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[Wicky]

Damn, 2 days without any sign of life from him, this does not bode well!!
Maybe some tips will help:
1) Try to cross the bridge in turn 17, if it takes too long then restart or you won't be able to manage the upper half of the map
2) Around like turn 10, after killing the rocket launcher with your hovercraft, you can sneak a ranger unit over the river which turns into mud and it's actually possible to capture the middle-eastern factory. It seems well protected by a nashorn in the south, but believe it or not it is possible to sneak in from the northwest, and quickly produce 4-5 rocket tanks.

Hehe no worries. I've been making some progress. I may have been lucky again as the enemy lost a ton of units in the mud... lol. Including the dreaded Archimedes artillery. Well I am not sure if I am still on schedule, but I'll see.

Stole those two towns north of the river around turn 8. The Skull and Nashorn east of the bridge have been killed. If I want to use the bridge I will now need to attack the Ionstar emplacements with my Vader hovercrafts.

I will see if I can steal the red factory now too, thanks for the tip. You done with this one yet?

[Wicky]

Nop, after trying this map for a dozen times all the fun has been beaten out of me
I can only stand so much punishment, when the damn heli reduces my elite buggy to 2 healthpoints again, I give up! All the good experience points lost drive me crazy!

I've achieved victory here. Killed the last partisan buggy --hiding behind its former factory-- at turn 26.

I wonder why you are suffering from the helis so much. I do prioritise them as targets for my Samurai3. I used the Nashorns to flank them. Are you making optimal use of the flanking bonus? The tanks hit hard enough that you can kill a heli in about two assaults (given some promotions). The nastiest thing that happened to me there was that a heli took off 5 hits from my Pulsar artillery. It proved to be immaterial eventually, however.
Also are you using the hovercraft to attack from water and/or at range at air units? Do not waste them by conducting land assaults-- they take too much damage then.

Here is what transpired during my game:

- I made sure not to move any vulnerable units past the second of the two irrigation lines; this is where the Ionstar can hit you. When my hovercraft were in position (near the rock in the water where the mud comes with the tide), I moved the radar vehicle right behind the fortress on the southern side of the bridge, exposing the first Ionstar and mine. I moved one hovercraft over the mine, capturing it, and attacked the Ionstar. The second hovercraft got the flanking bonus from the other tile, and killed it. It takes some trial and error, but I recommend to make a map of the possible and known enemy positions, so that you do not take unnecessary long-range shelling.

- I exposed the second Ionstar by boldly moving my radar vehicle onto the bridge. By this time my buggies (3) had killed one Skull emplacement, but the enemy tank and second Skull were still operational. I calculated that they would be unable to destroy my radar vehicle. I then proceeded to kill the second Ionstar with my hovercraft, capturing a mine and tossing it on the bridge for good measure. Indeed their tank attacked it then, to my amusement.

- I had a couple of ranger units on the northern shore by now, and had captured the two towns near the river, as well as the factory. I began building Sting rocket tanks, as prescribed here.

- From there it was a matter of wrapping the enemy up, really. I used the capture-retreat-recapture tactic for towns several times, gaining a number of trolls and another ranger or two in the process. I even managed to lose a ranger by placing it on a soon-to-be-river tile...
I knew there was an Ionstar near the factory as it shot one of my sting tanks. So I just moved in 3 of them, a ranger, and 1-2 trolls to expose it, and attack it when possible. I damaged it somewhat, and it killed my already damaged ranger on the next turn. Then I took it down, however.

- I spent some time toying with the red guys. I took their airfield and the town using demon infantry that I ferried over in my hovercraft. I also killed all their units in the end, but I ignored their sting tank division in the central area for most of the game. It appeared to be frozen anyway, only coming to live when a silly little demon infantry of mine strolled in range. Good bait!

Hope this helps... good luck!!

[kmonster]

Some levels are easier on expert than on hard difficulty. The rules are a little more complicated, but advantages and disadvantages apply both to you and the computer.
Ballistics can make both your and the computer's ranged attacks less damaging, both get higher combat bonuses against surrounded enemy units and both radars can be blocked better by placing units close to each other.

[Wicky]

never mind, was drunk when posting this

kmonster may have a good point there.

Anyway, I'm baffled at the BRONNOX mission now. This is where "brit" is way out east, unseen, sitting in an allied spring1 tank and leeroys into the enemy, causing mission failure.

The enemy bears down on my positions in force from the north, and I feel like I need most if not all of my troops to hold my towns. I don't think I can afford losing these, energy-wise.

In my last game I could hold my defense lines pretty well. I 'cleverly' took out the enemy's vision drone, as well as its mobile radar vehicle. So this saves me from an artillery barrage I certainly could not withstand.

But then this allied tank leeroys to death. So I figure I have to send some troops over to prevent this, but it's like there isn't time. I thought about blocking the tank's path on the bridge there or so. Tips would be welcome again!

[Montecruz]

Originally Posted by age like wine

kmonster may have a good point there.

Anyway, I'm baffled at the BRONNOX mission now. This is where "brit" is way out east, unseen, sitting in an allied spring1 tank and leeroys into the enemy, causing mission failure.

Tips would be welcome again!

Im on it.
Did you do it already?

No, haven't gotten around to a new attempt yet. Intend to do so soon though.

Still a bit unsure of the tactic, but I think I will try to dash east with 3 units or so and block the allied tank on the bridge, hoping it will not draw attention there.

[Montecruz]

Ah alright, I finished the level today. You may try to block the path but you might be too slow.

I found out that the young lady will withdraw when her tank is reduced to 3/10 strength. So I recommend that you, while you fight your defensive battle in the west, send a small detachment (including infantry in a transport) to the east to shield her from damage somewhat. I do not think you can spare enough units to escort her safely, so lets hope she gets damaged but not destroyed and she retreats then. (It might in fact even be better if she takes some damage early on, because if she does not, she will continue to charge against insurmountable odds). When she withdraws over the bridge to the far south-east, you can cover her retreat against some evil red units who will chase her. This is also the best opportunity to capture the factory there.

But caution: Brave Brit will repair her tank and start another sortie right away! So while she is in full retreat, you can reform and beat off the chasing detachment of the enemy. You can use this period of time also to send in more reinforcements from the west when the enemy is beaten back there to the east. When Brit starts off again, you are ready to fight and escort her whereever she wants to go!

But where is that? I have found out that it is very likely that Brit wil finallyl stop somewhere near the enemy entrenchments in the north-east. This is because thankfully she does not attack mines, and there are some in her path way, and also she will likely run out of fuel somewhere. You need to clear the enemy bunkers and artillery in that area QUICKLY because otherwise they will blow Brit to bits.

Please note that around round 20 (?) the enemy will send a huge air army in as reinforcements. Be careful Brit is not hit by a stray bullet as those fighter bombers strafe your units.

Good luck!