China Mission 7
The final mission is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, if you make certain mistakes that this contributor made. It can take days to complete. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and you can do better with a few hints.
The onslaught starts right away. Immediately build a Reactor, then a Gattling Cannon or two at the valley entrance.
Very important: Upgrade one Overlord with a Gattling Gun and the other with a Propaganda Tower and place them directly behind the GC.
Label the Inferno Cannons #1 and be ready to aim at the Rocket Buggies on the top of the ridge and all other vehicles approaching the valley. Repair the Gattling Cannons with the dozer when time permits.
You can build structures now or later. If you do decide to build structures in this valley, a mistake you can make, which can be a real pain, is building a building too far north in your initial starting area in the valley. Eventually Rocket Buggies will come and attack it later in the game when you don't need the distraction.
Don’t build in the northern part of this valley!
When the attacks slow down, carefully move to the east, taking out all Stinger Sites and Tunnel Networks. You shouldn’t lose any units on this move.
Leave one dozer behind for later building in this valley.
Important: Don’t destroy the Supply Stash, the Barracks or the Arms Dealer. You will want to capture these buildings, if for no other reason, so you can recruit Jarmen Kell to help control the onslaught that will occur at the pass directly north of this area. Destroy all other structures in the area.
Before building the Barracks, go ahead and build a Supply Center and two extra Supply Trucks. Later, move them to the northeast for further supplies when the supply pile in the area dries up.
Build a Barracks slightly to the west of the GLA structures. You don’t want to make a target-rich environment for the Scud Storm. This strategy will be important throughout the mission. If no structures are placed close together, it seems the Scud Storm delays firing – perhaps waiting for a "better opportunity" in the future.
Research the Capture command and recruit a few Red Guard to capture the above buildings.
Move your vehicles to the north and put them all on the Guard command to control this northern bottleneck. Don’t let any troops get past you, as the rest of your base is basically defenseless.
If you want to, put the Tank Hunter units by the northern supply pile and put them in Guard mode for later protection of this area.
When you build your buildings, it is necessary to spread them out all over the map. You don't have to worry about defending them, as there is a bottleneck directly to the north of your small captured town. This is where the main battle will take place, to the north.
Sell your Gattling Cannons. They will just tempt the Scud Storm to attack if you happen to build near them.
Recruit a GLA worker from the Supply Stash. Have him go far to the west near the bluff and build a Palace.
Recruit Jarmen Kell, label him #3 for quick location, and immediately send him to the northwest part of the GLA base until you locate the Arms Dealer. Get close enough to expose it but not close enough to be shot by the Tunnel Networks.
If you have trouble highlighting the Arms Dealer, use the EMP Pulse to expose the area (after building the Command Center.)
Right after Jarmen Kell is recruited, build a Command Center with the dozer you left behind in the western valley as far south as you can place it. After it is built, you will have the opportunity to chose your General’s Powers. For this strategy, the following should be chosen:
You will have two more to choose from. You can utilize Cash Hack 2 or Repair and Cash Hack 1. If you don’t plan to try to hack cash, then you can make other choices.
Spend 500 credits to get radar from the Command Center.
Destroy the Arms Dealer with Artillery Barrage 3. One down, two to go.
From the Command Center, utilize the Cash Hack 1 or Cash Hack 2 power to steal funds from the GLA Supply Stash.
Go ahead and move Jarmen Kell to help with the action at the bottleneck until you get a chance to hack more cash.
Use your Cluster Bombs and EMP Pulse to the north to start the process of uncovering the Scud Storm and the two remaining Arms Dealers. The Scud Storm is located in the far north center of the map, with Arms Dealers both to the east and west of this location.
Move your dozers away from your structures to avoid creating target-rich environments for the Scud Storm.
Note: Building the Supply Center near the three captured GLA buildings might be a good diversion for the Scud Storm. The GLA buildings will rebuild and the Supply Center will only take 1,500 credits to replace. Just be sure to totally repair the GLA buildings after each attack!! Of course when the attack is announced, move all Supply Trucks out of the region.
All this time, and you still don’t have a War Factory. If you can, wait a bit longer.
Finally, build a War Factory in an isolated area and another open spot for your Propaganda Center.
Recruit eight Hackers, placing them in a safe location at the back of the base hacking the Internet.
Add a few more Overlords to your defenses upgraded with Gattling Guns. Be sure to have at least one Overlord upgraded with the Propaganda Tower to heal your units.
Start building a Nuclear Missile in another isolated area.
Research Chain Guns at the War Factory.
All of this time, you will be fending off Scud Storms (hopefully not too many) and using Jarmen Kell like crazy to help defend the bottleneck. At opportune times, snipe enemy vehicles. Save often in case something goes wrong.
If you have the time, capture the sniped vehicles with your Rebels.
Don’t forget to continually expose the area to the north, searching for the Scud Storm and one of the Arms Dealers.
If you get a chance, you can upgrade the Overlords with Uranium Shells and Nuclear Tanks at the Nuclear Silo.
The Scud Storm is a constant pain in the arse, and the key is to immediately save game when you get the launch message -- in case you don’t successfully move your vehicles and troops out of harm’s way.
The oil derrick near the center of town can be captured, but don't capture the oil derrick on the east side of town until you can defend that area, because they will come and destroy it immediately. It is not necessary to capture it to win the mission.
If you uncover the second Arms Dealer to the west of the Scud Storm before the nuclear missile is ready, destroy it with a single Artillery Barrage 3 strike.
Finally – the nuclear missile is ready to launch. You should have the Scud Storm uncovered by now. To destroy it, you must hit it with both the nuke and the Artillery Barrage 3.
Until you have destroyed both the second and third Arms Dealers with your Artillery Barrage 3, you will continue to be harassed by Rocket Buggies and Scud Launchers. As soon as possible, destroy these structures.
Unfortunately, the Nuclear Missile by itself will not permanently take out these buildings.
Next you will want to target the Barracks. It is amazing how much damage these troops can inflict on your Overlords as they come up the pass.
If possible, destroy these Barracks before you start the attack into the mountains. Bring as much fire power with you as possible.
Before going into the mountains, make sure all remaining structures in the main town are destroyed. It is not necessary to destroy all of the Stinger Sites and Tunnel Networks to win.
It is not necessary to hunt down the enemy Jarmen Kell to win the mission. You are not going to spend much time in town, so you don’t have to worry too much about him. He is usually hiding in one of the tall towers.
Destroy all of the remaining structures in the mountains, and victory is yours!