This mission is very hard. You really have to ramp up your game on this one, and you have to know the map before you start and what is going to happen. First of all, you have to fend off strong attacks while your starting force is still landing. The first attack is by flamethrower infantry, which can quickly kill off more of your starting infantry than you can bear. Then you are immediately attacked by 2 light vehicles, and then by a light tank. Save the game after each encounter! If you lose more than 2 infantry in the initial fights, or your vehicles take significant damage, you should keep retrying. The second problem is where to set up your base. You must set it up a bit north of the landing beach, south of a small Tiberium deposit. Make sure to deploy your MCV exactly right to allow for a perfect Refinery placement! Reload if you get it wrong. Of course, multiple save files will be required. You will now be a long distance from your second Tiberium patch, which is in the NW map corner. You would like to set up your base between the two Tiberium patches, but this won't work, because there are too many Nod troops in the area. It is important to not suck the first Tiberium patch completely dry, so that it will be able to regrow. The third problem is base defense. You need to know that your base will be subjected to heavy infantry attacks from its SE corner, as well as attacks from the north. You must build one Guard Tower in the SE very soon, and a couple more fairly soon, but you must also keep them repaired and support them with mobile units, because the AI loves its rocket infantry. You can't afford to build Guard Towers in the north, because they will blow up your Tiberium.
It turns out that Nod will use up its protected Tiberium patch before you run out of resources, so you can win by defending strongly until Nod's Harvester comes out to play, after which you gain the initiative. However, if you defend strongly, you should be able to start attacking the Nod base before you see their Harvester. Attack the Nod base along the north map edge. take out the defense turrets one by one with a force of tanks and mobile infantry. There are only 2 turrets on this side, and the AI does not send troops to defend them. You can now enter the Nod base from the west, but this provokes an extreme response by mobile units, so it is too expensive, as your income is very low. However, you can attack the Nod base via the middle valley, which is blocked. The AI will send troops out by the north exit, and you can ambush them there.
When the Nod base guard troops are depleted, you can drive a scout into the base along the north map edge. There are no defenses in this region, and many juicy targets, so build up a mobile Engineer group and send them there. You should be able to take out the Airstrip and the Refinery to start, after which Nod gets no more vehicles or money, and is crippled. (The AI will replace destroyed buildings, and immediately, but not captured ones.) You can now win at your leisure, although Nod still has 4 turrets and a bunch of infantry.
Final Notes[edit]
- You won't be able to get Airstrikes until it doesn't matter.
- Don't get a second Harvester. It's very expensive, and increasing your income will exhaust your income source without giving you a force sufficient to win.