Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour/USA Superweapon General vs. China Nuke General

This mission is next to impossible if the strategies employed in the previous missions are deployed. Severe time constraints are placed on you to destroy the five Nuclear Missiles before they decimate your base. In addition to this, the Chinese tanks are upgraded with nuclear shells and are much more deadly to your troops. Overlords are constantly threatening to overrun your defenses – while Nuke Cannons sit outside the protective range of your EMP Patriots to rain down destruction on your base.

Colonel Burton will be overwhelmed trying to destroy all of the Nuke Cannons, and he is at great risk from the upgraded tanks. He may be able to “dodge the bullet,” but the nuclear radiation that comes with the blast can prove deadly.

Additional defensive measures are necessary.

Throughout practically the entire Zero Hour campaigns, successful strategies can be utilized without the use of air power. (The exception to this is the powerful Helixes in the Chinese missions.)

But in this mission, air power is absolutely critical. A protective ring of Raptors will protect your base from Nuke Cannons – while Aurora bombers aid your Particle Cannons in disassembling the Nuclear Missiles. The Nuclear Missiles have a countdown of twelve minutes, while your Particle Cannons have a countdown of four. Still, the pressure is on. Good luck!

Walkthrough
Build a Reactor, second bulldozer, Barracks and Supply Center. Immediately research the Capture command, upgrade the Reactor and build a second supply helicopter.

Create three Rangers and send them to capture the three oil derricks along the bottom of the map. Eventually two of them will be destroyed, but by then your supply levels will be healthier.

Build three Patriots spaced far enough away so that your Airfields and Particle Cannons can fit within their protective range.

Build a War Factory, an Airfield, then a Strategy Center. Start building two Raptors to protect your base.

Start building a second Airfield. Build a fourth Patriot to protect your base. Build two more Raptors and have them patrol the other side of your base.

Enlist Colonel Burton and have him patrol the front of your base, destroying all infantry units possible. This will enable your four Raptors to target the armored units instead.

Start building four Aurora bombers.

Build and upgrade a second Reactor, then start building your first Particle Cannon.

Keep repeating the above until you have three Particle Cannons built.

You should still have funds available at this point. A Supply Drop Zone will help ensure continued supplies rolling in.

Upgrade Countermeasures and Laser Missiles to add strength to your air power.

Consider adding a fifth and/or sixth Patriot to beef up your defenses.

The mission can be beat with just the two Airfields and three Particle Cannons. When you have the time, you may want to start adding additional PC’s to speed up the completion of the mission later in the game.

The Easy Way

 * Build order
 * 1) Reactor.
 * 2) Supply Center.
 * 3) Three Hellis.
 * 4) Barracks (then upgrade & capture all Oil Derricks).
 * 5) War Factory.
 * 6) Throw in 4 Patriots and 4 Humvies when possible.
 * 7) Strategy Center.
 * 8) Two Particle Cannons.

When the Particle Cannons are ready, kill the Chinese Air Field and War Factory to the North with one and the War Factory to the NE with the other. Since the Chinese General never rebuilds them, that means no more Tanks or Cannon attacks. The two or three that manage to get to your base are easily handled.

Now, take the first Nuclear hit, rebuild and start pumping out Particle Cannons. Your cannons can be built, fired, and recharged much faster then the Chinese Nukes so you should have no problems avoiding another Nuclear hit. Just kill every Nuke when its about to fire and in between decimate the rest of the Chinese base, starting with the Barracks.

The Easy Way, Plan B
Very similar to the above method, but with this one you can remain untouched by any of Tao's dirty nukes. The goal here is to just advance up the tech tree as fast as we can to start cranking out Particle Cannons.

Right off the bat, build a Cold Fusion Reactor and a second Dozer. While the Reactor's building, have that second Dozer move to the midpoint between the two supply docks. It will need to build a Supply Center there once the Reactor is constructed. Have the Dozer that just built the Reactor build a Barracks, then research the Capture Building upgrade and order a Ranger.

Once the Supply Center is built, buy three extra Chinooks for a total of four and assign a pair to one supply dock, the other pair to the other dock - we need to build the base up fast and too many resource gatherers queuing up for supplies only slows down your income rate.

If a dozer is free, have it start on a ring of EMP patriots lining your base. You can use the tree line to help define the defensive line. Make sure you don't put them too far that they can't relay targets to other nearby EMP patriots. Have your Ranger capture the nearby Oil Derrick, then have him capture the ones further out east. The extra funds should allow you to build the Air Field which we really want because we want to Particle Cannon before Tao can Nuclear Missile, right? Build two Comanches once the Air Field is finished - for now, these will be your main defense against Nuke Cannons so assign them a number for fast response. Right after that, get set on the Strategy Center as soon as you can. While it's building at a painfully slow pace, use your Comanches to deal with the infantry Tao throws at you, but make sure Tao's Tank Hunters are already firing at the EMP patriots as their rockets will tear through your two currently-very expensive comanches.

Once the Strategy Center is up and running, upgrade your Reactor with Control Rods, then pick the Search and Destroy protocol as the extra weapon range will be very helpful. Research Supply Lines. Advanced Training can also be purchased if the funds allow it, otherwise prioritise a Particle Cannon. If everything was done right, even though the Strategy Center just cost you $2500, there should still be enough cash to make a Particle Cannon right off the bat, leaving you with enough cash to build another Reactor with the Control Rods upgrade as the Particle Cannon will draw too much power, assuming you've built a number of EMP patriots beforehand. Get Pathfinders too whenever you get the chance as they will take a large load off the patriots. Just be sure to not put them near any patriots in case a Nuke Cannon somehow gets through and decides to target a patriot that has a Pathfinder sitting next to it. Be aware that gatling cannon upgrades on the Overlords and Helixes will detect stealth units nearby so keep them well away.

At this point you're probably rolling in cash at the moment so feel free to build another Dozer. If you plan on keeping the Oil Derricks further out east, feel free to build an EMP patriot by each to deal with anything that's dumb enough to even try to touch them. Just make sure to build at least two more Particle Cannons to deal with the five Nuclear Missiles that Tao will bring online. The amount of money you have at this point is enough to build at least four more Particle Cannons.

Just remember to keep an eye out for incoming Nuke Cannons and deal with them appropriately, note that they'll also try to target your Oil Derricks from time to time. Once Tao's Nuclear Missiles are all destroyed, the mission becomes a cakewalk and you can then destroy his base at your own leisurely pace. Just remember to build a few Supply Drop Zones so that you don't run out of money.

Offensive Operations
It is possible to knock out the Nuclear Missile in the middle of the map with just your four Aurora bombers. Have your Particle Cannon on standby in case it is needed.

Most of your Aurora bombers will survive this run. Rebuild any lost Auroras throughout all of these attacks.

Next target the closest Nuclear Missile on the west side of the map with a combination of your Auroras and Particle Cannon.

The Nuclear Missile further back on the west side of the map has more air defense and all of your Auroras will probably be lost on this bombing run.

Rebuild your fleet to at least two bombers. Again, use a combination of your Auroras and Particle Cannons to destroy the two Nuclear Missiles on the east side of the map.

Important: You can still lose the game at this point. The Nuke General has a powerful Artillery Barrage that can destroy your Airfields and leave you vulnerable to continued Nuke Cannon attacks.

Build a few Pathfinders to help keep your base clear of infantry. Replace any Raptors that are lost.

It doesn’t seem that the Nuke General rebuilds his structures, so you can now start targeting away at his base.

First target his Command Center so you won’t have to deal with the Artillery Barage against your base. Then target the Weapons Factories and Airfields.

It is not necessary to launch a ground assault. Build extra Particle Cannons while waiting for your others to recharge and start destroying their base from space. It is not necessary to destroy armor, infantry, Bunkers, Gattling Cannons and garrisoned buildings to achieve victory.

Mission accomplished!