The Let's Play Archive

Earth 2150 (trilogy)

by axeil

Part 113: Czechoslovakia



From the Diary of General Fedorov - Commander of the Mobile Commandos posted:


October 5th 2150,

Ivanov is a genius! I don't know how he figured it out, but a good portion of the Lunar Corporation is still here on Earth and from the looks of it are working on some sort of secret project. We aren't sure exactly what it is, but given the late hour it must be some last ditch plan to get off the planet. Unfortunately the project is heavily guarded most angles of approach but we have found a weak spot on the Polish border with what used to be Czechoslovakia. We must breakthrough and seize this project for ourselves.

Onwards for glory and salvation!

Briefing Video: video link






According to Ivanov's scouting the only way in to the secret research project is here, through Czechoslovakia. But we won't be able to just walk right in. We'll have to secure three bridges across Vistula river right near the southern border of Poland. It's the only chance we have to break in.







As you can see from General Ivanov's reconnaissance flights two of the three crossings are heavily defended. However, the final crossing, in the east is both isolated from the two primary crossings and has what looks like no defenses on the bridge itself. It is here we will cross, we can't risk a repeat of the China debacle.



We're given a fairly robust base to start with. It's so fancy we get not one, but two Supply Depots.



I'm nervous about aerial attacks so I build Small Towers throughout the base. These should keep out any Thunderers that come snooping.



And it's not a Dynasty mission unless I build a huge wall somewhere. This time I'm focusing on protecting our eastern flank as the LC can move across that lake while we cannot.



No sooner do I start construction than a Thunderer squad shows up, but our tanks are more than enough for them.



The LC quickly counter with their ground forces, which pose slightly more of a problem as none of the pre-built tanks have any shields.



However, the LC aren't packing heavy shields either and between my lasers and the Hans rockets we fend them off.



Aw shit. They've got Crions again.

I'll be using the Hans solely to take out the Crions while my ground forces take the brunt of the enemy attacks. I also start building towers near the entrance to the base so we can fall back if need be. My plan is to move everyone out once I've relocated all my forces from HQ, but given how large our attack force is this will take some time.





In the mean time, let's hunt some Crions.



One of the Crions got a shot off. You're not doing your job air force!



The towers are up and they look to be doing wonders. Just look at all those rockets.



The Thunderers are more than happy to charge head first into our anti-air defenses.



Oh shit. That's why. The LC have finally put their sonic cannons on the Thunderer. This could pose a problem as a whole squadron of those will take out my shields faster than we can shoot them down. Once my shields are gone it'll be easy for the LC electro-cannon units to disable things.



Fortunately the air force is immune as the heavy sonic cannon mounted on the Thunderer is air-to-ground only.



Almost everyone is ferried over now. We just need to secure our nukes and we can began our assault on the first bridge.



But just in case something happens to the nukes, it's always wise to have reserves. Given the current state of our budget I'm not worried about blowing 30,000. We're above the units limit and research has been exhausted. Not like there's a next mission we can save the money for either.



The nukes are here. At 2100 I'll order the army to move out and begin the final assault of the campaign.



Move out boys! Let's show the LC what we're made of (it's rockets, lasers and nukes of course).



The LC are not content to just let us march up to their doorstep. They've planned some ambushes here in the woods but they're not substantial enough to do any real harm.



Hah! The LC don't even have shields on these Guardians guarding a mineral patch. This might be easier than I thought.



Or not...



Almost as if it was planned, the LC descend on us from the north. With the Guardian towers near the fields fully operational and the LC army attacking us in the dead of night we're in a tough spot. Note also how half my army went south and the other half north. We've split ourselves in two completely by accident.



The fighting is growing in intensity here and the LC look poised to pick off some of the slower and weaker units. Slower and weaker units like our nukes. I'm attempting to bring some of the main force to bear, I just hope it's not too late.



At the same time, the artillery has been given permission to open fire at will on the Guardian towers. As you can see, they're already having quite the effect.



Great more Crions...



But with air support we should be able to push this attack back without much trouble. Good thing the LC energy weapons can't target air units.




With the LC attack defeated we may as well take advantage of the resource field and set up a forward resupply base.



I send scouts to the bridge at the crack of dawn to ensure no LC traps await us. Everything looks clear. Well except for the heavy fog.



Switching to a mix of lasers and rockets on our towers back at the base is doing wonders. No one is getting anywhere close to penetrating the defenses.



At 9030 I give the order to cross the bridge.



And by 1400 we've run into stiff resistance on the Polish bank.



The LC have left me no choice. We must deploy our nuclear arsenal to allow ourselves a chance to establish a foothold.





I've elected not to use my mobile nukes though. Given the static nature of these defenses and the absence of any SDI lasers I don't expect we'll need quick strike capabilities. A siloed missile should do fine.



The LC aren't pushing us back but we're completely unable to advance. Given the proximity to their base they stand a good chance of pushing us back out of Poland with reinforcements.





But this nuke will ensure those reinforcements never arrive. A whole bunch of Crions are about to enter the battle in the second screenshot but they're annihilated by the nuke.



With the LC defense crippled we can now begin to chip away at the towers.



If you noticed in the last screenshot, my money situation was starting to get a bit thin. Missile Control Centers aren't cheap nor is reloading them. I'll have to constantly ferry money over to keep our nukes operational.



The artillery has cleared out most of the defenses, the LC respond with the meekest of counter-attacks. A single Crater tank is not going to turn the tide of the battle.



A whole bunch won't either.



Congratulations men, 24 hours have passed and we've secured a foothold in Poland and now sit right on the enemy's doorstep.



But this is no time to step off the gas. The LC's primary production area is literally meters from our faces and if we let them they will overrun us.



And that's why I'm firing all my nukes at them.



We've taken out a few of the Main Bases with our artillery and even though the SDI laser has shot down 2 of the nukes, the remaining ones should be more than enough.



Consider this production facility crippled.



The LC keep attempting to drop a Guardian here, but it won't work as we'll just shoot the carriers with a few rockets. They continue doing this for a very long time and I'm more than happy to oblige them with a volley each time they try it.





Crippled and facing a constant artillery barrage this production center is as good as gone.



And now it actually is gone.



I'll give the LC credit, they're not giving up on their dawn attacks on my main base and they've started to do some actual damage.



Of course, with my new elevated sight lines from the production plateau I can match their damage and then some with my nukes.



I got sick of shooting rockets so now I have 2 dedicated towers who exist solely to shoot those Guardians out of the sky.



While I could use my artillery to cut through the defenses down there, it's far more satisfying to fire missiles at them.



It leaves a much more impressive gap than an artillery bombardment.





The LC's counter-attacks are completely futile at this point. With the bulk of their production destroyed they simply can't mount an effective defense.



The focus now is not on defenses or power but on destroying any remaining Main Bases so we can cut off LC reinforcements for good. Well at least reinforcements that aren't cheated in anyway.



This looks awfully like the Project SUNLIGHT Control Center. I wonder what happens if I blow it up?



Nothing

But I will say they exploded very nicely!





It's all over except for the clean-up now. We're in the rear of the LC base and they're completely powerless to stop us. We still need to secure the other two bridges but without any power or mobile units they're effectively already ours.



I will say, at least this base seems to not have a million power plants everywhere. There are still a lot, but it's not completely unreasonable.



Just a little bit left to clean up.



Pictured: cheated units. Take a wild guess at what I do with them. If you guessed "nukes" then you win a prize!



And with the destruction of that Solar Power Plant the LC base is now officially unpowered.



And without any power the fortifications on the north crossing are nothing more than target practice.



It almost seems like they originally were planning to have us capture the not-Project SUNLIGHT buildings but decided against it. Look how they're set apart from everything and even have a moat.





These towers are all that we need to take out to allow us to begin our march into Poland.





And I finish them off the only way I know how: excessive nuclear force.


And with that we have finished the Eurasian Dynasty campaign! Kind of a shame they don't give us a final message from Ivanov and Fedorov but oh well. Let's see what the campaign epilogue has to say. It also serves as an intro to the LC campaign given how closely the two follow each other.

Eurasian Dynasty Victory Cutscene

We...we were wrong? We're putting the project in danger? Aw shit. I knew it wasn't going to be that easy... Shame on the Generals for not realizing that whatever it is the LC is building, the two of them obviously don't have the scientific knowledge to complete it. If only both sides could just work together then just maybe there would be a chance everyone could be saved. But no, instead everyone is just fighting the same battles over and over.

Next time we'll see if the LC can fend off the Generals' attack and save the secret project. We haven't played as the Lunar Corporation since way back in Update 23 of The Moon Project campaign and as much as I love the Dynasty I'm excited to play as someone else for the first time in over 20 updates.