Hard Difficulty[edit]
Enemy laser countermeasures render Tank Hunters ineffective, and air power is completely invalidated by King Raptors. Instead, employ Gattling Cannons to ward off enemy aircraft.
At the start your initial priority should be to build a second Dozer, a Barracks, a Supply Center (with an extra Supply Truck), and 6-8 Gatling cannons between your base and the river. (Do it quickly because you need to have them up and running before the initial assault. Losses are inevitable, but as long as they are replaced the onslaughts will soon crumble). Two Reactors should be able to sustain everything.
Leave space around your barracks to minimize collateral damage from Carpet Bombers. Purchase the Capture Building upgrade, then use Red Guards to seize the Oil Derricks. The Northern Derrick might not survive if secured early, but it'll still give a small income boost nevertheless.
Once the base is relatively secure, build a War Factory (for the Chain Guns upgrade and the Internet Center), a Propaganda Center (for Hackers and Nuclear Missiles). It is imperative to get these done early as expanding can be impractical and dangerous with the King Raptors and Comanches flying around. Try to have at least 2-3 Nuclear Missiles alongside a level 3 Artillery Barrage ready, then purchase Satellite Hack I and II. The latter will reveal all enemy presence every few minutes so it's easier to destroy all enemy Dozers and the Command Center. Once these are out of action no enemy structures may be rebuilt. Simply take out the Cold Fusion Reactors to disable the Patriot Missile Systems, then send a Helix with Bunkers and Tank Hunters to clean up.
A large quantity of infantry units will be guarding the center of the map. Helixes and MiGs can avoid them easily when micromanaged well, but they can impede ground assaults, Nuke Bomber and EMP Pulse. Nuke Bombers however are still useful for directly neutralizing them.
Walkthrough[edit]
First off, build a barracks, Red Guard, and Capture Building. Send one RG to capture the oil derrick to the south, and the other RG to capture the far NW oil derrick.
Build reactor and supply centers as usual, then build two Gatling Cannons, one near the NW oil derrick, one east of the beach houses. Build your War Factory as soon as possible, and start sending out Gatling Tanks. Spread the tanks around the north part of your base.
The first assault will be a bunch of para-dropping rangers. If you've built enough Gatling Tanks, the rangers won't last long. More assault waves will follow; the toughest to deal with are the King Raptors. You're going to lose some Gatling Tanks to these, so keep building them to replace your losses. Make sure your War Factory is covered well by anti-air, or the Raptors will destroy it and you'll find it hard to recover.
Get your Propaganda Center built, then build Speaker Towers in the northern area of your base. This will heal your Gatling Tanks, and allow your dozers to repair your Gatling Cannons without being destroyed.
Next, build two Nuke Silos. Priority targets are the enemy supply center, supply drops and airfields. Purchase the Subliminal Messaging and Chain Gun upgrades. Build an Internet Center and fill it with Hackers to increase your income, and buy Satellite Hacks 1 and 2.
For your Generals' powers, buy level 3 Artillery, Carpet Bomb, and EMP. The Carpet Bomb is useful for taking out the Patriots at the entrances to the enemy's base.
Grainger is not very adaptable in his tactics, so he'll continue to send air assaults at you until he runs out of money.
At this point, send a dozer protected by 2-3 Gatling Tanks across the east bridge and build a second supply center. Build a second War Factory here and start building Overlords for your assault on his base. It is recommended to upgrade half your Overlords with speaker towers, and the other half with Gatling Cannons. You can also try using Nuke Cannons, but they may not work well since they become priority targets for his Raptors, and it's hard getting them up the mountain to his base. Remember to get the Isotope Stability upgrade to minimize collateral damage from destroyed Overlords. You will need to pass through a village with a few garrisoned structures, so you might want a Dragon Tank or two.
At this point you just need to take out the patriots guarding the base entrance. Destroy them one-by-one with your Overlords, taking time to heal between each. You will likely be attacked by Comanches and/or King Raptors as you ascend the mountain, so keep your Overlords together so they all stay covered by Gatlings and Speaker Towers.
Once you get in the base, destroy all his airfields first - otherwise his Raptors will continue to hammer you. Black Lotus is useful for capturing buildings once you've cleared the Patriots. Proceed to claim victory.