Jewel in the East

Description[]

Jewel in the East is the fourth scenario of the Russian Campaign in Empire Earth. It deals with Grigor II and his personally led forces and their campaign in China.

Briefing[]

Jewel in the East: 2092

With his power base firmly established, Grigor II began a lightning campaign to defeat the last remaining power on the continent that still posed a major threat to Novaya Russia: mighty China.

The slaughter was terrible. Wave after wave of Chinese defenders were met by matching waves of Black Robes. The stalemate was finally broken in the highlands of Mongolia, which had the misfortune of being caught in between the two clashing superpowers. The Russians achieved a major breakthrough, but at a terrible price.

Now, the spearhead of the Russian forces has moved far beyond their lines of supply. The bitter fighting and equally bitter Mongolian Winter, in an ironic twist on Russian history, has begun to take its toll on Novaya Russia's flesh and blood troops. if total victory is not achieved soon, it may never be.

But Grigor II and his personally-led forces have nearly reached their ultimate goal: Beijing, the Chinese capital. While the massive armies on both sides continue to fight, a secret mission has been launched to capture the Factories that are producing the bulk of the Chinese forces. If this daring raid succeeds, the Chinese forces will surely crumble. Victory is close, but timing will be everything.

Objectives[]

- Convert and defend at least 8 Chinese Cyber Factories or Cyber Laboratories.

- Grigor II and Major Molotov must both survive.

- Bring Molotov to the Science Complex in Xi'an to steal Chinese technology.

- Bring Molotov up to the Time Machine in Beijing.

History[]

The conquest of China had been described in detail to Grigor II by Grigor before his death. Indeed, plans for the invasion had been drawn up years before, noting everything down to the smallest detail: troop concentrations, points of attack, supplies and logistics, and so on. but decades of unrest and localized revolts forced the new leader of Novaya Russia to put off the campaign in China. It was a calculated move, for Grigor II knew that all distractions had to be eliminated if Novaya Russia hoped to succeed... but time also played against them.

Over the course of the 21st Century, China had secured its place as one of the world's greatest powers - with a flourishing economy, high-tech industries, and a strong military. Moreover, as Novaya Russia spent years expanding its Western and Southwestern borders, China had prepared herself for a possible confrontation with her neighbor to the north.

Finally, in the spring of 2092, Grigor II was satisfied that his empire was firmly under his control and his forces were prepared for the coming war. Moreover, China's on-again off-again relationship with the United States had once again soured, ensuring that US forces would not be directly involved in the conflict. The time was right, but wars often do not go as planned, and the initial Russian advance quickly faltered. With the war in danger of dragging on indefinitely, decisive action was needed...

Hints[]

Remember that Priests are needed to convert buildings.
Remember that nearby Universities will prevent you from converting things.
Move quickly to convert the Cyber Factories at Baotou. You'll need them to produce additional troops.
Be careful not to destroy too many Cyber-producing buildings, because more cannot be built.
The Chinese Pagodas serve as Barracks for them.
You will want to refer to the manual for detailed information on Cyber units, as they will be the only Cybers available to you.

Storyline[]

Grigor II's invasion force, led by Major Molotov has landed near Baotou.

Major Molotov: We've certainly passed the point of no return now. It is, as they say, either victory or death. If only we had more troops available for this operation.

Grigor II: Bismarck once said the issues of his day would be solved by blood and iron. It seems we must solve ours with iron alone. There is no effective way to supply our conventional troops this deep inside enemy territory. Besides, they do us more good keeping the Chinese forces occupied back at the front lines.

Major Molotov: I can certainly agree. But perhaps we can find a way to persuade some of the local inhabitants to join us. In war, there are always those among the locals who can be made to join the winning side.

The invasion force heads into Baotou, and makes its attack.

Grigor II: The city has Temples! They could be helpful. Once we eliminate any troops guarding the city, we might be able to capture the Temples intact.

The Baotou troops are defeated, and the Temples are captured.

Major Molotov: With this Temple under our control, we can convert the locals to our cause. We will also have the means to capture enemy structures for our own use.

Grigor II: Yes... these people will make excellent slaves.

Major Molotov: Surely we will reward those that ally with us?

Grigor II: Their reward shall be their lives. If allowed to remain free, they could eventually become a threat.

Grigor II gives Molotov a new assignment.

Grigor II: I've recovered some interesting data from the main computer of this Factory. The Chinese have a secret military science complex in Xi'an, south of here. Molotov, you are to infiltrate this complex and steal their scientific research. Then, we can construct more advanced weapons of our own.

Major Molotov: As you command.

Molotov enters the Science Complex.

Major Molotov: I've entered the complex and recovered the data - the Chinese have been developing Nano technology here. But we are not able to put that knowledge to use without the logistical support of a Town Center. There is also some disturbing information... the Chinese are laboring to develop Time Travel. If they successfully build and use a time machine, the consequences could be disastrous for us!

The ability to make more advanced Nano units is made available.

Grigor II: Now that we can use Nano technology to our advantage, our military forces should gain the upper hand.

The Time Machine gets powered up.

Grigor II: I am detecting strange electro-magnetic energy distortions... The Chinese are powering up their Time Machine! They must intend to travel to the past and alter our history. Molotov, you must get to the Time Machine and destroy it before it can be fully activated!

Molotov heads over to the Time Machine.

Major Molotov: A shame to destroy such an impressive piece of machinery, but we can't have our enemies tinkering with history. Now that I have the plans for this device, it is time to leave before this place goes up in flames.

The Time Machine prototype is destroyed.

Major Molotov: I have recovered the plans for the Time Machine and destroyed the prototype... but I fear the radiation released by the blast was too... much...

Molotov falls from contamination.

Grigor II: Fear not, Molotov. Novaya Russia cannot afford to have so brilliant a soldier taken from her. There is little that our scientists cannot repair.

Shortly afterwards, Molotov is fully recovered, now outfitted as a cyborg.

Grigor II: With the Chinese Factories under our control and the Black Robes at the front lines poised for victory, the supremacy of Novaya Russia on this continent is assured. The plans of my predecessor and master continue to fall into place... these time travel experiments were too little, too late. It is time that I evaluated Molotov's recovery. My scientists report that his repairs are complete.

Cyborg Molotov: What has happened? What have you done to me? I've been turned into some kind of freak!

Grigor II: Do not concern yourself with trivialities such as appearance, Molotov. You've received extensive damage from the high radiation, but you are alive. You should thank me. These augmentations not only saved your life, they will allow you to function more efficiently than any other human, once you are used to them. You are now more like me.

Cyborg Molotov: That is not exactly... comforting. But at least I can take comfort in continuing to serve Novaya Russia and her people.

Walkthrough[]

Possible civ points: 25

Advance to the next age: 15 civ points
Win the scenario: 10 civ points

Investing civ points: if not done already

Cybers (Combat): attack, range, hitpoints
Cybers (Ultra): hitpoints
Pop Cap +15% = from 80 to 92

This scenario is a medium challenge – if you know the mechanics, not even that.

Phase 1: Conquering a base[]

Give your troops basic upgrades: 1x attack, 1x range
Set all your units on scout mode so that they destroy only what you want them to destroy
Molotov cannot be set on scout mode, so keep your army constantly moving. After the fight, position him outside the city
Attack the first city (Baotou) and kill all military units; you will then automatically receive two Temples
Immediately queue four Priests. While they are trained, destroy all Pagodes (infantry training buildings) and Universities (they prevent conversion), nothing more
Advance your army to the stone field slightly southeast of the city to stop the enemy mining there. The stone fields of this scenario have only 2,500 stone
Convert two Cyber Factories first, then the three Citizens at the Farms in the city, then the Hospitals and then other buildings
About converting Houses: converting them brings the advantage of the morale bonus for the defending units. You do not have to invest the micromanagement of your troops, changing them to scout behavior when they are near the city. On the other side, there have been reports years ago that the enemy attacks with nuclear bombers if you convert (some or all?) Houses. Reports from newer game versions did not confirm this, but if you want you can use a compromise: convert only the Houses in the south of the city and let the ones in the north (mostly) be.

Phase 2: Preparations[]

As usual, you have to develop your economy and your defense simultaneously.

Economy[]

Converting Citizens: since you have no Citizens in the beginning and your Capitols and Town Centers cannot produce Citizens in this scenario, your only source will be converting enemy Citizens. After converting the three at the Farms in the city, look at the Granaries slightly west of the city – there will come endless numbers of (purple) Citizens you can easily convert. Look also at the forest slightly west of the Granaries, where there will be more enemy Citizens chopping wood.
As fast as possible (with the first Citizen) build a Capitol a space north of the gold and iron fields northwest of the city.
As fast as possible convert the Granary in your city. Destroy the Farms and reset them. You have space for 4 farms, which should be enough, but you can raze some Houses to make place for more. You will need a lot of food for the production of the Ares and the upgrades of all units.
At the Capitol, concentrate first on mining gold, but do not neglect iron.
As soon as the food and gold supply is working, and after the stone field is secured by towers, build a Settlement slightly north of your stone field. Populate it to a full Capitol (50/50) before even starting mining stone. That sounds more complicated than it really is. With 4 Priests, it will not take too much time.
If you think you need wood, build a Settlement/Town Center/Capitol at the forest north of your city, when it is inside your tower guarded perimeter. In this scenario, you will not need more wood than you have at the start.

Defense[]

Expect attacks from the west, south and east. The enemies will send mostly infantry, a few tanks and a few Hyperion II Cybers.

Immediately divide your army in three groups: all ground Cybers (with 2 Apollo) in a group at the southeast/east of your base. Molotov at a good distance south of your city. He will mostly do just fine alone. Your Ares (with 2 Apollo) in the west, slightly south of the two enemy Granaries that are so very important as steady sources of Citizens; constantly produce more Ares until you have 20, as they will be your main attack force – throughout the rest of the scenario in scout mode. If Molotov should need some help, the Ares are nearby.
Why Ares? These flying units are flexible, highly maneuverable, strong against a lot of units, safe from a lot of attacks and have self healing. They need the company of only 2 Apollo if managed correctly.
Build Towers in a part of the perimeter of your base: from east to south. Not in the west, as to not destroy your source of Citizens. Your starting resources should be enough to build 6-7 towers. Build the towers at enough distance from your city so that they do not destroy your not converted Houses and so that they include the stone field. Later, when you have enough stone, build half a dozen more towers to fill the gaps in your defense and to free the Ares from guard duty.
If you feel safer that way, build some AA Missile Towers, but you probably will never see a single flying enemy unit in this scenario.
If you want, you can convert enemy tanks to strengthen your defense, but that is purely optional and not really needed; it also requires some micromanagement you probably do not want to do.

Army[]

20 Ares: 2x attack, 2x range, 1x hitpoints
4 Apollo (the starting units): range, hitpoints, 1x speed (to make them as fast as your Ares), energy
4 Pandora (the starting units): 2x attack, 2x range, 1x hitpoints
4 Minotaur (the starting units): 2x attack, 2x range, 1x hitpoints

When your economy runs, the defense is strong and all your units are upgraded, the next phase begins.

Phase 3: Attack[]

You use your Ares squadron (with 2 Apollo), always in scout mode. To speed up things, you only destroy the important buildings: Towers, AA Missile Towers, Training buildings and perhaps Town Centers – since your opponents do not rebuild any destroyed building, this way you have effectively neutralised them very fast. You can further speed up things queuing attacks (Shift + attack on several targets).

Xi'an: the purple city south of your base. Only the blue research complex cannot be attacked. Do not send Molotov there yet because this will trigger a timer.
Zhengzhou: follow the way east along the southern edge of the map. In previous game versions, it may have been necessary to destroy the 6 Airports, but now the Chinese airforce is completely inactive in this scenario. You can destroy them nevertheless if you want to feel safe.
Beijing: go north and do the same there. There is a complex in the middle of the city that you can not attack.

Now you work on the quest line:

Go with Molotov and the Ares squadron to the city in the southwest. Move him to the research complex and target it. He will steal Chinese technology and you can advance to the next (Nano) age. "We will need a town center" means that you can advance in any of your Capitols or Town Centers. When you arrive in the new age, you get 15 civ points, you can upgrade your combat cybers – and 3-4 minutes later a timer starts ticking. The enemy cyber factories you did not convert begin to produce Hyperion II – they are easy prey for your Ares.

OR

Go with your Priests and the Ares squadron to the cities in the southeast and convert all cyber buildings you need to complete the objective. The remaining cyber buildings you can convert too or destroy. Immediately after meeting the objective the same timer begins to tick.

Go with Molotov and your Ares squadron to Beijing. When Molotovsenters the city and goes near the time machine, 10 Hyperion II will spawn there. If you beforehand sent your Ares there and moved Molotov cautiously so that he remains outside their field of vision, the Hyperion will stand there idling, waiting to be roasted by your Ares. If you did not convert the cyber buildings yet, some more Hyperions will soon arrive in Beijing. When you are done with the battles, move Molotov to the Time Machine and watch the cutscene.

If you did convert the cyber buildings beforehand, the scenario ends now – if not, you have to do it now to win the scenario (10 civ points).