0
Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising
Unofficial Strategy Guide and FAQ
by Kasey Chang
released March 11, 2003
0 Introduction
This section is mainly about the FAQ itself and some legalese. You can read
the most often asked FAQs at the end of this section, or skip right to [1]
for the "stuff".
If you like the FAQ, send me $1.00. :-) See 0.3
0.1 A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR
This is a FAQ, NOT a manual. You won't learn how to play the game with this
document, and I'm NOT about to add it to ease the life of software pirates,
no matter how old the game is.
Some of you may recognize my name as the editor for the XCOM and XCOM2:
TFTD FAQ's, among others.
If you don't care about all these verbiage (it's mainly for people who want
to redistribute the guide) you can jump right to the end of this section
and read some of the FAQs.
If you like the FAQ, send me $1.00. :-) See 0.3
0.2 TERMS OF DISTRIBUTION
This USG should be available at Gamefaqs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) and
other major PC game websites (such as gamesdomain.com, gamespot.com, etc.).
I only release it to Gamefaqs, so they would always have the latest. If you
get it from anywhere else, beware that it may NOT be the latest and
greatest version.
To webmasters who wish to archive this FAQ on their website, please read
below.
This document is copyrighted by Kuo-Sheng "Kasey" Chang (c) 2002, all
rights reserved excepted as noted above in the disclaimer section.
This document is available FREE of charge subjected to the following
conditions:
1) This notice and author's name must accompany all copies of this
document: "Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising Unofficial Strategy Guide and
FAQ" is copyrighted (c) 2002 by Kasey K.S. Chang, all rights reserved
except as noted in the disclaimer."
2) This document must NOT be modified in any form or manner without prior
permission of the author with the following exception: if you wish to
convert this document to a different file format or archive format, with no
change to the content, then no permission is needed.
2a) In case you can't read, that means TXT only. No banners, no HTML
borders, no cutting up into multiple pages to get you more banner hits, and
esp. no adding your site name to the site list.
3) No charge other than "reasonable" compensation should charged for its
distribution. (Free is preferred) Sale of this information is expressly
prohibited. If you see any one selling this guide, drop me a line.
4) If you used material from this, PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE the source, else it
is plagiarism.
5) The author hereby grants all games-related web sites the right to
archive and link to this document to share among the game fandom, provided
that all above restrictions are followed.
Sidenote: The above conditions are known as a statutory contract. If you
meet them, then you are entitled to the rights I give you in 5), i.e.
archive and display this document on your website. If you don't follow
them, you did not meet the statutory contract conditions, thus you have no
right to display this document. If you still do so, then you are infringing
upon my copyright. This section was added for any websites who don't seem
to understand this.
0.3 VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION
Gamers who read this guide are under NO obligation to send me ANY
compensation.
However, a VOLUNTARY contribution of one (1) US Dollar would be very
appreciated.
If you choose to do so, please make your US$1.00 check or $1.00 worth of
stamps to "Kuo-Sheng Chang", and send it to "2220 Turk Blvd. #6, San
Francisco, CA 94118 USA".
If you don't live in the US, please send me some local stamps. I collect
stamps too.
0.4 HOW AND WHEN TO CONTACT ME
PLEASE let me know if there's a confusing or missing remark, mistakes, and
thereof... If you find a question about this game that is not covered in
the USG, e-mail it to me at the address specified below. I'll try to
answer it and include it in the next update.
Please do NOT write me for technical support. That is the job of the
publisher. (Interplay in this case.)
Please do NOT ask me to send you a list of controls, the manual, etc. If
you borrowed the game without borrowing the manual, blame your own
stupidity. If you bought the game without a manual, blame your own
stupidity. If you copied the game without copying the manual, you're not
only scum, but STUPID scum.
Please do NOT ask me to answer questions that have already answered in this
FAQ/guide. It makes you REALLY idiotic.
I will NOT answer stupid questions like the ones above unless I'm in a
really good mood. If you send questions like that, do NOT expect a reply.
The address below is spelled out phonetically so spammers can't use
spambots on it:
Kilo-Sierra-Charlie-Hotel-Alpha-November-Golf-Seven-Seven AT Yankee-Alpha-
Hotel-Oscar-Oscar DOT Charlie-Oscar-Mike
To decipher this, simply read the first letter off each word except for the
numbers and the punctuation. This is "military phonetics" or "aeronautical
phonetics" in case you're wondering.
This document was produced on Microsoft Word 97, with some notetaking on a
Handspring Visor with the Targus foldable keyboard. Some editing done with
Editpad (editpadclassic.com).
0.5 THE AUTHOR
I am just a game player who decided to write my own FAQs when the ones I
find don't cover what I want to see. Lots of people like what I did, so I
kept doing it.
Previously, I've written Unofficial Strategy Guides (USGs) for XCOM,
XCOM2:TFTD, Wing Commander, Wing Commander 2, Wing Commander 3, Wing
Commander 4, Privateer, Spycraft, 688(I) Hunter/Killer. Mechwarrior 3, MW3
Expansion Pack, Mechwarrior 4, Mechwarrior 4: Black Knight, Need for Speed:
Porsche Unleashed, The Sting!, Terranova, Fallout Tactics, Starfleet
Command Volume II, and a few more.
Most of them should be on http://www.gamefaqs.com, the biggest FAQ site
around.
To contact me, see 0.4 above.
0.6 DISCLAIMER/ COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising is produced by Rage (http://www.rage.com),
is distributed in the US by Interplay (http://www.interplay.com), 14
Degrees East division (strategy games).
There is no warranty for this unofficial strategy guide. After all, it
depends on YOU the player. All I can do is offer some advice.
0.7 MISC NOTES
From here on, I'll abbreviate Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising as just "HW".
It saves me from typing all those words.
0.8 REVISION HISTORY
27-JUL-2002 Initial Release
11-MAR-2003 Second release, fixed up misc. mistakes, added more details
on "command-line parameters".
0.9 THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Can you send me HW (or portions thereof)?
A: No.
Q: Can you send me the manual (or portions thereof)?
A: That's a portion of the game.
Q: Can you tell me how to play the game?
A: Read the manual.
Q: How many CD's are there?
A: Just 1, and one manual.
Q: Isn't there a keyboard reference card?
A: Not in the US edition. The European version has a keyboard reference
card, as well as an additional booklet on the backstory as well as
interview with the writer.
Q: What are the keyboard shortcuts?
A: Look for the README file in the install directory
Q: What do all those control icons in that little control panel mean?
A: Read the manual.
Q: Can I have more than one copy of the Soulcatcher chip?
A: Absolutely not. Supposedly, the two copies tried to kill each other when
made. So after that, the scientists simply don't bother trying.
Q: How do I tell how many shots does Antaeus have for the main battery?
A: Look for a couple "dots" in the shape of shells on the main screen
Antaeus icon. The number of dots indicate how many shots you have.
Q: What does that Latin phrase "Pugio in Averso Belli" mean? It's in the
Antaeus logo.
A: Rough translation is "Weapon [dagger] used to avoid war".
Q: Is there a special meaning to the word "Antaeus"?
A: Antaeus is a "giant" in Greek Mythology. Child of Poseidon and Gaia (God
of the Sea and Mother Earth, respectively), Antaeus is invincible as long
as he had his feet touching Earth. Hercules defeated Antaeus by lifting him
off the ground.
Q: Is there multiplayer in HW?
A: No. Multiplayer is NOT possible with HW.
Q: How do I cheat?
A: See final section
1 Game Information
1.1 WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND FOR HOSTILE WASTERS: ANTEAUS RISING?
It is the year 2032. The last war has been fought 20 years ago. The world,
with discovery of nanotech, has known peace ever since. There are plenty of
food and material for everyone thanks to nanotech, and therefore wars are
no longer needed. All weapons were destroyed, and Ministry of Technology
(Minitech) holds careful oversight on any research that may have military
potentials.
However, a Cabal is threatening that hard-built peace by rearming
themselves. They have taken over a chain of islands in the Pacific. They
threaten to kill millions if not left alone, and are likely to eventually
take over the world.
With all of the weapons gone, the world must call upon the last of the
Adaptive Cruisers lost at sea... And you will be its commander. Take its
units, and the limited Soulcatcher profiles, into battle...
May the righteous prevail...
1.2 WHAT IS HOSTILE WATERS: ANTEAUS RISING?
HW is best described as a hybrid between RTS and a 3rd person shooter, with
some pretty impressive AI. Someone described it as a mix between
Activision's "Battlezone" and the old Rainbird title "Carrier Command".
Basically, you have this "carrier" (i.e. adaptive cruiser) called the
Antaeus, prototype 00. It can build units from its energy storage almost
instantaneously using nanotech-powered "Creation Engine". The ship can
analyze wreckage or sample of existing weapon or unit, or you can receive
blueprints download from Minitech or any other source, and almost instantly
build your version.
Energy (and raw material) comes from "harvesting". You harvest by sending a
Scarab (or a Behemoth when you get it) with a Recycler unit (and perhaps a
soulcatcher chip as well). As the carrier is usually offcoast, you will
need a transport helicopter to move the Scarab to land. Then this harvester
should do things automatically if you put in the AI, else you need to do
the "harvesting" yourself. Point, and shoot. The nanites are shot onto the
item, which is then analyzed, and then absorbed by the beam.
The built units, however, have no AI. You can use the units two ways:
either fly a unit yourself ("Direct Control Interface"), or plug in one of
the "Soulcatcher" chips and let that AI take over, while you give it
"general" orders via the "Command Interface".
You can outfit your units with other weapons and devices as they become
available. Some of the missions will have you retrieving weapons, units,
and devices to be analyzed by Antaeus so you can build your own copies.
Each of the Soulcatcher profiles you have has a different personality and
some are more suited for certain purposes than others. As the number of
profiles you have is limited, this is not a "built X units and rush" game.
You need to consider your needs, build the appropriate vehicle, add the
appropriate profile, devices, and weapons, then send them out with a
purpose.
You can "recycle" existing units to recover a lot of the energy and build
improved versions. You can also recover debris left by enemy units to be
used by yourself.
The enemy will send units after you. To slow them down, you need to destroy
radar dishes to blind them, destroy energy sources and energy storage
facilities to starve them, then finally, production facilities to eliminate
them altogether. "Tank rush" will not work here.
Threats comes in many types, land, air, or amphibious. You will even
participate in some rescue missions.
1.3 WHAT DO I NEED TO RUN HOSTILE WATERS?
From the README file...
Minimum:
Processor: Intel Pentium II 266MHz
Operating System: MS Windows 95
CD ROM: 4X
RAM: 64mb RAM
Controls: Keyboard and Mouse
Sound: 16 bit sound card
Graphics: 8Mb AGP Video card.
Recommended:
Processor: Intel Pentium II 350MHz
Operating System: MS Windows 98
CD ROM: 16X
RAM: 128mb RAM
Controls: Keyboard and 3 button mouse
Sound: 3D sound card
Graphics: Fast 16Mb Video card.
Optimal:
Processor: Intel Pentium III 700 or AMD Athlon 700 and beyond
Operating System: MS Windows ME
CD ROM: 36X
RAM: 128mb RAM
Controls: Keyboard and 3 button mouse
Sound: Creative SoundBlaster Live!
Graphics: 64Mb AGP Video card.
Please note that Windows NT is NOT supported. Any info you have on NT
compatibility would be appreciated.
Above info was taken from the README file.
There is NO report of XP compatibility, so if you got it working in XP,
good for you. Let me know if there's anything special you needed to do.
1.4 ANY ALTERNATE VERSIONS? PATCHES?
Hostile Waters is known as "Hostile Waters" in Europe (distributed by
Titus). In the US, it is known as "Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising"
(distributed by Interplay).
There is one patch for the European version that updates it to 1.03g. This
patch is not needed for the US version.
1.5 MISC GAME INFO
Any one remember "Carrier Command"? This game was inspired by it.
As indicated on the box, Tom Baker (i.e. "Dr. Who") is the narrator. Church
and Walker are voiced by respectively two of the famous British
actress/actor from the series "Blake's 7".
The writer for the game did some pretty impressive comics / graphic novels.
Unfortunately, the lack of multiplayer relegated this game into also-ran
status.
2 Available Weapons Briefing
All weapons in HW use self-replicating munitions, and thus have infinite
ammo. Firing time can be improved by a recharge device (see 3.7), but that
comes pretty late in the game (mission 16).
2.1 SCALPEL CHAINGUN
Range low, firing rate high, damage low, shot speed fast, cost 250 ej,
available mission 2
Scalpel is a general-purpose chain gun that can destroy just about
anything, both on the ground and in the air, but the low-range (about 100
meters) means you'll get hit as well. While damage is low, it has high
firing rate so it does plenty of damage.
Give vehicles armed with this the heaviest armor and shields you got, as
the enemies will tend to concentrate on it, being the closest target.
2.2 LONGBOW MISSILE LAUNCHER
Range medium, firing rate medium, damage low, shot speed medium, cost 250
ej, available mission 4
Longbow is the perfect complement to Scalpel, having a longer range (about
280 meters) but slower firing rate. The missiles are self-guiding, but tend
to miss at close range, another reason it complements Scalpel.
If you are using this under direct control, get a lock-on before firing. If
you don't lock on, the missiles won't guide, so you won't hit a moving
target.
Longbow is good on both air and ground units.
2.3 RAPIER LASER
Range very long, firing rate low, damage low, shot speed extreme, cost 2000
ej, available mission 7
Rapier is a VERY long-range weapon, almost like a sniper rifle. It
recharges slowly (compared to other weapons) and does little damage, but if
the enemy can't shoot back, who cares?
Rapier is best used to take out defense turrets and such that cannot move
to engage you.
If you take control of a Rapier-equipped unit, you can use the Zoom feature
to zoom in up to 16X for precise targeting. In fact, this is recommended
(besides putting Madsen on the job).
Remember to back up Rapier-mounted vehicles with other weapons like Longbow
and Scalpel. It doesn't do much damage so it needs a LOT of shots to kill
an enemy. A typical AAA turret takes like 10-11 shots from a Rapier.
2.4 ARCLIGHT EMP BLASTER
Range long, firing rate low, damage N/A, shot speed slow, cost 250 ej,
available mission 10
Arclight does NOT damage the enemy. Instead, it disables the enemy for
about 90 seconds. It can be used to disable AAA for other weapons to
destroy it.
Arclight is virtually useless against moving targets (air or ground) as its
"shot" is EXTREMELY slow moving. However, you COULD use it to disable AAA
turrets so your other air units can kill one before it comes back online.
There is only ONE mission you need to use Arclight, to disable the subs. If
used against one of those subs, the effects are permanent. At other time
it's probably not needed.
2.5 WARHAMMER ARTILLERY
Range long, firing rate low, damage high, shot speed medium, cost 1250 ej,
available mission 11
Warhammer is a long-range howitzer adapted to modular weaponry. It does
good damage and has tremendous range, but lousy reload time. The shot takes
a while to arrive, so again, virtually useless against moving targets. It
also causes quite a bit of "splash" damage, so don't use in close proximity
of friendly units.
Warhammer's range can exceed visual range of your units. If you can get a
spotter into range (via a chopper or a cloaked Puma) you can launch strikes
from behind a hill, for a truly devastating fire mission. Range of a
Warhammer is in excess of 400 m.
Sometimes the rounds, due to the arc, hit the hill next to the target
instead of directly impacting the target. If that's the case (you fired a
lot of rounds for no effect), move left or right, then try again.
If you are using Warhammer manually, use the impact camera (on the left)
and try to adjust the trajectory with it.
Warhammer is only useful against ground units. It will NOT target any air
units. On the other hand, you may hit one by accident. So keep the air
units a little away from the howitzers.
Warhammer's shots takes like 2-3 seconds to arrive, so it tends to waste
shots.
Warhammer's cannon can be used as a direct-fire weapon with a HUGE damage
radius (compared to other weapons). Fire them into a group of enemy walkers
and see them explode into gibblets.
While Warhammer CAN be placed on a chopper, don't do it. Chopper is too
unstable for a proper firing of an artillery piece. You have to be point-
blank to get a hit. Put Warhammer on a tank or a hovercraft instead.
In the end, Warhammer become your primary weapon. While you still need
other weapons to take care of attackers, Warhammer is your best weapon to
bust turrets and other fixed defenses.
2.6 FIRESTORM FLAMETHROWER
Range point-blank, firing rate high, damage medium, cost 500 ej, available
mission 14
Firestorm has one use: to burn bugs and bug buildings. Due to short-range,
it's best to clean out the surrounding area of enemies before you bring in
the flamethrower.
Due to the short range, Firestorm is only useful against ground targets.
However, it can be mounted on choppers and can be quite useful as a quick
demolition tool.
It can do 10% of damage to bug buildings in like 3 seconds, with full
charge. Once the charge is exhausted, the burning gets quite a bit slower.
Remember to read the "Stealth Kamikaze" tactic, among others.
If a single bug unit challenges a Firestorm unit, let it engage. If a swarm
comes, run.
3 Available Device Briefing
You can add all sorts of devices to your units if they have device bays for
them, all of them helpful in one way or another.
3.1 RECYCLER UNIT
Available mission 1, 3x3 device, cost 250 ej
Fits in Scarab and Behemoth. Makes the unit "red".
Recycler unit gives the equipped unit ability to scan and absorb wreckage
and structures full of metal and energy so it can be used by the Antaeus'
"creation engine" to build other things.
This is your RTS "harvester" soaking up metal and energy on the
battlefield. It can move into hostile territory, so be careful if you leave
it completely alone.
3.2 ARMOR
Available mission 2, 1x1 device, cost 350 ej
Fits in all units except Vulture and Magpie (no bay)
Also called ablative armor, this adds on extra set of armor in addition to
the built-in armor for more survivability.
Best combined with shield. Shield regenerates, armor does not.
3.3 SOULCATCHER CHIP
Available mission 2, 1x1 device, cost 100 ej
Fits in all units except Vulture and Magpie (no bay)
Gives the unit an AI personality so it can do a bit of independent
thinking, such as automatically engage visible enemies, fly to certain
location and perform certain tasks, and so on. You can't do everything by
yourself, so don't. Use a chip to help out. Remember some profiles are
better at certain tasks.
There are SOME cases where you do need to control a craft to do things
yourself, esp. when you've used everybody.
3.4 REPAIR UNIT
Available mission 5, 3x3 device, cost 3000 ej
Fits in Scarab and Behemoth. Makes the unit "green".
Repairs the vehicle to mint condition, subject to time, using nanotech. The
more expensive the vehicle and more damage the vehicle has sustained, the
longer repairs will take.
If you put this in unit with Soulcatcher chip, the unit will automatically
repair all friendly units in sensor range.
3.5 CLOAK
Available mission 9, 1x2 device, cost 1000 ej
Fits in all units except Vulture and Magpie (no bay)
Makes the vehicle invisible to visible wavelengths, but NOT silent, NOR
invisible to radar.
Cloak is best used on a Puma, which has a stealth profile (supposedly).
Don't get too close to enemy radars either to make sure you don't get
spotted.
If enemy bumps into a cloaked unit, they will know where to shoot, and
usually that means the end of that unit. If you are going to leave a
cloaked unit alone, find a spot that will NOT be in an enemy's path.
3.6 SHIELD
Available mission 14, 1x2 device, cost 1000 ej
Shield is a true energy and deflector shield that protects the equipped
unit from damage, both ballistic and energy. While not capable of deflect
as much damage as armor, shield will "recharge" over time.
You can use multiple shields in the same unit.
Do NOT combine shield with cloak. Cloak operation requires that the shield
be disabled.
3.7 RECHARGE UNIT
Available mission 16, 1x2 device, cost 1500 ej
Fits in all units except Vulture and Magpie (no bays)
Increases firing rate of all weapons (by how much? 50%? 100%?)
4 Friendly Unit Briefing
There are essentially four types of units: land combat units, amphibious
combat units, air combat units, and utility units.
The hardpoints just means how many weapons you select will it carry. You
cannot mix and match weapons (like 1 Longbow and 1 Scalpel).
4.1 LAND COMBAT UNITS
Land combat units can only fight on land, not on water or in air. They
include both tracked and wheeled vehicles. Magpie or Pegasus must transport
them to their destination.
Being land units, their speed is limited, but they usually are able to
carry more armor and have larger device bays (except Puma, but that's an
exception).
4.1.1 Puma
1x3 bay, 1 hardpoint, available mission 9, cost 150 ej
Puma is a light recon buggy. It has paper-thin armor so the equipment bay
is best left for a cloak. Its best use is as an artillery spotter for
Antaeus "main battery" or for Warhammer-equipped units.
4.1.1.1 Stealth Scout Config
Scalpel chaingun, cloak, soulcatcher. Total Cost = 1250
In general, you should NEVER fire that gun, but you have to fit one in, so
pick a VERY short-range one. Find an empty spot to park and just act as a
spotter for the heavy guns.
4.1.1.2 Stealth Spotter / Kamikaze Config
Firestorm flamethrower, cloak, soulcatcher. Total Cost = 1500
The Stealth Spotter/Kamikaze config is used for the times where you need to
fry some enemy buildings IMMEDIATELY instead of doing the regular kill
energy production, then storage, then production facilities. Find an empty
spot to park and just act as a spotter for the Antaeus main guns, then
kamikaze the building with Firestorm and fry it. Boom! No more production.
Repeat for other production buildings.
4.1.2 Rhino
5 @ 1x2 bays, 1 hardpoint, available mission 11, cost 650 ej
Rhino, when equipped with a Warhammer, is a great assault platform. It
doesn't do that well against moving targets, however. Definitely bring air
cover.
When you have enough energy, add more armor and shield as applicable.
4.1.2.1 Fire support / assault config
Warhammer, armor, soulcatcher. Total cost = ???? ej
Your normal fire support config. Remember to make some escorts too.
4.1.2.2 Close Escort Config
Scalpel, 4 x shields and 1xarmor, soulcatcher. Total cost = ????
Close escort config are designed take incoming fire and defend the
Warhammer-equipped Rhino from enemy units.
4.1.2.3 Long Escort Config
Longbow, 2 x shields and 3 x armor, soulcatcher. Total cost = ????
This one engages the enemy at longer range, thus needing less shields.
4.1.3 Behemoth
1 @ 3x5 bay, 2 hardpoints, available mission 19, cost 900 ej
With a HUGE cargo bay, Behemoth is very flexible. With twin hardpoints, it
is also very deadly. However, it doesn't move fast. Escort! Escort!
Consider slapping a Recycler unit in the Behemoth so it can both take out
enemy structures AND absorb them for your use.
4.2 HOVERCRAFT COMBAT UNITS
Hovercrafts are amphibious with excellent speed and mobility. However, it
cannot carry as much equipment or armor as its landlocked cousins. They can
self-deploy without using a lifter like Magpie or Pegasus. They represent a
compromise between armor of the land-units and the speed of the air units.
4.2.1 Salamander
1 @ 1x3 bay, 1 @ 1x1 bay, 1 hardpoint, available mission 5, cost 400 ej
Salamander is basically a combat hovercraft. Its default armor is adequate.
Fitted with a Rapier or Warhammer, they can blow up enemy guns from very
long range. However, they need protection from air threats. Try to escort
them with Hornets until the coast is clear.
Fitted with Longbow, they are nice mobile multi-purpose attackers.
4.2.1.1 Dual-Purpose Config, single/double/triple armor
Longbow missile, 1/2/3 x armor, soulcatcher. Total cost = 1100/1450/1800 ej
This config is good for both anti-air and general combat against ground
units and structures. It has a decent firing rate and range.
4.2.1.2 Laser Config, single/double/triple armor
Rapier laser, 1/2/3 x armor, soulcatcher. Total cost = 2850/3200/3550 ej
This "sniper" rig is great for dealing damage from afar. Take out AA towers
and such from far away, and let your escorts take care of incoming enemy
units.
4.2.1.3 Fire Support Config, single/double/triple armor
Warhammer cannon, 1/2/3 x armor, soulcatcher. Total cost = 2100/2450/2800
ej
Need a Puma or a Hornet as a spotter, but otherwise quite deadly with great
mobility.
4.2.1.4 Burner Config, single/double/triple armor
Firestorm flamethrower, 1/2/3 x armor, soulcatcher. Total cost =
1350/1700/2050 ej
Zip in there, burn the structure, zip out. Still, lack of armor means it
should be left in the rear area until the enemy has been cleared from the
area.
4.2.2 Shark
2 @ 1x3 bays, 2 hardpoints, available mission 16, cost 950 ej
Shark is basically the land equivalent of the Phoenix... It has double the
firepower, excellent armor, big equipment bay, and more than double the
cost.
4.3 AIR COMBAT UNITS
Air combat unit has the highest speed but generally the least amount of
room for onboard expansions (and armor and shields and such).
4.3.1 Hornet
2 @ 1x1 bays, 1 @ 1x2 bay, 1 hardpoint, available mission 2, cost 150 ej
A light and fast attack chopper, it has no problem killing other similar
air units. In fact, you don't get a better air unit until mission 15, when
the Phoenix becomes available.
Most weapons will fit in this chopper. However, due to it having only one
hardpoint, it is better to pair these choppers for more firepower.
One combo is Scalpel chaingun paired with Longbow missiles (on two separate
choppers!)
A Hornet with Rapier laser is a great AAA killer, though it'll take it a
long time.
Firestorm on a Hornet makes a fast-moving nest-killer. Just make sure there
are no air-threats for it at the target.
Hornet CAN be cloaked, and makes a great spotter. However, remember that
AAA works off radar, not visual wavelengths. Cloaked puma is more
survivable as a spotter.
4.3.1.1 Dual-Purpose Config, single/double/triple armor
Scalpel or Longbow, soulcatcher, 1/2/3 x armor. Total cost = 850 / 1200 /
1550 ej
When you're tight on energy, single armor is enough, but don't expect such
a craft to last very long unless the enemy has no anti-air capabilities.
4.3.1.2 Wild Weasel Config, single/double/triple armor
Rapier laser, soulcatcher, 1/2/3 x armor. Total cost = 2600 / 2950 / 3200
ej
This aerial sniper rig is great for taking out AAA, thus the name "Wild
Weasel".
4.3.2 Phoenix
1 @ 2x4 bay, 2 hardpoints, available mission 15, cost 550 ej
Phoenix is the heavier version of Hornet, and is much better armed. With
two hardpoints, you get double firepower. It also has excellent built-in
armor, and can always fit some more shields and such. However, it is only
available very late.
In general, it is better to have 1 Phoenix and 3 Hornets than 2 Phoenixes.
4.3.3 Vulture
No device bay, 2 hardpoints, available mission 21, cost 350 ej
Not a heli but a true VTOL jet, the Vulture has no device bay, and thus no
armor and no shields. It's only protection is SPEED and that's not good at
all. Having no device bay also restricts it to ONLY be used via "direct
control", so it's pretty much a suicide mission... Fly out there, and do
your job and hope nothing else requires your attention while you do it. In
normal battles there is no place for it at all.
4.4 UTILITY UNITS
4.4.1 Scarab (Ground)
1 @ 1x1 bay, 1 @ 3x3 bay, no hardpoint, available mission 1, cost 100 ej
Scarab with a Recycle unit will act as your harvester. Add Soulcatcher chip
so it can harvest automatically.
Scarab with a Repair unit and Soulcatcher AI will automatically repair all
friendlies in its sensor range.
4.4.2 Magpie (Air)
N/A, N/A, available mission 7, N/A
Magpie is a VTOL lifter under a VERY dumb AI... It only knows how to lift
from your carrier to the rally point. If you want to move things around or
bring things back to ship, use Pegasus. However, it is FREE. If it was
destroyed, it will be rebuilt by the next mission.
Remember to MOVE the rally point to get the most out of Magpie.
4.4.3 Pegasus (Air)
1 @ 1x2 bay, no hardpoint, available mission 1, cost 75 ej
Pegasus is a lifter that can move all sorts of things... Moving vehicles,
bringing back debris for recycling, retrieve units for recycling, and so
on. It is essential for your operation.
Remember, Pegasus can carry debris back for recycling. So carry one of
those BIG pieces back (those that are worth 1000 ejs or more) for recycling
at the carrier, and let the Scarab work on the smaller stuff.
4.4.3.1 Transport Config, no/single armor
Soulcatcher, 0/1 armor. Total cost = 175 / 525 ej
4.5 OTHER UNITS
4.5.1 Sentinel
2 @ 3x2 bays, one hardpoint, available mission 6, 400 ej
Sentinel is a stationary turret, best left on the carrier itself so it can
engage incoming threats. Use the right weapon and you will be fine, but it
also needs an AI.
In general, you want the Sentinel in the forward right or forward left bay.
Just refuse the Magpie for want to move it, then "drag" the unit to the
correct bay.
Sentinel can also be placed on top of a hill as a defense site. Magpie is
pretty stupid so you may want to use a Pegasus to do this.
4.5.1.1 Air Defense, single/double armor
Longbow missile, soulcatcher, 1/2 x armor. Total cost = 1100 / 1450 ej
5 Soulcatcher Profiles
Antaeus has only one live person onboard... You. Your assistants and
briefers, Walker and Church, are at Minitech and are linked in by comm
only.
The actual fighting is done by all the Soulcatcher profiles, or you in
remote control of a vehicle via tele-presence. Think of them as "crew" if
you like, but remember, they are not alive any more. So don't be afraid to
lose them if the need arises. There's always another copy available
onboard.
All profiles have a specialty, which basically means they get a bonus for
doing that particular thing. However, all profiles can do all things. They
may complain a bit if you send them in a vehicle or weapon not to their
liking, but they'll still do their job.
5.1 BORDEN
Available mission 2
Borden prefers attacking structures.
Borden prefers distance fighting (so give her Longbow instead of Scalpel).
Borden is probably best used in a Salamander or Shark, though she is quite
capable in all vehicles.
5.2 PATTON
Available mission 2
Patton prefers driving tanks, though he'll make do with any ground unit, or
failing that, any vehicle.
Patton really likes Warhammer artillery. If you give him any other
armament, he'll complain with epithets like "This is not a gun!" or "I've
seen pea-shooters bigger than this!"
5.3 RANSOM
Available mission 2
Ransom prefers driving helicopters (Hornet or Phoenix).
Ransom prefers Scalpel, but he'll make do with Longbow or Rapier.
Ransom often chases AAA turrets, so make sure you pull him out of trouble
when he gets into it.
5.4 KROKER
Available mission 4
Kroker prefers Puma with cloak.
Kroker can serve as a Pegasus pilot, or even a general combat pilot if need
be. However, he's not that good of a pilot.
5.5 KOROLEV
Available mission 5
Korolev is best in a Scarab with a recycler, harvesting.
Keep Korolev out of fighting. Her Scarab has little/no armor. She's not
much of a combat pilot either. She can be a generic pilot when things are
tight.
BEWARE: Korolev sometimes wanders into battles, so make sure she stays
clear of the area.
5.6 MADSEN
Available mission 6
Madsen is best with a Rapier sniping at enemy targets. He goes into hover
and carefully aims... completely oblivious to proper dogfight techniques.
Madsen is okay in both ground and air units, with almost any weapon.
BEWARE: assign Madsen an escort so he doesn't get shot down while making a
long-range kill
5.7 SINCLAIR
Available mission 11
Sinclair is only good for Sentinel defense turret.
In a tight situation he can work as a generic Longbow-equipped pilot.
5.8 LAZARE
Available mission 15
Lazare is good in both air and ground assaults. He prefers Phoenix chopper,
though he can do as Shark or Rhino pilot as well.
BEWARE: watch Lazare as he often bites off more than he can chew
5.9 KENZIE
Available mission 19
Kenzie is best in a hovercraft, namely Salamander or Shark. She gets a
"bonus" in a hovercraft.
5.10 ELROY
Available mission 20
Elroy likes tanks, bigger the better. Rhino's okay, Behemoth's the best. He
gets a bonus in a tank.
6 Hostile Unit Briefing
Hostile units generally fall into 3 types: air units, ground units, and
fixed defenses.
6.1 AIR UNITS
Air Units are best handled by other air units, such as Hornet / Phoenix.
Still, dual-purpose weapons like Scalpel and Longbow work well enough, even
when mounted on ground units.
6.1.1 Recon Chopper
Very light, this is mincemeat for your Hornets with just a Scalpel
chaingun.
Normal and hybrid. Alien version is "small flyer".
6.1.2 Assault Chopper
These Apaches are equipped with something similar to your Longbow missiles,
so beware. They can be pretty hard-hitting.
Normal and hybrid. Alien version is "medium flyer".
6.1.3 VTOL Bomber
These have to hover above the target to drop a bomb, and otherwise cannot
protect themselves. They usually come with assault choppers though.
Normal and hybrid. Alien version is Hoverlaser.
6.1.4 Small Flyer
Alien version of the recon chopper, but stronger. Single energy blaster.
Alien only.
6.1.5 Medium Flyer
Alien version of the assault chopper, but stronger and more maneuverable.
Twin energy blasters.
Alien only.
6.1.6 Hoverlaser
Similar to VTOL bomber, this alien unit hovers above you and shoots a heavy
beam downward. Two shots will take out a Behemoth with armor, so beware!
Alien only.
6.2 GROUND MOBILE UNITS
These come in both normal and hybrid versions.
6.2.1 M-1 Abrams Battletank
Heavy cannon, but no anti-air, kill it with airpower is best, though ground
units would work also.
Normal and hybrid. Alien version is Red Walker.
6.2.2 M-6 Mammoth Supertank
Double cannon AND SAMs... This can be hard to kill. Still, get in close and
you can get lucky.
Normal and hybrid. Alien version is Black Walker.
6.2.3 Mobile Howitzer / SPG (self-propelled gun)
Extremely long range, this can be really deadly if you stay still. However,
no anti-air capability. So they are at the mercy of any air power. If you
keep moving you can avoid their shots.
Normal and hybrid. Alien version is Slug.
6.2.4 Red Walker
Four legs, with a cannon that's comparable to M-1. No air defense, and
susceptible to fire from Firestorm flamethrower.
Alien only.
6.2.5 Black Walker
Six legs, with a tail AA stinger, AND double-bore energy cannon, this is
comparable to the Mammoth supertank. Best attacked from a distance with
Warhammer.
Alien only.
6.2.6 Slug
Pretty slow, but well armored, and has an energy cannon with a good splash
radius. It's best to use air power to kill slugs. Think of them as bug
mobile howitzers.
Alien only.
6.2.7 Suicide Runner
Kamikaze units that attack ground units, cause little damage, but tend to
swarm. A nest will keep pumping these out until you wipe out the nest or
energy source.
Alien only.
6.3 FIXED DEFENSES
6.3.1 50 mm dual-use cannons
Same range as a Scalpel, usable against both air and ground, this cannon is
point-defense for a lot of Cabal structures. Use long-range weapons to kill
them.
Regular and hybrid. Alien equivalent is laser tower.
6.3.2 AAA
Usually mounted on a tower. Can only kill aircraft, so try to use Rapier if
you must use aircraft to kill one. If you have ground units, send in ground
units.
BEWARE! The alien version is MUCH more powerful, as it's based on an energy
weapon.
Regular, hybrid, and alien.
6.3.3 Defense bunker
Short-range but heavy-hitting cannons, no anti-air capability. Warhammer
can hit it without it hitting back. Can be dangerous in groups to units
with short ranged weapons like Scalpel and Longbow.
Regular and hybrid. Alien equivalent is lightning tower.
6.3.4 Fixed howitzer
Similar to mobile howitzer, but fixed, and very little armor. Again, no
anti-air. Best killed with airpower, though Rapier or Warhammer from a
distance would work as well.
Regular and hybrid. Alien version is "blast cannon".
6.3.5 Blast Cannon
Like howitzer, it fires shot in a high-arcing trajectory. Long reload time,
susceptible to air assaults. Think of it as REALLY alien version of fixed
howitzer. Sometimes I'll refer to them as "alien howitzer".
Alien only.
6.3.6 Lightning tower
Short-range defense both air and ground... Two shoots will kill you without
shields. Long-range firepower is best for killing one. Alien version of
defense bunker.
Alien only.
6.3.7 Laser tower
Sort of improved version of the 50 mm dual-use cannons, these take on both
air and ground threats, with improved range. They also form laser barriers.
Alien only.
7 Hostile Structure Briefing
Hostile structures support their "war machine". To take them out, you need
to wipe out the derricks, then the storage, then the production facilities.
Killing the radar outpost will give you some reaction time.
These buildings come in regular, hybrid, and alien versions.
Some alien structures can hide underground, then pop up. You need to
trigger them with a unit, preferably cloaked.
The alien structures as well as hybrid structures are vulnerable to fire
from the Firestorm flamethrower.
7.1 DERRICKS
Harvesting energy out of the ground, which then goes to energy storage.
These are your PRIMARY targets. Without energy, enemy cannot build any more
units. If there's a choice between killing the derricks or incur no damage
to your units, kill the derricks!
7.2 ENERGY STORAGE
Stores energy from the derricks, drives the production factories. These
aren't that important, as they have limited capacity. After the derricks
are gone, these would be empty soon.
Energy storage looks like a storage tank. If the tank is full, it looks
"inflated". If the tank is empty, it looks deflated.
If you have already destroyed the derricks that feed the stroage tanks, you
can ignore any tanks that look "deflated". They are "empty" and thus can no
longer sustain the production plants.
7.3 GROUND UNIT PRODUCTION
Makes ground units, like M-1 Abrahms, red walker, etc.
7.4 AIR UNIT PRODUCTION
Makes Recon and Apache choppers, or flyers.
7.5 HEAVY PRODUCTION
Makes heavy units like Mammoth / black walker, SPG (mobile howitzer) /
slug, and VTOL Bomber/Hoverlaser.
7.6 RADAR OUTPOST
Early warning radar, checks where you are.
Kill them ASAP so the enemy has less reaction time to your incursions.
Rapier can kill radar without being detected.
Warning: the alien version of the radar can detect cloaked Puma if you get
too close. Beware!
7.7 COMMAND CENTER / CONTROL CENTER
Merely a mission objective... Big building and worth a lot of ejs (4000?).
It doesn't produce anything. You can leave these for last.
7.8 ALIEN NEST
Alien nest is the home of suicide runners. The nest is best destroyed by
fire. It is a tough target, so you can probably leave these for last.
7.9 ALIEN "PUMP"
This is a black alien creature that looks and sounds like a bug pumping
something out of the ground. It is a structure supposedly similar to the
derricks, but not identified as such. This is of no threat to you. You can
kill these for recycling after you killed other things first.
8 General strategies and tactics
8.1 GENERAL COMBAT
8.1.1 Kill energy, then production... when possible
Usually, you kill enemy derricks first, which cuts off their production
energy supply. They then switch to the energy in their storage tanks. After
they run out, they can't build any more. You THEN take out energy storage
tanks to make them run out even faster. Then finally, you take out
production facilities when there are no more units coming.
If you try to pound production first, you have to waste a LOT of time
killing the units that pop out. Unless... You use this next method.
8.1.2 When you're in a hurry, kill production first
When the enemy production is so well defended or takes so long to kill that
you will simply be overwhelmed if you do it the regular way, it's time to
use a kamikaze attack on the production facilities themselves. I call this
the "stealth kamikaze" tactic.
Build a cloak Puma armed with Firestorm, and deploy it. Turn on its cloak
first. Then move the Puma to an empty area that is NOT within the enemy
path and is near the structure. Now pick your target.
Target the HEAVY factory, then the air factory. The lighter ground stuff is
easy to kill, so you can leave that alone.
Call in an Antaeus salvo on the production plant. After the salvo lands, it
should have about 6% remaining. Move the cloaked Puma into the base, and
find a place where you're less likely to be hit (by turrets and such) but
close enough to the building you wish to torch. You probably want to stay
on the OTHER side of building, opposite the enemy defense guns. You will
also want to time the facility so you attack AFTER the units it produced
has moved out of range.
Order the Puma forward, torch the building, then immediately cloak and get
out of the compound. Likely the Puma will not survive, but that quick burst
of the flame should torch the building and it goes POOF. Voila, no more
units, even if there are plenty of energy around.
Repeat as many times as there are shots available from Antaeus.
If you are in a hurry, drop TWO salvoes on the target. It's a waste, but
sometimes it's necessary.
8.1.3 Combined Arms
Many weapons/units in HW complement one another, and some units/weapons are
best used to escort others. Find the good combinations and use them.
Warhammer-equipped units esp. need the escorts. Let the Warhammer unit bust
derricks and buildings and towers while the other units engage attacking
enemies.
8.1.4 Divide and conquer
Attack enemy units ONE at a time. Getting into the middle of units and
getting hit from all sides is a quick way to lose your force. Instead,
start from the edges and take out ONE at a time, retreat, then return to
attack another.
Your units are far more survivable than enemy units (in general) and thus,
you should exploit that advantage to the extreme.
This advantage is even more so when you get shields. Shields regenerate,
armor does not.
When applied to a larger scale, take out ONE enemy facility at a time.
Clear the smaller one, consolidate your beachhead, then attack the next
camp. If you fight two camps simultaneously you'll likely be overwhelmed.
8.1.5 Prioritize threats and engage accordingly
Units that can do you the most damage should get priority attention. For
example, the alien howitzers do the most damage and has the most range,
then the AAA and dual-purpose towers. Then black walkers, then hoverlasers,
then other units. As enemy changes range (due to your and their movement),
reprioritize the targets.
Usually your AI knows to handle the closest enemies, so leave them alone.
Only give them orders when they get into things they can't handle.
If you've destroyed energy production (derricks), you can ignore the energy
storage and the production plants. They are useless after they "run dry".
Similarly, if you've destroyed the production plant (with the kamikaze
trick above) you can leave the derricks and storage depot alone and go on
to attack something else. This is REALLY important when you are really
pressed for time.
8.1.6 Use the right counter
Almost every weapon has a counter. Each weapon has its own strengths and
weaknesses. Use the right weapons against the right enemy is the key to
success in HW.
Some examples include:
AAA units cannot defend against ground attack.
Ground units with no AAA are vulnerable from the air.
Long-range units have slow firing rates, thus is vulnerable to close-in
attacks.
Close-in weapons can't reach long-range enemies. Unless your units are
willing to brave the fire and close with the enemy, you can't use close-in
weapons.
8.1.7 Listen for Audio Queues
Listen carefully to audio queues. All enemy buildings are dark red, but
whoever detected it will tell you in general what they found. Energy
derricks are of course, primary targets wherever you find them.
Enemy will say things like "production is down" and things like that to let
you know your progress against them. Of course, this only applies to human
or hybrid units, not alien units.
8.2 ORDER TACTICS
8.2.1 Do NOT issue specific attack orders... unless you need to
Your units with Soulcatcher chips are smart enough to engage hostiles THEN
buildings, UNLESS you gave them specific orders to take out specific
targets. Put them into the target's proximity and let the AI do the rest.
There is an exception... In case of Warhammer-equipped units, you should
use them to engage certain buildings, like energy derricks and energy
storage tanks, before you leave them to engage anything else. Warhammer has
a tendency to drop rounds right on top of friendly units using shorter-
range weapons, so assigning the Warhammer unit other tasks will prevent
fratricide.
8.2.2 Use "follow" command to NOT nursemaid... unless you have to
You can assign one unit to follow another unit, and you should use that
extensively instead of using the "group" function, esp. after you got
Warhammer.
Assign the escorts to follow the Warhammer unit around. Assign Warhammer to
take out specific targets and the escorts will follow and protect the unit
from attackers.
There are exceptions to this. Sometimes, some units can get into more
trouble than they should. In that case, order the unit to retreat, THEN
follow (remember to cancel the existing "follow" order!)
8.2.3 Attack and Retreat
After you take out a structure, pull back and consolidate. This gives your
shields a chance to regenerate. THEN re-attack.
8.2.4 Disengage before it's too late
When a unit reaches 25% point of health, it's time to disengage the unit so
it can be repaired or replaced (recycle and rebuild).
That's why shields are so powerful... If you give a shield-equipped unit
some breathing time, it'll be good as new, if you disengaged early enough
so the "core" wasn't damaged.
If you do it later, the unit may be destroyed while attempting to
disengage, then you would get NOTHING back.
8.2.5 Remember to CANCEL existing orders when issuing new ones
Sometimes, you have standing orders on certain units, like recycle this
area, follow that vehicle, and so on. Remember to CANCEL such standing
orders before giving new ones or you'll be cursing at your vehicle on not
following your orders.
8.3 WEAPON TACTICS
8.3.1 Longbow vs. Scalpel
While Scalpel does complement Longbow, the unit with the Scalpel, being
closer, tend to get REALLY beaten up, while the Longbow equipped unit
doesn't even take a single hit. I prefer two vehicles with Longbow when
possible, or two Longbow, one Scalpel, with the Scalpel unit having heavier
shields and armor.
8.3.2 Keep Warhammer out of direct combat
Keep Warhammer-equipped units out of direct combat. Their howitzers are
long-range weapons, but the ballistic arc means their shots rarely land
directly ON the enemy if the enemy is moving.
If other units equipped with shorter ranged weapons are also engaging the
enemy, the Warhammer's shots will frequently result in friendly-fire (which
is anything but friendly!)
8.3.3 Spotter for Warhammer
If you have Warhammer, you need a spotter, as the Warhammer can usually
only hit targets within its own sensor range, except for, of course, the
spotter. A spotter can help extend Warhammer's range. Cloaked Puma is the best
for this.
8.3.4 Keep Firestorm out of direct combat
Firestorm-equipped units have a VERY shot range, so short it's virtually
useless except burning down alien buildings. Keep it out of direct combat
if possible. Hide it behind a hill so the enemy will be at point-blank if
you need to take one into direct combat. When the coast is clear, you can
then have it join in for structure destruction.
8.3.5 Watch out for sidestepping choppers
Ransom and other pilots tend to sidestep (fly sideways and circle) even
when there is NO possibility the enemy can return fire, like busting AAA
with a Rapier. This will sometimes cause them to fly right into range of
another unit/AAA while trying to kill the first one.
Good thing that Madsen doesn't have this problem. However, it also makes
Madsen a sitting duck.
Keep a close eye on these choppers, give them "goto" orders if necessary,
or even take control of the unit yourself (unless there are enemy units
nearby).
8.3.6 Ultimate combo... Two Behemoths
Equip one Behemoth with Warhammer, Recycler, armor and shields. The other
Behemoth gets Repair unit, armor and shields, and Longbow. These two can
keep each other company, gather energy, AND keep the shooter in tip-top
shape.
Another possibility... Two Behemoths, BOTH with repair units. They can repair
each other, and kill things. Follow them with a Scarab to clean up the
pieces... And maybe some air cover (which can be repaired as well!)
8.4 RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
8.4.1 Replace
When a unit is heavily damaged, SEND it back to be recycled, then generate
a new one in its place with the same pilot and any improved armament as
needed.
Keep in mind that Magpie doesn't retrieve units, only deliver. So you will
need to build a Pegasus to move things back to the carrier, unless you're
talking about choppers or hovers.
If this is not possible, you need to send out a repair unit, like Scarab or
Behemoth with a repair module.
8.4.2 Reuse
When a unit's purpose is over, recycle it for more energy.
For example, when you finished moving things with a Pegasus, recycle it and
build offensive units. When there are too much AAA for choppers to fly,
recycle them for hover or land units.
8.4.3 Repair
Sometimes, it's better to send out a repair unit to accompany your units
instead of bringing the unit back to the ship to be replaced. This is good
when the unit hurt is slow (like Rhino / Behemoth) or the path they must
cross is too long.
The repair unit can be damaged though, and are quite expensive (and takes
up one Soulcatcher chip).
If need be, drive the repair unit yourself.
8.4.4 Harvesting under fire
In general, if you have shooting units near the harvester, the harvester
will be safe, as enemy units will evaluate the threat and declare the
shooter to be more dangerous, and attack THAT instead.
If a harvester is alone, it can be attacked if there are no other targets
in the vicinity.
Assign an escort to "soak" up the damage around the harvester. The escort
should be set to follow the harvester around.
8.4.5 Never stop harvesting
While the energy you gather from one mission do NOT carry over into
another, that is no excuse to keep your harvester idle. Having a TON of
energy available would make the end of the mission that much easier, in
case something goes wrong and you need to build backup units.
8.5 GAMEPLAY
8.5.1 Save the game!
The game CAN be difficult so remember to save. This is a "save anywhere"
game. Use it!
Save once you start, then when each objective is complete, so you can start
over if need be without starting all the way over from the beginning.
Sometimes, you may even want to save more often than that. For example, in
mission 9: Armia, you may want to save every time you start harvesting, so
if you made a mistake and the Scarab cannot hide itself in time, you don't
have to start all the way over.
8.5.2 Building and commanding STOPS THE CLOCK
While you're in F1 and F2 screens, time is paused.
This means you can recycle and rebuild your Sentinel onboard in ZERO TIME,
so it will ALWAYS be fresh, even with just 1 armor. Just keep an eye on it.
You can even swap its weapons, or move it from one bay to another, all that
in ZERO TIME.
8.5.3 Grouping is NOT good, FOLLOW is GOOD.
In most RTS, you group the units together so you can command them together.
While that can be done in HW, it's not very efficient, because you lose the
ability to track the units separately. While you get a small bar graph of
the individual units in the group, it is FAR less informative than the
individual bars under individual icons. It also makes it very difficult to
issue specific orders to a particular unit, like ordering a wounded unit to
withdraw.
Instead, use "follow" commands extensively, then you can just move the
"head" unit" and the rest will follow. You get the benefits of grouping
without losing the control over individual units.
8.5.4 Drag-and-drop
In the production screen, you can drag and drop the unit icons. This means
you can INSTANTLY recycle an existing Sentinel and build one in its place.
Drag the icon from its forward-right bay to the recycler in the rear, and
it'll instantly be absorbed. Then build another one in its place.
If you built a unit with the wrong weapon, and it haven't left the pad yet,
you can immediately drag that to recycler and rebuild it (correctly). No
time would have passed.
8.5.5 Know the ej cost of certain combos
You should have a reference of how much ej a certain combo, like Salamander
with 2 armor and a Longbow, or Hornet with Scalpel and 1 armor, and so on,
so you know instantly you can afford one.
8.5.6 Protect Antaeus
Always have a Sentinel onboard when you can, and ALWAYS build that first so
it is always ready to defend (and those Longbows are pretty effective).
Remember, you can drag-and-drop units on the 4 pads provided that you
didn't exit the building screen (F2). So put the turret on the side closest
to shore.
9 Campaign Walkthru
The mission names are from the last page of the mission briefing, when the
specific objectives are listed.
These events are what had worked for me. I can't guarantee you will get the
exact same results, but it should be close enough.
The first four mission are like a tutorial, and that's pretty good.
9.1 MISSION 1: RESURRECTION
You have arrived on the Antaeus, and it is barely operational. Walker and
Church are working on the ship as fast as they can. At least the Creation
Engine is working so you can build some units, but there isn't much energy
available. You'll have to get some. Also, no Soulcatcher chips are ready
yet, so you'll have to use manual control for now.
Objective: harvest 3500 ej, ensure both units (Pegasus and Scarab) survive
You are just north of the entrance to the lagoon.
Q: I can't pick up the Scarab with Pegasus!
A: You're probably too high. Go a bit lower. Use the bottom camera to line
up.
Q: The Scarab died!
A: The only way to kill the Scarab is for it "drown" (i.e. went into
water). You better start over.
Q: What do I do with the Scarab?
A: Look for objects to harvest. Use the targeting controls and then move
over to "zap" it with the harvest beam.
Q: Why do some pieces take an instant to absorb, and some take a long time?
A: The piece that yields a lot of energy will take longer than those that
yield minimal energy.
Take off in Pegasus, and target the Scarab. Fly over it (use the bottom
camera) and drop a hook to pick it up. Fly lower if you need to. Once
picked up, move Scarab to the beach directly to the south, and drop it on
the beach.
Take over the Scarab. Use "locate nearest resource" to locate debris to
harvest. You can see those pieces on the ground as cyan dots on the radar.
Repeat harvesting until you have gathered 3500 ej, and the mission should
end.
9.2 MISSION 2: CONSTRUCTION AND ORDERING
You need weapons, and you need them now. Unfortunately, none of the
blueprints have survived in the memory banks. However, there appears to be
a wreck of a Hornet attack chopper to the southwest you can retrieve. If
you get that, the Creation Engine can copy it.
Objective: Harvest 5500 ej energy, grab the Hornet's wreckage, destroy the
radar, protect the ship
You now have 3 Soulcatcher chips available: Borden, Patton, and Ransom.
Start off by building a Scarab with a Recycler and Soulcatcher, assign
Patton. Then build a Pegasus with Soulcatcher, assign Borden.
Use the command interface and order Borden to pick up the Scarab, and drop
it off at the Rally Point on the map. Then order Borden to move back near
the Antaeus. Have her stay there for a while.
Order Patton to start harvesting that depot with the energy tanks. Patton
should notice the wreckage of the Hornet.
Order Borden to go back and pick up the Hornet wreckage, then drop off at
Antaeus Recycler. When that's done, the Hornet should become available.
Now recycle the Pegasus as well.
Build a Hornet and assign Ransom. Then move Ransom to near the radar dish
(northwest on a little isthmus) and he should destroy that radar dish.
He'll also take out any choppers that come to visit.
When Borden is available again (from the Pegasus), build a second Hornet
with her at the control and assign her to help Ransom.
A couple Recon choppers will come visit, but they are no match to your
Hornet(s). They'll keep coming for a couple waves. After that, you should
get "protect ship" objective as "completed".
Send the choppers to take out any other "red" stuff on the island. There
are probably 3 AAA you need to take out. After they are all gone, send both
choppers back to the carrier to be recycled. This will make Patton's job go
faster as he needs to recycle less debris on the island.
If Patton can't find enough stuff to recycle, move him around a bit so he
can suck up whatever wreckage on the ground. The dock has some cranes that
can be recycled, and there are other stuff around the island. Assign the
choppers to blow up any recyclable structures that look intact.
When you got 5500 ej, the mission ends.
9.3 MISSION 3: ILAX ISLAND
We believe those recon choppers you saw came from this island. Remember,
take out energy sources, then storage areas, then finally, the production
factories. Also destroy any radar sites.
Objective: Harvest 2000 ej, locate Air Unit Factory, destroy all derricks,
destroy tank factory, destroy all radar stations, retrieve missile launcher
for analysis
No change in unit or Soulcatcher availability.
Q: Where do I go first?
A: Start just northwest, and clean out that little isthmus. That has the
only oil derricks on the island.
Q: Where is the air unit factory?
A: Technically, it's NOT on this island. So don't worry about it.
Q: Where are the derricks?
A: Northwest of you... Just north of the depot.
Q: How about the radar stations?
A: One to west, just NW of the first depot. One on the eastern shore.
Start building Hornet (assign Ransom), Pegasus (Borden), and Scarab
(Patton). Send Ransom to destroy the storage depot, the radar, and the
derricks. Then have Borden pickup Patton's Scarab and drop it where it can
harvest all those wreckage.
Send Borden back and when you got enough energy, build her a Hornet to
backup Ransom.
Send Ransom north, and take out the tanks and an AAA there. Now the isthmus
is secure. Leave Ransom in a blocking position. Some tanks and recon
choppers may visit, but without those derricks there can't be too many of
them.
If Ransom or Borden get whacked pretty hard, just send the wounded one back
to be recycled and build a new Hornet.
When Patton cleans out an area, send him to the other area you guys cleaned
out with a lot of wreckage.
Just north of that landbridge is the tank factory. Send both Hornets in to
level it and all nearby stuff. Make sure you bring Patton along when he's
done with that other area for more harvesting.
Now, follow the edge of the island clockwise and destroy any enemy units.
Remember, if you get attacked and severely damaged, move out of range of
the weapon, then circle back to the carrier for rebuilding. Then go in
again.
Eventually, you find this little "base" in the middle of the main island...
There's a missile launcher there. Clean out all the enemies. When there are
no enemies there, send Borden back to carrier and recycle her Hornet, and
build her a Pegasus. Then have her pickup the launcher, and drop it at the
carrier recycler. When you got that, it's mission accomplished.
9.4 MISSION 4: MASTERING THE ANTAEUS CRUISER
We goofed last time about the air factory, but we think we found the real
island now. The air factory is really on this island we're approaching. We
also detected a comm array nearby, probably in the center of the island. We
will want to intercept what they got, THEN blow it up. This will be a REAL
fight, beware.
Objective: Harvest 2500 ej, destroy air unit factory, intercept
transmission, locate something that goes boom, destroy comm dish
You now have 4 Soulcatcher chips available: Borden, Patton, Ransom, and
Kroker.
No new vehicles are available. You now have Longbow missile launcher.
Q: How DO I kill the dish?
A: See anything that will explode if given the proper incentive?
Q: Where can I find some of that stuff?
A: Direct east of you, past the depot. There are also some to the southwest
near the port.
You start on the northwest side of the island. The derricks are to your
east.
Build Hornet with Scalpel (Ransom), Hornet with Longbow (Borden), Pegasus
(Kroker), and Scarab with Recycler (Patton).
Send two Hornets east and take out the derricks, the storage tanks, and any
buildings left on the 'top' part of the island. That is all the energy they
got. They have some in storage but that won't last too long.
When that top part is clear, send in Pegasus with the Scarab and have
Scarab start harvesting.
Some recon choppers will attack, but they're no match to your Hornets. If
they make a run for the carrier, bring the Hornets back for defense. Then
send them back out to kill things.
You should notice there are several tanker trucks around and those really
go "boom" with the right incentive. Don't blow them up yet.
Take the Hornets and follow the western edge of the island and go counter-
clockwise as you take out more buildings, energy storage, and so on, as you
find more tanker trucks at the port in the southwest corner of the island.
Start moving east, and take out the energy storage and air factory.
Eventually, only the dish and AAA are left near the middle of the island.
Kill the AAA. Send the most damaged chopper back to be recycled. Send the
other Hornet next to the dish for the Signal Intercept. Just hold the
Hornet there, and after a while it's mission accomplished.
Build a Pegasus with the recycled Hornet. Pick up one of those tanker
trucks you found earlier, and have that dropped right next to dish. Then
move the Pegasus back.
Use the Hornet doing the Intercept (it should be done now) and have it blow
up the tanker (shoot it). Take direct control if necessary. That should
take out the dish, and you should win!
9.5 MISSION 5: INTERCEPTION
We need to get to the wetdock for the complete repair, and we think someone
on this island wouldn't want us there. Take them out before they do us in.
Objectives: destroy outpost, locate drop plane, investigate sensor readings
from northern part of the island, destroy towers.
Korolev is now available as a soulcatcher chip.
Q:Where are the derricks?
A:Just east of you... Behind that AAA.
You start just west of the island. Start by building Hornet with Scalpel
and Armor (Ransom), Hornet with Longbow and Armor (Borden), Scarab with
Recycler (Korolev), and Pegasus (Kroker).
Send the Hornets directly east and take out the derricks and AAA there.
That should slow them down.
Have Pegasus pickup the Scarab and drop it at the ex-derricks for some
harvesting.
Send Hornets northeast and take out the radar and check out the funny
readings. That little fortress has a lot of AAA, so try to go in where you
can only be hit by one AAA at a time. Remember to retreat and rebuild when
needed. Wipe out the entire complex.
Send Pegasus over to the ex-radar dish and nab the unknown object that's
causing the strange sensor readings, and drop it in the ship's recycler.
Scarab should be done with the initial site. Send it to that fortress you
just wrecked.
Send Pegasus back to be recycled. Then build two Salamanders with 2 armor
and Longbow (or 1 Longbow and 1 Scalpel). You should have Patton and Kroker
left. Assign them. Use them to take out the factory just south of derricks.
If you have a LOT of energy (kept Korolev busy), send the 2 Hornets back to
be recycled and built 2 more Salamanders with Longbow and 2 armor. Keep 1
or 2 at the ship as a SAM platform. Send the other 3 to attack.
The attack force should go east and take out any remaining enemies.
Attack force should follow eastern shores to south, and takes out the radar
dish. Keep following the shores until you see the air factory and more
energy storage. Take them out. You should see the drop plane (a Hercules C-
130 transport) lined up on the runway. Send your Salamanders in and blow it
up.
When you do that, some weird biological "towers" suddenly grew out of the
ground... Your hovercrafts should engagement automatically though. When you
team wiped out all the towers, the "crystal egg" should be revealed.
Bring Korolev over, and have her Scarab stop next to that "crystal egg". It
is a "culture stone". The mission should end when Korolev gets close
enough.
9.6 MISSION 6: WET DOCK
We've arrived at the wet dock. We will be vulnerable during that time but
that can't be helped. We need 8 minutes. Don't let Antaeus and those repair
arms come to serious harm.
Madsen is now available as part of Soulcatcher team.
Repair unit is now available as a device, and Sentinel is now available as
a unit.
Objective: Protect Antaeus, and protect all the repair arms for 8 minutes.
Q: Which ways should I expect the enemies?
A: Northeast and northwest first, then southeast and southwest.
Build Sentinel with Longbow and armor (Borden), Scarab with Recycler
(Korolev), and Pegasus (Kroker? Madsen?)
Have the Pegasus drop Scarab at where there is a lot of structures to
recycle, then immediately have Pegasus head back for recycle.
Build 4 Salamander with 2 armor and Longbow. First one, send northeast,
second one northwest, third one southwest, and finally, southeast. You
won't have energy for all of them immediately, so build them when you can.
Keep Korolev busy!
Build Sentinel after the first Salamander. You should have enough energy to
do this. Keep building Salamander as energy become available. Scarab should
always be collecting more energy.
The northeast Salamander should be on top of that hill for best firing
vantage point.
Northwest Salamander should be between those two "arms" of the island, half
way out.
Put the Salamanders far out enough so they will attract the enemy's
attention before they get to the ship. Move them back into position after
each attack wave clears.
If you place them right, those Salamanders should take out all of the
invading aircrafts with help of the Sentinel, and you should win!
9.7 MISSION 7: KUNZ'S RESCUE
Kunz managed to signal us... Cabal is building laser weapons. We can use
some for our own copy. We also need to rescue Kunz without forcing the
enemy to evacuate him or we'll never find him again. The laser would be
just the weapon we need.
No new units or weapons. However, Magpie is now available to delivery
things to rally point.
Objectives: locate laser, retrieve laser, rescue Kunz, take out Chinook
pilot
Q: How do I save Kunz? That Chinook keeps flying him away!
A: Take out the pilot first.
Q: How do I kill the Chinook pilot?
A: Use a Salamander equipped with rapier laser.
Q: Where is the Chinook pilot?
A: Look for him near the east entrance.
Q: What does the pilot look like?
A: He's wearing an orange jumpsuit and a helmet. You have to zoom in REALLY
close to see him though. Try 16X.
Start by building Sentinel with Longbow and 1 armor (assign Borden), refuse
Magpie delivery. Then build 2 Salamanders (Longbow / Scalpel with 2 armors
each) crewed by Patton / Kroker. Also build Scarab with Recycler (Korolev),
and accept Magpie delivery.
Send Salamanders up to the beach and take out the 2 turrets.
When the Salamanders leave, create a Hornet with Scalpel and 2 armor
(Ransom). Send Hornet after the howitzers raining shots at the Salamanders
and the Scarab. Now you've secured a beachhead.
Now take the group of Salamanders and Hornet a little north, and have it
take out everything (derricks, radar, howitzer, etc.) to north. Make sure
the Scarab scour this area for more stuff to recycle.
Continue north, and take out more howitzers, energy storage, etc. at the
docks. You should see a lot of "yellow" crates. (They appear yellow in the
"tactical" view) Attack the ship, sink it, while you're at it. Bring the
Scarab over when it's ready.
Build a Pegasus and assign Madsen to it. Use it to bring one of those
yellow crates back. Drop it off at the recycler. Voila, you got the
laser... It'll be 2 minutes before it's ready.
Follow the northern edge of the island and you should see some derricks
just in from the coast. Take them out, but do NOT assault the fortress.
Follow the coast and take out other buildings as you go. There's a small
island to northwest that has energy storage. Take that out.
Use Madsen's Pegasus to shift the Scarab around for faster harvesting. You
can even use the Pegasus to move wreckage back to the ship's recycler.
Continue south and you'll hit tank and air factories, then more derricks
and energy storage. Take out derricks first, THEN the factories.
To west you'll see a dock connected by a bridge, with more AAA, energy
storage, and another ship. You can also find laser crates here if you
didn't grab any to the north. After those are gone, take out the ship as
well.
If you don't take out the ships, you have 10 minutes to destroy both ships
near the end. May as well do it now.
Follow the southern edge eastward until you're back at the carrier.
Repair/rebuild all units. There should be no more enemy production now
except whatever reserves they have.
Build a Salamander with laser, no armor, no Soulcatcher. This one is YOURS.
Drive it off the carrier and get close to that dot on the map, just north
of it, at the ridgeline. Use zoom and look at the entrance gate. At 16x you
should see an orange suited guy. That's the pilot you need to take out. If
you don't see him, you're at the wrong location. Shoot him with the laser,
and the pilot's dead. Then use the laser and take out all the AAA you see.
Now move in the attack force (the Salamanders and Hornet) and take out all
the AAA guns around the central base, and you win!
9.8 MISSION 8: ANOTHER RESCUE
The data in the Chinook points to this island. This island is nicely ringed
on all sides with defense AAA so ground assault is your best bet. We've
sailed straight into the harbor so we have guns on all sides. You'll need
to clean out the surrounding area, then take over the HQ and get the two
scientists.
No new units, no new devices, no new Soulcatcher chips.
Q: So where are the scientists?
A: Search around and find out...
Q: All right... How do I get out?
A: Delete the generator building, which is to the north a bit...
Start by building a Sentinel (1 armor, Longbow, Borden) and 2 Salamanders
(Longbow, 2x armor, Patton and one other). Immediately assign Salamanders
to attack the nearest guns as they can destroy the Magpie even when it
hasn't taken off yet. If they destroy it you need to build a Pegasus to
move the Scarab (later) around.
Once the surrounded guns are gone, move the Salamanders to that "pass" just
to northwest.
Build the Scarab with Recycler (assign Korolev). If Magpie is still around,
use it. Else build a Pegasus and use that to move it to rally point, and
send Korolev on harvesting trip. If you have to use a Pegasus, recycle it
now.
Build another Salamander or two when you can. Gather them at that pass,
then up the hill. They will then proceed to protect the ship from the
mobile howitzers, tanks, and the occasional choppers coming from that
factory to the northeast.
Continue north, and you'll see the fountain, then the building... As you
reach the building...
It's a trap! There are no scientists here! The sea door behind the ship
closes and it's shielded... So weapons won't break it. Then, there are
weird bio factories growing north, west, and south in those little
"corners".
Bring your forces back and take out one factory at a time, starting with
northeast one and work your way counter-clockwise. Also quickly build
Ransom a Hornet with Scalpel and 2 x armor and assign him to attack the bio
factory as well. Watch out for those "slugs" as they are very powerful
"tanks". However, they have no anti-air, so Hornet is best for killing
them.
Once all the factories are done, build a Pegasus to move Korolev to clean
up after those bug factories. That should give you plenty of energy, enough
to rebuild your units to full strength.
If you're in a hurry, go north until you see a "yellow" building on the
command map. Designate that shield generator building and send an Antaeus
salvo or two at it, then gather everyone and blast that thing, and you win
immediately.
If you prefer to take it slow, gather your units and attack the fountain
area again to the north of the pass, up that hill. You'll have to take out
2 lightning towers, then the misc. tanks and such. Continue moving north,
past the empty HQ, and you spot the factory, which is yellow on the command
map, along with other factories. Take out the derricks just to the
northeast of the factories.
Rebuild your units, then attack east from the factories and remove the
final factories. Now you have no one to bother you. Feel free to blast any
other enemies you see around, esp. those turrets. Beware that you'll see
AAA and blast cannon bunkers.
Now you can designate that "yellow" factory as a target for Antaeus' main
battery. After that, if it's still there, assign all units to pound it.
When it's toast, the sea door is open again, and you win.
9.9 MISSION 9: ARMIA ISLAND
Kunz have developed Puma and Cloak, which can be very useful. You will
investigate this next island in stealth... Do NOT be detected. This looks
more than a supply depot.
Objective: Harvest 6000 ej, Avoid detection, Locate Recon Unit Source,
Investigate Some More, Destroy missile tracking sites
Q: I can't stay undetected!
A: Did you use only cloaked Pumas to recon? Did you engage cloak? Did you
get Scarab out of sight when the recon choppers come by?
Q: Where is that "recon chopper factory"?
A: Northeast corner of the island. Beware of a few surprises.
Q: What else do I look for?
A: Look slightly northeast of the recon chopper factory.
Q: Where are the three tracking arrays?
A: 11 o'clock, 1 o'clock, and 6 o'clock, from the island center.
Q: Antaeus has only two shots. How do I take out that remaining site?
A: How did you do it last time?
Q: Where can I find some, uh... things that go boom?
A: Two places. Right where you start is one. Another is a little north of
the 11 o'clock array, near the depot.
You start on the west side of the island. The rally point is actually
pretty exposed, but that's not a major problem. First task is to build a
Puma with cloak, and assign Kroker. Let Magpie deliver it to the rally
point, cloak immediately upon reaching the ground. If you happen to run
into the recon chopper, restart the mission.
Send the Puma eastward, cloaked and you'll see the first depot. Keep going
east and you'll see the first factory complex. Beware that all these are
heavily guarded. Don't get too close, and don't shoot any one!
By now you should get two more special nav points, one near the middle of
the island, and one on the beach. Get your cloaked Puma to center nav
point. Be careful do NOT run into those electrified tracks! There are
special "crossings" available on the tracks at certain places. That Puma
will be the early warning system for the recon chopper on patrol.
You may want to save now.
Build a Scarab with Recycler and Korolev. Let Magpie deliver it to the
rally point, and let it harvest that depot you found with the Puma earlier.
If a recon chopper shows up on Kroker's radar, immediately cancel Korolev's
orders, then send her Scarab to that point on the beach. Give the chopper
15-20 seconds, then resume harvesting.
Leave the 2 tanker trucks there, you'll need it for something else later.
When you have enough energy, build a second cloak Puma, with Madsen. Let
Magpie deliver it. Remember to cloak. Send Madsen just northeast of the
depot, on the beach, so he can monitor that recon chopper leaving so you
can better use Korolev's Scarab harvesting.
Keep harvesting and hiding until there's nothing left at the depot. Then
send the Scarab back to the beach hiding point.
Send Kroker's Puma and explore the island. I would go south, then try to go
roughly counter-clockwise. Send Madsen's Puma north. You need to locate all
three tracking arrays.
If you hear a chirping sound, back off! You're getting too close to one of
those radars. While Puma is a stealth vehicle, don't take a chance! Follow
the road if you want.
You'll find a "tracking array" (a white globe/dome) 6 o'clock from island
center, almost to the beach. To the east of it you'll find chopper and tank
factory, plus other structures.
Another tracking array can be found 11 o'clock from island center, half way
to edge. You'll also find a tank depot, AAA, and more energy storage there.
Bring Madsen's Puma here so you can be ready to target it, but don't shoot
it!
There is another tracking array 1 o'clock, roughly same distance. Beyond
that are a lot of bases. If you approach carefully you'll see the recon
chopper factory... It's MUTATED. [Objective]
Just to northwest of the factory... You find the missile launch silos. You
need to destroy them quickly... But before you can do something, the
missiles launched. You now have 20 minutes to take out all three arrays or
those missiles will hit the capital. [Objective]
Send Kroker's Puma back to the 1 o'clock array, and designate that as a
target. Then have Antaeus drop a salvo on it. [Objective]
Switch to Madsen's Puma and do the same thing to the 11o'clock array. Two
down, one to go, and you have like 15-18 minutes to do it. [Objective]
This third one requires a bit of "demolition", as Antaeus have no more
ammo.
Build a Pegasus with armor (Borden?) and a Hornet with laser and armor
(Ransom). Have Pegasus pick up one of the tanker trucks, then fly SOUTH,
then east, and drop that tanker right on top of the dome. You may need to
use manual control to do this. Try to drop it on the WEST side of the dome.
Then send the Pegasus back, but don't recycle it yet.
Now send in Ransom, same route (south, then east). Locate the tanker truck
(fly high to see it), then take manual control and shoot the tanker next to
the dome. Boom! Last dome goes up and you've saved the capital. Immediately
take Ransom back out of range or enemy choppers will visit. [Objective]
Remaining objective is to gather more energy. Send the Pegasus to lift the
Scarab to the energy depot to the north. There should be no enemies there,
but just in case, send your Pumas around the depot as early warning system.
When you get all 6000 ej, you win.
As you win, you saw a sub leave that island...
9.10 MISSION 10: ATOLL
The sub that left Armia has came to this island... It has a TON of
protection on all sides... A TON of factories, AAA, and more. It has
roughly 3 areas... North, central, and southeast. You need to take out each
in turn, or you'll be overwhelmed. Then take out the command center. Find
out where that sub is too.
Q: Which one should I attack first?
A: The one near the rally point is a good start.
Q: Where are the derricks?
A: The first two sets are in a straight line from you to the rally point,
roughly. There's another one just south of the center island. Then finally
another set southeast of the sub pens.
Q: How do I disable the subs?
A: Shoot one shot of arclight at EACH sub. If you hit, they become
disabled.
You start at northwest of the island.
Start by building 4 Salamanders, each with 2 armor, half Scalpel, half
Longbow. Put Borden, Madsen, Patton, and Kroker in there. Send them to the
Rally point. Take out any tanks en route.
Build Ransom a Hornet with Rapier and 2 armor, and send him busting those
AAA turrets. Ransom has a tendency to fly sideways even when he's not being
fired yet, and thus he can "drift" into other AAA's range. When he's being
hit, move him out of range and let him repeat.
Send the Salamanders just over the hill and take out that first derrick,
then another set southeast of that on a little isthmus. Tanks, choppers,
and howitzers will attack you. Keep moving until you destroyed those
derricks. Then wipe out attacking units.
Go north and take out the factories and the AAA all around. Keep Ransom on
turret busting at range, and use the Salamanders as anti-air.
When you've wiped out the factories and saw the sea doors, the area is
clear and the northern production is toast.
By this time, you would have little energy left. Send the most damaged back
to the ship to be recycled. You probably don't need Ransom either so send
him back too.
Build a Scarab Recycler (Korolev) and send her to harvest those scraps from
that skirmish. Keep the team near Korolev to keep the enemy choppers away.
Stay there and keep killing choppers and tanks. That's more wreckage and
energy for you. Send the most damaged back to be recycled and rebuild.
Repeat as needed until you get a fresh team.
When the new team is ready, send 3 Salamanders east and start exploring
south. When you see the sub pens and the command center, you get the new
objective about disabling SIX subs, and the Arclight EMP weapon becomes
available. Send Ransom back to be absorbed if you haven't done so yet.
Bring the team south from the sea doors, and you'll see the Command Center
island in the middle, and just east of that are the sub pens. Start killing
turrets that ring the subpen and the command center. You need a free area
for Ransom to work. Work your way south and wipe out all the AAA that can
shoot at him. Some tanks and howitzers will hit you from the island, ignore
them for now, leave units on auto so they can engage automatically. When
you wipe out the AAA in the area, take out the derricks just south of the
Command island, but do this quickly. The subs are leaving soon.
When Ransom's recycled, build him a new Hornet with Arclight. Bring him to
the area (you may need to go east, then south to avoid the AAA still
ringing the island), and shoot EACH of the SIX subs, the two that are
partially out first. Once you got all six, the subs have been neutralized.
[Objective] Send Ransom back to be recycled.
By this time, the derricks just south of the command island should be
toast. If not, toast them. Retreat and lick your wounds. Enemy should have
only ONE set of derricks left, and production should be quite slow. Keep
the least damaged Salamander to protect Korolev, the rest to be recycled
and rebuilt.
Now you got the team rebuilt, send them in and take out the final set of
derricks just southeast of the sub pens. Then pull them back and take out
the reaction force. With no energy, there will be no more energy units
other than those already being built or whatever's left in the energy
storage tanks. Take out a few more and the scene will be quiet.
Now take out all those idle factories (both center and southeast), storage
tanks, and any units you haven't wiped out yet. Send in Ransom with
Longbow or Rapier or even Scalpel to deal with any howitzers, while your
Salamanders take on any ground threats and air threats. Then move to center
island and take out the command center, and you win!
9.11 MISSION 11: SOME DISASSEMBLY REQUIRED
Church and Walker have analyzed the warheads recovered from the Atoll.
These are DISASSEMBLER bombs... They use nanotech assemblers in a perverted
way... To DESTROY matter. The ultimate CLEAN weapon... When we took over
the atoll, the assembly plant closed the blast doors. We can't get in, and
we can't starve them out either. However, we may be able to take over one
of the trains moving the missile propellants, and rig that to blow once it
is INSIDE the blast doors.
Warhammer cannon and Rhino tank are now available. In addition, Soulcatcher
profile of Sinclair is now available.
Q: Where are the derricks?
A: Two sets on the main island, three on the southeastern island, none up
north.
This one is not NEARLY as tough as that previous one, as long as you
approach it right.
You start southwest of the island.
First, make a Sentinel (1 armor, Longbow, Sinclair). You will see a LOT of
recon choppers, Apaches, and VTOL bombers. When you rebuild Sentinel later
from damage, feel free to add a bit of armor if you have the energy to
spare.
Make 3 Salamanders (2 x armor, mix of Scalpel and Longbow, with Borden,
Kroker, and Madsen). Send them in to take out the radar dish just to NE of
you. Wait there and take out a few choppers. Then follow coast to east then
north until you see the rally point.
Continue north to rally point and attack the radar there, and a set of
derricks. Stop there.
Now build Scarab (recyler, Korolev) and send it to the rally point with
Magpie. Have Korolev clean out the tank traps by the beach, then north to
the busted derricks. Keep your Salamanders near the Scarab for protection.
Once you have enough power available, build a Rhino with Warhammer and at
least 3 armor (more the merrier). Let Magpie deliver it. Move it up to
within range of the compound to west, and use Warhammer to pound the
compound into pieces. Move the Salamanders in with the Rhino for protection
and direct fire. Continue west and clean out the area.
Move the Scarab to south, where it will find a depot to absorb. Then move
it into the demolished factory area. Keep harvesting.
If any of the Salamanders gets heavily damaged, send it back, and replace
it with a Rhino (with Longbow or Scalpel respectively).
Once the area is cleaned out, move your units to just north of the
demolished factory, where you see a bridge, and the rail tracks going
northeast/southwest. You get a radio intercept about the units moving in
from southeast. Keep the Longbow and Scalpels in blocking position. Use the
Warhammer Rhino to demolish the base to the west (follow the tracks).
If a lot of your Rhinos are damaged, consider bringing in a Scarab with
Repair unit (you'll probably have to drive it yourself as you are out of SC
chips now). Keep it out of combat though. A repair Scarab cannot repair
itself.
When the area's clear, take control of a unit, and target the train control
station (it's yellow on the map). Target it [objective], then demolish it
[objective]. Mission accomplished.
Now you get a choice. Attack north, or attack east. Keep a unit near the
Scarab (follow it if you can set it). Send the rest to attack.
Attacking east is optional, but if you clean them out you don't have to
worry about them. To go east, you need to go a little north to find the
bridge. Use long range firepower of the Warhammer and take out the derricks
to east, south, and further south. Then clean out the island. This may be a
suicide mission as there are A LOT of enemies and factories. You HAVE to
ignore the factories and units and go after the derricks or they will just
wear you down. Once you got the derricks, you can always rebuild your
units, but they are now out of energy.
To go north, you need to go around the west and find a "crossing". Take out
AAA and howitzer on those mountains, but now your Warhammer should make
that easy. Take out all those units. Then get up there and wipe out the
powerless factories. Follow the train tracks and wipe out any turrets and
such you see. Keep the group together for mutual protection.
Keep Korolev busy and have her clean up all the debris around. Sometimes
you have to wipe out some of the towers, as she won't absorb an intact
tower, even though it shows as cyan on the map.
Destroy all enemy units and structures that you can find. One set is on an
island to the northwest corner. Send in a Salamander to wipe out the AAA
surrounding the area. THEN send in air units to wipe out the factories and
derricks and such. Consider sending Ransom with a Rapier on a pure scouting
mission.
When the coast is clean all the way along the tracks, take one of the units
and "tag" one of the tanker cars, if you haven't done so. Just move close
to one of the tankers should be enough.
Build a Pegasus (assign Ransom, pull him back if you need to), and drag
that tanker onto the main track. Now wait, and wait, and you can watch the
fireworks!
9.12 MISSION 12: TEMPERATURE FALLING
We believe the Cabal leaders are on this island, deep below the frozen
reservoir. There are a lot of defenses around. Take out the Comm array to
disrupt their coordination. Also, this is supposed to be the tropics, yet
this island is MUCH colder. There's weird climate control going on.
Investigate it.
No new units, no new weapons, and no new soulcatcher profiles.
Q: How do I destroy the comm array? I can't target the remaining "yellow"
stuff!
A: Destroy the columns holding them up then...
Q: Where are the derricks?
A: two on the east side, one north-northeast from center, one west-
southwest from center.
You start on the southeast corner.
Build 2 Hornets with your two best pilots (Ransom and Borden) with max
armor, one Scalpel and one Longbow, and take out the defenders, then wipe
out the comm array (destroy EVERYTHING that shows yellow) there. You can't
target the "suspended" stuff, so take out the cyan "columns" holding them
up. Once you did all that the array would count as "destroyed". If you
thought you wiped out everything, but it won't go to "completed", you
probably didn't destroy the columns.
Defend against the enemies approaching from west.
Quickly build a Recycler Scarab (Korolev, of course), and send her in with
the Magpie, and send her to harvest the array's remains.
When Antaeus called to let you know about that bridge to the west, send the
choppers over, target the bridge, and call in an Antaeus salvo, and blam!
Bridge is history. Move your choppers back and clean out the area around
the comm dish. That will be your beachhead.
Keep harvesting until you have enough to build a nicely armored Rhino with
Warhammer and Patton onboard. Let Magpie bring it over.
You should now get the message about investigating the two climate control
facilities.
Build a Sentinel (Sinclair, Longbow, 1 armor) for point defense, then build
up the team. You need a Rhino with Scalpel and a Rhino with Longbow (maybe
Kroker and Madsen). Send Borden back to be recycled as you need the pilots.
Start moving north, and wipe out any enemies you see. Bring Korolev and her
Scarab over to harvest any depots you destroyed. Keep moving north and wipe
out any derricks, AAA guns, radar, and so on. You should see two groups
just on top of those mountains. A series of choppers will bug you, just
deal with them.
Start going northwest toward the northeast facility. Beware of the few
howitzers in the area. Stay near it for 20 seconds, and voila, you've
scouted the first one.
If your team is pretty damaged, bring over a Scarab with repair unit and do
some repairs (manually). Keep them together.
Continue west, and you should find derricks, air factory, some AAA, and so
on, and finally, the other weather control facility. Keep repairing your
units to keep them in good condition.
Now head south-southeast and start cleaning out the area until you find the
bunker (yellow). Clean out the area. There's a set of derricks to southwest
of the bunker. When you're ready, go south and take out the last set of
factories in the corner of the island.
Build a Salamander with Scalpel, cloak, and 2 armor. Drive it yourself to
the bunker to end the level.
9.13 MISSION 13: THE BIGGER THEY ARE...
Now that you're inside... Be ready for anything.
No production... Just you and the enemy.
Q: How do I kill this thing!??!?!
A: It has THREE arms... You need to kill each one in turn
Q: I stopped shooting and it GROWS back?
A: Yep... It has shields and self-repairs...
Q: How do I stay alive long enough to shoot it?
A: Hide behind something.
When you start, TURN and head for the edge IMMEDIATELY. AND CLOAK! You need
to hide behind one of those columns or be fried by that huge cargo lifter,
which moves AND shoots. You'll be zapped two or three times until you made
it to cover or cloak (or both).
Hide behind the column, right next to it, and wait for that thing to come
closer. Peek a LITTLE over the edge, just enough that you can see one piece
of that thing, and shoot that piece. Watch the enemy readout and see if
you're doing damage. If you're not doing any damage, most forward a little
bit and keep trying... It's best to do this on the LEFT side of the
column, I'll explain in a minute.
Do NOT stop firing. That robot has self-repair capability.
This robot gives a warning when it's about to shoot at you... You get an
audio warning like capacitor charging up, and that "circle" under you turns
red.
Once you destroyed the first arm, the robot switches gears... The second
arm fires a 'spiral' missile that goes counter-clockwise circling toward
you. If you hide on the LEFT side of the column, that shot should hit the
column instead of you. Again, keep hitting that bit you can hit, and it
should go down.
Finally, that robot switches to a final arm... This one fires FIVE shots in
a row, then rests. Again, hide behind the column and keep shooting. Once
you kill it, you win!
The Cabal's leaders have retreated elsewhere... And the genetic creations
are turning on their creators...
9.14 MISSION 14: NESTING COMFORTABLY
That cargo lifter you destroyed has a deflector shield. We've duplicated it
and you now have shield unit for your vehicles. The shield unit adds a
rechargeable protection to your vehicles, and it adds a LOT of
survivability... If you let it recharge. It's best to backup a shield with
armor just in case... Any way, the two scientists managed to signal us...
So we'll attempt another rescue...
Q: How do I kill nests?
A: Firestorm flamethrower is best.
Q: How many nests are there?
A: Seven.
You start on the southwestern corner of the island.
Build two Salamanders, with shield, armor, and Longbow (or one Longbow and
one Scalpel). Assign Borden and Kroker. Send them north to the docks, let
them shoot up any AAA in the area. Then further north until you see this
set of derricks just up the mountain to northeast. Wipe it out. Then come
back down (southwest) and wipe out everything inside the complex. It'll
take a while, but it can be done. If one of the unit's shield is drained,
pull it back and wait for regeneration before re-entering combat.
As you fight for the complex, the two scientists were dragged onto the
choppers and the choppers left. After a bit of argument, Walker and Church
order you to continue to see what's left on this island.
If you are running low on ej, build a Scarab with Recycler and assign
Korolev, and let the Magpie lift here to rally point. Keep your team near
Korolev's Scarab, to defend her. You'll get a LOT of visitors, from hybrid
Apaches to hybrid M-1s to hybrid SPGs. Bring Korolev in and let her clean
up the section. Start building Rhinos: one Rhino with Warhammer, one with
Longbow. Try to fit in double shields and fill the rest with armor. Keep
team near Scarab as escorts.
Head back up to the derricks you wiped out and head north slightly. You
should see the first alien nest to the northeast. It will send some suicide
runners. Kill the nest, and you should see enemy research compound to
north. Continue clearing out the nests. There's one to northwest, then
east. The nest is worth a LOT of ejs (1500?).
Each of the nests will send out suicide runners continuously. Stay inside
the first compound if you can. The walls will force the suicide runners to
bunch up, so Patton's Warhammer can take out several at a time.
Once Korolev have harvested the nests and such, build Ransom a Pegasus and
take the Scarab home to be recycled. Then recycle the Pegasus as well. It's
too dangerous for the Scarab to remain (you can't keep an escort just for
the Scarab).
Gather your Rhinos and Salamanders, and start approaching east/northeast.
You'll see the research complex. Apparently, these creatures have turned on
their creators. Wipe out EVERY nest you see. [objective]
Continue east along the road You'll see another nest off the road (slightly
south), then beyond that to east (almost to the east end of island) is the
factory complex. Inside the walls, north side, are the derricks. Assign
Patton to blast ALL the derricks first (so he doesn't waste his shots
chasing those suicide runners). Keep the rest of the team around Patton as
defenders. Then assign Patton and blast all the fixed turrets, energy
storage, then the buildings. There's even a command center here you can
shoot. You may lose a unit or two here, even with the shields. When a unit
loses all its shields, send it OUT of the engagement and give its shields
time to recharge, all the way back to the initial dock if you need to.
Once you take out all the derricks, no more air units or tanks will appear
(except those in the production queue), only suicide runners. Now you can
use mainly air units, except for certain cases where you find some
howitzers and AAA towers and such.
Build a Pegasus and come here, pick up one of the yellow crates, and take
it back to Antaeus. Take the most damaged units back to Antaeus and recycle
those. Make new replacements but make sure you have two pilots left, Ransom
and one other (maybe Borden?)
Now build two Hornets with Firestorm. Use those to kill the nests to the
north. One is to north-northeast in the mountains, the other is to
northwest (just north of the lake). Then send the Hornets south and take
out another nest just south of the complex.
Send your land units southward from just west of the factory complex.
You'll see a "pass" there going southeast. Go in there, and you'll see the
final enemy nest, and a lot of alien blast cannons and such. Kill the
energy derricks first, then those blast cannons, then the AAA (which fires
a PLASMA burst!) That AAA will MURDER any air units you have in the area,
so don't let the two Hornets near that AAA! Let Patton's Warhammer take
care of it.
Finally, send in your two Hornets and cook the final nest, and let the
other units join in. When the final nest goes poof, you win!
9.15 MISSION 15: ESCAPE
A number of Cabal scientists, along with our two missing scientists, wish
to defect. The Cabal wants them dead. You will protect them from attack,
then escort them to a yacht we found on the southwest corner of the island
(you start on northeast). Good luck.
Phoenix heavy assault chopper is now available. Also, Lazare is now
available as a pilot.
Objectives: Clear area surrounding compound, eliminate nearby units,
destroy remaining buildings in the base nearby, secure dock with 2
sentinels, escort convoy to doc, and defend convoy for 10 minutes while
loading
Q: Where are the derricks?
A: east of compound, way to the south on the road where it turns to east-
southwest, just west where it takes a sharp turn from northwest to
southwest, further west of that. Two more appear when your convoy get to
the docks... Northeast of dock, then east-southeast of dock.
Q: Where do I put the Sentinels to protect the dock?
A: On the dock itself (i.e. on solid ground, not the piers), but do NOT
block the road to the ship. Also, the Sentinels MUST remain on FLAT ground.
If you leave a Sentinel on a hillside, it'll topple over... Maybe even into
water.
Q: How do I stop the convoy?
A: Get in its way, usually by leaving a unit in the middle of the road.
Q: Can I cause the landslide before the convoy gets there?
A: No. No amount of shooting will trigger the landslide before its time.
Q: How do you clear the way in the canyon?
A: Clear the way with firepower. Takes like 20-30 Longbow missiles to clear
one piece of rock. Do NOT use Warhammer, as the "splash" damage can destroy
the trucks.
Q: How many convoy vehicles can I lose?
A: You can lose 1 for sure (I lost one by accident). I don't know about any
more than 1.
You start to east of the island.
Immediately build a Phoenix with Ransom and Longbow (1 shield), and send it
off the to rally point (directly west) and a little beyond it, just beyond
the entrance, and nail any attackers shelling the compound. Then build a
Rhino with 1 shield, 1 armor, and Warhammer. Assign Patton, and let Magpie
deliver that.
While Ransom and his Phoenix clear out the road to east of the compound,
pull Patton and his Rhino to the front gate of the compound, so he can help
take out the enemies. You'll see tanks and some alien flyers.
While Patton and Ransom clean out the front gate and a little beyond, build
a Scarab with recycler for Korolev and let the Magpie bring it, and have it
clean the compound (all those cars and buses!) as Patton and Ransom keep
killing units.
Slowly move Patton and Ransom westward until you spot the radar, AAA,
howitzer, and such, in the first compound. Assign Patton to kill the AAA,
then the howitzers. To northwest of the radar dish are some derricks you
can assign Patton to wipeout. Then it's just steady pounding until all the
factories in the compound go poof. Build a Salamander with Firestorm to
help out if you need it.
As Korolev clean up the mess for more energy, build some companions for
Patton, with the maximum shields (3 shields and 3 armor, or even 4 shields
and 1 armor), armed with Longbow and maybe Scalpel. Even send Patton back
(you'll need to use a Pegasus) to be rebuilt with more shields and armor.
Ransom can fly back himself to be rebuilt.
Assemble the units and start moving south along the road, clean out any
units and structures you see along the sides. Assign all these junk to
Korolev to harvest.
Follow the road south, then bends west into a deep canyon. Note that the
sides of the canyon are a different color... This area is prone to
landslides. Keep that in mind. Just south of the landslide area is a nest.
Assign some choppers to cook the nest.
Continue following the road and you'll go a little northwest, then a sharp
curve to southwest. At that curve you'll find a compound. A bit westward
beyond the compound, you'll see another set of derricks and radar dish and
a storage depot. Beware that some of these depots are armed with lightning
towers, which cause a LOT of damage. Use Warhammer to pound them from a
distance. Take out the radar also. Clean up, and assign Korolev for more
harvesting.
Keep going west-northwest, and you'll find some nests, some factories, more
derricks and so on. Take them ALL out. Scout the area with chopper than
send the units in to clean them.
The road then bends east, and MORE depots, even MORE energy for Korolev.
Make sure you gather every last bit of energy as you will be under time
limit later and have no chance of getting backup, so you need them now.
Keep Korolev busy.
The road then takes a turn south, then turns west into the docks. Use the
choppers to pinpoint targets for your big guns. Kill derricks first, then
AAA, then send in everybody and blast everything in the dock area. There
would be quite a few AAA and turrets in there, plus some tanks or so. Clean
it up.
Now you're ready to protect the dock. Build 2 Sentinels, assign Sinclair
and one other person (maybe Lazare?), one with Scalpel, one with Longbow,
packed with max shields and 1 armor. Send Ransom back and recycle him, then
build a Pegasus for him. Let him take the Pegasus to the docks, and drop
him just to the east (or west) of the ramp leading to the ship. You MAY
want to take manual control. Do NOT put the Sentinels on the pier itself or
on the ship itself. Put them on the dock, but do NOT block the road. Turn
them so they are facing EAST, then drop them. Get both of them deployed.
While the Sentinels are being deployed, send all the units back to
compound, but do NOT enter it yet.
When the Sentinels are deployed, take over one in direct control and check
your field of fire. There may be some containers and warehouses blocking
your view. You can wait for Korolev to come back and harvest them, or you
can blast them.
Confirm that your Sentinels are NOT blocking the way to the ship. You can
use a Pegasus to move them now, before the convoy gets here.
Check your objectives. Protect dock with 2 Sentinels should now be done. If
it is still not done, your Sentinels are at the wrong place(s).
Korolev should be happy as she's collecting a LOT of ejs. You should have
well over 20000 by now. Keep collecting. When done, build a Pegasus and
recycle Korolev. Then build move Phoenixes with shields and heavy weapons
(Longbow preferred).
Also build a Salamander with Firestorm if you haven't done so. This would
be used for building busting. Assign the Salamander to follow Patton. If
you had a Salamander before, it probably didn't have shield, so send it
back and rebuild it with shield this time.
Assign all your units except Patton to wait outside the compound. Send
Patton inside to almost touching the convoy, then right back outside and
wait in the middle of the road. Block the road and the convoy and stop
moving. Keep going until you come to the turn going southeast. Stop when
you get to almost half way. You should hear the HQ saying something about
alien towers growing.
Send the escorts of Patton east-southeast, and you'll discover the new
factory just off the road. Let the choppers defend and kill units, while
the other Rhinos (except Patton) head up the hill and start demolition of
enemy units. It'll be a good fight, but you will win, as that factory has
almost no power. This factory is EASY. Let Patton help out, but keep him in
the middle of the road so he can prevent the convoy from moving.
Once that first factory is done, follow the road. When you get into the
canyon, stop just before the second avalanche area. Avalanche will trap
your convoy. Use your firepower to blast through the rocks. Use Longbow
missiles as it doesn't have splash damage.
Once the way is open, continue. Go all the way to the dock, stopping at
every turn to confirm the way is clear. Send choppers ahead first to scout.
When you've made the final turn and almost at the dock, keep the escorts
outside (don't block the road) except one. Keep Patton outside the docks,
just off to one side of the road.
You're about to see two MORE enemy factories pop right out of the ground...
So prepare for it. One will pop up just northeast of the port, then another
east-southeast. Each has a factory, plus derricks, energy storage, etc. One
also makes flyers. You'll see red walkers, black walkers, small AND medium
flyers.
When ready, open the way for the convoy to go in. When they reach the ship,
your 10 minutes start counting down. Keep the chopper above the ship, and
you can see the two factories appearing.
The one to northeast comes up first. Immediately drop two Antaeus salvoes
on it. Then send in Patton and blast the AAA towers, then the factory
itself. Send in the choppers when the AAA goes down. That factory should be
like 90% destroyed from the 2 Antaeus salvoes, so it wouldn't last very
long. You can also send in that Salamander with Firestorm for rapid
demolition. Once the factory is toast, ignore that side and do the
southeast one.
When the southeast one pops up, dump the last Antaeus salvo on the factory,
then send in Warhammer to take out the AAA, then derricks. Rest is "free
fire". Keep Patton on demolishing structures while your other units kill
enemy units. The 2 Sentinels will handle any leakers.
Your choppers wouldn't last too long under all that AAA towers, so pull
them back if their shields are busted. Pull them out to see, over the ship
or a little beyond. Give them time to recharge. Once the AAA are down you
can send them in to help demolish the enemy units. Don't forget the
Salamander as it's perfect to cook enemy structures.
Once the 10 minutes are up and the convoy is still there, you win!
9.16 MISSION 16: ENEMY OF MY ENEMY
The Cabal has asked us for assistance... The bugs have taken over their
final two islands. While we would like to see the enemies destroy each
other, it's better if we ensure the defeat of the bugs. Defend the
settlement, then eradicate EVERY bug from the island!
Recharge unit, which improves weapon firing rate, is now available. The
"Shark" heavy hovercraft becomes available a few minutes after you start.
Beware: this island is VERY short on metal and energy. Careful harvesting
and stingy spending is required, at least initially.
Q: How do I defend the compound?
A: Send airpower to the rally point then west until you see the entrance
gate. Defend the entrance. Add other units when you get enough energy.
Harvest all the stuff in the compound.
Q: The enemies are overwhelming me! Help?
A: You need to kill the production... WITHOUT killing the energy derricks.
Read up on the "stealth kamikaze" technique in 8.1.2
You start to south of this dumbbell-shaped island. The rally point is to
the east, in the Cabal settlement. Defend it.
Build Phoenix, with 2 shields, Longbow, and Ransom. Send him to the
compound entrance ASAP. Have him HOLD there and defend against any bugs.
The Cabal tanks and Apaches will battle the bugs in the middle of the
causeway. Take care of any leakers.
Build Scarab with Recycler, assign Korolev, accept delivery, and have it
harvest the town of any remaining energy source, like cars, buses, and so
on. There are a lot of cars on the island. Only 100 ej each, but every bit
helps.
Build Puma with cloak and Firestorm, assign Kroker. Accept delivery, and
turn on cloak first.
Finally, build Sentinel with 1 armor (no shield yet) and Longbow, assign
Sinclair. As ship is pointing northeast, put him in forward-left way (drag
and drop him there if he's in the wrong place) so he's closer to the
action. Refuse delivery, as this guy is point-defense for the Antaeus. If
he's heavily damaged, recycle it and rebuild it.
Send Puma (confirm cloak is on) west and stay OFF the road so you don't
bump into any enemy units. Keep close eye on the Puma. Go past the marina
to the north, then up those hills so you see the production area... It has
a control center, a heavy factory, a ground factory, and a flyer factory
(among several turrets and howitzers and blast cannons, and constant stream
of red and black walkers, and medium/light flyers). Watch where the walkers
move and STAY OUT OF THEIR WAY!
Keep Ransom just west of the entrance gate, near the two AAA towers. When
you get enough energy from Korolev, build another Phoenix (assign Lazare)
to keep him company. Keep them there and keep killing things so they have a
huge debris field in front. Later, bring Korolev over so she can recycle
all this for you.
The Cabal forces will fight the bugs, but they will steadily lose ground.
Help them maintain a stalemate. You need the debris to build your own
units. Go after the bug slugs (which are their version of mobile
howitzers), then anything else in area. Keep them there, don't let them
advance past the marina as they will run into AAA if they go any further.
Have Puma target the HEAVY factory and call in an Antaeus main gun salvo.
Do NOT target the control center, as that thing is HEAVILY armored and not
even TWO salvoes will kill it. Better to concentrate on the factories. The
factory will be like 6% remaining after the salvo lands.
Find a place opposite the turrets, using that 6% factory as cover, and get
inside the facility. Then, order the Puma to cook the factory, cloak, and
move outside again. Most likely, the Puma will be destroyed, but that is to
be expected, and the factory should go boom. If not, build ANOTHER Puma
(keep Korolev busy!) and try again.
Repeat the SAME move on the air factory (or the ground factory, doesn't
matter), and use the other salvo from Antaeus. Build another Puma if you
need to. After another sacrifice, the other factory should be toast.
Now, with most of alien production out of order, you should be able to push
the enemy back or at least under control. Bring Korolev over and harvest
that huge debris field littered with both Cabal and alien debris. Some
debris are pretty tasty at 250-300 each.
When you get enough, build Shark or Rhino with Warhammer (assign Patton),
and some escort vehicles (2 Rhinos or Sharks armed with Longbow and lots of
shields and armor, maybe Borden/Madsen), and take them hunting westward,
moving slowly. If your Puma survived, use it to scout and spot for Patton.
If it didn't, build another one. Patton's priority is towers and radars.
Keep choppers to the back as the AAA can get heavy when you get to the
western side. Your Longbow-equipped escorts can handle the few flyers that
come visit. And that's more debris for Korolev.
When you get to those two factories you knocked out, go after the towers,
then energy storage, then production facility. Ignore control center for
now. Remember to send in the cloaked Puma as scout and spotter. Once the
production facility is toast, you have no more enemies to bother you.
Move south, and keep killing enemy towers and defenses and radars. Then
kill the derricks, and everything else. Then go back and wipe out the
control center.
When you cooked everything, that should do it for this mission.
If the mission still hasn't ended, you bypassed something or forgot to kill
something.
9.17 MISSION 17: ISLAND ZERO
Island Zero, the LAST holdout of the Cabal, is ahead. Apparently, there's
no one left alive on the island... All killed by the bugs. There are almost
NO metal left on the island, resources are very short. We hope the Cabal
have left a computer memory core on the island that will help us, and we
must find it.
Objectives: Explore island, locate download databank, kill all aliens
Q: Where is the mainframe?
A: Try the center island.
Q: Where specifically is the mainframe?
A: To the north of the bug statue. Go around the enemy base and look in
that large ruin. It shows up yellow on the "radar" map.
Q: How do I get the download?
A: Target the mainframe, and wait 20 seconds.
Q: Where are the derricks?
A: One in southern part of center island, one to west of center island,
another to east of center island. The east and west ones are mounted pretty
high up on the hills, so you may need a chopper to bust them properly.
You start on the southwest side of the island, next to a beach.
Build Puma with Firestorm and Cloak, and assign Kroker. Accept delivery to
rally point, cloak first.
Build Sentinel with Longbow, 1 armor, and assign Sinclair, in the bay
closest to shore. Leave it onboard as defense.
This island is just like the island in mission 8, keep that in mind as you
attack.
As the Puma flew over the beach... There are the leaders of the Cabal...
butchered. For a moment, you wonder if this scene is out of Diablo...
Send the Puma through the pass to north, in that villa in the center of the
island. There are bug production facilities everywhere. Remember where they
are now so you can attack them later. There are basically TWO sets, then
some more off to the east.
The villa has a statue... Of a bug. Wonder who made it?
Continue north into the facility, which is completely destroyed... But
there is a computer core inside the building on top of the hill... It shows
up "yellow". It's the largest ruin, next to two other smaller ruins, and
almost next to enemy base. Target it, and download the data. And the recon
is over. This is a good time to save.
Use Kroker to explore the island a little... Stay hidden. You'll see plenty
of AAA and alien howitzers everywhere. Use Kroker to locate the derricks,
which are all around but not that concentrated.
Basically, the island has a central section, a east and west complex, then
finally, a northern production area. Your best bet is to wipe out the
derricks with long range fire. There are three sets of derricks: west of
center island, east of center island, and southern-part of center island.
Move rally point southeast until it's on the other side of the hill, into
the old docking area (the part where Antaeus docked for that mission,
remember?). The northwest part is the best.
Build 2 Phoenixes with Scalpel and 1 shield each, then a Scarab with
recycler, and Rhino with Warhammer and 2 shields. Have the Scarab clean up
the dock, including the cranes and such.
Move Rhino to the northern edge of the docking area, but NOT onto the
landbridge. Bring Kroker back so he can act as spotter now that a Warhammer
is in the area.
Send in a Phoenix northward as a "tease" until the gun towers sprout out of
the ground next to the pass. Then bring the Phoenix back and let the
Warhammer take it out.
Then take out howitzers pinpointed by Kroker. Keep the two choppers nearby
as they are needed to protect the Rhino from suicide runners and any
walkers that walk by. Those walkers come in really fast... 4 Red ones at a
time. Even if you have the firepower, you'll still take a pounding.
The ground will be littered with alien carcasses that can be recycled.
Korolev should be happy. Build another Rhino with 2 shields and Longbow to
escort and a Rhino with 2 shields and Firestorm to help bust buildings when
Korolev has collected enough energy.
Start moving north and take out the first set, the one on the southern edge
of the center island. Then take out the one to west, though you may not
kill them all, just two. Consider sending Kroker up there to get a better
targeting solution, or invest in a Rapier-mounting Hornet to kill the AAA
up there, then the radar, so you can kill the derricks in peace.
Repeat the one to the east, but this one is undefended (relatively).
Clean out everything to the south of the burned out villa. There are nest,
towers, and plenty of enemy units. Take out the towers first. Keep units
together. When you see factories, drop an Antaeus salvo on it, then send in
the Firestorm Rhino and cook it.
If anyone was heavily damaged, move the team back into rally area to get
the shields regenerated. Enemy should NOT follow very far. Consider sending
in a Repair-equipped Scarab (manually controlled by you) to heal any
severely damaged units.
When the team is okay, head northeast up that "ridge" and get rid of this
walker factory and AAA.
From there, go northwest and you'll see the second factory complex, with
AAA, howitzer, 3-4 factories, and the control center surrounded by a set of
laser barriers and laser towers.
Drop one Antaeus salvo on each factory (NOT the control center). Bust the
laser towers and other towers with Patton's Warhammer Rhino and then
retreat a little. Then attack, repeat until you've taken down all the fixed
defenses in the area. Remember to go west and take out the alien howitzers.
Once all fixed defenses are down, order the Firestorm Rhino in and toast
the factories. You will have to defend yourself against a steady stream of
Red Walkers, so the faster you do this the less enemies you need to face.
When complete, toast the control center, then patrol the island for any
remaining enemy structures. Kill them, and that should end the mission. .
9.18 MISSION 18: EVASION
The aliens have infected the island in mission 5 (where you found and
destroyed the drop plane). However, Minitech chose this island to begin a
study program. A specially outfitted Behemoth, the latest land vehicle, is
prepared and inserted onto the island. It has cloak, recycler and armor,
allowing you to penetrate and scout the island. Direct-control interface
will be used here.
Objectives: target and identify comm tower, harvest 4000 ej of energy,
activate tower's emergency beacon, run to pickup point and wait for Anteaus
pickup
You start in the northern part of the island.
Remember, you are ALONE, and you have ARMOR, which do NOT regenerate (and
they would interfere with cloak). So taking a MINIMUM of hits is
essentially.
You must play guerilla warfare... Find a lone bug, decloak and kill it,
cloak and run away, wait for the reaction force to go away, then decloak
and harvest the remains and recloak to continue.
When attacking turrets, remember to sidestep...
When recycling, make sure you're in the recycler beam range (69m or less)
or you'll shoot the missile instead, probably destroying the debris.
Q: How do I avoid detection?
A: Decloak, shoot, cloak, run away and get at least 100 meters away from
your shooting point. Wait until reaction force leaves, repeat.
Q: Where is the transmitter?
A: It is in the southern part of the island, just west to the alien
factories.
Q: I can't get to the extraction point! Those units just KILL me!
A: Destroy the radar dish first, which will detect you despite your cloak.
You start in the middle of a compound, surrounded by flyers. As they saw
you cloak, they will fire at you. You need to immediately get out of the
area! The compound is enclosed except for ONE opening to your left. Drive
through the door at top speed and go through the fence and fall onto the
road. If you can get there without taking more than 10% damage you are
fast. The flyers will not follow.
Now follow the road south. You'll see some suicide runners. Try to avoid
them. Some of those run patrols, so you'll need to shoot and scoot! Run
away IMMEDIATELY. Those flyers will approach the spot you were last seen,
and if you are close enough to it they will shoot at you, cloak or not!
Just make sure when you run, you don't run into the ocean. Behemoth is NOT
waterproof and you'll suffer SEVERE damage if you soak yourself.
Just to east of the road, almost half way down the island, is a port with a
crane you can absorb. However, the port has several suicide runners on
patrol. Shoot, cloak, RUN! Get at least 100 meters or a hill away from
where you were seen. Keep waiting for the flyers to go away. Repeat.
An alien howitzer will grow on top of the hill next to the port. Get up
there, kill it, run away. A red walker with 3-4 suicide runners will
approach. Kill it, and then run away. The runners will retreat after a
while. Destroy the crane at the port, and absorb it. Absorb all enemy
remains after the flyers go away.
Head back to the north-south road. Kill all those pump-looking things.
Those don't summon help if you kill them. You may need to kill a few laser
turrets... Those can do a bit of damage to you. They don't call for help
either.
There is a "pass" on the eastern road going east-west. There are two
turrets on the other side, one turret this side. Ignore them for now.
Work your way south, then southeast across the hills, and you should come
to the beach. The first thing you need to kill is the "hoverlaser". This is
the alien version of the VTOL bomber... They get on top of you, and shoot
an extra heavy beam downward. Eeek! You can tell it apart as this one has a
blue glow at the bottom. Target, shoot, cloak, run. Wait for the reaction
force to go away (one or two flyers o the beach, and a couple suicide
runners). Attack the flyer, run away. Repeat with all the suicide runners.
Then you can harvest the entire beach at your leisure.
By now, you should have like 3000 ej. You need 4000 ej to activate the
beacon. Work your way north again, back on the road. When you reach the
spot where you killed the howitzer, go WEST. Go until you're almost on the
other side. You'll come across a turret, and a couple derricks. Kill the
turret, then start killing the derricks, and you should make 4000 ejs easy.
If not, go south, and you should see a rail yard, with ONE train car. Hide
inside the warehouse, as there is a howitzer on top of the hill that'll hit
you. If you are inside the warehouse you'll take less damage. After you
absorb it, cloak and move away.
Get back on the eastern road, and work your way south, then southwest.
You'll come to the base, and on top of the hill are alien heavy factory,
air factory, and energy storage. Then to the west is the transmitter.
Target it, and you've found it. Now... You need to get up there. Best way
to do this is go into the airbase, to west, then take the ramp going up
northward, then turn westward and up to the transmitter. When you get next
to it, the beacon will be triggered. Now you just have to survive to the
extraction zone...
You can retrace your old route and make your way up the eastern road, but
beware it's blocked by gun towers and walkers. They practically pop out of
the ground right in front of you. There is also a radar outpost near your
extraction point, and if you don't kill it, it'll spot you, cloak or not.
Then those walkers and towers kill you.
Don't bump into the towers or they'll kill you!
Get on the east side of the hill (don't fall into the ocean though). Try to
stay out of the view of gun towers, and kill the radar outpost. Now just
drive carefully, on the top of the hills, don't bump into any alien towers,
and stay away from enemy walkers (there are black and red walkers all
around). Make your way to the extraction point.
When you reach the beach, the mission will end.
9.19 MISSION 19: FROZEN TREATS
The aliens are using the cold generators to make themselves more
comfortable, and in turn, giving themselves more time to transform
themselves into something that can take over the Earth... This island was
that island you were just on... and it has changed a lot... The ocean has
frozen at the edges, expanding the land area. Also, there is the ruin of a
Behemoth we will need to retrieve before the aliens can get their hands on
it... There's no telling what the aliens can do with that...
Objectives: retrieve Behemoth, destroy all aliens
No new units, new weapons, or devices. However, Kenzie is now available as
a Soulcatcher profile.
Q: Where is the Behemoth?
A: Try the same place you left it in the previous mission.
Q: No, really. Where is it?
A: Guess the aliens got it. You better find it and get it back.
Q: How many groups of enemies are there?
A: One west, one southeast. After you recycle the Behemoth, one south-
southwest, one west (next to the old one).
Start by building a Pegasus and send it to the spot where you left the
Behemoth. Also build Puma with cloak (Kroker), Scarab with recycler
(Korolev), and Sentinel with Longbow (Sinclair). Leave Sentinel onboard as
point-defense. Cloak Puma first.
When the Pegasus get there... Just a beacon, no Behemoth. Looks like the
aliens got to there first. We'll need to get it back. Bring the beacon back
any way, it's worth some energy.
Send the Scarab to the rally point, and have it go northwest, to the former
base. There are some things that can be recycled there.
Send Puma (cloaked) to the rally point, and use it to scout westward. You
should spot the western production facility, with lots of enemies. However,
the aliens are limited to land and air attack... They don't have
hovercrafts. You will exploit that.
Build 3 Salamanders with 1 shield each, armed with 2 Longbows (Madsen and
Borden) and 1 Warhammer (Patton). Have the 2 Longbow Salamanders escort the
Warhammer Salamander. Then send them to LONG way around, go north, then
west, then south. Get Kroker's Puma west as a spotter for Patton's
Warhammer rounds.
You are invulnerable if you retreat out to sea except for the flyers, which
can be easily handled by the 2 escorting Salamanders. So attack, then
withdraw. Attack, then withdraw. Nail all the towers, howitzers, walkers,
etc. The units from the production facility just to southeast of you will
harass you. This will take a while, so have patience. Take out the
derricks.
When you've destroyed the derricks, stay there and kill flyers and walkers
until the aliens used up their energy reserves. Then no more alien units
from that facility. Now you can move in slowly southward and get to the
factories. Take out the defense towers first, then the factories. They will
grow new gun towers. Level them also. Destroy all defenders. Remember,
retreat out to sea if your shields are almost toast. Wait for recharge,
attack.
When all defenders are gone, you can decloak Kroker and send his Puma to
help in demolitions.
When the place is leveled, bring in Korolev's Scarab and have her harvest
the place. It'll take a while, but take the time.
By now you should have plenty of energy. Send 1 or 2 Salamanders back (keep
one around to keep Scarab company) to be rebuilt into Sharks. You will want
2 Warhammer Sharks or Salamanders, 2 Longbow Sharks or Salamanders, and
maybe 1 Phoenix or 2 (with Longbow or Scalpel) flying top cover. Deck these
out with the best shields and armor you got, maybe even recharge unit to
improve firing rate. Leave one Soulcatcher profile available as you need it
later.
Now head down the west side of the coast, then stop at the southern edge of
the island. Remember to send Kroker's cloaked Puma in as spotter. You
should see a set of derricks. Take them out. Take out the AAA in the area.
Remember to retreat to southwest corner if you're heavily damaged.
Now head to the southeast corner of the map. You MAY want to consider
taking them the LONG way around (up north, then east, then south) as if you
make them run east from southern edge, they may be hit by enemy fire.
Send Kroker in to spot fire again. Remember to keep Kroker in the hills so
no patrol will run into him. Keep him on TOP of the hill so the enemy
walkers won't run into him.
Again, take out the alien howitzers, then AAA, then the towers, and so on.
Remember to retreat, recharge, attack. Without derricks, these facilities
won't last long. Kill a couple more walkers and flyers, and that's it... No
more enemies. Clean up this southeastern production center and bring in
Korolev. She should be VERY happy about having all these things to harvest.
Rebuild any units that are severely damaged. You need units in top fighting
trim. In fact, don't go after the Behemoth until you've cleaned up and
harvested EVERY last bit of energy and metal in the area.
Move your forces to the western edge of the southeast facility. A new alien
facility will grow to the west after you recycle the Behemoth's wreckage.
Keep Kroker cloaked and send him into the hills that is to the north of the
plains. Keep choppers back.
Build a Pegasus with that left over pilot and send it to pick up the
Behemoth from the remains of the southeast facility, and recycle the
remains. Then recycle Pegasus as well. Build a Sentinel with Warhammer
(yes, Warhammer) and 1 shield, more if you like.
When the Behemoth is completely recycled, the aliens start growing both
factories, as well as two alien howitzers next to Antaeus. The two
Sentinels will take care of the howitzers.
Send the two Warhammer units in and take out the turrets, then fry the
derricks, and then everything. Send Korolev in to clean up.
Now head north. Remember that western group of derricks you destroyed
earlier? A new set of enemies is growing to northeast of them. Take those
out also. They don't produce many units, so don't be afraid. Attack towers,
then derricks.
Once you've cleaned out the island, the mission ends.
9.20 MISSION 20: HEAVY WEAPONRY
Apparently, the aliens have discovered assembler technology, based on the
strange readings we're getting, and we fear they will pervert that into
disassembler technology as well, like the way Cabal did. Strange readings
are coming from the island ahead. Find out what is going on.
Elroy is now available as a Soulcatcher chip. No new units or weapons are
available.
Q: What do I do first?
A: Explore to northwest, center of the island, as suggested. Cloaked unit
is best.
Q: Uh, now what?
A: Follow the "veins" to the 3 generators... blast them.
Q: Can't I just blast the cannon?
A: Sorry, no can do. Do the generators.
Q: I can't! Those units from near the cannon kill me!
A: Kill their production facilities first. Use the stealth kamikaze method.
You start with Antaeus frozen in the sea...
Build 2 Phoenix with 2 shields, 1 armor and Longbow (assign Ransom and
Lazare). Build Stealth Kamikaze Puma with Kroker. Cloak the Puma, and let
it be delivered. Build Behemoth Warhammer with 2 shields, 1 armor, and
recycler, assign Patton. Deliver that also.
Keep the choppers and Behemoth near the carrier to defend, slightly to
northwest. Send Kroker, cloaked, up the hill to northwest so it can spot
the alien facility. NOT the one with the laser barriers all around...
That's west. You need to go to the NORTH of that. Don't let him get in the
way of enemy walkers or he's toast. Don't get into that "gully". Then you
spot the problem... A DISASSEMBLER cannon, aimed at the Capital City.
To shut the cannon down, you have to take out 3 generators. However, you
have to take out the central production first as it's producing too many
units for you to handle. You have to shut them down before you can attack
the generators.
It's time to use the Antaeus main guns. Send Kroker to the WEST side (the
opposite side from your other units), and have it spot for an Antaeus salvo
on one of the heavy or air factories. Do NOT attack the control center
(that would waste your shot)!
NOTE: I prefer to toast the heavy or land production as those units are
harder to destroy. The 2 choppers and any Longbow ground units will easily
handle the enemy flyers.
Then do the kamikaze burn... Cloak, and RUN AWAY. The Puma MAY survive as
the bug units may not find it in time. If not, build another Puma with
Kroker. One salvo on each and repeat until all production goes poof.
Now start going after the AAA and gun towers and such. Let Patton do it and
retreat as his shields need to recharge after each run. Work your way
around the perimeter. Use the two chopper escorts on the attackers. Keep
Patton on busting turrets and such. Remember to keep the choppers away from
AAA!
Patton won't be recycling anything at this point (too busy shooting) so
build Scarab with Recycler for Korolev and send her in. Send her to the
depots to the north and northeast. When the coast is clear (you're wiped
out most of the structures in the island center) send Korolev in and
recycle all that. You should have PLENTY of energy.
Consider building another Behemoth with Repair unit and Longbow as mobile
repair depot and defense. Consider adding a Shark with Warhammer if you got
the energy, as you need to wipe out a LOT of towers. Build another Shark
with shields and armor and Longbow as escort.
Once all towers are down, wipe out all the production facilities nearby if
you haven't leveled them yet, don't bother with Control Center or Nest.
Keep Korolev busy harvesting.
You probably by now saw the cannon fired a round. Two more rounds and the
Capital City is toast.
Send Kroker's cloaked Puma to northeast to scout out the first generator.
There is a set of derricks to the west of the generator, but the bugs are
getting tricky... The derricks are hidden underground. You need to trick
them to reveal it... Send the Puma in, then out again immediately. The
derricks then pop up, then you can shoot them with your Warhammers.
NOTE: The generator does not show up as target directly. You have to
specify attack, then designate the generator as target.
Take out the towers popping up while staying away. Then take out the
howitzers, and so on. Blast all the threats. When there are no threats
left, get everyone to attack the power generator. Even send Kroker in as
his Firestorm can make the demolition much faster. Remember to recloak him
after he's done. One down, two to go.
Ignore the rest of the structures for now. Capital city can't wait.
Build new units when you can afford them. You may lose the choppers as you
continue attack. Build Sharks with alternate Longbow and Warhammer and send
them in to follow Patton around. They can help protect and demolish
structures. Leave the 2 chopper guys (Ransom and Lazare) available as you
can add choppers when the AAA's are gone.
Keep Korolev busy. You'll need more energy to upgrade / replace your units
as they take damage.
Second generator is at the northwestern corner of the island. That isthmus
can be tricky to navigate. Send Kroker's Puma across first and hide him in
the hills. Stay OFF that valley! Have Kroker find the set of derricks
inside that valley first by going up the hills.
Send ONE land unit across at a time (the escorts first), then start long
range demolition. Send the amphib (the Sharks) Warhammer unit down to the
steep seaside cliff and let it do demolition from there. Take out derricks
and storage tanks. Now destroy the generator. Remember, without energy,
production is useless. Leave the production stuff standing for now, Capital
City can't wait. Two down, one to go.
The cannon would have likely fired again... One more shot and Capital City
is history. You have 20 minutes, and clock is ticking...
The final generator is south-southwest of the central facility. Send the
Puma out first, then the rest of the units. If you had went WEST instead of
northwest, you may have ran into this already.
Again, the derricks are hidden, and appear on both west and east side of
the valley. That nest inside will send out some occasional suicide runners.
Send Kroker in to trigger the derricks, then get out, and then send in
Patton and the rest blast the derricks, the storage tanks, and the towers,
then everyone take out the generator.
The final generator goes down, and the cannon goes boom after the thermal
overload. And you win... Capital City is saved, or what's left of it.
9.21 MISSION 21: THE GAUNTLET
The bugs are retreating for a final battle... They have prepared a launch
facility so they can send a culture stone into space. We cannot let that
happen. Unfortunately, there is only ONE way into the launch facility, and
only ONE weapon big enough to destroy the alien spaceship... Antaeus
herself. By combining the remains of that big disassembler cannon and
Antaeus' Creation Engine, a big enough blast can be made to destroy the
alien ship. Unfortunately, this means you, Antaeus commander, will be
making the ultimate sacrifice... This is a one-way kamikaze mission. All
units have only one task... Ensure Antaeus survives for 15 minutes, the
time it needs to navigate the channel and crash the space ship just as the
whole thing blows sky-high...
NOTE: as Antaeus will be moving, recycling damaged units will be
impossible. Do NOT let units be damaged!
NOTE: You are limited in energy, so you can't afford to lose ANY of the
initial units you build. You won't be harvesting anything either. What you
got to start is all you got.
NOTE: entire island is ringed with AAA so air units are useless. Ground
units are useless as the channel has very rough terrain and cannot cross
the channel. You should use hovercrafts as your primary attack units.
NOTE: The disassembler takes up one of the front engine bays, which blocks
some fields of fire. It is best to put the Sentinel in the rear bay,
diagonal from the disassembler.
NOTE: With only 3 bays, you need to move existing units off before you can
build new ones.
Q: Where should I send Kroker as scout?
A: Put him on the EAST side (change the rally point).
Q: How many sets of derricks are there?
A: Just three: one to north of the second left hand bend, one to the west
of the second left hand bend, and finally, one just east of the start of
the straight section after the final right turn.
Build 2 Sharks (2 shields, 1 armor, Warhammer) with Patton and Borden.
Assign Borden to follow Patton. Get Patton off the bays ahead of the ship.
Build 2 Salamanders (1 shield and 1 armor, Longbow), probably Kenzie and
Lazare, and have them follow Patton as well. Get them off the bay and ahead
of the ship.
Start Patton on the towers next to the channels. Take out the AAA to
northwest first.
Build Sentinel with Sinclair, Longbow (1 armor). Try to squeeze Sinclair
into a rear bay as you need the field of fire. Remember, leave the Sentinel
diagonal from the disassembler, which is in the right-front bay.
Watch Sinclair's health. When it gets down to 50%, rebuild him quickly. If
he's destroyed, you may lose that bay completely due to debris!
Feel free to build an additional Sentinel (with just about anyone left)
with Warhammer as emergency help. Just reabsorb him when he takes too many
hits. Or swap Sinclair's Sentinel with a Warhammer model, then back to
Longbow as you see fit.
If the enemy is on one side vs. another, reabsorb the Sentinel and rebuild
it on the "right" side. Remember, NO TIME passes while you're
building/commanding, switchover is instantaneous.
Build Vulture with Scalpel, which you will use personally.
When the EASTERN shore came into view (NOT the island!), move rally point
there. Build Stealth Kamikaze Puma with Kroker. Cloak him immediately and
have him delivered to rally point. Send him up the eastern coast moving
north, keep him in the hills so he doesn't run into any patrols. STAY OFF
the ridge or he'll run into walkers! Keep moving him until he sees the
derricks, which is just north of the second left turn.
Move Patton north of the ships a bit to bust more towers and enemy units.
Make sure the first AAA to northwest is gone.
Now you have to trust your AI, as you have to take the Vulture out for a
spin. Take control if it, and go west, then north, follow the coast, low.
You should see a little valley where the land sticks out like a thumb to
southwest. Dive into it and turn left. You should see a set of 6 derricks.
Destroy them all with point-blank fire with your Scalpel. Don't fly too
high or too fast or you'll fly into AAA's range, and Vulture can't survive
AAA hits. Once you destroyed the derricks, leave the Vulture there. You've
disabled the factory on the western side. You can't recycle it as the
ship's moving. Just leave it, as its purpose is served.
Switch back to the Warhammer units and keep taking out towers and walkers
on both sides of the ship. Have Kroker designate one of the three
facilities for TWO Antaeus salvoes. That facility is TOAST. Repeat with
another facility. Now you have minimal of walkers harassing you.
Make your way to the derricks spotted by Kroker and assign just ONE of the
Warhammers to take them out. As the other Warhammer is on follow, it will
automatically shoot any enemies nearby. Now there is only ONE production
facility pumping out units, so you won't overwhelmed by walkers. Blast the
derricks now and you won't see any more of them. Leave the other one free
to engage any threat. After that, there will no more walkers (except the
few already in the queue).
Once the second set of derricks are gone (the first set you already
destroyed with the Vulture), send Kroker north past the one remaining
production facility. Ignore it as it's now idle. Send Patton Warhammer
forward as well. Then have him engage any walkers and AAA turrets and such
on both sides of the river. Keep blasting towers. New ones will appear.
Assign Patton to hit them as soon as they pop up. Continue up the river
ahead of the ship.
Get Kroker north again until he spots the next set of derricks and
production.
Continue up the river and blast those howitzers on the waterfronts, then
the derricks on the eastern side of the river. That set powers the one last
set of enemy production... some flyer production... Assign Patton to blast
the derricks, then storage tanks to south and north of the facilities, and
that should be all the enemy production.
Feel free to blast any more enemies you see. If the ship survived this far,
your job is done. Let the units fight and you just sit back and relax...
Just watch the cinematics...
Well... Let's just say it's really setting up for a sequel, aren't they?
Watch the very end of the cinematics... AFTER "the end"... So perhaps the
culture stones DID get launched after all?
10 Misc. Information
10.1 CHEATS
There are quite a few special "debug mode" cheats available in HW. You need
to enable it by starting the game with "-setusupthebomb" (without the
quotes) command line parameter. Once you're in the game, hit F8 for the
console window, and enter one of these codes:
Apparently people don't understand what IS a command-line parameter
nowadays (ah, the wonders of GUI), so here goes.
* Right-click the shortcut to run HW. Make a COPY of the shortcut.
* Right-click the copy of the shortcut, select PROPERTIES. You should be
looking at the "Target" box. It should say something like "C:\Program
Files\Interplay\Rage\Hostile Waters\HW.EXE"
* You add a space AFTER the end quote, then add the whole parameter.
Some of the codes may require some parameters after the command itself.
Where the parameters are known, they are shown below.
Code What it does
enableallmovies 1 All FMV now available in Cinema menu choice
filthylucre 1 Gives you 999999 ej energy, build anything
you want
invulnerable 1 Your units cannot be damaged
winlevel 1 Win the current level
revealmap 1 Show the entire mission map
allyourbasearebelongtous Plays theme song from HW
buildall Allow all units to be built, Antaeus
salvoes replenished
aicolourdebug ??
aiscriptdebug ?? Show enemy unit AI reaction script?
aitrace ?? Show enemy units AI script tracing?
applycontrolchanges ?? forces bind and bindaxis to take effect
immediately?
attractmode ??
bind ?? controls key bindings?
bindaxis ?? controls joystick/mouse axis bindings?
camdebug ?? debug camera movement? Or free-roadming
camera?
camfirstperson ?? switches to 1st person cam instead of
3rd person cam?
cancelcontrolchanges ?? cancels changes done in
applycontrolchanges??
changelevel ?? change to any level you want to play?
May need number.
counters ??
debugtoggle ??
defaultkeys ?? resets control keys to default?
deletesave ?? deletes a save game? May need to specify
a specific number
deydododatdohdontdeydoh ??
enabletyping ??
endtutorial ?? force end of tutorial?
enterbuttonredefine ??
forceshadowupload ?? affects shadow rending?
hudrender ?? turn on/off the HUD display?
levelmenu ??
loadgame ?? loads a game? may need one of the
savegame numbers
lowfog ?? turns fog amount to low?
mapboxdebug ??
menu ?? brings up the F3 menu?
m_aftermath Shows "Aftermath" movie
m_cabalmovie Shows "Cabal" movie
m_chamber Shows "Chamber" movie
m_coldmoviefive Shows "Cold Movie 5"
m_coldmovieone Shows "Cold Movie 1"
m_coldmoviethree Shows "Cold Movie 3"
m_coldmovietwo Shows "Cold Movie 2"
m_conference Shows "Conference"
m_culturefive Shows "Culture 5"
m_finale Shows "Finale"
m_flags Shows "Flags"
m_foreshadow Shows "Foreshadow"
m_handh Shows "Handh"???
m_intro Shows "Intro"
m_nanobot Shows "Nanobot"
m_newintro Shows "New Intro"
m_newintroend Shows "New Intro End"
m_newintromiddle Shows "New Intro Middle"
m_ransom Shows "Ransom"
m_smashtubes Shows "Smash Tubes"
m_terra Shows "Terra"
m_testtubes Shows "Test Tubes"
m_tombakercold Shows "Tom Baker Cold"
m_tv Shows "TV"
m_ufo Shows "UFO"
newgame Starts new game??
nextlevel Starts next level??
nofow ???
nouploads ???
objects ???
printing ???
printvidmem ??? sounds like debug option
properchopper ??? make the chopper more realistic?
quit ends the game?
restartlevel restarts the level (same as menu choice)
resumegame resumes the game
savegame saves the game???
scriptinfo ???
sfxdebug ??? special effects debug?
shadows turns on/off shadows? (try 1/0 as parameter)
silly ???
simploids ???
startgamefromfrontend ???
terrain ???
terrainhugging ???
thereisnospoon fly through things / no clipping ???
timings turn on/off the mission timers?
wavesmooth the waves in the ocean smoothing? or sound
smoothing???
wireframe show wireframe in graphics only, no texture
or polygon???
zfog turn on/off distance fogging???
Unofficial Strategy Guide and FAQ
by Kasey Chang
released March 11, 2003
0 Introduction
This section is mainly about the FAQ itself and some legalese. You can read
the most often asked FAQs at the end of this section, or skip right to [1]
for the "stuff".
If you like the FAQ, send me $1.00. :-) See 0.3
0.1 A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR
This is a FAQ, NOT a manual. You won't learn how to play the game with this
document, and I'm NOT about to add it to ease the life of software pirates,
no matter how old the game is.
Some of you may recognize my name as the editor for the XCOM and XCOM2:
TFTD FAQ's, among others.
If you don't care about all these verbiage (it's mainly for people who want
to redistribute the guide) you can jump right to the end of this section
and read some of the FAQs.
If you like the FAQ, send me $1.00. :-) See 0.3
0.2 TERMS OF DISTRIBUTION
This USG should be available at Gamefaqs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) and
other major PC game websites (such as gamesdomain.com, gamespot.com, etc.).
I only release it to Gamefaqs, so they would always have the latest. If you
get it from anywhere else, beware that it may NOT be the latest and
greatest version.
To webmasters who wish to archive this FAQ on their website, please read
below.
This document is copyrighted by Kuo-Sheng "Kasey" Chang (c) 2002, all
rights reserved excepted as noted above in the disclaimer section.
This document is available FREE of charge subjected to the following
conditions:
1) This notice and author's name must accompany all copies of this
document: "Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising Unofficial Strategy Guide and
FAQ" is copyrighted (c) 2002 by Kasey K.S. Chang, all rights reserved
except as noted in the disclaimer."
2) This document must NOT be modified in any form or manner without prior
permission of the author with the following exception: if you wish to
convert this document to a different file format or archive format, with no
change to the content, then no permission is needed.
2a) In case you can't read, that means TXT only. No banners, no HTML
borders, no cutting up into multiple pages to get you more banner hits, and
esp. no adding your site name to the site list.
3) No charge other than "reasonable" compensation should charged for its
distribution. (Free is preferred) Sale of this information is expressly
prohibited. If you see any one selling this guide, drop me a line.
4) If you used material from this, PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE the source, else it
is plagiarism.
5) The author hereby grants all games-related web sites the right to
archive and link to this document to share among the game fandom, provided
that all above restrictions are followed.
Sidenote: The above conditions are known as a statutory contract. If you
meet them, then you are entitled to the rights I give you in 5), i.e.
archive and display this document on your website. If you don't follow
them, you did not meet the statutory contract conditions, thus you have no
right to display this document. If you still do so, then you are infringing
upon my copyright. This section was added for any websites who don't seem
to understand this.
0.3 VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION
Gamers who read this guide are under NO obligation to send me ANY
compensation.
However, a VOLUNTARY contribution of one (1) US Dollar would be very
appreciated.
If you choose to do so, please make your US$1.00 check or $1.00 worth of
stamps to "Kuo-Sheng Chang", and send it to "2220 Turk Blvd. #6, San
Francisco, CA 94118 USA".
If you don't live in the US, please send me some local stamps. I collect
stamps too.
0.4 HOW AND WHEN TO CONTACT ME
PLEASE let me know if there's a confusing or missing remark, mistakes, and
thereof... If you find a question about this game that is not covered in
the USG, e-mail it to me at the address specified below. I'll try to
answer it and include it in the next update.
Please do NOT write me for technical support. That is the job of the
publisher. (Interplay in this case.)
Please do NOT ask me to send you a list of controls, the manual, etc. If
you borrowed the game without borrowing the manual, blame your own
stupidity. If you bought the game without a manual, blame your own
stupidity. If you copied the game without copying the manual, you're not
only scum, but STUPID scum.
Please do NOT ask me to answer questions that have already answered in this
FAQ/guide. It makes you REALLY idiotic.
I will NOT answer stupid questions like the ones above unless I'm in a
really good mood. If you send questions like that, do NOT expect a reply.
The address below is spelled out phonetically so spammers can't use
spambots on it:
Kilo-Sierra-Charlie-Hotel-Alpha-November-Golf-Seven-Seven AT Yankee-Alpha-
Hotel-Oscar-Oscar DOT Charlie-Oscar-Mike
To decipher this, simply read the first letter off each word except for the
numbers and the punctuation. This is "military phonetics" or "aeronautical
phonetics" in case you're wondering.
This document was produced on Microsoft Word 97, with some notetaking on a
Handspring Visor with the Targus foldable keyboard. Some editing done with
Editpad (editpadclassic.com).
0.5 THE AUTHOR
I am just a game player who decided to write my own FAQs when the ones I
find don't cover what I want to see. Lots of people like what I did, so I
kept doing it.
Previously, I've written Unofficial Strategy Guides (USGs) for XCOM,
XCOM2:TFTD, Wing Commander, Wing Commander 2, Wing Commander 3, Wing
Commander 4, Privateer, Spycraft, 688(I) Hunter/Killer. Mechwarrior 3, MW3
Expansion Pack, Mechwarrior 4, Mechwarrior 4: Black Knight, Need for Speed:
Porsche Unleashed, The Sting!, Terranova, Fallout Tactics, Starfleet
Command Volume II, and a few more.
Most of them should be on http://www.gamefaqs.com, the biggest FAQ site
around.
To contact me, see 0.4 above.
0.6 DISCLAIMER/ COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising is produced by Rage (http://www.rage.com),
is distributed in the US by Interplay (http://www.interplay.com), 14
Degrees East division (strategy games).
There is no warranty for this unofficial strategy guide. After all, it
depends on YOU the player. All I can do is offer some advice.
0.7 MISC NOTES
From here on, I'll abbreviate Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising as just "HW".
It saves me from typing all those words.
0.8 REVISION HISTORY
27-JUL-2002 Initial Release
11-MAR-2003 Second release, fixed up misc. mistakes, added more details
on "command-line parameters".
0.9 THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Can you send me HW (or portions thereof)?
A: No.
Q: Can you send me the manual (or portions thereof)?
A: That's a portion of the game.
Q: Can you tell me how to play the game?
A: Read the manual.
Q: How many CD's are there?
A: Just 1, and one manual.
Q: Isn't there a keyboard reference card?
A: Not in the US edition. The European version has a keyboard reference
card, as well as an additional booklet on the backstory as well as
interview with the writer.
Q: What are the keyboard shortcuts?
A: Look for the README file in the install directory
Q: What do all those control icons in that little control panel mean?
A: Read the manual.
Q: Can I have more than one copy of the Soulcatcher chip?
A: Absolutely not. Supposedly, the two copies tried to kill each other when
made. So after that, the scientists simply don't bother trying.
Q: How do I tell how many shots does Antaeus have for the main battery?
A: Look for a couple "dots" in the shape of shells on the main screen
Antaeus icon. The number of dots indicate how many shots you have.
Q: What does that Latin phrase "Pugio in Averso Belli" mean? It's in the
Antaeus logo.
A: Rough translation is "Weapon [dagger] used to avoid war".
Q: Is there a special meaning to the word "Antaeus"?
A: Antaeus is a "giant" in Greek Mythology. Child of Poseidon and Gaia (God
of the Sea and Mother Earth, respectively), Antaeus is invincible as long
as he had his feet touching Earth. Hercules defeated Antaeus by lifting him
off the ground.
Q: Is there multiplayer in HW?
A: No. Multiplayer is NOT possible with HW.
Q: How do I cheat?
A: See final section
1 Game Information
1.1 WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND FOR HOSTILE WASTERS: ANTEAUS RISING?
It is the year 2032. The last war has been fought 20 years ago. The world,
with discovery of nanotech, has known peace ever since. There are plenty of
food and material for everyone thanks to nanotech, and therefore wars are
no longer needed. All weapons were destroyed, and Ministry of Technology
(Minitech) holds careful oversight on any research that may have military
potentials.
However, a Cabal is threatening that hard-built peace by rearming
themselves. They have taken over a chain of islands in the Pacific. They
threaten to kill millions if not left alone, and are likely to eventually
take over the world.
With all of the weapons gone, the world must call upon the last of the
Adaptive Cruisers lost at sea... And you will be its commander. Take its
units, and the limited Soulcatcher profiles, into battle...
May the righteous prevail...
1.2 WHAT IS HOSTILE WATERS: ANTEAUS RISING?
HW is best described as a hybrid between RTS and a 3rd person shooter, with
some pretty impressive AI. Someone described it as a mix between
Activision's "Battlezone" and the old Rainbird title "Carrier Command".
Basically, you have this "carrier" (i.e. adaptive cruiser) called the
Antaeus, prototype 00. It can build units from its energy storage almost
instantaneously using nanotech-powered "Creation Engine". The ship can
analyze wreckage or sample of existing weapon or unit, or you can receive
blueprints download from Minitech or any other source, and almost instantly
build your version.
Energy (and raw material) comes from "harvesting". You harvest by sending a
Scarab (or a Behemoth when you get it) with a Recycler unit (and perhaps a
soulcatcher chip as well). As the carrier is usually offcoast, you will
need a transport helicopter to move the Scarab to land. Then this harvester
should do things automatically if you put in the AI, else you need to do
the "harvesting" yourself. Point, and shoot. The nanites are shot onto the
item, which is then analyzed, and then absorbed by the beam.
The built units, however, have no AI. You can use the units two ways:
either fly a unit yourself ("Direct Control Interface"), or plug in one of
the "Soulcatcher" chips and let that AI take over, while you give it
"general" orders via the "Command Interface".
You can outfit your units with other weapons and devices as they become
available. Some of the missions will have you retrieving weapons, units,
and devices to be analyzed by Antaeus so you can build your own copies.
Each of the Soulcatcher profiles you have has a different personality and
some are more suited for certain purposes than others. As the number of
profiles you have is limited, this is not a "built X units and rush" game.
You need to consider your needs, build the appropriate vehicle, add the
appropriate profile, devices, and weapons, then send them out with a
purpose.
You can "recycle" existing units to recover a lot of the energy and build
improved versions. You can also recover debris left by enemy units to be
used by yourself.
The enemy will send units after you. To slow them down, you need to destroy
radar dishes to blind them, destroy energy sources and energy storage
facilities to starve them, then finally, production facilities to eliminate
them altogether. "Tank rush" will not work here.
Threats comes in many types, land, air, or amphibious. You will even
participate in some rescue missions.
1.3 WHAT DO I NEED TO RUN HOSTILE WATERS?
From the README file...
Minimum:
Processor: Intel Pentium II 266MHz
Operating System: MS Windows 95
CD ROM: 4X
RAM: 64mb RAM
Controls: Keyboard and Mouse
Sound: 16 bit sound card
Graphics: 8Mb AGP Video card.
Recommended:
Processor: Intel Pentium II 350MHz
Operating System: MS Windows 98
CD ROM: 16X
RAM: 128mb RAM
Controls: Keyboard and 3 button mouse
Sound: 3D sound card
Graphics: Fast 16Mb Video card.
Optimal:
Processor: Intel Pentium III 700 or AMD Athlon 700 and beyond
Operating System: MS Windows ME
CD ROM: 36X
RAM: 128mb RAM
Controls: Keyboard and 3 button mouse
Sound: Creative SoundBlaster Live!
Graphics: 64Mb AGP Video card.
Please note that Windows NT is NOT supported. Any info you have on NT
compatibility would be appreciated.
Above info was taken from the README file.
There is NO report of XP compatibility, so if you got it working in XP,
good for you. Let me know if there's anything special you needed to do.
1.4 ANY ALTERNATE VERSIONS? PATCHES?
Hostile Waters is known as "Hostile Waters" in Europe (distributed by
Titus). In the US, it is known as "Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising"
(distributed by Interplay).
There is one patch for the European version that updates it to 1.03g. This
patch is not needed for the US version.
1.5 MISC GAME INFO
Any one remember "Carrier Command"? This game was inspired by it.
As indicated on the box, Tom Baker (i.e. "Dr. Who") is the narrator. Church
and Walker are voiced by respectively two of the famous British
actress/actor from the series "Blake's 7".
The writer for the game did some pretty impressive comics / graphic novels.
Unfortunately, the lack of multiplayer relegated this game into also-ran
status.
2 Available Weapons Briefing
All weapons in HW use self-replicating munitions, and thus have infinite
ammo. Firing time can be improved by a recharge device (see 3.7), but that
comes pretty late in the game (mission 16).
2.1 SCALPEL CHAINGUN
Range low, firing rate high, damage low, shot speed fast, cost 250 ej,
available mission 2
Scalpel is a general-purpose chain gun that can destroy just about
anything, both on the ground and in the air, but the low-range (about 100
meters) means you'll get hit as well. While damage is low, it has high
firing rate so it does plenty of damage.
Give vehicles armed with this the heaviest armor and shields you got, as
the enemies will tend to concentrate on it, being the closest target.
2.2 LONGBOW MISSILE LAUNCHER
Range medium, firing rate medium, damage low, shot speed medium, cost 250
ej, available mission 4
Longbow is the perfect complement to Scalpel, having a longer range (about
280 meters) but slower firing rate. The missiles are self-guiding, but tend
to miss at close range, another reason it complements Scalpel.
If you are using this under direct control, get a lock-on before firing. If
you don't lock on, the missiles won't guide, so you won't hit a moving
target.
Longbow is good on both air and ground units.
2.3 RAPIER LASER
Range very long, firing rate low, damage low, shot speed extreme, cost 2000
ej, available mission 7
Rapier is a VERY long-range weapon, almost like a sniper rifle. It
recharges slowly (compared to other weapons) and does little damage, but if
the enemy can't shoot back, who cares?
Rapier is best used to take out defense turrets and such that cannot move
to engage you.
If you take control of a Rapier-equipped unit, you can use the Zoom feature
to zoom in up to 16X for precise targeting. In fact, this is recommended
(besides putting Madsen on the job).
Remember to back up Rapier-mounted vehicles with other weapons like Longbow
and Scalpel. It doesn't do much damage so it needs a LOT of shots to kill
an enemy. A typical AAA turret takes like 10-11 shots from a Rapier.
2.4 ARCLIGHT EMP BLASTER
Range long, firing rate low, damage N/A, shot speed slow, cost 250 ej,
available mission 10
Arclight does NOT damage the enemy. Instead, it disables the enemy for
about 90 seconds. It can be used to disable AAA for other weapons to
destroy it.
Arclight is virtually useless against moving targets (air or ground) as its
"shot" is EXTREMELY slow moving. However, you COULD use it to disable AAA
turrets so your other air units can kill one before it comes back online.
There is only ONE mission you need to use Arclight, to disable the subs. If
used against one of those subs, the effects are permanent. At other time
it's probably not needed.
2.5 WARHAMMER ARTILLERY
Range long, firing rate low, damage high, shot speed medium, cost 1250 ej,
available mission 11
Warhammer is a long-range howitzer adapted to modular weaponry. It does
good damage and has tremendous range, but lousy reload time. The shot takes
a while to arrive, so again, virtually useless against moving targets. It
also causes quite a bit of "splash" damage, so don't use in close proximity
of friendly units.
Warhammer's range can exceed visual range of your units. If you can get a
spotter into range (via a chopper or a cloaked Puma) you can launch strikes
from behind a hill, for a truly devastating fire mission. Range of a
Warhammer is in excess of 400 m.
Sometimes the rounds, due to the arc, hit the hill next to the target
instead of directly impacting the target. If that's the case (you fired a
lot of rounds for no effect), move left or right, then try again.
If you are using Warhammer manually, use the impact camera (on the left)
and try to adjust the trajectory with it.
Warhammer is only useful against ground units. It will NOT target any air
units. On the other hand, you may hit one by accident. So keep the air
units a little away from the howitzers.
Warhammer's shots takes like 2-3 seconds to arrive, so it tends to waste
shots.
Warhammer's cannon can be used as a direct-fire weapon with a HUGE damage
radius (compared to other weapons). Fire them into a group of enemy walkers
and see them explode into gibblets.
While Warhammer CAN be placed on a chopper, don't do it. Chopper is too
unstable for a proper firing of an artillery piece. You have to be point-
blank to get a hit. Put Warhammer on a tank or a hovercraft instead.
In the end, Warhammer become your primary weapon. While you still need
other weapons to take care of attackers, Warhammer is your best weapon to
bust turrets and other fixed defenses.
2.6 FIRESTORM FLAMETHROWER
Range point-blank, firing rate high, damage medium, cost 500 ej, available
mission 14
Firestorm has one use: to burn bugs and bug buildings. Due to short-range,
it's best to clean out the surrounding area of enemies before you bring in
the flamethrower.
Due to the short range, Firestorm is only useful against ground targets.
However, it can be mounted on choppers and can be quite useful as a quick
demolition tool.
It can do 10% of damage to bug buildings in like 3 seconds, with full
charge. Once the charge is exhausted, the burning gets quite a bit slower.
Remember to read the "Stealth Kamikaze" tactic, among others.
If a single bug unit challenges a Firestorm unit, let it engage. If a swarm
comes, run.
3 Available Device Briefing
You can add all sorts of devices to your units if they have device bays for
them, all of them helpful in one way or another.
3.1 RECYCLER UNIT
Available mission 1, 3x3 device, cost 250 ej
Fits in Scarab and Behemoth. Makes the unit "red".
Recycler unit gives the equipped unit ability to scan and absorb wreckage
and structures full of metal and energy so it can be used by the Antaeus'
"creation engine" to build other things.
This is your RTS "harvester" soaking up metal and energy on the
battlefield. It can move into hostile territory, so be careful if you leave
it completely alone.
3.2 ARMOR
Available mission 2, 1x1 device, cost 350 ej
Fits in all units except Vulture and Magpie (no bay)
Also called ablative armor, this adds on extra set of armor in addition to
the built-in armor for more survivability.
Best combined with shield. Shield regenerates, armor does not.
3.3 SOULCATCHER CHIP
Available mission 2, 1x1 device, cost 100 ej
Fits in all units except Vulture and Magpie (no bay)
Gives the unit an AI personality so it can do a bit of independent
thinking, such as automatically engage visible enemies, fly to certain
location and perform certain tasks, and so on. You can't do everything by
yourself, so don't. Use a chip to help out. Remember some profiles are
better at certain tasks.
There are SOME cases where you do need to control a craft to do things
yourself, esp. when you've used everybody.
3.4 REPAIR UNIT
Available mission 5, 3x3 device, cost 3000 ej
Fits in Scarab and Behemoth. Makes the unit "green".
Repairs the vehicle to mint condition, subject to time, using nanotech. The
more expensive the vehicle and more damage the vehicle has sustained, the
longer repairs will take.
If you put this in unit with Soulcatcher chip, the unit will automatically
repair all friendly units in sensor range.
3.5 CLOAK
Available mission 9, 1x2 device, cost 1000 ej
Fits in all units except Vulture and Magpie (no bay)
Makes the vehicle invisible to visible wavelengths, but NOT silent, NOR
invisible to radar.
Cloak is best used on a Puma, which has a stealth profile (supposedly).
Don't get too close to enemy radars either to make sure you don't get
spotted.
If enemy bumps into a cloaked unit, they will know where to shoot, and
usually that means the end of that unit. If you are going to leave a
cloaked unit alone, find a spot that will NOT be in an enemy's path.
3.6 SHIELD
Available mission 14, 1x2 device, cost 1000 ej
Shield is a true energy and deflector shield that protects the equipped
unit from damage, both ballistic and energy. While not capable of deflect
as much damage as armor, shield will "recharge" over time.
You can use multiple shields in the same unit.
Do NOT combine shield with cloak. Cloak operation requires that the shield
be disabled.
3.7 RECHARGE UNIT
Available mission 16, 1x2 device, cost 1500 ej
Fits in all units except Vulture and Magpie (no bays)
Increases firing rate of all weapons (by how much? 50%? 100%?)
4 Friendly Unit Briefing
There are essentially four types of units: land combat units, amphibious
combat units, air combat units, and utility units.
The hardpoints just means how many weapons you select will it carry. You
cannot mix and match weapons (like 1 Longbow and 1 Scalpel).
4.1 LAND COMBAT UNITS
Land combat units can only fight on land, not on water or in air. They
include both tracked and wheeled vehicles. Magpie or Pegasus must transport
them to their destination.
Being land units, their speed is limited, but they usually are able to
carry more armor and have larger device bays (except Puma, but that's an
exception).
4.1.1 Puma
1x3 bay, 1 hardpoint, available mission 9, cost 150 ej
Puma is a light recon buggy. It has paper-thin armor so the equipment bay
is best left for a cloak. Its best use is as an artillery spotter for
Antaeus "main battery" or for Warhammer-equipped units.
4.1.1.1 Stealth Scout Config
Scalpel chaingun, cloak, soulcatcher. Total Cost = 1250
In general, you should NEVER fire that gun, but you have to fit one in, so
pick a VERY short-range one. Find an empty spot to park and just act as a
spotter for the heavy guns.
4.1.1.2 Stealth Spotter / Kamikaze Config
Firestorm flamethrower, cloak, soulcatcher. Total Cost = 1500
The Stealth Spotter/Kamikaze config is used for the times where you need to
fry some enemy buildings IMMEDIATELY instead of doing the regular kill
energy production, then storage, then production facilities. Find an empty
spot to park and just act as a spotter for the Antaeus main guns, then
kamikaze the building with Firestorm and fry it. Boom! No more production.
Repeat for other production buildings.
4.1.2 Rhino
5 @ 1x2 bays, 1 hardpoint, available mission 11, cost 650 ej
Rhino, when equipped with a Warhammer, is a great assault platform. It
doesn't do that well against moving targets, however. Definitely bring air
cover.
When you have enough energy, add more armor and shield as applicable.
4.1.2.1 Fire support / assault config
Warhammer, armor, soulcatcher. Total cost = ???? ej
Your normal fire support config. Remember to make some escorts too.
4.1.2.2 Close Escort Config
Scalpel, 4 x shields and 1xarmor, soulcatcher. Total cost = ????
Close escort config are designed take incoming fire and defend the
Warhammer-equipped Rhino from enemy units.
4.1.2.3 Long Escort Config
Longbow, 2 x shields and 3 x armor, soulcatcher. Total cost = ????
This one engages the enemy at longer range, thus needing less shields.
4.1.3 Behemoth
1 @ 3x5 bay, 2 hardpoints, available mission 19, cost 900 ej
With a HUGE cargo bay, Behemoth is very flexible. With twin hardpoints, it
is also very deadly. However, it doesn't move fast. Escort! Escort!
Consider slapping a Recycler unit in the Behemoth so it can both take out
enemy structures AND absorb them for your use.
4.2 HOVERCRAFT COMBAT UNITS
Hovercrafts are amphibious with excellent speed and mobility. However, it
cannot carry as much equipment or armor as its landlocked cousins. They can
self-deploy without using a lifter like Magpie or Pegasus. They represent a
compromise between armor of the land-units and the speed of the air units.
4.2.1 Salamander
1 @ 1x3 bay, 1 @ 1x1 bay, 1 hardpoint, available mission 5, cost 400 ej
Salamander is basically a combat hovercraft. Its default armor is adequate.
Fitted with a Rapier or Warhammer, they can blow up enemy guns from very
long range. However, they need protection from air threats. Try to escort
them with Hornets until the coast is clear.
Fitted with Longbow, they are nice mobile multi-purpose attackers.
4.2.1.1 Dual-Purpose Config, single/double/triple armor
Longbow missile, 1/2/3 x armor, soulcatcher. Total cost = 1100/1450/1800 ej
This config is good for both anti-air and general combat against ground
units and structures. It has a decent firing rate and range.
4.2.1.2 Laser Config, single/double/triple armor
Rapier laser, 1/2/3 x armor, soulcatcher. Total cost = 2850/3200/3550 ej
This "sniper" rig is great for dealing damage from afar. Take out AA towers
and such from far away, and let your escorts take care of incoming enemy
units.
4.2.1.3 Fire Support Config, single/double/triple armor
Warhammer cannon, 1/2/3 x armor, soulcatcher. Total cost = 2100/2450/2800
ej
Need a Puma or a Hornet as a spotter, but otherwise quite deadly with great
mobility.
4.2.1.4 Burner Config, single/double/triple armor
Firestorm flamethrower, 1/2/3 x armor, soulcatcher. Total cost =
1350/1700/2050 ej
Zip in there, burn the structure, zip out. Still, lack of armor means it
should be left in the rear area until the enemy has been cleared from the
area.
4.2.2 Shark
2 @ 1x3 bays, 2 hardpoints, available mission 16, cost 950 ej
Shark is basically the land equivalent of the Phoenix... It has double the
firepower, excellent armor, big equipment bay, and more than double the
cost.
4.3 AIR COMBAT UNITS
Air combat unit has the highest speed but generally the least amount of
room for onboard expansions (and armor and shields and such).
4.3.1 Hornet
2 @ 1x1 bays, 1 @ 1x2 bay, 1 hardpoint, available mission 2, cost 150 ej
A light and fast attack chopper, it has no problem killing other similar
air units. In fact, you don't get a better air unit until mission 15, when
the Phoenix becomes available.
Most weapons will fit in this chopper. However, due to it having only one
hardpoint, it is better to pair these choppers for more firepower.
One combo is Scalpel chaingun paired with Longbow missiles (on two separate
choppers!)
A Hornet with Rapier laser is a great AAA killer, though it'll take it a
long time.
Firestorm on a Hornet makes a fast-moving nest-killer. Just make sure there
are no air-threats for it at the target.
Hornet CAN be cloaked, and makes a great spotter. However, remember that
AAA works off radar, not visual wavelengths. Cloaked puma is more
survivable as a spotter.
4.3.1.1 Dual-Purpose Config, single/double/triple armor
Scalpel or Longbow, soulcatcher, 1/2/3 x armor. Total cost = 850 / 1200 /
1550 ej
When you're tight on energy, single armor is enough, but don't expect such
a craft to last very long unless the enemy has no anti-air capabilities.
4.3.1.2 Wild Weasel Config, single/double/triple armor
Rapier laser, soulcatcher, 1/2/3 x armor. Total cost = 2600 / 2950 / 3200
ej
This aerial sniper rig is great for taking out AAA, thus the name "Wild
Weasel".
4.3.2 Phoenix
1 @ 2x4 bay, 2 hardpoints, available mission 15, cost 550 ej
Phoenix is the heavier version of Hornet, and is much better armed. With
two hardpoints, you get double firepower. It also has excellent built-in
armor, and can always fit some more shields and such. However, it is only
available very late.
In general, it is better to have 1 Phoenix and 3 Hornets than 2 Phoenixes.
4.3.3 Vulture
No device bay, 2 hardpoints, available mission 21, cost 350 ej
Not a heli but a true VTOL jet, the Vulture has no device bay, and thus no
armor and no shields. It's only protection is SPEED and that's not good at
all. Having no device bay also restricts it to ONLY be used via "direct
control", so it's pretty much a suicide mission... Fly out there, and do
your job and hope nothing else requires your attention while you do it. In
normal battles there is no place for it at all.
4.4 UTILITY UNITS
4.4.1 Scarab (Ground)
1 @ 1x1 bay, 1 @ 3x3 bay, no hardpoint, available mission 1, cost 100 ej
Scarab with a Recycle unit will act as your harvester. Add Soulcatcher chip
so it can harvest automatically.
Scarab with a Repair unit and Soulcatcher AI will automatically repair all
friendlies in its sensor range.
4.4.2 Magpie (Air)
N/A, N/A, available mission 7, N/A
Magpie is a VTOL lifter under a VERY dumb AI... It only knows how to lift
from your carrier to the rally point. If you want to move things around or
bring things back to ship, use Pegasus. However, it is FREE. If it was
destroyed, it will be rebuilt by the next mission.
Remember to MOVE the rally point to get the most out of Magpie.
4.4.3 Pegasus (Air)
1 @ 1x2 bay, no hardpoint, available mission 1, cost 75 ej
Pegasus is a lifter that can move all sorts of things... Moving vehicles,
bringing back debris for recycling, retrieve units for recycling, and so
on. It is essential for your operation.
Remember, Pegasus can carry debris back for recycling. So carry one of
those BIG pieces back (those that are worth 1000 ejs or more) for recycling
at the carrier, and let the Scarab work on the smaller stuff.
4.4.3.1 Transport Config, no/single armor
Soulcatcher, 0/1 armor. Total cost = 175 / 525 ej
4.5 OTHER UNITS
4.5.1 Sentinel
2 @ 3x2 bays, one hardpoint, available mission 6, 400 ej
Sentinel is a stationary turret, best left on the carrier itself so it can
engage incoming threats. Use the right weapon and you will be fine, but it
also needs an AI.
In general, you want the Sentinel in the forward right or forward left bay.
Just refuse the Magpie for want to move it, then "drag" the unit to the
correct bay.
Sentinel can also be placed on top of a hill as a defense site. Magpie is
pretty stupid so you may want to use a Pegasus to do this.
4.5.1.1 Air Defense, single/double armor
Longbow missile, soulcatcher, 1/2 x armor. Total cost = 1100 / 1450 ej
5 Soulcatcher Profiles
Antaeus has only one live person onboard... You. Your assistants and
briefers, Walker and Church, are at Minitech and are linked in by comm
only.
The actual fighting is done by all the Soulcatcher profiles, or you in
remote control of a vehicle via tele-presence. Think of them as "crew" if
you like, but remember, they are not alive any more. So don't be afraid to
lose them if the need arises. There's always another copy available
onboard.
All profiles have a specialty, which basically means they get a bonus for
doing that particular thing. However, all profiles can do all things. They
may complain a bit if you send them in a vehicle or weapon not to their
liking, but they'll still do their job.
5.1 BORDEN
Available mission 2
Borden prefers attacking structures.
Borden prefers distance fighting (so give her Longbow instead of Scalpel).
Borden is probably best used in a Salamander or Shark, though she is quite
capable in all vehicles.
5.2 PATTON
Available mission 2
Patton prefers driving tanks, though he'll make do with any ground unit, or
failing that, any vehicle.
Patton really likes Warhammer artillery. If you give him any other
armament, he'll complain with epithets like "This is not a gun!" or "I've
seen pea-shooters bigger than this!"
5.3 RANSOM
Available mission 2
Ransom prefers driving helicopters (Hornet or Phoenix).
Ransom prefers Scalpel, but he'll make do with Longbow or Rapier.
Ransom often chases AAA turrets, so make sure you pull him out of trouble
when he gets into it.
5.4 KROKER
Available mission 4
Kroker prefers Puma with cloak.
Kroker can serve as a Pegasus pilot, or even a general combat pilot if need
be. However, he's not that good of a pilot.
5.5 KOROLEV
Available mission 5
Korolev is best in a Scarab with a recycler, harvesting.
Keep Korolev out of fighting. Her Scarab has little/no armor. She's not
much of a combat pilot either. She can be a generic pilot when things are
tight.
BEWARE: Korolev sometimes wanders into battles, so make sure she stays
clear of the area.
5.6 MADSEN
Available mission 6
Madsen is best with a Rapier sniping at enemy targets. He goes into hover
and carefully aims... completely oblivious to proper dogfight techniques.
Madsen is okay in both ground and air units, with almost any weapon.
BEWARE: assign Madsen an escort so he doesn't get shot down while making a
long-range kill
5.7 SINCLAIR
Available mission 11
Sinclair is only good for Sentinel defense turret.
In a tight situation he can work as a generic Longbow-equipped pilot.
5.8 LAZARE
Available mission 15
Lazare is good in both air and ground assaults. He prefers Phoenix chopper,
though he can do as Shark or Rhino pilot as well.
BEWARE: watch Lazare as he often bites off more than he can chew
5.9 KENZIE
Available mission 19
Kenzie is best in a hovercraft, namely Salamander or Shark. She gets a
"bonus" in a hovercraft.
5.10 ELROY
Available mission 20
Elroy likes tanks, bigger the better. Rhino's okay, Behemoth's the best. He
gets a bonus in a tank.
6 Hostile Unit Briefing
Hostile units generally fall into 3 types: air units, ground units, and
fixed defenses.
6.1 AIR UNITS
Air Units are best handled by other air units, such as Hornet / Phoenix.
Still, dual-purpose weapons like Scalpel and Longbow work well enough, even
when mounted on ground units.
6.1.1 Recon Chopper
Very light, this is mincemeat for your Hornets with just a Scalpel
chaingun.
Normal and hybrid. Alien version is "small flyer".
6.1.2 Assault Chopper
These Apaches are equipped with something similar to your Longbow missiles,
so beware. They can be pretty hard-hitting.
Normal and hybrid. Alien version is "medium flyer".
6.1.3 VTOL Bomber
These have to hover above the target to drop a bomb, and otherwise cannot
protect themselves. They usually come with assault choppers though.
Normal and hybrid. Alien version is Hoverlaser.
6.1.4 Small Flyer
Alien version of the recon chopper, but stronger. Single energy blaster.
Alien only.
6.1.5 Medium Flyer
Alien version of the assault chopper, but stronger and more maneuverable.
Twin energy blasters.
Alien only.
6.1.6 Hoverlaser
Similar to VTOL bomber, this alien unit hovers above you and shoots a heavy
beam downward. Two shots will take out a Behemoth with armor, so beware!
Alien only.
6.2 GROUND MOBILE UNITS
These come in both normal and hybrid versions.
6.2.1 M-1 Abrams Battletank
Heavy cannon, but no anti-air, kill it with airpower is best, though ground
units would work also.
Normal and hybrid. Alien version is Red Walker.
6.2.2 M-6 Mammoth Supertank
Double cannon AND SAMs... This can be hard to kill. Still, get in close and
you can get lucky.
Normal and hybrid. Alien version is Black Walker.
6.2.3 Mobile Howitzer / SPG (self-propelled gun)
Extremely long range, this can be really deadly if you stay still. However,
no anti-air capability. So they are at the mercy of any air power. If you
keep moving you can avoid their shots.
Normal and hybrid. Alien version is Slug.
6.2.4 Red Walker
Four legs, with a cannon that's comparable to M-1. No air defense, and
susceptible to fire from Firestorm flamethrower.
Alien only.
6.2.5 Black Walker
Six legs, with a tail AA stinger, AND double-bore energy cannon, this is
comparable to the Mammoth supertank. Best attacked from a distance with
Warhammer.
Alien only.
6.2.6 Slug
Pretty slow, but well armored, and has an energy cannon with a good splash
radius. It's best to use air power to kill slugs. Think of them as bug
mobile howitzers.
Alien only.
6.2.7 Suicide Runner
Kamikaze units that attack ground units, cause little damage, but tend to
swarm. A nest will keep pumping these out until you wipe out the nest or
energy source.
Alien only.
6.3 FIXED DEFENSES
6.3.1 50 mm dual-use cannons
Same range as a Scalpel, usable against both air and ground, this cannon is
point-defense for a lot of Cabal structures. Use long-range weapons to kill
them.
Regular and hybrid. Alien equivalent is laser tower.
6.3.2 AAA
Usually mounted on a tower. Can only kill aircraft, so try to use Rapier if
you must use aircraft to kill one. If you have ground units, send in ground
units.
BEWARE! The alien version is MUCH more powerful, as it's based on an energy
weapon.
Regular, hybrid, and alien.
6.3.3 Defense bunker
Short-range but heavy-hitting cannons, no anti-air capability. Warhammer
can hit it without it hitting back. Can be dangerous in groups to units
with short ranged weapons like Scalpel and Longbow.
Regular and hybrid. Alien equivalent is lightning tower.
6.3.4 Fixed howitzer
Similar to mobile howitzer, but fixed, and very little armor. Again, no
anti-air. Best killed with airpower, though Rapier or Warhammer from a
distance would work as well.
Regular and hybrid. Alien version is "blast cannon".
6.3.5 Blast Cannon
Like howitzer, it fires shot in a high-arcing trajectory. Long reload time,
susceptible to air assaults. Think of it as REALLY alien version of fixed
howitzer. Sometimes I'll refer to them as "alien howitzer".
Alien only.
6.3.6 Lightning tower
Short-range defense both air and ground... Two shoots will kill you without
shields. Long-range firepower is best for killing one. Alien version of
defense bunker.
Alien only.
6.3.7 Laser tower
Sort of improved version of the 50 mm dual-use cannons, these take on both
air and ground threats, with improved range. They also form laser barriers.
Alien only.
7 Hostile Structure Briefing
Hostile structures support their "war machine". To take them out, you need
to wipe out the derricks, then the storage, then the production facilities.
Killing the radar outpost will give you some reaction time.
These buildings come in regular, hybrid, and alien versions.
Some alien structures can hide underground, then pop up. You need to
trigger them with a unit, preferably cloaked.
The alien structures as well as hybrid structures are vulnerable to fire
from the Firestorm flamethrower.
7.1 DERRICKS
Harvesting energy out of the ground, which then goes to energy storage.
These are your PRIMARY targets. Without energy, enemy cannot build any more
units. If there's a choice between killing the derricks or incur no damage
to your units, kill the derricks!
7.2 ENERGY STORAGE
Stores energy from the derricks, drives the production factories. These
aren't that important, as they have limited capacity. After the derricks
are gone, these would be empty soon.
Energy storage looks like a storage tank. If the tank is full, it looks
"inflated". If the tank is empty, it looks deflated.
If you have already destroyed the derricks that feed the stroage tanks, you
can ignore any tanks that look "deflated". They are "empty" and thus can no
longer sustain the production plants.
7.3 GROUND UNIT PRODUCTION
Makes ground units, like M-1 Abrahms, red walker, etc.
7.4 AIR UNIT PRODUCTION
Makes Recon and Apache choppers, or flyers.
7.5 HEAVY PRODUCTION
Makes heavy units like Mammoth / black walker, SPG (mobile howitzer) /
slug, and VTOL Bomber/Hoverlaser.
7.6 RADAR OUTPOST
Early warning radar, checks where you are.
Kill them ASAP so the enemy has less reaction time to your incursions.
Rapier can kill radar without being detected.
Warning: the alien version of the radar can detect cloaked Puma if you get
too close. Beware!
7.7 COMMAND CENTER / CONTROL CENTER
Merely a mission objective... Big building and worth a lot of ejs (4000?).
It doesn't produce anything. You can leave these for last.
7.8 ALIEN NEST
Alien nest is the home of suicide runners. The nest is best destroyed by
fire. It is a tough target, so you can probably leave these for last.
7.9 ALIEN "PUMP"
This is a black alien creature that looks and sounds like a bug pumping
something out of the ground. It is a structure supposedly similar to the
derricks, but not identified as such. This is of no threat to you. You can
kill these for recycling after you killed other things first.
8 General strategies and tactics
8.1 GENERAL COMBAT
8.1.1 Kill energy, then production... when possible
Usually, you kill enemy derricks first, which cuts off their production
energy supply. They then switch to the energy in their storage tanks. After
they run out, they can't build any more. You THEN take out energy storage
tanks to make them run out even faster. Then finally, you take out
production facilities when there are no more units coming.
If you try to pound production first, you have to waste a LOT of time
killing the units that pop out. Unless... You use this next method.
8.1.2 When you're in a hurry, kill production first
When the enemy production is so well defended or takes so long to kill that
you will simply be overwhelmed if you do it the regular way, it's time to
use a kamikaze attack on the production facilities themselves. I call this
the "stealth kamikaze" tactic.
Build a cloak Puma armed with Firestorm, and deploy it. Turn on its cloak
first. Then move the Puma to an empty area that is NOT within the enemy
path and is near the structure. Now pick your target.
Target the HEAVY factory, then the air factory. The lighter ground stuff is
easy to kill, so you can leave that alone.
Call in an Antaeus salvo on the production plant. After the salvo lands, it
should have about 6% remaining. Move the cloaked Puma into the base, and
find a place where you're less likely to be hit (by turrets and such) but
close enough to the building you wish to torch. You probably want to stay
on the OTHER side of building, opposite the enemy defense guns. You will
also want to time the facility so you attack AFTER the units it produced
has moved out of range.
Order the Puma forward, torch the building, then immediately cloak and get
out of the compound. Likely the Puma will not survive, but that quick burst
of the flame should torch the building and it goes POOF. Voila, no more
units, even if there are plenty of energy around.
Repeat as many times as there are shots available from Antaeus.
If you are in a hurry, drop TWO salvoes on the target. It's a waste, but
sometimes it's necessary.
8.1.3 Combined Arms
Many weapons/units in HW complement one another, and some units/weapons are
best used to escort others. Find the good combinations and use them.
Warhammer-equipped units esp. need the escorts. Let the Warhammer unit bust
derricks and buildings and towers while the other units engage attacking
enemies.
8.1.4 Divide and conquer
Attack enemy units ONE at a time. Getting into the middle of units and
getting hit from all sides is a quick way to lose your force. Instead,
start from the edges and take out ONE at a time, retreat, then return to
attack another.
Your units are far more survivable than enemy units (in general) and thus,
you should exploit that advantage to the extreme.
This advantage is even more so when you get shields. Shields regenerate,
armor does not.
When applied to a larger scale, take out ONE enemy facility at a time.
Clear the smaller one, consolidate your beachhead, then attack the next
camp. If you fight two camps simultaneously you'll likely be overwhelmed.
8.1.5 Prioritize threats and engage accordingly
Units that can do you the most damage should get priority attention. For
example, the alien howitzers do the most damage and has the most range,
then the AAA and dual-purpose towers. Then black walkers, then hoverlasers,
then other units. As enemy changes range (due to your and their movement),
reprioritize the targets.
Usually your AI knows to handle the closest enemies, so leave them alone.
Only give them orders when they get into things they can't handle.
If you've destroyed energy production (derricks), you can ignore the energy
storage and the production plants. They are useless after they "run dry".
Similarly, if you've destroyed the production plant (with the kamikaze
trick above) you can leave the derricks and storage depot alone and go on
to attack something else. This is REALLY important when you are really
pressed for time.
8.1.6 Use the right counter
Almost every weapon has a counter. Each weapon has its own strengths and
weaknesses. Use the right weapons against the right enemy is the key to
success in HW.
Some examples include:
AAA units cannot defend against ground attack.
Ground units with no AAA are vulnerable from the air.
Long-range units have slow firing rates, thus is vulnerable to close-in
attacks.
Close-in weapons can't reach long-range enemies. Unless your units are
willing to brave the fire and close with the enemy, you can't use close-in
weapons.
8.1.7 Listen for Audio Queues
Listen carefully to audio queues. All enemy buildings are dark red, but
whoever detected it will tell you in general what they found. Energy
derricks are of course, primary targets wherever you find them.
Enemy will say things like "production is down" and things like that to let
you know your progress against them. Of course, this only applies to human
or hybrid units, not alien units.
8.2 ORDER TACTICS
8.2.1 Do NOT issue specific attack orders... unless you need to
Your units with Soulcatcher chips are smart enough to engage hostiles THEN
buildings, UNLESS you gave them specific orders to take out specific
targets. Put them into the target's proximity and let the AI do the rest.
There is an exception... In case of Warhammer-equipped units, you should
use them to engage certain buildings, like energy derricks and energy
storage tanks, before you leave them to engage anything else. Warhammer has
a tendency to drop rounds right on top of friendly units using shorter-
range weapons, so assigning the Warhammer unit other tasks will prevent
fratricide.
8.2.2 Use "follow" command to NOT nursemaid... unless you have to
You can assign one unit to follow another unit, and you should use that
extensively instead of using the "group" function, esp. after you got
Warhammer.
Assign the escorts to follow the Warhammer unit around. Assign Warhammer to
take out specific targets and the escorts will follow and protect the unit
from attackers.
There are exceptions to this. Sometimes, some units can get into more
trouble than they should. In that case, order the unit to retreat, THEN
follow (remember to cancel the existing "follow" order!)
8.2.3 Attack and Retreat
After you take out a structure, pull back and consolidate. This gives your
shields a chance to regenerate. THEN re-attack.
8.2.4 Disengage before it's too late
When a unit reaches 25% point of health, it's time to disengage the unit so
it can be repaired or replaced (recycle and rebuild).
That's why shields are so powerful... If you give a shield-equipped unit
some breathing time, it'll be good as new, if you disengaged early enough
so the "core" wasn't damaged.
If you do it later, the unit may be destroyed while attempting to
disengage, then you would get NOTHING back.
8.2.5 Remember to CANCEL existing orders when issuing new ones
Sometimes, you have standing orders on certain units, like recycle this
area, follow that vehicle, and so on. Remember to CANCEL such standing
orders before giving new ones or you'll be cursing at your vehicle on not
following your orders.
8.3 WEAPON TACTICS
8.3.1 Longbow vs. Scalpel
While Scalpel does complement Longbow, the unit with the Scalpel, being
closer, tend to get REALLY beaten up, while the Longbow equipped unit
doesn't even take a single hit. I prefer two vehicles with Longbow when
possible, or two Longbow, one Scalpel, with the Scalpel unit having heavier
shields and armor.
8.3.2 Keep Warhammer out of direct combat
Keep Warhammer-equipped units out of direct combat. Their howitzers are
long-range weapons, but the ballistic arc means their shots rarely land
directly ON the enemy if the enemy is moving.
If other units equipped with shorter ranged weapons are also engaging the
enemy, the Warhammer's shots will frequently result in friendly-fire (which
is anything but friendly!)
8.3.3 Spotter for Warhammer
If you have Warhammer, you need a spotter, as the Warhammer can usually
only hit targets within its own sensor range, except for, of course, the
spotter. A spotter can help extend Warhammer's range. Cloaked Puma is the best
for this.
8.3.4 Keep Firestorm out of direct combat
Firestorm-equipped units have a VERY shot range, so short it's virtually
useless except burning down alien buildings. Keep it out of direct combat
if possible. Hide it behind a hill so the enemy will be at point-blank if
you need to take one into direct combat. When the coast is clear, you can
then have it join in for structure destruction.
8.3.5 Watch out for sidestepping choppers
Ransom and other pilots tend to sidestep (fly sideways and circle) even
when there is NO possibility the enemy can return fire, like busting AAA
with a Rapier. This will sometimes cause them to fly right into range of
another unit/AAA while trying to kill the first one.
Good thing that Madsen doesn't have this problem. However, it also makes
Madsen a sitting duck.
Keep a close eye on these choppers, give them "goto" orders if necessary,
or even take control of the unit yourself (unless there are enemy units
nearby).
8.3.6 Ultimate combo... Two Behemoths
Equip one Behemoth with Warhammer, Recycler, armor and shields. The other
Behemoth gets Repair unit, armor and shields, and Longbow. These two can
keep each other company, gather energy, AND keep the shooter in tip-top
shape.
Another possibility... Two Behemoths, BOTH with repair units. They can repair
each other, and kill things. Follow them with a Scarab to clean up the
pieces... And maybe some air cover (which can be repaired as well!)
8.4 RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
8.4.1 Replace
When a unit is heavily damaged, SEND it back to be recycled, then generate
a new one in its place with the same pilot and any improved armament as
needed.
Keep in mind that Magpie doesn't retrieve units, only deliver. So you will
need to build a Pegasus to move things back to the carrier, unless you're
talking about choppers or hovers.
If this is not possible, you need to send out a repair unit, like Scarab or
Behemoth with a repair module.
8.4.2 Reuse
When a unit's purpose is over, recycle it for more energy.
For example, when you finished moving things with a Pegasus, recycle it and
build offensive units. When there are too much AAA for choppers to fly,
recycle them for hover or land units.
8.4.3 Repair
Sometimes, it's better to send out a repair unit to accompany your units
instead of bringing the unit back to the ship to be replaced. This is good
when the unit hurt is slow (like Rhino / Behemoth) or the path they must
cross is too long.
The repair unit can be damaged though, and are quite expensive (and takes
up one Soulcatcher chip).
If need be, drive the repair unit yourself.
8.4.4 Harvesting under fire
In general, if you have shooting units near the harvester, the harvester
will be safe, as enemy units will evaluate the threat and declare the
shooter to be more dangerous, and attack THAT instead.
If a harvester is alone, it can be attacked if there are no other targets
in the vicinity.
Assign an escort to "soak" up the damage around the harvester. The escort
should be set to follow the harvester around.
8.4.5 Never stop harvesting
While the energy you gather from one mission do NOT carry over into
another, that is no excuse to keep your harvester idle. Having a TON of
energy available would make the end of the mission that much easier, in
case something goes wrong and you need to build backup units.
8.5 GAMEPLAY
8.5.1 Save the game!
The game CAN be difficult so remember to save. This is a "save anywhere"
game. Use it!
Save once you start, then when each objective is complete, so you can start
over if need be without starting all the way over from the beginning.
Sometimes, you may even want to save more often than that. For example, in
mission 9: Armia, you may want to save every time you start harvesting, so
if you made a mistake and the Scarab cannot hide itself in time, you don't
have to start all the way over.
8.5.2 Building and commanding STOPS THE CLOCK
While you're in F1 and F2 screens, time is paused.
This means you can recycle and rebuild your Sentinel onboard in ZERO TIME,
so it will ALWAYS be fresh, even with just 1 armor. Just keep an eye on it.
You can even swap its weapons, or move it from one bay to another, all that
in ZERO TIME.
8.5.3 Grouping is NOT good, FOLLOW is GOOD.
In most RTS, you group the units together so you can command them together.
While that can be done in HW, it's not very efficient, because you lose the
ability to track the units separately. While you get a small bar graph of
the individual units in the group, it is FAR less informative than the
individual bars under individual icons. It also makes it very difficult to
issue specific orders to a particular unit, like ordering a wounded unit to
withdraw.
Instead, use "follow" commands extensively, then you can just move the
"head" unit" and the rest will follow. You get the benefits of grouping
without losing the control over individual units.
8.5.4 Drag-and-drop
In the production screen, you can drag and drop the unit icons. This means
you can INSTANTLY recycle an existing Sentinel and build one in its place.
Drag the icon from its forward-right bay to the recycler in the rear, and
it'll instantly be absorbed. Then build another one in its place.
If you built a unit with the wrong weapon, and it haven't left the pad yet,
you can immediately drag that to recycler and rebuild it (correctly). No
time would have passed.
8.5.5 Know the ej cost of certain combos
You should have a reference of how much ej a certain combo, like Salamander
with 2 armor and a Longbow, or Hornet with Scalpel and 1 armor, and so on,
so you know instantly you can afford one.
8.5.6 Protect Antaeus
Always have a Sentinel onboard when you can, and ALWAYS build that first so
it is always ready to defend (and those Longbows are pretty effective).
Remember, you can drag-and-drop units on the 4 pads provided that you
didn't exit the building screen (F2). So put the turret on the side closest
to shore.
9 Campaign Walkthru
The mission names are from the last page of the mission briefing, when the
specific objectives are listed.
These events are what had worked for me. I can't guarantee you will get the
exact same results, but it should be close enough.
The first four mission are like a tutorial, and that's pretty good.
9.1 MISSION 1: RESURRECTION
You have arrived on the Antaeus, and it is barely operational. Walker and
Church are working on the ship as fast as they can. At least the Creation
Engine is working so you can build some units, but there isn't much energy
available. You'll have to get some. Also, no Soulcatcher chips are ready
yet, so you'll have to use manual control for now.
Objective: harvest 3500 ej, ensure both units (Pegasus and Scarab) survive
You are just north of the entrance to the lagoon.
Q: I can't pick up the Scarab with Pegasus!
A: You're probably too high. Go a bit lower. Use the bottom camera to line
up.
Q: The Scarab died!
A: The only way to kill the Scarab is for it "drown" (i.e. went into
water). You better start over.
Q: What do I do with the Scarab?
A: Look for objects to harvest. Use the targeting controls and then move
over to "zap" it with the harvest beam.
Q: Why do some pieces take an instant to absorb, and some take a long time?
A: The piece that yields a lot of energy will take longer than those that
yield minimal energy.
Take off in Pegasus, and target the Scarab. Fly over it (use the bottom
camera) and drop a hook to pick it up. Fly lower if you need to. Once
picked up, move Scarab to the beach directly to the south, and drop it on
the beach.
Take over the Scarab. Use "locate nearest resource" to locate debris to
harvest. You can see those pieces on the ground as cyan dots on the radar.
Repeat harvesting until you have gathered 3500 ej, and the mission should
end.
9.2 MISSION 2: CONSTRUCTION AND ORDERING
You need weapons, and you need them now. Unfortunately, none of the
blueprints have survived in the memory banks. However, there appears to be
a wreck of a Hornet attack chopper to the southwest you can retrieve. If
you get that, the Creation Engine can copy it.
Objective: Harvest 5500 ej energy, grab the Hornet's wreckage, destroy the
radar, protect the ship
You now have 3 Soulcatcher chips available: Borden, Patton, and Ransom.
Start off by building a Scarab with a Recycler and Soulcatcher, assign
Patton. Then build a Pegasus with Soulcatcher, assign Borden.
Use the command interface and order Borden to pick up the Scarab, and drop
it off at the Rally Point on the map. Then order Borden to move back near
the Antaeus. Have her stay there for a while.
Order Patton to start harvesting that depot with the energy tanks. Patton
should notice the wreckage of the Hornet.
Order Borden to go back and pick up the Hornet wreckage, then drop off at
Antaeus Recycler. When that's done, the Hornet should become available.
Now recycle the Pegasus as well.
Build a Hornet and assign Ransom. Then move Ransom to near the radar dish
(northwest on a little isthmus) and he should destroy that radar dish.
He'll also take out any choppers that come to visit.
When Borden is available again (from the Pegasus), build a second Hornet
with her at the control and assign her to help Ransom.
A couple Recon choppers will come visit, but they are no match to your
Hornet(s). They'll keep coming for a couple waves. After that, you should
get "protect ship" objective as "completed".
Send the choppers to take out any other "red" stuff on the island. There
are probably 3 AAA you need to take out. After they are all gone, send both
choppers back to the carrier to be recycled. This will make Patton's job go
faster as he needs to recycle less debris on the island.
If Patton can't find enough stuff to recycle, move him around a bit so he
can suck up whatever wreckage on the ground. The dock has some cranes that
can be recycled, and there are other stuff around the island. Assign the
choppers to blow up any recyclable structures that look intact.
When you got 5500 ej, the mission ends.
9.3 MISSION 3: ILAX ISLAND
We believe those recon choppers you saw came from this island. Remember,
take out energy sources, then storage areas, then finally, the production
factories. Also destroy any radar sites.
Objective: Harvest 2000 ej, locate Air Unit Factory, destroy all derricks,
destroy tank factory, destroy all radar stations, retrieve missile launcher
for analysis
No change in unit or Soulcatcher availability.
Q: Where do I go first?
A: Start just northwest, and clean out that little isthmus. That has the
only oil derricks on the island.
Q: Where is the air unit factory?
A: Technically, it's NOT on this island. So don't worry about it.
Q: Where are the derricks?
A: Northwest of you... Just north of the depot.
Q: How about the radar stations?
A: One to west, just NW of the first depot. One on the eastern shore.
Start building Hornet (assign Ransom), Pegasus (Borden), and Scarab
(Patton). Send Ransom to destroy the storage depot, the radar, and the
derricks. Then have Borden pickup Patton's Scarab and drop it where it can
harvest all those wreckage.
Send Borden back and when you got enough energy, build her a Hornet to
backup Ransom.
Send Ransom north, and take out the tanks and an AAA there. Now the isthmus
is secure. Leave Ransom in a blocking position. Some tanks and recon
choppers may visit, but without those derricks there can't be too many of
them.
If Ransom or Borden get whacked pretty hard, just send the wounded one back
to be recycled and build a new Hornet.
When Patton cleans out an area, send him to the other area you guys cleaned
out with a lot of wreckage.
Just north of that landbridge is the tank factory. Send both Hornets in to
level it and all nearby stuff. Make sure you bring Patton along when he's
done with that other area for more harvesting.
Now, follow the edge of the island clockwise and destroy any enemy units.
Remember, if you get attacked and severely damaged, move out of range of
the weapon, then circle back to the carrier for rebuilding. Then go in
again.
Eventually, you find this little "base" in the middle of the main island...
There's a missile launcher there. Clean out all the enemies. When there are
no enemies there, send Borden back to carrier and recycle her Hornet, and
build her a Pegasus. Then have her pickup the launcher, and drop it at the
carrier recycler. When you got that, it's mission accomplished.
9.4 MISSION 4: MASTERING THE ANTAEUS CRUISER
We goofed last time about the air factory, but we think we found the real
island now. The air factory is really on this island we're approaching. We
also detected a comm array nearby, probably in the center of the island. We
will want to intercept what they got, THEN blow it up. This will be a REAL
fight, beware.
Objective: Harvest 2500 ej, destroy air unit factory, intercept
transmission, locate something that goes boom, destroy comm dish
You now have 4 Soulcatcher chips available: Borden, Patton, Ransom, and
Kroker.
No new vehicles are available. You now have Longbow missile launcher.
Q: How DO I kill the dish?
A: See anything that will explode if given the proper incentive?
Q: Where can I find some of that stuff?
A: Direct east of you, past the depot. There are also some to the southwest
near the port.
You start on the northwest side of the island. The derricks are to your
east.
Build Hornet with Scalpel (Ransom), Hornet with Longbow (Borden), Pegasus
(Kroker), and Scarab with Recycler (Patton).
Send two Hornets east and take out the derricks, the storage tanks, and any
buildings left on the 'top' part of the island. That is all the energy they
got. They have some in storage but that won't last too long.
When that top part is clear, send in Pegasus with the Scarab and have
Scarab start harvesting.
Some recon choppers will attack, but they're no match to your Hornets. If
they make a run for the carrier, bring the Hornets back for defense. Then
send them back out to kill things.
You should notice there are several tanker trucks around and those really
go "boom" with the right incentive. Don't blow them up yet.
Take the Hornets and follow the western edge of the island and go counter-
clockwise as you take out more buildings, energy storage, and so on, as you
find more tanker trucks at the port in the southwest corner of the island.
Start moving east, and take out the energy storage and air factory.
Eventually, only the dish and AAA are left near the middle of the island.
Kill the AAA. Send the most damaged chopper back to be recycled. Send the
other Hornet next to the dish for the Signal Intercept. Just hold the
Hornet there, and after a while it's mission accomplished.
Build a Pegasus with the recycled Hornet. Pick up one of those tanker
trucks you found earlier, and have that dropped right next to dish. Then
move the Pegasus back.
Use the Hornet doing the Intercept (it should be done now) and have it blow
up the tanker (shoot it). Take direct control if necessary. That should
take out the dish, and you should win!
9.5 MISSION 5: INTERCEPTION
We need to get to the wetdock for the complete repair, and we think someone
on this island wouldn't want us there. Take them out before they do us in.
Objectives: destroy outpost, locate drop plane, investigate sensor readings
from northern part of the island, destroy towers.
Korolev is now available as a soulcatcher chip.
Q:Where are the derricks?
A:Just east of you... Behind that AAA.
You start just west of the island. Start by building Hornet with Scalpel
and Armor (Ransom), Hornet with Longbow and Armor (Borden), Scarab with
Recycler (Korolev), and Pegasus (Kroker).
Send the Hornets directly east and take out the derricks and AAA there.
That should slow them down.
Have Pegasus pickup the Scarab and drop it at the ex-derricks for some
harvesting.
Send Hornets northeast and take out the radar and check out the funny
readings. That little fortress has a lot of AAA, so try to go in where you
can only be hit by one AAA at a time. Remember to retreat and rebuild when
needed. Wipe out the entire complex.
Send Pegasus over to the ex-radar dish and nab the unknown object that's
causing the strange sensor readings, and drop it in the ship's recycler.
Scarab should be done with the initial site. Send it to that fortress you
just wrecked.
Send Pegasus back to be recycled. Then build two Salamanders with 2 armor
and Longbow (or 1 Longbow and 1 Scalpel). You should have Patton and Kroker
left. Assign them. Use them to take out the factory just south of derricks.
If you have a LOT of energy (kept Korolev busy), send the 2 Hornets back to
be recycled and built 2 more Salamanders with Longbow and 2 armor. Keep 1
or 2 at the ship as a SAM platform. Send the other 3 to attack.
The attack force should go east and take out any remaining enemies.
Attack force should follow eastern shores to south, and takes out the radar
dish. Keep following the shores until you see the air factory and more
energy storage. Take them out. You should see the drop plane (a Hercules C-
130 transport) lined up on the runway. Send your Salamanders in and blow it
up.
When you do that, some weird biological "towers" suddenly grew out of the
ground... Your hovercrafts should engagement automatically though. When you
team wiped out all the towers, the "crystal egg" should be revealed.
Bring Korolev over, and have her Scarab stop next to that "crystal egg". It
is a "culture stone". The mission should end when Korolev gets close
enough.
9.6 MISSION 6: WET DOCK
We've arrived at the wet dock. We will be vulnerable during that time but
that can't be helped. We need 8 minutes. Don't let Antaeus and those repair
arms come to serious harm.
Madsen is now available as part of Soulcatcher team.
Repair unit is now available as a device, and Sentinel is now available as
a unit.
Objective: Protect Antaeus, and protect all the repair arms for 8 minutes.
Q: Which ways should I expect the enemies?
A: Northeast and northwest first, then southeast and southwest.
Build Sentinel with Longbow and armor (Borden), Scarab with Recycler
(Korolev), and Pegasus (Kroker? Madsen?)
Have the Pegasus drop Scarab at where there is a lot of structures to
recycle, then immediately have Pegasus head back for recycle.
Build 4 Salamander with 2 armor and Longbow. First one, send northeast,
second one northwest, third one southwest, and finally, southeast. You
won't have energy for all of them immediately, so build them when you can.
Keep Korolev busy!
Build Sentinel after the first Salamander. You should have enough energy to
do this. Keep building Salamander as energy become available. Scarab should
always be collecting more energy.
The northeast Salamander should be on top of that hill for best firing
vantage point.
Northwest Salamander should be between those two "arms" of the island, half
way out.
Put the Salamanders far out enough so they will attract the enemy's
attention before they get to the ship. Move them back into position after
each attack wave clears.
If you place them right, those Salamanders should take out all of the
invading aircrafts with help of the Sentinel, and you should win!
9.7 MISSION 7: KUNZ'S RESCUE
Kunz managed to signal us... Cabal is building laser weapons. We can use
some for our own copy. We also need to rescue Kunz without forcing the
enemy to evacuate him or we'll never find him again. The laser would be
just the weapon we need.
No new units or weapons. However, Magpie is now available to delivery
things to rally point.
Objectives: locate laser, retrieve laser, rescue Kunz, take out Chinook
pilot
Q: How do I save Kunz? That Chinook keeps flying him away!
A: Take out the pilot first.
Q: How do I kill the Chinook pilot?
A: Use a Salamander equipped with rapier laser.
Q: Where is the Chinook pilot?
A: Look for him near the east entrance.
Q: What does the pilot look like?
A: He's wearing an orange jumpsuit and a helmet. You have to zoom in REALLY
close to see him though. Try 16X.
Start by building Sentinel with Longbow and 1 armor (assign Borden), refuse
Magpie delivery. Then build 2 Salamanders (Longbow / Scalpel with 2 armors
each) crewed by Patton / Kroker. Also build Scarab with Recycler (Korolev),
and accept Magpie delivery.
Send Salamanders up to the beach and take out the 2 turrets.
When the Salamanders leave, create a Hornet with Scalpel and 2 armor
(Ransom). Send Hornet after the howitzers raining shots at the Salamanders
and the Scarab. Now you've secured a beachhead.
Now take the group of Salamanders and Hornet a little north, and have it
take out everything (derricks, radar, howitzer, etc.) to north. Make sure
the Scarab scour this area for more stuff to recycle.
Continue north, and take out more howitzers, energy storage, etc. at the
docks. You should see a lot of "yellow" crates. (They appear yellow in the
"tactical" view) Attack the ship, sink it, while you're at it. Bring the
Scarab over when it's ready.
Build a Pegasus and assign Madsen to it. Use it to bring one of those
yellow crates back. Drop it off at the recycler. Voila, you got the
laser... It'll be 2 minutes before it's ready.
Follow the northern edge of the island and you should see some derricks
just in from the coast. Take them out, but do NOT assault the fortress.
Follow the coast and take out other buildings as you go. There's a small
island to northwest that has energy storage. Take that out.
Use Madsen's Pegasus to shift the Scarab around for faster harvesting. You
can even use the Pegasus to move wreckage back to the ship's recycler.
Continue south and you'll hit tank and air factories, then more derricks
and energy storage. Take out derricks first, THEN the factories.
To west you'll see a dock connected by a bridge, with more AAA, energy
storage, and another ship. You can also find laser crates here if you
didn't grab any to the north. After those are gone, take out the ship as
well.
If you don't take out the ships, you have 10 minutes to destroy both ships
near the end. May as well do it now.
Follow the southern edge eastward until you're back at the carrier.
Repair/rebuild all units. There should be no more enemy production now
except whatever reserves they have.
Build a Salamander with laser, no armor, no Soulcatcher. This one is YOURS.
Drive it off the carrier and get close to that dot on the map, just north
of it, at the ridgeline. Use zoom and look at the entrance gate. At 16x you
should see an orange suited guy. That's the pilot you need to take out. If
you don't see him, you're at the wrong location. Shoot him with the laser,
and the pilot's dead. Then use the laser and take out all the AAA you see.
Now move in the attack force (the Salamanders and Hornet) and take out all
the AAA guns around the central base, and you win!
9.8 MISSION 8: ANOTHER RESCUE
The data in the Chinook points to this island. This island is nicely ringed
on all sides with defense AAA so ground assault is your best bet. We've
sailed straight into the harbor so we have guns on all sides. You'll need
to clean out the surrounding area, then take over the HQ and get the two
scientists.
No new units, no new devices, no new Soulcatcher chips.
Q: So where are the scientists?
A: Search around and find out...
Q: All right... How do I get out?
A: Delete the generator building, which is to the north a bit...
Start by building a Sentinel (1 armor, Longbow, Borden) and 2 Salamanders
(Longbow, 2x armor, Patton and one other). Immediately assign Salamanders
to attack the nearest guns as they can destroy the Magpie even when it
hasn't taken off yet. If they destroy it you need to build a Pegasus to
move the Scarab (later) around.
Once the surrounded guns are gone, move the Salamanders to that "pass" just
to northwest.
Build the Scarab with Recycler (assign Korolev). If Magpie is still around,
use it. Else build a Pegasus and use that to move it to rally point, and
send Korolev on harvesting trip. If you have to use a Pegasus, recycle it
now.
Build another Salamander or two when you can. Gather them at that pass,
then up the hill. They will then proceed to protect the ship from the
mobile howitzers, tanks, and the occasional choppers coming from that
factory to the northeast.
Continue north, and you'll see the fountain, then the building... As you
reach the building...
It's a trap! There are no scientists here! The sea door behind the ship
closes and it's shielded... So weapons won't break it. Then, there are
weird bio factories growing north, west, and south in those little
"corners".
Bring your forces back and take out one factory at a time, starting with
northeast one and work your way counter-clockwise. Also quickly build
Ransom a Hornet with Scalpel and 2 x armor and assign him to attack the bio
factory as well. Watch out for those "slugs" as they are very powerful
"tanks". However, they have no anti-air, so Hornet is best for killing
them.
Once all the factories are done, build a Pegasus to move Korolev to clean
up after those bug factories. That should give you plenty of energy, enough
to rebuild your units to full strength.
If you're in a hurry, go north until you see a "yellow" building on the
command map. Designate that shield generator building and send an Antaeus
salvo or two at it, then gather everyone and blast that thing, and you win
immediately.
If you prefer to take it slow, gather your units and attack the fountain
area again to the north of the pass, up that hill. You'll have to take out
2 lightning towers, then the misc. tanks and such. Continue moving north,
past the empty HQ, and you spot the factory, which is yellow on the command
map, along with other factories. Take out the derricks just to the
northeast of the factories.
Rebuild your units, then attack east from the factories and remove the
final factories. Now you have no one to bother you. Feel free to blast any
other enemies you see around, esp. those turrets. Beware that you'll see
AAA and blast cannon bunkers.
Now you can designate that "yellow" factory as a target for Antaeus' main
battery. After that, if it's still there, assign all units to pound it.
When it's toast, the sea door is open again, and you win.
9.9 MISSION 9: ARMIA ISLAND
Kunz have developed Puma and Cloak, which can be very useful. You will
investigate this next island in stealth... Do NOT be detected. This looks
more than a supply depot.
Objective: Harvest 6000 ej, Avoid detection, Locate Recon Unit Source,
Investigate Some More, Destroy missile tracking sites
Q: I can't stay undetected!
A: Did you use only cloaked Pumas to recon? Did you engage cloak? Did you
get Scarab out of sight when the recon choppers come by?
Q: Where is that "recon chopper factory"?
A: Northeast corner of the island. Beware of a few surprises.
Q: What else do I look for?
A: Look slightly northeast of the recon chopper factory.
Q: Where are the three tracking arrays?
A: 11 o'clock, 1 o'clock, and 6 o'clock, from the island center.
Q: Antaeus has only two shots. How do I take out that remaining site?
A: How did you do it last time?
Q: Where can I find some, uh... things that go boom?
A: Two places. Right where you start is one. Another is a little north of
the 11 o'clock array, near the depot.
You start on the west side of the island. The rally point is actually
pretty exposed, but that's not a major problem. First task is to build a
Puma with cloak, and assign Kroker. Let Magpie deliver it to the rally
point, cloak immediately upon reaching the ground. If you happen to run
into the recon chopper, restart the mission.
Send the Puma eastward, cloaked and you'll see the first depot. Keep going
east and you'll see the first factory complex. Beware that all these are
heavily guarded. Don't get too close, and don't shoot any one!
By now you should get two more special nav points, one near the middle of
the island, and one on the beach. Get your cloaked Puma to center nav
point. Be careful do NOT run into those electrified tracks! There are
special "crossings" available on the tracks at certain places. That Puma
will be the early warning system for the recon chopper on patrol.
You may want to save now.
Build a Scarab with Recycler and Korolev. Let Magpie deliver it to the
rally point, and let it harvest that depot you found with the Puma earlier.
If a recon chopper shows up on Kroker's radar, immediately cancel Korolev's
orders, then send her Scarab to that point on the beach. Give the chopper
15-20 seconds, then resume harvesting.
Leave the 2 tanker trucks there, you'll need it for something else later.
When you have enough energy, build a second cloak Puma, with Madsen. Let
Magpie deliver it. Remember to cloak. Send Madsen just northeast of the
depot, on the beach, so he can monitor that recon chopper leaving so you
can better use Korolev's Scarab harvesting.
Keep harvesting and hiding until there's nothing left at the depot. Then
send the Scarab back to the beach hiding point.
Send Kroker's Puma and explore the island. I would go south, then try to go
roughly counter-clockwise. Send Madsen's Puma north. You need to locate all
three tracking arrays.
If you hear a chirping sound, back off! You're getting too close to one of
those radars. While Puma is a stealth vehicle, don't take a chance! Follow
the road if you want.
You'll find a "tracking array" (a white globe/dome) 6 o'clock from island
center, almost to the beach. To the east of it you'll find chopper and tank
factory, plus other structures.
Another tracking array can be found 11 o'clock from island center, half way
to edge. You'll also find a tank depot, AAA, and more energy storage there.
Bring Madsen's Puma here so you can be ready to target it, but don't shoot
it!
There is another tracking array 1 o'clock, roughly same distance. Beyond
that are a lot of bases. If you approach carefully you'll see the recon
chopper factory... It's MUTATED. [Objective]
Just to northwest of the factory... You find the missile launch silos. You
need to destroy them quickly... But before you can do something, the
missiles launched. You now have 20 minutes to take out all three arrays or
those missiles will hit the capital. [Objective]
Send Kroker's Puma back to the 1 o'clock array, and designate that as a
target. Then have Antaeus drop a salvo on it. [Objective]
Switch to Madsen's Puma and do the same thing to the 11o'clock array. Two
down, one to go, and you have like 15-18 minutes to do it. [Objective]
This third one requires a bit of "demolition", as Antaeus have no more
ammo.
Build a Pegasus with armor (Borden?) and a Hornet with laser and armor
(Ransom). Have Pegasus pick up one of the tanker trucks, then fly SOUTH,
then east, and drop that tanker right on top of the dome. You may need to
use manual control to do this. Try to drop it on the WEST side of the dome.
Then send the Pegasus back, but don't recycle it yet.
Now send in Ransom, same route (south, then east). Locate the tanker truck
(fly high to see it), then take manual control and shoot the tanker next to
the dome. Boom! Last dome goes up and you've saved the capital. Immediately
take Ransom back out of range or enemy choppers will visit. [Objective]
Remaining objective is to gather more energy. Send the Pegasus to lift the
Scarab to the energy depot to the north. There should be no enemies there,
but just in case, send your Pumas around the depot as early warning system.
When you get all 6000 ej, you win.
As you win, you saw a sub leave that island...
9.10 MISSION 10: ATOLL
The sub that left Armia has came to this island... It has a TON of
protection on all sides... A TON of factories, AAA, and more. It has
roughly 3 areas... North, central, and southeast. You need to take out each
in turn, or you'll be overwhelmed. Then take out the command center. Find
out where that sub is too.
Q: Which one should I attack first?
A: The one near the rally point is a good start.
Q: Where are the derricks?
A: The first two sets are in a straight line from you to the rally point,
roughly. There's another one just south of the center island. Then finally
another set southeast of the sub pens.
Q: How do I disable the subs?
A: Shoot one shot of arclight at EACH sub. If you hit, they become
disabled.
You start at northwest of the island.
Start by building 4 Salamanders, each with 2 armor, half Scalpel, half
Longbow. Put Borden, Madsen, Patton, and Kroker in there. Send them to the
Rally point. Take out any tanks en route.
Build Ransom a Hornet with Rapier and 2 armor, and send him busting those
AAA turrets. Ransom has a tendency to fly sideways even when he's not being
fired yet, and thus he can "drift" into other AAA's range. When he's being
hit, move him out of range and let him repeat.
Send the Salamanders just over the hill and take out that first derrick,
then another set southeast of that on a little isthmus. Tanks, choppers,
and howitzers will attack you. Keep moving until you destroyed those
derricks. Then wipe out attacking units.
Go north and take out the factories and the AAA all around. Keep Ransom on
turret busting at range, and use the Salamanders as anti-air.
When you've wiped out the factories and saw the sea doors, the area is
clear and the northern production is toast.
By this time, you would have little energy left. Send the most damaged back
to the ship to be recycled. You probably don't need Ransom either so send
him back too.
Build a Scarab Recycler (Korolev) and send her to harvest those scraps from
that skirmish. Keep the team near Korolev to keep the enemy choppers away.
Stay there and keep killing choppers and tanks. That's more wreckage and
energy for you. Send the most damaged back to be recycled and rebuild.
Repeat as needed until you get a fresh team.
When the new team is ready, send 3 Salamanders east and start exploring
south. When you see the sub pens and the command center, you get the new
objective about disabling SIX subs, and the Arclight EMP weapon becomes
available. Send Ransom back to be absorbed if you haven't done so yet.
Bring the team south from the sea doors, and you'll see the Command Center
island in the middle, and just east of that are the sub pens. Start killing
turrets that ring the subpen and the command center. You need a free area
for Ransom to work. Work your way south and wipe out all the AAA that can
shoot at him. Some tanks and howitzers will hit you from the island, ignore
them for now, leave units on auto so they can engage automatically. When
you wipe out the AAA in the area, take out the derricks just south of the
Command island, but do this quickly. The subs are leaving soon.
When Ransom's recycled, build him a new Hornet with Arclight. Bring him to
the area (you may need to go east, then south to avoid the AAA still
ringing the island), and shoot EACH of the SIX subs, the two that are
partially out first. Once you got all six, the subs have been neutralized.
[Objective] Send Ransom back to be recycled.
By this time, the derricks just south of the command island should be
toast. If not, toast them. Retreat and lick your wounds. Enemy should have
only ONE set of derricks left, and production should be quite slow. Keep
the least damaged Salamander to protect Korolev, the rest to be recycled
and rebuilt.
Now you got the team rebuilt, send them in and take out the final set of
derricks just southeast of the sub pens. Then pull them back and take out
the reaction force. With no energy, there will be no more energy units
other than those already being built or whatever's left in the energy
storage tanks. Take out a few more and the scene will be quiet.
Now take out all those idle factories (both center and southeast), storage
tanks, and any units you haven't wiped out yet. Send in Ransom with
Longbow or Rapier or even Scalpel to deal with any howitzers, while your
Salamanders take on any ground threats and air threats. Then move to center
island and take out the command center, and you win!
9.11 MISSION 11: SOME DISASSEMBLY REQUIRED
Church and Walker have analyzed the warheads recovered from the Atoll.
These are DISASSEMBLER bombs... They use nanotech assemblers in a perverted
way... To DESTROY matter. The ultimate CLEAN weapon... When we took over
the atoll, the assembly plant closed the blast doors. We can't get in, and
we can't starve them out either. However, we may be able to take over one
of the trains moving the missile propellants, and rig that to blow once it
is INSIDE the blast doors.
Warhammer cannon and Rhino tank are now available. In addition, Soulcatcher
profile of Sinclair is now available.
Q: Where are the derricks?
A: Two sets on the main island, three on the southeastern island, none up
north.
This one is not NEARLY as tough as that previous one, as long as you
approach it right.
You start southwest of the island.
First, make a Sentinel (1 armor, Longbow, Sinclair). You will see a LOT of
recon choppers, Apaches, and VTOL bombers. When you rebuild Sentinel later
from damage, feel free to add a bit of armor if you have the energy to
spare.
Make 3 Salamanders (2 x armor, mix of Scalpel and Longbow, with Borden,
Kroker, and Madsen). Send them in to take out the radar dish just to NE of
you. Wait there and take out a few choppers. Then follow coast to east then
north until you see the rally point.
Continue north to rally point and attack the radar there, and a set of
derricks. Stop there.
Now build Scarab (recyler, Korolev) and send it to the rally point with
Magpie. Have Korolev clean out the tank traps by the beach, then north to
the busted derricks. Keep your Salamanders near the Scarab for protection.
Once you have enough power available, build a Rhino with Warhammer and at
least 3 armor (more the merrier). Let Magpie deliver it. Move it up to
within range of the compound to west, and use Warhammer to pound the
compound into pieces. Move the Salamanders in with the Rhino for protection
and direct fire. Continue west and clean out the area.
Move the Scarab to south, where it will find a depot to absorb. Then move
it into the demolished factory area. Keep harvesting.
If any of the Salamanders gets heavily damaged, send it back, and replace
it with a Rhino (with Longbow or Scalpel respectively).
Once the area is cleaned out, move your units to just north of the
demolished factory, where you see a bridge, and the rail tracks going
northeast/southwest. You get a radio intercept about the units moving in
from southeast. Keep the Longbow and Scalpels in blocking position. Use the
Warhammer Rhino to demolish the base to the west (follow the tracks).
If a lot of your Rhinos are damaged, consider bringing in a Scarab with
Repair unit (you'll probably have to drive it yourself as you are out of SC
chips now). Keep it out of combat though. A repair Scarab cannot repair
itself.
When the area's clear, take control of a unit, and target the train control
station (it's yellow on the map). Target it [objective], then demolish it
[objective]. Mission accomplished.
Now you get a choice. Attack north, or attack east. Keep a unit near the
Scarab (follow it if you can set it). Send the rest to attack.
Attacking east is optional, but if you clean them out you don't have to
worry about them. To go east, you need to go a little north to find the
bridge. Use long range firepower of the Warhammer and take out the derricks
to east, south, and further south. Then clean out the island. This may be a
suicide mission as there are A LOT of enemies and factories. You HAVE to
ignore the factories and units and go after the derricks or they will just
wear you down. Once you got the derricks, you can always rebuild your
units, but they are now out of energy.
To go north, you need to go around the west and find a "crossing". Take out
AAA and howitzer on those mountains, but now your Warhammer should make
that easy. Take out all those units. Then get up there and wipe out the
powerless factories. Follow the train tracks and wipe out any turrets and
such you see. Keep the group together for mutual protection.
Keep Korolev busy and have her clean up all the debris around. Sometimes
you have to wipe out some of the towers, as she won't absorb an intact
tower, even though it shows as cyan on the map.
Destroy all enemy units and structures that you can find. One set is on an
island to the northwest corner. Send in a Salamander to wipe out the AAA
surrounding the area. THEN send in air units to wipe out the factories and
derricks and such. Consider sending Ransom with a Rapier on a pure scouting
mission.
When the coast is clean all the way along the tracks, take one of the units
and "tag" one of the tanker cars, if you haven't done so. Just move close
to one of the tankers should be enough.
Build a Pegasus (assign Ransom, pull him back if you need to), and drag
that tanker onto the main track. Now wait, and wait, and you can watch the
fireworks!
9.12 MISSION 12: TEMPERATURE FALLING
We believe the Cabal leaders are on this island, deep below the frozen
reservoir. There are a lot of defenses around. Take out the Comm array to
disrupt their coordination. Also, this is supposed to be the tropics, yet
this island is MUCH colder. There's weird climate control going on.
Investigate it.
No new units, no new weapons, and no new soulcatcher profiles.
Q: How do I destroy the comm array? I can't target the remaining "yellow"
stuff!
A: Destroy the columns holding them up then...
Q: Where are the derricks?
A: two on the east side, one north-northeast from center, one west-
southwest from center.
You start on the southeast corner.
Build 2 Hornets with your two best pilots (Ransom and Borden) with max
armor, one Scalpel and one Longbow, and take out the defenders, then wipe
out the comm array (destroy EVERYTHING that shows yellow) there. You can't
target the "suspended" stuff, so take out the cyan "columns" holding them
up. Once you did all that the array would count as "destroyed". If you
thought you wiped out everything, but it won't go to "completed", you
probably didn't destroy the columns.
Defend against the enemies approaching from west.
Quickly build a Recycler Scarab (Korolev, of course), and send her in with
the Magpie, and send her to harvest the array's remains.
When Antaeus called to let you know about that bridge to the west, send the
choppers over, target the bridge, and call in an Antaeus salvo, and blam!
Bridge is history. Move your choppers back and clean out the area around
the comm dish. That will be your beachhead.
Keep harvesting until you have enough to build a nicely armored Rhino with
Warhammer and Patton onboard. Let Magpie bring it over.
You should now get the message about investigating the two climate control
facilities.
Build a Sentinel (Sinclair, Longbow, 1 armor) for point defense, then build
up the team. You need a Rhino with Scalpel and a Rhino with Longbow (maybe
Kroker and Madsen). Send Borden back to be recycled as you need the pilots.
Start moving north, and wipe out any enemies you see. Bring Korolev and her
Scarab over to harvest any depots you destroyed. Keep moving north and wipe
out any derricks, AAA guns, radar, and so on. You should see two groups
just on top of those mountains. A series of choppers will bug you, just
deal with them.
Start going northwest toward the northeast facility. Beware of the few
howitzers in the area. Stay near it for 20 seconds, and voila, you've
scouted the first one.
If your team is pretty damaged, bring over a Scarab with repair unit and do
some repairs (manually). Keep them together.
Continue west, and you should find derricks, air factory, some AAA, and so
on, and finally, the other weather control facility. Keep repairing your
units to keep them in good condition.
Now head south-southeast and start cleaning out the area until you find the
bunker (yellow). Clean out the area. There's a set of derricks to southwest
of the bunker. When you're ready, go south and take out the last set of
factories in the corner of the island.
Build a Salamander with Scalpel, cloak, and 2 armor. Drive it yourself to
the bunker to end the level.
9.13 MISSION 13: THE BIGGER THEY ARE...
Now that you're inside... Be ready for anything.
No production... Just you and the enemy.
Q: How do I kill this thing!??!?!
A: It has THREE arms... You need to kill each one in turn
Q: I stopped shooting and it GROWS back?
A: Yep... It has shields and self-repairs...
Q: How do I stay alive long enough to shoot it?
A: Hide behind something.
When you start, TURN and head for the edge IMMEDIATELY. AND CLOAK! You need
to hide behind one of those columns or be fried by that huge cargo lifter,
which moves AND shoots. You'll be zapped two or three times until you made
it to cover or cloak (or both).
Hide behind the column, right next to it, and wait for that thing to come
closer. Peek a LITTLE over the edge, just enough that you can see one piece
of that thing, and shoot that piece. Watch the enemy readout and see if
you're doing damage. If you're not doing any damage, most forward a little
bit and keep trying... It's best to do this on the LEFT side of the
column, I'll explain in a minute.
Do NOT stop firing. That robot has self-repair capability.
This robot gives a warning when it's about to shoot at you... You get an
audio warning like capacitor charging up, and that "circle" under you turns
red.
Once you destroyed the first arm, the robot switches gears... The second
arm fires a 'spiral' missile that goes counter-clockwise circling toward
you. If you hide on the LEFT side of the column, that shot should hit the
column instead of you. Again, keep hitting that bit you can hit, and it
should go down.
Finally, that robot switches to a final arm... This one fires FIVE shots in
a row, then rests. Again, hide behind the column and keep shooting. Once
you kill it, you win!
The Cabal's leaders have retreated elsewhere... And the genetic creations
are turning on their creators...
9.14 MISSION 14: NESTING COMFORTABLY
That cargo lifter you destroyed has a deflector shield. We've duplicated it
and you now have shield unit for your vehicles. The shield unit adds a
rechargeable protection to your vehicles, and it adds a LOT of
survivability... If you let it recharge. It's best to backup a shield with
armor just in case... Any way, the two scientists managed to signal us...
So we'll attempt another rescue...
Q: How do I kill nests?
A: Firestorm flamethrower is best.
Q: How many nests are there?
A: Seven.
You start on the southwestern corner of the island.
Build two Salamanders, with shield, armor, and Longbow (or one Longbow and
one Scalpel). Assign Borden and Kroker. Send them north to the docks, let
them shoot up any AAA in the area. Then further north until you see this
set of derricks just up the mountain to northeast. Wipe it out. Then come
back down (southwest) and wipe out everything inside the complex. It'll
take a while, but it can be done. If one of the unit's shield is drained,
pull it back and wait for regeneration before re-entering combat.
As you fight for the complex, the two scientists were dragged onto the
choppers and the choppers left. After a bit of argument, Walker and Church
order you to continue to see what's left on this island.
If you are running low on ej, build a Scarab with Recycler and assign
Korolev, and let the Magpie lift here to rally point. Keep your team near
Korolev's Scarab, to defend her. You'll get a LOT of visitors, from hybrid
Apaches to hybrid M-1s to hybrid SPGs. Bring Korolev in and let her clean
up the section. Start building Rhinos: one Rhino with Warhammer, one with
Longbow. Try to fit in double shields and fill the rest with armor. Keep
team near Scarab as escorts.
Head back up to the derricks you wiped out and head north slightly. You
should see the first alien nest to the northeast. It will send some suicide
runners. Kill the nest, and you should see enemy research compound to
north. Continue clearing out the nests. There's one to northwest, then
east. The nest is worth a LOT of ejs (1500?).
Each of the nests will send out suicide runners continuously. Stay inside
the first compound if you can. The walls will force the suicide runners to
bunch up, so Patton's Warhammer can take out several at a time.
Once Korolev have harvested the nests and such, build Ransom a Pegasus and
take the Scarab home to be recycled. Then recycle the Pegasus as well. It's
too dangerous for the Scarab to remain (you can't keep an escort just for
the Scarab).
Gather your Rhinos and Salamanders, and start approaching east/northeast.
You'll see the research complex. Apparently, these creatures have turned on
their creators. Wipe out EVERY nest you see. [objective]
Continue east along the road You'll see another nest off the road (slightly
south), then beyond that to east (almost to the east end of island) is the
factory complex. Inside the walls, north side, are the derricks. Assign
Patton to blast ALL the derricks first (so he doesn't waste his shots
chasing those suicide runners). Keep the rest of the team around Patton as
defenders. Then assign Patton and blast all the fixed turrets, energy
storage, then the buildings. There's even a command center here you can
shoot. You may lose a unit or two here, even with the shields. When a unit
loses all its shields, send it OUT of the engagement and give its shields
time to recharge, all the way back to the initial dock if you need to.
Once you take out all the derricks, no more air units or tanks will appear
(except those in the production queue), only suicide runners. Now you can
use mainly air units, except for certain cases where you find some
howitzers and AAA towers and such.
Build a Pegasus and come here, pick up one of the yellow crates, and take
it back to Antaeus. Take the most damaged units back to Antaeus and recycle
those. Make new replacements but make sure you have two pilots left, Ransom
and one other (maybe Borden?)
Now build two Hornets with Firestorm. Use those to kill the nests to the
north. One is to north-northeast in the mountains, the other is to
northwest (just north of the lake). Then send the Hornets south and take
out another nest just south of the complex.
Send your land units southward from just west of the factory complex.
You'll see a "pass" there going southeast. Go in there, and you'll see the
final enemy nest, and a lot of alien blast cannons and such. Kill the
energy derricks first, then those blast cannons, then the AAA (which fires
a PLASMA burst!) That AAA will MURDER any air units you have in the area,
so don't let the two Hornets near that AAA! Let Patton's Warhammer take
care of it.
Finally, send in your two Hornets and cook the final nest, and let the
other units join in. When the final nest goes poof, you win!
9.15 MISSION 15: ESCAPE
A number of Cabal scientists, along with our two missing scientists, wish
to defect. The Cabal wants them dead. You will protect them from attack,
then escort them to a yacht we found on the southwest corner of the island
(you start on northeast). Good luck.
Phoenix heavy assault chopper is now available. Also, Lazare is now
available as a pilot.
Objectives: Clear area surrounding compound, eliminate nearby units,
destroy remaining buildings in the base nearby, secure dock with 2
sentinels, escort convoy to doc, and defend convoy for 10 minutes while
loading
Q: Where are the derricks?
A: east of compound, way to the south on the road where it turns to east-
southwest, just west where it takes a sharp turn from northwest to
southwest, further west of that. Two more appear when your convoy get to
the docks... Northeast of dock, then east-southeast of dock.
Q: Where do I put the Sentinels to protect the dock?
A: On the dock itself (i.e. on solid ground, not the piers), but do NOT
block the road to the ship. Also, the Sentinels MUST remain on FLAT ground.
If you leave a Sentinel on a hillside, it'll topple over... Maybe even into
water.
Q: How do I stop the convoy?
A: Get in its way, usually by leaving a unit in the middle of the road.
Q: Can I cause the landslide before the convoy gets there?
A: No. No amount of shooting will trigger the landslide before its time.
Q: How do you clear the way in the canyon?
A: Clear the way with firepower. Takes like 20-30 Longbow missiles to clear
one piece of rock. Do NOT use Warhammer, as the "splash" damage can destroy
the trucks.
Q: How many convoy vehicles can I lose?
A: You can lose 1 for sure (I lost one by accident). I don't know about any
more than 1.
You start to east of the island.
Immediately build a Phoenix with Ransom and Longbow (1 shield), and send it
off the to rally point (directly west) and a little beyond it, just beyond
the entrance, and nail any attackers shelling the compound. Then build a
Rhino with 1 shield, 1 armor, and Warhammer. Assign Patton, and let Magpie
deliver that.
While Ransom and his Phoenix clear out the road to east of the compound,
pull Patton and his Rhino to the front gate of the compound, so he can help
take out the enemies. You'll see tanks and some alien flyers.
While Patton and Ransom clean out the front gate and a little beyond, build
a Scarab with recycler for Korolev and let the Magpie bring it, and have it
clean the compound (all those cars and buses!) as Patton and Ransom keep
killing units.
Slowly move Patton and Ransom westward until you spot the radar, AAA,
howitzer, and such, in the first compound. Assign Patton to kill the AAA,
then the howitzers. To northwest of the radar dish are some derricks you
can assign Patton to wipeout. Then it's just steady pounding until all the
factories in the compound go poof. Build a Salamander with Firestorm to
help out if you need it.
As Korolev clean up the mess for more energy, build some companions for
Patton, with the maximum shields (3 shields and 3 armor, or even 4 shields
and 1 armor), armed with Longbow and maybe Scalpel. Even send Patton back
(you'll need to use a Pegasus) to be rebuilt with more shields and armor.
Ransom can fly back himself to be rebuilt.
Assemble the units and start moving south along the road, clean out any
units and structures you see along the sides. Assign all these junk to
Korolev to harvest.
Follow the road south, then bends west into a deep canyon. Note that the
sides of the canyon are a different color... This area is prone to
landslides. Keep that in mind. Just south of the landslide area is a nest.
Assign some choppers to cook the nest.
Continue following the road and you'll go a little northwest, then a sharp
curve to southwest. At that curve you'll find a compound. A bit westward
beyond the compound, you'll see another set of derricks and radar dish and
a storage depot. Beware that some of these depots are armed with lightning
towers, which cause a LOT of damage. Use Warhammer to pound them from a
distance. Take out the radar also. Clean up, and assign Korolev for more
harvesting.
Keep going west-northwest, and you'll find some nests, some factories, more
derricks and so on. Take them ALL out. Scout the area with chopper than
send the units in to clean them.
The road then bends east, and MORE depots, even MORE energy for Korolev.
Make sure you gather every last bit of energy as you will be under time
limit later and have no chance of getting backup, so you need them now.
Keep Korolev busy.
The road then takes a turn south, then turns west into the docks. Use the
choppers to pinpoint targets for your big guns. Kill derricks first, then
AAA, then send in everybody and blast everything in the dock area. There
would be quite a few AAA and turrets in there, plus some tanks or so. Clean
it up.
Now you're ready to protect the dock. Build 2 Sentinels, assign Sinclair
and one other person (maybe Lazare?), one with Scalpel, one with Longbow,
packed with max shields and 1 armor. Send Ransom back and recycle him, then
build a Pegasus for him. Let him take the Pegasus to the docks, and drop
him just to the east (or west) of the ramp leading to the ship. You MAY
want to take manual control. Do NOT put the Sentinels on the pier itself or
on the ship itself. Put them on the dock, but do NOT block the road. Turn
them so they are facing EAST, then drop them. Get both of them deployed.
While the Sentinels are being deployed, send all the units back to
compound, but do NOT enter it yet.
When the Sentinels are deployed, take over one in direct control and check
your field of fire. There may be some containers and warehouses blocking
your view. You can wait for Korolev to come back and harvest them, or you
can blast them.
Confirm that your Sentinels are NOT blocking the way to the ship. You can
use a Pegasus to move them now, before the convoy gets here.
Check your objectives. Protect dock with 2 Sentinels should now be done. If
it is still not done, your Sentinels are at the wrong place(s).
Korolev should be happy as she's collecting a LOT of ejs. You should have
well over 20000 by now. Keep collecting. When done, build a Pegasus and
recycle Korolev. Then build move Phoenixes with shields and heavy weapons
(Longbow preferred).
Also build a Salamander with Firestorm if you haven't done so. This would
be used for building busting. Assign the Salamander to follow Patton. If
you had a Salamander before, it probably didn't have shield, so send it
back and rebuild it with shield this time.
Assign all your units except Patton to wait outside the compound. Send
Patton inside to almost touching the convoy, then right back outside and
wait in the middle of the road. Block the road and the convoy and stop
moving. Keep going until you come to the turn going southeast. Stop when
you get to almost half way. You should hear the HQ saying something about
alien towers growing.
Send the escorts of Patton east-southeast, and you'll discover the new
factory just off the road. Let the choppers defend and kill units, while
the other Rhinos (except Patton) head up the hill and start demolition of
enemy units. It'll be a good fight, but you will win, as that factory has
almost no power. This factory is EASY. Let Patton help out, but keep him in
the middle of the road so he can prevent the convoy from moving.
Once that first factory is done, follow the road. When you get into the
canyon, stop just before the second avalanche area. Avalanche will trap
your convoy. Use your firepower to blast through the rocks. Use Longbow
missiles as it doesn't have splash damage.
Once the way is open, continue. Go all the way to the dock, stopping at
every turn to confirm the way is clear. Send choppers ahead first to scout.
When you've made the final turn and almost at the dock, keep the escorts
outside (don't block the road) except one. Keep Patton outside the docks,
just off to one side of the road.
You're about to see two MORE enemy factories pop right out of the ground...
So prepare for it. One will pop up just northeast of the port, then another
east-southeast. Each has a factory, plus derricks, energy storage, etc. One
also makes flyers. You'll see red walkers, black walkers, small AND medium
flyers.
When ready, open the way for the convoy to go in. When they reach the ship,
your 10 minutes start counting down. Keep the chopper above the ship, and
you can see the two factories appearing.
The one to northeast comes up first. Immediately drop two Antaeus salvoes
on it. Then send in Patton and blast the AAA towers, then the factory
itself. Send in the choppers when the AAA goes down. That factory should be
like 90% destroyed from the 2 Antaeus salvoes, so it wouldn't last very
long. You can also send in that Salamander with Firestorm for rapid
demolition. Once the factory is toast, ignore that side and do the
southeast one.
When the southeast one pops up, dump the last Antaeus salvo on the factory,
then send in Warhammer to take out the AAA, then derricks. Rest is "free
fire". Keep Patton on demolishing structures while your other units kill
enemy units. The 2 Sentinels will handle any leakers.
Your choppers wouldn't last too long under all that AAA towers, so pull
them back if their shields are busted. Pull them out to see, over the ship
or a little beyond. Give them time to recharge. Once the AAA are down you
can send them in to help demolish the enemy units. Don't forget the
Salamander as it's perfect to cook enemy structures.
Once the 10 minutes are up and the convoy is still there, you win!
9.16 MISSION 16: ENEMY OF MY ENEMY
The Cabal has asked us for assistance... The bugs have taken over their
final two islands. While we would like to see the enemies destroy each
other, it's better if we ensure the defeat of the bugs. Defend the
settlement, then eradicate EVERY bug from the island!
Recharge unit, which improves weapon firing rate, is now available. The
"Shark" heavy hovercraft becomes available a few minutes after you start.
Beware: this island is VERY short on metal and energy. Careful harvesting
and stingy spending is required, at least initially.
Q: How do I defend the compound?
A: Send airpower to the rally point then west until you see the entrance
gate. Defend the entrance. Add other units when you get enough energy.
Harvest all the stuff in the compound.
Q: The enemies are overwhelming me! Help?
A: You need to kill the production... WITHOUT killing the energy derricks.
Read up on the "stealth kamikaze" technique in 8.1.2
You start to south of this dumbbell-shaped island. The rally point is to
the east, in the Cabal settlement. Defend it.
Build Phoenix, with 2 shields, Longbow, and Ransom. Send him to the
compound entrance ASAP. Have him HOLD there and defend against any bugs.
The Cabal tanks and Apaches will battle the bugs in the middle of the
causeway. Take care of any leakers.
Build Scarab with Recycler, assign Korolev, accept delivery, and have it
harvest the town of any remaining energy source, like cars, buses, and so
on. There are a lot of cars on the island. Only 100 ej each, but every bit
helps.
Build Puma with cloak and Firestorm, assign Kroker. Accept delivery, and
turn on cloak first.
Finally, build Sentinel with 1 armor (no shield yet) and Longbow, assign
Sinclair. As ship is pointing northeast, put him in forward-left way (drag
and drop him there if he's in the wrong place) so he's closer to the
action. Refuse delivery, as this guy is point-defense for the Antaeus. If
he's heavily damaged, recycle it and rebuild it.
Send Puma (confirm cloak is on) west and stay OFF the road so you don't
bump into any enemy units. Keep close eye on the Puma. Go past the marina
to the north, then up those hills so you see the production area... It has
a control center, a heavy factory, a ground factory, and a flyer factory
(among several turrets and howitzers and blast cannons, and constant stream
of red and black walkers, and medium/light flyers). Watch where the walkers
move and STAY OUT OF THEIR WAY!
Keep Ransom just west of the entrance gate, near the two AAA towers. When
you get enough energy from Korolev, build another Phoenix (assign Lazare)
to keep him company. Keep them there and keep killing things so they have a
huge debris field in front. Later, bring Korolev over so she can recycle
all this for you.
The Cabal forces will fight the bugs, but they will steadily lose ground.
Help them maintain a stalemate. You need the debris to build your own
units. Go after the bug slugs (which are their version of mobile
howitzers), then anything else in area. Keep them there, don't let them
advance past the marina as they will run into AAA if they go any further.
Have Puma target the HEAVY factory and call in an Antaeus main gun salvo.
Do NOT target the control center, as that thing is HEAVILY armored and not
even TWO salvoes will kill it. Better to concentrate on the factories. The
factory will be like 6% remaining after the salvo lands.
Find a place opposite the turrets, using that 6% factory as cover, and get
inside the facility. Then, order the Puma to cook the factory, cloak, and
move outside again. Most likely, the Puma will be destroyed, but that is to
be expected, and the factory should go boom. If not, build ANOTHER Puma
(keep Korolev busy!) and try again.
Repeat the SAME move on the air factory (or the ground factory, doesn't
matter), and use the other salvo from Antaeus. Build another Puma if you
need to. After another sacrifice, the other factory should be toast.
Now, with most of alien production out of order, you should be able to push
the enemy back or at least under control. Bring Korolev over and harvest
that huge debris field littered with both Cabal and alien debris. Some
debris are pretty tasty at 250-300 each.
When you get enough, build Shark or Rhino with Warhammer (assign Patton),
and some escort vehicles (2 Rhinos or Sharks armed with Longbow and lots of
shields and armor, maybe Borden/Madsen), and take them hunting westward,
moving slowly. If your Puma survived, use it to scout and spot for Patton.
If it didn't, build another one. Patton's priority is towers and radars.
Keep choppers to the back as the AAA can get heavy when you get to the
western side. Your Longbow-equipped escorts can handle the few flyers that
come visit. And that's more debris for Korolev.
When you get to those two factories you knocked out, go after the towers,
then energy storage, then production facility. Ignore control center for
now. Remember to send in the cloaked Puma as scout and spotter. Once the
production facility is toast, you have no more enemies to bother you.
Move south, and keep killing enemy towers and defenses and radars. Then
kill the derricks, and everything else. Then go back and wipe out the
control center.
When you cooked everything, that should do it for this mission.
If the mission still hasn't ended, you bypassed something or forgot to kill
something.
9.17 MISSION 17: ISLAND ZERO
Island Zero, the LAST holdout of the Cabal, is ahead. Apparently, there's
no one left alive on the island... All killed by the bugs. There are almost
NO metal left on the island, resources are very short. We hope the Cabal
have left a computer memory core on the island that will help us, and we
must find it.
Objectives: Explore island, locate download databank, kill all aliens
Q: Where is the mainframe?
A: Try the center island.
Q: Where specifically is the mainframe?
A: To the north of the bug statue. Go around the enemy base and look in
that large ruin. It shows up yellow on the "radar" map.
Q: How do I get the download?
A: Target the mainframe, and wait 20 seconds.
Q: Where are the derricks?
A: One in southern part of center island, one to west of center island,
another to east of center island. The east and west ones are mounted pretty
high up on the hills, so you may need a chopper to bust them properly.
You start on the southwest side of the island, next to a beach.
Build Puma with Firestorm and Cloak, and assign Kroker. Accept delivery to
rally point, cloak first.
Build Sentinel with Longbow, 1 armor, and assign Sinclair, in the bay
closest to shore. Leave it onboard as defense.
This island is just like the island in mission 8, keep that in mind as you
attack.
As the Puma flew over the beach... There are the leaders of the Cabal...
butchered. For a moment, you wonder if this scene is out of Diablo...
Send the Puma through the pass to north, in that villa in the center of the
island. There are bug production facilities everywhere. Remember where they
are now so you can attack them later. There are basically TWO sets, then
some more off to the east.
The villa has a statue... Of a bug. Wonder who made it?
Continue north into the facility, which is completely destroyed... But
there is a computer core inside the building on top of the hill... It shows
up "yellow". It's the largest ruin, next to two other smaller ruins, and
almost next to enemy base. Target it, and download the data. And the recon
is over. This is a good time to save.
Use Kroker to explore the island a little... Stay hidden. You'll see plenty
of AAA and alien howitzers everywhere. Use Kroker to locate the derricks,
which are all around but not that concentrated.
Basically, the island has a central section, a east and west complex, then
finally, a northern production area. Your best bet is to wipe out the
derricks with long range fire. There are three sets of derricks: west of
center island, east of center island, and southern-part of center island.
Move rally point southeast until it's on the other side of the hill, into
the old docking area (the part where Antaeus docked for that mission,
remember?). The northwest part is the best.
Build 2 Phoenixes with Scalpel and 1 shield each, then a Scarab with
recycler, and Rhino with Warhammer and 2 shields. Have the Scarab clean up
the dock, including the cranes and such.
Move Rhino to the northern edge of the docking area, but NOT onto the
landbridge. Bring Kroker back so he can act as spotter now that a Warhammer
is in the area.
Send in a Phoenix northward as a "tease" until the gun towers sprout out of
the ground next to the pass. Then bring the Phoenix back and let the
Warhammer take it out.
Then take out howitzers pinpointed by Kroker. Keep the two choppers nearby
as they are needed to protect the Rhino from suicide runners and any
walkers that walk by. Those walkers come in really fast... 4 Red ones at a
time. Even if you have the firepower, you'll still take a pounding.
The ground will be littered with alien carcasses that can be recycled.
Korolev should be happy. Build another Rhino with 2 shields and Longbow to
escort and a Rhino with 2 shields and Firestorm to help bust buildings when
Korolev has collected enough energy.
Start moving north and take out the first set, the one on the southern edge
of the center island. Then take out the one to west, though you may not
kill them all, just two. Consider sending Kroker up there to get a better
targeting solution, or invest in a Rapier-mounting Hornet to kill the AAA
up there, then the radar, so you can kill the derricks in peace.
Repeat the one to the east, but this one is undefended (relatively).
Clean out everything to the south of the burned out villa. There are nest,
towers, and plenty of enemy units. Take out the towers first. Keep units
together. When you see factories, drop an Antaeus salvo on it, then send in
the Firestorm Rhino and cook it.
If anyone was heavily damaged, move the team back into rally area to get
the shields regenerated. Enemy should NOT follow very far. Consider sending
in a Repair-equipped Scarab (manually controlled by you) to heal any
severely damaged units.
When the team is okay, head northeast up that "ridge" and get rid of this
walker factory and AAA.
From there, go northwest and you'll see the second factory complex, with
AAA, howitzer, 3-4 factories, and the control center surrounded by a set of
laser barriers and laser towers.
Drop one Antaeus salvo on each factory (NOT the control center). Bust the
laser towers and other towers with Patton's Warhammer Rhino and then
retreat a little. Then attack, repeat until you've taken down all the fixed
defenses in the area. Remember to go west and take out the alien howitzers.
Once all fixed defenses are down, order the Firestorm Rhino in and toast
the factories. You will have to defend yourself against a steady stream of
Red Walkers, so the faster you do this the less enemies you need to face.
When complete, toast the control center, then patrol the island for any
remaining enemy structures. Kill them, and that should end the mission. .
9.18 MISSION 18: EVASION
The aliens have infected the island in mission 5 (where you found and
destroyed the drop plane). However, Minitech chose this island to begin a
study program. A specially outfitted Behemoth, the latest land vehicle, is
prepared and inserted onto the island. It has cloak, recycler and armor,
allowing you to penetrate and scout the island. Direct-control interface
will be used here.
Objectives: target and identify comm tower, harvest 4000 ej of energy,
activate tower's emergency beacon, run to pickup point and wait for Anteaus
pickup
You start in the northern part of the island.
Remember, you are ALONE, and you have ARMOR, which do NOT regenerate (and
they would interfere with cloak). So taking a MINIMUM of hits is
essentially.
You must play guerilla warfare... Find a lone bug, decloak and kill it,
cloak and run away, wait for the reaction force to go away, then decloak
and harvest the remains and recloak to continue.
When attacking turrets, remember to sidestep...
When recycling, make sure you're in the recycler beam range (69m or less)
or you'll shoot the missile instead, probably destroying the debris.
Q: How do I avoid detection?
A: Decloak, shoot, cloak, run away and get at least 100 meters away from
your shooting point. Wait until reaction force leaves, repeat.
Q: Where is the transmitter?
A: It is in the southern part of the island, just west to the alien
factories.
Q: I can't get to the extraction point! Those units just KILL me!
A: Destroy the radar dish first, which will detect you despite your cloak.
You start in the middle of a compound, surrounded by flyers. As they saw
you cloak, they will fire at you. You need to immediately get out of the
area! The compound is enclosed except for ONE opening to your left. Drive
through the door at top speed and go through the fence and fall onto the
road. If you can get there without taking more than 10% damage you are
fast. The flyers will not follow.
Now follow the road south. You'll see some suicide runners. Try to avoid
them. Some of those run patrols, so you'll need to shoot and scoot! Run
away IMMEDIATELY. Those flyers will approach the spot you were last seen,
and if you are close enough to it they will shoot at you, cloak or not!
Just make sure when you run, you don't run into the ocean. Behemoth is NOT
waterproof and you'll suffer SEVERE damage if you soak yourself.
Just to east of the road, almost half way down the island, is a port with a
crane you can absorb. However, the port has several suicide runners on
patrol. Shoot, cloak, RUN! Get at least 100 meters or a hill away from
where you were seen. Keep waiting for the flyers to go away. Repeat.
An alien howitzer will grow on top of the hill next to the port. Get up
there, kill it, run away. A red walker with 3-4 suicide runners will
approach. Kill it, and then run away. The runners will retreat after a
while. Destroy the crane at the port, and absorb it. Absorb all enemy
remains after the flyers go away.
Head back to the north-south road. Kill all those pump-looking things.
Those don't summon help if you kill them. You may need to kill a few laser
turrets... Those can do a bit of damage to you. They don't call for help
either.
There is a "pass" on the eastern road going east-west. There are two
turrets on the other side, one turret this side. Ignore them for now.
Work your way south, then southeast across the hills, and you should come
to the beach. The first thing you need to kill is the "hoverlaser". This is
the alien version of the VTOL bomber... They get on top of you, and shoot
an extra heavy beam downward. Eeek! You can tell it apart as this one has a
blue glow at the bottom. Target, shoot, cloak, run. Wait for the reaction
force to go away (one or two flyers o the beach, and a couple suicide
runners). Attack the flyer, run away. Repeat with all the suicide runners.
Then you can harvest the entire beach at your leisure.
By now, you should have like 3000 ej. You need 4000 ej to activate the
beacon. Work your way north again, back on the road. When you reach the
spot where you killed the howitzer, go WEST. Go until you're almost on the
other side. You'll come across a turret, and a couple derricks. Kill the
turret, then start killing the derricks, and you should make 4000 ejs easy.
If not, go south, and you should see a rail yard, with ONE train car. Hide
inside the warehouse, as there is a howitzer on top of the hill that'll hit
you. If you are inside the warehouse you'll take less damage. After you
absorb it, cloak and move away.
Get back on the eastern road, and work your way south, then southwest.
You'll come to the base, and on top of the hill are alien heavy factory,
air factory, and energy storage. Then to the west is the transmitter.
Target it, and you've found it. Now... You need to get up there. Best way
to do this is go into the airbase, to west, then take the ramp going up
northward, then turn westward and up to the transmitter. When you get next
to it, the beacon will be triggered. Now you just have to survive to the
extraction zone...
You can retrace your old route and make your way up the eastern road, but
beware it's blocked by gun towers and walkers. They practically pop out of
the ground right in front of you. There is also a radar outpost near your
extraction point, and if you don't kill it, it'll spot you, cloak or not.
Then those walkers and towers kill you.
Don't bump into the towers or they'll kill you!
Get on the east side of the hill (don't fall into the ocean though). Try to
stay out of the view of gun towers, and kill the radar outpost. Now just
drive carefully, on the top of the hills, don't bump into any alien towers,
and stay away from enemy walkers (there are black and red walkers all
around). Make your way to the extraction point.
When you reach the beach, the mission will end.
9.19 MISSION 19: FROZEN TREATS
The aliens are using the cold generators to make themselves more
comfortable, and in turn, giving themselves more time to transform
themselves into something that can take over the Earth... This island was
that island you were just on... and it has changed a lot... The ocean has
frozen at the edges, expanding the land area. Also, there is the ruin of a
Behemoth we will need to retrieve before the aliens can get their hands on
it... There's no telling what the aliens can do with that...
Objectives: retrieve Behemoth, destroy all aliens
No new units, new weapons, or devices. However, Kenzie is now available as
a Soulcatcher profile.
Q: Where is the Behemoth?
A: Try the same place you left it in the previous mission.
Q: No, really. Where is it?
A: Guess the aliens got it. You better find it and get it back.
Q: How many groups of enemies are there?
A: One west, one southeast. After you recycle the Behemoth, one south-
southwest, one west (next to the old one).
Start by building a Pegasus and send it to the spot where you left the
Behemoth. Also build Puma with cloak (Kroker), Scarab with recycler
(Korolev), and Sentinel with Longbow (Sinclair). Leave Sentinel onboard as
point-defense. Cloak Puma first.
When the Pegasus get there... Just a beacon, no Behemoth. Looks like the
aliens got to there first. We'll need to get it back. Bring the beacon back
any way, it's worth some energy.
Send the Scarab to the rally point, and have it go northwest, to the former
base. There are some things that can be recycled there.
Send Puma (cloaked) to the rally point, and use it to scout westward. You
should spot the western production facility, with lots of enemies. However,
the aliens are limited to land and air attack... They don't have
hovercrafts. You will exploit that.
Build 3 Salamanders with 1 shield each, armed with 2 Longbows (Madsen and
Borden) and 1 Warhammer (Patton). Have the 2 Longbow Salamanders escort the
Warhammer Salamander. Then send them to LONG way around, go north, then
west, then south. Get Kroker's Puma west as a spotter for Patton's
Warhammer rounds.
You are invulnerable if you retreat out to sea except for the flyers, which
can be easily handled by the 2 escorting Salamanders. So attack, then
withdraw. Attack, then withdraw. Nail all the towers, howitzers, walkers,
etc. The units from the production facility just to southeast of you will
harass you. This will take a while, so have patience. Take out the
derricks.
When you've destroyed the derricks, stay there and kill flyers and walkers
until the aliens used up their energy reserves. Then no more alien units
from that facility. Now you can move in slowly southward and get to the
factories. Take out the defense towers first, then the factories. They will
grow new gun towers. Level them also. Destroy all defenders. Remember,
retreat out to sea if your shields are almost toast. Wait for recharge,
attack.
When all defenders are gone, you can decloak Kroker and send his Puma to
help in demolitions.
When the place is leveled, bring in Korolev's Scarab and have her harvest
the place. It'll take a while, but take the time.
By now you should have plenty of energy. Send 1 or 2 Salamanders back (keep
one around to keep Scarab company) to be rebuilt into Sharks. You will want
2 Warhammer Sharks or Salamanders, 2 Longbow Sharks or Salamanders, and
maybe 1 Phoenix or 2 (with Longbow or Scalpel) flying top cover. Deck these
out with the best shields and armor you got, maybe even recharge unit to
improve firing rate. Leave one Soulcatcher profile available as you need it
later.
Now head down the west side of the coast, then stop at the southern edge of
the island. Remember to send Kroker's cloaked Puma in as spotter. You
should see a set of derricks. Take them out. Take out the AAA in the area.
Remember to retreat to southwest corner if you're heavily damaged.
Now head to the southeast corner of the map. You MAY want to consider
taking them the LONG way around (up north, then east, then south) as if you
make them run east from southern edge, they may be hit by enemy fire.
Send Kroker in to spot fire again. Remember to keep Kroker in the hills so
no patrol will run into him. Keep him on TOP of the hill so the enemy
walkers won't run into him.
Again, take out the alien howitzers, then AAA, then the towers, and so on.
Remember to retreat, recharge, attack. Without derricks, these facilities
won't last long. Kill a couple more walkers and flyers, and that's it... No
more enemies. Clean up this southeastern production center and bring in
Korolev. She should be VERY happy about having all these things to harvest.
Rebuild any units that are severely damaged. You need units in top fighting
trim. In fact, don't go after the Behemoth until you've cleaned up and
harvested EVERY last bit of energy and metal in the area.
Move your forces to the western edge of the southeast facility. A new alien
facility will grow to the west after you recycle the Behemoth's wreckage.
Keep Kroker cloaked and send him into the hills that is to the north of the
plains. Keep choppers back.
Build a Pegasus with that left over pilot and send it to pick up the
Behemoth from the remains of the southeast facility, and recycle the
remains. Then recycle Pegasus as well. Build a Sentinel with Warhammer
(yes, Warhammer) and 1 shield, more if you like.
When the Behemoth is completely recycled, the aliens start growing both
factories, as well as two alien howitzers next to Antaeus. The two
Sentinels will take care of the howitzers.
Send the two Warhammer units in and take out the turrets, then fry the
derricks, and then everything. Send Korolev in to clean up.
Now head north. Remember that western group of derricks you destroyed
earlier? A new set of enemies is growing to northeast of them. Take those
out also. They don't produce many units, so don't be afraid. Attack towers,
then derricks.
Once you've cleaned out the island, the mission ends.
9.20 MISSION 20: HEAVY WEAPONRY
Apparently, the aliens have discovered assembler technology, based on the
strange readings we're getting, and we fear they will pervert that into
disassembler technology as well, like the way Cabal did. Strange readings
are coming from the island ahead. Find out what is going on.
Elroy is now available as a Soulcatcher chip. No new units or weapons are
available.
Q: What do I do first?
A: Explore to northwest, center of the island, as suggested. Cloaked unit
is best.
Q: Uh, now what?
A: Follow the "veins" to the 3 generators... blast them.
Q: Can't I just blast the cannon?
A: Sorry, no can do. Do the generators.
Q: I can't! Those units from near the cannon kill me!
A: Kill their production facilities first. Use the stealth kamikaze method.
You start with Antaeus frozen in the sea...
Build 2 Phoenix with 2 shields, 1 armor and Longbow (assign Ransom and
Lazare). Build Stealth Kamikaze Puma with Kroker. Cloak the Puma, and let
it be delivered. Build Behemoth Warhammer with 2 shields, 1 armor, and
recycler, assign Patton. Deliver that also.
Keep the choppers and Behemoth near the carrier to defend, slightly to
northwest. Send Kroker, cloaked, up the hill to northwest so it can spot
the alien facility. NOT the one with the laser barriers all around...
That's west. You need to go to the NORTH of that. Don't let him get in the
way of enemy walkers or he's toast. Don't get into that "gully". Then you
spot the problem... A DISASSEMBLER cannon, aimed at the Capital City.
To shut the cannon down, you have to take out 3 generators. However, you
have to take out the central production first as it's producing too many
units for you to handle. You have to shut them down before you can attack
the generators.
It's time to use the Antaeus main guns. Send Kroker to the WEST side (the
opposite side from your other units), and have it spot for an Antaeus salvo
on one of the heavy or air factories. Do NOT attack the control center
(that would waste your shot)!
NOTE: I prefer to toast the heavy or land production as those units are
harder to destroy. The 2 choppers and any Longbow ground units will easily
handle the enemy flyers.
Then do the kamikaze burn... Cloak, and RUN AWAY. The Puma MAY survive as
the bug units may not find it in time. If not, build another Puma with
Kroker. One salvo on each and repeat until all production goes poof.
Now start going after the AAA and gun towers and such. Let Patton do it and
retreat as his shields need to recharge after each run. Work your way
around the perimeter. Use the two chopper escorts on the attackers. Keep
Patton on busting turrets and such. Remember to keep the choppers away from
AAA!
Patton won't be recycling anything at this point (too busy shooting) so
build Scarab with Recycler for Korolev and send her in. Send her to the
depots to the north and northeast. When the coast is clear (you're wiped
out most of the structures in the island center) send Korolev in and
recycle all that. You should have PLENTY of energy.
Consider building another Behemoth with Repair unit and Longbow as mobile
repair depot and defense. Consider adding a Shark with Warhammer if you got
the energy, as you need to wipe out a LOT of towers. Build another Shark
with shields and armor and Longbow as escort.
Once all towers are down, wipe out all the production facilities nearby if
you haven't leveled them yet, don't bother with Control Center or Nest.
Keep Korolev busy harvesting.
You probably by now saw the cannon fired a round. Two more rounds and the
Capital City is toast.
Send Kroker's cloaked Puma to northeast to scout out the first generator.
There is a set of derricks to the west of the generator, but the bugs are
getting tricky... The derricks are hidden underground. You need to trick
them to reveal it... Send the Puma in, then out again immediately. The
derricks then pop up, then you can shoot them with your Warhammers.
NOTE: The generator does not show up as target directly. You have to
specify attack, then designate the generator as target.
Take out the towers popping up while staying away. Then take out the
howitzers, and so on. Blast all the threats. When there are no threats
left, get everyone to attack the power generator. Even send Kroker in as
his Firestorm can make the demolition much faster. Remember to recloak him
after he's done. One down, two to go.
Ignore the rest of the structures for now. Capital city can't wait.
Build new units when you can afford them. You may lose the choppers as you
continue attack. Build Sharks with alternate Longbow and Warhammer and send
them in to follow Patton around. They can help protect and demolish
structures. Leave the 2 chopper guys (Ransom and Lazare) available as you
can add choppers when the AAA's are gone.
Keep Korolev busy. You'll need more energy to upgrade / replace your units
as they take damage.
Second generator is at the northwestern corner of the island. That isthmus
can be tricky to navigate. Send Kroker's Puma across first and hide him in
the hills. Stay OFF that valley! Have Kroker find the set of derricks
inside that valley first by going up the hills.
Send ONE land unit across at a time (the escorts first), then start long
range demolition. Send the amphib (the Sharks) Warhammer unit down to the
steep seaside cliff and let it do demolition from there. Take out derricks
and storage tanks. Now destroy the generator. Remember, without energy,
production is useless. Leave the production stuff standing for now, Capital
City can't wait. Two down, one to go.
The cannon would have likely fired again... One more shot and Capital City
is history. You have 20 minutes, and clock is ticking...
The final generator is south-southwest of the central facility. Send the
Puma out first, then the rest of the units. If you had went WEST instead of
northwest, you may have ran into this already.
Again, the derricks are hidden, and appear on both west and east side of
the valley. That nest inside will send out some occasional suicide runners.
Send Kroker in to trigger the derricks, then get out, and then send in
Patton and the rest blast the derricks, the storage tanks, and the towers,
then everyone take out the generator.
The final generator goes down, and the cannon goes boom after the thermal
overload. And you win... Capital City is saved, or what's left of it.
9.21 MISSION 21: THE GAUNTLET
The bugs are retreating for a final battle... They have prepared a launch
facility so they can send a culture stone into space. We cannot let that
happen. Unfortunately, there is only ONE way into the launch facility, and
only ONE weapon big enough to destroy the alien spaceship... Antaeus
herself. By combining the remains of that big disassembler cannon and
Antaeus' Creation Engine, a big enough blast can be made to destroy the
alien ship. Unfortunately, this means you, Antaeus commander, will be
making the ultimate sacrifice... This is a one-way kamikaze mission. All
units have only one task... Ensure Antaeus survives for 15 minutes, the
time it needs to navigate the channel and crash the space ship just as the
whole thing blows sky-high...
NOTE: as Antaeus will be moving, recycling damaged units will be
impossible. Do NOT let units be damaged!
NOTE: You are limited in energy, so you can't afford to lose ANY of the
initial units you build. You won't be harvesting anything either. What you
got to start is all you got.
NOTE: entire island is ringed with AAA so air units are useless. Ground
units are useless as the channel has very rough terrain and cannot cross
the channel. You should use hovercrafts as your primary attack units.
NOTE: The disassembler takes up one of the front engine bays, which blocks
some fields of fire. It is best to put the Sentinel in the rear bay,
diagonal from the disassembler.
NOTE: With only 3 bays, you need to move existing units off before you can
build new ones.
Q: Where should I send Kroker as scout?
A: Put him on the EAST side (change the rally point).
Q: How many sets of derricks are there?
A: Just three: one to north of the second left hand bend, one to the west
of the second left hand bend, and finally, one just east of the start of
the straight section after the final right turn.
Build 2 Sharks (2 shields, 1 armor, Warhammer) with Patton and Borden.
Assign Borden to follow Patton. Get Patton off the bays ahead of the ship.
Build 2 Salamanders (1 shield and 1 armor, Longbow), probably Kenzie and
Lazare, and have them follow Patton as well. Get them off the bay and ahead
of the ship.
Start Patton on the towers next to the channels. Take out the AAA to
northwest first.
Build Sentinel with Sinclair, Longbow (1 armor). Try to squeeze Sinclair
into a rear bay as you need the field of fire. Remember, leave the Sentinel
diagonal from the disassembler, which is in the right-front bay.
Watch Sinclair's health. When it gets down to 50%, rebuild him quickly. If
he's destroyed, you may lose that bay completely due to debris!
Feel free to build an additional Sentinel (with just about anyone left)
with Warhammer as emergency help. Just reabsorb him when he takes too many
hits. Or swap Sinclair's Sentinel with a Warhammer model, then back to
Longbow as you see fit.
If the enemy is on one side vs. another, reabsorb the Sentinel and rebuild
it on the "right" side. Remember, NO TIME passes while you're
building/commanding, switchover is instantaneous.
Build Vulture with Scalpel, which you will use personally.
When the EASTERN shore came into view (NOT the island!), move rally point
there. Build Stealth Kamikaze Puma with Kroker. Cloak him immediately and
have him delivered to rally point. Send him up the eastern coast moving
north, keep him in the hills so he doesn't run into any patrols. STAY OFF
the ridge or he'll run into walkers! Keep moving him until he sees the
derricks, which is just north of the second left turn.
Move Patton north of the ships a bit to bust more towers and enemy units.
Make sure the first AAA to northwest is gone.
Now you have to trust your AI, as you have to take the Vulture out for a
spin. Take control if it, and go west, then north, follow the coast, low.
You should see a little valley where the land sticks out like a thumb to
southwest. Dive into it and turn left. You should see a set of 6 derricks.
Destroy them all with point-blank fire with your Scalpel. Don't fly too
high or too fast or you'll fly into AAA's range, and Vulture can't survive
AAA hits. Once you destroyed the derricks, leave the Vulture there. You've
disabled the factory on the western side. You can't recycle it as the
ship's moving. Just leave it, as its purpose is served.
Switch back to the Warhammer units and keep taking out towers and walkers
on both sides of the ship. Have Kroker designate one of the three
facilities for TWO Antaeus salvoes. That facility is TOAST. Repeat with
another facility. Now you have minimal of walkers harassing you.
Make your way to the derricks spotted by Kroker and assign just ONE of the
Warhammers to take them out. As the other Warhammer is on follow, it will
automatically shoot any enemies nearby. Now there is only ONE production
facility pumping out units, so you won't overwhelmed by walkers. Blast the
derricks now and you won't see any more of them. Leave the other one free
to engage any threat. After that, there will no more walkers (except the
few already in the queue).
Once the second set of derricks are gone (the first set you already
destroyed with the Vulture), send Kroker north past the one remaining
production facility. Ignore it as it's now idle. Send Patton Warhammer
forward as well. Then have him engage any walkers and AAA turrets and such
on both sides of the river. Keep blasting towers. New ones will appear.
Assign Patton to hit them as soon as they pop up. Continue up the river
ahead of the ship.
Get Kroker north again until he spots the next set of derricks and
production.
Continue up the river and blast those howitzers on the waterfronts, then
the derricks on the eastern side of the river. That set powers the one last
set of enemy production... some flyer production... Assign Patton to blast
the derricks, then storage tanks to south and north of the facilities, and
that should be all the enemy production.
Feel free to blast any more enemies you see. If the ship survived this far,
your job is done. Let the units fight and you just sit back and relax...
Just watch the cinematics...
Well... Let's just say it's really setting up for a sequel, aren't they?
Watch the very end of the cinematics... AFTER "the end"... So perhaps the
culture stones DID get launched after all?
10 Misc. Information
10.1 CHEATS
There are quite a few special "debug mode" cheats available in HW. You need
to enable it by starting the game with "-setusupthebomb" (without the
quotes) command line parameter. Once you're in the game, hit F8 for the
console window, and enter one of these codes:
Apparently people don't understand what IS a command-line parameter
nowadays (ah, the wonders of GUI), so here goes.
* Right-click the shortcut to run HW. Make a COPY of the shortcut.
* Right-click the copy of the shortcut, select PROPERTIES. You should be
looking at the "Target" box. It should say something like "C:\Program
Files\Interplay\Rage\Hostile Waters\HW.EXE"
* You add a space AFTER the end quote, then add the whole parameter.
Some of the codes may require some parameters after the command itself.
Where the parameters are known, they are shown below.
Code What it does
enableallmovies 1 All FMV now available in Cinema menu choice
filthylucre 1 Gives you 999999 ej energy, build anything
you want
invulnerable 1 Your units cannot be damaged
winlevel 1 Win the current level
revealmap 1 Show the entire mission map
allyourbasearebelongtous Plays theme song from HW
buildall Allow all units to be built, Antaeus
salvoes replenished
aicolourdebug ??
aiscriptdebug ?? Show enemy unit AI reaction script?
aitrace ?? Show enemy units AI script tracing?
applycontrolchanges ?? forces bind and bindaxis to take effect
immediately?
attractmode ??
bind ?? controls key bindings?
bindaxis ?? controls joystick/mouse axis bindings?
camdebug ?? debug camera movement? Or free-roadming
camera?
camfirstperson ?? switches to 1st person cam instead of
3rd person cam?
cancelcontrolchanges ?? cancels changes done in
applycontrolchanges??
changelevel ?? change to any level you want to play?
May need number.
counters ??
debugtoggle ??
defaultkeys ?? resets control keys to default?
deletesave ?? deletes a save game? May need to specify
a specific number
deydododatdohdontdeydoh ??
enabletyping ??
endtutorial ?? force end of tutorial?
enterbuttonredefine ??
forceshadowupload ?? affects shadow rending?
hudrender ?? turn on/off the HUD display?
levelmenu ??
loadgame ?? loads a game? may need one of the
savegame numbers
lowfog ?? turns fog amount to low?
mapboxdebug ??
menu ?? brings up the F3 menu?
m_aftermath Shows "Aftermath" movie
m_cabalmovie Shows "Cabal" movie
m_chamber Shows "Chamber" movie
m_coldmoviefive Shows "Cold Movie 5"
m_coldmovieone Shows "Cold Movie 1"
m_coldmoviethree Shows "Cold Movie 3"
m_coldmovietwo Shows "Cold Movie 2"
m_conference Shows "Conference"
m_culturefive Shows "Culture 5"
m_finale Shows "Finale"
m_flags Shows "Flags"
m_foreshadow Shows "Foreshadow"
m_handh Shows "Handh"???
m_intro Shows "Intro"
m_nanobot Shows "Nanobot"
m_newintro Shows "New Intro"
m_newintroend Shows "New Intro End"
m_newintromiddle Shows "New Intro Middle"
m_ransom Shows "Ransom"
m_smashtubes Shows "Smash Tubes"
m_terra Shows "Terra"
m_testtubes Shows "Test Tubes"
m_tombakercold Shows "Tom Baker Cold"
m_tv Shows "TV"
m_ufo Shows "UFO"
newgame Starts new game??
nextlevel Starts next level??
nofow ???
nouploads ???
objects ???
printing ???
printvidmem ??? sounds like debug option
properchopper ??? make the chopper more realistic?
quit ends the game?
restartlevel restarts the level (same as menu choice)
resumegame resumes the game
savegame saves the game???
scriptinfo ???
sfxdebug ??? special effects debug?
shadows turns on/off shadows? (try 1/0 as parameter)
silly ???
simploids ???
startgamefromfrontend ???
terrain ???
terrainhugging ???
thereisnospoon fly through things / no clipping ???
timings turn on/off the mission timers?
wavesmooth the waves in the ocean smoothing? or sound
smoothing???
wireframe show wireframe in graphics only, no texture
or polygon???
zfog turn on/off distance fogging???