As the game progresses, you'll have to manage longer set battles, and a variety
of other military activity -- all while keeping your economy moving.
Know Your Counter Units
With quick build times and some cheap defenses Impossible Creatures gives the player
a lot of chances to recover from defeat. The best way to recoup after a big battle
is to learn from it. What type of unit was your enemy using? What do you have that
can counter that unit? Begin building a good counter unit if you have one available.
Lose Better
Even losing a battle can help you, if you learn to lose well. If you can destroy
enemy units with a greater net cost than yours, then giving up your army needn’t
be in vain.
Over There
If you lose in enemy territory, sometimes it’s best to go down swinging to the last,
and take out as much opposing economic structure as you can. You’ll be rebuilding
your creatures with gather rates and reserves intact. Across the map, your whole
mess has to be cleaned up.
The Golden Rule
If you can’t learn anything or break anything important, then there’s no sense in
taking the loss. If you’re in a skirmish that’s certain to end in tears for you,
get right out of it if you can. Don’t stick around in a losing battle – run away!
Winning by treachery and deception is still…winning. The best-known military deception
is the ambush, and cunning can take you to the top of the mountain as surely as
can power.
The simplest ambush is done with a decoy. Send out a real battle array of some strength.
The trick is to have more creatures in production when you do this. Set the rally
points for your Creature Chambers somewhere behind the main battle front. If your
main force attacks and starts to take losses, pull it back to where your reinforcements
are gathering. If your retreat leads your opponent into pressing for a rout, the
dynamic of the battle will tilt in your favor when you arrive at the “second front.”
A small decoy can be equally effective if your foe takes the bait. Tempting everyone
you play into chasing three or four units with a whole army is not likely, but can
happen. If you know your foe to be anxious and aggressive, a modest decoy squad
can rule the day.
Camouflage and Digging Units
Camouflage creatures are very powerful in the field, as they can attack an enemy
force without warning. Place a strong camouflage creature out in the field at the
main approach to your base. Set them to ‘no stance’ so they won’t attack automatically.
Now, make sure you keep your eyes open for enemies, and when they come unleash your
units. This is especially effective when your camouflage units are the counter unit
to whatever you’re attacking, but can even reverse some counters, allowing ranged
creatures to beat artillery when they normally wouldn’t.
Water attack
Another good ambush technique is taking advantage of the fact that most missions
are on islands with lots of water access. Send an attack force of amphibians around
the back of your enemy’s base via a water route. Hit them with a frontal attack
using some different units. This is just a diversion. Once you send this attack
at your enemy bring your amphibians in from behind. Your enemy is less likely to
cover this route, and may be distracted fighting off your first attack. If it works
your enemy will return to their base to find it infested with enemy creatures.
Also, try to keep a mix of ranged and artillery units in high places. Place them
overlooking approaches to your base, or exits from the enemy’s base. This can do
a lot of damage when done correctly.
Rely on scouting
The best way to contain your enemy is to know what they are doing, and this is done
through scouting. There are lots of ways you can keep a good tab on your enemy.
A digging or camouflage unit hidden near the enemy’s closest expansions will allow
you to monitor when your enemy is expanding, and therefore vulnerable. Hit and hit
hard during every attempted expansion, and you may be able to keep your foe restricted
to that one initial base. Even if your scout is caught, you’ll have a pretty good
idea that expansion is coming in that direction. The sonar pulse ability is also
useful for keeping tabs on your enemy, even if getting results from it requires
much of your time. The Bat provides good, inexpensive access to this ability.
Starve a turtle
If you are faced with a "turtle" (an enemy who builds up formidable defenses and
hides inside a base) the job is even easier. Park outside the base and close the
exits. Use creatures, towers, and natural chokepoints on the map to put another
lid on top of the base. You should have a superior force given what it costs to
create really massive defenses. In the meantime you can expand to lots of resource
locations all around the map. Once the turtle is "starved" for resources you can
simply bring in a powerful force and walk through everything on base.
