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Dark Reign 2
By Nelson “Admiral” HernandezUnits
The units are the usual mix of infantry, vehicles, ships and aircraft and interact in the usual rock-paper-scissors fashion, so combined arms is the key on attack and defense, but there are opportunities to display ingenuity as well and use unconventional tactics. Spies, which morph to look like an enemy unit, can infiltrate the foe’s base and perform a variety of nefarious deeds, including gaining access to the command center, which allows you to see all your enemy’s units. The spy can also serve as a spotter for the heavy artillery units, which have a very long range and are great at putting down indirect fire.
There are a variety of effective defensive structures as well, and they can be linked to form force fields, so building a potent defensive line is one of the first things to take care of in any scenario.
Finally, both sides have special weapons–called airstrikes for the JDA and mojos for the Sprawlers–which can blind, immobilize, or destroy enemy units.
One of the missions where you have a limited force
I didn’t find a huge difference in the way you would play the different sides. Apart from some cosmetic changes to the interface and the considerably cuter female voices for the Sprawler Go-Go and Skulk units, both sides seemed equally well-armed. The JDA’s regenerating armor (akin to the shields for the Protoss in Starcraft) is made up for by larger hit point values for the Sprawlers, and sometimes slightly better equipment.
For whatever reason I usually found the Sprawlers more fun to play, because they have some units, such as snipers and the cloaking Fiends, that don’t have equivalents in the JDA. The JDA has its strength in air units but there are plenty of defenses against those. The JDA also has a structure called a telepad that allows you to transport units instantly to any place to which you have line of sight. But the portal works both ways, so an astute enemy can send an army back through the portal and into the middle of your base if you aren’t careful.
The Sprawler council of war decides on something to keep you busy
