Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3/Soviet Strategies

Soviets have great ground units, weak infantry, average aircraft and navy. Soviet units are made for rushes, ex. Hammer Tanks, Terror Drones, Twinblades etc. The weak point is unversatileness. Few units are amphibious and most units fire only to one kind of enemy. Mixing units up is the key. For example, Sickles don't do such a scratch but mixed with Twinblades, Flak Troopers and Hammer Tanks they do much. Artillery is less accurate than Empire or Allied artillery, but V4 rockets do more damage.

Soviets vs Empire
An extremely effective way of going against the Empire is to use your airforce or an Apocalypse tank rush, using the air force for an early attack. First set up base defences to prevent a navy attack from the Rising Sun. Build some Akulas supported by Stingrays and make them patrol the area of the sea. Then make about twenty twinblades. Twinblades are very effective at hit and run, as they shoot their rockets first. Don't forget to escort them with MiG-fighters as Jet Tengus may be around. Do hit and run from the Twinblades and destroy their base. If you want, put some infantry in the Twinblades.

If you plan to do a late attack, an Apocalypse assault would be extremely effective. If the opponent has strong defenses like Wave Force Towers, make a few V4 rocket launchers. After destroying the defenses, destroy their base. Once again don't forget to escort them with MiG fighters as the Chopper VX in numbers is very effective at destroying tanks. You can build an Iron curtain and a Vacuum Imploder to aid you.

If the Empire employs more Nanocores, use Magnetic Satellite to suck up as many Nanocores as you can. When you use Orbital Drop/Dump/Downpour, the Nanocores you've sucked up will become weapons.

The Empire is slow to get air defense. 3 or 4 Twinblades plus one MiG quickly would be pretty effective. One MiG handles at least two, maybe three Jet Tengus. Terror Drones work well against Nanocores and their Ore Collectors. Just watch out for Empire infantry, the Warriors and Tankbusters are pretty good. So take some bears with you and position them in front of the barracks. The enemy isn't going to get any infantry, the enemy wastes money to either trying to make more units or making another barracks.

Don't waste your money to Kirov Airships. One Yuriko can handle all Kirovs down individually, by one single thought of each one. Rather, spend your money to Twinblades.

Soviets vs Allies
One strategy is to overwhelm with Conscripts. Conscripts are dirt cheap ($100) and so you can produce a lot of them. For example, $4000 might only produce 2-4 tanks but will produce 40 Conscripts. Put as many as you can into as many buildings as you can. If most of the enemy's attacking units are dead and mostly buildings are left, switch the Conscripts to the Molotov Cocktails and have them tear up a base. This won't be so effective much later as they will build good defenses. Beware of tanks. If you're planning on using this strategy, tanks can run over conscripts quite easily. It is advised to back up your conscripts with Flak troopers for anti-tank defenses.

You can make a few Dreadnoughts supported by Akula submarines. However, be sure to counter any Hydrofoils with Stingrays as they can disable your Dreadnoughts or Akula subs. The Allied navy is good at long range attacks utilizing their carriers. They are very susceptible to Dreadnoughts and Akula Subs. Be sure to use this to your advantage as the Aircraft carriers are a main part of their navy. Remember to watch out for attacks from the sky. Escort your strike force with at least six MiG fighters or Bullfrogs. Then destroy their base.

The Allies have the best air force so ensure you have Flak Turrets. Javelins, Hydrofoils, and Apollos are probably the best at taking things out of the sky so air would probably be best to avoid or target in the usage of your super weapons. Apocalypse tanks and MiG assaults is another way to cripple your opponent. Be on lookout for any large amount of Guardian tanks, this may be a sign of a Guardian tank assault (watch out for targeting lasers, they help to do serious damage). Beware the Vindicators in early game, they are lethal to your economy.

Soviets vs Soviets
Soviet build orders for different strategies tend to fall into two categories: Crane build orders and non-Crane build orders.

Crane build orders are best on large maps where you have more time before your opponent attacks you; they start off by building a Crusher Crane, then building up your base fairly normally. The downside the Crane build order is that you are extremely vulnerable due to both spending money on a crane and spending money twice as quickly as you normally would on buildings, leaving you with less credits to build units for your defense. The upside is that, in the long run, you will likely expand and tech faster than your opponent.

Non-crane build orders are less risky, and generally start off with a barracks for scouting bears and engineers, then a power plant, refinery or refineries, and a war factory, although for an air/engine rush the war factory is instead replaced with a super reactor, then an Airfield to build twinblades. War Factory build orders are less risky and more versatile than Airfield build orders, as you can build units faster as well as rush your opponent with Terror Drones and Sickles faster.

A common multiplayer strategy is to attempt to sneak Terror Drones behind the opponent's base and infect their ore collectors. In the case of Imperial ore collectors which are armed, two drones can be used - one to lock down the collector with its special ability while the other infects it. Players often attempt to counter this by walling in the short path between the refinery and the ore mine - either with a wall structure or by using other buildings. A fast way to get Terror Drones is this build order: Reactor, Refinery, (Sentry Gun for defense), War Factory (now Terror Drones), then Super-Reactor, and second Refinery. This build order is good for War Factory rushes, but it's a bit risky choice.

If fighting a Soviet foe beware of the following things: Magnetic Satellites, Desolator Airstrikes, Orbital drops, Apocalypse Tanks, Natasha, Twinblades, MiGs and Kirovs.

Don't try Conscript assault. One Sentry Gun handles at least 20 Conscripts. Desolator Airstrike is also deadly against Conscripts. So don't use them.

Using Structures as Attack Pieces
This strategy, when used correctly, is very effective. The basic concept is that you will "walk" your defenses up, and let your buildings do the offense.

Pick a location (preferably open field or open ocean) between your current base and the enemy's base. First, build a Sputnik, then move it to the location you want to set up fort. Second, move some units there ahead of the Sputnik. Third, build the outpost. Fourth, immediately build two Tesla Coils, and two Flak Cannons so you have good ground and air coverage. Fifth, build a Crusher Crane. At this point, you can tell your ally commander to move some units there, but they generally will do that on their own.

If you are on land, build a War Factory. If you are on water, build a Naval Yard. At this point in time, you can now engage in guerrilla warfare. Move your units up to attack, and when the enemy fights back, retreat back. The Crusher Crane will repair your units while the Tesla Coils destroy the enemy. Make sure you are repairing your structures. Done correctly, you can literally place a base in front of the enemy that they can't really defend against.

The key though, is to have enough Crusher Cranes, so you can build two Tesla Coils simultaneously. If you have four Crusher Cranes already, you can "spring up" a base simultaneously. This is very difficult to defend against. Before you do this, build an extra Super Reactor, and ensure you have enough money.

Top Secret Protocols

 * Magnetic Satellite: upgrades in this order: Magnetic Satellite, Super MS, Ultra MS- a magnetic beam that sucks up any enemy vehicles in the area. The area gets progressively larger and longer lasting as you upgrade the satellite. Useful for clearing choke points of enemy vehicles and preventing nanocores from exiting a conyard.


 * Orbital Drop: sends a bunch of space junk crashing down to Earth. Does little damage, but useful against small groups of enemy infantry. Orbital Drop returns 1 or 2 vehicles you caught in a Magnetic Satellite attack.
 * Orbital Dump: sends a satellite crashing down to the Earth along with any vehicles caught from the Magnetic Satellite. More powerful than Orbital Drop.
 * Orbital Downpour: sends an entire space station crashing down onto the Earth along with any vehicles caught with the Magnetic Satellite. Capable of destroying enemy forces and some structures in one hit.

Special Abilities
Snipe Pilot: Useful on making big and powerful enemy vehicles stop dead on their tracks and available to capture.

Leech Beam: This ability causes the Hammer Tank to heal itself and steals a weapon from their victims.

Tesla Surge: In case the Stingray is outnumbered they may discharge their electricity across the water and do severe damage to even the biggest ships.

Grinders and Magnetic beam: The Apocalypse Tank draws a smaller vehicle from escaping into its grinders. If used on structures or Assault Destroyers the tank will not only prevent the big vehicles from escaping but also grinds up the big vehicle at close range.

Common/Advanced Tactics

 * Terror Drones are lethal to one's economy since it can cripple ore collector inside or stop its engine.
 * Soviet units tend to excel at one thing at a time (like Sickles are effective against infantry where a Tengu can also shoot aircraft) so ensure that your forces don't have weaknesses like a force with no anti-air support. Mixed forces are the best.
 * Soviets get faster high-tech units than Empire or Allies due to their construction system where tech is leveled up by building certain structures.
 * Iron Curtain is versatile super weapon. It can give some extra defense to your tanks or structures, or kill enemy infantry (when they are grouped together or there's a situation where you must kill a commando, these tactics aren't recommended). Dreadnoughts don't lose their health under the Iron Curtain effect while using their special ability.

Fast Money
Here's a method to make a lot of money quickly. Select a large group of enemies with your Vacuum Imploder. As you do so, when the vacuum makes the enemy vehicles into a large ball, click on "Cash Bounty" and click on the ball. As the vehicles explode, you will make money off of every single vehicle.