The Lost Isle Walkthrough

You start on Medium with a Commander, two Storms and two Thuds on an island east of the centre of a wide sea. Arm holds three island bases around you with 128 units: Guardians, Sentinels, Torpedo Launchers, warships, submarines and aircraft. You win by sinking every Colossus, Arm's new carrier ship. There are two on Medium. One starts to patrol the northern sea at 15:00, and the other is parked inside Arm's southern base.

A Colossus has no weapon, so the problem is everything around it. Arm sends Rangers at 4:00, Tritons at 7:00, Skeeters at 16:00 and a Conqueror at 20:00, most of them aimed at your Commander, your starting units or your Shipyards. Hold the island first, build a fleet of Executioners, catch the northern carrier in open water, and shell the parked one with an Intimidator from your own shore.

The Battlefield

Dozens of islands lie scattered across the sea. Yours is one of the largest, with four metal deposits of its own. Arm's north-east island holds an Adv. Vehicle Plant and two Guardians, with a Shipyard and an Adv. Shipyard on its shores. Its north-west island holds an Adv. Aircraft Plant and Solar Collectors. In the south-west, a horseshoe-shaped island and a smaller island beside it hold the Fusion Reactor, two Moho Mines, ten Sentinels and six Guardians. The second Colossus waits in the bay inside the horseshoe.

The numbers on the map are the plan; the letters are Arm's positions. The units shown are those of Medium, and hovering over a dot shows its orders.

Map of The Lost Isle 123456ABCDEFGHI
The planEnemy positionsYour unitsEnemy unitsHover a dot to see the unit and its orders. · Map 6,784 × 6,848 pixels · Scroll or pinch on the map to zoom; drag to move. Hover over a feature or a resource for its details.
  • 1Your start. Deposits worth 223 lie at (4488, 3400) and (4696, 3576), on either side of the Commander.
  • 2The east shore. Both Rangers stop within 240 pixels of this point after they leave at 4:00, inside the reach of your Storms.
  • 3The north shore, facing the Tritons' island. Towers here stand between them and the Commander.
  • 4Your Shipyard, on the island's west side, away from the Arm bases in the north.
  • 5The ambush point, halfway along the northern Colossus's route. Wait here with the fleet.
  • 6The Intimidator site. The parked Colossus at G is about 3200 pixels away, well inside its range of 5120.
  • ATwo Rangers. At 4:00 one comes for your Thuds and Storms, and the other for your Commander.
  • BFour Tritons. At 7:00 they cross the sea to attack your Commander, Storms, Thuds, Solar Collectors and Kbot Labs.
  • CThe Arm Shipyard. Attacking it makes the Adv. Aircraft Plant at I build 4 Lancets and 3 Brawlers.
  • DThe northern Colossus. From 15:00 it patrols east to (4202, 1200) and back.
  • EEight Skeeters. At 16:00 they go for your Shipyards.
  • FA Conqueror. At 20:00 it sails to (5788, 3290) and shells your Storms, then your Thuds.
  • GThe southern Colossus. It never moves.
  • HA Guardian at the east end of the horseshoe. Five more stand on the horseshoe and the island beside it.
  • IThe Adv. Aircraft Plant that answers an attack on C.

Arm's Timetable

These are the moves that matter on Medium, counted from the start of the mission.

Time What happens
From the start Four Brawlers and two Lancets patrol between about (2300, 750) and (1850, 2650). Three Freedom Fighters and three Brawlers patrol between about (440, 870) and (2560, 1820). Two Piranhas patrol between (5800, 1800) and (4558, 1795), north of your island.
4:00 The two Rangers at A sail south. One stops at (5336, 3260) and attacks your Thuds, then your Storms. The other stops at (5246, 3512) and attacks your Commander.
5:00 Two Lurkers south of the horseshoe start patrols towards its east end. Another follows at 10:00 and another at 15:00. One more patrols there from the start.
7:00 The four Tritons at B attack. One goes for Solar Collectors, then your Commander. One goes for Thuds, then Kbot Labs. One goes for Storms, then your Commander. One goes for Storms, then Thuds.
10:00 The Shipyard at C builds a Crusader, then, with 5-minute waits between orders, a Ranger, a Crusader and two more Crusaders.
14:00 The Adv. Shipyard at (5659, 1591) builds a Millenium, then, with 5-minute waits, a Conqueror and a Piranha.
15:00 The Colossus at D starts its patrol to (4202, 1200).
16:00 The eight Skeeters at E attack every Shipyard you own.
19:30 A Crusader at (4300, 1724) attacks your Shipyards. Another at (4428, 1724) attacks your Missile Frigates, then your Construction Ships.
20:00 The Conqueror at F sails to (5788, 3290) and attacks your Storms, then your Thuds.
21:40 Two Lancets from the horseshoe attack your Enforcers, Snakes, Construction Ships, Searchers and Missile Frigates.
40:00 Four Lancets from the west end of the horseshoe attack your Warlords, Hives, Executioners, Enforcers, Snakes, Shipyards and Adv. Shipyards.
When C is attacked The Adv. Aircraft Plant at I builds 4 Lancets and 3 Brawlers.

A Ranger, a Crusader and a Millenium south of the north-east island, the eight Jethros on the horseshoe and the Colossus at G have no orders, or long waits (up to 100 minutes) with nothing after them. They stay where they are.

The Plan on Medium

Hold the Island (0:00 to 10:00)

  1. Put Metal Extractors on the two 223 deposits beside the Commander at 1, then on (5016, 3224), worth 187, and (4504, 3864), worth 116. Build Wind Generators rather than Solar Collectors: the wind never drops below 1000 here, and the first Triton is ordered to attack Solar Collectors.
  2. Before 4:00, move the two Storms and the two Thuds to 2. A Storm's rockets reach 400, and the Rangers stop within 240 of this point. A Ranger's rocket does 500 damage every 12 seconds from up to 1300, so finish both quickly.
  3. Put one or two Light Laser Towers at 3 and keep the Commander behind them. A Triton outranges the tower slightly (320 against 300), but two of the four end their lists with the Commander and must come close to reach him. The Commander's Disintegrator destroys a Triton with one shot.
  4. Build a Kbot Lab and two Construction Kbots. Their first jobs are Gaat Guns at 3 (range 400) and Tidal Generators off the south shore.
  1. Build the Shipyard at 4, with two Gaat Guns and a Core Torpedo Launcher beside it. At 16:00 the eight Skeeters come for it. Each has 560 hit points and a laser that reaches only 180.
  2. At 19:30 two Crusaders follow, one for your Shipyards and one for your Missile Frigates and Construction Ships. Their cannons reach 660, beyond a Gaat Gun, so add a Punisher near the Shipyard. Its range is 1200, and nine of its shells destroy a Crusader.
  3. Build a Construction Ship and an Adv. Shipyard, then Executioners. Their cannons reach 1300, as far as anything Arm has at sea. Add a Missile Frigate or two: their missiles do 111 damage to a Lancet, which has 370 hit points.
  4. At 20:00 the Conqueror comes for your Storms and Thuds from up to 1300. Meet it with Executioners, which match its range and have more hit points. If they are not ready, keep the Storms and Thuds at the island's west end and put two Punishers near 2: the Conqueror must then sail into their reach to find its targets.
  5. Ring the Shipyards with Pulverizers before 21:40. The two Lancets carry torpedoes that do 750 damage each.

Sink the Northern Colossus (from 15:00)

  1. Take four or more Executioners and a Missile Frigate to 5. The northern Colossus passes this point on every trip between D and (4202, 1200).
  2. It has no weapon and 3390 hit points, or 16 Executioner shells. Fire from long range: its death blast does up to 2000 damage within 258 pixels.
  3. Do not chase it to the east end of its route. The Guardian at (4871, 1348) reaches that end, two L.L.T.s stand nearby, and the tripwire Shipyard at C is only 235 pixels away.
  4. Do not sail further west either. The north-west air patrols turn about 1000 pixels west and south-west of 5.

Shell the Southern Colossus

  1. The Colossus at G never moves. Six Guardians, ten Sentinels, eight Jethros and ten Torpedo Launchers stand around it, so a naval or air attack into that bay is costly.
  2. Build an Adv. Construction Kbot, a Fusion Power Plant and then the Intimidator at 6. Each shell does 2400 damage and uses 2000 energy, and two hits sink the Colossus.
  3. The four Lancets that leave at 40:00 go for your warships and Shipyards. Keep Pulverizers at the Shipyards and the Missile Frigates with the fleet. The mission ends when the second Colossus sinks.

What Changes on Hard

  • There are three Colossi. One is parked in the horseshoe bay, as on Medium. The other two start to patrol to (4202, 1200) at 15:00: one from (1168, 832) and one from (2624, 4704), in the open sea south-west of your island. Catch the second as it passes west of your island on its way north.
  • There are 21 Torpedo Launchers instead of 14. One floats at (3408, 832), only 316 pixels from 5, so sink it from long range before you wait there. Another is at (4192, 2112), north of your island.
  • Two Conquerors start east of the horseshoe and, from 1:50 and 2:00, patrol a loop around it by (925, 5285), (1168, 6510) and (3638, 6474).
  • Two Hawks patrol over the horseshoe from 10:00, and a Defender stands on it, so air attacks there are harder still.
  • All five southern Lurkers patrol from the start.
  • The Lancet raids at 21:40 and 40:00 do not happen.
  • There are 9 Guardians and 11 Sentinels instead of 8 and 10, and some of them stand in new places.
  • Your forces and starting resources do not change. Arm keeps all the income its buildings make, against 70 percent on Medium, and that pays for what its Shipyards build.

Which Units Beat Theirs

Arm unit Its threat Your answer
Ranger Rocket, 500 damage, range 1300. 1200 hit points Storms and Thuds on the shore where it stops
Triton Plasma cannon, 112 damage, range 320. 1230 hit points Gaat Gun (range 400) or the Commander's Disintegrator
Skeeter Laser with a range of 180. 560 hit points Gaat Guns around the Shipyard
Crusader Heavy cannon, 165 damage, range 660. 2870 hit points Punisher (range 1200) or Executioner
Conqueror Cruiser cannon, 208 damage, range 1300. 4050 hit points Executioners: same range, more hit points, harder shells
Lancet Torpedo, 750 damage. 370 hit points Missile Frigate (111 damage to aircraft) or Pulverizer (95)
Guardian Plasma cannon, 360 damage, range 1250 Stay out of its range, or use the Intimidator
Colossus No weapon. 3390 hit points and an atomic death blast Executioners from 1300, or the Intimidator for the parked one

Metal and Energy

Your island holds four deposits: (4488, 3400) and (4696, 3576), worth 223 each, (5016, 3224), worth 187, and (4504, 3864), worth 116. A small island east of yours has one more, worth 116, at (5736, 3928). Two more, both worth 223, sit on islands further west that Arm does not hold: (2648, 2808) and (1624, 4360). The other six deposits are in Arm's bases. The ground elsewhere is poor, with a surface value of 5, and there are no rocks to reclaim for metal.

Energy is easy. The wind runs from 1000 to 4000, so Wind Generators never stop, and the tidal strength of 42 suits Tidal Generators all round the island. There are no geothermal vents. A Fusion Power Plant makes 1050 energy, and you need one before the Intimidator: it costs 62,520 energy to build and 2000 for every shot.

Traps

  • The Shipyard at C is a tripwire. Any attack on it makes the Adv. Aircraft Plant at I build 4 Lancets and 3 Brawlers, and C stands close to the east end of the northern Colossus's route.
  • A Colossus dies in an atomic blast of up to 2000 damage within 258 pixels. So does the Fusion Reactor on the horseshoe.
  • One Ranger and two of the Tritons are ordered to attack your Commander, and losing him loses the mission.
  • The Skeeters and one Crusader go for Shipyards, the 21:40 Lancets for Construction Ships among other ships, and the 40:00 Lancets for Executioners and Shipyards. Put your anti-air where those are.
  • Both Arm Shipyards start building warships at 10:00 and 14:00. Sink the northern Colossus early, before those ships join the defence.

Back to the mission page.