A Guide To Every Unit In TA

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[b][u]FOREWORD

[/u][/b]Hey ppl

For newer players (who want to learn everything about units), average players (who want to pick up tips or tricks on what to build) or any experts who want a complete reference for sticking on their site (please ask me – but its cool) this is for you. After near 9 years, it’s about time we had a comprehensive guide to units in TA, based on experience playing online.

In this guide I have covered 132 units, and 32 ‘structures’ which contain weapons. I didn’t feel the need to write about what factories to build, nor what solar panels do. I have also elaborated at some points where I feel some advice on using that unit, tips, tricks etc are important. Some units barely get mentioned. Some units have their own mini essay!

A little bout me – seriously only a bit. I’m not a total expert – hell I’m not an expert. A while ago I was a “good” player. I could hold off – and beat (on rare occasions) very talented players, and in general could be a decent partner in 2v2. I eventually moved from the TEA clan – to the ACE clan (one of the oldest, and well respected clans in TA history). In my time I managed to teach 2 players to become proper ‘experts’ and a fair few players to become quite good.

I never really had the time to practise TA as much as I would have liked. Most of my time I spoke to, chatted to, and watched Demos of TA, so I hope I developed some semblance of what the best players did, and general advise on – from my experience (being thrashed, and winning) what the BEST units were, and how they were used. I hope this guide helps – I hope it gives people ideas – and I hope that the many experts who are better than me, accept it – and if they see any errors – please let me know! And yes – it is just over 16,000 words. I hope that is comprehensive enough for you. Go make a cup of tea, sit down and read over a period of time.

Cheers

ACE_Beeky

Rating Key:
***** - A Key Unit for your side. Build your style of play around using these units
**** - Important unit, its uses are more specialised but still effective.
*** - A half decent unit, though there are far better options available.
** - This unit is poor and is generally very rarely seen.

• • This unit is a disastrous waste of metal and time

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The Commander
The Commander is the most important unit you will use, he is the source from which you can conquer the map. At the start of every game you will only have your commander, and it is up to you to use him to the best means. This can be passive, by holding him back and assisting / building, or aggressive, by getting him up onto the frontline, and taking on units.

While the commander is a great unit with his D-Gun, using him in an aggressive manner is a risk. At the right time, the comm will tip the balance of battle, though in my view – his nanolathe is the most powerful nano in the game, allowing him to assist a plant and build structures as a very fast speed It allows you to produce units so fast. (Kind of like “the pen is mightier than the sword”) - err maybe not.

The DISINTEGRATOR GUN
The Comms D-gun allows him to protect his base from early encroaching ground forces, but also allows for aggressive use throughout the game. Depending on your ‘preferences’ you may or may not wish to adopt more aggressive commander use. D-gunning guardians and other important structures which can tip the balance of the game – is in my view acceptable. This may not be the case of your opponent. Get to learn the limits of the D-gun. It destroys everything in its path – including your own units, this can limit the times you can use it, especially if your opponent is clever/skilled, since they can use your own important structures as ‘shields’ from the D-gun.

The d-gun also leaves no wreckage so, while it may be quicker to use the d-gun, you have to weigh up whether you can kill the incoming unit using regular means, and reclaim the metal. The Energy cost of the D-gun is relatively high -400 E, especially considering it’s primarily for use in early game situations for fending off rushes.

CONSTRUCTION UNITS

LVL 1 KBOT – Only build if you have to make an adv kbot lab or, if you need con units from a kbot lab. Slow to move, and slow to build, the con vehicle is far superior. ***

LVL 1 VEHICLE – The most common construction unit you will make. Good speed, decent armour, decent nanolathe. These are the real workhorses of all land based campaigns. One of the key skills of TA is learning to use these well. *****

LVL 1 AIRCRAFT – Poor nanolathe, but makes up for it with speed. Superb for reclaiming wrecks on all maps, as it can traverse distances quickly. In large numbers they can become quite formidable nanolathe as they do not take up space around a lab. They are also awesome for repairing important units, especially in packs. They are extremely vulnerable to AA missiles however. *****

LVL 1 SHIP – Pretty much used all the time in the sea. Key point. Sending con ships with a fleet of crussies is wise. If you can develop fast unit control, You can use them to repair damaged ships OR, nanoshield a crussie to save it from getting damaged. Snoop was awesome at this kind of unit control, and I often was mesmerized watching him do this! *****

LVL 1 HOVERCRAFT – Since hovercrafts are so rare – it isn’t very likely that you will ever need one of these. Con airs can do a better job. *

LVL 1 SEAPLANE – Rarer still, the con seaplane is slightly superior to the con plane, but because of its position in the overall build order – is almost never seen or used. ***

LVL 2 KBOT – Often produced to assist a plant or build adv radar, prior to making pelicans. It’s to slow and not powerful enough to be considered for common use. ***

LVL 2 VEHICLE – This is a great unit for assisting. For ARM they work well assisting vehicle labs. For CORE they are really your only viable option. ****

LVL 2 AIRCRAFT – not used often but very good late game for making lots of adv structures. Also good to make adv radar around the map quickly. ***

LVL 2 SHIP – Actually a sub – only unit that can make underwater fusions, and adv torps. It has the 2nd most powerful nanolathe in the game. A great unit but rarely seen. Use these with fibbers to suck up your enemy’s shipyards & structures without getting caught. ****

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ARM UNITS:

ARM is by far the most common side used in online play. They are regarded as ‘easier’ to play with as its units are capable of dealing with any circumstance. The ARM commander is a faster walker, and Arm has the Pelican, Bertha and FARK. 3 units which are the key to popularity.

LEVEL 1 KBOTS

PEEWEE – A superb little unit, with great weapon power for its cost. IT is very manoeuvrable, and doesn’t get caught up in wreckage easily. The only downside is that it needs a level 1 kbot plant to be made. Most TA players prefer the better balance of units available from a Vehicle plant early on, although A_Novice (from the ToS clan) commonly used a deadly 2v2 Peewee first start on GPP. Due to the limited space available at the start, you could rush with far more units, with sheer numbers winning the day.

Also – because many players tended to go Flashes first there, Peewees –though they couldn’t win in a straight fight, often forced the opponent to defend, allowing Nov time to expand with his commander. Though this strat is used by other players to – I always remember Novice using it the most. Counter Peewees with Missile units. ****

ROCKO – The best arm base busting unit. The rocko fires slow powerful rockets. These are awesome for cracking open MT forests. En masse they are dangerous to engage up close. However they lack the range of missile units, and also their rockets are not guided, and can miss. A carefully controlled number of mobile missile units like the Slasher / Samson can usually cope with them. Rockos are a mid game unit, and often tip the balance, as they are a purely offensive unit – designed for aggressive intent.

Eventually, in large scale games, Rockos become better than Sams when you are winning. Sams are a more general purpose unit, used cautiously. Rockos are 100% offensive. Counteract Rockos with Flashes/Instigators, as they can get in amongst the Rocko packs, and can avoid the unguided rockets. *****

HAMMER – The arm artillery kbot – this unit is slow, and has to open its gun breach to fire. This dramatically lessens its ability to fire shots before it dies. They do however have their uses. Combine these with rockos if you want to take out a DT’ed structure. Generally you wouldn’t produce these en masse though. Countered with Flashes/Gators. ***

JETHRO – The arm anti air kbot. The missile is guided but does poor damage. These units are rarely seen. If a Arm player started kbot first and had to defend an air attack – they would make MT’s from a kbot. Most players would only make these in desperation. Apart from one unnamed old skool player who swears by these. Infact his Gods of War Jethro strategy is the best ever. **

WARRIOR – This kbot has dual weapons – a stumpy style cannon, and a single emg. It sounds and looks cool, but it actually is a poor unit. Other units can do the job far, far better for its metal cost. It is quite expensive, and not worth building. *

FLEA – This tiny kbot is rarely seen. Its armour and weapon are so pathetically weak you’d think it would be dismissed immediately. However it does have its uses on a few maps. The Flea has the special ability to climb very steep rock faces and mountains. This allows it to reach and raid often inaccessible locations which are never usually defended. Prime example is on The Desert Triad. I recently played a game there and lost primarily because a timely raid of Flea’s. ***

LEVEL 1 VEHICLES

JEFFY – The Jeffy is small, weak, and poorly armoured. It is also cheap and can be deadly effective. Use them in combination with other raiding units, keep them out of range, distract your opponent and give him more ‘dots’ on the radar to deal with. The Jeffy is underrated, and should be an integral part of an attacking force early on in the game. Countered with Missile units ****

FLASH – Naturally this is one of the most famous units in TA. No other unit has caused so much debate, and arguments. The reason?

The Flash is almost perfection when it comes to design for a ‘raiding unit’. It has a superb weapon, decent armour, and a balanced cost. Flashes are almost solely responsible for causing numerous TA players to quit / almost quit. (The only other reason would be a smurfing PeterC). People don’t like flashes because they feel they are ‘unfair’. Because they feel they do not allow for ‘long battles’. There was a lag issue with Flashes and their EMG weapon years ago. However, the common use of cable/broadband technology has laid waste to this semi-excuse. (For the record Flashes barely created any more lag than Samsons – only in massive packs did flashes cause any substantial effects).

People also complained because they also got destroyed completely legitimately by superior players. This is a harsh lesson to learn, but many players swallowed their pride, and learnt from the experts, kept on coming back for more, wanting to learn more. Now they themselves are the current ‘experts’.

Using the flash requires a substantial amount of unit control. Its primary goal is to kill metal extractors, wind generators and construction units early in the game. Often an opponent will attempt to counter this in 3 ways: D-gunning with commander, radar targeting with missile units.

In general you should keep away from an opponent’s D-Gun. That is self explanatory. Tagging solars (firing at them for a short time to make them close up) deprives your opponent of energy to fire the d-gun (or at least slow down the energy rate gain). Also killing wind generators is a good for this, and they are easy to kill. It takes skill to control multiple flashes, but you can drive them about to avoid the D-gun, or at least use his own structures as a shield.

When confronted with missile units in small numbers (4-5 or less), you can often press the attack and cause damage with multiple flashes. However with large numbers of missile units, you should attempt to keep back. Inexperienced players sometimes throw their flashes into the maw, expecting them to destroy all, when infact they get wiped out by missile units (like the peewee, but to a much lesser extent). At this point, you should contain your opponent, holding your flashes back, and using them to pick off expanding construction units. If your opponent porc’s like this, it provides you with ample opportunity to secure most of the map without harassment.

In lots of games – flashes meet flashes, and this is where unit control becomes all important. Though Flashes are aggressive attacking units, there are inevitable times where you need to prevent damage your own base using your own units. You need to track the incoming units on radar, and attempt to intercept the dots with your own flashes. The best way to approach incoming flashes is from the side, following in from behind. This is because your flash will begin firing before your opponents, and by driving behind and around the side, your flash has more time to fire and shoot than his.

Another good method of slowing attacks is deliberately driving a flash into the path of an attacking one. This stops the unit dead in its tracks, keeping him away from your mexxes for longer. Unit control of this type comes with practise. (I remember watching a demo of one of the best TA players – Picard0h doing this once on Comet Catcher – totally out numbered, and out gunned, yet he used his Flashes in this way, brilliantly intercepting and slowing his opponents multiple raids. In the end Pic recovered and won).

When attacking with Flashes early on, it is best to combine them with jeffies. On an opponents radar there will be more dots to deal with, and can often create a minor panic ‘he has that many flashes attacking already?!’ Make sure you attack from multiple directions, and try to split them up individually, forcing the enemy to deal with each one in turn. If you can, use the vehicle lab as a shield from the commanders d-gun, and also attempt to jam the lab with a flash. If your flash is in danger of dieing, drive it onto a bare metal patch, so that it doesn’t leave a wreck for your opponent to reclaim.

Not just great early on – the flash is a unit to use throughout the game. Mid-late game it is the perfect as a line of sight unit for defences, or the first vehicle ahead of a pack of samsons/slashers or rockos/storms. Their armour is enough to usually receive 2 volleys from a lot of units. Flashes are also exceptionally good for mixing it up with rockos, artillery units, mortys, and even goliaths. Flashes are countered by Flashes, or massed missile units.

Recently – game play in TA seems to have developed to a point where a lot of players use Flashes – constantly - in packs of 100’s on large land maps. Worryingly some of these players seem to feel that this tactic represents the best way to win. Personally I think this is a very lazy tactic – that works vs some new players, but against anyone who knows their stuff – it fails. While I use the Flash abundantly – I only use it where I feel it is EFFECTIVE. I recently played a game on PD where my opponent constantly sent 100’s of flashes in great waves upon my mixed group of Samsons with Flash spotters. His Flashes were absolutely obliterated, even when he had superior numbers.

Remember – Just because the unit is good – it doesn’t mean you will win. Choosing the RIGHT unit, and mixing them up can often win for you – EVEN when you are out numbered.

The Flash is a great unit – but don’t rely on it to do all the work for you. *****

SAMSON – One of the integral arm units, the Samson is a very common unit – for good reason. En masse the Sam guarantees a hit with its guided missile, protects against air units, and has a decent range. It can be used aggressively and defensively and thus you can often never be accused of making a ‘rubbish’ unit. Many good players can very easily defeat a ‘flasher’ with Samsons, carefully positioned and controlled, although personally I feel raiding an opponent is an important skill to learn and try to master.

The weakness of the Sam is its low damage on its own. You need at least 4 of these to start taking down Flashes at a good speed. Overall the Samson is a general workhorse of a unit. They are most commonly used on large scale maps, where huge packs of them will roam, engaging in pitched battles. On large maps it is better overall to keep your sams together. Small groups of sams detract from an overall pack size, and in the long run, a singular massed pack of sams will mow through a smaller sized one.

When controlling sams, attempt to get as many as you can within firing range, avoiding wrecks where you can. Try to get damaged sams protected by healthier ones, so that they can still fire (removing them from the front line if you can. Using Flashes or other faster units ahead of a sam pack, provides Line of sight, meaning your sams can volley missiles onto the battlefield from long distance, without fear of taking damage. This is a VERY important skill to learn.

There is no real counter for the Samson, except massing similar numbers yourself. DT’ed Heavy lasers and Guardians are almost invulnerable to Sams. So beware sending them up against one. Though the Samsons can technically kill a DT’d structure over time – it is an extremely risky method to take. Samsons are better vs units than structures overall. Bear that in mind. *****

STUMPY – The Stumpy has to live in the shadow of its little brother – the Flash. The stumpy has a poor weapon, though en masse they are surprisingly effective. A big plus for the Stumpy is that it has a decent amount of armour for a level 1 unit, although the cost is high. You can build 2 Flashes for 1 Stumpy.

Overall you should build the Flash, though the Stumpy has its uses. Later on in the game, when you can freely spend metal, Stumpies ahead of a pack of Sams, can absorb a substantial amount of damage, allowing more free shots from your main pack. Other than this I wouldn’t recommend you build this. Counter Stumpies with Flashes or massed missile units. ***

PODGER – The Arm minelayer. The only time you will hear this unit is in jokes about podger rushes on gpp. Simply don’t build it; it really doesn’t have a viable use in online TA. Simple as that. *

LEVEL 1 AIRCRAFT

PEEPER – Very poor armour and no weapons are of no consequence to this spotter. It’s extremely low cost, build-time and very fast speed (coupled with a small radar range), makes it perfect for spotting, and marking enemy structures prior to an attack. The onboard radar is also useful to spy on the location of enemy forces. Use these on GoW prior to landing troops via an Atlas. ****

FREEDOM FIGHTER – This unit has superior turn rate, and speed compared to the CORE Avenger. You will see this unit often early on in games like gods of war or cluster freak. It isn’t that good overall, but is often the only unit that can counteract other aircraft at level 1. They can also kill aircraft being produced in an air lab, by positioning itself below the lab.

To control the ff in this fashion, you can either patrol – (or for more precise control), click alternately left and right behind it. This allows you to maintain a form of ‘hover’ or even fly backwards. Commonly countered with your own freedom fighters and some unit control.

Some top players actually defy the norm and make a LOT of Freedom fighters on air maps. This is risky as FF’s die rather quickly to missile units, though it often pays off as their superior unit control skills allow them to use their FF’s to hit metal patches and winds (even taking on MT’s) . ROCK is one player I have noticed who seems to make lots of FF’s and actually use them well. ***

THUNDER – The Arm level 1 bomber is a good unit, and essential for raiding, or taking out key structures on air/sea maps. They are also highly effective in packs vs larger ships (Like Destroyers/Cruisers/battleships). The Thunder has a smaller payload than the CORE equiv, though it is still a good unit in its own right. The multi bombing/line bombing technique is very widely used online, and a relatively easy skill to master. Countered with missile units/towers. *****

ATLAS – This transport aircraft has no weapons but is crucially important on many maps. Transporting your commander across the map with speed, to capture islands on maps like gow or Cluster freak. You can also load up the Atlas with Invader/Roaches and self D it to create a flying bomb. This technique requires good timing and use of ‘distracting’ units.

Beware – transporting any unit with an atlas come with associated risk. The atlas only requires 2 missile hits to be destroyed, and it will take its cargo with it. If this is your commander – game over. The Atlas can be used aggressively to – the age old comm Nap. Set your atlas to pick up an unguarded comm. It can catch you totally unawares if you aren’t watching your commander, and there are no MT’s around. ****

LEVEL 1 SHIPS:

SKEETER - This small boat has low armour, but good speed and a pair of weapons. En masse they are dangerous early on, and they are good for providing air defence for a fleet of ships with their missile. They are also superb for use as disposable spotters – allowing your bigger ships a chance to fire upon the enemy. They are also extremely useful to provide AA versus enemy aircraft. This is extremely important late on in the game where Hawks tend to take to the battlefield. Hawks are the main bane of Destroyers and skeeter escorts are effective at combating their threat.

Careful not to overproduce on these though, unless you are planning an all out skeet war as these boats get ripped to shreds by a pack of destroyers. They also cannot really compete with the more powerful pelican, as their missile tends not to hit them (see later). Counter Skeeters with Subs/Crusiers/Pels All of these units chew up Skeets easily. ****

CRUSADER – Often labelled ‘Crussie / Crus’ (the CORE equiv is also referred to as this). This ship is probably the number one unit to use in the sea. It has very strong armour, a good surface weapon, on board sonar and depth charges to cope with subs, and a fair price for what you get. In large packs, these units can quite easily take down their larger cousins (cruisers and battleships). In-fact the only reason you should consider making Cruisers and Battleships is often if you need to spend vast amounts of metal quickly. Just for the record – one Millennium can buy you about 5 Crusaders. And the Crusaders will win quite easily, as well as providing more targets. Generally the bigger ships attract direct attacks like bees to the honey pot.

Crusaders are highly prized also for their ability to fend off Pelicans, notorious for their unit bug. With Crusaders/Enforcers on the battlefield, they almost render the Pelican obsolete as a main attack unit, demoting it merely to a line of sight unit in many cases. Many arguments rage over the pelican – but nearly all of the best players agree with this statement ‘The Destroyer is the best ship to use overall in the game’.

The only real counter vs Crus is packs of your own Crus. Early on – single destroyers on their own are somewhat vulnerable to packs of skeets. It is a good idea to use skeeters yourself to provide the destroyer with a ‘living’ shield, and to spot for it. A lot of players rely on huge numbers of skeeters, though – in larger packs Crusaders can take down massive numbers of skeets as well as structures, land units, and concentrate fire on l large ships easily. There is no proper time to switch from Skeeters to Crusaders. Personally I often only use skeeters for little more than a stop gap – barely making enough to buy time for my factories.

I would normally begin building crusaders early on. IT is a personal preference however. Bombers can be used fairly effectively to pick off singular Crussies. Other than that, massed Hawks are the only viable alternative. *****

LURKER– This Submarine is an expensive but powerful tool to use in quick small sea maps. A quick Sub can force an opponent out of the sea on most small maps, though there are specific ways to counter this. The sub has the capability to take on a Crus, though if the Crus moves, it can fire its guided depth charges, and always hit the sub. The sub on the other hand is slow, and its torps are not guided. The Lurker also has very low line of sight, so use skeeters to provide it. You can also use your own skeets to surround a sub and ‘trap’ it by restricting it s movement. This way you can buy time to emergency build a structure or counter unit. Counter Subs with Destroyers, roaches or your D-Gun! ****

HULK – This sea transport is slow and unwieldy but allows you to land troops on an opposition island. A nice idea, but a combination of sea & air power is far more effective. **

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ARM Units:
LEVEL 2 KBOTS

ZEUS – This Kbot is armed with a rather cool Lightning gun, which is holstered in its backpack. Cool unit, nice design, shame it is surpassed in many ways by other kbots. Cost wise it isn’t worth it. Not a great unit. **

FIDO – This kbot was one of the best level 2 bots prior to the Core Contingency. It has a powerful weapon, and a very good long range. Unfortunately its flat trajectory shot means it cannot fire over wreckage.***

ZIPPER – This kbot is fast and light, but totally useless. Level 1 units do a far better job at raiding. **

INVADER – Commonly referred to like its Core counterpart as ‘Roach’. This is an all but useless unit, saved by its ability to be loaded up onto an atlas, and detonated (with good timing) over enemy units. Like this – it almost becomes a mini nuke.

Timing a ‘Roach’ detonation is a skill that just takes a little practise. You have to take into account the speed of the Atlas, where you want to Roach to explode, and any AA in the area which could hit it. The hardest part is avoiding being hit by AA (since the Roach explodes with minimal damage then). TO avoid this – a simple trick can be used. Use a unit to distract the AA. On a map like Gods of War (where Roach bombing is effective against he confined space of the islands) use a pelican or two to get into the line of site of your opponents Missile Towers/Pels. Their weapons will automatically fire, and keep firing at your pels. Since Missiles don’t hit pels full on, your Pelicans can survive, distracting the fire, while you fly an Atlas overhead and detonate.

TIP: - If you see invaders in an enemy’s base, being prepared for loading onto an atlas, then get a bomber over and bomb them fast. Killing them detonates all of them inside the enemy’s base, and – if they are grouped together at a rally point – all of them will detonate in a chain reaction. Quite nasty. ****

PELICAN – The Pelican is a very powerful unit – made effective by its ‘bug’. There has been much argument in TA over whether the bug is fair. IMHO – the bug actually unwittingly opened up a whole new style of play in TA. Essentially, - when the Pelican is travelling on the sea, Missile units cannot hit it (since all the units aim at the ‘base’ of the unit – the Pel lifts its legs up when entering the sea, but missiles still aim at the ‘supposed’ base. This makes missiles hit the water before the Pelican, causing minimal damage. Only up close do missiles cause damage.)

Because massed missiles do not hit the pel, this makes skeeter packs useless vs them. (If the Pel didn’t have the bug – Every single sea map would almost always be a skeeter war like on 100 isles). Because of the bug, players have to construct the more powerful Destroyer. Combine Destroyers with Skeets/Pels makes the game more balanced and much more interesting.

Though many people moan that the Pel is overpowered – you still need to make an adv kbot lab use them, costing a lot of metal, and weakening other aspects of the players ability to expand resource wise. The adv lab is a prime target for bombers, and with the advent of a few crus, pels become little more than a line of sight unit (albeit a much more effective one compared to the skeeter).

The Pelican is most commonly used on Gods of War – and there was a phase where the unit was regarded as ‘god-like’. Now – after years of online play – the Pel is regarded as an important, effective unit, but certainly not without weakness, and downsides. The Pel is armed with a medium laser, and an AA missile. The Pels missile has a memory – allowing it to automatically fire on a target whenever it is in range. This unit is kept in the pels ‘memory’ until it is destroyed. This can be a double-edged sword, as the pel will not fire its AA missile at any other unit. To reset the pels missile ‘memory’ scroll through the holdfire-returnfire-fireatwill counter.

Counter the Pelican primarily with destroyers. Submarines and Roaches are also effective. On ground counter the pel with Heavy lasers (DT’ed). Missile units can hit pels on land.

You can also force fire missile units to hit Pelicans… Since the missile aims at the base of the Pelican, if you force fire a group of Missile towers ‘beyond’ the pelican (usually the size of the unit roughly) the MT’s will raise their firing trajectory, and the missiles will hit the ‘top’ of the pelican. Though this is a crude way of combating Pels, it can often mean the difference between life and death during close fought battles.*****

MAVERICK – This is the 2nd most damaging buildable unit in the game – after the Krogoth. Quite a reputation to live up to, but the simple fact is. For sheer damage output – the Maverick cannot be equalled. This is offset by it’s relatively length build time. Here is another way of putting it. The only units in the game, which you should hesitate, taking on 1-on-1 with a commander, are the Krogoth and the Maverick. The Maverick is most effective when surrounded by cheaper level 1 units, especially the Rocko – which moves at a similar speed. This allows the rockos to act as a literal shield for the Maverick. Absorbing the hits, and giving the Maverick a longer time on the battlefield to do what it excels at – Killing enemy units fast. Mavericks don’t have the best armour and cannot shoot over a lot of wreckage. Counter with DT’ed structures or units which can fire over wrecks. When I see a Maverick, I always concentrate my firepower upon it – clearing it away quickly. *****

ERASER – This is the Kbot Mobile radar jammer – which is rarely used, but VERY effective in certain circumstances. Best used with the ‘guardian creep’ technique, since it prevents your opponent from radar targeting your units. It allows you to advance without being spotted to early, allowing you the chance to put up a quick plasma cannon before your enemy realises your plan. Rarely seen but an excellent unit. ****

MARKY – This mobile radar kbot isn’t a necessary unit, as you can construct radar towers, with a longer range, with con units. Also it comes from an adv lab, and since your adv cons can make adv radar – (which covers vast distances) this unit is obsolete. However – it gets 2 stars for simply looking ‘cute’. **

SHOOTER – Great idea for a kbot. A VERY slow shooting, highly powerful kbot that can sneak into a base and ‘assassinate’ an enemy commander. Unfortunately its slow to build, costs a lot of metal, costs vast amounts of energy to cloak – and even then – your enemy can see it on the radar. Its weapon is decent, but it has to uncloak to even fire. Thus 99.99% of the times this unit has ever been built – it has died very quickly. I wouldn’t recommend ever building this. *

INFILTRATOR – This ‘spy’ kbot is almost never used. IT can be spotted on radar – so it isn’t exactly invisible. The cloak ability is also expensive. I have infact – never built one! *

FARK – Probably the single unit which gives arm a massive advantage, since CORE has no equivalent. The FARK is a very fast, assisting kbot, with a powerful nanolathe. In packs around any labs, these things allow ARM to pump out units at incredibly powerful speeds. That said the FARK cannot build on its own & costs a lot of metal. Advanced con vehicles have a more powerful nanolathe, can build, and are cheaper. That said, you can’t fit 8 adv con vehicles around an adv air plant…… *****

LEVEL 2 VEHICLES

BULLDOG - ARM’s only Heavy level 2 tank – the Bulldog is a crawling fat mass of metal waiting to be turned to wreckage. These units have fair armour but have no real effect on an enemy. Level 1 units can kill this easily. Strangely many new players are attracted to this unit. It’s a poor unit. Simply don’t build it. *

SPIDER – This unit is unique in that it carries a ‘paralyser’ weapon. This weapon does no damage and is generally not very useful (killing units outright is far more efficient). The spider is however very good against Krogoths – capable of stopping them in their tracks with ease **

TRITON – A nice idea for a unit – an amphibious tank, yet it falls vastly short of being at all ‘useful’. The Triton is extremely vulnerable when underwater to any units with depth charges & torpedoes. When it reaches land it only has a low powered cannon and very poor armour. *

MERL – This unit is akin to a mortar. Firing rockets directly upwards to land behind enemy positions. It has a fair range, and decent power, and can be fairly effective when trying to break down DT’d enemy positions. Generally though they are rarely used online, and you should reserve them to exceptional circumstances. **

LUGER – This is a mobile artillery tank, that is little more than cannon fodder. Their cannon is weak and inaccurate. Even the poor, expensive Bulldog is a better weapon. And that’s saying a lot. *

PHALANX – This is a mobile Flak cannon – and actually has some uses. It is effective vs enemy aircraft – especially large packs of slower moving ones (e.g. Gunships and Bombers). TIP:- If you set Phalanx’s to guard your Commander – they will fire their Flak cannons at ANYTHING which attacks him – including ground units. The Flak Cannon is a rapid fire gun, with decent power and splash effect. Generally though – this is rarely seen in online play. One of the benefits of the Phalanx is if you set it to ‘patrol’ it cannot be easily bombed. ***

SCARAB – This is the mobile anti-nuke launcher, and is preferable to build over a fixed anti nuke. Similar reasons for the Phalanx – it cannot be bombed easily, since it can be set to ‘patrol’ a route, and cover a wider area. These units are difficult to counter if they are patrolling. Hawks and Gunships are your best bet. ****

PENETRATOR – A mobile Annihilator cannon – can kill units in one shot at long range……but…… For the cost of this unit – its armour is incredibly low. Its turret turn rate is abysmal, and if forced to manoeuvre it rarely gets a chance to fire at its target. A nice looking unit, and a nice idea but – a total waste of resources. Not worth even considering *

PANTHER – One of my favourite units in the game – the Panther is actually a highly effective level 2 tank. It is fast, good armour, a powerful close range lightning gun (akin to the Zeus) and also a long range guided missile launcher that can shoot down aircraft. Quite a little package. Think of it as a faster, more agile Samson, which packs a punch at close range. A nice unit – and certainly worth building if you so choose. ****

JAMMER – Much akin to the Eraser lvl 2 Kbot. Use in a similar fashion. ****

SEER – A mobile radar Vehicle. Not really that useful. Adv radar is cheaper and better. *

LEVEL 2 SHIPS

COLOSSUS – The ARM aircraft carrier is used often online, but not for the role it was originally intended. Repairing your own aircraft is fine – but the fact that the Colossus generates enough energy to power almost 6 metal makers – and thus generate +6 metal. 2 Colossus’s allow you to power 1 ARM MOHO metal maker, and thus +16 Metal. Colossus’s are the basis of a mid-late game economy on all maps with water. They are very important. *****

RANGER – This ship is essentially a platform for firing long range starburst missiles. It is armed with an anti air missile to. Generally this unit is not effective, unless stuck behind a fleet in a pitched STATIC battle (since its Starburst rocket misses anything that moves). The Ranger is thus limited to a role of shore bombardment (which it is fairly decent at). I would prefer the versatility of the Conqueror though. A Ranger is pretty much incapable of defending itself and thus is a costly ship used only for specialised tasks of shore bombardment . **

CONQUERER – This ship has powerful armour, sonar and depth charges for dealing with submarines, and the longest range cannon of all the ARM ships. It’s basically a souped up Crusader, better in all aspects, but costs twice the price. They are fine to build if you need to spend metal fast, as their build time is quick. Counter with massed Destroyers. ****

MILLENIUM – The ARM Battleship, is big, slow, and powerful – but doesn’t actually do anything other than waste metal. For the vast amounts of metal spent – you could make a pack of Crusaders – which would be harder to kill, and do more damage. The millennium, also has no depth charges or sonar – and is thus very vulnerable to submarines. The only time I would consider this unit, is if I had so much metal to spend, I didn’t know what else to do. If allowed the chance to fire its shells, and escorted by a variety of ships – the Millennium can add formidable firepower to a fleet though. Rarely seen online – for good reasons. Counter with Bombers or Massed Destroyers.**

PIRANHA – This is designed to be a sub hunter-killer. Its torpedoes do less damage but are homing, and it moves faster. Not a bad unit – but late in the game,. When you make them – they are minced up by Crussies. **
Archer – The ARM specialist anti-air ship. Though generally you would use massed skeets for anti-air defence, there are some points vs massed hawks, where this ship really shines. If protected well, this can mash up a pack of your opponents unwitting hawks. Not used often, but effective at its role. ***

FIBBER – This submarine has no weapons – but is one of the deadliest units in the game. It cloaks enemy sonar, making enemy crussies unable to spot them on sonar. Combine some fibbers with submarines and an unprepared opponent will get the insides of his base crushed… TIP : Pair up Fibbers with advanced construction subs, to reclaim your opponents base. If you set these to work on carriers, and adv shipyards, your opponent may not even notice them dieing gradually, giving you lots of bonus metal, while depriving him of units. Don’t set adv con subs to reclaim any ship with depth charges – as they will automatically fire back. The best targets to suck – are shipyards, adv shipyards & carriers. ****

LEVEL 2 AIRCRAFT

HAWK – One of the deadliest units, in packs this unit can annihilate bases. Best used when they are set to patrol just behind the front, with ground / sea / other air units providing line of sight. This allows them to volley their missiles onto all enemy units spotted, often destroying them instantly. Since they can patrol out of danger, they can very quickly tip the balance of a game. I have been involved in many games where my opponent managed to get masses of hawks out quicker than me – able to force back assaults and eventually win.

Combining masses of FARK’s with advanced air plants allows for mass production of hawks. This is a Major benefit for playing arm – often able to win the game vs CORE in late stages.

Be very careful of bunching Hawks up. They are incredibly vulnerable when packed together. This is because if ONE Hawk dies, its explosion can severely damage another that it is next to or stacked on. It is very easy to get a chain reaction of hawks exploding close to each other in a pack. Try to control them in a spread out fashion (it’s hard to do all the time, but try to be wary of it, and keep them spread whenever possible).

One method is to move the pack away from the battlefield and hit the ‘S’ key (Stop). This forces all hawks to find a place to land. If they are stacked up they will all automatically spread out and attempt to find a ‘clear’ space to land. Often they do this so quickly that you can send them straight back and fight without them touching the ground.*****

PHOENIX – The Phoenix adv bomber is a great, powerful unit, easily capable of raking great paths of destruction through late game bases. It has superior armour than the Thunder, a massively enhanced payload, and a very low power tail laser. These aren’t seen to often as generally, massed level 1 bombers are cheaper and can do the same job. But these units aren’t bad, and thus they are a decent choice. ***

LANCET – This is the ARM torpedo bomber. Rarely used, though extremely powerful. Due to the prevalence of crussies/pels/skeets in online play, Hawks are much preferred, as they are more powerful, and are more versatile. Only use this to kill off a commander underwater. More useful on all sea maps, when constructed from a seaplane plant – but then the albatross is a far superior plane to build. **

BRAWLER – The ARM gunship is a favourite of many new players, as it is a great unit to use through the single player campaigns. However in online plays the general mass use of missile units tends to render this slower aircraft an easy target. They have no real lasting use in most games, and are often used for a last ditch commander kill (for which they are superb at and which I have had recent experience of – thanks Darkstraw!). Other than that they have little use, and their EMG shots tend to miss a lot. ***

EAGLE – This radar plane is handy, but barely used, as ground based radar is far easier to use and quicker/cheaper to build. Rarely seen online **

LEVEL 1 HOVERCRAFT

Just briefly – Hovercraft in TA are rarely seen. They are outgunned by surface ships, expensive to build, and do not offer the versatility that you would imagine. Pelicans are superior amphibious units. Generally – ARM hovercraft are not really needed. CORE however have their uses…

SKIMMER – This is a light scout hovercraft. Armed with a weak laser, and low armour, it’s only real use could be spotting. **

ANACONDA – This is a full blown tank hovercraft. It has a decent fast firing cannon on it, though, like all hovercraft, suffers problems when manoeuvring and has weak armour. The Pelican should be used as your main amphibious attack craft. **

SWATTER – Basically a Samson that can go anywhere. In packs they can be dangerous, but they cannot take on proper surface ships like a Destroyer. ***

WOMBAT – A hovercraft which fires Starburst missiles. Its range is shorter than normal, and is weak. It is very glitchy when attempting to get in a firing position as it “wobbles” about, trying to move. It is very vulnerable to… - anything! Wouldn’t even consider it. *

BEAR – A Transportation hovercraft. I guess you could load up a bunch of roaches aboard it and start Kamikaze attacks? I’ve never seen one used ina competitive online game. Probably because it’s useless! *

LEVEL 1 SEAPLANES

TORNADO – The what? Yes remember this unit? Level 1 Seaplane fighter – much akin to the Freedom fighter. A decent unit but, so, so rare to see. **

ALBATROSS – This is an awesome unit, guided torpedoes, and air-air missiles. Deadly against ships and subs. Offset by the fact you have to make a seaplane plant, AND its cost, build time and the fact that you could have a heck of a lot of hawks doing an overall better job. That said – on all sea maps, some of these units can turn tides, (joke) since an opponent will simply not expect air power to be used. Not a bad unit – just suffers from its nasty build order position. ***

SEAHAWK – Sonar Plane. Actually quite useful on large sea maps, as it is basically a mobile fast radar. ****

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CORE UNITS:

CORE is not used as often as ARM. However the differences pertaining between he two sides in the game is not as vast as people make out. CORE may not have obvious ‘game winning’ units like the very accurate bertha or the economy boosting fark, but they have great strengths with units such as the Shadow and in general every sea unit is superior to their arm counterpart.

CORE is more than capable of meeting ARM head on in nearly every tactic. In simple terms. ARM is easier to play – but CORE has so many good specialist units that they are VERY tough to beat in the hands of a skilled player.

LEVEL 1 KBOTS

A.K – Even for its extremely low cost this unit is terrible. Compared to its equiv – the Peewee this unit is very poor. Don’t build it. *

STORM – Equivalent unit of the Rocko, the Storm is rightly a superior unit overall. It moves faster, and fires its rockets faster, as it doesn’t have to tilt its rocket pack ready to fire. Core con vehicles can very easily assist level 1 Kbot labs to mass produce them far easier than Rockos. This is a real bonus for CORE at level 1. A great unit *****

THUD – This CORE artillery kbot, has a shorter range than the Hammer, but doesn’t have to open its gun breech to fire, and has the rare ability (like the Flea) to climb extremely steep hills and mountains. This means it can be used to attack locations that can often be left undefended. But in general it has limited use, only good for firing over DT’s. **

CRASHER – This CORE missile kbot is decent enough, but not comparable in use to the Slasher. The Storm is a far more effective unit. **

LEVEL 1 VEHICLES

WEASAL – Slightly superior to the Jeffy, in that it can take 3 missile shots, more often. Since many ARM players don’t expect to be raided by a CORE player, the Weasel can often force them to build at least 1 missile unit. Combine them with Gators to achieve an effective raiding force. ****

INSTIGATOR – Faster than the Flash, with a decent raiding weapon, though not as effective as the emg. This unit is still good value for metal, and will serve your raiding needs very well. See the section on using the flash. Both units should be used in exactly the same manor. The difference between them is not as vast as many people like to make out. *****

RAIDER – The CORE equivalent of the Stumpy, the Raider is actually a slightly better unit, with a bit more armour. Raiders are best used as cannon fodder ahead of a pack of slashers or storms, since it allows the Slashers to fire off a few volleys off without taking damage. ***

SLASHER – Superior to the Samson, as its missile launcher is physically higher than the Sams. So what? Well this allows it to fire over wrecks on the battlefield, which the Sam cannot. This advantage isn’t seen often, but can win battles. A key unit for CORE, especially against the fight to pick off raiding units. *****

LEVELLER – This unique style unit is designed to quickly destroy level 1 units – notably Flashes with a high powered plasma cannon. However it doesn’t cope at all well in the role it was designed for, has poor armour, a low speed, and a high cost. Thus it’s a nigh on worthless unit. *

SPOILER – Like the Podger – this unit is nigh on useless. Mines were a great idea for a strategy game – but they failed to work. To costly, and they take up valuable unit space (so a large minefield is a waste) *

LEVEL 1 AIRCRAFT

FINK – Use in exactly the same way as a peeper. There is barely any difference from its ARM counterpart. ****

AVENGER – While the freedom fighter is a half decent unit, good at its job, but not much else, the Avenger is a very poor unit that cannot compete in a dogfight with a freedom fighter. It thus isn’t a viable option to go quick avenger with core. Not a good unit **

SHADOW – On the other hand – the Shadow is a lethally powerful bomber, capable of dropping a very heavy payload for very little cost. The Shadow is so good, it’s quite easily comparable with the ARM Adv bomber, the Phoenix. The Shadow is one of CORE’s best units, and should be produced en masse where possible, to take out key structures. *****

VALKYRIE – Exactly the same as the Atlas – used to transport roaches and units fast across the battlefield. ****

LEVEL 1 SHIPS

SEARCHER – Roughly the same to the ARM skeeter, the Searcher is cheaper, and a little more powerful, though its turret has a slower turn rate. Use these for rushing, and late on primarily for cannon fodder / AA / line of sight units for the Enforcer. ****

ENFORCER – Like the Crusader, but with slightly enhanced stats, the Enforcer is the perennial ship in the game. Packs of these decimate Subs and surface vessels if you target them right, and these are your number 1 primary defence against ARM Pels. *****

ENVOY – The CORE transport ship – similar to the hulk. Not used often for transportation, as the Valkyrie is far quicker. TIP : Load up lots of roaches into an Envoy, and use it as a floating Kamikaze ship. May not be greatly effective, but works well vs pels, as it has good armour to get really close. **

SNAKE – The Snake is a slightly superior version of the Lurker, though in general you would use both these units in exactly the same way. TIP: If you have to fight one on one with an enemy destroyer, you will generally lose, as the crus can manoeuvre around the sub. However, if you must defeat it, get your sub as close as possible to the enemy destroyer. About 50% of its depth charges will miss, and your torpedoes guarantee hits, and have shorter reload times. It is quite possible to kill a full health destroyer with a single sub, simply by getting very close to it. ***

LEVEL 2 KBOTS

PYRO – A Nice idea for a kbot – Flamethrower assassin, but totally useless online. The Pyro cannot fire at all well while moving – which is a pretty much essential requirement for any unit wishing to survive on the battlefield. Its cost is to high for the armour class and weapon power. Don’t build it. *

FREAKER – A fast raider Kbot, but not as good at raiding as Instigators. You also need a level 2 lab for this – and generally at this stage – raiding for individual metal patches isn’t effective. **

THE CAN – One of my favourite unit designs, the Can is an incredibly slow kbot, with very powerful armour, and a lethal Heavy Laser. These things take a fair pounding before going down, but unfortunately its lack of speed, and low range of its weapon let it down drastically. The Can, can (joke) however be airlifted, thus reducing the time taken for it to arrive on the battlefield, providing the air unit doesn’t get shot down. **

DECOY COMMANDER – A very clever unit, and can be brilliant at totally fooling a human opponent. In fast paced games, where your opponent will look to get your comm no matter what they are great. Hide your real comm, and position your decoy in an obvious location. If your opponent spots it – there are many times where he will attack it – with all his might, Maybe he will send bombers, maybe he will send his Hawk squads. Sending these units to your base, in a desperate attempt to kill you, can lure out his forces, giving you the chance to defeat a large section of his attacking capability. Most of his aircraft will die in the attempt – and yes your decoy will die. But the result?

So many times, my opponent has gone “gg” when my decoy blew, his entire air force dieing in the attempt. Then a few beautiful seconds pass before they realise they’ve just wasted their entire chance of winning the game. Decoys are also great for sucking wrecks underwater. They are only vulnerable to subs and destroyers like this. ****

ROACH – Just like the Invader, the Roach is primarily used with Air transports like a mobile bomb. ****

DOMINATOR – Similar to the Merl, but in Kbot form, the Dominator can be used to some effect on maps where you have to fire over a mountain range (like Lusch Puppy). Other than that it’s pretty weak. **

GIMP – While the ARM pelican is an awesome multipurpose amphibious unit, the CORE Gimp is woefully inadequate. Travelling underwater can avoid some problems, but also digs up a host of whole new ones. The Gimp cannot defend itself underwater and moves very slowly, thus making it an easy target for surface ships with sonar/defences. It is armed with a decent heavy laser, but doesn’t get the chance to use it to its full effect. **

SUMO – The designers from Cavedog obviously had a soft spot for The Can, so when CC was released, they made a new version, based on The Can. The Sumo, is even slower than the can, but has a more powerful, faster firing laser, with longer range, and even more heavy armour. Against massed missile units, the Sumo takes a while to go down, but can’t cope in the long run. This unit has its uses as a mobile Heavy Laser tower, and can actually be DT’d and used to such an effect. But over 800 metal for it? Bit to expensive and not a viable unit. What a shame. And if only Cavedog had made it transportable by air (which it isn’t). Bleh ***

MORTY – Now this is more like it. Where the ARM has the Maverick, powerful, unit killer at close range, the CORE has the Morty, one of the most underrated units in the game. To put it frankly – the Morty, in packs, are absolutely lethal.

If you can provide line of sight to them, they will quite happily sit back, and shell anything. They have a tremendous range, fast fire rate, decent power, and low cost. The added bonus is they fire over wreckage and DT’s, making this the ultimate base busting support unit. Combine these with Storms when you can. *****

NECRO – The supposed equivalent to the Fark, unfortunately the Necro is bugged, and thus doesn’t live up to sheer usefulness of the FARK. The Necro can resurrect any wreckage, thus you are able to save the cost of rebuilding destroyed structures, and even capture enemy con units to give you both techs. Even if the Necro wasn’t bugged, it wouldn’t be as useful. A shame. **

SPECTRE – CORE radar jamming kbot. Quite useful. ***

VOYEUR – The CORE spy kbot. As useless as the ARM version. Spy kbots can be spotted on radar? Pffft *

LEVEL 2 VEHICLES

REAPER – Very Similar to the Bulldog, though looking cooler. I wouldn’t ever recommend building this unit… and you probably know why if you look below *

CROC – This amphibious tank is very poorly armed and armoured and is not a good choice. It is incapable of defending itself when driving underwater, and is usually killed the instant it emerges from beneath the waves. *

MOBILE ARTILLERY – Just like the Luger – this unit is very poor all-round. When you have capability to make Goliaths – why would you make this! *

GOLIATH – This tank is a true beast, capable of taking many hits, and has a lethally powerful weapon, with decent range, splash damage, and a good fire rate. Packs of Goliaths chew through nearly all Missile based defences, and when accompanied by packs of level 1 units like slashers/storms they can whittle down all but the most entrenched defences.

The only (real) downside is the cost. 600 odd Metal for a tank is a lot – 8 Goliaths would buy you an intimidator. Send level 1 units with Goliaths to take hits and provide los. Great unit – and worthy of building in late games for CORE. *****

HEDGEHOG – This mobile anti-nuke is used exactly the same way as the ARM Scarab. In-fact it’s even more important for CORE, as the CORE static anti-nuke (Fortitude) is bugged, and often doesn’t fire when a nuke is approaching. Making Hedgehogs solves this problem. ***

DIPLOMAT – Used in exactly the same way as the ARM Merl. The Diplomat provides an effective Mortar-style attack. Its missile is useless vs mobile targets. **

COPPERHEAD– Since CORE often cannot get massive Vamp swarms to combat ARM hawks; the Copperhead is a viable option to position throughout a base. If you can lure the enemy forces over your base, to where the Copperhead/Flak cannons are, they can very quickly make short work of a swarm. The Copperhead has the same bug as the ARM Phalanx – guarding a unit with it gives the Copperhead the opportunity to fire its flak cannons at any attacking unit. ***

DELETER – A CORE radar jamming vehicle – the Deleter is an effective tank for shrouding portions of your base from enemy radar. Good on small maps, and excellent for guardian creeping. ****

INFORMER – The Core mobile radar vehicle. Again – Make adv radar instead. *

LEVEL 2 SHIPS

HIVE – Used primarily to generate Energy to power large economies in sea maps. The Hive generates a little more E that the Colossus. TIP: To get even more resources, turn every Carriers radar ‘off’. This saves an additional 50 energy per second, and almost enough to power an extra +1 M per carrier. *****

EXECUTIONER – This CORE cruiser is impressively armoured and armed. A long range plasma, depth charges, sonar, and good armour. Slightly enhanced stats as compared to the ARM Conquerer. ****

WARLORD – The big daddy of all sea units, the Warlord is a lethally effective surface ship. Its effectiveness is primarily down to its GAAT-type Heavy laser mounted on the bow. This laser has a very long range, fires at a decent speed and hits nearly every time, even on moving targets. The Warlord is also the ultimate defence versus ARM Pelicans.

Unfortunately the Warlord has zero submarine defences, and becomes a primary target to all ships and air units, due to its massive metal cost. This requires a large screening force of Enforcers and Searchers. In a combined fleet, the Warlord can turn the tide of a battle, and on all sea maps, where metal production reaches high levels; CORE forces can produce Warlords, that provide far superior heavy support to fleets than the Millennium. Keep these units back, and let them pound away out of sight. ****

MISSILE FRIGATE – Like the Ranger – this is really only a specialist unit. It isn’t an effective fighting ship. The Executioner is a better choice. **

SHARK – With guided Torpedoes this unit would be an excellent level 1 sub. However since you need an adv shipyard to build it – they often aren’t seen until late in the game. At this time, massed Crus are much more prevalent, better at killing subs, and Sharks become an endangered species. **

SHREDDER – This unit is akin to the Archer – a high powered anti aircraft ship. On its own, it is a very capable anti-aircraft ship. Though in general searchers are better as they provide multiple targets, the Shredder, when protected by other ships can have a very sudden impact on attempted bomber/hawk/gunship attacks. ***

PHANTOM – Though ARM has the excellent Fibber, CORE have an equally effective unit – which is rarely used online. This radar jamming ship is excellent combined with a fleet. Consider this – late on a lot of surface water battles take place with radar targeting. Also radar is heavily relied on to position ships in advance to take on fleets, since all heavy ships have a low turn rate.

Jamming the position of your fleet, allows you to more ably position your ships, and force the enemy to rely on line of sight more – as opposed to radar targeting. On smaller maps like gods of war, where radar targeting and unit micro is v important, the jammer ship can be more useful than the fibber. Johns Pass is also a fantastic map to use jamming ships on – as fighting through the narrow alleys of water at the sides is often a radar target battle. ****

LEVIATHAN – This is a very highly powered submarine, with heavy armour, and guided advanced torpedoes which do a lot of damage. It costs a huge amount of metal, but it cannot compete in the late game situations where it will be built. Massed crussies will kill it very quickly with their depth charges. **

LEVEL 2 AIRCRAFT

RAPIER – The Rapier is a superb gunship, which fires 2 unguided rockets. Though slow, like the Brawler, they are capable of more damage over time, and are especially useful as they can fire their rockets as they move. This allows them to take down MT forests far easier – though generally this would be a waste.

The Rapier is especially good at taking out key important structures quickly. (E.g. Fusions / adv factories / heavy warships. It is also deadly versus a Commander, and is one of the most common commander killers in the game. Although you cannot mass produce them as quickly as many ARM aircraft – the Rapier is deadly even in smaller groups. ****

HURRICANE – The Hurricane has the largest payload in the game, dropping an inordinate amount of bombs. Like the Phoenix, it is also armed with a light tail laser (which is albeit useless) and has enhanced armour – capable of taking a fair few missile hits.

Though the Hurricane is statistically the best bomber in the game, the CORE level 1 bomber – the Shadow, is much cheaper, and comparatively drops a massive payload for its value. Thus the Shadow is the ONLY choice for bombing with Core. Just make lots of level 1 labs and mass produce shadows. Hurricanes are great but, pale in comparison to the Shadow. ***

TITAN – The CORE torpedo bomber isn’t as effective vs surface ships as bombers or Rapiers. That said they are effective for pinpoint torpedoing singular structures or units underwater – especially submarines and commanders. **

VAMP – The Vamp is the CORE equiv of the Hawk, but isn’t quite as effective. Also the Hawk’s true strength is its ability to be mass produced using FARK’s. This ability is distinctly lacking with CORE, which makes the Vamp not a totally viable solution to compete with ARM. You’d be much better off massing lots of Shadows, or making Rapiers.

That said the Vamp is still a very good unit, and you are often required to use CORE’s somewhat poorer ability to mass produce them in order to compete. The unit is good – but the ability to produce them at the same rate as ARM hampers their ability. ****

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CORE UNITS:
LEVEL 1 HOVERCRAFT

General note – CORE hovercraft MAY be slightly more useful to you. ARM has the Pelican – which is the ultimate amphibious craft. However the CORE Gimp is so slow, that a small group of hovercraft supported by CORE’s superior Navy can be effective in some situations.

SCRUBBER – Fast, poorly armoured, lightly armed. Same use as for ARM (if any) *

SNAPPER – Again so similar to the ARM Anaconda. However due to the lack of effective amphibious weapons for CORE, I have used and seen the Snapper used on a few occasions for CORE to invade a land based opponent.

An example is using these to invade an opponent on a map like Coast to Coast, where sometimes an opponent can porc up against the side of the map, out of range of most ships. In such a situation, it is better to switch to Hovercraft, and invade, as the long range ships are often have to get near the shore to fire – and thus at risk from a prowling commander. ***

SLINGER – Good for backup with the Snapper. You are more likely to use these as CORE to invade and hold an island. ***

NIXXER – Ok this is truly as bad as the Wombat. Never built it. *

TURTLE – You really shouldn’t ever need this transport hovercraft *

LEVEL 1 SEAPLANES

VOODOO – So rare! Rarer than the Tornado even (few people ever get CORE seaplanes). They aren’t that good mind. *

TYPHOON – Like the ARM Albatross, this is actually an excellent unit, armed with an AA missile and powerful guided torpedoes, which is marred by its position right at the back end of a build queue. Thus it is rarely seen online. ***

HUNTER – The CORE sonar plane. Useful to detect remaining parts of an enemies base on large all sea maps (where radar towers cannot be built).****

THE KROGOTH GANTRY

KROGOTH – Of all the units in the game, no single unit attracts as much desirable attention. The Krogoth is the single most powerful engine of destruction in the game, easily capable of taking on multiple units on its own. Its armour allows it to take 1000’s of missile hits, and many Laser/Plasma strikes. Armed with a blue annihilator laser(!), dual fast firing gauss cannons (Maverick Weapons!!) and dual (!), fast firing (!!) guided (!!!) starburst missiles (!!!) the Krogoth truly is the ultimate power concentrated into a single unit in the game. The Krogoth requires its own plant for construction – the Gantry, costing a lot of metal. The Krogoth itself then takes an inordinate amount of time and massive resources to build.

Now comes the crunch – a lot of new players don’t like to hear. But it’s the truth. Krogoths are, overall, a complete waste of time and metal. The reason why?

For the cost of a single Krogoth, you could produce 300 Samsons. And those 300 Samsons vs a Krogoth would take it down in less than 30 seconds. Alternatively you could make hundreds of hawks – which would kill the Krogoth even quicker.

Then comes the idea – due to the time and resources required to build a Krog, the opposing player could very easily destroy you – if he chooses not to make one himself. Simple put – the metal cost of a Krogoth concentrated into one unit, could be spent into hundreds of other units – which would very easily tip the balance even before the Krogoth was half finished.
Another reason?

Well it only takes a few bombers to fly to the gantry and destroy it. The opposition player could be very nasty and wait until the Krogoth is 90% complete, and then bomb it (very easy to do). This wastes everything spent on the Krogoth.

Another example. I played a ground war GD2 recently with a few DECENT players (yes we were bored and fancied just mucking about for a few hours). IT was pretty even – and it got to the point where Krogoths were being produced. My opponents sent their Krogoths charging up the middle – where they proceeded to get utterly decimated within seconds. Proof that – equivalent units all firing at a krogoth will kill it so quickly.

So should the Krogoth ever be made? 99% of the time – a resounding NO. There are times when a Krogoth should be built however. On large maps, where you have massive resources and hitting the unit limit (common with 500 unit limit), there is a point where you must spend a lot of metal in singular structures, to save the unit count (hitting the unit limit can often have disastrous effects to your unit production capability). Gnug315 and ROCK played a massive PD game once, which involved many Krogoths. So – if you’re nearing the unit limit, have massive metal production – then its viable. But only at that point. **

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ARM & CORE GENERAL DEFENSIVE STRUCTURES

LIGHT LASER TOWER(LLT) - The LLT the lowest grade defensive structure that a commander can build. These are only good for dealing with 2-3 units, though if strategically placed behind a factory, (or DT’ed) they can defeat an initial rush.

The trouble is – they are so energy intensive to build, and fairly expensive (for the start) metal wise. This metal should be input into mobile units, cons and efforts made to expand, rather than porcing from the offset. Generally speaking – building these at the start is a recipe for disaster, and they should only ever be build in times of utter desperation **

HEAVY LASER TOWER (HLT) - The Heavy Lasers (Sentinel & Gaat Gun) are specialist defensive structures, which provide very effective defence against many level one units, and a few level 2 units, covering a relatively small area. They fire fast and have a good power, and should be DT’ed all the time. They are however, vulnerable to ballistic fire, though it takes a fair few level 1 artillery units to be able to get close and concentrate their fire. HLT’s should not be relied upon for defence, but they are brilliant for covering choke points (e.g. on Crystal Maze) and also as close range back up for a Guardian when attempting a guard creep. A well placed HLT can halt a major attack and provide you time to strike back. ***

MEDIUM RANGE PLASMA CANNON - The Punisher/Guard (often called the Guard) is probably the most effective weapon in the game at breaking a tight deadlock on small maps. It is the only unit in the mid game that can dominate large tracts, denying your opponent space and resources.

Though it was probably originally designed as a heavy defensive structure, the guard is more commonly used as a passive offensive weapon. The guard is also the stalwart of a defensive line, on maps like gpp, where limited resources require you to deny your opponent resources, rather than out expand him. Though it is fairly expensive, they can be produced relatively quickly if assisted with a commander.

The guardian creep (where you edge forward with guardians – controlling more and more territory as you go) is lethally effective if you don’t have a guardian of your own to fight back, and often effective scouting is required to locate any possible guardians being constructed, and attempt to kill them before they are finished. You often only need to build one guardian, though if you wish to creep forward with them, try to distract your enemy, and prevent him from trying to halt it. Don’t forget to DT your guard’s, or even shield it with a metal storage in front. *****

MISSILE TOWER - (Defender/Pulveriser) The MT is the most common defensive unit built in online OTA. It is so cheap to build, and has tracking, long range, hits aircraft and en masse they are capable of taking on attacking level 1 units. Their most common use is not strictly ‘defence’ however, more so – to control territory and deny your opponent space. They are superb as backup to a ground force attack – the best players taking con units along with their attacking units, and telling them to built MT’s behind the attack. Once complete they lend their firepower to the attack – often out of line of site of the opposition defences and thus able to control the territory easily.

One that sticks in my mind was Pic, doing this on GPP. He attacked a top section of his opponent’s base with about 20 flashes. The moment the flashes engaged, he had 3-4 con vehicles charge in behind the flashes. They all instantly began construction of MT’s, and while his flashes whittled down the opponents defence, gradually dieing, the new MT’s he built began firing as well, finishing off the enemy units thee, and thus gaining control of all the wreckage that was left! The con units then began sucking up all the metal, before consolidating there area, ready for the next attack. It is instances like this which win games. But the skill required to do this is high. However, if you can grasp the concept, of using MT’s & con vehicles in such a way, you can develop such crucial control and skill to win games.

Many players that are developing often make the mistake that MT’s are essential EVERYWHERE, and tend to concentrate on building masses and masses of them in areas where they really aren’t needed. The most important advice regarding this is – only build MT’ where you need them, and do not try to make a huge forest for the heck of it. If you must increase the size of an MT forest, try and build it towards your opponent, denying him space, and allowing you the chance to radar target and edge forward.

Beware – the Guardian/Punisher is the bane of mass MT forests, quite capable of destroying large portions easily from out of range. Guards are often constructed as a reaction to building MT’s near your base – especially on small maps, so remember not to build too many before you think you may need a guard (scouting oh so important). *****

MEDIUM RANGE POP UP PLASMA CANNON (Ambusher / Toaster) - These are fairly effective level 3 structures, essentially the same as the standard Medium range plasma. The diff here - obviously – is that these open up to fire. They have superb armour when closed, but that isn’t the point to them is it? These are commonly seen when you wish to mass guardian creep your opponent in the late game. Since they can be built by adv cons, if your metal production is good, they can be rattled out at a fair pace. They have a slightly shorter range, and less power than the standard Plasma. ***

[b]FLAK CANNONS /b - Flak cannons are expensive, but superior air defence over a fair area. Generally any aircraft in their vicinity will get decimated by even one of these. Bombers and gunships especially are extremely vulnerable. Use these to protect important areas of your base. They are too expensive to mass-produce but can protect fusions / berthas / etc from most air attacks. Flak cannons will often be targeted in a surgical strike by bombers prior to a main attack, or during the main attack itself (using line bombing).****

ANTI NUKE SILO (Protector / Fortitude) - These are your bog-standard defence versus nukes. The ARM version is generally effective – though vulnerable to bombing raids. The CORE version is bugged, and will often not fire any more than one missile. Since both ARM & CORE can build mobile anti nuke launchers – (which can avoid bombing raids much easier, and also patrol a larger area) then the static structures really shouldn’t be needed. *

[b]NUKE SILO /b – Nukes are powerful warheads built in their silo and can be fired anywhere on the map. The nuke itself causes substantial damage within a set area (not a large area), and will kill most units/structures there. A commander can barely survive a single nuke blast (though dieing units around him may cause enough damage to finish him). The nuke is great on maps where a bertha cannon cannot hit, and where your opponent is forced to bunch up key structures within a confined area.

The Nuke Silo takes a while to build, and Nuke missiles cost a fair amount to construct. Nukes are obviously countered by anti-nukes, and as such you should be wary of an opponent that is prepared. Personally Nukes are not that effective. Since they are only seen towards the end of a game, their effect on large economies is minimal, provided you space out important structures. On large maps, (where long games tend to take place) their area of affect is so large it can have minimal affect on your base – even if you are protected vs them. ***

FLOATING MISSILE TOWER – These are similar to normal MT’s in what they should be used for. They are good as backup and great for protecting against air attacks, especially near the “back” of a sea base where generally – you store your carriers, tidals and metal makers. They cannot hit Pelicans automatically (so you have to manually aim). They get chewed up easily by Destroyers, so they shouldn’t be made in large forests. ***

[b]FLOATING HEAVY LASER TOWER /b – These are great Anti Pelican weapons, though they are very vulnerable to Destroyers. (another reason why Pels and Destroyers work so well together). Protect these with a few tidals to increase their lifespan a little, though don’t rely on these. They are decent last resort weapons – especially if your opponent is going all pels, and not being smart to make a few destroyers with them. ***

TORPEDO LAUNCHER – These are very expensive structures, often built in desperation to protect vs an early sub raid. If you are clever, and keep your sub moving – they can be killed. Generally these aren’t worth building (again due to their cost). A well controlled single destroyer can kill a sub. (and it’s cheaper / more useful ) **

ADV TORPEDO LAUNCHER – Built by the Adv Con sub these are costly but fearsome defensive weapons. They can only be hit by depth charges & torps, but the trouble is getting close to one. They often fire out of visible range of most ships – AND their torpedoes are guided. The torps also do incredible damage (3-4 can kill a destroyer). It is not recommendable to approach these things without a large fleet, and then concentrating fire. ***

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ARM SPECIFIC DEFENSIVE STRUCTURES

BIG BERTHA - This is a very commonly used long range cannon, which often is a game winner. The construction of a bertha on small / medium maps is often closes the lid on your opponent, unless he is capable of bombing it or has almost completed a bertha in return. Capable of shelling and winning the game from the safety of your own bertha, it can encourage porcing to some extents. Ironically people that like to porc a lot, and moan when they get raided, also moan when people build berthas against them! The BB is a true risk in a tight game. Its cost and time to build mean, that if it is destroyed it can often be devastating to your capability to win a game.

The true mark of a good player is – in a tight game knowing exactly when to take that step and go for a bertha. The timing is precise – but it cannot be taught - only learnt with experience. Remember – you have to judge whether the metal you would spend on units would be as effective as storing some units, and hitting them with a fast bertha. Remember – if you want your bertha fast – make 1-2 adv cons, and reclaim the adv factory. Careful not to waste metal. Use your commander to assist the production. The more adv cons you make, the faster you can build – though each adv con will reduce the amount of metal available for the BB by 450ish.

Some basic advise though. Always shield a bertha if you can. Wind generators / Metal Storage / Fortification walls are effective at blocking bombs, and can save a berthas life. Remember to make peepers to scout for targets. This requires an air plant so naturally be prepared to spend the metal to make your bb effective. Try not to make important structures near a bertha. This stems back from a time when an opponent of mine made the error of building a bertha right along side a Fusion reactor. His bertha was killed, and naturally, it took out the fusion in its explosion. Silly. Lastly – it may seem silly, but ensure you have enough energy to fire a BB. Building an Energy storage will help if your E production is variable (e.g. relying on Wind which varies between 0 and +30)

The bertha’s range is long, but be aware it isn’t all encompassing. On GoW it is entirely possible to build a bertha out of range of many areas (since your islands are only just in range of each other.

A simple trick to keep a bertha easily alive – if you have the units for it:
Set one air CON to reclaim the bertha. Then set 10 (or as many as you can – but a decent number) of air CONS to repair it. The reclaiming air con will constantly try to reclaim the bertha (technically constantly damaging by a tiny amount), while all the repairing air cons will constantly hover above the bertha – repairing it. This means a bertha can survive an incredible amount of punishment, since it will be repaired instantly – and extremely fast when attacked. This is a superior method of keeping a bertha alive – much better than FARKS. *****

ANNIHILATOR - The Annihilator is an extremely powerful blue laser, capable of killing most units, from range with a single shot. It has a fair fire rate, and its turret is high enough off the ground to avoid a fair amount of wreckage. The laser is deadly accurate, so mobile units can’t avoid it. However – the Annihilator is slow to open, very expensive to build, and run, and has low armour cost. It really isn’t cost effective. It’s better to pump your metal into units OR a Bertha. **

VULCAN – Here we go – the ultimate weapon. It seems all new players love this for some reason. I think Cavedog designers put it in for a total laugh. This weapon is hilariously bad. (Bad you say?!) Yes bad. Let’s look at the evidence.

The Vulcan, can first – only be used on smaller maps. Its range is a fair bit less than a Bertha. This means, if you built a Vulcan on your island on GOW, it wouldn’t be able to hit your opponent. Yeah that’s bad.
Secondly – the Vulcan has a bug – meaning it gets so accurate once it hits 40 kills, that it actually overshoots and NEVER hits. So – it has a 40 kill lifespan technically. Wow – great huh? Thirds…

Yep – for the same price as a Vulcan – you build NINE berthas. NINE berthas spread out (making them a harder target). NINE berthas (meaning you can fire earlier once the first, 2nd 3rd come online respectively). They also have a better range and better accuracy).

Fourth! Yep – The Vulcan is so insanely expensive – you have to be simply wasting time to make one. No seriously – there can be simply no time in a competitive TA online game, where you should be even considering making a Vulcan. The cost would totally any semblance of economy (since you need so many con units to make it), and the time spent on it is so large, that you will undoubtedly die (or start losing) before you even get ½ way through construction.

Please – if you are reading this as a new player. Don’t harp on about how great the Vulcan is (because it looks “cool”) It is truly a total waste. The biggest waste of metal in all of TA! *

EMP MISSILE – ARM also can produce these specialist missiles, which build very fast. They will paralyse all CORE units & structures within a limited blast area for a limited time.

EMP’s can be used to actually ‘flood’ an opponents anti missile system. If you wish to conduct a nuke strike on your opponent, but he is defended by anti nukes, constructing EMP’s and firing a whole load of them at your opponent, will trigger his anti nuke system, and thus use up his defensive missiles. You can literally force his anti nukes to all fire – prior to your nukes going in. If you have multiple silos you can intersperse EMP’s with real nukes, and force his defence system to run out – or simply not keep up with the flood of missiles. EMP’s build faster than anti-nukes and so this can be quite effective.

There is also one other use - one little obscure rule in one type of game. Generally – EMP missiles are regarded as so useless they are NOT banned from GD2 Ground war games. (people ban Berthas / Vulcans / Nukes and all air). You can get to the stage where you can fire off multiple EMP missiles at your opponent’s defensive line, and paralyse it all (INCLUDING Krogoths). This is an unexpected move, and thus your opponents may not like it. But it works. That is the only other use for an EMP – which I have seen in 8 years. **

CORE SPECIFIC DEFENSIVE STRUCTURES

INTIMIDATOR – The Intim is the equiv of the bertha, though not used as commonly. This is because – in a straight fight – the bertha is far more accurate that the Intim. This singular reason – is the underlying factor that means the BB is the better overall unit for shelling. You want to kill important structures quickly – and while the Bertha lacks the power & superior range of the Intim, its sheer ability to kill targets faster – due to a higher hit % means the bertha would win. However – the Intiim is still a formidable weapon. It out ranges a bertha by a substantial distance. The intim also gains greater veterancy accuracy bonuses than the bertha (though at 50 Kills – the bertha is still a better aim – the Intim isn’t far behind).

The best bet to raise you Intim’s accuracy as fast as possible is to ‘Train’ it. A Timmy attempting to target a single structure/unit will often miss. However, if you set the timmy too randomly fire into large groups of massed enemies (seen on the radar), it will often pick off a fair few units. Once the timmy reaches 5-10 kills or more, its accuracy is raised to a much better level, and thus can be used to hit actual targets.

Note – that while this WORKS. It shows the severe weakness up clearly. In a straight race – a bertha can immediately target important structures. A Timmy can either risk firing repeatedly at a structure (and miss most of the time), OR be trained up (but this takes time). Time is a rare commodity in TA. The timmy is a good unit – and can be effective. Just be WARY of the fact that – against its ARM equiv – it often will lose out.****

DOOMSDAY MACHINE - The DDM is a heavy weapon battery, with multiple lasers – that is designed to fend off entire battalions of encroaching forces. There are however – fundamental flaws in its design – which makes it nigh on useless. Such a shame really. (it does have a cool name – and if it all worked well it would be quite an awesome sight).

The DDM is armed with 3 lasers. A light laser – which fires fast and causes low damage (decent against low armoured level 1 units). A Heavy Laser – which fires at a moderate rate and causes great damage against level 1 units, and decent dmg against level 2. Finally it is armed with a very powerful blue (annihilator) laser (which causes awesome damage to most units). Sounds good…

The downsides – The DDM has a bug – which means it’s blue laser takes time to open up – and turns at a stupidly slow rate. Often thus – you will never see it fire. (the blue laser also has a much lesser range than the ARM Annihilator). It can hold its own against some units – but vs a swarm it can stand up no longer than most other defensive structures. It is quite expensive, and takes a while to build. It can be so easily destroyed by pinpoint bomber strikes, and if it explodes amongst other defensive fortifications – can take quite a lot with it. I wouldn’t recommend you ever build this unit. A shame. **

BUZZSAW – Yes I panned the Vulcan. And I will pan the Buzzsaw to (it also is a total and utter waste of time and metal for a unit which has no real use. HOWEVER (yes!) The Buzz is a LOT better than the Vulcan (technically). The Buzzsaw has a better range, better power, and has a lovely spread effect to its fire (inaccuracy it’s called – but in a good way). So if you were playing someone so bad, and you wanted to show off. The Buzzsaw at least will make a decent job of totally decimating your opponents base, and make them go “wow”, as 100’s of their units get utterly torn apart.

On a side note - the Buzzsaw gets unerringly accurate as it racks up kills. At 350 kills, experimenting on some poor porcing fool about 3 years ago, the Buzz was able to nail any target on the map with deadly accuracy. (I even asked the guy to make a Jeffy attack down the right of Greenhaven – and woo and be told – the Buzzsaw actually ‘leads’ its target and still raked apart the column of fast moving jeffies.)

But if you play with someone even remotely decent (i.e. they don’t DT themselves into a corner on Greenhaven and do their “super-uber-krogoth-porc” strat,) then you should never need to build it. *

NEUTRON – The CORE specialist silo fires a missile that kills all ARM units within a set blast area. Essentially it is a rubbish nuke. Unless you are playing against CORE – then err – it’s totally useless! But you can use these to flood missile systems as described earlier. *

After writing about defensive static structures, new players remember this: TA is about MOBILITY, not about defence. Build defensive structures when you NEED them, not because you want to be ‘impenetrable’. Bombers are static structures worst enemies.

If you attempt to build mass defences, expect it to get cut out by bombers like a surgeon would a tumour. In real warfare, mobility is they key. This is not the middle ages, and TA is not about castles, sieges, arrows and err whatever else. Get mobile, raid, attack, be aggressive, but be clever. I hope this guide helps you – in particular. Good luck out there!

Phew!

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Lastly…

I would like to thank the following people for inspiring me over my TA time.

TEA_Codematrix - (beat me 60 times in a row before I learnt the basics of TA – had so much patience for me when I was a total newbie - cheers bud )

TheLawn – yes Lawny taught me how to use flashes. The mass Jethro strategy on GoW is beyond doubt – the most awesome strategy ever.

ACE_git_ - would you know it – but you taught me so much great stuff when we played for a bit. Those PD games were great. Thanks for the insults to.

Lerkule & Zade – great players – good guys – thanks for so many great games – lots of this stuff came from my experience with you. (Zade was one of the guys I was lucky enough to train. Infact he went from newbie to Expert so fast. Kinda shocking. Damn lethal flasher to – one of the best I’ve played). Lerk was already a good player when I first recruited him to TEA. Since then he still is annoyingly hard to beat on JP and large ‘building’ maps. Grrr. (Watch out for his Hawks! :P)

Gnugs – A LOT of this advice was discovered by you little furballs. Check out their Gnug Guide. Credit to them. And they are all cute. Especially 615 with his beard. Ruffle

SY’s – for making the TA demo rec. Without it – I would not have got better, by seeing my own mistakes.

Rest of the TEA clan – for being great guys, and having LOTS of fun games for many years. 3v3 Crystal Maze’s – rocked!

ACE Clan – great guys – so many fun games. And side splitting moments. Bean is a FLC. You guys rock.

Lord_Orion & Brave Sir Robin –for writing those TA guides a long, long time ago.

Other players I wish to thank as well (something in this writing, something you did, somewhere, sometime, during a game was remembered and is referred to somewhat up there somewhere!). You all helped teach something.

ROCK, Pic, Nana, BlackFlag, Scott, Russian, Wargod, Lethalpred, MrBlue, Agonite, Mastah, Dune, S-tool, 2Nazty, Soundwave, Dom, PeterC, Sid, Silk, Nov, Warchicken, Merl, Genius, Sensation, rANDY, Annihilator2k, Ocine, Venom, Northstar, Taipan, Frog, Reiff, Dark Rain, Morph, Sentinel(2uantum), Crip, Snoop, Sensation, Sloppyjoe, DenimDemon, Space, Tek2k, Meataxe, Darkstraw, the clan of 6 players on GSA who lost a 6v1 vs me, Timmyfred, Mason, TheTron, Beta7, Cytree, Jaguar, Metn, Cycephenom, Saint, some newbie called DEATHDEALER2000X (who was the first to call me a cheat when his commander went surfing on my aircraft carrier on C2C), Serpico, Juul, Gnug215, Gnug315, Taties. Gnug125, Archist and finally the legendary newbie called - Aceman (for the beautiful irony of my sig). I expect I forgot tonnes. Sorry.

Lastly – Cavedog, Chris T and the rest of the team. Geniuses for this game. Boneyards forever!!

Hope this guide helps everyone. Any pointers and stuff i can edit if you feel it is a travesty of the truth. Cheers =)

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And:

Zade

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