Won Chronostorm on Hard Mode with only 3 units left (and no base!)
I just finished a the Allied finale, Chronostorm, on Hard mode. It looked like I have already lost but I was still able to complete the mission
Early on, I thought I had a handle on things—defending against the Kirovs was actually manageable at first with all the IFVs —but then the Soviet AI messed me up a lot. I was eventually buried under waves of Apocalypse tanks, Rhino tanks, and V3 rockets. The Nukes and Iron Curtains were a pain in the ass too. My base was toast and I was out of cash.
I tried multiple restarts and kept changing my defense strategy, but nothing worked. So, I went "Guerrilla Mode." I evacuated exactly three units before the total collapse of my base: one Chrono Legionnaire (CL), one Nighthawk Transport (NT), and one Engineer (Eng).
I had no idea how to win this except that I knew the CL would be the MVP. I sidelined my Eng by putting him in the NT and moving the NT by the sea to keep it at a safe distance
Here is how I played it smart instead of playing it hard:
1. The “Friendly Fires”
- I noticed how desperate the Soviet was in killing my CL to the point that I got into a whole “Tom and Jerry” situation with a fleet of Kirovs chasing me across the map. I baited the Kirovs. By placing my CL right next to Soviet buildings and wait for the carpet bombs to drop. I’d blink my CL out at the last second, letting the Soviet air force help my CL to level their own structures 🤣
- I noticed The Soviet got so desperate to kill my CL that they started targeting their Nukes directly on him. I could have chosen to disable their power immediately but got a crazy idea of using it against them 😈. Like what I did with the Kirovs, I would place my CL within enemy bases right before the Nukes launch then blink away to a safe distance and watch the Soviet nuke themselves
2. The Nighthawk Distraction
- Eventually, the Kirovs accidentally got fixated onto my NT and started following it. I flew it out over the sea, and the entire fleet just hovered there like they’re just chilling, leaving my CL free to roam. I have no idea why the Soviet AI acted that way but it got the Kirovs off my back haha
3. The Tech Airport Siege
- At this point, the Soviets have been crippled and it was safe enough for my engineer to land and take the airport without fear of getting attacked since the Kirovs still seem to follow my NT
- I realized I needed more units to get rid of the Black guard apocalypse tanks and the airport was the only viable option for its GI paradrops
The Final Erase: With Paradrops unlocked, I used GIs as "tank bait" to distract the Black Guard Apocalypse tanks one by one, giving my already elite CL enough time to vaporize them. Since the soviet power was cut off, the Black Guard defense towers were easy targets
It took 3 hours of intense micro and countless "Save/Load" cycles to because I accidentally got my CL killed 🤣 but winning with a 3-man squad was the most satisfying "Mission Accomplished" ever.
Has anyone else ever need to abandon their base and play smart instead?