Overview
A guide to 8-Bit Armies meta and strategies, mainly focusing on build orders for structures and various playstyles.Rate & Comment feedback so I can improve the guide.
Disclaimer
This guide is structured from my own experiences and knowledge, as well as fragments I have garnered from other players. It is not a sure fire way to win against any and all opponents, and is just here in an attempt to inform some players of more viable strategies perhaps than their own.
8BA Meta
Below is the most efficient way I currently know of getting cash early and making the best overall impact to your game.
- Build Refinery #1
- Sell Refinery #1
- Build Refinery #2
- At this point if you wish to rush, you can skip the following refineries.
- Build Refinery #3
- Sell Refinery #3
- Build Refinery #4
- The end result of the above should leave you with 2 Refineries and 4 Harvesters
- At this point, you may want to use the following structures to extend your bases reach outwards towards more resource points
- Power
- Barracks
- Tech – This is for vehicles, if you wish to go only infantry then skip this step
- Use either a factory of your choosing (Slower) or turrets (Faster) to extend your build zone to other oil rigs. At this point you should be capable of sustaining multiple unit production chains
Below is an older build order, however this isn’t the most efficient method of play.
- 2x Refinery
- 1x Power
- 1x Barracks (Early placement, usually get x10 Inf/Rocket for rush defence)
- 1x Refinery (If you have a secondary Oil Rig nearby)
- 1x Tech Center
- 1x Power
- 2x Factory of your choice (Launchpad/Motor Pool)
- 1x Radar (If going air or artillery)
- At this point, you may start a full production queue of the units of your choice, you should not deplete all your funds until the rigs are empty.
- 1x Power
- Turret Daisy Chain (Expand turrets outwards to gain more fuel)
- Repeat dasiy chain/double ref, add factories as needed.
Some players will daisy chain all of the above structures so you are always getting closer to more fuel. In my experience Tech/Radar should be kept close to your HQ, as either being destroyed can halt your production of advanced units.
Infantry
Always keep 20+ rocket infantry around your HQ/base, as tendency has it that players will rush with rocket heli’s and rocket infantry are an easy counter to that.
Infantry are powerful when massed, however they are easily mowed down by almost all land vehicles, with the only exception being the armoured car.
After watching infantry plays a handful of times, I would only recommend this to players with good Micro skills. If you aren’t a micro player, then the vehicles are probably more suited.
To scatter infantry (or any units), and stop them being mowed down, press the (Default) L key. This will make units attempt to scatter in random directions.
Army Builds
Under Construction
Benefits and shortfalls of various army builds
Air Builds
Air builds are considered overpowered (OP) by a lot of players, however they can easily be turned into a cloud of dust by a group of rocket infantry and/or rocket turrets. Rocket turrets aided by other units is an easy counter, as the turrets are capable of taking down several air units with area of effect (AoE) damage. If you’re going to play this build, ensure you take down power plants first and avoid any clusters of infantry, or even just have your harvesters run down any groups before they can wipe out your air force.
These are best as brute force builds, where raw power/numbers is needed against a weaker opponent.
Vehicle Builds
Vehicle only builds are uncommon, as none of the vehicles possess particularly strong counters to air units, however they provide good offensive capability against infantry, other vehicles and buildings. They are usually supported by infantry (Which can be squashed easily) or air, which become more difficult to effectively counter.
A common rushing tactic is to take battallions of armoured cars and rush enemy structures. This however is extremely weak to artillery (AoE makes short work of armoured cars) and rocket helis.
They are fairly effective against rocket infantry, however that does not make them invalid as an early defence against them.
Minor Tactics, Tips and Additions
Below I will list playstyles and Tactics, Tips and other info that may help enhance your own playstyle.
Rush:
- For an easy rush early on, garner a single airfield and barracks and produce infantry and 4-5 carriers. Fill the carriers and then drop them next to an enemy HQ. This stops the enemy producing structures and can be extremely damaging to their economy.
- Focus less on economy strength and more on production. Aim to get 2/3 refineries early on and then focus on making more factories and units.
Steamroll:
- Once you have one of each factory, max their production and then focus solely on daisy chaining to more oil rigs. Once you have 4-5K surplus, focus on getting your preferred factory to 5-6x production, this allows you to quickly churn out large attack forces. This usually leaves you weaker to rushes though and is best done when in a co-ordinated team who can assist you if attacked/rushed.