PCPP Game Guide 2/PCPP_GG2.iso/PCPP/hints/totalan.txt

Text File | 1998-06-02 | 79KB | 1,179 lines

TOTAL ANNIHILATION
MISSION SPOILERS
By Jarrod Hampton

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 ARM MISSION SPOILERS
CHAPTER 2 CORE MISSION SPOILERS



CHAPTER 1
ARM MISSION SPOILERS
MISSION 1- A Hero Returns
This is a very easy mission, as all you have to do is get one of your
units to the base of the galactic gate (the structure that is visible to
the north). Simply group all of your units together and click on the
patch of ground just below the gate. As your units move up they will be
engaged by CORE troops, but ignore them. If one or more of your units get
stopped by an enemy unit, click again just below the gate and they will
start moving again.
Most likely it will be a peewee that gets to the gate first, simply
because they are the fastest.
MISSION 2- CORE Kbot Base, Destroy It!
There are three paths across the water into the secion of the map that
you start off in (although the southern two are so close together that
they can be considered to be one), and placing two light laser towers at
each of these is a good way to stop most of the CORE attacks. However,
you may need to attack some Storm kbots as their missiles can hit the
laser towers without needing to get into the lasers' firing range.
Build your defenses and build up your units for the assault.
Alternately, for a quicker game, build one or two solar collectors, take
your commander south and D-gun your way into the base and D-gun the kbot
lab as soon as you spot it. The AK's you'll encounter can either be
D-gunned or shot with the laser.
MISSION 3-Spider Technology
It may be a good idea to move the spider bots back from the edge
slightly and put them on 'Hold Position'. Moving them back makes them
that much more difficult to hit. Try and keep an eye on the minimap at
all times in case the spider bots get attacked and make sure they are
firing their paralyser at their attackers.
There are three ways across the river that the computer uses, so
protect them with light laser towers, again watching out for any Storms.
Try and clear the right side of the map of all CORE units before
attempting to bring the spiders south. There is a way across the river
just below the mountain they are on, so the spiders never needs to travel
along the left side of the map.
You need to get at least one spider bot into your base. This means
below the line of the dragon's teeth. If you don't get the victory
notice, move them around a bit until you get it.
MISSION 4-CORE Contamination Spreads...
Always keep your base well defended by light laser towers as this is
the first mission that you will face some tough opposition. Back this up
with appropriate units and kbots. As you expand your base, build
additional radar towers for extended spotting range. Use your Samsons
and Rockos (the Samsons are probably slightly better) to target enemy
buildings (use the minimap to target them while outside of their visual
range). Using this method you should be able to destroy most of the CORE
laser towers without losing too many units.
Depending on the level of difficulty you are playing, you may come
across some Reapers which can cause some serious trouble (try and D-gun
them if possible). If you decide to build some Zippers, remember to keep
them constantly on the move, as their speed makes them very difficult for
the CORE units to track. A group of Zippers makes a nice strategic strike
force as they can get anywhere very quickly.
When attacking the CORE base, try and take out their construction labs
as a first priority so they don't keep making new bots.
MISSION 5- The Gate to Thalassean
The key to this mission is to take and hold the choke point located
south of your position by the ocean side. You will know this choke point
by the classic two hills with a narrow pass in between them. You will
need to especially hold the left hill. The computer loves that hill and
will take it if he can since it is a direct route from his base and
offers him a great firing position. Also there is a small opening on the
left side of this hill. It is like a small sea shore where there is
enough room for a big tank to pass through. Blast a few that try to pass
through and that will plug up the gap. There are some low hills in front
of the larger 2 hills. Use these to help you gain cover and ground as
you move forward. The gate is located to the southwest corner of the map
on an island. You can take your squad of aqua tanks there but there are
a few turrets and thuds that will be waiting for you. You will need your
commander to capture the gate himself. I found that 6 tanks + the
commander works pretty well. The walls are too steep for good fire
support from your subs. But on the other main land mass, you can harass
the enemy by using the skeeter's radar to spot. Once spotted, use the
sub to shoot the units standing on the shore. It is a real rush shooting
away at the enemy when he has no idea were you are underwater. Subs work
great on land units on the shoreline and ships that can't shoot into the
water. Every so often I find a stray unit too close to the shore and I
happily tell the sub to target that radar blip. There will be some small
forces and emplacements to the east of you. A squad of 8 - 10 peewees
will be able to take them out. You might consider some rockos added to
the squad to give them some fire support if you wish to minimize your
losses.
MISSION 6-Beachhead on Thalassean
Even though you start with just the Commander, he shouldn't have any trouble
dispatching the Core welcoming committee. Save energy by not using your
Disintegrator Gun.
Collect the metal wreckage before building three Metal Extractors and Wind
Generators. All the time, keep an eye out for Core scout ships in the harbor
area. Once you have your generators, build a shipyard in the harbor, then
construct two Lurker submarines, a Construction Ship, two Crusader
destroyers, and several more submarines. There are still a few more Core AKs
on the island which need taking care of, but build the ships as fast as you can.
Core naval units approach from several directions, but primarily east and west.
Position two subs by the eastern islands until you can build a couple of Torpedo
Launchers. Use the Construction Ship to reclaim sunken metal. Build a small fleet
of Lurkers and Crusaders, and a couple of Skeeters as counterattacks against Core ships.
Core Snake subs and Enforcer destroyers patrol aggressively just outside the harbor.
Make sure you have at least two submarines at the mouth of the harbor at all times to prevent
The Core forces from reclaiming it.
Move the Commander to the western side of the island to build a Kbot Lab. Build six to eight
Hammer artillery units to take out the Core surface ships that soon appear. Create a Construction
Kbot to build Guardian stationary plasma cannons along the western coast.
Move your subs and destroyers to the western side of your island, and as your navy expands,
send out a small force of subs and destroyers to the north side and patrol the area.
Build an Advanced Shipyard and then two Piranha attack subs (to take out Core submarines)
and two Conqueror cruisers, whose long range guns should take care of the surface ships.
Keep your ships mobile. Core naval units are limited, and you may need to mop up the last one or two.
Rather than sacrifice your Hammers, repair them when their health drops below 50 percent.
MISSION 7- The Defense of Larab Harbor
The key to winning this mission is to look after your Moho Mine, repairing it after
each Core attack from the air.
As the mission begins, you are seconds away from an initial attack. An Enforcer
and Hydra arrive almost immediately at the center of the world, followed by
Searchers. A squadron of Shadow bombers will dump its load in the north-west.
To combat this, move your Ranger ship south, and use your Skeeters and
Crusader for a full-on attack. Move two Jethros and a Samson to the west of
your base as anti-aircraft defense.
Use the shipyard to produce a Construction Ship and several Lurkers.
Get the subs to the south-east edge of the harbor to protect against the Core ships.
Use the Construction Ship to build an Advanced Shipyard immediately so that you
can produce Piranhas, Rangers and Conquerors. Use the Commander to repair the Mine,
collect metal and build a Vehicle Plant. The latter should first create Samsons as air defense,
and then a Construction Vehicle to build Defender missile towers against air attack and plasma
cannons against sea-based offensives. Use the Construction Ship to reclaim metal
from the sea before building several Torpedo Launchers at the harbor opening,
while being protected by submarines. Use the Commander to build more Solar Collectors (or
Wind Generators) and reclaim metal. The Construction Vehicle should now take
over the task of repairing the Mine between attacks.
Build two more Construction Ships to reclaim sunken ships, while maintaining
energy and metal levels so that you can continue to build the expensive naval
units in the Advanced Shipyard. Bear in mind that your task is to protect the
Mine. Don't try to attack The Core, whose force is enormous. If you
are in danger of being overrun, build extra Torpedo Launchers to protect the
gaps between the harbor and the small island in the mouth. Group land-based
defenders near the Mine, ready to repel any amphibious tanks that might get
past your subs. The Dragons Teeth slow any amphibious tanks, and you can concentrate your
firepower, including the Disintegrator Gun. When the attacks begin to trail off,
it's probably safe to seek out the remaining forces to end the mission.
MISSION 8-The Gate to Tergiverse IV
This mission is best described as a cow. Set aside a couple of hours to finish
it. And save regularly, because all your hard work will be in vain if you
accidentally destroy the Galactic Gate on the northern island. Build a
Construction Ship immediately, followed by several Lurker submarines. You
also need to construct a radar tower as soon as possible; the tiny island
immediately to the north-west is an ideal location - the Commander can even
walk to it. Energy and metal are scarce, and sources are scarce, so collect any
wrecks you find.
While building the Construction Ship, get the Lurkers, Skeeters, Crusader and
Ranger to patrol around your base. Get the Construction Ship to build at least
three Torpedo Launchers around the top of your island, while your Commander
builds a Vehicle Plant to construct Samsons. Also create a Construction Vehicle to make
Guardians and Defender missile towers.
The purpose of the mission is to gradually expand onto the four islands to your north
(you can ignore the larger one immediately to the north-east). Use the smaller islands to
protect against naval attacks. Concentrate defenses around the channels between each of
the islands. Get the Construction Ship to build an Advanced Shipyard to the south of the
existing shipyard after creating the Torpedo Launchers. Keep building naval units in both
yards. Build a Guardian on the north-east edge of the second island you occupy. Once you
have created Level-2 Piranhas, Rangers, and Conquerors, you can begin your attempt at
occupying the third island in the center of the map. Build eight to ten Flash and Stumpy tanks
and Samsons as a base defense force, assisted by the Dragons Teeth you were supplied with at the start.
Your initial assault on the center island can involve a destroyer shelling Core Torpedo Launchers
out of their range. A long-range plasma cannon will help too.
Finally, go for all out attack with several Conquerors, two Millennium battleships, several
Rangers, and a few Lurkers, Crusaders, and Skeeters. Your Hulks can bring over a bunch of anti-air
units - Jethros and Samsons - to take out The Core air force.
Use the new island as a staging area before going for the final island, but be ready for shelling from that one
and a second to the north-east. Consider building an Advanced Vehicle Plant to chuck out Amphibious Tanks,
transported to the island by Hulks. Be aware that the Galactic Gate is likely to get pulverized if you leave your
force to its own devices. Control the attack carefully. When it looks as if victory is in the bag, walk your
Commander across to capture the Gate.
MISSION 9-The Hydration Plant
You get to play with air units for the first time in this scenario. As the mission
begins, two Pyros are attacking your Commander. Dispatch them and capture
the Core Radar Tower and Metal Extractor. Construct your own Radar Tower
and Aircraft Plant immediately, followed by two Light Laser Towers to the north
and south.
Core fighters will attack, but should be fought off by the towers, at least until you
can get some air defenses going. With your first Freedom Fighter, patrol around
the top of your base. Repair the Laser Towers and Metal Extractor as
necessary.
With several Freedom Fighters and Thunder Bombers, patrol your base to gradually
disable the Core air force.
You'll need plenty of aircraft to wipe them out completely, though, sending them to
the northern edge. While they
work the enemy, continue to build aircraft, including Atlas transports. Although you
are thinning the Core's force, it's still safer to fly the Commander to the second hillock
to your north. Unless you have destroyed it already, you will find a Light Laser Tower here.
Capture the Solar Collectors. To the north of this second hillock is the Hydration Plant,
surrounded by Dragon's Teeth. Either fly or walk the Commander to it, taking out any
remaining Core troops. Once the Plant is captured, the mission is a success - you don't need to wipe out The
Core to succeed.
MISSION 10-The Bromid Maze
Leave the Zippers in the upper left corner as moving them out of that
area seems to trigger an airstrike. Ths map is excellent to establish
kill zones for your defensive structures. You should focus on Defenders
as they will provide you with excellent air defense as well as good
ground defenses. If you look at the map, you should only need to build
two sets of defenses as you can build your base so that there are only
two entrances.
You want to build an advanced plant to get an advanced construction
unit so that you can build mohole mines to replace your metal extractors.
Just grab those mines that are in the southern section of the map. Don't
try and expand too far north, as when you have converted to all mohole
mines, you will have an ample metal income. You will need to build a lot
of solar collectors as you cannot build a fusion reactor or geothermal
plant. Use construction aircraft to build Defenders on top of the ridges
your other construction bots can't reach.
You will get your first chance to see a Brawler pack in action on this
map. Build up 7 or 8 Brawlers and start targetting red dots on the map.
For an even better coverage, set a patrol point in the midst of a
collection of red blips. The Brawlers will make short work of most
things. If you come across a defensive structure (the CORE has a Punisher
and a number of Gaat Guns), target it immediately. Send the Brawlers home
is they get damaged - it is best to have one or more construction
aircraft on patrol in a section of your base as you can then land the
Brawlers there and they will get automatically repaired.
Your defenses and Brawler pack will mean that you shouldn't have any
trouble with CORE forces. If you see a column on the move towards your
base, intercept them with the Brawlers and see how effective they are
against ground forces.
MISSION 11-The Gate to Barathrum
The canyon in which the Galactic Gate is situated is heavilly guarded
by CORE Gaat Guns and Pulverizers, the later of which will cause your
aircraft serious problems in that area until you destroy these defences.
Try and get another construction craft built as soon as you can and start
building your own missile towers in strategic points. You will face some
CORE aircraft, but building enough Defenders should leave you safe.
Build up your metal extractors around the site where you started, and
continue expanding your mining operation to the right of the map,
building defenses as you go.
When you have your force of Brawlers established, have then take out
the defenses in the canyon, and then all of the canyon's defending units.
Put the Brawlers onto 'Return Fire' rather than 'Fire at Will' because
you don't want them to attack the Galactic Gate by mistake.
Destroy everything on the map and walk your Commander to the Gate and
have him capture it (remember to put him on 'Hold Fire' so that he
doesn't attack the Gate with his laser).
MISSION 12-Barathrum!
The moho mine that you need to capture is in the upper right hand
corner, so when you send your units there, be careful what you destroy.
Also in this section are a number of windmills and metal extractors.
Instead of getting rid of the computer's production capabilities
piecemeal, you should wait until you have a squad of about 7 Brawlers and
then raid the upper right hand corner and destroy everything (except the
moho mine!), and then head directly south into the lower right hand
corner. This corner holds nearly all of the other metal extractors that
the computer owns - destroying these will halt the computer in its
tracks. There are a couple of Gaat guns and Pulverizers and Crusher Kbots
in this area, so you should target them as a priority, but your Brawlers
should make short work of them.
You can claim all of the upper left hand side as your own, as you can
establish four small packets of defensive structures that will cover all
the four land paths into that section of the map. Again, Defenders are a
good choice here, but always back them up with at least 1 Sentinel laser
as a rush of fast units may get past the Defenders (they have a long
range but don't do a great deal of damage). Set up patrol paths for
multiple scout planes so that the Defenders have a chance of firing at
their extended range. Putting a construction plane on patrol in each of
these four areas will reduce the chance of you losing a defensive
structure.
Any air assaults the computer makes will be dealt with by the
Defenders. When you have the opportunity, upgrade some of your metal
extractors to moho mines. Don't bother trying to establish a geothermal
powerplant, as you will have to do that outside of your fortified area.
It is much easier to build a vast array of solar collectors - the upper
left hand corner makes a good place.
When you start, build metal extractors and solar collectors as your
Commander makes his way down the pathway in the lava. D-gun the laser
tower that will attack him. Once out of the lava, you should have him
build a light laser tower and then an aircraft plant. From there it is
just a matter of following the adive above.
MISSION 13- Landown's Interface
You will only be attacked by CORE air troops in this mission, but
there will be a lot of them(This may different in your experience but this happened to me).
Defenses will be a heavy line of Defenders
at the top of your base, with a few more scattered throughout your base
(as it is likely that a few planes will make it through your first line
of defense).
You should build your Defenders close enough to the cliff face (scout
it with the Zippers you start out with) so that they can just reach the
units on top of the cliff, but are out of range of units on the cliff,
and are far enough away so they aren't continually attacked by aircraft.
CORE will build a huge number of ground units and pile them against
the cliff edge. You can forget about them for the most part, but be aware
that they contain a number of missile-firing troops, so your aerial
forays to the top of the cliff should avoid the group of unit.
Build at least 2 advanced aircraft plants and have them constantly
churn out Brawlers and Hawks. You will need the Hawks to take out the
CORE fighters, as they are a serious problem to your Brawlers. Assign
numerous construction units to each advanced aircraft plant to speed up
production (through the Guard function).
When attacking the cliff top, you should have your aircraft move up
from the far left or far right, and then sweep along the top. Your
priority targets should be the aircraft plants, then the other plants. It
you see a construction unit, destroy it! You don't want the CORE base
being rebuilt.
Metal and energy should not be a problem in this mission after you
establish two or three moho mines and two geothermal plants. Where ever
you build one of these advanced structures, you shuld protect it with a
ring of about four Defenders.
MISSION 14-The Heat Increases
The Roach bombs come fast and frequently on this level, so you will
need to establish a fairly large visual range around your base so that
you can pick them off before they get close enough to do you any damage.
You shuld aim to get another construction unit build as fast as you can
so that you can start setting up Defenders. At the start of the mission,
use the Zippers you are given to patrol the outskirts of your base,
giving your other troops a chance to target the Roaches from a distance.
There aren't many large hills or lava lakes in the area of the map
where you start, which means that you will have to establish a large
perimeter rather than concentrating on a few spots. Your static defenses
should focus on Defenders because you will be hit with a lot of air
attacks. However, you shouldn't rely on these for all of your anti-air
capabilities, as the CORE force will attack with Rapiers, which can cause
your base serious damage if they get past your initial row of defenses.
Some Jethros or Samsons scattered throughout your base (usually in groups
of 2 or 3) should be able to destroy any aircraft that make it through
the screen of Defenders.
When building the Defenders, you should build them in groups of 3 or 4
to make them that much more effective.
The CORE base is defended with a lot of Gaat guns and is staffed by
many Can Kbots, so expect heavy laser resistance. There is a fusion plant
in the base which makes an excellent target for your Brawlers.
The large number of thermal vents in the area where you start means
that power is never going to be a problem, and you will have such a huge
power surplus that you should build 7 or 8 metal makers. You should be
able to get a metal income of 30 after upgrading one or two metal
extractors to moho mines.
Have an advanced aircraft plant build a Brawler swarm and start taking
apart the CORE base. If they are engaged by enemy planes, return them to
base and hopefully the CORE planes will follow and be destroyed by your
defenses. Once you have eliminated all of the CORE forces, capture the
Galactic Gate.
MISSION 15-Rougpelt
It is probably easiest to not attempt to capture any enemy units with
the Commander, although it is possible to do so. Having additional units
on this map means that you have to micromanage them to some extent to
stop them from blowing up the advanced radar tower when they come across
it. The Commander is able to destroy any CORE forces on the map with his
D-gun.
You may feel like building a couple of radar towers of your own as you
move down the map, so that you can get some idea of the movements of the
CORE troops. Reclaim the plants if your energy gets too low, but this
shouldn't really be a problem. Capture the CORE solar collectors that you
find, although you should set up a radar tower here so that you can
determine whether there are any CORE troops in the area that will come
along and destroy them.
The advanced radar tower that you have to capture is defended by laser
towers, but you should be able to D-gun them without taking too much
damage. Remember to put the Commander on 'Hold Fire' or 'Return Fire' so
that he doesn't destroy the advanced radar tower by mistake.
MISSION 16- Stockpile at the Abutment
You will come under air attack very early in this mission, so you
should try and build some anti-air capabilities as soon as possible. Your
third building (after a metal extractor and solar collector) should be
either a vehicle or kbot plant. Build a few Jethros or Samsons, and then
a construction vehicle. When this construction vehicle has been finished,
have it build a Defender if the CORE planes are still harassing your
forces.
There are so many thermal vents on this map that you will be able to
get a massive power surplus. Build 10 or 12 metal makers after you have
placed the geothermal power plants, as this will give a real boost to
your metal income. You will notice that you can build a fusion power
plant in this mission, along with a Big Bertha cannon. The best place on
the map to build the Bertha cannon would be on top of the rocky outcrop
near the center of the map. This will let the cannon fire onto the top of
the Abutment. An advanced radar tower placed near the Abutment will give
you radar coverage over most of the top (although some sections will be
hidden by radar jammers). Use the Bertha to start shelling any red blips
(you don't have to capture anything, so just destroy it all).
You should build some heavy defenses as a few columns of tanks will
attack you. Placing a ring of Sentinels and Defenders around the path
down the Abutment will be able to stop any ground offensives the CORE
launches at you. Place these structures back a bit from the cliff face,
to give them the best firing solution. Put some scout planes on patrol
over the pathway.
You should build a small strikeforce of Brawlers to help defend these
defensive structures, as they are likely to come under fire from mobile
artillery, and possibly Diplomats.
Don't neglect your anti-air defenses towards the latter stages of the
mission, as air strikes will continue throughout the mission, although
not on the same scale as what you faced at the beginning.
After your Bertha cannon has taken out all visible targets, use scout
planes to search for any other units that were hidden by a radar jammer.
Make the radar jammer your priority target as destroying this will then
reveal all the previously hidden target.
MISSION 17-Fortress at Brooban's Isle
There are three islands along the botom of this map, and you should
try and expand to all of them as quickly as you can. The leftmost island
contains a thermal vent that you should build a geothermal powerplant on.
There are only a few metal deposits available to you, so try and upgrade
them to moho mines when you have build an advanced construction unit
(most likely this will be an advanced construction aircraft).
The starting Jethros will most likely be able to take care of the
early air attacks, and your starting ships should be able to dispatch the
few Searchers and occasional Enforcer that attack you. You may want to
build an early metal storage building as you don't want to waste any
salvagable metal early in this mission.
The CORE sea attacks don't hold back in this mission. Expect to face
fleets of 4 Warlords attacking you at once, backed up with subs and
sub-killers. The heavy lasers of the Warlods can take out a Defender with
one hit and outrange Defenders, so they are of no use against these
fleets. After this attack, you can expect a fairly large convoy of Crocks
to rumble towards your shores. You can actually D-gun Crocks just as they
are coming out of the water but before they can fire.
Try and build up a group of torpedo bombers to help destroy the
Warlords when they come, or a large force of submarines and sub-killers,
although the latter method must first engage the Warlords' submarine
defenders before engaging the Warlords themselves. There are a couple of
advanced shipyards that will be producing various ships, namely Warlords
and Hives. When you locate CORE construction ships, destroy them as they
will repair other CORE ships.
CORE has access to numerous Titan torpedo bombers and Rapiers. If you
take an aggressive stance and use a squad of your own torpedo bombers to
cause some damage amongst the fleet of Warlords and Hives, expect the
Titans to come south and attack you. Use Hawks to destroy Rapiers.
In the top left and top right corners are moho mines, which you should
try and take out to reduce the computer's metal income.
When attacking the center island, be especially careful as your units
will treat the Silencer (the building that you have to capture) as an
enemy weapon, and hence attack it automatically if set to 'Fire at Will'.
Similarly, you should not let them attack the fusion power plant that is
right next to the Silencer, as its explodosion may destroy the Silencer.
If you build a Bertha cannon on the middle island on the bottom of the
map, you will be able to shell the defensive structures on the southern
side of the main island without having to worry too much about hitting
the Silencer. You will need to build a fusion plant of your own as there
is only the single thermal vent, and there isn't enough land available to
build lots of solar collectors.
MISSION 18- Vengence!
A fairly easy and very short mission. Your peewees will be killed
fairly quickly, but if you concentrate their firepower, you should be
able to cause some damage to the currounsing units. Heed the briefing and
don't bother building anything, as the CORE troops will head north after
killing the peewees. However, you may like to build another solar
collector to power the D-gun.
Your Spiders can be very useful when the CORE units are approaching,
for they will stop the CORE units from beign able to attack or move,
making them perfect targets for the rest of your troops. You should be
able to destroy the CORE troops without too much of a problem, especially
with a few sprays of the D-gun.
MISSION 19- The Motien Ramp
Surprisingly easy. The CORE base has an Intimidator gun and uses it
througout the mission, but I didn't lose a single unit to this cannon.
The hill to your north provides good protection from it, so try and build
your critical buildings behind this hill.
You will need some air defenses and also a few laser towers to turn
away the few ground attacks that will be launched.
Using massed Rapiers, you can destroy the CORE base piece by piece.
Start by destroying the vehicle plants, then working your way through the
rest of the base.
MISSION 20-DUMP
There is a way to get access to aircraft on this mission - capture the
CORE Kbot that is wondering around near where you start. Not only can you
build aircraft after capturing this Kbot, but using it to build an
advanced construction unit allows to you build all of the high tech level
buildings - including the nuclear missile silo!
There are quite a few 4,000+ metal wreckages on this map, and you
don't want to waste them so you should build enough metal storage
buildings until you have a maximum metal reserve of something approaching
6,000 units. Your only opposition will be some ground units, so you can
forget about building missile towers and concentrate on Gaat Guns. Three
Gaat Guns next to each other can stop most of the advances, but you
should watch out for attacks by Diplomats, which will strike from beyond
your range. There will be some Goliaths and Reapers that you need to deal
with, so choose your weaponry well.
Energy will be a bit of a problem as you will have to rely on solar
collectors for a lot of energy. Again, build one or two energy storage
buildings so that you don't waste excess energy.
When choosing which piece of wreckage to reclaim, you should never
choose one with a metal value that is not enough to fill up your metal
reserves. You don't really want to waste any metal on this level.
If you do capture the construction Kbot and use it to build aircraft,
it is interesting to note how far a bomber's payload travels - gravity is
very low on this moon.
MISSION 21-Welcome to CORE PRIME
There are two pathways into the area of the map that you start in, but
the CORE forces only seem to use the middle one. At the start of the
game, build 2 light laser towers at the top of the ramp after building a
couple of solar collectors and metal extractors near the galactic gate.
These will hold off the first wave of attacks. Build a vehicle plant and
then an advanced vehicle plant and a Spider. Use the Spider to paralyze
the Pyros so your Commander can capture them, then send it to paralyze
the CORE construction KBot that is patrolling the top area of the map.
Capture that with the Commander as well, and then have the Commander
capture the solar collectors and metal extractors that are along the top
area of the map.
Build some Sentinel towers and a few missile towers to further protect
the middle ramp, and also one or two Guardians. When you have built at
least 1 fusion plant, start construction of an Annihilator at the top of
this ramp as well - when this comes on line, no enemy units are going to
get anywhere near your base.
Use Peepers to patrol the area of the map at the bottom of the middle
ramp, so that your defenses will fire at their longest range. You have
access to the Bertha cannon in this mission, although the presence of the
high walls mean that it cannon attack many areas of the CORE base, but it
is still a good option to build one to attack the areas of the map that
it can reach. The middle ramp will be used a fair bit by the CORE troops
during this mission - your static defenses will quickly rack up the
kills. You Annihilator may reach a triple digit kill count.
You should build three fusion reactors on this map, to make sure the
Annihilator always have enough power to fire. Metal is not a problem,
naturally.
Use either Brawlers or Phoenix strategic bombers to soften up the CORE
base. If using the Phoenix aircraft, keep them together and in numbers -
their massed lasers will destroy all the CORE aircraft with relative
ease. Then clean up the rest of the CORE base with whatever you feel like
building. There are a number of vehicle, Kbot and aircraft plants that
you should make your first priority in attacks.
MISSION 22- Battle for Coordinate 6551:447
You have the bottom of the map all to yourself, and do not get
attacked by land units in this mission. You will notice that there are
two rows of 5 square hills in the bottom section of the map - on the
middle hill in the top row build a Guardian cannon and a radar tower and
start shelling the ships in the first section of water. Then shell any
ground units that are in range. Don't target the solar collectors yet.
You should build some missile towers around this hill, as it will come
under air attacks later on.
Build one or two fusion plants and moho mines to give you a good
income, and build a Bertha cannon on the same hill that you built the
Guardian cannon. The Bertha can hit all of the map. Also build an
advanced radar tower here. Now, start shelling everything else on the map
with the Bertha cannon - make sure that you have set up your anti-air
defenses beforehand because Rapiers can take out a Bertha cannon quickly.
To get your Commander on top of one of these hills, you will have to
use an Atlas.
To speed up the destruction of everything, build some strategic
bombers and start bombing the numerous fusion plants that line the top of
the map. If you think that you have killed everything but the mission
hasn't ended, chances are that you missed the submarines. There is a sub
in each of the waterways. Use a Peeper to find where they are and use an
Atlas+Invader combo to destroy them (detonate the Atlas above the sub,
and the sub will get blown up).
MISSION 23- Crossing Aqueous Body 397
You will see some large columns of Crock amphibious tanks attack you
in this mission. However, there are only a couple of ramps on the
southern section of the map that they are able to move up, so blocking
these with Dragon's Teeth will vastly reduce their effectiveness. An
Annihilator or some heavy lasers will destroy those Crocks that do
wander out of the depths.
The computer doesn't have a shipyard on this level, so is limited to
the ships it starts with. However, this includes a couple of Warlords, so
you will need some long range weapons to combat these beasts. Two
Guardian cannons built on the middle 'pier' will let you engage them from
afar. You should have 6 or 7 torpedo bombers ready to attack the Warlords
as soon as you have spotted them. If you are having difficulty with the
Warlords, build an Annihilator on this pier as well - not even a Warlord
can survive more than a few shots from this laser.
Have some Peepers constantly patrolling the ocean, as this will give
you the location of any submarines that are near your base. The computer
can use these subs as spotter units for their Warlords. These subs
usually arrive in numbers, making them costly to attack with ships. A
couple of Atlas+Invader combos will sink them without a trace, however.
Build a Bertha cannon on the middle 'pier' as well, and start shelling
everything on the radar. Use suicide scout planes to try and locate any
large ships that are currently 'parked', and target them. Then go after
the construction plants.
At the beginning of the mission, you will come under attack by a few
Avengers. However, they are really just a nuisance. Jethros don't seem to
be too effective against Avengers, so you may not want to bother building
them and just ignore these attacks until you can build some Defenders.
If the mission isn't ending and you think that you have killed
everything, most likely there is a Crock or submarine that you haven't
killed. Use your Peepers to sweep the water looking the the remainding
units.
MISSION 24 Breakthrough to Central Consciousness
You don't come under attack for quite a while on this level, so take
your time to build up. The bottom section of the map is more than enough
space for your base, so don't expand beyond the southern 'walls'. Block
off all but one or two of the entrances to this section of the base with
Dragon's Teeth, and build an Annihilator at the entrances you have left
open. Backed with a heavy laser tower, and even when The Cans come after
you, nothing will get close. Peepers patrolling the area will give these
big guns enough warning of an approaching enemy column.
Either build a good fighting force of Hawks or a lot of Guardians
(Hawks are better in this mission) as you will get attacked by Vamps and
Rapiers after you start demolishing the CORE base. You do this demolition
job with a Big Bertha - build it on top of one of the walls, and you can
hit anything on the map. You'll need an advanced construction aircraft to
do this.
The computer doesn't have any factories on this level, so all you have
to do is gradually wear its forces into the ground. After you have
destroyed the CORE airforce with your Hawks, you own the skies - and this
means death to the CORE. Your Bertha, Brawlers or bombers can now get
about the task of killing the last of the CORE vermin.
There are numerous Doomsday machines protecting the dome which would
make a ground-based attack suicidal. Combined with The Cans on patrol
around the base, air superiority becomes vital.
Once you have killed all the CORE units and structures, move your
Commander into the center of the dome and you will win.
MISSION 25 CORE PRIME Apocalypse. Free at Last!
Unless you are unlucky or very stupid, your troops should be able to
destroy the Roaches by themselves. The layout of this map makes setting
up kill zones very easy. You don't need to extend your base beyond the
lowest level (the one you start one). Set up your defensive structures so
that they have line-of-fire on the two ramps down into your section (you
will need to construct two clumps of defenses). These should include at
least 2 Sentinels, 4 Defenders and at least 1 Guardian. Patrol the first
step with scout planes so that these defenses will automatically fire.
Build some Dragon's Teeth at the bottom of the ramp, leaving a small hole
for units to pass through.
Metal is no problem here, naturally, so you should be able to get to
the advanced buildings and units fairly quickly. However, you shouldn't
forget about the low tech units, especially Jethros, which will be
especially useful in numbers to protect your base from Rapiers and Vamps.
An advanced radar tower will provide coverage for most of the map,
giving you warning of when another attack is about to begin. Put each of
your defensive clumps onto a hotkey and when you see an enemy convoy
approaching, target it for destruction. Building Brawlers and having them
patrol the first step is also a good way of dealing with attacks (your
static defenses will also start to fire after the Brawlers engage the
enemy). Build some air repair pads, and your planes will automatically go
to them when damaged.
Once you have built a Bertha cannon (try and do so early), start
shelling everything on the map. If you build 2 fusion power plants, you
will never have power problems. CORE rebuilds their base, and more, in
this mission so expect to destroy a lot of buildings. If you are going to
use ground attacks, take out the multiple Doomsday Machines with the
Bertha cannon. CORE will have an Intimidator cannon, which should be
taken out as well. You could also use Merls to take out any static
targets on the radar map (although always keep your eyes on those little
red blips, and get your Merls to safety if you see some coming your way).
A swarm of 6 or 7 Brawlers should be able to destroy the CORE
Commander (although they will be killed as a result of the explosion). If
you can destroy all of the CORE construction units (there are quite a
few), then you will simply be able to Bertha them into oblivion.
To win this mission after destroying the CORE forces, move your
Commander onto the CORE symbol on the Command Dome.


CHAPTER 2
CORE MISSION SPOILERS
MISSION 1-The Commander Reactivated...
Simple sweep and clear on your way to rescue the commander.
Take your whole group straight north. If possible, keep Storms
to the rear as they have longer range. Near the top of the map,
you'll find a ramp to an upper level. Move your group west to
bottom of ramp, then up it.
Resistance is minimal, but you'll probably have lost a few units
by this point. Continue along the upper level to the west then
follow it south at the corner. About halfway down the map you'll
find another ramp to the east where the last of the Arm vermin
and your deactivated commander await. Kill the last of the rebels
and you're done.
MISSION 2-Vermin
Quickly move your commander east and start him on 2 metal extractors
and 2 solar collectors. While he's working on that, break units into
two groups: one to the north and a second to the west. Expect nuisance
attacks from both directions early in the mission.
Add a vehicle plant to your commander's build orders, as well as a couple
more metal extractors and a solar collector. Optionally, you can
set up a couple light lasers (LLTs) to the north for extra defense, but by
no means are they necessary.
When the vehicle plant (VP) comes online, get it to work on a few Instigators
to help provide cover while the rest of your resources are built. After your
commander finishes building collectors and extractors, set him to guard the
VP. This way, he will automatically contribute his rapid building ability to
the VP's production so your assault force will get done quicker.
Gather vehicles in the canyon just north of your position. It is possible to
just take one large force and finish the mission, but due to the narrow areas
you have to pass through it is more efficient to use two smaller waves. The
bulk of your force should be made up of Instigators and Raiders, with a few
Slashers for backup. About twelve units per wave should do the job nicely.
Once your first group is gathered in the canyon, take them straight north
until you encounter a wall. Head west to the middle of the map. You'll see
an opening in the wall to the south - that's where your enemy is hiding. Move
in and take them out. Be sure to focus your fire on the targets that can fire
back first (LLTs and bots).
By the time the Arm can take out this group, your second wave should be ready.
Take them along the same path and finish the job.
MISSION 3-Ambush!
There is only 1 entrance to the area you start in, which means you can
establish heavy defenses around it. As fast as possible, establish a
light laser tower near the entrance (but still within the enclosed area)
as you will get a visit from some peeweesquite early. Don't try and
establish yourself out of the starting area just yet. If your two
starting Storms get killed before you can get the laser tower up, D-gun
the attackers.
Build up your metal and power income and produce some kbots. You will
probably have noticed that there are some kbots on the left wall that can
shell you - Storm kbots work well in taking them out. Put the Storms onto
'hold position' about 5 or so body lengths away from the wall. A line of
5 Storms will soon clear the wall of any intruders.
Beef up your defenses a bit with another laser tower. You can slowly
creep out of the starting area and establish a laser tower outside. Once
you have done this, its really all over. A group of three light laser
towers can stop all the attacks this mission throws at you. Produce
Storms like mad and go on a rampage.
Storms are particularly useful in this mission because their missiles
can hit from a distance (get rid of those pesky peewees) and can also
shoot units that are standing on walls.
MISSION 4-Enough is Enough
Move your Commander to the top of the high plateau to the right of the
starting position. D-gun the LLTs guarding the on-ramp near the right
edge of this high ground. Then you should be able to build up your base pretty
much unmolested. (Just make sure to set up some defenses at the on-ramp).
After this, there are many possible ways to end this mission. Set up
some missile towers just a couple of "squares" from the edges of the
plateau so that they are less prone to be hit from below, and kill all
the patrolling "red blips" on the mini-map (never seen the "faces" of
any of them). :) And then just send a mixture of AKs and missile bots to
clean up the ARM base and capture the gate.
MISSION 5-Barathrum!
You'll have two Arm Pee-Wees attacking you as soon as you enter. Hit one
with the D-Gun and capture the other. The gate you came through sits on top
of a large hill; head down it to the south. At the bottom you should see a
couple metal deposits, set extractors to work on them, get a couple solar
collectors up and a radar tower.
You absolutely must get a K-bot lab up quickly here. Your metal production
will be limited at first, and the bots are much cheaper to build.In particular,
get a few Crashers finished to take care of any Arm aircraft that happen to
come by. Get a construction bot built, then work on some Storms and Thuds
for ground defense, as well as some more Crashers. Have the construction
bot start building Pulverizers around your base. Be very careful at this
point as the Arm will send wave after wave of annoying little groups down
to harass you. Until you've got a good line of Pulverizers up, you are vulnerable.
Do repairs on damaged towers when possible, and keep some units out in front so
you can see the enemy coming.
While all this is going on, have your commander place several metal extractors
around the area. Metal deposits are scarce, but the planet's crust is mineral
rich enough that an extractor placed anywhere will turn out 0.5 units per tick.
You'll need many more of these than you did on Core Prime, and thus you'll need
extra solar collectors to power them and your other buildings.By now you should
have a decent number of ground forces with a fairly solid air defense. A vehicle
plant is your next priority. As soon as it's done, get a construction vehicle built
and working on an advanced vehicle plant. Time to build the vehicle swarm again - Instigators,
Slashers, Reapers, Diplomats and an Informer or two.
The Arm base isn't well defended so it shouldn't take a very large swarm to finish
them off. If you want, you have the option of constructing an aircraft plant to
turn out some air support. Setting a few air units on patrol around your base
can also help make your Pulverizers more effective by spotting approaching enemies
while taking less fire than ground-based spotters.Once the swarm (and optional air
support) is ready, send it north to take out the Arm base. One good-sized group
should do the job, but it's a good idea to always have a backup group being built
anytime you launch an attack. The base is fairly spread out, so you might have
to search around a bit to find all the Arm units. Finish off the last one and your job is done.
MISSION 6-The Cleansing Begins
You start in the ideal place to set up a good base, so build Metal Extractors and energy
generators where you stand. Build a Kbot Lab as you will soon come under
attack from Arm aircraft. Build six or seven Crashers and move them
underneath the flight path of the Arm patrols.
Use the Fink scout plane to patrol east to west above your base, providing early
warning of Arm attacks and saving you having to build a costly Radar Tower.
When you have a few Crashers, send the Fink on recon to the east, west, and
north of your base. It should discover a few useful energy and metal resources.
To defend against the constant onslaught of Arm attacks, build a line of Crashers
and Storms. Also build a couple of defensive structures - Light Laser Towers, or
preferable Heavy Laser and Punisher Towers. Repair damaged units to expand the
size of your army. Build a Vehicle Plant, a Construction Vehicle and an Advanced
Vehicle Plant to build Diplomats. Having beaten off a few Arm attacks, you can
start on the offensive. Build several Diplomats and Reapers. Once assembled,
wait for the next attack before issuing a counterattack.
The Arm's defensive structures will be more troublesome than the few remaining
units. Advance slowly and build Radar Towers, using the data to dispatch the
structures from a distance. With the base smoking, send out small patrols to
mop up any surviving Arm units.

MISSION 7-Pulling the Noose Tight
This is an easy one. The units you start with won't last long as a group of
four Arm Zippers come down to bother you. Enlighten them as to the error of
their ways with the D-Gun.
You'll find several metal deposits near your starting position. Use this to
your advantage and set up base right where you start. After your K-bot lab
comes up and you've built a group of Crashers, get a couple construction bots
out in the field claiming metal deposits and geothermal vents.
Arm forces are strangely quiet during this mission, apparently content to
sit back and wait for you to come to them. Use this to your advantage.
While the construction bots work on getting you more resources, have the
commander get the vehicle plant built. Time to build a vehicle swarm,
but this time instead of a single large swarm, it's best to build two smaller ones.
This is because the arm base is surrounded by a lava moat with two narrow
entrances on the east and west sides. The only trick is to be careful
with your targeting. You need to capture at least one of Arm's Moho
mines to win. Move the mini-swarms along either side of the Arm base and
hit them both simultaneously. (This isn't necessary to win, but gives you
practice for later missions.)
Once everything that can shoot back is destroyed, walk the commander in to
capture at least one Moho and D-Gun anything left over.
MISSION 8-The Gate to Aqueous Minor
There are two pathways into the northern section of the map, both
guarded by dual ARM Sentinel towers. There will be very few attacks, and
certainly nothing very serious, so you can take your time establishing
your base.
Although the ARM base contains construction plants, it does not use
them very much - but it is still best if you destroy them as soon as
possible. If you use a bombing run to destroy these plants, you should
make sure that the bomber force is large enough to destroy the target
before they are in turn destroyed, because ARM does have a construction
unit, and it will repair damaged buildings.
About the only attacks worth noting are the aerial attacks - ARM will
use bombers against you, so you should have aerial defenses scattered
throughout your base. ARM cannot rebuild their airforce, so once you have
destroyed it, you will dominate the skies.
MISSION 9-The Purgation of Aqueous Minor
This is a fairly easy one set up to introduce the naval part of the game.
Right at the start you'll be assaulted by four Pee-Wees, take them
out. There's no point in capturing one as this mission will be fought in
places they can't go.
Get the basic startup structures built and have the K-bot lab turn out six
to ten Storms. These will help defend your coast while you get better defenses
up. The easy way to take care of business here is to build a line of Pulverizers
all along your northern shore. This "Pulverizer wall" will be more than enough to
take out the few Arm ships that happen to come too close to your base. Don't
forget to have a construction bot claim the Geothermal vent you'll find
nearby. Once that is up, you can use a few metal makers to help supply the
resources your navy will demand.
Put a shipyard in the channel to the east. Here it will be relatively safe from
Arm attacks while you turn out a small to medium navy. Get a few Enforcers into
the water first to take care of anything that the Pulverizers can't hit (like subs).
Building a construction ship next can help by building torpedo launchers and then
helping with more ship building. Get another five or six Enforcers and a few
Snake subs finished,then sweep the seas to the north. You'll need to take out
some structures on the small islands, but they pose little threat to your ships.
Chase down the last of the Arm Crusaders and Skeeters and you're done.
MISSION 10-The Gauntlet
You have a lot of time to establish yourself on the starting island
before anyone comes to look for you, so take your time. The air attacks,
when they come, are pretty pitiful and can be easilly destroyed. There
will be some amphibious tank attacks, but these can be easilly repulsed
with a Shark or two, or come Roaches placed in the water. If an enemy
Lurker is stupid enough to attack a Roach that is underwater, that Lurker
will die.
When you build an advanced construciton unit, replace all of the metal
extractors with moho mines, and build one or two fusion reactors so that
you can power a lot of metal makers. You should be able to get a metal
income of 40+ doing this.
Build an advanced radar tower on your island, and use a missile
frigate to destroy all the red blips that you see. Now you are left with
the remaining ships near the Gauntlet and the defenses on top of the
Gauntlet itself. You can use Sharks in large packs to slowly pick apart
the ships, and then use them to scout close to the shoreline of the
cliffs to see where the defenses are. Once spotted, they can easilly be
destroyed by missile frigates.
Alternatively, you can try the explosive method. Have an advanced Kbot
lab continually churning out Roaches, and a shipyard continually building
Envoys. As each Envoy is built, load it with 4 or 5 Roaches, and drive it
in a direct line for the mouth of the Gauntlet. If it gets destroyed, the
explosion will take out most ships and submarines on the screen. Or you
can just drive them into the pack of ships you see, and self-destruct it
- not many ships left after that! After a couple of these, you will be
able to get a transport ship through the Gauntlet pretty easilly.
MISSION 11-Isle Parche
You'll have even more time to prepare on this mission than the one before.
An advanced K-bot lab is still required so you can get Moho mines, a fusion
plant and advanced radar up. As before, use the extra power for metal makers.
Once your resource base is established, start on an airfield and use it to
build a construction aircraft. In turn, it should start on an advanced
airfield. While it is doing that, get a few Finks in production.
You'll use these as spotters later on.
Here is where things get fun. First thing you should do is change the default
orders on the advanced airfield to "hold fire". This way, all planes produced
from that field will not target anything you don't explicitly tell them to,
thus reducing the chances of one accidentally taking out the Zeus you need
to capture. Begin building a sizable force of Rapiers along with a few Vamps
and three or four Titans. Group the Titans separately as they will be used
(with the Finks) to take out Arm subs in the area while the rest of the
planes head for the Arm base to the south.
When your air force reaches the Arm base, target missile and laser towers
first. They should fall quickly to your Rapier gunships. If there
are still any enemy planes in the air, try to take them out next before
starting on the various vehicles scattered about the island. There's
only one Zeus bot here, be sure you don't hit it! Once the base is finished
and the Zeus is alone, build a Valkyrie to take your Commander
to the southern island. Capture the Zeus and that's it.
MISSION 12-A Traitor Leads The Way
A fairly easy mission that gives you a chance to build up quite a lot
before you come under attack. On the northern end of the island you start
on, you should build at least 2 Punishers - you will need these later in
the mission when the battleships, cruisers and destroyers venture south.
There isn't much space on your starting island, and nowhere else to
go, so build a compact base. After building metal extractors on all the
metal deposits and solar collectors, build a Kbot lab and a construction
Kbot, and put that thermal vent to good use. As soon as you can, build an
advanced Kbot lab and two or three advanced construction Kbots. Then set
about converting the metal extractors to moho mines, and building two
fusion plants.
The first attack won't come for a long time (nearly 20 minutes), so
you should be able to do all of this before the cruisers arrive. The bulk
of the ARM forces won't attack you until you start attacking them. ARM
has only one construction plant - a shipyard - so destroying that (it is
in the upper right corner) will make this a battle of attrition.
You can use either air power (you can only build the basic aircraft
plant) and destroy ARM with bombers and fighters, or you can dominate the
seas, in which case you have access to all of the CORE ships. Have some
missile towers in your base to protect yourself from the few aircraft ARM
possesses. You should have no trouble destroying the ARM forces, although
you may like to build some flying bombs for anti-submarine duty.
To win, capture the galactic gate with your commander, and move the
Zeus next to it. You may have to move the Zeus around the gate a little
for it to register.
MISSION 13-Rougpelt
A very quick mission. First, D-gun the Zeus bot. Capture the windmill
for additional power for the D-gun. Travel south and capture both the
Fink and Atlas. Load the commander into the Atlas and fly both straight
south to the botth of the map.
Move the Fink to the right until you spot the shore and unload the
commander as close to the shore as you can. You might like to put the
Fink into a patrol route that flies around the island you just landed on
in an attemp to draw some of the fire. However, don't let the Atlas get
killed - you will lose the mission if it gets killed!
There is a light laser tower just a short distance inland - D-gun this
and any units in the area. Move the commander along the bottom of the map
until you come to the advanced radar tower. If you are coming under heavy
fire from the missile Kbots, you might like to D-gun them, but make sure
they aren't too close to the tower or it will get caught in the blast.
Capture the tower, and you're done.
MISSION 14-Scouring Rougpelt
The mission description says your goal is to capture as much of the base
to the east as you can. It lies. Capturing the base is easy. The trick is
keeping it.
Dispatch the pathetic defenses Arm had set up around this base and capture
everything you can. Get some construction bots built in a hurry and have
them start setting up Guardians (the Arm equivalent to your Pulverizers)
all around the base, starting with the southern
edge. Be careful to set the towers up on top of the hills that ring the
base and not behind them.
Once you've got the construction bots working on the Guardians, start
producing Pee Wees as fast as you can. They won't be able to stop the
impending assault, but they are cheap to build and make excellent spotter
units for your Guardians. Don't stop producing them after you have enough
to circle your base - you'll need extras to replace the ones that get killed.
When your construction bots finish with the Guardians, set them on patrol the
wall you just set up. There are meteor showers in the area that will randomly
come down and damage or destroy your defenses. If anything gets destroyed,
replace it immediately.
The Arm will come, but not in huge numbers. Many of the units they bring
are heavily armored so they might survive long enough to damage some of your
Guardians. Your patrolling construction bots should repair them automatically.
Whatever you do, don't try to take the fight to them. Just relax,
keep your defenses up, and the Arm will eventually run out of units.
MISSION 15-Xantippe's Abyss
The Big Bertha gun is located about half way up the right side of the
map. It is protected by two laser towers and a single construction Kbot.
Depending on your level of difficulty the type of laser towers change,
and on hard level, there may be a few extra Kbots around. The laser
towers are far enough away from the Bertha to be safely D-gunned. On Hard
difficulty, there are 2 Bertha cannons that you could capture.
There is no opposition in the southern three-quarters of the map, so
feel free to grab as many metal deposits as you can. Build a lot of power
generators, as the Bertha uses a heck of a lot of power each shot (over
1000 units of power).
Build an aircraft plant and a couple of finks and do suicide runs
along the northern section of the map until you locate the Annihilator.
When you have spotted it, pause the game, and target the Annihilator with
the Bertha. Eventually it will hit it, and you will win the mission.
The path across the Abyss is at the far right of the abyss, and there
are some good spots for placing Gaat Guns and Pulverisers just in case an
enemy comes down to greet you. On Easy you don't have to worry about
this, but on hard you get attacked by a fairly large column of heavy
armoured units so this may be necessary. A large group of rocket and artillery
Kbots should be able to handle this column however.
MISSION 16-Departing Rougpelt
The problem here is that the meteor showers will awaken
ARM units that should not wake up yet. If you are unlucky with the meteor
showers, this could mean that five Brawlers pay your base a visit a
minute into the game.
You have to get some defenses up ASAP (definitely anti-air in case of
a bad meteor shower). Your Commander can probably take care of any land
attacks, provided that you have set up a few solar collectors.
ARM has no construction plants, so if you can survive an initial rush
(or are lucky enough to not have this happen), you are likely to win. The
galactic gate is located on the top of the 'pyramid'.
MISSION 17-The Lost Isle
The simple key to this mission is building a string ship defensive
arsenal. The idea is, sooner or later the computer will start shelling
the hell out of the tiny island you start on, and no Kbot or tank will be
able to stop a Millenium's incredible firing distance. If this happens,
you are one dead duck, as there is no defense. So in order to make a
strong defensive ship base, start off the mission with some basic
tactics.
First, clear away the trees (have the Thud light them up, or if you
don't feel like clearing all the foliage, use the D-gun), then build some
basic land defense units. I start off by building a Kbot lab, then have
my Commander plant solar collectors and metal collectors around the
island, while the Kbot lab produces a construction Kbot to build more
complex structures. A few missile towers, on each side of the island will
do. Crank out some Crashers and Thuds, and you are all set to fend off
the few Triton invasions that come your way in the beginning of the
mission.
Next, build a shipyard, I like to build a couple of Snakes and then 2
or 3 Enforcers for every Searcher. In and of themselves, the Searchers
are weak, but they can be a nice complement to a force of Enforcers. By
this time your Commander should be done planting 4 or so solar collectors
and metal collectors, so I have him guard the shipyard to increase
production. Note that an advanced Kbot lab, or a vehicle plant is almost
useless. The Kbots that an advanced Kbot lab produces are all units that
need to be in close range to have any benefit, which makes them
ineffective. Tanks are nice for land defense, but they still can't reach
the ARM ships' range, so they aren't a wise move either.
An airport would be a much better thing to build at this time (as
you're cranking out ships). Setting some Shadows on patrol can help your
Enforcers immensely, and if you have time to build a construction
aircraft, head to the small island directly to the south east of your
starting island, clear the few trees, and build a metal collector on the
metal deposit. There is also a metal deposit at the island to the
northwest, but it is in much riskier territory, as a heavy ARM ship
assault soon comes from the west.
MISSION 18-Slolam Pilago
You get a break here with plenty of time to build. Get the standard
stuff up, and move to Moho mines and fusion as quickly as possible.
Once you have advanced radar up you'll notice several red dots circling
around your island. These Arm subs will keep you from setting up
a shipyard anytime soon, so focus your efforts on air power instead.
In fact, you can just skip the shipyard entirely. Get your advanced
airfield up and start on a dozen or more Rapiers with a few Vamps for
support. There are five small islands and two larger islands to the
north of your base. Each of the small islands has a cluster of Arm
defensive structures. The larger island to the west has a group of planes
and the eastern one contains the fusion reactor and several Sentinels.
Sounds impressive, but each of these will fall in short order to your gunships.
Start on a second group while you use the first wave to clear the small islands.
If you've got enough left over (and you should) you can also clear out the western
large island. By now you've probably taken enough losses to need that second
wave you've been working on. Bring them up and take down the Sentinels protecting
the fusion reactor on the eastern island.
In the meantime, put a few Titans in the air to take out the Arm subs
that have been circling your base. You'll have to target them manually
by using the radar display, but they'll do the job quickly. Your gunships
should have the island clear by now, so take out the fusion plant.
Finish off any remaining red dots and you're done.
MISSION 19-The Vebreen Fleet
In general, defensive missions are a pain and this one is no different.
Get your resource production up and a shipyard. You want as many of those
Snake submarines as you can build. Split them into two packs, one on each side
of your island so nothing gets through.
When the Arm carriers start arriving, target them first. You don't want them
to get planes in the air to complicate your already difficult mission. Make
use of the Punishers whenever Arm ships come in range. They deliver a heavy
blow to anything they hit.
Keep turning out Snakes to replace any that fall in battle. It's simply a matter
of making sure nothing sneaks by at this point. Keep your defenses strong and
it's an easy win.
MISSION 20-The Gate To Aegus
ARM has no construction capability on this mission, so it is simply a
matter of attrition. You can concentrate purely on aircraft on this
mission, or branch out into ships if you want. Don't bother about
building a Kbot or vehicle plant as it just takes up space that you can
use for something else. You don't come under attack for a fairly long
period of time, so feel free to build.
Use construction aircraft to build metal extractors on the two small
islands to the north. When you can, convert metal extractors to moho
mines. With a few metal makers built early on, you should be able to
construct an advanced aircraft plant and get moho mines and fusion plants
up fairly soon.
A force of torpedo bombers can be used to destroy the ARM ships.
Strategic bombers should be used to destroy the Defenders on the main
northern island so that your torpedo bombers don't suffer heavy losses.
If you have two or three Finks on patrol across the middle of the map,
they will warn you of the approach of the amphibious tanks - use your
torpedo bombers to destroy them. Any that reach land can be easilly
D-gunned.
MISSION 21-Aegus...Empyrrean's Guardian
Despite what you may infer from the mission briefing, there doesn't
appear to be a time limit on this mission. Use Diplomats supported by an
Informer and Deleter to take out buildings from afar. The galactic gate
is in a large crater just north of the center of the map. Also in the
crater is a fusion reactor - taking this out may reduce the effectiveness
of the Annihilator (if you encounter one on the difficulty level).
Capture the buildings along the eastern side of the map, especially
the moho. Don't be too fussed about protecting the radar to the north if
you capture it. The computer will use Erasers to hide some of its troops
so having some fast units around to search for them may be of help.
You can build an Intimidator here, but be careful when you aim it as
you don't want to destroy the gate.
At the bottom left of the map are a number of metal mines in close
proximity. Getting these (either capturing the existing mines or
destroying them and building your own) will greatly increase your metal
income. Protect them with a Doomsday Machine (after building a fusion
reactor or two), some troops and a Deleter.
You apparently don't have to kill all of the enemy to win, just
capture the galactic gate.
There only seems to be one way down into the valley along the eastern
side of the map, so protecting this with a Doomsday Machine or other toys
will prove helpful as it is a fairly good place to build your base.
MISSION 22-A Big Empyrrean Welcome
Arm Zippers will attack when you enter - warm up the D-gun on them. You'll
be using that super weapon quite a bit in this mission, so get used to it.
Of course, to use it you need power, so you'll want to set up a sizable
cluster of solar collectors behind a hill to the east. Here they will be
safe from Bertha fire and from the Zippers that hang around nearby.
Unlike the previous Bertha capturing mission, this time the big gun is
shooting back. And it has only one target in mind - your commander.Have any
surviving Pyros and the construction bot set to guard your commander as you
begin the long walk south. Don't head straight for the Bertha however, or
your mission is likely to end very abruptly. Take a zigzag path, hiding
behind hills when possible.
Along the way you'll encounter more Zippers and some Hammers. Use the D-gun again and be glad you set up those solar collectors
earlier. Once you're close enough, the Bertha simply can't hit you. Walk up and capture it.
MISSION 23-The Fortress Falls
The computer player has numerous construction units on this map, and
will use them to replace destroyed buildings, especially fusion plants
and moho mines. You will want to establish one large defensive fort that
can cover both the main valley to the north that the computer uses, but
also the area to the east where some units will also be sent. This fort
should include at least 2 Punishers, and at least 3 Gaat Guns and
Pulverizers. It will come under attack by Fidos and Bulldogs, so you need
planes on patrol in that area to give advanced warning. Use Avengers
rather than Finks for this patrol duty, as they will lend a hand. Keep at
least one construction unit on patrol over these defensive structures, as
the Pulverizers don't last long if they are getting pounded.
Use the Punishers you built to destroy the ARM static defenses near
the northern valley, and also to destroy any Spiders on the cliff walls
(the Spiders can paralyze your planes). You don't have to expand all the
way across the map for metal as you can easilly get a 20+ income in the
area you start in after you convert your metal extractors to moho mines.
An Intimidator cannon can reach most parts of the map, so use that to
target fusion reactors, moho mines and construction plants. ARM has a
Bertha cannon of its own in the north east corner, so you should take
that out, either with your own cannon, strategic bombers or Rapiers.
You will definitely need to build a small force of Vamps, because ARM
will use Brawlers, Hawks and Thunder bombers against you. If you have
good radar coverage you can intercept any enemy planes with your Vamps
outside of your base. If your Hawks are having a hard time, and you have
some Hurricane bombers, launch them into the air so that they will start
using their air-to-air lasers against the attackers.
Once you have crippled the ARM economy and destroyed all their
construction units, kill the rest of them with your units of choice
(there are a fair few Sentinel towers around, so take care).
MISSION 24-Surrounded and Pounded
You're in a bad position. Your starting units are damaged, the mesa
you start on is surrounded by Arm units and you're vastly outnumbered.
The first thing you need to survive is to know where Arm forces are and
when they're coming. This obviously calls for radar. Set up radar towers
on the east and west sides of the mesa, then start on repairs.
While the repairs are going on, have your construction bot start on
your usual compliment of structures. Vehicles won't do the job here, so
you'll need a K-bot lab and airfield in short order. As usual, Pulverizers
are your friends, and you want to have lots of friends. Arm Brawlers
will be joining the party shortly, and you want your friends to show them a good time.
Solid defenses are vital to your continued existence. Not only will you
have to contend with the Brawlers, but an Arm Merl will pepper you base with
missiles. Gather a group of AKs and send them down to take it out.
You'll lose them in the process, but it's worth it. This should buy you
enough time to get an advanced airfield operational and start it turning
out large numbers of Rapiers and Vamps. A sizable group of these can
easily take control of the battlefield. Like the previous mission, take
your Rapiers from target to target, clearing out the Arm vermin.
MISSION 25-Empyrrean's Final Stand
But first, you must be concerned with simple survival. The last thing you
can afford is to draw the attention of Arm's powerful airforce too early,
so take your starting force and run for one of the southern corners of the
map. There, you should have enough time to get some reasonable base defenses
up before the Arm onslaught begins.
Start with the usual mix of structures and get some Crashers and Storms out
just in case any Arm units happen to stumble onto you early. As soon as you can,
start on a two-deep Pulverizer wall around your perimeter with AKs doing
the spotting. While that's in progress,begin work toward that all-important
advanced construction bot so you can get fusion power up. This time,
you'll want at least two fusion plants and enough metal makers to use up
the entire output from one of them (about sixteen).
Now you should have enough resources coming in to support a pair of
advanced airfields. Have one working on Vamps while the other starts on
Rapiers. By now you've been fending off raids from Arm forces - don't forget
to keep spotters out to let your Pulverizers do their job.
If you find an advanced construction bot has nothing to do, set it to work
on another fusion plant. Use half the extra power for metal makers and put
up a third advanced airfield. From this point on it's a simple job of turning
out huge numbers of Rapiers and slowly working your way through Arm's defenses.
At first you'll lose quite a few, but it won't take too long to punch a hole in their perimeter.
As the Arm units start to dwindle in numbers, be on the lookout for the Arm commander
hiding in some trees. You'll need to take him out as well to finish the mission.
Once the last Arm unit is gone, you've done it. The galaxy is now yours.