Commander (Total Annihilation) - Tactics

Tactics

• One of the more well known tactics is to use the Commander to aid in construction of important units due to its high construction speed. To aid with factories, the Commander (and other construction units) can be set to guard the factory.
• The Commander can be used to destroy large groups of enemy units by firing the D-gun rapidly.
• The Commander can be hidden behind a terrain feature that would interfere with traditional weapons, such as a spire, and fire the D-gun directly through the terrain to destroy enemy units without taking damage.
• While the Commander is underwater, it has no weapons, making it easy prey for submarines, destroyers, cruisers or torpedo bombers.
• If so desired, a multiplayer/skirmish game can be set to end upon the destruction of the Commander, making ploys such as stealing the enemy Commander with an air transport and then destroying the transport feasible, although not appreciated by most players.
• The explosion generated by the death of a Commander will destroy anything on the screen, including enemy Commanders. This means that if a Commander meets another Commander and fires the D-gun, both will be destroyed. This can be used by some players who send their Commander to the enemy base to use the resulting explosion to cripple the enemy.
• The Commander has no anti-air leaving it vulnerable to aircraft with weapons capable of attacking land targets if left unguarded.
• Commanders are immune to the paralyzer weapon of the Arm Spider tanks.
• Before Battle Tactics most campaign missions began with the Commander and a small force of light units for defense. These light units were used to defend the Commander until a base could be established. The Commander is nearly always the first unit available. In Battle Tactics some missions moved away from the need for a Commander.