+---------------+ | | | Soldiers of | | Anarchy | | | | Strategy | | Guide | | | +---------------+ By: UnSub (evilasahobby@graffiti.net) Version: 0.25 Date: 29 June 2004 +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ CONTENTS ________ 1.0 Introduction .1 Email Policy .2 Reproduction of this Guide .3 What You Should Do Before You Play... 2.0 Equipment .1 Personnel Weapons .2 Throwing Weapons .3 Personnel Armour .4 Personnel Amunitions .5 Personnel Items and Miscellaneous .6 Units .7 Unit Accessories .8 Unit Ammunition 3.0 Personnel .1 Skills .2 Suggested Squad Selections 4.0 General Tactics .1 Included Readme File .2 In the Field .3 Between Missions 5.0 Walkthrough .1 A Leap in the Dark .2 The Raid 6.0 Endings .1 .2 .3 .4 7.0 Final Notes .1 Thanks and Contributors .2 Version History ++++ 1.0 INTRODUCTION ________________ It's a sad fact that some very good games don't get the attention they deserve. For my money, Soldiers of Anarchy was one of the better RTS's I'd played in a long time, but it didn't attract much attention in gaming circles or from reviewers. The patch did make a big difference, but it looked like (to me) that unless an RTS has "Blizzard" stamped on the box then players don't notice it. A post-apocalyptic world, lots of different types of hardware, a decent story and mostly interesting gameplay - what's not to love? Having seen SoA in a bargin bin for $15 the other day and that it still had no guides on Gamefaqs, I thought "Enough's enough" and decided to write a guide. Given that you can pick up SoA very cheaply, I'm hoping a few more players might give this game a shot if they see a guide is available - SoA deserves better than being bargin bin fodder! 1.1 EMAIL POLICY ---------------- If I've made a mistake in this guide or you need some help, you can email me. HOWEVER... please include "Soldiers of Anarchy" in the email subject line and or you run the risk of me mistaking if for spam. I can't always promise that I will be able to help you, since once I finish a guide for a game I usually put it away and forget about it. Asking me the exact steps to finishing a level I last played 5 months ago isn't going to be successful. Also, please don't email me about something that is already stated in the guide (I HATE THAT!) unless I've been unclear. Finally, if you need help, please be clear about what you help you need in the email - the more detail I have, the better the chance I can do something for you. 1.2 REPRODUCTION OF THIS GUIDE ------------------------------ You have my permission to reproduce this guide so long as 1) it is unaltered and 2) the reproduction will be free to those who want it. So no slapping your name on this and then charging people to read it, okay? If you want to alter this guide for reproduction, please email me. 1.3 WHAT YOU SHOULD DO BEFORE YOU PLAY... ----------------------------------------- Go and download the latest patches for SoA - they are currently version XXXX. This will give you the ability to issue commands whilst the game is paused, which is absolutely vital and makes things fun rather than just frustrating. ++++ 2.0 EQUIPMENT _____________ Below is a list of equipment that can be used in SoA. Knowing what your equipment can do is vital to successfully fighting your enemies and keeping your squad alive. For a full overview of your equipment and units, take a look at the manual - below are just my opinions. 2.1 PERSONNEL WEAPONS --------------------- Beretta - You start with these. It has a very short range and its rate of fire isn't great. You should be able to replace your Berettas with something better fairly quickly though. Uses 9mm ammunition. Uzi - Its got a longer range and fires faster than the Beretta and will probably be the main weapon you supply your squad in the early stages of the game. Given what's available though, it still isn't great. Uses 9mm ammunition. Shotgun - At close range, a shotgun can be very effective in taking out enemies. However, the key here is "close range" - unless you are setting up an ambush, there's a chance that you'll have to run through enemy fire to get within shotgun firing range. Early on having a shotgun or two in the squad isn't a problem, but shotguns should be replaced as soon as you can with MP5's or AK-74's. Uses 20mm shotgun shells. MP5 - The best of the 9mm weapons, with the longest range and highest rate of fire. Useful to have until you can equip everyone with AK-74's (or better). Uses 9mm ammunition. Crossbow - A sharpshooter weapon. A single bolt can kill an unarmoured enemy; it takes three to take out an enemy in a heavy vest. It's also silent, so it's great for those stealth operations. Uses crossbow bolts, which can be hard to acquire. It's range is pretty good, but it's rate of fire is pretty slow. Overall though, it's a great weapon to have. AK-74 - These are likely to become your standard squad weapon once your enemies start dropping them. They've got a good range on them and are fairly available in mid- to later in the game. It's range and rate of fire are both pretty good. It won't let you take on everything, but it is a great all-round anti-personnel weapon and the ammo is quite plentiful in later stages. Uses 5.45mm bullets. M60 - One of two heavy machine guns. It's got a pretty good range and rate of fire and is useful if you need to take out lightly armoured vehicles. The biggest problem is that it uses 7.62mm ammunition, which (early on, anyway) means you have to decide if you are going to use this weapon in your squad or give the ammo to a weapon mounted on a vehicle. Still, it's a good weapon to have one or two of in the squad. RPK - The other heavy machine gun. According to the manual, this is more accurate the the M60, but everything else I've said above applies. I also found it harder to come across RPK's than M60's. Uses 7.62mm rounds. Dragunov - A sniper rifle and a sharpshooter weapon. Any personnel hit by a Dragunov round is dead, regardless of armour. In fact, you'll find a sniper armed with this weapon leaves a lot of heavy vests for you to collect. The range on this weapon is incredible and is great for picking off isolated enemies that you can't easily sneak up on. The only problem is ammunition - you only get five rounds a clip, while clips can be hard to find. Uses 5.65mm bullets. M79 - The grenade launcher. I've got mixed feelings about this weapon. It takes up too much room for it's effectiveness in my opinion. Sure, it can be a one-shot kill and has it's uses, but it just lacks something. Fires 40mm Playma rounds. RPG-7 - Fires rocket propelled grenades that are just great for taking out armoured vehicles. Make sure the vehicles are motionless however, as RPG's don't track targets. Squad members equipped with RPG's will find themselves short on inventory space (since you'll want to take along a few spare rounds and each RPG takes up an inventory slot). Fires PG-7 rounds. SA-7 - The surface-to-air missile launcher, which is vital for taking out attack aircraft who will otherwise spoil your day. There aren't a lot of enemy aircraft in SoA, but if you have access to an SA-7 it doesn't hurt to take it along just in case. Uses SA-7 missiles. 2.2 THROWING WEAPONS -------------------- Molotov Cocktail - Hmm, another questionable weapon. It's great for throwing over walls onto unsuspecting soldiers / Humvees, but you often find yourself wondering (or at least I did) if _this_ was the right time to use it, or to hold off just in case the next bit of the mission would be easier with it. If you're lucky, you can throw it onto a vehicle and the vehicle will stay in the flames, possibly blowing up. Molotovs have do have their uses, but I tended to prefer other grenade types over them. Hand Grenade - Can be very useful to taking out numerous enemies at once. One tactic is to try and bottleneck the enemies (say, when they rush out the gate of their base at you) then throw one of these into their midst. Hitting moving targets can be hard, so try to use them on stationary targets. One warning - sometimes your guys won't throw so well (particulary if you have them too close to a wall) and you can run the risk of blowing yourself up. Smoke Grenade - Can be very useful for setting up ambushes, forcing long range enemies into range (either them coming to you or you going to them) or for covering retreats. Again, you (or at least I did) run into the problem of "is now the time?" for using them. Put a bit of planning into it, however, and smoke grenades can be very useful. Stun Grenade - This is almost a "what's the point?" weapon. Sure, you can knock an enemy unconscious. But you will still need to kill them and I'm a bit morally conflicted over shooting sleeping men. Everything else being equal, use a hand grenade instead - the end result is the same and it'll save you the bullets. Throwing Knife - A one-hit kill that's pretty stealthy. However, you have to get pretty close and in line-of-sight to pull this off, so it's up to you. Almost "bragging rights" weapon, but they aren't too common. 2.3 PERSONNEL ARMOUR -------------------- Kevlar Vest - The "light" vest. Keeps your guys alive and is certainly better than nothing. At the bare minimum every member of your field team should have one of these (once they become available). Heavy Vest - Stronger than the kevlar version. Vital for keeping your squad alive. -- Trade for these whenever possible, especially early on. You will run into the issue of damaged vests being mixed in with your good vests. If this is the case, take along a spare vest or two in a car / Ural that you can swap over once a vest is destroyed. -- 2.4 PERSONNEL AMMUNITION ------------------------ 9mm - The weakest ammo type. Comes in rounds of 20. Fairly plentiful early on so it will be your main ammo type early on in the game. 20mm shotgun shells - According to the manual, this does "high" damage to physical targets (ie people). This is good early on, but given the factors of how close you have to be (very) and that once enemies start getting armour this ammo type is severely impeded, it isn't something you'll be using for long. Comes in sets of 10. Crossbow bolts - These do high damage to soft targets and also have a pretty good penetration, but can be hard to find. However, given that a Crossbow can be a one-shot kill, they are very handy to have. Comes in sets of 6. 7.62mm - This is the heavy machine gun ammo, used by both your squad and a few mounted weapons. These guns can spit out the rounds very quickly, so be sure to keep an eye on how much you've got left before you have to reload. Overall, this ammunition type isn't too hard to find - Humvees that were armed with mounted machine guns will drop this ammo type when you blow them up. This ammo type comes in clips of 50 and is a good all-round munition for attacking the enemy with. 5.45mm - This specialist (in game, anyway) AK-74 ammo does good damage to physical targets and is fairly available in the later stages. Comes in clips of 30. 40mm Plamya Grenades - Comes in two types: high explosive and incindiary. Both are effective against soft targets, but its better to have the HE version in case you run into some lightly armoured targets (eg Humvee). Incindiaries aren't bad if you want to damage some structures or stationary targets. PG-7 - This is the hand weapon of choice if you have to take out an armoured target. Note well that if the target moves you can miss and that it may take more than one RPG to finish the job, so plan carefully. These also work pretty well against Death Knights. SA-7 - Best for taking out flying targets and should be saved for just such an occasion. In a pinch they can be used for blowing up ground targets, but this can lead you in trouble if the enemy calls in ground support. One SA rocket is enough to take out almost all aircraft. 2.4 PERSONNEL ITEMS AND MISCELLANEOUS ------------------------------------- Medipacks - Used for healing injured soldiers and keeping available to fight. Best placed in the hands of a trained medic. You can manufacture these in your Base's infirmary Fly - A combat drug that can enhance your soldiers' abilities. To be honest, I never used this (less an anti-drug thing than a "there is a comedown and too many may kill you" thing). However, you can manufacture these in your Base's infirmary and trade them for other goods from the Seeker. Binoculars - Enhances your soldier's ability to see the enemy. Apparently works only during the day, but I didn't see the difference between day / night in-game. Night Vision Goggles - Enhances your soldier's ability to see the enemy at night. Again, I saw no difference between day / night, so I just treated these as an enhanced version of the Binoculars. Anti-tank Mines - A guerilla's dream (that only trained explosives professionals should use)! Put them in the path of patrolling vehicles, use them to set traps in front of gates or bottlenecks - an anti-tank mine can be used to take vehicles out of commission without putting your men in the firing line. Ignore the "anti-tank" prefix as these things will work on humvees et al as easily as with an M1A1 (although quality required for vehicle destruction may vary). There are actually plenty around, so be sure to steal them from your enemy whenever possible. Please note that: - 1) your demolitions guy will not always lay the mines where you indicate. It's best to watch him / her to make sure they aren't leaving a big gap through which enemy vehicles can pass through and kill you (it happens, believe me). -2) When laying mines, put them in a stagger pattern (eg below, with X symbolising mines): X X X X X X X X This ensures that a vehicle that passes through one gap is very likely to hit the mine in the second row and will increase the effectiveness of any traps you set using mines. Explosives / Dynamite - Blows up big. Should only be used on stationary targets since you don't want to miss. Should only be used by your trained explosives squad member. Thumper Decoy - These are used to take out thumper mines on a 1-to-1 basis (so if you need to take out 5 thumper mines, you'll need 5 decoys). Take care in planting these, since you don't want to blow up your own squad member while attempting the job. They do have a good attraction range though, so you won't have to get ridiculously close to use a decoy. These only come into play later in SoA. Tracking Device - You plant these on a target to paint them for aerial bombing. Most useful against stationary targets, but if you can drop it close enough to encamped enemy armour it can be great in dealing some damage to them too. These only come into play in the later stages of the game, once you've "requisitioned" some boming air craft. Thumper Mines - Mines that are attracted by nearby movement. I don't think that your side ever gets some of these to use themselves, but they are around in the later stages of the game. Please note that your explosives guy / gal can't pick them up and that they don't blow up "friendly" vehicles (ie if the enemy planted them, then the enemies vehicles are designated "friendly" to the thumper mines). 2.5 UNITS --------- Vehicles are great for transporting your squad around, protecting them from enemy fire, trading for Seeker equipment, increasing your firepower and for providing storage space to put equipment you scavenge off the enemy. Some you'll find empty on the field of battle, some you'll be able to scavenge in a battle-scarred condition and some you'll trade for. Having the right unit can make a lot of difference within a mission. Below is a brief overview of each unit. UNARMOURED VEHICLES: Bull (Motorbike) - Don't know. Never seen it. Gaz - A car that can carry two people. Using these is quicker than walking and does give you some storage space to put the stuff you scavenge. However, it won't be too long before you'll trade this to the Seeker for something better. Gaz A - This can carry four people, but everything else I've said about the Gaz applies. Wolf - Faster than the Gaz. Holds two people. It's most useful as trading fodder. Rager - Don't know. Never seen it. Humvee - You'll get one of these in the first mission. Humvees can get a number of weapons (machine gun, grenade launcher, TOW launcher), meaning you can adapt them to the mission you are going into. That said, the lack of armour on Humvees means that it's only really useful against soft or lightly- armoured targets. Put them up against anything else and you'll be left with scrap. Overall, not bad in the early missions, but you'll want something armoured before too long. Ural - This is almost essential up to the last few missions. It provides a lot of room for both troop transport... but the important thing is the equipment storage, meaning you can scavenge quite a bit from the battlefield if you have a Ural. I recommend to take one on missions (NB: you can get one for "free" in the second stage). ARMOURED VEHICLES: BTR-80 - An armoured troop transport with a heavy machine gun that fires 14.5 mm rounds and has a smoke grenade launcher. Early on you'll find this to be very helpful for keeping your squad alive and for taking on soft targets, but once you start coming up against tanks you'll need something heavier. Can take up to eight units. BMP-1 - Another armoured troop transport that has a 73mm gun and anti-tank missile launcher. BMP's are better suited for taking on other armoured units and become quite useful around the middle of the game. Can carry up to 8 members of your squad. Vulcan - Armed with a 14.5mm rotary cannon, Vulcans can put lots of lead into the air and quickly. You can take on other armoured vehicles in a Vulcan and have a reasonable chance of winning. These units are also good for putting down aerial units. Can hold up to 8 squad members. Shilka - Like a heavier version of a Vulcan. Shilkas can both give and take quite a bit of punishment. Uses 14.5mm ammuntion and can carry up to 4 squad members. ARTILLERY: BM-21 - I call these "Finger of God" since they can just reach out and touch anything on the battle field. Use a squad member to see a stationary bit of armour, have your BM-21 hit that target with 3 of its rockets (122mm HE) and you'll be left with (hopefully) a still operational but now empty unit for you to scavenge. The biggest drawback of the BM-21 is its small payload and difficulty in getting rockets for it, but if used tactically this unit will make a world of difference in completing missions. Can carry up to 2 troops. 2S3 - Another unit with massive range. It isn't as accurate as the BM-21, but it can hold more ammunition (152mm rounds) and is a bit easier to manage. Given the option, I'd take the BM-21 though. Can carry up to four squad members. TANKS: T-55 - Tanks are the workhorses of battle in SoA. You'll find using them essential to your success and every time you come across an enemy tank you'll need to take it out with care. The T-55 is the first tank type you'll come across. It's got a 125mm main gun, a machine gun (7.62mm) and a smoke grenade launcher. It can carry up to 4 squad members, but works best with 3 - that way you'll be able to use your machine gun as well as your main gun. However, it's not recommemded to leave your machine gunner exposed if you get into combat with other armoured units - there's a good chance the gunner will die in this kind of combat. M1A1 - The same thing that stands for the T-55 stands for the M1A1. It's got a 125mm main gun, 1 machine gun, smoke launcher and 40mm grenade launcher. Can carry up to 4 troops. T-80 - Same as the T-55, but better. Comes with a 125mm main gun, machine guns, smoke launcher and a flamethrower. Can carry up to 3 of your squad. AIR SUPPORT: MD 500 - A light helicopter than can carry up to two troops. Best used against soft targets. Makes scouting out a mission area a breeze though. OH-58 - This is meant to be faster than the MD 500. Can carry up to 2 troops. Mi-8 - A more battle-orientated helicopter, the Mi-8 can carry up to 10 squad members, so it comes in handy for troop transport. Mi-24 - An assault helicopter that is better armoured and can be better equipped than its bretheren. Can carry up to 8 squad members. MiG-27 - I can't really tell the difference in performance by plane type. They all drop bombs when properly equipped and can be very good at wiping out enemy structures / stationary targets. MiG-29 - I can't really tell the difference in performance by plane type. They all drop bombs when properly equipped and can be very good at wiping out enemy structures / stationary targets. F-15 - I can't really tell the difference in performance by plane type. They all drop bombs when properly equipped and can be very good at wiping out enemy structures / stationary targets. 2.6 UNIT ACCESSORIES -------------------- Hummer Machine Gun - The mounted version of the M60. Best for engaging soft targets. Uses 7.62mm ammunition. Hummer Plamya - The mounted version of the grenade launcher. Can take on soft targets and lightly armoured units. Fires 40mm grenades. Hummer TOW - This turns your Hummer into quite a destructive force, but unfortunately one without a lot of ammo (max of 5). A TOW will light- to mid-armoured units. However, it is an absolute waste on soft targets. Fires TOW rockets. Heli Machine Gun - Uses 14.5mm ammo and is absolutely fantastic for taking on enemy soldiers. You can take a maximum of 250 rounds into any mission. Can't be reloaded outside of your Base hangar. Heli TOW - Same as the Hummer TOW, but on a helicopter. Can't be reloaded outside of your Base hangar. Heli AT-6 Single - Apparently this is the Russian version of the TOW. Uses AT-6 rockets. Can't be reloaded outside of your Base hangar. Heli AT-6 4-Rocket - Only available on the Mi-24 and I've never used it, but being able to fire four AT-6 rockets at once makes this something to be feared. However, it'd probably chew through rockets at an insane rate.Can't be reloaded outside of your Base hangar. Heli SA-7 - Fires SA-7 missiles. These missiles track targets (I'm pretty sure they do, anyway) so you could almost fire and forget. Can't be reloaded outside of your Base hangar. Heli UV-7 - Fires 57mm unguided rockets. Best used against lightly armoured targets and packs of soldiers. Can't be reloaded outside of your Base hangar. Heli UV-32 - Same as the UV-7, but bigger. Heli UB-20 - Fires 80mm rockets, but I didn't notice a huge difference between this and the UV models. an't be reloaded outside of your Base hangar. 2.8 UNIT AMMUNITION ------------------- 7.62mm - Please see the entry under the Personnel Ammunition for this item. Used by the Humvee Machine Gun. 40mm Plamya grenades - Please see the entry under the Personnel Ammunition for this item. Used by the Humvee Plamya Launcher and the M1A1. 40mm Smoke - Can only be used from the tanks' and BTR's smoke grenade launcher. Provides cover for your units / squad. 73mm shells - Comes in HEAT (High Explosive Anti Tank - best for armoured targets) and HESH (High Explosive Splintering H__ - best for soft targets). Used by the BMP-1. 125mm shells - Comes in HEAT (for hard targets), HESH (for soft targets) and APFSDS (for when you want to kill the guys inside the armour, but want to leave the unit intact for scavenging). APFSDS can come in very handy but can be hard to find. The tanks use this kind of ammunition. 152mm shells - Comes in HE (for hard targets), Smoke (for distractions), Mine (for laying mines from a distance) and Flare (to light up the sky). Only the HE does direct damage. Used by the 2S3. SA-7 - Please see the entry under the Personnel Ammunition for this item. Used by the Heli SA-7. TOW rocket - A fairly powerful unguided rocket. Can be fired from the Humvee TOW or Heli TOW launchers. AT-2 rocket - An anti-tank missile that can be fired from a BMP-1. According to the manual, it's got great range but isn't as powerful as some of the other rockets. For some reason I think this is a guided rocket... AT-6 rocket - As powerful as a TOW but able to be loaded onto more vehicles. Can be placed on the OH-58, MD 500 and Mi-24 (which can have the AT-6 4-Rocket attached). 57mm rocket - Used by the UV-7 and UV-32 launchers. Best used against soft targets or light armour. 80mm rocket - Used by the UB-20 launchers. Best used against soft targets or light armour. 122mm rocket - Comes in HE, Smoke and Mine flavours. Used by the BM-21. It takes about 3 HE 122mm rockets to knock out most armoured units - remember to stop the BM-21 to fire more than that or you will just be wasting ammunition. 500lb bomb - Once you've painted a target with a tracker, you can drop one of these on said target. Creates a big explosion and does a lot of damage. Can be equipped on the jets (ie F-15, MiG-27 and MiG-29). 1000lb bomb - Like the 500lb bomb, but bigger. ++++ 3.0 PERSONNEL _____________ Once you've got your equipment you need to be able to use it effectively. A number of different skills exist and having a good mix of them on the field will make your life a lot easier. 3.1 SKILLS ---------- Athletics - This skill will let your guys run a lot faster. As such, it is important for your scouts / pointmen to have, since getting out of the way is a vital skill for SoA. It also means your squad can be faster on the ground, allowing you to come back more easily if something unfortunate happens (eg one of your guys gets spotted). Light Weapons - Whoever has this skill is more proficient at using light weapons. This sounds good early on, but unfortunately given that heavy weapons are so frequently available later on in the game, it is a wasted skill. Don't get it; get Heavy Weapons instead. Heavy Weapons - Makes your guys more proficient at using heavy weapons. This is the skill to have as it is more useful through-out the entire SoA campaign. ***WHAT ARE HEAVY / LIGHT WEAPONS?*** Sharpshooter - Whoever has this skill can use sharpshooter weapons more effectively and can be used to snipe enemies with either the Crossbow or Dragunov. Given that the sharpshooter weapons can lead to one-shot kills, having a sniper on the squad can make things a lot easier for you. Medical - Those with medical skill can wring more hitpoints out of medikits when you use them. Explosives - Squad members with knowledge of explosives can lay/pick up mines and lay explosive charges without accidentally setting them off. 3.2 SUGGESTED SQUAD SELECTION ----------------------------- SoA starts with you having squad members who have Medical skill, Explosives skill and Light Weapons skill. All of these are useful, but unfortunately the Light Weapons skill guy finds his usefulness fall off as the game progresses, simply because you can get better weapons. By the end of the first mission you can pick up someone with the Sharpshooter skill - this is also great to have. Whenever you go into the field, always take someone with the explosives skill since you never know when you'll need to defuse some mines or plant explosives. A medic is great for keeping your guys alive and for freeing up inventory space (ie give all the medikits to the medic rather than one per squad member). Of the skills, my ranking for them is as follows: 1) Athletics 2) Heavy Weapons 3) Sharpshooter 4) Explosives 5) Medical 6) Light Weapons Athletics means you can get into (and out of) places more quickly. Being Able to pull off a successful hit-and-run or just sneak through enemy defences quickly is great to have in SoA. I typically have my two point-men (aka scouts) with this skill. Heavy Weapons include AK-74's, which will become a fairly standard weapon in the mid- to end-game of SoA. Heavy Weapons also mean your squad members will be better at using their RPGs to destroy armoured enemy units which also comes in handy. Sharpshooter is good to have, but you only really need one (maximum of two) in the field at once. This is partly due to the fact that sniper ammunition is hard to come across, so having more than one sniper will just lead to you running low on rounds. Given that you can get a Sharpshooter to join your squad in the first mission, you only need to pick this skill for someone else if you want a back-up or your sniper dies. Explosives is a very important skill, but you only really need one (or two) on the squad. You may want to have a spare person with this skill just in case your main guy dies, but with care one Explosives guy will do you fine. Medical is important, but again you only need one on the field. Have them come and heal your guys as necessary (or the injured go to them) and keep them out of the front lines (someone has to drive that Ural!). Light Weapons is the least useful, just because you'll have access to heavy weapons before too long that'll make leave your Light Weapons specialists looking stupid. The squad I aim to build has: 2 Point-men (with Athletics and either Heavy Weapons or Sharpshooter) 1 Demolitions (with Explosives and Athletics) 1 Medic (with Medical) 7 Assaulters (with Heavy Weapons and maybe Athletics if they get that far) This squad gives me a good mix of skills and abilities to deal with most situations in SoA. ++++ 4.0 GENERAL TACTICS ___________________ Below are a list of broad tips that I found to be very helpful in playing SoA. 4.1 INCLUDED README FILE ------------------------ If you look at the files on the SoA cd, you'll come across a hints'n'tips file from the devs. I've included it below for the sake of completeness. -- 4.2 IN THE FIELD ---------------- - The key rule of combat in SoA is to catch your enemy in a crossfire at every opportunity. You are outnumbered and outgunned. Trying to fight the enemy on a 1-to-1 basis will just leave you too depleted to finish your missions. Take your enemy on when you can do so quickly and with minimum chance of damage to your squad. - By the same token, do not let the enemy catch you in a crossfire. - Scavenge everything. Anything you don't want, you can trade and you never know when that extra item you picked up may just be what you need to complete a trade with the Seeker. - Learn to stack items in your Ural / other vehicles. Most guns stack in loads of 5 and you can have up to 9 anti-tank mines in a vehicle. A little bit of planning and keeping track of which vehicle is carrying what will mean you'll be able to carry more back to base. - Lay traps and ambushes for your enemy. Use mines to disable vehicles. Plant them across roads you think the enemy will come down or around corners and try to lure vehicles onto them. - Whenever you go into the field, always take someone with the explosives skill since you never know when you'll need to defuse some mines or plant explosives. - Whenever possible take a set of explosives into the field with you. You never know when it might come in handy. - Reconnaissance is very important to successfully taking out enemy outposts. Move your men to positions around the base so you can see what you are up against. It's no fun storming a base only to find out they have a M1A1 waiting for you! +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - The enemy AI works on a line-of-sight and area of influence format. If you kill an enemy in clear sight of another enemy, you will alert them. The same can happen if you kill one enemy too close to another (especially with a noisy weapon). Try to take out isolated enemies first and whittle their numbers down. - Take your time. SoA gives no rewards for speed, so take your time planning how you are going to execute your objectives. If it takes you half-an-hour to successfully take a base with no casualties on your side, then that's what it takes. - If you alert the enemy to your presence, don't be afraid to pull back. Let them run around and try and find you. Eliminate those who venture too far out after you as targets of opportunity. - Don't be afraid of armour, though you will have to deal with it. Two squad members with RPG's can take out most enemy armour if they catch it by surprise - it takes about three RPG's to finish most tanks. - QuickSave (F8) is your friend! Use it frequently! (Or not, if you want to play hardcore..) - When using vehicles, always have a scout out in front. As far as I know, characters in vehicles won't see mines - you need a person on foot to spot them. Be wary of driving through an unscouted area or one where mines once were - it sucks to see your tank full of guys explode because you missed a mine on your first pass through the area! 4.3 BETWEEN MISSIONS -------------------- - Tempting though it is, don't rip off the Seeker early on. If you rip him off (that "If you want.." message) he gives you less range the next time. Give him a few "Delighted!"'s to prompt him into offering more stuff. - You can turn certain Base functions to "Automatic". The only one I use is for the Medical Bay - all the others I keep off since I want to be able to pick my own equipment and which vehicles to repair. If you leave these on, you can end up having the wrong vehicle repaired. - Always empty your squad and vehicle inventories before trading, then re-equip them after trading. You don't want to trade away a vehicle full of scavenged equipment by accident. - If you are going to trade a vehicle away, it is sometimes better to take the mounted weapons off it and trade them separately. Firstly, this lets you distinguish between the same vehicle type armed with different weapons (if you have two Humvees, taking off their weapons means you won't accidentally trade the TOW launcher when you wanted to off-load the machine gun one). Secondly, you might be overtrading with the both the unit and the weapon - if you trade one first, you will get a better idea of what you can get for it. - Early on I recommend trading for personnel armour. It will always come in useful. - Don't forget to re-equip vehicles before you go into the field. It is painful to enter the mission, then realise that you haven't restocked your units' ammunition supplies. ++++ 5.0 WALKTHROUGH _______________ Below are mission walkthroughs for getting through SoA. Things may not always work out as I have described them - you may accidentally alert a guard or the AI may behave differently during your missions than it did for mine, changing what happens. That said, I hope they are useful to those playing through the campaign. Before starting the campaign, I recommend doing the tutorial to get an idea of the controls are and what is available in SoA. CAMPAIGN DIFFICULTY: This walkthrough was written based on a Hard campaign. GLOSSARY: To save myself a bit of typing, I abbreviate directions to their first letter (eg North = N, South-East = SE, West = W, etc). 5.1 A LEAP IN THE DARK ---------------------- Head towards the source of the green waves (ie the green waypoint), but head W where the first path intersects. You'll find a bear near some crates. As your first act upon leaving the compound, kill the bear to again stamp man's dominance over nature. Pick up the crates [2 x Uzis & some 9mm clips] and give your Light Weapon Guy an uzi. Resume your path towards the green waypoint. Kill the wolves on your way there and in front of the dam. Just in front of the dam, you'll come across an empty Humvee. Have your non-Explosives squad members get in and send your Explosives guy up to the dam. Plant your explosives by the wall, program in 20 seconds and run away. Once it explodes, get all of your guys into the Humvee and proceed to the yellow waypoint (the lumber yard). Grab the crates [7.62mm ammunition? - I didn't record this] (again killing the wildlife first) then head towards the green marker. Save the guy from the wolves (not that he needs much help) and talk to him. Follow him to his village. Talk to him again. Avoiding the bad guys, take the path that leads SW from the village. Follow it down until you see a house. It'll blow up (!!). Take out the two Slingers and talk to the guy who ran away. He'll join up. Give him a weapon, scavenge the Slingers' equipment and don't forget to grab the crate behind the shed [3 x medikits]. Head back to the village. Leap the wall next to the Seeker's house. Pick up the crates [2 x MP5s, 9mm clips, 7.62mm ammo, molotov cocktails]. There is another crate [2 x Kevlar vests] around the front of the house, but watch out for the Slinger who will walk down that way. Equip 3 members of your squad with your best equipment and send the other two back to the Humvee with the 7.62mm ammo. (I'd quicksave here). Draw the Slingers into a crossfire. Have your Humvee not too far away to assist if required. Try to attract the enemy Humvee into an ambush - molotov it if necessary or bring in your Humvee to open fire on it, then have your squad open fire on it too. Don't lose a squad member or the Humvee. Scavenge all that you can. Talk to the men in the centre of the village - some will join up. Before you finish the level, have one of your guys hop into the Seekers car, parked out the front of the village. -- BETWEEN MISSIONS: Trade the Seeker's car back to him for personnel armour. Move your guys away from having Berettas, towards uzis and MP5s. Get the crossbow bolts and give them to your sharpshooter. -- 5.2 THE RAID ------------ Split your squad into three groups - two groups of foot soldiers and one group in the Humvee. Carefully send your Humvee around to cover the back road leading out of the base. Move your foot patrols closer to the base, watching how the patrols move as you approach. The aim is to take out these patrols without alerting the entire base. Take this slowly and do it right, working your way from the outside in. My preferred method was to work around the W side of the base first, taking out the patrols one-by-one. By the time you've got around to the N side of the base you'll be able to sneak up on those Slingers in the centre area much more easily. You should also aim to take out the stationary Slinger in the centre of the base without alerting him - if he is alerted, he'll get in the car and drive off. If you take him out without alerting him, you get to keep the car (!). There are mines on the road heading W - get your explosives guy to grab them once you've taken out the two guards nearby. The crate in the S-most yard (next to the train carriages) has a [Crossbow] in it - give that to your sharpshooter who (if you have the crossbow bolts) will be able to take out guys silently. Once the base is clear, scavenge all you can and grab the crates in the Compound [which has guns, ammo, crossbow bolts and medikits]. Head to the nextobjective (but make sure those mines are cleared!). Two guards need to be taken out at the radar station. Grab the crate [2 x 7.62mm ammo] that is there as well. Head to the next objective. If you go NE from the radar station you'll see a drunken man in the forest who has some stories to tell about demons... When you get to the town that is the objective, you'll see 5 Slingers near a truck, gathering the villagers. Move into position carefully, then open fire, aiming to take the enemy out as quickly as possible. There is one patrolling Slinger - try to take him out as far away from the other Slingers as possible. If you tip off the Slingers, they will open fire on the villagers, but this doesn't appear to have any serious consequences. It is, however, easier to take out the Slingers if their attention is divided between the villagers and you. Once you've rescued the villagers, talk to the woman and you'll get two new recruits. Scavenge everything and dump your excess into the Ural and your other vehicles. Jump into your vehicles and head to the next objective. Recon the base and see where everything is. Take out the patrolling Humvee - one well placed mine should do the trick. Plant a mine after you see its path around the base. +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Taking the base is a bit harder. If you kill the guard on the N wall you can alert the base, but this can make things easier for you as the enemy split up a bit. In the base is an empty APC - if you can sneak two men into it (by jumping the gate in the N wall) you'll end up with a lot more firepower. In the APC you should be able to take on the Slinger guards and Humvees one-on-one, but if it gets too hot for you, move the APC outside and have your men support it with their firepower. Also have your squad ready to move in and help the APC as required. You can also try lobbing molotov cocktails over the walls of the base onto Humvees - if you are lucky you'll be able to destroy / severely damage a Humvee this way, but don't bet on it. After clearing the base, shoot out one side of the prison fence that is keeping the old man and talk to him. Scavenge everything - there are some crates in the base [with Heavy Vests in one, Binolculars and Medikits in the other]. Grab the GAZ as well. See the destroyed helicopter? Open it up (by XXXX) for a nice surprise. -- BETWEEN MISSIONS: Start to upgrade your weapons. Hopefully some of your squad will have gotten some new skills, so take advantage of this. -- 5.3 ++++ 6.0 ENDINGS ___________ Depending on the path you take, SoA can end in one of four ways... 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 7.0 FINAL NOTES _______________ 7.1 THANKS AND CONTRIBUTORS --------------------------- Thanks to Silver Service for creating such a great game! 7.2 VERSION HISTORY ------------------- Version 0.25 - Against my normal flow of FAQ writing, I'm releasing this guide well before it is complete. SoA is a long game (especially since I'm trying to complete all the levels). Currently I've just received City of Heroes, which I absolutely love and am concentrating on. I plan to come back to SoA over time, do a couple of missions then write them up. If I wait until I'm completely done with SoA before releasing the guide... well... it could be a long time before this guide say the light of day. If you are wondering what the heck is happening with this guide, send me an email and remind me to do an update! +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Version 0.25 was released 29 June 2004 +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+