The
Ultimate Strategy Guide for Red Alert 2
DK:(Denne strategi er hugget fra
en eller anden hjemmeside, jeg ikke kan huske. Kredit til den!)
Introduction
The
Ultimate Strategy Guide consists of over fourteen thousand words - it is the most
comprehensive and detailed strategy guide available anywhere for RA2; I don't
suggest buying the official Prima Strategy Guide - this is far more effective;
it is written by someone who has played the game reguarly
for roughly a year now - if you want to improve your game, be you a top ranking
player or a lowly ranked player, then reading this guide will help a lot.
The guide
is designed to teach you as much as possible about how to play like a pro on
WOL against fellow players; obviously the guide itself cannot make you a good
player by simply reading it - you need to practice and you need to think about
any tactics that I mention and how to adjust them to your game situation....
Reading this guide and other strategies on websites definitely improves your
game - I find that discussing strategies with fellow players is the best way to
improve your game. As for my credentials for writing this guide, I am a top 500
player - top 200 to 300 when I play regularly. I have played, I would venture,
near to a thousand games of ra2 online. I know lots of good players and have
beaten lots of good players. I have also been beaten by lots of good players! -
Playing with the best is the best way to become a good player - playing newbies (that's not an offensive term) every game will not
improve your game.
I became a
good player several months after the game was out - mainly thanks to being
taught up by a better player (at the time anyway ;) - the best way to learn is
to be taught by someone in a game situation - a good player will immediately
notice obvious flaws in a players game; and quite a few will be more than
willing to give you advice on how to improve it. One thing that improves with
practice is build time and orders - discussing these with other players is the
best way to experiment with new ones and find the one that is right for you. I
try to make sure I learn something every game; this is difficult if you play
someone who obviously is very poor at the game; but if you play a good player
then you should always pick something up - and if you lose then you should
definitely pick something up! - If I lose I ask myself what I did wrong..
sometimes the game can come down to luck.. but a good player creates luck;
analysing your own game is a key part of improving your skill - asking yourself
- "Why didn't I do this and why didn't I do that?" is the best way to
figure out what to do next time; obviously the best form of improving your game
is sheer practice; but I have played many players who play the game constantly but
obviously don't improve every game - if you don't analyse your games then you
will never improve. As I mentioned before, the best way to become good is to
try to make mates with a good player (so suck up to them basically) - then
hopefully they will train you up; writing tips and strategies on a website is
effective - but no where as near as effective as being able to see the mistakes
in a persons game and then correct them. A good Red Alert 2 player is a good
strategist - a good strategiest analyses situations,
looks to expose flaws, thinks fast - and most importantly; never stops
learning.
Rob.
The Ultimate Strategy
Guide - #1 - Team & Nation Selection
Whilst the
majority of people say that the Allies are the better team - I disagree; I do
not think it is possible to pick the "better team" - because of the
simple fact that the teams are balanced overall; obviously Soviets have an
advantage at the start, and Allies one later on in the game - but overall the
game is balanced. I myself am a Soviet player - I used to be Allies all the
time until I realised that i getting beaten in some
games because of the simple fact Soviets have an early game advantage - to be
beaten by a player who is less skilled than you but won on virtue of the fact
that the soviets had an early game advantage is extremely annoying - in Section
6 I will deal with both rushing and preventing rushing.
In my
opinion it is better to play with the team that you are most comfortable with;
so if you like playing Allies more than Soviets play Allies. I strongly
recommend that you test out both teams thoroughly though - I totally
underestimated the power of the Soviets whilst I was an Allied player - I
thought that the Allies high-tech units were practically guarenteed
to give them victory - I was wrong; very wrong.
In terms of
picking a specific team for a specific map I would venture that the Allies are
better on larger maps and the Soviets on smaller ones - the Soviets rely on
force rather than the "finesse" of the Allies - hence the ability to
quickly build a group of rhino tanks and cross the map in less than half a
minute is certainly an advantage for the Soviets as it gives less time for the
Allies to reach high-tech..
In my opionion the Allied Navy is superior to the Soviet Navy - I
would agree that destroyers are useless against a Soviet opponent who has the
sense to build sea scorpions - but in my opinion Dolphins make up for this -
they are fast and when used by a skilled player, deadly - capable of wrecking
groups of submarines due to the fact that their speed allows them to dodge the
torpedoes of the Soviet Submarines. Aircraft carriers are superior to
dreadnoughts in the way that they are far more likely to bypass enemy air defenses - I would much rather have dreadnoughts against an
opponent with little air defense though. As for the
squid I see it as too simple a unit - groups of dolplhins
destroy them with ease. So to sum the above paragraph up - I suggest that
Allies have the advantage in Naval War games or in maps with large water
areas..
Nations
Every
Nation is useful - there is no arguing about that; but some nations are useless
in some cases:
FRANCE:
Useful against every nation but can backfire when playing America ( If the
player drops his paratroopers near important structures in your base then your
Grand Cannons will all fire around that area - and in the process could
damage/destroy your buildings.. Grand Cannons aren't usually used by attacking
players - people who like to defend use them more often - and many like to
"turtle" ( Surround their base with grand cannons and patriots in an
attempt to make the base inpenetrable ) - anyway I
will discuss how to deal with turtles in Section 8.
KOREA: A very
useful nation in my opinion - with significant power and speed - very useful
for playing on large maps which take enemy units significant time to cross.
Useful against all nations. It takes a lot of air defense
to stop them - and the fact that you only need 6-7 of them to destroy an MCV
allows for the Black Eagle MCV rush. If you use them and build an AFC before
your war factory then I suggest placing one pillbox next to the AFC.
AMERICA:
The most popular choice of many players without a doubt - they are useful
against all nations - however you must be careful against Iraq and Britain.
Dropped in effective positions they can be devestating
- they can be used for establishing strong-holds all across the map; if you
manage to deploy 8 paratroopers in an enemies base then his dogs wont be
effective against you - he will need tanks to squash the units or other
high-tech units (mirage,prism etc) - The other
advantage of playing USA is that you dont have to pay
for the units - so you are given 1600 credits for free every paradrop essentially...
BRITAIN:
One of the less popular choices due to the act that the majority of games have
very little to do with infantry; they are more so based upon tanks and other
vehicles - so to pick Britain against a Soviet opponent is simply not worth it
in my opion - however they are best used against Iraq
- capable of destroying desolators with ease. They are useful against
GERMANY:
Useful against the Soviets as they are an excellent repellent to the favoured
Soviet tank rush; however, the fact they do not have a turning turret (their
gun can only fire straight in front of itself), means that they are often a
victim of skilled drive bys (explained in Section 10 - they annoyingly totally
useless against infantry and structures. It is important to back Tank
Destroyers up with other units - even a group of GI's will do - just don't
leave them on their own if the enemy has infantry or air units that he is
likely to use against them...
IRAQ: My
favoured choice, the desolator has the ability to turn the tide of a game -
used skillfully he can wipe out whole groups of units
- the radiation that the Desolator omitts simply rips
through the weak armour of the allied units - especially the mirage and prism
tanks - on top of the IFV - it will also cause damage against the grizzly tank
but obviously not as much - the only weakness that the desolator has against
the allies is its vulnerability to air attack - a rocketeer
or harrier will finish off the desolator efficiently - the only real way to
stop this is to place a few apocalypse tanks next to it - the radiation will
barely have an effect on them.. Best used in twos or threes ina
flak trak (run the flak trak
into the enemys units and deploy the desolators as
soon as they come out).
LIBYA: The
damage that the demo truck does was once amazing, however, since it was
adjusted in a patch, it isn't as potent a weapon - yet certainly still useful -
hence the demo truk has many admirers - and many
haters; if you know what you are doing it is quite easy to stop even the most
skilled of demo truck rushers..the key to beating
RUSSIA:
Underestimated in my opion - tesla
tanks kill infantry units instantly, pack a punch against tanks, are fast and
can fire their tesla coils over enemy walls - used in
groups these units can be deadly - try using them for quick hit and run
attacks; take out a group of enemy units with them and then retreat quickly -
to counter the tesla tank you either have to rely on
air attack - e.g. rocketeers or have to overcome them
with grizzly/rhino tanks. The weakness of the tesla
tank is its armour - or more so the lack of it. A group of tanks will quickly
destroy a tesla tank.
CUBA: Cuba;
in my opinion the most useless nation on the game - putting them in groups is suicide;
the best Cuba tactic that I know of is to quickly build 3 flak traks and to load each one with 1 or 2 terrorists - drive
them into the enemy base - they ( in many ) cases simply wont have enough defense to stop all three Flak Traks
going through - once inside the base you unload the flak traks
and attempt to destroy the vital structures ( refinery,MCV,
war factory ) - Terrorists are extremely cheap at $200 - but they are too weak
to be used on their own - I do not recommend using them.
Summary: So
to sum the above up in a few lines, every nation has its uses - some moreso than others - and some have distinct advantages or
disadvantages against some nations/sides. Pick a nation that you feel capable
of using - and make sure you use it against a nation that it is useful against.
The Ultimate Strategy
Guide - #2 - Your Economy
The economy
is arguably the most important aspect of Red Alert 2; for without money you
have nothing - hence a good economy is vital to win a game..
There are
two basic methods of having a good economy; to build a lot of refineries, or to
build a lot of harvesters - whilst both of the aforementioned methods have
their advantages and disadvantages, I favour the first method - the fact that I
am a Soviet player is further reason for that: The aim of an allied player
should be to keep his forces strong enough to hold off a Soviet attack whilst
trying to build a battle lab as soon as possbile; the
soviet players aim is, to put it quite simply, build as many rhino tanks as
possible- hence you don't want to be building harvesters in your war factories
- the opposite is true for the allies - they don't want to be building ore
refineries as it will result in taking longer for them to put up a battle lab..
As allies I would recommed building one war miner out
of your war factory (but not on very small maps - just go straight for grizllies in this instance)
Building
ore refineries is a lot easier than building harvesters for the Soviets; to
balance building harvesters and other units to fend off enemy attacks is a much
harder task for the Allies - and it takes practice to be able to balance the
production - yet when mastered is an extremely powerful skill - it is possible
to get a batte lab up within six minutes - the
"average" Soviet tank rush occurs from around 5 - 8 minutes; so it
can be hard to balance the production of your forces as well as harvesters; but
if you succeed in building a good economy as well as getting to high-tech
quickly, your chances of winning the game - especially if against a Soviet
opponent, are excellent. Obviously it is also possible to hold off or even
attack with groups of grizzly tanks - they may not be as powerful as the rhino
tanks, but if used well and in superior numbers, they are more than capable of destroying
them.
You should
always aim to have a superior economy to your enemy - as if you do, you can
build more units and more structures - which should result in a win - unless
you are outsmarted by your enemy - tactical awareness is something that cannot
be taught - it is something gained through practice and experience; the only
thing that I can recommend is too keep looking at what your enemy is upto - and to adjust your game plan according - scouting is
discussed in Section 4 - this is vital as you have to be able to see the most
important parts of the map in order to see what your opponent is upto; it's also vital to uncover the shroud in his base to
see exactly what he plans to do with his economy - for example, if he is
building harvesters and nothing else from his war factory then you must either
a) build the same amount of harvesters or b) go and attack him while he has a
weak defense - I always go for option B; if you ruin
an enemys economy before he has even established his
forces then he will have to attempt to re-establish his economy - which will
take him 2-3 minutes - enough time for you to build up some more forces and
then crush him. Tech buildings such as oil derricks also play an important part
in your economy - these are discussed in Section 3
In some
games the only viable way to win is to destroy your enemys
economy; for example, if your enemy boxes himself up in his base by building
lots of defensive structures ( particularly annoying if the enemy is France ) -
then you simply have to destroy his harvesters - use rocketeers,
harriers, terror drones, chrono legionnaires, mirage
tanks or apocalypse tanks to do this as they are the most effective units
versus harvesters. If you succeed in destroying the enemys
economy then you can just build your forces up gradually and chip away at the enemys base - if he has no viable economy then he will give
in sooner or later..
There are a
few simple things that can be done to give your economy a slight head-start on your
opponents - one tip is to harvest the gems [multi-coloured ore] before you
harvest the normal ore - doing the aformentioned will
gain you twice as much credits - and if you are able to acheive
a superior economy at the start of the game then you will have a distinct
advantage..
It is
without doubt possible to win games without more than 1 harvester and 1
refinery - but only if you go for the early kill - better known as "the
rush" - this is discussed in Ssection 6..
The basic
way to start an economy going is to build your first refinery as close to the
ore as possible; this means that harvester journeys to and fro do not take as
long; the best way to know where to place your structures is to know the outlay
of a map beforehand.. doing this will often allow you to dump your refinery
right next to a patch of gems instead of ore.. after building your war factory
(after your first refinery is up), I suggest that you build two more before
considering building other structures.. you should sell any refineries which
aren't needed (I.E. there is another refinery right next to it which can be
used). Often there are several patches of ore around your base - harvest one
patch first but make sure you have a refinery ready to place by the next patch
once you have consumed all of the ore in the first patch.
Summary:
Your economy is vital - without it you are nothing - learning how to achieve a
good economy but manage to produce sufficient units to stop you from becoming
vulnerable is hard - but without doubt worthwhile - and quite simply put, vital
if you ever wish to be more than the "average player".
The Ultimate Strategy
Guide - #3 - Importance of Tech Buildings
Any good
player knows that tech buildings are vital to their success - a player who
controls 4 oil derricks, as opposed to a player who controls none, will have
the an initial capture bonus of $4000 (If you capture an oil derrick you are
awarded $1000) and will also be making money from the oil derricks throughout
the game; oil derricks are particlulary important to
the Soviet player - capturing oil derricks instead of building extra harvesters
allows the soviet player to keep on building rhino tanks; giving him a better
chance of victory as a result. It is vital that you: a)protect oil derricks and
b)capture them early on in the game.
To protect
oil derricks in an early game situation just build a pillbox/sentry gun next to
them - you may think "But that costs another 500 - and my engineer cost me
500 - which means I'm back down to nothing cause capturing it only gave me
1000" - don't think that - oil derricks supply you with regular income
throughout the game - and pillbox/sentry guns are vital to stop enemy engineers
simply walking into the oil derrick and gaining the 1000 capture bonus.
The key to
taking control of the oil in a game is to capture the oil derricks early on in
the game; before your opponent has the chance to. I send out dogs to guard the
oil derricks before i send engineers -
"why?" - because the dogs eat the enemy engineers or any other infantry
that he may send - obviously any good player will probably send dogs out as
well - yet it is still a far better idea to send out dogs before your
engineers.
Obviously
there are other tech buildings apart from the oil derrick that can play
important parts in games - airbases are the second most important civialian structures in my opinion - I see little use in
the hospital or tech depot - these are only on a few maps - and do not usually
play large parts in the game.
The basic
ethic though is this: capture and defend any tech building - and do it quickly.
You must send out dogs to protect your engineers and to defend the tech
buildings from enemy engineers. Remember, tech buildings have more uses than
just the ones they were created for - for example they allow you to build off
them - so if you capture an airfield in the middle of an ore field [ e.g. South
Pacific Map ] then it is a very good idea to build a refinery nect to it as this will boost your income considerably.
Another tip - if you are the Soviets and you capture a nuke plant - why not
sell it? This will give you extra credits which will help supplement the cost
of the rhino tanks that are used for the average Soviet rush.
Summary:
Protect any tech buildings that you may have with at least a pillbox/sentry
gun. If your enemy manages to capture the tech buildings before you then you
simply must destroy the tech buildings or capture them off him - if you allow
him to keep the tech buildings then he will make extra income throughout the
game which could prove vital. Tech buildings are important - so do not ingore them! - Capture and protect them; their benefits can
be enough to turn a game in your favour in a lot of cases.
The Ultimate Strategy
Guide - #4 - Scouting
Fact: a
player who sits in his base and make no effort to scout is a poor player.
Pretty
obvious statement you may think..but true - and the
amount of people that I have played on WOL that just sit inside their base and
wait for you is shocking - scouting is an integral part of the game - without
it you don't know what your opponent is doing - which means your chances of
winning are slightly higher than zilch. Some allied players think
"Scouting? - nah - I just build a spysat
instead" - that is a very bad attitude to take if you are planning on
winning. In my opinion a good player should be able to get by without a spysat - in my opinion they are an "unnecessary
luxury" - yes they are undoubtedly useful - but if a player knows the map
that he is playing on, then he should be able to get by without one. So the
purpose of this paragraph was to basically get it into your head that scouting
is vital! - If you do not scout, you will not win under most circumstances. If
a player scouts out your base and sees that you are just going to sit there and
wait, then he could easily build 10 harvesters without you knowing! = imminent
defeat. I know that this is all bread and butter to any good player reading
this - but other, less skilled players, have to realise the importance of
scouting.
There are a
variety of ways to scout - obviously it is better to scout immeditely
- one of the reasons for this is that it is far easier to uncover the shroud
around an enemies base early on in the game than it is later on in the game.
Another advantage of early scouting is that it allows you to see what type of a
player you are playing - you can determine his style of play - aggressive, defense, tech-rush, engineer-rush etc. - and hence adjust
your game plan accordingly.
The unit
that you should use for scouting, without a doubt, is the dog - I suggest
building 2 dogs to scout with (3 or 4 if there are a lot of oil derricks);
approach the enemys base with these dogs in two
different directions - that way one dog at the very least should be able to
uncover your enemies base. If you are an allied player then you may consider
using 3 GIs to scout as, once deployed, they have the aiblity
to kill dogs - however they are nowehere near as fast
or useful in tank battles (mentioned in Section 10.
It is quite
simple to scout - but there are a few rules that will help:
In a game
lobby look at the map (if it isn't a quickmatch game)
- look at the red blocks - and remember the position of them.
On a 4
player map, assuming you are playing two player, the opponent always starts in
the opposite corner.
Dont
waste time uncovering all the map - just the sections en route to the enemies
base.
Try your
best to uncover the shroud - these quotes, both by very well known military
geniuses, are both very relevant:
"To be
successful, you must know your enemy as well as you know yourself" - Sun
Tzu
"The
army that fights in sight of its walls will lose" - Napolean
If you can
see what your enemy is doing then you ae far better
off. So it is vital to scout out an enemys base. Other
units that can be used for scouting include the rocketeer
and even the harrier/black eagle.. if you fail to scout then you leave yourself
vulnerable to engineer rushes and many other tactics.
Summary: If
you sit in your base then your chances of success are minimal - do not be
afraid to scout - use any units you have in order to uncover the shroud. You
simply have to know what your enemy is going to do in order to combat his
actions and in order to plot your own attacks. Make sure you scout!
The Ultimate Strategy
Guide - #5 - Build Speed and Orders
Navigation:
[ Intro · Contents · 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · FAQ ]
Having a
good build order is important; as is building quickly. If you place all
structures on the ground as soon as they become available then you will have a
minute advantage - minute yes, but still an advantage: Lets say that you are
playing in a map with a tech building in the middle - whoever captures this
tech building controls most of the map as a result; it is vital that you
capture this building before your opponent - If your barracks is down a few
seconds earlier than his as you have been placing your structures down as soon
as they become availble then you will be able to get
a dog/engineer to that building before him. - That example is just to show that
building quickly can be important; if you hear "Structure complete"
then go and place it somewhere - it takes a few seconds and allows you to carry
on building - so always place structures down as soon as they become available
- I know it will only give you the tiniest of advantages - buts its tiny
advantages that often add up and result in you winning a game. To place your
buildings down as quickly as you can I suggest placing your cursor where you
want the building to be placed, and then, upon hearing "Structure ready to
place" press Q - then the building will be placed down.
Whilst
people do have differing build orders I would venture that this is the basic
one that most players follow:
Powerplant
» Barracks » Ore Refinery » War Factory » Radar/Air Force Command » Battle Lab
Some
players do like to build radars/air force commands before war factorys - this is understandable if you are a nation such
as the USA or Korea - but otherwise it's best to get a war factory up ASAP -
especially if you are the Soviet player - as the whole theology of the Soviet
game is based upon overtaking your opponent early on in the game and then using
your superior tank power to defeat your opponent.
I always
attempt to get my war factory up as soon as possible - for if I can get one
more rhino tank built in the time it takes an opponent to build a radar, then I
do have an advantage - as long as I use this advantage quickly.
In Section
2 I discussed the differences between building ore refineries and harvesters -
if you are a Soviet player then you will in most cases build another refinery
after you have build either your radar or your war factory; I usually (unless
on a map with lots of gems and oil derricks) build another refinery after my
war factory - as opposed to a radar; I think that if you have the ability to
scout out the map and then look at it yourself, you don't have to buy a radar -
obviously without one you cannot build you cannot gain access to your nations
special unit/structure - yet I do not think this matters for the Soviet tank
rusher - rushing is all about building as many units as possible in a short
period of time. The basic build order should be:
Powerplant
» Barracks » Refinery » War Factory » Refinery (Sell) » Refinery (Sell) » War
Factory/AFC/Battle Lab
The Allied
player should attempt to build his structures quickly particularly - as this
allows him to get to high-tech; which means access to the mirage tank.. If an
allied player builds sensibly then he should have a battle lab up within about
six minutes - as the stereotypical Soviet tank rush occurs at around this
moment in the game, its hard to balance building enough units in order to fend
off the rush - but if balancing is done successfullly,
then the Soviet player is in a lot of trouble.. Waiting until a point in the
game when you have sufficient grizzly tanks to hold off an attack is when you
should think about teching up.
Build
orders are common sense really - for example; some people ask if it is worth to
build the refinery before the barracks in order to start harvesting quickly.. -
Whilst in some games it may actually be useful if the opponent doesnt attack quickly - it simply isn't worth the risk! -
Your opponent could attack you and your game would be practically over - you
would have to decide whether or not to cancel the construction of the refinery
in order to allow you to build a barracks - if you then cancelled the
construction of the refinery you would have wasted a lot of build time; so to sum
that little lot up - build a barracks before your refinery.
I know that
this section won't have been the most pulsating read for competent players as
it does simpy deal with build orders and speed -
something the competent player should know with ease...yet many people do muck
up their chances of winning as a result of stupid build orders and building
slowly...
Summary:
Place structures down as soon as they are ready for doing so - and make sure that
your build order is sensible and suited to the game - e.g. if you are playing a
naval war game then make sure you build a naval yard before you build your war
factory/radar. The basic message behind building well is : Don't build what you
don't need or won't use.
The Ultimate Strategy
Guide - #6 - Doing and stopping the rush
The rush -
controversial, hated, loved - but commonly used; if not mastered, then you will
never be more than average. Many, many people hate the rush completelely
- but there is one common fact in these people (usually) - they are the ones at
the receiving end of a rush. It is indeed possible to stop the rush - and many
people make it their "mission" to stop rushers; I personally am a
rusher - and not ashamed of it at all. Many people moan about how "any
idiot can rush and win" - that is so, so wrong. It's no secret that the
outstanding majority of the top players on the WOL ladder are rushers -
especially the Soviet ones. In my experience the "average rush" should
occur within eight minutes - at after roughly eight minutes, a good allied
player will have built a battle lab hence enabling them to build mirage tanks.
Rushing is an art - learning how to execute the perfect rush takes time - for
it is a matter of using your resources extremely precisely and knowing what
your enemy has waiting for you in his base. One of the most exciting types of
games, in my opinion at least, is where two skilled rushers come head to head -
for this is when the better player is proved by seeing what tactics they use
apart from the basic tank rush. Many players think that rushing spoils the game
- and they prefer to play in long games. Playing in long games may be enjoyable
- but it isn't going to get you to the top of the ladder; or anywhere near it for
that matter. To get a high position on the ladder - let's say 1000 - you need
to play at least 25 games in a month - playing 25 games simply isn't possible
for many players as they dont have enough time - well
the way to get around that problem - to rush. Many of you currently reading
this section may feel angry at the fact that I am suggesting that rushing is
the only way to attain a high position in the ladder - I never said it was,
because it isn't. Yes you can attain a high position in the ladder playing long
games - but its gonna take you a hell of a long time.
If you are defeating opponents in an average time of four to six minutes, then
25 games will take a few hours of play. My average victory using the classic
soviet tank rush takes 3 - 8 minutes, depending on the skill of the opponent -
if you are playing as soviets and are intending on using the rush, then it
simply must be done within 8 minutes, for after then the allies gain much
better units. Rushing is all or nothing - you chuck everything you have at the
opponent in order to destroy them quickly and mercilessly. Rushing, contrary to
popular opinion, is skilled - and the best way to achieve high ranks.
The rush is
best done with the Soviets - there is absolutely no doubt about this. It is possible
to rush with grizzly tanks - but the rhino tank is much more powerful and has a
considerably larger health bar. The idea of rushing is a very, very simple one
- but the execution of it is much more difficult. The maps most suited to the
soviet rush are the smaller ones - as these allow for getting your tanks to the
opponent quickly. Rushing is still possible on large maps (e.g. Hammer &
Sickle) - it's just a lot harder..
Rushing is
about balancing your economy and tank production - there are various routes to
getting a group of tanks ready for attack - but one thing is vital when
executing the rush; you must capture any oil derricks - if you secure them you
have an immediate advantage over your opponent which could tip the scale in
your favour. There are various options at the start when executing the rush -
for example choosing whether to build harvesters before starting to pour out tanks..in my personal opinion the perfect rush involves
building tanks as soon as your war factory is built; if you need to increase
your income then you should build additional ore refinerys
- your war factory should be left for building tanks. However if you are an
allied player executing the rush then you must juggle building additional ore
refineries whilst eventually trying to build a battle lab. My basic build order
when rushing (as Soviets) is like this:
Powerplant
» Barracks » Refinery » War Factory » Refinery (Sell) » Refinery (Sell) » War
Factory
I
personally believe that it is possbile to play
competently without a radar - as long as you are alert. If you save the money
from a radar then you can afford at least another rhino tank - and in a rush
every single tank is vital. Rushing is a matter of trying to make do with
little luxuries on order to overcome your opponent with sheer power and brute
force. It is best to know the state of your opponents situation before deciding
on rushing - e.g. if you see him building 3 harvesters and no tanks then make
sure you rush him quickly. Seeing the state of your enemys
situation is important as it should affect everything you do if you are
planning on rushing. Dont attack in little attacks
when you have a couple of tanks available - wait until you have a group which
you think capable of destroying your opponent - deciding when you do have
enough tanks is a skill learned only with experience - knowing when to attack
your enemy is indeed vital - deciding whether to wait for that extra tank to
finish building could be the difference in getting to the base of an opponent
playing as France before they put up a Grand Cannon.
Ultimately
the decision of when to rush is up to you - it is a skill that does take
experience to learn. Rushing is a skill that must be practiced and honed if
ever to become useful - don't give up if you are still struggling to execute a
good rush after a few games - it takes time to learn how to execute the rush
properly - but when you do learn how to execute it, it is one hell of a useful
skill.
Stopping
the rush is a totally different matter - if you manage to build up a good
economy and stop the enemies rush at the same time then you will be in the
driving seat. If you are playing as Soviets againt a
tank rusher then the best way to stop them is to build as many terror drones as
possible before you are rushed - the only unit that that the Soviets have that
is truly effective against the terror drone is the tesla
trooper - and it is a fairly safe bet that a rusher will have little time or
money to build groups of telsa troopers in order to
combat the drones. If you build enough drones and manage to attack the group of
tanks with them before they get too near your base then you will have an
excellent chance of fending off the rush. It is no secret that the terror drone
was originally intended for the allied forces - but Westwood gave the units to
the soviets in order to balance the game..hence I
think that the allied forces lacks a truly useful anti-tank unit early on in
the game ( obviously the mirage tank is extremely effective but not available
until you reach high-tech ). Hence the best way, in my opinion, to stop the
soviet tank rush as the allies is to do the following: build 6 GI's, a radar as
qickly as possible - and then a prism tower - if you
build all of your structures close to each other then the prism tower will be
able to cover the whole of your base - depending on the amount of tanks your
enemy rushes you with you may wish to build another prism tower, yet I think it
is better not to as the better player is the offensive player - not the
defensive one. If you build units such as rocketeers/harriers/grizzly
tanks then these units can be used for attacking the enemy once you have
defended him - remember it is best to confront the enemy in your base as you
will have the advantages of defensive structures to help you plus the ability
to build units and use them immediately. To stop the rush you must know how
many tanks the opponent will attack with - and adjust your defenses
accordingly. Make sure that infantry are spread out ( skilled players will
attempt to run over infantry ) - if you are the Soviets then you can build tesla troopers - not only are they highly effective against
tanks but they cannot be run over by enemy tanks - making them an extremely
useful tank deterrent. Basically if Soviets build tesla
troopers and drones to protect yourself against enemy rushes - if allies build
a mixture of GI's, grizzlys and rocketeers
as well as a prism tower. A useful tip is also to place a pillbox / sentry gun
down just when the enemys tanks enter your base - this
will result in them all auto-firing at it and wasting a lot of shots; whilst
your units can do damage.
Summary:
Learning to rush skillfully takes time to learn - yet
there is nothing more powerful and threatening than a rush by a skilled player
- the rush is hated cause it is the downfall of the average player; learn it,
use it, bask in its success.
The Ultimate Strategy
Guide - #7 - Attacking
Attacking -
an integral part of the game; you will find that the better player will be the
one on the offensive, as opposed to the defensive. The player who is aggressive
will win a game 9 times out of 10; if it is that little bit of aggression that
allows a player to capture one oil derrick, then this, though a seemingly small
advantage, could be enough to win them the game. A perfect example of attacking
aggressively is to destroy the enemies harvesters; if an opponent has war
miners that are a long distance from his base, and you throw your tanks at them
- then your opponent has to decide whether or not to take his tanks out of the
safety of his base, or to use them in an effort to save his warminers.
- If a player successfully manages to cut off an ore field, as opposed to
killing harvesters, then this could be enough to ruin an enemies economy - for
example, many aggressive players will park a group of tanks on an ore field -
hence cutting off the ore supply to their opponent - many, many players will
simply not combat this - they will try to think of another way to get ore - a
good player will combat the aforementioned - they will do whatever is neccessary to regain his ore supply - for without an
income, the player is fighting a losing battle. A player has not to be scared
of sending their troops out of their base into the open - as silly as it may
seem, many of the poorer players are scared of leaving their base - they sit in
there (so to speak), as they are simply too worried of fighting a battle
without their prism towers/tesla coils to back them
up. Attacking is about aggression - aggressive players are, in the outstanding
majority of situations, successful players - you must however balance
aggression with common sense - throwing ten rhinos at twenty rhinos isnt aggressive or daring - it's plain stupidity.
Attacking
does involve risk - it's a matter of how good you are at calculating the risk
that will decide on how good a player you are. If you can destroy an enemy tech
building or a harvester then you immediately have an advantage - but you must
make sure that your opponent doesn't respond - you have to study your opponent,
you have to know your opponent and you have to try to read your opponents mind
- if you can guess what your opponent is going to do next, then you can easily
combat it. A good player always studies his opponents moves - and is always one
step ahead. Strategy makes heavy use of the brain - you need a fast thinking,
decisive and tactically aware one to function as a good player. Another rule to
follow is to 'expect the unexpected' - a good opponent will, in many cases, do
something totally against the run of the game - for example, you may both be
throwing groups of rocketeers at each other, but the
your opponent may build a nighthawk, fill it with engineers, and land it in the
middle of your base and take all your structures over. *Tip* - If you ever hear
a nighthawk then it means your opponent is most likely going to fill it with
engineers and try to sneak it into your base - in most cases they will send the
nighthawk around the edge of the map - to prevent you from seeing it - if you manage
to destroy it with a group of engineers inside it, then your opponent has lost
$3000 - and that is a lot of money.
To be a
good player you must always attack - you must put your opponent on the back
foot from the offset - and then make sure he stays on that back foot. Defending
is very rarely the method used to win by a good player - very rarely indeed. If
being aggressive and attacking means destroying one harvester or one tech
building, then it could be enough to win you the game. Never be afraid to use
your units in a win or lose attack - risk is a key factor of any good players
game - all tactics involve risk - however it is often the more risky tactics
that are used by a good player - war is about risk, war is about taking a
chance - it is how well you can judge the risk factor involved with a manouvre, that will decide between the better player, and
the average player.
The Ultimate Strategy
Guide - #8 - Dealing with defense freaks
I'm sure
its happened to the majority of you - you've encountered a player who goes for defense from the offset; in the oustanding
majority of games this results in them losing - but a determined and skilled
defensive player is a different thing altogether. The most common form of being
defensive is known as "turtling" - when
French players build grand cannons all around there base, and then back them up
with various other defensives - but, there is no such thing as an undefeatable base - it make take time to destroy a large
well defended base - but ultimately, it can be done. The key to winning against
such opponents is to not lose your patience - remember, if you have control of
the majority of the map, then it is you who has the advantage. Lots of players
hate defensive players - personally, I don't mind them - if they want to try
building a huge base then I say let them - people can do what they want as far
as I'm concerned - providing it doesn't involve cheating; so don't flame
defensive players - just wipe out that base instead!
Okay, so
the basic defense freak will surround his base - or
any entrance to it, with a combination of tesla
coils/prism towers, sentry guns/pillboxes, flak cannons/patriots - and, if
France, the Grand Cannon - if it was possible to build the undefeatable
base - which it isn't, France would be the nation to use - I don't know how
many of you have tried attacking a player with 3 or 4 grand cannons - it isn't
easy - obviously I suggest rushing them before they get to this stage - but
this is a different section, designed to teach you how to break through a
heavily guarded base.
If you have
superweapons on, then your task is comparitevly easy - simply send in a nuke or a weather
storm on the opponents source of power and then attack him quickly; remember, defense freaks use a lot of power - if you knock out a few
power plants then you will most likely knock all of his defenses
offline. Also remember that to build a big base full of high-powered defensive structres costs a lot of credits - if you spend the
equivalent on units you should have an impressive arsenal at your disposal.
Now, time to tackle those cannons - there are a few tactics that can be used:
If you
cannot manage to take a turtles power (French Player = turtle) then you must
employ other tactics:
The key to destroying
Grand Cannons is to a) Distract them b) Get your units as close to them as
possible (this way the grand cannons minimumblast
range will be too far)
Ways to
distract grand cannons include sending in cheap units - e.g. dogs,gis,conscripts and then letting the cannons shoot at
them while you roll your tanks in - remember, if you put a tank right at the
base of the cannon, it will not be able to hit it..and
other cannons may still fire at the unit - but if they do they will only damage
the grand cannon as well.
Another tip
is to build a harvester, or two, solely for the purpose of driving it in front
of the enemy cannons - harvesters do take a while to be destroyed by grand
cannons - and if you spend 1400 on one, it s probably more useful then spending
2000 on conscripts which will die instantly if the cannon fires anywhere near
them.
Once you
have the cannon destracted, move your tanks in
quickly - fire at the cannon and then carry on doing the same to each cannon if
necessary - the key is to break the opponent down gradually, bit by bit, piece
by piece.
If you play
against an opponent who has blockaded up the only entrance to their base (e.g.
maps such as mount olympus) then things get a little
complicated - I once played against a player who literally built tesla coils all the way across his entrance until it was
blocked off (thats about 12 roughly); he then placed
about 20 Yuris behind them - a nasty concotion yes; but I was Iraq and I loaded 5 desolators
into a flak trak, drove it in front of the coils and
then deployed all the desolators as soon as they were forced out of the vehicle
- he lost a lot of infantry; so that is one such tactic that can be employed in
such a situation.
The basic
key to breaking anything down is strength - if you have lots of tanks then you
will always victor - but against turtles and defense
freaks you must alter the basic strategy of "throw everything you've got
at em" - to "throw a little at them and
then the rest".
Another
extremely important method that is the most commonly used - is to "bleed
your enemy dry" of income - if they have no harvesters or ore fields to
harvest from then you will be able to dwarf their economy. I've discussed
killing harvesters in the economy section - so go there if you didn't read it. A
real problem is when a French player builds a base with an ore field in it -
then you are in trouble - but ultimately, you have control of the map if they
go defensive - so be aggressive and take out any units he has not in his base -
then finish him off with a big attack ( do not attempt lots of small attacks ).
Summary:
Don't ever lose your patience against a defense freak
- do so and you're doomed - don't give up if u see a large amount of defense structures - if you control most of the map then
you control the game - they are sitting in the base, waiting for you - remember
that; you are the one who controls the game, you are the one who has the option
to make the game whatever way you want it.
The Ultimate Strategy
Guide - #9 Control Tips
Controlling
your units is important - the ability to control your units well means that you
may, with a smaller group of units, overcome a larger group of units controlled
by a less skilled player. Some of the control tips that I am about to mention
you will most likely know - others which are less well known, you may not..
Harrier/Black
Eagle Scouting - Scouting with harriers? - Yes! - They are fast and have a good
range of sight - the problem that you most frequently experience with them is
telling them where to go all the time isn't it? - because with these units you
can't use waypoints - but you can with harriers - this is how you do it; you
click on waypoint mode and then set the waypoints on your radar screen - if you
try doing it normally it wont work - this allows you to tell your harrier to
scout all over the map extremely quickly - which means that you can get on with
what you want and leave your plane to reveal the map - this really is an
excellent way to scout.
Harrier/Black
Eagle Kamikaze - A useful trick this one - to make your Black Eagle/Harrier
hover over a building you just press ALT and LEFT CLICK - it will then hover
over the building and the enemy air defenses
(assuming they have them) will shoot the plane down and make it land on top of
the building - this is really a very useful trick; planes do cause considerable
damage when they land on top of buildings..try it out
and see for yourself - all though it is a costly trick it can be deadly -
allowing you to wipe out opponents bases in one swift attack.
Infantry Squasher - This is a very useful trick - allowing you to
wipe out infantry very very quickly - to squash
infantry with your tank press "alt + x" and then click on the desired
unit to run over - your tank will squash it quickly with minimum of fuss..much quicker than trying to squash a unit manually or
simply trying to shoot at them; remember that Tesla Troopers can not be
squashed - yet this tactic really is useful - especially for Rhino tanks when
they are up against groups of GI's..
Scatter
Units - Press "X" to scatter a group of units (they must be selected)
- this is useful if you want to scatter your units when they are being fired
upon by V3's or a tank is about to squash them etc - also try using it just
before a harrier/black eagle fires their missile at you - this manuovre will often cause the missile to miss your unit..
Advanced
Waypoint Usage - Try selecting your units then selecting units/structures as
waypoints - they will then go and destroy them in the order you selected..a good control tip as it decreases the amount of
time spent on micro management..
Grouping -
Grouping is a very important feature of the game - if you select various units
to be put in a group then you can call upon that group at any time by simply
pressing a single button - this is particulary
important if you have groups of harriers/black eagles sitting in your base
waiting to attack - by grouping them you can press one button then the control
cursor will appear - this saves you a lot of time as you dont
have to scroll back to your base then mess about trying to select them when you
could easily select other units in the base by mistake as well..
Target
Selection - When fighting your enemy, for example, in a huge tank battle, try
not to use all your tanks to kill one of your opponents tanks, each tank only
takes like 4 hits to kill it. There's no point in clicking 30 of your tanks on
1 of your enemy's tank cause and hence wasting 26 hits which could have killed
around 6 of his tanks. So what you do is select around 3-4 of your tanks to
kill 1 of his tanks and repeat this across the battle line. This way by the
time hes killed 1 of your tanks you will have kill
around 6 of his.
Distraction
- When you are fighting your enemy tank to tank, a very useful trick is to use
dogs as a distraction. What you do is build around 4-8 dogs depending on how
big the tank battle will be, and put them at the front of your tanks. Just
before you send your tanks in. Send in the dogs first - then quickly follow
with your tanks. This will make the enemy tanks fire at the dogs while your
tanks move in for the kill on his tanks. This also works even if you send in
the dogs half way through a battle. You will find that tanks often have a
tendency to fire at dogs.
Summary:
Competent control is vital - good players know how to group their units and how
to control them - try practicing grouping in co-ordination with some of the
control tips that I have just mentioned.
The Ultimate Strategy
Guide - #10 - Tank Tips
I was
compelled to wite this section as the outstanding
majority of games are decided in tank vs. tank battles - just driving your
tanks in the direction of your opponents tanks and then hoping you will overcome
your opponent is not a good attitude to take - anyone can build a large group
of tanks quickly; but it takes a skillful player to
know how to use them effectively - knowing how to use your tanks properly is
vital - they are the most important attacking unit in the game - here are some
of my tips:
Drive by
shooting: In Red Alert 2 the "Drive By Shooting" is when you drive
your tanks past your enemies tanks rather than head on into them - this means
that your tanks will automatically target the enemy tanks as they drive past..
whilst the enemy tanks will all (unless the player is quick) end up chasing the
tank at the front of the line.. allowing you to waste the enemy basically)
Now for
some advice - send dogs towars the enemy tanks before
you do this - it will waste a lot of their fire and make life a lot easier for
you... the tactic isn't a good idea if they have a lot of dogs etc mixed up
with their tanks.. also think about the possibility of driving around
structures etc to prevent the enemy from hitting you (particularly useful if
you've got a group of drones on your tail). Don't use the tactic in very
confined spaces - or else it could backfire.. this tactic works from 2 tanks
upwards.
Anti-Drone
Tips: Apart from building and using other units (not what this section is
about), the best way to combat drones with tanks is to run away from them! -
Drone auto attack any enemy unit that comes in range.. hence if you send a
decoy such as a dog and then run it across the path of your tanks then your
tanks will shoot it to pieces - however, if an enemy sends a group of drones at
you, the best thing to do is to immediately drive in the opposite direction; as
tanks have turrets they are still able to shoot at the drones even if they are
behind them.. if tanks are moving in the opposite direction to a drone then the
drone will struggle to jump into the tank - and whilst it is struggling behind
the tank it should get shot to pieces.. Another obvious tip if a drone does get
in one of your tanks - force fire on that tank to kill the drone inside it..
otherwise it will keep hopping from tank to tank. Drones are a lot cheaper than
tanks - yet they have the ability to shred them apart. You must keep an eye out
for drones and use your tanks as I have just mentioned in order to stop them
from wiping out a large number of your tanks. Another note; drones are slower
on ore - hence if you drive your tanks over an ore field with the drones
chasing you, they will be shot to pieces.
Distraction
Tips: A vital part of any tank battle, is the use of 'decoy units' - if you
fail to use decoy units then your opponent will have little problem in wiping
out your force - especially if he is using decoy units. Decoy units should be
any that you have and don't need - such as spare infantry units; the best
infantry units to use in tank battles are dogs - they will attract a lot of the
enemy tank fire hence allowing you to get in more shots than your opponent.
Dogs can turn the tide of any tank battle - be it one tank versus one tank, or
thirty tanks against each other. Another possiblity
to consider (if you have surplus miners), is to throw your miners into an
attack - they will, like dogs, attract enemy fire, and will be able to take a
large amount of damage.
Grouping:
If you are going to be in a large tank battle (lets say ten tanks or more),
then an effective tip is to split your tank groups - I suggest splitting them
into groups of five (numbers wise - not physically) - then once the tank battle
starts you can order one group to attack a tank and another to attack another -
this will save you from wasting shots by selecting all of your units.. it will
also stop your units just randomly firing at tanks - as it is much better for
concentrated fire upon one tank (resulting in destruction of this tank) than to
take a few shots at every tank in a battle.
Attacking
First: Lets say your opponents tanks are all huddled together in a group a
small distance across the map from you.. he doesn't appear to want to attack..
well attacking first is better - for if you instigate a tank battle then you
automatically take out the first few tanks that you ordered your units to take
out.. so you already have an advantage.. your tanks will now keep on firing at
the tanks at the front of his group whilst his tanks behind his first row or
two will have to be ordered to come forwards..
Manouvres:
Many players do not appreciate the fact that tanks can be split up and sent to
attack in different directions.. lets say your opponent has one large group of
tanks - you could split your tanks into a group of two and then attack his
large group at both sides - this means that his tanks in the middle are doing
nothing - until he tells them to; hence you have a few extra seconds in which
to get those few vital kills. Other manouvres that
are useful include the blocking up of small gaps - lets say, for example, that
your opponent is about to send his force over a bridge or through a small
canyon.. place your tanks at the entrance to the bridge/canyon - his tanks will
not be able to attack all at once as the bridge/canyon is too small - hence
your tanks will be able to destroy his with ease.. much better than allowing
your opponent to drive through and use all his force at once.
Outnumbered:
In a situation where you are outnumbered (by a large margin) - and there is
absolutely no hope of victory, the only viable way to win a game is to attempt
to destroy all of your opponents base; (unless the game was set up via a lobby
and has last unit selected) - to do this you have to bypass his tanks.. so try
driving them somewhere where his tanks cannot reach yours.. then go for his
base. If he only has one base then this tactic may well work - however, if he
has several bases scattered around the map then it will most likely not work -
the opponent has to make the decision of whether he should destroy your base or
attempt to get your tanks.. this tactic should only be used as a last resort..
Summary:
Anybody can click on tanks and build them - good players know how to use them
to their best advantge - tanks are what decide almost
every game of Red Alert 2; if you don't know how to use them properly then
practice - if you can't handle tanks, you will never be a great player.
The Ultimate Strategy
Guide - #11 - Top Tactics
For this
section I have selected some of the best tips from the Tip of the Day Archive :
The Tesla
Trooper
The Tesla
Trooper is an extremely useful unit - it is very powerful against tanks and,
another advantage it has against tanks is the fact that it cannot be run over.
Tesla troopers are available as soon as you get a soviets barracks - they are
far more powerful than any unit that the allies can build at such an early
stage of the game.
Try to keep
tesla troopers in groups - they are easy prey for dogs
etc if on their own; in small groups they can be devestating
- sporting the ability to decimate tanks and structures alikes.
Tesla
troopers are excellent units versus the terror drone - if your opponent builds
a lot of terror drones then build a few tesla
troopers - they will kill the drones with 1 tesla
shot - which is very useful. Also, another tactic is to simply load them into a
flak trak and to drive the flak trak
into a group of terror drones - the tesla troopers
will all pop out and cause hell.
Remember,
the tesla trooper is a very powerful unit - and if
you use it correctly then it will be very useful to you; keep them in small
groups and they will be a threat to the enemy.
How to
use Naval Units
On of the
best features in Red Alert 2 is the expanded navies of each side. Many people
in both tournament games and regular games overlook this feature and rely on
land units when the navy can play a big influence. Some of the best maps that
have a good mix of land and water and most players can hold their own, but when
they get into a situation where you are on an island and land units are not
involved. Players often find themselves "up the creek without a
paddle."
My job here
today is to tell you the best way to establish "naval supremacy."
#1 Allied
Navy
On a all mostlty water map 2-3 destroyers will be suffiecient to start out with. When on a mix of water and
land dont worry about destroyers(unless opponent is
soviet then 3-5 is good) wait until you have a battle lab and then build 5
dolphins to start and then more as necessary. 5 dolphins can easily take out an
enemy naval yard and stay hidden from the enemy. Only thing is make sure they
stay out of range of prism tanks and longer ranged units. Once you have
established your navy 5-10 dolphins and or 2-5 destroyers its time to punish
your enemy start by building 2-4 crusiers depending
on your enemies ( anymore is overkill) and then build 2-4 aircraft carriers and
position the fleet outside the enemy base and beging
the destruction. You can also have your destroyers pound land based units from
outside their range(i.e. tanks and dogs) to infiltrate engineers and taynas.
*be sure to
leave fleet outside the range of land based units.
**when
playing allies vs. allies leave 2-5 dolphins or a destoyer
to protect from tayna's.
***when
playing allies vs. soviet leave dolphins around surface ships to protect from
squids
#2 Soviet
Navy
First begin
with 2-4 subs for scouting then build a few more for a total of 4-6, then build
4-6 sea scorpions for air protection.
Subs are
good agains dolphins but not as good against
destroyers inless in packs of 2-4 subs. Once you have
about 6+ subs and a few sea scorpions make the initial attact
on his navy. Add a few squids to harras surface
ships, once you beat his navy or cripple it send in 3-6 dreadnoughts to finish
his base off. By this time they should surrender or be elimiated
by a land assult.
* subs are
not good against dolphins(need hi sub to dolphin ratio)
** use subs
and sea scorps to guard agaist
taynas
*** use squids
to take out enemy destroyers
Hopefully
this will improve your naval tactics
Nighthawk
- yes it IS useful!
The
nighthawk is an underestimated unit in my opinion - whilst its effectiveness
depends solely upon the game situation it is still a very versatile unit; best
used for dropping units as near to an enemy base as possible, and then causing
havoc - there are various combinations of infantry that you can put in
nighthawks - for example, many people simply put in 5 engineers - why not add a
dog or a tanya? - They will kill any infantry in the
base (usually) and hence protect your engineers - also don't just leave the
nighthawk sitting there once you've unloaded your engineers - it does have a
gun - albeit very crap to put it bascically - yet it
is still very useful for taking out infantry units
When moving
your nighthawk about you should follow some basic rules; always try and fly it
where your opponent will not be looking - remember, they are invisible to enemy
radar - which is why they are so useful - but they are noisy and easy to spot -
so try moving them around the edges of the map - then the chances of your
opponent seeing them are minimal; try using waypoints to do this as it will
save you some time..
A nighthawk
engineer rush is risky - if it gets shot down with the infantry in it then you
can lose up to $3000 in one go - and that's a lot of money..when
building your nighthawk and loading your troops onto it, you should try to make
sure that the enemy can't see you - e.g. use a gap generator or put it
somewhere where your enemy can't see - a nighthawk rush is risky - but can be
very very useful - especially in stalemate games - if
you manage to capture some of the enemy buildings then try building your own
next to them - e.g. grand cannon, barracks, prism tower, etc
The above
isn't useful in short, quick tournament games really - its better for a late
game situation - as if you try in early on and fail, you will have very little
money - and will more than likely be obliterated..
How to
use Terror Drones properly.
Terror
Drones are proberly one of the most useful units in
RA2. They can be used for lots and lots of things.
HERE ARE
SOME TIPS WHICH YOU MAY FIND USEFUL!
SCOUTING:
Scouting is pretty easy with Terror Drones, although they dont
uncover as much of the land when moved, they are very fast and will uncover the
land very fast anyway. You must also look out for the strength of Terror
Drones, they are very weak and can be killed easily with fine gunned units e.g sentry gun, GI, War Miner and much more. They are also
very good for getting crates, they will to them very fast.
HOW TO
DRONE A WAR MINER: One of the easiest ways to drone a War Miner is to wait
until it docking in the refinery to unload its ore. When this is happening the
guns on the Miner is inactive and he will have no why of stopping the drone,
unless he has Sentry Guns or defenses. (This works
best at the start of a game when your opponent has little defense)
Also never ever try drone a Miner whens its on ore as
the Terror Drones slow down on it, this gives the miner and easy shot.
TERROR
DRONES IN FLAKS: Terror Drones in flaks are very useful. All you do is fill a
Flak with Terror Drones and drive it into the enemy tanks, when the flak is
killed all the drones will drop out of the flak and land right next the enemy
tanks. This is when they jump in the tanks and cause havoc.
TERROR
DRONES KILLS DESOLATOR: Terror Drones can kill Desolators without even getting
damaged. So if you have a big pile of troops and tanks in the middle of the map
trying to hold your position and you see your enemy sending Desolators to try
kill them. Dont worry, just have some drones as
backup and those Desolators will not be a problem. Terror Drones can also not
be taken by Yuri's.
Tanya +
IFV + Bridges
Here is a
very useful tip when using Tanya’s and IFV’s on maps
with bridges, e.g. Hammer and the Sickle.
What you do
is put a Tanya in an IFV so your opponent will probably think that it’s just a
GI man in the IFV. Then just before he crosses the bridge with his units get
your very fast IFV there at the bridges hut (the part where you can repair the
bridge) and wait till most of his tanks are on the bridge and coming, then just
eject the Tanya from the IFV and blow the bridge, BAM all tanks sink to the
bottom of the ocean.
US Paradrop Tactics
Paradrops
are very powerful; if used correctly; if you manage to deploy 8 GI's then they
will easily kill any dogs that may be sent at them - but if there are dogs
underneath them when they land, then they will be killed in a matter of seconds
- so the thing to do is to make sure that you drop them away from enemy
dogs/pillboxes - try to drop them somewhere conspicous
- but make sure at the same time, that they aren't too far away from your enemys base - if you manage to get into an enemies base you
must aim to get one of your paratroopers to become an Elite - do this by destrpying an ore refinery or another important building -
then destroy the barracks and the power source; then destroy any war factorys and so forth..
Paratroopers
can also be used to plug gaps in the map; they are escpecially
useful for this if your opponent has you cornered in your base - if you think
carefully about where to drop and what to do with your paratroopers then you
will have a large chance of causing serious damage in the enemies base - you
have to make sure that you don't just carelessly order them to land anywhere -
8 deployed GI's are a big threat - and when in an enemies base they are an even
grater threat.
Many
players paradrop all their GI's into one big group -
and then attack. Don't do this! - The idea of paradrops
is to cause unexpected chaos - they are for surprise attacks behind enemy
lines; if your enemy sees you building a large group of GI's from a paradrop then he will simply counter it...
Paradrops
are also useful for destroying an enemies economy - but not so much the soviets
- as war miners easily handle paradrops - if you drop
a group of paratroopers on an ore field that an allied opponent is using then
you will force him to take action; he will have to mount an attack in order to
regain control of the ore field - remember, red alert 2 isn't just about
attacking the enemies base - it can be about wearing them down bit by bit - and
paratroopers are an excellent tool for this...