Congratulations to Technique for winning his 3rd Conquer Cup Lite and 5th Conquer Cup tournament victory over all.

Technique’s path to victory was a difficult one facing many top players. He went 8-1 having to defeat _En1gma_, FieryWinds, ineedMoney18, Tribunus, and Sofronel in the finals.
Good work by FieryWinds in handing the 4 time Series Champion his only tournament defeat and also defeating the EA ladder #1 ranked SimpleForce.
Congratulations to Sofronel for making it to the finals.
In round 1 ineedMoney18, and yaric007 pulled off impressive wins.

Thanks to the #1 ranked EA ladder player SimpleForce/TorchLight for his participation. SimpleForce was a force to be reckoned with, but eventually was defeated in an Empire mirror match by FieryWinds. Any time you can take down the EA Ladder’s #1 ranked player it is an impressive accomplishment.

DETAILED MATCH ANALYSIS : FieryWinds v. SimpleForce

Round 3 Match FieryWinds (Empire ranked 22) Versus SimpleForce (Empire ranked 1) On Temple Prime.

FieryWinds First Two Mecha Bay Units are SuddenTransports

FieryWinds and SimpleForce both open with 2 DojoCores, 2 GeneratorCores, and 2 RefineryCores. One small difference, FieryWinds uses one GeneratorCore to run over some of SimpleForces Imperial Warriors near the northern OilDerrick. Both players produce and plant a MechaBay near their base OreRefineries as they battle for control of the two OilDerricks. Eventually each controls one OilDerrick. Neither player produces very many infantry units. SimpleForce’s first two MechaBay units are Tengus and FieryWinds makes 2 SuddenTransports. A very interesting opening by FieryWinds as he sells his MCV and places the Engineer in 1 of the SuddenTransports. At the MCV selling point FieryWinds only has 2 RefineryCores. 1 SuddenTransport goes south and 1 SuddenTransport heads north. SimpleForce does not have a DojoCore while FieryWinds has one DojoCore near the north OilDerrick producing TankBusters and ImperialWarriors. The northern SuddenTransport is filled with infantry while the SuddenTransport in the south has an engineer in it. The SuddenTransport in the south lets out the Engineer stored in it and the Engineer caps the southern OilDerrick.

FieryWinds sends 2 SuddenTransports and 1 Tengu into SimpleForce’s Main Base : ITS TIME FOR WAR

At this point SimpleForce has yet to scout the FieryWind’s MCV sell. FieryWinds manages to put 2 TankBusters and an ImperialWarrior into the CivilianStructure close to SimpleForce’s southern OreNode. The TankBusters open up on the Wall protecting SimpleForce’s OreReferiny and COllector. As the Wall goes down FieryWinds places the SuddenTransport into the spot where the Wall was destroyed making it impossible for SimpleForce to build another Wall. At this point SimpleForce has 5 or 6 Tengus but they do very little damage. SimpleForce’s economy is in trouble. SimpleForce produces a DojoCore. SimpleForce has 8 Tengus by the time his southern OreCollector and Wall are destroyed. Eventually SimpleForce takes back control of the CivilianStructure, but he loses his OreRefinery.

FieryWinds cripples SimpleForce’s Economy

FieryWinds Gains a Distinct Economic Advantage: Can he put away SimpleForce?
3 minutes into the game SimpleForce has one OreRefinery producing income while FieryWinds has two OreRefineries and two OilDerricks. Both players’ MechaBays are at tier 1. FieryWinds has about ten Tengus and SimpleForce has eight. SimpleForce builds another RefineryCore as FieryWinds sends all his Tengus into SimpleForce’s base. FieryWinds manages to take out SimpleForces only active Ore collector as he drops ten Jet TEngus into MechaTengu mode. The #1 Ranked SimpleForce is in deep trouble. He pulls his MCV up and moves it towards FieryWinds’ squad of ten Tengus. At this point FieryWinds has the game in hand. FieryWinds continues send wave after wave of Tengus into SimpleForce’s base eventually defeating SimpleForce.

Check out the home of the Cup

http://conquercup.com

25th ranked Firgli took Conquer Cup #8 in a 3 game sweep over NukeStrike.  The 50 participants included many top 25 players.

SEMI FINALS

Two C&C Veterans faced off in a Soviet mirror in one semi-final. Namely, Reppin[stim] and Nukestrike.  Neither is competing very hard in this newest ladder season because they both own enough t-shirts.  But, they are winning rounds in the Conquer Cup.  Nukestrike swept the series 2-0.    Their first match really was a “mirror” as both went for a fast WarFactory foregoing a Barracks.  Both players’ first unit was a TerrorDrone with secondary weapon activated as both TerrorDrones raced to the centre of the map.  Terror drones and Sickles fought furiously in the middle of the map as Nukestrike elected to go for an Crane and barracks while Reppin elected to go for a SuperReactor and Airfield.  NukeStrike drove his MCV into his Crane and around that same time Reppin elected to sell his MCV, but didn’t have  a Crane.   NukeStrike using a Crane, Barracks, and WarFactory won out over Reppin’s Airfield and WarFactory.  Most of the fighting in the middle and later parts of the match occurred in NukeStrike’s main base.   A Reppin engineer came within a tenth of a second of taking over NukeStrike’s SuperReactor.  NukeStrike was willing to lose the game over it because he did not sell the SuperReactor he roared with a WarBear just barely stunning the Engineer.  A very intense and entertaining match.

Game two went to NukeStrike as well as the 2  time ConquerCup champion moved onto the finals with a decisive win on Infinity Isle.

Semi-final #2:  Firgli took on 18th ranked FieryWinds.  FieryWinds has only lost eleven ladder games this season and over 1,000 ladder game wins in total.  Firgli swept the series in two straight games.  No MCV pushing by Firgli.  An interesting opening of BootCamp and then Airbase for a game on FireIsland.

FINALS

Firgli swept Nukestrike 3-0 using a double BootCamp MCV push in the first two games.  In both games NukeStrike went with a fast WarFactory opening.  This made it easy for Firgli to capture both OilDerricks giving him some income as his MCV rolled into NukeStrike’s base.  Game 3 took place on Infinity Isle and despite the small map Firgli managed to Cryo-Freeze 5 NukeStrike’s OreCollectors from the same OreNode.  Game 3 was played patiently by both players.  Congrats to Firgli he has looked unstoppable the past two weeks.

SEMI FINALS

Tribunus ( ranked #31 ) lost to Alias]Malle ( ranked #45) in semi-final #1.Tribunus selected Empire and Alias]Malle selected Allies.Malle first unit producing structure is an Airbase.  Tribunus opening includes 3 DojoCores but he only unfurls one near his closest Oil Derrick.  Once Tribunus sees the early Airbase build the 2 other DojoCores head for Malle’s Oil Derrick.  Malle gets out a quick CryoCopter whose first move is to shrink his MCV and send it straight to Tribunus’ base.  The multigunner Turret that strikes the fatal blow in the match is destroyed just as it is shooting the killing blow to Tribunus’ MechaBay.  Baseball is a game of inches…Red Alert 3 is a game of pixels.

Technique (ranked #6) defeats I_Must_Win ( ranked #82 ) in semi-final #2.

Technique as Allies does an ArmorFacility build on Infinity Island against I_must_winas the Soviets.

FINALS

Technique wins the finals against Malle 3-0.  Technique goes with the “Random” faction in the final two games. Technique seems to be the only top player effective with all three factions making the “Random” selection a real advantage for him.

Congratulations Technique, its a well deserved win.  Great Work using “Random”.

Firgli as Allies;  DasDuelon as Empire

DasDuelon does an MCV sell after producing his 3rd RefineryCore, a DocksCore and a MechaBay.

Firgli keeps using the TargetPainter special ability with his GuardianTanks making it difficult to judge which TopSecretProtocol Tree he is using.  Throughout the first 16 minutes of the match Firgli never used a Cryogedden despite selecting it.  Firgli and DasDuelon have a giant battle in the middle of the map and Firgli has made it all the way up to 3rd level Cryogedden.   Firgli in a brilliant stroke of TopSecretProtocol poker finally plays his hidden monster and lays down a 3rd level Cryo decimating DasDuelon’s army. DasDuelon has two or three Tengus left after the battle while Firgli has 7 GuardianTanks, 2 Cryocopters, 5 Vindicators, and 1 Apollo.

Although this was a slick move by Firgli I feel as though he had control of the game about 7 minutes before pulling off this cool move.

Summary

DasDuelon(Empire) winner of CC#6 lost to Firgli(Allies) who eventually went on to win Conquer Cup #7.

Firgli was on his game winning the finals 3-0. Firgli defeated DasDuelon in the 4th Round quarter final two games to none.

Detailed Single Game Coverage

Firgli v DasDuelon on Infinity Isle, Game 1:

DasDuelon opened with two Refinery Cores; one Dojo Core; and two generator cores. DasDuelon moved and unpacked the Dojo Core onto the Central ridge close to his expansion area and used the 2nd Generator Core to protect it from Firgli’s AttackDogs. Firgli opened with a BootCamp and PowerPlant. The BootCamp produced 1 AttackDog, 2 PeaceKeepers,and an Engineer. The single AttackDog headed straight for DasDuelon’s main base. The AttackDog could not camp DasDuelon’s single DojoCore due to the roaming GeneratorCore. Firgli then tried something interesting setting up an Airfield BEFORE any Refinery is built. Firgli sent his Engineer straight to the Oil Derrick near his base under the protection of the two PeaceKeepers. I found this to be a fascinating opening to this small map game.

Firgli’s PKs and DasDuelon’s IWs fought back and forth for around a minute. Firgli nicely one shotted a BanzaiCharging IW with 5 PKs. After the exchange Firgli ended up with 1 or 2 PKs inside the CivStructure nearby DasDuelon’s Engineer-capped Oil Derrick. Both players sell their Infantry producing structures. DasDuelon has a Tier2 MechaBay and Firgli has an Airbase.

Two key exchanges produced the victory for Firgli. Firgli’s garrisoned PKs were shooting at DasDuelon’s capped Oil Derrick. Two StrikerVXs attempted to end this. In the end both StrikerVXs died in a battle between 1 Apollo and 2 Vindicators. Firgli executed some very tricky micro to pull this off; he relied on the cool down time of the StrikerVX’s transformation special ability. As this exchange went on DasDuelon sold his MCV. He placed the resulting Engineer into a SuddenTransport. Firgli picked off the SuddenTransport as it was travelling through the southern waters towards his base. By the time these exchanges were over Firgli had a CryoCopter and Firgli was at a huge advantage. Firgli should consider making a textbook on how to play Allies.

Firgli’s final big decision before cinching the win was to build a second AirBase instead of teching to tier 3.

Look for more coverage of the ConquerCup in future blog posts!

The MirageTank’s secondary ability, the GapGenerator, cloaks nearby friendly units.  The MirageTank itself is visible in this mode.  Activating the Mirage’s secondary ability in your own base can make it very difficult for your opponent to assess how many units you have.  Also placing the Mirage just outside your ArmorFacility with the secondary activated can make it difficult for your opponent to assess what kind of units you are pumping out.

The Mirage Tank changes its appearance to suite its environment when stationary, undamaged AND the GapGenerator is not in use.  When stationary and undamaged The Mirage can look like a pile of rocks, a shrub, a tree, an IceCream Truck and so on.   Putting the MirageTank in HoldFire stance will keep it hidden.  The minute the MirageTank fires its weapon it becomes visible.   A MirageTank disguised as a tree or rocks or whatever is exposed by the presence of a Bear, Dog, or BurstDrone.

You should only see a MirageTank if the GapGenerator is activated or it is damaged. Realistically, when scouting an Allied opponent’s main base you really shouldn’t see any MirageTanks.  Beware the lone Mirage Tank in your opponents base;  its GapGenerator must be on.

You can attack the “environmental artifacts” a MirageTank turns into by force-firing on them.  It is very difficult to figure out if you’re hitting a MirageTank or a tree.  You must listen very carefully for metal clanking sound as you attack.  In the heat of battle, with a dozen units fighting amongst themselves and bullets flying every where making this kind of assessment is next to impossible.   A terror drone can employ his secondary “stasis ray” to render the Mirage motionless, but again in the heat of battle its tough to lock down on a pile of rocks or a tree.  What if you lock down a real tree instead of the MirageTank that is sitting an inch a way and now disguised as a tree?

The Soviet TerrorDrone can not infect a MirageTank that has turned into an environmental artifact.  The TerrorDrone is the achilles heel of many Allies ArmorFacility units.  Used carefully the MirageTank can devour multiple TerrorDrones.  Its Spectrum Cannon 1 shot kills the TerrorDrone.

All of these little details of MirageTank’s visibility mechanic mean one thing.   Properly micromanaged the MirageTank determines when and where any land battle takes place.  With skillful use the MirageTank will almost always get to fire the first shot.

Need to hide your ConYard from a female commando unit or a giant force?  Pack your ConYard into an MCV and roll it under the shroud of a Mirage Tank.

Many of these “tricks” sound obvious when discussed openly online, but in the heat of battle how much time do you have to analyze a tree or some rocks?  How much time can you analyze every lone MirageTank?

The Mirage can add a huge element of deception to your late game strategies.  Scorch your opponent once with a surprise army hidden under the GapGenerator and you’ll have him second guessing himself the remainder of the game.

The Mirage is powerful enough to act as a straight forward Tier3 Tank to win land battles late game.  What a great unit!

Before we all run out and start practising micro on Bank Of Montreal ATMs let’s take a closer at how the Red Alert 3 million seller occurred.  The million sales includes games made for three major platforms AND its expansion Uprising.  Uprising is a stand alone game selling for $20 as a PC download; EA counts this as a Red Alert 3 sale.  Six weeks after its release EA discounted the main Red Alert 3 game by 35% on PC and XBox360.  Finally, in April, EA managed to put the game over the million mark by including the XBOX360 version in a group of its titles offered for $10 USD at retailing giant BestBuy.  So we’ve got four versions of the game combined with heavy discounting early in its sales cycle.  Even with discounting, the game probably generated more than 40 million dollars USD in revenue.

Any way you cut it 40 million dollars is a lot of cash.  The game itself is fun to play. The developers naval game play innovations breathe new life into an all time classic without ruining what made previous versions great.  The Command & Conquer franchise is alive and well. Its latest incarnation, Red Alert 3, although popular, is not the “unprecedented commercial success” previous versions have been.

Mirage Tank Shots Required to destroy Soviet Surface Units:

 15 Shots Destroys      Apocalypse Tank

03 Shots Destroys      Hammer Tank, Tesla Trooper

02 Shots Destroys      Sickle,Natasha,Bullfrog,V4,StingRay

01 Shots Destroys      Bear,Flak Trooper,Terror Drone,Conscript,Engineer

The Mirage Tank weapon range is only 125 and the Hammer Tank’s regular weapon, Apoc Tank’s regular weapon, V4 Rocket Launcher, and StingRay all outrange the Mirage.  The Hammer Tank Leech Beam and Apocolypse Tank’s Harpoon have more than double the Mirage Tanks weapon range.  In fact, the Mirage Tank does not out range any of its major adversaries.  This can be a problem.  You must really use the Mirage’s superior speed and camouflaging abilities to maximize its offensive potential.

Much more content to be added in here

In conclusion, the Tesla Trooper and Apocalypse Tank pose a big threat to the Mirage Tank and a smart Soviet player will be willing to trade Tesla Troopers 1 for 1 with the Mirage Tank if he is behind on Tech level.  The Mirage Tank simply cannot afford to go head to head with the Apocolypse Tank.  You’ll either have to vastly outnumber the any Soviet Apoc Tanks, run away, or have some good support units and trickery up your sleeve.  In a later article I’ll give over some interesting micro trickery top level players have employed when using the Mirage.

Putting this into action:

Soviets

If you’re Soviet; behind on tech level; facing the Mirage; build Tesla’s and try to trade Tesla Troopers for Mirage Tanks.  Even a 2 for 1 trade is economical.   If you are equal to his tech level a single Apoc can handle 3 or 4 Mirage Tanks.  Harpoon one and start to pull it in.  If several other Mirage Tanks close in release the Harpoon and back off.  With the giant range difference an Apoc Tank can harass a few Mirage’s in this way and never take a hit.

Allies

When controlling the Mirage realize its range is low and you must move in hitting and running keep in mind how many shots your tank can absorb from various Soviet ground units.  The Apoc Tank and Tesla Trooper should be avoided.  Fight the Hammer Tank head on when you know you can move in and get within range and also when the ratio of Hammer Tanks to Mirage Tanks is less than 3.5 to 1.

Vishiano at GameReplays.org does a great job explaining most of the Mirage Tank’s behaviour in his “Damage Type Guide” .  One issue that goes unexplained, however, is the exact nature of the Mirage

Tanks special kind of damage.”Spectrum”, “Reflective”,and “Prism” are a few of the terms I’ve read to describe it’s damage type. Red Alert’s internal game information video labels the Mirage Tank’s primary weapon a “spectrum cannon”.  If other enemy units are “nearby” the enemy unit the Mirage Tank attacks they will receive some damage as well.  The Prima Official Game Guide refers to this as “reflective” damage and provides the following incomprehensible statistics on damage 200 (250 H; 25 reflect; 40 H reflect #1; 20 H reflect #2).  And the range stastics are equally cryptic: 125 (125 reflect; 150 H reflect #1; 75 H reflect #2).  Prima never explains the meaning of the letters.  If the writer for Prima worked for GameReplays.org he’d get fired in two days.  Then he would be flamed into oblivion by the players who frequent the forums and pull apart every detail of game play mechanics.  With no other information sources I decided to research the nature of this “reflective damage”.

The Mirage Tank Sprectrum Cannon DOES NOT Deliver Splash Damage

  The Mirage Tank deals approximately 200 points of “reflective/ prism/ spectrum” damage to its primary target.  It deals approximately 20 points of  ”reflective/ prism/ spectrum” damage to nearby enemy units.  The Mirage Tank never does damage to friendly units due to this reflection mechanic.  Furthermore, it deals reflective damage to a maximum of 5 nearby enemy units.  Thus, “reflective damage” is not true “splash” damage.  The “energy beam” “reflects” off of its intended target and does not “splash” onto an area.  Therefore,  this reflective damage effect is limited.  Firstly,  its only about 20 points of damage.  Secondly,  it damages a maximum of 5 other enemy units.  Altogether this can increase its damage output by 50% if there are 5 nearby enemy units.

This makes the tutorial video somewhat deceptive.  A single Mirage Tank nearly kills a single Hammer Tank with 2 shots, but does require that 3rd shot to finish it.  So we’re treated to a video showing 3 Hammer Tanks dying to 3 Mirage Tanks in just 2 shots.  Each Hammer Tank only received an additional 20 points of damage.  It was just enough  to put it over the edge.

I’ll explore the Mirage Tank in greater depth in a future posting.