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X1CA_001
Forged Alliance official campaign map
Size 20x20 km
     Fort Clarke, located on the planet Griffin IV, is the UEF's last stronghold. Seraphim and Order forces are attacking the fort with overwhelming force. If Fort Clarke falls, the UEF is finished. You will defeat the enemy commanders on Griffin IV and end the siege of Fort Clarke.
Next map:
X1CA_002

X1CA_001 is an official campaign map from Forged Alliance. It is the first map.

Summary[]

OPERATION: BLACK DAY

PRIMARY MISSIONS:

  • Destroy the Order Bases
  • Destroy the Order Assault Bases
  • Defend the Civilians at Seabring (50% must survive or you will fail.)
  • Defeat Order Commander Gari
  • Defeat the Seraphim Commander
  • Destroy Enemy Experimentals
  • Protect Fort Clarke (Building must survive or you will fail.)

SECONDARY MISSIONS:

  • Repair the Shield Generator
  • Secure the Channel
  • Clear Artillery Positions
  • Save Civilian Outpost (UEF)
  • Evacuate Civilian Outpost (UEF)

NOTE: The following guide deals only with main objectives.

Walkthough[]

Be aware that the costs of units (primarily experimentals) differs between skirmish and campaign modes. A strategy that you have developed in skirmish may need to be modified during campaign. A few examples of these cost differences are:

Cybran Soulripper:         (Skirmish: 40k mass, Campaign: 20k mass — 30k fewer HP)

Cybran Monkeybot:        (Skirmish: 16k mass, Campaign: 24k mass)

Cybran T3 Loyalist:        (Skirmish: 3100 hp,  Campaign: 3000 hp)

Aeon Galactic colossus: (Skirmish: 23k mass, Campaign: 32k mass)

Aeon Czar:                    (Skirmish: 48k mass, Campaign: 18k mass)

Also be aware that some units are not available in the campaign until later; for example, as UEF you can't build the T3 air transport or T2 shield boat, both of which would be nice to use during the early campaign.

Stage 1[]

(I find that if you are Cybran, Using massed Bricks will bypass the need for most of this strategy You will still need some anti-air, though).

HQ explains that there are two Order bases northeast of your position, guarded by two artillery installations. He starts to say something about updating your objectives after destroying the bases, but is rudely cut of by a large amount of Spectre gunships that attack the base, primarily the quantum gate. There is no actual risk, however, and you may take as much time as desired to choose your faction. Upon doing so, the quantum gate is destroyed by the spectres, which self-destruct for no apparent reason. What you are left with is the ruins of a UEF base, with some low level AA, a few tech 3 generators and mass fabricators, and a tech 3 shield generator, in addition to scattered tech 3 mass extractors.

The first order of business should be to get a factory up and running (land or air), and to start producing engineers. Since your starting resource income is fairly strong it is a good idea to move your ACU into the area protected by the surving UEF shield and begin the tech 2 engineering suite upgrade, which is quicker than upgrading a factory and then producing tech 2 engineers. Meanwhile, begin churning out T1 engineers from your factory, and begin construction of additional factories and AA defenses, as your position will be continually harassed by enemy air units, particularly bombers and gunships, sometimes escorted by T2 fighers. Given the abundant resources you have at start, the best use of the first 2-4 engineers you produce is to speed up the ACU T2 upgrade. Once you've upgraded your ACU, or obtained some tech 2 engineers, it is important to build some tech 2 AA, initially under the existing UEF shield because that area is least covered by the starting UEF AA. If you rush/assist your ACU T2 upgrade, you should be able to have 3-4 T2 AA turrets before the first large wave of guships hits your shield. Your now obsolete tech 1 engineers can be assigned to assist tech 2 capable units, surround your mass extractors with mass storage (increasing their income from +18 to +27), assist/repair the starting shield generator, or whatever you deem necessary. Failing that, you may wish to simply detonate them, as the campaign's low unit cap of 500 will eventually become a hinderance. If you are Aeon, then simply sacrifice the engineers. You should also build a shield covering in front of the exposed T3 mass fabricators; eventually, this area will also be attacked by gunships. Do not bother with interceptors because the enemy's Swift Winds will make short work of them; instead rush your air factory to air-superiority fighters to patrol your perimeter. They will take a lot of pressure off your shields and allow you to build ports.

Now that your base is sufficiently defended, you can tech up in any way you see fit. More tech 3 shield generators and some SAM installations are highly recommended.  One useful base building idea is to not build too close to the northern shoreline. If the attacking gunships have to come over land to attack your base, they will crash where they can be reclaimed. Crashes in water are unavailable for reclamation.

Now it is time to start destroying the Order's artillery and forward positions. If you're UEF, you can defeat the artilleries by building two cruisers and using their missiles to destroy the arty at maximum range, otherwise you can wait till T3 and use strategic bombers. You get 6 UEF T1 submarines patrolling the shore at the start, thus you can simply use them to destroy the submarines early on.

Because the Order bases and artillery are just outside of tactical missile structure range, and strategic missile structures are overkill, a mobile unit attack must be used. On the other hand, having a few nukes might help later in this level. In general, a land assault on the beach will result in heavy losses, and little ground gained. In numbers, gunships can be effective at taking out the enemy artillery and point defenses, but the Order has a fairly strong AA presence in the area. One way of avoiding the enemy's defenses is to ferry some engineers (or sACUs), along with some mobile shields and AA over to the left side of the bases. You can then construct a small fire base, to create assault units, or bombard with artillery (if possible, use a few sACUs to capture a few factories, unless you already have Aeon tech, in which case destroy them and reclaim them for the mass to make experimentals). If using this approach, it is recommended to first destroy the left artillery installation. Alternatively, you can simply ferry assault units along the same route, and hit the order bases all at once. 

If you don't care about capturing Aeon tech and prefer a simpler approach, simply build some land/air experimentals and crush the bases, or if you're aiming for zero casualties (that said, it is unlikely to have your experimantals dying at this stage), simply build a couple of T3 heavy artilleries and sit back.

Prior to finishing off the enemy bases, load up a transport or two with engineers (or sACUs), and some mobile shields and AA, in preparation for the next stage.

Stage 2[]

Once you've destroyed the forward positions, you'll be tasked with defending a small town from Order units. While the town has some moderate defenses, they won't hold for long. This is where those loaded transports come in. As quickly as possible, drop your units off at the town, and begin construction of defenses. The enemy will bring forth some pretty strong units, like tech 3 assault bots and artillery, so be sure to get plenty of shields up (watch your energy consumption, too). Plenty of tech 2 point defense and AA will hold off the majority of enemies, but a handful of artillery installations may be necessary for dealing with particularly tough or long-ranged units. As Cybran, it is essential to have some sACUs with you, as they can rebuild any structure, including fully upgraded shield generators, obviating the need to upgrade them for combat. Several SAM sites may also be required to deal with the numerous enemy gunships.

With the civilians under your care, your next priority should be to destroy the enemy's positions surrounding the town. A strong enough ground attack from behind will easily cripple any of the bases. For this, use of tech 3 assault bots is highly recommended. Experimentals work as well, but any land experimental will be picked off in the next stage by masses of strategic bombers. Prior to completion of this stage, it is recommended that you mass some gunships/bombers, and/or heavily fortify the choke point between the bases you just destroyed, and the bases from Stage One. The town you just saved will not come under any more attacks, making it a very good rally point for your forces. You may wish to leave a transport or two there to move your engineers to Fort Clarke in the final stage. In addition, make sure that your main base is ready for a major air assault.

Stage 3[]

Once the final structure is razed, you'll be ordered to destroy Gari, the Order commander who has been harassing you thus far. At this point, she'll send swarms of strategic bombers, fighters, air transports, and gunships, including T3 Restorers at your main base. All these units will head straight for the position you may have just fortified, and can cause some serious damage. You will need numerous T3 SAMs (about 30 spread out along the front line) and also (about a half-dozen) Cruisers in the straights to deal with all the air attackers if one hopes to sustain minimal damage from all these attackers.

Gari will also order a Galactic Colossus with some other various units, including many Sniper Bots, to patrol the area you cleared in stage one. The latter will try to inhabit the ridges first held by Order artillery (some point defenses in these positions can neutralize the threat, provided they're unable to be fired upon by units below the ridge). It is important to focus fire on the Colossus, before it overwhelms your defenses. Failing that, gunship patrols can clean out these units with ease. Other than the patrols, the pressure added to your defenses is minimal, but Naval units will start to appear in greater numbers, necessitating a navy of your own, or gunship/bomber patrols.

Now, back on the offensive. Gari's base is reasonably well defended, including a couple of Galactic Colossi, but your actual target is her ACU. So, all you need is a surgical strike on her position. Make sure to get radar coverage of her base, and then do a quick sweep with tech 3 Air Scouts, or Air Superiority Fighters. Now that you know where she is, you can take her out however you see fit. Sniper bots aren't particularly good for this, but the UEF or Cybran amphibious assault bots are extremely effective at running through her shields and focusing fire. Alternatively, provided you know her location, Tech 3 artillery installations are a great way of destroying her ACU, and they will be very useful in the final stage. Strategic Bombers work as well, but upwards of 12 should be used, as her air coverage is very good.

If you are playing as UEF, you have a number of options. You can simply build a Mavor and destroy the ACU, or if you prefer some action, you can build a couple of Atlantises and destroy her naval base, then use them to build a massive air force of Broadswords and Ambassadors and smash in. Do not use Fatboys as Gari has massive number of strategic bombers, but keep them for the final stage.

With Cybrans, you can build a Scathis at your position at Seabring and escort it with 20+ Bangers and bombard her base, or simply build a few Soul Rippers and crush her ACU.

Finally, if playing as Aeon, you can simply build two CZARs and go on a suicide run. If you prefer a head on fight, build some Colossi and march into her base (Colossus is strong enough to take some strategic bombs without trouble).

With these strategies, you can defeat Gari without sacrificing a massive air or land force to smash through her defenses, which are already large enough.

Final stage[]

With Gari eliminated, you may proceed to Fort Clarke. The Seraphim commander is hitting Fletcher's defenses pretty hard, and will reach his base within minutes. Using the transports you left at the civilian location, you can take your engineering units over to Fletcher's defenses and bolster them to some degree. It can also be helpful to build several factories in that area, which, with looped production queues, can help alleviate some of the pressure on your ally's forces. The Seraphim commander is sending waves of Othuums, Ilshavohs and other Tech 2 units that quickly destroy his forward firebases. Send some Fatboys/Monkeylords/Colossi to Fort Clarke and slowly push the waves back.

Beware that if you have a sizeable navy at the start of this stage, your battleships will be attacked by about 20 strategic bombers of veterancy 5, which will require considerable AA firepower to bring down. If you give the Seraphim naval factories enough time to be built, you will also be attacked by a couple of T3 battleships.

The primary entrance to the Seraphim base is only lightly defended by a few Tech 2 point defenses. Push forward with your forces to destroy the Seraphim's firebases, which will significantly reduce the amount of forces you're facing. But be careful, the Seraphim have a Ythotha at the ready that can easily slice through anything land-based you throw at it. The CZAR/Soul Ripper will destroy it with ease, however, if you have 3 or more Colossi/Monkeylords, it won't be a threat for long. As for UEF, a smart way would be to bombard it with Fatboys from afar while Flether's forces are distracting the enemy.

Now it's time to teach the Seraphim that not all humans are the weak and hopeless species they think we are. Send your army in and make his final moments the worst. Congratulations Commander, exit to debriefing.

Walkthrough on hard mode[]

Welcome to the Hard Mode section. Many of the tactics used here are unnecessary in normal mode, but crucial in hard mode. The order and timing of your actions are crucial in the beginning of each mission (and each stage) in order to survive the early assaults, and in most cases you'll need to capture enemy factions in order to make things easier. A general rule to remember in hard mode is that you must allow yourself to build up as much as possible before ending each stage in order to prepare for what's coming, thus you must be familiar with the flow of the mission.

This mission is one of the harder missions overall, especially at the beginning because of the intense air attacks. On hard mode you get fewer starting AA turrets: two T1 and only one T2. It is recommended to hold out, fortify your base well and avoid any expansion until T3 is reached.

Stage 1[]

Immediately at the start, move your ACU under the shield to the east and construct a land factory (if playing as UEF build it on the wreck of an existing T1 land factory to save half the building time while not wasting any mass), and then upgrade your ACU to Tech 2. Use the first 2-4 T1 engineers as they come out of the factory to assist (thus speed up) the ACU upgrade. You want to reach T2 as fast as humanly possible in order to defend the shield from the coming air assaults. Just about when the ACU reaches T2 you'll be welcomed by a large gunship assault (about 18 of them). If you used engineers to speed up the ACU upgrade you should have a little while to build 3-4 T2 flak turrets with your ACU under the shield before this critical wave strikes. In any case, you can use the ACU to reinforce (assist) the shield. A later gunship wave will target your T3 mass fabricators. You can usually save them by building a shield over or in front of them, preferably with your ACU, because of its build speed. When your land factory reaches T2, immediately build some mobile AAs to help take down those gunships, then quickly upgrade your factory to T3. Make sure you have enough mobile flak units (6-10 under each shield) to bring down those gunships quickly; you don't want them to overwhelm your shield(s). If you're willing to pause the game, target the T2 flak units to the center of gunship mobs, and use T1 AA to pick off the separated gunships. A rather micromanagement-intensive way to avoid the initial pummeling of your shield(s) by T1 bombers (which do die quickly but still manage to drop a rather powerful first salvo) is to upgrade your starting sonar platforms to T3 (thus making them mobile) and then set them to patrol in circles; they will get targeted by the enemy bombers but due to their ability to turn sharply and small size the T3 sonar plaforms are very hard to hit by bombers. Usually, you'll only be able to finish upgrading one of them, the other will likely fall victim to the first bomber wave before it becomes mobile. Anyway, this kiting tactic won't work against gunships, so make sure to move the surviging sonar platform(s) under land-based shields (extending over water) or at least out of the gunship attack path if you want to keep it/them alive for later on. If you plan to do this, being able to tell what the enemy air waves are composed of before they get close is rather important early on; spread out your starting submarines to use as visual spotters to identify the type of incoming aircraft.

When your factory reaches T3, get T3 engineers and start building SAMs next to those flaks. SAMs can destroy those gunships quickly before they weaken the shield. When you have a few SAMs in place, upgrade your ACU to T3. Start building T3 shields everywhere, make sure they cover each other but not too close that a bomber can hit both sides, and continue building those SAMs. You'll want a total of at least 20 along the beach before you can start to relax. Also get a Quantum Gate and get some sACUs, you'll want at least two for your base, one for your upcoming naval base, and one for the next stage. You can get a Strategic Missile Defense as well but a strategic strike is not likely. Building a Strategic Missile Launcher is quite pointless since the enemy bases have nuke defense buildings and you'll need a large strike to take them out; it's better to just use experimentals.

UEF: Make sure each sACU has both shield generator upgrades. Those 52k shields are crucial to protect your upcoming Mavor and Fatboys, since you can be sure that your Mavor will be a hot target. The rest are up to you but you'll certainly want the extra resources upgrade. As for the ACU, get the shield generator and resource upgrade as well.

Cybran: Make sure each sACU has rapid fabricator upgrade, but do not get the sealth/cloak upgrades for those that stay in your base, instead go for nano repair or AA upgrade. You will prefer that enemy strategic bombers hit your 30k HP sACUs than your much weaker buildings, and the cloak upgrades will drain your energy. The rest are up to you but you'll certainly want the extra resources upgrade. Do make sure one has the cloak upgrade. As for the ACU, get the cloak upgrade, then when you have enough resources get the microwave laser upgrade, just in case.

Aeon: Make sure each sACU has rapid fabricator upgrade and personal shield upgrade. Teleportation is a bit too slow for the next stage but have one sACU with it, if you like. The rest are up to you but you'll certainly want the extra resources upgrade. As for the ACU, get heavy personal shield upgrade and enhance sensors in case your omni radar goes down.

Now, after your base is completely covered by shields, you can start looking into objectives. Get more resource buildings since the initial ones are not enough to build experimentals yet, and start building a T3 Heavy Artillery. This artillery will be your key at this stage, taking out the enemy buildings slowly while you concentrate on massing experimentals. Use the artillery to take out those T2 artilleries to complete the objective, then have it aim at defenses as well as air factories to slow down the gunship assaults, but remember to stop it when enemy has one or two factories remaining and put it in hold fire mode. You want as much time as possible before proceeding to next stage.

I'll split the guide here by faction:

UEF

Start building a Mavor (one is enough) and 3 Fatboys. Fatboys are slow and clumsy units so you dont want too many of them. Also build two Atlantis and have them destroy those submarines to complete the objective. Don't surface the Atlantis as the water is heavily guarded by patrolling Blazes and Auroras. Get an sACU to start building some SAMs further out in the water, then only get two naval factories and quickly upgrade them to T3. Have two battleships ready to destroy those patrols and future naval assaults. 

When the enemy is weakened beyond recognition, transport an sACU over to their base and capture one of their T3 engineers. After you captured one, transport it back to your base and have it build a Quantum Gate, then transport your sACU back. Get some Aeon sACUs and start massing Collossi; they're much better at direct assaults than your weak Fatboys. Also start building a few CZARs to abuse their 15k air crash ability later on. Tempests are unnecessary since you have Atlantis.

Make sure you have at least 6 Collossi, 4 CZARs, 2 Atlantis, 3 Fatboys and a Mavor before proceeding to the next stage. 

Cybran

Start massing Monkeylords and Soul Rippers. Scathis is useless since unlike in skirmish it only has the range of a T3 heavy artillery. Get an sACU to start building some SAMs further out in the water, then only get two naval factories and quickly upgrade them to T3. Try not to build too far out or you'll attract the patrols. Have two battleships ready to destroy those patrols and future naval assaults. Get a Plan B ready and destroy those subs from afar to complete the objective (make sure not to get too close since Plan B is rather weak).

Make sure you've bombarded the Aeon bases beyond recognition before transporting your cloaked sACU. Unlike UEF, you need to be more careful since the enemy sACU, if still alive, has omni radar, thus if possible try to capture the engineer that isn't near the sACU, or you can bring two sACUs and use one to attract fire while the other performs the capture. After you are done, transport the engineer and sACU back. Get Aeon Quantum Gate and get some Aeon sACUs. Build a Tempest to help with the naval defense. Also get Collossi and CZARs, you want the Collossi to tank damage while your Monkeylords wreck havoc, and CZAR is used for their 15k air crash ability as well as their speed since Soul Rippers are quite slow.

Make sure you have at least 3 Monkeylords, 6 Collossi, 3 CZARs, a Tempest and 4 Soul Rippers before proceeding to the next stage.

Aeon

Start massing Collossi and CZARs. Unlike other factions you don't need to go through trouble to capture enemy tech. Move your CZARs out for some AA defenses while you start building two Tempests. Have them destroy the patrols and sub hunters (make sure the T2 artillery positions are destroyed) to complete the objective, then build up your naval base. Have SAMs further out to engage air assaults, supported by Infinities. 

Make sure you have at least 9 Collossi, 4 CZARs and 2 Tempests before proceeding to the next stage.

Stage 2[]

Station your land experimental forces to the left side before proceeding so that you can get to the outpost as soon as possible. You should have 3 Colossi, then 3 Fatboys for UEF, 3 Monkeylords for Cybran and 3 additional Colossi for Aeon. Bring an sACU with you as well, for Cybran it'll be the cloaked one. You can just use Colossi but I find Fatboys and Monkeylords are more useful in destroying bases. When the map expands, immediately move those units along the left side then up to the outpost. Do not use air experimentals as the enemy has huge amounts of ASFs and Combat Fighters. Move to the outpost as soon as possible before it gets overwhelmed. If you move as soon as the map expands you should reach there in time. When you reach there, have the sACU build a shield generator and some SAMs, then his job is done. Have your T3 heavy artillery (and Mavor) start shelling those bases. Do not send experimentals into the base as after you destroy them, the next stage will begin with a huge air strike along the path to your base. Have your experimentals stationed at the outpost first. If you have Fatboys you can shell their bases from the outpost.

Make sure you're prepared before you begin the next stage. I recommend you read the next section first to know what to prepare.

Stage 3[]

Brace yourself for a huge air strike on your position, consisting of 15+ strategic bombers and huge amount of other air units, including transports that are carrying Harbingers so make sure you do have a land experimental guarding your base. It can help to station Colossi outside your shields so that they take the blunt of the damage. Strategic bombers will seek out your experimentals first, thus make sure your Mavor is protected by sACU's 52k shield, as only that is strong enough to hold against multiple strikes. If the Mavor does get destroyed, immediately move your sACU away so that its wheckage doesn't get destroyed by stray bombs, saving you half of the mass and time. Enemies in hard mode do more damage than usual thus it only takes 2 hits from those Shockers to destroy your Mavor, unlike the usual 3. Having CZARs and Soul Rippers around can help, but position the CZARs on the water; you don't want one of those to drop into your base should they get destroyed.

Enemy will start using naval units to assault your position, so make sure you have those battleships. Having submerged Atlantis and/or surfaced Tempests will help. Also there's that Collosus marching into your base, so have a CZAR and some Colossi ready to welcome it. In fact it is a good idea to have Colossi station at the north east of your island; they can help thin the naval fleet as well as amphibious assaults. 

If you're UEF, you'll have the option to rescue the other outpost to the east. This is an exceedingly hard operation to do and will gain you nothing, but if you choose to do it anyway here's the strategy:

First, use a CZAR to clear the attacking navy. The civilian trucks will then be ready to move. They're safe until you move them to the center, so don't move them yet. Now, your biggest worry is the huge amount of sniper bots the enemy is sending along the center, and ONE HIT is enough to destroy one truck. Also, there will be stray gunships and AA gunships around. Thus, you need to get your sACU out from the outpost to build a couple of SAMs along the path, and position your Fatboys and Colossi at the center. The Fatboys can destroy those sniper bots before they get close enough to the path that your trucks are taking. Now you can move the trucks straight into the outpost, but be watchful of any gunships. You need 6 out of 10 survive in order to complete the objective.

T3 heavy artillery no longer has the range to bombard the enemy base, unless you have Aeon's Emissary, but it is very slow to fire and enemy has lots of heavy shields. The base also has two strategic missile defenses so strategic strike is useless. The two Colossi guarding the entrance make a land assault problematic. The UEF has it easiest with the Mavor simply bombarding the poor base to submission, however the easy alternative would be to send a CZAR and drop it on top of the poor ACU, since enemy never upgrades their ACU to T3, and only T3 ACU (or cybran's cloaked ACU since that upgrade provides HP) can survive a CZAR drop. If you're Cybran, you can also send your 4 Soul Rippers and rip the ACU to shreds, without suffering casualties.

Before you do any of the above though, make sure you have at least 3 Colossi, 3 Fatboys (UEF), 4 Soul Rippers (Cybran), and another 3 Colossi and a CZAR (Aeon) to prepare for the final stage.

Final Stage[]

Fort Clarke is being overwhelmed by the Seraphim and will need your help immediately. Move your army of experimentals there and start to move towards the Seraphim base, pushing the endless waves of units back. Colossi are important here to take the blunt of the damage while others attack. You might want to bring along your sACU and build a T3 radar in the middle of the path to make things easier, especially for your Fatboys since they can shoot much further than they can see. There'll be minimal anti-air around the main base so your Soul Rippers and CZAR can target practice on their forward bases.

In hard mode, there'll be 2 Ythothas guarding the base, so make sure your Colossi have enough HP to fight them. If you're UEF, the Mavor can help destroying most of the base before your forces even reach the entrance, and if you're lucky you might even get the ACU as well, since you only need one or two hits for it to be engulfed in explosion.

You'll win the mission after the two Ythothas and the ACU are history.

Trivia[]

  • Compared to any other campaign map, this map has the most reclaimable wreckage that can spawn without player intervention, in large part due to the destroyed town to the southwest of the first Order base (only visible in phase 3) and the countless destroyed UEF firebases that lay between Fort Clarke and the Seraphim base.
  • For unknown reasons, destroying the Seraphim ACU will produce the nuclear blast of an Aeon ACU/nuke.
  • As the Ythotha in the mission is marked as the objective, if one avoids killing it, it is possible to kill the Seraphim ACU and still not complete the mission. If you ignore it for a certain period of time, it will march towards Fort Clarke.
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