Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour/GLA Stealth General vs. China Tank General

This is one of the more challenging missions for the GLA generals. There are no Scorpion or Marauder tanks available on this mission, which makes it absolutely critical to successfully utilize the Hijacker to add vehicles to your defense.

This is practically non-stop, hands-on action to deal effectively with the powerful tanks coming toward your base, but the mission can still be won. You may want to save frequently for reloads when battles don’t go exactly your way.

The goal is to find the right balance between having a sufficient minimal defense and still build two Scud Storms before the Tank General launches his Nuclear Missile. A northern and eastern group of captured vehicles backed up by two Stinger Sites to the east and two to the north will work. Jarmen Kell needs to be kept busy on the east sniping troops and vehicles, with extra Rebels on hand to capture them. An extra Quad Cannon needs to be added to the northern defense to handle the area where Jarmen Kell is not present.

The tide finally begins to turn slightly in your favor when you have the opportunity to snipe and capture your first Emperor tank. The intensity decreases a bit each time an Emperor is added to your front-line defenses to heal your surrounding units and fight off enemy armor.

Key strategies

 * Build a Barracks directly to the east of the Command Center and a Stinger Site just very slightly to the east of the Barracks. Build a second Stinger below the first one.  This will be the eastern flank of your base.  You want your base to be reasonably compact so that it will be easier to defend.  For your northern defense, build the first Stinger directly north of your Command Center and another one directly to the west of it.
 * Have very active management of your units. Constantly send your units to be repaired.
 * Launch two of your Scud Storms simultaneously at the northern tip of the Nuclear Missile. This will destroy both the nuke and the Propaganda Center.  The Nuclear Missile will then not be rebuilt.
 * Place Jarmen Kell on the eastern flank in Guard mode. Always have a few Rebels on standby in a safe location to capture the sniped vehicles.  Once you have the Rebel Ambush command, you can create troops this way.
 * Quickly recruit four Hijackers to add captured tanks to your defense. Put the Hijackers in Guard mode so they will “automatically” capture the tanks.  Have them stationed reasonably close to the Stingers Sites so they will run “toward” the tanks versus chasing them from behind.  If you see a tank rolling in your direction, go ahead and pro-actively capture it before it takes damage from your Stingers.
 * A single Quad Cannon to your northern defense will help take care of infantry attacks.
 * It seems somewhat random from which direction the first Emperor will come. Reload from your last save if you are not able to capture the first Emperor.  If there is an extremely intense assault from any one direction, don’t be shy to borrow units from another area of your base.
 * Build 2 or 3 Palaces for use as bunkers. They have far better armor than Stinger Sites. You can also flank them with Tunnel Networks for anti-infantry power, and then fill the Palace with RPG Troopers from the tunnels.
 * Do not center the Guard mode for your units too far in front of the Stinger Sites or they will be picked off before the Stinger Sites kick in to help. Have the unit’s Guard mode set directly on the Stinger or even slightly behind it.
 * The Nuclear Missile can be destroyed with terrorists or tanks from a sneak attack tunnel, after you reveal the area with a Radar Scan. Be sure to have captured tanks exit first to destroy the Gatling Cannon near the Nuclear Missile.
 * You can survive the first Nuclear Missile in case your Scuds are not ready in time. Simply pull your troops outside of the base once the nuke launches.  Most or all of your structures will rebuild automatically.
 * The enemy Migs will try to target workers or other vulnerable builders.

Walkthrough
Queue up eight or nine extra workers. You will need to raise funds quickly to quickly build two Scud Storms and a reasonably strong defense. After building your different structures, put them back to work collecting resources.

Build a Supply Stash. Build a Barracks directly east of your base. Build a Stinger Site directly north of your Command Center and then a second one directly to the west of the first Stinger. Build a Stinger directly to the east of the Barracks and another one directly below it.

Crank out four Hijackers and have them stationed slightly ahead of your Stinger Sites in Guard mode. They will “automatically” capture enemy tanks rolling in your position. Center the Guard command for the captured vehicles between the two Stinger Sites.

Immediately start building a Palace, then recruit Jarmen Kell. Place him to the east of the base to start sniping vehicles and protect against infantry. Recruit a few Rebels so they can capture these vehicles. Add these units to your base defense.

The first Emperor may come from either direction, so be alert. Snipe it with Jarmen Kell and capture it with a Rebel. Place it at either your northern or eastern flank. Upgrade it with Gattling Cannons only after you have started building your second Scud Storm. As soon as you have the funds start building your first Scud Storm. By now you should be Level 3, so select your Cash Bounty General’s Power to quickly build up funds for a second Scud Storm. Consider waiting until you can build both at once - the Nuclear Missile will not be built until you build your first Scud Storm.

If you want, sell your Barracks for a nice secure position for your second Scud Storm, plus this will give you a few extra credits to start the building more quickly. Don’t delay or you will be hit by the Nuclear Missile.

Choose the Rebel Ambush General’s Power to create more Rebels to capture sniped vehicles. Place captured Gattling Cannons behind your enemy lines on the southeast and northwest corners of your base to be sure troops don’t get past your other defenses.

A second Emperor should be rolling around about the time the second Scud Storm is finished building. Be sure to capture it. If it comes on the wrong side of the base where Jarmen is not located, it may be best to go back to your last save and try again.

Before your Scud Storms are ready to launch, try to capture a third Emperor. Be sure to upgrade all of them with Gattling Cannons.

Important: Center the Scud Storm strikes on the northern edge of the Nuclear Missile. This double strike should destroy both the Nuclear Missile and the Propaganda Center. Once the Propaganda Center is destroyed, the Nuclear Missile will not be rebuilt.

Keep capturing further Emperors and build a total of four or more Scud Storms. When they are ready to fire, destroy the Command Center, then all dozers that come back to rebuild it. Once you do this, the Tank General’s base can be disassembled at will.

You can also use the Rebel Ambush and Sneak Attack tunnel to help you destroy the dozers returning to this area and other enemy units and structures.

It is not necessary to destroy Speaker Towers, Bunkers and Gattling Cannons for the Tank General to surrender.

Mission accomplished!

Tunnel tactics

 * You can use tunnel networks as traps for tanks. Build two tunnel networks, and load them up with hijackers. The tanks will start to attack them, at which point you have your hijackers run out and capture the tanks, which then help defend your base. If you surround your base with these traps, you can snap up tanks as quickly as they roll out of the tank generals factory.

Alternative Strategy
It's also possible to beat this level on hard without using hijackers - for $600 for a battlemaster the hijackers aren't a great deal, and it's possible to do rapid expansion and quick tech before he gets geared up.


 * Immediately build a supply stash at the dock and all three supply piles around your base, fully stock each with workers - the supply piles will be depleted by the time his attacks start in earnest but you can use the workers for other things
 * You'll have a lot of income, so rapidly tech up, while doing this start building stingers and tunnel networks around the perimeter of your base
 * Upon completion of the palace, invest in a Jarmen Kell, try to snipe some Overlords, it's easier than killing them and they'll be a welcome addition to your army. JK is also important for sniping infantry, they actually present a significant threat to your stingers
 * Also invest in 2 Scud Storms and about 4 Black Markets - you'll have heaps of money from the 4 supply stashes, but it'll be about to stop coming in - although cash bounty can also help sustain you
 * Produce more stingers, you want continuous stingers all the way around your base - he wont be able to break this line of stingers as he lacks artillery and the stealth confuses his tanks
 * Start mass producing buggies
 * Scud Storm his nuclear silo and propaganda center
 * Sneak Attack at his command center, unloading all the overlords you've stolen together with the buggies, his base is pretty much undefended so you should be able to kill him off right here. If he hangs onto life then soften him up with more scud storms and sneak attack again - he certainly wont survive two rounds of this.