Inside the transport, the anticipation of what might happen makes the ride seem longer than it usually is. Soon enough, you can hear the distant rumble of large explosions. The HQ is under attack.

"Listen up!" says the pilot. "The situation is this: the base is defending itself fine against the ground assaults, but in a pre-emptive strike, the airfields and anti-sea torpedo launchers were taken out. No engineers are on site right now, so it'll be your job is to repair these facilities. The airfields are in the north east, the torpedo controls in the south east. With either the airfields or waterways back on our side, there should be enough firepower to drive the enemy back. Ideally we'd prefer both these facilities back online, but if that isn't possible, make do with what you can.

"It's up to you on how to proceed."

To defend the base, it really is up to you on how to proceed. With only a few units, and depending upon how you play, you're not always given the luxury of getting both facilities online. Restoring each facility gives you the following:

• airfields (B): airstrikes, MiGs, Apaches, Orcas
• torpedo launchers (C): a team of cruisers and destroyers, recurring reinforcements of tanks and MRLS'

Either way, my immediate recommendation would be to go for the facility that is nearest to you. The path to either facility is pretty much the same: lots of infantry along the way. Use your spy to see what's ahead, and keep the engineers back slightly, then decide how to take-on the infantry.

If you went for the airfields, all you need to do is find and repair them (B). You may use an engineer to speed-up any repair processes if you wish, but keep one if you intend on attempting the torpedo launchers next. Once you can build air units, start using them constantly to attack enemy defences or units, anything to give your allies a fighting chance.

If you went for the torpedo launchers, you need to get an engineer into the fusion power plant (C). Once done, the torpedo launchers will eliminate any enemy ships in the water, and your own sea units will come in, including some cruisers. Use the destroyers to eliminate enemies along the coastline, and use the cruisers to destroy the defences and structures of the coastal Nod base (D). When your tanks start coming in, save them up until you believe you have enough to assault the enemy bases, otherwise use them to go and restore the airfields if you haven't already.

The key to this mission is to act quickly and constantly use what is available to you. Keep pounding away at the enemy with your air units, or render the coastal Nod base inoperative with your cruisers. If left alone for too long, the enemy will gain the upper hand, and the chances of making a comeback become more and more remote.