M I D W I N T E R 2 : F L A M E S O F F R E E D O M (Microprose) Your ultimate objective is to destroy the Saharan Armada before it reaches your home island, Agora. Unless you place some obstruction in the Armada's way, you will have little chance of defeating it. You have two basic options. OPTION ONE This is to liberate as many islands as you can. This forces the Armada to make its attack through territory that your forces occupy. The attrition rate is high in such areas and the Armada will dwindle rapidly. In addition, each island that you liberate then contributes to the war effort, making the Armada's attrition rate even higher. By choosing your missions carefully, with just eight successful missions in the right places, you can liberate nearly all the islands in the archipelago. LIBERATING ISLANDS Liberating certain islands will liberate others without the need to attack them; hence liberating the following 9 islands will liberate the entire 41. Here's what to do and where to find them: CARMARGO Enlist Henri Bauchen at the lion Enlist Dols at Dan Sisten Enlist Fadi Al Hadi at Mais Bonita Enlist Zaid Sirhan at Cidade Hills LOBOS Go to Ahab - Johnson then Mitchel (through contact) Sabotage control tower at Jubilee Fields Go back and enlist Mitchel Sabotage underwater base at Deepwater Sabotage radar at Outlook Island (on NE hook of Deepwater) Use Black Widow secret weapon to kill Amandu Oangal DHAFIA Sabotage mine at Carbi Scar Talk to Zyiad at Rockford Point - he will then kill Merak. Enlist Habib Ayyub at Vale of Citenso Enlist Davis at Citenso Beach Enlist Jan Karlstaad at Garbi Coast Sabotage Police HQ at Boulorn Valley Sabotage Enemy HQ at Blackridge Plateau Sabotage Radio Station at Blackridge Plateau SIKASSO Seize documents East of the Shangaba Assassinate Andee Freitas East of Suaio Quay GHAZAL Assassinate Yousseaf Al Aorisi using Black Widow, after Sering Fred Melsten at Malad Highlands. Go to Bianca Fergona at Miolene Use Flying Fox to destroy underwater base at Asali Assassinate Zufia Ibn Rusho at Bay of Yahya MAKAT Use Flying Fox to Sabotage underwater base Use Begging Bowl to locate Hikmat Sutuz Enlist Alami at Harjum Assassinate Tayi at Lajunta NDOLA Go to Qalat and use Matahari Drug to enlist Bosio Alooma Take weapon (documents) SATARA Assassinate Zwide Tozer East of Hurrine Fell Enlist Mulela Kouyate at Suaid Recruit Keari Gamoudi at Uahr (top of island, not marked on map) Use Matahari Drug DJOUM Sabotage Ali at Freaigat Fields Assassinate Lwangira Baikir using Black Widow Assassinate Hassan Hilmi using Black Widow Press 'A' to release Armarda. Go to Djoum, destroy Armada using secret weapons as well as normal rockets (this is the easiest part of the game!) OTHER TIPS Transfer vehicles as much as possible, as this is the equivalent of destroying them. Rest whenever you have the chance. Destroy as many units as possible (for extra cash). OPTION TWO This is somewhat less obvious, but allows for a more 'leisurely' attack on the Armada. This strategy is to force the Armada to take the longest possible route to Agora. The Armada's attrition rate will not be as high as in Option One because it is always passing through friendly territory. However, the route it has to take is almost four times as long! The slow but steady attrition rate will ensure that only seven small, elite battlegroups reach Agora even if you do nothing at all in person. And, when it comes to attacking these battlegroups, you have all the time in the world to destroy them. To implement Option Two, you must personally liberate no less than 13 islands. The names of the islands that you must liberate are as follows: DJOUM SATARA THAT BENI MAZAR MORORITO HEMET CAJAMARCA AUSIA ALMIRANTE IQUITOS (which liberates GAMBOA) MARACAY CALABAR DHAFRA If you still have time left before the Armada sets sail, it is useful to liberate LOBOS (which liberates PANAO and VICENZA) and GALVA (which makes a large contribution to the war effort). The Armada route in Option Two is 16 islands long: CHAZAI -> KHASH -> CARMAGO -> MUAR -> ANGARA -> CRISTOBAL -> NICOBAR -> BOUREM -> GRAN PARADISO -> SIKASSO -> VITORIA -> CUBANGO -> MAJI -> JEBBA -> COROZAL -> ARGORA. Try this option out in strategic training and you will see just how the Armada dwindles away! GETTING A HEAD START ON YOUR MISSION The key to a quick and successful mission is knowledge. Once you know where the important characters are, your task starts to become easy. However, life being tough, when you start on your mission, you know virtually nothing. On most islands, your initial contacts will introduce you to their friends. By exploring this social network, you will eventually get to know everyone on the island - but this can be a long and time-consuming task. Characters often have friends in far-flung places and as you journey from one corner of the island to another, the clock ticks on and on. Hours turn into days and days turn into weeks. Frequently, the character you most want to find is the least sociable of all. When you are 'criss-crossing' the island, building up your network of social contacts, the temptation is to always use the Quick Time option which takes you straight to your destination. However, this is also the way to miss opportunities. If, from time to time, you Autoroute instead, you then get the chance to look around on your journey and to watch your radar. Often you will be able to spot new, unknown characters; if you do, interrupt your journey to go and talk with them. Chance meetings like these are a golden opportunity for short-cutting the intricacies of the island's social network and getting to know people quickly. To further increase your chances of meeting people, switch the village information on when you are looking at the man and deliberately set your route to pass through as many villages as possible. Characters are almost always near buildings. Finally, you will often discover that 'key' characters like to hide themselves away on tiny offshore islands. If you are finding it particularly difficult to locate someone, a visit to one of these can be very rewarding. HOW TO ATTACK AND DESTROY THE SAHARAN ARMADA The first and foremost rule to observe is simple: DO NOT ATTACK THE ARMADA AT IT'S MUSTER POINT!! When the Armada sets sail, every single battlegroup is gathered at the Muster Point, making your attack suicidal to say the least. The important thing to realise when attacking the Armada is that not ALL enemy units will make it to Agora. Even if you sit back having a cup of tea rather than fighting the Armada, a large number of enemy units will get destroyed by your own forces. So the secret in attacking the Armada is to only engage the dangerous units - in other words, those units that will certainly reach Agora if you do nothing about them. Attacking units that will get destroyed regardless is a complete waste of your time and energy. How do we know which units will make it? Well, the Armada is organised into battlegroups, some of which are small, elite units (which will ALWAYS make it to Agora) and some of which are 'conscript' units (which suffer a high attrition rate). If your island liberation strategy has been sound then most, if not all, of the conscript units will fail to reach Agora. The problem then is to sort out which units are 'elite' and which are 'conscript'. All the elite units have either a General or an Admiral as their commanding officer. Occasionally, a large conscript battlegroup will also have a General or Admiral in charge, but a unit with a lower ranking officer-in-charge is ALWAYS a conscript unit. So, as a rough guide, your primary targets should be small enemy units with a General or Admiral in charge. Always go for the leading battlegroups. Being closest to Agora, the vanguard of the Armada is always the most dangerous element. Destroy the vanguard and you have more time to deal with the rest of the Armada, working your way steadily down its line of attack. During combat, it is obviously down to your own battle skills, but you must still keep a strategic eye open. One of the worst scenerios is to destroy, for example, an enemy helicopter unit, and then find that you are running out of ammunition. More often than not, you will be far out to sea and the journey to find more ammunition will be long and time-consuming. When you are running low on ammunition during a firefight, your priorities must change. You are no longer hell-bent on destroying everything sight. Instead, you should be looking for an alternative vehicle. Leap into that enemy helicopter with its fresh stocks of ammunition BEFORE you destroy the whole unit. So, to summarise.......... (1) Wait until some elements of the Armada have dispersed from their muster point before making your attack. (2) Concentrate your attack on the small, elite units with high-ranking officers in charge. (3) Wherever possible, make your attack on the vanguard of the Armada. (4) Avoid getting stranded in the middle of nowhere without ammunition. ................................GOOD LUCK!! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *