Tactics 101
We know what tactics means as a word, but what does it mean within the context of RTS
games? Another word fer tactics is called micromanagement or just “micro”. Micro referse
to minor adjustments made during the heat of a battle to maximize your efforts and sway
a particular skirmish in your favor. For example, if I had an APC and a Predator and I
found the Predator firing at infantry and the APC firing at a vehicle I would order
them to swtich targets as fast as I could to ensure they are attacking what they are
most effective at. Micro takes speed, timing and practice. It’s is extremely important
the higher the level of play you are in and can easily sway the battle in or out of your
favor if done correctly or incorrectly.
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First Impressions
Since there is no set rule when engaging your enemy or when he engages you, micro
requires a lot of experience. Often times battles are quickly determined and you
must be just as fast to micro properly to win or mimize your losses. In the beginning
of this particular game I notice a number of civilian buildings I can garrison with
my infantry. To the left of this shot there are more and I find that each of my
entrances are surrounded by buildings. This is an excellent warning tool I can cheaply
use by putting in some inexpensive rifle squads or I can garrison them up more heavily
to not only spot enemy threats but take them out or hold them off until I get
reinforcements there.
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You meet your enemy out in the field. What is the best way to hurt him and
preserve yourself? Thanks to your scouting you find him moving in with a number of
seeekers and disintigrators. (alien scum...) He is probably bent on hurting something
because the early game force is large enough to pose a threat and he is taking slow
infantry which aren’t usually used for hit and run. You know he can detect stealth
and hit air because of his seekers. You also notice he has no anti infantry among his
force.
Even though he has no dedicated anti infantry, disintigrators make decent anti-infantry
once they are close up on your men. You haven’t upgraded composite armor from your
armory so you know your infantry are relatively fragile. You also know your 2 predators
will get easily destroyed by the disintigrators. You may win this battle but most likely
you will not as they simply out number you and have more firepower.
In this confrontation blindly sending your troops to their death is bad. You are hurting
your enemy but the hurt on you is higher so he will still win. There rests two
ungarrisoned buildings next to your forces. Quickly put in 2 rifle squads and 1 missile
squad in them each and pull your tanks backwards out of harm’s way.
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A number of things has happened in less then a second. Immediately you have made him
the attacker and yourself the defender. He moves in and doesn’t meet infantry but
concrete boxes full of guns sticking out and shooting at him! Your range and durability
have increased dramatically. I saw no buzzers or corruptors so I knew I was safe
inside. If he had a few buzzers I could target them first to ensure my safety. As he
closes in he will very soon have to retreat or he will lose all his forces to just those
few infantry in the buildings. The rifle squads will make short work of the Scrin
infantry and the rocket squads will destroy the seekers. This battle would have ended up
very different had I just clicked my units on attack run and watched!
Why did I pull my tanks back? Judging by the size of the incoming force and doing a quick
assessment of their possible damage, my possible damage and the fact I had garrisoned the
buildings I knew I had won this little skirmish. It’s unlikely he would stick around and
try to kill those buildings because, being in the middle of the field and this early in the
game it’s simply not in his intrest to take the losses of killing those buildings and then
try to kill your infantry. He is sure to back off. It was unnecessary to have my tanks take
uneeded damage when I knew he was going to back off.
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Upping the Ante
It’s easy to run into trouble quickly and it’s best to not stick around once you know
you are outnumbered unless you're in a desperate situation. Knowing when and how to retreat
is key. Sometimes improper retreating can give you major disadvantages. Do you stick around
just a few seconds longer and try to kill something? Do I need to get out of their now? Try
not to stick around when support powers are going off or if a place is being bombarded with
artillery fire.
Lastly, you almost always always ALWAYS want to retreat by backing up. (Hotkey D) The majority
of vehicles take significantly more damage from behind and the a little more damage from their
sides. Keeping your enemy in front of you can make a huge difference. Large and slower units
such as the mammoth will take what seems like ages to turn around and accelerate out of harms
way, often time dying trying to get out. A simple back up command is much safer and quicker.
In this situation, backing off is a very wise idea. I am out numbered in about every way
possible. He has adaquate ground and air strength tied in with detection. Im going to need
bigger guns to bring him down. I also notice he has shields. I’ve just reached tier 3 myself
but I have not upgraded my Rail Guns. He is ahead of me in the game and I need to bring myself
up to speed. Don’t forget to upgrade but don’t try to upgrade too quikcly or you will have
spent all your resources into upgrading without enough units to show for it. It’s important to
learn how to manage your economy. Try to climb the tech tree too fast and you will be caught
off guard by simple forces and a lack of your own firepower. Climb it too slow and you will be
behind in upgrades, not have defense against air when your enemy has air or unable to track
down that stealth unit. It’s a balance that you learn from experience.
Before the fog of war closes I notice he has moved an explorer in to set up an expansion at
that blue field. Blue tiberium is worth two times the amount green is so if he is able to set
up a refinery and defend it for any period of time he will gain a significant advantage on me.
Seeing as how he pushed so heavily in this one spot of the map it’s possible this was a
desperate attempt to get more resources or it’s likely he may already have another expansion
and just knew the blue was very valuable. How will I know? Scouting!
Since I have retreated, he may push his luck and see if he can move in closer and scare or kill anything else off. He
moves in closer to me and moves into effectively a choke point. A choke point is where forces
must basically squeeze together to make it through two objects. In this case the two buildings
closest to the camera will force his units together. The smaller the choke point the more
lethal it can become as only a few units can move through it at a time and dramatically
decresases their firepower and health that is exposed to an enemy.
My infantry are out in front because he will most likely not try to run them over. There is simply too much firepower
being tossed around at this point that range becomes a larger factor. The longer a unit’s
range the better off it is. Since the first thing his tripods and seekers will target are my
infantry, I have an excellent buffer for my tanks who will move in just as my infantry soak up
damage. Infantry are very resistant to the kinds of damage a tripod (cannon) and seeker
(rocket) deals, tanks are not however.
During the confusion, I sent Firehawks around the battle and took out his explorer before he could place any structures.
Explorers, outposts and
emmisaries take just 30 seconds to deploy and if they are ready for it, your enemy will have a
refinery ready to place and perhaps also a defense structure. The more he gets down around
around the expansion in the way of buildings and units the harder it will be to push him out of
it. Taking it out early ensures less frusteration in the future.
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T xing
A staple concept and must be avoidable almost 100% of the time is a concept known as
“crossing the T”. Like the shape of the letter itself, the saying refers to one line
representing an army as the horizontal line of the “T” and another army being the vertical
line of the “T”. The army in which is lined across the top has nearly 100% of their
firepower hitting the army that advancing upwards where as only a few percent of their
firepower is present at any given time. Very large armies can be laid waste to smaller
armies because they have crossed the T.
Luckily for us Kane’s Wrath has a very easy to use function to help avoid this dangerous
situation. Select your units, right click and hold it while then clicking the left click
then drag. You should then see little “ghost” images of your units. Get used to how it
spins and works and quickly you will be able to set up a line of your units. Move around
and attack like this more often than not to avoid crossing the T and to maximize your
damage output and minimize the damage you take on any single one unit.
Moving forces without the formation function can result in your forces spreading out
over a long flowing line, like a river, towards your target. Your faster units (such
as pitbulls and attack bikes) will arrive first and since they are typically weaker
will die fast before everything else catches up. Using the formation will ensure your
units travel at the same speed and line up once they get to their destination. Somtimes,
however, I have found the formation function to mess up slightly. I simply give them
another quick order of formation. Practice will enable you to quickly use this to your
advantage.
Estimated to be roughtly 628% more effecient then the previous picture.
Also keep in mind unit abilities. Take for example Marked of Kane’s infantry the
Enlightened. Each squad is equiped with an EMP blast capable of shutting down large
amounts of vehicles or structures for no cost. Bringing a number of these infantry
and you can keep an entire attack force helpless as you blast away at them. You can
keep an enemy Epic unit offline while you pound it into the ground.
Micro is not something that can be easily categorized and layed out in rules.
The concept is simply making the most of your units but the execution is always
varies depending on your faction you have chosen, your enemy’s faction, the map
size and where you are engaging your enemy at. The best thing to understand is just
to realize what is aroudn you. Make quick assessments to what you can use to your
advantage. Is there a cliff I can position my artillery on? Is it safe to garrison
these buildings? How can I use this choke point to my advantage? When do I retreat?
Knowing the answers to these questions in a split second notice is crucial and no matter
what speed your currently are at it you will get better!
Those units aren’t going to micro themselves commander so get on out and deliver some pain!
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