Eagle Dawn

Operation: Eagle Dawn is the second Allied mission of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2.

Background
Although the operation in New York blunts the invasion and the Allies bought some time to establish a foothold against the ongoing invasion, elsewhere Soviet forces continues to occupy more and more American territory. No help from America's European allies was to be expected, as they were being held hostage by Soviet nuclear warheads targeting their cities. The President makes a move to ask for help from the Allied leaders in Europe to convince them to come to the aid of the American people, a move not too well received by the patriotic General Carville who does not love the idea of the US asking for help. Despite his misgivings, he knew that this might tip the scales in their favour, but he had other concerns about the Soviets.

General Vladimir's forces were freely rampaging through inland America. As General Carville briefs the commander on the need to defend the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Tanya interrupts, informing that the base had been captured by the Soviets. Subsequently, the General orders the base to be recaptured, making a small jab at Tanya, just to see her rage (to his own amusement).

Events
Some time after the mission begins, you'll receive reinforcements in the form of a group of eight rocketeers, who were in Colorado Springs at the time.

If you scan the areas for hostiles, two additional rocketeers will be on found on standby, ready to join your team.

Once you liberate the base, a squadron of 4 Harriers will lift off and destroy a vehicle in the Soviet base. This reveals the location of the base.

When you destroy the flak cannons in the Soviet base, you'll receive reinforcements in the form of 24-36 veteran GIs parachuting right into the heart of the enemy base.

Walkthrough
Head north from the base camp in the forest on the edge of the city. Once you get the Rocketeers, the objective will be revealed. Swim through the lake and kill the conscripts, then demolish the flak cannons. Once the engineers parachute in, capture the base. If you leave the Engineers alone long enough, two will capture the Allied Construction Yard and Air Force Academy Chapel automatically. The rest you'll have to direct to capture everything else manually. The enemy is pretty passive, so take your time, build up a force of Grizzly tanks and level the enemy base as you see fit.

Several enemy Rhinos and Flak Tracks will attempt to make a run for your base. Build up a solid defense to ensure they can't mess with you.

There is a weakness in the Soviet defense of their main base. The lightly-guarded northern side, has most of Soviet power plants and their Construction Yard. Destroying this base will put a significant dent in the enemy war effort.

Using the above method with Rocketeers is perhaps the best strategy, provided you have some tanks to defend your base. If your assault force is made up entirely of Rocketeers and you attack the northern side, focusing on systematically taking out every building as you make your way south, the Flak Cannons will be disabled before your Rocketeers can reach them, and all enemy units (including Anti Air) will ignore your Rocketeers and proceed to attack your base. If done correctly, this method will reduce your casualties greatly, even to the point where you win the mission without suffering a single casualty.

Valuable assets

 * Two veteran rocketeers in the lower left corner.
 * A cash crate in the upper left cleft.
 * A Soviet truck depot in the lower right corner with crates: one armor, one rank, and one cash.

Aftermath
The success of the mission slowed the Soviet advance across the American heartland and the critical resources of the Air Force Academy remained in American hands. However, while the Commander was away the Soviets overran Washington, D.C. and placed the entire city, including President Dugan and General Carville under Soviet mind control. The Commander would have to act quickly to rescue the government before it was too late.

Trivia

 * If at least four rocketeers are killed at start of the mission, a reinforcement of eight rocketeers will arrive.
 * Even though the player has an Airforce Command Headquarters, the player cannot build Harriers so if the Harriers are destroyed, they are permanently lost.
 * Tanya cannot destroy the captured Allied buildings except the Power Plant.