Standard  Game Strategies: These strategies are the basics used for the game. If your new to RTS games, this is required reading. You'll find enough strategies below to help you become a much better player if you apply them when you play the game. Just click on one of the links below for a quick jump to that strategy section. Enjoy the RADEN Strategies Center!

Scouting | Money | Base building | Learning the units | Garrisoning | Tech Structures

Scouting the map: Any good commander knows the value of information. Half the battle is knowing where your enemy is and what he's up to. Once you build a barracks, you should immediately build infantry and use them to uncover the map and find your opponents base. Send your infantry to the corners of the map and a few down the center. Build a few and place them around your base to guard against your opponent's infantry who will most likely do the same. Remember, the first few minutes of the game is critical. Your first objective should be to find and uncover your opponents base and the surrounding areas. 

NOTE: Dogs are great units to use as scouts, and are cheap to produce. So if you lose a few it won't matter so much. And they are very fast on the move. They can cover a lot of ground in a short time.

Control the money: The player that controls the ore fields generally comes out the winner in medium to long games. In other words, if you out-produce your opponent, you will win! Just keep in mind Red Alert2 was designed for fast and furious gameplay. But you will run into times when games can go the long route. When you have control over the majority of the money source you deny your enemy the only means he has to build his army. Attack his Ore Miners whenever possible. When you keep this action up he will be pre-occupied with protecting his Miners. Timid players and those who stay bottled up in there base don't win many games. It is very important early on in the game to expand your base. Always expand toward the ore fields as you go. Most players will use power plants to extend their base and build multiple MCVs to cover as much of the map as they can. The key is to never stop building. 

Types or ore to mine: There are two types of ore located on the battlefield. The basic yellow ore is the most common and the most plentiful. The Allied Chrono Miner brings in about $500 per trip, and the Soviet War Miners $1,000. Although the Allied Chrono Miner brings in less, it Chrono shifts back to the Ore Refinery each time it loads from the ore field, so it gathers ore faster than the Soviet War Miner, which makes up for its lighter carrying capacity. You should make multi Ore Factories and additional Miners to get the flow of money to a good level. The more money you have coming in, the faster you can build your base! 

The second type of ore is multi-colored gems, which are worth twice what yellow ore is worth. Whenever possible, you should send your miners to get the gems first since they generate the most money. Regardless of what ore you mine, always get the closest first and then extend your base towards other ore fields, or build an MCV and start a new base just for mining a distant ore field. Just remember to protect any new base you build.

Some other money tips:
-It's best to build several Ore Factories and four or five War Miners (Soviet) or Chrono Miners (Allied). The pay for themselves quickly, and the key is to get your money flowing as fast as possible so you can build your army without wasting precious time. 

-Because miners dump their cargo quickly, there's less of a need for multiple Refineries, particularly for the Allies. The benefit of a second Refinery is that it does offer you another place for the miners to return to and may shorten the round trip between the Refinery and the ore field. Also, a Refinery costs only $600 more than a miner, and comes with a miner attached to it.

-Place (at least) your first Refinery as close to the nearest ore field as possible. Cutting even a few seconds off that turnaround time, taken over the course of an entire mission, allows you to produce more quickly and helps you increase your power.

-Also look for ore fields with a drill at the center. Although most ore will eventually be harvested by your miners, fields with drills will continue to produce additional ore throughout the entire mission. This extra ore is generated slowly, but it's usually enough to keep a single miner busy.

-Another means of income is to capture the oil derricks. When you do this you will automatically get a constant flow of money. If possible capture at least two of these. Just remember to protect them once you capture them. If they are destroyed the money flow stops. And if your enemy captures them, then it would benefit you to destroy the oil derricks so he/she doesn't get money from them.  

-You can also generate extra money by having Engineers capture enemy buildings and selling them. You get only a portion of the actual build price when you sell a structure, which makes this a losing proposition if you capture and sell a structure that returns less than the price of the Engineer. Still, the benefit is that you take a structure away from the enemy and prevent its recapture.

-The most esoteric way to generate funds is available only to the Allies. Sending a Spy into a Soviet Refinery gives you a portion of your enemy's total funds. Few things can turn around the course of a mission like the successful infiltration of a Refinery by a Spy. Not only do you get the fruits of Soviet labor, you also prevent your enemy from using that money to create units to fight you. This isn't always easy to accomplish, but it's definitely worth trying.

Basic Base Building: When starting your base you need to keep in mind a few basic rules to go by. Structures that produce units like the Barracks and War Factory should go up front. Your Ore Factory should be up front also due to the Ore Miners coming and going all the time. If structures like these are located in the middle or rear of your base, units have to negotiate through your other buildings and lose valuable time in either getting to the battlefield or mining the ore. All your other important structures then go to the rear. As far as using wall, I do not recommend you wall up your entire base, but rather place walls around a few select buildings such as your Construction Yard and Special Weapons Structures like the Nuclear Silo or Weather Control Device. Just want to note that walls will also keep enemy spies or engineers from penetrating the structure. 

Using Base Defenses: 
When creating your air defenses, it's a good idea to group them. A single Patriot Missile can stop one or two V3 Launchers, but it does nothing against a Kirov. One Flak Cannon can take out a Harrier, while two or three can take out a squadron. Keep your air defenses grouped together to make them more effective.

-Prism Towers need to be built in bulk. A single one is good for suppressing enemy infantry or a small attack, but won't stand up against a concerted defense. A group of half a dozen can destroy an Apocalypse Tank with a single shot. Similarly, Tesla Coils should always have two Tesla Troopers charging them. This increases their range and power and allows them to continue functioning even if you lose power.

-Sentry Guns and Pillboxes are also useful. They're relatively inexpensive and quick to build, allowing you to put down several of them in an affected area. Even better, they don't rely on your power supply or drain power from your base.

Using Units for Base Defenses:
Part of your initial goal in setting up your base should be to create several defensive units. Whether this means a collection of deployed GIs or Flak Troopers acting as temporary air defense, your defensive force should be the first thing you create.

-Units are preferable to defensive structures for one very important reason: they're mobile. You can't uproot Prism Towers and ship them to the other side of your base to defend against incoming Rhino Tanks. You can move your own Grizzlies to react to a threat.

-As with setting up attacking groups, make sure that you plan for every possible contingency. Create units that can defend against air attacks, infantry, and vehicles.

Here's an important tip: Do not build all your Power Plants in one area of your base. If the enemy launches a Super Weapon against your base, you could end up losing all your power in one hit. Needless to say, this would be devastating and leave you in a very vulnerable state. Instead keep your power spread out a bit. It's also a good idea, if you have the recourses, to build a second base (preferably hidden from the enemy), and build additional power plants just in case your main base comes under heavy attack. 

Finally, don't forget to build base defenses to combat both enemy ground and air units. Air defenses are especially important in later game missions. Always make sure your most valuable structures are covered by both air and ground defenses. 

Learn the units: Take the time to learn what each unit is capable of. The best place to learn is playing skirmish mode against the computer. If you like to use the Allies, also play with the Soviets so you can understand completely what each unit does and what its limitations are. A good commander knows his enemies capabilities as well as his own. The more you know about your opponents units, the better equipped you'll be to understand what you need to build to counter whatever units he uses against you. 

Every unit has both a weakness of it own and a good counter in the enemy's army. Grizzly Tanks and Rhino Tanks are powerful and can tear through enemy vehicles, but they have a difficult time killing enemy infantry. V3 Launchers have great range and hit hard, but they're fragile and their missiles don't track moving enemies. Rocketeers can slaughter anything on the ground, but enemy flak kills them in bunches.

The lesson to learn here is that your attack groups should never consist of a single unit type. All of your attacks should contain at least two unit types, and any more than that would be helpful. A group of Grizzly Tanks is made much more powerful with the addition of just a couple IFVs. Throw a couple Rocketeers, some Prism Tanks, and a group of GIs into the mix, and you've got a group that's difficult to stop and that can likely destroy a good portion of the enemy base.

The only units that can stand on their own are Apocalypse Tanks. They can blast through enemy armor in a single salvo, kill infantry better than most heavy vehicles, and can also protect themselves against aerial attacks. However, even these behemoths are better with a few Flak Tracks and Tesla Troopers to back them up.

In short, your attack groups should be set up sort of like your base. Plan for every possible contingency. If you don't plan a defense against air attacks, your attack can be stopped by air power. If you don't have the ability to stop infantry, infantry can stop you.

Garrisoning Buildings:  No other basic strategy is as important to your success as garrisoning buildings with GIs or Conscripts. There are tremendous benefits, in terms of both offensive and defensive power, and no drawbacks. Grabbing and keeping neutral structures affords a strong defense for your base and your units and gives you a significant advantage in attacking.

Capturing Tech Structures:

There are four types of tech structures: Tech Airports, Tech Outposts, Tech Derricks, and Tech Hospitals. Each has its own use and each is worth taking. These structures always start out neutral, so when you find these on the map, take them, guard them, and use them.

-Tech Hospitals, when captured, can be used to heal your infantry (troops) Just get em near a captured Hospital and they will heal back to complete health.

-Tech Derricks are a source of income. Capturing one gives you an initial burst of $1,000, and returns about the same amount of money every minute or so. These are a great way to supplement your income. Make sure that, when you take them, you have the units to defend them. If you lose em, the money flow stops. 

-In essence, the Tech Outpost is a hospital for vehicles, or a Service Depot located out in the wilderness. This structure can repair any of your damaged vehicles free of charge. Even better, once captured, an outpost obtains a small gun that it uses to defend itself against minor threats. The Tech Outpost also has an anti-air defense.

-This is arguably the most useful of any of the tech structures. When captured, this building creates groups of Paratroopers that can be deployed anywhere on the map. Allied planes drop a group of six GIs, while Soviet planes drop nine Conscripts. In both cases, these units are essentially free, and become available every few minutes. There's no limit to the number of Paratroopers you can create throughout the course of the mission. In mulitplayer, if an American Player captures a Tech Airport, he gets a second group of paratroopers. This is in addition to the special Airborne group (eight GIs) that he gets when he builds and Air Force Command.

NOTE: Although you can deploy Paratroopers anywhere, it pays to use some caution. If a transport plane carrying Paratroopers is shot down before ejecting the troops inside, you lose the troops along with the plane. Then, you have to wait for the Paratroopers to become available again.

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