Halo Wars 2: Preface and Mission 1 Guide

AntMag.NET

Halo Wars takes place exactly 21 years before the events of Halo 3. Sequenced events begin to take place on Harvest, a human colony planet far from human-controlled territory, which was attacked by the Jirahharde, or Brutes. These warriors were thought to be an easy win, with missions seemingly clearing the planet in a few weeks. However, according to the Captain of the Spirit of Fire, this turned into 5 years of hell.

Murphy's Law: Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. And it did.

This is the story and mission of the Spirit of Fire. Originally a cargo and civilian ship, it was converted into a battle carrier outfitted with bays for infantry bunkers, ammo, hangers, and deployable bases, instead of community centers and civilians. It was also retrofitted to house a large Magnetic Accelerator Cannon (MAC gun) and a UNSC AI system named Serina. Captain Cutter and his crew were valued members of the UNSC, and this was how they lived.

ii. MISSION 1

Forces Available for use: Sgt. Forge, Warthogs, Marines

Forces Available to construct: None

Upgrades Available to research: None

Black Box Location: Near the end of the level, as you approach the energy shield erected to keep you out of the base, you will pass over a small bridge. You should be able to see the box under the bridge and can direct your forces to retrieve it.

Skull requirement: Kill 100 Grunts

Skull Location: Just outside the base entrance on the opposite side of the frozen pond.

AWARDS

Par Time: 05:00-12:00
Score for Gold Medal: 27000+
Score for Silver Medal: 18000-26999
Score for Bronze Medal: 12000-17999
Score for Tin Medal: 0-11999

Objectives:

Fight your way to Alpha Base - Required. Completion Score - 250. Follow your arrow and fight your way to Alpha, collecting forces with you to retake the base as you go.
Destroy the barrier power source - Required. Completion Score - 250. Use marines to pass through and throw grenades at the power nacelle to destroy it and let your forces in to retake Alpha Base site.
Eliminate Covenant in Alpha base - Required. Completion Score - 500. Alpha base is the key UNSC installation on Harvest. Eliminate all enemy forces and retake the base to finish the mission.
Find and Rescue pinned down Marines [44] - Optional. Completion Score - 500. This is a relatively simple mission; they are all located along your path of travel anyway, so you can just buzz over to them and liberate them, enhancing your own unit as a benefit.
Kill 100 Grunts [100100] - Optional. Completion Score - 500. Kill all of the grunts to activate the skulls location on the map, then go collect the skull. This is slightly more difficult, involving not killing ALL enemy forces before you retrieve the skull. Recommend placing a Warthog outside the base so you can quickly go and retrieve the skull after killing 100 grunts. May take more than one try to complete.

Mission 1 Walkthrough

Welcome to Harvest, the icy hell of the fringe worlds. Starting today, you will be meeting Sgt. Forge, Sergeant on station for the Spirit of Fire in defense of Harvest. You will be controlling him as your leader unit for the mission. You are instructed by Serina and Capt. Cutter to retake Alpha, your base that has been overrun by Covenant forces. Start by just moving around and getting a feel for the controls if you haven't done so already in one of the skirmish modes. Start by following the blue arrow North; there you will find a platoon of marines that has been pinned down and defending themselves from some Elites. Liberate them and add them to your forces. Keep moving and following the arrow; you will keep coming upon more squads that have been pinned down by enemy forces that you will need to destroy. Once you free the 3rd platoon, you will be close to the base, and Serina will inform you that the Covenant forces have erected a force shield on the base. Pass over the bridge that houses the Black Box for this level and turn left to see it.

Several squads of marines will come from the left; defend them and then have them walk through the barrier and destroy the power. Oh, guns won't work? Well then, we just use grenades. Use the Y button on it while selecting your forces to make them launch grenades at the power source, detonating it and letting in the Warthogs. Don't go too fast; the UNSC Shortsword is going to drop a carpet of bombs on top of the enemy forces in the base, taking out the Wraith on the ground. Quickly take out the enemy forces, and the mission is over.