The Unofficial C&C Strategy FAQ - Part 8 Release v7.0 Last Updated: April 19, 1996 20:44 BST Written by: Roger Wong roger@powhq.nildram.co.uk http://kublai.pacificrim.net/~solaris @~Continued from Issue 58 -------------------------- CHAPTER [5] Defensive tips -------------------------- [5-1] Sandbag defense ========================= Dave Smith (physics@computek.net) The computer does not know how to deal with sandbags. It treats all barriers as impassible terrain. It is possible to wall the enemy inside its own base. This is especially useful for keeping their harvesters out of your tiberium. [5-2] Building base defenses ================================ Rune Fostervoll (runefo@ifi.uio.no) Always use your advantage on a level. Sun Tzu said, first become invincible, then destroy your opponent's invincibility. Do so. Make a base that can shrug off any (reasonable) attack, and assure a steady cash flow. Once this is done, a computer opponent is lost. On most levels, doing this is the problem, not destroying the opposing base. Against GDI, he can always attack your base with air strikes, and you will grow to loathe the A-10s, simply because making a base impervious to air strikes is so difficult it is inefficient, and so your opponent can always harm you. GDI does not have this problem, as long as they have enough guard turrets and walls. This is some of the reason that the common guard turrets cost almost double that of the NOD gun turrets (I think.), so that making a base impervious to ground assault would cost too much. James Hindman (jhindman@ea.oac.uci.edu) As anyone who has used NOD knows, turrets suck against men. SO a very useful strategy is to take either Flame tanks, or Flame men and tell them to guard the turrets. This will prevent grenadiers from getting close and thrashing your turrets, and the turrets protect the Flame units against tanks and other large units. Of course for any base defense you should build flame infantry, because they are your best infantry defense. Build turrets, lots of turrets. They are great against tanks and other large vehicles, don't bother with obelisks unless you have A LOT of extra power, in case your enemy takes out one of your power plants, it may still function. [5-3] Help! I'm being attacked by enemy... ============================================= *5-3-1* Nukes ----------------- David Tong (davet@skaro.eng.sun.com) When choosing warhead targets, the computer will pick advanced guard towers, and, lacking that, your refineries for termination. Ong Yang (yang@pacific.net.sg) In Covert Ops, the computer will aim its nuke at the first advanced guard tower you've built. Craig Kazial (kaizal@cedar.buffalo.edu) Spread your base out through the use of sandbagging, all structures must touch each other but sandbags count. You can sell them afterwards if in the way. Have excess power. Your power plants will go down in a nuclear blast if near impact almost all the time. Building is outrageously slow when your power is low. If stuck in this situation perhaps sell off some of your structures. Two weapon factories don't hurt. Unfortunately this thing usually also bites it in one shot. Yes it's expensive, but it's slow to build and if your enemy follows up a nuke with a conventional attack you may want units churning out. If you can, right from the start bottle up all entrances to your territory. Obviously some scenarios make this more or less difficult. Avoid putting your structures in the extreme corners...if I was shooting a nuke blind that's where I would go. Ideally get some concrete walls and advanced guard towers going before your enemy has more than scouts to check out your situation. Stealth tanks and recon bikes aren't going to make keeping your base hidden easy, but I don't imagine you thought you were signing up for a picnic. Raymond Lee (rks11@leicester.ac.uk) NOD airstrips and the Temple of Nod are the only buildings that can withstand a direct nuclear attack. The computer Nod player will always fire its nuclear missiles at the GDI advanced communications center. It is best to build it in an out of the way area. Stanley Hu (hu@valisys.com) If you play GDI and hear "Nuclear Warhead Approaching", hurry back to your base (hit "H" if you still have a Construction Yard or use map bookmarks), and be ready to sell your Weapons Factory. Most intelligent NOD players will go after it because it is a sure target. You'll get 1000 credits back if you sell it. But you have to be FAST--sometimes you just won't get the opportunity. [5-3-2] Orcas ----------------- Build bazooka or recon bike units. Unlike SAM sites, these are mobile, and can be deployed anywhere. Scatter them around a bit. Lay a bunch of them around your harvester routes. If you are Nod, follow your harvesters around with stealth tanks or recon bikes. If you are GDI, you can use rocket launchers, but they are too easy to kill, and a smart opponent will target the escorts before attacking the harvester. Casper Lund (ccc4708@vip.cybercity.dk) A trick: If the enemy (computer or human) sends Orcas against one of your (fast) vehicles, and you have bazookas/adv. guard towers/SAMs available. Simply drive your vehicle towards one of them and circle it manually. The Orca will follow, circling around trying to get a shot off (they fire slowly on fast moving objects), and your SAM/tower/bazookas will bash away at it, usually killing it. Actually, if the opponent hasn't put his Orca under "CTRL-control", you can tie his Orcas up pretty much by simply driving around the map like crazy with the Orca(s) in pursuit, but this only works if your "bait" vehicle is pretty fast! :) [5-3-3] SSMs ---------------- These have very few hit points. Three choppers can take this out in one and a half volleys, as can three stealth tanks. [5-3-4] Advanced guard towers --------------------------------- Don't send infantry against them. Use armored vehicles instead. *5-3-5* Transports loaded with engineers -------------------------------------------- Sandbag your base. Do not leave any openings where a helicopter or APC can land. Block entrances to your base. Kjetil Svendsberget (kjetilsv@ifi.uio.no) As soon as you have built the weapon factory churn out 4 Humvees and scatter them around your CY. Assign them to a high number, one which you rarely use; I use '9'. Now when the hated APC keeps rolling in just press '9', or your own number and blast away at anything that churns out of it. Any men will die almost instant death, and will only be able to crawl a couple of nanocentimeters! [5-3-6] Attack helicopters ------------------------------ If you are Nod, use SAM sites against these. Bazookamen die too easily unless they are deployed in groups of six or more, and are spread out. You shouldn't use recon bikes as anti-attack chopper escorts. Recon bikes have a particular weakness to the attack helicopter machine-gun. If you are GDI, you can send an Orca or two and destroy the attack helicopter while it is on the pad. Even if the attack helicopter takes off, it will still die, because the Orca has air to air capability, and will chase the attack helicopter and keep pumping rockets up its backside. Ossi Mantylahti (manty@online.tietokone.fi) Follow your harvesters around with two APCs packed with bazooka dudes. When your opponent attacks your harvesters with his Apaches, quickly unload the APCs, and watch his helicopters go BOOM! *5-3-7* Recon bike gangs ---------------------------- Ola Olsson (oo@df.lth.se) A group of Humvees packs about the same punch as a group of recon bikes. If you don't believe me, try it. Jeff Montondon (jml7741@swt.edu) I'd suggest using Orcas as a kill/distraction. When a human player stops his bikes to attack the Orcas, run 'em over with the tanks. When the bikes move in to kill the tanks, shoot 'em with the Orcas. Come to think of it, I'd say use infantry and APCs. The APCs would have to have cover by the infantry to keep the bikes off their back, but when the bikes stop to attack one target, run 'em over with the APC. Jason West (jason@jove.acs.unt.edu) Get a GDI APC, maybe a "pack" of equal cost to his wolf pack. And just run those wimpy little bikes over. Have fun. Richard Wesson (wesson@cse.ogi.edu) Throw a couple of Orcas into the melee. He can't target them while they're in the air, he can only stop attacking and let the bikes fire on their own, which he'll be loath to do while they're being shot at and run over by APCs and things. In the meantime, send an APC full of bazookas tagging along with your harvester. After you do this a few times, he'll avoid attacking any harvester that has an APC around it. So you can save money sometimes by using an empty APC. Like Dirty Harry says, "Do you feel lucky, punk?" Ola Olsson (d91oo@efd.lth.se) Pound for pound, a group of humvees are better than a bike gang. Try it! [5-3-8] Airstrikes ---------------------- Joachim Rijsdam (jrijsdam@wi.leidenuniv.nl) One can draw away enemy A10s with only one minigunner. The AI only attacks from left to right and from top to bottom when 'paving'; like reading a page, really. So you just move one minigunner a little to the northwest of your base, and viola, damage is restricted to 100 credits. [5-4] Suppressive fire ========================= There is no reason to wait for the enemy to come to you before firing. Use the CTRL key to force your units into continuous fire mode. This works well with area effect weapons such as artillery, flame-throwers, rocket launchers, and grenadiers. This will intimidate a human opponent into thinking twice before attacking, and will utterly decimate any AI opponent who will walk blindly into the killing field. This is also useful to preserve the integrity of your choke points. Build a concrete wall one square thick across the river crossing. Build two turrets in front of this wall. Place a couple artillery units behind the walls, and concentrate their fire at a point two squares in front of the turrets. Because of their inaccuracy, you will end up laying a large area of suppressive fire that will rip to shreds any infantry trying to destroy the turrets. Back up with bazookamen as AA support, and nothing but a very determined attack will breakthrough. @~Next issue, offensive tips - o -