To the Moon

To The Moon is the sixth and penultimate mission of the Soviet campaign in.

Background
Soviet troops storming Yuri's Pacific Island base during Operation Escape Velocity found a space center complete with a launch site. A rocket was in fact prepared for launch just prior to the Soviet assault and was programmed to fly to the Moon.

Yuri had indeed constructed a vast lunar military complex in the Sea of Tranquility where he had planned to come after he initiated his global network of Psychic Dominators, just to be on the safe side. The Commander happens to have cosmonautic training, and Premier Romanov orders him to immediately lead a Soviet lunar taskforce to the Moon to destroy Yuri's secret base there.

Force Composition
Due to the fact that the battle was being fought on the moon, neither side could deploy much infantry, and mainly used Cosmonauts. There was also a lack of resources, giving each side a limited amount of forces.

The Soviets had to turn to their under-funded and poorly trained Cosmonauts in order to manage the lunar operation. Nevertheless, they managed to seek out several battalions of them, supported by special Desolators. They also were able to deploy several legions of modified tanks.

Yuri, on the other hand, was able to deploy much of his armed forces, having had much time on the Moon. He had seemingly endless armies of his own Cosmonauts. He was supporting them with squad after squad of his tank divisions. He also had three new units: Masterminds, Magnetrons, and (seemingly at home) Floating Discs.

Key Units/Buildings

 * Cosmonaut
 * Rhino Tank
 * Apocalypse Tank

Walkthrough
After establishing the base in the lower-right corner of the map, the player should work on producing Cosmonauts to help repel Yuri's forces. The War Factory can be built after the Barracks. Depending on mission difficulty, the player will have 55,000, 70,000 or 85,000 credits. Aside from destroying the Yuri outposts to get extra credits (one 5,000 credit crate for each of the two bases), there is no other source of income (note that if you are going all-Cosmonauts you will need a ground unit to pick these crates up).

Due to this, it is imperative to make a strong attack force to wipe out the two Yuri outposts so you can retrieve extra money. Defending your base from Yuri's units can go two ways: either use static defenses or units-in-defense. If you do use statics, make sure to build them in groups to reinforce each other and keep your power plants well protected from Floating Discs.

You might want Flak Tracks and Cosmonauts to help repel the Discs. Units-in-defense can include Flak Tracks, Rhinos and Cosmonauts. A Service Depot can help keep your ground vehicles in shape to avoid replacement costs. Regardless of choice, make sure to scout early on the map up to the Yuri outposts. Doing this will allow you to spot enemy troops well in advance and prepare a counter.

Attacking the enemy bases requires a strong strike force. The quickest and easiest option is to produce only Cosmonauts to attack since they are immune to Yuri's mind control units. The downside is that heavy losses will occur since there are many Gattling cannons, Tanks and Cosmonauts to face.

Going all Cosmonauts requires you to destroy Bio Reactors and Gatling Tanks first. Once the power is shut, destroy the unit-producing structures before mopping up. Note that the two outposts and the main base have separate power grids.

Note that once all of the Yuri units and structures are gone, the victory signal takes longer to occur.

Tips

 * Build 6 Barracks to lessen time on Cosmonaut Training.
 * Only two infantry types are authorized: Cosmonaut and Iraq's Desolator. This limitation was set due to the environment the battle was fought.
 * Soviet air units are not an option as vacuum does not facilitate helicopter, lighter than air flight (as there is no air), or any other mean of air based flying mechanic. Rocket propulsion however is not restricted.
 * There is a neat trick to save cost to "procure" the cosmonauts. Build any building (not a defence) separated from the building queue you are planned to construct, then sell it. It will give you a refund and one or more cosmonauts (quantity "procured" depends on the type of the building). For example, a barracks costs 500 credits to build, but will give 600 credits worth of a single cosmonaut if sold, along with a refund of 250; this means that you get a cosmonaut for only 500-250=250 credits. To speed up the process, use bigger buildings. When built and sold, a war factory creates 4 cosmonauts, which is at the same price as does a barrack (4 cosmonauts for 2000-1000=1000, still 250 for each).
 * Each of two main outposts in the middle of map excel in a specific base defense. One outpost is massed with psi towers (with a Gatling turret on the center) and vice versa. Keep this in mind on this mission.
 * At least on easy, cosmonauts have a very poor return on investment. While necessary (and cool) they fall to towers way too easily, making them a poor choice for limited funds. Apocalypse tanks, however, cost as much as 3 cosmonauts and can take on any of the (non-psychic) forces Yuri has. A swarm of 10 apocalypse tanks can take on the entire map assuming they have cosmonauts backing them up against Masterminds. Psychic towers are spread out and it's best to simply charge. Elite apocalypse tanks can bring down a tower before the stolen tanks have time to do any real damage.
 * Each base has its own separate power grid and their usage is fairly high. Aim for Bio reactors first. With no Construction yard, a deep strike on the power system effectively shuts down defenses, allowing a small force of 2-3 Apocalypse tanks to mop up. Remember to prioritize left-over reactors to avoid powering back defenses.

Aftermath
The war was not going well for Yuri. Not only was his lunar base gone, but much of his ground forces were being destroyed. Meanwhile this mission had bought time for the Soviet Command to locate Yuri's headquarters in Transylvania. With Soviet forces closing in, Yuri had no choice but to hatch his final plot....

Trivia

 * Although the beginning actions of the Magnetron taking a Rhino Tank and the Mastermind taking control of it are scripted, the controlled tank will sometimes attack the Soviet MCV. The MCV will survive with about 40% of its HP.
 * Due to its location, this is the only mission in Yuri's Revenge not to have any tech buildings.
 * Excluding Cosmonauts, the Desolator is the only infantry that the player can use in this mission.
 * In the mission, there is an Apollo 11 Lunar Lander as well as a US flag in the eastern side of the map close to the Soviet starting area, reminders of the fateful Allied Apollo 11 lunar landing mission that had the Soviets soundly beaten in the Space Race in July 20, 1969. It can be destroyed if the player chooses to do so.
 * Although the upper stage of the lunar lander is still attached, which could only happen if the astronauts never left the Moon.