Space Hulk 2 - The Complete Solution Incision Incision is a veritable baptism of fire, so move forward as ordered and gun down the ‘stealers in the room ahead. Once you’ve won enough space to breathe, move quickly to seal the doors. when you’ve established your perimeter, sweep left and hunt for the archive record data. Decipher Follow your commander’s prompts as you hunt through the hulk for an archive record viewer, but beware of the mines scattered in this area. The best way to deal with them is to retreat a few paces, look down and then explode them with your bolter. You should only face isolated enemy activity on this mission, but the ‘stealers move quickly through the duct system and can be on you before you know it, so be vigilant. Hold Here you’ve got to buy your squad enough time to punch their way through to the warp drives. Hike to your first waypoint, where you’ll end up covering two ‘stealer entry points. Keep your trigger finger itchy. An order to give ground will soon follow, so retreat carefully and rejoin your team for beam out. Locate Motor forward, mowing down any ‘stealers you encounter and lock the first door to secure the entry point. Keep it covered and when the door breach occurs, sustained fire should kill the backlog of ‘stealers which have built up. Next, play Tail-End Charlie and cover your brothers’ retreat to the next waypoint, where a door will close, earning you a temporary respite. Move south and west, and cover Marcus as he places the power field generator. Secure the final door, before stepping lively to the beam-out point. Breakthrough A short-sharp-shock mission, where you should head out in the vanguard, cutting your way through any resistance, as you make a dash for the explosives. Chug east to the placement point and deliver your payload, then, cover the southern entry point, while your squad lays the rest of the charges. Finally high-tail it to the beam-out zone before the ‘stealers can mass ranks and retaliate. Gas This mission charges you with stemming the gas flow created by your explosives, and is basically a race against time. Weather the initial storm of ‘stealers and, after you’ve won through, head for the gas taps located in the south and south west corners of the map. Deal with any ‘stealer activity en route with extreme prejudice, but keep a wary eye on the gas build up via your ever trusty scanner. Plunder Your first command mission and you’re in for an uneasy, rather than a difficult time. Scanner interference and minefields are inconvenient, but more so are the Chaos Marines which populate this part of the hulk. Armed with bolters, which nullify your ranged weapons advantage, they’re nevertheless weaker than the average terminator and should fall easily to your troops. The three Imperial artefacts can be found to the north, northeast and east, and you should use the relatively low level of resistance to practice manoeuvres, issue orders and generally hone your command skills. Initiative The first real test of your command faculties, Initiative pits you toe-to-toe with a horde of ‘stealers in a frantic race to get your squad to the exit. Try splitting your men into two groups and send one squad down each side of the map. Establish fields of fire which cover the initial ‘stealer entry points and when there’s a lull in the action, move quickly to reach your next objectives. Pair up your terminators so that they cover each other and, as ‘stealers come from all angles in the final rush, you might even consider taking your guys off overwatch to speed them up as you make a final lunge for the beam-out zone. Killing Ground Head straight for the first large room which is chock full of ‘stealers. Leaving one man to cover your back, line up your terminators and then order them to open the four doors simultaneously; your combined firepower will inflict a fearful slaughter. Regroup and form your men into a hollow square or line astern formation, as you cross the second hall, so that their fields of fire overlap. Make sure you detail one of your lead men to cover the ‘stealer entry point at the far end of the room and, with luck and a little bit of judgement, you should be able to squeeze through and beat an orderly retreat down the winding series of corridors to the exit. Barren A tricky mission this, because you’re moving a large squad across some very hostile territory but, by way of compensation, you do get your first use of the heavy flamer - an extremely potent weapon. Probably your best course is to split your guys into three squads, with one flamer per squad, which will also cause the ‘stealers to divide their forces. Move along the bottom of the map and cover your rear against attacks from above, while continuing to head east to the beam-out zone. Make good use of the rooms, where two terminators can stand abreast, to establish fire zones. the long corridors on this mission are also advantageous, allowing you to soak up ‘stealer pressure and buy yourself time to think and plan. Nevertheless, expect a high rate of attrition with medium to heavy casualties. Remember, it’s not so much a question of how many men you lose, as how many men you save. Reinforce Another huge level, Reinforce has a particularly vicious choke point just outside your drop zone, so beware of getting caught with your armour down. Send two terminators to hold off the initial wave of ‘stealers, while you deploy the rest of your men. The large rooms and corridors of this storage area will allow you to make an elegant sweeping manoeuvre eastward; purge any ‘stealers you find and secure your entrance to the northern complex. As ever, the action hots up the closer you get to your goal and the route to the control room can be testing. Punch north and east, and detail two fire parties to cover the double sets of ‘stealer entry points. Providing you cover your back sufficiently, you should be able to thread enough men through to make it count. Conquer Your scanner initially reveals hordes of ‘stealers dotted around the map, but relax, a quick recce will reveal that the purestrains are sensor echoes. In the first complex all you’ll face are wimpy hybrids, which you should be able to dispatch without breaking stride. The second complex to the north east is where the real challenge starts and it’s worth leading the assault here yourself. Order your men to keep up a suppressing fire down the final corridor, and use the side corridors to advance the rest of your squad. Manoeuvre your flamers into the final room and get them to dump their full ammo load over the entry sites, effectively ending any ‘stealer activity there. Leave one or two terminators to cover your back and hurry the rest of your guys through to the teleport site. Assault Assault is both a race against time and a chance to display some canny tactical nous. Move quickly and send some bolter armed terminators to secure the sets of doors which litter this level. Aim either to secure the ‘stealer entry points or channel them into kill zones. Eventually the ‘stealers will batter the doors down, but this tactic should buy you enough time to prepare a nasty surprise. Regroup in the large hall above the exit zone and establish a defensive perimeter. use all those lovely flamer reloads to erect a fiery, impassable barrier. Finally, beat a steady retreat along the twin hallways to beam out, mowing down any stray ‘stealers which make it past the flames. Regroup Deploy quickly to deal with the ‘stealers who threaten your entry point and thread your way through the box junction, taking the door directly south. Lock the ‘stealer entry point there, and use the long corridors to fight a delaying action until you can reform in the bigger room below. Construct a defensive wall, to cover your back, then open up the bulkhead and get your flamer to accompany you forward. The beam-out point contains a Genestealer Magus, an extremely hard opponent. Probably the best way to deal with him is to flame the room, which will cause the Magus to raise his psychic shield. When the flames die down, he’ll drop his shield and you should be ready to hit him with a stream of bolter fire while he’s vulnerable. Duck back down the corner and continue to repeat the dose of flame and bolts until the Magus croaks, then, mop up any remaining purestrains before beaming out. Fail Safe You should already be familiar with this level as it’s played out on the same map as Regroup. However, this time ignore the western bulkhead and cut your way through to the north, which is much closer to your objective. Then, using doors and strategically placed terminators to block the ‘stealers’ entry points, detail a snatch squad. Use support fire to cover their advance, then surge forward and snatch the power field generators. Again, if you cover your angles, the retreat shouldn’t be too difficult and you can place a generator as a temporary blocker if in dire need. Operatus You’re back on the trail of the warp field generator in this mission. You should aim to secure the three doors to your right and cover them with bolters, while the rest of the squad progress down the large room on your left. Take the lead and negotiate your way down to the south-west, where you’ll pass a ‘stealer generator. It’s usually best to cover this hazardous zone yourself, while the rest of your squad shuffle safely by. Head east, secure the door, then, once inside the generator complex, three terminators should be stationed to cover all the ‘stealer approaches, while you set to work in the generator room. The Patriarch A choked entrance point means you need to cover yourself carefully on the way down into the main hall of the first complex. Once there don’t bother trying to lock the doors, but instead, detail men to cover the open galleries on either side and annihilate the ‘stealers as they emerge. Once you’re onto the Patriarch’s home turf, plough south to his lair and defend the corridor in both directions. The Patriarch is fond of his jinx ability, so advance and take his first spell, then retreat into the corridor and immediately send in your flamer to give him a blast. Repeat until the flamer’s ammo is exhausted, then follow up with liberal doses of bolter fire. Once he’s shuffled off his mortal coil, he’ll be an ex-Patriarch (ho ho). Revenge Continuing on from the Patriarch mission, you’ve got to retrace your steps and retreat back to your entrance point. You’ll already be familiar with the level layout and again, make full use of the galleries and wide rooms to establish commanding fields of fire as you make your way north. Oh, and you’ve also got to survive for a full ten minutes, but this shouldn’t present too many problems. Repair Well you should know this level inside out by now, but this mission charges you with delivering the sequencer module back to the Patriarch’s lair. Basically, the same approach is required as for the Patriarch mission, but with increased ‘stealer activity and a time limit of only eight minutes you’re going to have to move double time to accomplish your objective. If you succeed the engines will encouragingly come on-line and you can finally send this accursed hulk back into the Warp! Final Conflict Well, you’ve done the business and Delvar III is safe, so now it’s a dash back to your original beam-out zone and then a chance for you to bask in all the glory you’ve accumulated during the game. A seven minute time limit doesn’t leave you all that much margin for error, but this level really should feel like a second home by now and you should be able to make it without undue difficulty. Hail to the Emperor! Captain Psycho’s Top Ten Terminator Tips Command 1. Freeze time - Your first freeze time period is critical, use it to assess the level and set initial objectives for your terminators. Engage freeze time often during a mission so you can assess your current situation, react to any sudden threats and decide how best to accomplish your goal. 2. Once you’ve made it to a secure position, flick around on your mini-scanner to monitor the progress of your men in other parts of the map. This doesn’t expend freeze time, but still gives you a good idea of the tactical situation and should buy you extra time to issue your orders. 3. Using multiple waypoints is the best way to instruct your men during a mission, as it ensures they take the precise route you require. Try to move your men during lulls in the action and make sure they don’t suddenly arrive at a vulnerable junction, just as another wave of ‘stealer attacks starts. 4. Listen carefully. Your men’s radio messages and the incessant ping of your motion tracker can provide vital intelligence on the success of your mission, or otherwise. 5. Command is a tough business and, occasionally, you’re going to have to sacrifice some of your men to ensure the rest of the squad gets through. A flamer on self-destruct is a devastating weapon, so don’t be afraid to send your men to certain death if it means the mission will be successful. Remember, their names will live on in the chapter’s rolls of honour. Combat 6. When using your bolter keep up a steady rate of fire and, above all, try to avoid rapid panic firing. It usually takes between one and seven shots to ice a ‘stealer, so keep careful count and you should avoid any weapon jams. 7. All of your men are right handed and you can use this fact to your advantage. A slight pivot means you can shoot diagonally around left hand corners and corridors, catching any ‘stealers lurking there unawares. You should also perfect ‘spread’ shooting in larger rooms to catch groups of advancing ‘stealers. 8. When ‘stealers lurk around corners and refuse to attack, you can sometimes flush them out by a feinting movement. A slight change of direction should be enough to lure them out, and then you can pivot back suddenly to blow them away 9. Use the Vigil’s training missions to hone and perfect your hand to hand combat with Genestealers. Learn to parry the ‘stealers’ strikes and then counter when it’s at its most vulnerable (as its claws are drawn back for a strike). With practice, you should be able to win nine out of every ten combats with this method. 10. If all else fails, type ÔI need help’ at the screen with the double doors. You’ll be presented with a variety of groovy options which will make life infinitely easier.