GROUND CONTROL II: OPERATION EXODUS by Briareos Kerensky (briareos_hf@tiscali.it, briareos_CWE), ver 1.5 09 July 2004 Table of Contents 1-Disclaimer 2-Update History 3-History Briefing 4-Unit Stats Briefing 5-NSA Units Briefing 6-Viron Units Briefing 7-Terran Units Briefing 8-Fixed Emplacements Briefing 9-General Tactics 10-Multiplayer Tactics 11-Walkthrough 12-Cheats 13-Credits and misc ************ 1-DISCLAIMER ************ All names and marks are property of their respective owners; this document is copyright of Briareos Kerensky: unauthorized reproduction of this document as it is or in part is forbidden; to ask authorization send a mail to me (briareos_hf@tiscali.it). Do not send mails asking CD keys or other personal codes which changes with every CD package: every softhouse has its own way to use these keys, and I won't deny myself the possibility to play online a game only because someone has "lost the package" or "the package is corrupted". If some sections have cheats which includes alteration of hex codes, renaming files, creation of new ones, I will not answer of HD formatting, lost datas, World Wars, nuclear explosions, invocation of demons of any kind or any other damage derived from those operations. I'm Italian, so do not pay attention to the many mistakes I'll do in spelling, grammar construction and so on. **************** 2-UPDATE HISTORY **************** 09 July 2001 - version 1.5. Thanks to Nainara from a forum I frequent, I've got all original mission names. Completed the NSA walkthrough. Added Viron unit stats. Corrected a stupid mistake...confused codename Guardian (Recon Terradyne) with Rhino (Light APC). 04 July 2004 - version 1.2. Fine-tuned units description, added missions 2 through 5 of the NSA walkthrough. All other sections recieved updates as well. 01 July 2004 - version 1.0. It has been a while since I've written a walkthrough, I hope I'm not rusted too much to do a good work. This initial release is mostly about general document layout, though NSA Units already have full stats. Tutorial walkthrough completed. ****************** 3-HISTORY BRIEFING ****************** ********************* 4-UNIT STATS BRIEFING ********************* Each unit in Ground Control II is defined by a series of stats. Here's a breif explanation of the various values you'll find n each field in the following sections. If a stat has a value between brackets, it indicates that this particular stat changes while in secondary mode. If a stat doens't have any other value, it means it's the same in both primary and secondary modes. TYPE: unit's name and general role it has in the deploying army HEALTH POINTS: maximum heath points the unit has. Once dropped to zero, the unit is destroyed. ARMOR TYPE: describes the armor the unit uses. Different armor types react in a different way to the different weapon types. ARMOR RATINGS: divided into four arcs (front, sides, x and x, respectively), describes how much damage the armor absorbs before affecting the health points. A 0 (zero) rating means there is no armor and the weapon does full damage. MAXIMUM SPEED: self expliantory. Probably in m/s. WEAPON TYPE: the general type of weapon the unit uses. Different weapon types react differently when impacting various types of armor and are more suited to fight certain types of units due to their features. Gatling indicates the unit uses a fast-firing, low-caliber gun; they are one of the best weapons against infantry. Snipe are extremely precise balistic weapons with low rate of fire; Sniping weapons can take out troopers with one or two shots but are totally inadeguate against heavy terradyne armors. AT means Anti-Tank; the projectiles' caliber ranges from medium to big and it is studied to penetrate heavy armors usually employed on Terradynes. The allocate a good amount of damage, but they are usually mounted on relatively slow-tracking turrets and doesn't have a fast rate of fire, resulting inadeguate to deal with infantry. Missile are guided munitions, usually able to track both Terradynes and Helidynes. They cannot target infantry as it poses a too small target for their tracking system. Missile weapons usually suffer of a low rate of fire, balanced out by their range, accurancy and firepower, especially against air targets. Explosive indicates a weapon using some kind of projectiles which detonate upon contact with target or terrain features; the resulting explosion allocates damage, though less than a direct hit. Usually explosive rounds are carried by artillery units and are used to attack a large area instead of a precise target. Gas weapons are the most effective weapon against infantry; this category includes flamethrowers or other gas weapons. Their range is limited and their usefulness against vehicles is often questionnable. Plasma weapons are extremely rare; they are effective against any kind of armor and a single shot from a plasma weapon will heavily damage even the strongest vehicle. WEAPON DAMAGE: the first number denotes the minimum damage a weapon can inflict, the second one, the maximum; damage inflicted is a number between these two values. The effective weapon damage is also affected by weapon type vs armor type, armor rating and various bonuses given by altitude, buidlings, forests and so on. WEAPON RANGE: weapon's maximum range, in meters VISUAL RANGE: in meter; how far the unit can see units within a circle with the value as its radius, with the unit being the center of this circle. Unit detection is also affected by terrain features and other units' stealthness STEALTHNESS: how much the unit is "invisible" to enemy units. A value of 0 (zero) means the unit is visible as it enters the other unit's visual range, a value o 100 means the unit is completely invisible to enemy units. AP COST: Acquisition Points required to order a single unit DROPSHIP SPACE: slots a single unit will occupy on a Dropship ******************** 5-NSA UNITS BRIEFING ******************** NSA bases their technology on anything proven and dependable, using standard projectile weapons instead of the more complicated beam weapons, just like Crayven Corporation did a long time ago. Their units seem to be the direct evolution of these old forces, based more on armor and firepower rather than speed or stealthness; this makes units' main tasks recognizable at the first sight and are more flexible than more specialized units. type: Light Assault Trooper - NSALAT-94 "SOLDAT" health points: 200 armor type: infantry armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 5 weapon type: gatling (AT) weapon damage: 2-4 (15-30) weapon range: 100 visual range: 150 stealthness: 20 AP Cost: 150 Dropship space: 1 type: NSA Sniper - NSA/RICI-5 "RAPTOR" health points: 180 armor type: infantry armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 7 (0) weapon type: none (snipe) weapon damage: none (30-60) weapon range: none (250) visual range: 150 stealthness: 50 (20) AP Cost: 255 Dropship space: 1 Specialized anti-infantry units. Snipers are probably the most effective infantry-killers used by all armies in this conflict. They are almost invisible even when firing, they move fast and they strike at long ranges with a very powerful gun, able to kill a single man in two or three, well placed shots. A small group of Raptors can effectively travel from building to building and quietly kill all infantry with little risk of being spotted and shot back. They can also attack vehicle, aiming at their weak spots, but the gun was not designed for penetrating thick armors, so their usefulness is extremely limited if there is no infantry in the area. The biggest drawback of this unit is that it cannot fire while in primary mode and that it cannot move in secondary mode, forcing commanders to wisely place Raptors; also, their armor is very thin and are very susceptible to any kind of fire. type: NSA Siege Soldier - M4340HC1 "OGRE" health points: 250 armor type: infantry armor ratings: 30/30/30/30 maximum speed: 6 (3) weapon type: gatling weapon damage: 3-7 (5-10) weapon range: 110 (100) visual range: 150 stealthness: 5 (0) AP Cost: 410 Dropship space: 2 The Ogre's M4340HC1 powered suit allows them to withstand an impressive amount of damage from various types of weapons before losing combat effectivness and to support one of the most destructive infantry weapons designed by the NSA, the P97h assault minigun. The uranium-depleted bullets used by this minigun are capable of penetrating most types of armor and allocate damage even to the heaviest Terradyne. Ogres are also faster than normal Troopers, which make an ideal assault force in urban combat, as they can benefit of all bonuses of normal infantry. In secondary mode, Siege Soldiers set their miniguns in full-auto mode, dramatically increasing their rate of fire and damage potential. As the gun creates a strong recoil, the Soldiers cannot move while firing. Basically, Siege Soldiers are miniaturized tanks. Even a small group of them can take assaults from multiple Terra- and Hover- dynes, with good probabilities that the vehicles won't leave the battlefield...or leave it in a very bad shape. Combined with their ability to take cover in buildings and forests and their stealthness (low for an infantrymen but higher than a Terradyne), Siege Soldiers can spearhead an assault with very few worries. type: NSA Light APC - LAPC-780 "RHINO" health points: 250 armor type: light armor ratings: 50/20/20/0 maximum speed: 15 weapon type: gatling (none) weapon damage: 5-10 (none) weapon range: 100 (none) visual range: 120 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: 400 Dropship space: 2 type: NSA Assault APC - AAPC-D90 "VULCANO" health points: 350 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 50/20/10/0 maximum speed: 12 (none) weapon type: gas weapon damage: 15-30 (10-20) weapon range: 50 (100) visual range: 100 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: Dropship space: type: NSA Recon Terradyne - ATPJS90 "GUARDIAN" health points: 180 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 30/20/0/0 maximum speed: 20 (8) weapon type: AT (none) weapon damage: 12-25 (none) weapon range: 150 (none) visual range: 250 stealthness: 0 (100) AP Cost: 350 Dropship space: 2 type: NSA Rocket Terradyne - AMRLV-320 "MARAUDER" health points: 140 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 40/20/0/0 maximum speed: 12 (0) weapon type: missile (none) weapon damage: 15-30 (none) weapon range: 130 (none) visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: Dropship space: type: NSA Combat Engineer - ACEUV-905 "ZAPPER" health points: 150 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 50/20/10/10 maximum speed: 12 (0) weapon type: none weapon damage:none weapon range: none visual range: 100 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: 510 Dropship space: 2 type: NSA Fortress Terradyne - DTU-7499 "RAVAGER" health points: 500 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 50/20/10/10 (80/0/0/0) maximum speed: 6 (none) weapon type: AT weapon damage: 30-60 (35-70) weapon range: 100 (130) visual range: 80 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: 2000 Dropship space: type: NSA Main Battle Terradyne - SEK-450 "LIBERATOR" health points: 300 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 maximum speed: 12 weapon type: AT (snipe) weapon damage: 25-50 (25-50) weapon range: 120 (100) visual range: 120 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: 950 Dropship space: 3 type: NSA Mobile Artillery - AFAS-109 "HAIL" health points: 240 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 20/10/0/0 maximum speed: 8 (0) weapon type: explosive weapon damage: 15-30 (20-40) weapon range: 300 (400) visual range: 100 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: 1200 Dropship space: 3 type: NSA Light Helidyne - IRH45 "SHADE" health points: 250 armor type: air armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 25 (35) weapon type: missile weapon damage: 10-20 weapon range: 120 visual range: 250 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: Dropship space: type: NSA Transport Helidyne - AVTCH-6 "BIGBIRD" health points: 300 armor type: air armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 (20/20/20/20) maximum speed: 20 (10) weapon type: none weapon damage: none weapon range: none visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: Dropship space: type: NSA Defensive Unit - TTP-90 "SENTRY" health points: 200 armor type: fixed emplacement armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: none weapon type: gatling weapon damage: 7-15 weapon range: 100 visual range: 120 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: 250 Dropship space: 2 type: NSA Field Sensor - MSRS-4 "DETECTOR" health points: 200 armor type: fixed emplacement armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: none weapon type: none weapon damage: none weapon range: none visual range: 350 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: 500 Dropship space: 2 type: NSA Dropship health points: 1000 armor type: very heavy armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 100 weapon type: gatling weapon damage: 6-12 weapon range: 200 visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: none Dropship space: none type: Saergent EGAN RHO health points: 250 armor type: infantry armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 7 weapon type: snipe weapon damage: 20-40 (40-80) weapon range: 110 (220) visual range: 200 stealthness: 50 (20) AP Cost: none Dropship space: none type: Dr. ALICE McNEAL health points: 100 armor type: infantry armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 4 weapon type: none weapon damage: none weapon range: none visual range: 200 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: none Dropship space: none type: VIP Transport health points: 300 armor type: light armor ratings: 50/30/10/10 maximum speed: 15 weapon type: none weapon damage: none weapon range: none visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: none Dropship space: none ********************** 6-VIRON UNITS BRIEFING ********************** Virons use nano-technology to power their army; all Viron unts can fuse with an other identical unit to form a second type of unit, usually with a totally different task; this process is called "meld" and at a given time, a melded unit can un-meld to return the two original units on the battlefield. As with melding, switching a unit to secondary mode can change the way a unit is employed; most of secondary roles are for support or defense, as no Viron unit was though to excel in this particular role from the beginning. type: Viron Prime Clanguard "KAH'MEH" health points: 180 armor type: infantry armor ratings: 10/10/10/10 maximum speed: 5 weapon type: AT (none) weapon damage: 15-30 (none) weapon range: 110 (none) visual range: 150 stealthness: 20 AP Cost: Dropship space: type: Viron Infector Clanguard "MAALH'BUL" health points: 200 armor type: infantry armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 7 weapon type: gas (none) weapon damage: 10-20 (none) weapon range: 50 (none) visual range: 150 stealthness: 20 AP Cost: two Prime Clanguards Dropship space: two Prime Clanguards type: Viron Missile Clanguard "PACK'CHANGH" health points: 200 armor type: infantry armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 5 weapon type: missile weapon damage: 6-12 (2-5) weapon range: 150 visual range: 150 stealthness: 20 AP Cost: Dropship space: type: Viron Mortar Clanguard "TAH'CHANGH" health points: 150 armor type: infantry armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 4 weapon type: explosive weapon damage: 10-20 weapon range: 150 visual range: 150 stealthness: 20 AP Cost: two Missile Clanguards Dropship space: two Missile Clanguards type: Viron Gun Centruroid "BAH'KO" health points: 150 armor type: light armor ratings: 20/10/0/0 (90/10/0/0) maximum speed: 20 (0) weapon type: gatling weapon damage: 5-10 weapon range: 120 visual range: 160 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: Dropship space: type: Viron Missile Centruroid "HAAI'TAH" health points: 280 armor type: light armor ratings: 40/20/0/0 maximum speed: 20 (0) weapon type: missile (none) weapon damage: 5-10 (none) weapon range: 150 (none) visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: two Gun Centruroids Dropship space: two Prime Centruroids type: Viron Engineer Centruroid "KEE'ON RIMAH" health points: 250 armor type: light armor ratings: 30/20/10/10 maximum speed: 15 weapon type: gas (none) weapon damage: 7-15 (none) weapon range: 100 (none) visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: Dropship space: type: Viron Mortar Centruroid "CHINGH'GEH'OHN" health points: 160 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 40/20/0/0 maximum speed: 15 weapon type: explosive weapon damage: 15-30 weapon range: 300 visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: two Engineer Centruroids Dropship space: two Engineer Centruroids type: Viron Corruptor Centruroid "GEOM'RAAH" health points: 300 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 50/20/0/10 maximum speed: 12 (0) weapon type: gas weapon damage: 15-30 weapon range: 50 visual range: 120 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: Dropship space: type: Viron Thumper Centruroid "BULL'GASAALH" health points: 450 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 60/30/15/15 maximum speed: 10 weapon type: explosive (none) weapon damage: 15-30 (none) weapon range: 70 (none) visual range: 120 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: two Corruptor Centruroids Dropship space: two Corrucptor Centruroids type: Viron Penetrator Centruroid "HUN'MUH" health points: 300 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 maximum speed: 10 (0) weapon type: AT weapon damage: 30-60 (25-50) weapon range: 120 (250) visual range: 120 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: Dropship space: type: Viron Great Corruptor Centrutoid "CHEE'WOH" health points: 600 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 (50/30/20/20) maximum speed: 8 (16) weapon type: AT (none) weapon damage: 25-50 (none) weapon range: 150 (none) visual range: 120 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: two Penetrator Centruroids Dropship space: two Penetrator Centruroids type: Viron Fighter Helidyne "GEEH'MU'GEE" health points: 160 armor type: air armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 27 (20) weapon type: missile (none) weapon damage: 15-30 (none) weapon range: 150 (none) visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: Dropship space: type: Viron Screamer Helidyne "JOH'JACK" health points: 300 armor type: air armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 15 (10) weapon type: snipe (none) weapon damage: 5-10 (none) weapon range: 100 (none) visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: two Fighter Helidynes Dropship space: two Fighter Helidynes type: Viron Scout Helidyne "BORAH'MAAR" health points: 300 armor type: air armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 (20/20/20/20) maximum speed: 10 (0) weapon type: gatling (none) weapon damage: 2-5 (none) weapon range: 120 (none) visual range: 150 (400) stealthness: 0 AP Cost: Dropship space: type: Viron Contaminator Helidyne "WAN'GREH'OHNG" health points: 220 armor type: air armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 (50/50/50/50) maximum speed: 15 (10) weapon type: gas (none) weapon damage: 15-30 (none) weapon range: 80 (none) visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: two Scout Helidynes Dropship space: two Scout Helidynes type: Viron bio-pusar cannon health points: 200 armor type: fixed emplacment armor ratings: 20/20/20/20 maximum speed: none weapon type: gatling weapon damage: 10-20 weapon range: 140 visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: Dropship space: type: Viron field sensor health points: 200 armor type: fixed emplacment armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: none weapon type: none weapon damage: none weapon range: none visual range: 350 stealthness: 50 AP Cost: Dropship space: type: Centruroid VI'CATH health points: 600 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 maximum speed: 10 weapon type: AT weapon damage: 6-12 weapon range: 150 visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 AP Cost: none Dropship space: none The largest Centruroid used by the Virons, and can be used only by Clan Vi'Caths. Despite its massive size this Centruroid can move at relatively high speeds and it's well protected by a thick armor; unfortunatley all means that the Centrutoid's main gun is undersized for a vehicle of this size, making it dangerous only for light Terradynes attacking it head-on. *********************** 7-TERRAN UNITS BRIEFING *********************** Being the direct descendant of the Pax Dei, the Order of the New Dawn army, Terran units use energy and beam weapons in place of traditional balistic and missile weapons and prefer Hoverdyne chassis over the more common well- or thread- driven Terradynes; these choices make Terran units faster than most other military units while allowing them to mount a comparable amount of armor and powerful enough weapons to confront everything on the battlefield. Each Terran unit is highly specialized to deal with various kind of enemies that can be encountered. type: Imperial LEGIONNAIRE health points: 150 armor type: infantry armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 6 weapon type: gatling weapon damage: 2-4 weapon range: 100 visual range: 150 stealthness: 20 Standard Imperial foot soldier. When compared to their closest opponent, the NSA Light Trooper, Legionnaires suffer of the lack of a secondary weapon and of the lighter armor they use. Primary weapons are the same, though, making the as good as Light Troopers in dealing with any target. type: Imperial DRAGOON health points: 250 armor type: infantry armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 5 weapon type: gas weapon damage: 5-10 weapon range: 50 visual range: 100 stealthness: 40 Anti-infantry Imperial elite troops. Dragoons are much rare than standard Legionnaires as their task is way too specialized and their weapons can engage only at very short range infatry units, making them totally useless against vehicles or long-range anti-infantry units like Siege Soldiers or Raptors. type: Imperial Light APC - "PEDES CONVINUS" health points: 200 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 maximum speed: 15 weapon type: gatling weapon damage: 6-12 weapon range: 100 visual range: 120 stealthness: 0 type: Imperial Centurio Hoverdyne - D4451 "CENTURIO" health points: 200 armor type: light armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 maximum speed: 15 weapon type: gatling weapon damage: 6-12 weapon range: 75 visual range: 120 stealthness: 0 type: Imperial Light Hoverdyne - "PATHFINDER" health points: 150 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 maximum speed: 20 weapon type: gatling weapon damage: 6-12 weapon range: 120 visual range: 200 stealthness: 0 type: Imperial DESTROYER Hoverdyne health points: 350 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 maximum speed: 15 weapon type: AT weapon damage: 30-60 weapon range: 120 visual range: 120 stealthness: 0 The backbone of the Imperial Army. The Destroyer Hoverdyne is a succesful blend of speed, armor and firepower, capable of attacking almost any ground vehicle with little or no fear. The main drawbacks of this excellent Hoverdyne are its incapability to attack airborn targets and that its AT weapon doens't pose a great threat for massed infantry attacks, making it ineffective against Siege Soldiers and Prime Clanguards; against vehicles of similar capabilities, the Destroyer is a Hoverdyne to be renocked with, being able to sustain heavy fire and deliver devastating blows. As with all Hoverdynes, the Destroyer tend to be faster than both NSA and Viron counterparts. type: Imperial CONQUEROR Hoverdyne health points: 550 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 70/20/0/0 maximum speed: 8 weapon type: AT weapon damage: 40-80 weapon range: 100 visual range: 120 stealthness: 0 Where Destroyers cannot deliver as much firepower is needed, the Imperials field the Conqueror Hoverdyne. The Conqueror is much slower than a Destroyer and cannot equal its firing range, but it's thick frontal armor and powerful AT cannon make it ideal for defensive emplacments and frontal assaults. Conqueror Hoverdynes are less flexible than Destroyer Hoverdynes as they can be easily flanked by fast moving ground units and still cannot engage air targets and the AT cannon, though powerful, is partially useless against infantry. For this reason, Conqueror Hoverdynes are stationed near important locations as defenders, usually backed up by Legionnaires or turrets to complement its deficiences. type: Imperial A4 Combat Strider - "TEREBRA EXARCH" health points: 210 armor type: light armor ratings: 30/20/10/10 maximum speed: 6 weapon type: gatling weapon damage: 5-10 weapon range: 100 visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 Striders are premiere infantry-support vehicles. Their bipedal movement system allows them to travel on almost any terrain without sacrificing speed, though it makes impossible to mount large-caliber cannons or heavy armors. The A4 Combat Strider has been designed as the premiere infantry killer within the Imperial army; its gatling beam cannon can deal large amounts of damage to infantry units while its armor can withstand most attacks coming from its targets. Although Striders cannot equal Hoverdynes in pure speed, they can effectively keep up pace with Infantry, maximizinf their effectivness as infantry suppression weapons. type: Imperial Rocket Strider health points: 200 armor type: light armor ratings: 30/20/10/10 maximum speed: 7 weapon type: missile weapon damage: 12-25 weapon range: 150 visual range: 175 stealthness: 0 Rocket Striders can give infantry and Combat Strider units an higly effective anti-air platform, being able to withstand damage from infantry, light-vehicle and air weapons. Rocket Striders also have a wider sensor area, making somewhat ideal for scounting. type: Imperial Howitzer IMHH65 - "IMPERIAL FIST" health points: 230 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 maximum speed: 10 weapon type: explosive weapon damage: 25-30 weapon range: 350 visual range: 120 stealthness: 0 type: Imperial Engineer Hoverdyne health points: 250 armor type: heavy armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 maximum speed: 10 weapon type: gatling weapon damage: 6-12 weapon range: 50 visual range: 60 stealthness: 0 type: Imperial Attack Helidyne health points: 180 armor type: air armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 15 weapon type: AT weapon damage: 20-40 weapon range: 150 visual range: 175 stealthness: 0 type: Imperial Field Defense Turret health points: 200 armor type: fixed emplacement armor ratings: 20/20/20/20 maximum speed: none weapon type: gatling weapon damage: 7-15 weapon range: 50 visual range: 60 stealthness: 0 type: Imperial Field Sensor health points: 200 armor type: fixed emplacement armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: none weapon type: none weapon damage: none weapon range: none visual range: 350 stealthness: 0 type: Imperial Dropship health points: 1000 armor type: very heavy armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 maximum speed: 100 weapon type: gatling weapon damage: 6-12 weapon range: 200 visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 ***************************** 8-FIXED EMPLACEMENTS BRIEFING ***************************** type: "SHRIKE-5" Cannon Turret health points: 350 armor type: fixed emplacement armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 weapon type: AT weapon damage: 40-80 weapon range: 140 visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 type: Imperial SAM Site health points: 300 armor type: fixed emplacement armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 weapon type: missile weapon damage: 30-60 weapon range: 250 visual range: 200 stealthness: 0 type: Imperial Anti-Infantry Turret health points: 200 armor type: fixed emplacement armor ratings: 0/0/0/0 weapon type: snipe weapon damage: 1-2 weapon range: 200 visual range: 200 stealthness: 0 type: Imperial Anti-Tank Turret health points: 300 armor type: fixed emplacement armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 weapon type: AT weapon damage: 40-80 weapon range: 140 visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 type: Imperial flamethrower anti-infantry turret - SCORCHER T-99 health points: 300 armor type: fixed emplacement armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 weapon type: gas weapon damage: 25-30 weapon range: 90 visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 type: Imperial Pulverizer turret AND-1 health points: 500 armor type: fixed emplacement armor ratings: 50/20/0/0 weapon type: plasma weapon damage: 75-150 weapon range: 140 visual range: 150 stealthness: 0 type: Imperial Anti-Missile turret health points: 200 armor type: fixed emplacement armor ratings: 20/20/20/20 weapon type: none weapon damage: none weapon range: none visual range: 120 stealthness: 0 type: health points: armor type: fixed emplacement armor ratings: weapon type: weapon damage: weapon range: visual range: stealthness: ***************** 9-GENERAL TACTICS ***************** ********************** 10-MULTIPLAYER TACTICS ********************** ************** 11-WALKTHROUGH ************** ------------ --TUTORIAL-- ------------ Name: TUTORIAL 1 Briefing: the Terran have a resupply convoy passing through this area once every month, and by destroying it you will deny all needed supply for the Terran units on-planet. Starting units: + Saergent Rho Primary Objectives: + Rho must survive + Stop the Terran convoy Secondary Objectives: none Map Description: hilly terrain, with the East part dominated by a city, and to the west of it, a small forest. Various Nav Points are signaled by red markers. Support Availability: no Dropships or Off-Map Attacks. Extra Unit Availability: none Weather Description: cloudy, but no rain, fog or other troubles during the whole mission Walkthrough: Pretty simple. Just follow what the AI tells you. At the second marker you'll get four Light Troopers, the third a Recon Terradyne and at the fourth a Combat Engineer. The final two markers are located where the Terran convoy will appear; move the Infantry to the building east of the entry point, facing north or west, then move Sarge Rho to the first marker. The convoy (2 Light APCs and some Legionnaires) will appear. Use the Trooper's AT weapons to take care of the APCs then switch to primary mode the kill all Legionnaires. The second market signals a building with 4 Raptors, but they will remain neutral even if you bring Rho or the Troopers near them. De-briefing: "No more burgers for the Terrans", as Sarge Rho says. Name: TUTORIAL 2 Briefing: there's a base which is the last NSA stronghold in a Terran-occupied urban area. You will have to organize the base defenses and then repel the present Terran forces. Starting units: none Primary Objectives: + Defend LZ + Repair the Cannon emplacements + Conquer all VLs Secondary Objectives: none Map Description: the West area is occupied by a large city- The base itself can be accessed trhough a single bridge at the center of the map, very near to the Shrike-5 cannons. There are two observation towers just behind the cannons and your first LZ is placed well inside the base. There's a third Shrike-5 cannon south of the LZ, though it is pratically useless. Just west of the bridge there's a second LZ, occupied by the Terrans. The first VL is located northwest of the second LZ, sorrounded by buildings. The second VL is south of the first, in a open place. Support Availability: Dropships and Normal and Large Artillery Barrage. Extra Unit Availability: Light Trooper, Recon Terradyne, Combat Engineer Weather Description: cloudy, with a hint of rain just after you start to move from the base. It won't last long, though. Walkthrough: Although Sarge Rho will be on-map, it will act as a neutral unit, not under your direct comand. He will place himself on the sout tower and will automatically shoot at everything coming within range. As soon as you get command of the Light Troopers near the LZ, move them at the base entranceto fend off incoming Terran attacks. As soon you have enough Resource Points, deploy a Combat Engineer and repair the two Shrike-5 cannons near the entrace, and move a single Trooper inside of them to have them on your side. These cannons are premiere anti-Terradyne weapons, the rest of your Troopers will have to fend off any infantry attack. In any case, don't let any of the attackers near the LZ. You'll also have to destroy two Imperial Destroyer Terradynes with your Troopers, by using their secondary mode (AT weapons); probably one will enter the lower Shrike-5's weapon range, so you'll only have to flank the remaining Terradyne to strike at its sides with your AT weapons; the Terradyne won't ever fire back, so it will be a very easy task. Now to the enemy LZ, defended by 5 Legionnaires. Order a couple of Light Troopers or a pair of Recon Terradynes to take care of them, and be sure to bring your Combat Engineer and use its secondary mode to heal all your firing units while fighting. As you have captured the LZ, you can order an other pair of Recon Terradynes or five other Troopers. By using the Recon Terradynes' secondary mode (stealth mode), highlight all Legionnaires hiding in building to the first VL and take them out with your Troopers. You can also de-cloack the Guardians to obtain some fire-support from them. As you capture the first LZ, the computer will inform you of the off-map attacks. Use a single Guardian in stealth mode to scout where the Legionnaires are most concentrated and order a Large Artillery Barrage to take them out, then move in all your forces to exterminate any resistance. De-briefing: Captain Angelus has been recalled to New Darwin for active combat duty. -------------------------- --NORTHERN STAR ALLIANCE-- -------------------------- Name: RAT CATCHER Briefing: A strange object, probably an unmanned recon pod, detached from a Terran spaceship, fell in New Darwin City and smashed through two buildings before stopping its fall. The situation in the city is almost desperate, NSA forces are engaging Terran units in every part of the city. The object should be really important, as Empress Vlaana is devoting resources for its retrieval. You objective is to trieve it first and denying her this object. Starting units: + 9 Light Troopers Primary Objectives: + Capture the Unmanned Capsule + Repel Dracus' Assault Force Secondary Objectives: + Conquer VL at Loengard Square + Conquer VL at Toll Road 4 Map Description: Your initial force is located in the south. The unmanned pod is located in the northwest; Toll Road is the VL on the pod's right while Loengrad square is in the south, one or two clicks from you starting position. The whole map is filled by buildings and several roads have blockades, making somewhat difficult for vehicles to travel. There's a river running through the map, but you'll hardly notice it; you'll have to cross a bridge to enter the city, which is the only real spot without cover for your infantry. Support Availability: no Dropships or Off-Map Attacks. Extra Unit Availability: none Weather Description: cloudy, no rain. Walkthrough: Start by moving your units north of your starting position, as quickly as possible and order them to take cover in one of buildings near the other end of the bridge. There will be some Legionnaires in the buildings in the area and soon a Light Hoverdyne with four additional Legionnaires will appear from the east. Quickly order your Troopers to attack the Light Hoverdyne with AT weapons (secondary mode) and then take out the Legionnaires. During this attack, or shortly after, Major Grant will send you 3 Light Troopers and 3 Recon Terradynes. They will enter the map from the west and will be under your command as soon as you recieve Grant's communication. Group all your units and proceed toward Loengard Square by plcing your Troopers in buildings while the Guardians scout the area in stealth mode. Loengard Square is defended by 3 Terran infantry units right on the VL marker plus other two in the building to the east. Additional 3 infantry units will move from the north once their comrades will be under attack, so place your Troopers in one building to the south while your Guardians offer fire support; now conquer the VL to recieve an additional Recon Terradyne (it will appear in the east part of the map, just as the previous reinforcments). Now move toward Toll Road 4. Just follow the road, ordering your Troopers to advance by hopping from a building to an other while your Guardians scout the area while in stealth mode. There should be no Terran soldier if not near the second VL, which will be even easier to conquer then Loengard Square; you'll recieve an other Guardian as reward. Once both VLs are under your control and you have grouped all your units, move toward the primary objective, the unmanned pod. This location is lightly protected by a couple of Legionnaires, you'll have no problem to conquer this location, but just after that, Dracus, the local Terran commander will order you to leave the area or face immediate destruction. You have little choice, defend the location at all costs. Major Grant will send you additional 5 Recon Terradynes (this time they will enter area where you started). Move your Troopers in the buildings "guarding" the only entrance to the crash site, facing north and east and order them to use their AT weapons; cloack your Guardians and place them just outside the VL and wait for the Terrans. They will come from the east, and they will reclaim Toll Road before arriving. The Terran retaliatory force is composed by one Assault Hoverdyne and six Legionnaires. Destroy the Hoerdyne first, by letting all your Troopers shooting with everything they have and by decloacking the Guardians at pointblank range, then target the Legionnaires (revert the Troopers to primary mode and if necessary make them exit the buldings). De-briefing: Major Grant congratulates you, but General Warhust wants you immediately at Fort Parker. Name: CALLING THE SHOTS Briefing: In a private message to Alice McNeal, Angelus tells her that when he was garrisoning the borders all he dreamt about was an hot shower and he and his men spent months without action. Now he takes a shower everyday to wash away the blood of the soldiers died under his command. General Warhust wants to push the Terran further from the capital, eradicating their presence from Gideon's Landing. Captain Angelus, Lieutenant LaCroix and Major Grant will stage a combined attack to beach defenses first and then to the base itself. Starting units: + 18 Light Troopers + 3 Light APCs Primary Objectives: + Conquer all VL and LZ on the beach + Conquer the Terran base Secondary Objectives: none Map Description: the lowest part of the map is dominated by a beach, filled with various bunkers and several Anti-Infantry turrets. The zone is heavily defended by standard Legionnaires and Light Hoverdynes, plus few Striders. The main base is separated from the beach by a deep chasm and can be only reached through two bridges, positioned on the west and east; a third bridge connect the east part to the base. The base has several buildings, plus two AT turrets and one Anti-Infantry turrets, placed near the two entrances. LZs are located in the base itself, to the north of your starting position (east part of the map) and on the opposite side. Five VLs are spread throughout the beach, plus two located north of the bridges. There are at least two bunkers near each VL (except the norther-most ones). Terrain is hilly and favors the defenders, though thick forests will help your Infantry in taking additional cover. Support Availability: Dropships but no Off-Map Attacks Extra Unit Availability: Light Trooper, Light APC, Recon Terradyne Weather Description: it will rain for few minutes in the beginnng, then will get sunny. Walkthrough: Immediately move all your Troopers near the Anti-Infantry turrets and have them fire a salvo of AT rockets at them to quickly disable one, then move and attack an other turret; a single salvo from 16 Troopers should be enough to take care of a single turret, but it it's still operational, continue to fire in primary mode: normal rounds will do considerably less damae, but they will finish the turret off. There is a total of 6 turrets in the area you have been assigned, and they all have to come down before moving on. Repeat this tactic with all turrets in the area and move toward the VL north of your starting location. Although there will be four Legionnaires in the bunker east to it, they will flee after a brief skirmish, rather than fightin to the death. You also might want to upgrade the Dropship's weapon systems right now: in this map, the enemy will continue to attack you and will send reinforcments from all LZs still under their control, and a powerful Dropship will help you in defending the captured LZs. Be sure to order the Dropship to stay at the LZ as long as possible to have additional firepower if needed. Armor won't be a problem, it's impossible that the enemy will assemble a strike team strong enough to destroy the Dropship. The first LZ is protected by few Legionnaires situated in a bunker to the east and to the south. Your Troopers won't have any problems in taking care of them; there is also a Rocket Strider patrolling the area, as well as a Light Hoverdyne and an Anti-Infantry turret; the turret will probably the hardest nut to crack; remember to use AT rockets to deliver a strong punch, then immediately switch to primary mode and move to the target's weak side and fire at it without hesitation. Once the LZ is under control, Grant and LaCroix will begin to order Light Troopers; this won't affect your Acquisition Points but they will delay your Dropships; also, these units won't be under your direct command and they will only move toward the VLs and LZs on the beach, entering bunkers if necessary to defend them; unfortunately, they won't swith to secondary mode when attacking or being attacked by vehicles, so you might need to support them a little. Notice that the enemy will always try to recapture all locations, no matter what. Now systematically capture all four VLs left on the beach and be sure to have at least two full groups of Light Troopers before invading the second LZ. Be sure that this LZ will have Dropships come by all the time, often carrying Light Hoverdyne and Legionnaires and I've seen it drop an Heavy Hoverdyne once. Defenses on this base are also tight: an Anti-Infantry turret covers the left flank, helped by a bunker and your units won't have an easy time passing through the forest on the right site for an assault. However, the forest is the weak point of this base, as you'll have additional cover and you won't be an easy target for the defenders. If you want, you can wait that either Grant or LaCroix send some of their men to assault the base to have additional firepower. Don't bother attacking the enemy Dropship: you still don't have enough firepower to bring it down. Once all VLs and LZs on the beach are secure, move your main assault force to the west and let it cross the bridge, killing all opposition; you can also move all your men you placed in the bunkers to guard the east-most bridge, as most Terran reinforcments will pass on that bridge. Do not push too forward on that bridge or you'll alert the defenders; it is not imperative to conquer the lastest VLs but you are free to do it if you want: just be prepared for an intense firefight on the east. The Terran base is protected on the west by an Anti-Infantry turret and a Legionnaire atop of an observation tower; the north entrance is protected by an AT turret and an other Legionnaire on an observation tower. There's a second AT turret near the final LZ which you'll have to engage plus a Rocket Strider; expect some Legionnaires and Dropships. Attacking from the west is the most straight-forward option, and probably the best, as you won't have to deal with two AT turrets. A combined strike from 2 full groups of Trooper will be enough to take care of both Anti-infantry and AT turrets, nor Legionnaires will be a problem against such massive firepower. Once the LZ falls under your control, mission will be over. De-briefing: Major Grant rejoices as Gideon's Landing is back to NSA control and that he won the stake with Warhust. Warhust cuts the comm and orders everyone to get back, something big is about to happen. Name: SMELLS LIKE VICTORY Briefing: Telling his wife what happened, Grant praises the new captain and that Warhust still hasn't paid the debt. Closing the message, Grant also tells about something big that will change the situation. Your mission is to capture or kill Empress Vlaana herself, located in the Goran-5 base; she was inspecting her troops but her shuttle broken down and she's now at the base until the shuttle is repaired. Starting units: + 24 Light Troopers + 8 Siege Soldiers + 1 Combat Engineer Primary Objectives: + Establish an Operation Base + Capture or Kill Empress Vlaana + Cross the Bridge Secondary Objectives: + Capture the Radar Station + Capture another LZ + Disable Perimeter Defenses Map Description: Hilly terrain, with several valleis connected by a net of bridges, especially in the northwest part. East and southeast parts are mostly beaches. A Radar Station is in the east-most peninsula. An energy station is in the south. The main base in the northwest corner, heavy protected by turrets and atop of a hill that really help the defenders in their job. There are four LZs: one northwest from your starting position, one between the previous LZ and the Terran base and one just outside the base, to the north. The first LZ is protected by two SAM sites and two bunkers. The bridge you'll ahve to cross to take the second LZ is protected by three Flamethrower turrets and some bunkers. Support Availability: Dropships, no Off-Map attacks Extra Unit Availability: Light Troopers, Siege Soldiers, Light APCs, Recon Terradyne, Combat Engineers Weather Description: large clouds will randomly darken the battlefield for few seconds; no rain. Walkthrough: Well, if you played the demo you already know the mission, although you won't have Raptor or Artillery support. It's not as bad as it can sound as you still have Siege Soldiers. Begin to move all your units to the forest to the east, taking care of the Legionnaires you'll encounter. Place your Siege Soldiers as vanguard and move toward the first LZ passing through the forests; kill any unit within range and be sure to disable both SAM sites, or the Dropship will have an hard time delivering reinforcments. The second site is on the hill south of the LZ, near a bunker; on the oppisite side, a couple of Legionnaires stand still near some explosive crates; although it's impossible to aim the crates directly, a missed shot will ignite them, making short work of both Legionnaires. Repair all your units and order as many Siege Soldiers you can, then send them to the Radar Station on the peninsula; there are only 5 Legionnaires (all grouped near the Radar itself) and one Light Hoverdyne defending the station, they fill fall easily against concentrated fire. Once the Radar is under your control, leave 6 Light Troopers to the current LZ, heal your men and head slowly toward the second LZ. You'll notice that the bridges here are protected by Flamethrower turrets, which are able to literally roast any kind of infantry in seconds; use your Siege Soldiers in primary mode to take them out at range, anything else won't work (no, mass-attacking turrets is not a good idea). Capture the second LZ, then split your troops: send the Siege Soldiers toward the main Terran base while 6 Light Troopers go for the south LZ. Leave any excess unit guarding the LZ. As soon as the Ogres cross the bridge, Saergent Rho will alert you that the base is defended by 4 Pulverizer turrets; the easiest and safest way to disable them is to destroy the energy station near the southermost LZ. The energy station is lightly defende, with only seven Legionnaires patrolling the area. One of these Legionnaires is standing on a observation tower north of the station, and it's the most dangerous of the group due to its better line of sight. When the last Legionnaires has been dispatched, attack the energy station (the large well-like structure using the water at the bottom of the valley) and when it's destroyed, move all your Light Troopers to the second LZ. There's no reason in attacking the third LZ as the enemy will employ some time in gathering enough forces to attack you and to track you down. Now that the defenses are gone, move your Siege Soldiers (if you want, or you need them , call other Soldiers down) toward the base. There will be a very light resistance from the few Legionnaires in the bunkers and on the observation towers, though a couple of Striders are patrolling the area. Once you have reached the base entrance, be sure to capture the LZ and call down any reinforcment you need to, and if you do, be sure to order the Dropship to stay on site as long as possible...though it's not necessary, additional firepower is always appreciated. As the LZ falls into your hands, Saergent Rho says he has a weird feeling about the situation, he'd have expected a lot more resistance if Vlaana was there... Move your units to the last VL, inside the base to complete the mission. De-briefing: There's no trace of Vlaana, and Angelus is sure that she hasn't slip by. Grant suggests that she wasn't here at all, and played both commanders as fools. A priority message comes from New Darkin, uncoded: Alice McNeal alert all NSA untis that New Darwin has lost its defensive shield and is under heavy enemy attack and heavy bombardment. Name: FALLING DOWN Briefing: the shields protecting the NSA cities are generated by various stations within the city perimeters. They use a controlled megnetic-pulse beam that enlarges at a pre-determined altitude. All vehicles, guided projectiles or objects with electronic devices are rendered inoperative and destroyed if they come in touch with the shield; shield are combined with anti-nuclear, bacteriological and other mass-destruction weapons, but are useless at ground levels, as they will make NSA technology useless, so planetary defenses have been designed to repel such attacks. Vlaana used her shuttle as a bait to lure from the capital the best troops; captain Angelus and major Grant have been assigned to the Nova Legia sector, where Shield Node 69 is down; Grant's wife lives in this residential block. Starting units: + 16 Light Troopers + 3 Snipers + 3 Recon Terradynes + 1 Liberator + 1 Combat Engineer Primary Objectives: + Conquer and Repair Shield Node 69 + Defend Shield Node 69 + Meet Major Grant Secondary Objectives: + Reconquer all defense turrets Map Description: Large city, composed by 5 large blocks connected by a series of bridges. The largest block contains 4 VLs and two LZs. The northmost LZ is under your control and it's your starting point. The three VLs on the top corner of the map are protected by three Shrike-5 turrets each and are your secondary objective; note that at least one for each group of turrets is active, so it won't be shown on map. South of your starting position, on a small island, there's a VL with the Shield Node; there are 4 inactive SAM sites sorrounding the Node and two Anti-Infantry turrets protect the bridge. The second LZ is protected by two other Anti-Infantry turrets and unlikely the one you start with, isn't sorrounded by any buildings, making impossible to be ambushed by Legionnaires. Right to this LZ there's a VL guarding a long bridge which connect the mainland with the residential block; there are no turrets protecting the bridge or turrets inside this area. Later on, a LZ will be created in the east part of the residential block, plus four VLs place near the docks (north), the main residential palaces (west), near a bridge connecting the palaces to the rest of the map ("center") and one located in a small square (or what remains of it...east). The east part has no place of interest. Support Availability: Dropships and Smoke Screen Off-Map Attack Extra Unit Availability: Light Troopers, Snipersm Siege Soldiers, Light APCs, Recon Terradynes, Combat Engineers, Liberators, all deployable turrets. Weather Description: some clouds, but no rain. Walkthrough: OK, things start to get interesting. You have a good choice of units, including long-range Snipers and assault units like Liberators and Siege Soldiers. The map is full of enemies and things will begin to heat up from this mission. Once you have command of your troops, immediately put the Snipers and Combat Engineer in secondary mode; group the Light Troopers and move the Liberator next to the Snipers; cloack the Guardians and put them on the LZ's left side. The Terrans will attack soon, with a good quantity of Legionnaires and even a couple of Rocket Striders. There are two Light Hoverdynes near the VL behind you, use your Liberator to lure them within Sniper range and destroy them. Once the first attack has been repelled, move your Snipers inside the building south of your position (note that it's the building right on top of your LZ, the camera angle is flipped, so what you see on the top edge of the screen is south), facing the depot; they will be able to heavily damage or destroy even vehicles. Leave the Troopers near the LZ and if the Snipers need help, move them to support. Now order as many Siege Soldiers you can; if you want, you can also order Liberators, but they cost a lot more and Siege Soldiers will work just fine...for this mission, a group of 16 Liberators or about 16 Siege Soldiers will work fine: considering you have already a Combat Engineer, you'll be able to advance while repairing your units. Siege Soldiers are also better suited than Terradynes in urban combat as they can take cover in buildings. With the first VL under your control, move your main force toward the second and last LZ the Terrans can use to bring down reinforcments; these reinforcments will usually be a group of three A4 Combat Striders, so keep your force together and concentrate fire on a single target rathern than letting your unit aim what they want. The LZ is protected by two Anti-Infantry cannons plus one Destroyer Hoverdyne. Expect a Dropship to come by and deliver some units near it, but it won't really pose a problem. Without LZs Terrans won't be able to call down reinforcments, so begin to sweep the upper part of the city before going to the Shield Node. There are very few Legionnaires in the area, and there is only one active Shrike-5 turret in the secondary VLs, so you might want to call down a couple of Liberators (if you are relying on Siege Soldiers) to quickly take care of the two spots while your Siege Soldiers reach the bridge connecting the island where the Shield Node is and take out the two Anti-Infantry turrets guarding it, but don't cross the bridge yet. It is now time to move all your forces except three or four Light Troopers near the VL north of the bridge connecting the residential block to the mainland. The east part of the city offers a single Destroyer Hoverdyne as prey, take it out if you want. Once all of your units not taking part in the attack at the Shield Node have reached their position, begin the attack. The isle is protected by two Rocket Striders, one Destroyer Hoverdyne and one Legionnaire, easy preis for Siege Soldiers in secondary mode. Once all enemies are gone, repair the two Anti-Infantry turrets and place one Light Trooper inside each turret and the third in the SAM site nearest to the Node. Move your main assault force to the VL where your other forces are waiting and only after they are there repair the Node. If you have lost your Combat Engineer and cannot earn enough Acquisition Points to call down a second vehicle, the bridge connecting the residetial bloack and the mainland offers 4 Destroyer Hoverdynes and two Legionnaires, enough to call down what you need. Once the Node is repaired, Major Grant will order you to join forces and repel all what's left of the Terrans in the city; the rendez-vous point is the VL near the now-famous residential block bridge; if you already conquered the VL and destroyed the Terran units on the bridge itself, the next event will be automatically triggered, if not, conquer the VL and destroy the Terrans. Captain Angelus will spot incoming alien pods falling from the shield, which passed through the shield and landed in the residential block; those things are not terran, but the Major will go berserk as his wife is in that residential block; his forces (5 Liberators) won't have an easy time: the things dropped from the sky are Virons, an alien race that had no contact with the humans for hundred of years, and it's impossible that the Terrans are using them, as the Virons are extremly xenophobic...however, Ghall, commander of the assaulters declares himself as an allied of the Terran Empire. Immediately move all your forces to the new LZ on the east part of the residential block: you don't want that the Virons secure an LZ and start to call down reinforcments. Leave the Recon Terradynes and the Snipers as guard there while your main force sweep the area, killing any alien it encounters and conquering the VLs. Your only opponents will be Viron infantry, but do not underestimate them: the Prime Clanguards can easily dispatch a Liberators if caught offguard, and the Infector Clanguard can be a nasty opponent even to Siege Soldiers, although these units will have less problems than Liberators in dealing with them. If your force consists in Liberators, switch them to secondary mode and in any case bring with you a Combat Engineer. Once the last VL has been taken, the mission is over. De-briefing: Although the NSA was able to fend off the Viron attack, little remain of the residential block. Captain Angelus tries to comfort Major Grant, telling that his wife could be elsewhere...but Grant knows she was there. Saergent Rho will come to pick up Angelus as per General Warhust's direct order. Name: ALL THAT IS DEAR Briefing: Few things are known about the Virons. The first contact with this race was made by the renegade officer Sarah Parker, who violeted their airspace, probably with the legendary warship "Astrid". Virons are extremely xenophobic solitary, and the only certain things are that they are biped and use nano-organic technology. There's an unconfirmed report about fights in the Ragnarok nebula, probably their homeplanet. General Warhust wants the captain to defend the xenotechnic lab in the area. Major Grant has been "delayed" by Vrions in Nova Legia and he's currently annihilating any resistance. Starting units: + 6 Light Troopers + 1 Sniper + 1 Siege Soldier + 1 Light APC + 4 Recon Terradynes + 1 Liberator Primary Objectives: + Reach Alice McNeal + Retreat to Mannerheim Tunnel Secondary Objectives: none Map Description: A Large city again, and again there are lots of bridges that makes difficult to cross for broad formations. The city itself is composed by 5 big isles, plus a little one on the east. Bridges and VLs (except the inital LZ and the lab) are protected by Shrike-5 Cannons. Every turret doens't need repairs to be manned by an infantry unit, though a pair of them is under Terran control and you'll need to destroy them and then repair to use them. There are two allied squads in the west side of the map that will come in handy. Support Availability: no Dropships, Smoke Screen Off-Map attack Extra Unit Availability: none Weather Description: night operation. Some broken clouds, but otherwise clear. Walkthrough: The Dropship has been shoot down by Terran missile fire. There aren't much chances that Warhust will be able to send you an other Dropship soon, so take good care of your units. Board all infantry on your APC and put the Liberators in secondary mode and have them advance past the bridge, taking out all Viron Clanguards you'll encounter. Pay attention to these units as they carry AT weapons, which can make short work of your Terradynes if they flank them. Use your Engineer for on-the-flight repairs and be sure to have all units in perfect shape before entering the lab compound. Place all your infantry units on the buildings in front of the lab in secondary mode and the Liberators just outside the gates: soon the Terrans will send a light attack force. Now enter the lab compound; Alice McNeal will greet captain Angelus and will instruct him to take the VIP transport to the Mannerheim tunnel, on the other side of the city; the transport carries the key to the NSA survival, and must not fall under enemy hands or be destroyed. All units within the lab compound will be put under your command, Field Sensor aside (which is also basically useless, leave it be); there are 2 Liberators, 8 Light Troopers, a Light APC, 2 Combat Engineers and 2 Recon Units. Once the first Terran strike has been fended off, repair your units, group them and board all infantry on the APCs. Don't leave anyone behind. Move to the west, where the map signals allied units. Bring an Engineer near them to add to your task force an other Liberator and 3 Light Troopers. Move two or these men in the Shrike-5s nearby and advance to the north, to meet a second group of allied unit; this time they are 3 Light Troopers and one Combat Engineer, cut away from Major Grant's main force. Move two units in the Shrike-5 turrets on the other side of the bridge and use all units capable of firing (APC and Recon Terradynes aside) toward the VL right to your position, and take care of the Terran units there. Two A4 Striders and 1 Destroyer Hoverdyne are guarding this location, should be a piece of cake. Note that there's an active Shrike-5, be sure not to enter its firing range before having dispatched all unit. Now, repair all units and the disabled turret and place 6 Light Troopers in the six Shrike-5 cannons. This is very important. Soon, the Virons will appear on map, first by capturing your first (and only) LZ, then following your tracks to your current position; as they will use Terradynes this time, these six emplacements will buy you some time while you run toward the tunnel. Also, if you plan to use the bridge north of the one you crossed, it's impossible, so you basically have to go through all VLs (and Terran defenses) to reach the tunnel. Once all repairs are done, move your usual assault group to the second VL to take care of the units there; this time it will be harder: four A4 Striders and one Destroyer Hoverdyne preside the place and there's an active Shrike-5 cannon. You'll need all the firepower you have, plus at least one Shrike-5 cannon to overcome this situation; move one Light Trooper to the nearest emplacement and commence your attack. As usual, repair all units and turrets and fill them with Light Troopers to slow down (or stop...it's highly probable that the Virons will have an hard time against the first line of defense, though they will be able to pass) the pursuers. Now, the last VL before the tunnel. If you have lost all your Liberators, move two infantry units to the two cannons on the other side of the bridge, and try to sneak one unit to a third cannon near the bridge facing north: one Destroyer Hoverdyne and one A4 Strider won't be enough to kill two turrets, and the 2 APCs there will prefer to fleet if they are under fire. If you haven't any Liberator, you might want to order your unit to speed through this area while the cannons lay support fire. Now reach the tunnel, lightly defended by a couple of Legionnaires in a building (even your Guardians will be able to kill them in few shots) and one Destroyer Hoverdyne. A second Hovedyne patrols the area, but it shouldn't be a problem. Once the tunnel VL is secured, mission is over. Doc Oc (anonymous@anonymousland.com) says: "You can clean out the entire map and capture all command points using just the raptor sniper you get at the start. The trick is to NOT rendezvous with Alice at the start. It takes a lot of patience to wait for the sniper to kill off the enemy vehicles, but he can. I did use normal infantry to capture a turret and help kill off the turrets that red controls, because snipering those takes *really* long. Before I did the rendezvous, the entire map -and all turrets on it- where under my control. After that, it was a simple matter of meeting up with Alice and fleeing with the VIP transport while the turrets slow down the Viron task force. At the end, the sniper was level 5 and I had about 30k credits." De-briefing: Alice can't reveal too much about the nature of the good Jacob protected, she only tells him it's of historical nature and it's the only option left now that the Virons are allied with the Terrans. Warhust cuts in and tells the captain it's a strict need-to-know information, orders him to get some rest as there will be soon an other mission. Name: SILENT WOLF Briefing: Saergent Rho has sucessfully infiltrate into the GenNet and discovered that the previous mysterious object was from the Ragnarok nebula, and was about singularity propulsion hyper engine or something similar, which seems to be old and dangerous. Warhust has a special assignment for captain Angelus and his men: to colelct more information about Viron culture, as little is known, aside that they follow a strict code of honor. There's a Terran base on Rhenan island and Saergent Rho and few other men will have to infiltrate to gather some intelligence. Starting units: + 2 Snipers + Saergent Rho Primary Objectives: + Lure a Terran Engineer + Steal an Engineering Vehicle + Infiltrate into the base + Enter in the database building + Disable Anti-Ait Defenses + Evac Rho + Rho must survive Secondary Objectives: none Map Description: hilly terrain, with several wood where to hide your men. Your starting point is near the upper-left corner of the map, inside a small valley flanked by two forest. South of your position there is a neutral Radar Station, protected halfway between it and your starting point by a bunker. The center of the map is dominated by the main energy station, connected, accessible via two bridges positioned north and west. On the station's right side thre is a vehicle depot with an unmanned Engineering Hoverdyne, reading to be stolen. The Terran main base is located on the lower edge of the map, though the external gates are located few meters south of the energy station. The database building is at the bottom of the map, protected by a laser fence. On the right there are some canisters and a strange alien structure. Left side is dominated by 6 SAM sites, their energy station and a lonely building. Support Availability: no Dropships or Off-Map Attacks Extra Unit Availability: none Weather Description: your unit will much furhter concealed by a rainstorm from the beginning to the mission till you'll infiltrate the enemy base. The rainstorm will resume during the last part of the mission. Walkthrough: Whoooo, Dark Conspirancy's mission 8 revisited. Fortunately enough it's not that difficult and it's actually enjoyable. Remember that all your units cannot withstand heavy fire (although Rho is much thouger than standard Raptors), so always take cover in forests and in the shadows created by the terrain. The enemies in this missions aren't smart enough to call reinforcments if under attack, and most will remain where they are even if being attacked, making long-range attacks by Raptors possible. Begin to move in the forest south east of your starting point, then passing through the forest north of it. You'll spot a group of 9 Legionnaires and one A4 Strider standing still. Quietly kill all Legionnaires then concentrate fire on the Strider; do this at maximum range possible (the big rock sprouting from the forest is a good landmark to remember the Raptor's maximum range), then continue to move east until you spot an other A4 Strider with a Legionnaire halfway from your position and the eastern vehicle depot; take them out, then move all your units toward the energy station and destroy it. An Engineering Hoverdyne will come to check what's going on: destroy it and then move all your units to the Hoverdyne in the vehicle depot. Rho will drive it, board the to Raptors and trace back your steps to the energy station and pass the base external gates. The guard will stop you asking where's your escort, but after a brief discussion, he will let you pass. All your units will then be "teleported" to the base itself, bypassing the Pulverizer turrets and all guards. Move your units along the ridge on the east and be prepared to kill a pair of Legionnaires on you way. Rho will also report about several canisters containing Zethan-12, a harmless gas extraced from planetary cores. Now enter the database building; Rho will have an easy time cracking the security code and will download the entire database; just as he finishes, captain Angelus will report something approaching, and Saergent Rho will recognize the units as Empress Vlaana's personal guard; it's impossible even to leave a little "surprise" for the Empress, so Rho is ordered to take out all Anti-Air defenses to let Angelus slip an Helidyne in and evacute. The various SAM sites are an easy task to destroy: exit the database building and proceed west; you'll spot few crates sorrounding a power station; the crates are explosive and this time are targettable. Shot once at one of them to see the energy station explode, the proceed toward the building north of the SAM sites and wait for the Helidyne. De-briefing: Rho gathered lots of data, and the important ones are under useless one. Warhust will have dr. McNeal create a report that will be passed to Angelus as soon it's ready. Name: RAW DEAL Briefing: Interstellar merchants rise to power after the fall of corporations and during the first interstellar war. First they were outlaws, but know they can act without risks; to someone they are saviours, to others pirates. They do not take sides, as "a costumer is just a costumer". They deal with everyone, but once there's a contract, they fullfill it no matter what. Angelus has been dispatched to the Kiatshian sector to retrieve a shipment from the merchants, a cargo full of Mobile Artilleries, and the captain must collect the payload without delay. Such a cargo ship cannot enter the atmosphere undetected, so the merchant, Hervon Dreznor has already landed to secure an LZ in the Roras-5 base for the cargo ship; sensors have picked up incoming Viron dropships to reinforce the already existin Terran blockade. Starting units: + 4 Light Troopers + 2 Snipers + 2 Siege Soldiers + 2 Recon Terradynes + 1 Light APC + 2 Liberators Primary Objectives: + Meet Hervon Dreznor + Defend Hervon Dreznor and his group + Capture all LZs. + At least on Howitzer must survive Secondary Objectives: none Map Description: Roras-5 base is at the center of the map, on a open plain. There are several building defining the base perimeter, including pillboxes, observation towers and a single Shrike-5 cannon facing north. Your starting point is in the south west, on a small hill. The Virons will set up three LZs at the top edge of the map, all of them atop of hills. Support Availability: Dropships, Smoke Screen and Battle Probe. Extra Unit Availability: All infantry units, all vehicles, Liberators, Light Helidynes and all deployable turrets. Weather Description: there will be some snow that will slow down your units in the beginning, but this won't last much; the clouds will vanish to let the sun shine for the rest of the mission. Walkthrough: Board your infantry units on the APC and head toward the neutral LZ where Hervon and his men are waiting. As you close to the LZ, Virons will launch a light attack against the base's east side, so move your Liberators to reinforce that sector while you unload you men and to obtain maximum firepower; order as many Liberators as possible and be sure that the Dropship will stay on site to help repelling a second Viron attack, coming from the same sector. Hervon tells you that if the attack isn't stopped he won't deliver his goods, and will even order the ship to leave orbit if you don't this soon...don't panic, even your starting Liberators plus the base defenses will be able to withstand this second wave. Once Hervon has delievered the Artillery tanks, they will be placed under your command. Immediately move your Snipers atop of the two observation towers, facing north; do the same with your Siege Soldiers, placing them in the forward pillboxes to the north. Place a Light Trooper inside the Shrike-5 cannon and all remaining Troopers in various buildings; be sure to concentrate your forces on the north side and place all of them in secondary mode. Order an other batch of Liberators plus one Combat Engineer and place all your tanks near the north defenses; move the Artillery tanks on the west side and put them in secondary mode. Cloack your Guardians and place one at each side of the passageway north of the base; if you haven't understood, the Virons will attack in force from that place. Do not order anything else than Liberators: although Rocket Terradynes can supply impressive long-range firepower, you'll need more protection than firepower for now; Siege Soldiers will work fine too, unless the enemy will deploy Corruptor Centruroids...and be sure there will be such tanks, which are capable of killing any type of infantry almost instantainly. So stick to Liberators now and be prepared for an onslaught. Note that at least one Howitzer must survive, even if the game doens't tell you a thing about that. Unfortunately, it's impossible to lay suppressive fire on the north passageway through Artillery tanks, so the Guardians will come in handy to spot incoming Viron units; be sure to order Liberators when you can, until you have 16 of them. Basically, the Virons will throw at you whatever they have, so replacing and repair units will be top priority until all waves have been eliminated. You'll notice that you'll be able to advance very slowly as the Virons attack and when there are no more units in sight, repair and replace all your losses, including base denfeders. Place your Artillery tanks inside the defensive perimeter and then go for the first Viron LZ in the north-west edge of the map. You'll encounter very few Virons units now, most probably a pair of Prime Clanguards and one Gun Centruroid; as you approach the zone, Ghall, Vicath of Clan Kre'haz will inntimate you to surrender and that you'll be treated with honor...don't even listen to him, push ahead at full speed to evade artillery fire from two Mortar Centruroids place where the LZ is. Once the LZ is under your control, call down a Dropship with three or four Siege Soldiers and place them in secondary mode to guard the LZ; repair your Liberators (you shouldn't have any more lossed for the rest of the mission) and head for the second LZ, and again move fast to kill at short range the two Mortar Centruroids protecting the LZ. Call down again Siege Soldiers to guard the LZ and move to the final LZ, this time totally unprotected. De-briefing: Ghall tells that this was an excellent battle, and will look forward to the next encouter with Angelus. Warhust will alert the captain that Dropships are on their way to recover him and the newly acquired Artillery tanks, complaining about the lost tanks. Angelus won't return to New Darwin soon, instead he will be sent to Kronenber Vault. Name: SNOW DRIFT Briefing: The Virons' homeworld athmosphere was composed by Zethan and when the Imperials invaded their homeworld they used toxins that destroyed all Zethan. Virons were then obliged to leave their plane tand live in gigantic ClanShips and live as nomads. Terrans have been using them as slaves in exchange of Zethan and have established large extraction plants on Karrea-4 and Krig-7B. The NSA Intel intercepted a distress call from a convoy in this region. It was a top-priority call, so its cargo must be very valuable: Angelus will have to retrieve it, whatever it is. An Imperial recovery squad in on the way from the Lonen alley, and Warhust suggests it is a good place to ambush to later retrieve the cargo. LaCroix is already onsite preparing an LZ. Starting units: + 4 Snipers + 4 Siege Soldiers + 4 Liberators + 2 Mobile Artilleries + 1 Light APC Primary Objectives: + Block Terran recovery squad + Capture the convoy + Move the Virons to the LZ Secondary Objectives: + Reach LaCroix Map Description: There's a small round valley with a single exit on the north. LaCroix's forces are located in a small crater at the center of the map, with only three exits, on to the southeast and two on the north. The convoy is on the west side of the map, directly south of your starting location; it is possible to reach the convoy by crossing a bridge, but the position heavily defended by Imperial forces, with three AT cannons, bukers and mobile units. Imperials will also set up an LZ directly east to the one LaCroix will prepare. Support Availability: Dropships, Smoke Screen and Light Artillery Barrage. Extra Unit Availability: All infantry units, all vehicles, Liberators, Light Helidynes and all deployable turrets Weather Description: there will be a snowstorm in the beginning, but it won't last long. It will randomly snow throughout the mission, but there won't any other storms. Walkthrough: Move both Mobile Artilleries where LaCroix is, near the eastern wall, and place them in secondary mode. Board your infantry on the APC and move all your remaining units to the marker set on the small circular valley on the north. Soon, a group of two Destroyer Hoverdynes, 2 Light Hoverdynes and two Howitzers will enter from the west area of the valley. Use your Liberators and Siege Soldiers to make short work of them: Liberators should be used to kill the Howizters while you maneuver the Siege Soldiers to kill the remaining units. Once all of these units are gone, LaCroix would have finished to prepare the LZ...your Mobile Artilleries should be already there, ready to defend the LZ from incoming attacks; move at once all your units on the LZ and order some Liberators. Avoid to move your forces away from the LZ, the Imperials will soon launch a large-scale attack, probably two separate groups of Destroyer Hoverdynes and A4 Combat Striders; LaCroix forces will usually spot them first, allowing you to lay suppressive fire with your Artilleries. Once those two attacks are fended off, move your Liberators near the crash site, which will be lightly defended by Legionnaires. As you reach them, Angelus will find out that the precious cargo is composed by Virons from Clan Hroag; Drahk'Mar, Vicath of this Clan will tell that Clan Hroag isn't allied with the Empire and sworn vengeance against Ghall and all Virons who united with the Empire; him and other fellow Hroag Virons were enroute to Ghall's main base for execution, as they rose against Ghall and the Terran Empire; even if Angelus doesn't trust them, Warhurst orders him to escort them at the LZ and will dispatch three Transport Helidynes. Order each Helidyne to load one crate (one Helidyne will remain empty) and move them to the LZ. De-briefing: Clan Hroag is no ally to the Empire. They will give full aid to the NSA from now on. Name: ERRAND BOY Briefing: Without being able to live on their planet, Virons were forced to board gigantic ClanShips. There are several of these ships, and each ship holds an entire Clan, which are ruled by elders (Vicaths). So far, only two Clans have been encountered: Hroag and Kre'Haz. The latter is ruled by Ghall, who spontaneously allied with the Terran Empire without having to trade their services for the Zethan. Clan Hroag refused to submit to the Empire and its Vicath, Drahk'Mar, instigated a rebellion against both the Empire and Ghall, preferring extintion to enslavement. Ghall has lebeled him and his Clan as traitors. Warhurst briefs Angelus on the current situation: Ghall planned the execution of the whole Hroag Clan, which now is determined to fight alongside the NSA against their common enemies; as Virons depend on Zethan, a long-term solution to provide this games is under study, as Morningstarprime's core contains Zethan in abundance. The captain's mission will be to escort Ghall and the other recaptured Virons to Ni'vahr Tzen to sign a treaty; secondary objective will be to help Lieutenatn LaCroix to defend SK-7 outpost. Starting units: + 4 Light Troopers + 4 Liberators + 2 Recon Terradynes + 2 Combat Engineers + 2 Rocket Terradynes + 1 Mobile Artillery + 1 VIP Transport Primary Objectives: + Escort Drahk'Mar to the base + VIP Transport must survive Secondary Objectives: + Protect SK-7 Map Description: the map is composed by three main islands: the first, where you start, is located in the south-east and is very small. The second is in the north east, occupied by neutral Virons which are besieged by a small enemy force, also represented by a VL just outside the base. The main island contains three LZs and three VLs; two of those VLs are located in the south-west and represent SK-7 outpost. This area is protected by an handful of Shriek-5 turrets and there are few friendly troops that will independently try to defend the area; to save the outpost, at least one VL must remain into NSA hands throughout the whole mission. The third VL is set on a small island roughly at the center of the map, connected to the primary island through two bridges; north of this VL, protected by some AT turrets and SAM sites, rests an LZ, which can lead to the Viron base (east) or to the second LZ of the map, an Imperial stronghold (west). The stronghold is placed atop of a hill, very well protected by several kinds of turrets, including Scorcher anti-infantry flamethrowers, Pulverizer cannons and Anti-Missile Defenses; there are two passageways to reach the LZ itself, one goes west and the other north. From this LZ is possible to reach SK-7 northest VL by crossing a bridge. Third LZ is west of your starting position, near a small forest and placed between the third VL and SK-7' southermost VL. Support Availability: Dropships and all Off-Map attacks Extra Unit Availability: All infantry units, all vehicles, Liberators, Light Helidynes and all deployable turrets Weather Description: rain will alternate with some broken clouds. There could be a few sunny moments, however. Walkthrough: As soon as the mission begins, Major Grant will cut in. Angelus hopes that he's here to defend SK-7, but he only wanted to see if it was true that the captain was baby-sitting " a group of dog faces"; he will remember Angelus that they were both in Nova Legia when they murdered an entire residential block and will tell Angelus to kill them; the captain will refuse and Grant will end communications telling that he became one of Warhurst's dogs. Move your Light Troopers, Liberators, Guardians and Marauders near the observation tower guarding the bridge and kill the two Legionnaires in it. On the other side, Terrans will have already conquered the LZ and will have placed an Howitzer on the peninsula facing east: immediately move your Light Troopers on the other side of the bridge to take care of the Legionnaires on the second observation tower while your Liberators, Guardians and Marauders take care of all enemy units near the LZ and capture it; there is a mixed group composed by a Destroyer Hoverdyne, a Missile Strider, Engineering Hoverdyne plus the already mentioned Howitzer patrolling the area. Now move to your current location the Combat Engineer and VIP transport and call down as many Liberators you can to strenghten your assault force. Repair whatever needs repair and place your Light Troopers on the observation tower near the LZ in secondary mode. Assign the Recon Terradynes as escort for the VIP Transport and leave them south of the LZ, near the forest; all Terran attacks will come from north, and you don't really want the VIP Transport caught in the crossfire (although the objectives don't specify it, you'll need the VIP Transport alive to end the mission). Use your Liberators to clear a path to the LZ north of the one you've just captured; you'll encouter some Destroyer Hoverdynes but they should be a piece of cake for the Liberator's concentrated firepower. Cross the bridge north of the VL and take care of the two AT turrets blocking your path and once at the LZ take care of all active SAM sites and the third AT turret west of it. Be sure to destroy the Conqueror hoverdyne patrolling the east perimeter of the island, then repair and call down enough Liberators to create a full group of 16 Terradynes. Now you can decide to escort the Virons to their base or clear the whole map from Terran presence and help LaCroix defending SK-7. To accomplish the first option, simply call the VIP Transport where you are and escort it to the Viron base: there will be only a token defense before the alien champ, and it will be easy for your Liberators to destroy anything facing them. Capturing the VL isn't vital to the primary objective's accomplishment, just move the VIP Transport near the base and that's it. The second option is more difficult, but not impossible. First, as soon Saergent Rho tells that SK-7 has lost its first defense line, drop some Siege Soldiers and move them were LaCroix's units are to give them some extra firepower; the Imperials will stage several light/medium attacks, usually a group of five/six Destroyer Hoverdynes or an equal number of Combat Striders, but will never mix vehicle types. Your first LZ will also be subject to light attacks until the north LZ isn't under your conrol; the Light Troopers will be able to destroy most incoming threats and if they don't move the VIP Transport and its escort to SK-7' south VL, especially if there are already some of your men; surely the enemy will have an harder time destroying the Transport if it's under fire by Siege Soldiers and LaCroix's troops. To defend the north LZ, repair two of the three AT cannons you destroyed before and call down two extra Light Troopers to man them; be sure that the enemy will think twice before attacking the LZ, especially if you continue to push toward the last LZ; Warhurst will try to dissuade you from attacking that base, but it's not as hard as he make sound it. The Terran base is atop of a hill and protected by three active Pulverizer turrets; the ideal strategy would be to use Mobile Artilleries to take them out at range but they are shielded by Anti-Missile turrets, which will block any incoming missile or artillery round, so just use the brute force of your Liberators to destroy them once for all; at the fork, don't go west, there are two Pulverizer turrets waiting for you: combined with the other Terran units protecting the base, your forces will be totally outnumbered. Instead, go north and destroy the single Pulverizer turret, which should only damage one of your units; follow the road and kill the Pulverizer turret guarding the entrance before destroying any other unit, then enter the base, destroy all SAM sites and capture the LZ. Warhust will comment that you are either the most brilliant tactician the NSA has ever had or just insane. Call down enough Liberators to fill your losses and exit the base to eradicate the two remaining Pulverizer turrets and any other surviving Terran unit; if you want, call down three Light Troopers to man three Pulverizer turrets...this won't matter much, as probably there will be only a couple of Terran untis alive in the whole map, and will group at the VL outside the Viron base; they won't attack it, but in my case they were tow Howitzer Hoverdynes that made some damage to the VIP Transport during the mission's final stage. Now, this all LZs under your control, move your Liberators and VIP Transport to the north LZ and go toward the Viron to end the mission. (note: probably, the mission will automatically end if you conquer all VLs and LZs on the map, but since this coincided with the VIP Transport reaching the Viron base, I cannot be sure of this. Also, I don't kwno if there's a time limit to this mission; once near the final bridge, Drahk'Mar told me that their Zethan tanks are half-empty, but, again, it coincided with the VIP Transport reaching the vicinity of the viron base. I'll investigate further on these two things ASAP). De-briefing: the whole Hroag Clan is in debt of "Angelus-captain" and Drahk'Mar tells that the NSA is truly honorable, not like the Imperialists. Clan Hroag will help fighting the Terrans to the last breath as soon they are ready. Name: STEALING BEAUTY Briefing: Terrans are hunting down all NSA personnel, Virons are fighting Virons, there are secret projects probably about Virons and General Warhusts continues only to shake hands and preaches about duty and principles while Terrans are closer to annihilate any resistance. The situation at the MSD-12 research center is critical. Dr. McNeal was conductiing classified experiments for both the Defense Force and the Research Department while sensors detected a large Terran assault force coming her way. Major Grant, who was instructed to defend the base misteriously disappeared and now the base is with very light defenses: LaCroix is guarding the perimeter but won't last long without reinforcments. Angelus warns Alice that the base could have to be evacuated if the situation is desperate. Starting units: + 8 Light Troopers + 8 Siege Soldiers + 4 Liberators + 2 Rocket Terradynes + 2 Light APCs + 2 Mobile Artilleries Primary Objectives: + Reinforce defenses of MSD-12 research center + Defend MSD-12 for 20 minutes Secondary Objectives: + Recapture the Radar Station Map Description: the map is mostly plain. MSD-12 is located at the center of the upper edge, protected by concrete walls with three gates on the south, west and east; two Shrike-5 turrets protect the south gate. Your only LZ is located roughly in the center of the research center and must not fall into enemy hands or you'll fail the mission. The Radar Station is located in the upper right corner of the map, sorrounded by a tick forest and it's accessile only via a narrow passageway; it's the only VL of the whole map, too. Two ridges create an ideal road from the lower-left corner of the map to MSD-12 and a large vulcano dominates the south-east part of the map. Support Availability: Dropships and all Off-Map attacks Extra Unit Availability: All infantry units, all vehicles, Liberators, Light Helidynes and all deployable turrets Weather Description: Walkthrough: OK, this will be just Raw Deal, the Imperials will call down everything they have to destroy you and LaCroix's forces; and just like that mission, once weathered the first attacks, you will be able to advance a little to conquer all LZs, although it would be hard the first time you play this mission. You won't lose as long as you have the LZ inside the base, so do not overextend yourself in pursuing attackers or you'll have to do the whole thing again. You can also ignore the secondary objective, having the Radar Station online won't give you an edge over the Terrans...in fact, you know were they are. Begin to board your infantry on the APCs and go for toward the base. Order your Mobile Artilleries and Rocket Terradynes to stand still near the Dropship (remember to put Mobile Artilleries in secondary mode) while your Liberators go to the front gate and help LaCroix fending off the Imperials. Move the APCs where you want, but place the Siege Soldiers on the right exit and the Light Troopers on the opposite side, both in secondary mode (I'd like to know why there are a secondary and tertiary gates in such a small base...oh well, more problems for you). Once you arrive at the base, you'll get some extra APs, immediately call down other two Rocket Terradynes and as many Liberators you can. Wait to call down a Combat Engineer for now, and be prepared to fend off the second wave of attackers. General Warhurst will send you 4 Ravagers from the lower-left corner of the map...they are great in defensive roles, but are extremely slow and do not expect them to be invicible...also, do not try to use them to take the nearest LZ...although they are capable of killing every ground vehicle with concentrated fire, Terrans are preparing a large-scale air assault with their Attack Helidynes, so Ravagers will be an easy prey for them, and less firepower for you to defend the base. About the air assault the Terrans will stage at least twice during the mission...here's were Rocket Terradynes come in play. Place one or two of them in secondary mode while the other take out the Helidynes(depending on how many you have...with four of them, use only one of the as barrier). Sometime during the mission, Alice McNeal will ask you to protect the base for at least 20 minutes until he copies her datas onto GenNet encryption database; she promises a candle-lit dinner for Jacob if he succeeds in defending the outpost...from now on, expect the Terran to attack with really everything they have. Also, you can place your Ravagers as "doors": just place one tank for each side gate (where you previously placed the artillery), protected by a Rocket Terradyne and, if possible by a Combat Engineer: by doing this, youll negate artillery and air strikes against the Ravagers while they destroy everything on ground and Zappers repair them; use two Ravagers for the front gate. Continue to call down units (depending on your situation, alternate between Liberators, Rocket Terradynes and Siege Soldiers...keep at least one Combat Engineer alive and remember to have the Dropship stay on the LZ as longer as possible to cover you...also note that LaCroix's Dropships won't fire back at the enemy) and once the Terran attack seem to be losing strenght, repair your Liberators and a couple of Rocket Terradynes to see if you are able to take the LZs. Do NOT move out everything you have, you don't kwno what the Terrans can bring out: just when I though that with only one LZ, already occupied by Liberators and Rocket Terradynes and nothing else, they brought down a full cargo of Attack Helidynes...so, stay sharp. The LZ themselves are lightly or no defended at all; the westernmost LZ has two field turrets, the central one a single turret while the easternmost one nothing...remember, expect units guarding them however. As the timer hit the 0, mission is over. De-briefing: Although Angelus managed to open an escape route from the Terrans, Alice will be imprisoned by Virons. Name: SHE SELLS SANCTUARY Briefing: According to the scientific council, Dr. McNeal hodls to key to the "portals"; they hope that they won't search in her brain and that he won't be saved. Rho gives Jacob full support if he's going to rescue her. She's been improsed in the Mentax-5 facility. As soon as Rho and Angelus reach the area, LaCroix wants to be in, or she will tell to Warhurst, and Angelus orders her to prepare an LZ and an escape route; and, as long as both Rho and LaCroix know, this operation has been authorized by Warhurst. The mission is simple: get in, rescue Alice and get out. Starting units: + 32 Light Troopers + 4 Heavy APCs + 1 Combat Engineer + 1 Sentry + 1 Field Sensor Primary Objectives: + Save Alice McNeal + Escort Alice to the LZ Secondary Objectives: + Destroy all Anti-Air Defenses around the island Map Description: Mentax-5 prison complex is place on a island at the center of the map. There are onyl two ways to get on this island, on the west, via a bridge guarded by Scorcher turrets and a ford on the southeast, connected to a small island where you start. This island is linked only to the prison zone, so basically there's only way in and out without air support. The prison island has a VL in the south, circled by forests and the whole island is filled with SAM sites; the prison itsefl is an other VL and there's only one way in (or out); there are two bunkers, one near the prison gates and the other near the bridge. The mainland sorrounds the prison island is mostly hilly, with narrow passageway flanked by forests and/or crests, which difficult for broad vehicle formations to pass. LaCroix will set up the LZ in the north and the Virons/Imperials woll set up two LZs, one left to your LZ and the other near the southern tip of the mainland. Support Availability: Dropships and all Off-Map attacks Extra Unit Availability: everything except Transport Helidynes Weather Description: Walkthrough: Carefully move your Light Troopers near the ford and wait for two Destroyer Hoverdynes to pass and kill with AT grenades; you can also pass by them, but they will keep patrolling the area and there is a possibility that they will spot you when you pass the ford. Once you ahve captured the VL south of the prison, place your Light Troopers in the two forests north of the VL and wait for the main force patrolling the area, four A4 Striders, a Destroyer Hoverdyne a some Legionnaires. It's better to destroy the Striders first, then go for the Legionnaires; if you want, you can use the Heavy APCs as bait for the vehicles while they kill the infantry, their flamer is especially good at this job. Note that there's an Imperial Howitzer patrolling the area, so if you see incoming artillery fire, quickly scatter your troops to avoid that they are mass-killed by a single salvo. Before entering the prison, take out as many SAM sites you can and place as many Light Troopers in the bunker just outside the prison, facing west and in secondary mode: later on, the Terrans will move few armored vehicles near the prison and by placing here your Troopers you'll be able to fend off any attack. You'll have a Combat Engineer, too, so you won't have too many problems guarding the location, even if there are less than an half of your original Light Troopers. Move five or six Light Troopers on the prison's VL and take out the small group of Legionnaires guarding the gate. As the VL falls in your hands, Alice McNeal and two additional Light Troopers will pop out from the prison main building. Alice will tell Jacob that she was going to be taken to Vlaana's personal cruiser for interrogation and Warhust will make a fuss about this unauthorized operation, telling Angelus that he'd better survive as once he's back, he'll break as many bones as lost NSA equipment lost in this action. The Transport Helidynes that brought you in will go in to retrieve Alice, but they will be shot down by incoming SAM fire, so you'll have to escort Alice to the LZ LaCroix just finished to prepare. (note: I wasn't able to destroy all SAM Sites before freeing Dr. McNeal, so the Helidynes were shot down. I'll replay the mission ASAP to see if without the SAM sites the mission will end after freeing Alice). Now bring down a Combat Engineer, a pair of Rocket Terradynes and as many Liberators you can; the Virons and the Imperials will set up two LZs and the Virons will launch attacks at your LZ; most attacks will be staged by Penetrators and Scout Helidynes, nothing too heavy; La Croix will be able to withstand such attacks but as long you don't have enough forces to attack, help her in fending off all attacks. The ideal strike force should be composed by 6 or 8 Liberators, 4 Rocket Terradynes and one Combat Engineer; you should probably have all necessary APs but you'll need a couple of Dropships to have them all. Once you are ready, go to the first enemy LZ and take out any defense you might encouter; it's highly probable that you won't have much opposition, and there aren't any turrets protecting the both LZs, too. As the first LZs is under your control, move toward the second one; as for the first, you won't encounter many resistance. Now that the enemy can't call down any reinforcment, board Alice on a APC and escort her to the north LZ (unfortunately bringing her to the previously enemy-controlled LZs won't work). De-briefing: Warhurst is extremely disappointed by Angelus; he would court martial him, if wasn't for his capabilities, thinking he had highere respects for the traditions of the NSA army. Angelus replies that Alice was way too important for...the survival of the NSA. Warhurst dismisses the situation by telling him that he hopes this is the first and last time he disobeys and calls everyone back to New Darwin. Name: PUSH Briefing: The NSA and Clan Hroag signed a self-defense treaty for beating the Terrans. Angelus still doesn't know if he can trust the Virons, he still remembers what happened to major Grant, Antonia and Nova Legia. Alice thinks Virons are sincere, but he still asks himself of what could be their use. G'hall and Vlaana have an immense army and they can only postpone the unavoidable...Alice says that the alliance with the Virons can give the NSA some time, but for what? There's something big going on, and it's related to the unmanned pod that crashed a while ago. Authorities must begn to reveal something, or there will be a rebellion. The Empire began a full scale attack at the Hroag main enclave, Tzah'Norr's crossing, a group of island. Most of their firepower comes from artillery units and one of the first tasks will be to destroy them. Starting units: + 4 Light Troopers + 4 Siege Soldiers + 2 Recon Terradynes + 2 Rocket Terradynes + 1 Heavy APC + 1 Combat Engineer + 2 Liberators + 2 Ravagers + 2 Sentries Primary Objectives: + Defend the Primary island + Reconquer the primary island + Attack the enemy bases + Kill Ghall Vi'cath + Reconquer the whole base Secondary Objectives: + Destroy all Howitzers Map Description: seven islands compose this map; four of them contains an LZ and three of them a VL each; the westernmost island doesn't contain neither an LZ nor a VL and has strategical importance at all. The island on the north west is under Imperial control and is well defended by four SAM sites around the LZ plus one Pulverizer turret near each bridge connecting the island to the other. Right to this island, there's a second island under Imperial Control, which will be used by the Virons at a certain point of the map; again, the island has four SAM sites protecting it plus three AT turrets for ground-to-ground fire; two of these turrets are located on the west, near the bridge linking this island to the other owned by the Terrans, and the third near a bridge to the south. The sout west island is where you start and contains your LZ. Two bridges connects it to the fourth main island, controlled by allied Viron troops, and one of the two islands with a neutral (at least at the very beginning) VL. The island controlled by the friendly Viron Troops also holds a VL on a peninsula in the northwest; the tip of peninsula in unreacheable by ground vehicles as there is a blockade and a thick forest sorrounding the area. Near the Viron-controlled LZ there are 3 SAM Sites and a single AT turret. North of this island, rests the fifth island containing a VL and a SAM site; this place is mostly flat. The last island is north of your starting positio. The south side is protected by two AT turrets and the VL is at the bottom of a small valley; on the relative crest sits a SAM site and a bunker. Support Availability: Dropships and all Off-Map attacks Extra Unit Availability: everything Weather Description: always sunny Walkthrough: You'll have a full Viron army as ally, which will independetly attack Imperial troops and reconquer VLs. They won't attack the two LZs at the top of the map but they will give you some support, avoiding you to split forces to fight a two-sided war. The Imperials will call down the best units they have, including a large number of Attack Helidynes; the best way to deal with them are Rocket Terradynes, which will always have to accompnay your main strike force. You'll also need some Scout Helidynes to destroy the Howitzers in the central VL as only flying units and infantry can reach them. Move your infantry on the LZ and put the Siege Soldiers in secondary mode. Your starting LZ will be under attack by a pair of Helidyne squadrons that will prefer circling around it rather than attacking it directly: the Light Troopers and the two field turrets will be enough to fend off any attacker that comes too close. Place the Heavy APC and Recon Terradynes near them and call down two other Rocket Terradynes and as many Liberators you can; if you prefer them, you can order Ravagers in their place, though they will slow down your pace; I always kept a pair of them as vanguard, but I kept the more agile and flexible (thanks to their machine guns) Liberators as main force. A pair of Light Hoverdynes, followed shortly by a Destroyer Hoverdyne will attack your first LZ; once destroyed, go for the first bridge, and head for the western VL. Probably Drahk'Mar will have already told you about they can't protect the LZ and they are falling back; I placed three Marauders directly on their LZ, one in secondary mode, to protect the LZ and unloading troops from Helidyna and artillery attacks. It's pointless to repair the SAM sites on the LZ's west side as long as the central VL is not under your control and the Howitzers are gone, as those vehicles will constantly aim for these turrets. Nad, once you'll get rid of those vehicle, you'll probably won't need additional SAM support. The first step is conquering the western VL. Slowly advance and let the Ravagers take the brunt of the assault; there are two AT turrets plus a pair of Destroyer Hoverdynes in the area; once you have destroyed them, proceed and destoy the two Howitzers in the area, then place your Ravagers and one Rocket Terradyne in secondary mode facing the bridge heading to north and use your Liberators to eradicate all Imperial forces on the island; be sure to place the Ravagers at the very beginning of the bridge, to make difficult for enemy units to pass; take care of the SAM site atop of the crest top and repair your forces. Call down enough units to fill your losses and even two or three Scout Helidynes to destroy the Howitzers bombarding the Viron' SAM sites; there is a Light Hoverdyne that can shoot back at the Helidynes, so make it your first target and then destroy the three artillery tanks and as last step all remaing Hoverdynes (probably a Destroyer and a Conqueror). Without those artillery tanks the Virons will begin to move out from their base, claiming the central and easternmost VLs. Rho will alert you that the Virons have an LZ and have brought to the battlefield something monstrous; it's Ghall, happy to share the battlefield with you again. Centurion Dracus will also open a comm channel telling Angelus that he always wanted to capture and interrogate such a competent officer, and that he will do this soon; Dracus will probably tell you that your defenses are crumbling, but that's hardly the truth. Short after he will warn about incoming Viron assault pods; these six pods (containg four or five Prime Clanguards each) will land on your first LZ: as there are Light Troopers, Siege Soldiers, Guardians and even an Heavy APC (which carries a flamethrower), they won't be a big problem; if the APC is still active, they'll be roasted by the time they exit the pods. It is now time to go for the first LZ, which is protected by Imperial forces only. Attack only by land, there are four SAM sites that will make short work of your Helidynes; be sure to bring with you Rocket Terradynes, there's an high probability that the Conqueror Hoverdyne and the two Howitzers there are backed up by at least three Attack Helidynes; before proceeding to the LZ, take out the Pulverizer turret and before calling any Dropship to your newly acquired location, be sure that all SAM sites are gone, or it will suffer heavy damage. Once the LZ is under your control, place your Ravagers near the bridge for the last LZ; as usual, leave little space between the bridge and the tanks and put one of your Marauders in AMS mode before repairing and replacing your losses. For the final assault, be sure to bring at least six Rocket Terradynes, two Ravagers and at the very least ten Liberators. As soon you cross the bridge, Ghall Vi'cath will invite you to taste his hard skin and one he is in sight, Rho will comment the size of his Centruroid. In fact, by concentrating fire on it, you'll have barely the time to understand its shape; it might be big and with a bit more of health points compared to a Ravager, but armor ratings are average and his only weapon is pretty weak. Take care of all units in the area and if this LZ was the last zone not under your control, the mission will be over; if not, help the Virons in taking back any VL under Imperial control. De-briefing: Drahk'Mar is speechless. The Hroag Clan is again indebt and swear eternal gratitude to him. He killed their greatest enemy, Ghall Vi'Cath and basically started to make the Virons to rebel against the Empire. Warhusts is even more amazed. At first he wasn't sure if Major Grant got a point in promoting Angelus to front-line duty, but he exceeed everyone's expectations. A transport is waiting for Angelus to brind him back to New Darwin. Dr. McNeal is waiting for him. ---------------- --VIRON NOMADS-- ---------------- Name: INVERTED MOMENTUM Briefing: Starting units: + 12 Prime Clanguards + 1 Engineer Centruroid Primary Objectives: + Secondary Objectives: Map Description: Support Availability: no Dropships or Off-Map attacks Extra Unit Availability: none Weather Description: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Name: ASPHYXIATION Briefing: Starting units: + Primary Objectives: + Secondary Objectives: Map Description: Support Availability: Extra Unit Availability: Weather Description: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Name: AIMING FOR THE TEETH Briefing: Starting units: + Primary Objectives: + Secondary Objectives: Map Description: Support Availability: Extra Unit Availability: Weather Description: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Name: IT CAME FROM THE SWAMPS Briefing: Starting units: + Primary Objectives: + Secondary Objectives: Map Description: Support Availability: Extra Unit Availability: Weather Description: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Name: LONG DISTANCE CALL Briefing: Starting units: + Primary Objectives: + Secondary Objectives: Map Description: Support Availability: Extra Unit Availability: Weather Description: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Name: CITIES IN DUST Briefing: Starting units: + Primary Objectives: + Secondary Objectives: Map Description: Support Availability: Extra Unit Availability: Weather Description: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Name: CARVED IN SAND Briefing: Starting units: + Primary Objectives: + Secondary Objectives: Map Description: Support Availability: Extra Unit Availability: Weather Description: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Name: DEAD BUT DREAMING Briefing: Starting units: + Primary Objectives: + Secondary Objectives: Map Description: Support Availability: Extra Unit Availability: Weather Description: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Name: HEAD ON THE DOOR Briefing: Starting units: + Primary Objectives: + Secondary Objectives: Map Description: Support Availability: Extra Unit Availability: Weather Description: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Name: REPTILE HOUSE Briefing: Starting units: + Primary Objectives: + Secondary Objectives: Map Description: Support Availability: Extra Unit Availability: Weather Description: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Name: UNLOCKING THE SKY Briefing: Starting units: + Primary Objectives: + Secondary Objectives: Map Description: Support Availability: Extra Unit Availability: Weather Description: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Walkthrough: De-briefing: Name: OPERATION EXODUS Briefing: Starting units: + Primary Objectives: + Secondary Objectives: Map Description: Support Availability: Extra Unit Availability: Weather Description: Walkthrough: De-briefing: ********* 12-CHEATS ********* During a mission, hit twice the tilde ( ~ key...for non US jeyboard users, it's the key left to the "1" key) to bring up the game console and type these codes: GODMASSIVE : invicible units FPS: shows frames per second GOMASSIVE: unlock all missions ******************* 13-CREDITS and MISC ******************* And here it goes...Massive and Sierra for the game, you for reading everything above and everyone else not reading this but playing this game. I'd write the usual sequence of metal bands/soundtracks that served as musical background for the countless hours spent writing this document, but since I'd write down the usual names, I pass this time. But there's someone I'd like to thank wil all my hearth: the people at Nippon Ichi. Thanks for La Pucella and Disgaea. I can't wait to lay my hands on Phantom Brave. Ride the sky people. So far, these are all sites that can display this FAQ/walkthrough: 1) Wolfart (http://wolfart.altervista.org; my personal site...pay a visit, pleeeeeeeez) 2) Cheat Code Central (http://www.cheatcc.com) 3) IGN FAQs (http://faqs.ign.com) 4) Action Trip (http://www.actiontrip.com) 5) Cheats.DE (http://www.cheats.de) 6) GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) 7) DLH.NET (http://www.dlh.net) 8) Neoseeker (http://www.neoseeker.com) To ask permission to post this document, just send a mail writing down the URL. To contact me, write at briareos_hf@tiscali.it; ICQ UIN is 40534369; Odigo ID is 264286. Write only about this FAQ or if you have a cute (female)friend/sister to introduce. Copyright (c) Briareos Kerensky 2004/2005. Reproduction and translation of this document (as a whole or parts of its) in any mode without permission is strictly forbidden. All names and marks are proprerties of respective owners. Sunrise I greet you, the beauty of your sight so warm and tender was never the night In tears I see you, the last time it will be so give me your blessing I'll meet my destiny -Leif Edling, "At The Gallow's End"