Nod mission 9A

[Havoc]

So beginning is easy but the one thing that is absolutely unfair is that GDI targets commando with airstrike as soon as you get to your base. Is there a way to save him? No APC to hide into, and leaving units north doesn't help as A-10s target him only... He is vital for fending off infantry but I guess in this situation you'll have to use standard units. Building multiple SAMs and rocket soldiers doesn't work either as they are pretty much useless (unlike when you play GDI - then SAMs always destroy your A-10s)

[Hat8]

I just let him die. In fact, you should probably use him to keep the airstrikes away from your base.

It seems like the Commando was destined to die in NOD missions.

[maleokore]

from most playthoughs on youtube what i have seen (don´t remember if there was 2 options for this mission) airstrikes come from south over river wich is infested that gunboat...
you just have to build sams in few rows so that 1st row kills 1st warthog and 2nd row kills 2nd warthog and just keep commando running away the planes if you notice them far enough..
it shouldn´t that hard, i think 1 sam is enough for 1 plane so it isn´t that expensive either

[Havoc]

Definitely not on hard which I'm playing. Before you can build anything more than 2-3 SAMs airstrike is flying to you and on hard SAMs don't do much against A-10s. Guess he has to die. At least you have flame tanks since this mission.

[DarkFenix]

I don't think it's worth the money to try preventing the airstrikes. Just accept that your commando is going to die to the first one, then make sure you have something tough enough to take subsequent ones (a few light tanks grouped together should suffice).

On that mission, it should also be quite possible to snipe the GDI comm centre, it's located in the south of their base away from any defences. Shame NOD get no APC equivalent to make an engineer run at it.

[Pioniere]

I recall that the A-10s from the original C&C targeted your unit that was the most north of your position. That is no longer the case. Seems that the A-10 are excessively strong in this game and when the SAMS are useless against them, I think the developers should reconsider them in some missions .

[OBr]

It would be ok if AI would not use homing attack for airstrike. Even if you keep moving your commando, A-10's will just change their course and kill him precisely.

[Drain]

They changed it so that now the jets have a priority list. The commando is top, so if you have one of those, he's guaranteed to get bombed unless you can somehow hide him inside a helicopter or APC (things you generally don't have). Another high target is obelisk, which can survive at low HP but it's more ideal to have at least 2 obelisks. The jets then divide targets and the obelisks no longer get as weak. Jets also go for artillery, making this unit a lost cause because it can't survive the bombs. Engineers are next in line, with sam sites and harvesters at the bottom. Since sam sites are very low on the priority, they are practically worthless in this version of the game once you can build all the things jets go for first. A sam can be used to missile down orcas, then sold afterwards, but I usually prefer bikes.

Btw, losing your commando isn't a big deal once your base is going. I never had an issue with the commando being robbed from me, even though back then you could keep him for the entire mission if you wanted. On the last nod level, I didn't even bother to try to keep him alive. I used him until they wanted to airstrike then moved on. My logic was that if he's already dead, I don't need to worry about keeping him alive anymore.

[Nyerguds]

Originally posted by havoc:

So beginning is easy but the one thing that is absolutely unfair is that GDI targets commando with airstrike as soon as you get to your base.

Airstrikes are timed. If you get it as soon as you get to your base, you're just not going fast enough.

Even on Hard mode I managed to rescue all the scattered troops on the map well before the first airstrike came.