The Shark and the Lure was the second Allied mission in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3.[1]
Background[]
The Soviets had been beaten back in Great Britain, with the infamous General Krukov fleeing south with whatever forces he could salvage from the debacle. While the Allies were encouraged and re-energized by the victory at Brighton Beach, elsewhere in Europe, the war continued on.
After his defeat at Brighton Beach, General Krukov has retreated to the south of France and captured Cannes, setting up a strategic naval port in the city. To make matters worse, several Allied leaders have been pinned down by Soviet forces in a conference center inside the city.
Seeing his success in Great Britain, President Ackerman took a strong liking to the new Allied Commander, attaching his best commando, Agent Tanya, to his force in hopes that he might "kick a little more Commie butt."
New additions[]
|
|
|
|
|
Events[]
Due to the Soviet naval blockade in this area, the Allies were unable to attack head-on. However, they managed to send in an infiltration team and set up a small base in the city. Commander Warren Fuller, who was in command of the ground forces, was responsible for securing the conference center where the Allied leaders are being held.
Meanwhile, the Allied Commander was given control of Tanya and a team of spies in order to infiltrate the Soviet island harbors. The islands were heavily defended by Tesla coils and patrolled by War Bears, but Tanya took out the War Bears guarding the islands, allowing the disguised spies to sabotage the Soviet Reactors and shut down the Tesla coils. Spies infiltrated the Soviet docks, and planted demolition charges in each of them.
By this point, Commander Warren had already secured the conference center. However, his forces were unable to advance further due to constant bombardment from Soviet Dreadnoughts, which were protected by Akula subs. With all the charges in place, Tanya sent a message to the Soviet fleet from the Port Authority Building, claiming that insurgents are onboard the Akulas and ordering them to return to their ports for a search. As soon as they did, the demolition charges were detonated, destroying all of the Akulas, as well as the docks, the Naval yards, and all of the docked Dreadnoughts.
| “ | So long, suckers! - Tanya when the trap is sprung |
” |
Without their Akula escorts, the remaining Dreadnoughts were easily destroyed by Tanya. The Allies Chronoshifted in an MCV in order to upgrade the existing base with an Ore Refinery and Armor Facility, with which the commander could build up a force to finish off the remaining Soviet forces. The Allied Commander quickly built up a strike force and, with Commander Warren's forces, pushed into the Soviet base and razed it to the ground. Soviet Commander Nikolai Moskvin, thoroughly furious with his base's demise, swore this wasn't over as he took what was left of his forces and retreated back to friendly Soviet territory.
Aftermath[]
With the liberation of Cannes, the Soviet forces had been driven out of France and pushed back to their headquarters in Germany. According to information acquired by Agent Tanya, their headquarters is located in Heidelberg. The Allies immediately began planning for an assault on the city.
Walkthrough[]
The first part is infiltrating the Soviet naval bases. Use the Boot Camp to train a few extra Spies as some more will be needed.
Get Spies to disguise as the Soviet infantry and power down the Tesla Coils, then get Tanya to kill the Conscripts and the Bears. Alternatively, go straight for the Vindicator bombers on the southwestern island and use them to take out the coils. Using the bombers rather than Tanya on the Soviet Barracks is advisable, as they may produce Bears at a moment’s notice as Tanya approaches.
The Bears will sniff out and kill Spies in one attack so keep Spies away from them. Warren will rescue the Allied leaders on his own so don't worry about Warren’s situation - just focus on infiltrating and sabotaging the Soviet naval bases.
Afterwards, get Tanya in the Port Authority Building so the Allies can sink the Akulas, making the Dreadnoughts vulnerable to attack. Sink them with Tanya so the player’s new Guardian tanks can help Warren destroy the Soviet land bases. Also the Airbase with Vindicators can be liberated, if it hasn’t been already, so the Allies can use air power to destroy the Tesla Coils if they cause problems to the tanks and infantry. Once the Soviet base is destroyed, the mission is a win.
Trivia[]
- At the end of the mission, the Soviet victory theme plays instead of the Allied victory theme. This is likely to be simply a bug.
- The Oil Derrick appears for the first time in this mission. The two on the map are owned by the player from the start.
- Although only the second mission, if the player captures the Soviet Construction Yard, Tesla Coils are already buildable. However it is likely the base will be destroyed soon after this point to end the mission so this is of little benefit.
- Despite being available to build in the previous mission, Multigunner turret defences cannot be built in this mission.
- The number of Tesla Coils guarding the naval bases varies with difficulty level. On Easy and Normal, some empty spaces are marked out with curved sandbag barriers where Tesla Coils should be.
- A wing of Vindicator bombers are stranded in an Airbase located on the easternmost island. Upon discovering the island, a bonus objective to free the Vindicators is triggered, which requires the four reactors connected to the Tesla coils on the island to be destroyed. The Soviet infantry on the island can also be eliminated, though this is not necessary.
- Unlike other bonus objectives in the game, there is no objective marker until the island is discovered. Therefore, the only way to learn about the stranded Vindicators in-game is to watch the complete pre-mission briefing.
- The four Tesla Coils here actually power down when only two of the reactors are destroyed, but all four must still be destroyed to complete the objective.
- The disabled Tesla Coils can be destroyed by the Vindicators for veterancy. This helps when using them to destroy the Tesla Coils on the other islands to allow Tanya to proceed, rather than using Spies to power them down.
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ Electronic Arts Los Angeles, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3. Allied mission 2: "The Shark and the Lure".