This is one of the more challenging missions for the GLA generals. Thankfully, the Marauder tanks have a bit of a thick skin to help deal with the Tank General’s arsenal.
This mission can be played in a practically identical manner to the Demolitions General. The Marauder tanks and Rebels use toxins versus fire power, so enemy troops are easier to deal with.
This is practically nonstop, 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 vehicles backed up by a Stinger Site 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.
Walkthrough[edit]
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.
Build a Supply Stash. Build a Barracks directly east of your base. Build a Stinger Site slightly to the east of the Barracks. Build a Stinger Site to the north of your base.
Build an Arm’s Dealer and crank out two Quad Cannons and then six Marauders, to be divided between the two flanks, north and east.
Alternate defense: 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. You can now use fewer armored units to guard your base. Center the Guard command for the 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.
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. (Note: You may want to delay building your first Scud Storm until you have $10,000 to build two at once. The tank general doesn't build his Nuke until after you build your first superweapon.)
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!
Alternative Strategy[edit]
The Tank General is laughably easy to beat with the right strategy as he only attacks with small numbers of units and no artillery, while offering heaps of experience and cash bounty.
- Immediately build a supply stash and queue 3 workers
- Send the first 3 workers to each of the 3 supply piles near the base and build a supply stash at each
- Max out your workers at all the supply stashes: they'll empty out quick but in the meantime you have quadruple income and you can use the extra workers later
- Build an arms dealer, barracks and palace - with so much money coming in these can be placed extremely quickly
- Start spamming stinger sites along the perimeter of your base with the odd toxic network mixed in, ultimately you want a double layer of stingers but in the short term a single layer will do
- Once palace is complete build about 4 black markets and a scud storm, also upgrade anthrax beta in the palace
- Upgrade AP rockets in the black market, you'll have heaps of money so feel free to get other upgrades too
- Make Jarmen Kell, keep him in the tunnels and use him to snipe Overlords - the double layer of stingers will take out overloads just fine, but by stealing them you can use them in a sneak attack
- Take out the Nuclear Silo with a scud storm, and if needed anthrax bomb
You will now have a well-secured territory which the tank general is unable to penetrate as long as you replace the stingers which don't rebuild from holes. Take out his base in whatever way you please, I built 6 scud storms with the spoils of Cash Bounty but didn't even really need them because two sneak attacks of overlords, marauders and scorpions at his command center successfully destroyed the command center and all dozers, with two hero marauders surviving to hollow out his base from the inside. You can also wipe out his frontal defenses with a scud storm and just roll a large mob of tanks in and crush him with irony.