Tactical Aids Part III
Indiscriminate Strikes
This is it, the final part of the trilogy! This is particular piece is about the indiscriminately striking tactical aids, meaning these things hurt everything, even you. I shall warn you here and now: These aids are in no way idiot-proof. You are liable to hurt yourself more than your enemy if you aren’t careful. Warn your allies when using these things and scream at them to get out of the way when they wander into your carpet bombing corridor like drunks.
Light Artillery Barrage:
This is the weakest artillery strike, and it’s also my least favorite. Never does anything for me, always hits me. Small shells rain down for a couple seconds, popping holes in the ground. These shells are really only dangerous to infantry and lightly-armored vehicles, and they aren’t very accurate and don’t have a big splash effect. If you only have a few points though, and need to get that infantry, use it. This can also be pretty effective against infantry players sitting idle at a command or spawn point. Make him pay!
Uses
- Light Artillery Barrages are really only effective against infantry. That’s pretty much it. They’re the only units that are slow enough to get hit a lot. Use this on groups of infantry. It really makes the infantry players mad.
- This things are also halfway decent at denting lightly-armored vehicles. If you see a bunch of units of all types marching somewhere, this can be semi-fun to use, just because all these units jam up trying to avoid these tiny shells, thus crushing the infantry, etc.
Heavy Artillery Barrage:
One of my personal favorite aids, this thing is nasty. It blasts a wide area, and if you have three going, it’s an Armageddon. These shells shred anything and everything, and are scary as hell. They’re also fairly cheap, and used right, about as effective as a nuke. Only without the radiation.
Uses:
- This is a versatile aid. It can do almost anything, I’ve even see it hit helicopters on a rare occasion. It will bust buildings and kill all sorts of units. It’s cheap and it does a ton of damage. Use it.
Precision Artillery:
Rather expensive for what it does, I don’t really like it. However, if there is a clump of units and you need to get them all, this thing will definitely do it. Just pray nobody moves on you, or you just blew fifteen to eighteen points on nothing.
Uses:
- Clumps of units that aren’t moving will be massacred. This is good in choke points and command points. Just aim at the most occupied point, and don’t place this thing without sight to the target point.
- Buildings go down fast to this thing. You can probably get two buildings into one shot, which is pretty decent. There are still better ways, but if you feel you have too many tactical aid points, blow those buildings to bits.
Air Strike:
This is an aid that takes a while to get to its target, but once it does, it does good damage. It has a wide area of effect, and costs only ten to twelve points, less the more you buy. I find that I use this aid almost every game, for one reason or another. If you’ve played the demo and think it seems weak, not to worry, it was greatly improved in the full version of the game.
Uses:
- Team Dignitas shows in one of their training videos that this aid can be used in tandem with airborne units. By first placing the unit, then waiting until about twenty-two seconds to place the air strike, you can clear out a command point and claim it in a matter of moments.
- Choke points and other similar situations suit this aid fine. Just be careful how many units you’re targeting. The cluster bombs have a habit of spreading the damage around if there are too many units, injuring all and killing none. That doesn’t do you a whole lot of good.
Carpet Bombing:
This is a cool aid, and it’s visually pleasing. I personally find the USSR carpet bomb to be the most gratifying, but take your pick. This sucker goes in a long, relatively wide corridor. The bombs hit, and all hell breaks loose on the ground. Any units, I repeat, any units in the way of this tactical aid will be annihilated instantly. Buildings, tanks, infantry, it doesn’t matter. They all go the same way. Note: This is one of those aids that you need to be careful with. It’s not idiot proof, and people will wander into the gravity bombs. Let everyone know what you’re doing.
Uses:
- Place this thing in such a way that it has the opportunity to span the map and hit a variety of command points, buildings, and major thoroughfares. That shouldn’t be difficult, considering the size of this aid.
- In an enemy spawn zone, carpet bombing can wreak havoc if the units are out of invincible mode. It disrupts everything.
- On a map like Space Needle or Hometown, carpet bombing can tear through buildings and forests while taking care of units. New paths and dead enemies, two for the price of one!
Daisy Cutter/Fuel Air Bomb:
These two aids are essentially the same. The cutter is used by the Americans and by NATO, and the fuel air bomb is used by the Soviets. They do the same things, I just feel the air bomb is better looking and feels more deadly. In any case, both swat all units, including choppers.
Uses:
- Buildings in clumps will be eliminated by these aids. Three buildings will probably go down, and two will be badly damaged.
- Forests get laid out flat by these, so if you want to make some crop circles in the woods…
- All units in the blast radium will be destroyed. I have no idea why the description says heavily armored vehicles aren’t as effected, because they are.
Tactical Nuke:
This aid is a controversial one. Some hate it, others adore it, the list goes on. In short, this is an aid with a relatively large price tag and a big bang. It also has a medal dedicated to its use. In short, tactical nukes aren’t city killers, but do a lot of damage anyway. Anything in the blast radius will be eliminated, and radiation will sap health. Be careful in use, make sure you hit at least one enemy unit. I swear, this thing has chronic bad aim attached to it.
Uses:
- You’re kidding right? You want to know when to use a nuke, or where? If you have the points and you see a lot of enemy units, you’ve found your calling. Hammer away. You might also get a nice screenshot.
