Red Alert 2 Rush tactics intelligence briefing

Welcome back commander! Today we’re going to take a look at five Red Alert 2 rush tactics you can use to surprise your enemy. Some are relatively easy and some take some practice to succeed.

Are you ready for your intelligence briefing? You can read it bellow and there’s a video tutorial at the end of the video! Let’s start commander!

Before we go into the specifics a general good practice for all rushes is to deny scouting. If the enemy doesn’t see what you’re doing your rush has a higher chance to succeed.  Another preferred action before you start your rush is to do your own scouting. That way you can see if your enemy is prepared for the type of rush you want to perform and if he is, you can change your plans.

So do your scouting and anti-scouting before you decide to rush or you might be wasting your resources.

Okay, let’s move on.

Red Alert 2 – Engineer Rush

The first and most common Red Alert 2 rush is the engineer rush. It’s exactly what it sounds like. You rush the enemy base with an engineer.  While you can walk the engineer to the enemy base, it is wiser to wait and build the war factory and place the engineer into an I.F.V or a Flak Track.

Then use that vehicle to transport the engineer to the enemy base faster and securer. When you get to your enemy base you have multiple options. You can take over his Construction Yard but he might repack it before you’re able to capture it or have a wall around it.

When playing as soviets one way to deal with a Construction Yard repack is to place a terror drone into the flak track. When your opponent re-packs the Construction Yard to avoid the engineer, you attack the M.C.V with the terror drone.

While infested with a terror drone the M.C.V can’t re-deploy and 99% of the time that spells the end for that M.C.V. If you didn’t bring a terror drone or the Construction yard is walled off or you’re playing with allies you can consider capturing other buildings.

You can go after his war factory and sell it to set him back and gain some credits, or use the captured building as your base expansion and start building your base around it. In the example you’re seeing I capture his power plant and then use pill boxes to annoy and eventually defeat him.

An engineer rush is very hard to do when playing as Yuri but not impossible. Send the engineer on one path using the way-points and use other units as a distraction somewhere else.

When engineer rushing use your imagination and your opponents weak points. I’ve lost games where the opponent captured my War Factory twice inside first two minutes and made me sell it the third time he came close with an engineer I.F.V.

To learn how to pre-plan your engineer attack with way-points check my Top 15 Hints, Tips & Tactics video linked in the top right corner and the description.

Red Alert 2 – Seal Rush

The next rush I’d like to talk about is the Seal Rush. It takes a bit longer to do as you need to build an Airforce Command Headquarters and a war factory, but can be really destructive as the seal can lay waste to a lot of critical buildings if the opponent isn’t prepared.  The principle is the same as in the engineer rush. You build up all the necessary structures and a Seal and an I.F.V.

When you are ready, infiltrate the opponents base where it’s the least defended and wreak havoc on his base. I’d first go after his Construction Yard or Barracks so he can’t build pill boxes to defend himself.

After that it’s dealer’s choice. As soviet you can use a Crazy Ivan in a similar way, but the unit does less damage and it won’t be as effective.

Red Alert 2 – Rocketeer Rush

A rocketeer rush is an Allied specific rush. It’s exactly what it sounds like. A Rush using rocketeers. It’s also a high risk – high reward rush.  After you place down the ore refinery start building the Airforce Command Headquarters, don’t bother with the war factory speed is key.

Once you place down the Headquarters immediately start training rocketeers and build a second barracks to speed up the training.

With the second barracks placed down sell your Construction Yard for extra credits and therefore a larger force. Once you have 8-10 rocketeers attack your opponent.

I’d suggest first going after the war factory followed by either the power plant or barracks. That will prevent him from training anti air units from the war factory and disable his anti-air structures or the ability to build one if you go for the barracks.

As you’re selling your Construction Yard for maximum amount of units you need to be sure your rush can succeed so scouting and anti-scouting is even more important with this tactic! If you see enough anti-air in his base, stop your rush!

Another good tip for this rush is not to gather your rocketeers in your base. Your opponent can hear the rocketeers under the shroud of war and can guess your tactics even if he can’t see them. So move your barracks waypoint somewhere outside your base, where he probably hasn’t scouted yet, just to keep him in the dark.

Red Alert 2 – Basic Infantry Rush

Next is an infantry rush. This is another risky rush but you can overwhelm your enemy if he’s not prepared. When doing a pure infantry rush I’d suggest building multiple barracks so you increase your unit count faster and can attack with larger forces.

Also set your building rally-point to his base before you attack so your reinforcements arrive faster to your aid.  If you can afford to set yourself behind, you can also move your M.C.V. closer to his base.

Mixed Rush

Fifth type of rush is where you support your infantry with a few tanks. I like to use this tactic against Yuri. Yuri is a relatively weak faction at the start of the game, so rushing him is a viable strategy to gain an edge.

What I normally do, and this works against other factions not just Yuri, is to train about 10 conscripts. Sometime I add a tesla trooper or two. While I train those units I build my war factory and start producing tanks. I also sell my Construction Yard to gain extra funds.

When I have a tank or two I attack with my forces. The tanks can deal with his tanks, in this case his gattling tanks, and the conscripts can take down the buildings. I suggest taking care of his barracks first so he can’t build defensive structures.

Tank Rush

I’ll add a bonus sixth rush that is a pure tank rush. It’s the same as the rush mentioned before just without wasting credits for infantry. So build up your base till you place your war factory and then start building tanks.

You may build a second ore refinery and then sell your construction Yard, or just sell it outright. When you have 2 to 3 tanks attack your opponent and harass his miners. Preventing him from mining and re-building structures will set him behind, while you continue to produce tanks.

Like before set the rally-point of your war factory near his base. When you feel you have enough forces to destroy him, move in for the kill.

Let me mention two honorable mentions that didn’t make into this video, but might be included in the next. A Cuban rush and A Yuri Boomer Rush. One is where you attack with five terrorists in a flak track and the other where you take advantage of not needing a battle lab to build boomers and attack early with them.

These were five rush tactics you can use on the battlefield. Some are relatively easy to learn and some might take some time to master, but they’re all viable ways to win. And No, rushing isn’t noob like some like to say. Not knowing how to defend a rush might be though.

If you liked this article check out my blog for more like it, you may also check my YouTube channel! I post C&C videos daily!

See you on the battlefield commander!