The Change of World War II

Command & Conquer: Red Alert

By Alex

Suppose that Albert Einstein created a machine that would allow him to take erase Hitler from History. What if World War II had been a completely different war between the Soviet Union and the Allies? That is Command & Conquer: Red Alert.

The reason you?re playing is because Albert Einstein created a Chronosphere and erased Hitler from History. It worked and there was no World War II like the one we know. Instead, the Soviet Union got a plan and started to take over the world. The Allies reacted as fast as they could to stop this disaster from be coming reality.

Tactics

Soviets

The Soviets? best advantage is their ability to strike from the air. Lots of planes and helicopters could come in handy. A good tactic is to build a good force that you know would stand a good chance against the enemy. Then, when your Atomic Bomb is ready, you drop it over the enemy?s Power Plants. This will cut off the power to their Radar dome. With the time that buys you, drop some paratroopers in the back of their base. That will draw away enough of their forces so you can bring in your force or whatever you have to take out or cripple their base. Be sure that they don?t have a Technology Center up because that might still give them their radar view since it requires no power. Take it out with numerous air attacks. Also, take your minelayer and put a few mines around their base just in case you don?t get them the first time.

Transport helicopters are really good at Transporting very harmful infantry, very fast. Use them in large groups. When you fill up ten of them, you have a very distracting army that could do a lot of damage and could be deployed quickly. Before you do this though, take a few tanks and get rid of the anti-infantry defenses.

Always try to get out some submarines early on to destroy any shipyards since the ships shipyards can produce can really bite. Remember that almost no one ever guards their Cruisers so take advantage of that. Also, try to build a few extra Power Plants so your Tesla Coils don?t constantly run out of power.

Allies

A lot of people don?t like the Allies as much as they like the Soviets. That?s because the Allies have weaker tanks and lack heavy airpower. The Allies also have a few advantages. First, they have the Chronosphere. Their Light Tanks are also really fast. Use their Light Tanks. A large group of Light Tanks will do more damage than six or seven Soviet choppers. Also the Allies have the camouflaged Pillboxes. Those can easily take out infantry in a flash. You should randomly place Pillboxes all around your base to discourage paratroopers.

Both

I can?t tell you how important it is to attack Ore Trucks. If you attack Ore Trucks then you really annoy and delay your opponent and cut down on how fast he or she can make money. Take in a few tanks if you want. Another very effective way of delaying or taking out Ore Trucks is placing mines your opponents? ore field. It might be kind of annoying if your opponent?s Ore Truck is moving around, and then it blows up.

Little attacks that annoy your opponent are okay because they slow him or her down. Also, if your opponent doesn?t guard his or her Ore Trucks then the first thing he or she would probably do is draw back his or her Ore Trucks, making it harder to get lots of money fast.

The minelayer is very cool. Randomly laying mines around the area of your base is a good idea because it stops large numbers of people from simultaneously attacking your base.

Allied Buildings

Construction Yard: A Construction Yard needs no power and allows you to build other buildings. This is what you need to win, so always protect it.

Power Plant: The Power Plant is the way you get power to your base. Most buildings need power, and this is where you get your power from. Always try to have an extra one of these.

Advanced Power Plant: This is like a regular Power Plant except bigger.

Ore Refinery: When you build this, you get an Ore Truck which will mine ore. Then the Ore Truck will bring the ore back here and the refinery will turn it into money.

Ore Silo: The Ore Silo will hold more ore/money for you when your refinery gets full.

Tent Barracks: These let you build all of your troops. Some special troops require other buildings too. The more of these you have, the faster your people will be built.

War Factory: A War Factory allows you to build vehicles. Like the Barracks, some special vehicles require other buildings too, and the more you have, the faster your vehicles will be built.

Naval Yard: A Naval Yard can be built in water and is very helpful. It allows the construction of all ships though the Cruiser also requires a Technology Center. The more of these you build, the faster you can build ships.

Helipad: The Helipad allows the construction of the Apache. It will also reload your Apaches. Each Helipad comes with an Apache.

Pillbox: The Pillbox is a means of anti-infantry defense. These Pillboxes can cut down infantry in a few seconds. Scatter these around your base for a good defense.

Camouflaged Pillbox: These are just like Pillboxes except they are harder to see. They still show up on radar.

Turret: The Turret is like a Pillbox except it is used as anti-tank defense. If you use the Turret with the Pillbox and a few mines, you can slow down or stop large attacks on your base.

AA Gun: The AA Gun is a anti-aircraft gun. Basically, this is a deadly and fast aircraft eliminator. It could take out an airplane in one or two shots. It has short range though.

Service Depot: The Service Depot is a great asset. It allows you to repair all vehicles and reloads your minelayers. Try to always have one of these just for your helicopters

Radar dome: Until you get your GPS satellite up, this is a very important building. It displays a screen with the area you have explored on a map. If you have a power loss, then your little map will disappear.

Technology Center: The Technology Center is really important. It allows the building of advanced stuff like the Cruiser. It also launches the GPS satellite which displays the entire map without the Radar dome. It displays everything, not just what you have explored.

Gap generator: The Gap generator is really cool. If your opponent has explored the area where your base is, then by building this, everything they have explored turns back to black around the Gap generator. The black disappears when one of your opponents personnel is in the black area your Gap generator creates, but the black comes back when that person dies or leaves.

Missile Silo: The Missile Silo does not really belong to the Allies but is allowed to be built by Allies in the multiplayer game. It prepares the atomic bomb which makes a big explosion.

Chronosphere: The Chronosphere is good. If you click on its icon after it is charged and then click on a unit, you can move that unit anywhere immediately. This is very helpful because you can put a Cruiser right next to your opponent?s base immediately.

Fake Structures: I personally don?t like Fake Structures but this is what there purpose is. You can build a fake Construction Yard, Weapons Factory, Radar dome and Naval Yard. You can build these really fast and they have low armor, but they can distract the enemy.

Sandbag barriers: This is a barrier that stops infantry and non-tracked vehicles. They are really easy to blow up and tracked vehicles can run over them.

Concrete Barriers: Concrete Barriers are a lot stronger and can stop any ground unit. These are very effective but I wouldn?t start building them until you have a lot of money.

Allied Units

Rifle Infantry: Rifle Infantry are the basis of your fighting force. They are cheap, easy to build quickly, and they work together well in large groups. They are good for defense.

Medic: The Medic is a good weapon as he/she can repair your infantry. If you have two or more Medics in a large group, then that group of infantry will last a lot longer.

Rocket Soldier: The Rocket Soldier is not so good since it is incredibly slow. The good thing about Rocket Soldiers is that they can shoot rockets at helicopters and can tear up tanks. This is a good way to defend your base if the Rocket Soldiers are in groups. You can transport them a little faster in APC?s since they are really the only mobile unit that can provide air cover.

Spy: The Spy is really cool. You can take him/her into the enemy base, and your opponent won't see him/her. The Spy can also walk into buildings and find things like your opponent?s money and what your opponent is building. The Attack Dog can see your spies, so try to avoid Attack Dogs.

Engineer: The Engineer is a good unit since it can walk into a building and repair it immediately. It can also walk into buildings and damage them or capture red buildings.

Thief: The Thief can capture half the money in a Ore Silo or refinery if you can get him/her there.

Tanya: Tanya is the coolest weapon that the Allies have. She can blow up buildings just by walking up to them and she can kill infantry in just a few shots.

AT Mine Layer: The Anti-Tank minelayer is a good way to randomly defend areas. They can also be fun for planting mines in an enemy base.

Ore Truck: The Ore Truck is a vital vehicle. It gathers all your ore around the field. Without this, you wouldn?t be able to get more money. They?re pretty expensive, so guard them with a few people.

Ranger: The Ranger is not very well armed and has light armor. It is ideal for a scout. Its speed is pretty fast, and it can see farther than most other units.

Light Tank: The Light Tank is a one-turreted tank. Both allied vehicles are one-turreted. That means they don?t pack a heavy punch. The Light Tank though is almost as fast as a Ranger. That?s very fast. In numbers, they can also destroy almost anything rapidly. These tanks are good at weakening defenses before you make your strike.

APC: The APC is the only land vehicle that can carry infantry units. These are fast and can rapidly deploy your infantry. It?s basically a Transporting Ranger. I like to load these up with infantry and then stuff them in a Transport.

Artillery: The Artillery is the long-range vehicle. It has the longest range, second only to the Cruiser. Its accuracy isn?t very good, but that?s okay. It packs a punch but isn?t very good because it?s defenseless.

Medium Tank: The Medium Tank stinks. It is slower than the Light Tank, and its armor is a little heavier, but it?s no match for the Soviet?s tanks.

Mobile Gap Generator: The Mobile Gap Generator creates a small cloud of blackness on the enemy?s radar. It?s not very good because all the enemy has to do is see the black on their radar, and they know you?re sneaking in units.

MCV: The MCV allows you to build your base. You move to any location you want, click on it twice, and it opens up to be a Construction Yard. Then you can build your base. It can be fun in multiplayer games to build a few of these so you can build multiple bases.

Transport: The Transport is a water vehicle. It transports any units five at a time over the water.

Gun Boat: The Gun Boat is a lightly armored ship. It can be used to scout the area since it has a greater speed.

Destroyer: A Destroyer is an awesome ship. It may lack speed, but it launches rockets at a nice distance. They can also take down helicopters. They?re great support craft for Cruisers.

Cruiser: The Cruiser is awesome. It is obviously the best Ally unit. This ship has fire power unmatched by any other vehicle. It doesn?t have very good aim though and should always be escorted by at least one Destroyer.

Apache Longbow: The Apache Longbow is, of course, an attack helicopter. It has some good armor that gets it out of tough situations, and it fires missiles. Its missiles are a little weak against infantry, but they pack a punch against tanks.

Sonar Pulse: The sonar pulse is a special ability you get when your enters an enemy Submarine pen. It allows you to see all Submarines for a few seconds.

GPS Satellite: The GPS satellite is also a special ability. Once you build a Technology Center the construction of the GPS satellite begins. This allows you, once finished, to see the entire map. This is obviously one of the Allies biggest advantages. The GPS satellite is free.

Gameplay

The point of the game varies. Usually the point of the game is to wipe all of your opponent?s pieces off of the field except for some single-player missions. The field is like an arena. There are objects on the arena that your guys cannot pass like water or cliffs. There are also things like precious minerals that your Ore Truck can bring back to your refinery to turn into money. So that?s the field.

In the beginning of a game the field is mostly covered by a black fog. Your units each have a range of how far they can see. As your units walk through this fog, parts of it are uncovered, and you can see in that area. The next step is to build a radar. Once you build a radar, a part of your screen becomes a radar. The radar is in the top right corner and it shows the terrain, units, and basically everything. Your units and buildings are one color, and the opponents? are another.

Next you have to know how to move and attack units. First, you select a unit simply by clicking on it. Once you have selected the unit, you can move it anywhere by clicking on the current view of the field or radar. To attack, you just click on an enemy unit and the cursor will change to an attack cursor. Some units can carry other units. Click on those units, and the cursor will change to a deploy cursor. To make a unit go into another unit that can carry it, you click on the units that will be moving into the Transport. Then an enter cursor will appear. You can also sell and repair buildings using little buttons above the building icons.

To start your base, you move your MCV to the spot where you would like to start your base. Then click on the MCV, and the deploy cursor will appear. Your location should be near some sort of wall. That way you have protection against that wall.

Then you must start building your base. To build a unit you must build buildings which must be powered by Power Plants. To build a building or a unit you do basically the same thing. Let?s say you wanted to build a Barracks. You would click on the Barracks icon that is located on a panel to the right of the screen. Then, the money that it costs to make a Barracks is deducted from your money. You must also wait a certain amount of time. Then when you?re finished, you click on the Barracks icon on the panel. You then move your cursor onto the field, and where you click is where the barracks is placed.

Power is essential. When you run out of power, you?re doomed. You must keep lots of Power Plants, or else your power will run low and bad things will happen. For instance, your power might run out or your Tesla Coils might not work. Your buildings will slowly become damaged. If you have little power, then your units will build more slowly too. Next to the panel of buildings is a little bar. A line represents how much power you have and another, smaller line represents how much power you?re using.

Money is what you need to repair buildings or build anything. Without it, you're not in a very good position. You can get money by selling buildings or by mining ore with your Ore Truck. Ore is scattered around the field in patches. Your Ore Truck moves to these patches and mines the ore. The Ore Truck can only carry so much ore, and when it is full, it carries all the ore back to the refinery where it is processed into money. The refinery can only hold so much of this ore type money though, so you must build silos to hold additional money.

Certain units like the Apache helicopter have limited ammunition reserves. To replenish their ammunition you must move them back to the building that allows you to build that unit. In this case, it?s the Helipad. They will go back to reload automatically after their ammunition runs out. This is true for all of these types of units except for the minelayer which you must manually move back to the Service Depot.

To repair vehicles, you move them to a Service Depot. The computer will then take a little off of your money, and it will still take time. To repair ships you just move them back to the Naval Yard, and then they will be repaired. Only the Allies can repair infantry, but to that you must build a Medic. The Medic will repair any infantry in need nearby, or any infantry you click on.

So I think this game is a good game. You can buy it almost anywhere that they sell computer software or you can visit the website at www.westwood.com. It is real-time strategy. The game does involve some violence but nothing to be to worried about. Some people do die and some things blow up but if you?re really good you won?t have to worry about that. This game is a favorite of mine and is a classic. Play it though before you buy it because you might not like it.

The End

Thanks To Alex For Creating This Game Guide