Command and Conquer Hints (1) Taken from Roger Wong's Unofficial C&C Strategy FAQ Downloaded from the Internet ------------------------------- What can I do with these units? ------------------------------- This chapter contains information on the various units available for use in C&C. The availability of each unit in any given mission depends on whose side you are on and how far into the missions you are. I.e. - Construction options for minigunners are available early on to both GDI and Nod players, but the option for the Temple of Nod is available only to Nod for the last mission. *2-1* Infantry ============== Military infantry units take half of normal weapons damage while prone. They will fall prone when fired upon, and move by crawling on their bellies. Crawling reduces movement rate by half. To force any prone infantry unit back on to their feet, double click when you give them movement commands. It is more difficult to shoot at moving targets. [2-1-1] Civilian ---------------- Civilians carry pistols with 10 round magazines. Andrew Griffin (buggy@adam.com.au) Civilians inhabit villages. Fodder for Nod, must be protected (usually) by GDI. [2-1-2] Technician ------------------ see also [2-1-1] Civilian. Technicians carry pistols with 10 round magazines. Andrew Griffin (buggy@adam.com.au) I actually saw one of my stealth tanks get killed by one (the tank was just about dead anyway). William Jang (jangw@direct.ca) Even though they can't be used as expendable scouts, you can force the issue by sending them off to the enemy's lines. Once they get fired upon by the enemy, the map lights up a nine-square area around the dead technician and an even larger area around the unit that pulled the trigger. Colin Jacobs (coljac@pyromania.apana.org.au) You don't need to do that. Move them to the edge of the darkness, and have them fire into it using the CTRL key. The square they shot at will light up. Alan Lam (hlam+@andrew.cmu.edu) Have you guys ever wonder what the technician can do? They can't take out buildings, they can't (not practically) kill other units except another technician and they can't even map! Well this is what I have actually done with my technician(s): 1) I have actually blown up 2 mammoth tanks in their full power with 1 technician only. 2) I have blown up a SAM site and 2 blocks of concrete wall with 1 technician. When you resign a game, all your units and buildings will blow up. The technician just seems to blow up MUCH better than any other unit. So when you have only a few units left, move your technicians to some enemy structures or units, and then resign the game, thereby killing some of your enemy's units and structures. This may be useless in 2 player games but it will help your ally a lot if there is more players. *2-1-3* Engineer ---------------- If you are going to take over a refinery with an engineer, wait for the harvester to return. Not only do you get a free harvester in the process, but your opponent can not sell a refinery that contains an unloading harvester. KnoX (knox.tdujam@tip.nl) The engineers the computer sends to your base always try to capture your northern most building. Scott King (sking@cinternet.net) I have found that it is effective to send a medium sized force into a base to engage the defensive forces, then send engineers guarded by riflemen to capture buildings. This works well for the well-armored buildings because even if your assault team gets defeated, the enemy will destroy the captured buildings for you. (EDITOR'S NOTE: It is better to sell the buildings instead). Dave Glue (daveacg@interlog.com) One of the most powerful weapons - they take over buildings and then you control them. Take over your enemy's construction yard, then you can produce Nod/GDI forces, right in his own base! Just direct them to the building you want to take over, and once they enter it it's yours. Of course, they're fragile, so it's wise to use an APC to transport them. Phil Lochner (decker@megaweb.com) Engineers cannot take over enemy gun turrets, SAM sites, guard towers, obelisks, advanced comms centers, or the Nod Temple. Andre Pang (ozone@zip.com.au) Before taking over buildings, try "pre-building" a guard tower structure, such as the Advanced Guard Tower for GDI, or an Obelisk of Light for Nod. The moment you take over the enemy's building, dump it right next to it. And if you're playing as Nod and want to be real slack, start building lots of them turrets :). Charles Anderson (caa@wavefront.com) If you're going to take over the enemy's barracks/hand of NOD, build an engineer and put it on hold just before it's done. After taking over the building double click on it so that it's "primary" and continue the engineer build. It'll pop out almost immediately. Ben McCulloch (raven@hba.trumpet.com.au) Capture enemy silos if you see them full of tiberium. Sell the silos, and within a few minutes, the AI will build them back, chock full of spice. In the end, you will come out 1075 credits richer per silo, and you can build more engineers to recapture them. [2-1-4] Minigunner ------------------ Phil Lochner (decker@megaweb.com) These soldiers, although easy to overlook, can be very useful in mass amounts. They also make good, cheap decoys and can be used as fodder to draw out enemy tanks and soldiers. With three barracks, Minigunners pop out so quickly that you can amass a nice twenty or thirty man army which is more than enough to deal with most enemy attacks. They must be very close to targets to attack, and will take damage if your supporting grenades attack a target they are standing right next to. It's usually a good idea to leave a small detachment of two or three to Guard each important building in your fortress just in case. The computer seems to prefer Barracks over your construction yard, refineries over your barracks, and guard towers over everything else. Rarely will they attack your silos or communications center. Karl Kilborn (kilborn@worldgate.com) Minigunners can totally destroy bazooka dudes. A minigunner beat to within an inch of his life can easily kill two bazooka infantry. [2-1-5] Grenadier ----------------- Ethereal (allenr@sunspot.tiac.net) Whenever possible use grenadiers, they can move faster, and kill turrets + tanks the best in my opinion. Also Jeeps + Grenadiers are a very good combination, The jeeps prevent the grenadiers from getting run over, if you don't have a jeep just make the grenadiers move, to my knowledge, they don't get squashed almost at all if they are moving. APC with four grenadiers and one engineer are very good combinations. In my experience, if you have one flame thrower vs. a grenadier about half of the time he will kill the flame guy with one grenade. [2-1-6] Bazooka --------------- Ethereal (allenr@sunspot.tiac.net) Bazookas are OK for long distance such as putting about ten of them up on a ridge. Putting Bazookas in a APC is not good since they usually cannot move fast or hit as reliably as grenadiers. Luke Duff (lukeduff@inlink.com) Bazooka guys fire on helicopters and they're much better against vehicles. They're worth what you pay for 'em. Just make sure they don't get run over. Andre Pang (ozone@zip.com.au) If you can afford it, try keeping 4 or 5 bazookas around your tanks (especially flame tanks). A lot of people assume your tanks do more damage than the bazookas and will totally ignore these guys, and they do pack a punch in groups. Unfortunately, they're next to useless against infantry. Bazookas are also great against Orcas. (Not Apaches!) [2-1-7] Flame-thrower --------------------- Phil Sykes (root@sykic.demon.co.uk) These guys are Nod's best antipersonnel weapon apart from the gun turrets. They can take out up to 16 opponents on full energy in one shot at a ridiculous range (much further than the flame extends, don't be fooled by that!) Best to use in conjunction with bazooka troops, because they do not work well against vehicles, although they are somewhat effective against buildings. Group 3-4 flamers for maximum effect. Mr. P / Powersource Flame-throwers make up an important part of your building-destruction and infantry-halting capabilities. If you're fortunate enough, one flame-thrower firing at a building can cause it to erupt in flame, thereby cutting its "life" in half. Groups of these guys are also indispensable in eliminating any type of enemy infantry. If you are not careful with their firing, they can burn friendly units, as well as themselves. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Didn't their mothers tell them not to play with fire?) Trees will start to pose a hazard - if a tree ignites, say good-bye to any units within a 1-person radius of it. Andre Pang (ozone@zip.com.au) Unbelievable firepower against infantry and buildings for their price! Send four of these up to a group of 20 or more infantry, and watch them light up in toast (especially if you're against other flame-throwers or grenadiers, since they literally explode and kill everyone else around them). They're also great against structures, having two or three tagging along with a main assault force can really make a difference. [2-1-8] Commando ---------------- When planting demolition charges, let the computer move the commando to a safe range on its own. The damage the commando takes when a building blows up is not from the explosion, but from the enemy soldiers who evacuate the building from within. Phil Lochner (decker@megaweb.com) Only available on special missions, the Commando is pretty cool. The Commando is also available for $1000 in high tech-level multiplayer games. Their super-long eyesight and damaging weapon (one shot takes down any enemy soldier) makes them a great unit for base defense, but they are worthless against enemy vehicles. They can also plant charges on enemy structures to blow them up instantly. They are great fun in multiplayer games. They can be airdropped from a chopper right near enemy armies (or their Hand of Nod) and set to Guard. They'll effectively kill off soldier after soldier as soon as they come within their considerable range, until the enemy gets a clue and sends some Cycles or Buggies after them. Andre Pang (ozone@zip.com.au) These units are good for very specialized missions, but that's about all they're useful for. For their high price ($1000), I'd much prefer five flame-thowers (Nod) or 6 grenadiers (GDI). However, it's real good fun to march these guys through an enemy base, blowing everything up, when the end of the game is near! If you want a cheap way of taking out guard towers, they can also do it. Send up a decoy unit to the structure (e.g.: harvester, hummer), and while that's distracting the guard tower's attention, send in the commando to blow it up. Tucson Luke Loh (tlloh@zip.com.au) Commandos are also great fun when it comes to killing harvesters especially those well out of the way of your base defense. Against the computer merely shoot a harvester and run back to your own base ... the harvester will try to run over you and follow. So long as the commando does not die the harvester will walk right into your defenses (*grin* if you have an Obelisk of Nod) and be happily blown away. Commandos are best because they move much faster than ordinary troops and are unlikely to be mown down by tanks or humvees before you reach the safety of your base. *2-1-9* Chem. Warriors ---------------------- Kareem Harper (griffin@panix.com) These troops are identical to the flame-thrower infantry but with the following differences: 1. They wear an insulated outfit that protects them from taking damage in tiberium fields. 2. They produce a poison gas that is 50% more lethal than a flame- thrower. They are available in the Covert Operations and multiplayer games only, and can be found in crates, or can be built with a hand of NOD and temple. Ong Yang (yang@pacific.net.sg) They're immune to their own gas. Extremely effective in a group, these also make great structure destroyers. @~More help next issue - o -