1: INFANTRY: USE PARATROOPERS TO GAIN A STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

The infantry player in particular should always take advantage of his ability to drop paratroopers. An infantry player can deploy a unit that not only possesses a ruthless attacking edge with its artillery strike, but is able to secure that much underrated commodity, battlefield intelligence!

Moyes says:

Paratroopers can’t stand up to a major firefight but they excel when harassing lightly defended area, especially those bordering a victory location.

If an enemy has not had time to develop fortifications, or leave behind a worthy garrison, you can drop your paratroopers to quickly turn the point neutral. If you’re lucky, you can seize both locations to hand the advantage to your team. Realistically, such easy openings will be rare. Often there will be some type of fortification, or reasonably strong defending unit stationed nearby. This is why you should generally drop your paratroopers into a nearby forest to gain the concealment advantage straight away. This will buy you time to use the artillery strike and still seize the location afterwards.

You can also sneakily deploy your paratroopers into the battlefield’s quieter zones, the objective being to overlook enemy troop movements without being discovered. You can achieve this simply by giving the ceasefire command to your paratroopers, who may remain undisturbed for an entire game… as long as your enemy doesn’t register their initial arrival.

If you keep a watchful eye, you can then launch tactical aid strikes on enemy units as they head towards the frontline. Your own front-line units will have a much easier time, and they might advance so far that they even link up with your paratroopers!

2: INFANTRY - MULTIPLY YOUR FORCE BY COMBINING TACTICAL AIDS

You should view tactical aid as one of the most effective parts of your army, able to target any map location with a powerful strike. When combining tactical aids, you can achieve devastating results, especially when using the air strike and paratrooper drop.

Moyes says:

Even the most heavily defended location can be reduced to smouldering ashes. If it’s heavily defended, it means there are lots of victory points up for grabs. You can still turn the tables in this sector by dropping paratroopers… you just need to invest a few more tactical aid points!

When using different tactical aids at the same time, you need to take account of timings. It takes 35 seconds for paratroopers to hit the ground. So 12 seconds after we deploy them we need to send in an air strike. This takes 20 seconds to reach the target area! If timed correctly, our paratroopers will seize the location just a second or two after the bombs detonate. Synchronisation like this means your opponent is simply unable to respond to your move beforehand. This means you can hold their area for longer.

At the most advanced level, you can coordinate this strike with a team mate, ideally a Tank Player, who can mimic your actions on the other victory location. This way, you can seize both points AND both gain tactical aid for doing so. You can pay back a 1/3 of the cost of taking the location in the first place!

3: INFANTRY - TAKE THE HIGH GROUND

Terrain plays a massive part for any infantry player. We’re not just talking weaving in and out of tree cover or barricading the nearest structure. We’re talking simple ground elevation. Infantry units can quickly go from being a major menace to passive bystanders. It all depends on where they’re positioned.

Moyes says:

When moving your units around, especially when you want to occupy a defensive position, get into the habit of pressing the ALT key. This will show you the firing circle available to your units, which is very seldom an unrestricted 360-degree circle. By making sure your units are not blocked by the crest of a hill, you will ensure your infantry start taking down the enemy as early as possible.

It is particularly important to apply this lesson to forests, where the changes in terrain elevation are more difficult to spot. You can lose a huge advantage if your troops fail to shoot troops moving over open ground.

4: AIR - SEEK OUT TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY

Hopefully you’re familiar with the basics, including hotkeys and using flares. So let’s move on to some advanced tactics and the thinking behind them. I like to start my game aggressively. Destroy just one tank, infantry squad or heavy helicopter cheaply and you can hand your team the initiative in the crucial opening period.

Zaccubus says:

Although I do vary my starting units (according to what plan the team is following), I often go with three heavy helicopters and one scout to inflict as much early damage as possible. You have to wait about four seconds to get the scout at the start of the game. But it’s well worth the delay since it should help you avoid charging into enemy anti-air units.

Alternatively, launching three sidewinders can take out one enemy helicopter instantly. And you still get to deploy one heavy helicopter. This is a more of a defensive deployment. While your team’s tanks push forward and secure the victory locations, you screen them from enemy heavy helicopter.

5: AIR - SEEK AND DESTROY ENEMY PARATROOPERS FROM THE SKIES

Enemy paratroopers, especially those scouting the location of your team’s forces, aren’t the most glamorous targets, but you still need to deal with them. The air player is often ideally placed to take them out.

Zaccubus says:

The key is to have a few heavy helicopters and use the ‘force fire’ command. Right clicking on enemy infantry only results in the helicopters using machine gun fire, but forced fire gets them to use their onboard rockets, which make short work of the enemy. This command is also great for targeting tanks hidden inside a smoke screen. Knowing their likely location, you can simply fire into the smoke and get a result.

If your force consists mainly of medium helicopters, use the fact that you get aerial recon for the lowest price – five tactical points. Work with your support player, scan a location and give the co-ordinates to your side’s artillery so they can pulverise enemy troops. Make sure you communicate well, however, as the scans only lasts 15 seconds.