Star Wars: Empire at War - Coruscant

Star Wars: Empire at War - Coruscant
This is a hint / walkthrough for a planet in Star Wars: Empire at War. The index of all our guides for Empire at War is here.

Rebellion Campaign
Coruscant is available for conquest after Mission 10 (Handle with Care!).

Space Battle
Raymus Antilles, C-3PO, and R2-D2 were removed from play after Mission 9; Han Solo is removed from play after Mission 10; and Mon Motha has no combat role. Therefore, you have no major heroes to help you.

The planet has a Hypervelocity Gun, so you are certain to lose units because it ignores shields. I was curious to try a fleet of corvettes with a lot of Marauders, but the stutter-bug that occurs whenever a Corellian Corvette is hit by a tractor beam made this impractical. I therefore went with a Raid Fleet first to seize the planet and take out the Hypervelocity Gun.

Even without the Hypervelocity Gun, the planet is probably impossible to take without losses because (on Hard difficulty) the fleet has at least two Imperial Star Destroyers, and quickly swells to about 66 points and adds Captain Piett and the Accuser. Instead, let Captain Piett lead the Mon Calamari invasion force out of Coruscant, thereby splitting the garrison.

You receive an announcement when Captain Piett moves his fleet, but it does not actually move in the usual way on the Galactic Map -- It will simply appear Corellia when your prep time is over and you instantly enter space combat.
Once you destroy Captain Piett's fleet, there will probably be only a minimal garrison at Coruscant, as lone Imperial Star Destroyers will typically have been sent out to try to take initially neutral planets (not occupied by Rebels or Pirates, and therefore can be taken with no resistance).

Land Battle
If you use a Raid Fleet to take Coruscant quickly, you can destroy the space station before the scripted buildup begins. Put an Ion Cannon on the ground to help with the space battle. By the time you are given Admiral Ackbar and four free Mon Calamari capital ships, the space garrison (without space station) can be over 60 points.

This special land map has a lot more structures than is normally allowed. There is no MagnaPulse Cannon, but there is a Repulsorlift Jammer, which means you can land T2-B Repulsor Tanks, but they are grounded until you destroy the Jammer (which is helpfully unshielded in the east, but if you are here with a Raid Fleet you have no Bombing Runs to take it out).

I conquered Coruscant with a Raid Fleet first to destroy the level 5 Space Station and the Hypervelocity Gun before taking orbital space. With only three units and no heroes, I landed one unit of T-4B Heavy Tanks, one unit of MPTL-2a Mobile Proton Torpedo Launchers, and one unit of Rebel Infiltrators. With just these three units, you can complete the Coruscant land battle with no unit losses if you are very protective about your Infiltrators and don't try them against Saber Tanks.

This map is not as scary as it looks as the Imperials tend to keep building infantry to try to take your landing zone Reinforcement Point. At the landing zone, seize the Build Pads near the single ramp leading down and build a Vehicle Repair Station on the north Build Pad; and an Anti-Infantry Turret on the south pad. On the other two, one should be a Bacta Healing Station as you will be using your Rebel Infiltrators to do the bulk of the work.

Initially, you need to just hold ground with your T4-B and MPTL-2a units. Keep them all constantly in the useful radius of the Vehicle Repair Station because there will be Scout Trooper suicide runs to drop thermal detonators. Keep the Rebel Infiltrators nearby to help against the Scout Troopers, but not too close to the vehicles in case of a thermal detonator.
While holding ground, use the MPTL Spotter Droids to reveal the map using its Ping power. Try to locate the native structures because their waves of infantry need to be stopped.

Once the initial wave, which includes vehicles, is over, you should start to see only natives and Stormtroopers. The Turret and your T4-B Heavy Tanks should be able to clear out any that get too close to your Mobile Proton Torpedo Launchers.

Cautiously move west with your Rebel Infiltrators. When you take a Build Pad, put down an Anti-Infantry Turret (although you should also have one Bacta Healing Station somewhere closer to where the Infiltrators are operating) -- But don't do this until there are no enemy units who can see you doing it. Otherwise they will probably send a Scout Trooper to suicide run it while it is building (or worse, a Saber Tank).

Use the Spotter Droids' Ping ability to see what's coming ahead and how your Rebel Infiltrators could approach without getting the attention of too many vehicles. In going west, then north to the shielded area in the northwest, you will encounter all the native structures, including Emperor Palpatine's Imperial Palace, which spawns Royal Guards.
Two thermal detonators should take down each native structure.

Destroy every building and Build Pad structure the Imperials have so that they are progressively blind on the map. Do not take the Reinforcement Points since you have no reinforcements to call, and the Imperials have no reason to send infantry over to try to take them.

When you reach the northwestern shielded area, check it with a Spotter Droid. If the AT-AT is not there, see if you can attract its attention by entering the area and attacking something before fleeing. After exhausting the additional land units, the AI typically defends critical bases (e.g., the power generators in the northwest) with vehicles and other units, and will not let them stray too far from the Shield Generator.
This is good because we don't have bombing runs in a Raid Fleet, and so the Power Generators are not as critical as the Factories and Barracks to stop the enemy from continuously building units.

If the AT-AT is in the northwest, your next objective to destroy the Factories and Barracks will be easier. Cautiously insert your Rebel Infiltrators into the shielded area and hit one building at a time. It will take four thermal detonators to destroy the Advanced Factory. Do that first, then the Heavy Factory next if possible, as the Saber Tanks are deadly to your Rebel Infiltrators. Leave the Barracks last -- even though Scout Trooper suicide runs are annoying, we actually want the Imperials to keep churning out infantry, because the alternative is that they will start building vehicles.

You may be tempted to relocate your tanks and artillery to the Build Pad just south of the central factory area. I recommend against this because your Rebel Infiltrators can outrun everything the Imperials have except Scout Troopers. If they should come out far enough to see your armor, they might end up blitzing them, or calling the AT-AT over. In which case, unprepared, you will probably lose those slow units.

When you have destroyed the factories and cleared the last of the roaming units, sell your unused Turrets and relocate to the central area. Now the Imperials should be basically on the defensive, keeping close to their remaining Shield Generators. When you have dug in with armor and artillery, attack their buildings again with your Rebel Infiltrators and watch out for the AT-AT. If possible, lure the Sabers toward Anti-Vehicle Turrets or to your artillery instead of trying to take them on with Rebel Infiltrators and thermal detonators -- you are likely to lose one, if not both Infiltrators, especially as the thermal detonators have a very long fuse.

Eventually the AT-AT will come out, possibly after you have exhausted the lesser units. Retreat your armor. Hopefully your T-4B Heavy Tanks are between the AT-AT and your MPTL artillery. If one Heavy Tank is critically damaged, stop the other two and hope they draw fire briefly. The T-4B Heavy Tanks can turn their turrets in any direction, and therefore fire while fleeing, so that ought to continue to draw the AT-AT's attention if it isn't occupied with an Anti-Vehicle Turret.
Meanwhile, try to get around to the side of the AT-AT with the Rebel Infiltrators. Two thermal detonators will blow off about half its health and make it retreat. Charge it with your armor and artillery to finish it off.

Once you've mopped up the last of the units, the map is essentially yours to take your time with. Destroy all the buildings as usual to win. Taking Coruscant with a raid fleet will also destroy the space station, leaving only two Imperial Star Destroyers and a few lesser ships to deal with.

Star Wars: Empire at War - Corulag

Star Wars: Empire at War - Corulag
This is a hint / walkthrough for a planet in Star Wars: Empire at War. The index of all our guides for Empire at War is here.

Rebellion Campaign
Corulag space is the site for Mission 9 (Borrowed Time).

Space Battle

This mission is pretty straightforward, except you probably don't have time to destroy the later cruisers. When a ship takes enough damage and turns to flee, just leave it and go for another target.

After the battle, you can immediately return to Corulag and capture the orbital space without resistance.

Land Battle

You will probably need to land two MPTL-2a units (four vehicles) in order to secure the landing zone because the Imperials like to send a lot of vehicles on this map.

Destroying the Imperial Prison releases a mix of units, some of which are allied, some not. It is easiest to just clear all the enemy units with a single artillery blast.

The MagnaPulse Cannon can be disabled by either destroying the Cannon itself or the Power Generator in the northeast corner.

Star Wars: Empire at War - Corellia

Star Wars: Empire at War - Corellia
This is a hint / walkthrough for a planet in Star Wars: Empire at War. The index of all our guides for Empire at War is here.

Rebellion Campaign
Corellia is the site of Mission 7 (Rescue the Millennium Falcon) and on the Empire's path to Mon Calamari in Mission 11 (Defense of Mon Calamari).

Space Battle
This was a curiously straightforward mission once you realize that the nearest two Imperial Star Destroyers will not engage if you leave them alone. I started this mission with Sundered Heart, six Assault Frigates, and two Broadsides. I simply set all units to attack the tractor beam holding the Millennium Falcon. Although the Assault Frigates were distracted along the way by the space turrets, just before the Imperial Star Destroyer reached the space station the Tractor Beam was reduced to about 50%. This allowed the Millennium Falcon to break free and the mission cutscene to start.

Corellian orbital space can be conquered after the mission without resistance. Build an Ion Cannon now for Mission 11 when Corellia is in the warpath of the Imperials. You do, however, probably have just enough time to finish building it during Mission 11 before it is attacked.

If you let Captain Piett lead the Mon Calamari invasion force out from Coruscant in Mission 11, he will head down to Corellia where you can destroy his fleet with Admiral Ackbar, Home One, four Mon Calamari Cruisers (all of these given to you free in Mission 11) and two Marauders. Be sure to have by then built up your space station there and put an Ion Cannon on the ground. Keep the Accuser disabled with the Ion Cannon and Captain Piett won't get to fire the shield-ignoring beam from his special Imperial Star Destroyer.
The map is tricky there with asteroids right in front, forcing your Cruisers to spread out (Home One will probably swing far to the left) if you try to move them. Instead, let the Imperials come to you, thereby forcing them to approach one at a time.

Star Wars: Empire at War - Carida

Star Wars: Empire at War - Carida
This is a hint / walkthrough for a planet in Star Wars: Empire at War. The index of all our guides for Empire at War is here.

Rebellion Campaign
Carida is the site of Mission 10 (Handle with Care!)

When the mission is announced, you are told to move the Millennium Falcon to Mon Motha. However, as soon as you move Mon Motha from wherever she is located, the mission is initiated and after dialog you are you are automatically taken to a special land map with only Han Solo and Chewbacca. There is no Space Battle. Shortly after Mission 10 is completed, Carida is given over to Empire control with no space station and no ground buildings.

After Mission 10, the Rebellion Campaign moves very quickly and there is hardly any time to build and move things around, so if you want to amass a huge fleet and build up your space stations, do so before starting this mission.

Land Battle

This mission is essentially linear with prompts by the heroes as to what to do. Here are some things you might want to do to deviate from the prompts:

• There is a Build Pad near the TIE Mauler parking lot, so build a Bacta Healing Tank to first heal Han Solo and Chewbacca from any injuries sustained from the infantry and Anti-Infantry Turrets, then swap it for a Vehicle Repair Station. Move Han Solo to the alley where the Anti-Infantry Turrets were located and let Chewbacca handle things for a while.
• When you first get Chewbacca into a TIE Mauler, use it to run down as much infantry as you can. If you draw the attention of a AT-ST Walker, retreat back to the Vehicle Repair Station and engage it there. The continuous healing should let you out-last the Walker.
• Once you get into the AT-AT, you need to have Han Solo help Chewbacca with infantry. You'd be surprised how quickly two squads of infantry can damage the AT-AT. Keep the AT-AT repaired because you want to use it for the remainder of the mission. You are provided with Saber Tanks later, but those can be even harder to use against infantry.
• Watch for the Turrets to rebuild themselves once you get to the Turbolasers. Sometimes they will immediately rebuild when you've destroyed them, so be cautious. Double back and destroy them before finally moving to the storage area for the data.

After Mission 10, Carida starts with no space station and no ground buildings, but has a garrison including one AT-AT.
Very shortly after you land reinforcements, you will be relentlessly swarmed, although the Imperials are also fighting Rancors. Run north east immediately to secure the two Build Pads around a dugout, and make them Vehicle Repair Stations. Arrange your forces and hold out. You will probably need at least one, if not two, units of Mobile Proton Torpedo Launchers (total 4 vehicles plus Spotter Droids).

An alternative to frantically looking for cover when you land is to send down just one unit (two individuals) of Rebel Infiltrators. Run them west and take down only Scout Troopers who follow you. Build a Bacta Healing Tank at the western end of the beach and make that your temporary base while you run back and forth along the beach helping the Rancors from a safe distance. The Rancors move slowly and like all units, quickly lose interest if you are out of their line of sight.
Be cautious of attracting the attention of the AT-AT, although Rancors can do massive damage to them, and they are likely to get their head stuck in the Rancor cave, and be unable to turn, and therefore helpless.
If you go past a building, either drop a Thermal Detonator or call a Bombing Run. When the landing zone is reasonably quiet, call down the rest of your troops.

If you watch the Rancors fight Stormtroopers, they sometimes pick one up and swallow it. Because of shading when enemies are behind an object, you can actually watch the silhouette of a Stormtrooper going down head-first inside a Rancor, as in this screenshot...

Star Wars: Empire at War - Bothawui

Star Wars: Empire at War - Bothawui
This is a hint / walkthrough for a planet in Star Wars: Empire at War. The index of all our guides for Empire at War is here.

Rebellion Campaign

Land Battle

From your starting position, there are various barricades and Build Pads at which you can dig in. Inside the area Shield are Build Pads which you really need to secure before the Imperials put Turrets on them. If you fail to do this and you cannot take down the turrets, you may have to go the long way around to the northern base entrance while holding the Imperials off with a lot of Turrets at the south side.

Star Wars: Empire at War - Bestine

Star Wars: Empire at War - Bestine
This is a hint / walkthrough for a planet in Star Wars: Empire at War. The index of all our guides for Empire at War is here.

Imperial Campaign
Available in Mission 5 (Subjugating Geonosis) / Tech Level 1.

Space Battle
The map does not immediately make it apparent, but between your initial entry North-West-North of the space station, there is an asteroid field that Acclamators will have to avoid. This means that they will make a tight turn to face the space station at the very end. The ship that reaches the turn first will come under a lot of fire and could be lost.
Instead, first go far north, then east -- using the Move command so they won't stray to attack something that comes into range -- then start your attack run on the station once your Acclamators are close enough to stay together when they turn and head down.

Land Battle
Bestine has a lot of side-by-side Building Pads, which can either be very dangerous Turrets or very strong Vehicle Repair Stations. Since I use at lot of AT-STs, I chose Repair Stations.

What makes Bestine interesting are the narrow corridors. When you get to the second Reinforcement Point, you have just enough time to secure the Building Pads before a horde of infantry rush you.
Nearest to the Building Pads is a dugout (which heals infantry while they are in it). This dugout will typically accept only one unit at a time. If you move Vader out, the Pirates immediately try to secure it -- which could put them right in front of an AT-ST who can then rush forward and step on them. The initial wave has a lot of infantry, so you can actually charge your AT-STs forward a couple of times to quickly squash the infantry.

Once the vehicles appear after the infantry rush, try not to use your Bombing Run yet. Instead, once you advance forward and are near where the peninsula ends, there will be lots of vehicles and two dangerously positioned turrets. Wait a bit for the vehicles to converge, then move Vader ahead to locate the turrets and call down a Bombing Run. Pull Vader back, especially if he is quite hurt by this time. Wait for the bombs to drop, then quickly rush out of the narrow corridor and secure the Building Pads.

Rebellion Campaign

Space Battle
Land Battle

PLACEHOLDER
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
CONTENT COMING SOON

Star Wars: Empire at War - Atzerri

Star Wars: Empire at War - Atzerri
This is a hint / walkthrough for a planet in Star Wars: Empire at War. The index of all our guides for Empire at War is here.

Imperial Campaign
In Mission 9 (The Traitorous Moff), you first engage Moff Kalast over Atzerri.

Space Battle

The initial battle with Moff Kalast is straightforward. Afterwards, Moff Tarkin gives you an Interdictor at Coruscant.
It is vital that you grab this quickly and get ready for Moff Kalast to reappear over Atzerri. If you miss him, or if you fail to apprehend him there, he will appear elsewhere. He only appears over planets that have already been revealed/are accessible, so if you have conquered all planets, then he will appear over one of them.
The problem is, wherever he pops up, you lose everything in orbit, including a space station, regardless of how built up it is. The station is replaced by a level 2 Rebel space station, and Moff Kalast is accompanied by a small Rebel fleet. So the sooner you apprehend him, the less infrastructure you will lose.

Land Battle

You start with a small force and the enemy behind a shield, with no ready way to disable the shield.
Move forward your AT-AT along the diagonal path and park it at the Building Pad nearer the shielded Rebel base. When the initial wave of Rebels is over and your SPMA-Ts are moved up and in position to provide your AT-AT with covering fire, move your AT-AT into the base.
Here, Colonel Veer's special AT-AT ability to unleash a powerful barrage is useful for quickly taking down the Shield Generator so that your SPMA-Ts can continue to support your AT-AT with covering fire because there will be a lot of vehicles traffic-jammed around the AT-AT's legs, some of which are T4-B Heavy Tanks that even an AT-AT has trouble quickly destroying.

Atzerri has two lakes separated by a diagonal path. You can have Repulsor Tanks on the lakes, but we didn't find this very useful.