battle engine aquila

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Battle Engine Aquila ____________________

Missions/EVO Missions Debriefing & Scouting Report

Developer : Lost Toys LLC.Publisher : Atari/InfogramesReleased : 2002Players : 1 and limited local multiplayerMemory : Do you honestly care?

Introduction

The much lamented Battle Engine Aquila is an otherwise excellent gameinvolving traditional armour and "something large" (like a Laumer Bolo, or a

Jackson Ogre). In this case, it is a Lost Toys "Aquila", a quadrupedal mechwith transformation ability (similar operation parameters of a MacrossVeritech). Its unique combination of movement and offence will make you standout on the battlefield. Simalcrum assumes you were desperate enough to readthe instruction book for all the moves you need, read the unofficial IGNGuide, or bought Jon Robinson's Prima Guide, so this file only covers what toexpect in terms of missions, and then only very brief - like what a guy sayswhen he ejaculates.

Episode 1: Training

Primary Objective

Clear movement tutorial Clear weapons tutorial Clear evasion tutorial Clear combat tutorial

Repair Pad


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Near the shore in the R&D base

Air CoverNone

DebriefingYour Russian instructor is not Dunya (huah!) but she'll be just asunattractive as Olga, the pregnant Russian merc who shoves her grimy armpitsin your face in MGS2: Sons of Beaches. Luckily, Tatiana is an ally, so youwon't need to give her an impromptu post-battle abortion with a MagnumResearch 44 Magnum fired into her womanly regions. Huhuhuhuhu.

Tatiana highlights several spots for Aquila to head to; do as she says, orget "liquidated". When you reach each checkpoint, you receive furtherinstructions about what to do next. If you have trouble following what can besaid, you can always re-read any displayed message by accessing the MessageLog on the in-game menu.

When you arrive at the firing range, Aquila's weapons will come online and youcan fire weapons. Do not fire on anything not highlighted with a red globe.Doing too much damage to the R&D base will result in you getting sent to thebrig with a bunch of military prisoners who will use your ass like the EnglishChunnel.

Get used to the weapons by firing into the air, then on the highlighted (redglobed) targets. You will not run out of Vulcan ammunition unless youdeliberately waste it. Once the targets at the range are destroyed, turn yourattention to the other targets that show up. The moving targets Tatiana refersto are the drones coming out of an allied factory. Wait for the vehicle toemerge (like in Command and Conquer) then blast it with any weapon. Again, donot damage any buildings.

For the evasion exercise, note the small white circle around the missile asthey head towards Aquila. The white circle denotes that it is "locked-on" andwill hit you momentarily. To escape the lock-on, simply do a quick stepsideways (left, then right quickly or vice versa) and the lock-on will bebroken. If the lock-on is broken, the missile travels in a straight line using

its last vector. Simply evade the missile by moving elsewhere.

For the combat exercise, shift into jet mode and land on the island. Throttleback before shifting back into walker mode to avoid overshooting the target.You can also aim Aquila straight at the ground, change form, then butt-jet tosoft land. Landing in water will kill you.

Once you land on the island, three drones will be sent out for practice. Shiftinto fighter mode and use the micro missiles to lock-on and kill all three.One fully charged barrage will down one drone. You will have more than enoughammo to do this. If you have trouble with the missiles, remember to achieve alock-on before firing. You can lock-on simply by floating the gun reticle overthe intended target and Aquila's gunnery computer will focus its weapons on

it.

Destroy all the drones and make for the Repair Pad (the big blue TRON disc) toget an explanation of the all important Repair Pad. Get repaired, then attackthe last wave of drones. These drones fire back, so try to use the barrel roll(same as a lateral quick step, left then right quickly and vice versa) tododge the missiles and attack with micro missiles. The base defences willactivate and destroy drones if Aquila is hit. To get an S grade, you will needto clear each object quickly and not sustain any damage. Head for the lastcheckpoint and Tatiana will check out the Aquila, then possibly give you a


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hummer.

Episode 1: Blackout

Primary Objective

Research Center must survive

Secondary Objective

All enemy units turned into butt sauce

Repair PadSame spot near the shore as it was in training

Air CoverNone

DebriefingThis stage is easy if, "you know what you doing". "Knowing what you doing" isvery important in Aquila, since you can be there before the enemy and preparefor it. Here, the most threatening Muspell units are all located to the fringeof the R&D base and slowly crawl into the base. If you destroy the largeairborne carriers loaded with enemy soldiers, you can easily kill most of theopposition before they land by shifting into fighter mode then using micromissiles to track and kill half a dozen carriers while they are stillairborne. The carriers who make it past your killing zone, you can deal witheasily using the plasma cannon.

Focus on destroying the carriers that are closest to the base - if youthrottle back to slow Aquila's approach, you can get off more shots while

airborne. Although it seems as if you will need to land to make more fighterpasses, you don't need to. Instead, shift into walker mode and land on thecarriers themselves. Use the plasma cannon's fully charged shots to finish thejob. When your ride explodes, just lift off and head for the next one. And thenext one. And the next one.

If you run across any fighters, simply wait for a lock-on, then barrage themwith five or ten micro-missiles. You have more than enough micro-missiles tothoroughly turn the invading force into something that looks like a woman's 30day special, so don't be afraid to use up everything you have. Along with yourallies, you can't lose unless you let too many invading carriers land anddeploy the armour line. You can always use the Repair Pad to restock Aquila'sstores and launch another attack.

Episode 2: Interception

Primary Objective

Two transports saved Tatiana's transport saved Enemy forces routed


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Secondary Objective

All transports saved

Repair PadInside firebase Apollo near where the transports will land

Air CoverNone

DebriefingThis mission will seem much harder than the last one. It pits Aquila against asmall force of fighters who want to take out four large, slow transports. Thisis the first mission that allows you to branch off into the harder EVOmissions as well. When you start, the Aquila is in fighter mode flying towardsthe coast. Head off the few fighters by using micro-missiles; recover Aquila'senergy stores by landing on the beach. You cannot land on the transports likeyou could on the carriers, so pay attention to your energy level whiledogfighting. Do not speed up since it will use more energy, but do not slow

down to conserve energy (you never catch any of the fighters). The fighterswill attack the first transport first (Alpha Transport).

If you hear the transmission that informs you Alpha Transport went down, youcan retry the mission to achieve the secondary objectives or simply continuewith the game. Prioritise your targets and attack fighters that are diving attransports - these are the units that are about to attack. If you spend timechasing a fighter that just launched its missiles, then you're letting theothers in the swarm get in their attacks before you kill them. If you miss outattacking a fighter before it fires on a transport, concentrate on locating afighter that is about to attack, and deal with the fighter you ignored when itdoubles back.

Once all the fighters are gone, you can help out the firebase and get rid ofthe carriers and tank forces.

First, you want to find the Repair Pad in the firebase. It will help withmopping up the remaining forces. With micro missiles re-armed, you can affordto shower the whole island with nuclear death and MSC (micro-saturationcluster) warheads. Wipe out the carriers like you did before, then finish offany tanks that escaped to clear the stage.

If you are having trouble preventing the fighters from downing the leadtransport, keep in mind that once you start the stage, you should focus onlyon the fighters. Land after taking out three or four (or five if you're fast).While you are recharging the Aquila's energy reserves, switch to the Vulcan

Cannon while in walker mode and occasionally you may find yourself in a luckyposition to down a fighter when it dips into your range. When the energy baris refilled, take off again and focus on the fighters that are approaching thelead transport (they are the ones about to attack). Check your radar as wellfor any bright red dots that represent Muspell air units.

Episode 2: Assault on Apollo


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Primary Objective

Bombers destroyed All critical base buildings survive

Secondary Objective

All enemy units destroyed

Repair PadInside the Apollo firebase, the same spot from Epsiode 2: Interception

Air CoverNone, you cunt.

DebriefingThis mission is easy if you just want to finish it, but due to the chaos ofthe battle, accomplishing the Secondary Objective is rather hard. Start byshifting into flight mode and destroying the three bombers approaching fromdirectly ahead of the Aquila. You can barely see them from far away, but when

they appear, you can identify them quickly due to their slow level flightpaths. Use fifteen micro missiles on each bomber.

To attack the bombers in time, speed up slightly, then when the bombers are inrange, slow down (you may temporarily stall the Aquila). Sweep past the bombergroup and fire as many micro missiles as possible. U-turn and attack thebombers from the back with Vulcans or missiles. You will get amessage, "That's the last of the bombers", when you destroy them all.

With the bomber threat removed, focus on killing the two small carriersdropping enemy commandos on the island. You can kill both easily as they flyover the firebase. If you must, land on them to deliver the final blow with aplasma cannon. The next step depends on how bad your allies are fairing. If

the battle line is close to the base, blast a few of tanks that have gottenclose to the firebase before turning your attention to the fighters --otherwise, you can start immediately on the fighters so that the alliedbombers can operate without harassment.

It is highly doubtful that you need to use the Repair Pad (fighters die withfive missiles and there are not too many of them, unless on EVO) but its thereif the bombers did not reach it. Restock and recover, then take to the air andclear the air of enemy fighters. All of them. Now comes the hard part. Themission ends (successfully) when all carriers and tanks are destroyed.However, to fulfill the Secondary Objective, you must kill all ground units,including infantry!

The problem is trying to spot infantry in the first place. They are very tinyand you can only track them using the Vulcan cannon (and radar). Fly over theisland and where the small carriers dropped the commandos with the Vulcanequipped. If the gunnery reticle twitches, you have a target. It's best toleave the tanks alone so that the bombers have more targets that need to takeout - this gives you more time to search and destroy interloping infantry.Once the last tank is destroyed, the mission ends. Remember that you can usethe Aquila's butt jets to roast infantry if they are too close for your Vulcancannon. You can kill squads of infantry by walking over their positions withyour landing jets on.


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Bug: There is a fatal bug that regardless of how well you do, the secondaryobjective will NEVER be accomplished, thus insuring the following stage willnever be unlocked for EVO. The only way to get around this bug is to use theunlock all stages cheat by naming your profile/new game a certain way. Seecheats at the bottom. Trust the Simalcrum when he sez, "Nothing on the radarwas red when Kramer stuffs his black ass face on the screen and screams at youto bag some Forseti nookie while the rest of the ground forces clean up."

User-Submitted

From : Will (will874 hotmail com)Sent : Friday, April 8, 2005 12:13 AMSubject : battle engine aquila

Dunno if your even still using this email address as you wrote thiswalkthrough about 2 years ago but I just got BEA free with my new graphicscard and looking on your walkthrough for tips(http://faqs.ign.com/articles/441/441232p1.html) about winning the last levelI saw that for level 2 of chapter 1 you said there was a fatal bug in that youcould not complete the secondary objective of killing all enemy units. Thetrick as I learnt from another level is that sometimes they have flying unitstry to escape the battle field when you are not looking - there is a lander onthe far side of the island from where you start that tries to escape at the

beginning of the battle, after destroying the bombers you need to chase afterit before it disappears off the map.

From : barinSent : Sunday, April 17, 2005 1:13 AMSubject : Still new stuff - Battle Engine

First of all, before we begint the step by step description, some inportantinfo to keep in mind:

1.) Time is the key. You have to eliminate all ground forces BEFORE the "Atlast, the air support's arrived" radio message. If your are only a secondlate, you will get only A. Ground forces consist of the landers and tanks, so

don't count infantry in.

2.) If you don't catch the escaping lander, you can be fast as hell, you won'tget better than grade B.

3.) Letting the bombers damage the buildings won't do any good to your grade.

As mission starts, press enter to skip the camera rotating around your BattleEngine, time is precious to spend it on things like this. First of all youhave to take out the bombers. Switch to fly mode immediately and try to goagainst the bombers. (You may fire micro missiles to some fighters that cameagainst you.) When you reach the highest hill between you and the bombers,slow down and start firing missiles to them, with the 10 missiles mode (hold

down fire until the green indicator on your HUD gets full.) This may causesome damage to the bombers (and the crossing fighters) until you reach them.When you get closer to them, try to shot them down one by one by flyingagainst them. (Flying behind the bombers would make you more accurate but thattakes too much time. We have a lot of missiles and very little time.)

At first because of the explosions you won't see that you were succesful ornot. At the bombers head down, and let's do some short tank hunt. There comestwo lines of tanks, the first line must be on the grassy field (3+1 tank), thesecond is on the road (5 tank). You need the first line: go directly down,


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because the will be under you, and try to shot 5-5 rockets to each tank. Waituntil the aim system gets one, then press fire shortly. You will have time tokill all 4 of them before you reach the ground. Don't crash into the ground,switch to walker mode, and turn to the east and switch to grenade. You willsee a lander on the ground. (It's on the ground since the beginning of themission.) Aim it until the crosshair becomes a little red circle, then fireexactly 14 grenade at it, then switch to fly mode again,and turn to the south.

You will catch the escaping lander. Don't fire any missiles at it. You willshot it down from the ground with pulse cannon. (You can choose where to land,the pulse cannon fires very far. If you go too close to the lander, then youwill lose time. If you stay too far, then some of the tank will turn back andattack you, and that will confuse the tactics - not because the damage theymake but we have to know their location exactly.) There is a little hill atthe see between you and it. Land down on the west side of it somewhere, irecommend the hill's western slope. Aim the nose to avoid missing it. Fire sixfull load (green indicator full) of it, that will do.

By the time a lot of enemy fighters will appear at the southern horizon,don't bother yourself with them, they can't harm you. Go airborne again, andslowly turn back. Now you kill the 5 tank line on the road (they may left theroad to go against you). Fly slowly and fire 5-5 missile each of them.Now turn to the west. There will be a bigger pack of immobile tanks at a hill,and one tank on the top of the hill. You hit only the hilltop tank, then

switch to walker mode and turn to east again. You will be at the place whereyou began to kill the first tanks (under your first bomber attacks). You willsee some blue building near you, and 4 landers behind them that are landingnow, two of them are close. (The other two are behind a hill. They land aftera while so they will be the last.)

At this time the second lander one is already down. (It's the farer of thetwo.) (It's important to destroy any lander that hit the ground because itreleases a lot of tanks that begin to spread out, and it takes precious timeto catch them.) Fire 14 grenades at it, all of them must hit the ship. If youare not sure, fire some more, but don't wait until they reach it, because timeis important. The first lander may descends into the line of the grenadesduring its landing, disturbing the grenade-counting. This means that you

wasn't fast, and you have to hurry. In this case kill both of the two closerlanders. (If you were fast enough until now, your grenades will fly under thefirst lander.) After this switch to fly mode, and turn to the immobile tankteam, land near them, and kill all of them using grenades.

If you get hit and get augmented pulse cannon, kill them with that, it isfaster than grenades. Now fly to the remaining two landers as fast as you can.If you were slow, you may find some tank at this area, give 5 missiles each ofthem. Land near the landers and kill them. (If you don't have too much micromissiles then don't use them against the landers.) If you still have grenades,then use them, if it runs out, use pulse cannon. If you can kill the last onewithout letting it land down, then you made it. When you cleared out all theground forces, the flying units begin to leave the area to the south at their

top speed. When the last one is out, the mission is over. Among the fightersthere are two Infantry Dropping Ships. Now you have to look for them.

Why: Their top speed is not as hig as the fighters, so they will be the lasttwo plane that leaves the area. Time matters at this mission, so if you waitfor them to leave the area they may take your S grading as well, so try tohunt them down. It's good if you still have some micro missiles left for them.They are still fast enough to make you sweat catching them, so look for them.10 missiles and a bit of vulcan will kill them. Don't chase the fighters, it'suseless. They are fast, even the missiles don't reach them, but they leave the


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area very fast. Don't go after the infantry.

That's all. :)Really nice challenge.I'm sure I wrote this whole shit for nobody but hell - I enjoyed it. :))))

Update: Well son of a bitch. Will was right on the money. There is a fleeingQuell Heavy Lifter past the three marked Tyrant Bombers that apparently gotmissed. Infantry apparently does not count towards the ground units destroyedobjective. Some guy from Hungary sent in an S-rank walkthrough for Assault OnApollo. If Jeremy Longley can "assemble the squad" after Parliment gets smartto subsidise small developers, maybe Aquila 2 can make an appearance on XboxNext. Fat chance with all this war mongering however.

Episode 2: Assault on Apollo EVOThe main changes to your first EVO mission is the doubling of the number ofbombers that need to be shot down. Aside from the general increase of thenumber of enemies overall (the fighter are also doubled) there is littlechange from the standard mission. Lucky you. Later EVO missions are entirelydifferent stages. Take care of the six bombers easily by throttling down onceyou get within range to use micro missiles. Once all the bombers aredestroyed, focus on the two small carriers dropping the commandos. If you take

the time to see where the commandos have dropped, you can use the Vulcancannon and landing jets to destroy them later.

On EVO missions, try not to leave enemy fighters alone. They attack with moreaggression and will launch missiles twice as likely. A huge schwarme of themwill quickly destroy a capital ship or worse, destroy the targets you need todefend. When you can, destroy a few fighters so that your Air Cover can takeadvantage of the skies. Sky clearing will become a larger responsibility onyour part once you advance into later EVO missions.

Episode 2: Escort Duty

Primary Objective

Convoy reaches destination

Secondary Objective

All transports survive Battleship destroyed

Repair PadAboard the Marshal

Air CoverNone

DebriefingThis is the first all water mission you will encounter (similar to the co-opstage). Like Tatiana says, watch your energy reserves. If you get hit several


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times, Aquila is going to take a fatal dunk. Either slow down and shift fromfighter to walker mode, or look down (aim Aquila at basically) at a ship andchange form, using your butt jets to slow down. These are the two easiest waysto land on the spot you want.

Start by flying to the left and downing some of the Muspell fighters. Whilethey will not sink the convoy, they will fire on the Aquila and cut yourenergy drastically. Fly ahead and to the left of the convoy's direction totake out the battleship. The battleship is a Secondary Objective and you cankeep it from sinking the Marshal and the convoy by taking out the forwardfacing guns - simply sinking the entire battleship will also do the job.

To sink the battleship, land on the deck and use the grenades (all of them ifnecessary). Grenades will not be used for the rest of the stage and you canexpend all the munitions here, taking out the turrets firing on you and thevessel itself. Be sure to take out the four turrets amidships and to have theenergy reserve to fly to safety before you deliver the killing blow. If not,you will find the Aquila standing on a sinking enemy vessel with lots of waterto bridge.

Head back to the convoy after taking care of the battleship. Try to land onthe Marshal (the lead ship) and get repaired. This will also refill all ofyour energy as well. Once repaired, fly and land on the last ship in theconvoy and wait. The chances are that the AA guns on the Marshal have taken

out the last few fighters as well (but not always). Keep Aquila standing by onthe last convoy ship and ignore the fighters. If you killed the battleship andgot back to the convoy in time, you will have ample time to wait in the rightspot for the bombers.

Sure enough, enemy bombers will appear near the last ship in the convoy to thesoutheast and start a diving run almost immediately. Shift into fighter modeand take out the bombers using fifteen micro missiles each. By attackingaggressively, you will be able to take out the bombers and preserve all theconvoy ships. If you have trouble determining the range of your flight, keepin mind that as long as you are not hit too much, all landing destinations(ships, Marshal, the battleship) are all within reach of Aquila while flying.

Episode 2: Escort Duty EVOThe EVO version of the mission features more guns on the battleship that needsto be destroyed before it ceases to be a threat to the convoy. You can stillexhaust the Aquila's grenade supply and cause the battleship to sink. On yourway back to the Marshal, try to take out as many of the fighters as possible,unless you want to clear the minefield ahead of the Marshal. By clearing awaythe fighters, you will prevent the Marshal from being damaged too much. Thebombers still appear at the last ship of the convoy, but will take moremissiles to down. All the bombers have been increased, as well as theirtoughness. Only one ship needs to make it through to complete the level, butif you want to clear it with all the ships, you will need to be very fast and

accurate with Aquila's micro missiles.

Episode 2: Counterstrike

Primary Objective

Destroy all enemy armour units The Venturer must survive


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Repair PadTwo; one on the Venturer and one in the firebase

Air CoverLorenzo

DebriefingThis is a fun ass mission in that you start on board the Venturer and startattacking the Muspell bastards who in turn, are attacking the Apollo firebase.You will also be able to have Jason Lorenzo to provide Air Cover. The Ventureris a veritable fortress against the schwarmes of fighters that try to mob it.With two Repair Pad between the firebase and the Venturer, Aquila will haveample places to re-supply. Shift into fighter mode and start your attack runagainst the carriers in the distance. Evade the fighters, but try to fire offa volley of micro missiles as you pass to damage or destroy them.

Your main priority is to focus on the small flight of bombers ambling towardsthe firebase. When you start, they are to the front and slightly to the rightof the Venturer's forward flight path. Kill all the bombers with micromissiles and then focus attention on the carriers landing on the island. Iftoo many unload their cargos, you will not be able to repel the attackers

before the firebase is destroyed. Focus on unleashing full barrages of micromissiles on the carriers, then switching to walker mode and volley grenades onthe vessels until they blow. Give priority to the base buildings since theyare weaker than the Venturer. The base defences are also immobile as well asspread out thinly, so the Muspell can easily smash any defence if enough ofthem land. Once the majority of the carriers are gone, what you do nextdepends on what messages you receive.

If you haven't received a message about, "Those fighters are headed straightfor us!" then mop up the remaining ground forces released from carriers thatyou missed. If you get a distress call from the Venturer's captain aboutneeding some Air Cover, then head to the Repair Pad on the air carrier,restock and re-arm, and then take off against the next wave of bombers that

came into the island. Chances are that between Lorenzo's squadron and theVenturer's AA turrets, all (or almost all) the bombers will be destroyed. Youjust need to kill the remaining bomber(s) then have Aquila to assist inmopping up the rest of the ground forces. This is easier than killing babieswith an axe.

Episode 2: Counterstrike EVOThe EVO version of the mission pits Aquila against an increased number offighters, bombers, carriers, and ground forces. The major increase that youneed to worry about is the number of bombers. The Venturer and Lorenzo'ssquadron will keep the fighters' at bay through attrition. The sequencing for

the EVO mission is the same in Counterstrike (unlike some other EVO missions)and should prove no problem except for the increased number of enemies youneed to beat. It is highly recommended that you play through at least three orfour EVO missions before you attempt the second "better" ending in BattleEngine Aquila. Despite being a highly innovative simulator, the game has somesequencing flaws.

Two other units have been added to the Muspell ground forces that will alsothreaten the firebase early. After you deal with the first wave of bombers,look to the small clearings to either side of the firebase and try to locate a


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large tank unit with a very long barrel. This is a Muspell Mobile Artilleryunit that will reduce the firebase to rubble in no time. Blast both MobileArty units (there is one on each side of the firebase) before attacking thecarriers. The combined fire of the Mobile Arty units will cause you to losebuildings and allied units much faster than on normal.

Episode 3: Liberation of Russo

Primary Objective

Protect Forseti Base Destroy Muspell forces Destroy Muspell outpost buildings

Secondary Objective

All base buildings survive

Repair PadRusso Base

Air CoverFox, Lorenzo, Casbah

DebriefingThis is the first mission where you have a choice of Air Cover, as well as anAquila configuration. You can choose the Lancer, Blazer, or Pulsar. It'srecommended that the Pulsar be used to "scout the mission" before you take iton for real. The Pulsar can certainly deal with all the threats here, but aBlazer is devastating to the Muspell outpost. The Lancer is not recommendedsince it behaves very poorly.

In the realm of Air Cover, Tara "Ebony Princess" Fox is excellent for air dutysince she is equally adept at killing aircraft as well as tanks (but not tothe effectiveness of Lorenzo or Casbah for air and surface targetsrespectively). Jason Lorenzo can take out carriers while they are stillairborne, but deal poorly with ground forces. Fox, for the most part, is thebest for most missions that require multi-role tasks. Choose Tara Fox if youcan, she makes most missions tolerable.

The first thing is to do is to get rid of bomber wing to the right of startingflight path. Slow down, then use the Vulcan Cannon (or micro missiles) andkill the whole flight. Then focus on the six (or seven) buildings in themountain pass overlooking the Russo base. Blast the tank factory (the bigger

of the two buildings) to stem the production of tanks. You have sixty secondsor so before another bomber sortie is launched on Russo. Don't mistake thetank factory for the infantry barracks (which you'll kill later). The tankfactory is the building NOT on the small hill in the pass.

The Lancer's spread bomb is great for the factories until Aquila if forced toland; in that case grenades in walker mode will level the building in no time.Stay on the small hill and use the pulse cannon to snipe the cannonemplacements set up on the walls of the mountain pass. The small hill protectsAquila against enemy tanks since they cannot crawl up the slope. Once you kill


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all the turrets, you can kill some tanks, but once all the factories andemplacements are destroyed, the mission ends even if more bombers appear.

Episode 3: Muspell Counterattack

Primary Objective

Defend base Lose no more than two allied turrets

Secondary Objective

All Forseti turrets survive All Forseti buildings survive

Repair PadRusso Base


DebriefingThe Lancer configuration is viable since you are actually going to bedefending the firebase instead of mounting any effective attack. Using Fox asAir Cover is advised, since she will fare well against all the targets youwill be facing. Do take Kramer's advice and stay near the base (and the repairpad). When the mission starts, three bombers will already be en-route. But youhave just enough time to use torpedos to take out some of the attackers on theleft or right side of the base before the bombers arrive. Just soften up oneside, because the bombers will be unstoppable as soon as they release theirbombs.

Head to the base of the mountain pass in walker mode and get the Flux Missilesready. Each fully charged "shot" of Flux Missiles will fire a volley of themranging from one to four. Use two or three volleys to savage the bombers asthey clear the horizon and into your sights.

Following the destruction of the bombers, take flight and smash the attackerson the side of the base you skipped when you had to focus on bombers. Skilledpilots can soften both sides before attacking the bombers - "soften" meanskill all but a few units, or severely damage all enemy units so your Forsetiallies can kill them easily. After neutralizing the attackers coming from theside, use the Repair Pad to re-arm and crawl up the hill and into the mountainpass.

This was where the Muspell outpost was in the previous mission. Launch fromthe hilltop and attack the ground forces with torpedoes, then land and takeout fighters with flux missiles. Three more waves of bombers will approachfrom south before the mission ends. Once the message about the bombersappears, you have 20 seconds to get into a position where you can fire onthem. The pass is an excellent spot to repel bombers coming in from the south,and the although rare, bomber waves also come in from the east and west of,Russo Base. Use the Lancer's flux missiles, blaster, and Vulcan. Visit theRepair Pad often and re-arm when you can. If you have time to spare between


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bomber sorties, attack the carriers to the east and west of the base ifpossible (with torpedos) but the main focus is keeping away tanks and bombersfrom your turrets and base buildings. This mission offers a time-basedvictory. Hold out and you win.

Episode 3: Muspell Counterattack EVOThe time of day is night, but that alone does not make the stage harder. Thebomber sorties will be more frequent, and the number of bombers that are ineach flight is increased to four. Although the Lancer was capable of coveringRusso in the normal mission, you will want to take a more direct approach tothe hordes of ground forces you are expected to stop. Tara Fox will do nothingbecause of the increased number of fighters that are added, but mostly becauseshe's a girl. If you decide to mount a counterattack yourself, consider aPulsar that can take out the numerous carriers that keep dumping tanks andartillery around the base.

Otherwise, you can still resort to the Lancer, but keep in mind that you mayhave to either rely on the Vulcan to take out bombers (not advised), or useFlux Missiles while falling. The Pulsar with its balance of air and groundweapons, are a good choice for this EVO mission, and if you can keep him aliveto do damage, Billy Casbah will be able to take out most of the tanks beforeyou lose too many turrets. This EVO mission will not be the first one you fail

repeatedly, nor will it be the last.

Episode 3: Wake of the Venturer

Primary Objective

Capture the island Lose no more than two allied turrets Protect the base

Secondary Objective

All Forseti turrets survive All Forseti buildings survive

Repair PadTwo; at Russo Base and on the Venturer


DebriefingTake Tara, or if you want to shift gears, Lorenzo or Casbah. This is an easymission if you take the Pulsar. With the Blazer, things get difficult and youwill need to rely on your allied Air Cover to kill bombers and fighters. TheLancer is not recommended since it is too ammunition dependent against groundtargets (the torpedo) and too underpowered to engage the bombers in this stage.

Begin by flying a bit to the right and killing the whole flight of bomberscoming at Russo. About 90% of the bombers (normal and EVO) will come at you


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from this flight path that will be referred to as, "Bomber Alley". Kill allthe bombers quickly by speeding up to get into range, then slowing down whenyou start firing. When the bombers are all gone, head to either Russo Base orthe Venturer to get not as much repaired as re-stocked on ammo. The next focusis to take out all the factories, or as many as you can, before the nextflight of bombers come in. There are six factories producing walkers, tanks,and infantry.

While you can kill some tanks and walkers to help your friends, you need toget rid of the factories or the Muspell keep getting reinforced. The primaryreason to use the Pulsar is to exploit its grenades on the factories while inwalker mode, and use micro missiles in flight to down bombers. While loiteringin the south area, the inevitable bomber message will come and you will needto fly back to the bomber alley and take out the bombers that threaten thebase. Fly to the Venturer first and use the Repair Pad to "re-energize" Aquilabefore taking flight from the Venturer and taking out the bombers. If you flyfrom the south area to the bomber alley, you will run out of energy just asyou line up the bombers right outside the base. Without energy, you will notcatch up to the bombers in time to prevent them from unloading their bombs.

Repeat the pattern of going back and forth between "Bomber Alley", and thesouth area (where the factories are) using the Venturer as a pit stop halfway.If you see a large enemy concentration that broke through your allies, feelfree to make a detour during the trip to the factories (never detour on the

way to Bomber Alley - no time) and take out the enemies there. If the 30second timer has not run out while you're on the Venturer, you can head toRusso base and use the Repair Pad there prior to attacking the bombers.

Be quick with the factories since after a set amount of bomber sorties, therewill be simultaneous sorties launched against Russo base, and it will onlyaggravate an otherwise easy scenario.

Episode 3 - Wake of the Venturer EVODitto, except that the stakes get bumped up for the turret quota. If twoturrets are blasted, the mission is a failure. The increased number of

enemies, notably carriers, do not help the situation. The relay tactic thatworked on normal also works on EVO, but you will need to make more of themsince the bomber flights occur more frequently. As long as you focus onkilling the enemies that are attacking your allies, then focus a bit ondestroying at least one factory each time you are in the southern area, yourForseti buddies will eventually win.

Having something as big as the Venturer to assist in a stage makes all thedifference, regardless of difficulty.

Episode 3: Thunderhead!

Primary Objective

Accompany the Venturer Destroy Thunderhead

Secondary Objective


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Impress Tara Fox with the size of your schlong

Repair PadNone


DebriefingGet ready for the first boss. You can take any Aquila you want, but the Lanceris the best in most boss fights since you are focused entirely on one target.Begin by taking off and switching to the torpedo. You will not be attackingthe boss just yet since you want to take out the four missile and flak turretsin the boss' arena. This way, you can focus your attention on Thunderheadinstead of worrying about other enemies. The troops that are being air droppedare Forseti Pionere Infantry, and will distract the boss as you try to findits weakness.

Thunderhead's weakness is the center of the giant claw like beam weapon. Ofcourse, since the boss only opens the weapon when it is about to fire, youneed to be quick about how to attack the beam weapon without being killed. Themost obvious way is to time a fighter run against the beam weapon as the claws

are opening and shuttle off a salvo of missiles. Almost immediately, theAquila needs to turn away to avoid the beams, since the beams have trackingability.

Doing things this way requires the Aquila to land frequently to regain energy.The other way, using the Lancer (or to a lesser degree, any of the PlasmaCannon equipped Battle Engines) is to stay on the ground and keep circlestrafing around Thunderhead. When the beam weapon opens, the boss usuallystops turning to guide its beams. This is your chance to attack the centerpoint by manuevering the Aquila so the beam laser passes in between the openedclaws. The Lancer's beam weapon is great for this boss (and it seems, onlythis boss). Keep dodging as the boss turns, and stop just long enough to usethe beam weapon on the claw's center point.

Once the beam weapon explodes, the boss' real weak spot appears. Thisabsolutely requires Aquila to fly and land on the boss' back to attack thethree green nuclear rods. Due to the slope and the limited arcs of Aquila'supper body, you will need to move to the lowest point of Thunderhead's backand attack the green rods with non-explosive heavy ordnance. Once the rods arebreached, the boss will get, "Blowed up".

Episode 3: Thunderhead! EVOSame thing, but in addition to the five turrets already left over from normal,there is a small platoon of Muspell "Raider" Tanks (about six). Take out the

turrets, then start crawling as a walker with the Beam or Pulse Cannon and offthe tanks before focusing on the hunderhead. The Lancer's beam is the best forthis boss. Apart from the tanks, and the other statistical changed on EVO,this mission is otherwise identical to the normal version.

Episode 4: Beach Head

Primary Objective


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Clear at least one beach of obstacles Secure at least one beach The Marshal must survive

Secondary Objective

All beaches cleared

Repair PadOn board the Marshal


DebriefingYou again have the luxury of choosing any of the three Wild Card pilots andyour choice of configurations. The Pulsar and Lancer are good choices (pickthe Lancer only if you know what's going on). The Lancer can clear the minesfrom the shore faster if your aim is good with the beam laser, but the Pulsar

will be in better position to meet the bombers that threaten the Marshal atthe end of the stage.

Begin by soft landing on the beach and work from left to right clearing themines. Note that each section of beach has nine mines that need to be clearedin order to make it "safe". Clearing the whole beach will access the next EVOmission. After clearing the eastern sector (Gamma section) of mines (or if youonly want to clear one beach, ya' chicken shit) look for a small outcroppingon the east section that has two artillery units. Kill them (the Marshal orthe Air Cover will do that if you hesitate long enough) since they will do themost damage to your landing parties before they even get the army unloaded.

Take care of the arty quickly, since the next portion requires very fast and

effective application of the grenades, spread bombs, or torpedoes. You mustnow clear the beach of all buildings (including flak turrets, which can't aimat surface units). If even one building survives, the Yenya invasion is calledoff while you're dragged into the street and shot.

The buildings are about six turrets and two factories. The factories are onthe west side of the beach. All buildings will be highlighted for destructionon your screen, so don't worry if you can't find them. Just remember to lookfor any gold dots (the white dot is Aquila, if you don't know by now). ThePulsar's grenades and pulse cannon will be working overtime (don't forget touse the augmented weapon pulse cannon so as to save grenade ammo for timeswhen you don't have that option). The Lancer, in taking out the mines, tanks,and buildings will need to refill on flux missiles afterward. The Pulsar may

need repairs as well. Head to the Marshal and get re-armed for the next phase.

Four bombers will approach from the north. One pair on the east, one pair onthe west. If your Air Cover is still around, they can provide enoughdistraction for the Pulsar to easily chase down and kill all four. The Lancerwill need to use the vulcan on the west pair (which start out closer to theMarshal) then with energy running low, head off the east pair of bombers. Itwill need to switch to walker mode and while falling, use flux missiles todown both bombers. The Aquila will be at full throttle from the time the firstpair of bombers are downed until you intercept the second pair.


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Once all these threats have been removed, the first phase of the invasion isover. For now.

Episode 4: Weathering the Storm

Primary Objective

Beach area secured

Secondary Objective

At least 51% of friendly forces must survive.

Repair PadOnboard the Marshal

Air Cover

Lorenzo, Fox, Casbah

DebriefingFor the easiest time, pick a Pulsar and have Tara Fox wash your back - I meanwatch your back. She can lick you up and down later. After pie. Huhuhuhuhu.Tara's balanced fighters will be able to help you regardless of the target.The Pulsar will be able to handle anything the Muspell have on the ground andin the air (i.e., bombers).

Start the mission off by thinking that you are in a survival/endurance match.You need to hold out until the "reinforcements" timer drops to zero, at whichpoint, you need to fight off bombers and hope your allies don't all die. Tosurvive, you only focus on killing the masses of red dots that are close, or

will get close, to the Forseti battle line. Even by weakening enemy tanks, yougive your allies the advantage they need to survive.

Do not, repeat do not, go after any factories in the North area. You candestroy the lone walker factory to the east and savage the enemy there so thatthe pressure is eased off your allies' front. You main job is to keep thoseblue dots alive and kicking until the stage is over. Focus on the fightersthat are harassing your Air Cover (and the bombers) then kill tanks (in walkermode).

When you have a breather, search for flak and missile turrets so your aircover will last longer. Fighters will repeatedly be spawned in singles andpairs, so you will want to destroy the turrets attacking your Air Cover. The

big threat of course, are the bombers.

Several bombers will make their way from the north area to the Marshal, but ifyou killed the fighters and started reducing the number of turrets, Tara willdo you a favour and most likely kill most or all of them (depends where she isat the time) before they are over your allied line. This does not mean you sitidle in Aquila. So long as a bomber is flying, it will drop its payload andkill something, so you will need to engage and destroy all the bombers youfind.


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Don't forget you can return to the Marshal and re-arm when you are out of ammo(or low on armour). Watch the reinforcements timer. When it is around 5 to 10seconds, head to the Marshal, get repaired and ready the micro missilesagainst the bombers that will appear to the west of the Marshal in one biggaggle. Down all of them, then return to the beach to help your allies andwait for victory to be awarded.

Episode 4: Weathering the Storm EVOThe EVO mission starts more or less the same, except the enemies have beenincreased - notably a greater number of enemy walkers carrying sterilisationrays. The minimum number of forces that need to survive the onslaught isincreased from zero (meaning you can lose all but one unit) to ten (meaningyou need at least eleven tank units to achieve victory).

Your forces get hammered almost immediately, so you need to make some quickdecisions. The Pulsar and Tara will get you through most of the stage, butTara is forced to retreat almost 80% of the time due to the sheer increase ofenemies.

This time, ignore the eastern walker factory and focus entirely on saving atleast eleven tank units. Do this by aggressively attacking the largest units(walkers) then the large groups of tanks (augmented cannon, esp. if you keep

getting shafted in walker mode), missile artillery (the big tanks with redboxes on the top), and always keep an eye out for bright red, slow-moving dots(bombers). Try not to use too many micro missiles either (you want 100 ormore).

Within two minutes of the EVO mission, the script bug starts (it has not beenfixed on the console versions, although future PC patches may address it in PCversions of Aquila). Right about the time you see three bombers heading fromthe north onto a bombing run on the Marshal, you get a message about "Friendlyair contacts".

Kill all the bombers then start heading to the Marshal, but try to course overthe mountain to the Marshal's west in order to recharge some energy. There

will be about six (or more, it is frantic) bombers that will come into playand start bomb runs on the Marshal. Even one bomber will destroy the Marshal,so you need to throttle down once you are in range and kill the whole flight.

Once this threat is done, get repaired (naturally) and return to the fight,focusing on walkers, artillery, and large tank groups. Watch thereinforcements timer; when it reaches zero, a message about "Enemy bomberscoming in from the west", will appear, but was apparently mis-scripted for theearlier flight of bombers. Again, a PC patch may correct this, but this isunlikely.

Episode 4: Naval Ambush

Primary Objective

At least three cargo ships must survive to destination The Marshal must survive

Secondary Objective


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Nine cargo ships survive to destination

Repair PadOnboard the Marshal


DebriefingYou should probably know that by now you always choose Lorenzo in water escortmissions since most of the time, Aquila can handle the battleships but needsupport with the bombers and fighters.

Head forward and start looking for bombers (there are four on normal and EVO).Use micro missiles to down them (remember fifteen missiles each). Throttle upto catch them before they reach the convoy, but go back to "normal" throttleonce you unleash the last barrage on the last bomber. Micro missiles are fireand forget, so just hope that you hit the last bomber as you make your way tothe "left" battleship.

There's very little to go on in terms of compass direction, but with two big

fat battleships coming at the convoy and your energy running low, you canguess which ship is closer. Dead stick (i.e., fly without energy) until youare over the "left" battleship, then aim straight down (the only way to slowdown with no energy) and change into walker mode. Land on the battleship andfire grenades to sink it. If you were thoughtful, you should've been firinggrenades as you descend.

Sink the "left" battleship then head to the "right" battleship just as theMarshal arrives. For your information, the turret on the bow and two turretson either side of a battleship's stern are the three artillery turrets thatpose the greatest threat. Kill those three turrets using the remainder of yourgrenades and use the plasma cannon to clean up. Sink the battleship and themission should be over. You should take off anyway and head for the Marshal,

just in case.

Episode 4: Naval Ambush EVOPick Lorenzo to accompany your Pulsar. Take out the bombers, but keep in mindthat the EVO mission has a tighter schedule of events. Once you launch thelast salvo of micro missiles against the last bomber (use twenty each to makesure they die), head to the "right" (not left) battleship. This change ofplans is due to the fact the Marshal will arrive earlier just to get killed bythe "right" battleship.

Dead stick to the bow of the battleship and grenade the turrets on the bow,

then focus on the artillery turrets past the midship area to declaw thevessel. Sink it fast and fly to the "left" battleship - the one you normallyhead to first. Again attack the bow turrets and then the remaining artilleryturrets to finish the stage. Easy.

Episode 4: Battle for Yenya

Primary Objective


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Capture the island Destroy the Warspite The Marshal must survive

Repair Pad

On the Marshal


DebriefingThe second boss. Pick any Aquila you want. The superweapon Tatiana the Russianminx is talking about is Warpsite, the "trick dome". Pick any Air Cover youwant, but Fox looks fine and will do fine. Huhuhuhuhu. Fly up and head behindthe dome, using the small hill there to shield Aquila from its gun. Thecomputer will always focus on trying to kill you, but since it doesn't haveline of sight to the Aquila, you are safe from the dome's attacks. Use theplasma cannon to snipe at the remnants of the forces that are now turning

around to try to kill you.

Kill the walkers and tanks, and use the blaster to deal with the rocketinfantry. Take note of your radar and kill any enemy units that come intoview. Things should quiet down considerably as you wipe out half the enemy andyour allies take care of the other half.

Once you have the numerical superiority (relatively speaking, as there arestill factories on the side of the island to the right as you approached theWarspite), inch out slowly to fire on the barrel of the turret. Get ready toflee as soon as the Warspite's turret explodes, or the walker inside willattack you with devastating results.

Do not head for the Marshal unless you are really desperate to get repaired.Instead, take out the enemies and factories on the side of the island that yousaw on the right as you flew behind the Warpsite turret. Be quick about it(grenades and plasma cannon) since you want the Marshal to stop launchingartillery against those units and instead, concentrate on the Warpsite walker.

Clean up the side area, then head back to the Marshal and re-arm. Now withnumerical superiority (something you will not have against later bosses), youcan spread bomb (or torpedo) the boss to death while it is being bombarded bythe Marshal, distracted by your allied tanks, and taking a beating from yourown guns. If you want to have a little fun, let your own tanks take out theWarspite while you watch. It takes a little while, but it's fun.

Update: A previous version of this FAQ referred to some factories in thisstage that seems to have been deleted in the final version of Battle EngineAquila. It could be the replay syndrome (where a replayed stage has missingshit) but it's doubtful. Anyone with confirmation that the Yenya battle withthe Warspite has active non-Infantry factories is welcome to inform theSimalcrum about it.

Episode 4: Battle for Yenya EVO


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Same thing, but be sure to take out the lone carrier on your way in first. Usefive spread bombs, then land on the carrier and use some grenades or plasmacannon to take it out.

Fly behind the hill and do the same crap you did on normal. Tara Fox shouldserve Air Cover. This mission is no different from the normal version, savefor the addition of some enemies.

Episode 5: Split Second

Primary Objective

At least 51 friendly units must survive Destroy 7 Muspell buildings The Marshal survives Destroy the submarine - OR - Destroy the rocket



DebriefingThis stage will determine who your third boss will be. Following Kramer'sorders will result in a relatively easier third boss, but a slightlyharder "pre-boss" stage. Not following Kramer's orders will result in a harderboss, but an easier "pre-boss" stage. Your choice. Either outcome is not veryappetizing, but you can proceed to the next episode through either path.

For starters, stick with Fox. Then pick the Blazer and go nuts with the spreadbomb and grenades. When you start, clear the beach of any tanks so the LSTscan land and discharge cargo. Walk up the beach to the hill and take out the

tank groups and artillery. Focus on clearing the aerodome so your Air Covercan operate easily.

Now you get to pick door number one or door number two.

Door numero uno - Sink the SubKill the sub and get treated to a Command and Conquer Ion Cannon FMV. If youare going to follow orders and kill the sub, ignore the countdown when itstarts. Instead focus and kill the factories and marked buildings to finishthe objective of clearing the naval base. Once that is done, head for thesubpen in the southern area and land on the sub's deck. Take out any three ofthe six fuel pods lining the wall of the subpen and get out. Once all the basebuildings are gone and the subpen destroyed (you did fly out before the subpen

collapsed, didn't you?) you will start your hunt for the Hive!

Door numero-two-o - Rape the RocketKill the rocket in the northeast. You can do this before Tatiana tugs hertassles and teases your teether with a tell-all telly (i.e., before theRussian chick radios you about the countdown). After taking out the aerodome,head for the singular large erect penis-like rocket structure in the northernarea. Level the rocket phallus with a barrage of spread bombs (about 20) ortorpedoes (about 30 or 40). The vulnerable spots are the rocket nose and thesupport pylons. Once that launch site is pounded like Peenemunde, head back to


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the naval base and start taking out buildings before the whole Forsetiinvasion force is taken out. With the rocket destroyed, the sub submerged, andthe naval base leveled, victory is yours - but at what cost?

Episode 5: Death from Above (Satellite)

Primary Objective

Get friendly reinforcements to the base Retake Yenya.

Secondary Objective

At least three friendly base buildings survive

Repair PadTwo; on the Marshal and inside the base


DebriefingThe sub has been destroyed! But the rocket got launched. Take a Blazer forbest results. Fox or Lorenzo can take care of the scant air units you face ifyou take out the aerodome fast enough. Fox or even Casbah is a better choicesince either pilot can assist in the ground mop up.

Fly to the center of the island, and take out the aerodome. That's the tallestfactory you will see. Never mind the barracks, tank and walker factories fornow (but if you can level the tank or t-shaped walker factory, the better foryou). Instead, fly to the "left" of the devastated base and take out the tank

and infantry factories there. This will prevent enemy ground forces fromoverrunning the Forseti base. You are under a time limit, so kill them all asquickly as possible.

If you lose, take out the t-shaped walker and tank factories on your way tothe base instead. This part of the stage is rather random, depending onwhether or not the enemy units "glitch" and bump into one another or make abeeline for the Forseti base.

Either devastate the Muspell factories on your way to the base, or to thebase's "left", then take out the Quell Lifter heading towards you from theocean. Once the landing craft is destroyed, turn your attention to the otherconcentration of enemies. Mop up the remaining factories and the mission is

done.

Episode 5: Versus the Hive (Satellite)

Primary Objective

All hostiles destroyed Satellite control building destroyed


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The Marshal must survive



DebriefingFinish the job and destroy the weapon the rocket launched. Basically, yourforces will be assaulting a beach again, but resistance will be stiff. Youwill need to take out seven turrets on the beach to get your next objective,but the real threat is from the walkers and artillery (which you know by nowlook like boxes on hovercraft). Raze the beach defenders and pop a few tanks.Tara Fox should be able to handle the skies as you take out the ground forcesusing a Blazer.

Savage the enemy as you head up the plateau Tatiana remarks about and destroythe aerodome. Never forget that those fighters will kill you and the Air Coverif you let them build up. Once the aerodome is gone, help your buddies on thebeach and take out all of the enemy before you completely destroy the lastfactory and provoke the Hive into launching.

The Hive is basically a flying building that spawns small spider walkerscalled, "Arachnodrones" or something like that, and small robot fighterscalled, "Gnats". Given time, it can cover the whole island with new forces, soyou should focus on taking out the boss. If you want to unlock that one goodiein the Gallery that requires you to kill gnats, play Versus the Hive on normaland kill a few gnats (about five or ten) then kill the boss. If all yourforces (or the Marshal) are destroyed, you lose.

The Hive has a laser on the underside that does a lot of damage. Destroy thedome to make it start dropping Arachnodrones (easier for your buddies tokill). Use a regular plasma cannon to get rid of it. Once the dome is gone,you can opt to fly and take out the Hive's mid-section with spread bombs. The

mid-section has armoured plates that need to be blasted away before the Hivecan be damaged. Use everything you have on the Hive and strafe around theisland (don't fall into water) while you aim up and attack. The energy bonusin walker mode will allow you some augmented shots every so often. The Hive(on normal) is not so tough unless you let it overwhelm your allies and forceyour defeat.

Episode 5: Versus the Hive EVOThis mission is tougher than it seems. First off, take a Pulsar instead of aBlazer. Then have Tara serve Air Cover (in a French Maid outfit). Begin by notattacking the turrets at once, but by landing and using grenades and augmented

plasma cannon shots on the walkers and artillery units. If you can get turretsin the explosion, the better for you. The main reason for failure is havingall three LSTs get blown up and the Foresti forces routed.

Take out the aerodome when you can - but only after you kill all the walkersand artillery. Stay on the beach near the Marshal and kill as many unitsfiring on the LSTs as possible. You will get a new EVO only messageabout "Bombers coming in from the west". Bombers and fighters will come at theMarshal from its right side (West). You need to fly back to the Marshal, getrepaired, and get into the air in less than fifteen seconds. Kill the bomber


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flight, head back to the Marshal for repairs (if you need to), and take statusof your situation.

If your buddies are dying by the ton from walkers and arty, you should try tokeep them alive by attacking what ever is killing them. Try to have the wholeisland under Forseti control before you level the final tank factory andactivate the Hive.

The Hive on EVO is the same Hive on normal, but fires faster and drops morethan Arachnodrones when it is over your allies. It will start dropping a lottabombs that will wipe out the Forseti tanks like a water hose on ants. Infighting this Hive, lead the boss away from your allies (who do little, if anydamage) and shoot out its dome and mid-section as normal. Once the Hive isgone, Kramer gives you a thumbs up, but laughs at your proposal for a raise to$12.50 per hour.

Episode 5: Silent Running (Submarine)

Primary Objective

At least 81 buildings survive Destroy the sub's missile tubes

Secondary Objective

At least 120 buildings survive

Repair PadNone

Air Cover

None

DebriefingPick the Blazer. Its spread bombs will bury the submarine and its Blasterweapon is needed to deal with the Arachnodrone terror walkers that willsaturate the whole island. The first order of business is to get used to theboss' attack pattern. The sub basically surfaces in one of four spots asdeclared by the operator guy. It will be in the northwest, northeast,southwest, or southeast. The sub starts off in the same spot each time youstart the mission (turn a bit to the right and head straight past the town).

Tatiana will admonish you for disobeying Kramer, but you know she likes itlike that. She also likes it rough, if you know what I mean and I think you

do. Huhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhu.

Switch to the spread bombs and throttle down as you approach the sub. The subis um-vincible until the missile tubes open to fire the cruise missiles.Hopefully, while you are still airborne, you can aim the spread bombs straightdown the center spine and damage both rows of cruise missile tubes at once. Ifyou somehow land on the sub, you can use the grenades to do the job, butremember that the grenade aims a little higher than what your target shows, soaim real low if the missile tube is right in front of you.


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When the sub launches all the cruise missiles it can, it starts to submerge(all the more reason not to land on it); as Aquila, you need to take off.Where you go is not a question. You need to head to the center of the islandand be in the optimal position for the next surfacing. But what you domatters. If you just head to the clearing in the center of the island and donothing, the cruise missiles that got launched will start destroying a lot ofbuildings.

You should do you best to chase down all the missiles and shoot them with yourVulcan cannon. The cruise missiles emit jamming so your Vulcan reticle willnot track the missiles as valid targets, but you can still down them if youlead your shots. Killing some or all the missiles determine whether you get tounlock the next EVO mission.

If you think you have time, kill some of the Arachnodrones around the town aswell to further stem building destruction. The clearing in the center of theisland will have a tank factory that will get smooshed most of the time. Sinceit only counts as one building, ignore any missiles that target it. You shouldworry about missiles that target the populated coastal areas; that place isclustered with buildings.

The operator guy will tell you where the sub is surfacing next after five tosix seconds of inactivity. Try to stay grounded in the clearing in the centerof the island after shooting missiles. When the report comes, turn Aquila in

walker mode to the direction indicated and then shift in to fighter mode. Thatway, you will arrive faster at the sub's spot instead of wasting energy andtime turning in mid-air. Spread bomb or grenade the last few tubes, then starthunting down the Arachnodrones tearing the town a new sewer-hole.

Completing the Secondary Objective depends partly on your skill to kill thesub as fast as possible (thus preventing more Arachnodrones from beingreleased) to where the Arachnodrones have randomly landed. Give priority tothe Arachnodrones in the coastal town areas first. The clearing in the centerof the island will almost always be wrecked, but occasionally the tanks fromthe factory will start hunting down Arachnodrones. Still, don't count on thetanks to save the day.

Once you have 81 buildings left, things get desperate. Be sure to huntArachnodrones, and not the pods that they come out from. When the subretreats, any pods that did not detonate will remain inert. Kill the pods onlyif you have no Arachnodrones nearby since they show up as red blips on theradar. When all the Arachnodrones are destroyed, the mission is over.

Episode 5: Enter the Gill-M (Submarine)

Primary Objective

The Marshal must survive

Repair PadOn the Marshal


Debriefing


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This mission can be aggravating since you do not know what the hell is goingon, and the boss is just that tough to "kill". For one thing, pick the Blazer.You need the heavy firepower of the spread bombs, grenades, and pulse cannonto stop the boss. You may want to pick Lorenzo rather than Fox, since the onlyunits that will survive on the island will need to fly or float to get awayfrom the boss (named after the head programmer no doubt), and there are closesupport craft flying over the Nautilus beaches.

To start off, take out the arty and walker units on the beach the closest tothe lone Forseti LST to the left of the Marshal. This will allow your alliesto kinda remain on the island until the boss incinerates them. Beach theAquila and start attacking the walkers, turrets, and tanks. Note where the subis and start heading towards it with plasma cannon or grenades ready. When thesub blows, attack the emerging creature's head with grenades and plasma cannonshots while keeping up with it.

The goal is to reduce the Gill-M's lifebar by attacking the head. It will makeits way to the factories on the top of the island and start chewing them up.Focus on the head of the monster, esp. while it is busy chewing on a buildingor something. Do not stay underneath it, but rather to the side. It willbarely possible to keep up with the boss. Reduce the boss' life to half thentake flight back to the Marshal.

The time it takes for you to fast fly back to the Marshal and get re-armed and

repaired will be the time the Gill-M will need to destroy the rest of theMuspell and Forseti forces and buildings. Kramer then issues the order to killthe creature. That is the moment when the Gill-M decides to head towards theMarshal. See if your LST is still afloat. If it is, the Gill-M will attack itfirst rather than the Marshal. If the LST is destroyed, the Gill-M makes forthe Marshal immediately. Ignore the fighters and make a slow attack run on theGill-M's head with spread bombs before dropping to walker mode and finishingthe job with grenades and plasma cannon.

Chances are if you are using the plasma cannon, you're not doing so well. TheGill-M is an all or nothing boss and if you do not kill it before it hems theAquila in the water, the mission is over. Once the Gill-M is gone, go aheadand get repaired, then take flight and destroy the rest of the fighters and

surviving ground units.

Kill the fighters, or the Marshal may wind up being destroyed despite all yourefforts.

Episode 5: Enter the Gill-M EVOSelect the Blazer, and maybe Lorenzo. It's the same deal with the Gill-M andeverything else you hate about it. The only difference now is that the numberof enemy ground forces are doubled, with a big increase of walkers, artillery,and fighters. Blast the walkers on the road where the LST will land, then headto the beach and use up all your spread bombs taking out the artillery and

walker units on the side of the beach that threaten the LST. It would beadvised to pick Lorenzo to deal with the incredible number of fighters thatthreaten the Marshal.

Attack the Gill-M as normal (spread bomb and grenades as it comes out fromwhere the sub docks) and again reduce it to half life. Once you do, fly off tothe Marshal and get repaired. Note where the Gill-M will go (Marshal or LST)and start your attack run when the monster turns towards your side. The onething to keep in mind on EVO are the incredible number of fighters that buzzthe Marshal. To keep the ship afloat, you will need to keep the fighters off


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the Marshal by killing them first and by making fast pit stops on the repairpad.

Episode 6 - Back to Castellian

Primary Objective

Protect the Marshal

Secondary Objective

Investigate Tara's crash site Destroy the Last StarFighter


Air Cover

Lorenzo, Casbah

DebriefingPick Lorenzo and take a Pulsar to do the search. When you start go aheadslightly and down all four fighters from the patrol. If you take care toattack the fighters furthest away from the Marshal, you can complete theSecondary Objective and kill the last fighter, esp. if the Marshal's AA gunstake out the fighter. Once the fighters are gone, land on the Marshal and getrepaired.

If you did not take out that "last starfighter", you should retry the mission,since not doing so will sic three bombers on the Marshal. Along with thebattleship closing in and an new sortie of fighters coming at the Marshal, you

will have your hands full. Fly off to the Marshal's left and head for thebattleship. Take out the battleship and head back to the Marshal.

Update: You do not need to completely destroy the battleship; you can justdeclaw it by destroying the four deck turrets that have artillery capabilityand when the battleship is in range of the Marshal's guns, the Marshal willeliminate the battleship for you.

By now, the enemy pilot calling himself "Carver" will be attacking with twoother advanced fighters. Advanced fighters are more agile and fire twice thenumber of missiles, making them very dangerous in large swarms. Luckily, youonly have to deal with three advanced fighters, although Carver's fighter cansustain more damage than normal. Take him and his gay buddies out using micro

missiles - Carver though, will be more skilled in his evasion, so use Vulcanfire to drive him off. Once you do, the mission will end.

Episode 6: Castellian Assault

Primary Objective

6 SAM turrets destroyed


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6 flak turrets destroyed At least 51 friendly units survive Bimbo-in-a-cage (Tara) must survive The Marshal must survive

Secondary Objective

All SAM turrets destroyed All flak turrets destroyed


Air CoverLorenzo, Casbah

DebriefingTake a Lancer or Blazer and Lorenzo to distract and/or kill fighters while youkill turrets. You have a limited time to deal with all the turrets and unlockthe EVO mission before the fighters overwhelm and swarm over the whole strike

force. You will be mainly airborne the whole mission, except for the rareoccasion when you land to recharge energy and take out turrets.

The Blazer has the advantage of using less ammo to destroy turrets (three) buthas less ammo, and the spread bomb fires slower. However, it takes out anyturret if it is forced to land and recharge energy. The Lancer has moreammunition (100 torpedoes versus 50 spread bombs) but require more shots tokill turrets (five) but it is advantaged in that it can fire faster. However,once it is on the ground, the Lancer cannot adequately deal with hard targetswith its beam laser and must rely on its limited store of flux missiles.

Either machine will work (even the Pulsar, with its lock-on micro missiles)but if you fly fast and well, the Lancer will let you make a swift bombing run

against the turrets and then flee after the munitions are released (allwithout lock-on). Start on the east side of the island and pinpoint strike theturrets on the ridges first before heading after the turret groups on the eastarea.

Update: Use the Pulsar's micro missiles. One large barrage of ten missileswill take out one turret.

Since Kramer has declared the west area a free fire zone, expect your alliesto start firing on the turrets there. However, don't depend on them. Approacheach turret in a straight line and when the targeting reticle reddens, fireoff enough shots to take out the turret without looking. As soon as you firethe needed number of shots, you should aim Aquila to the next globe. If your

aim was on target, the turret will get scorched and you'll be making a run onthe next target.

Bounce all the turrets in the east area, then sweep over to the west. Aquilawill need to land, so land on a ridge emplaced turret and blast it. Landing ona ridge minimizes Aquila's exposure to hostile ground armor, as well asprovide a vantage point where it can use flux missiles or pulse cannon todestroy turrets on a lower level. Once twelve turrets are destroyed, you canhead back to the Marshal and end the mission; however, to get the next EVOmission, you want to destroy the remaining four turrets. The one reason to get


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rid of the ridge top turrets is that they are all spread out all over theisland.

The great concentrations on the east and west ends of the island. After you gothrough twelve turrets, there will be enough fighters to preclude you frommaking good air attacks on the turrets along the ridges. By leaving theconcentrated turrets on either end to be killed last, you can march Aquila upto the clusters and take them out, then fly and flee back to the Marshal.

Episode 6: Castellian Assault EVOIf you had trouble using the Lancer's dumbfire torpedos, you may want to useLorenzo and a Pulsar for the EVO variant. The tracking ability of the Pulsarwill help those pilots with flawed skill. Unlike the normal mission, thisversion of Castellian Assault will require you to exploit the terrain and useit to shield against the missiles being fired at Aquila. The good rule ofmissile evasion is that once the missile triangle on the perimeter HUD entersAquila's sensor detection range (shows as red flash) you should barrel roll.If you dive into a valley to dodge missiles, you can use walker mode and letAquila's energy recharge as you move under cover. Make it a point to attackaggressively with the Pulsar, you will destroy the dozen turrets needed topass the level and make it back to the Marshal before the 51st Forseti unitbites the dust.

Episode 6: Air Raid

Primary Objective

Shoot down Carver Capture the island At least 51 friendly units survive The Marshal must survive



DebriefingThis mission is straight destruction, but with an imposed limit. If yourallies are cut down to 50 units or less, you lose. That said, you need tohurry Aquila into battle and savage the factories before turning yourattention to the enemies assaulting your buddies. You will receive noreinforcements, so the 100 allied units you start with are all you will get.

If you kinda remember the island from the previous mission, there werefactories on the coast and in two small clearings. One clearing is to the leftof the Aquila when you start the mission. The other clearing is behind themountains and along the bay of the island's backside.

Try to level the factories in the small clearing to the Aquila's left when youstart, and destroy the various forces approaching the backside of themountain. Once you begin your attack of the factories along the bay, Carverwill attack with his cloaked fighter again. For now, switch to walker mode andlevel the factories to help out your allies. As long as it's by-and-by, your


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Air Cover should be Casbah and not Lorenzo, despite the obvious "anti-air"capability of Lorenzo. The reason is that Carver evades your missiles 100% ofthe time. Lorenzo and his bunch uses micro missiles to attack air units,making him basically unable to return fire at Carver.

Instead, choose Casbah, who is also incapable of firing back at Carver, butcan devastate ground forces so to help your allies. Take care of thefactories, then use the Vulcans on Carver in an extended (throttle down, neverup) dog-fight. Once Carver and the last ground units are destroyed, themission ends.

Update: Carver, if you don't know, appears only when the last aerodome on theisland is destroyed, so you should use whatever means to make any aerodomeyour last target and he won't appear until you're completely ready for him.

Episode 6: Air Raid EVOEVO adds more artillery and fighters, but little else. Carver takes a littlewhile longer to die. But you should be aware the effect of artillery has onyour allied unit count. Have Casbah flying, and hope he can kill more tanksbefore he is taken out. Pinpoint and destroy the three artillery units north-northwest of the small clearing to Aquila's left when you begin. Take out thefactories and units as you did on normal. This mission is not particularly

difficult, but if you dwaddle like you do on normal, you will lose morefriendly units than you can imagine.

Episode 7: Crushing Blow

Primary Objective

All enemy units destroyed The Marshal must survive



DebriefingThis is a good old fashioned "kill everything" mission. You may want to usethis mission to get some goodies in the Gallery that require a large number ofwalkers or other enemy units destroyed (except Gnats), because the factorieshere work at increased rates. You will have no shortage of enemies both airand ground, ready to attack you. It is barely manageable to take the Pulsar or

Lancer into this battle and expect to mount spearheads. Instead, take a Blazerfor the increased anti-ground unit weapons (spread bomb, grenades, plasmacannon) and have Lorenzo cover you for as long as possible.

Update: The Blazer will have initial difficulties with the bombers at thestart of the mission, but will have an easier time with the rest of thekilling on the ground.

Start by clearing the beach of artillery so that the first two LSTs can unloadmost of their complement before getting blown up. There are a few spots for


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artillery that should look for. The first spot is on that small hilloverlooking the whole beach. The Marshal may occasionally blow up the arty,but sometimes it will not. The next two spots are at the sides of the beach -there are three artillery units on each end. The last possible spot is thesmall mountain pass that leads from the back of the island (where thefactories are) to the front (where the beach is).

Keep an eye on your radar for bright red dots. As you attack the artillery,chances are that some bombers will have made it past Lorenzo. Between thefighters, close support craft, and AA turrets, Lorenzo will be lucky if he canlast you the whole mission. Stay close by the Marshal so that its blip is justat the edge of your radar. If slow-moving bright red dots show up, attack themimmediately before the Marshal gets sunk. You need its Repair Pad (severaltimes) before the mission is over.

After clearing all the spots of artillery, and denying the threat of thebombers, attack the side of the island that is to the left of the startingbeach (to the LSTs' left). Before you do, get re-armed. The area to the leftof the starting beach will be where Beta section lands after a while. Start byattacking the factories reinforcing the remaining enemies with tanks, walkers,and fighters. Aquila will need to land (killing surface units while in fightermode was fun for a while), otherwise you will not be able to withstand theenemy fire.

"Advance on 'dem", and target the enemy units that are directly in front ofAquila and firing on you. Direct most of your fire on the factories (a fastdash with spread bombs is possible, but at the cost of half your armour) anduse grenades and charged plasma cannon fire to destroy the factories in thatclearing. Regardless if Beta section has radioed about its impending landing,focus on destroying enemies, then walk or fly back to the Marshal and getrepaired. The LST can take some hits, but you need to be quick aboutdestroying the rest of the forces on that small beach or your allies will allget killed.

The last major target is the Muspell battleship on the back of the island thatmay shell your forces if they get close. Re-arm on the Marshal (be sure todestroy all fighters lingering around it or it sinks eventually), then head to

the back of the island and take out the battleship as usual. The last task isto mop up the remaining enemy forces and the mission will end. You can avoidthe battleship, if you want, since it does not count towards the objectives.If you do, be sure that you are not being fired on by its guns.

Episode 7: Blinding the Enemy

Primary Objective

The prison must survive All radar stations destroyed

Repair PadNone

Air CoverNone

Debriefing


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Use the Lancer or Blazer and attack using the torpedos or spread bombs. Do notchoose the Aquila Sniper. It will not have enough firepower for this mission.The "stealth" part of this mission is non-existent, so simply use realaggressive tactics and over power the radar stations and any defences at handat the time. Your goal is to destroy radar installations, all of which looklike towers. Only one radar station to the right of Aquila's starting flightpath is an actual building that needs to be destroyed piece-meal.

Each radar tower is fragile and only requires five torpedos or three spreadbombs to destroy (aim at the base of the tower). The radar building is heavilyguarded and is nestled amidst a block of base structures. It is difficult tosingle it out on return flights, not to mention your first time playing themission. Know that the mission is over as soon as the radar installations areall destroyed. So as long as Aquila has a sliver of armour left when the lastradar structure is blown up, you win the mission.

The best way to approach the mission is to use Aquila in flight mode, line upthe target and fire off the needed number of shots to blow up the building,then turn away. Note that terrain will block your missiles, but will not blockthe Aquila's sensors when it comes to determining line of sight for gunnerypurposes. Travel fast and hit one or two radar towers before landing on yournext target to recharge energy, and conserve torpedo/spread bomb ammo by usingthe plasma cannon or beam laser to blow apart the radar tower. The radarbuilding will require most of Aquila's munitions, and in the case of the

Lancer, dumb-fired flux missiles will best serve destroying the building ifyou look down and direct the flux missiles towards the ground. The fluxmissiles fire from the top of Aquila's cockpit.

If you get surrounded by tanks (the radar building is in a tightly grouped setof structures), use the buildings for cover as you level the target.Otherwise, a platoon of tanks firing all at once at Aquila will outright killit.

Episode 7: Rescue Attempt

Primary Objective

7 aircraft survive Capture the island

Secondary Objective

Tara survives all that roughing up her butt business. Huhuhuhuhu.

Repair PadNone

Air CoverNone

DebriefingPick the Pulsar and go. The micro missiles will home in on the flak andmissile turrets that you need to destroy before they destroy your allied aircover. If your Air Cover is reduced to six aircraft, you lose the initial part


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of the mission. The other thing to know is that once you're done destroyingturrets, your only remaining goal is to protect the prison where Tara is.

Letting the prison get "blowed up" will result in the shitty ending (i.e., badending) and Tara not being able to blow you. You will fight through two morestages and then finish the game, without getting the good ending. That is tosay, if you accomplish the Secondary Objective, you will unlock a new EVO onlypath that will send you screaming over the edge.

Meet and kill the turrets, starting with the ones to the right of the Aquilawhen you start. You can land on the raised plateau to recharge while you takeout the lone turret on the mountainside. Be wary of turrets that are behindridges and covered by terrain. If you are unsure of a turret's line of sightto Aquila, fire off a five missile volley (the smallest one) when you get alock on and see if the missiles make contact. Sweep from right to left andclear the island of turrets. You'll get the hang of the turrets after severalretries.

What else can the Simalcrum say but that the g

battle engine aquila

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