Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour/Generals Challenge

Generals Challenge.

Playing as USA Laser General
Hard Difficulty

Mission 1: vs USA Air Force General
Start this mission by building a second dozer, barracks, 2 cold fusion reactors, supply center, 2nd supply copter, 2 laser patriots (North of your base), and a war factory.

When your barracks are complete, train one or two rangers and the capture building upgrade. Have one ranger capture the oil derrick next to your starting position and send the second one to capture the oil derrick at the north end of your land mass. Warning: If you capture the north oil derrick at the start of the mission, It will be targeted and most likely destroyed in the first attack wave. Do not bother with missile infantry in the early game. They are nearly useless against the point defense lasers installed on all of the Air Force General's planes.

When your War Factory is completed build one Humvee and then start pumping out as many laser avengers as you can afford. The humvee will be used to defend against all of the paradropped rangers in the initial attack. The laser avengers and laser patriots are your main defense against the massive air assault that will be coming after you. I would equip the avengers with repair drones to help them survive. Spread out your avengers and patriots so bombing attacks can only take out one unit at a time. You need at least two laser patriots so that you can see stealth fighters before/after they attack. Laser patriots can also cut down enemy rangers with ease. In this mission it helps if you get the recon drone general ability at the start and position the drones all around your base. This way you can see stealth fighters even if your patriots are destroyed. Also, you can protect your dozers by keeping them just south of the War Factory and the Command Center. This way a bomb attack on a dozer gets absorbed by the building and the dozers will repair the building before it is destroyed(hopefully).

When the air assault is over it is time to start expanding your base. From this point on the mission is a lot easier. Build any structure that you have not had the chance to yet. Move a small garrison to protect the bridge to the east of your base. There are 5 large supply piles on this map. One next to your base, one in front of the Air Force Generals base and 3 spread out in the middle map. When your first supply pile is empty, I suggest that you start using the two small piles between your base and the bridge, then move to the larger pile to the East of the Bridge. At this point in the game chances are you can put a supply center here with minimal protection (one or two laser Patriots and a path finder should be adequate.)

When the Air Force General finishes with his main supply pile he will start to use the center pile. You can either patrol this area with some raptors, strategically place laser avengers next to the supply pile, or garrison a few nearby buildings with Missile infantry in order to destroy his economy here. In any case it is also helpful to have a recon drone in the area to see stealth comanches before it is too late. As you move troops into this area be careful because he does have a few buildings garrisoned.

When you get your 5 star general power pick MOAB and drop the bomb over his supply center next to his main supply pile. With luck you can take it out along with many of his supply choppers, and a good portion of his air arsenal(raptors, stealth comanches, and bombers.)

At this point I would concentrate your general powers on his airfields to eliminate his offensive capability. Also, a little well planned destruction and he is vulnerable to running out of power which will turn off his patriot system. If you made it this far, destroying the remnants of his base should be a piece of cake.

It really is not needed in this mission after the initial air assault; but there are two Oil Derricks on the path to his base from the east and three oil derricks to the west of his base. There is also a money crate near the center of town.

Mission 2: vs China Tank General
to be added later

Mission 3: vs GLA Toxin General
to be added later

Mission 4: vs China Nuke General
Within minutes of starting this game the China General will have 5 active nuke silos. He also has plenty of power so destroying Power Plants is not effective at disabling the nukes. Plan your base layout with space between buildings because chances are at least one Nuke will make it through. Also place buildings along the side and bottom edge of the map to minimize the damage done to your base if/when a nuke hits.

When I first started I immediately created a second dozer and used the first to create a barracks to the lower right of the command center. When the second dozer came out I started a CF Reactor next to the stockpile. When the Reactor was built I built a Supply center on the left edge of the screen between the two Supply piles. With the other dozer I started building laser patriots between the northern supply pile and the river bed in a semi circle pattern to encompass the entire base.

After the barracks are built, immediately build 3 rangers and upgrade them with the capture building ability. Move one next to each oil derrick on the bottom edge of the screen so that they can capture the building immediately when finished upgrading. You will need the strong influx of cash from these buildings.

When the Supply center was completed I built two additional supply choppers. Because I was a little closer to the lower supply dock I sent one chopper there and two choppers to the northern one to maximize usage and minimize choppers hovering around the supply dock waiting.

When the money allows build a 3rd dozer. While one dozer builds the laser patriots, have another build cold fusion reactors and the third dozer build an airfield, the strategy center, then a second and third airfield. When you have plenty of power have your second dozer build a particle canon or two. With this strategy, it was not necessary to build a war factory. I did build one eventually, but I only used it to repair dozers.

On each air field build two raptors and two supersonic bombers. Have the raptors patrol the perimeter just past the laser patriots to protect against Nuke Cannons that will come in mass. Fortunately the Nuke cannons are fragile and will be easily destroyed by the raptors. Any tanks that come in close will be finished off by the lasers. Red Guard troops and Helixes will also be taken care of by the laser patriots.

Because of the shorter charging time I was able to have my particle canon ready before the first nuclear missile could fire. I aimed it at the center missile silo and followed it with a pair of A10 warthogs(Generals Power) to finish the silo off. (If you do not have the generals power by now, use two supersonic bombers instead, but realize you may be sacrificing them for the benefit of your base.) I targeted the center Silo because that one will fire first. The two silos on the left of the screen fire second and third and the silos on the right side of the screen will fire fourth and fifth. Pick off silos in the order they will fire with Particle Cannons, Generals Powers, and as a last resort Supersonic Bombers. I actually sent 4 bombers at the lower left silo and had 3 bombers make it back to the base alive.

When I had the time I built Colonel Burton and moved him a little north of my base (close to the dry river bed) to have him pick off nuke cannons that came near him. I also got pathfinders as soon as I was able and hid them just outside the perimeter to pick off red guard troops in order to avoid having my raptors waste missiles at such a wimpy target.

Once all of the silos are destroyed the urgency of the level is gone. You should still be well defended and the silos are not rebuilt. Rebuild any lost base defenses then start eliminating the rest of the base. I would try to take out the Chinese command center to stop the artillery barrages. Send out Colonel Burton with a few pathfinders to pick off the buildings and forces remaining after your general power strikes and particle cannons. At this point the level should be easy to finish.

Mission 5: vs USA WMD General
I found this mission difficult. At the start of the mission when I was only building my 3rd and 4th buildings(using 2 dozers) A 3 plane A10 Warthog strike (General Power) was called in against me. It was obvious that the playing field was far from level. Needless to say you lose a lot of buildings in the early game.

Also at the start of the game a few comanches are lying in wait on your island to the northwest of our starting position. If you remove the fog of war around them they will attack immediately and more than likely overwhelm your early base very quickly. (I do not remember the comanches being there on Easy or Normal difficulty)

You must start building lots of cold fusion reactors and lots of laser patriots around your perimeter. Space out your buildings. If you space them well you will only lose one with each warthog strike and each particle cannon strike. You will still lose a lot of buildings. Also, many aurora bombers will attack your base -- laser patriots are the only defense against the bombers. You must keep building these because the lasers are your only defense and without power you are a sitting duck. Make sure you have many extra cold fusion reactors to cover your inevitable losses. You may want to only upgrade the cold fusion reactors in the back of your base. The reactors closer to the perimeter of your base will be constantly destroyed so you should not waste money upgrading your "sacrifice."

You need to keep the supplies coming. Be sure to build a second chopper immediately after building your supply center. Build a barracks early on and create a ranger or two then upgrade them to capture buildings. Wait a minute then send them to the NW part of the island to capture the two Oil Derricks and the money pallet next to them. If you move them too early you will draw the attention of the comanches. you can pump out a few missile infantry(not many), but they only help somewhat, most of the attacks are supersonic aurora bombers or a10 strikes which limits the missile infantry's effectiveness. They primarily help only against comanches or an aurora bomber only after the bomber strikes.

Try to always keep a minimum of 3 dozers. They will be constantly targeted and/or they will be destroyed when an aurora bomber takes out a reactor that the dozer just finished building. Your command center will likely be destroyed in a particle cannon strike and you cannot rebuild it if all your dozers are destroyed as well.

After your rangers capture the oil derricks, put them on guard duty near the coast of the island by the derricks. There will be an infantry attack early on (about 5 or 10 minutes) in this area (The same spot the comanches attack from (see above)). If you work quickly through the chaos of the early aurora bomber and a10 strikes, with luck you will have a perimeter laser patriot here to help defend.

When you have a little time, send a ranger to capture the artillery platform on the middle part of the starting island. The platform does not do much, but it will absorb an aurora bomber attack or two. There are 3 small supply piles between the artillery and your base which can be picked up after your starting pile runs dry.

In this mission a War Factory is generally used just to pump out a few laser avengers to help defend against the mass of air attacks against you. This is primarily an air combat mission. Also, it is essential to start building a Strategy Center after your first War Factory or Airfield. This way you can build a few supply drops to earn the money to keep replacing buildings.

After you capture the artillery platform consider going for the Oil Derrick on the East side of the starting island. But you need to take out the EMP patriot first. To take out the EMP patriot you can send 4 laser tanks or 2 supersonic bombers. If you send the tanks be sure to space them apart so that only one is affected by the emp blast at a time. If you send bombers, you will probably need to take out the EMP's on the small southern islands to clear a path first. After the EMP on the starting island is gone, you can capture the oil derrick here. After you take out this EMP beware of a comanche attack from the area of the Particle Cannon.

Take out the EMP Patriots: The easiest way to do this is to send out supersonic bombers in pairs to take them out. BE CAREFUL!!! There are many tiny islands on this map just big enough to put a EMP Patriot or a laser avenger that will rip your airplanes to shreds. You must take out most of the EMP Patriots starting with the ones closest to your starting island heading out. If you miss a patriot or laser avenger, your bombers will be shot down.

Take out the Particle Cannons: After you take out the surrounding EMPs it is easy to take out the particle cannon on your island. On easier difficulties, I was able to have a ranger capture the particle cannon and use it as my own against the WMD General, but when I tried to do that on Hard Difficulty, She sold the building as I was capturing it. (It was a pathetic computer cheat as well, The instant my ranger declared "Building Capture Complete", The support structure was sold into the ground.) Your best chances to take them out on her base island is to use your generals powers against them and your own particle cannon. However, all your plane based general powers will fail until you take out the majority of the emp patriots between your base and the enemy's particle cannons. On the positive side, once you take them out they will not be rebuilt.

I do suggest that you take one level of airborne ranger paradrop ability for this mission. Drop them on the island in the middle of the map with the oil derrick north of your starting position. They can capture the derrick for funds and take out the laser avenger on the island with their rifles. Once a few EMP Patriots are out of the way you can send them to the north west island to take out the laser avengers, capture (or destroy) the enemy supply center, and grab a few money crates on that island. Near the end game, paradrops can be used to cause a little havoc on the enemy base.

The final assault. The final island is loaded with EMP Patriots and Artillery Platforms. Also many laser avengers get pumped out by her War Factory. Initially you need to destroy all of the EMP Patriots on the mountain top perimeter of the island. Then I suggest you take out the large laser avenger groups and the war factory with your MOAB generals power. That will cause a lot of destruction hopefully before it can be shot down. You need to constantly take out the island defenses just like she did to you in the early game.

I suggest using air power to deal the final blow. By the time you clear enough defenses to allow for an effective ranger drop or laser tank drop from your choppers, you might as well just finish the job with the bombers.

Also watch out on this level. Occasionally she will try to sneak a helicopter in the back of your island to drop a few troops to cause you chaos. You need guard your entire perimeter well.

Mission 6: GLA Stealth General
to be added later