Krogoth Encounter Walkthrough

This mission has a single set-up, and the briefing says plainly that Hard is the only way to play it. You command Arm this time, with a Commander and 39 other units in the south-west corner of a huge metal world: Bulldogs, Fidos, Lugers, Samsons, Brawlers, Zippers, Jeffys, Spiders, a Zeus and five builders. Core has 381 units. Among them are 12 Krogoths, 18 Doomsday Machines, 3 Intimidators, 96 Pulverizers and more than a hundred aircraft, and the computer player keeps all the income its buildings make.

You win when both Krogoth Gantries and every Krogoth are destroyed. Nothing else has to die. Most of the Krogoths are ordered to walk to your Commander, one or two at a time, so the plan is to survive the early raids, build a ring of Annihilators that kills each Krogoth as it arrives, and then destroy the gantries on their island with nuclear missiles.

The Battlefield

A great square lake fills the middle of the map, from about (1150, 1280) to (10820, 8270). An island in its northern half holds the two Krogoth Gantries, the Fortitude Missile Defense between them, and three Intimidators along its southern edge. The only land route to the island is a causeway that runs south to the shore at about (5800, 8300), lined by the Doomsday Machines in two rows. A broad band of land rings the lake. South of the lake are two walled compounds with a Punisher at each corner: a mining outpost from (2592, 9744) to (5152, 10864) and a factory compound from (7072, 9744) to (10320, 10864). You start in the south-west corner.

Blue numbers mark the plan and red letters mark Core.

Map of Krogoth Encounter! 12345ABCDEFGHI
The planEnemy positionsYour unitsEnemy unitsHover a dot to see the unit and its orders. · Map 12,160 × 12,160 pixels · Scroll or pinch on the map to zoom; drag to move. Hover over a feature or a resource for its details.
  • 1Your start. Meet the Storms here, out of reach of the Punisher at B.
  • 2A geothermal vent beyond the reach of every Core gun, like the one at (1544, 11528).
  • 3The northern Annihilator line, facing the west road and the north-east.
  • 4The eastern Annihilator line, once the Punisher at B is gone.
  • 5Your Retaliator, deep inside the ring.
  • ATen Storms. From the first second they patrol west along the south edge, straight through your start.
  • BThe south-west corner of the mining outpost: a Punisher with a range of 1200 and three Pulverizers.
  • C19 Pyros. At 4:50 and 5:00 they set off for your Commander, Defenders and Samsons. Six of them go round by (869, 9316), north of you.
  • DSix Mobile Artillery and two Diplomats. At 15:00 they come for your radar towers, Defenders and Commander.
  • EA Krogoth guarded by four Vamps. At 18:20 it starts towards you down the west side.
  • FFive Krogoths and an Intimidator at the head of the causeway. The Krogoths leave for your Commander at 18:20, 21:40, 40:00 (two) and 60:00.
  • GThe two Krogoth Gantries, at (4992, 4384) and (6688, 4384), with the Fortitude Missile Defense at (5840, 4704) between them.
  • HThe causeway and its 18 Doomsday Machines.
  • IOne of three Intimidators, with a range of 5120. The others are at (5824, 5744) and (8336, 5664).

Core's Timetable

Times are counted from the start of the mission.

Time What happens
From the start The ten Storms at A patrol west to (293, 11363). Six Rapiers and two Vamps patrol the west side from the north-west corner down to (996, 8590). Five Rapiers and four Avengers patrol from (900, 8540) east to (11085, 8489). Five Thuds patrol inside the mining outpost.
2:00 Two Vamps attack your Construction KBots, Adv. Construction Kbot, Construction Aircraft and Solar Collectors.
2:50 and 3:00 Two Hurricanes and four Rapiers attack your Solar Collectors, Vehicle Plants, Aircraft Plants, Adv. Construction Kbot, Metal Extractors and Commander, in that order. One of the Rapiers starts with the Adv. Construction Kbot.
4:50 and 5:00 The 19 Pyros at C set off. Six go to (869, 9316) first, then attack Samsons, Defenders and the Commander. Five attack the Commander, six attack Defenders first, two attack Samsons first. A Vamp attacks the Commander.
6:40 Three Pyros at (11240, 8820) patrol west to (1316, 8910).
11:40 Four Rapiers attack the Commander. A Warlord patrols the lake west to (2085, 7568).
15:00 The artillery at D attacks your Radar Towers, Advanced Radar Towers and Defenders, then the Commander.
18:20 Two Krogoths start: one from F attacks the Commander, the one at E attacks Retaliators, Advanced Radar Towers, Defenders, Fusion Reactors and Adv. Aircraft Plants first.
19:30 Six Vamps from the north-east corner attack Atlases, Aircraft Plants, Construction Aircraft, Construction KBots, Construction Vehicles and the Commander.
20:00 The Krogoth at (10480, 8896) patrols west to (1216, 8534), guarded by two Rapiers.
21:40 A third Krogoth leaves F for the Commander.
23:20 The Krogoth at (10480, 8672) patrols north to (11204, 1552), guarded by three Vamps.
23:40 to 24:00 The big air raid: 8 Hurricanes, 10 Rapiers, 9 Vamps and 2 Avengers. Most look first for radar towers, Defenders and Samsons. The Hurricanes look for Retaliators, Fusion Reactors and Guardians. All of them end with the Commander.
30:00 The west gantry orders its first Krogoth. The Adv. Aircraft Plant at (2752, 320) builds 10 Rapiers, and 10 more at 40:00.
35:00 Three Krogoths, at (288, 3200), (7488, 9248) and (10704, 11792), attack Retaliators, then the Commander.
40:00 The two remaining Krogoths at F attack the Commander. The east gantry orders its first Krogoth.
43:20 Five Avengers and five Rapiers attack Defenders, Fusion Reactors, Retaliators and Adv. Aircraft Plants, then the Commander.
50:00 onward The west gantry orders a Krogoth every 20 minutes (50:00, 70:00, 90:00, 110:00), the east one every 23:20 (63:20, 86:40 and so on).
60:00 The last Krogoth at F attacks Retaliators, Big Berthas, then the Commander.

The Plan

Survive the Opening (0:00 to 5:00)

  1. Gather the whole army at 1 and face east. A Storm's rockets reach 400. Your Fidos (480) and Lugers (620) out-range them, and the four Bulldogs, with 2102 hit points each, can stand in front. Fight west of x 1500, where the Punisher at B cannot reach.
  2. Keep the eight Samsons beside your builders. A Samson missile does 90 damage to a Vamp (490 hit points), a Rapier (940) or a Hurricane (480).
  3. Build a Kbot Lab, not a Vehicle Plant or an Aircraft Plant: no Core order names the Kbot Lab. Build Metal Extractors anywhere, because the whole surface holds metal. Have a Construction KBot build Geothermal Powerplants at 2 and at (1544, 11528).
  4. Before 5:00, put three or four Sentinels on the east and north sides of 1. A Sentinel reaches 430 with 180 damage a shot, and no Core order names it either. Jethros from the Kbot Lab add anti-air that no raid hunts for.

Hold the Raids (5:00 to 18:00)

  1. The 19 Pyros arrive from the east and the north. A Pyro has 700 hit points and a flame thrower that reaches only 160, so hold them at range with the Sentinels, Fidos and Lugers.
  2. Send the four Brawlers against B. Destroy the three Pulverizers at (2576, 10752), (2752, 10880) and (2864, 10864) first, then the Punisher. Each Pulverizer missile does 95 damage to a Brawler, which has 920 hit points. Leave the two Goliaths at (3088, 10624) alone: they wait until they are attacked.
  3. With B gone, the vents at (1544, 10440), (1544, 10984) and (3224, 11832) are safe. Put Geothermal Powerplants on them.
  4. At 11:40 four Rapiers come for the Commander. Keep him among the Samsons and Jethros.
  5. At 15:00 the artillery at D moves. The Diplomats' rockets reach 800, further than your Sentinels, so catch the group on the move with the Brawlers and the Bulldogs.
  6. With the Adv. Construction Kbot, build Moho Mines, then start Annihilators at 3 and 4. Each costs 3985 metal and 25,025 energy.

Kill the Krogoths (18:00 to 60:00)

  1. A Krogoth has 29,918 hit points. Its beam does 2500 damage at a range of 700, and its rockets reach 900. An Annihilator does 2500 at 1200, so twelve hits kill a Krogoth. Keep at least four Annihilators at 3 and four at 4.
  2. From 18:20 the Krogoths come: two at 18:20, one at 21:40, three at 35:00, two at 40:00 and the last at 60:00. Those from F come from the north-east, the one from E down the west side. Let them walk into the Annihilators.
  3. Before 23:40, build Hawks. Their missiles do 150 damage to Core aircraft. Keep them and the Jethros near your Defenders, Samsons and radar towers, since that is where most of the big raid strikes first.
  4. Once the 24:00 raid is beaten, build a Retaliator at 5. It costs 1010 metal and 52,134 energy. Several Krogoths look for Retaliators first, so with the Retaliator deep inside the ring, they walk straight past the Annihilators.

Destroy the Gantries (60:00 onward)

  1. The Fortitude Missile Defense at (5840, 4704) shoots down nuclear missiles aimed within 2000 of it, and both gantries lie inside that circle. Destroy it first with Phoenix bombers escorted by Hawks. It has 780 hit points, a Phoenix bomb does 195, and four Pulverizers cover it. Build the Adv. Aircraft Plant only after the 43:20 raid, since several raids look for it.
  2. Then send one nuclear missile at each Krogoth Gantry. A missile does 5500 damage, and a gantry has 3050 hit points.
  3. Hunt down every Krogoth left: the two on patrol, the one waiting in the factory compound at (8576, 10240), and any the gantries built in time. Build Annihilators within 1200 of their routes, or shell them with a Big Bertha (2000 per shell, range 4096).

You never have to break the Doomsday causeway or the Intimidators to win.

Which Units Beat Theirs

Core unit Its threat Your answer
Krogoth 29,918 hit points, beam of 2500 at range 700, rockets to 900 that do 383 to aircraft Annihilator (2500 at 1200), four or more together
Storm Rockets of 100 at range 400 Fido (480) or Luger (620)
Pyro 700 hit points, flame thrower at range 160 Sentinel (430), Luger
Punisher Plasma, 320 damage at range 1200 Brawlers, once its Pulverizers are dead
Diplomat Rocket of 500 at range 800 Brawlers and Bulldogs on the move
Vamp, Rapier, Hurricane 490, 940 and 480 hit points Hawk (150 to each), Defender (97), Samson (90), Jethro (83)
Fortitude Missile Defense Shoots down nuclear missiles within 2000 Phoenix bombers
Krogoth Gantry Builds Krogoths, 3050 hit points Retaliator nuclear missile, once the Fortitude is gone

Metal and Energy

The map has no metal deposits because it does not need them: the surface metal value is 250, so a Metal Extractor works anywhere. Moho Mines do the same at a higher rate. The early raids at 2:50 and 3:00 look for Metal Extractors, so put the first ones close to the Samsons.

There are 24 geothermal vents. At the start only two near you are out of Core's reach: 2 and (1544, 11528). Three more, at (1544, 10440), (1544, 10984) and (3224, 11832), come free when the Punisher at B dies. The vent at (1544, 9896) stays within reach of the Punisher at (2592, 9744) and of the Intimidator at I. Each Geothermal Powerplant makes 250 energy, and no Core order names it. The wind runs from 300 to 1000. Avoid Solar Collectors and Fusion Reactors: both appear on Core's target lists. An Annihilator needs 25,025 energy and a Retaliator 52,134, so keep adding plants.

Traps

  • A Krogoth dies in a nuclear blast of up to 5500 damage within 256 pixels, 2900 to a Commander. Kill them at range, away from your buildings.
  • Doomsday Machines, Intimidators, Fusion Power Plants and the Fortitude die in atomic blasts of up to 2000 damage within 258 pixels.
  • Attacking either gantry wakes eight Vamps that come to guard it. Attacking the Doomsday Machine at (5648, 8048) sends four Vamps patrolling down the causeway.
  • Several units wait until they are attacked: ten Slashers and two Goliaths in the mining outpost, five Diplomats and a Krogoth in the factory compound.
  • Core picks its targets by type. Defenders, Samsons and radar towers draw the Pyros, the artillery and most air raids. Retaliators draw five Krogoths and the Hurricanes, and a Big Bertha draws the 60:00 Krogoth.
  • The Intimidators reach 5120. Your corner is beyond them, but anything north of 3 near the west side is not.
  • The gantries keep ordering Krogoths, and each one must die before you win. The sooner the gantries fall, the fewer you face.

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