Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3/Havana


 * Mission Objectives:
 * Investigate Havana for Soviet Activity.
 * Locate a Soviet Base.
 * Destroy the Soviet Base.
 * Destroy the Kirov Launch Facilities.
 * Do not let a Kirov leave Havana.
 * Bonus Objective:
 * Recruit a force of 10 Soviets.

Key Intel and Strategies

 * Remember those two Apocalypse tanks at the very beginning of the mission? They are eventually going to come crashing through your Multigunner Turret defense and destroy your aircraft, Prospectors and just cause general mayhem.  Take them out proactively with your Vindicators early in the mission.


 * Better yet, you can bribe both of the Apocalypse tanks to join the “winning team” with your spies at the beginning of the mission.


 * Air power is the way to go in this mission. Start with one Airbase full of Vindicators and one full of Apollo Fighters.  Eventually work your way up to eight each.


 * A good way to keep track of the Kirov Airships is to hit the escape/pause button. From there, you will basically see a giant heads-up display that shows the location of the blimps.  It is much easier to read and plan your strategy from this vantage point, as the regular HUD is a bit small.


 * Defend the northern part of your base with three Multigunner Turrets. This will be quite effective at stopping anything – except those Apocalypse tanks.

Walkthrough
Havana is another two part mission. The first part is a reconnaissance mission starting with a tank incognito and a small group of spies and attack dogs. There is a bonus mission to recruit some Soviets along the way.

As long as the units stay within the cloaking sphere of the mirage tank, they will not be seen. Take care to ensure they do not stand directly next to an enemy unit; they will be spotted and promptly killed. The spies and dogs do not have to survive to the end of the mission, the tank can handle it, but the mission is easier with them. Beware of the war bears they seem to hunt you out very easily. This is because war bears, like Allied attack dogs, can detect through cloak (in one of the missions, you are told that they can be "sniffed out").

You may find this a good time to complete the optional mission of recruiting 10 soviets during this part; to recruit you need to disguise a spy as an enemy unit, approach a group of enemy units, then use the spy's special ability which showers money all around and converts the units. You have limited funds and it costs 1000 credits to "make it rain", so to speak. Therefore, get the most units for your money by recruiting in big groups. Make sure there are no bears around or your spy will be bear chow. Near the beginning of the mission, there is a bullfrog with three engineers next to it with no protection. If you capture these men, you can put your attack dogs and engineers into this bullfrog, which means you only need to take care of two spies, and an unsquasahble (except to apocalypses) bullfrog. It is advisable to try to bribe the apocalypse tanks that come after the infantry blockade, but make sure that they come towards you first, and do NOT walk towards them, or the bear will get you. With your engineers, you can also capture the soviet base you are meant to destroy, this completes the objective, but you also have access to Soviet weapons, and a base from which you can launch attacks. However, this base comes under heavy assault by apocalyse and hammer tanks supported by a few war bears, right after the objective is completed, but you can try to bribe this attack as well once the bears have been killed. Three, or even two apocalypses next to a crusher crane for free repairs and one or two tesla coils can hold the base against most ground assaults, and you can build a few bullfrogs to kill any aircraft. If you have a human co-commander, the camoflaged tank with mirage weaponary is also very effective anti-ground. For some reason, the AI co-commander will not move or use the mirage tank once the objective is completed, but at least it will draw fire, so you can get a spy to capture some enemy tanks.

Once the first part is complete it is revealed to you that each sports field is a airship launching point. For this you will want to build many anti air units. Fighters, hydrofoils, rocket troops, and IFVs are all great weapons. If you captured the Soviet base, bullfrogs are also useful, as they can pursue on both ground and water. The IFVs and rocket troops serve a dual purpose defending your base while taking down any airships that head towards your base. These airships DON’T ATTACK YOU, they will just fly over you, and so you don’t need to worry about them bombing your base on purpose.

Build several airfoils and or fighters to protect the seas. Fighters move much quicker but require refueling. Build at least one field of fighters “just in case” since they can reach the end of the map in mere seconds. Airfoils are cheaper so produce some. One commander should build naval units since they start on the water, the other should build air and land units since that’s their starting point. Bombers will definitely help later in the mission. Continue building units early on in the game, it will only accelerate in the later half of the mission.

Standard accompanying defense units for a kirov seem to be ground-to-ground, ground-to-air, and air-to-air units. Once they leave the land mass to go over the water, they are left with only air-to-air. Therefore, hydrofoils are excellent for taking them out over water with no losses.

For resources, a small group of units can take over the enemy resources being collected in the water. Two of the 3 of these zones are easily conquered. You will be challenged but with little resistance. Dreadnaughts later in the game will be dispatched to destroy you so be aware of this.

From the moment you gain long range attack forces; bombers aircraft carriers, V4’s, etc start destroying the sports fields. They do not retaliate in any strong force for destroying them. It may be easier to assign one commander to primarily destroy airships and the other to fight the land war.

The east island has no air defense, destroying it is easy. The other base does have a sizeable anti-air and anti-infantry defense system. So focus your attacks accordingly. The south of the island isn’t well defended and can be bombed with little to no resistance as well.

Alternate Walkthrough
To obtain the bonus objective of recruiting ten Soviets, number your spies separately so you don’t wind up spending 2,000 credits to convert one group of spies. You only have 5,000 credits to spend.

Save 2,000 credits so you can convert the large group further up the map with 1,000 credits and then 1,000 credits to take a shot at converting the Apocalypse Tanks.

It is not necessary for ten of the Soviets to survive the mission or to reach the final base to achieve the bonus objective.

It is not necessary to utilize any troops at all to destroy the Soviet base. The Mirage Tank can do this all on its own.

Commander Giles is quite shocked to find out that giant Kirov Airships have been secreted into converted sports stadiums. Don’t let any of the Kirovs escape the area or the mission is lost.

Funds will not be overly plentiful in this mission, so use reasonable caution not to lose an extraordinary amount of aircraft.

Focus on building two Airbases filled with four Vindicators and four Apollo Fighters. You can stay pretty relaxed for a while as Commander Giles can handle the early going.

Immediately start building three Multigunner Turrets to the north of your base, then at least one at the southeast corner and a few to your west. It’s the only way to be sure.

Your Vindicators are not very effective until you get the Advanced Aeronautics upgrade. Until then, focus on harassing the sports stadium to your immediate northwest and taking out the Apocalypse Tanks you saw at the beginning of the mission -- if you didn’t already bribe them earlier.

Be patient for the Kirovs heading south so that your Apollo Fighters can avoid anti-air fire.

Commander Giles can handle the Kirovs headed west, but if you get the opportunity, zip your Apollos over there and rob him of the opportunity.

Work your way up to eight Vindicators and eight Apollo Fighters. For Kirovs heading north, fly your Apollos nonstop over the mainland and have them wait over the ocean to avoid the anti-air on the mainland. Keep an eye out for Bullfrogs.

Hit the pause/escape key to pause the action and view the giant heads-up display to get a good idea where the Kirovs are located. Although they will appear on the small HUD screen during gameplay, sometimes it is hard to differentiate them from the actual sports stadiums.

Destroy all sports stadiums and any remaining Kirovs.

Mission accomplished!