Halo Wars Notes

Choose a new campaign and normal difficulty.
Play the tutorial
shows you how to move the camera with the left analogue stick. Have to move to three flares to proceed.
Told to move to a warthog and selct it with A. Then told to move it to a location by moving the crosshair and pressing X. Tells us about the fog of war being removed as we move units into unexplored areas.
We are told to move through a series of waypoints until we get to some soldiers.
Pressing the left bumper selects all units available.
Taught to move groups of units through another series of waypoints.
Taught that pressing X on an enemy units gives the order to attack by blowing up a covenant shield generator.
We fight a group of covenant soldiers then come across some large structures. We are shown that our soldiers can use special attacks, in their case grenades.
That is the end of the basic tutorial.

Story begins
Cut scenes of war with the covenant, humanity is winning at the start, then things go wrong and the covenant starts to win more and more engagements.
fighting has been going on around and on a planet called Harvest, and it's fairly wrecked after the five long years of war.
We see USNC fleet ships coming into orbit.
The Captain talks to his A.I. Serena. He thinks that although the covenant have been defeated there are still lots of them around down on the planet. reports come in that they have found something in the ice. A scientist tells him that we must find out what it is, of course first taking it back from the covenant. The scientist wants to go down with the soldiers but is told to wait until the area is cleared of Covenant.

Mission 1 Alpha Base
Our hero is Sargeant Forge. He is down on the planet. Alpha base which is near the covenant find is under attack and has all but been taken by the covenant.
Forge is to go there and try and muster the scattered forces.
Forge is alone in a warthog and we must drive him to the base. Along the way we meet covenant and human forces fighting, when we kill the covenant the humans join us.
When we get to the base it's wrecked and the covenant are occupying it.
We can't drive the warthogs in as the covenant have put up a shield, men can walk through the shield though and you can get them to destroy the shield generator letting the warthogs through. Air support takes out the covenant tanks and you mop up the soliders inside the base to complete the first mission.

Cut Scenes
Forge goes out to the covenant find in the ice. They have uncovered a forerunner structure.
The covenant open it, however they are worried about the flood.
On the spirit of fire the Captain talks to the scientist, he approves her going down to the structure once Forge captures it.
The covenant have got what they want from the structure and the Prophet tells the elites to blow it up.

Mission 2 Relic Approach
We first have to build our base.
First structure is a fortress.
Then we need supply pads to receive supplies from the Spirit of Fire.
Once the supply pad is built we need a barracks to create troops.
Supply pads provide the currency needed to build units and vehicles. The more supply pads you have the more and faster you build units.
a reactor allows you to power the base. Most of the buildings can be upgraded.
Turrets can be built at the four corners of your bases and upgraded.
A covenant base is found just to the north, destroying it allows you to build a second base.
A covenant meathane refinery must be destroyed, this will prevent them air dropping troops into our base as they have been doing.
We find a landing pad, liberating it from the covenant allows the Spirit of fire to drop in vehicles to help.
some warthogs and their crew have been captured while out on patrol, we find them in little covenant strongholds and liberate them for side objectives.
The main objective of the map is to get to the forerunner structure and blow up a detonator that the covenant have placed there.
Mission is complete when that is done.

Cut scenes
The professor comes into the forerunner structure. She activates the computers there.
The device shows a star map, however, before anyone can work out what is going on cloaked elites appear and attack. Forge requests reinforcements.

Mission 3 Relic Interior
We are controlling two grisly tanks and have to drive through the inside of the forerunner structure to get to Forge to assist him and the professor who it seems is called Anders
We drive through the structure killing covenant as we go until we reach Forge's position.
We then can gain control of the other units. Anders can repair units.
as we try and leave the forerunner structure the covenant blow up the force field bridge control unit and leave us stuck. There is another bridge however and Anders thinks she can get it working.
When she gets to the bridge we have to protect her for a minute until she gets the bridge working.
We then have to get out of the forerunner structure to a landing zone to end the mission.

Cut scenes
On the spirit of Fire anders tells the Captain that the forerunner lightshow was pointing out the Arcadia system for some unknown reason. The Captain has seen enough movies to know that he has to go to Arcadia. As the Spirit of fire comes out of FTL in the Arcadian system details come in that the covenant are already there in force, space battles have seen one of their ships destroyed, however one has limped damaged into the atmosphere and landed troops in Arcadia City.

Mission 4 Arcadia city
Forge is sent to help the civilian evacuation of the city.
There are three civilain transport ships, which must be protected for fifteen minutes until the civilians are on board.
which is easier said than done. The transports are fragile and the covenant come from anywhere with air support.
To start with you have planes and forge, you can build two bases to provide you with more units and defensive turrets, these also provide something else for the covenant to shoot at.
The mission last 15 minutes and is fairly frantic.

Mission 5 Arcadia Outskirts
The city is evacutated however overrun and the UNSC are retreating to regroup and recover.
Serena suggests an impact crater further down the highway will provide a good place to set up a base.
We have to move to the impact crater and then build a new base.
The covenant harrass the whole time.
We get a few spartans to help this time.
A covenant cannon must be destroyed before it blows us to bits.
Another base can be built further up the map.
The covenant base is the main objective here and once it's destroyed the mission is over.

Cut Scenes
Back to the Pillar of Fire, the covenant have errected a huge bubble shield dome over whatever it is that they are doing in the ruins of Arcadia city.
Anders wants to use a prototype plasma weapon to ruin the covenants day and take down the shield.

Mission 6 Dome of light
Anders and Forge are in a base near the shield, she uses a tank with the plasma weapon and it only succeeds in stirring up a hornets nest of trouble. covenant ships come in to attack and destroy the tank and land forces in the base.
We start the mission with a basic base unit and some spartans. Forge is with them.
The covenant send some ships over from the dome in waves, but not too many, some soldiers also come and harrass.
When you can afford it you can call down rhino tanks from the Spirit of Fire. These must be positioned on forward points closest to the dome. The first one is not powerful enough, so another must be placed. The covenant are occupying the position with a small base. Once it's destroyed and the tank in position we find that it's still not enough to penetrate the shield. Another rhino must be positioned. This time You have to use spirt of fire abilities. Called up by pressing up on the D-Pad. You can use pelicans to select units in a small radius and then move them to another place. This is useful to get the rhino past the blown up road. The third tank makes a dent in the shield but not enough.
Another is needed. Covenant locust tanks show up and the covenant start really pushing back and trying to attack the rhino's in their exposed postions.
Eventually i get all five rhino's in position and they fire on the dome making a huge hole in it. We then get the Spirit of Fire's cannons to lance the covenant base inside from space. Once this is done the mission ends.
I spend some time getting to grips with the base and the upgrades
Tech level is increased by building reactors and upgrading them. Once you have sufficient tech points you can get better upgrades and equipment for the units.
I build a field armoury, which can make the unit build time quicker, make the soldiers created faster, upgrade the base turrets and increase the amount of units i am allowed to build.
The barracks upgrades add more troops to a unit, a medic and upgrades like rpg and flamethrowers.


cut Scenes
We see the Arbiter and the Prophet talking on an ice world, they are walking in a forerunner structure. The Prophet has found a forerunner gadget but has no clue how to work it, I would hazard a guess that he doesn't even know what it is. Still he wants to fire it up and wants to kidnap Anders in the hope that she will have as much luck with this one as she did with the one on Harvest which repsonded simply to her touch.

Mission 7
Forge is rooting around in the area where the force field dome was, a scarab constuction site blocks the way, unfortunately even though the scarab can't move it's cannons are fully operationaly and it can take out almost anything with one shot. We must destroy it and find out what the covenant wanted here.
This time i can build vehicles, I explore all the upgrade options for the vehicles.
volley ability ablative armour power turrets, pirecing shot, dual launchers.
The scarab is taking pot shots at our base, but die to forerunner ruins can't get a good shot. However it does not look like we have all day, as the ruins are vanishing with the pounding they get.
A quick scout with a warthog to the north shows that there are a lot of covenant in the way of us getting to the scarab as well as it to deal with.
I notice that the fortress, the main base unit has some upgrades as well, the warthhogs can be equipped with grenadiers and gauss cannons.
as I approach the scarab with a lone warthog suicidal scouting mission I am told by Forge that it can't fire in two directions at once, which suggest that a two pronged attack may be the way to go.
I end up in a wrecked savegame because there is a time limit and the scarab breaks down the cover and wrecks my base ending the mission. The second time i do it much faster, don't muck about with any superfluous stuff, just build tanks and after much pounding on the scarab blow it ti bits. The mission ends straight after it's destroyed.

Cut scenes
Anders and Forge are exploring the area the covenant were so interested in when the Arbiter appears from his cloak right beside them, he grabs Anders, Forge tries to stop him but is fairly inneffectual and about to get run through by the Arbiters energy Sword when Anders steps in front and says she will come quietly if he lets Forge live. The Arbiter does so, I wonder why, because Anders has no real options anyway.Oh yes, plot expediency. We need Forge to still be alive because he is the hero. The arbiter decides to leave Forge alive and wanders off back to his dropship holding Anders by the head. A bunch of Spartans turn up and pick up the wounded Forge. Now wouldn't it have been better writing to have the Arbiter retreat from a three to one fight with the spartans rather than show inexplicable mercy for one of the humans he is tasked with the genocide of.
Back on the spirit of Fire The Captain has a difficult decision, he can blow up the fleeing covenant ship with Anders on it or give chase. He decides to give chase.
We see the end of the chase is a planet and it looks from the little flash we see of it that the flood are loose on it.

Mission 8 Anders' signal.
we start with no base, but we have an elephant, which is a mobile base. We can lock it down and train troop units with it.
We have to find an area which is suitable for a base, unfortunately the only good place due to the terrain has loads of covenant occupying it.
We find that with only basic troopers the covenant are hard going, hwoever after a time spartans turn up, who are outwith our control and finish the fight for us. The path to the beacon is now clear.
As we approach the beacon two other elephants with troops which are on the map but outwith our control are attacked suddenly, by flood it seems, they are massacred quickly and their signals stop, we can not see what is happening in the area once they are gone, but it's obvious that sudden heavy flood attack has happened.
We are to go investigate what happened to the other elephants, which seems damn silly to me, they got destroyed in seconds, so lets go send more men in to get destroyed in seconds.
While exploring in the far corners of the map I find a flood den, whcih is like a large pus sac, the spartan I was scouting with kills it with no resistance, however it seems that it isn't dead and will regenerate.
Again another one, but it seems useless to shoot them as they just regenerate.
Moving down to the area where the elephant was attacked we see the flood have killed all the soldiers and taken their bodies. The flood must be eliminated from the area and the elephant taken back.
Once that is done, we can set up a base.
The two elephants must be kept alive at all costs, for some unknown reason. why? losing them stops the mission, a bit silly.
It's time to build a base and all options seem available.
scorpion tanks seem ineffectual against the flood, while troops seem best.
Fucking hell, I carpet bomb the flood/elephant cluster base and succeed in only ending the mission as i destroy the elephant, doh.
The last objective is to get the other elephant out of flood clutches, apparently they are too expensive to write off.
Once the other warthog is taken back from the flood and taken back to your base the mission is over.
flood units are taken over covenant and USNC soldiers. There are also huge tentacles that can pick up wathogs and troops and kill them very quickly.

Mission 9 The Flood
Spartan red team are near Anders' signal, however the flood in between them and her are too much for them to take. Forge is given the task of reinforcing them.
We are given a base with two elephants and supply pads attatched to them which is new.
I build up my base and have only a little harrassment from flood pods and flying flood.
The spartans call and say it's getting hairy, I wonder if I have a time limit, which will be a pain in the ass if so.
As I take some tanks out to scout we find some large flood blobs, which when destroyed weaken the hive mind's powers. We have to destroy five of them to progress it seems.
I find the spartans attacking the main flood creature. Taking it out is fairly easily done with a group of about seven scorpion tanks. When the main creature is taken out all the other regenerating bases die too. Mission over when the main creature is killed.

Cut scenes
We see the anders being brought to the prophet at the forerunner structure. She demands to bee released and they laugh. The arbiter is peeved when one ofhis soldiers reports that a human ship has arrived. He orders the prophet sent back to high charity and for the human ship to be destroyed.
We see the Spirit of Fire arriving on a mostly ocean world, which confuses things, as the forerunner structure looked to be on an icy world. The ocean opens up and forerunner defence ships come out to attack. It appears that the planet is hollow and the arbiter and his chums are inside.

Mission 10 Shield world
There are troops on the ground investigating thee ruins on an island. They must be brought back up before the Spirit of Fire retreats from whatever is coming out of the planet. There are flood in the way and we must destroy their air capabilities before our pelicans can land and pick up the troops.
We have a base, some tanks, pelicans and three sets of troops that are out of our control, hemmed in by flood that are in the way.
Disrupting a forerunner tower with an emp from a vehicle called a gremlin gives us more time as a force field is trying to pull the Spirit of fire down. Once used the gremlin is destroyed by it's own emp, well not destroyed but useless.
Basically you have to clear the flood from three areas, as each area is cleared pelicans automatically come and evacuate the troops. You gain control of any hardware left behind, like a grisly tank and an elephant. When all three areas are clear the last units still can't get evacuated due to heavy flying flood units. They have to be brought back to the base and come under your control. Once they get to the base the mission ends.

Cut scenes
The spirit of Autumn is pulled into the forerunner structure, however, the flood are attached to the hull

Mission 11 Cleansing
We are on the outside of the Spirit of Fire. Flood are occupying the hull, we have to clean them off, unit building structures are available on the hull and we bascially have to kill em all. There is a wave of energy that passes over the ship every so often like a decontamination wave. It kills humans as well, which is a pain. You have to use flying ships to get at some of the flood as soldiers can't walk that far.
A short fun inventive mission.

Cut scenes
The Spirit of fire comes roaring through the airlock of the hollow planet and straight into a covenant battleship which was probably coming to shoot at them, they narrowly avoid hitting each other head on and then start fighting.

Mission 12 Repairs
We are still on the hull, a power core has been damaged, we have to use cyclops units to repair it while fending off covenant ships which come in steady streams, shooting things up and dropping off troops and tanks. We have the same outside stuctures as earlier and can build from them. The more cyclops you have working on the core the quicker the mission as it ends as soon as it's repaired.

Cut scenes
The Arbiter looks grumpy as he comes for Anders, he grabs her and sticks her hand on the forerunner globe, it activates and lots of giant sword like forerunner machines start to move. The Arbiter and chums are too busy watching what is going on that they forget to watch Anders, she stands on a glowing pad that was dormant and says surface, and she gets teleported to the surface. Her smug look is soon wiped from her face as flood pods attack. Forge turns up and saves the day. How did he get there, I thought he was on the spirit of fire which was inside the planet? Oh hang on I think we are inside the planet on the surface of the interior.

Mission 13
Forge and Anders are alone on the surface with flood approaching. We are told to go to a landing zone. When we get there the pelican is brought down by flying flood. Drop troopers come in to help. With no pelican Anders tells us to go to a teleporter nearby.
The teleporter takes us further down the map. Where there is another beacon. We have to hold the landing zone until the pelican gets to us.
After about three minutes the pelican arrives and picks up Anders. She tells us to hold this area.
We find a covenant base and attack it with all our forces. Once it's destroyed we can use the base site to build our own base.
I build up the base and investigate, to the east are some more covenant bases. I take one, but there must be more.
Once the base is taken we can build a second base.
I use this one to make manny more supply pads to increase my resources.
On exploring the map We find a scarab which has been abandoned by the covenant due to the flood, once we kill the flood, we can use a spartan to get it turned over to our control.
Another base and a scarab to finally finish this mission.

Cut scenes
Anders has a plan, seems that the huge sword like forerunner machines are ships, and now that they are activated the covenant can use them. Which means they will have suddenly just got a huge war machine boost. Enough to easily wipe out humanity. Anders plans to make the core of the spirit of fire overload inside the dyson sphere. Which will hopefully be enough to make the enclosed star go supernova and take out all the ships while they are still in the one place. It will also mean that the Spirit of fire will be unable to go ftl and will probably take 3 billion years to go home or something like that.
The mission is underway and the covenant start wrecking it almost at once.


Mission 14 Reactor
We have to get the reactor to a certain point. We get a base to build and we have to use an elephant to move the reactor which is on it's own trailer.
There is a covenant base to the north, which falls easily to a group of five scorpion tanks.
We now have a second base to build.
Things seem to be going swimmingly until the forerunner flying attack bots blow up the reactor sneakily.
Up the hill which forms most of the map another covenant base awaits.
And another base further up the hill.
That seems to be all the covenant bases
Now would seem to be a good time to build an elephant and tow the core up the hill.
When we get to the top the mission ends.

Cut scenes
The core is about to be sent to the sun through the teleporter. The Arbiter turns up with a load of elites and we get some fairly fun action scenes with spartans fighting elites. Forge faces down the Arbiter alone and is doing well to survive but it's obvious he isn't going to win. The Arbiter has him in a death grip and is about to plunge it's energy sword into him and at the last second he surprises it with a knife and stabs it in the throat, it drops Forge and it's energy sword and Forge uses it to run the arbiter through.
The spartans tell forge that the core is damaged and the detonation can only be done manually, someone will have to go up with it. Forge tells the spartans that they are needed in this fight more than he is and that he will activate the core explosion.

Mission 15 Escape
They like the final mission to be a desperate run for it type mission in Halo don't they.
The portal out of the dyson sphere is closed by the forerunner computers due to flood infestations, to get it to open we will have to clear the flood away, and also the covenant seem to have a presence also.
We are given a base, a few spartans and left to get on with it.
Forerunner autodefenses, flood and covenant are all fighting amongst themselves.
There are at least three scarabs in the area and several flood and covenant bases.
You have to activate six pylons in order to open the gate, they only open when there are no flood or covenant near the base of the pylon. The order is given to you by waypoints and they must be activate in pairs opposite each other.
This is the hardest mission so far by a mile. The objectives would be met no problem given enough time but the race against the clock makes it necessary to adopt special tactics.
I basically forgot about vehicles, made as many supply points as I could in the bases I took over and upgrades the troops to maximum, which turns them in ODST troops. With enough of them and using mac cannons etc I was able to finish the mission.

Cut scenes.
We see the sun starting to go nova and grow in size. The Spirit of fire does not have enough thrust to escape, The Captian suggests flying straight at the sun, slingshoting around it and having enough escape velocity that way, of course the hole in the dyson sphere is only slightly bigger than the ship itself, so it needs precision flying by the ship a.i. to do it. The spirit of fire escapes in the nick of time and the planet is destroyed. The Spirt now has an awful long journey ahead of it, so the crew go into cryogenic sleep. The last to go in are the Captain and Anders, they pine for Forge and the credits roll.

Played roughly 10-15 hours. On the normal difficulty, got 285 achievement points.