Rushing means a surprise attack on a base with a small army before the enemy can set up their defences. These are a few rush tactics you can use in Red Alert 2:
Rocky Rush: Allies against Allies[]
Depending on the resources on the map you can try with 3 barracks or on a rich resource map even 6 barracks, which means rocketeers will build super fast: these is the order you need to build:
- Power Plant
- Barracks(Anti-infantry like Conscripts,GIs and Attack Dog)
- Ore Refinery
- Airforce Command Centre (Build lots of Rocketeers!)
- Barracks
- Barracks
- Barracks
- Sell MCV if you think it is needed
- Attack
Double Drone Rush: Soviets against Soviet[]
- Tesla Reactor
- Barracks (Scout the map)
- Ore Refinery
- War Factory (2 Terror Drones, 1 War Miner, Tanks)
- Ore Refinery
- Attempt to "Drone" the enemy War Miners while they are on a Ore Refinery as
they wont have the ability to shoot the Terror Drone
- Ore Refinery (Sell)
- War Factory
- Attack now with your army
All Air Rush: Allies against Soviets[]
- Power Plant
- Barracks (Scout the map)
- Ore Refinery
- Airforce Command Centre (build Harrier/Black Eagles and Rocketeers)
- Ore Refinery
- Sell MCV
- Harass him with your planes and Rocketeers and attempt to win
Engineer Sell MCV Rush: Soviet against any side[]
- Tesla Reactor
- Barracks (Scout the map)
- Ore Refinery
- War Factory (1 Flak Track, 1 Terror Drone, 1 Engineer from Barracks, 1 War Factory , after that build tanks)
- Ore Refinery
- Send the Flak Track towards the enemy, make sure the Engineer and Terror Drone are inside and then attempt to capture the enemy MCV or War Factory
- Ore Refinery
- War Factory
- Sell MCV, if you managed to capture an enemy building, sell it for the funds
- Attack with all of your forces
All-In Rush (Soviets vs Any)[]
- Tesla Reactor
- Barracks
- If no starting units, one or two Attack Dogs, which are sent to scout for the enemy base
- Second Barracks
- Place walls around Tesla Reactor (if you're more willing to accept a draw)
- Sell Construction Yard
- One Tesla Trooper
- Conscripts until money runs out - sell one Barracks to get the maximum possible number
- Do NOT sell the Tesla Reactor!
- Attack the enemy base, making sure you keep the Tesla Trooper out of harm's way
This rush is EXTREMELY effective if players begin with a small pool of starting resources, as most players will prioritise getting an Ore Refinery before building base defences or an army. If successful, this rush will catch enemy players off-guard, as they will not be expecting a 40+ Conscript attack this early. By keeping the Tesla Trooper alive, you prevent the enemy from simply walling their buildings in to survive. It is much less effective on high-resource pool starts, as the opponent will have more than enough money to continue building defensive structures.
This strategy is VERY high risk/reward. If pulled off successfully, a match can quite easily be won in under three minutes. However, if the attack fails (for example, if the opponent masses Attack Dogs or basic defences such as Pillboxes or Sentry Guns) then there is literally no way of rebuilding your forces, all but guaranteeing defeat. This can be averted if players build a wall around their Tesla Reactor, as a sufficiently crippled opponent won't be able to build anything that can attack it: however, this is at the cost of four Conscripts, which can make the difference between a successful attack and a failure if the enemy build appropriate unit counters.