2024 TIBERIAN SUN STRATEGY GUIDE

 

BUILD PLACEMENT THEORY

 

Master defense: It's not how much defense you have, but how you use it.

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Try to scout the enemy fast so you can see what he is building. When you can see the enemy base, you know what he is attacking with., and you can build a corresponding defense. Seeing what the enemy is attacking with can affect your build placement.

 

Minimum Defense: Try to build the least amount of defense possible to defend the attack that your enemy is sending. This way you can save your money for attack, and economy (Tiberium Refineries and Harvesters)

 

Get rich fast maybe: Most players want to get rich fast so that they have more money for attacking.

 

Map corner defense: The four corners of the map are the most easily defended from soldiers, tanks, and planes. This is because most units can not travel off the map and behind your defenses. Planes can CNTL force fire off the map to avoid Firestorm defense, but they waste ammo doing so. Subterranean Units can surface under your base in any location as long is there is no pavement to block them. Subterranean APC and Devil Tongue are the two units that can penetrate a heavily defended corner of the map. So GDI is not as safe in the corner of the map as Nod is. A well bunkered Nod in the corner of the map is hard to penetrate by GDI, especially if there is a lot of Tiberium in that corner. If there is no Tiberium in the corner of the map, then this is not as good of a place to build your base. Nod bunkered in the corner of the map with emp cannon, artillery, sams, lasers, rocket inf, and plenty of tiberium might require outbuild EMP from GDI.

 

Ref by tib: Always place Tiberium Refineries as close as possible to your Tiberium Fields so that your Harvesters do not have to travel as far. Pavement can speed Harvesters up to get faster money. Consider placing pavement inbetween your Tiberium Refineries and the Tiberium patch your Harvesters are eating from.

 

Vs Nod = tight build: If you are playing against a Nod opponent, then you should consider placing your buildings as close together as possible. You can use the buildings' edges to protect one another from Nod's Subterranean APC Engineer attack. This strategy does have a downside because enemy units will not have to travel as far before striking multiple buildings. (Be careful if there is Blue Tiberium on the map, one Harvester full of blue Tiberium can destroy multiple buildings. It might be better to leave no space between buildings, than to leave one space between buildings that a Harvester bomb can fit into.)

 

Vs GDI = spread buildings no 1shot diz: If you are playing against a GDI opponent, then you should space out your buildings so that a Disrupter can not shoot through one building and hit another.

 

GDI sams work low power/ not nod: Nods sams use a lot of power, GDI sams work when your base has low power.

 

Sam backups reinforce: Sams should be placed so that each Sam can be protected by the next Sam. When each Sam is within range of the next, they can protect each other. If one of your Sams is being attacked by any plane, the other Sams will be in range to inflict damage on that plane. If you place Sams too far out from your base, they can be picked off by a Mammoth MK2, Cyborg Commando, etc... Your very first Sam should be in the middle of your base to protect all of your buildings.

 

GDI Sam spacing: If you are playing against GDI, then Sam spacing can become more important because of the Carryall attacks that GDI can do. (Carryall APC Ghost Stalker, Carryall APC Engineer, Carryall Disrupter, Carryall MammothMK2)

 

Begin drive to tib or no: If your MCV starts in a location far from Tiberium, it might make sense to move it toward the Tiberium patch before deploying it. Don't drive too far because this gives a time advantage to the enemy who immediately deployed their MCV.

 

E+D = rapid deploy beginning of game: At the beginning of the game, if you know your starting location is near tiberium (because you know the map) rapidly press “E”+”D” to deploy your base very fast. This is faster than moving your mouse across the screen, highlighting the MCV and double left mouse clicking it to deploy the MCV.

 

MCV begining move to blue tib: At the beginning of the game, you might want to move your MCV closer to a blue Tiberium patch so your first Harvester dumps into the Tiberium Refinery will be worth more money. (Again, don't drive too far.)

 

Defensive units in between buildings: When you place your buildings, try to keep defensive units near them to protect them. If your defensive units are between two buildings, they can defend both of them. If you keep your defensive units on the edge of your base, they might be slower to reach the opposite edge of your base.

 

Vs GDI get 3-4RI or Sam early-JJ: If you are playing against GDI, earlier Sams or Rocket Infantry are important. Because of the Jump Jet Infantry. If you are GDI, playing against GDI, you might want to consider building a Radar before your , so you can make early Sams and kill the Jump Jet Infantry scout. If you are Nod playing against GDI, you can use 3-4 Rocket Infantry to kill a Jump Jet Infantry, so making a Radar before a War Factory is not as necessary.

 

EMP corner or mid base: When placing an EMP Cannon, you can either hide it behind Sams, in the corner of the map, or you can place it in between your first and second Tiberium patches so that it can reach both your main base and your first expansion Tiberium Refineries.

 

Tight base vs nod = laser/obe mid base: When your opponent is Nod and you are building your buildings closer together, your lasers can defend more of your buildings. Try to build them in the middle of your base so they can reach almost all of your buildings. This tactic also applies to Obelisk, RPG Upgrade, Vulcan Cannon Upgrade.

 

Gate funnel bottleneck defenses: If you base has walls built into the game that protect your base from ground rushes, then it might be wise to place a lot of your lasers in the gate opening so you can funnel enemy units into your Lasers, RPG Upgrades, and/or Vulcan Cannon Upgrades.

 

Deploying Sensor Array: There are several location choices to deploy a Sensor Array. You can deploy it in the middle of your base to cover your entire base. You can deploy it at the front of your base to see the enemy's stealthed and underground units faster. You can also deploy a Sensor Array in the middle of the map to give you a very early warning. Some players like to put their second Sensor Array in the middle of the map and keep their first one inside their base, protected by Sams and other defensive units. (Obviously, you do not need a Sensor Array vs GDI, only against Nod.)

 

Production Structures closer to enemy = faster units to enemy: The Barracks, Hand of Nod, War Factory, and Helipad all produce units. If you build those buildings closer to the enemy, the units will have to travel less distance to attack the enemy. The downside to this tactic is that the enemy units will also be closer to your production buildings. You might want to make a spare far away in your main base.

 

GDI Carryall outbuild advantage: GDI has an advantage with the Carryall to move his MCV faster around the map. This advantage can allow you to build near new Tiberium fields or build near the enemy faster.

 

Outbuild EMP: If you build close enough to the enemy, your EMP Cannon can reach their base. Try using your EM-Pulse to freeze the enemy base before you attack. This will freeze his ground troops, Sams, and planes that are on the ground. It will not freeze his planes that are on Helipads.

 

Mole40k created a strategy guide in 2013 that gives detailed pictures of a good Nod base and GDI base in terms of “Build Placement Theory”, you can find it on pages 29-36, at the following website link:

 

https://mjryder.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tiberian-Sun-guide-v4-c-Mole40k-2013.pdf

 

When you are playing against GDI, you might want to cover your buildings from a Disrupter's “One-shot” technique. The “One-shot” tactic is when GDI uses the Disrupter to shoot across your building onto the ground on the other side. The Disrupter One-shot technique can be found on page 37.

 

https://mjryder.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tiberian-Sun-guide-v4-c-Mole40k-2013.pdf

 

 

Component Towers (or any other building) can be used to cover each other or block Disrupters from being able to use the one-shot tactic. Detailed pictures of “Component Tower Placement Theory” can be found on Mole40k's strategy guide on pages 39-40.

 

https://mjryder.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tiberian-Sun-guide-v4-c-Mole40k-2013.pdf

 

 

TERRAIN ADVANTAGES FOR BUILD PLACEMENT THEORY

 

Know and use terrain well, place buildings well: Use the terrain to your advantage when placing buildings.

 

Water GDI advantage: Water can block all soldiers (except the GDI Jump Jet Infantry) and all vehicles (except for the GDI Hover Mrls) from accessing your base. Water on the map gives GDI a slight advantage.

 

Stay back from cliff edge units/structures: Cliffs can be used to block all ground units from accessing your base, but make sure you place your buildings far enough away from the cliff edge so that units can not reach your building. Example: The Disrupter can shoot through cliffs from a lower terrain to a higher terrain and hit your building. Remember, high ground offers several advantages for your base. Placing defensive units close to a cliff edge (but far enough back to where they can't receive fire from tanks) can force enemy vehicles or soldiers to have to run along the cliff edge to find the entrance to your base while receiving damage from your units the whole time.

 

Take the high ground: Uphill is better than downhill. Disc Throwers can throw Discs very far from the top of a cliff edge to a base that is downhill. Alot of units have a longer range from on top of a hill. (Example: The Artillery can shoot farther from on top of a hill) Nod Artillery 3 cells back from cliff edge can't be hit by Titans. Nod loves bunking on high cliff ground.

 

If you would like to learn more about the affects of different terrain, you can find more information here: https://tiberiansunguide.wixsite.com/tiberiansunguide/terrain