1.0 Introduction
.1 Email Policy
.2 Reproduction of this Guide
.3 What You Should Do Before You Play...
2.0 Equipment
.1 Personal Weapons
.2 Throwing Weapons
.3 Personal Armour
.4 Personal Amunitions
.5 Personal Items and Miscellaneous
.6 Units
.7 Unit Accessories
.8 Unit Ammunition
4.0 General Tactics
.1 Included Readme File
.2 In the Field
.3 Between Missions
5.0 Walkthrough
.1 A Leap in the Dark
.2 The Raid
.3 Market Day
.4 Two Roads. One Way.
.5T Heroes Die Young
.6T The Snare
.5C In the Eye of the Storm
.6C They Came in the Dusk
.7 And Follow Your Destiny
.8A Inside the Rat Hole
.9A The Judgement
.8W The Sign
.9W Everlasting Life
6.0 Endings & Spoilers
.1 Eyes Toward the Future
.2 A Hard Knight
.3 Played for a Fool
.4 An Explanation on SGDS
7.0 Final Notes
.1 Thanks and Contributors
.2 Version History
++++
1.0 INTRODUCTION
________________
It's a sad fact that some very good games don't get the attention they
deserve. For my money, Soldiers of Anarchy was one of the better RTS's I'd
played in a long time, but it didn't attract much attention in gaming circles
or from reviewers. The patch did make a big difference, but it looked like
(to me) that unless an RTS has "Blizzard" stamped on the box then players
don't notice it. A post-apocalyptic world, lots of different types of
hardware, a decent story and mostly interesting gameplay - what's not to
love?
Having seen SoA in a bargin bin for $15 the other day and that it still had
no guides on Gamefaqs, I thought "Enough's enough" and decided to write a
guide. Given that you can pick up SoA very cheaply, I'm hoping a few more
players might give this game a shot if they see a guide is available - SoA
deserves better than being bargin bin fodder!
1.1 EMAIL POLICY
----------------
If I've made a mistake in this guide or you need some help, you can email me.
HOWEVER... please include "Soldiers of Anarchy" in the email subject line
and or you run the risk of me mistaking if for spam. I can't always promise
that I will be able to help you, since once I finish a guide for a game I
usually put it away and forget about it. Asking me the exact steps to
finishing a level I last played 5 months ago isn't going to be successful.
Also, please don't email me about something that is already stated in the
guide (I HATE THAT!) unless I've been unclear. Finally, if you need help,
please be clear about what you help you need in the email - the more detail
I have, the better the chance I can do something for you.
1.2 REPRODUCTION OF THIS GUIDE
------------------------------
You have my permission to reproduce this guide so long as 1) it is unaltered
and 2) the reproduction will be free to those who want it. So no slapping
your name on this and then charging people to read it, okay?
If you want to alter this guide for reproduction, please email me.
1.3 WHAT YOU SHOULD DO BEFORE YOU PLAY...
-----------------------------------------
Go and download the latest patches for SoA - they are currently version
1.1.2.178. This will give you the ability to issue commands whilst the game
is paused, which is absolutely vital and makes things fun rather than just
frustrating.
2.0 EQUIPMENT
_____________
Below is a list of equipment that can be used in SoA. Knowing what your
equipment can do is vital to successfully fighting your enemies and keeping
your squad alive. For a full overview of your equipment and units, take a
look at the manual - below are just my opinions.
2.1 PERSONAL WEAPONS
---------------------
Beretta - You start with these. It has a very short range and its rate of
fire isn't great. You should be able to replace your Berettas with something
better fairly quickly though. Uses 9mm ammunition.
Uzi - Its got a longer range and fires faster than the Beretta and will
probably be the main weapon you supply your squad in the early stages of the
game. Given what's available though, it still isn't great. Uses 9mm
ammunition.
Shotgun - At close range, a shotgun can be very effective in taking out
enemies. However, the key here is "close range" - unless you are setting up
an ambush, there's a chance that you'll have to run through enemy fire to get
within shotgun firing range. Early on having a shotgun or two in the squad
isn't a problem, but shotguns should be replaced as soon as you can with
MP5's or AK-74's. Uses 20mm shotgun shells.
MP5 - The best of the 9mm weapons, with the longest range and highest rate
of fire. Useful to have until you can equip everyone with AK-74's (or
better). Uses 9mm ammunition.
Crossbow - A sharpshooter weapon. A single bolt can kill an unarmoured
enemy; it takes three to take out an enemy in a heavy vest. It's also silent,
so it's great for those stealth operations. Uses crossbow bolts, which can be
hard to acquire. It's range is pretty good, but it's rate of fire is pretty
slow. Overall though, it's a great weapon to have. Uses Bolts.
AK-74 - These are likely to become your standard squad weapon once your
enemies start dropping them. They've got a good range on them and are
fairly available in mid- to later in the game. It's range and rate of fire
are both pretty good. It won't let you take on everything, but it is a
great all-round anti-personnel weapon and the ammo is quite plentiful in
later stages. Uses 5.45mm bullets.
M60 - One of two heavy machine guns. It's got a pretty good range and rate
of fire and is useful if you need to take out lightly armoured vehicles.
The biggest problem is that it uses 7.62mm ammunition, which (early on,
anyway) means you have to decide if you are going to use this weapon in
your squad or give the ammo to a weapon mounted on a vehicle. Still, it's a
good weapon to have one or two of in the squad.
RPK - The other heavy machine gun. According to the manual, this is more
accurate the the M60, but everything else I've said above applies. I also
found it harder to come across RPK's than M60's. Uses 7.62mm rounds.
Dragunov - A sniper rifle and a sharpshooter weapon. Any personnel hit by a
Dragunov round is dead, regardless of armour. In fact, you'll find a sniper
armed with this weapon leaves a lot of heavy vests for you to collect. The
range on this weapon is incredible and is great for picking off isolated
enemies that you can't easily sneak up on. Also, apparently the Dragunov can
shoot the soldiers out of certain vehicles, but I haven't played around
enough with it to determine how to do that. The only problem is ammunition -
you only get five rounds a clip, while clips can be hard to find. Uses
5.65mm bullets.
M79 - The grenade launcher. I've got mixed feelings about this weapon. It
takes up too much room for it's effectiveness in my opinion. Sure, it can
be a one-shot kill and has it's uses, but it just lacks something. Fires
40mm Playma rounds.
RPG-7 - Fires rocket propelled grenades that are just great for taking out
armoured vehicles. Make sure the vehicles are motionless however, as RPG's
don't track targets. Squad members equipped with RPG's will find themselves
short on inventory space (since you'll want to take along a few spare
rounds and each RPG takes up an inventory slot). Fires PG-7 rounds.
SA-7 - The surface-to-air missile launcher, which is vital for taking out
attack aircraft who will otherwise spoil your day. There aren't a lot of
enemy aircraft in SoA, but if you have access to an SA-7 it doesn't hurt
to take it along just in case. Uses SA-7 missiles.
2.2 THROWING WEAPONS
--------------------
Molotov Cocktail - Hmm, another questionable weapon. It's great for throwing
over walls onto unsuspecting soldiers / Humvees, but you often find yourself
wondering (or at least I did) if _this_ was the right time to use it, or
to hold off just in case the next bit of the mission would be easier with it.
If you're lucky, you can throw it onto a vehicle and the vehicle will stay
in the flames, possibly blowing up. Molotovs have do have their uses, but I
tended to prefer other grenade types over them.
Hand Grenade - Can be very useful to taking out numerous enemies at once. One
tactic is to try and bottleneck the enemies (say, when they rush out the gate
of their base at you) then throw one of these into their midst. Hitting
moving targets can be hard, so try to use them on stationary targets. One
warning - sometimes your guys won't throw so well (particulary if you have
them too close to a wall) and you can run the risk of blowing yourself up.
Smoke Grenade - Can be very useful for setting up ambushes, forcing long
range enemies into range (either them coming to you or you going to them) or
for covering retreats. Again, you (or at least I did) run into the problem of
"is now the time?" for using them. Put a bit of planning into it, however,
and smoke grenades can be very useful.
Stun Grenade - This is almost a "what's the point?" weapon. Sure, you can
knock an enemy unconscious. But you will still need to kill them and I'm a
bit morally conflicted over shooting sleeping men. Everything else being
equal, use a hand grenade instead - the end result is the same and it'll save
you the bullets.
Throwing Knife - A one-hit kill that's pretty stealthy. However, you have
to get pretty close and in line-of-sight to pull this off, so it's up to
you. Almost "bragging rights" weapon, but they aren't too common.
2.3 PERSONAL ARMOUR
-------------------
Kevlar Vest - The "light" vest. Keeps your guys alive and is certainly better
than nothing. At the bare minimum every member of your field team should have
one of these (once they become available).
Heavy Vest - Stronger than the kevlar version. Vital for keeping your squad
alive.
-- Trade for these whenever possible, especially early on. You will run
into the issue of damaged vests being mixed in with your good vests. If this
is the case, take along a spare vest or two in a car / Ural that you can
swap over once a vest is destroyed. Alternatively, equip your squad with the
good vests and then trade away the badly damaged ones. --
2.4 PERSONAL AMMUNITION
-----------------------
9mm - The weakest ammo type. Comes in rounds of 20. Fairly plentiful early on
so it will be your main ammo type early on in the game.
20mm shotgun shells - According to the manual, this does "high" damage to
physical targets (ie people). This is good early on, but given the factors of
how close you have to be (very) and that once enemies start getting armour
this ammo type is severely impeded, it isn't something you'll be using for
long. Comes in sets of 10.
Crossbow bolts - These do high damage to soft targets and also have a pretty
good penetration, but can be hard to find. However, given that a Crossbow can
be a one-shot kill, they are very handy to have. Comes in sets of 6.
*One thing I have noticed about the crossbow is that, when fired from range
and your unit is crouching / lying down, it is very possible that the enemy
will not be able to work out where the attack is coming from and die before
going aggressive. This can be very useful in infiltrating bases.
7.62mm - This is the heavy machine gun ammo, used by both your squad and a
few mounted weapons. These guns can spit out the rounds very quickly, so be
sure to keep an eye on how much you've got left before you have to reload.
Overall, this ammunition type isn't too hard to find - Humvees that were
armed with mounted machine guns will drop this ammo type when you blow them
up. This ammo type comes in clips of 50 and is a good all-round munition for
attacking the enemy with.
5.45mm - This specialist (in game, anyway) AK-74 ammo does good damage to
physical targets and is fairly available in the later stages. Comes in clips
of 30.
5.65mm - Used by the Dragunov sniper rifle, this ammo type is worth its
weight in gold and is as rare as hen's teeth (just to mix colloquialisms).
Since a Dragunov is a one-hit kill against any soft target, it becomes
an essential in taking out solitary guards or enemies that are otherwise
difficult / dangerous to kill (eg those equipped with RPGs). The problem
is that there are only 5 bullets per clip and clips are very hard to come
by.
40mm Plamya Grenades - Comes in two types: high explosive and incindiary.
Both are effective against soft targets, but its better to have the HE
version in case you run into some lightly armoured targets (eg Humvee).
Incindiaries aren't bad if you want to damage some structures or stationary
targets.
PG-7 - This is the hand weapon of choice if you have to take out an armoured
target. Note well that if the target moves you can miss and that it may take
more than one RPG to finish the job, so plan carefully. These also work
pretty well against Death Knights.
SA-7 - Best for taking out flying targets and should be saved for just such
an occasion. In a pinch they can be used for blowing up ground targets, but
this can lead you in trouble if the enemy calls in ground support. One SA
rocket is enough to take out almost all aircraft.
2.4 PERSONAL ITEMS AND MISCELLANEOUS
------------------------------------
Medipacks - Used for healing injured soldiers and keeping available to fight.
Best placed in the hands of a trained medic. You can manufacture these in
your Base's infirmary.
Fly - A combat drug that can enhance your soldiers' abilities. To be honest,
I never used this (less an anti-drug thing than a "there is a comedown and too
many may kill you" thing). However, you can manufacture these in your Base's
infirmary and trade them for other goods from the Seeker.
Binoculars - Enhances your soldier's ability to see the enemy. Apparently
works only during the day, but I didn't see the difference between day /
night in-game.
Night Vision Goggles - Enhances your soldier's ability to see the enemy at
night. Again, I saw no difference between day / night, so I just took
binoculars instead.
Anti-tank Mines - A guerilla's dream (that only trained explosives
professionals should use)! Put them in the path of patrolling vehicles, use
them to set traps in front of gates or bottlenecks - an anti-tank mine can
be used to take vehicles out of commission without putting your men in the
firing line. Ignore the "anti-tank" prefix as these things will work on
humvees et al as easily as with an M1A1 (although quantity required for
vehicle destruction may vary). There are actually plenty around, so be sure
to steal them from your enemy whenever possible.
Please note that:
- 1) your demolitions guy will not always lay the mines where
you indicate. It's best to watch him / her to make sure they aren't
leaving a big gap through which enemy vehicles can pass through and kill you
(it happens, believe me).
- 2) When laying mines, put them in a stagger pattern (eg below, with X
symbolising mines):
X X X X
X X X X
This ensures that a vehicle that passes through one gap is very likely to hit
the mine in the second row and will increase the effectiveness of any traps
you set using mines.
Explosives / Dynamite - Blows up big. Should only be used on stationary
targets since you don't want to miss. Should only be used by your trained
explosives squad member.
SOMETHING TO KNOW ABOUT EXPLOSIVES - You can pause the game (under patch
1.1.2.178) and _then_ set the timer on the explosive and prime it (ie hit
the 'tick' button. This makes dashing in and out of areas to drop
explosives a bit easier when you are trying to avoid patrols. However,
if you drop three explosives, the third one will appear behind the "Pause"
button at the top of the screen, making it impossible to use this trick
on the third explosive.
Thumper Decoy - These are used to take out thumper mines on a 1-to-1 basis
(so if you need to take out 5 thumper mines, you'll need 5 decoys). Take care
in planting these, since you don't want to blow up your own squad member
while attempting the job. They do have a good attraction range though, so you
won't have to get ridiculously close to use a decoy. These only come into
play later in SoA. Once you use them, you can pick them up again (provided
they aren't blown up, of course).
Tracking Device - You plant these on a target to paint them for aerial
bombing. Most useful against stationary targets, but if you can drop it close
enough to encamped enemy armour it can be great in dealing some damage to
them too. These only come into play in the later stages of the game, once
you've "requisitioned" some boming air craft.
Thumper Mines - Mines that are attracted by nearby movement. I don't think
that your side ever gets some of these to use themselves, but they are
around in the later stages of the game. Please note that your explosives guy
/ gal can't pick them up and that they don't blow up "friendly" vehicles
(ie if the enemy planted them, then the enemies vehicles are designated
"friendly" to the thumper mines).
2.5 UNITS
---------
Vehicles are great for transporting your squad around, protecting them from
enemy fire, trading for Seeker equipment, increasing your firepower and for
providing storage space to put equipment you scavenge off the enemy. Some
you'll find empty on the field of battle, some you'll be able to scavenge in
a battle-scarred condition and some you'll trade for. Having the right unit
can make a lot of difference within a mission. Below is a brief overview of
each unit.
UNARMOURED VEHICLES:
Bull (Motorbike) - Don't know. Never seen it.
Gaz - A car that can carry two people. Using these is quicker than walking
and does give you some storage space to put the stuff you scavenge. However,
it won't be too long before you'll trade this to the Seeker for something
better.
Gaz A - This can carry four people, but everything else I've said about the
Gaz applies.
Wolf - Faster than the Gaz. Holds two people. It's most useful as trading
fodder.
Rager - Holds four people and seems to be a bit faster than the GAZ. Should
be used as trading fodder.
Humvee - You'll get one of these in the first mission. Humvees can get a
number of weapons (machine gun, grenade launcher, TOW launcher), meaning you
can adapt them to the mission you are going into. That said, the lack of
armour on Humvees means that it's only really useful against soft or lightly-
armoured targets. Put them up against anything else and you'll be left with
scrap. Overall, not bad in the early missions, but you'll want something
armoured before too long.
Ural - This is almost essential up until to the last few missions. It provides
a lot of room for troop transport... but the important thing is the
equipment storage, meaning you can scavenge quite a bit from the battlefield
if you have a Ural. I recommend to take one on all missions up to the point
where you choose to either assist or attack the COTUC (NB: you can get one
for "free" in the second stage).
ARMOURED VEHICLES:
BTR-80 - An armoured troop transport with a heavy machine gun that fires 14.5
mm rounds and has a smoke grenade launcher. Early on you'll find this to be
very helpful for keeping your squad alive and for taking on soft targets, but
once you start coming up against tanks you'll need something heavier. Can
take up to eight units.
BMP-1 - Another armoured troop transport that has a 73mm gun and anti-tank
missile launcher. BMP's are better suited for taking on other armoured units
and become quite useful around the middle of the game. Can carry up to 8
members of your squad.
Vulcan - Armed with a 14.5mm rotary cannon, Vulcans can put lots of lead into
the air and quickly. You can take on other armoured vehicles in a Vulcan and
have a reasonable chance of winning. These units are also good for putting
down aerial units. Can hold up to 8 squad members.
Shilka - Like a heavier version of a Vulcan. Shilkas can both give and take
quite a bit of punishment. Uses 14.5mm ammuntion and can carry up to 3 squad
members.
ARTILLERY:
BM-21 - I call these "Finger of God" since they can just reach out and touch
anything on the battle field. Use a squad member to see a stationary bit of
armour, have your BM-21 hit that target with 3 of its rockets (122mm HE) and
you'll be left with (hopefully) a still operational but now empty unit for
you to scavenge. The biggest drawback of the BM-21 is its small payload and
difficulty in getting rockets for it, but if used tactically this unit will
make a world of difference in completing missions. Can carry up to 2 troops.
*NOTE: You will have to micromanage the use of the BM-21 since it has a habit
of firing until the target is destroyed. This means that your third missile
might actually destroy the unit, but the BM-21 will have launched two more
missiles at a now-smoking chassis. Three 122mm rockets will destroy pretty
much everything (bar an M1A1, which will take 4) so once you've launched three
missiles, stop the BM-21 from firing.
2S3 - Another unit with massive range. It isn't as accurate as the BM-21, but
it can hold more ammunition (152mm rounds) and is a bit easier to manage.
Given the option, I'd take the BM-21 though. Can carry up to four squad
members.
TANKS:
T-55 - Tanks are the workhorses of battle in SoA. You'll find using them
essential to your success and every time you come across an enemy tank you'll
need to take it out with care. The T-55 is the first tank type you'll come
across. It's got a 125mm main gun, a machine gun (7.62mm) and a smoke grenade
launcher. It can carry up to 4 squad members, but works best with 3 - that
way you'll be able to use your machine gun as well as your main gun. However,
it's not recommemded to leave your machine gunner exposed if you get into
combat with other armoured units - there's a good chance the gunner will die
in this kind of combat.
M1A1 - The same thing that stands for the T-55 stands for the M1A1. It's got
a 125mm main gun, 1 machine gun, smoke launcher and 40mm grenade launcher.
The M1A1 can take more of a pounding than the T-55. Can carry up to 4 troops.
T-80 - Same as the T-55, but better. Comes with a 125mm main gun, machine
guns, smoke launcher and a flamethrower. Can carry up to 3 of your squad.
AIR SUPPORT:
MD 500 - A light helicopter than can carry up to two troops. Best used
against soft targets. Makes scouting out a mission area a breeze though.
OH-58 - This is meant to be faster than the MD 500. Can carry up to 2 troops.
Mi-8 - A more battle-orientated helicopter, the Mi-8 can carry up to 10 squad
members, so it comes in handy for troop transport. It can also be outfitted
with a wide range of weapons systems. However, it won't last too long in a
stand-up fight with a tank, so keep it moving and use it wisely. Also
known as a Hind.
Mi-24 - An assault helicopter that is better armoured and can be better
equipped than its bretheren. Can carry up to 8 squad members.
MiG-27 - I can't really tell the difference in performance by plane type.
They all drop bombs when properly equipped and can be very good at wiping out
enemy structures / stationary targets.
MiG-29 - I can't really tell the difference in performance by plane type.
They all drop bombs when properly equipped and can be very good at wiping out
enemy structures / stationary targets.
F-15 - I can't really tell the difference in performance by plane type.
They all drop bombs when properly equipped and can be very good at wiping out
enemy structures / stationary targets. And yes, I did use cut'n'paste; why
do you ask?
2.6 UNIT ACCESSORIES
--------------------
Hummer Machine Gun - The mounted version of the M60. Best for engaging soft
targets. Uses 7.62mm ammunition.
Hummer Plamya - The mounted version of the grenade launcher. Can take on soft
targets and lightly armoured units. Fires 40mm grenades.
Hummer TOW - This turns your Humvee into quite a destructive force, but
unfortunately one without a lot of ammo (max of 5). A TOW will light- to
mid-armoured units. However, it is an absolute waste on soft targets.
Fires TOW rockets.
Heli Machine Gun - Uses 14.5mm ammo and is absolutely fantastic for taking
on enemy soldiers. You can take a maximum of 250 rounds into any mission.
Can't be reloaded outside of your Base hangar.
Heli TOW - Same as the Humvee TOW, but on a helicopter. Can't be reloaded
outside of your Base hangar.
Heli AT-6 Single - Apparently this is the Russian version of the TOW. Uses
AT-6 rockets. Can't be reloaded outside of your Base hangar.
Heli AT-6 4-Rocket - Only available on the Mi-24 and I've never used it,
but being able to fire four AT-6 rockets at once makes this something to be
feared. However, it'd probably chew through rockets at an insane rate.Can't
be reloaded outside of your Base hangar.
Heli SA-7 - Fires SA-7 missiles. These missiles track targets (I'm pretty
sure they do, anyway) so you could almost fire and forget. Can't be reloaded
outside of your Base hangar.
Heli UV-7 - Fires 57mm unguided rockets. Best used against lightly armoured
targets and packs of soldiers. Can't be reloaded outside of your Base hangar.
Heli UV-32 - Same as the UV-7, but bigger.
Heli UB-20 - Fires 80mm rockets, but I didn't notice a huge difference
between this and the UV models. Can't be reloaded outside of your Base
hangar.
2.8 UNIT AMMUNITION
-------------------
7.62mm - Please see the entry under the Personnel Ammunition for this item.
Used by the Humvee Machine Gun and by some tank heavy machine guns.
40mm Plamya grenades - Please see the entry under the Personnel Ammunition
for this item. Used by the Humvee Plamya Launcher and the M1A1.
40mm Smoke - Can only be used from the tanks' and BTR's smoke grenade
launcher. Provides cover for your units / squad.
73mm shells - Comes in HEAT (High Explosive Anti Tank - best for armoured
targets) and HESH (High Explosive Squash Head - best for soft targets).
Used by the BMP-1.
125mm shells - Comes in HEAT (for hard targets), HEFRAG (for soft targets) and
APFSDS (for when you want to kill the guys inside the armour, but want to
leave the unit intact for scavenging). APFSDS can come in very handy but can
be hard to find. The tanks use these kinds of ammunition.
152mm shells - Comes in HE (for hard targets), Smoke (for distractions), Mine
(for laying mines from a distance) and Flare (to light up the sky). Only
the HE does direct damage. Used by the 2S3.
*NOTE: I'm yet to see a mine, smoke or flare version of this ammo type.
SA-7 - Please see the entry under the Personnel Ammunition for this item.
Used by the Heli SA-7.
TOW rocket - A fairly powerful unguided rocket. Can be fired from the Humvee
TOW or Heli TOW launchers.
AT-2 rocket - An anti-tank missile that can be fired from a BMP-1. According
to the manual, it's got great range but isn't as powerful as some of the
other rockets. For some reason I think this is a guided rocket...
AT-6 rocket - As powerful as a TOW but able to be loaded onto more vehicles.
Can be placed on the OH-58, MD 500 and Mi-24 (which can have the AT-6
4-Rocket attached).
57mm rocket - Used by the UV-7 and UV-32 launchers. Best used against soft
targets or light armour.
80mm rocket - Used by the UB-20 launchers. Best used against soft targets or
light armour.
122mm rocket - Comes in HE, Smoke and Mine flavours. Used by the BM-21. It
takes about 3 HE 122mm rockets to knock out most armoured units - remember to
stop the BM-21 to fire more than that or you will just be wasting ammunition.
*NOTE: I'm yet to see a mine or smoke version of this ammo type.
500lb bomb - Once you've painted a target with a tracker, you can drop one of
these on said target. Creates a big explosion and does a lot of damage. Can
be equipped on the jets (ie F-15, MiG-27 and MiG-29).
1000lb bomb - Like the 500lb bomb, but bigger.
++++
3.0 PERSONNEL
_____________
Once you've got your equipment you need to be able to use it effectively. A
number of different skills exist and having a good mix of them on the field
will make your life a lot easier.
3.1 SKILLS
----------
Athletics - This skill will let your guys run a lot faster. As such, it is
important for your scouts / point-men to have, since getting out of the way is
a vital skill for SoA. It also means your squad can be faster on the ground,
allowing you to come back more easily if something unfortunate happens (eg
one of your guys gets spotted).
Light Weapons - Whoever has this skill is more proficient at using light
weapons. Light weapons are things like the Berreta, Uzi and MP5. This
sounds good early on, but unfortunately given that heavy weapons are
frequently available later on in the game, it is a wasted skill. Don't
get it; get Heavy Weapons instead.
Heavy Weapons - Makes your guys more proficient at using heavy weapons. This
is the skill to have as it is more useful through-out the entire SoA campaign.
Heavy weapons are M60's, AK-74's, RPG's and SA-7's.
Sharpshooter - Whoever has this skill can use sharpshooter weapons more
effectively and can be used to snipe enemies with either the Crossbow or
Dragunov. Given that the sharpshooter weapons can lead to one-shot kills,
having a sniper on the squad can make things a lot easier for you.
Medical - Those with medical skill can wring more hitpoints out of medikits
when you use them.
Explosives - Squad members with knowledge of explosives can lay/pick up mines
and lay explosive charges without accidentally setting them off.
3.2 SUGGESTED SQUAD SELECTION
-----------------------------
SoA starts with you having squad members who have Medical skill, Explosives
skill and Light Weapons skill. All of these are useful, but unfortunately the
Light Weapons skill guy finds his usefulness fall off as the game progresses,
simply because you can get better weapons. By the end of the first mission
you can pick up someone with the Sharpshooter skill - this is also great to
have.
Whenever you go into the field, always take someone with the explosives skill
since you never know when you'll need to defuse some mines or plant
explosives. A medic is great for keeping your guys alive and for freeing up
inventory space (ie give all the medikits to the medic rather than one per
squad member).
Of the skills, my ranking for them is as follows:
1) Athletics
2) Heavy Weapons
3) Sharpshooter
4) Explosives
5) Medical
6) Light Weapons
Athletics means you can get into (and out of) places more quickly. Being
able to pull off a successful hit-and-run or just sneak through enemy
defences quickly is great to have in SoA. I typically have my two point-men
(aka scouts) with this skill.
Heavy Weapons include AK-74's, which will become a fairly standard weapon
in the mid- to end-game of SoA. Heavy Weapons also mean your squad members
will be better at using their RPGs to destroy armoured enemy units which
also comes in handy.
Sharpshooter is good to have, but you only really need one (maximum of two)
in the field at once. This is partly due to the fact that sniper ammunition
is hard to come across, so having more than one sniper will just lead to you
running low on rounds. Given that you can get a Sharpshooter to join your
squad in the first mission, you only need to pick this skill for someone else
if you want a back-up or if your sniper dies.
Explosives is a very important skill, but you only really need one (or two)
on the squad. You may want to have a spare person with this skill just in
case your main guy dies, but with care one Explosives guy will do you fine.
You'll get an Explosives guy in level 5.
Medical is important, but again you only need one on the field. Have them
come and heal your guys as necessary (or the injured go to them) and keep
them out of the front lines (someone has to drive that Ural!).
Light Weapons is the least useful, just because you'll have access to
heavy weapons before too long that'll make leave your Light Weapons
specialists looking stupid.
The squad I aim to build has:
2 Point-men (with Athletics and either Heavy Weapons or Sharpshooter)
1 Demolitions (with Explosives and Athletics)
1 Medic (with Medical)
7 Assaulters (with Heavy Weapons and maybe Athletics if they get that far)
This squad gives me a good mix of skills and abilities to deal with most
situations in SoA.
VEHICLES:
It is too hard to absolutely recommend any particular vehicles
for each mission. You may not have those vehicles, or you may not like
using the same vehicles that I do. However, in general I recommend that
you do not bring any more than 4 vehicles per mission. It is more than
likely that you will come across at least one empty vehicle per mission,
and since you need at least two people to use an attack vehicle (ie
driver and gunner) if you bring more than 4 vehicles you will have to
either dump one of your current vehicles or else drive around with your
squad spread out thinly over a number of vehicles.
The above statement is based on having two squad members as dedicated,
on-foot point-men. If you do not use this method, you could probably take
more vehicles and not be disadvantaged.
You can, if you have enough ammo, take along some vehicles as "spares" ie
to replace the vehicles that will get damaged during the next mission.
However, you don't want take too many just in case you end up with
some enemy vehicles that can be scavenged. So, if you do choose to take
some spares, just take one or two extra.
Also, keep in mind that when a vehicle takes damage, the soldiers inside
it also take some damage. Keep your eyes on your squads' armour and health
when they are inside armoured vehicles.
++++
4.0 GENERAL TACTICS
___________________
Below are a list of broad tips that I found to be very helpful in playing
SoA.
4.1 INCLUDED README FILE
------------------------
If you look at the files on the SoA cd, you'll come across a hints'n'tips
file from the devs. I've included it below for the sake of completeness.
--
From Adrian Miller, Lead Tester:
HEAL YOUR PEOPLE AT THE END OF MISSIONS
At the end of a mission Heal all injured soldiers with the Medic so they
are at full health. Then end the mission and go to Base. Once at base
click on the Lab. Since all your units are at full health you will be
able to perform Hormone treatments on 2 soldiers instead of one.
EXPLORE EACH MISSION MAP
There are similar extras hidden throughout the game, so explore each map.
SAVE OFTEN
You will want to save frequently, because experienced guys are very
helpful. Don't let them die.
CHOOSE THE ATHLETIC SKILL
Choose the "Athletic" skill for at least 2 soldiers and use these
soldiers as your scouts. Athletic soldiers are much faster than regular
soldiers.
CAMERA CONTROL
Camera control can be changed by hitting the space bar or by hitting the
Follow Mode or Free Mode option in the game window. Toggle that button to
switch to the mode shown.
PATCH TO ALLOW TURN-BASED PLAY
Due to heavy user request, we have created a patch to allow users to pause
Soldiers of Anarchy in single-player and issue orders. Please go to
http://www.soldiers-of-anarchy.com/downloads/ if you would like to use this
patch.
--
4.2 IN THE FIELD
----------------
- The key rule of combat in SoA is to catch your enemy in a crossfire at
every opportunity. You are outnumbered and outgunned. Trying to fight the
enemy on a 1-to-1 basis will just leave you too depleted to finish your
missions. Take your enemy on when you can do so quickly and with minimum
chance of damage to your squad.
- By the same token, do not let the enemy catch you in a crossfire.
- Scavenge everything. Anything you don't want, you can trade and you
never know when that extra item you picked up may just be what you need to
complete a trade with the Seeker.
- Learn to stack items in your Ural / other vehicles. Most guns stack in
loads of 5 and you can have up to 9 anti-tank mines in a vehicle. A little
bit of planning and keeping track of which vehicle is carrying what will
mean you'll be able to carry more back to base.
- Know what your vehicles can carry. For example, Humvees and most armour
have limited space for equipment, but you can always dump 7.62mm ammo that
you find on them. If you want to see if you can place some equipment in a
vehicle, drag that equipment over the vehicle icon at the bottom of the
screen. That will tell you if that vehicle can take it.
- Lay traps and ambushes for your enemy. Use mines to disable vehicles.
Plant them across roads you think the enemy will come down or around corners
and try to lure vehicles onto them.
- Whenever you go into the field, always take someone with the
Explosives skill since you will need to defuse / plant mines all the time and
to occasionally plant explosives.
- Whenever possible take a set of explosives into the field with you. You
never know when it might come in handy.
- Reconnaissance is very important to successfully taking out enemy
outposts. Move your men to positions around the base so you can see what you
are up against. It's no fun storming a base only to find out they have a M1A1
waiting for you!
- The enemy AI works on a line-of-sight and area of influence format. If
you kill an enemy in clear sight of another enemy, you will alert them. The
same can happen if you kill one enemy too close to another (especially with
a noisy weapon). Try to take out isolated enemies first and whittle their
numbers down.
- Take your time. SoA gives no rewards for speed, so take your time planning
how you are going to execute your objectives. If it takes you half-an-hour
to successfully take a base with no casualties on your side, then that's what
it takes.
- If you alert the enemy to your presence, don't be afraid to pull back. Let
them run around and try and find you. Eliminate those who venture too far
out after you as targets of opportunity.
- Don't be afraid of armour, since you will have to deal with it. Two squad
members with RPG's can take out most enemy armour if they catch it by
surprise - it takes about three RPG's to finish most tanks.
- QuickSave (F8) is your friend! Use it frequently! (Or not, if you want
to play hardcore..)
- When using vehicles, always have a scout out in front. As far as I
know, characters in vehicles won't see mines - you need a person on foot
to spot them. Be wary of driving through an unscouted area or one where
mines once were - it sucks to see your tank full of guys explode because
you missed a mine on your first pass through the area!
- Also, keep in mind that when a vehicle takes damage, the soldiers inside
it also take some damage. Keep your eye on your squads armour and health
when they are inside armoured vehicles.
- To take an empty vehicle home with you, I think that you need to have a
squad member sit in it at some point during the mission. So, if you empty a
vehicle of its previous owners, just send someone to get in, then get them
out again.
- Get used to selecting what ammo type you want your vehicles to use / not
use. By this, I mean get used to switching off ammo types so that your T-55
(for example) will use HEAT and APFSDS against armoured targets, while
saving HEFRAG for soft targets. The last thing you want to do is waste your
precious heavy ammo on the wrong targets.
- When ending a mission, always check that in the "Mission End?" screen
that you have all the empty vehicles / vehicles that you have acquired from
the mission before leaving the mission zone.
4.3 BETWEEN MISSIONS
--------------------
- Tempting though it is, don't rip off the Seeker early on. If you rip him
off (that "If you want.." message) he gives you less range the next time.
Give him a few "Delighted!"'s to prompt him into offering more stuff.
- You can turn certain Base functions to "Automatic". The only one I use is
for the Medical Bay - all the others I keep off since I want to be able to
pick my own equipment and which vehicles to repair. If you leave these on,
you can end up having the wrong vehicle repaired.
- Always empty your squad and vehicle inventories before trading, then
re-equip them after trading. You don't want to trade away a vehicle full
of scavenged equipment by accident.
- A quick way to equip a squad is to turn the Automatic function in the
stock room on, then off. This will distribute equipment to the squad that
you can then fine-tune.
- If you are going to trade a vehicle away, it is sometimes better to take
the mounted weapons off it and trade them separately. Firstly, this lets you
distinguish between the same vehicle type armed with different weapons (if
you have two Humvees, taking off their weapons means you won't accidentally
trade the TOW launcher when you wanted to off-load the machine gun one).
Secondly, you might be overtrading with the both the unit and the weapon -
if you trade one first, you will get a better idea of what you can get for it.
- Early on I recommend trading for personnel armour. It will always come
in useful and you will always be using it.
- Don't forget to re-equip vehicles before you go into the field. It is
painful to enter the mission, then realise that you haven't restocked your
units' ammunition supplies.
++++
5.0 WALKTHROUGH
_______________
Below are mission walkthroughs for getting through SoA. Things may not
always work out as I have described them - you may accidentally alert a
guard or the AI may behave differently during your missions than it did for
mine, changing what happens. You may also not get access to the same sorts
of vehicles, or you may have units destroyed that I later refer to - sorry
about that, but I'm just recounting how I passed the missions.
That said, I hope the walkthroughs are useful to those playing through the
campaign.
Before starting the campaign, I recommend doing the tutorial to get an idea
of the controls are and what is available in SoA.
CAMPAIGN DIFFICULTY: This walkthrough was written based on a Hard campaign.
GLOSSARY: To save myself a bit of typing, I abbreviate directions to their
first letter (eg North = N, South-East = SE, West South-West = WSW, etc).
5.1 A LEAP IN THE DARK
----------------------
Head towards the source of the green waves (ie the green waypoint), but head
W where the first path intersects. You'll find a bear near some crates. As
your first act upon leaving the compound, kill the bear to again stamp
man's dominance over nature. Pick up the crates [2 x Uzis & some 9mm clips]
and give your Light Weapon Guy an uzi. Resume your path towards the green
waypoint.
Kill the wolves on your way there and in front of the dam. Just in front of
the dam, you'll come across an empty Humvee. Have your non-Explosives squad
members get in and send your Explosives guy up to the dam. Plant your
explosives by the wall, program in 20 seconds and run away. Once it explodes,
get all of your guys into the Humvee and proceed to the yellow waypoint (the
lumber yard).
Grab the crates [7.62mm ammunition? - I didn't record this] (again killing
the wildlife first) then head towards the green marker. Save the guy from the
wolves (not that he needs much help) and talk to him. Follow him to his village.
Talk to him again.
Avoiding the bad guys, take the path that leads SW from the village. Follow
it down until you see a house. It'll blow up (!!). Take out the two Slingers
and talk to the guy who ran away. He'll join up. Give him a weapon, scavenge
the Slingers' equipment and don't forget to grab the crate behind the shed
[3 x medikits]. Head back to the village.
Leap the wall next to the Seeker's house. Pick up the crates [2 x MP5s, 9mm
clips, 7.62mm ammo, molotov cocktails]. There is another crate [2 x Kevlar
vests] around the front of the house, but watch out for the Slinger who will
walk down that way. Equip 3 members of your squad with your best equipment
and send the other two back to the Humvee with the 7.62mm ammo. (I'd
quicksave here).
Draw the Slingers into a crossfire. Have your Humvee not too far away to
assist if required. Try to attract the enemy Humvee into an ambush - molotov
it if necessary or bring in your Humvee to open fire on it, then have your
squad open fire on it too. Don't lose a squad member or the Humvee.
Scavenge all that you can. Talk to the men in the centre of the village -
some will join up. Before you finish the level, have one of your guys hop
into the Seekers car, parked out the front of the village.
-- BETWEEN MISSIONS: Trade the Seeker's car back to him for personnel
armour. Move your guys away from having Berettas, towards Uzis and MP5s.
Get the crossbow bolts and give them to your Sharpshooter. --
5.2 THE RAID
------------
Split your squad into three groups - two groups of foot soldiers and one
group in the Humvee. Carefully send your Humvee around to cover the back
road leading out of the base. Move your foot patrols closer to the base,
watching how the patrols move as you approach. The aim is to take out
these patrols without alerting the entire base. Take this slowly and do
it right, working your way from the outside in.
My preferred method was to work around the W side of the base first, taking
out the patrols one-by-one. By the time you've got around to the N side of
the base you'll be able to sneak up on those Slingers in the centre area
much more easily. You should also aim to take out the stationary Slinger in
the centre of the base without alerting him - if he is alerted, he'll get in
the car and drive off. If you take him out without alerting him, you get to
keep the car (!).
There are mines on the road heading W - get your explosives guy to grab them
once you've taken out the two guards nearby. The crate in the S-most yard
(next to the train carriages) has a [Crossbow] in it - give that to your
Sharpshooter who (if you have the crossbow bolts) will be able to take out
guys silently.
Once the base is clear, scavenge all you can and grab the crates in the
compound [which has guns, ammo, crossbow bolts and medikits]. Head to the
next objective (but make sure those mines are cleared!). Two guards need to
be taken out at the radar station. Grab the crate [2 x 7.62mm ammo] that is
there as well.
Head to the next objective. If you go NE from the radar station you'll see a
drunken man in the forest who has some stories to tell about demons... When
you get to the town that is the objective, you'll see 5 Slingers near a
truck, gathering the villagers. Move into position carefully, then open fire,
aiming to take the enemy out as quickly as possible. There is one patrolling
Slinger - try to take him out as far away from the other Slingers as
possible. If you tip off the Slingers, they will open fire on the villagers,
but this doesn't appear to have any serious consequences. It is, however,
easier to take out the Slingers if their attention is divided between the
villagers and you.
Once you've rescued the villagers, talk to the woman and you'll get two
new recruits. Scavenge everything and dump your excess into the Ural and
your other vehicles. Jump into your vehicles and head to the next objective.
Recon the base and see where everything is. Take out the patrolling Humvee -
one well placed mine should do the trick. Plant a mine after you see its
path around the base.
Taking the base is a bit harder. If you kill the guard on the N wall you
can alert the base, but this can make things easier for you as the enemy
split up a bit. In the base is an empty APC - if you can sneak two men into
it (by jumping the gate in the N wall) you'll end up with a lot more
firepower. In the APC you should be able to take on the Slinger guards
and Humvees one-on-one, but if it gets too hot for you, move the APC
outside and have your men support it with their firepower. Also have your
squad ready to move in and help the APC as required.
You can also try lobbing molotov cocktails over the walls of the base onto
Humvees - if you are lucky you'll be able to destroy / severely damage a
Humvee this way, but don't bet on it.
After clearing the base, shoot out one side of the prison fence that is
keeping the old man and talk to him. Scavenge everything - there are some
crates in the base [with Heavy Vests in one, Binolculars and Medikits in
the other]. Grab the GAZ as well. See the destroyed helicopter? Open it up
by shooting it with a Beretta (it'll take about 10 bullets, then make sure
you stop before you blow up the helicopter!) for a free Gaz.
-- BETWEEN MISSIONS: Start to upgrade your weapons. Hopefully some of your
squad will have gotten some new skills, so take advantage of this. Take an
APC and the Ural with you at least. Your point-men should have a Crossbow
and mines, depending on their specialty. Also, try to take / trade for as
many molotovs / grenades as you can and bring them on the next mission.--
5.3 MARKET DAY
--------------
There are four Slingers at a mined checkpoint just up the road from where
you start. Send your point-men up to ID the area, then use your vehicles
to take them out. De-mine the area (both sides of the checkpoint) then
move up the road.
Use your point-men to look around the area. There's a Humvee circling the
base and three guys on a small hill. One of these guys has an RPG and
possibly a heavy vest, so ID him and take him out quickly (eg grenades).
The other two guards are easier to deal with. Watch the path of the Humvee
and drop a couple of mines for it to hit. Move around to the back of the
base (I recommend going the long way around since there are fewer Slingers
to deal with - you get bears instead), where another Humvee is patrolling.
Take that one out too - you can probably just use your attack vehicles to
deal with it.
Once you are on the W side of the base, set up an ambush. Position your
vehicles around a corner, then lay a couple of mines of the other side
of the corner. Move your vehicles into position last - there is a chance
that their noise will alert guards on the other side of the wall. Also,
there are four Slingers in a small camp to the S - they may join in
the battle if alerted. What you want is for the guards to run around
the corner and into a crossfire, and for the enemy vehicles (two
Humvees and an APC) to hit the mines and be destroyed (or at least
have one or two of them taken out). Use the captured RPG if you need
to.
Once clear, open up the gate by operating the switch and talk to
the villager. You'll get two new squad members. Scavenge all that
you can. If you've taken out the four Slingers to the S, there is
a crate [Fly and Medipacks] you can get from them; if they are still
there, have your vehicles take them out. There are three crates in
the area that was being guarded: #1 is behind the building opposite
where the villagers were being held [4 x Playma HE Grenades]; #2 is
next to the T-shaped building [Medipack, 2 x Heavy Vest; Explosives];
and #3 is up near the train tracks [4 x 9mm ammo and 2 x 7.62mm ammo].
In the train area, the suspended train car holds a Wolf vehicle. To
get it, shoot a train care underneath the suspended car - the explosion
will snap the cable and drop the car. Save your game just in case of mishap.
You'll have a new objective. Head NW up to it. You'll see two Slingers and
an APC. Set up another small ambush (but it's unlikely the APC will drive
over any mines, so don't worry about that). Throw a grenade over the wall at
the APC to attract the guards towards the ambush. Talk to the scientist they
were guarding. Get the crate [3 x Grenades] and scavenge. To your N will be
a group of enemy vehicles - just ignore and avoid them.
Head W to the next mission objective, but be careful of the three APCs that
are in a small area next to the road. Ignore them too, and go off-road to
avoid them as necessary. There is an area with a hill in front of a road
leading W from the base - I find this area to be the safest to park any
vehicles you aren't going to use in the assault of the base. You are going
to want only a gunner and driver in your attack vehicles, with the rest
of your squad ready to enter the base.
Crossbow the guard who is patrolling the W side of the base when he is out
of sight of those behind the wall, then recon the base. You've got a number
of Slingers and their vehicles (including a BMP) to take out. I recommend
throwing grenades / molotovs over the wall at the BMP - with a little luck,
you can damage it enough to scare it off / take it out. Once this is done,
shoot down the W gate and have your vehicles kill any Slingers who come at
you. De-mine the W gate and then send your squad into the base. Take out the
remaining enemies - if you feel more confident about it (or can't spare a
grenade to take out the Humvee) send in your APC as well, although you may
need to shoot out a wall to do so. Once the final Slinger is killed, you'll
get a short dialogue scene.
What you want to do is now quickly scavenge and grab the two crates: #1 is
near the obstacle course [SA-7 Launcher and missile] and #2 is next to
the burnt out cars [AK-74 and 3 x 5.45mm ammo - there are mines next to this
crate as well].
If you have a scout on the hill (preferably with binoculars) you'll see
enemy vehicles start to move towards the base. This isn't something to panic
about - provided your squad stays out of line of sight, you'll be okay. What
you do get to see is these vehicles battle it out. Be sure to wait and make
sure that all the vehicles have finished fighting before going to finish off
the survivors - some times it takes a couple of minutes for everyone to
arrive. Once the fireworks have settled (and you've taken out any remaining
units), with a bit of luck you'll have a few second-hand vehicles ready
to be scavenged.
Go back to where you started this mission. Once you've got all your units
close enough to the nav point you'll be able to exit the mission.
-- BETWEEN MISSIONS: You'll get a free Hummer with TOW launcher next
mission, so you might want to bring along a few TOW missiles if you can get
them. If you've got two APCs (or heavier armoured vehicles) bring them and
leave your other Humvees at base (or trade them away}. Repair up your
vehicles and re-stock your grenade supplies. Bring all your mines. --
5.4 TWO ROADS. ONE WAY.
-----------------------
Grab your free Humvee and the crates [RPG Launcher and RPG's; 7.62mm ammo].
Talk to the mechanic to the S, then pick your poison - the Claws are E, the
TFR are W.
Next to the church (near the graveyard) is a priest delivering a sermon to
a group of villagers. Send someone over to listen in, then talk to him.
This will give you your first view of a unit that will appear later on in
SOA. Don't worry - it won't attack you (unless you attack them first).
If you head N and follow a road that leads E out of the city, then take a
side road N and follow it around, you should find an empty Humvee at a small
camp.
IF YOU DECIDE TO SIDE WITH THE TFR: Send your point-men E to plant mines on
the main road that leads out of the Claw base. A line of mines that leads
between the hill and the graveyard (at least covering the road) will save
you a lot of time and effort. Head over to the TFR. Have your Explosives
expert de-mine the road to the TFR base. Keep your vehicles in front of the
base in that sandy area. Send one squad member in and talk to the TFR
members that you need to talk to (ie the gate guard and the base commander).
Leave your Ural in the base and get in the vehicle they give you.
The Claws will attack. Hopefully a good number will drive straight into your
mines, but you will still probably have to take out a few yourself. Wait for
the message that the Claws are heading for the TFR base and pull back for
the Claw to show up. Try to get the TFR vehilces to draw the incoming fire,
then open up on the target with your vehicles. Once the final Claw unit is
destroyed (probably a T-55) you'll get a dialogue scene and new mission
objectives.
Grab the crate [3 x Explosives] next to the base commander. Scavenge from
the battle and also take all the crates in the TFR base.
+IN THE TFR BASE+: Heavy Ammo next to entrance, N section of base next to
other crates and by the helipads; Three crates: #1 at front of base
[7.62mm ammo]; #2 and #3 in the N section of the base [Medipacks and Heavy
Vests]. NB: Heavy Ammo crates are sent to your base for use in the next
mission.
Head up towards the Claw base. Stop to grab a crate [2 x Medipacks] that is
behind a house next to the park area in the town. Also, you can probably
scavenge here for equipment that remains as a result of the battle here.
Send your point-men up the road. De-mine the road, especially the new mines
that the Claw have laid. You will see that there are Claw guards at the
outposts, some armed with RPG's.
My recommendation is to destroy the mission targets the sneaky way. Send
your point-men in to the base via a short wall on the W side of the base in
the S section (it's near a lot of small buildings). Time the entrance to
avoid the patrolling guard from seeing you leap the fence. Your aim is to
use your Crossbow to take out the guards who patrol your objectives without
alerting the base. This isn't too hard to do - just take them out when they
are not near / in the line of sight of other Claw units. I'd try taking out
the Claw guarding the S-most objective first, then taking out the other
guard once he is a good distance away from any other Claws. Save your game
as neccessary.
Three other recommendations to make this easier - 1) remember to crawl to
keep out of sight, but run when you have to; 2) set your point-men's
aggressiveness to the least aggressive level so they won't stop to attack
any target that attacks them if they get spotted (this makes running away a
lot easier) and 3) see SOMETHING TO KNOW ABOUT EXPLOSIVES in section 2.4
above.
Sneak in and plant explosives at the middle objective. Set the timer to
about 6 minutes and activate it. Plant the explosives at the S-most target
and set the timer to about the same time that is remaining on your first
explosive. Now, sneak out and leap the fence that you used to enter the
base. Head up to the N-most objective (the train yard) and time your entry
to avoid the guard. Drop the explosive, give yourself 30s and leap the fence
again. Get out of the way of the explosion.
*NOTE: If you having trouble doing it this way, try changing the order
around. Blowing up the train yard first (or getting spotted there) can
draw _some_ Claw units up to that section of the base, making it easier to
take out the other targets. However, a base that is on alert can also
make things harder as vehicles start to move around and become
unpredictable.
Once all three objectives are destroyed, the Claw will leave their base,
heading E. Stay out of their way. Once the base is cleared, bring your
squad in to scavenge what you can.
+IN THE CLAW BASE+: In the middle area of the base there are 2 x Heavy Ammo
crates and 3 x crates [Heavy Vests and Medipacks - the Medipack crate is
slightly hidden in the building to the E]. There is also a crate next to
the house to the N of the Claw base [2 x Medipacks] and a crate behind a
wall in the refinery that is also to the N of the Claw base [4 x 7.62mm
ammo].
Send your Explosives expert to collect the mines on the N road of the Claw
base (if he carrying too much, give some of the other mines he is carrying
to someone else to hold or store them in the Ural). Have another squad
member go back to the nav point and talk to the Trader. Get in the T-55 to
end the mission.
Completing this option will make your next mission HEROES DIE YOUNG.
IF YOU DECIDE TO SIDE WITH THE CLAW: Send your Explosives expert W to the
TFR base. Plant about half the mines you have one the main road leading out
of the TFR base just before it connects to that crescent-shaped road. Use
the rest of the mines you have to cover the road that wasn't mined (because
the TFR won't drive through their mine field to get to town, taking the top
road instead). Take the mines the TFR have planted across their road.
Move your squad up to near the Claw base. Send your Explosives expert to
clear their mine field N of their base. Have one squad member move near the
base entrance, then talk to the guard (after the dialogue) and the base
commander (who channels Dennis Hopper). The TFR will attack. Get into the
T-55. With a bit of luck, your mines should take out a good number of the
TFR. Don't stray too far from base - be ready to move back as soon as you
are told that the TFR are headed to the Claw base. Wait behind the Claw
units so they draw the incoming fire, then open up on enemy targets.
Once the enemy vehicles have been destroyed, you will be told to blow up
the TFR base. Grab the crate [3 x Explosives] from next to the Cobra ...
errr ... Claw Commander and then scavenge what else you can.
+IN THE CLAW BASE+: In the middle area of the base there are 2 x Heavy Ammo
crates and 3 x crates [Heavy Vests and Medipacks - the Medipack crate is
slightly hidden in the building to the E]. There is also a crate next to
the house to the N of the Claw base [2 x Medipacks] and a crate behind a
wall in the refinery that is also to the N of the Claw base [4 x 7.62mm
ammo].
Head up towards the TFR base. Stop to grab a crate [2 x Medipacks] that is
behind a house next to the park area in the town. Also, you can probably
scavenge here for equipment that remains as a result of the battle here.
As you move towards the TFR base, you will see some guards located at
outposts near on the road. Have your point-men sneak around them and take
a look over the base. Save your game. Have your Sharpshooter crossbow
bolt the guard at the small gate to the S when the patrol isn't nearby.
Have your Explosives expert hop the fence, then crawl and hide behind the
crates. Keep out of sight of that patrol. I was fortunate that my
Sharpshooter was close enough to the gate to crossbow bolt both members
of the patrol, which didn't set off an alarm. However, it should be possible
to have your Explosives expert run and plant the explosives at both
objectives and at least be able to find a place to hide before the patrol
comes back. Set the timers for 5 (or so) minutes.
Three other recommendations to make this easier - 1) remember to crawl to
keep out of sight, but run when you have to; 2) set your point-mens'
aggressiveness to the least aggressive level so they won't stop to attack
any target that attacks them if they get spotted (this makes running away a
lot easier) and 3) see SOMETHING TO KNOW ABOUT EXPLOSIVES in section 2.4
above.
Once the two targets on this side of the base are set, leap back over the
fence and head to the NW side of the base. Use an M60 to blow a hole in
the fence just behind the buildings that surround the three crates - it
will take approximately 100 7.62mm rounds to destroy a section of the fence.
There should be no guards in this area. Crawl over to the last objective and
plant the explosive, setting the timer to approximately go off at the same
time as the others. Escape the base, then find a place that isn't on the S
side of the base to watch things go bang.
The TFR will exit the base once the three objectives are destroyed. They
will exit their base via the main entrance, then turn and head S by going
cross-country. Don't get in their way. Also, avoid getting seen by the
helicopter.
Give the base a few minutes to clear, then enter and scavenge all that you
can. Don't forget to clear the mines off the road at the front of the base!
Believe me, you'll swear a blue streak when your vehicle drives over one of
your own mines after the mission is all but completed!
+IN THE TFR BASE+: Heavy Ammo next to entrance, N section of base next to
other crates and by the helipads; Three crates: #1 at front of base
[7.62mm ammo]; #2 and #3 in the N section of the base [Medipacks and Heavy
Vests]. NB: Heavy Ammo crates are sent to your base for use in the next
mission.
Send someone back to talk to the Trader at the nav point. Get in the T-55 to
finish the mission.
Completing this option will make your next mission IN THE EYE OF THE STORM.
-- BETWEEN MISSIONS: With a bit of luck, you'll have two heavily armoured
tanks by the end of this mission. Repair them up as necessary and start
trading away your Wolfs / Humvees / GAZ's away for better equipment. AK-74's
and their ammo should becoming more available, so start getting them.
Alternatively, start giving your normal soldiers M60s / RPKs if you have a
lot of 7.62mm ammo. Don't deprive your vehicles of this ammo just to give
it to your squad, however.
A Draguov sniper rifle will hopefully be available for acquisition, so grab
that and its ammo when you see it come up. Have your sharpshooter still take
the Crossbow and use that until you are out of bolts before starting to use
the Dragunov.
You should take 3 vehicles into your next mission - an APC, a T-55 and then
whatever is your next most powerful attack vehicle. You can take the Ural as
well, but be prepared to leave it behind a lot. Have two guys take RPG
Launchers and RPG's.--
AT THIS POINT, THE MISSIONS WILL BE GROUPED BY YOUR CHOICE TO EITHER HELP
THE TFR OR THE CLAW. MISSIONS THAT HAVE A "T" IN FRONT OF THEM ARISE FROM
HELPING THE TFR; MISSIONS THAT HAVE A "C" IN FRONT OF THEM ARISE FROM
HELPING THE CLAW.
BOTH MISSIONS LISTED 5.5x AND 5.6x (WHERE X IS EITHER T OR C) ARE ON THE
SAME MAPS AND FOLLOW GENERALLY THE SAME OBJECTIVES, ALTHOUGH IN SOME CASES
THE ORDER OF THEM IS DIFFERENT.
IT IS MY PERSONAL OPINION THAT SIDING WITH TFR LEADS TO MISSIONS THAT ARE
EASIER THAN IF YOU CHOOSE TO SIDE WITH THE CLAW.
5.5T HEROES DIE YOUNG
---------------------
Watch the bridge blow up. A man will run towards you and, after a little
chat, join you. Get in your vehicles and head towards the E nav point. Have
your point-men recon the town. You'll see two Claws (one of them has an RPG).
Take them out. Move your explosives expert along the train tracks that lead
away from the objective until you come to come to a place where the railroad
merges. Plant mines across this area. Now plant the explosives next to the
fuel depot (the objective) and blow it up.
Have your armoured vehicles ready for the oncoming enemy by hiding out of
sight behind the trees. The enemy vehicles will be a Humvee, a Vulcan and
a tank. Eliminate them as well. Your armoured vehicles should be able to
take them out through the use of HEAT rounds and you may even be able to
scavenge a damaged vehicle from the fight.
Move up towards the closest nav point. Have three guys equip RPGs and use
them to take out the solitary Shilka (or is it a Vulcan?) on the W side of
the base (3 RPG hits will destroy it). Use this RPG squad to also take out
the patrolling APC in the E section of the base - the APC stops here for a
few seconds, making it an easy target.
Use your point-men to take out a Claw that is standing by himself next to a
building in the W - this guy is armed with a Dragunov, so be careful.
Finally, use your armoured units (undamaged vehicles leading the charge) to
take out the remaining 3 Claws and the tank. Scavenge the remaining
equipment and grab the two heavy ammo crates.
Head N up the train tracks until you reach the track teminus. Grab the crate
that is there. Move to the other nav point.
When you get to the town, keep your eyes out for mines on the road - there
are one set on the E road and one set in the middle of town. At the W side
of town there is an empty helicopter guarded by a Humvee. Destroy the Humvee
(I used a squad of six all armed with heavy machine guns and the Humvee
lasted about a second) and send two guys into the helicopter. Turn off the
TOW missile in the helicopter (by clicking on the green button next to it -
it will go red). Grab the crate nearby [3 x Plamya HE; 3 x Plamya Fire].
Use the helicopter to carefully venture around town until you activate a
dialogue scene where Beck (the objective) dies. Have the helicopter take out
the Claw units, taking advantage of its great attacking range. Watch out for
the two Claw units with RPG launchers.
You can also have your squad help the helicopter and assault the Claw as
well. Use them to take out Claw that are alone before using the helicopter
to destroy the vehicles and their guards. Once you have cleared out the
Claw, scavenge (including the mines) before heading to the new nav point to
the NE. Do not move any vehicle (especially the helicopter) too close to
that nav point yet, since once you get within sight distance the attack
will begin. Keep your squad together.
Once you have your squad in position at a location that isn't too far from
the nav point (such as next to a vineyard with small distillery that is at
the end of a road) ready your vehicles for attack. Activate your
helicopter's TOW (the light next to it should be green) and have it move
closer to the town / objective. You will see an APC and two Hummvees
attacking the town walls. Have your helicopter attack the APC - the TOW,
plus a few machine gun rounds, will quickly destroy it. If one Humvee next
to it is still close to the APC, the combination of the TOW rocket and the
APC explosion will destroy it as well. Destroy the other Humvee, then pull
your helicopter back and send in the armour. A Shilka will shortly come down
the road - if you hit it with 3 - 4 HEAT rounds, you will kill the crew
inside but leave the Shilka available for scavenging.
Send someone to get the crate from next to the small distillery that you
just come from [it has lots of shotgun shells]. Move another squad member
(or two) into town and grab the crate [grenades of various sorts;
throwing knife; 5.45mm ammo; Uzi] that is at the front of the town.
Send one of these squad members up to talk to the farmer at the back.
End the mission once you have got everything you want.
-- BETWEEN MISSIONS: Start to dump your weaker vehicles in trades for heavy
ammo. To be honest, you only need to keep one (or two) spare vehicles at base
just in case the ones that come back from the mission are too damaged to be
repaired in time.
Now that you have a helicopter, take that, along with your T-55. If you have
managed to get the Shilka from the previous mission, repair it and bring
this along too. A third armoured vehicle and the Ural will be enough to
round out your squad for the next mission. If you have enough ammo and
the capacity, consider taking a fourth armoured vehicle as a spare.
Finally, take an SA-7 launcher with a missile or two.
By this time, unless you've lost some men, you should have enough to leave
David Reaves (the light weapons specialist) back at base. I don't like the
Light Weapons skill, so I'd rather take along someone who can be trained up
than fill a squad spot with Mr Reaves. --
5.6T THE SNARE
--------------
Switch off your helicopter's TOW launcher. Send your point-men up to the
first nav point (ie the one closest to you). Use your crossbow to take out
the lone Claw in a heavy Vest at the N end of the base (watch out for the
patrolling APC). Move your point-men around to the S end of the base and
go down that road until you reach the intersection. Have your Explosives
expert plant mines either N or S of the intersection - I've found it easier
to plant the mines S, in the bottleneck leading up to the base, but if you
plant them N you have the chance of taking out more vehicles.
Have your helicopter scout the various nav points, taking care not to draw
any aggression from them. Once you've had a look around, use your
helicopter to eliminate one of the smaller Claw outposts - one with a Hummer
and some guards. Make sure you don't waste your TOW missile doing this.
Back at your first nav point, move your point-men to the SW of the base
where there are two Humvees. Move into position that will allow you to
grenade both Humvees simulatneously, then fade back into the woods and take
out the two guards who will be alerted by the explosions.
This will trigger several enemy vehicles to come down along the road you
have mined. With a bit of luck, several of these vehicles won't be arriving
to bother you. Be on the lookout for one vehicle - a BMP, I think -
that will take the long way around, coming around the woods and pass not too
far from your starting position. Have your vehicles take it out.
Now, clear the base, starting from the N end. Try to take enemy vehicles one
at a time rather than attack them all en masse. Also, take care in attacking
the Claw soldiers with tanks - they will waste HEAT ammo on single soldiers,
so make sure you turn the anti-tank ammo off before engaging these soft
targets. If you give the enemy armour a couple of minutes, some of it will
return to where it came from, hopefully collecting a few mines on the way
back.
Once the base is clear, scavenge. There is a crate in the courtyard of a
house that is opposite the church - leave the fence to get it [kevlar vest].
Head to the next nav point. Remember to clear your mines from the road!
In this case, I had used the helicopter to clear the small Claw outpost to
the SE of the NOAH compound. You may have used it to clear the other one.
Either way, the same basic tactics apply - take the higher ground and
use an assault squad to clear out the Claw.
Arrange a squad of six assaulters armed with M60s / RPKs and have your
helicopter a short way off to act as support (if you need it). Move this
squad into position on the raised ground . Have your helicopter take out the
Hummer and use your squad to take out the remaining Claw. Be careful - one of
the Claw that are near the lighthouse-looking structure has a Dragunov,
meaning he can kill your soldiers with one shot. Have either the helicopter
or your Sharpshooter take out this sniper. Scavenge, then have someone grab
the crate [plot point].
At this point, you may be running out of carrying room. Remember to dump
7.62mm ammo into your tanks to clear some space.
Move on to the next nav point. I had used the helicopter to clear this one,
but if you may not have. Anyway... once this area is clear, scavenge and
grab the crate [5 x Grenades]. Move on to the next nav point around the NOAH
compound. This has a tank and a BMP at it. Use your vehicles to engage them,
perhaps after using an RPG or two to do some damage. Once this location has
been cleared, grab the crates [heavy ammo; 4 x RPG].
Depending on how badly your vehicles are damaged and if you have a spare,
you may want to leave your most badly damaged vehicles behind at this point.
There is one final Claw outpost in the SE of the map - it has just one
Humvee and a number of soldiers. The use of a small squad of soldiers and a
heavy vehicle should be all you need to clear it out. Grab the crate at the
E end of the base [2 x Medipacks, Kevlar Vest, 2 x 7.62mm ammo] and
scavenge.
Send your point-men N - there is an empty outpost there that has a heavy
ammo crate there. Move your entire squad N so that it is in front of the
nuclear power station, but not too close... and send someone to the NOAH
compound to talk to the scientist. Have them take the Ural, which should
probably be very full by now.
Once you've finished talking to the NOAH representative, you'll be given
a Vulcan, two squad members and 30 minutes to stop the nuclear power
plant from exploding. Have everyone at the NOAH location get into the
Vulcan and drive it up to the power plant. You'll see there are a lot of
Claw here and quite a few vehicles. Use your Sharpshooter to take out
the Claw soldiers while keeping your vehicles free to engage the enemy
vehicles. Have your helicopter use the TOW against an armoured target
(APC or above). Work your way through the base, keeping an eye out for
Claw soldiers armed with RPGs (there are a few) or any other surprises
(there are no mines anywhere, though). Use your Vulcan to attack first,
but don't be surprised if the enemy vehicle decides to attack your T-55
instead. There are some Claw units that walk around the cooling towers,
so make sure you clear them out too.
Scavenge RPGs if this makes things easier, and if you see groups of
soldiers standing around, grenade them. Try to take the vehicles out
in a crossfire and one-at-a-time. Also, be careful not to destroy the
main power plant buildings or the cooling towers. If you do, the
mission will end.
Once you've cleared the enemy ground units (easier said than done) send a
squad member with an SA-7 to the small gate at the E of the base (there is
a guard there that your Sharpshooter should / should have taken out). You'll
get a warning message, then an enemy helicopter will appear. Blow it out of
the sky with the SA-7. That should clear the base and stop the clock.
Scavenge all that you can (or all that you want) and grab the crates that
are next to the shipping containers behind the central building [heavy ammo;
lots of 7.62mm ammo, stun grenade, kevlar vest; 2 x medipack]. Send someone
off to talk to the NOAH scientist. Once you've done this, end the mission
when you are finished with the map.
5.5C IN THE EYE OF THE STORM
----------------------------
You will be contacted fairly early on in this mission and receive a new
mission objective from it. Get into your vehicles and move up the road.
You'll see two soldiers shooting an unarmed man - take them out. Keep
moving up the road until you see the abandoned helicopter. Take out its
guards (two soldiers and a Humvee) and send someone to pilot it. Send your
point-men up to recon the area around the injured man.
With the helicoper in support, use your vehicles to clear the enemy units
on the NE side where the injured man can be found. This shouldn't be too
hard and shouldn't get you in too much trouble. Knock down a wall with a
grenade and send in a squad member to talk to McNowell. He'll join you.
Use him to clear the mines in the area (ie on the road nearby).
The TFR will then move a couple of Humvees down a road S of you to join up
with their comrades. They won't get near enough to see you (unless you want
them too). Ignore them for the moment.
Head NE to the village near the vineyard. Stop in the vineyard to arrange
your vehicles, then move in. Have your helicopter hit the APC with its TOW
and then destroy it with your 14.5mm guns. While this is happening, move
your armoured units up towards the village road. Use your helicopter to
destroy the two Humvees, then move it back. A Shilka should come moving
down the road - have your tanks hit it with 3 HEATs, which should knock
it out but not destroy it (if you are lucky).
Send someone to hop into the Rager (and the Shilka, if it is still in
one piece) and have someone else talk to the Farmer. He'll give you
another objective.
Have the helicopter move SW towards the bridge (one of the new yellow
objectives) taking care not to fly over any enemy units. You'll see
TFR soldiers running away from the bridge and it will blow up. Use your
helicopter to take out the TFR soldiers who did this and also the four TFR
soldiers that are on the hill (all four of these guys have RPGs, so keep
your helicopter at maximum distance and move when you see them fire at you).
Have your other units head towards the fuel depot, taking care to avoid
going through the occupied town. Send your point-men up the hill to the NW
of the depot and crossbow the lone TFR soldier that is standing there. Grab
the SA-7 launcher and missiles he drops and have a squad member arm
themselves with it. Use your helicopter to take out the two guards at the
fuel depot. Scavenge their gear and then send your explosives expert up the
railroad tracks to the place where it merges. Plant mines across this area
and position your vehicles behind some cover.
Blow up the depot (you can use explosives or HEAT rounds, depending on how
you want to do it). This will see a Vulcan, APC and light helicopter sent
to the depot. Hopefully your mines will take care of the ground units while
your SA-7 soldier will take care of the helicopter (which comes over the
hill NW of the depot). Once these enemy have been destroyed, clear your
mines and send your point-men W around the occupied town.
On this side of the town is a lone TFR unit with a Dragunov. Sneak up and
use the crossbow or a grenade to take him out, then use the SA-7 to destroy
the other light helicopter. This will most likely see the units in the town
go hostile, so pull your point-men back. The aim at this point is to pick
off the TFR occupying the town one by one, so use your vehicles / squad
members to conduct hit'n'run tactics. Killing off the enemy one or two at
a time may take some time, but if you try to hit them head on you'll risk
some heavy casualties. If large number of the enemy start going hostile,
pull back and regroup. Watch out - a lot of these soldiers are armed with
RPGs, so you will want to make sure you take them out before they can get a
shot off. You may want to try grabbing the Dragunov and using that to take
enemy soldiers out at range. Also, some units may come down from the town
to the NW.
Once you've cleared out most of the TFR units, you can send your vehicles in
to finish the job. With the town cleared, scavenge and grab the heavy ammo
crate that is in the centre of the town. Send a unit N to the railroad
storage area and grab the crate [4 x 7.62mm ammo, lots of shotgun shells].
Have another squad member (perhaps in the helicopter) head to the small
outpost N of the bridge. Grab the heavy ammo crate from this base.
Finally, send your squad to take out any remaining units from the area where
you saved McNowell from. There may possibly be two Humvees there, but some
grenade / RPG action here will quickly take them out. Grab the crate [6 x
RPG rockets]. With all the TFR killed, you will be able to exit the mission.
-- BETWEEN MISSIONS: Trade for heavy ammo and re-equip your squad. Trade the
Rager for equipment. For the next mission, be sure to bring plenty of
mines. Night Vision Goggles might be handy too. --
5.6C THEY CAME IN THE DUSK
--------------------------
Send your point-men ENE from starting point to find an enemy outpost with 2
BMPs and 2 T-55s (the outpost is at the end of a dirt road as well). Plant
mines on the dirt road where it goes through a small dip alongside some
trees. Leave one point-man there and send your Explosives expert N to some
crossroads that are W of the Nuclear Power Plant and E of the first occupied
town. Plant mines all over the crossroads.
Use your helicopter to take out the two guards at the entrance to the
occupied town that is a short distance from where you started. There is a
patrolling APC that may be attracted by this attack - just lead it back to
your armour to dispatch it quickly.
Attacking this base is also likely to see the T-55s and BMPs from that
outpost start to roll down towards you. If the first attack doesn't summon
the reinforcements, just keep slowly clearing the occupied town until
those enemy vehicles start to move. The BMPs will take the dirt road
while the T-55s will cut cross-country and go via the crossroads. With a
bit of luck the mines will stop any of these vehicles ever reaching you. If
the mines don't stop them, you'll have to take them on the normal one.
Slowly clear the town using soldiers and vehicles as appropriate and fall
back as necessary to regroup. Once things are clear, collect any unused
mines from your ambush points and get the heavy ammo crate from the small
outpost that the T-55s and BMPs left. Scavenge the now clear town and grab
the crate [Kevlar Vest, 2 x Medipacks, 2 x Grenades] near tents next to
church. Send your helicopter, an armoured vehicle (an APC will do) and your
point-men SSE to the enemy outpost in the train yard. When you get there,
watch out for the wolf pack that is a short distance from the base's main
road. (For fun, you can use a vehicle to scare this wolf pack into range
of the guard at the front gate, where they will attack him.)
Use your helicopter to blow up the Humvee at the far end of the base (it is
equipped with a TOW). Have your armoured vehicle and your point-men clear
out the rest of the base - it should just be soldiers. Once clear, scavenge
and grab the crate from behind the building with the smoke stack [Kevlar
Vest, Night Vision Goggles, 2 x Grenades, 4 x Mines].
Head back N and clear the next outpost. Have your point-men take out the
soldiers near the watchtower on the hill - take care, because one of the
TFR units has a Dragunov. Use your armour and squad members to take out
the remaining soldiers guarding the outpost. Scavenge and grab the crate
[plot point]. Move on to the next nav point.
At this outpost, the Humvee goes in a wide circle around it, so keep an
eye out for it. Once you locate it, it isn't hard at all to destroy. With
the Humvee gone, it should be pretty simple to clear out the remaining TFR
units. Grab the crate [3 x Fog Grenades] and scavenge.
Head S to the next nav point. It is guarded by TFR soldiers, a BMP and T-55.
Have your armour position itself to the W and have the Sharpshooter move to
the hill to the E and equip the Dragunov. Have your armour focus on the BMP,
then destory the T-55. Use your Sharpshooter to snipe enemy soldiers from
the hill. Once the base is clear, scavenge and grab the heavy ammo crate.
Move your units to in front of the NOAH base. Send someone in to talk to the
scientist.
Add the Vulcan to your list of units and (if you have any spare) give vests
to the two new squad members that have joined your side. Head up to the
Nuclear Power Plant, letting your healthiest vehicles lead. Take out the 2
Humvees and 2 T-55s by the front gate, then use your helicopter to hit the
two patrolling Humvees and the APC. Move through the power plant killing all
enemy units you come across. Make sure you move close enough to the cooling
towers to be able to see any enemy units that may be patrolling around it.
Listen out for helicopter blades once all the ground units are destroyed
(you'll get a warning) and use a healthy vehicle / group of vehicles to
destroy the light helicopter as quickly as possible. Grab the heavy ammo
crate and other crate [2 x Medipack, 4 x 7.62mm ammo, 2 x Grenades] and
scavenge. Go back to the NOAH base and talk to the the scientist. This is
the end of the mission.
-- BETWEEN MISSIONS: You can grab some Thumpers to deal with the crawler
mines, but you will find some in this next mission. Also trade to replace
the heavy ammo that you used up in the previous mission. --
5.7 AND FOLLOW YOUR DESTINY
---------------------------
Switch off your helicopter's TOW launcher. Send your helicopter off to
the nav point (avoiding the enemy on the way) and land it. Talk to the monks.
They aren't so helpful, so you are going to have to do things the hard way.
Hit the SW base first. Have your sharpshooter snipe the isolated guards (one
of them has a Dragunov. Set your tanks / armoured vehciles up, then have
your helicopter take out the Humvee and the COTUC soldier armed with the
RPG. Use the helicopter to guide the APC back to your tanks and let them
take care of it. Use your armoured vehicles and other squad members to take
out the remaining enemy (be careful that your armoured vehicles don't waste
their HEAT rounds and use HEFRAGs instead, if you have any). Scavenge
and also grab the heavy ammo crate in the W side of the base. Send two
squad members to the BM-21.
Move on to the south base, using your helicopter and point-men to recon.
Send your heaviest armoured vehicle to accompany them, but leave two squad
members in the BM-21. Watch out on the roads around this base - there are
crawler mines spread across some areas. On the W side of this base there is
a tank (a T-55, I think). Have the BM-21 fire three rockets into it (either
stop the BM-21 manually after you hear three "wooshes" or turn off their
rocket supply) - three direct hits from the BM-21 will destroy the tank (and
if you are lucky, leave it damaged but available for scavenging).
Have your armoured vehicle and squad members take out any soldiers who rush
you for attacking the tank (the Humvee may also attack). Now, have your
armoured vehicle and an RPG soldier destroy the Shilka (or again you can
fire three rockets from your BM-21 to take it out). Have your tank and
squad clear out any remaining enemy. Scavenge. Grab the heavy ammog crate
on the S side of the base - it's next to a house.
Head over to the final outpost. A quick recon of the area will show you
that is is fairly spread out, so just work your way down the line until
you clear it. Use a vehicle or two to take the Humvee and the bulk of the
soliders when they go red and start running at you. You could also use
your Sharpshooter to clear out a few of the more isolated soldiers.
Once you've cleared this area, get the heavy ammo crate next to the fenced
house and then get the other crate. Watch the dialogue scene, then put your
point-men in your helicopter and have them fly back to the monastery. Have
the rest of your squad scavenge while you use your point-men in this bit.
At the back of the monastery there are 2 crates [Thumpers, Bug from Crawler
Mine]. There are a few guards patrolling the area around it - wait until
the monks are a distance away, then throw a grenade over the wall to take
them out. Leap the fence and grab the bug (the other items can stay if you
don't have room, but make sure you have at least 1 spare slot for the bug).
Hop back over the fence and get back into the helicopter. Try to
avoid being seen by the monks. NOTE: You can do this part when you first
arrive at the monastery (ie when you first talk to the monks) and it's
easier to do since there are no guards.
I'd save your game here, just in case.
Once you have the bug, you'll get a new objective - to plant it on a COTUC
VIP's helicopter. Head back to your helicopter and fly towards the new
nav point, but be very, very careful not to fly too close - there are a lot
of enemy vehicles at this location and you won't survive long if you alert
them of your presence. Move around to the E side of the base and blow a hole
in the fence on this side. You should be able to see the empty helicopter.
Without being spotted by the guards, have one of your point-men plant the
bug on the helicopter (just drag the bug over the helicopter to plant it).
Keep a watch on the patrol that circles the U-shaped building, but with a
bit of crouching and some patience it isn't hard to plant the bug.
During this time you'll be getting a conversation between COTUC members -
don't worry, you have more time than the length of this conversation to bug
the helicopter.
Move your point-men back out to the E side of the base and head N. In the
NE section of the base is a jet that you can "acquire". (Oh, and E of the
jet outside the base is a Bengal Tiger, which is just an Easter Egg.) To
get the jet, just eliminate the two COTUC soldiers who are guarding it (and
do your best not to alert the nearby COTUC tank when doing it). Your
Sharpshooter should be very useful to do this. Once the guards are gone,
move in and get the crates [heavy ammo; 4 x 5.45mm ammo; 2 x bug] and
scavenge if you need to. Move back to your helicopter.
By this time, the bugged helicopter should be leaving. Stay out of its
sight. Once it has gone (and you've successfully bugged it) you'll get a
message to go back to the monastery. Fly back to the monestary. You'll
get a message that "Something's not right". This refers to the increased
patrols on the roads below the monastery and the crawler mines that now
lie on the road to the monastery, but if you fly back, this won't be a
problem provided you aren't seen by enemy vehicles.
Land at the monastery and talk to the monks. You'll be given an option - to
either side with the COTUC or to kill the monks (and I agree with the squad
on this - "thanks a lot, base!").
IF YOU CHOOSE TO SIDE WITH COTUC: Talk to the monks again. The mission will
end.
IF YOU CHOOSE TO GO AGAINST COTUC: Attack the monks out front. Once you kill
three of them, the mission will end.
-- BETWEEN MISSIONS: Trade for bombs and load them up on your jet. Get more
heavy ammo and trade away all those you can't use (eg if you aren't using
the BMP, get rid of all its specialised ammo). You may also have an M1A1
available from the Seeker for trading - you can get it by trading a T-55
and a Vulcan.
For next mission, remember to take bugs to place on targets for your jet
to bomb. However, if your next mission is INSIDE THE RAT HOLE, don't worry
about equipping anything else since you won't start the mission with it. --
AT THIS POINT, THE MISSIONS WILL BE GROUPED BY YOUR CHOICE TO EITHER SIDE
WITH OR AGAINST COTUC. MISSIONS THAT HAVE A "W" IN FRONT OF THEM ARISE FROM
SIDING WITH COTUC; MISSIONS THAT HAVE A "A" IN FRONT OF THEM ARISE FROM
GOING AGAINST COTUC.
5.8A INSIDE THE RATHOLE
------------------------
You start this mission disguised as monks, which means no weapons. Run up
and talk to the guard at the gate. Once you've entered the city, split your
squad up and move them around the various nav points. Have your point-men
stay in the area where the dialogue about the explosives occurred - get them
to leap the fence at the back of this area and position them behind the
shipping containers in anticipation of stealing the explosives.
Work your way up through the base - once you have talked to the angry
wife in the S of the base, you'll be able to enter the bodyguard's area.
Of the COTUC base - be careful. Going into the wrong areas will get you
killed. Getting caught with weapons (this includes grenades) will get
you killed. A lot of things can get you killed.
Once you've hit all the nav points, you'll get new objectives. You might
want to save the game at this point, just in case. Here's the order in
which you should act:
1) Have one of your point-men crawl in and get the explosives, avoiding the
two man patrol that walks around this area. Once you have the crate [3 x
Explosives] move back out and leap over the fence to leave the area.
2) Have the two man team that detected the airport run N along the sand
barrier until you can see the empty helicopter (it's a Hind). Have them
cross the sand barrier (you can do it at the point where it bends) and
move them to just NW of the Hind. Have them lie there - the Hind should
protect them from being seen by the patrolling guards.
I'll note that this second step isn't vital, but it does reduce the number
of squad members you need to worry about for the moment, so I found it made
things easier.
3) Move your non-Sharpshooter point-man up to the needle to hear the COTUC
service. Have your Sharpshooter move up to the bodyguard's compound.
This step isn't vital either, but it does provide a bit more information
on the COTUC. You can also plant some Explosives here if you want to, but
don't get seen doing it and put plenty of time (like 15 minutes) on the
timer.
4) Have one of your squad who is in the bodyguard's area grab the second
crate up from the W - it contains [4 x Kevlar Vests] which will help keep
your guys alive just a bit longer.
5) In the bodyguard's area, have your Sharpshooter move up and the crate
[Dragunov; 2 x 5.65mm clips] next to the empty M1A1 when the patrol isn't
there (ie they have moved past it). Make sure you have the Sharpshooter put
the Dragunov away into his inventory (so that he's not openly carrying it).
Move all your squad out of the bodyguard's area by the main roads.
6) Have a squad member go near the Place of Questions and talk to the COTUC
follower who is in charge of the execution. Talk to him and then leave the
area with the prisoners - this will add two members to your squad.
About this bit -
* If you take too long, the prisoners will be executed, so have someone
nearby just in case. However, if you get too close, you'll start the
execution dialogue.
* Once you have the prisoners, leave the area immediately, or else the guards
will start shooting you. Head E towards the bodyguard's area.
* Finally, saving the prisoners starts an invisible clock that will end in
your team being uncovered, so make sure you factor this in to the above
actions.
Start assembling your team in the desert to the S of the bodyguard's area.
Once everyone is there, move them E and over the sand barrier so they are
in the airport area. Move N and have your Sharpshooter take out the airport
guards - if you wait for the right moment you will be able to take out the
two-person patrol as they come down to the gate as well. Also elminate the
two COTUC soldiers who are guarding the jet. Have your squad scavenge
everything.
From this point, I'm not going to say "Scavenge" - you should be doing
this after each fight. Make sure the right people in your squad have the
right weapons, and that everyone has enough ammo for the next fight (at
least).
Grab the crate next to the jet [Grenade] and use it to blow up the Death
Knight that is standing behind the airport control building. Once that has
been destroyed, you can take the Hind in complete safety. Grab the crate
[SA-7 Launcher; 5 x SA-7 missiles] and have one of your Heavy Weapons
specialists equip it. Don't use your SA-7 missiles yet - they will be
very handy in protecting the labs (more on this later)
Go back to the bodyguard area. Use the Hind to take out the Death Knight
near the gate (or use a grenade if available) then use your squad to take
out the COTUC guards. Don't hold off on using the Dragunov if you have any
ammunition left for it - it's better to clear the gate so you can better arm
your squad. Once you are in, grab the remaining crates [2 x M60, 2 x MP5;
4 x 7.62mm ammo; 5 x Grenades, Explosives; lots of 19mm ammo] and equip
your squad. Send two squad members to drive the M1A1. Eliminate any guards
who remain in this area. Grab the crate near the helipad [4 x Playma fire
grenades]. Put these grenades in the M1A1. Also place any 7.62mm ammo that
your squad isn't using into the M1A1 for both storage and so that it can
use it as necessary.
Outside this area are two patrolling T-55, circling the base via the main
road. Try to take out the guards at this gate while a T-55 isn't there to
assist. Use your Hind to take out the two T-55's as they come past - keep
the Hind at maximum range so the T-55 can't hit it with a HEAT round. Two or
three AT6 missiles will destroy them. Also, if you draw the T-55 into the
bodyguard's area, you can have your M1A1 hit it as well.
From the bodyguard's area, your M1A1 should have a clear shot at some of
the Death Knights protecting the temple. Fire a shell at a Death Knight,
then move back into the bodyguard's area. The aim of this is to draw some
Death Knights close enough to the compound that your squad can throw
grenades over the wall at them. You don't need to kill every DK that is
guarding the temple - just enough so you have a side clear that will let
you drop some explosives.
But first... head SW towards the labs (it's not too far from the Place of
Questions). It is protected by COTUC soldiers. Have one of your squad (with
an MP5 and lots of ammo) blow in the fences at the back of the base and
move through. Eliminate all the soldiers, using your M1A1 in support. Leave
most of your squad here, but send a small group (your point-men and an
Explosives Expert) up to the temple and the needle (ie the two green
objectives). If you've already planted explosives at the needle, then you
only need to worry about one target.
The objective here is to plant explosives at both of these locations without
being seen by the Death Knights or any armoured vehicles. It is possible to
do (well, I did it!), but if you aren't having any luck bring up your M1A1
to help. Once you've planted your explosives, give yourself enough time to
get back to the labs before detonation (say, about 3 minutes).
Once the temple and needle blow up, COTUC will attempt to destroy the lab.
This will see a number of Death Knights come at the lab via the front gate.
Position your M1A1 and your SA-7-holding Heavy Weapons specialist at the
front gate. Use the SA-7 to take out the Death Knights as they come and
have the M1A1 assist as required. One SA-7 should finish off a Death
Knight. You'll know when the attack has finished because your objectives
will update.
Now, all that is left to do is to clear the base.
At the production facility there are two Death Knights at the gate. One
grenade between them should take them out, while your squad / M1A1 should
have no problems eliminating the soldiers from the small hill outside this
area. Grab the crates [3 x grenades; 3 x Medipacks, 6 x Anti-tank mines].
By this point, your Hind will most likely have used up its ammo supply while
your M1A1 is probably fairly well banged up. That's okay - if you sneak past
the place where you got the explosives and move N you'll be able to find an
empty T-55. Get in it and move it up to the road - once you get in a small
group of COTUC (a Humvee, a Death Knight and 2 soldiers) will start heading
your way. Use the T-55 to take them out, starting with the Death Knight.
Head back to place where you found the explosives and clear it, starting
with the Death Knight or the Humvee. Next, head E and look for the final
Death Knight / Humvee / soldier combination. With this done, it is likely
that you'll finish the mission; if not, look around for any remaining COTUC
units (civilians don't count) Once the base is clear, you can end the
mission.
-- BETWEEN MISSIONS: This next mission is your final one, so trade for and
equip the best of everything. Load up the Ural with some spare Heavy Vests
and medipacks just in case you need them. Make sure you've loaded up your
Hind with a full set of weapons - trade for different launchers for it if
you want to. Grab all the heavy ammo you need to fully load up your
vehicles. Equip your jet with bombs and take some bugs along.
Take your full set of vehicles into the field so that you have spares
available if you need them. --
5.9A THE JUDGEMENT
-------------------
During this mission, only scavenge when you run low of something. Given
that you go into this misson pretty well equipped and that this is the last
mission, there is little point scavenging for profit.
Get in your vehicles. Have the Sharpshooter take out the two soldiers
guarding the gate, then have a vehicle blow it open. A Humvee patrols this
road - take it out.
As you move up, stay away from the railroad tracks - there are some crawler
mines there. In fact, all through this base there are crawler mine fields,
so be careful where you send units.
Move up the NE side of the base, clearing out the COTUC units you see. Watch
out for Death Knights, who can be hard to see. Once you have secured the
power station, have your Hind scout the SW side of the base, which is an
airport. Locate the two enemy Hinds and use your BM-21 to destroy them. If
your Hind gets spotted, just fly away (but make sure the Hinds are destroyed
first!).
Now pull to near the entrance and start towards the yellow nav point. Take
out the Death Knight near the camoflage netting and use your BM-21 to clear
out APC near factory. Use your other vehicles and the squad to take out the
Humvee and soldiers. Watch out for crawler mines!
Use your point-men to take the base indicated by the yellow nav point.
Grenades thrown over the walls will eliminate any Death Knights while your
Sharpshooter will be able to hit guards that stand by fences. Clear out
the E section of the base first, then access the panel at the terminal at
the back (your cursor will turn into some whirling gears when you move it
over the terminal). This will give you the SGDS components.
Next move W and shoot out the guards in this section. Move closer to the
non-hostile Death Knights until you can see which one you are able to
talk to. Shoot out a fence and talk to him (he's full of useful
information).
Send your Hind to turn off the power at the power station (use the
terminal). Next, use an SA-7 or two to take out the Death Knights guarding
the panel your Death Knight wants to use. Have your Death Knight use the
terminal.
Next, focus on getting to the terminal that deals with the crawler mines.
Try to sneak in as much as possible with your point-men, using your BM-21 or
Hind to take out any enemy units that look like they'll get in the way. Once
you activate this terminal, you'll get a lot of explosions as the crawler
mines switch sides. Grab the crates next to the crawler mine switch [4 x
Medipack; 2 x Heavy Vests, M79 Grenade Launcher and Playma grenades]
At this point, watch out for Death Knights. Instead of chainguns they are
now armed with rocket launchers, which really pack a punch if you get hit
by them.
Head toward the S side of the base, taking out any enemies you see. Grab
the crates from in the walled area [RPG Launcher, 4 x RPG; SA-7 Launcher,
4 x SA-7 missiles]. A bit further on you'll see an empty helicopter, but
it isn't loaded with any weapons. Take out the soldiers who are guarding it.
At some point (heading far enough S is the trigger) NOAH will announce that
they are attacking from the S. Assist them in getting to the main compound,
but try to get them to take most of the enemies' attacks instead of you.
Once they get close to the central COTUC stronghold, use your BM-21 to hit
some targets in this area. You can also use it to destroy the temple if you
want. What you want to try and achieve is for the COTUC in this area to rush
out of their base and into NOAH units. You can also try doing this with the
Hind, but watch out for it taking incoming fire.
Once this centre area is clear, blow up the temple (if you haven't already).
A COTUC unit that you can talk to will appear. Have all your squad move into
this area and be fully ready for a fight. Talk to the unit. Four Death
Knights will teleport around the COTUC unit and start attacking. Kill them
all. Hopefully this will finish the mission; if not, search around for any
other units and take them out until you finish this objective.
Congratulations - you've finished Soldiers of Anarchy! Your ending can be
seen in section 6.1.
5.8W THE SIGN
--------------
Watch the outpost in front of you get taken apart by a Death Knight, then
listen to the COTUC tell you your mission objectives. You'll get a Death
Knight added to your squad. Make it a point-man alongside your regular two.
Grab the crates from the outpost the Death Knight cleared [2 x Kevlar Vest,
Medipack, 7.62mm ammo].
Move up the road until you get near the second checkpoint, taking out any
units on the way. You'll know the second checkpoint as it is a road that has
been carved through the hills. Use your Sharpshooter to clear the guards on
the hill (one of them has a Dragunov too) and have your BM-21 hit the T-55
on the other side of the checkpoint before it moves (3 rockets should do
it). Use your vehicles to clear out the other enemy units and take the Death
Knight for a test drive. You'll find he can take on other soft / light
armoured targets pretty effectively, but won't last long versus anti-tank
rounds.
It is at this checkpoint I recommend that you leave your BM-21 and any
spare vehicles you may have brought along. Make sure you position the
BM-21 in a location that is nice and open, with no mountains in front
of it - it's a waste of precious resources if you order the BM-21 to attack,
only to have it's rockets fly into a nearby hill! If you put in the corner
in front of road carved through the hill, this shouldn't be a problem.
Once this area is clear, move through and grab the crates on the N house
[4 x RPGs] and at the S side of the base [2 x 5.45mm ammo, 3 x Playma Fire;
2 x 7.62mm ammo; 2 x Grenades, M79 Grenade Launcher, Kevlar Vest]. You can
get the empty T-55 if you want.
Keep moving towards the nav point along the road. When you come to point
where the road leaves the the hills, stop. Move all your units out of sight
from that circular area in front of you. Have your Death Knight move up to
the unguarded crates and find - surprise! - that it's a trap. Have your
Death Knight take out the observers on the two overlooking hills. An APC and
an M1A1 will roll in from the N and S respectively. Let them reach the point
where they stop, then have your BM-21 drop 4 rockets on the M1A1. This
should leave it damaged, but empty and collectible for you. Use your
vehicles to eliminate the APC.
Send your helicopter NE to scout for two howitzers that will otherwise be
a big pain for you to deal with. Once you've found the howitzers, send a
small squad of those armed with RPGs to deal with them. (If you don't
elimnate the howitzers at this point, they will hit you (hard!) when you
next run into NOAH soldiers.)
Grab the now unguarded crates [3 x heavy ammo; 2 x Medipack, 2 x Playma HE]
and use your Sharpshooter to clear the soldiers guarding the front gate.
Have an explosives Expert clear the mine field (which is 10 mines, so make
sure you have the room for all of them). Enter the base and head S, moving
along the fence. Use your Sharpshooter to snipe the lone guard at the post,
then use 3 x RPG soldiers to destroy the Shilka. There is an empty Vulcan
here if you need it.
Send an armoured vehicle or two around the back of the base. Use them (or
your BM-21) to destroy the T-55. Have your vehicles take out the guards
(squad members can lob grenades over the walls to help) and clear the area.
Knock down a fence and talk to the COTUC spy. He'll join your squad.
Scavenge as you need to. Grab the crates as well [M60; 4 x 7.62mm ammo].
Move towards the next nav point, keeping as S as you possibly can. Use your
Sharpshooter to hit the lone soldier on top of the fence (he's got a
Dragunov) and get ready for some units to come at you from the small gate
and the larger one to the N. Use the buildings as protection and take them
out. Blow a hole in the wall next to the small gate and enter the lab area.
In this section, a large number of units are waiting around, so try only to
alert a few at a time. Once alerted, try to take them out as quickly as
possible. If you alert too many enemies or get too damaged, fall back and
regroup. Use the cover you have to limit the number of enemies who can
fire at you.
Once the area is clear, send the spy to access the terminal at the lab
(it's on the N side of a building in the concreted area). Then access it
again. You'll get new objectives. Take out the remaining scientists and
grab the crates [heavy ammo; SA-7 Launcher, 2 x SA-7 missiles]. There is
an empty BMP in the vehicle area to the SE of the lab. Use some explosives
to blow up the lab.
Move towards the bunker nav point. Clear the guards and the patrolling
vehicle that cover the road into this area right next to the lab area. Head
towards the nav point - watch for mines. Shoot down a fence near the
compound when no enemy units are there to see you do it. Send your point-men
in to stealthily plant a bug on the bunker, then steal the M1A1. Keep your
guys hidden from the patrolling enemies. Once you've gotten away with the
M1A1 (or get seen escaping with it) call in the airstrike - hopefully you'll
take out an enemy unit or two in the resulting explosion. Airstrikes take a
little while to come in though, so don't expect immediate results.
Alternatively, plant explosives on the bunker.
Take out any remaining enemy units in this area and head back towards the
prison area. Grab the crate near the gatehouse on the way [2 x RPGs,
Explosives, 2 x Medipacks].
Head N. Your next target should be the large fuel tanks that has a few
vehicles around them. Send a HEAT round into one of them and watch the chain
reaction. Mop up any other enemy units you see and pretty soon you'll get
the mission end screen. This doesn't mean all enemy units have been killed;
just that all the NOAH units have been destroyed.
There is a good change you picked up a lot of vehicles from this mission.
Make sure you take the ones you want back with you.
-- BETWEEN MISSIONS: This next mission is your final one, so trade for the
best of everything. You should have quite a few spare vehicles, so trade
for those you want (in my case, I wanted a Hind!).
If you do get a Hind, you'll also need to trade for weapon systems for it
and then ammo for those systems.
Take all your heaviest vehicles with you - you'll need them (and probably a
spare or two as well...) --
5.9W EVERLASTING LIFE
----------------------
You'll be given two Death Knights and a T-80 at the start of the mission.
Add the Death Knights to your point-men squad. Send all your units E, but
stop your BM-21 / Howitzer on high ground. If you have any spare vehicles,
leave them near the BM-21.
Watch out when you are going E - there is an M1A1 that sits in a small
yard at the S end of the road. Locate it and have your Explosives Expert
lay mines across the road a short way away from it. It is a good idea to
make sure this M1A1 is destroyed, so once it runs over some mines try to
finish it off (if it isn't destroyed). The M1A1 does start moving at some
point, so keep an eye on it.
You can, if you wish, send your Sharpshooter to take out the guards (one of
them has a Dragunov) on the hill above the radar station but this isn't
really necessary unless you are short on Dragunov ammo. Once most of your
squad has moved E towards the airport, have your BM-21 drop a rocket on
each of the two radar dishes. That should destroy them and complete the
objective.
When this happens, some dialogue will pop up on the screen calling units to
fall back to the airport. This does open up a big possibility of mining the
roads into the airport before destroying the radar dishes... but I didn't do
it that way.
At the airport, knock down the fence on W side (ie the side closest to where
you started this mission). Move your vehicles in and start attacking the
Shilkas and other vehicles that come at you. Quite a few vehicles are there
to protect the airport, but I found with 2 x M1A1s, a Shilka and a Hind that
it wasn't too hard to take on. The enemy vehicles will come up one at a time
for the most part - if you are quick enough, you can dispatch them before
the next one arrives.
Once the vehicles stop coming, send in your Death Knights to take on any
other remaining soldiers. When all units at the airport have been destroyed,
you'll get your objectives updated and some COTUC helicopters will arrive.
Talk to the COTUC representative. Grab the crates from the airport - E side
near hanger [2 x Heavy Vests, 4 x Mines; SA-7 Launcher, 4 x SA-7 missiles],
at NW house [2 x Medipacks; Heavy Vesst, M60, 3 x 7.62mm ammo] and on the
W side near the main road gate [2 x Stun Grenades; 2 x Fog Grenades; 2 x
Medipack] - and head off to nav point via the cross-country route.
Talk to the scientist. Have your squad recon the labs a bit before you
attack. Use your BM-21 and / or Hind to destroy the enemy armour that you
see before you try and take the labs. This will make things a lot easier.
Next, have a Death Knight shoot down the gate and then use your point-men
to take out the soldiers in the area. The Death Knights are pretty good
at taking down enemy soldiers, but just watch out for any units carrying
RPGs / anti-tank rounds.
I'll note it here, but it applies to any point of this mission - if you
find yourself in a position that you've fired your BM-21 or Hind dry, have
the crew of that vehicle exchange it for a spare one you brought with you.
If you didn't clear out the radar station of enemy units (like I didn't) be
careful of sending units in straight lines between the NOAH base and where
you started the mission (most likely where your spare vehicles are) since
you could start drawing incoming fire.
Once you've cleared the lab area, you'll get a new objective (and yes, you
do a lot of dirty work for the COTUC before they do any for you!). Hug the
wall of the base as you move toward the front gate nav point, only
destroying the enemy units that you have to.
At this point, if you need to swap any vehicles over, I recommend doing it
before the COTUC enter the base. Don't get too close to the front gate until
you are happy with how your squad is equipped. You'll only need to send
one unit to the front gate to trigger the next scene.
When you do get close to the front gate, the COTUC will attack. Give them a
little bit of help (like using your BM-21 to destroy the T-55 guarding the
front gate) but just stay out of the way. Let the COTUC take on the large
number of NOAH vehicles rather than your squad. Use smoke / fog grenades
to protect your units from incoming fire.
Send a Death Knight / point-man armed with an RPG and heavy machine gun
towards the wooded area on one side outside the main bunker area. Be
careful - you are looking for a large number of BM-21's and howitzers that
have congregated by some fuel tanks. These vehicles are protected by NOAH
soldiers who are patrolling the woods, some of whom have RPGs. Work your
way around until you can destroy the fuel tanks, which will in turn destroy
a number of these indirect fire vehicles. You may need to use some of your
vehicles to wipe out the remaining units, but avoid getting into a firefight
with the NOAH soldiers if you can.
On the other side of the base, have two squad members armed with SA-7s take
out the two Hinds that are sitting on the helipads. Use your vehicles to
take out any other enemy units that are outside the main bunker area. When
this location is clear, plant some explosives by the bunker gate and pull
all your units back to a safe distance. The COTUC will engage the NOAH units
surrounding the bunker. When the dust settles (with the COTUC having wiped
out the NOAH guards) blow up the bunker with a few HEAT shells.
You'll get a new objective. Assemble all your units near the destroyed
bunker. Make your choice after COTUC's leader talks to you.
Congratulations (well, kinda) - you've finished Soldiers of Anarchy! The
two possible endings can be seen in sections 6.2 and 6.3.
++++
6.0 ENDINGS & SPOILERS
______________________
Depending on the path you take, SoA can end in one of four ways. A
summary of these endings is listed below, along with a brief discussion
of what happened with the SGDS Disaster. Don't read below if you don't
want to know any spoilers. I've given a name to each of the endings that
roughly fits in with what that ending contains.
6.1 EYES TOWARDS THE FUTURE
---------------------------
When you talk to HE (well, SHE) you are lambasted for letting evil loose
on the world and ruining the COTUC's work. The ending itself is
bittersweet, mourning the friends you've lost in the fight while also
talking about how the good guys won this battle and that the world is on
the path to recovery. Although this ending recognises that sacrifices
have been made, it focuses on the future and, although further
missions may be needed, your team can now focus on assisting with the
reconstruction of society.
This is the best ending you can get.
6.2 A HARD KNIGHT
-----------------
After being given the ultimatum by SHE, if you wait for a short while a
Ural will make its way into the bunker area. Wait until it's drivers get
out (and watch them take your vehicles! Cheeky!) and have all your squad
enter the Ural.
This ending sees you taken by the COTUC to their labs and turned into a
Death Knight (a whole squad of them, actually). You see the world through
different eyes and are brainwashed into having no will of your own.
However, there is a small hope that one day you'll be able to throw off
this brainwashing... and when you do, Heaven help the COTUC...
Both of the assisting COTUC endings are bad - it's up to you to work out
which one is worse.
6.3 PLAYED FOR A FOOL...
------------------------
After being given the ultimatum by SHE, you choose to try to fight your
way out. You are doomed to fail - you are surrounded by COTUC Death
Knights armed with missile launchers - but at least you will die free.
Although you have helped the COTUC establish themselves as the dominant
force in a post-SGDS world, you hope that others will rise up to take your
place and that some day the good guys will win.
Both of the assisting COTUC endings are bad - it's up to you to work out
which one is worse.
6.4 AN EXPLANATION ON SGDS
--------------------------
I'm sure some people are a bit confused about what happened with the SGDS
virus. Here's my take:
SGDS was invented by NOAH (or whatever NOAH was) was a treatable disease
that they could earn some money off by selling the vaccine. Trouble was
SGDS mutated into a its genocidal form and started killing millions.
NOAH is still seeking a cure for the virus, but can't shake the fact
that they were responsible for the regression of civilisation into a
near-tribal state.
COTUC existed before the SGDS took its bloody toll out on humanity, but
its members were somehow generally immune to the effects of SGDS. In the
time since the virus nearly wiped out mankind, COTUC has been building
its power base and somehow inventing fantastic new technologies (eg the
Death Knights). It would seem to be too great of a coincidence for the
COTUC not to have had some kind of help in its survival, but it isn't
clear whether or not that help is truly divine in nature or just the
result of its highly gifted leader.
So, who is worse out of the two? NOAH, who made a mistake that cost the
lives of billions but are currently trying to fix that mistake? Or COTUC,
who seeks to take advantage of a broken civilisation and impose on it
an order they control, but will be a stabilising force in a chaotic
world? Your answer depends on your personal beliefs, obviously, but SoA's
only "good" ending comes from helping NOAH.
7.0 FINAL NOTES
_______________
7.1 THANKS AND CONTRIBUTORS
---------------------------
Thanks to Silver Service for creating such a great game! However, I was
a bit disappointed by the lack of importance that helping either the
Claw or the TFR had on the game.
7.2 VERSION HISTORY
-------------------
Version 1.01 - Fixed up some spelling errors.
Version 1.00 - Finished the walkthrough for all the maps. Added in
an explanation on the endings.
Version 0.55 - Added in walkthrough for THE SIGN and EVERLASTING LIFE
along with the second and third endings.
Version 0.45 - Added in walkthrough for INSIDE THE RAT HOLE and THE
JUDGEMENT. Added in first ending.
Version 0.37 - Added in walkthrough for AND FOLLOW YOUR DESTINY and a
few more tips.
Version 0.35 - Added walkthrough for THE SNARE and information about the
priest dialogue in TWO ROADS. ONE WAY.
Version 0.32 - Added in some more Tips. Added walkthrough for HEROES DIE
YOUNG.
Version 0.31 - Added in readme file tips from game CD. Also added in
patch information.
Version 0.30 - About 6 months after starting the guide, I've finally got
around to adding in two more missions! The walkthroughs for MARKET DAY and
TWO ROADS. ONE WAY. added. Plus it made me remember how much I like SoA.
I'll aim to add in more missions shortly.
Version 0.25 - Against my normal flow of FAQ writing, I'm releasing this
guide well before it is complete. SoA is a long game (especially since I'm
trying to complete all the levels). Currently I've just received City of
Heroes, which I absolutely love and am concentrating on. I plan to come back
to SoA over time, do a couple of missions then write them up. If I wait until
I'm completely done with SoA before releasing the guide... well... it could be
a long time before this guide say the light of day. If you are wondering what
the heck is happening with this guide, send me an email and remind me to
do an update!
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Version 0.25 was released 29 June 2004
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