Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 Yuri's Revenge Expansion Battle Techniques Guide v1.3 Written by Feng Rao (icbm182@netscape.net) This document is copyright 2002 Feng Rao. If you would like to have this guide as part of your own website, please ask me first. The websites in which this FAQ is available for public view on at the moment are: http://www.neoseeker.com http://www.gamefaqs.com http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/gamez If you find this FAQ anywhere else, please alert me of it. At a time when there are more websites with this FAQ on, GameFAQs will still be the first website on which updates of this FAQ can be viewed first, so check the site regularly. As you are reading this In Depth FAQ, please alert me of any mistakes by emailing me. Contributions of your own tactics will also be helpful. You will, of course, be credited for any information that you send in; no matter how small a correction it is, because it all goes towards the making of a good FAQ. Version 1.3 (22nd August, 2002) Contents 1) Updates and What's New 2) Intoduction to this Guide 3) Storyline of Yuri's Revenge 4) Differences from Red Alert 2 5) Allied Units 6) Soviet Units 7) Yuri Units 8) Allied Combat Buildings/Defensive Structures 9) Soviet Combat Buildings/Defensive Structures 10) Yuri Combat Buildings/Defensive Structures 11) Superweapons - Attack 12) Superweapons - Defence 13) Levels of Veterancy 14) Other Strategies 15) Miscellaneous Information 16) Online Gaming 17) Credits 1) Updates and What's New FUTURE UPDATES Future updates will see: Unit Statistics (Is this part necessary? I shall not bother with this unless there people who need this part. For the moment though, please consult Stephanus Rudiyanto's Yuri's Revenge FAQ for the unit statistics.) More Tactics for Online Gaming More Techniques WHAT'S NEW? Version 1.3 22/8/02 Though there is not a huge increase in file size, there is a significant amount of corrections from the old version, plus, there are more techniques added (see the Ivans section and Harrier section)... This may be the last update for a while, as school is restarting soon. Version 1.2 29/7/02 BIG UPDATE I have now, for each unit, put the unit description separate from the strategies, so there is no confusion. Added a Superweapons section Added Combat Buildings section for each race Version 1.1 22/7/02 Added a few more strategies and techniques, corrected a few errors, but not a major change. Found a few facts that I wasn't sure about, especially the veterancy thing. It would be helpful if somebody can confirm some of these. Expect a big update very soon. Version 1.0 12/7/02 Finished the basics of the guide, while putting a few techniques at various points during some of the unit descriptions. 2) Introduction to this Guide I wanted to make a guide for Yuri's Revenge after playing the game for quite a while and seeing so many other guides out there. This guide finally came into being after consecutive days of my summer break spent on it. I hope my effort has not been wasted and that this guide will either help you get going on the game, or to help you improve your skills with some new techniques. This guide will mainly be concentrating on the killing side of Yuri's Revenge, hence I have no section for base buildings. The Unit section is mainly about attack, while Combat Buildings are mainly about defence. Anything out of the ordinary will be included in the "Other Strategies" section. To start off this guide, I have included the introduction to the game (intro video) for those who are reading this guide to decide whether to buy the game or not. WHILE YOU ARE READING THIS GUIDE... This is something that will occur in the units sections. If a particular infantry or vehicle specifies that it will require the construction of a Air Force Command HQ/Radar Tower/Psychic Radar, any can be used, i.e. A Rocketeer can still be trained if you have Barracks and Radar Tower. This does not work for something like the Harrier, which NEEDS the Air Force Command HQ. I also do not think that this will work for any country specifics, e.g. a Sniper cannot be created from just a Barracks and a Radar Tower. I will check this though. 3) Storyline The Allied forces have won the war against the Soviets! But unfortunately, they had managed to let Yuri, previously working for the Soviet forces, escape. Yuri has taken with him the mind-controlling technology that the Soviets once had. Unknown to the Allies, he was building sinister structures known as Psychic Dominators at various points around the World. The American President, Dugan, hears from Yuri just before the Psychic Dominators unleash their power. In a desperate attempt to try and save some of the American people, an air strike (of 4 Harriers?!?!?!?!) is called in an attempt to destroy the Psychic Dominator on Alcatraz Island, near San Francisco. As the Gattling Guns wipe out the Harriers, one crashes into the nuclear power plant powering the Psychic Dominator. The loss of power stops the full deployment of the Superweapon. Yuri now seeks more power by hoping to capture the numerous Tech Power Plants around San Francisco. The Civilians in and around San Fransisco are now the only free people left on Earth. Both the Allies and Soviets must stop Yuri achieving this task. The Allies must capture the Power Plants for themselves to use the Time Machine, a device developed by Einstein to travel back in time. The Americans plan to travel back in time before the Psychic Dominators were fully completed and destroy Yuri's forces there. But the Soviets have other plans. They also want to get rid of Yuri, but if they can capture the Time Machine, they may even be able to change the outcome of the War with the Allies... 4) Differences from Red Alert 2 The Allied forces now have the use of the Battle Fortress, Navy SEAL, Robot Control Centre (Producing Robot Tanks) and Guardian GI. The Soviet forces now have the use of the Siege Chopper, Boris and the Industrial Plant. But they have lost the Cloning Vats, Yuri (Clone), Psychic Radar, and Yuri Prime as Yuri stole the technology away. Yuri has formed a race of his own. There are now characters in the game, namely Tanya, Boris, and Yuri Prime. There are others on some of the missions, such as the Hollywood mission for the Allies. Characters cannot be crushed and all characters have self- healing, but will still get an extra self-healing when they reach elite, and the same goes for when you capture a tech hospital. You may only train one of each character. You will, though, still get a clone if you have Cloning Vats. Characters are also immune to mind control. Tech Hospital now gives all infantry units you control self-healing and no longer allows infantry to be entered into it for healing. There are now 3 new tech buildings: Tech Machine Shop, Tech Power Plant, and Tech Secret Lab. Tech Machine Shop gives all vehicles you control self- healing. Tech Power Plant, once captured, gives an extra 200 units of power. Tech Secret Lab will give you the ability to create a unit that you couldn't before. You may only have one new unit, i.e. any extra Secret Labs you capture will not give you other units for production. The units that you can get are: Yuri Clone Demo Truck Sniper Grand Cannon Tank Destroyer Terrorist Tanya now costs $500 more, and you can only train one of her, but can now use her C4 charges on vehicles. When a Spy enters an enemy Battle Lab, what you get is different from Red Alert 2: Enters Soviet - You get Chrono Ivan; Enters Allied - You get Chrono Commando; Enters Yuri - You get Psi Commando. Your basic infantry units now do get up ranks when they are garrisoned in a civilian building/battle bunker. However, you will not get an audio alert to their promotions. These can only be seen when you make them leave the building. 5) Allied Units INFANTRY GI $200 Requires: Allied Barracks Weapons: Parabellum Pistol, M60 Machine Gun Description The GI is the Allies' basic infantry unit; therefore it can enter Battle Bunkers and civilian buildings. While it is undeployed, it can move about and can attack enemies with a pistol. When you require a bit more power though, you may deploy the GI. It will then camp at a spot, surround itself with sandbags, and get out an M60 Machine Gun. While in this state, however, the GI may not move. This is also the state the GI be in when it is garrisoning a building. Notes/Strategies The GI is built for defence, being excellent when deployed in packs. Undeployed weapon can be useful for attacking in masses, but it is generally not advised as heavy losses are going to occur. Early in the game it is an excellent defence against possible rushes - just place them around your place and deploy them. Any IFVs that come by will be destroyed extremely quickly. Attack Dog $200 Requires: Allied Barracks Weapons: Dog Bite Description The Attack Dog is a unit which can only work against infantry. Its bite will kill all infantry in one, but it will not have any effect on tanks or buildings. This unit, being an animal, is immune to mind control. Notes/Strategies This unit is evil at the start of the game. It acts as an extremely good scout being fast, so the dog is often used to uncover large portions of the map while your enemies have not got their defences sorted out yet. At the start, you may want to place the dog outside an enemy barracks, forcing them to destroy the dog before they can start producing any infantry. This unit will be at its best when it is against Yuri Clones and deployed Guardian GIs, being immune to mind control and too fast for the rockets. Guardian GI $400 Requires: Allied Barracks Weapons: M60 Machine Gun , Armour Piercing Missile Launcher (will strike air targets) Description The Guardian GI is equipped with the M60 Machine Gun while mobile, which is the reason for their slow speed. When deployed, it will surround itself with metal plates, and will pull out a missile launcher. This missile launcher fires anti-armour missiles at ground and air targets. While in deployed state, the Guardian GI cannot be crushed by vehicles. Notes/Strategies Finally! An Allied unit capable of massacring a tank rush from the Soviets. This unit is deadly against all tanks, especially the slow moving Apocalypse. The fact that it can also shoot at air, and that it has the same weapon as a deployed GI when undeployed makes this unit one to be reckoned with... Guardian GIs serve as a brilliant form of air defence, capable of destroying Harriers/Black Eagles with a few hits, and being able to take out Kirovs(!) with enough numbers as well. Unfortunately, the missiles are slow and render the Guardian GI useless against a whole fleet of Harriers. Engineer $500 Requires: Allied Barracks Weapons: N/A Description The Engineer is a unique unit. It does not have a weapon, but it can capture enemy buildings by walking into them. It can also fully repair your own buildings. But both the above tasks will result in the loss of the Engineer. As well as capturing enemy buildings, the Engineer can also capture neutral buildings, such as Tech Buildings and buildings of a neutral side. Its final ability is that it can detect Dynamite set by Crazy Ivans or Chrono Ivans within a vertain range and then defuse it. You will still have the Engineer after this though. Notes/Strategies Probably the most important feature of the Engineer is its ability to capture enemy buildings and tech buildings. This makes early rushes with Engineers so annoying if you're the victim, and so fun if you are implementing it. Techniques of doing this include: 3/4/5 IFVs each with an Engineer in, and drive them to the enemy base. When there, deploy the Engineers out, and protect them with the IFVs as they capture buildings. The fastest rush (that is, one that is fast but also useful) is probably the Engineers in Flak Track rush - simply load up a Flak Track with 5 Engineers, and use that to rush into the enemy base...evil... Rocketeer $600 Requires: Allied Barracks, Air Force Command HQ Weapons: Small Mini-gun Description The Rocketeer is an aerial infantry unit. It carries a not very powerful mini-gun and will fire at ground and aerial units. Being in the air all the time, it is immune to mind control. Notes/Strategies This unit is not very powerful, but work well in packs. They are best in dealing with Guardian GIs as the Armour Piercing rockets are useless against infantry. This unit can be good in dealing with Yuri Clones/Prime, but just watch out for Gattling Guns/Tanks, which will wipe these aerial men from existence as quick as a flash... Navy SEAL $1000 Requires: Allied Barracks, Air Force Command HQ Weapons: C4, MP5 Machine Gun Description The Seal is basically the Tanya from Red Alert 2. The Navy SEAL will use its Machine Gun for infantry and vehicles, but when told to attack a building, it will run up to it and set a C4 charge on the building. The C4 will explode almost instantly, but the SEAL will not be damaged from the blast. The Navy SEAL has also been trained to swim, and will use its C4 charges on Submarines and Ships. Notes/Strategies The power of the weapon against infantry makes it one of the best units for dealing with infantry rushes and paradrops, especially when it is in an IFV. Just like Tanya, it can swim and destroy buildings, subs and ships with C4, but it cannot destroy land vehicles with C4. And since the weapon is useless against vehicles, it is a major weakness of the SEAL. Otherwise, it is one of the best infantry units in the game. Spy $1000 Requires: Allied Barracks, Allied Battle Lab Weapons: N/A (Make-up kit for disguise) Description This unit is made for infiltration. It can be told to attack (infiltrate) a number of enemy buildings, but once it has been used, the Spy will be lost. The following data shows the buildings that a Spy can infiltrate and the effects that it will have: ENEMY RADAR (Air Force Command HQ, Radar Tower, Psychic Radar) -- Resets shroud for enemy, i.e. all places explored by enemy will be recovered by shroud and he will only be able to see the places occupied by his/her units. NOTE: This does not work with AI, or if the player has a Spy Satellite Uplink. ENEMY ORE REFINERY (I'm not sure whether it will work on a deployed Slave Miner) -- Steals half of the victim's money. ENEMY POWER PLANT (Power Plant, Tesla Reactor, Bio Reactor, Nuclear Reactor) -- Shuts down enemy power for 1 game minute (depends on speed setting). ENEMY BARRACKS -- All infantry you train from then on will be produced with veteran status, i.e. they will start on veteran. NOTE: Only infantry that can go up ranks will be affected by this. ENEMY WAR FACTROY -- All vehicles you produce from then on will be produced with veteran status, i.e. they will start on veteran. NOTE: Only vehicles that can go up ranks will be affected by this. ENEMY SUPERWEAPON -- Resets the timer of that Superweapon. ENEMY BATTLE LAB -- You will now be able to produce one of the following units (depending on what Battle Lab was Infiltrated): Allied Battle Lab - Chrono Commando Soviet Battle Lab - Chrono Ivan Yuri Battle Lab - Psi Commando To aid its infiltration, the spy can take up the disguise of any ground infantry, including enemy infantry. It will adopt the shape and colour of the infantry you tell it to attack (change into). Once disguised as a enemy, it can walk through the base with the same colour without harm, unless there is a dog or mind control technology (both can detect spies, and will attack the spy automatically); or if the enemy tells one of his units to attack the spy. The spy will not show up directly as a spy on the enemy radar or screen, but when the cursor is moved over it, the enemy will see the destroy sign. Notes/Strategies The spy is a brilliant unit in theory, and during missions and skirmishes, but it is hardly ever used online. Reason? It is too obvious. Even though the disguise as an enemy unit can fool AI, no human player is stupid enough to let a random unit and he/she cannot control just walk into the base. It is only useful in rushes, and even with that, Dogs can wipe them out. I have, though, compiled various techniques to making use of the spy online, though most will cost a lot of money. The first technique I have thought out will definitely work for its purpose, even though it is unlikely to get your spy into an enemy base by itself. It involves you and a human ally, one of you being Allied and one being Yuri. The Yuri side is one that will benefit from this. Basically, the Yuri side has to build Yuri Clones, while the Allied side has to build the spies. When you are ready to send in a wave of spies, the Yuri side must use the Yuri Clones of take control (force fire) of the Spies that the Allied side has just trained. This will make them completely immune to mind control, as a player cannot mind control a unit that is already under mind control. This tactic is extremely useful as mind control can detect and control spies automatically. This will make the spies excellent for trying to infiltrate a Yuri base. This idea, though, is no good by itself, so try the plan below to aid your infiltration plans. My plan involves making no use whatsoever of the ability to disguise as an enemy unit. The plan is to not allowing the Spy to be detected. Disguising it as an enemy is not a good idea, as it is 1. not subtle, and 2. the enemy can move their pointer over the suspected spy, and if it flashes red, that means that it must be a spy. The plan involves an infantry rush. Gather up a force of whatever you can muster. If you have an ally, get him to build up the infantry while you build the spies. Now the next bit is important - LEAVE THE SPIES WITH THE DEFAULT DISGUISE (GI). Now your spies will look like one of your men, and the enemy will never notice anything different, as the name will show up as "GI", and since it is disguised as one of your own men, the red pointer will not be as obvious. The only way they can tell is when they notice your "GI"s are not shooting. This is the need for the actual infantry rush, so that they can be preoccupied with destroying the infantry. Now before you rush in you have to decide (with your ally if you have one) where you want to infiltrate. If, for example, you want veteran vehicles to be produced, attack the war factory with the proper infantry as well as directing the spies towards it. If you do not understand the above, please email me and I will try of explain in more simple terms. Tanya $1500 Requires: Allied Barracks, Allied Battle Lab Weapons: Double Pistols, C4 Description Tanya is the hero unit of the Allied race. She can do all the things that a Navy SEAL can do (the weapon may look different, but it is essentially the same thing), but she has more health, and can use her C4 on vehicles. Tanya also has all the characteristics of a character, i.e. she is immune to mind control, cannot be crushed, and will have auto heal as standard. Notes/Strategies Tanya is rarely used now as the Navy SEAL has become an official unit, but the fact that she is immune to mind control still makes her lethal to Yuri bases. Chrono Legionnaire $1500 Requires: Allied Barracks, Allied Battle Lab Weapons: Neutron Rifle (Time Eraser weapon) Description The Chrono Legionnaire is a unit which uses the allied chrono technology, which uses time to teleport to anywhere. The Chrono Legionnaire will teleport to anywhere on the map instantly, and cannot move any other way. The Chrono Legionnaire, though, has to warp out of time once it has arrived at its destination, and the further away he teleports, the longer it takes for him to warp out. While he is still warping out, other units can attack it, and the Legionnaire won't be able to do anything about it. So be wary of that. The weapon is unique to the Chrono Legionnaire. It is a gun which fires a neutron beam at the target. The neutron beam will stop the target in its tracks and will erase it from time. The neutron beam will also to temporary damage to the victim, but the damage will not be shown until the target is destroyed. During the victim's period away from proper time, nothing other than other Chrono Legionnaires may fire at it. Notes/Strategies There's a neat trick involved with the Chrono Legionnaire though - if you manage to get an IFV near an enemy, you can teleport a Chrono Legionnaire into the IFV and it will immediately start shooting. But when you take the Legionnaire out, it will undergo the delay, a small price to pay as long as you get him out at a safe spot. The Chrono Legionnaire is excellent for getting crates, as they can just teleport onto them. Otherwise, the Chrono Legionnaire is best used in groups, and can be used to soften the enemy's defences while you are attacking. A good tactic is to use them to target power plants, as without the power plants existing, there will be no power. Then the rest of your attack force can just wipe out the entire base. Sniper $600 Requires: Player to be Britain, Allied Barracks, Air Force Command HQ Weapons: Sniper Rifle Notes/Strategies Oh this thing is evil, pure evil. The trick is, you always use it with an IFV, for the extra speed, power, and range. It has been accustomed online that being Britain is to get elite IFVs. Sniper IFVs get up ranks so quickly because of the range that the Sniper can pick off infantry at in an IFV. Snipers are one of the best units if you need to take out characters...NB: Snipers may also aid Battle Fortresses in gaining up ranks as well, but the cost of the Battle Fortress makes this less useful...it's probably better to stick with Guardian GIs and wiping out tanks. The Sniper is my preferred Country specific if I want to be Allied, purely because they are so good in defence. It will also pick off any Yuri Clones that happen to walk near your base. With enough snipers, one can easily take out buildings. But it's better to stick to sniping infantry... Chrono Commando $2000 Requires: Barracks, your Spy to have infiltrated an enemy Allied Battle Lab Weapons: MP5 Machine Gun, C4 Description The Chrono Commando has the chronoshift device that is on the Legionnaire, i.e. it can teleport the same way. Otherwise, it is basically a Navy SEAL that can't swim. The Teleportation is probably better though, because of the C4. Notes/Strategies Possibly the cheapest way to win a game - you train about 30-40 Chrono Commandoes, teleport them near an enemy's base, out of range of anything major that can massacre your force, and then once everybody has phased out, tell them all to attack the enemy construction yard. There is no way that the enemy can take out all of your Commandoes before one of them phases out and plants a C4 charge on the construction yard. It is best to do this with a few Chrono Ivans as well so that you have a back-up plan in case they decide to pack up the construction yard and run away. What ever happens, after you destroy the construction yard/planted dynamite on MCV, destroy the War Factory, making it impossible for them to build another MCV. There is only really one way to protect yourself against this - surround your construction yard with a wall or other buildings. The only thing stopping the whole world doing this online is the difficulty in getting a Chrono Commando against human opposition... Chrono Ivan $1750 Requires: Barracks, your Spy to have infiltrated an enemy Soviet Battle Lab Weapons: Dynamite Description The Chrono Ivan is the same as a Crazy Ivan but with the ability to teleport. It is, in my opinion, a waste of good money. There is basically nothing which a Chrono Ivan can do which a Crazy Ivan or a Chrono Commando can't do better. Notes/Strategies The only useful one is probably the one mentioned with the Chrono Commando, but it is less useful as Dynamite are a bit too obvious and can be defused. But the Chrono Ivan can also be used for the suicide tactic (see Crazy Ivan), but it's not really worth it as they cost too much. Psi Commando $1000 Requires: Barracks, your Spy to have infiltrated an enemy Yuri Battle Lab Weapons: Mind Control, C4 Description The Psi Commando was trained from the Allies gaining technological advances from a trip into the Yuri Battle Lab. The Psi Commando will be able to mind control units like the Yuri Clone, but it will also wreck havoc on a base, being able to plant C4 charges on buildings. Notes/Strategies No real strategies here, but I have to say, it is my favourite out of the three extra infantry units that you can get with a Spy. Though it cannot swim like a SEAL, it is better equipped with mind control to deal with tanks as well as infantry, while SEALs die if a tank spots it (squish). Just grab a whole lot of these guys, and storm the enemy base. They can't be mind controlled either! VEHICLES Grizzly Battle Tank $700 Requires: Allied War Factory Weapons: Fires 105mm Anti-Armour Shells Description Basic tank unit, able to penetrate armoured vehicles. It has very light armour and not a lot of health. It is, though. Very fast, and quite powerful against tanks. It can be a good unit at any time in the game. It is best to use this at the start though. A quick promotion up to elite will make this tank very good at the beginning of the game. Notes/Strategies This thing rocks when Elite though, capable of destroying infantry in one with its burst of 2 shells. Nasty... This unit starts becoming less and less useful as the game progresses. At the start, speed is everything. You need fast units to counter rushes, and then rush in yourself. This unit provides the speed needed, but it doesn't have the power and strength to last for the entire game. Use this while you can. IFV $600 Requires: Allied War Factory Weapons: (if there is nothing inside to change the mode) Dual Anti-Ground, Anti-Air Hover Missiles Description IFV stands for Infantry Fighting Vehicle. It is called this because it is primarily used to support infantry in the game. It does this by allowing one infantryman to go in it and this will usually result in the IFV losing its hover missiles but gaining a more powerful version of the weapon belonging to the man inside the IFV. The IFV is the fastest land unit in the game, being the same speed as the Terrordrone and the Robot Tank. Without infantry in it, it acts as a good air defence, having semi-powerful hover missiles that will shoot down anything if there are enough IFVs. The missiles will also pass over walls if you're attacking a base with it during a rush. Notes/Strategies This is arguably the best unit in the game, for its speed, cost, and the fact that it is versatile. It is a unit that can carry any infantry unit with a size of 1 pip (all except the brute, worth 2). By itself, it is a good form of basic air defence, which can be improved by putting a Guardian GI in. Why do I say that? Because most infantry units that go in activates a different mode on the IFV, causing it to change weapon, usually to a more powerful version of the weapon carried by the infantry. For example, for a Guardian GI, the new weapon will fire dual anti-armour missiles, instead of the single one that a deployed Guardian GI fires. Exceptions to this rule: Any mind controlling infantry unit will just get a longer ranged mind control ability, a Crazy Ivan inside will make the IFV a mini-Demo Truck. There are so many manoeuvres that one can do with the IFV that this guide doesn't have the space to fill them in. Important ones concerning the IFV and the units inside them will be found in the infantry section where appropriate. The IFV, though, is a decent unit by itself, providing air defence early on in the game for not a lot of money, and also being a good scout. Chrono Miner $1400 Requires: Allied War Factory Weapons: N/A Description This is able to carry 20 units of ore/gems, half as much as the War Miner, but it is much faster in getting the ore back, being able to teleport back to the refinery once it has been filled up with ore. As a miner, it comes with auto-heal. It is also immune to radiation and mind control. Notes/Strategies Probably the worst of the miners in my opinion, having no weapon to easily protect itself against Terrordrones. It has a sort of tactic which makes it less vulnerable...in a way. If a Terrordrone has penetrated one of your Miners, the radar screen should flash up and you should get the alert: "Your Miner is Under Attack". Immediately go to that event, and select your dying miner. The tell him to move to your refinery. The miner will teleport there, and then move him to the nearest repair point, whether it is an Engineer IFV, a Service Depot, or a Tech Outpost. This should work, unless you have none of the above built, in which case the miner is probably dead. CORRECTION: (Thanks to Matt Volpini for this) Apparently, once the Chrono Miner teleports, it will leave the Terrordrone behind, and the Terrordrone will no longer be a danger. Nighthawk Transport $1000 Requires: Allied War Factory, Air Force Command HQ Weapons: Machine Gun Description The Nighthawk Transport is a helicopter, capable of holding 5 normal infantrymen (i.e. not the brute, which will take up two spaces). The Nighthawk is invisible to enemy radar and has a machine gun which will only fire when it is in the air, and will shoot air and ground targets. Notes/Strategies This is pretty much useless online, being of high cost and of low use. Its weapon is hardly noticeable, being of low damage. Not worth it...unless you are able to get in a rush quickly, as you can transport 5 engineers quickly towards the enemy base and capture everything, aided by the fact that this unit is invisible to enemy radar. Be warned though, air defence can be built pretty early on, and especially look out for anti-air units, most notably the Armour Piercing rockets of the deployed Guardian GI. NOTE: It is the best transport if you need infantry to be on the other side of a sea, as it is harder to destroy than an amphibious transport. Prism Tank $1200 Requires: Allied War Factory, Allied Battle Lab Weapons: Prism Beam Description The Prism Tanks works on power, and has very low health and very light armour. It is also quite slow, being just a bit faster than Apocalypses. Its weapon is a powerful prism cannon, firing high-intensity light beams at the enemy. Once the beams hit, they split into smaller, less damaging beams which will automatically target other enemies near to the original target. The beams will work best against buildings and infantry, but will not do as well against tanks, though enough prism tanks will plough through a mass of tanks just as easily. Notes/Strategies It is best to use these tanks with a few anti armour tanks, such as the Tank Destroyer if you have the technology, or Apocalypse/Battle Fortress with 5 Guardian GIs. Then stick in a few Anti-air units and your force should take out anything. Mirage Tank $1000 Requires: Allied War Factory, Allied Battle Lab Weapons: Mirage Gun Description The Mirage Tank is another showing of the subtlety of the Allied Forces. The Mirage tank is equipped with a camouflage device with makes it look like a tree to enemies when it is immobile. It has a very powerful weapon which is good against all targets, but especially infantry, which it can kill in one by using the gun to set them on fire. It is, though, like most of the Allied Tank, very weak. Notes/Strategies NOTE: Mirages are not COMPLETELY invisible from enemy radar, they do however, make it harder to spot them, as their dots get darker. As explained in the description, this tank needs something big to protect it against other more resistant tanks. Another problem with this tanks that subtlety rarely pays a part in internet games. Nobody is dumb enough not to suspect anything when trees start sprouting in front of your war factory or trees suddenly appearing outside your base. The need for protection has lead to the production for a much more stable tank... Battle Fortress $2000 Requires: Allied War Factory, Allied Battle Lab Weapons: Machine Gun Description The Battle Fortress can carry 5 infantrymen, but with a difference - they can shoot. Also, it serves as a slower but more secretive transport than the IFV because enemies can't tell what units are inside the Battle Fortress. To add to the destruction, this giant of a machine can crush TANKS and WALLS. This machine was made to be able to counter the continuing threat of a Soviet Tank rush...it's certainly done that. The Battle Fortress can also crush other things that can't normally be crushed, such as Characters (Tanya, Boris, Yuri Prime) and the Guardian GI when deployed. The Battle Fortress, though, is still unable to crush MCVs or other Battle Fortresses. Notes/Strategies This is the king of tanks - there is almost nothing that can stand it and its Scottish driver. Though it costs a lot, it is worth it, having a hell of a lot of armour and the ability to creating a monster. This can be the ultimate defence and the ultimate addition to your attack force. Place it anywhere on the Battlefield and it can do wonders for that place. Unless it is completely outnumbered or it is got at from distance, this can really wreck some havoc. Combinations of infantry in the Battle Fortress that have been tried and tested are: 5 Guardian GIs: probably the most popular one, capable of destroying any tank without any problem. Can also wipe out Kirovs and other minor aerial threats. Problems include infantry and fleets of Harriers. Watch out for those. 5 Tesla Troopers: another popular one, being effective against everything. But it is vulnerable to air attacks. Hint: try to get the Tesla Troopers up to Elite before putting them in the Battle Fortress, then all their electric bolts will split like a prism tank's. 5 Flak Troopers: provides great air defence, of which Harriers and Black Eagles will find it hard to get through. 5 Yuri Clones: ooohhh, this one is nasty - this is basically a mobile psychic tower, being able to control things faster, and also having a back up of a machine gun for things that it can't mind control. This is definitely one of the best combinations. 5 Chrono Legionnaires: this set-up is ok, just watch it that your Battle Fortress doesn't come under heavy attack, as this is only really good against a small tank force. NOTE: While the Chrono Legionnaires are firing at a unit, the Battle Fortress will not be able to crush that unit, but the Battle Fortress will shoot with its small machine gun at other units. 4 Guardian GIs and a Navy SEAL: Contributed by Nick. This is an excellent example of how you can mix things up in a Battle Fortress - the 4 Guardian GIs work against aerial units and tanks while the Navy SEAL can wipe out any infantry creeping up to the Battle Fortress. If you have a lot of these, they can take out anything. 2/3 Guardian GIs and 2/3 Flak Troopers: This sort of works on the same principle as the SEAL Fortress, but it will take out infantry slower, and will have less power against tanks. It is, though, a formidable air defence, and having a few of these won't go amiss either. This will, unlike the previous combination, be good against Rocketeers. You may want to try out some others, especially some mixed combinations. In general though, a Battle Fortress containing 5 of the same infantry work the best Tank Destroyer $900 Requires: Player to be Germany, Allied War Factory, Air Force Command HQ Weapons: Fires SABOT Shells Description The Tank will fire what is the most powerful single shell out of all the tanks in the game. Unfortunately, it will only do significant damage on other tanks. Good enough, I suppose, especially for a very low price. The tank is very slow as well, which is something one must take into account. Notes/Strategies As the name suggests, this is the ultimate tank killer. Its shells can punch through any kind of vehicle armour with ease and do massive damage. Big problems arise, though, when it is against infantry, which it does basically nothing to. Though it can crush them, it is far too slow and it will only really work if there is a small infantry force. It will certainly not work if your opponent keeps moving the infantry further and further away though...A good idea is, then, to put tanks such as Prisms or Mirages with it so wipe out basically anything in its path. Though a good addition to your arsenal, it is not the best you can get out of the country specifics. Some people, though, like using the Tank Destroyer. It is best to try this unit out, but I find that during a game, you will hardly ever need to use it, as there are plenty of tanks and the Guardian GI that can wipe out other tanks. Robot Tank $600 Requires: Robot Control Centre, Allied War Factory, Power Levels to be Stable (i.e. not in the red) Weapons: Robotic Anti-Armour Gun Description This tank will fire small anti-armour shells at targets. It is extremely fast and can cross over water. It requires the Robot Control Centre to be online to work, and it is immune to mind control. It is very weak and cannot go up ranks. But all for a cheap price of $600. Depends if you're willing to spend the money. Notes/Strategies These tanks were built to resist the army that Yuri built as the mind control can only work on human minds, and this is robotic. You will need a LOT of these to be able to take out a base though, or anything else. It doesn't really have any strengths. But then again, it is only $600. NOTE: (Thanks to Dark654 for this correction) Though the tanks need electricity to operate, they don't actually drain any electricity. It's easier to understand if you look at it this way - the Robot Tanks need the Robot Control Centre to operate, and the Robot Control Centre needs power. With low power, the Robot Control Centre ceases to operate, powering down the Robot Tanks. Of course, this means that if the Robot Control Centre gets destroyed, the Robot Tanks will also cease to function. Allied MCV $3000 Requires: Allied War Factory, Allied Service Depot Weapons: N/A Description This is what your construction yard starts as at the start of any skirmish game. There is rarely any need to build extras against AI, but it may be necessary when playing against people who actually think about their attacks. The MCV is very strong, and will survive a lot of shots, but it is very slow. Notes/Strategies Not really a lot to say about this. Deploys into an Allied Construction Yard. I, being paranoid, build one just in case at the start of every game. There is something that you should look out for though. This is explained more fully in the Miscellaneous Information section of the guide. AIRCRAFT Harrier $1200 Requires: Air Force Command HQ Weapons: Maverick Bomb Description The Harrier is an aircraft. The Harrier can only be built if there is a space left for it to land in your Air Force Command HQ. Each Air Force Command has 4 landing spaces. You will need to build extra if you want more than 4 Harriers. The Harriers have light armour and very low health. Just about any anti-air unit will be able to take this out. But it is very powerful. The Maverick bomb is an extremely powerful weapon, and a few will take out most things. The Harrier, with its low health, is built for hit- and-run attacks, and carries only one missile. After it has fired the missile, it will go back to the Air Force Command to reload a missile. At the Air Force Command, it will automatically start to re-heal. Notes/Strategies Harriers and Black Eagles mean a black hole next to your money pile. To make these have any effect, lots are needed. And since each Air Force Command only has 4 landing sites, they need to be built constantly. Only advanced players should try these, or players who know how to conserve money (non-existent). There are various strategies involved with the Harriers/black eagles though. The first is that use them to kill any annoying infantry - a bomb will kill any infantry in one. The second is use them to kill any annoying vehicles/ships that do not have air defence and are slow. One bomb will destroy a prism tank that has not been promoted for example. The above two tactics should be sufficient to get your aircraft up a few ranks, and hopefully, some should have been made elite. Now you need to concentrate on buildings. This has little to do with actual mental work, as all one needs to know is: "one Harrier does damage, lots of Harriers do lots of damage". Sadistic, yes I know, but one generally needs to be a sadist to consider using Harriers. There is a nasty trap for all who want to go in and destroy a construction yard (minimum 8 Harriers/black eagles). Just as the bombs drop, undeploy the MCV. Most of the bombs will miss, as the MCV is significantly smaller than a construction yard. There is really only one way to get past this trap, and that is, just force them to undeploy their MCV with your first wave of Harriers, and then attack the MCV with another wave. This will require excellent positioning of the landing space of the aircraft, which in most games will be impossible. If the defending player is Allied, then don't even bother, as there is an even more efficient way to do it: ALLIED DEFENCE VERSUS AGAINST AIR STRIKES (contributed by Darker654): This requires the player to have a few Chrono Legionnaires. As soon as you notice that there is an air strike, immediately position your Chrono Legionnaires outside important buildings (Race specifics, Battle Labs, War Factories, Construction Yards, etc.) once the Harriers get into your base, tell your Chrono Legionnaires to fire at your buildings. The Harrier's bombs will do NO DAMAGE, as a building being erased from time can only take damage from Chrono Legionnaires. Just remember to tell the Chrono Legionnaire to stop firing after the Air Strike is over (well, duh). But what if you were able to get in an Air Strike before they build enough Chrono Legionnaires??? A FOOL'S MATE OF YURI'S REVENGE This attack can be used in small maps and large maps - small so that it is fast, big maps for more subtlety, but it requires your opponent to have some sort of air defence. This will only require a few Harriers or Black Eagles...say about 6, 4 Black Eagles may also do the job. Launch your air strike quickly, and go for the Construction Yard. (If they are cowards and pack, up, just target the War Factory or Battle Lab) As soon as you fire, your jets will automatically return to your base. But round them up, and force move them to the air space above the enemy Construction Yard, and hover them there (continuously click on that space). The enemy will try to shoot them down, but once they are shot down, they will hit the Construction Yard, and about 4 or 5 direct crashes will destroy a Construction Yard. It works very well. Plus, an ally of yours can just move in for the kill on the ground. Black Eagle $1200 Requires: Player to be Korean, Air Force Command HQ Weapons: Maverick2 Bomb Description The Korean Black Eagle Jets are a major advancement on the Harrier. It is better health, and more powerful bombs, all for the same price. It will act the same as a Harrier though. Notes/Strategies Because the Black Eagles have more power, in many cases, less aircraft are needed for certain objectives. So if you must try for an all-out air strike, go for Korea. It will at least conserve at least a few thousand credits. NAVAL UNITS Amphibious Transport $900 Requires: Allied Naval Shipyard Weapons: N/A Description The Amphibious Transport is a Naval Unit and a Land Unit, as it can travel on both surfaces. It can ferry up to 12 pips of passengers, and these passengers can include vehicles. For vehicles, all have a pip value of 3, except: the Chaos Drone and Terrordone which have a pip value of 2; and the Apocalypse, Battle Fortress, Magnetron, Mastermind, and MCVs which have a pip value of 6. For infantry, all will have a pip value of 1 except the Brute, which takes up two. Though it hovers, it will be shot at by naval units such as submarines, and it has fairly low health, so make sure that it gets protection. Notes/Strategies This transport is quite unreliable, as it has no way to defend itself against vehicles (it can crush infantry), and it is very weak. It is best not to use this, unless there is no other way to get your vehicles across water. If you must use the vehicles on another island, it would be a good idea to transport an MCV over and build a War Factory there instead of transporting vehicles all the time. If you still don't like this, just use the Aircraft Carrier as it has tremendous range, or use Robot Tanks. Destroyer $1000 Requires: Allied Naval Shipyard Weapons: 155mm Artillery Cannon (for land), ASW Helicopter (for sea, acts as separate unit, but comes with Destroyer, Destroyer will automatically respawn one if one is destroyed) Description The Destroyer is the fastest Allied ship, and it was made to defend the Allied ships against Submarines. It can detect underwater units and send its Helicopter to attack it with depth charges. Otherwise, the Cannon aboard the ship will destroy most land units pretty quickly. The ship is not that weak, and will stand a few torpedoes, but it's better to build lots of these. Notes/Strategies This is a brilliant ship to use if you're planning a naval rush. Being cheap, it can easily be produced in masses, and will protect your slow Aircraft Carriers against other naval forces. Aegis Cruiser $1200 Requires: Allied Naval Shipyard, Air Force Command HQ Weapons: Medusa Surface to Air Missile Launcher Description The Aegis Cruiser is the death of all aerial strikes. The missiles are the most powerful anti-air defence system in the entire game. And they are also much faster than normal hover missiles. If on Elite status, the Aegis Cruiser will destroy a Kirov with 3 hits...now that's impressive. The Aegis Cruiser, though, has no way to protecting itself against other naval units and is incredibly slow and quite weak. Notes/Strategy It is best to use these with your Destroyers, as these will be picked off easily by submarines. Set them at various points around the sea so that nothing can get to your base by flying over the sea. Aircraft Carrier $2000 Requires: Allied Naval Shipyard, Allied Battle Lab Weapons: Hornet Launcher Description The Aircraft Carrier is a giant of a ship. Once told a target, the Aircraft Carrier will launch 3 Hornet Aircrafts to fire a missile at the target. The Missiles will do a lot of damage when they all hit, and the Aircraft Carrier also has a tremendous range to launch these Aircrafts. This means that the Aircraft Carrier was made for destroying Bases from the ocean. It is very slow and has medium health. It will definitely need support against Submarines as it cannot detect them. Though it cannot detect them, if you don't have support, it is not the end of the world, as you can just force fire on where the torpedo is coming from. Notes/Strategies This is certainly the death of a base if it gets too close. The fact that each of the Hornets respawn if destroyed means that once this thing gets going, there's almost no stopping it. If a base is even remotely near the coast, the chances are, the Aircraft Carrier will be able to reach it. Dolphin $500 Requires: Allied Naval Shipyard, Allied Battle Lab Weapons: Sonic Description The Dolphin was also made to detect underwater units. It is, though, extremely weak in both firepower and health. The only thing saving it is its speed, which is nearly unmatched in the sea. They are cheap as well, and no matter how weak a unit is, it will destroy anything when it's got numbers. Notes/Strategies This unit is used primarily against the Soviet Giant Squids, capable of releasing ships from the Squids' fatal grasp. This can be done by using them to force fire on your ship. The weakness of it will mean that it will not do a lot against Submarines, but by just detecting them, it may do a lot for you, as once detected, other units can move in for the kill. NB: According to Bilen Varol, The Dolphins can actually go up ranks, but it is usually too weak and will usually die too early for you to see it. 6) Soviet Units INFANTRY Conscript $100 Requires: Soviet Barracks Weapons: M1 Carbine Machine Gun Description This is the basic Soviet Infantry Unit. It is the weakest unit, but it is also the cheapest. As somebody once said, "Having numbers is having a unique quality that skills will never replicate". That was certainly the plan for the Conscript. It has a weak gun, weak armour, low health, and a fair speed...but it is only 100 credits. A fair deal if you ask me. Notes/Strategies You can take risks with this unit because of the cheapness of it. Throw all of them in attack. You never know, they may destroy some stuff before your big guns move in for the kill. Engineer $500 Requires: Soviet Barracks Weapons: N/A Description See Allied Engineer for more details. Notes/Strategies Exactly the same as the Allied Engineer, see that section for Strategies. Tesla Trooper $500 Requires: Soviet Barracks Weapons: Tesla Bolt Description The Tesla Trooper is a slow infantry unit, but very powerful for what it is. It carries an electric rifle which will fire Tesla Bolts at targets at a fairly close range. It is so powerful, just about any infantry unit will die from one or two hits of this. It also has fair health. Another way to use the Tesla Trooper is to support the Tesla Coil - it can power the Tesla Coil when your power meter is in red (requires 2), and it can make the Tesla Coil more powerful and fire more quickly (1 extra). Notes/Strategies The Tesla Trooper is an excellent unit to improve your infantry strike force. It is one of the best all-round units in the game, and it has few weaknesses. Compared to other good infantry units, it is very cheap. You may find that you'll need them a lot. At the start of the game, this is definitely the best infantry unit you can get, being very powerful and cheap. Build some at the start to have a good early protection around your base. The Tesla Trooper is also able to fire at units which are rising off the ground, like a Nighthawk which is about to take to the skies again. The Tesla Trooper is still able to fire at it when it is just off the ground. (Thanks to Matt Volpini for this) Attack Dog $200 Requires: Soviet Barracks Weapons: Bite Description See Allied Attack Dog for more details. Notes/Strategies Same as the Allied version, see that section for more details. Flak Trooper $300 Requires: Soviet Barracks, Radar Tower Weapons: Flak Gun, Flak Anti-Air gun Description The Flak Trooper is the Soviet anti-air infantry unit. It is like the Guardian GI, but it cannot deploy, and its anti-air weapon is better against infantry than vehicles. The weapon fires faster, and the shells will also travel faster. The Flak Trooper, is though, fairly weak in defence. Notes/Strategies This, in my humble opinion, is the best anti-air infantry unit, having much faster firing shells than the Guardian GI, and being much cheaper. It is a shame that you cannot build one early in the game, as a Radar Tower is required. Once you have lots of these, nothing in the air is a problem, as the numbers account for the inaccuracy of the weapon. Crazy Ivan $600 Requires: Soviet Barracks, Radar Tower Weapons: Dynamite Description The Crazy Ivan is a person that goes around planting dynamite on things. The Dynamite will be visible to all players once it is planted. It will take 30 game seconds to explode, and the Dynamite can be defused by an Engineer. Unlike C4 charges, you can set the dynamite on your own troops. Once killed, the Crazy Ivan will blow up with the dynamite, and if anything with dynamite on is destroyed, they will also blow up with the explosion of the dynamite. The Crazy Ivan has no other weapon, and is fairly weak in health. Notes/Strategies The Dynamite is merely a cheap Soviet version of the C4. It is too obvious, and it can be defused. There are good things about it though - you can put it on your own troops, and then send them in to explode... Another strategy which I have found to be pretty useful is the Crazy Ivan + IFV combo - a Crazy Ivan in an IFV makes it a mini-demo truck. And this demo truck will be a lot faster than the proper one, and a lot cheaper. This all means that you can basically destroy a base if you have enough of these. They will be a lot less powerful though, and the area of radiation will be a bit smaller. When I mean a lot of these, I mean a lot. KAMI-KAZE RUN OF DOOM (excuse the crappy name, but it does describe it well) This is a great tactic against all sides except Yuri. This will require 5 Crazy Ivans and 1 Flak Track, though it will be better with 6 Crazy Ivans. Somehow get dynamite stuck onto each of the Crazy Ivans and the Flak Track. Then move all the Crazy Ivans into the Flak Track. If you only have 5 Crazy Ivans, sticking the dynamite onto the Flak Track before putting them in was necessary, so this needs to be done quickly. Now rush into an enemy base and camp it directly outside an enemy building. Whatever they do, it will explode, and cause havoc. If you have 6 Crazy Ivans, you can have more and more Flak Tracks filled with exploding Crazy Ivans with dynamite on them!!! Just leave putting the dynamite onto the Flak Track until the last minute, then use the extra remaining Crazy Ivan to stick dynamite onto all the Flak Tracks and then do a mad rush...oh boy. Boris $1500 Requires: Soviet Barracks, Soviet Battle Lab Weapons: AKM (Heavy Machine Gun), Laser Guided Air Strike Description Boris is the Soviet hero character. Boris wields awesome power from both his powerful machine gun, which can wipe out infantry and even some tanks in seconds, and his ability to call an air strike of deadly MiGs. The Air Strike can be used on any building, and when it is confirmed, a red targeting laser coming from Boris and striking on the building that has been targeted, which is also highlighted red will notify all players of it. While Boris is targeting the building, he cannot do anything else until the MiGs arrive and bomb the building. If Boris does do something else, the Air Strike will be called off, and he will have to start all over again if he is to destroy the building. If Boris is killed, the air strike will also be called off. Notes/Strategies The 2 MiGs (4 if elite) are guaranteed to destroy the building unless there is substantial air defence, and I do mean substantial, as the MiGs are quite strong, and is the fastest unit in the game. Each MiG will fire two Maverick missiles at the building. I do not like Boris because of the fact that he is basically a sitting duck when he is targeting a building. I do like him, however, when I have the use of another Boris or Tanya. Then, the Boris guiding the air strike will have protection. Desolator $600 Requires: Player to be Iraq, Soviet Barracks, Radar Tower Weapons: Radiation Beam, Radiation Blast Description The Iraqi Desolators are extremely good infantry units and are especially good against infantry. The Radiation Beam will destroy any infantry with great ease while doing minor damage to vehicles. It can also damage groups of infantry or vehicles by releasing a blast of radiation. This blast will damage your own units though, so be careful when using it. Neither of these weapons will damage things immune to radiation. The Desolator itself is immune to radiation, meaning that one Desolator cannot damage another. A desolator cannot damage buildings with any of its weapons. Notes/Strategies This is one of the best country-specifics, being cheap and very powerful. With lots of Desolators, tanks can also be handled with ease. Desolators, though, will provide a good support to an attack force. If you choose well, it is good to choose an attack force made up of units immune to radiation, as then you can just tell all of the desolators to deploy if you're in any kind of trouble. Otherwise, just send in a few dozen Desolators , deploy them all near some of the defensive units, and then send in your main strike force. Terrorist $200 Requires: Player to be Cuba, Soviet Barracks, Radar Tower Weapons: Terrorist Bomb Description This unit may be cheap, but it is just about the most useless unit in the game. The Terrorist is like the Demo Truck, but has a smaller radius of damage, and doesn't have the radiation effect. The Terrorist is also extremely weak in defence. Notes/Strategies Being cheap as well as mostly useless, this is the reason why Cuba is rarely used online. The terrorist is too unsubtle in its ways, and it has far too little health to be able to stand up to anything. It does, though, have a use. The problem I find with it is that the suicide weapon is too concentrated. It may be powerful if you get the target, but that is rare, and it is best if a suicide weapon can damage things within a certain radius of the explosion, shown by the Demo Truck, which will significantly damage a building even if it doesn't get close to it. Like the Ivans, it can be put in an IFV to make a half-decent suicide weapon. The terrorist will make a vehicle which will do a more concentrated damage, but will not have the radiation effect that the Ivans produce. VEHICLES Flak Track $500 Requires: Soviet War Factory Weapons: Flak Gun, Anti Ground and Anti Air Description The Flak Track is the Soviet version of the Allied IFV, but is not versatile. Instead, it is a transport, and can carry up to 5 infantrymen, rather like the Nighthawk (Though this can't fly). The Flak Track has a Flak Gun attacked to it, which can fire at aerial targets and ground targets, and the shells are excellent against infantry, while not being so good against tanks or buildings. The shells are inaccurate, but anything within the small explosion will be damaged. The Flak Track is, like the IFV, very weak, and very fast, although the speed does not match that of the IFV. Notes/Strategies When you have enough, the Flak Track will provide a very good air defence, especially good against the American Paratroopers. In attack, these can support your main assault, but these should not be used in the assault because these vehicles will do nothing against buildings or tanks. The transportation thing is not usually useful, but at the start of the game, it can be a nightmare if you're facing it - some people like to use a Flak Track, fill it up with Engineers, and then just send it in to an enemy base. Undeploy the Flak Track, and start capturing and selling. It is best to keep one structure, and build Sentry Guns around it, to provide a bit of extra challenge for your opponent. War Miner $1400 Requires: Soviet War Factory Weapons: 20mm Machine Gun Description The Soviet War Miner is able to carry 40 pips of ore, twice as much as the Allied Chrono Miner. It cannot, however, teleport, and so will get back to your base a lot slower. It does, though, have a weapon, used specifically for destroying infantry and Terrordrones. This weapon will do a massive amount to damage to Terrordrones. Otherwise, it is just as strong and just as fast as the Chrono Miner. Notes/Strategies This is probably the best miner, as they can defend themselves against an attack. They will, though, get you money a lot slower than the Chrono Miners, which is one of the disadvantages. It depends on what you prefer. Strangely enough, I have actually found a way of exploiting the weapon of the War Miner. The War Miner, and the Slave Miner (has same gun), are excellent at starting an attack against Yuri Bases. Notice the word "starting". These things will be able to do some damage when there are enough, but the weakness of the weapon will become prominent as time goes on. The idea behind this is how the Miners are resistant to mind control, and they have masses of health. I have heard rumours that when Miners get to elite (the War Miner and the Slave Miner), they start firing shells. If this were the case, they would be a devastating weapon against the Yuri race...if it wasn't for the Magnetrons. Rhino Heavy Tank $900 Requires: Soviet War Factory Weapons: 120mm Anti-Armour Cannon Description The Rhino Heavy Tank is the basic tank unit of the Soviets. It has a more powerful weapon than either the Grizzly or the Lasher, and it is also stronger and better armoured. It is, though, slower. Generally, the Rhinos are better, as a Grizzly will never beat a Rhino in a firefight. Notes/Strategies I would classify the Rhino as being a more useful weapon in the long run, as strength is what really wins you the battle in the end. When you're attacking a base, speed does not matter once you're in it. Once you're in an enemy base, you want power and stamina. The Rhino Heavy Tank provides both of these, and isn't too bad on the speed thing either. Unlike the Grizzly or the Lasher, both of which work primarily on speed, the Rhino will last for the whole of the Battle, not just the beginning. Terrordone $500 Requires: Soviet War Factory Weapons: Drone Jump Description It can destroy infantry in one like the dog can, but it can also damage tanks - it crawls underneath the tanks and rocks them to cause damage and while it is doing that, it cannot be shot at. This unit is immune to mind control. The Terrordone will re-emerge from a tank if it was the Terrordone that killed the tank. If anything else killed the tank by shooting at it, the Terrordone will also die. The Terrordrone is extremely weak, but there is no infantry weapon, except the machine gun carried by Boris, which will eliminate these before this kills him/her. And anyway, if you're facing Boris, just send in more than one. Notes/Strategies Probably the most annoying unit. So it is basically a Giant Squid on land. The only way to getting a Terrordone out is to either repair it at a service depot, or to repair it with a repair IFV (Engineer). This unit is also the anti-mind control unit from the Soviet race, as the powers of Yuri have no effects on it. If you're in a situation where one of your vehicles has a Terrordone underneath it, and there's no saving it, shoot at it with your own troops to get rid of the Terrordone. This unit is very effective at the start of the game, as it only requires a War Factory to build, and it is very cheap, a very good support for an early rush or a defence, able to wipe out infantry and aid your infantry/tanks against enemy tanks. At the start of the game, build a few of these and tell them to attack enemy Chrono Miners, as it is likely that these will attack the miners before the enemy will have a service depot built. It is a very good tactic when it goes right, forcing the enemy to build more miners, hence blocking the way for making vehicles. V3 Launcher $700 Requires: Soviet War Factory, Radar Tower Weapons: V3 Rocket Description This is the land unit with the longest range. What it does will be pretty obvious when you see the unit. The truck carries a rocket that is bigger than the truck! The rockets have a minimum range, and they will take time to fire. The rockets are very slow, and count as individual units in the air, so they can be shot down by any anti-air structure or unit. The V3 Launcher is extremely weak, and should always be protected by things like Rhinos. Notes/Strategies This unit is best used in groups, and against structures. They become extremely powerful when elite and they should be treated with caution. It is best to provide some anti-ground defence for it and some anti-air. If you're defending against it, your best hope is to build up some good air defence around your base, and send in aerial units to attack the V3 Launchers. I say aerial because generally, anti-air weapons are weak while aerial units are also weak. Try to use something that the anti-air is not good against, for example, if the air defence is Flak or Gattling, use anything other then Rocketeers, or if the air defence is missiles, use Rocketeers. If the air defence can defend against vehicles and infantry (unlikely), send in ground troops. Apocalypse Assault Tank $1750 Requires: Soviet War Factory, Soviet Battle Lab Weapons: 120mm Anti-Armour Cannon (though better than the Rhino's), Mammoth Anti-Air Dual Missiles Description The Apocalypse Assault Tank is extremely strong and powerful. It is very slow, but it fires very powerful bursts and will resist a lot of shots. It is also equipped with a sturdy air defence. The speed can be a big problem though, but if you have enough, it won't matter. Just watch the amount of credits you have left... Notes/Strategies This is the Soviet equivalent of the Battle Fortress. Instead of using infantry to add to its power, it just uses the sheer destruction caused by its cannon, which fires a burst of 2 shells normally, and fires a burst of 4 shells on elite. It is even equipped with an anti-air weapon, capable of protecting it from Rocketeers and Harriers/Black Eagles. It is just as slow as the Battle Fortress, but it will have a shorter range which would prove to be its downfall in most cases. When there are lots of these though, well, they are undefeatable. Well...not totally undefeatable. There is always the option of going for a huge infantry defence of course. That always works against the slow and unwieldy Apocalypses. A large group of Guardian GIs with a few GIs in between will certainly protect your base very well. A bit of Prism support at the back will also be extremely useful indeed. Not much strategies involved with this beast, just point and destroy. Soviet MCV $3000 Requires: Soviet War Factory, Soviet Service Depot Weapons: N/A Description This will deploy into a Soviet Construction Yard. Notes/Strategies Same as the Allied one, except that it will deploy into a Soviet Construction Yard. There is something that you should look out for though. This is explained more fully in the Miscellaneous Information section of the guide. Siege Chopper $1100 Requires: Soviet War Factory, Radar Tower Weapons: Machine Gun, Siege Cannon Description The Siege Chopper is a new addition of the Soviet arsenal. Its primary weapon is the same as the Nighthawk's and it is, again, pretty much useless. Where you get your money's worth is the Siege Cannon (deploy it), a long ranged cannon firing devastating shells capable of destroying anything. The Siege Cannon can be thought of as a Mini Grand Cannon, just as inaccurate and slow firing, but it is also very powerful when it hits. Like all aircraft, it is weak and in need of strong protection. Notes/Strategies This is an excellent unit, being cheap and very useful against tough bases. It is slow firing though, and will not hit fast units, which is where it is most vulnerable. Otherwise, a very good unit to have. Tactics with this unit mainly involve using so many siege choppers that one just can't deal with them quickly enough. Also, try to deploy your siege choppers at a ridge where land units cannot get to. Tesla Tank $1200 Requires: Player to be Russia, Soviet War Factory, Radar Tower Weapons: Tesla Assault Bolt Description The Tesla Tank is unique to the Russian Forces. It has evolved from the Tesla Trooper, firing much more powerful bolts which are still effective against all targets. It is very fast and manoeuvrable, but it is weak and it does not have a long range. When Elite, the Bolt will split and hit two other targets. The Tesla Bolts will pass over walls. Notes/Strategies This is a very good tank, being good at anything and very powerful. It is not very good in the health department though, and that could be a problem. Like the Tesla Trooper, the bolt will split when Elite, making it a formidable tank to face. Demolition Truck $1500 Requires: Player to be Libya, Soviet War Factory, Radar Tower Weapons: Demolition Bomb Description This truck contains extremely radioactive explosives which will be set off when the truck is destroyed or when the truck drives into something. The explosion will destroy most buildings, but more resistant ones will need more than one demo truck. The truck is very weak, and will explode with the suicide bomb when destroyed. It is also very slow, so it is best to protect it with some long ranged units. Notes/Strategies This is the perfect weapon for anybody suicidal. There isn't much strategy involved here, unless subtlety is your aim. But then again, what kind of idiot would just let a truck with a radioactive symbol on it just drive towards the base? When using it, be careful with it. Do NOT leave one lying around in your base. The problem is that it is much weaker than a Nuclear Power Plant. If anyone spots it, they'll try to destroy it. It is best to build them when you need them. Kirov Airship $2000 Requires: Soviet War Factory, Soviet Battle Lab Weapons: Blimp Bomb Description The Kirov Airship is a very strong and annoying airship which costs a heck of a lot. They are slow and take ages to turn. So why use them? Well, the bomb is very powerful, and they have a HP of 2000!!!!!!!!! They are almost invincible. Against Soviets, just remember to build a LOT of air defence, because you will not have enough time when Kirovs start lumbering towards your base. The Kirov's bombs will obliterate any base if they hit. Two or Three is generally enough to destroy any building. Notes/Strategies This hulk can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Against AI, winning is a piece of cake if you're the Soviets, purely because of the Kirov. Humans, though, are brighter and know how to build a good air defence against the Soviets. The best thing is Aegis Cruisers, but they are unreliable as they need water and are slow to react if the Kirov changes course. The next best thing is just to fill up your base with anti-air units, anything will do, with IFVs, Gattling Tanks, and Flak Tracks being the best. If you're the one building the Kirovs, don't. They cost far too much and get destroyed too easily. If you insist though, you need about 10 or 20 in an online game to have any sort of effect on the enemy base. NAVAL UNITS Amphibious Transport $900 Requires: Soviet Naval Shipyard Weapons: N/A Description See the Allied Transport for more details. Notes/Strategies This unit is a duplicate of the Allied transport. Sea Scorpion $600 Requires: Soviet Naval Shipyard, Radar Tower Weapons: Flak Gun Anti Air and Anti Ground Description This unit is the Flak Track of the sea...but one that can't transport. Its anti air weapon is more powerful than the Flak Track, but the Anti Ground is the same. It is useful for its price and speed, but in power, it cannot compare with the Aegis Cruiser. The speed of it can be very helpful sometimes though. Notes/Strategies This unit is indispensable to the Soviet Navy because it is the only thing they have that can protect Dreadnoughts from aerial strikes. When planning a dreadnought strike, this is a necessity. It is a good plan to build a few of these as soon as you get your Naval Shipyard built. Typhoon Attack Submarine $1000 Requires: Soviet Naval Shipyard Weapons: Torpedoes Description The Typhoon Attack Submarine is extremely good for its price. It is good strength and great power. It is very fast and manoeuvrable. It will fire a very powerful torpedo against any naval foe. You can do a lot with this unit. Notes/Strategies This sub used to ruler the seas and oceans in the original Red Alert 2, but now, with the Boomer subs, it has been outclassed in technology. But it is still good, costing half as much as a Boomer and firing more damaging torpedoes, but it only fires 1 normally, whereas the Boomer fires 2. Extremely good defence for your navy, and a good attacker. Giant Squid $1000 Requires: Soviet Naval Shipyard, Soviet Battle Lab Weapons: Squid Grab, Squid Hit Description Oh, God, this unit is sooooo annoying to the Allied Ships. Unless you have Dolphins or Submarines, your ships are done for. The Squid acts as a Terrordrone for ships. And you can guess what that's like. It can grab on to a ship and immobilise it. It also damages the ship by tossing it in and out of the water until it is destroyed. Nothing except the dolphin can attack the squid while it is on a ship. (There are some people who say that a dolphin will actually release the ship, can anybody confirm this? If so, how?) Against infantry, dolphins, squids, and subs, it will use its powerful headbutt to kill them. It is very fast, and invisible on radar and screen to enemies unless detected. Notes/Strategies This is the death of the Allied Ships...if it weren't for the dolphin. A very resourceful unit, cans serve many purposes. It is best at loosening up an enemy fleet though. Dreadnought $2000 Requires: Soviet Naval Shipyard, Soviet Battle Lab Weapons: Dual V3 Rockets Description This is a terrifying unit if it gets too close. It fires 2 upgraded V3 Rockets at a land target and it has tremendous range. It is slow and pretty weak though, which is why you will need the other naval units to protect it. A few is needed to penetrate a base though if there is air defence. Notes/Strategies The V3 Rockets on this has been upgraded, and are more powerful than the ones on the V3 Launcher. The ship is slow, and needs protection against other naval units as the V3 rockets will definitely miss unless the target stands still. Only a few of these dreadnoughts will be able to destroy a large base, as its range is the longest of all units except the Aircraft Carrier, which has the same range. Go for the air defence first, so that after they have been destroyed, your rockets fly unimpeded. 7) Yuri Units INFANTRY Initiate $200 Requires: Yuri Barracks Weapons: Psychic Jab Description This is the Yuri base infantry unit. It does not psychically control units, but it uses its mind to damage other units, specifically by setting them on fire. It is much better than the conscript and is a better all-round unit than the GI. Notes/Strategies The Initiate is the is probably the best out of the basic infantry units, having the best weapon on the move, unlike the GIs, who have to deploy to use the more powerful weapon. Strangely enough though, it costs just as much as GIs, even though it is far better as an all-round unit. Engineer $500 Requires: Yuri Barracks Weapons: N/A Description See the Allied Engineer. Notes/Strategies Same as the Engineer possessed by the Allied and Soviet Forces. Brute $500 Requires: Yuri Barracks Weapons: Brute Smash, Brute Punch Description This is the Yuri Anti-Tank infantry. It cannot be crushed, and it is immune to Dogs. Both its attacks are very powerful, but both require the Brute to be at point blank range. It is quite expensive for close combat infantry. It is quite fast and strong. Notes/Strategies Matt Volpini says, and I agree, that this is the biggest waste of money in the entire game. It is virtually useless in the game unless you have about 50 of them. They only seem good when you're rushing with them early on, or when you're using the Genetic Mutator. It's not a unit to buy. Virus $700 Requires: Yuri Barracks, Psychic Radar Weapons: Virus Rifle Description This is Yuri's version of the British sniper. The virus costs more and fires more slowly, but it has a longer range, and it has a nice effect after the victim has died: the bullet, after it has killed the victim, spreads out poison over a small area which will damage all infantry that walks into it, except those which are immune to poison. The gas cloud will also move towards infantry which walks near it (Dark654 says that vehicles are also hurt by the poison gas cloud, can anyone confirm this?). Notes/Strategies The Virus is a must have for a Yuri army. It is extremely versatile, able to be used in defence, support, and attack. Depends on the person using it. Yuri Clone $800 Requires: Yuri Barracks, Psychic Radar Weapons: Mind Control, Psychic Wave Description As the name suggests, this is a clone of Yuri, and it is able to mind control almost any unit, except things that are immune of mind control. Its psychic wave will expel a wave energy which will kill all infantry that walks into the wave. By doing this, however, the Yuri Clone will be immobilised for several seconds before it can do anything else. NOTE: (Thanks to Matt Volpini for pointing out that I missed this) the Yuri Clone's Psychic wave will kill ALL infantry that walks into it, even your own. ANOTHER NOTE: (Thanks to Matt Volpini again) when you mind control a transport, the units inside are not yours. If you deploy the transport (not advised), the units inside will still belong to the original owners. In the case of the Battle Fortress, the units inside will fire at what the Battle Fortress is firing at if the Battle Fortress is mind controlled, bit in the same way, they still belong to the original player if they are deployed out. Notes/Strategies With the introduction of the Robot Tank, all races are equipped to deal with this unit, which has decreased in use since Red Alert 2, in which the Allies had no unit capable of dealing with it successfully. It is still useful, however, as a defensive unit, while it can do wonders for your attack if 5 are in a Battle Fortress. Yuri Prime $1500 Requires: Yuri Barracks, Yuri Battle Lab Weapons: Super Mind Control, Super Psychic Wave Description This is the true Yuri, and it just has more powerful versions of the weapons possessed by the clone. Yuri Prime has a larger radius for his Psychic Wave, while his Mind Control can control certain buildings. Also, Yuri Prime's psychic wave will not kill any friendly units. Notes/Strategies The fact that Yuri Prime can control certain buildings gives any player with Yuri certain advantages if they have any allies on their team. This is because Yuri Prime can take control of construction yards, and the Mind Control can be used on friendly units. This means, that with allies on the team, the Yuri side can just get all of their construction yards. And if you think, well, it would waste a Yuri Prime, you're wrong, as when you take control of the construction yard, you can undeploy it. This change of state from a building to a vehicle breaks the link between the Yuri Prime and the MCV, therefore making the construction yard yours to keep. In other circumstances, the Yuri Prime can be just as annoying, taking control of your base defences and then selling them for himself. The fact that his Super Mind Control has a longer range than base defences can become very useful at times... NOTE: (Thanks to Matt Volpini) when you mind control a transport, the units inside are not yours. If you deploy the transport (not advised), the units inside will still belong to the original owners. In the case of the Battle Fortress, the units inside will fire at what the Battle Fortress is firing at if the Battle Fortress is mind controlled, bit in the same way, they still belong to the original player if they are deployed out. VEHICLES Slave Miner $1750 Requires: Yuri War Factory Weapons: 20mm Machine Gun Description This is a unique form of ore harvester. It isn't even a harvester! It is a giant of a vehicle which trundles to a patch of ore, then automatically deploys into a building and releases 5 slaves. These slaves are the ones carrying the ore, and while it is a building, the Slave Miner becomes a refinery. It can also be healed by an Engineer while it is a building. While it is a vehicle, it has auto heal, but it does not have auto heal as a building. As a building, it cannot be attacked by Terrordrones, but it can as a vehicle. Notes/Strategies There is a sort of bad thing about the slaves though - if your miner gets destroyed by another team, the slaves will be under the control of the other team. The slaves can be quite powerful, but they should usually be put down quite easily. Lasher Light Tank $700 Requires: Yuri War Factory Weapons: AT Cannon Description This is the Allied Grizzly with a different new look. Notes/Strategies Look over to the Allied Grizzly section for strategies, as the two vehicles are virtually the same. Gattling Tank $600 Requires: Yuri War Factory Weapons: Twin 50-Calibre Machine Guns Description This is a new type of air defence. Instead of using missiles or shells to cause immediate damage, these machine guns just fill the sky with bullets. These tanks will cause significant damage to all units, especially infantry. The Gattling tank is fast, but weak and unable to defend itself against a good tank. There's another unique thing about this weapon - the longer it fires, the stronger it gets, spitting out bullets at faster and faster rates. It is this which makes it so deadly in groups against Kirovs. Notes/Strategies This is the Yuri Anti Air Tank Unit. Its machine guns can rip through all infantry and lightly armoured vehicles. Against better tanks, like the Apocalypse, though, it needs some assistance, introducing... Magnetron $1000 Requires: Yuri War Factory, Psychic Radar Weapons: Magnetic Beam, Magnetic Shake Description The Magnetron is a unit specifically designed for use against tanks and buildings, as it can't do anything against infantry. Its magnetic beam can lift any vehicle from he ground and carry it through the air towards the Magnetron. While in the air, the victim is immobilised (but units inside may still shoot out), and other ground units can shoot at it, but only if they can fire at air. Also, a Magnetron can drop the vehicle (Stop command), and if it drops it on a place where the vehicle cannot be (e.g. on top of a tree, on a cliff face), the vehicle will explode. If it is dropped on another unit or on a building, both the vehicle and the unit/building will explode. The Magnetron will get the credit for the kill. The Magnetron is a weak tank which is another reason why this thing needs support. Notes/Strategies A Magnetron will work best in a game with some good anti-air units, so that anything picked up by a Magnetron can be destroyed easily. It is also good to have some units that are effective against infantry to support the Magnetron, such as a Navy SEAL. If you can't manage that, Gattling Tanks and Flak Tracks work just as well, being anti-air and anti-infantry. The Magnetron can also damage buildings by releasing a high intensity magnetic beam towards the building, damaging it by a small and pitiful amount. It will, though, work well in groups. There was an error in version 1.000 of Yuri's Revenge, where the range of the Magnetron will decrease if it goes up to elite status. This bug was corrected in the 1.001 patch. Mastermind $1750 Requires: Yuri War Factory, Yuri Battle Lab Weapons: Multiple Mind Control Description The Mastermind is a unit capable to controlling not just one, but up to three units. It can control more (and you cannot stop it from doing do if it is close enough to the unit to do so), but it is suicidal, as it does damage to itself every few seconds as it controls above three. If it controls 10 or more, it is automatically destroyed. This unit is very slow but quite strong. Notes/Strategies In my opinion, it is not as good as 5 Yuri Clones in a Battle Fortress as it has no defence against things that are immune to mind control, it will start to lose health bit by bit if it controls more than three units, and that you have no control over limiting the amount it controls. It can serve as a good defence, but just remember to move it back as soon as it has controlled three. If it controls more, immediately either tell your units to destroy one of the mind controlled units, or send the mind controlled units to the Grinder. NOTE: (Thanks to Matt Volpini) when you mind control a transport, the units inside are not yours. If you deploy the transport (not advised), the units inside will still belong to the original owners. In the case of the Battle Fortress, the units inside will fire at what the Battle Fortress is firing at if the Battle Fortress is mind controlled, bit in the same way, they still belong to the original player if they are deployed out. Chaos Drone $1000 Requires: Yuri War Factory Weapons: Chaos attack Description The Chaos Drone is what I would call an unreliable unit, being weak and having no actual weapon. The "weapon" that it possesses is one that releases toxins which cause all other units in the area to go berserk, i.e. have a stronger firepower but will attack friendly units first. Units immune of mind control will also be immune to this toxin. The unit is very fast but extremely weak and it is unable to defend itself with a weapon against things such as Robot Tanks, which can just hunt it down. Notes/Strategies This unit is unreliable because, say, what it there are no other friendly units in the area? It is also VERY weak, and it is more than likely dead if any unit starts firing at it. Steer clear of this unit, as it is bound to be just a waste of 1000 credits. Floating Disc $1750 Requires: Yuri War Factory, Yuri Battle Lab Weapons: Disc laser, Disc Drain Description The Floating Disc is the Yuri Aircraft, and it is the strongest aerial unit after the Kirov. It is very fast, and its heavy armour allows it to fight against any anti-air infantry without risking its life. It also has auto heal, making it even harder to kill. The laser is powerful, and is effective against all targets, and can also hit other aerial units. But the main power comes from the draining technology. If told to attack an enemy power plant, it will not damage the power plant, but will hover above it and shut down all power for the owner of the power plant. If told to attack an electrically powered base defence (all except pillbox and sentry gun), it will shut down that base defence. And here's the cheeky bit - if you tell it to go over an Ore Refinery, it will slowly suck all the money from it and give it to you...evil. Notes/Strategies This is one of the best Yuri units, because it can be so annoying once it gets going. It also provides an very useful support for the little attack power that Yuri has. It is best to do one of these things as a rush, but make sure you have about 5 surviving discs. Place about 2 or 3 of them over power plants, so that they do not just destroy their own power plants, place 1 over a refinery, and just destroy things with the remaining discs. Yuri MCV $3000 Requires: Yuri War Factory, Grinder Weapons: N/A Description This deploys into a Yuri Construction Yard. See the Allied version for more details. Notes/Strategies Again, the same as the Soviet and Allied MCVs, except that you get a Yuri Construction Yard instead. There is something that you should look out for though. This is explained more fully in the Miscellaneous Information section of the guide. NAVAL UNITS Amphibious Transport $900 Requires: Yuri Submarine Pen Weapons: N/A Description See T=the Allied version for more details. Notes/Strategies There is no imagination in this thing is there? Again, same as the Allied and Soviet version. Boomer Submarine $2000 Requires: Yuri Submarine Pen, Psychic Radar Weapons: Torpedoes, Missile Launcher Description This Submarine is more advanced than the Typhoon Attack Sub, being stronger, more powerful, and able to hit land targets with a unique missile launch system. Although the torpedoes are actually a bit weaker than those of the Typhoon Sub, the Boomer fires two at a time. The Boomer is very strong, and only a good navy will destroy a fleet of these things. The Boomer is fast, like the Typhoon, but it does cost double the price. You can control the waters with enough of these though. Against land targets, it will fire a missile similar to those of the V3, but less powerful, and a shorter range. While firing these missiles, the Boomer will be visible to all players. Notes/Strategies This is the prize of the Yuri Navy, possibly the best naval unit in the game. It proves it with the sheer power that it has, with its torpedoes and missiles. The Soviets and Allies are lucky that it costs so much to build. In fact, one can tell that the best naval unit of a particular race all cost the same - The Boomer, The Dreadnought, and The Aircraft Carrier. Each of these can lay siege on a base, but only the Aircraft Carrier and the Boomer can defend against naval units (mobile ones anyway). When deciding which race you want to be, it's also useful looking at the Naval units available to you. 8) Allied Combat Buildings/Defensive Structures Pillbox $500 Requires: Allied Barracks, Allied Construction Yard Weapon: Machine Gun Description The Pillbox is the basic base defence of the Allies. It uses no power but has a very short range and is not reliable in the later game. It is useful, however, to defend against rushes. It is fairly weak and not that powerful. Notes/Strategies As previously pointed out, these basic defence systems are only really good at defending against early rushes, they just don't have the range to be of any use later in the game. Prism Tower $1500 Requires: Air Force Command HQ, Allied Construction Yard Weapons: Prism Bolt, Charge-up Bolt Description The Prism Tower is the major base defence. It has a very long range, and it is able to hit most units before that unit can hit it. It is not very strong, it has a very slow rate of fire and it requires a lot of power. It is not very powerful by itself, but other Prism Towers can charge up one Prism Tower (max. 8) to make one concentrated beam of energy. When there are 8 charging up one, it can destroy anything with that bolt. Notes/Strategies The Prism Tower is used a lot when playing against AI, but it is much better to get into the habit of using units for defence, instead of combat structures. Though the Prism Tower is very useful as a structure, it is very unreliable. A good team of Prism Tanks can easily destroy a few Prism Towers. A good way to strengthen your Prism Towers is to support it with Prism Tanks. If you have enough, your Prism Tanks will wipe out any weaker enemies and the Prism Towers can take care of the bigger ones once they get too close. This strategy will work very well if it is done right. It will be even better if the Prism Tanks were in Tank Bunkers, so that it has a bit of extra defence. A strategy concerning the prism tower is listed in the "other strategies", as it concerns attack, not defence. Grand Cannon $2000 Requires: Player to be France, Air Force Command HQ, Allied Construction Yard Weapons: Grand Cannon Description This is a gigantic structure. It is much stronger than a Prism Tower and much more powerful than a single Prism Tower. The thing, however, which makes a lot of people use France and the Grand Cannons is the enormous range of it. Only Dreadnoughts and Aircraft Carriers have a longer range. The weapon, is though, very costly, both on credits and power, and it is also very slow in firing and has low accuracy. Notes/Strategies I think that this is definitely the base defence of choice, as it has the range, for only $500 more than the major base defences. Just put in some air defence and your base should do fine. A strategy concerning the Grand Cannon is listed in "other strategies", as it concerns attack, not defence. Patriot Missile $1000 Requires: Allied Barracks, Allied Construction Yard Weapons: Anti-Air Guided Hover Missiles Description This is the Allied Base air defence system. It is not unlike the IFV's weapon, but it is much more balanced in the damage that it deals. It has quite a long range, and is probably the best of the air defences, being more powerful than the Flak Cannon, and having a much longer range than the Gattling Gun. It does, however, fire very slowly, and the other two are better at protecting a base against Harrier raids. NOTE: This weapon cannot shoot at ground troops. Notes/Strategies If you want to use these, set these at various points around your base. Don't build too many. Just build a few. Use anti-air units to do everything else. Personally, I don't use them, as they cost power and a lot of credits. I prefer to use IFVs. 9) Soviet Combat Buildings/Defensive Structures Sentry Gun $500 Requires: Soviet Barracks, Soviet Construction Yard Weapons: Machine Gun Description This is almost an exact copy of the Allied Pillbox. It works in the same, way, using no power, and having a short range. It is a bit more powerful though. Notes/Strategies See the Pillbox. Tesla Coil $1500 Requires: Radar Tower, Soviet Construction Yard Weapons: Tesla Bolt Description This is the Soviet's major base defence. It does OK damage alone, but it can be charged up by Tesla Troopers. When your power is in the red, you can also power these up with Tesla Troopers - two will do. NOTE: I'm not sure about whether only one Tesla Trooper can actually power the Tesla Coil up, or does each Tesla Trooper you power it up with add more? Because I cannot see any difference between 10 powering a Tesla Coil up and 1 powering a Tesla Coil up. Notes/Strategies I think the Tesla Coil is a bit better than the Prism Tower as long as the Tesla Trooper does not get sniped. For one thing, each Tesla Coil can fire at its own target, unlike the Prism Towers, which concentrates on just one. While the Prism Towers may be good for a small attack force, it will not be able to cope with a rush of little units. The Tesla Coils, however, will fare a little better, if not by much. Flak Cannon $1000 Requires: Soviet Barracks, Soviet Construction Yard Weapons: Anti-Air Flak Cannon Description This is the Soviet Anti-Air base defence. Each shell has less power, but it fires faster than the Patriot Missile System. Notes/Strategies I prefer this to the Patriot Missile, mainly because of the faster rate of fire. This makes the Flak Cannon better against fast aircraft, which the Patriot Missile is useless against. NOTE: This base defence cannot shoot at ground targets. 10) Yuri Combat Buildings/Defensive Structures Gattling Gun $1000 Requires: Yuri Barracks, Yuri Construction Yard Weapons: Anti-ground twin machine guns, Anti-air twin machine guns Description This is the Yuri cross-breed of the minor anti ground defence and the air defence systems that the Allied and Soviets have kept separate. That plays to Yuri's advantage and disadvantage. The Gattling Gun is more stable than the Gattling Tank, being stronger and more powerful, but it does more or less the same thing, i.e. the longer it fires, the more damage it does. Notes/Strategies The Advantage of this is clear - you get two for the price of one. And, this defence takes up virtually no electricity (10 units). But the disadvantage can have a huge effect - this defence has a much shorter range than the other air defences. Take your pick. Psychic Tower $1500 Requires: Psychic Radar, Yuri Construction Yard Weapons: Quintuple Mind Control Description This base defence is certainly annoying in the 1 player, but it really is basically useless online. It acts like 5 Yuri Clones squashed into one structure. It has a long range, and can control any ground unit that can be mind controlled. Notes/Strategies Useful? No. The main problem comes in the delay between taking control of one unit and taking control of a second. That delay can be fatal if there is a rush. Against Apocalypses, yes, these will be useful because of the slow speed. But you have to look at all the scenarios. Against anything else, this thing is useless. NOTE: (Thanks to Matt Volpini) when you mind control a transport, the units inside are not yours. If you deploy the transport (not advised), the units inside will still belong to the original owners. In the case of the Battle Fortress, the units inside will fire at what the Battle Fortress is firing at if the Battle Fortress is mind controlled, bit in the same way, they still belong to the original player if they are deployed out. 11) Superweapons - Attack When discussing Superweapons, I assume the scenario, especially online, is one on one, as there is no other way to play Superweapons online (any more than one on a team it will end up as a contest between which team can get up their big Superweapons first). Firstly, I'll explain what the Superweapons do. A Superweapon, is, a super weapon. The Superweapon option can be turned on or off before the game. If it is on, this is what will happen. Each player will be able to build 2 extra structures, and they can only build one of each. Depending on their race, they will get the following: Allied - Chronophere and Weather Control Device Soviets - Iron Curtain and Nuke Silo Yuri - Genetic Mutator and Psychic Dominator The first in each of the lists is the minor Superweapon (Chronosphere, Iron Curtain, Genetic Mutator), and the second is the major Superweapon (Weather Control Device, Nuke Silo, Psychic Dominator). For any Superweapon, you are required to build a Battle Lab and have a construction yard before you may start building these structures. A minor Superweapon device will cost 2500 credits, the major Superweapon will vost 5000 credits. Once built, depending on which Superweapon, a timer will appear on everyone's screens, even your opponents, warning them the time until one of the super weapons is active. The position of the Superweapon will also be revealed to all players, and shown on the map, even if your opponents have not uncovered that part of the map yet. The timer will show 6 minutes if it is a minor Superweapon, and it will show 10 minutes if it is a major Superweapon. That is the time it takes for it to charge up. From then on, each of the Superweapons will act like the paradrop - you only have to wait for it to charge up, use it, and it will charge up again, for no charge. To set off the device when it is ready, you have to go to the defence tab, and search for the appropriate ability: Chronosphere - Chronoshift Weather Control Device - Lightning Storm Iron Curtain - Invulnerable Nuke Silo - Nuke Attack Genetic Mutator - Mutate Psychic Dominator - Dominate Then you just point at an area on the map, and the Superweapon will activate at that area. Now for what they do... NOTE: YOU CANNOT DESTROY SUPERWEAPON DEVICES WITH A SUPERWEAPON. THE SUPERWEAPON WILL DAMAGE THE DEVICE, BUT NEVER DESTROY IT. ALSO, NO SINGLE SUPERWEAPON CAN DESTROY A CONSTRUCTION YARD, THEY WILL ALL TAKE IT INTO THE LOW YELLOW/RED IF IT IS NOT UNDER A SHIELD OR IRON CURTAIN. MINOR SUPERWEAPONS ALLIED - CHRONOSHERE: CHORNOSHIFT $2500 6 GAME MINUTES TO CHARGE UP Affects: Infantry, Animals, Vehicles Description When you click on the map, a small dome (3x3) will appear where you clicked. The dome will be visible to all who can see that part of the map. You then click on another place on the map and all vehicles in the dome will to teleported to that place. They do not have to phase out. Any infantry in that dome will be killed, as will any animals. The dome can be placed anywhere, and the contents can be teleported anywhere. You cannot Chronoshift Iron Curtained vehicles. Any infantry with the Chrono ability will not be killed. Strategies Chronoshift enemy vehicles into the sea Chronoshift enemy ships onto land Chronoshift your tanks into middle of enemy base, Iron Curtain tanks on arrival Kill enemy infantry by Chronoshifting them To teleport troops, put them in Battle Fortress, teleport Battle Fortress SOVIET - IRON CURTAIN DEVICE: INVULNERABLE $2500 6 GAME MINUTES TO CHARGE UP Affects: Buildings, Infantry, Animals, Ground Vehicles Description When you click on the map invulnerability will occur at an area 3x3 centred on where you clicked. Invulnerability will make any building or vehicle, or groups of buildings and/or vehicles invincible for about 15 game seconds. Invulnerable vehicles/buildings cannot be mind controlled, chronoshifted, or damaged in any way. The Invulnerability will kill any infantry or animals in the 3x3 area. Strategies Save Iron Curtain for defence against a Superweapon. Attack with fast and powerful units and Iron Curtain them. YURI - GENETIC MUTATOR: MUTATE $2500 6 GAME MINUTES TO CHARGE UP Affects: Infantry, Animals Description The Genetic Mutator has a much larger area, about 6x6 or even more. In its area, any infantry in the area will be mutated into Brutes and placed under your control. Any animals in there will be killed. Strategies Use on your slaves to get free brutes. Use on enemy infantry close to the enemy base. MAJOR SUPERWEAPONS For attacking with big Superweapons, what I will be writing will apply to all races, as all of the big Superweapons will do essentially the same thing - big damage. NOTE: YOU CANNOT DESTROY SUPERWEAPON DEVICES WITH A SUPERWEAPON. THE SUPERWEAPON WILL DAMAGE THE DEVICE, BUT NEVER DESTROY IT. ALSO, NO SINGLE SUPERWEAPON CAN DESTROY A CONSTRUCTION YARD, THEY WILL ALL TAKE IT INTO THE LOW YELLOW/RED IF IT IS NOT UNDER A SHIELD OR IRON CURTAIN. There are two ways to use these in my book, either to support an attack, or to wreck an enemy attack. To support, the main thing to realise is that as soon as you set off the superweapon, your opponent is going to use his Force Shield. The Force shield will shut down his power for a while, and that's when you go in with a big assault force. To force your opponent to use the force shield, aim to destroy, i.e. War Factory and/or Battle Lab. To wreck an attack, it can only work well if there's a large group of infantry and tanks. Just aim in the middle, and they should be toast. It is unlikely that you will actually do big damage to a base with your major superweapon, a few power plants maybe, but mot much more than that. There is a special case here however - the Psychic Domimator. While it does massive damage to buildings, it has another use: The Psychic Dominator is able to take control of all units within its radius. These units will then be permanently under you control, and they will not be able to be mind controlled. 12) Superweapons - Defence When defending against Superweapons, you need to follow two basic principles - conserve power, and don't leave gaps when building a base. The second is really saying that you should make your base as small as possible, and the first leads on to this - if you waste electricity, you will need extra power plants, and you don't want that. To get ready to take the blow, it is probably best to build a few Engineers, and put them out of the way, so that they can quickly repair any major structural damage. For Superweapon Defence, the soviets are the best. For the reason that you can use the Iron Curtain as an extra force shield. The Soviets also have the Nuclear Power Plant, which will survive a direct hit from any Superweapon. This means that the Soviets have enough shields to cover almost the entire base. One just has to learn how to squash all your buildings together. Just keep the Nuclear Power Plant aside, so that if it does get blown up, it won't affect your base that much. When using this defence, make sure you activate the Iron Curtain first, or else you will not have power to use it after you use the Force Shield. Yuri is next best. Though they do not have an extra protection system, they do have the Bio Reactor, and the fact that each will give you 650 units of power (5 infantry inside) conserves space. Just protect your Bio Reactors and other weak but expensive buildings, i.e. War Factory, Battle Lab, Cloning Vats, with the Force Shield. Allied is the worst, because they have the worst power system. Geothermal Power Plants may sound neat, but they waste way too much space. Try to conserve as much power as possible. So don't build anything that you do not need, i.e. no base defences, no Robot Control Centre. When activating your Force Shield, just cover what you can, cover your main buildings, and try to conserve a bit of power. 13) Levels of Veterancy Can anybody confirm how units go up ranks? The information below was said to be true by many people, but in practice, it doesn't seem to work accurately, as units seem to kill much more than units 3 times their price, a lot more. Does anybody have any other ideas? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- For those units that can go up levels of veterancy, there's a way to calculate when they will. A unit will go up a rank when the combined total value of the opponents that it has killed goes above 3 times the value of your unit. So for example, if you had a Kirov Airship, worth $2000, you would have to make it kill more than $6000 worth of enemies (exactly $6000 does not work, you always need a bit more), so it will go up to the rank of veteran once it has destroyed, say, 2 construction yards (2x$3000) and a barracks ($500), for a grand total of $6500. Then, to go up to elite, it will need to destroy another lot of enemies, again totalling a value of above $6000. For something like a conscript, it would need to kill far cheaper things, as the conscript is only worth $100, meaning that to go up a rank, it would only be required to kill a group of enemies worth over $300, i.e. 2 GIs, or 1 Guardian GI. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Only human units, or units that are driven by a human can go up in levels of veterancy, and that is only if they have a weapon. (NOTE: This includes Brutes) Units that cannot go up in ranks by normal means are: Terrordrone, Robot Tank, Attack Dog, Engineer, MCV, Amphibious Transport, Terrorist, Demo Truck, Aircraft Carrier (The Carrier itself is the thing that doesn't go up ranks, the Hornets do), Chrono Miner, Magnetron, Giant Squid, Dolphin. NOTE: Some say that Giant Squids and Dolphins can go up ranks. Can anybody confirm this? Units inside a battle bunker, tank bunker, or any civilian building will still go up in ranks of veterancy, and the same rules still apply, though the player will not be informed of the promotion unless the unit is taken out of the garrisoned building (though you will see the promotion of a tank in a tank bunker). Units that fire from the inside of a transport i.e. IFV/Battle Fortress will NOT go up ranks, any kills would go towards the transport, which will be the one that gets up ranks. 14) Other Strategies THE TANK BUNKER The Tank Bunker is Yuri's equivalent of the Battle Bunker, but it can prove to be much more useful. There are two tanks which I find works the best in them: The Prism Tank and the Gattling Tank - THE PRISM TANK This is a tactic that is quite hard to achieve, but it is worth it if you can. This provides an extremely long-ranged base defence with an eye for killing infantry. In groups, this can take out any tank, with improved firepower. This combination will cost $1600, but will be built quicker than a Prism Tower (as it is split into two sections), and will use NO POWER. The last bit is probably the best bit of all - conserving precious power supplies. This defence will also have much more health than a regular prism tower. The fact that this prism beam will split also helps. - THE GATTLING TANK This is much easier to achieve, and can be just as useful as the Prism Tank, though the two will work excellently in groups. As with the Prism Tank, it will conserve electricity, and will provide a powerful air defence for the same price as the Gattling Gun. A DEFENCE AGAINST A RUSH OF PRISM TANKS A Prism Tank rush should not really be called a rush as they are really slow. The slowness can work to your advantage, though, when you're trying to defend against them. The thing you have to keep in mind is that the prism tanks are so weak that ONE HARRIER WILL DESTROY ONE PRISM TANK IN ONE. If you see the Prism Tanks early enough, you should deal with them pretty easily. This really isn't a defence, but there really isn't anything else you can all it. THE FRENCH CANNONWALK This is possibly the most hated tactic on small maps. Using power plants, build Grand Cannons further and further away from your base until you get to a point where your Cannons can fire at an enemy base. Then build a few more Grand Cannons at that point, bugger up the base defences and send in the attack force. Because of this cheap tactic, many people disallow the use of France when using a small map with many people, e.g. Tour of Egypt. Though the tactic will still work on big maps, it would take much longer and wouldn't be worth it. NOTE: This can also be used with base defences such as Prism Towers and Tesla Coils. But the fact that they have less health and have a shorter range than the grand cannon makes them less useful when trying to "walk" with them. PARADROP DIVERSION You can use this tactic to divert the enemy's air defence so that you can attack with something far more severe, like Harriers. This can work quite well, but you have to get your proper attack ready on time, or else by the time they get there the paradrop would have already been wiped out. 15) Miscellaneous Information A PROBLEM CONCERNING MCVs This problem occurs when a Terrordrone attacks an MCV. If it is successful, i.e. it starts to rock the MCV and lowering the health, it is best to either get it to a service depot quickly, or quickly build an IFV and Engineer and fix it. If you can do neither, deploy it. The MCV will stop losing health, and will seem normal. But DO NOT UNDEPLOY IT. If you do, the MCV will disappear because the Terrordrone (which will not be visible) would have already killed the vehicular state of the Construction Yard. RACE SPECIFICS - WHICH IS THE BEST? This discusses the Ore Purifier, Industrial Plant, Cloning Vats. NOTE: For all the race specifics, the cost is 2500 credits; they are all immune to mind control and they all cannot be captured. ORE PURIFIER The Ore Purifier is the Allied Forces' Race Specific. The Ore Purifier will grant the player 25% more credits for ore and gems. INDUSTRIAL PLANT The Industrial Plant is the Soviet Race Specific. The Industrial Plant will make all vehicles, planes, and ships cost 25% less. CLONING VATS The Cloning Vats is the Yuri Race Specific. It will automatically produce a copy of any infantry you train from then on for free (it will come out of the Cloning Vats). WHICH IS BETTER? Discounting all else, the Ore Purifier would have to be the best race specific. But since the Soviets have a marginally better miner, they may have the better combination, that and the fact that the Soviets thrive on their huge tank arsenal. The Cloning Vats is probably the most useless, though it will, in theory, save the player the most money. The problem is that infantry are rarely as important as vehicles, and though it may be good for characters and other particularly expensive and good infantry (notably Chrono Commando, Chrono Legionnaire, Navy SEAL, Psi Commando), Yuri does not have any particularly good infantry units of his own. To have the Cloning Vats is good, though, if you are looking to build a good all defensive base, as it is certainly important for power (Bio Reactors). So in the end, it is opinion that matter more than most, as which is best depends on the person playing. If he/she wants to build a massive attack force, the Soviets will probably the best, with better tanks than the Allies. To be more subtle and a tad more defensive, Yuri will probably be the best. Allies can come anywhere, as they have a pretty good arsenal, and can have a pretty good defence as well, but the average-ness of everything may just prove to its downfall. 16) Online Gaming This a part of nearly every PC game made recently, and it is a part where your computer really does some into the equation. As for the one player game, you will need a good PC. For online gaming, a good PC will be a good insurance that your computer won't crash during a clan match or something. A PC of above about 800MHz will do fine. Below that, your game will be too slow. For Internet Gaming, I suggest that you have cable or broadband to avoid the hassle you sometimes get with a dial-up connection. Then try to get a fast cable/broadband connection. I use 64K broadband, the minimum, but if you have a 128K, 512K, or 1MB connection, it would be tons better, providing better speed and quality online. Try to play with people who have about the same connection quality with you, indicated by their ping times. When playing online for the first time, it is best to play as part of a team, to try to get used to the speed online, and the quality of some of the players. For your first time, here's a few tips and pointers to get you going: Always build your barracks before your refinery. Always build plenty of miners, I use about 4 or 5. you may want more. Always build a basic defence for your base at the start against rushes, i.e. pillboxes/sentry guns, battle bunkers, infantry. Build things simultaneously for speed, and always try to be ahead in technology of your opponent(s) at the beginning. Start building Gap Generators everywhere to conceal parts of the map. After building a substantial base, you should do fine. Once you get into the latter stages of the game, where money is essential, try to protect some of the major ore fields with some of your forces. This will guarantee you and your allies money and will also stop your opponents from getting the ore. Online gaming is also good for the fact that you can chat to your allies and your opponents during a match, whether it is to discuss your amazing new strategy or to taunt your opponents. This brings a whole new scope to teamwork. Westwood online also makes room for clans, and co-op missions, making it even more necessary to work as a team. Here's a warning though, if you do play online, be prepared to be addicted to playing against proper opposition. You will get bored of the proper game very quickly as you start to realise that the AI provide no challenge whatsoever. - CLANS Clans have always played a major role in any Internet game. Clans are a great way to sharpen your skills in working as a team. Clans are a good way to introduce yourself to Internet gaming, as playing with a clan will give you a felling of that skills involved when playing on the internet. A good clan is one that is made up of a group of friends that see each other regularly, as being friends, they would know each other's style during a game, whether it is extra-defensive, paranoid, or kamikaze. In the end, it is these that will be the best, as a clan of the best single players may have the experience and skill of the individuals, but with nothing more than a name and an alliance connecting the members, it may be very unstable. Once in a clan, get in a few games with other clans, without worrying about losing. After getting the feel of it, start practicing with fellow members of your clan, and set up tactics for particular maps. Then start to learn how you can use your partner during a game, whether it is to let him defend a particular part of your base, or to use him as bait. These are things to decide among you. With the planning done, it is time to get back online. Practice a few of your tactics by doing the Co-operative missions, and then get ready for a clan match. This time, with your new tactics, you should do much better. 17) Credits I have to thank the following people for making this guide happen: Westwood Studios and Westwood Online , for making an excellent real-time strategy game for me to play, and also for setting up a great online service. Jeff "CJayC" Veasey, GameFAQs Webmaster , for developing a excellent site to which I go to constantly for help, and for putting this guide up. Stephanus Rudiyanto N. , for letting me use some of the statistics on his excellent guide. For more detailed information on any of the units, check out his guide! Nick , for contributing a Battle Fortress combination. Matt Volpini , for informing me of many errors in this guide, and telling me of many new strategies. Rob Olsen , for confirming that Dolphins do indeed release ships from squids. Bilen Varol , for contributing many more strategies for this guide. "Darker654", for introducing me to the game, for continuously criticising this guide and the contents of it, for finding the nutty bombers clan (but not for the name), for obliterating my base in my first online match with 60 Black Eagles and 10 Kirovs, and continuously contributing random information just to get on the credits. His contributions to the guide have been many and he deserves a lot of credit for that. And Finally, You, for taking your time in reading this FAQ. Please come back to check for updates. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you would like to contribute something towards this guide in any way, please email me at: icbm182@netscape.net In case you want to know my alias on Westwood Online, it is icbm182, a member of the nutty bombers clan. Alas, my friend, Darker654, has forgotten his password, and the subsequently deleted his old Westwood Online account, resulting in the nutty bombers clan being broken up.