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X1CA_003
Forged Alliance official campaign map
Size 40x40 km
     Princess Burke has returned, but she is in grave danger. Seraphim forces have her trapped on the planet Blue Sky, and she has no chance of escaping. You will go to Blue Sky, destroy the Seraphim commanders, and save Princess Burke.
Previous map:
X1CA_002
Next map:
X1CA_004

X1CA_003 is an official campaign map from Forged Alliance. It is the third map.


Walkthrough/Strategy[]

OPERATION:RED FLAG

PRIMARY MISSIONS:

  • Destroy the Seraphim Naval Bases
  • Destroy the Experimental Bombers
  • Protect the Palace
  • Defeat the Seraphim Commanders

SECONDARY MISSION: Escort Civilian Boat(Aeon Only)

New Tech:

  • UEF Bulwark (At start)
  • UEF Cooper (After naval base)
  • UEF Neptune (After bombers)
  • Cybran HARMS (At start)
  • Cybran CI-18 Mermaid (After naval base)
  • Cybran Barracuda (After naval base)
  • Aeon Vesper (After naval base)
  • Aeon Torrent (After bombers)
  • Aeon Eye of Rhianna (After bombers)


You start with nothing but your ACU, so a standard Build Orders beginning is necessary. There is a substantial amount of reclaimable mass in the ruins of the base surrounding your start location, so you can use them to boost your early mass generation. Don't forget the Tech 3 AA, PD and shields for the base ;)

This is a naval map, so get a few Tech 3 naval factories pumping out battle groups of ships. Use naval and air power to crush the naval bases to your north. As the base has little point defense, a SCU with shields can capture the resources and gain access to Seraphim units. Good battle groups should include a mix of anti-naval, anti-air and shore bombardment units.

It is essential to have a very LARGE strike force to take out the northern base with the experimental bombers. I suggest an Experimental unit spearhead this attack force. If you are playing Cybrans, 20 Monkeylords divided in two groups should be able to crush both of these bases, and the two later bases as well. You only have 60 minutes (Easy) / 30 minutes (Normal) / 25 minutes (Hard) to destroy all the experimental bombers. The southern base can wait for later because it doesn't have a time bomb on it. Also for destroying the Experimental bombers you can drop armored assault bots with transports if your the UEF or Cybran. If you are Aeon, the Princess will inform you about some of her advisors fleeing to a small island near the southern base. They are ready to be evacuated, but must be escorted or the Seraphim will destroy the boat they're on and kill them. Send units to escort the civilian boat to Rhiza's position for evacuation.

After taking out the bases to the west, Burke's palace will be shown to the east, along with two bases assaulting it, a naval base to the west of the palace and a land base connected to the palace, to the north. it is essential to have an Experimental defensive unit, such as the Fatboy, brought to defend the palace as quickly as possible, since those two bases will rarely attack your base. Alternatively, an SCU or your ACU can teleport to the defensive line and reinforce it with T2/T3 point defense and anti-air along with your best shields. The commander in the northern base is easy to spot, but the western one will usually stay under water, so bring in a few naval subs to take care of him.

Another way to finish quickly if you are playing Cybran is to build and attack with 8 to 12 Soul Rippers. This will easily flatten all the bases.

On lower difficulities, there is another viewable tactic for the UEF, at the first stage build a few Atlantises, and start producing gunship, in addition to the standard naval force. Once you enter stage 2, move your Atlantises to the northern base and call forth the stored gunships, they will deal quickly with the bombers, and after that, they will be able to almost instantly annihilate the northern Commander, and even the one in charge of the naval base - if he is not hiding in the water. The efficiency of this strategy remains unconfirmed, but I had 15 Atlantises ( wasted potential, I know) and 150 Broadswords, and 119 of them survived the entire campaign ( but I guess it is worth mentioning that I had a Mavor...)

Strategy/Walkthrough (Hard Mode)[]

Welcome to the Hard Mode section. Many of the tactics used here are unnecessary in normal mode, but crucial in hard mode. The order and timing of your actions are crucial in the beginning of each mission (and each stage) in order to survive the early assaults, and in most cases you'll need to capture enemy factions in order to make things easier. A general rule to remember in hard mode is that you must allow yourself to build up as much as possible before ending each stage in order to prepare for what's coming, thus you must be familiar with the flow of the mission.

This mission is, in fact, easier than the previous two because you have Rhiza covering you while you're building up your base, and once you're done you'll be unstoppable. You're required to complete the following two stages within a time limit thus you must prepare everything before ending the first stage. In fact, this isn't a lot harder than normal mode except that the gunship and naval assault arrive sooner in first stage.


Stage 1[]

You start with nothing but your ACU so do the usual and build a power generator, a land factory, then build two more power generators with your ACU while your land factory produces your T1 first engineer. Use your T1 engineer to start the construction the hydrocarbon power plant and assist it with the ACU; this is the most cost effective power source early on. Getting power levels up fast is important in this mission because you'll want several air factories.

After you get 2-4 T1 engineers out, upgrade the land factory to T2 (with engineer assistance, so it happens faster). As in the previous missions, you want to reach T2 ASAP before the gunships come in waves. You will also have to reclaim the various wheckages when necessary to keep your mass level up. Radar is not necessary since Rhiza has T3 radar in her base.

You'll be attacked by a lone gunship around three minutes in the mission. If it targets your ACU, don't worry, because it can withstand the damage. Eventually, the gunship will be destroyed by Rhiza's ASF that's patrolling around. Beware however that the gunship will actually attack the first "tempting" thing it sees. If your ACU is too far away it will go for your power plants. Thus, it's safer to build a T1 anti-air turret as well because the allied ASFs patrolling around may not intervene fast enough before the Vulthoo wrecks one or two generators, which can be quite damaging to your economy this early in the game. Typically the Vulthoo will go to the southern tip of your island and from there attack on a NW vector. You can position your ACU as a "meatshield" accordingly, for example by having it build a naval factory in the tiny gulf SSW of your starting position after the hydrocarbon power plant is up and running. (A naval factory in that location will be relatively safe from the early torpedo bomber attacks as well.)

Usually you don't have to worry much about enemy naval attacks in the first 15 minutes. However if you want to save the allied T2 torpedo launcher in the bay (Rhiza won't rebuild it if it's destroyed) from the initial dozen-frigate attack, which comes roundabout Rhiza's island, you will need to build some torpedo launchers of your own and/or submarines. It's a matter of luck, but sometimes the very first enemy destroyer attack (escorted by some frigates) can slip by the allied patrols and follow the same roundabout route that the initial frigate wave used, hitting your base about seven minutes into the game. This attack is much more dangerous to you because the Uashavoh has enough range and firepower to raze several structures even if opposed by several T1 torpedo launchers. A few T1 submarines or frigates will perform poorly against it. Dealing with this attack, if it happens, will require you to rush a T2 naval unit; you will need about 8 T1 engineers (or equivalent) to assist your naval factory during its upgrade and first build to be able to meet this early attack. You don't have to worry much about T1-T2 naval attacks coming between the islands. The combination of allied destroyers, T2 submarines and torpedo launchers in the bay (esp. the T2 one behind the ports, if you helped save it) will sink practically any T1-T2 attacks coming that way. T3 battleships are another matter though.

After your land factory reaches T2, immediately build 4 mobile flaks to prepare for the gunships, then get some T2 engineer and build a T2 power plant followed by some T2 shields housing T2 flaks under it. (The enemy gunship attacks are actually triggered by you reaching T2, so they won't happen before; gaming this trigger for long is not recommended because enemy destroyers are coming regardless of your level and far too dangerous for an unshielded, T1 base.) If you turtle around your starting point, your T2 shields should be built nearer to the shore so that the gunships will stop to attack before they enter your base. (For Cybran you can build slightly further thus after upgrades the shield will touch the beach.) However, you can be bold and expand to the northernmost mass extractor points before the gunships hit you. These two points can nicely be covered by a single shield and should also house an AA firebase intercepting most attacks heading down the island towards your main base. While heading in this direction, you can also go on wreckage mass hunting spree spearheaded by your ACU—acting as a tank/meatshield—escorted by T2 mobile AAs and possibly using a mobile shield if your faction has access to it.

Usually the initial frigate attack around Rhiza's island has the benefit that it frees up two mass extractor points on the Western side of her island; you should reclaim these as well because she won't rebuild them. There are also substantial wrecks on her island that can be collected by an engineer (flown in by, say, a T1 air transport) without much risk because air-to-ground attacks don't hit her island. While doing all this wreckage collection on both islands in parallel, you need to upgrade your extractors to T2 and reach a self-sustaining economy not dependent on wreckage reclaiming.

When you have 4 T2 extractors and enough excess power, upgrade your land factory to T3. Get some T3 engineers and build T3 shields to cover your base, covering the earlier T2 shields as well. You can start build up the base with whatever you deem necessary, but make sure to upgrade your extractors to T3 and get a sACU ASAP to begin building your naval base.

The enemy will normally attack with T3 battleships around 15 minutes into the game, first with one of them, typically escorted by two cruisers and two destroyers, then with a pair of battleships, escorted by four cruisers. (The trigger of these attack appears to be related to your level of economic development.) Thus you need your sACU to start the naval base (if you haven't built one early on to deal with the frigate wave using subs) and/or build enough torpedo launchers between the islands. The Cybran HARMS is especially useful here because the battleships can't target it, so you can forgo shielding for those. They also cost hardly more than the T2 launchers and build in about the same time; a T3-upgraded Cybran ACU (or engineering-upgraded sACU) can build one of these in a frightening 16 seconds. For UEF/Aeon you can build the Atlantis/Tempest first then the naval base. For UEF get a Fatboy; they have enough range to fight battleships from land. Continue building up your base until you can build experimentals without heavy drain. (Another nice-to-have when the enemy battleships come is a full complement of allied ships—up to 9 destroyers and three T2 subs. You can try to keep allied ships alive by providing air cover for them early on, because they completely lack AA. Even T1 interceptors work reasonably well early on against T1 bombers and later add T2 figher[-bomber]s when the enemy upgrades to torpedo bombers. Interception of enemy air raids can be tricky business however because enemy ASFs patrol the center, doughnut island. Unfortunately, you're unlikely to able to field a substantial number of ASFs to go toe to toe with enemy ASFs before their battleships hit you. Thus, as rule of thumb, don't go further than about midway between your island and the doughnut one and then only sortie your T1-T2 fighters if allied ships are in the path of incoming enemy air raids. Otherwise, let the enemy bombers and gunships hit your island and get slaughtered by flak. Fret not however, that Rhiza does rebuild her naval patrols, however she only replaces a patrol after it's completely destroyed, meaning all three destroyers and the accompanying sub.)

Also, consider capturing the Seraphim engineers so that you have access to the Ythotha, which is especially important for UEF because they lack a direct assault unit. Clear the area of enemies, especially those ASFs at the center island, then send a sACU over to capture. Unfortunately you can't build their Quantum Gates yet thus you won't have Seraphm sACU; you have to use your own to help build the Ythotha.

UEF: A Mavor is definitely helpful to destroy bases quickly, however your main objective would be to get 3 Atlantises and 3 Fatboys, and also capture the Seraphim and build 3 Ythothas. These will be your strike force for the entire mission. 

Aeon: Build 3 Collosuses, 3 CZARs and 3 Tempests. Make sure to submerge the Tempests because the enemy has tons of Ithaluas and Lavishs patroling the sea; their rapid fire tactical missiles can quickly kill your Tempests. Use the Tempests like submarines to defend aganst their T3 Yatshou sub hunters. Capturing the Seraphim is not necessary.

Cybran: Unlike the other factions, you can't fight naval battles effectively yet because you don't have the Megalith, and Monkeylord doesn't have the HP or torpedo weapon to fight through the strong naval patrols, thus you need a large army of Barracuda and Plan B, and even with them the enemy's T3 Yathsou remain a threat. Therefore, the best and easiest tactic for Cybran is to build Soul Rippers. You should build at least 6 of them, but get as many as you can. You can also capture the Seraphim and build Ythothas, but using Soul Rippers is faster and less risky.

Make sure that your ACU is upgraded with teleportation, for Aeon you can use sACU. When you're ready, destroy the naval base.

Stage 2[]

Immediately move your experimental forces to the northen base. If you're using the Ythotha, be aware that the sea is too shallow for Ythotha to submerge completely, thus allowing it to use its unstable beam generator but it'll also be vulnerable to the tactical missiles from Ithaluas and Lavishs. Flatten the northen base to end the stage. For UEF make sure that the Fatboys are behind the Ythothas, and use Atlantises to destroy the Ithaluas surrounding the base.

If you're Aeon you'll also get to complete a sub objective. As soon as you order the ship to move it'll be pursued by gunships, so make sure you have Infinities and also CZARs covering it.

The southen base can be ignored.


Stage 3[]

Immediately teleport your ACU or SACU to reinforce their defenses. Now you can take your time to destroy both bases as you see fit, since both will concentrate on the Aeon and leaves your base alone. If the southen ACU hides in the water, destroy everything else first then prepare some sub hunters to trap him.

Trivia[]

The allied T1 torpedo launcher in the NNW end of the bay is of the wrong faction, being a Seraphim one instead of Aeon.

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