Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Westwood Studios

        A few hints and tips by James Judge - Part 2

ALLIED UNITS

RIFLE INFANTRY

With a short range and no armour this unit can be destroyed very
easily by anything else in the game and even run over by tracked
vehicles. Lovely. However, when playing a low-tech game this will
be your main foot soldier so build plenty of them and intersperse
them with plenty of medics and rocket soldiers to take out heavier
resistance. Try not to group them together too much as one good
rocket from a V2 or Mammoth tank and the whole lot will be
history. Instead, create a wide-spread formation (if you use
formations) with as many overlapping killing fields as possible.
Otherwise create small units instead of one big one. These guys
are only really useful in large numbers and even then only against
passive opponents (buildings) or low-powered enemies such as other
Infantry or small numbers of Jeeps and Light Tanks. Try not to use
at all on higher tech maps.

MEDIC

If you are forced to use Infantry for whatever reason then a few
good Medics are essential to ensure that the whole lot don't get
wiped out in under a minute. The more Medics the better, but as
they are more expensive don't go overboard - a bit more firepower
may divert the need for excess medical attention. If used in a
formation, place as central as possible so (a) the Medic is
protected and (b) its healing radius covers the most troops. If
you're not using infantry, or only in small numbers for scouting
purposes, then there is no need to bother with medics.

ROCKET SOLDIER

Probably the best simple 'grunt' you can get your hands on. In
large numbers they can take on heavier opponents than standard
Rifle Infantry and they can also attack airborne enemies, as well
as having a longer range. Again, the larger their number the
better and try to keep them well spread out. A good usage of
Rocket Soldiers is to scatter some around your fledgling base to
take care of any aerial attacks that may come when you haven't got
AA Guns installed yet (or they're down due to power loss).  They
take advantage of the Medic (as do all human units) so if you're
using these guys heavily give 'em a Medic or two.

SPY

These guys are cool. They have no true offensive capabilities but
they can really give you good information against opponents who
have Gap Generators working. The enemy won't be able to see that
these guys are your units and so will, hopefully, ignore them.
The best way to use Spies is to build three or four. Send one to
scout a clear route to your opponent with the Gap Generator
(because although no hostile action will be taken against the
Spies, many a time have I had my Sean Connery accidentally run
over by a stray Ore Harvester) and then send the others in his
wake. When the Spies are in the opponent's base you can either
infiltrate their buildings to gain (useless) information or use
them in a far better way. Position a Spy beside each of the
opponent's useful buildings. Then when the time comes to launch a
nuke or air strike you'll be able to see clearly where his vital
buildings are without resorting to random strikes. There are only
two dangers to the Spy (apart from being run over). The first is
Attack Dogs.  They aren't fooled by Spies and will attack on
sight. The second danger lies in an observant opponent. Luckily, I
don't use Infantry - whenever I do get them they are sent on silly
kamikaze missions that serve no purpose. I just don't like them.
So imagine my confusion when I saw an Infantry wandering around my
base and I couldn't click on him to send him to his certain death.
Ye-esss. It transpires that enemy Spies will show up on your
display as an Infantry dressed in your colours. You just won't be
able to control them at all. Best option is to kill, kill KILLL!

ENGINEER

Another non-hostile unit this. Well, almost. To start with an
Engineer or two are useful things to have floating around your
base for when an enemy attacks as they provide instant first-aid
for any sick buildings. Having one near (not by, as a nuke will
take the Engineer out) your Construction Yard will ensure that any
sudden damage will be instantly repaired and a second strike won't
be as effective. The other use an Engineer has is to either damage
an enemy building or take it over. Making an Engineer enter an
opposing structure will cause damage to the building and the loss
of the engineer. However, if you've managed to safely secure an
enemy building and damage it significantly, making an Engineer
enter will turn the building so that you now control it! This unit
is easily killed, though, and they are pretty expensive in the
scheme of Infantry so try not to waste them.

THIEF

Cunning and useful, but also very difficult to use with success.
These guys have no special abilities apart from when they enter an
enemy Silo or Ore Refinery they'll steal half the available
credits and put it in your balance. The only way of achieving this
is to put a number of them into an APC and then send the APC plus
another (with maybe one thief in it) into the enemy base.
Hopefully fire will be drawn by one APC while the other gets
nearer the target. Then either the APC will be destroyed or you
can unload it and then make a mad dash for the Refinery. If the
enemy has good defences, though, this is particularly difficult to
pull off but is worth it if it works out. Don't just send a thief
into the thick of things, unless there is a Refinery or Silo just
standing on its own away from Tesla Coils and ground units. This
unit is only available in multi-player games.

TANYA

My first introduction to this gal was quick and very unpleasant as
a hoard of Tanyas stalked through my almost undefended base,
destroying building after building. How I cried. Tanyas are the
strongest foot unit available and if you can get one into your
enemy's base then she will create havoc. Apart from being able to
mow down enemy Infantry (Rifle, Rocket and all the others) she can
blow up buildings in one foul stroke, therefore, if used properly,
she can be a great offensive weapon. The best way to use her is as
with the Thieves using either an APC or LST to get her into the
base. If you are lucky enough to get a crate that will give her an
added speed boost then you are looking at a unit that will cause
serious damage. Even without this, Tanyas are able to crawl
through quite a bit of hostile fire before they give up the ghost,
so try to get at least one into the opponent's base some time
during the game - you never know your luck and this tactic can
seriously change the way a battle is flowing. Don't waste her with
destroying simple buildings like Radars and Power Plants as these
can be taken out by conventional means. Instead try and target the
Construction Yard to start with. When this is down go for the War
Factory and Ore Refinery. Without a Construction Yard to replace
these the enemy will be severely limited. Also targeting a Service
Depot will stop them creating any more MCVs and further hinder
them. Of course, this is all well and good theoretically, but
actually penetrating a Tanya this far into an enemy's base means
you are playing against someone who doesn't really know what
they're doing at all. Still, you may get lucky...


AT MINE LAYER

Once the Service depot is built these little wonders can do
wonderful things for the name of death. A couple of these
continually sowing mines across an open plain will severely damage
oncoming tanks, even Mammoths, and can provide an unexpected
surprise for the enemy. If you are going to play a defensive game
the mines are brilliant and what I recommend doing is start laying
them early on in the game and in a staggered, line pattern like
this:

   X  X
     X  X    <---------------------<
   X  X             <Enemy attacks from here<
     X  X    <---------------------<
   X  X
     X  X
   X  X


This'll make movement through the field difficult, especially if
it is bordered by cliffs or waterways. Of course, paths can be
cleared through these fields by sacrificing a few cheap tanks and
so you can't rely on this as a main method of defence - instead,
just a nice bonus if it takes out a Mammoth or two.

ORE TRUCK

The only vehicle without offensive capabilities, it also has the
heaviest armour meaning that it can literally go through an
enemy's base and survive. Not that you'd want it to. Just that it
can. Instead what they should be doing is harvesting ore and the
only reason they should be used offensively is if Infantry units
are trying to destroy it - then you can move the Truck over the
units, squashing them. As these are passive units it is always
best to give them some form of guard, normally in the shape of a
couple of tanks. They are expensive units which provide a valuable
commodity for you, so you shouldn't waste them. Normally during a
game I'd have four trawling about doing my bidding and even then I
continually run out of money. The number you use is up to you, but
remember you'll always need money and the more Trucks you have the
better. Oh yeah, you can also get them from crates, but remember
to tell them to go and harvest ore otherwise they'll just sit
around (the same goes for when the first come out of the War
Factory).

RANGER

The lowest level attack vehicle. Only really useful when backing
up Infantry or for scouting missions early on in a game. They
aren't much cop against anything other than a couple of Rifle
Infantry and should be avoided, really. Can't say anything else.

LIGHT TANK

The low-level Allied tank is good when used in numbers. Because of
its high speed, slower Mammoth tanks have difficulty targeting
them and in number they can often destroy any individual threat
before it can get a shot in. Definitely one to be used as a
skirmisher they are quick and cheap to build and provide pretty
good ground defence for the base. Anything that gets through your
main army will either be weakened enough to be stopped by a few of
these plus base defences, or will be so strong the difference
between this and the Medium Tank will have made no difference. The
Light Tank is also ideal for going after enemy Infantry. The
Infantry can be run over, but with slower units they can often
evade the inevitable crush for an annoyingly long time.  Light
Tanks, due to their maneuverability, make short work of them
though. A few of these will also clear a mine field too.

ARMOURED PERSONNEL CARRIER

A heavily armoured version of the Ranger in direct firepower
terms. However, the beauty of this unit is its ability to carry
five Infantry (Rifle, Rocket, Tanya, Thief - whatever) quickly,
and without damaging them, through enemy lines. Using a couple of
these is the only realistic way to get Thieves and Tanyas into the
heart of the enemy's base without suffering damage. Given this,
should any APCs come wandering your way divert all your attention
to destroying it as five marauding Tanyas will do far more damage
than a couple of tanks. Be warned that an APC full of units will
pass through a Chronosphere, but its cargo will be destroyed.

ARTILLERY

The ultimate weapon for house removal. The lightly armoured death
bringers should be kept at the back of any mass of ground units as
their long range will ensure that they provide covering fire when
needed. However, they do have slow reload times and are
inaccurate. They come into their own, though, when either grouped
together behind the first level of your bases defence - no other
unit (except the V2) has the range of Artillery and so any
attacking unit will be bludgeoned before it reaches your first
line of defence. Artillery can also be parked away from an
ill-defended base (preferably behind a cliff or other natural
outcrop in the terrain) and slowly pepper buildings with shells.
Once the defences of a base are taken out then a few of these will
make short work of anything else, freeing up valuable fire power
to move onto other targets.

MEDIUM TANK

With heavy armour, this should provide the main part of your
ground force. It is faster than any Soviet tanks, but not as fast
as the Light Tanks. No real tactics for these other than to put
them in groups of five or more (preferably in larger numbers than
an opposing force of tanks) and make sure that they attack the
enemy simultaneously. A few kept back for first line base defence
would also be a good idea.

MOBILE GAP GENERATOR

These are smaller, but mobile, versions of the gap generator.
Using this you can provide cover for a number of ground troops,
surprising the enemy when the cover is finally blown. However, the
downside to using a singular MGG is that the enemy need only look
for where his radar shows a gap to start targeting skirmishers and
aerial assaults. A far better method is to build a few of these
units and dot them around the map. The opponent will then have to
sort out from where the real assault is coming from before he
deals with it. Having said this, I often find these units more
trouble than they are worth and use them only infrequently.

MOBILE CONSTRUCTION VEHICLE

You can never have enough of these. As the Construction Yard is a
favoured target being able to build more is always preferable and
these allow you to. You have three choices with these. The first
is to park an MCV out of the way and hope the enemy doesn't find
it. Then if your base is decimated you can covertly drive this MCV
to a nice spot and set up camp again. However, this is risky as it
means starting from scratch when the enemy already has a fully
working base and army. The second is to just send it away and set
up shop on the other side of the map. Fine as it goes, however
this means that you must divide your resources to protecting two
bases and means that you will never be strong enough to hold off a
determined assault from a single attacker on one base. The third,
and preferable, option is to set up shop with the MCV at your
current base, but move it far away from your original Construction
Yard. This means that even if a succession of nukes hit the first,
you'll still have another ready and waiting, not stopping you at
all. Of course, you need to have built the Service Depot first and
this unit is only available in multi-player games.

LANDING SHIP TANK

These are APCs but for the water. They are extremely quick and can
provide excellent opportunity to strike an opponent from an
unexpected angle. I used to leave my coastline undefended,
especially when my opponents were playing Russians (as they have
virtually no sea based units). That was until two LSTs full of
Tanyas landed on my coast and destroyed half my base. Now I always
have a Tesla or two beside any likely landing points...

GUNBOAT

The Ranger of the waterways, the Gunboats are only really useful
for quick skirmish missions and exploration. They can take care of
subs, in sufficient number, and other boats as well as a few land

based targets. However, the real sea-based killing should be left
to Destroyers and Cruisers.

DESTROYER

Like the Medium Tank these babies should form the heart of your
sea force. It can take care of all targets presented to it,
including air targets, and its dual depth chargers will remove any
sub risk.  A hard core of these should precede any Cruiser units
to ensure that there is no opposition from the water. Unless you
are playing against another Ally then this should be minimal.
After the Destroyers have crushed any resistance it'll be safe for
the Cruisers to do what they do best.

CRUISER

These are the ultimate bombarding weapon in the game. With two or
three of these you can wipe out an enemy base in a matter of
minutes. Their range is phenomenal and the only downside is they
have slow reloading times and are slightly inaccurate.  However,
create a unit of three of these, park them waaaaay off your
opponent's base and then tell them to all attack the same
building.  Each has two cannons and no building will stand up to a
second round from three Cruisers. They are susceptible to both air
and sea attacks, so ensure that Destroyers are around to give
them cover while they get on with their work.

LONGBOW APACHE

These fast moving units can be a bane to any Mammoth division or
base which has little or no aerial defence. The best way to use
these is to create around seven of them and then form a group of
just them. A keypress away and you'll be able to send all seven on
a mission to destroy a single enemy building - few buildings
will survive after all seven have emptied their weapons. The only
thing to remember with these is that you have to reload each one
manually - they don't each have a Helipad, so you'll have to
rotate them through any available Helipads. Also once your
Helipads have been destroyed they are rendered ineffective until a
new one is built as you won't be able to reload them. So ensure
that you have more than one and at least one is well defended.
The Apache can also act as a quick defensive unit which can prove
to be quite effective against a small band of attackers. Only
really should be used as a last line of defence, though.

GPS SATELLITE

Not really a unit, but once the Tech Centre has been built you
wait a specific amount of time and then the GPS Satellite is
launched. It is a highly potent weapon, allowing you to see the
whole playing map - apart from those covered by a Gap Generator.
Nothing more can be said, except that gaining this should be one
of your earlier priorities in a game, so build the Tech Centre
ASAP.

SONAR PULSE

About as useful as a goat's udder when playing on a map without
water, they can be highly effective when you are planning a naval
strike. Get a Spy to infiltrate a Russian Sub Pen and then, after
a short wait, you'll be able to launch a Pulse which will reveal
the location of all the enemy Subs. Only really useful as a method
of reconnaissance it's best to save these up for whenever you need
them.

@~More help next issue













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