FIELD OPERATIONS COMBAT MANUAL

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FIELD OPERATIONS COMBAT MANUAL

FIGHTING ON LAND

Center of Gravity

An enemy's center of gravity is the thing which, when removed from the equation, paralyzes his forces. It's not his source of strength, but his critical vulnerability. What is the enemy's center of gravity? It's not his mammoth tank or cruiser. Sure, they are powerful units, but even if you destroy them, the enemy can still fight, and the enemy can still win. The center of gravity is the enemy ore facility. Without ore there is no money. Without money, there is no further construction, and no more units. Without ore, the enemy is paralyzed.

Combat Tactics

The computer doesn't know to retreat when up against superior forces, and will always fight to the death. Use this to force the computer into committing forces to battles it can not possibly win.

Concentrated Firepower

Always bring your firepower to bear on a single unit at a time. Concentrate your fire on enemy units that are easy to kill, but have the strongest weapons. For every enemy unit knocked out, your own units will take less damage. If faced with three heavies and a mammoth, destroy the three heavies before tackling the mammoth. If you were to concentrate on the mammoth, the three heavies would pummel your forces by the time the mammoth died. By leaving the mammoth for last, you take less damage.

Scatter!

You can scatter your units with the 'x' key while they are attacking. Moving targets are more difficult to hit by the enemy, and suffer no disadvantage in return.

AIRPOWER

Offense

Airpower is best used to remove targets of opportunity that can't fire back.

Defense Place anti-aircraft defenses well forward of whatever it is you are

protecting. Enemy aircraft launch their weapons from a distance, and you in turn want to knock them out before they release their payload.

NAVAL WARFARE

The Wolfpack

Submarines work best in packs of five or more. Allied ships can only concentrate on one boat at a time. If you can put five torpedoes into a ship, your submarines won't take much damage.

Antisubmarine Warfare

To do massive damage to submarine forces, you need to get your ships close to them. Submarines can't shoot through each other, so getting close will hamper their efforts at concentrated fire. If you're hunting for subs, fire area effect weapons into random points in the water. If you damage the sub even the tiniest amount, it will surface. Smuggle a spy into the sub pen and use the sonar pulse. You can also use some of the techniques described in chapter five.

Obstacles

If a bridge is in your way, and you need to get to the other side, destroy the bridge. You'll need to destroy two sections to make a big enough gap to squeeze through.

LOGISTICAL SUPPORT

Economics

When ore is tight, micromanage your ore trucks. Gather ore in diagonal strips, leaving a checkerboard pattern. This pattern will ensure quick regeneration of the ore field. Each truck holds 28 bales of ore. One bale of gem is worth 50 credits, while a bale of gold is worth 25. Gather the gems first, because gems don't regenerate. It's a good idea to build one ore refinery for every major patch of ore.

Minefields

I present to you the following ways to spot mines: 1.Run over one. Not recommended. 2.Observe and remember where the mine layers lay their mines, and destroy them with weapons fire. 3.Actively sweep the territory in front of you with weapons fire. V2 rocket launchers make the best mine busters, followed closely by grenadiers and artillery shells. 4.If a mine layer drops a mine in an ore field, you can't destroy it even if you know exactly where it is. Make hunting mine layers your new hobby.

Undocumented commands

The 'f' key will put a group of units into formation mode. This doesn't mean that they'll march in formation, but that they'll get back into their original formation at the end of their journey.

The 'q' key will let you assign waypoints. If you give a unit movement commands while you hold down the 'q' key, it will follow them in the order you give them. Unfortunately, you can not terminate your waypoints with a command to attack.

Other keys:

'n' - next unit

'b' - back one unit

't' - select repair mode

'y' - select sell mode

'u' - cycle through radar modesy ore facility.

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