Isle Parche Walkthrough

You start alone. Your Commander stands on a small island in the north with 1000 metal and 1000 energy, and nothing else. To win, you must capture one Arm Zeus on the large island to the south. If that Zeus is destroyed, you lose, so this mission rewards careful strikes more than heavy guns. On Medium, Arm has 52 units and no factories or builders, so every enemy is on the map from the start.

Torpedo Launchers ring the southern island and submarines patrol the channel, but Arm has only two Defenders to fire at aircraft. The plan is to build up your island, get an Adv. Aircraft Plant, clear the guards round the Zeus with Rapiers, and carry the Commander across in a Valkyrie. A naval raid reaches your island from 30:00, so try to finish before then.

The Battlefield

Two islands lie in deep sea. Yours, in the north, holds all four metal deposits you can use and one geothermal vent. The southern island belongs to Arm. The Zeus stands near its middle, with a Guardian 120 pixels to the east and four Sentinels spread across the island. Twelve Torpedo Launchers stand in the water off its north and west shores, and the Arm fleet waits in the sea to the east.

The numbers on the map are the plan; the letters are Arm's positions. The units shown are those of Medium.

Map of Isle Parche 12345ABCDEFGHI
The planEnemy positionsYour unitsEnemy unitsHover a dot to see the unit and its orders. · Map 3,072 × 4,096 pixels · Scroll or pinch on the map to zoom; drag to move. Hover over a feature or a resource for its details.
  • 1Your start. Two deposits worth 223 lie beside the Commander, at (1000, 984) and (1160, 856).
  • 2The geothermal vent. A third deposit worth 223 lies just south-west of it, at (1352, 1128).
  • 3The fourth deposit, also worth 223. There is room here for your Aircraft Plant and the Adv. Aircraft Plant.
  • 4Torpedo Launchers in the shallows here meet the Arm ships that sail round your island from 31:40.
  • 5The drop point. Land the Commander here, beside the Zeus, once its guards are gone.
  • AThe Zeus you must capture. If it is attacked, it walks south-east to (1744, 3342).
  • BA Guardian, range 1250. Attacking it wakes two Lancets, and a Brawler guards it.
  • CA Sentinel. Attacking it sends two Brawlers after your Enforcers, Shipyards and Searchers, then your Commander.
  • DA Defender, one of two on the island. The other is at (1936, 3264).
  • EA Torpedo Launcher. Attacking this one sends the eastern ships at F after you.
  • FThree Crusaders and two Rangers. They wait until the Torpedo Launcher at E is attacked.
  • GA Conqueror. At 30:00 it sails north to H.
  • HFrom here the Conqueror patrols west along your north shore to (380, 451). Its cannon reaches 1300.
  • IA Millenium battleship, three Skeeters and two Lurkers. From 31:40 they sail to your south-west corner and circle your island.

Arm's Timetable

Arm's orders on Medium, counted from the start of the mission. Apart from one Lancet, nothing is sent towards your island before 30:00.

Time What happens
From the start Three Lurkers patrol the channel between the islands: from (2328, 2248) to (721, 2406), from (1352, 2024) to (224, 2065) and from (1432, 2168) to (2823, 2112).
3:30 A Merl starts a patrol from (1336, 3096) to (1583, 2774), just north of the Zeus.
5:00 A second Merl patrols from (2024, 2808) to (1619, 2743). A Crusader leaves the south-west corner and patrols the channel between (280, 2399) and (2844, 2081).
10:00 A Fido patrols from (1272, 3256) to (1588, 2753), past the Zeus.
10:10 A Fido patrols from (1400, 2920) to (1732, 3268).
13:50 A Fido patrols from (1896, 2968) to (2157, 3165).
14:20 A Fido patrols from (1672, 2888) to (2111, 2776).
21:40 A Lancet attacks your Enforcers, Snakes and Shipyards.
30:00 The Conqueror at G sails to H, then patrols west to (380, 451).
31:40 A Lurker sails to (392, 1401), off your south-west corner, and starts a loop round your island through (392, 512), (2165, 512) and (2072, 1462).
32:10 A second Lurker follows it.
33:20 The Millenium and three Skeeters follow the same loop.

The Plan on Medium

Build the Island (0:00 to 12:00)

  1. Put Metal Extractors on the two deposits at 1, then build Wind Generators. The wind here runs from 500 to 3500. Tidal Generators also work in the sea round the island (tidal strength 32).
  2. Build an Aircraft Plant at 3 and make a Construction Aircraft first. It builds what the Commander cannot: a Geothermal Powerplant on the vent at 2, Pulverizers and the Adv. Aircraft Plant.
  3. Take the deposits at 2 and 3. While the Commander waits for metal, have it reclaim the rocks on your island.
  4. Leave the Shipyard for later. The Lancet that leaves at 21:40 only hunts Enforcers, Snakes and Shipyards, so without them it has nothing to attack. Put four or five Pulverizers round the Commander before you start the attack.

Clear the Guards (12:00 to 25:00)

  1. Build the Adv. Aircraft Plant and six to eight Rapiers. A Rapier has 940 hit points and two rocket pods that do 125 damage each. Set them to Hold Fire for the flight south, so they do not shoot the Torpedo Launcher at E on the way past.
  2. Kill both Defenders first, at D and at (1936, 3264). A Defender has only 295 hit points, but its missiles do 97 damage to aircraft and reach 700.
  3. Kill the two Merls and four Fidos that patrol round the Zeus, then the Merl that waits at (1760, 2816).
  4. Attack the Sentinel at C. Its two Brawlers wake and look for your Enforcers, Shipyards and Searchers. If you have none, they come for the Commander, so keep it inside the Pulverizers. A Pulverizer missile does 95 damage to a Brawler, which has 920 hit points.
  5. Attack the Guardian at B from the north or the south. The Zeus stands due west of it, so never let it be in the line of fire. This wakes two Lancets and the Brawler that guards it. The Lancets carry torpedoes and look for Enforcers, Snakes and Shipyards before your Commander.

Take the Zeus (25:00 to 30:00)

  1. Build a Valkyrie at the Aircraft Plant. It has only 160 hit points, which is why the Defenders had to go first.
  2. Load the Commander, fly it to 5 and land it beside the Zeus. Order the capture. Only the Commander can capture, and the mission ends as soon as the Zeus is yours.
  3. Do not fire at the Zeus, and do not fight next to it. If it is destroyed, you lose. If it is only hit, it walks to (1744, 3342) and you must follow it.

If You Are Late (30:00 Onwards)

  1. At 30:00 the Conqueror sails from G to H and patrols your north shore. From 31:40 two Lurkers, and at 33:20 the Millenium and three Skeeters, circle your island. The Millenium's cannons reach 1250 and the Conqueror's 1300, further than a Punisher (1200).
  2. Meet them in the water. Torpedo Launchers at 4 and along your south and east shores do 400 damage at a range of 400. Titans from the Adv. Aircraft Plant do 780 per torpedo: eight sink the Millenium, and six sink the Conqueror. Kill the Skeeters first with Rapiers, because their missiles do 83 damage to aircraft.

What Changes on Hard

  • Your Commander and your 1000 metal and 1000 energy are the same. Arm has 48 units instead of 52.
  • There is no naval raid. The Conqueror, the Millenium, the three Skeeters and the two Lurkers that circle your island are not placed. Only the three channel Lurkers remain.
  • The 21:40 Lancet is gone. The Sentinel at C carries no tag, so attacking it wakes nothing.
  • On the island, the Guardian at (1680, 3024) becomes the only trigger, and a stronger one. Attacking it wakes four Lancets (three of them also hunt Torpedo Launchers and Sonar Stations) and a Brawler that attacks your Punishers, Metal Extractors, Geothermal Powerplants, Torpedo Launchers, Solar Collectors and Commander. Three Brawlers guard it instead of one.
  • The two Defenders stand at (1760, 3168) and (1696, 2800). The second one covers the northern approach to the Zeus.
  • The Merl that waits at (1760, 2816) is gone. A third Ranger and a Piranha submarine join the ships at F, waiting for E.
  • The computer player keeps all the income its two Wind Generators and its Geothermal Powerplant make, against 70 percent on Medium.

Which Units Beat Theirs

Arm unit Its threat Your answer
Defender Missiles, 97 damage to aircraft, range 700 Rapiers (940 hit points). It has 295.
Sentinel Laser, 180 damage, range 430 Rapiers, from above
Guardian Plasma cannon, 360 damage, range 1250 Rapiers. It out-ranges a Punisher (1200).
Merl Rocket, 500 damage, range 800 Rapiers. It has 540 hit points.
Brawler Gunship, 920 hit points, guns reach 370 Pulverizers (95 damage to it) or Avengers (136)
Lancet Torpedo, 750 damage, 370 hit points Pulverizers. Four missiles bring one down.
Conqueror Cannon, range 1300, 4050 hit points Titans (780 per torpedo), or finish before 30:00
Millenium Two cannons, range 1250, 5720 hit points Titans, and Torpedo Launchers at 4
Lurker Submarine, torpedo 350 damage Torpedo Launchers (400 damage, range 400)

Metal and Energy

All four deposits you can hold are on your island, and each is worth 223: (1000, 984) and (1160, 856) at 1, (1352, 1128) beside 2, and (1672, 792) at 3. The surface metal value is 3, so the rest of the ground gives almost nothing. Fourteen rocks on your island hold 925 metal between them, and the Commander can reclaim them early on.

Energy is easier. The wind blows from 500 to 3500, the tidal strength is 32, and the vent at 2 gives a Geothermal Powerplant 250 energy. The map's other vent is on the southern island at (1784, 3400), under Arm's own Geothermal Powerplant. Rapiers cost 5778 energy each and the Adv. Aircraft Plant 4422, so build energy before you start the air force.

Traps

  • The Zeus must survive. If it is destroyed, the mission is lost. If it is attacked, it walks to (1744, 3342).
  • Three units are watched. An attack on the Torpedo Launcher at E sends three Crusaders and a Ranger after your Missile Frigates, Enforcers and Commander, and a second Ranger after your Shipyards and Commander. A Ranger's rocket does 500 damage at 1300. An attack on the Sentinel at C wakes two Brawlers, and an attack on the Guardian at B wakes two Lancets.
  • A Rapier left on Fire at Will can shoot the Torpedo Launcher at E as it flies past. Keep your aircraft on Hold Fire near E.
  • Only your Commander can capture the Zeus, and losing the Commander loses the mission. Do not land it until the Sentinel, the Guardian and both Defenders are gone.
  • A Valkyrie has 160 hit points. Two Defender missiles bring it down.

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