This guide will go through all the missions. This walkthrough was built playing on Brutal AI because it's the only AI level on which you might need some help.

Strategy:
The pre-mission video shows Iraqi - err - GLA forces shooting down a US Raptor, only to be decimated by American air and armor. (Let's hope the real thing will be that easy).

The first thing you'll want to do is to upgrade all your vehicles to get Battle Drones. Battle drones are one of the most useful upgrades in the game, and not only heal your units but provide them some anti-infantry capability. There will be another line of Scorpions at the gates of Baghdad. Destroy them but don't go in the city just yet. Send in one Humvee and a video will be triggered. The GLA Scud Storm buries part of Baghdad in green clouds of anthrax. Anthrax will damage vehicles and kill infantry outright, so it's best to wait for it to dissipate before moving on.

In the meantime, go to the General's Experience Menu and pick the Spy Drone upgrade. Go back to your base and round up the infantry that are just standing around. The GLA doesn't attack your base this mission, so they are useless there. Either send your Spy Drone or use your Spy Satellite to highlight the oil derricks to the southwest of the anthrax clouds. Load them into nearby Humvees and send one to the oil derricks. They will occupy the derricks (giving you more money) when you research the Capture Building upgrade at the Barracks. Also, above the derricks are some U.N. crates filled with money. Get them if you want, but they aren't necessary to win the mission. Move your Humvee a little farther up and you should see some enemy occupied civilian buildings. Two choppers with rangers should show up and clear them out. Send the main body of your force up over the bridge and clear out the palace area. Be careful of the towers surround the bridges; if they fall, they can kill several of your units. Send another Humvee full of troops to liberate the pilots to the northeast of the palace. Above the palace are two more occupied buildings, and two helicopters full of infantry show up. Combat Drop the helicopters, and the rangers will clear out those buildings as well. Immediately send the bulk of your armor up to reinforce those buildings, as GLA tanks at the top of the hill start attacking the rangers.

Once the tanks are cleared out, send your army up the hill. Again, send one Humvee west and you should see a line of Scorpions. A bomber will show up and use a Fuel Air Bomb to destroy the Scorpions. Once they're gone, send you armor up and clear out the GLA base. Be careful of the Stinger Site near the SCUD Storm, as its missiles will tear through your armor.

*NOTE*
Although clearing Baghdad might make you feel important, the only real Objective: needed to end the mission is to destroy the SCUD Storm. For those of you who are slightly more daring, build some Chinooks and load them up with armor and troops. Then unload them in the grove of trees next to the SCUD launcher. From there, you can either capture (once the SCUD Storm has counted down) or destroy the SCUD Storm and end the mission quickly.

Strategy:
In a scene reminiscent of Black Hawk down, the pre-mission video shows the helicopters succumbing to enemy SAMs. Although the last two helicopters should have been more careful when they saw their buddy go down in flames, its up to you to pull their chestnuts out of the fire.

However, you need to protect your base before you can go rescue anyone. Build some more Patriot sites on the north and west perimeter of your base, and station a Humvee up north. Research Capture Building and take the oil derricks above your base (Remember only Rangers can capture buildings). You should also build a War Factory to repair your Construction Dozer and to build vehicles. Now that you're properly defended, send your forces west and capture the hospital. Your infantry will automatically heal themselves, which will definitely come in handy later on in the mission. The pilot (represented as a red dot on the map) is guarded by an angry mob, so send some Rangers and Colonel Burton to occupy the civilian building across the street. Clear out the Stinger Site nearby and the enemy occupied building next to it.

By now you should be at or near your third star, which allows you to build Pathfinders. Pathfinders are one of the best American units of the game. They can kill infantry in one shot, and are stealth units to boot. As soon as you can, build some and send them with your forces. Get the pilot back to your base. Although you can have him pilot your units (automatically making them full veterans), its best to leave them back at your base for reasons you'll see later.

Now move on to your next pilot. The best way to do this is to build some Pathfinders, load them into Humvees, and send them with a group of armor directly to the pilot. Attack Move is your best friend here, and will avoid your units getting picked off without your constant micromanaging. Get the pilot back to your base ASAP. The final pilot is being held to the east in a large GLA held base. A frontal assault is very expensive in terms of men and tanks, and you'll need those units to help hold the line when the last pilot gets rescued. Load up a Chinook with 2 Pathfinders and 5 Missile Defenders (leaving one spot open), and send it southeast of the enemy base. The GLA base is fenced in, but there is a small area on the plateau outside the fenced area you can land safely.

A Technical should get nosy and bust through the gate to get to your forces. Your Missile Defenders should easily take out the Technical, which has foolishly made you a backdoor into the base. Occupy the bunker and destroy the Arms Dealer to prevent the GLA from reinforcing. Once its gone, have the Pathfinders shoot the guys in the Stinger Site. Without the guys, the Site is defenseless, and should fall easily to the Missile Defenders. Occupy the bunker nearest the gate and your forces will dispatch the troops at the entrance. With everyone gone, just move a Pathfinder up to take out the remaining guards. With the pilot freed, have everyone pile into the Chinook and head back to base. GLA forces will try and swarm your base, but your armor should hold them off long enough for the Chinook to reach your base. With all the pilots in your base, the mission ends.

*NOTE*
Weirdly enough, Washington only cares that the pilots are freed, not that they survive. I once tried a disastrous air assault to free the second pilot, which ended up killing him in the process. Although the counter still said 2 pilots remaining, I picked up the last pilot, brought him back to base, and ended the mission.

Strategy:
The pre-mission video shows Astana City in the throws of a riot. Police cars race to the scene only to be confronted by an angry mob. The police are unable to contain the crowd as they run through the streets, torching buildings and cars.

Take your angry mobs and level the nearby buildings. This will give you the money and space you need to start up your base. Build your structures where the buildings stood to get them as close to the action as possible. There is a hospital to the east that should be captured as soon as possible to allow your troops to heal. In the meantime, build Jarmen Kell and another group of 3 angry mobs and have them guard your base. The Chinese and Americans will try and attack your base, so leaving this mob here with Jarmen Kell should protect you from any tanks they send. In the meantime, you can take out the nearby buildings and grab the cash.

Continue up north, razing buildings along the way. Eventually you should see a bridge leading west and a couple of American tanks crossing them. They pose little threat to your mob and should be taken out easily. Continue up the path and you'll stumble upon an American held airfield. Take out any vehicles you see and torch occupied control tower. With the Americans out of the way, take the bridge east near the airport control tower.

Across the bridge is the Chinese base. Attacking it will cause the Chinese to send loads of troops to attack you. Destroying them will prevent China from bothering your second mob as it pillages the city, plus killing Chinese soldiers gives you money through the bounties. With so many targets, it should be easy to get the 40,000 you need to end the mission.

Strategy:
The pre-mission video features an impressive landing against a fortified enemy. Perhaps the idea was to surprise the GLA, though they have fortified the beach. Although the US takes some losses, it ends up with a foothold on the beach.

Clear out the few GLA stragglers on the beach to trigger your new Objective:. You must take out the 4 Stinger Sites so the US can bring in our bombers. The 4 sites are directly north of your position. Use the Tomahawk Launchers to take out the bunkers, then move a tank slowly up the hill until you can see the Stinger Sites. Take out the Sites with the Tomahawks and you'll switch to a video showing bombers carpet bomb the area. Scratch one terrorist training camp.

Construction units show up, but don't build a base just yet. There is a small group of GLA camped out in tents above the Dozers. This is a good spot to set up shop. Use your Tomahawks and tanks to take out the camp. For now, the defense of your base should be your top priority. The buildings at the beginning of the town make a good defensive perimeter, so use the Rangers on the beach to occupy the nearby buildings. Reinforce the buildings by ringing them with Patriot batteries. The GLA will attack from all the eastern approaches, so make sure to leave some tanks in reserve in case any break through. Slowly build up your base and hunker down until your defenses are up. Your best General Promotions for this level are the Spy Drone, Pathfinder, and Paradrop, and the A10 Missile Strike. All of these will be helpful in clearing out the GLA on the hill.

When you feel you can easily fend off the GLA attacks, its time to build your strike force. A good Strategy: is to build 2 Humvees and fill them with three Missile Defenders, one Pathfinder, and one Ranger each. Now build 2 Crusaders and one Ambulance. Also, move your Tomahawks to the north of your base. If you look at the GLA's hill base, you will see one approach next to your base defended by only one Tunnel Network. Order an A10 Strike on the Network, then send in your tanks and Humvees to mop it up. Don't forget to clear out any rocket infantry that survived the strike. You should find yourself directly above the GLA base. Occupy the large building and the bunker in the base. The primary targets here should be the Arms Dealer and the Stinger Sites. Your Pathfinders can kill the men in the Stinger Sites while your Missile Defenders take the Site out. With that out of the way, feel free to either destroy or capture the Arms Dealer. Destroy the Command Center and send up a Construction Dozer to build a Barracks and War Factory on the plateau. Send a Pathfinder down to take out the infantry, and the Tomahawks can clear out any remaining vehicles and defensive structures. Remember that should you want to build GLA structures, you should capture either the Command Center or Supply Stash. By this point, the mission is pretty much in the bag. Without their main base the GLA cannot reinforce, so all that's left is to cross the bridge and clear out the remaining Stinger Sites and Tunnel Network.

*NOTE*
Unfortunately, this mission uses up a lot of credits, so it's important to watch your pennies. There are two oil derricks in the southwest portion of the map, directly below the GLA hill base. Although they look tempting, it's more expensive to hold that position and protect the derricks than you can hope to recover from them. However, if you need a quick 2000 credits, you can Paradrop rangers near the derricks and have them capture them. Just keep in mind that the GLA will most likely begin attacking the derricks and send a strike force down to destroy them. It's much easier to just clear out the hill base and end the mission.

Strategy:
Well, as you may have already guessed, things went horribly awry. The pre- mission video shows the U.S. hunting down the strike force that killed the U.N. diplomat. They even throw in a cool Matrix moment by panning around the explosion. With the GLA surrounded, the U.S. forces demand they surrender. But the same group that uses suicide bombers and anthrax doesn't go down easily, and they go out in a hail of gunfire.

This mission can either be incredibly hard or incredibly easy, depending on when you destroy the GLA base. Good General's Promotions for this level are the Spy Drone, A10 Strike (upgraded), and Pathfinders. Build a Pathfinder and send it with your tanks and Comanches towards the GLA base. Across the bridge are two Tunnel Networks and a bunch of vehicles. The Comanches and the A10 Strike, backed up with your tanks, will make short work of the defenders. When you get to the GLA base being built, have the Pathfinder kill the men in the Stinger Site and move in. DO NOT DESTROY THE COMMAND CENTER. This is vital. Leave it alone - you'll see why in a second.

Build a second Construction Dozer and move it to your forces across the river. Start building a second base over there (build a line of Patriots on the northern perimeter of your new base). On the other side of your river (where your original base is), capture the Hospital and build a Strategy: Center, Detention Camp, and Airfield. When you feel you are ready, move your forces away from the bridge and destroy the Command Center. Destroying the Command Center will trigger a video showing the GLA blowing up a dam upstream. The ensuing tidal wave wipes out the village and the bridge. Your forces on the other side are now cut off from your main base, and the main GLA base is to the north (aren't you glad you built the Patriots now?)

Build some Pathfinders to take out any suicide bombers or other infantry the GLA might throw your way. Your Patriots should be able to take out any armor. Now you can begin worrying about an offensive. A frontal assault can be very expensive, since the GLA holds the high ground and has mined the main entrances to the base. In the far eastern part of the map is a lone Tunnel Network. Take it out and you have a clear shot to the oil derricks up north. Load up a Humvee with some Rangers and occupy the derricks and the oil refinery. The GLA will probably start the SCUD Storm countdown by now, so it should be your next target. Send your Pathfinder up and have him shoot at the Stinger Sites surrounding the SCUD Storm, while the Comanches go in and clean up. Stinger Sties are a good place to use your A10 Strike. From here you can destroy the SCUD Storm, but why not capture it instead? Continue clearing out the structures to your west, while your air units take out the defenders on the hills. Once you crack the base, you shouldn't expect any more serious opposition.

*NOTE*
Bart-Jan Gort describes the following technique for taking out the enemy base: "Walk with C. Burton to the GLA buildings going over the north mountains (he can climb over mountains so he wont have to take the main route and be detected). Plant bombs, no one will fire at you. Now walk south and bomb the [SCUD Storm]. An [A-10 Strike] will kill the command center in no time. "

*NOTE*
Russell Silva offers a slightly different take on the mission: "A quick Pathfinder drop, aided by the two Comanches you start with, can quickly cripple the GLA if micro-managed properly. Use your Pathfinders to take out Stinger Sites and Rocket Troopers, and your Comanches to take out buildings and vehicles. Do be careful, as soon as you attack the GLA will counterattack across the bridge, but stopping them is trivial. Use Marines with the Capture upgrade to capture the GLA supply stash, leave the GLA Command Center untouched, and destroy everything else. Use the GLA Supply Stash to build workers and notice that you can now build anything GLA--including Black Markets and Scud Storms! Tech up to Black Markets and build as many as you can on the left side of the river, add Scud Storms if you like. After that, you can do whatever you like--with lots of Black Markets, you have an unlimited supply of cash."

Strategy:
The pre-mission video shows off the awesome power of the Particle Cannon. Although its blast radius is small, it will devastate anything the beam touches. You can even move it around to hit different targets.

As always, defense is your first priority. Start up your base and send your Crusaders and Col. Burton to the north. Destroy the car bomb waiting in the trees. Send a Dozer over to build 2 Patriot batteries, and send up a Pathfinder when you have the chance. The other place to reinforce is the bridge. Build another Patriot battery near the bridge and send over a Pathfinder. You will rarely be attacked, and this should be enough to hold off any half-hearted attacks they throw at you.

Your next priority will be to get more supplies. Send a small force of a Crusader with the Rangers down to secure the supply dock, then send a Dozer down to build the Supply Depot. Build 2 Patriot batteries at the bottom of the screen, where the road begins. Although they may seem useless now, they will be very important later. In the meantime, you should also be using your A10 Strikes to neutralize any Stinger Sites you see.

The Chinese forces are more dangerous than the GLA, so concentrate your units to the south. A combination of Crusaders and Tomahawks, backed up with a Pathfinder or two, will allow you to clear out the Tunnel Networks and occupied buildings without having to waste you A10 Strikes on them. Eventually, you will spot the Command Center and Nuclear Missile Silo. At this point, Chinese reinforcements will come out of the north (in the little canyon near where you built your Patriot batteries) and to the south (on the road in the town). Your defenses should hold them off long enough for you to send some units to assist them. In the meantime, the Nuclear Missile will be counting down. Lucky for you, the Chinese foolishly left 4 nuclear reactors in a line right next to each other. Use your Particle Cannon to take them all out, which should pull the plug on the countdown. If that doesn't work, you may have to quickly destroy or capture the silo to prevent the Chinese from launching the nuke. With the immediate threat removed, destroy/capture the Command Center to complete the Chinese Objectives:.

Now on to the GLA base. If you have been taking out the Stinger Sites around the map, this should be a piece of cake. Drop a Fuel Air Bomb or an A10 Strike on the two Overlords near the GLA Command Center, and clear out the nearby vehicles. The area should be safe for you to Paradrop Rangers and send in armor via Chinooks. The Black Market, Command Center, and Palace are your primary targets. Destroy them, and the mission ends.

Strategy:
The pre-mission video focuses on a group of Rangers assigned to laser-designate some SCUD Launchers being brought into the city. After the Launchers go up in flames, the team narrowly escapes a barrage of missiles on their position.

For the final mission, this one is relatively easy. Send a few Rangers south and you'll see an abandoned Chinese base. Capture the structures and start to mine the supply pile. Move your forces west and you will see a mountain range with two passes through it. Build some Patriot sites around the entrances of the passes and station Pathfinders nearby to pick off infantry. Two Patriots per mountain pass should provide enough protection for you. You should also begin attacking the wall with A10 Strikes and Fuel Bombs. Target the archways since these are always crammed full of infantry.

While you are building up your base, make sure to build a couple of Supply Drop Zones. You'll need a lot of cash to beat this mission and will quickly tap out the supplies at your base. On the Chinese side, begin building Overlords and a Nuke Silo.

In the meantime, the SCUD Storm will probably start counting down. You have 8 minutes until it launches, and with luck this will be enough time to stop it. Concentrate your attacks on Stinger Sites, particularly near the SCUD Storm. Once they are cleared out, you can Paradrop Rangers behind the SCUD Storm and try to capture it. As a last resort, four Aurora bombers and an A10 attack will take care of a SCUD Storm, but it will cost you about 10000 credits to do so.

Without the threat of the SCUD Storm, you can either take your time and smash the GLA at your leisure, or go ahead and end it sooner. Make good use of your Spy Drones, as the GLA has laced the city with mines. Also, if you need cash there are several oil derricks in the northern part of the city. Once you destroy the initial defenses, there is nothing stopping you from easily taking the rest of the city. Most of the unit producing structures are towards the front of the city, so taking them out will break the back of the GLA army. Overlords backed with Tomahawks will clear out occupied buildings with ease, and should present little difficulty.

The final video shows a crowd of Americans cheering as the President addresses the crowd. The shot pans up to show the U.S. flag, which is promptly covered up by Mission Complete screen.

*NOTE*
Andrew Merryman offers the following advice when dealing with the wall in front of the capital: "In the last U.S. mission, you refer to the GLA wall garrisoned with infantry and say to take it out with fuel bombs and a10 strikes. There is an easier and much quicker way to clear the buildings. Just research flashbang and send a couple rangers to flashband the indivdual sections of the wall. this is a lot cheaper and less expensive. Also, along with the two patriot missle defense system, it would be a good idea to reinforce the missles and snipers with a couple of tanks, in case they attack with scorpions and/or marauders."

*NOTE*
Bart-Jan Gort strikes again with a similar method of clearing the level: "Research the capture building first, then the flash bangs. Capture the base. A flash bang instantly kills all units in a building. The 3 rangers are enough to clear the entire bridge. Max the [A-10 Strike] and launch it on the scud storm after the game started 30 secs. 1 or 2 planes will survive the defense. Now you can kill the SCUD when it's still being [built]. Now you don't have to worry about the scud and the bridge."

*NOTE*
Josh Fennema prefers the direct route when dealing with the pesky GLA: "Build 1 or 2 Overlords with bunkers and fill them with pathfinders. In mission 7, you will empty the wall of defenders so quickly that you'll probably miss it. I took out the GLA with 6 overlords - 2 with towers, 2 with rocket infantry filled bunkers and 2 with pathfinder filled bunkers. The pathfinders not only empty the wall sections, but also empty stinger sites while the overlords pummel them."