CNC Generals: China - Early Game

    China's biggest advantage lies with numbers. Battlemaster tanks and Red Guard are significantly weaker than the other sides basic tanks and infantry and Migs by themselves are less effective then raptors. This makes the horde bonus very valuable. When traveling with 5 or more of the same unit you get an increased rate of fire which substantially increases your effectiveness. Always travel in a large enough number to get a horde bonus. This only applies to Red Guard, Tank Hunters and Battlemasters but do not underestimate it.

    China also has the best defensive structures in the game. To many people think the main defensive structure they should have is a Gattling cannon. Gattling cannons do very little damage to tanks and take up a lot of power. A bunker only costs 400 so if you fill it with two rocket guys you have a great anti tank defense for the same price as a patriot missile. Bunkers are the best anti-tank defense in the game because its strength can be increased substantially and it uses units in the structure. Since you use tank hunters for it you can also take your defensive force and move it to a new bunker for very little cost as well as taking them out of bunkers to kill units trying to avoid the structure. Remember that units are a lot better at base defense than structures that can be avoided.

    The biggest disadvantages China has is their lack of good scouting units, their vulnerability to area of effect weapons and their slow units. The only real good scouts China has are Migs and black lotus. They are the only units with a big enough revealing radius to actually be of some use and Migs are expensive and weak scouts.

    Also since the army relies so much on groups of units area of effect weapons really hurt. Scuds, Auroras, rocket pods, napalm weapons and bomb trucks can be used very effectively on the grouped Chinese forces. It is harder for the Chinese forces to avoid these weapons because of their slow movement. If they scatter their groups to reduce their casualties then they lose the horde bonus giving them a disadvantage. Their slower units also make it harder to run away so if you ambush a group of Overlords with a superior force they cannot simply turn and retreat.

    Remember that the goal in the early game is to get an economy established and some units for defense (or rush). this is my generic build order for China which you will see is very similar to my USA build order.

1st dozer - nuclear reactor
2nd dozer - drive to expansion
Make radar at command center
1st dozer - supply center at base
2nd dozer - build barracks
2nd dozer - build supply center and bunker at expansion (order depends on preference)
1st dozer - war factory

    This of course is generic and should change in certain circumstances. The important thing to remember is the bunker. It is very strong and in the early game it is very hard to kill since your enemy cannot clear it and tanks will die fast against it. You do not even need to put five guys in it at the start. Two or three early game is plenty to keep an enemy away. It is always a good idea to get a barracks in your base to.

    Bunkers build very fast so it is very easy to throw up a quick defense point if you need it. If you make Gattling tanks you will not need to make the expensive power consuming Gattling cannons to defend your bunkers from infantry. This will allow you to expand relatively easy allowing you to get enough supplies to create a good attack force.

    When you finish a supply center only make one extra truck. I have noticed that a third truck is not always good. If all three went straight to the dock to gather money it would be more beneficial. The problem is the third truck almost always drives around to the side of the dock or even all the way around it. Many games I just have 2 trucks at each of my supply centers and I have done just fine. The extra money at the beginning is also useful.

    That is basically all the important stuff you need to know with China to get your economy going and your base established. Getting through the early stage is half the battle. One mistake could end the game here. With some practice though it is relatively easy to get through. Mid to late game is a completely different story though as well as a different section.