Part 115: Poland, Part 2

Briefing Video: video link





Thanks to our ingenuity in the last mission Kilija is still going with us as the field commander. Our mission this time around is simple: kill every Dynasty unit and structure in the area to lift the siege on Project ESCAPE.



Setup is very similar to last time with more fences and Main Bases.







The Dynasty also look to have rebuilt the bridges across the river. First thing we'll have to do is destroy them again.



Good work!



We have a lot of research to do this mission, but the most crucial is the Fat Girl. Even the Moon can't really go toe-to-toe with a Dynasty strike force, much less a full base. We'll need the Fat Girls to punch holes in the defenses.

Research: Fat Girl c2, c3 and c4



Right after the bridges are destroyed the ED attack with a bunch of Cossack helicopters. Completely ineffective, but I guess it means they're trying.



Meanwhile up north something very strange is happening. Our Defender towers are being shot by invisible lasers I have no idea what's going on, I've never seen anything quite like it so I send some Moons in to investigate.



The Moons haven't found anything about the mystery lasers yet but they did find a little ED outpost here, guarding the bridge.



Still no sign of the mystery units but we have engaged a small patrol.



Back at base our structures are now being attacked by invisible rockets. What the hell is going on here?



Oh. Oh SHIT! The AI is using my stealthy tactics against me. They must be attacking with STEALTH units, which I can't see. And the LC lack Radar and Jammers like the UCS/ED so the only thing we've got is the Phobos Detector. And it needs to be sitting right on top of the unit to find it.

Ugh. This is gonna be a long mission.



Back up north the attack on the outpost is going well; we've cut the power.



And disabled the large towers.



Our northern outpost is still being harassed by STEALTHs though. I'll have to move in a Phobos just to give us eyes on them. They've already destroyed one Defender, I can't afford to lose all four of them.



Of course it doesn't help if they shoot the Phobos out of the sky before it can even show up...



I've moved in some reinforcements and that, thankfully, appears to have driven off the STEALTHs.



Our sonic cannon Moons are making a mess of this outpost, although the ED was able to rebuild its power.



I turned my attention elsewhere and when I came back half my units were gone. It could only be the STEALTHs. After doing some hunting I ordered my units to manually attack where the laser blasts were coming from, and by the Goddess it worked! We can't auto-target the STEALTHs but if we manually fire we'll still hit them. This is our counter, at least until we can saturate the area with Phobos Detectors.



The Fat Girls are ready! We've got two chassis ready to go, and with four weapon mounts on each the ED won't know what hit them. Dollar for dollar the Fat Girls are one of, if not the most economically efficient unit in the game. I'll need to start building a bunch right away.



Despite our manual targeting the STEALTH units are still kicking our asses. I make the call to retreat, there's simply not enough firepower here and it's better to save the few units we have for our next attack.



Back at the base the Dynasty have managed to slip past our defenses but the huge army of Moons that I've been building are more than enough to handle a stray STEALTH or two.



With the mobile units gone and the Detectors destroyed there's nothing stopping the STEALTHs from finishing off the Defenders. Sorry Sisters!

Research: Shield Generator 1500 PSU



With the Solar Power Plant threatened I bring everyone back up again to hunt down STEALTHs. It's rather uneventful so I decide to push back towards the outpost.



Uh well I guess we can't just cut the power this time. Damn. The AI is going nuts with those power plants, and if you notice to the bottom a whole bunch of units are about to enter the fight on their side as well.



We can take out the STEALTHs when we can spot them, but we have to be almost on top to do anything. I have a solution for that.



It's expensive, and it's going to take forever (the only thing that I've seen scheduled to take longer than this is the bugged Bomb Bay from the ED campaign), but the Detector upgrades are our best shot here.

Research: Detector Upgrade I and II



Another Power Plant? What the hell?

While the AI continues to surprise me, once again my attack force has been whittled down to nothing. Time to pull back.



We keep running into walls attacking from the north, maybe there's a better route from the south? I've sent anyone not engaged up north to explore and we run into some Groznys on the way. Note that I'm also carrying around a Phobos Detector now in case we run into any more cloaked units.



Maybe if we cut this bridge it'll stop the attacks?



The bridge is cut but the helicopters won't stop hassling us. I wonder if there's another way in from the south?



Indeed there is. With most of these units heavily damaged I decide to send them on a suicide run inside the base. If they make it out we'll know a bit more about its layout and if not then, well, uh, they died for a good cause?



Well this explains all the units we keep seeing. That's 4 Weapons Production Centers, plus more in the back. They must be churning out units constantly.



The Noise Generator isn't a great choice here. We're not using cloaks and when you're mostly going up against static defenses the jammed communications won't matter. I retract my earlier compliments to the AI.



We finally have some Fat Girls on the field. Let's see if they can make the difference in taking down that outpost.



That's not an outpost. That's a power plant orgy. What the hell?



With the AI obsessed with building power plants and completely ignoring this resource field to the north, I decide to claim it for myself. It can also serve as an advance staging resupply depot.



Oh that's unpleasant. There were Groznys waiting for me to start building things and they're plucking our buildings out of the sky. Take them out army!



Our defenses are robust enough now to resist any attempt by the ED to breakthrough, even without mobile units. This is good news; everyone can now focus on breaking into the ED base.



RIP Power Plant Orgy b. 2150 - d. 2150. We will never forget you or figure out why you existed.



Oh look its a STEALTH just hanging out. Let's kill it.



With the STEALTH dead the way is clear to attack the next bridgehead. Unfortunately we can't sneak around back and take out the power first, so we'll have to hit it head on.



When the Fat Girls get going they get going. The Pillboxes are falling almost instantly.



Bad news though, the Dynasty reinforcements have shown up.



We've cleared the towers but are having some problems with the mobile units. All our rocket units are completely spent with respect to ammunition.



Oh you The Dynasty have figured out our ruse with the Phobos Detectors and appear to be targeting them at the expense of the rest of the army. But at least we managed to hold together through the attack.





We have two more minor engagements in this forest outside the Dynasty base. Unfortunately our over-enthusiastic sonic cannoning has completely wiped out the trees. Whoops.



We should replant the trees. And by trees I mean Defenders.



Yikes. That base is sealed up tight. It's times like these when I miss the mobile artillery.





We'll need to figure out a way to crack that base, but in the meantime we can at least pin them inside by building a huge number of Defenders on this hill.

Research: Air Rocket Launcher 2



Let's see if a frontal assault will work!



No, no it will not. We lost all but two of our units in exchange for two of the Weapons Production Centers. While we have a lot of resources they aren't infinite and we can't afford to trade a dozen units for two buildings.



Perhaps more Fat Girls in the next attack wave will fix it?



The Defenders are doing a nice job of keeping any pesky attacks away from us.

Research: Shield Recharger m2 and m3, Regenerator m2 and m3



Okay, our second attack is ready to go. This time we're bring a lot of units and some extra Phobos Detectors.



Before we get started though, let's take out that outpost on the other side of the bridge we destroyed a few dozen screenshots ago.



We've drawn out any enemy units, the time to strike is now!



Attack! Attack! Attack!



That...did not work. At all. We took out another 2 WPCs but we lost our entire army in doing so.

from the Journal of Selena Shattan, Chief of Security, Project ESCAPE

October 9th, 2150

Gah! No matter what I do I can't seem to break into the Dynasty base. This is hopeless. I wonder if our archives have any advice on these matters...

...

Hmm...I found some interesting entries about General Fang during The Evacuation War.



Apparently he was quite famous for an attack strategy called the "Hit and Fade." General Fang would use his specialized glider to move into the enemy's base, destroy what he could and then fade back out to await repairs. I don't know if he ever tried it with a whole army, but this just might work! And we have the plans for the Plasma Projector weapon his glider used! I'll start the research right away.

Research: Plasma Projector (aka General Fang's weapon)



Our army is rebuilt, but we still haven't been able to put any units on the field with the Plasma Projector.

Research: Power Shield Generator 2000 PSU, Lunar m3, Unit Transporter, Upgraded Mine



Perhaps we can try the hit and fade without the plasma projector?



Okay Sisters, now fade back! Back, behind our Defenders.



Hey, it worked! No one died and thanks to our upgraded Shield Recharger and Regenerator we're back in fighting shape in no time.



Even better news, the Fat Girl Plasma Projector is ready to go into service. I'm sure we'll be a juggernaut once we have those.



Okay, here we go!



There's the hit!



And the fade!



And hit!



And fade!



Another hit...



Another fade...


The ED base is starting to look pretty ragged at this point. One more hit and fade might be enough to finally push it over the edge.





Yes! We've destroyed their Supply Depot and Vehicle Production Center. Without the ability to reload eventually all their rocket batteries will fall silent.



The next morning's attack is able to wipe out the last of the Weapons Production Centers. It's all downhill from here.



Those Fat Girl plasma projectors are doing a number on this base.





The rocket ones too.



And we mustn't forget the electro-cannon ones. All-in-all I think the Fat Girl has proven her worth this day. We'll be sticking with them from here on unless I find a good reason to deviate.



All that's left now is the clean-up. Great work Sisters!



Poland is clear and Project ESCAPE is safe...for now.





Dear Goddess! We killed nearly a thousand Dynasty units. Also of note, the AI never once injected units. They did, very obviously, have infinite money but infinite money is way more fair than units randomly spawning. Once those WPCS went down they never sent another unit after me. Thanks for cheating less, game!



Next time: The Dynasty attempts a rear assault while the LC attempt to block it.