I am stuck in Gamma-1. Insane difficulty.

[Eugen]

Hello!

Playing on insane difficulty. Version of the game in signature below.

I can't do anything in Gamma-1. I get completely destroyed and my tanks look like they are made of cardboard

I can't use any artillery because it is immediately destroyed by Nexus artillery even if I buld it in the far right corner near LZ.

Ok, I dont have any Tiger tanks. Only Python tracks and Mantis tracks: hero commander with assigned assault guns, tank killers, some cannons (2 heavy, 2 HVC, 3 assult cannons).

There come more and more Nexus scourge tanks with every attack and I can't even leave my base and approach his base without losing lots of my tanks. Therefore my attacks end early and I have to retreat destroying max 1 or 2 fortifications.

Is there any special tactics how to beat the 1st Gamma mission on insane difficulty without losing all of my experienced tanks? What am I doing wrong?

[alfred007]

I can tell you what I usually do.
Generally, I play the whole Beta campaign with just 38 combat units (33 from Alpha Mission, 5 that was given at the beginning of Beta Mission). I don't use the combat units I got with the downed transporter in beta 02 because my special goal is to have 48 hero units at the end of the game. So I concentrate all the experience I earn during the Beta campaign on these 38 units. Of these 38 units, I put 29 into the transporters and recycle 9. The 11 free slots I fill with the heaviest unit I can produce and use them as a power bonus by recycling them in the Gamma campaign.

My first transport contains an experienced tiger hover commander, 7 assault gun tiger hover tanks and two tiger hover trucks. I set the commander to retreat at medium damage. With the two trucks, I build a repair facility and a factory. During that, I move north with my combat group and destroy the first two oil derricks and the cyborgs north of my LZ. I don't move west with my combat group. After the factory is built I produce four more tiger hover trucks and 9 assault gun tiger hover tanks (see above, they will get the experience of the 9 in Beta campaign recycled units). With my first two trucks, I build the two oil derricks and a power generator with module. All the time I repel Nexus attacks from the north and the west, but don't move far away from my LZ. The first produced truck moves on the hill left of the LZ and builds some AA emplacements. The next three trucks are building a wall at the western exit of my LZ. I build walls because I want to gain all the experience by destroying Nexus units by my tanks. But you can also build some defense structures. I place these three trucks behind this wall so that they can repair the wall immediately after Nexus units damage it. With my first two trucks, I build a Command Center and a research facility after the power generator was built. In the meantime, the new assault gun tiger hover tanks had been produced and get assigned to the commander.
Then I move north with my commander and destroy the base in the north. During that the second transport arrives with one more experienced commander, 5 assault gun tiger hover tanks and 4 Ripple Rockets tiger tracked tanks. For the RR tanks, I build a square of four repair facilities south of the oil derricks and place them that way that every RR tank is protected by two repair facilities. After the Nexus base in the north is destroyed I move south with the combat group east of the hill in the middle and destroy the Nexus units that are attacking my wall. Also, I build some AA sites in the north to repel the Vtol-attacks of Nexus. I demolish my build wall, build a counter-battery sensor and attach my RR tanks to it. Then I move west until Nexus artillery attacks me. Then I move back and wait until my RR tanks have destroyed all Nexus artillery.
I think from this point on you are able to kick Nexus' ass by your own.

[Forgon]

Hello!

Playing on insane difficulty. Version of the game in signature below.

I can't do anything in Gamma-1. I get completely destroyed and my tanks look like they are made of cardboard

I can't use any artillery because it is immediately destroyed by Nexus artillery even if I buld it in the far right corner near LZ.

Ok, I dont have any Tiger tanks. Only Python tracks and Mantis tracks: hero commander with assigned assault guns, tank killers, some cannons (2 heavy, 2 HVC, 3 assult cannons).

There come more and more Nexus scourge tanks with every attack and I can't even leave my base and approach his base without losing lots of my tanks. Therefore my attacks end early and I have to retreat destroying max 1 or 2 fortifications.

Is there any special tactics how to beat the 1st Gamma mission on insane difficulty without losing all of my experienced tanks? What am I doing wrong?

Gamma 1 is indeed a difficult mission, primarily because you start cramped in a corner.

Either build repair facilities in your LZ and wait until the third transporter drop provides you with enough units to carefully advance, or immediately conquer the enemy base north and move all your units there. The latter is preferable because

• your units will be safer, and base buildings even more so
• by taking out a cyborg factory, you do not have to fight all the units it would otherwise produce

Nexus' main strength lies in its factory and 4 cyborg factories. The sooner you destroy them, the better.

The easiest strategy to win is to build about 20-30 VTOL Heap Bomb Bay Scorpion VTOLs and annihilate all enemy factories (and, ideally, also their Seraph Missile Batteries) within 10-15 minutes. The numerous AA sites of Nexus may inflict on you the loss of a few dozen units, but only inexperienced ones, and overall less than the output of its factories would if you hesitated. The remnants of your air force should then focus on blowing up enemy units. Using this approach, you should be able to win within less than 30 minutes.

[Eugen]

@alfred007 and Forgon

Thanks! These are very interesting and different strategies you suggest.

One remark to alfred:
Scourge tanks from the west are so strong no wall would stop them. I tried, putting a lot of trucks behind. They destroy a wall section very fast and then kill the trucks. Maybe I should try once more.

@Forgon
This "kamikaze" tactics you suggest (using cannon fodder VTOLS to destroy factories) is also very interesting and tempting/

[alfred007]

@alfred007 and Forgon

Thanks! These are very interesting and different strategies you suggest.

One remark to alfred:
Scourge tanks from the west are so strong no wall would stop them. I tried, putting a lot of trucks behind. They destroy a wall section very fast and then kill the trucks. Maybe I should try once more.

@Forgon
This "kamikaze" tactics you suggest (using cannon fodder VTOLS to destroy factories) is also very interesting and tempting/

You could also use sensor towers instead of walls. They have more hitpoints but the same armour. Maybe they last a bit longer. You can also build a repair facility behind your trucks so that they can't be destroyed so fast. And you should really use three trucks. As soon as a wall or tower is destroyed start building a new.
Otherwise, you have to let them come nearer and destroy them with your assault gun tanks. Stay in motion but don't move west or you will activate the factories. Same in the north, don't move further north than the northern of the two oil derricks stand.

[Eugen]

My mistake was that I didn't know that moving too far away from LZ would activate enemy factories.
Anyway destroying the factories as soon as possible is the main priority.

I managed to win using a suicide VTOL trick.
Before that I produced 27 Bug machinguns to save the experience I had recycled in Beta-11. Then I produced inexperienced Scorpion Heap Bombs and destroyed all cyborg and tank factories.

[Nexusintruderprogram]

i think ill avoid playing insane difficulty for a bit i did try it but got to alpha 5 and got rekt