Part 9: Canada

This mission is deceptively hard and is the first time in the game where not preparing beforehand will probably end with mission failure. Blowing everyone up is not really an option for reasons that will quickly become apparent.



Before starting the mission I order my Aerial Supply Depot to reload every unit I have. They'll all be heading to the field and it's crucial they have full ammo.



Sombra doesn't have too much for us in the mission briefing. We'll need to meet up with the UCS convoy to hear the full briefing.



This is the UCS base to the north where we'll be meeting up with the UCS convoy.



And this is the UCS base to the south where we'll need to deliver the convoy. If you notice, the base doesn't have a refinery. Looks like they need the convoy to get their economy going down there. If we fail the base will be easily overrun. If you look on the minimap the UCS target base is that little patch of revealed terrain in the southeast.



We don't start out with much, 3 Lunar m1 20mms and a LZ. We need Fang to activate the convoy so let's send him and the rest of our army over.



There. Much better. We've got 5 Moon m3 Rs, 2 Moon m2 Rs, 1 Moon m1 R and 6 Meteor m3 20mms plus Fang in addition to our 3 starting Lunar m1 20mms. We're going to need every one of them.



I use some of the excess money from our victory in Kamchatka to research more rocket upgrades. These won't have an impact in this mission because we have no way of reloading once we send over our units. This is why I made sure everyone was topped up on ammo before starting the mission.




So here's the convoy. 3 Mammoth construction units. I agree with Sombra, these things aren't very pleasant to look at. We need to make sure 2 of the 3 survive. Of course the UCS would probably prefer they all survive and since this is our chance to prove to them we're a valuable ally I'm going to make sure we don't lose any of them!



From now on, the Mammoths will follow Fang wherever he goes. Using him as a scout is a really, really bad idea because of that. So say hello to Unit Group 2! They're all technologically inferior units so it's not so bad if they get destroyed in an ambush. This is a most unharmonious tactic so no one tell Sombra okay? I don't want her to get mad at me

Unit Group 2 will head north to find any potential ambush locations. If they spot units I'll call in the heavy-hitting Moons and Meteors.



So far so good. I expected tons of ED units to sit on the other side of that bridge you can see in the minimap as it's a natural choke point but no one was there. With the way clear, the rest of the convoy and its escorts move up to meet my scout group.



Tricky, tricky ED. Trying to ambush me from behind. The scouts will act as the anvil to the Meteor's hammer and we'll have the Dynasty surrounded and defeated in mere seconds.



Beautiful. There aren't any anti-air units here so the Pamirs are helpless against my air force. That's what you get for trying to ambush an innocent little convoy



Interesting. Looks like the ED was going to use the same hammer and anvil tactic I just used on them. But with the anvil part of their attack destroyed, wiping out a few tanks in the open field is child's play.

With this ambush destroyed we can now cross the bridge to the east. We'll wait before crossing the second bridge though.



Oh fuck. My scout group has run into a massive air force. Time for an organized retreat a mad dash back to the rest of the convoy.



Mad dashing didn't work out for that Moon . 8 Cossacks is a pretty serious attack force. It's also why you'll need to bring along extra units. Remember that Fang can't shoot air units. If they spot Fang and you don't have any anti-air units to move in you'll lose the convoy and maybe even Fang.



The Cossacks run headlong into our position on the other side of the second bridge.



And as we know Cossacks stand no chance against units that can shoot back. Those rockets flying off look really cool, unfortunately they're valuable rockets and we can't afford to shoot them off at the sky for cinematic effect.

Our scouts regroup and head south.




Well looks like we can't go that way. There's a base almost directly south of our position. And that's an ED Weapons Factory. Fuck. They might have more units coming. The western side of the base is also well defended. There's a narrow valley all the way on the map's border but it's risky. If this Dynasty base spots us this whole mission is over. Maybe there's another way. I'll send the air force to scout back in the center of the map.




What the hell are these things? They're...not shooting at me. Hell they haven't even moved. Maybe they're unmanned? I want an up-close look so I call over one of the Moons I've been using as a scout. I'm sure our UCS allies would appreciate these...whatever the hell they are and if they're unmanned a capture operation should be easy.




WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT THING!? HOLY SHIT! In game time it took about 2 seconds for my Moon to blow up. And why did it turn red?

You just got your ass kicked by the ED Laser.



The Eurasian Dynasty Laser is the ED energy weapon and it is without a doubt the best thing since sliced bread if you're attacking unshielded ground troops. Unlike every other weapon in the game, the laser attacks a unit's temperature and overheats the unit until it melts or its ammunition stores explode. Most units have very low temperature tolerance so the laser units can make quick work of them.

The laser cannot attack air units and buildings have a lot of temperature tolerance so it's not so great in an assault. These are it's only weaknesses. How do you counter them? Easy just build...



Shields. The Power Shield Generator gives your units/buildings a way to defend against energy weapons at almost no cost. It's only 100 CR to add a 1200 PSU shield to any building/unit. I've been saving the research on this until we saw a laser unit but now that they're out there I'll get them researched. Remember, we can't upgrade our units so all our Moons will be very vulnerable to laser attack until they're replaced with shielded units.



The Mammoths don't have any shields so we'll have to find a way around this base.



I have Fang and the scouts move over to this lake on the far side of the map. If my scouts can slink down past the base I think Fang can guide the Mammoths through without too much trouble.




It's dicey. One ED patrol near the mine will be enough to spot us. Fortunately there's nothing to the south so if I can get the Mammoths here it'll be smooth sailing.



Fang almost blows the whole mission by attacking the ED base. I set him to hold his fire and put him back on course.




We made it! That is the closest I ever want to pass to an ED base without attacking it. I'm now thinking the UCS wanted Fang to conduct this escort because of his reputation for sneaking around the ED rather than his annihilation of the Research Base in Kamchatka.

What you didn't see (because I'm not suicidal) is the ED base is swarming with Pamir tanks and Cossack helicopters. You will almost certainly lose this mission if you try to bust through the base. You don't have the ammunition and the Mammoths don't have the armor.



I move the rest of my forces past the base in the same manner and then send the Meteors south to look for an easy entrance to the UCS base. We don't find it, but we do find some Pamirs that can't shoot aerial targets! Easy pickings.



In the foggy morning that follows the convoy escort has found a little isthmus the Mammoths can cross. It's extremely exposed and the convoy will need to move single file. I've positioned my escort ahead of the isthmus so they can intercept any ambush. Hopefully they don't try to move in from behind.



I'm very nervous about the Mammoths crossing here. Hurry up and get it over with.



Looks like I was right about the ambush. Some of the tanks are purple here. I have no idea why that's the case.




My army is starting to run out of ammunition. We end up taking pretty heavy casualties here and it's only through Fang's intervention that I avoid the total destruction of my ground army. As it is I lose almost all my Moon m3 Rs. We better be closed to finished. I don't think we can defeat another ambush.



With the ambush defeated I can send the convoy around. Right past the burnt out husks of their comrades



Small towers! One of the Moons still has a few rockets left and shoots one at the tower. I'm done losing units today so I send in Fang.



He loves blowing up small towers.



And just like that we're in the other UCS base. Hooray!



For extra safety I have my Meteor escort the Mammoths across the bridge. They're out of ammo but hopefully if the ED stage one last attack they can draw their fire long enough to get the Mammoths home.




Success! I'm not so sure the death of most of our army and the discovery of a Dynasty energy weapon is responsible but I'll take it.



The convoy Mammoths start work on improving the southern base while my units cross the river to the northeast. Why the UCS couldn't have just built a bridge I'll never know.



So many went out but so few returned.



I take the time before the mission ends to upgrade our Moons with shield generators. I'll not have any more instant-deaths from lasers on my watch.



Oh fuck the laser tanks! Time to go!




Wlad got demoted to Lieutenant for this mission. Not sure why since I still played on Average difficulty. We lost a lot of units and Wlad kicked our asses. But we completed the mission while Wlad failed. Take that.



Before my pre-mission save I build one Moon m3 R with shields. This gal will be able to stand up to any energy weapons she runs into.



We have secret self-destruct codes for ED buildings? Why haven't we been using them!? And Lake Baikal is awesome so I'm looking forward to this mission. It's the deepest freshwater lake in the world!



This is the last track on the Earth 2150 soundtrack for the LC. It's the second battle theme. Would you all like if I uploaded the music from The Moon Project/Lost Souls now or would you rather wait? It's 3 more songs, one for each situation (Day, Night, War).