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

Hard Difficulty

On this level it can be difficult to get a foothold. You need to quickly ramp up to get the propaganda center so that you can build Emperor tanks, a Nuke Silo, and an Internet Center filled with Hackers. General Tao will probably have all 5 Nuke Silos online before you have one. 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.

Be sure to have 3 Dozers at all times and keep them spread out You will need them to rebuild your propaganda center and repair buildings damaged by nuclear fallout. It is important that you build a Nuke Silo of your own; he will target it, but you need it in order to research Uranium Shells and Nuclear Tank Upgrade for Power and Speed.

On this level and air force is essential for your defense. I built 2 airfields and filled them with planes. This is expensive for a Tank General but it is necessary to destroy Nuke Cannons. Have two planes patrol the hill North of your base (on the western edge of the map) Have another two patrol the outer boundaries to the Northeast of your base. The remaining 4 planes Should also patrol the northeast boundary to you base, but keep them on a separate grouping as well to let them carry out a few airstrikes and to follow your assault force to protect it from nuke cannons.

Do not bother building Gattling Cannons for base defense. Instead use a few Emperor Tanks around your base along with your Migs for base defense. For the most part, the enemy will send small attack forces against you; usually one or two Nuke cannons. On occasion he will send an Overlord tank and two battlemasters along with a Nuke Canno, but your overlords are usually strong enough to take out any of his tank assaults. His main weapon against you is the 5 Nuke Silos (which can be pretty devastating.)

Now for your assault... In the center of the map is a dry lake bed with a few perpetual radiation fires. Scattered in here are also a few Nuke Cannons. Take them out from the air. Also on the southern edge of the Dry Lake bed is a garrisoned tower next to a Nuke cannon. Take 4 of your Migs and assault it at once. When you use 4 fully armed migs at once and attack the same target, it creates a fireball effect. The fireball will take out everyone inside the building and the Nuke Cannon (However ther Tank Hunters will probably destroy one or two of your Migs in the process.)

Just north and a little east of the Dry lake is a Dump truck with a nuke inside its bed. If you hit it with an artillery barrage the Nuke will explode causing lots of collateral damage to any enemy units (and your own) that are near it. There is another one of this trucks just inside the enemy's Eastern expansion base. Taking it out with make your assault on that base a lot easier.

Take your tanks and attack the east base initially. You can destroy two nuke silos here and it is easiest place to start the attack. There are only two things that will give your tanks any cause for concern: Nuke Cannons and Garrisoned Buildings. You should always have some planes on patrol near your assault force to take out the Nuke Cannons. To take out garrisoned buildings use artillery barrages, dragon tanks, and the fireball effect of a 4 plane Mig strike.

After the assault to the east, head due north. The north east corner is where the enemy has his command center and propaganda center. When you take out the propaganda center, he can no longer build nuke cannons making the rest of the level a little easier. At this point he still has 2 or 3 Nuke Silos which are a definite threat, but just sweep due west with your assault force to methodically eradicate the enemy.

On this level, Black Lotus is an excellent scout. Keep her hidden and let her uncover many of the nuke cannons and other threats in front of your forces.

This level was challenging on hard difficulty, but it is about to get worse...