Red Alert 3

Many Red Alert 3 players have their own style and build orders that accompany them. Some players play conservatively with tried-and-true methods, but there are also the few risk-takers that lay it all on the line early in the game and go for all-in rushes. These strategies are generally more advanced, and also creative, than standard play. The strategies detailed in this guide are rare but some of the more common all-in strategy's for certain 1v1 maps.

It is advised to first practice and perfect the timing of these strategies against a skirmish opponent before using this in competitive multiplayer play. Since three of the four build orders are for the Allies, it is also advised to master Vindicator stop micro as well.

Strategy: 1: The Allied All-In Air Rush

Strong Against: Empire
Moderate Against: Soviets
Bad Against: Allies
Maps to use this on: Infinity Isle and Industrial Strength

Build Order:

Power Plant
Airfield
Second Airfield
Vindicators x 6 & Apollo Fighters x 2 (Against Empire)

OR

Vindicators x 8 (Against Soviets)


Start off by building a Power Plant to give power to your base and to unlock the Allied Airfield. Build Power Plant on the land so if you need to sell it you get a free Peacekeeper from it. Next build and Airfield and start with 4 Vindicators against Soviets and 2 Vindicators and 2 Apollo Fighters against the Empire, then build a second Airfield. From the second Airfield, build more Vindicators or Apollos as needed. Be sure to wall in both Airfields to prevent them from being attacked directly by land units.

Move the MCV to the nearest Oil Derrick then sell it to get an Engineer. Use it to capture the Oil Derrick which will be your sole source of income. However, this gives you enough money to have all your Airfield slots filled. Also if you lose a plane and need some quick cash, you can sell your Power Plant for some extra cash.

What to bomb when playing vs. Empire?

With the first Vindicator you built, try to move directly to the opponent’s Oil Derrick. In most cases you are just in time to kill the Engineer who is trying to capture the oil.

After this move your Vindicators to the opponent’s MCV and wait until the Mecha Bay comes out. In most cases you are able to damage the core before it unpacks. After this keep bombing the Mecha Bay(it needs 18 bombs to be destroyed.) Park your Apollo's above the Mecha Bay to kill of incoming Tengus and Burst Drones. After the Empire player has lost his Mecha Bay he will most likely do and infantry spawn or build a lot of turrets before building another Mecha Bay.

If your opponent starts to spam infantry, attack your opponent’s Refinery with 3 Vindicators (18 bombs will destroy a Refinery) while with the other 3 try to kill off the Dojos. If infantry comes in your base only bomb the Tankbusters since Imperial Warriors can’t attack walls and can’t shoot over them. Also scout the map with your Apollos for a Docks or Mecha Bay core that sneaked out of your opponent’s base. After you killed all the Refineries and Dojos, it will be game over.



If your opponent turret spams, try to kill of the Power Plants. If the Power Plants are placed farther away than the turrets, attack the turrets (not the turret cores since a core takes 7 bombs to kill and a turret 5.) After you killed of the power and the Refineries it will be game over as well.

What to bomb when playing vs. Soviets?

There are 3 possible openings your Soviet opponent will do when playing against Allies. Most likely he will start with a Barracks, or another possibility is fast War Factory, and on a rare occasion he will start with a Crane opening.

If your opponent go's dual or triple Barracks Conscript-spam it is almost always good game. In this case kill off Power Plants first and after that the Barracks. Only kill the Conscripts closest to your base so you can do more bombing runs in less the time.

If your opponent goes Barracks, first try to bomb the Engineer going for an Oil Derrick. After this, camp out the Barracks with a Vindicator to kill upcoming Flak Troopers. With the other Vindicators you need to bomb the Power Plant (7 bombs or 6 if one of the Vindicators is veteran) first. If you are fast enough you are able to destroy it before the second Refinery is up so the soviet player needs to rebuild the Power Plant in order to build his second Refinery. Keep destroying any re-made Power Plants. After this you kill of the Barracks and in most cases it is game over. If not and your opponent goes War Factory or Seaport, try to kill off the Bullfrogs (4 bombs or 3 if the vindicator is veteran) at all costs. If your opponent is able to get 3 Bullfrogs it is hard to still win the game. Also be on the lookout if the Soviet player is not rebuilding his Power Plant! Destroy this at all costs otherwise the Soviet player is also able to build Flak Cannons(12 bombs) that are cheap, do a lot of damage and are very hard to kill. After this keep killing of Bullfrogs and with your spare Vindicators you keep bombing Power Plants and Barracks. If your opponent runs out of cash you are able to kill of his War Factory or Seaport (24 bombs.) After this go straight for the MCV since the 2 Refineries together take more bombs to destroy then the MCV (36 bombs.)

If your opponent go's fast War Factory first, focus on the Bullfrogs. Only kill the Sickles (4 bombs or 3 if the Vindicator is veteran) if they nearly destroy the walls surrounding your Airfield, go ahead and kill of the Sickle. Keep killing off Bullfrogs and Ppower Plants. If the Soviet player builds a Barracks don’t destroy it but instead kill off the upcoming Flak Troopers since they are worth killing (Barracks 9 bombs to destroy costs $500, Flak Trooper 1 bomb to kill costs $400.) After your opponent runs low on cash less Bullfrogs come out of the War Factory so you can use your spare Vindicators to destroy the War Factory. After that, bomb the MCV.

If your opponent goes Crane first, kill of the Crane (12 bombs.) After this you kill off the Power Plant and Barracks as mentioned above and do the same with the War Factory and the MCV. A Crane build against this strategy will always be a win for the Allies player if preformed correctly.