Command And Conquer Strategy

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    4.3 - GDI Vs. Scrin

    5.0 - Frequently Asked Questions

    6.0 - Credits

    7.0 - Guide Version Info

    8.0 - Legal Info

    ===================

    1.0 - Preface

    -----------

    This is a general strategy guide for the GDI faction in

    Command and Conquer 3.

    It will not teach you how to play the game, because I

    assume you were competent

    enough to read the mini-guide the game comes with, or

    played the tutorial and

    figured it out.

    The GDI's philosophy is "slow but steady". Your powerful

    units move slowly, and

    cost quite a bit, but once you get them out, they're tough

    as nails and can

    destroy just about everything. But this doesn't mean you

    can be careless, as no

    plan (no matter how good) survives contact with the enemy.

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    of good anti-air

    fire the GDI have, filling these bunkers with missile

    squads can be quite

    effective at defending your base from air attacks.

    Missile Squad: 400 Tiberium

    Missile squads are your workhorse infantry. A few well-

    placed missile squads

    are quite capable of taking down vehicles, especially if

    garrisoned. A good

    tactic is to put two missile squads with a sniper squad

    into a building. Then,

    the building can serve as a "take-all-comers" defence

    unit, taking down both

    infantry and vehicles.

    Sniper Squad: 1000 Tiberium

    Your other main infantry unit. Teamed with missile squads,

    these will eat

    through the opposition. Once again, throw a squad of

    snipers in a building

    with two missile squads, and the building is a sort of

    mini-fortress. It is

    very important to have at least a few of these when you

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    garrison troops: if

    you don't, enemy building clearing units (flamethrowers,

    grenadiers, etc.)

    will tear you apart. Make sure to throw a few of these

    around your base and

    main advances to keep fanatics off your buildings and

    vehicles.

    Grenadier Squad: 800 Tiberium

    Grenadier are used to clear garrisoned buildings. Use them

    to break through

    when the enemy has garrisoned buildings. Don't put them in

    front of the

    attack though, because a garrisoned building will fire at

    the closest target.

    Use tanks or a horde of cheap infantry to soak up hits

    while the grenadiers do

    their work. Once you get up into the higher tech levels,

    these become less

    useful, because vehicles are much more resilient and still

    able to take down

    garrisoned structures. However, you should always keep a

    few of these squads

    around, just in case you REALLY need to take down a

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    building fast.

    Zone Trooper Squad: 1300 Tiberium

    The zone trooper squad is your most powerful infantry.

    They use rifle-sized

    railguns, giving them an absolutely deadly (one shot, one

    kill) attack against

    infantry, and deal serious damage to vehicles. With

    upgrades, they can also

    detect stealthed units, making them a great support unit

    for a vehicle attack.

    Their jetpacks are useful for surprise attacks, but be

    careful where you land

    them: they can't fire while jetpacking, and have a

    cooldown before they fire

    once they hit the ground. If you aren't careful, you can

    lose a ton of them by

    jumping into a group of enemies. Of course, if you are

    careful, you can zone

    tro

    Commando: 2000 Tiberium

    The commando units are an oddity. They are useful in

    certain situations, but I

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    generally avoid them. They cost 2000 Tiberium that could

    be used to buy things

    that will probably serve you far better than a single

    commando. If you have

    Tiberium to spare, and want to play around with a cool

    unit, go for it. If you

    don't, consider not using the commando. If you do though,

    remember what the

    commando is good for: infantry killing, building killing,

    and walker killing.

    Drop him in an APC and he becomes a ludicrously deadly

    anti-infantry tool.

    When attacking, jump jet him up to the enemy defences

    while they're occupied

    and start blowing them up. Basically, think of it like

    this: the commando

    won't win the game for you, but it can certainly help.

    Engineer: 500 Tiberium

    Engineers capture buildings. That's pretty much their

    whole use. They have no

    weapons, and will die very quickly if they come under

    fire. Use them to take

    over neutral building like tiberium spikes, and to steal

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    enemy buildings.

    Interesting tidbit: For harder AI levels, when an engineer

    gets close to a

    building, the enemy will sell the building. If you can get

    an engineer into

    the center of an AI base, and they may very sell off their

    whole base to stop

    you from capturing it!

    Ground Vehicles:

    Pitbull: 700 Tiberium

    Pitbulls are basically a missile squad on wheels. They

    also detect stealth, a

    useful ability for any combat group. Use them with APCs to

    create a fast, all-

    around effective combat group that can engage everything

    in the game. However,

    make sure you keep them out of serious trouble, because,

    as with all light

    vehicles, they are very fragile against serious anti-

    vehicle fire. If you're

    going to use them in an assault, or extensively in any

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    way, you should invest

    in the mortar upgrade. It is a very cheap and effective

    upgrade.

    APC: 700 Tiberium

    APCs are, in my humble opinion, one of the best GDI

    vehicles. They can hold

    one infantry squad inside them, but more importantly, the

    unit inside can fire

    out of the APC. So, though the APC only has a machine gun

    effective vs. air

    and infantry, an APC with a missile squad inside is

    effective against all

    targets, and in groups, can slaughter just about anything.

    Plus, they're more

    manueverable than the mammoth tank, and can hire air

    transports as well. APC's

    can also drop minefields, useful for blocking off bridges

    or other natural

    tight-spots.

    Predator Tank: 1100 Tiberium

    The main mid-game tank for the GDI can be toughie to

    produce, but can smack

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    their Nod equivalents around with no trouble. Also, the

    railgun upgrade will

    affect these as well. Though with less firepower, two or

    three predators will

    be able to engage different targets, with more speed and

    maneuverability than

    a mammoth tank.

    Juggernaut: 2200 Tiberium

    Juggernaut are another oddity. If you have some well-

    placed sniper teams, you

    can use these to knock out a large group of enemy units

    cleanly and quickly.

    Use them if the game is going slowly and you want to crack

    a tough defence.

    Some people use them for frontal assaults, but I suggest

    using them in more of

    a support role.

    Mammoth Tank: 2500 Tiberium

    The GDI main battle tank. A few of these will crush

    through most opposition,

    and it will take some actual tactics to take them down.

    With the railgun

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    upgrades, mammoths will really come into their own.

    However, you must support

    them or lose them. Vertigo bombers will pound them into

    dust, so make sure

    they can't. Rather than building ten mammoths, build two

    or three mammoths,

    some zone troopers, and a couple APCs with missile squads.

    This group is more

    versatile, can move better through small spaces like city

    fights.

    MCV: 2500 Tiberium

    Not a neccisity because of the Surveryor/Outpost, but if

    you want a real

    backup base, you need one of these. It's totally

    unprotected, so make sure to

    send and escort if you really need it to live. When

    deployed, this will create

    a construction yard, the building you need to start doing,

    well, anything!

    Rig: 2000 Tiberium

    An interesting unit, that creates a battle base when

    deployed. The base is

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    equipped with some turret weapons, and can repair nearby

    vehicles. It does

    not create a build zone around it, but pairing a rig with

    a surveyor lets you

    create a defended expansion base quickly, and you can even

    pack it up and put

    it somewhere else.

    Surveyor: 1500 Tiberium

    Surveyors are used to create outposts, which generate a

    build zone, allowing

    for the creation of expansion bases. Totally unarmed, so

    you want to defend

    them if you're in the thick of the battle.

    Harvester: 1000 Tiberium

    Harvesters... well, harvest. They have a light machine

    gun, but it's pretty

    much useless, so defend your harvesters well. You can

    build more from the

    war factory, but refinerius come with a free harvester as

    well. Note though:

    if you make a refinery, then sell it, you get a harvester

    for 1000 tiberium,

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    the same as it's individual price at the war factory.

    Useful for getting extra

    harvesters in the early game.

    Air Vehicles:

    Orca: 1100 Timberium

    Orcas are like small nuggets of goodness, filled with

    rockets of course. Orcas

    are excellent support vehicles: bring them in to support

    tank charges or to

    counter-charge enemy tanks. A group of twelve orcas is

    easily maintainable,

    and will rip tanks and even infantry to shreds. Try not to

    attack with only

    orcas though, because they are very vulnerable to anti-air

    fire. Also, after

    you research the sensor pod upgrade at the tech center,

    orcas can drop small

    sensor pods that will detect stealth and reveal the area

    around them. These

    are a must buy.

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    Firehawk: 1500 Tiberium

    Firehawks are your bomber unit. Upgrade to these late

    game, but don't stress

    it if you don't have the money. Firehawks are very

    fragile, and can only fire

    one salvo before needing to return to the airbase. Of

    course, with their

    special upgrade, they can travel anywhere on the map

    instantly, and drop their

    devestating bombs to cripple enemy bases. However, DO NOT

    USE FIREHAWKS ON

    ENEMY UNITS. You will fail miserably. The bombs fall too

    slow to hit moving

    targets, and don't deal enough damage to truly disrupt

    enemy attacks. Use them

    to destroy enemy bases, twelve firehawks, split into three

    groups of four, can

    kill or seriously damage three buildings. AND, they can

    drop directly into the

    enemy base, right on top of that building. Remember

    though, that the cooldown

    means you can't stratosphere fighter your way back out, so

    you may lose some

    on the way out if there is a lot of AA around the enemy

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    base. Of course, that

    is only the ground attack mode. If you switch them to AA

    fire, they become

    massively effect verse most air attacks. 12 firehawks can

    seriously damage

    even the Scrin's mothership in a very short time.

    2.2 - Structures

    -----------

    Construction Yard: FREE (at beggining, deployed MCV)

    This is the most important building in the game: it lets

    you build everything

    else! Keep it protected, or you might suddenly lose your

    whole building

    ability to a sneak attack.

    Crane: 1500 Tiberium

    The crane allows the use of another building queue, so you

    can build two

    building at once. This also affects the support building

    queue, so you can

    build defences two at a time as well. Often one the first

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    buildings someone

    will build.

    Oupost: FREE (deployed surveyor)

    Outposts are created by surveyors, and create a build zone

    to allow creation

    of an expansion base. It also functions like an armory in

    regards to healing

    your infantry units.

    Power Plant: 800 Tiberium

    Power plants provide, get this, power. After you build a

    tech center, they can

    be upgraded to produce even more power. In the meantime,

    you should try to

    stay ahead of your energy needs. Running out of energy in

    the middle of a

    fight could lose you the advantage if you use base

    defences.

    Tiberium Refinery: 2000 Tiberium

    Refineries are absolutely essential. They let harvesters

    drop off their

    Tiberium, giving you it to use for buildings everything

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    else. Another one of

    those first-few-minutes buildings.

    Tiberium Silo: 500 Tiberium

    Silos let you store more Tiberium. If you have some extra

    Tiberium to throw

    around, buy them. If you don't, don't bother. They aren't

    necessary at all,

    and are more a luxury item than anything else.

    Barracks: 500 Tiberium

    The barracks creates your infantry units. Building more of

    them will give you

    more infantry build queues, and since they're cheap, you

    should consider it.

    Once again, a first-few-minutes building.

    War Factory: 2000 Tiberium

    The war factory constructs your vehicle units. Building

    more also gives you

    more build queues, but the higher build cost may prohibit

    this. It also has

    drones to repair damaged vehicles, so bring damaged

    vehicles back to preserve

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    them.

    Command Post: 1500 Tiberium

    The command post only gives one thing, the radar scan

    ability, but also opens

    the gate to the higher tech levels. Build it when you need

    to, not before. It

    is relatively expensive for the early game, so focus on

    the other buildings

    first.

    Airfield: 1000 Tiberium

    Each airfield only provides space for four air units, so

    you will definately

    need more than one. They also provide repair/rearm to

    units that are landed

    at them, so make sure to return your aircraft to home

    after their attack runs.

    Armory: 1000 Tiberium

    The armory has your infantry upgrades, and also allows the

    building of some

    more advanced infantry. You need this to build snipers, so

    if you plan on a

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    mixed sniper/missile squad defence, you'll need to build

    this fast. The armory

    can also heal infantry units by garrisoning the infantry

    inside the armory.

    Tech Center: 4000 Tiberium

    The tech center has the upgrades for your vehicles and

    aircraft, and also

    allows construction of advanced vehicles and structures.

    It costs quite a bit,

    so unless you're rushing for the more powerful vehicles,

    save it until you

    have a good economy going.

    Space Command Uplink: 3000 Tiberium

    This is the highest level tech structure for the GDI. It

    grants some nice

    abilities like the zone trooper drop pod. It can only be

    built after the

    the tech center is up, so you probably have a good enough

    economy going to

    cover the price. If you're rushing for high tech, you

    probably shouldn't

    bother grabbing this.

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    Ion Cannon Control Center: 5000 Tiberium

    This is your superweapon building. It enables the timer

    for the Ion Cannon,

    which can obliterate basically anything. Hit the enemy

    base with it, and

    follow up with some supported mammoths, and you're set up

    for the win. It

    costs a lot, but if you're worrying about superweapons you

    should have a good

    economy going.

    Watch Tower: 600 Tiberium

    The watch tower is an anti-infantry defence. Almost

    useless against vehicles,

    it will slaughter infantry that get in range. As with all

    other defences, you

    should build multiple watch towers, so that they cover and

    support each other.

    Guardian Tower: 1200 Tiberium

    Basically a watch tower that is effective against vehicles

    instead of infantry

    targets. Build a lot of these if you're going to use them,

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    because they have a

    very slow fire rate, and only moderate damage.

    Sonic Emitter: 2000 Tiberium

    The most powerful GDI base defence. Though it has a

    relatively low range, it

    will destroy anything it hits in just a few hits. They are

    expensive, so build

    them sparingly, and only where they will really count.

    They are especially

    effective against any kind of grouped rush, because the

    sonic attack will

    continue until it reaches it's range limit, damaging every

    target it hits.

    And, when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. The sonic

    blast can hurt your

    own units and structures, so place your Sonic Emitters in

    front of your other

    defences.

    AA Battery: 800 Tiberium

    This is your turreted air defence. It deals constant

    damage, but each hit does

    almost nothing. Overall, this isn't a very good turret.

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    Build them, but if you

    keep some rocket-based units around your base, you're

    probably safer. Missile

    squads in rifleman-made bunkers, missile squads in actual

    buildings, and of

    course pitbulls, are great substitutes.

    Battle Base: FREE (deployed rig)

    A frontline base which has several turret weapons, and can

    also repair your

    vehicles. It can be repaired like a normal building, and

    with an outpost can

    create a great expansion/frontline base.

    2.3 - Abilities

    -----------

    GDI Airborne: 1000 Tiberium, enabled by Armory

    This ability drops in two veteran rifleman squads and two

    veteran missile

    squads. This is very useful for reinforcing a crumbling

    position, but is

    better used in conjunction with your other powers.

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    Sharpshooter Team: 2500 Tiberium, enabled by Tech Center

    This drops in three veteran sniper teams. Extremely useful

    when you need to

    defend something verse an infantry rush.

    Bloodhounds: 2000 Tiberium, enabled by Airfield OR War

    Factory

    This drops in two veteran pitbulls and two veteran APCs. A

    good combo is to

    use this with the GDI airborne ability, and then put the

    two missiles squads

    into the APCs. Combined with zone trooper drop pods and

    sharpshooter team, you

    can make a small, effective attack team pretty much where

    ever you want to.

    Zone Trooper Drop Pod: 3000 Tiberium, enabled by Space

    Command Uplink

    This will almost instantly drop in three veteran zone

    trooper squads. This is

    the most useful single ability you get other than the Ion

    Cannon, because the

    zone troopers are effective against all targets. You only

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    get a few of them,

    but if you drop them where it counts, they'll be able to

    do quite a bit.

    Radar Scan: 250 Tiberium, enabled by Command Post

    There's really only one use for this: figure out where

    things are. Use it on

    likely expansion areas to see if the enemy is there, or to

    check up on the

    enemy base.

    Orca Strike: 500 Tiberium, enabled by Airfield

    Basically useless. It can take out some kinds of turrets,

    but pretty much

    nothing else. Use it to take out tough enemy units if you

    have to, but the

    strike is slow and easily avoidable. However, if you

    really need to that last

    little bit of damage to something, this is perfect.

    Shockwave Artillery: 1500 Tiberium, enabled by Space

    Command Uplink

    Good old artilley strike. It does moderate damage, so it

    won't take out many

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    buildings, but it's great to crush enemy assaults. It's

    even better against

    vehicles, because it has an EMP effect that disables them

    for a few moments.

    It's especially effective agianst Nod "turret farms",

    where you can knock out

    a large amount of defences in just a few moments.

    Ion Cannon: 0 Tiberium, enabled by Ion Cannon Control

    Center

    The Ion Cannon is the GDI superweapon. It will easily wipe

    out most of a base

    by itself, and will kill basically everything except

    construction yards in one

    hit. The seven minute recharge is a killer, so use it

    against bases, not enemy

    attacks. Follow it up with an immediate, massive assault

    if you can, because

    the Ion Cannon strike will probably tie up the enemy while

    they reconstruct

    their base.

    ===================

    3.0 - General Strategies

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    -----------

    3.1 - General

    -----------

    There are a few general strategies you may want to take

    under advisement while

    playing the GDI. First is the very start of the game. No

    matter what specific

    strategy you use, your first buildings should look

    something like this:

    - 2 refineries (you may want to sell the second one)

    - 2 power plants

    - barracks

    - crane

    - surveyor (if there is somewhere to expand to)

    You can build those buildings in whatever order you want

    to, but I prefer to

    start with either the crane, or a power plant and a

    barracks. After you build

    those buildings, you should advance as you wish. However,

    two things you should

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    definately do are build up your expansion base (if you made

    one), and to start

    making infantry and turrets for defence/attack/expansion.

    Garrison infantry to

    maximize their effectiveness.

    If you use this strategy, you will get a strong start to

    kick off the rest of

    the game. Of course, the true best strategy is to figure

    out what works best

    for you.

    After this point, your strategy will fall into one of the

    three general

    categories explained below: Rushing, Turtling, or a mix of

    the two.

    And, some general tips that will help against anyone:

    - Use the firehawk's stratofighter ability to knock out

    construction yards. It

    will only take about 8 to destroy one, and with

    stratofighter you can appear

    right next to their construction yard. You should also do

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    this with their most

    important buildings: cranes, war factories, and tech

    buildings. If you take

    out all their construction yards, cranes, and factories,

    the enemy is pretty

    much done for. Taking out top tech buildings disables

    certain units and

    abilities, so you can launch an assault while they're

    reeling.

    - Orcas are another great accompanying unit for mammoths.

    You use them to take

    out units that you don't want your mammoths to deal with:

    hordes of beam tanks

    are a good example. Five or six beam tanks can easily rip

    apart small groups

    of mammoths, so sending orcas ahead of them can help keep

    your mammoths alive.

    Even better, Orcas have two ways of detecting stealth

    units, so they can find

    cloaked avatars, stealth tanks, anything that might

    threaten your mammoths.

    - Before an attack, try to use your zone trooper drop pods

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    power on the back of

    the enemy base. If you're lucky, you may be able to knock

    out enough power

    plants to put them below their required power. If you do

    it at just the right

    time, you can attack just as this happens, and kill their

    base defences with

    little or no resistance.

    - Take advantage of the veterancy system. When a unit gets

    to max veterancy, it

    becomes far more useful. Watch for units shooting in red,

    or watch for the

    symbol near their name. At max, they self-heal, do more

    damage, have a farther

    range, and reload faster (if it's a unit that reloads).

    Protect these units,

    and put them where it counts.

    - Use orcas to coat the map in sensor pods. They're

    completely free once you

    get the upgrade, and have no recharge timer. One orca can

    get most of the map

    covered, and inside that area you reveal fog of war, and

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    also have stealth

    detection. They do go away after a while, but you can just

    drop them again.

    - Throw down a battle base and surround it with mammoths.

    If the mammoths take

    damage the battle base will repair them, and the mammoths

    will shred anything

    that gets near them. It costs a lot more than your static

    defences, but is

    quite a bit more effective.

    - Instead of using mammoths, consider a large group of zone

    trooper APCs. It's

    not as good at anti-air, but it is equally or even more

    effect against ground

    targets.

    3.2 - Rushing

    -----------

    Rushing is the art of a fast, early-game, crippling strike.

    The goal is to get

    to infantry and light vehicles quickly, then using them to

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    "rush" the opponent.

    The idea is that crippling the enemy early on will allow

    you to dominate them

    through the rest of the game.

    Of course, this can backfire very easily. If your attack

    fails to do enough

    damage, you may be the victim of the reverse of your plan:

    your opponent will

    counter-rush you, and you just used all your early-game

    resources to build an

    army which was just killed!

    For a GDI rush, you should be incorporating rifleman

    squads, missile squads,

    and pitbulls for sure. If you can, throw in some APCs to

    pile your missile

    squads into, and snipers to take care of infantry. Be

    careful not to take too

    long building your army, or you won't attack early enough

    to actually cripple

    the enemy.

    Another option is to use less combat units, but throw some

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    engineers in. If you

    capture some of their buildings instead of destroying them,

    you can then sell

    them to give yourself more riflemen squads for the battle,

    AND to fund your own

    base.

    Though the goal is only to cripple the enemy, if you can

    destroy them, that's

    obviously better. This is entirely possible, especially if

    you use engineers,

    because you can use the money to fund a larger army to send

    in.

    If your opponent(s) rush you as well, you should keep up

    the attack with the

    units you already sent, but use everything you produce from

    then on to protect

    yourself. The worst situation you can be in is being behind

    from a failed rush,

    or crippled by the opponent's own rush. Recover as fast as

    you can, and get a

    strong defence ready.

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    Be prepared to fail many, many times. Rushing is an art,

    and can be hard to do

    correctly. However, I think you'll be happily surprised

    once you master it.

    3.3 - Turtling

    -----------

    Turtling is the complete opposite of rushing. You stay in

    your base (and your

    expansion bases), and build up your economy and tech level.

    Once your tech and

    economy are running strong, you can build a massive army to

    attack, while the

    opponent may still be in the mid-tech levels.

    Just like rushing, this can backfire in an instant. If you

    get rushed, your

    plan will completely fall apart. If the opponent manages to

    break your defence

    while you're still building up your tech level and economy,

    you're done for.

    So, focus on your defence. Keep building turrets, and make

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    sure the ones you

    already have are in tip-top shape. Build airfields as soon

    as possible, and use

    orcas to shore up trouble spots.

    Once you're fully teched-up, you have two main options. The

    first is to keep

    building airfields, and sit behind an impenetrable wall of

    turrets while you

    slowly bomb your opponent to death. The other option is to

    build up a massive

    land army, and using it to push directly toward the enemy

    bases.

    A good end-game army would consist of a spearhead of

    mammoth tanks, followed by

    zone troopers and APCs filled with snipers and missile

    squads. Throw in some

    juggernauts at the rear for artillery support, and you can

    crush through just

    about anything.

    Turtling is generally seen as a "noob" strategy, but it

    really isn't. It is an

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    entirely valid strategy, and is just as much an art as

    rushing is. Practice,

    practice, practice, and you will be quite happy with your

    performance.

    3.4 - Mixed

    -----------

    The mixed strategy is a (you'll never guess this) mix of

    the rush and the

    turtle. You could also think of this as the harasser

    strategy. Build up your

    economy and tech just like in the turtle, but keep the

    pressure on the enemy as

    you go. Build groups of units and send them to hold key

    locations and slow down

    your enemy, or to actually attack the enemy base.

    Good units for this strategy are predator tanks and light

    vehicles. These units

    are tough enough to hold out for a while, and powerful

    enough to fight off an

    actual attack sent against them. The beggining and mid-game

    should follow a

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    general rusher strategy, and in the end game you should be

    pounding the enemy

    with a turtler-like army.

    The true strength of this plan, at it's basest level, is to

    adapt to what the

    enemy does, and to counter it. Move your units to strategic

    locations to

    disrupt the enemy, and put pressure on their main base.

    Basically, your goal is to stop the enemy's plans, while

    still building up your

    own forces. Done correctly, this could be considered the

    best of the three

    strategies, because it is the most flexible. Adapt and

    survive, commander.

    ===================

    4.0 - Specific Strategies

    -----------

    4.1 - GDI Vs. GDI

    -----------

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    - The main trouble with this match up is that you use the

    same units. Make sure

    you know how to counter things. For example, counter

    mammoths with mammoths,

    because they're an even match. Match infantry with

    snipers, and snipers with

    vehicles, vehicles with missile squads, and around and

    around again. Use your

    common sense.

    - Get to high tech levels fast. Because each of your units

    exactly matches the

    enemy units, you need to use something they can't match.

    Getting to a high

    tech level faster means you can use your advanced vehicles

    to stomp them,

    before they use those same vehicles against you.

    - Set up AA on the inside of your base as well as the

    perimeter. Your opponent

    may use firehawks to get into the center of your base,

    where you may be in

    lack of serious AA fire to take them down.

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    - Space out your units. Shockwave artillery and juggernaut

    strikes can make a

    good assault a sitting duck on the battlefield. The EMP

    from the shockwave

    artillery will freeze your vehicles, then the juggernauts

    will shred them. Of

    course, you can use this little trick on them as well, in

    fact, it's useful

    against any of the factions in this game.

    4.2 - GDI Vs. Nod

    -----------

    - Make some extra snipers and scatter them around your

    base, and send them with

    your attack forces. You will need them to kill fanatics,

    which a good Nod

    player will likely use them extensively against you for

    anti-vehicle and anti-

    building purposes. Even if they don't, the snipers are

    still an excellent

    defence against infantry.

    - Watch for the Nod stealth towers. If you see one, make

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    sure to approach

    cautiously and bombard it in advance if possible. Chances

    are that the enemy

    has placed a horde of turrets under the stealth field,

    just waiting for you to

    walk in and get yourself slaughtered.

    - On the same note, be aware that Nod is the master of

    diversions. A stealth

    tower (or any other unit or structure) may just be a

    diversion to make you

    advance more cautiously, and miss other oppurtunities

    while you concentrate.

    - If the enemy has set up a large amount of AA towers, just

    give up with an air

    attack unless you feel like losing a lot of units. Each

    Nod AA tower can fire

    three missiles, and each one they buy comes in a set of

    three turrets. Nine

    missiles will seriously damage, if not destroy, any of

    your air units.

    - Watch for vertigo bombers. Vertigoes are stealthed, so

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    you won't get an early

    warning if they come at you. So, you need to: 1) detect

    them, and 2) hit them.

    Detection is easy, any stealth detector will do it.

    Hitting them is another

    issue. The bombers fly faster than mammoth tank missiles,

    so use missile

    squads or pitbulls to hit them. You shouldn't rely on your

    AA turrets for

    the reasons in their description.

    - Make extra sure to defend the sides of your base. A

    diversionary attack to

    the front of your base in conjunction with a group of

    stealth tanks pouring

    into the side of your base isn't fun.

    4.3 - GDI Vs. Scrin

    -----------

    - Keep up the air defence. If you don't, you'll die. Simple

    as that. The Scrin

    have a devestatingly effective air force, and without air

    defence they will

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    simply eat you up.

    - Build defences on the inside of your base as well. The

    wormhole power, the

    mastermind, and shock troopers can all teleport things,

    possibly right into

    the middle of your base.

    - Watch for the Scrin superweapon. One deadly strategy the

    Scrin can use is to

    drop their superweapon, then fire up a wormhole and dump a

    bunch of tripods

    into the middle of your base.

    - Another nasty Scrin trick: using the mastermind to

    capture a building, then

    building the signal transmitter next to it and summoning

    the mothership in the

    middle of your base. If you see the mastermind, kill it

    IMMEDIATELY!

    ===================

    5.0 - Frequently Asked Questions

    -----------

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    Q: What is the best way to quickly boost your economy?

    A: Well, obviously you'll need more harvesters. You also

    want more refineries

    along with them, depending on your ratio: 3 harvesters per

    refinery is usually

    ok, but you might want to go 2 harvesters per. If you're

    expanding, build some

    defences to go with them, so they don't get killed.

    Q: Is there any combination of units that is very strong?

    A: There is no perfect combination, because any unit can be

    countered by

    another unit. However, the "tried-and-true" combo would be

    a group of

    mammoths, APCs (with a mix of zone troopers, snipers, and

    rocket troops),

    and pitbulls. This group can handle just about anything,

    and with air support

    can be nearly unstoppable.

    Q: Is there a monthly fee to play online? Do you need a

    fast connection?

    A: There is no monthly fee to play online. I would suggest

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    a fast connection,

    but you can play with a slow connection as long as the

    ping bars are good.

    When you're looking at a game to join, watch the little

    bar on the side: if

    it's green, you're good