Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour/USA Laser General vs. China Tank General

Hard Difficulty
At the start of this mission you will have a short period of time before the tanks roll in. Create your barracks and Supply center and have at least 3 supply choppers. Initially I would send the choppers to the small crates north, northeast, and east of your base. Keep your eye on the supply crates to the north as a Gattling Tank or two coming from the North is the initial attack and your supply choppers will be vulnerable. Save your "protected supplies" for when it is not safe to get money from other sources.

You need to build up base defenses very quickly. I normally set up 4 Firebases around the perimeter and complement them with 6 to 8 Laser Turrets. Initially I put one Ranger and 3 Rocket Soldiers in each Firebase. When I get the Pathfinder upgrade I will put pathfinders near the Firebase(but not in it) and fill the Fire base with 4 Rocket Soldiers. Be sure to keep an eye on your power supply when building all of those patriot systems.

If you have the Spy Drone Generals Power, use it to string out Spy Drones in all line across the map to provide an effective early warning system.

After your initial defense is up and running, build a War Factory and supplement your Firebases with Laser Crusaders and Avengers. You will need at least one if not two Avengers both at the northeast corner and southern tip of your base where the Helixs and Migs usually attack. You can later add a few ambulances to help your units heal between attacks.

Note: If you got the Spy Drone Generals Power, you can string them out in a line across the map (making sure that their sight radiuses overlap). This will provide an very effective early warning system to warn of approaching enemy troops and aircraft.

After your War Factory build a Strategy Center and an Airfield. Raptors and Comanches can help in your base defense especially against the few air attacks, but it is your FireBases and ground units that will do the majority of the work. You can also build a few Aurora Bombers to weaken the Emperor tanks for your other units to finish them off.

As you receive generals powers, locate the enemy Propaganda Center. If you destroy it, he can not build any Emperor Tanks, but he will rebuild it quickly after a short reprieve. Also, he keeps his hackers in the northeast corner of his base; taking them out will hamper his economy, but like everything else he will try to rebuild quickly.

Do not forget to build a few Supply Drops before you go broke. Also, when you build your Particle Cannon he will respond by building a Nuke Silo just to the West of his Propaganda Center. Make sure you can take out his Nuke because your base needs to be tight in order to survive his initial assaults. You can use your particle canon to take out his Propaganda Center and one of his two War Factories in one swipe.

There is a Tech Reinforcement Pad in the northwest corner of the map. It is not too difficult to capture and keep it on easier difficulties, but it is nearly impossible to keep without creating a complete expansion base on hard difficulty. The same can is true with the other tech buildings on the level.

Once you have secured your base and have enough defenses to be safe, it is time to take him out. Scan the map for his forces. He often keeps a bunch of units together just in the right size to take out with a MOAB power. Use The A10 power or a few Aurora Bombers to take out his perimeter defenses.

When it is time to assault his base, take a few pathfinders, a lot of Laser Crusaders, and a few Avengers to attack. The crusaders will do the attack, the pathfinders will take out enemy infantry and rocket launchers, and the avengers will protect your forces from air units. I found the easiest point to attack is from the southern tip of his base. His defensive tanks can usually be taken out with a MOAB dropped just to the west of his southern power generators. Press the attack north until you destroy his Command Center. Be sure not to let any dozers to pass you and rebuild the southern part of his base.

After the Command Center is destroyed, it should be easy to mop up the rest of his base. Just be a little wary of his defensive forces near the other entrances to the base.