In games such as Total Annihilation it's important to know exactly what to do with the killing machines at your disposal. You don't have to find out the hard way - listed here are tactics, cheats and codes to help you through the most arduous tortures of TA-styled warfare. So power up, and get down to it.
Killing fields
Uncover as much terrain as you can as quickly as possible. A firm knowledge of the area surrounding your base is essential in creating a sound defence. Try to get as much cover as you can from hills: not only can you set defences on them, but they also shield buildings from long-range weapons such as heavy plasma cannons.
Think about how ancient castles are positioned; they take advantage of nature's offerings by incorporating forests, rivers and hills into their defences. Valleys are ideal locations too: set up self-sufficient defensive forts at either end of a ravine and you'll immediately increase your chances of victory.
Basic housekeeping
There are a couple of ways to keep your base and buildings undamaged. The first method is to have a construction unit permanently guard one specific building - it will automatically be repaired as soon as it sustains any hits. Don't use all your construction units in this way though, or you won't be able to build anything.
The next method is to make a construction unit patrol a set route so it can repair any friendly units it may come across. It also means that you can send a damaged unit towards this predesignated route with the knowledge that it is going to be repaired.
The final method is one for aircraft only. Build an aircraft repair pad or a light carrier, and unsurprisingly your damaged aircraft will automatically return for repairs. However, aircraft won't take advantage of this unless they're on some kind of mission, so always try and assign them to specific types of flight. Switching off the repair pads won't do you any good at all, so don't do it. Ever.
Speeding up construction
This can be achieved simply by assigning a number of units to the same construction site. It's a simple rule that obviously follows the 'many hands make light work' ethos.
Defending your base
Use scouts to patrol the skies around your defences. Static defences only attack what they can see, so if they are being bombarded from outside their visual range, let the scout aircraft take over. Static defences will attack anything closer.
When you can see what's attacking you, choose the best defence for the job: if you're being attacked from the air use missile towers, but when being attacked by ground forces use lasers and heavy plasma cannons, and always try to have a construction unit assigned to areas around defensive structures to repair any damage.
Light laser towers
Light laser towers are brilliant at stopping early attacks. They can wipe out entire units quickly and efficiently. These turrets will only fire if you have enough power to do so.
Heavy laser towers
Effective against heavy vehicles and Kbots. If you've got two or three of them, you're in business. But watch out - they're real energy guzzlers.
Missile towers
Quick to build and good against planes. Set them up in groups and long-range defence is secured.
Heavy plasma cannons
Twice as powerful as a heavy laser, and with a massive range, heavy plasma cannons are the elite defenders of your base - they can even turn the tables and attack enemy bases. CORE's version has a slightly shorter range than ARM's though, which can actually match the shelling range of a battleship. So if you're being attacked by a ship, surprise it with a quick blast from this.
Annihilator/Doomsday machine
With the same range as a heavy plasma cannon and the power of a nuclear missile, this weapon is what Total Annihilation is all about! But CORE's Doomsday machine is a bit different - it's more of a defensive laser. It does the same damage as ARM's but has a longer reload time and half the range - but it does have some cool short-range lasers. Rather an odd weapon.
Dragon's teeth
Use dragon's teeth to block certain areas off or to trick enemy units into an ambush. They seem to be extremely difficult to destroy though, so don't waste too much time or effort trying.
Bertha cannons
You don't even need to see your enemy to use this awesome weapon. It's not quite in the class of the Doomsday machine but you only need to have a rough idea about the location of enemy bases in order to hit them. You can literally take bases apart piece by piece with the Bertha, so it's worth thinking what could happen to your base if one is not stopped quickly...
Attacking the enemy
We've told you how to defend your base - but you're not going to win without a few tips on how to dish out a bit of return fire.
Crawling bombs
Load these into Atlas and Valkyrie aircraft, and into Hulk and Envoy sea transports. Curious, huh? Read on... When approaching your target, hit self-destruct (ctrl-D) and the vehicle will blow up, sending crawling bombs everywhere; these of course do the honourable thing and explode too. Offensively and defensively this is a top move - it causes mass destruction and looks spectacular! For added confusion load a radar jammer onboard.
Long-range rockets
The extreme-range rockets of the Merl/Diplomats and Hydra/Ranger units are excellent 'reach out and touch someone' weapons. They are best used against static defences, because long-range rockets take some time to reach their targets: they are two-stage rockets, allowing them to fly over most obstacles. These rockets are very powerful but are unguided, so they'll miss any moving units. The missile frigate rockets have a much longer range than those used by the vehicles - they can sit just outside the range of a heavy plasma cannon (Guardian/Punisher) and destroy it without taking any return fire. Couple one of these units with a radar jammer, and your enemy won't know where these rockets came from.
Torpedo bombers
A torpedo dropped by a Lancet or Titan bomber is more than twice as destructive as a torpedo launched by a sub. They are also fast and easily capable of destroying a large ship. Fast ships can avoid bomber attacks.
Disintegration guns
When using the Commander's D-Gun always fire in front of moving units - for some reason its tracking isn't very good. However, it does do an incredible amount of damage, so we can forgive that small discrepancy.
General hints
Make use of these and you should find it easier to destroy enemy forces.
ò The last levels are easier if you are ARM.
ò Have about three of each type of building.
ò Set constructors close to each other and move them somewhere else when it gets crowded.
ò Attack the Doomsday machine with Merls.
ò Have a few construction aircraft hovering around to help clear wreckage away.
ò Always try and equip radar whenever you can. If fitted to roving vehicles you'll have a much better idea of what's about.
ò Pretend to be a spider while walking down the street and watch as you gather new friends - in a mental home.
