Explaining how the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ defence campaigns work (and also Mastia)

[Limbo]

tl;dr: the Mastia campaign is a trap. If we liberate Shelt, the defence campaign on Mastia is won instantly. Taking Shelt will be significantly easier than defending Mastia. Quit faffing about on Mastia and fight the good fight on Shelt.

---

ATTENTION HELLDIVERS
PLEASE OBSERVE THIS PATRIOTIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
THIS MESSAGE IS SPONSORED BY THE SUPER EARTH MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND APPROVED BY THE SUPER EARTH MINISTRY OF TRUTH

There's nothing that explains this mechanic in game and not enough people know about it so I'm going to explain it here.

We know that liberation campaigns and defence campaigns are different mechanically. In Liberation there's a single bar that goes down over time but goes up when we complete missions. Get it to full, and the planet is fully liberated.

In a defence campaign, the world is technically still liberated but under attack from enemies occupying a neighbouring planet (which planet they're coming from is signified by white arrows going from the enemy planet to the defence campaign planet). The blue bar doesn't go down but it must be filled within a time limit (the red bar). If the blue bar is filled the attacking forces are repelled and the world remains under Federation control. The red bar is filled, the world is lost and the defence campaign turns into a liberation campaign. Simple enough, right?

The part that isn't explained (I had to ask the community for this info) but makes intuitive sense if you think about it, is if the planet the defence campaign is coming from (white arrows) is fully liberated while the defence campaign is happening, that defence campaign is won instantly. All the enemy forces just disappear as their supply lines are completely cut off.

---

THE SITUATION ON THE FRONT LINES

The war on Mastia is a defence campaign being launched by the Automaton forces on Shelt
If Shelt is liberated while the invasion on Matista is on going, Matista will be liberated automatically, as discussed above. Shelt was very close to being fully liberated when the invasion was launched, so it will be easier to simply finish that campaign and kill two undemocratic birds with one stone.

Maintaining a strong and united force is critical, as the loss of Matista will cut off the DSS construction site on Gaellivare from the DSS logistics hub on the planet Tarsh. Our brothers and sisters in arms valiantly fought and died to establish the groundwork for this project; losing Mastia will cause significant complications and delays in the station's construction and further needless deaths.

Remember these campaigns are organised by a game master. They are not random. The invasion of Mastia at this moment is likely a deliberate ploy by the Automaton menace, abusing this lack of widespread knowledge to confuse, divide and weaken our forces.

Don't let the Automatons fool you and you're brothers and sisters. Don't let them win.

Do your part.

Stay on Shelt.