Ok, I understand that the ED is supposed to be the hardest faction in 2150. But I'm dying in the tutorial here.

The awesome part is, when the game sends me to destroy the enemies, it goes "it will be a pleasure to wipe them out!", like it were the easiest thing ever.

I suppose I could eventually win by biding my time and building a huge bunch of tanks... but if the game sends you to destroy the enemies with just five tanks, and this being the tutorial, I thought it should be done that way. Is it even possible?

Maybe I'm just a noob (admittedly this is my first RTS game in a very long time).

The game really is very hard.

I've just checked the Prima Official Strategy Guide and you need to set up a base and upgrade your units and build more of them. The five are a scout force only, so you will need more tanks with 105mm guns and rockets.

Yeah, this game is harder than many others in the strategy genre. However, your chances to win increase a lot, if you refer to 'standard rts tactics'. Since I am a quite successful Starcraft 2 player and therefore no 'rts noob', I recommend the following: Try to find different build orders for your different tactics. That is what always makes you far better than others, no matter if you fight against human opponents or ai enemies.

Yes, it is that simple. But don't underestimate the skill it needs to execute build orders correctly. That is what makes it really hard! Good luck! :)

I agree totally. That I expected the tutorial too be easier. I don't mind long times in battles, but to have to wait for research then build 20 upgraded tanks take about 20 mins plus of real-time!

The best strategy is to attack early. The AI gets out of resources very quick. Also, as pointed out in another thread, their tech advancement is retained between missions. If you attack early, you keep them at an ealy level of development. It is especially easy to beat them with helicopters. A bunch of Kossacks with 20 mm guns can bring down the enemy base very quickly. Target power plants. Nearly every AI base has weaknesses that can be exploited. The bases are nearly never built to withstand an attack form air and ground at the same time. If the base is difficult to approach from the air, it is easy to approach on the ground and vice versa. If you attack early, they will spend all their resources trying to repel the attack.

Another way to defeat them is to destroy their mines early.

This way it is also easy to complete the game early, as you end up mining their resources.