sides, the GLA (terrorists, similar to Al Qaeda or the Taliban, and with similarities to Iraq as well), China, and the USA. The premise for the game involves terrorist attacks on both China and America by the GLA. Disclaimer: I do not take responsibility for your mistakes. Not everything in here is correct in all situations, there may be minor mistakes, if in doubt improv. I cannot make you play better, I can only give you ideas and concepts and information. Nothing is complete. Feel free to add ideas to this, simply do it like this "ghost - adding ideas is great" "nickname - idea goes here" and that way it's far easier to isolate when you send me back modded copies of this document. ghost To do: figure out what I've forgotten more strategies Include full list of buildings and units (figure out what I've missed swell) Find typo's and errors and correct add any interesting/relevant information Get Zero Hour and write about it (expansion pack) GLA & Chinese generals promotions do hijacker What's new since v0.1: Added quotes, table of contents, categorized information, added numerous strategies, changed format from notepad to wordpad, added formatting and font usage. Spell checked. Previous Versions: v0.1 beta, v0.1 Thanks to Westwood for making a great game. Index: 0. Background information about the story and writing this game guide 1. Starting Build Orders 2. Defense 3. Offense 4. General Strategies and advice 4.1 Resource Management 5. Multi player Advice 6. Difficulty Levels & Campaign 7. American Strategies 7.1 American Generals Promotions 8. Chinese Strategies 8.1 Chinese Generals Promotions (tba) 9. GLA Strategies 9.1 GLA Generals Promotions (tba) 10. Upgrade Advice 11. Unit Overview And Advice 11.1 Infantry Tactics 11.11 Garrisoned Infantry 11.12 US Infantry 11.13 GLA Infantry (Hijacker tba) 11.14 China Infantry 11.2 Vehicles 11.21 US Vehicles 11.22 GLA Vehicles 11.23 China Vehicles 11.3 Aircraft 11.31 US Aircraft 11.32 China Aircraft 12. Building Tactics And Advice (tba) 12.1 Production Facilities 12.2 Defensive Structures 12.3 Supply structures 12.4 Super Weapons 13. Tweaking advice 14. Special Command Information (tba) 15. Conclusion 0. Background Information about the story and writing this faq I play C&C Generals a lot networked, and have no Internet, so I wanted a game guide. I got a friend to download me one, and it did not satisfy my needs. I hope you appreciate this, it was the first game guide I ever wrote. I'm in wgtn, nz, email me if you play and have interesting ideas. The storyline information only is copied from this FAQ (hope you don't mind) at http://dlh.net/cheats/pc/deutsch/command+and+conquer+-+generals/englfaq2.html . That's the only other C&C Generals gamefaq I've read, however I did read an excellent Dune 2000 faq a few years back, and have been playing RTS's for years. it clearly says in his FAQ that he took the following information from another faq (CDeutsch FAQ), that got it out of the official C&C: Generals manual, which I do not have access to. Story line information follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Security Council Sub-Committee (Resolution 1379) on Global Liberation Army Report to Security Council: Situation Report (SIT REP) on GLA Activities. Distribution CLASSIFIED Hotan, China For several months, observers have expressed concern over the activities of the Global Liberation Army (GLA). A loose federation of freedom fighters and terrorists, the GLA has established several strongholds in the republics of Central Asia. By distributing forces and leadership across the borders of these developing nations, the GLA has thwarted efforts to engage in meaningful dialogue. Last year, this group without borders crossed into Western China and began building popular support for an independant state in this remote region. GLA funding continues to grow from unknown sources, and its leadership remains a mystery. For the Beijing government, this incursion along its western border could not have come at a worse time. The reforms in China's "Modern Way" program have produced new civil liberties and excellent growth in Chinese exports, particularly in light manufacturing and agricultural products. Beijing has repeatedly stated that these changes are here to stay, a position that does not sit well with the GLA. Last week, the GLA struck a military depot at Yechung, stole thousands of rounds of munitions, and destroyed a nuclear power plant. Dangerous levels of radiation have been detected over 100 kilometers downwind. The Chinese government is furious and has refused to allow observers to mediate discussions with the GLA. Several divisions of the Red Army have established positions in the province along major roadways and rivers. While the United States continues to provide orbital reconnaissance to the Security Council, it has failed to contribute troops to the peacekeeping efforts in the region. The Council's refusal to support United States counter- terrorist initiatives in the Middle East in recent years has not been forgotten. USA military forces have remained in port and on base, venturing out only to secure its coastline. Scattered intelligence reports arriving from Europe and Asia indicate that the GLA has established and funded sleeper cells to further spread its sphere of influence. If China succeeds in forcing out the GLA, it is difficult to predict where the group will resurface. The United States would be the logical choice to buttress Chinese efforts to contain the GLA, but the United States continues to maintain its non-involvement in the conflict that eventually the GLA will cross paths with USA forces in Asia or elsewhere in the world. The sub-committee recommends to the Security Council that it continue to maintain an open channel with the GLA, to establish a clear set of boundaries for Chinese activity, and to communicate the need for the USA participation in peacekeeping initiatives before the Council loses its influence on the situation." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This describes the situation at the start of the game. During the game, both America and China fight against the GLA. 1. Starting Build Orders Starting build order for US in multiplayer Power plant, construction dozer, barracks, supply center, Chinook, war factory, whatever from here Starting build order for China in multiplayer Nuke reactor, construction dozer, radar, barracks, supply center, supply, war factory, whatever from here Starting build order for GLA in multiplayer Supply thingee, Barracks, Arms Dealer, whatever GLA can throw a lot of people off to start with. The really little men do all the building and resource gathering, and they are interchangeable. If your wondering where your radar is, you can find it at the arms dealer in a radar van ($500). Early starting stuff for all If there are oil derricks, research capture building early on and take them. Make sure you have a few harvesters and a few builders quite early in. 2. Defense "At Thermopylae, 300 Spartans held off over 200,000 Persian invader's for over 10 days, killing over 10,000. All Spartans there perished." At Thermopylae, there was an extremely tight pass that only 10 men could fit through at a breast. The Persian King ordered his men through the pass, onto the Creek spears, and the Greek line held long enough for reinforcements to arrive. This tied in with successful naval battles ultimately destroyed the Persian assault. This happened over 2,000 years ago. Try to take advantage of natural features to create bottlenecks and killing zones. Overlapping enfilades of fire are far stronger than defense that doesn't support itself. The whole can become greater than the sum of the parts, if you design and build your defense network well. The idea is to have as many spaces as possible where they can't shoot you but you can shoot them. A good American defense consists of at least 3 patriot missile batteries (if not more), a small amount of infantry (rocket infantry and rangers) set to guard just behind them, potentially air cover and tanks, depending. This may well not be enough, but it should beat off most computer attacks regardless of difficulty. A good Chinese defense consists of two bunkers filled with rocket infantry, two gattling towers, a propaganda tower, scattered armor, and potentially air cover. Defense with GLA is harder, I recommend massed groups of defensive structures tied in with large amounts of differing units. Maybe two stinger batteries, two tunnel networks and a large amount of scorpions, quad cannons, and rocket infantry? If you are up against super weapon attacks using tunnel networks to keep a reserve force inside can help greatly. Artillery at the rear of defense can be very deadly, as can air cover, and tanks are great at defending against vehicles. If you know armor is incoming, build rocket men and tanks, if you know air is incoming, build aircraft and rocket men and gattling tanks and air defense, if you know infantry is coming think pathfinders and riflemen and gattling tanks/quad cannons and humvees. If it's artillery think aircraft and artillery first, then tanks or rocket guys if need be. Force them to attack on your terms. 3. Offense "Attack where they cannot attack you, sting like a bee, float like a butterfly" - Mohammad Ali, and someone else mixed into the same quote To create a combined offensive force, say example for china would be quite a lot of battle master tanks, a few overlords with gattling turrets, a few gattling tanks, and scattered infantry, both riflemen and anti tank guys, and finally a few inferno cannons. The battle master tanks will take out the majority of the enemy armor, the overlords will soak up the damage, and if one has a propaganda tower, heal your units, the gattling tanks will tear apart aircraft and light infantry, the rocket guys will take down aircraft and armor, and the light infantry will soak up some damage, and may prove useful in capturing buildings. The equivalent force for America would be a lot of Crusaders, a few Paladins, a couple of humvees, a fair few riflemen and a fair few rocket guys, along with maybe if you are America, air support. Try to bring along at least one or two units capable of long range attacks, these will prove handy in numerous situations but generally tend to be weak units. The only limit is your imagination. I have had Mig storms (12+), backed up by Inferno cannons, using that to wreak havoc in their base, I've seen massive tank rushes, and I've seen just as many destroyed by a skilled defensive opponent. I've also captured key buildings and demoralized their will to play with para drops and rebel ambushes. Build for what you are attacking, if they have a whole heap of quad cannons build main battle tanks, if they have heaps of main battle tanks, build rocket guys and tanks, it all goes around like that. Consider what you want to target. Generally unguarded assets are the easiest to hit, followed by softish assets. Base defenses can be very annoying, long ranged units, super weapon attacks and power plant strikes will deal to these. Strategic assets like oil rigs and hacker farms/supply drops/black markets, supply centers and power plants are generally worth destroying when possible, as is everything of theirs ultimately. Generally, each side has it's own specialized anti infantry armor unit (Humvee, Quad cannon, technical, Gattling tank, Flame Tank, Toxin Tractor), these units tend to be extremely effective against infantry and ground units. For anti aircraft, the options are gattling tank, quad cannon, rocket soldiers, and humvee missile. For anti armor assaults, the best anti armor is a large tank force, battle masters, crusaders or scorpions, mixed in with a few paladins, or overlords, or marauder tanks, and a bit of rocket infantry mixed in. A small amount of ranged support (artillery backup) can do wonders when assaulting a base, units that can fire without being inside the enemies field of fire are priceless. These can be tomahawk cruise missiles, inferno cannons, rocket buggies, scuds, and nuke cannons. A few of these can add life expectancy. Think big if you want your ground vehicle attacks to be successful, and think smart. If an attack doesn't work, come back with one twice as big. Try not to send things right into enemy base defenses, instead attempt to destroy or disable them first temporarily at least before attacking. Long range weapons long range weapons long range weapons I can't stress that enough. And be creative. Ideally you want your attacks and defense to be able to resist, and damage, infantry, armor, buildings, aircraft, and base defenses, unless you know you are up against a very specific threat. Air power is important in this game, the best air defense is an air offense, F-22's or Mig's on guard mode, followed closely by a large network of either patriot missiles, stinger sites, or gattling turrets and bunkers, and dotted rocket infantry. You can't go wrong with rocket infantry, it's great against almost all vehicles, and aircraft. 12+ Migs over an enemy base without any air defense is an extremely dangerous force. 4. General Strategies and advice Remember, the laws of combat; Step one is survival Step two is income Step three is destruction Survive, make an income, destroy their income, destroy them. In all real time strategy games there are separate classes of buildings. Some generate income, some let you build things, some are required to build cool things and super weapons, some act defensively. I view these, in order of importance, as first the ones that generate income, then the ones that let you build the option of generating money, then production facilities, and then everything else. Power plants are also very important to target in this game. Play this game on your own terms. Don't let it dictate the terms to you. Command and Conquer Generals is very much about who can gather the most money, and who can build the most tanks/super weapons. In order to ensure you have more money than your opponent, remember to harass their supply centers and supply lines, destroy their hacker farms and supply drop zones and black markets, and either capture or destroy their oil rigs. Super weaponsare great for this. If they have no income, they cannot buy tanks, and if they can't buy tanks they can't destroy you. Having a well protected income of your own is important as well, ideally you want several gatherer units (Chinooks, supply trucks, workers), and later in the game, after you've made it to the second row of buildings (think strategy center, palace, propaganda center), you should seriously consider investing some money into hackers or supply drops or black markets (several of each) if you think it's going to be a long game. After you have destroyed their income, take out strategic assets at will, focusing on what you think is important. I find that if they are an industrial (US, China) nation, attacks on power can be extremely effective - even if they have particle cannons, if they can't use them, what good are they? Also, an attack on their power, sending their radar down, combined with a paratrooper or rebel ambush attack, followed by a mass capture is an extremely effective strategy. If they have no tanks... War factory and arms dealer attacks are also good, as are super weapon attacks on base defenses before large attacks. This can also be done with ranged weapons such as tomahawks or inferno's or scuds. I tend not to send aircraft against base defenses unless the path is safe. A mobile defense/offense is better than a static defense, it's great to be able to take the battle to them, so attempt to focus on mobile forces apart from where static defenses are required. If you have mobility on your side, you can quickly strike where the enemy is weak, reinforce where you are attacked, and cover your allies. Tanks are possibly the best all round semi mobile ground force, aircraft are perfect for this job, stationing an aircraft above your allies base can sometimes be the difference between an attack winning and losing. Disable what makes them money and the game will be a lot easier. Most of the time the computer will rush you early on, make a reasonable defense from the start. The computer tends not to plan long term well so long as you destroy their revenue. This goes for human players as well, if you can survive, and destroy their income to start with they will be far far far weaker. The more money you have the more tanks/super weapons/stuff you can buy. The less money they have the easier your tanks can roll over them. Always attempt to capture oil rigs as quickly as possible, these give you $1000 to start with, and then a trickle of $200, which instantly pays for the money gone into research, and gives a bonus. These are priceless, if you can't capture them destroy them. If you can capture, and then garrison in a building nearby, that can be a lot better than no defense at all. When attacking enemy buildings if I am given options, I tend to attack first the income generating buildings and vehicles, followed by the production facilities or power plants, the logic being if they have no money they can't fight, and if they can't build unit's they can't fight, and if they have no power they can't launch super weapons. The other random tech buildings tend to be refineries, taking 10% off the cost of vehicles, and hospitals, letting your infantry automatically heal. Both are good to have if they aren't hard to have, if you can't have them destroy them. Be adaptable and ready to change strategies completely if what you are doing isn't working. Engineer rush's still work, but are harder. Destroy all anti infantry defenses first, and then send in a horde of riflemen with capture building researched, or drive them in with troop crawlers, fly them in with Chinooks, or magic them in with rebel ambush/paratroopers, then capture. Quite often super weapon escalation will occur, the easiest way to fight this is through destroying your opponents power and money, if they have no power they can't launch, if they have no money they can't build. 4.1 Resource Management "If they have no food, they will starve and cannot fight." - Something Stalin might have said regarding the Ukrainian famines. He would probably have been more ruthless. Don't sit on your cash, spend it as you get it, unless your saving up for a super weapon. You should never have more than $6,000 in your bank, you'd be better off with it spent on tanks and weapons and defense and structures and stuff. Get multiple harvesters. I tend to research capture buildings right away, and take all available oil rigs, this can improve your income dramatically. I also build one supply collection building per supply tray, with at least two harvesters from it. Do this if you have access to multiple supply piles, and remember to guard them closely. Later in the game it is worth investing in free money generation, ie hackers/black market/supply drop zones, go for these or a super weapon straight after you've completed the first second tier building. Don't forget to destroy their resource gathering apparatus, this is a very important objective. Oil rigs are a fun thing to target if you have a spare force and they aren't tightly guarded. Consider capturing at times like that. 5. Multi player advice "The real threat has always been human" - Ghost, 2005 Remember you are fighting a human, with it's own strengths and weaknesses. If you have a team-mate, cooperate with attacks and super weapons, and you'll dominate. If you can both time strikes and attacks, they will be vastly more effective, and you will have a better chance of destroying super weapons and other things. Be wary of attacks in directions and ways you wouldn't normally suspect. Be ready for almost anything, and play at the best of your abilities. There is always a Darth Traya. Try to find your opponents weaknesses and play on them, while bringing out your strong points. Intimidation and psychology can play a big part, the arrival of migs at the right time to save the day, or watching someone else's super weapon clock down can definitely send moral either way. Ultimately, if you can destroy their will to fight, you can win. Be creative and think outside the box, come up with your own ways to beat the enemy. If something is annoying them, or they target something, for example you do a lot of air attacks and they blow up your airfield, keep attacking them in that method, especially if it is getting results. Remember that humans can learn and adapt, don't be surprised when they use your own strategies on you. Be very careful if negotiating terms, terms can and often are dropped at a moments notice. The best way to play is to be ready for a change in terms at the drop of a hat while still playing honorably. In fact, consider just not negotiating with enemies. It can show weakness. Everyone is beatable. 6. Difficulty levels & Campaign Normal is easy, hard is normal, brutal isn't hard enough :). So long as you are capable of building an adequate defense and hanging in there, you should have no problem beating brutal opponents. Campaign. The hardest mission in the game is China level 7. In order of difficulty, do the training first, then USA, then GLA, then China. I'm stuck on China 7 on brutal. Advice - build a propaganda tower on one of your overlords at the start, and a gattling tower on the other. Hacker farms are great, and have backup defenses for when they scud storm your defenses, the scud storm is far to the north. Good luck. 7. American strategies "Bring it on" - George W Bush, 2004 (regarding the Iraqi insurgency) Using A-10's, Particle Cannon's, or Paratroopers to take down or capture enemy oil rigs can be a very effective way of decreasing the enemies strategic assets. Also at later levels, paratroopers can be extremely effective snuck into the back of an opponents base, and used to capture the majority of the base. This is even deadlier with the GLA, due to the stealthed nature of upgraded rebels (get stealth upgrade at Palace). Repair drones are worth getting, they both repair, and shoot infantry up quite well, and if the enemy is using a lot of stealth units (Jarman Kell, GLA rebels later in game), the recon drone is worth getting every once in a while. Pathfinders are totally lethal against all infantry, consider getting them if your worried about having your buildings captured. They are also stealth themselves and can detect invisible units. Advanced training is one of the best American upgrades there is, get it when you can. If you can successfully take your fair share of the map and set up a strong defense, generally you can out wait an AI player quite easily, remember think setup, get money, destroy their income, destroy them. Flash bangsare great for clearing out garrisoned buildings apart from Chinese bunkers, disabling stinger missile sites, and killing infantry, this upgrade is worth researching if you intend to use it. Information is one of your strength's, at the command center there is a gps sweep that is unstoppable, and also a very early generals upgrade is remote drone. Both of these are worth using if you so decide, and later in the game, the Detention Camp's full radar reading can give priceless information. Knowing where to hit them is important. America has the strongest infantry in the game, so take advantage of this. It also has the strongest air force, F-22's are the best air superiority fighters in the game, and Aurora's can be considered for missions which are essential, however most of the time I use F-22's. Aurora's ALWAYS get through (just like Tree Ninjas), they just don't live for very long at all afterwards, even two missiles will destroy an Aurora, and at $2,500 each that gets boring fast. Aurora's and F-117's are ok stationed on defensive duties, or against weak ground targets, but I really do prefer F-22's. A-10's combined with a particle cannon will almost always take out a super weapon. America gets Strategy Center, with it's choice of upgrades. I tend to use bombardment (20% weapons damage bonus), however Search & Destroy (20%? range increase) is good as well. I never use the armor one. Upgrading power plants is cheaper than building new ones. You can take advantage of Patriot Batteries relay ability, and build batteries slightly back from the main defense that will still deal out heavy damage. Tomahawks are very deadly when the Range upgrade option is done at the strategy center. 7.1 American general's promotions. I think paratroopers are great, combined with capture building can be lethal to a whole base. 3 A-10's will destroy almost any building, and most units. I pretty much never use the repair upgrades. The stealth bomber upgrade is pointless, go with F-22's instead, and get either the Paladin Tank upgrade, or the Recon drone upgrade. The Paladin is a good weapon, it has a laser that can destroy enemy missiles and damage infantry, and is the heaviest of the American tanks. Great in tank battles, or to bulk up your ground forces. The Recon drone generals upgrade is great for added intelligence and watching mission critical areas (key bottlenecks, oil rigs, super weapons, etc). The Pathfinder unit is the most effective anti infantry unit in the game, a sniper unit that is stealthed, with an extremely long range, it can shred infantry, but is useless against vehicles. Worth getting if your worried about infantry attacks/surprise attacks. The Fuel Air Bomb is a lot of fun, great to use on troop concentrations or strategic targets, if your gonna use it on a super weapon/hq, combine it with A-10's or a super weapon of your own. American radar is at the command center. 8. Chinese strategies "China Tank Division!" Flame tanks wall of flame can be extremely effective when used properly, it creates an impenetrable (by infantry) wall of flame to cross. Destroy with ranged weapons or aircraft, or tanks if you are in a hurry, but never send infantry up against a flame wall. Red Guard are good random mega rush units, can be amazingly effective against an unsuspecting opponent, troop crawlers are good for this too. You can make a ton of these quite quickly and comparatively their quite cheap, and they can capture. Combat with gattling tanks/quad cannons, rangers with flash bangs, or pathfinders. Bunker's filled with anti tank guys are ridiculously effective, especially in pairs with overlooking fields of fire - great against vehicles and air, when combined with gattling tanks/towers this is a devastating defense. Speaker towers are great, they heal your units, and may give other bonuses. Build them at key defensive positions, and use them offensively on top of overlords when attacking. Mig's are great, don't leave home without them, can create just that added bit of energy to a good base defense, or create that tiny extra bit of power for a good offense, just keep them away from air defense. The overlord with a speaker tower on top is a great thing to have, it automatically heals ALL of your nearby units, massively increasing lifespan. Apart from one, gattling cannons on overlords are the best, they can tear through infantry and aircraft. Hackers are crucial, they make you money, and get promoted to make you more money over time. This is great, one hacker from the start of the game can be worth more than 20 tanks at the end, easily. Also they are only $625, so China has an advantage in that it can start making them straight away, and they are also mobile and lots cheaper than the GLA and USA options. Artillery combined with a nuke will almost always take out a super weapon. China's real advantages are with it's tanks and infantry's raw overpowering nature, use LOTS when you play as China and you will prove unstoppable. It's what the horde bonus is there for ;). Remember to scatter power plants, they explode quite largely when they go up, and leave radioactive waste for a little while afterwards. Don't group hackers around power plants. Chinese radar is built at the command center. 8.1 China Generals Promotions To be completed. 9. GLA strategies "We - with God's help - call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's order to kill the American's and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it. We also call on the ---- soldiers to launch the raid on Satan's US troops and the devil's supporters allying with them" - Declaration of War by Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, February 23rd 1998 Remember, GLA buildings rebuild, so if you can keep the second stage alive they will come back. This can be very annoying to other players. Successful suicide bombings can be extremely annoying to an American human player. Ayeeeej! As GLA you don't need power plants, so remember that and target their power plants for destruction if they require them. This is great, it means your scud storm is far harder to disable than any other countries super weapons. And if you do get power, everything will build slightly faster. Angry mobs are a great random support unit, you never know when that can be the difference between an attack being stopped, and it destroying their whole base. Of course, sometimes they die right away. The Marauder generals upgrade is a great one to get, it is the only way to get a semi decent tank onto the field if you are gla, the gla armor is lacking in comparison. The Scorpion tank is ok in large numbers when upgraded, especially when combined with a few quad cannons to take out the infantry and the aircraft. Scuds are awesome at dealing to enemy base defense. The junk repair upgrade is great to do, it's priceless. So are the damage upgrades. You can research camouflage at your palace, this makes your rebels stealth. If you research this, and follow the rebel ambush generals promotion line, you can quite often pull off a devastating ambush inside the enemy base that when combined with capture building leads to you owning the majority of the enemies buildings. To fight this, use pathfinders, or troop crawlers or recon drones. Scud's and rocket buggies are very very annoying units to use for harassment, they have a very large range, a group of scuds guarded by a larger group of tanks is a very annoying thing. Rocket buggies also move quickly so can be effective harassing units. Remember to build a few black markets, this will keep your money coming in. Two scud storm's are required to destroy enemy super weapons. On the surface GLA seem weaker, however if you are resourceful, they can be rewarding. Anthrax can be as harmful as it is helpful, it's great defensively, but when you have to run your own troops through it then it sucks big time. Technicals can carry units through anthrax, but generally anthrax and infantry don't mix. It is deadly against enemy infantry. GLA radar comes from a radar truck bought at an Arms Dealer. 9.1 GLA Generals Promotions To be completed. 10. Upgrade Advice "We will fight stronger with better weapons!" With unit upgrades, I tend not to upgrade unless I have generally 4+ times as many units as the upgrade costs, however there are exceptions. Best to get the upgrades for what you need first, and later when you have lots of money get everything. Use them if you buy them, don't buy them if you'll never use them. This goes for Generals upgrades too, think about your upgrades 11. Unit overview and advice 11.1 Infantry Tactics Infantry is generally small, and weak against toxins, flash bangs, and machine guns. For dealing with infantry, rangers equipped with flash bangs (US), gattling tanks and quad cannons (China and GLA), can be extremely effective. Remember, infantry work like rock paper scissors, with riflemen taking down all infantry quite quickly, and being able to capture buildings (stealthed gla riflemen can be very annoying), rocket guys specializing against tanks, pathfinders are extremely effective against all infantry but useless against armor, angry mobs are perfect against tanks and buildings, but useless against serious anti infantry, and I find I almost never use the special infantry units (Black Lotus, Jarman Kell, the GI Joe dude). Black Lotus can use her capture building ability quite well (she is stealthed, and it works at range), and Jarman Kell's snipe vehicle ability can be very annoying. For China, the best infantry unit you can have is the hacker, it has no offensive capabilities however it makes a steady trickle of money for you. Infantry rushes can be surprisingly successful against an unarmed or damaged opponent at times, but more so when part of a combined force with massed armor. Dropping riflemen infantry into the back of their base and capturing buildings can be very very deadly, and can be quite easy to do as GLA or the US. This tactic is harder with China, but still achievable with the troop crawler. Try to use infantry in groups of at least 5+. 11.11 Garrisoning units The only thing you can garrison inside that is immune to toxin trucks and flame tanks are Chinese bunkers. Also, when garrisoning, think about the field of view your troops have, ensure they have maximum opportunities to shoot the enemy while being out of shooting range of the enemy. I can't stress that enough for everything, try to make sure when you shoot them that they can't shoot back as well. Garrisonedunits are vulnerable to flash bangs and toxin tractors and flame tanks, but can be very deadly to lumpishly grouped armor and infantry depending... I find rocket guys work best when garrisoned in groups of at least 5 per building. 11.12 US Infantry US Infantry is the best in the game. Ranger ($225) Can use flash bangs (when researched) to quickly clear buildings, disable stinger sites, and damage infantry. Also comes equipped with assault rifles for multi-purpose combat. Can also catch buildings when researched. Good in large numbers. Very effective all-round anti infantry. Missile Troopers ($300) Rocket men, same as from Red Alert, great at cutting down tanks and aircraft, ok at buildings, terrible against machine guns, and flame and toxin weapons. Deadly when the Laser sites option is used to attack vehicles, in groups of 4 or more. Pathfinder ($600, requires Generals Upgrade Level 2) Extremely effective quite long ranged anti infantry unit, this stealthed sniper dude can detect stealthed units, and is great for guarding missile towers against pretty much every infantry threat. 11.13 GLA Infantry GLA units are cheap, and can be very effective when fully upgraded. Rebel ($150) Basic rifleman style unit, cheap to produce, it's value to start with is in mass numbers, and in capturing oil derricks and tech buildings. Can research capture building, and Armour Piercing ammo to increase damage by 25%, and finally camouflage, this makes them into super deadly stealthed ambush guys who can take over whole bases like that. There's nothing more annoying than having your base stolen out from underneath you while you were launching an attack somewhere else. Rocket Guy ($300) Rocket guy, great against tanks and aircraft and ok against buildings, terrible against machine guns and toxins and flame. Can be upgraded to do another 25% damage with ?AP Rockets? at ?Black market? Angry Mob ($800) This is a fun weapon, its like a whole heap of random people, who chuck Molotov cocktails and riot, super deadly to tanks and buildings, quite weak against rangers with flash bangs and gattling tanks. This one time, I was playing someone in a 1v1, and one angry mob got through their defenses. Every once in a while you get a super angry mob :). Terrorist ($200) Fun guy to use, comes strapped with explosives, very effective against everything, if he can just get there. Weak against anti infantry defenses, very annoying in large numbers at an American opponent. America have the weakest infantry defense of all. Ayeej! Hijacker ($?) I never use this guy, but apparently he can take over enemy vehicles and is stealthed. Requires a generals upgrade to get. 11.14 China Infantry China's infantry is mid-range, coming out about average, better than GLA until GLA have upgraded to Camouflage and AP, worse than America. Red Guard ($300) Basic rifleman unit, can be quite effective when combined with the all Red Guard produced as Veteran's upgrade, can capture buildings, reasonably effective against infantry, devastating in a massive horde. You get two at once, every other country only gets one guy. Tank Hunter ($300) Basic rocket guy, can also place tnt charge, effective against tanks and aircraft, weak against riflemen, flash bangs, flame, toxin, machine guns. Hacker ($625) Great unit, mobile money maker, and can disable enemy buildings. I always use to make money, have never apart from one mission in the campaign used hackers to disable buildings. The fact that they can generate money quite cheaply and are mobile makes them great units. The Chinese equivalent to supply drop zones and black markets. Build quite a lot of these, and spread them out widely. If you do it right, hopefully they will be able to withstand most attacks with minimal losses. 11.2 Vehicle Tactics There are 4 main types of vehicles, anti armor, anti infantry, anti air, and anti base. In the anti armor category there is the US Paladin and Crusader, the GLA Marauder and Scorpion, the Chinese Overlord and Battle master. In the anti-infantry category there is the US Humvee, the GLA Quad cannon and Technical and Toxin Tractor, the Chinese Gattling Tank and Flame Tank. In the anti-air category, there is the US Humvee, when given the missile upgrade, or filled with rocket men, the GLA Quad cannon, and the Chinese Gattling Tank. Anti base defenses include the US Tomahawk Cruise missile, the Chinese Inferno and Nuke Cannon's, and the GLA Rocket Buggies and Scud's. The rock paper scissors laws apply here as well, only with infantry, vehicles, air, and buildings. Big tank rushes are often effective, especially if combined with something else destroying all rocket based defense for the most part. Troop transports can prove effective when used in conjunction with engineer style rushes. Think big and you are more likely to succeed, also think about what you are fighting and what would work best against that threat. Be willing to change the structure and style of your attacks and defense if they aren't working. Think Big. 11.21 US Vehicles All US vehicles can have drones purchased for them, these will repair, and add infantry defense, while providing an extra target for long range anti air attacks. US vehicles lack air defense, so mix in rocket guys, and give them air cover when possible. There are upgrades at the strategy center, for tank armor, drone armor, and advanced training that are really worth getting, and the Humvee rocket upgrade is at the weapons factory. All up US vehicles come in midrange, stronger than the GLA, weaker than the very strong Chinese vehicle spread. Paladin ($1100) This is the US heavy tank, requires a generals upgrade, but carries a laser that is capable of shooting down enemy missiles, and damaging enemy infantry. Good tanks to have as the core of your attack. Medium-long range, very effective at all vehicles and most buildings. Crusader ($900) Good heavy main battle tanks, great at anti-vehicle and anti-building attacks, weak against rocket men, aircraft, and rocket based base defense. Medium-long range. Humvee ($700) Very fast units armed with a machine gun, and can have up to 5 units garrisoned inside. Deadly against infantry when loaded with a path finder, reasonable against isolated armor when loaded with rocket guys. All up too weak for my liking, I'd rather have a tank. Can be upgraded to have basic air defense with the addition of a missile. Medium range. Ambulance ($600?) Waste of money for the most part, automatically heals infantry, and can be used to decontaminate anthrax and fallout. I've heard it can be useful, but I don't use it. Tomahawk ($1200?) Great long range missile offense/defense, perfect for piercing base defenses, weak when unguarded. Extremely long range when combined with the range upgrade at the strategy center. 11.22 GLA Vehicles GLA does not come equipped with a good heavy tank, it is possible to get the marauder if you decide, with the generals upgrade but it still lacks real meat in it's vehicular capabilities. GLA's units tend to move quite quickly, but do not pack as much punch as American or Chinese units. GLA also has no aircraft, so be wary of air attack. Marauder ($800) This is the GLA heavy tank, essential if you plan on taking it to the enemy on the ground mano a mano, unfortunately it requires a generals upgrade to purchase. Strong against almost all vehicles, it can't stand up to a Paladin or Overlord, weak against rocket infantry and air attacks. Can upgrade itself by scavenging. Can be upgraded to fire a small amount of anthrax. Medium-long range. Destroy with tanks and support units. Scorpion Tank ($600) This tends to be the core of the GLA ground attack, a light, relatively quickly moving tank that is effective in large numbers against most vehicles. Will tear apart humvees, get slowly taken down by larger tanks, and destroy most things in between. Very weak against rocket infantry and aircraft. Can be upgraded to fire a small amount of anthrax, I'm undecided over whether that's a good upgrade. Medium range. Best thing is it's very cheap, so you can buy lots of them, ?same price? as a Humvee and far more effective Quad Cannon ($700) Great anti-infantry/air/light vehicle unit, quite weak against tanks and base defenses. Medium-long range. Kinda like a better version of the technical. The best mobile GLA air defense. Destroy with vehicles. Toxin Tractor ($?) Almost useless unit, I never use it, only thing it's good for is the rare occasion when you want to ungarrison some pesky enemies. Short range. Computer uses it a lot. Technical ($500) Cheap utes with machine guns on the back, great as scouting units, can carry infantry, and can upgrade of scavenged kills. Good against infantry, weak against most vehicles and base defenses. Medium range. Can transport units, but they can't fire out. Rocket Buggie ($900?) Effective rapidly moving long range artillery style unit, great against weak stationary infantry and base defenses, especially when combined with an assault, or as the first stage of an attack. Can work quite well defensively stationed on guard behind base defenses. Long range. Scud ($1200) Requires a generals promotion, can fire an anthrax missile or a high explosive missile, anthrax will rip though enemy infantry, extremely long range artillery unit, very very annoying when used against base defenses and guarded well. Is quite weak, don't let it get targeted by enemy units. Long range. I feel no guilt about using anthrax. Radar Van ($500) This is the GLA radar, can do a radar sweep later on if researched at ?black market/palace? that is equivalent to GPS sweep. Mobile, but very weak, and can see hidden units. When fighting GLA humans, it is definitely worth targeting Radar Vans. Hide them at the back of your base, and every once in a while use alt to set a series of way points for it and use it to sweep your base clean of enemy drones when fighting America. 11.23 China Vehicles China has the heaviest tank in the game, the Overlord tank. All up China's vehicles come out very well, with strong all around main battle tanks, and something for every niche. Battle masterTank ($800) This is the Chinese main tank, stronger than the Scorpion, weaker than a Crusader or Marauder. Strong against vehicles and buildings, weak against rocket infantry, air, bunkered rocket guys and patriot missile batteries. Can be upgraded with Nuclear Tank and Depleted Uranium upgrades at the Nuke Silo. Medium range. Gattling Tank ($800) Great against aircraft, infantry, and light vehicles, weak against rocket based defense, bunkered infantry, stinger sites, and tanks. Longish range. Flame Tank ($800) Can put down a wall of fire that is lethal to infantry. This tank is great against buildings and infantry, but terrible against enemy tanks and aircraft. Short range. Inferno Cannon ($900) Long range artillery cannon, kinda like a napalm strike. Can create a burning patch for a while in large groups. Very effective anti base, can destroy base defenses at long range. Weak, guard closely. Overlord Tank ($2000) The best tank in the game. Can be outfitted with a bunker, ($400) a propaganda tower ($500), or a gattling turret ($1200). They tend to live longest with a gattling turret, and having one with a propaganda tower is great, that'll make all your unit's automatically heal. With bunkers, they are cool to have but don't live long. Can be upgraded with Nuclear Tank and Depleted Uranium upgrades at the Nuke Silo. The gattling cannon is a great upgrade because it strengthens them against rocket infantry and aircraft, their two key weaknesses, and one Overlord with a propaganda tower will make all your units live twice as long. Medium-long rangeish. 11.3 Aircraft Keep all aircraft away from air defenses for the most part. Aircraft work best as a large mob, build lots of them and air fields if you plan on being a serious contender. I recommend using guard to deploy aircraft to area's. The great thing about aircraft is they move really really quickly. At times enemy strategic targets are undefended from air attacks, this is a great time to strike with aircraft, especially against oil rigs, and any thing else that's a soft target. Aircraft are quite effective at clearing garrisoned buildings. Keep aircraft a long way away from rocket guys, gattling tanks and quad cannons, sam sites, just about everything that can shoot air. A few migs or F-22's on defensive guard orders over your base defenses can be very helpful, and in large numbers are totally lethal. Air cover for a ground based attack definitely makes them live longer. If you are under attack from aircraft a lot, consider building a lot of randomly dotted around air defense buildings, or using a patrol of fighters on air guard. 11.31 USA Aircraft US aircraft are the best in the game, with a wider selection and more options. I pretty much never build Aurora's or Stealth Bomber's myself, they cost a lot, can't shoot aircraft, and die very quickly. A few helicopters on base defense or combined with a large tank force definitely adds value as well. Chinook ($1200) Carries supplies, can carry 5 infantry units or a tank and a couple? of infantry guys. Vital for the American resupply effort in the early part of the game, later on when supplies get empty they can be useful for a sneak paratrooper insertion into the back of a base. F-22 Raptor ($1400) Upgrades: Advanced Training, Laser Guided Missiles, Strategy Center option The best air superiority fighter in the game, absolutely perfect if you are having trouble from enemy airborne assaults. Also very good at taking airspace, tacked onto the edge of base defense, and for quick attacks at unguarded units ie chinooks, oil rigs, power plants, if your lucky. They can be upgraded to do 25% more damage at the airfield. These are great stationed defensively, or offensively. I normally buy Raptor's when American. F-117 Stealth Bomber ($1600) Upgrades: Advanced Training, Laser Guided Missiles, Strategy Center option These are best used when fighting the GLA, Chinese Migs or American F-22's will destroy them quickly. They are great units to have circling above base defenses, and since they are invisible the enemy can at times be lulled into a false sense of safety about attacking your base defenses. It's nice to have a nasty invisible surprise like this waiting. A little bit too weak for my liking, but it does have potential, just keep it away from air defense and everything that'll detect it. Stealth Bombers require a generals upgrade, and aren't very stealth, getting shot down surprisingly easily. They can be quite effective under computer control, to defend against stealth bombers use things that have an ability to automatically detect stealthed units, ie gla radar trucks, pathfinders/recon drones/scout drones, overlord tanks, troop crawlers, gattling towers. If you can detect them before they come into firing range, you can quite often destroy them on the first pass. Aurora Bomber ($2500) Upgrades: Advanced Trainng, Strategy Center option A very very nice bomber, the heaviest in game, it is unstoppable before it attacks, however it is quite weak after it's attack. Too expensive however, and too weak. The bomb is nice though. Personally I don't think it's worth $5000 for two of these when you can have a super weapon instead. Aurora's can get shot down by two missiles from one SAM site, however they always get through. They just don't always get back. Attack Helicopter ($1500) Upgrades: Advanced Training, Rocket Pods Helicopters are great against tanks and infantry, really weak against air defenses, , enemy aircraft, gattling tanks and quad cannons and rocket guys. Great when mixed in with a large force of tanks. Helicopters can also slip
past/around defenses at bottlenecks at times, fly over water, and wreak havoc
in the back of someones base.
Helicopters are very effective at anti tank and anti infantry work, however
keep them VERY far away from rocket  guys and dedicated anti aircraft units.
A few of these with rocket pods can decimate an entire area's worth of armor.

11.32		China Air force

Mig ($1200)
Mig's are great, especially when black napalm is researched, and the armor
upgrade is done. 12 or more is very deadly.
In large groups they can own just about anything. Mig's can engage aircraft,
however aren't as effective as  American jets. The Black Napalm and Mig Armour
Upgrades are definitely worth getting once you have about two  squadrons. Get
the Black Napalm upgrade at the war factory, the Mig Armour upgrade at the
airfield.


12.	Building Tactics and Advice

Spread your buildings around, this minimizes the risk of losses due to super
weapon attacks. Excess power is good  if you are an industrial country. It is
the only way to withstand a multiple super weapon battle, combined with  wise
usage of your weapons.
Build production facilities (barracks, war factory/arms dealer) towards the
front lines, but still behind defenses.
If you are America and plan on using the Bombardment strategy, build your
strategy center within about half a  screen of your key defenses, this way the
artillery on that will be useful.
Build all super weapons at the back of your base, quite spread out, with lots
of power stations in between.
It's cheaper to upgrade an American power plant than build a new one. Chinese
power plants are more powerful  than American, but leave radioactive waste when
killed. This can be worth remembering when attacking China.
It doesn't hurt to put a few power plants right behind the defenses, the theory
being that when the defenses are  gone those won't be necessary and will serve
as a buffer to delay their attack while reinforcements arrive.
A supply collector building per supply tray is worth having, with generally at
least 2 collectors, think 5ish if GLA.
Some buildings can withstand super weapon attacks, ie your command center and
other super weapons.  Everything else will probably die. The best way to resist
super weapon's attacks is to have excess power, excess  weapons, and excess
money. Power is the key though if they are China or America, destroy their
power to disable  their super weapons and then you don't have to worry about
that.
Build a lot of power plants in the later stages of the game, when your hacker
farms/supply drop zones/black  markets are giving you more money than you know
what to do with. This will increase the chances of resisting  super weapons.
GLA buildings have a very cool grow-back feature, this comes in real handy. It
means they are harder to destroy  in assaults, and can grow back. Great if you
are GLA and just manage to hold your defensive line, while suffering  heavy
losses. Better not to suffer the losses though.
Buildings can be captured quite easily, so be wary and make sure you always
have some infantry that is capable  of re-taking your base, or destroying an
infiltrating force. This can be especially dangerous when fighting the  GLA.
Generally I build airfields at the rear of my base, seeing as aircraft move so
rapidly I feel this is safer for them. I  think with tanks, they have to be
closer to the front line due to their slower max speed. Same with infantry.
Tech buildings are worth having, if you can't get them, destroy them.
All buildings are weakest while they are at 0% of being built, and get slowly
stronger.
All sides buildings are organized in Tiers, with Tier 1 buildings on the Top
Row, and Tier 2 on the bottom.
There is definitely a build order, or a pattern I would recommend. Generically,
this is
Start with Command Center and Builder
Build another builder, 3 if GLA, and Radar if China
Build power if US/China with the first builder, if GLA supply pile
Build a barracks with the second.
Go back to first, build supply collector building, build additional supply
collector unit/s (1-2 if China/US, 3+ if GLA)
Research capture building at barracks and capture oil derricks/setup way point
for rifleman built after to capture derricks
Get free builder and build war factory or defensive structure.
Shortly after you should have a strong defense, good supply lines, and a small
mobile force.
At this point, build a strategy center/palace/propaganda center.
Keep going, that's just the first tier.
The second tier consists of buildings you can build after you have completed an
arms dealer/war factory.
The really important thing is to spread your buildings out, and make production
buildings towards the front line, non productive buildings towards the rear,
income generating buildings should be guarded somehow, by a strong defense at
least, power plants should be spread widely.
If you build right, it will take multiple super weapons hits to destroy you.

12.1	Production Buildings:

Barracks ($500)
This is where you create infantry units. I tend to put mine close to the front
line, to allow for rapid reinforcement  from the production line to the war
zone. When I am being attacked with tanks or vehicles, I tend to build rocket
guys here. When it's infantry I tend to build riflemen here.

War Factory/Arms Dealer ($2000)
You build your tanks and vehicles here, along with some upgrades. Generally I
tend to build it slightly further  away from the front than the barracks, but
still quite close to where a lot of fighting is going to be.

Airfield ($1000, China/USA only)
Build this to the rear of your base, hopefully out of reach of enemy attacks.
Aircraft move so rapidly that it doesn't really matter how far away the target
is. The upgrades tend to be worth getting, once you have an air force.

12.2 Defensive Structures

Most defensive structures are vulnerable to long range attacks, and for
industrial countries, defense can be temporarily disabled by destroying power
plants.
These buildings are what will keep your base safe for the most part, so build
them well.
Back them up with aircraft or artillery when possible, and don't think twice
about a few tanks either.

Patriot Missile Battery ($1000, US)
Great defensive building, wonderful when backed up and build in triplicate or
more on a key point, intersperse with infantry and rocket guys. Unfortunately
not very effective against infantry, but deadly against vehicles and aircraft.
Quite effective, especially when they can relay the target information to
multiple batteries. Build in groups slightly spread out. Suicide bombers work
well against them unless they are scattered with infantry. Scud's and Nuke
Cannons are great at destroying these. Easiest to destroy when power has been
disabled first.

Bunker ($400, China)
Very effective when fully loaded with rocket guys, vulnerable against infantry
with that load out. Two bunkers on a key point will pretty much deter all but
the most determined tank assault, especially if you reinforce in real time. If
power is disabled these will keep working.
Quite hard to dislodge from the map without expending some serious fire power
if they are placed and guarded properly.

Gattling Tower ($1200, China)
Infantry and aircrafts worst nightmare, build these next to bunkers with
infantry on a one for one basis. Easiest to disable through power strikes or
heavy vehicle attacks (tanks, ranged weapons). Don't use aircraft against these.

Propaganda Tower ($500, China)
I class this as defensive because it's immobile. Great if you have a medium
sized force of tanks and infantry as a part of your base defense, will extend
lifespan dramatically. Well worth $500 if you use it's abilities. Can't fire,
use anything to destroy.

Stinger Site ($900, GLA)
Effective anti-tank and anti-air defense, can ultimately be rolled over easier
than any other countries defenses. Can regrow, build at least two at key
positions, backed up with armor and air defense to the eye fulls. Destroy with
ranged weapons, massed infantry, or super weapons, effective against tanks and
aircraft. Can be disabled by flash bangs, and toxin trucks/flame tanks.

Tunnel Network ($800, GLA)
Good anti-infantry machine gun on top, useless against vehicles, can rebuild
after it's been hit, you can hide units inside here and pop them out for a nice
surprise. Destroy with tanks, ranged weapons, super weapons, don't send
infantry against these.

Demo Trap ($600, GLA)
Quite entertaining and somewhat effective explosive device, if you know where
the enemy will have to go to attack you, and you can place a few, these can rip
through tank assaults. Stealthed. Use recon drone on tanks to detect this as
the US, troop crawlers or overlords as China.

12.3	Supply Structures

Oil rigs
These are the cheapest ($1000 of research, and a little bit of time) supply
buildings there are, making you wonderful returns. These are worth capturing
even at a high cost.
Keep an eye on them after you've caught them, they are worth defending.
If you cannot capture them, destroy them.

Supply Centers
These are all much the same, the GLA one costs $1500 and comes with one guy,
the Chinese one costs $???? and comes with a supply truck, and the US one costs
$2000 and comes with a Chinook.
These are worth tightly guarding in the first half of the game, before super
weapons and free money.
Chinook's are fun to use for random airborne infiltrations, you can go around
defenses quite easily if your lucky.
They are also worth destroying if possible. Build at least one per supply pile,
with multiple gatherers.

Power plants(US, China only)
These are good, build a vast excess once real super weapon wars have started,
if you hope to survive, and scatter widely.
Initially you will need a few to power base defense and buildings. Definitely
upgrade the American power plants, this is worth doing.
China's power plants are more powerful than American. If, as China, you
suddenly have extremely low power, the damage reactor option can help you while
you build more power plants.
If you have the option, build Chinese power plants over American.
I believe power is another resource that must be managed, so it fits into this
category.
Spread them out a lot, tightly grouped power plants are very inviting when
super weapons or Artillery/A-10's are used.

Black Market/Supply Drop Zone/Hacker Farms
These are definitely worth building as soon as you have enough free money,
either two of the buildings, a lot of hackers, or a super weapon as soon as you
can afford it will be good. These are essential if you are still in the game
after about 10 minutes or so.

12.4	Super Weapons

"You'd better be wearing 2 million spf sunblock on August 27th, 1998"

- Terminator 2

All the super weapons cost the same amount, $5000, and both the American and
Chinese ones take 10 power. In  keeping with the GLA motif, the Scud Storm does
not need power. The American particle cannon seems to  charge fastest, followed
by the nuke, then the scud storm. Remember, you can 'drag' this weapon, to do
some  very nasty swathes to the enemy. Focus on what gives them money first.
You also need a war factory/arms dealer and palace/strategy center/propaganda
center to make super weapons.
All super weapons take two hits from other super weapons or a combo of super
weapon and artillery/A-10 strike to  destroy.
All will completely destroy power plants and black markets and supply drop
zones and other 'soft' buildings, but  will only damage command centers and
other super weapons.
Both the Nuke and the Scud Storm leave a field of infected soil that is deadly
to infantry, killing it instantly. The  United States can decontaminate this
with ambulances, although this is generally pointless. I find I never use
ambulances, although I have heard they can be ok if you have a large horde of
infantry. The particle cannon can  very quickly burn through infantry units,
and almost all buildings.
Building one of these after a few hackers, or a supply drop zone/black market
is pretty much essential in most  games, and in some you'll want a super weapon
before anything else.
Sometimes it becomes necessary to use a super weapon to stop an enormous
assault, lead your shot slightly and  don't hesitate if you have to sacrifice a
few of your own units in the process to stop the enemy - they would have  died
anyways. Once, I had two tanks holding off a giant assault, and by dropping a
nuke at the right time I  destroyed the assault about a second after both tanks
were destroyed.
The computer tends to target it's super weapons based on the amount of cash in
an area, say you have $6000  dollars worth of goods they are more likely to
target that even if there is a greater strategic value in $3000  worth of goods
at a key bottleneck for example.
The computer also doesn't think long term with it's super weapons so often will
not debilitate you with the first  shot. Don't let it get in another.
If you spread your buildings widely you will be much less vulnerable to super
weapons, it also helps to have a  contingency force that you can move in if key
defenses are destroyed by a super weapon. I tend to make this out  of tanks and
anti aircraft/infantry units generally.
Try not to build them too close to other buildings/unit concentrations, when
they get destroyed they can quite  easily destroy things nearby as well.
Often super weapon strikes are combined with attacks, so be very wary on all
fronts when a super weapon is  about to strike, and if possible disable it
before the strike. If a super weapon strike occurs on defensive positions,  a
follow up attack is quite likely.
To survive a super weapon strike on defensive positions, build a medium sized
combined force and hold it back  from the front for a while, this works really
well for GLA, hide it in your tunnel networks, then you can pop it out  if they
super weapon you and then attack you, you still have a fair chance of surviving
with moderate losses.


13.	Tweaking Advice

It helps to have a streamlined computer. Other tweak guides go into more info
on how to do that. To start with, if you are having jerky play, lower your
graphics settings, right down to minimum, and even custom if necessary. This is
done from options in game.
Set your graphics card to lower and lower detail as well, this will help with
jerkiness.
If it's crashing randomly, or not working, reinstall.
Optimizeyour entire desktop if you want to get faster speeds.
Close all other open programs, disable visual effects in Windows, set your
virtual memory file to 1.5x your physical ram, defrag your hard drive. All of
that will help a little bit.


14.	Special Command Information

Use Control+a number while you have a group of units selected, to designate a
numbered group, you can later recall that group instantly by pressing the
number you want.
Hold Control and left-click on a unit to force attack it with your currently
selected unit.
To set vehicle waypoionts, use the Alt-Key and left-click.
To move the camera's pov, hold the middle mouse button down, or use mouse wheel
up/down. To revert back to normal simply double click the middle mouse button.
If you want to add or remove one unit from a group at a time, hold shift while
you click on it.
If you hover the mouse over a function you use a lot, it will show you the hot
key required to use it, this may well be worth knowing.
The hot key for Guard is .


15.	Conclusion

Play the game and you will improve.
Play multi player and win or lose and you will get better.
Remember, the key is money, make sure you have more, and you are diminishing
their ability to get it.
Figure out techniques and ways to use what you've got, the more pressure you
are under the more resourceful  you must be.
Remember, it's kinda like painting your guy on the map and the other guy off
the map. Be nice to your allies,  don't back stab them.
This is incomplete, maybe one day it will be slightly more finished.
Key assets are what makes them money and what produces them units. You can
fight units all day, but if you can't hit their money making apparatus or their
production facilities you won't win.
It is possible to beat anyone, all it takes is practice and dedication.
If you use information in this in another publication, please email me. It'll
probably be ok, but it may not be if  you forget to tell me.
Thanks.
Respect


(c) 2005
ghost

prism265@hotmail.com