Learning SupCom

Basic Tutorial

The Strategy of Supreme Commander

Supreme Commander: A guide for normal people

To Scale Olympus

An Unofficial Forged Alliance Guide

Eco Video Tutorial

Factions

This page presents an overview of general faction diversity. It outlines the overall scheme of each faction, and highlights some of their more unique units. Those units which are extremely similar in all the factions are not included on this page. Detailed statistics about every unit in the game can be found in Unit Database.

UEF

The "Turtle" faction, a name coined because this faction plays best with a slow, steady, grinding style. Good for beginners together with Seraphim thanks to very solid, largely uncomplicated units, a strong ACU at all stages of the game, and units which do exceptionally well with little to no micro.

Description

• ACU – Has the most HP of all the ACUs. Shield upgrade in the back slot with RAS upgrade on arm makes it possible to get Shield and RAS simultaneously. The same goes for Gun and T2, this time on both arms
• SACU – Extremely powerful in combat, with high DPS, area of effect damage, and dual shield upgrades for a bulky, powerful unit. Can also build the Ravager (See below)

Tech 1

• Land:
  • Tank - High HP but slow, the first hint of UEF's overall trait. Requires very little babysitting, awesome all-rounder
  • Artillery – Slow fire rate but huge damage, quite accurate. Provides optical vision for a short time at impact site
• Air:
  • Bomber - Arguably the worst of all the T1 Bombers because of inaccuracy, but highest overall damage output against large buildings, and great against densely packed armies
• Naval:
  • Frigates - Radar Jamming to fool enemy into thinking you have a stronger force than you do

Tech 2

• Buildings:
  • Point Defense – Good AOE, good rate of fire, and the fact that they are not blocked by terrain make these the game's best T2 PD
  • Static Shield – Good radius and pricing, but lower on HP than Aeon or Seraphim. Upgradeable
  • TMD – weakest from all factions
  • Engineering station – Drones that can fly anywhere and can’t be hit by ASFs. While inefficient per mass, their maneuverability and sheer buildpower make these incredibly strong late-game for using up your powerful economy. Upgradeable
• Land:
  • Mongoose Bots - Ranged bot with decent damage, good when paired with Mobile Shields, but highly dependant on good micro
  • Pillar tanks - Incredibly solid all-around assault tank with extremely high HP/Mass ratio, this should form the backbone of your T2 Land forces
  • Riptide - Heavier and more expensive than other faction's, great vs T1. Hover.
  • Mobile shields - Inefficient, but the large radius makes protecting your army easier than the Aeon's
  • Mobile Engineers - Sparky – Extremely fast, very high HP, high buildpower, Radar Jamming and a built-in gun which can fire while reclaiming or building are balanced by the fact it can only build combat-related structures
• Air:
  • Gunships - Can transport a single T1 or T2 unit. LABs can fire from the clamp, increasing unit DPS
• Naval:
  • Destroyer – Small range and pathetic Torpedos make this the weakest Destroyer in naval wars, but it has good damage and is solid overall
  • Cruiser – Cruise missiles which can overwhelm TMD systems, SAMs for AA
  • Shield Boat – The backbone of the UEF Navy and one of the two reasons it has the strongest Navy overall
  • Torpedo Boat – Good damage and epic torpedo defences, but low HP and vulnerable to direct fire, so you need to protect these

Tech 3

• Buildings:
  • Point Defense – The only T3 Point Defence, it has huge range, massive damage, and a lot of HP. A couple of these will make any Land assault extremely costly to the enemy, and more than a couple can take down even Experimentals before they get into range. Can be used offensively too thanks to their range. This unit is the primary reason UEF win just about any static base-war stand-off situation
  • Static Shield – Good radius and pricing, but lower on HP than Aeon or Seraphim
  • Engineering station – Drones that can fly anywhere and can’t be hit by ASFs. While inefficient per mass, their maneuverability and sheer buildpower make these incredibly strong late-game for using up your powerful economy.
  • Sonar - Weak Torpedo launcher included
• Land:
  • Titan Bot – Extremely fast, fantastic at mopping up lost T1 land forces and general raiding, but stay away from defences or heavy units. Shield makes this unit perfect for hit-and-run style raiding
  • Percival Bot – This is the primary assault weapon of the UEF army. It's slow, heavily armoured, and the high burst damage firing cycle make it by far the strongest land unit in the game for its mass. Is UEF's main unit for stopping enemy Land Experimentals. Can cross throught water.
  • Mobile Missile Launchers – Extremely rapid firing cycle and preposterously high DPS overwhelms TMD systems and then obliterates anything behind them. This unit is very powerful
• Air:
  • Gunships – High damage and lots of HP, but virtually no AA
  • Transports – The only T3 Transport, this unit is fast, has very powerful anti-air, is shielded, and can carry 6 T3 units or an entire army of lower tech.
• Naval:
  • Battlecruiser – The undisputed master of the ocean surface, combined with the T2 Shield Boat and Torpedo Boat this creates the strongest navy in the game
  • Battleship - The best Battleship in the game, this unit has the highest range, great damage and good HP, but beware. There are no Torpedoes, no Torpedo defences, the AA is pitiful and the firing cycle of one shot every 20 seconds makes it extremely vulnerable to T2 Hover Tanks and T1 Frigates
  • UEF has no T3 Aircraft Carrier

Tech 4 – Experimental

• Fatboy – It's slow, has a large hit area, and has virtually no HP at all, but it has a bubble shield to protect your army, can build an army by itself, and can refuel and repair your aircraft. This is not a direct fire unit, it's long range artillery and should live behind the bulk of your army, raining huge damage from a long way away. Extremely vulnerable to attack from the air
• Atlantis – Submersible Aircraft Carrier capable of building its own planes. Can be used for a sneaky air attack, but it's also cheap, has good HP, huge vision radius, and long-range, high-damage Torpedoes. One of the best tools for countering Seraphim's T3 Subhunters
• Defense Satellite – This unique unit is a building which spawns a Satellite. It can fly anywhere on the map and fire a laser down in bursts. The Satellite is 100% invulnerable to ALL forms of damage. The only way to kill it is to kill the base station.
• Mavor – Experimental Strategic Assassination Artillery. This unit has practically unlimited range, outstanding damage, and is extremely accurate even firing all the way across a map. The most expensive unit in the game.

Seraphim

Good faction for beginners together with UEF, overall strong ACU and units that don’t require too much micro. Strong PDs and best shields from all factions.

Description

• ACU - Good amount of HP, 2 Gun upgrades (second one is expensive), Double Nano Repair or Double RAS upgrade, Restoration Field
• SACU - Decent combat unit, Overcharge upgrade, Shield, Nano Reapir
  • Teleport upgrade, doesn't have RAS upgrade. Rapid Fabricator Upgrade.

Tech 1

• Land:
  • Combat Scout - Stealth and Cloak when standing still, (can block building from being build)
  • Tank - Decent
  • Floating Artillery
  • Seraphim has no Light Assault Bot.
• Air:
  • Bomber - Best from all Factions
  • Transport - Best from all Factions. Can carry up to 8 T1 or 4 T2 units.
• Naval:
  • Sumbarines - Torpedo Defense

Tech 2

• Buildings:
  • Point Defense - shoots beam so they always hit. Can be blocked by terrain.
  • Torpedo Launcher - Torpedo Defense
  • Static Shield - Best from all factions. Largest and strongest.
  • TMD - decent
• Land:
  • Assault Bot - Strong unit with higher range than tanks, one of the best T2 units.
  • Hover Tank - Very fast unit with decent damage, can support navy.
  • Floating AA Flak - can move over water
• Air:
  • Fighter/Bomber - Not the best AA but good bomber
  • Torpedo Bomber - Can be countered by torpedo defense, doesnt work in shallow water.
  • Transport - Best from all Factions
• Naval:
  • Destroyer - Can be submerged. Short range but shoots beam that never misses.
  • Cruiser - Flak AA, Cruise Missiles

Tech 3

• Buildings:
  • Static Shield - Best from all factions. Largest and strongest.
  • Seraphim has no Engineering Stations
  • Seraphim has no T3 sonar.
• Land:
  • Tanks - Slow moving, small range, have to be combined wiht shields. Weakest from all factions. Amphibious, can cross water.
  • Mobile Shield - only faction with T3 mobile shield.Hover, can go on water.
  • Artillery - Good splash and damage.
  • Sniper Bots - 2 Firing modes (Faster fire rate, shorter range, smaller damage OR Slow fire rate, longer range, higher damage). Inaccurate while moving.
• Air:
  • Strategic Bombers - Decent damage and area damage radius.
  • Seraphim has no T3 gunship
• Naval:
  • Submarine Hunter - Only faction with T3 Submarine. Great torpedo damage, decent speed.
  • Battleship - Good range, faster fire rate, Can build Nukes.
  • Aircraft Carrier - Can carry, build and repair aircrafts.

Tech 4 – Experimental

• Ythotha Assault Bot - Great against group of units, has splash damage. When destroyed releases a highly destructive orb of lightning energy that attack any unit or structure nearby for 30 seconds.
• Ahwassa Bomber - Strong bomber capable of killing T3 armies with single bomb.
• Nuke Launcher - Very expensive, Game ender. Once finished, can build nukes very cheap and fast. Takes 2 anti nuke missiles to be defended. Much more damage and bigger blast radius than T3 nuke.

Cybran

"Hit and run" Faction that is harder to master. Require more micro than UEF and Seraphim. Weakest ACU. Fast units that are good to combine mobile stealth. Worst static shields and no mobile shields. Best Cruise Missiles, they split into 3 smaller when hit by TMD.

Description

• ACU - Least HP from all factions. Gun and Tech upgrade on same arm, so you can't have both. Laser or Torpedo upgrade. Stealth and expensive Cloak upgrade. This ACU is best for Telesnipe.
• SACU - Decent combat unit. Gun upgrade can stun units. Best Nano repair upgrade. Can have AA Sam upgrade or Cloak upgrade.
  • RAS upgrade and Rapid Fabricator.

Tech 1

• Land:
  • Scout - Cloacked
  • Light Assault Bot - can shoot from transports.
  • Assault Bot - Faster than T1 tanks.
  • Artillery - Worst accuracy, stuns T1 and T2 units.
  • Mobile AA - 2 Fire modes: Shoots Air or Land units.
• Air:
  • Bomber - Decent
  • Gunship - Only faction with T1 gunship.
• Naval:
  • Frigate - Good AA

Tech 2

• Buildings:
  • Point Defense - Cheapest but Weakest from all factions. Can be blocked by terrain.
  • Tactical Missile Launcher - Best from all factions. Missiles split into 3 smaller when hit by TMD.
  • TMD - Best from all factions.
  • Static Shield - Weakest from all factions, but also cheapest. Can be upgraded 4 times.
  • Engineering Station - Assist everything in its range, can be upgraded 2 times.
• Land:
  • Rocket Bot - Big range with lower damage. Great if combined with Mobile stealth field.
  • Tank Rhino - Strong tank good if mixed with T1 Artillery.
  • Tank Wagner - Very fast Amphibious tank that can cross water.
  • Mobile Missile Launcher - Best from all factions. Rapid firing with low damage but missiles splits into 3 when hit by TMD.
  • Mobile Bomb - Very low HP but high damage, good for sniping ACUs and experimentals especially if dropped from transports.
  • Mobile Stealth Field - Cybran is the only faction with mobile stealth field. Great Support for T2 and T3 units hiding them from enemy radars.
• Air:
  • Figher/Bomber - Great bomber with splash damage. Weak AA.
  • Gunship - Big splash damage, great against group of T1 units.
  • Torpedo Bomber - Best from all factions. Drops torpedos directly on ships, can't be countered by torpedo defense.
  • Transport - Worse from all factions. Can carry up to 4T2 + 2T1 or 2T3 + 2T1 units.
• Naval:
  • Submarine Hunter - Personal Stealth. Good torpedo damage and decent torpedo defence.
  • Destroyer - One of the best. Big range, fast fire rate. Great if combined with stealth. Best torpedo defense. Can walk on land.
  • Cruiser - Worst AA since shootes missiles that have to accelerate firs but AA gun can be switched to shoot on naval or land. Direct fire weapon with decent damage. Can repair aircrafts.
  • Stealth Boat - One of the advantages of Cybran navy.

Tech 3

• Buildings:
  • Torpedo Launcher - Only T3 Torpedo Launcher in game. Very strong, its under water.
  • Cybran has no T3 shields but T2 shield can be upgraded 4 times.
  • Monitoring System - Provides vision over hige area.
  • Sonar - Stealth field.
• Land:
  • Siege Assault Bot - Fast bot with small range. Use for early rading. Can deflect cruise missiles.
  • Armored Assault Bot - Strong slowly moving with big range and rapid fire rate. Better if combined with Stealth.
  • Artillery - Biggest splash from all mobile artileries but low damage.
• Air:
  • ASF - Personal Stealth.
  • Strategic Bomber - Biggest splash from all T3 bombers but low damage. Personal Stealth.
  • Gunship - Jamming
• Naval:
  • Battleship - Good range, high fire rate. As only battleship has torpedos.
  • Aircraft Carrier - Can carry, build and repair aircrafts.
  • Strategic Submarine - Can build nukes. Has Personal Stealth, torpedos and cruise missiles.

Tech 4 – Experimental

• Monkey Lord - Cheapest land experimental. Low HP but high speed. Has stealth field. Short range, high damage laser. Good for early T4 stage.
• Megalith - Heavy direct fire experimental with a lot of HP. Can't shoot backwards. Can produce some T2 and T3 units.
• Soul Ripper - Strong experimental gunship. Good splash damage against groups of units.
• Scathis - Rapid firing artilerry with a shorter range and far less accuracy than T3 artillery but with huge dps. Cybran game ender. Can move, and is amphibious.

Aeon

Hardest faction to play. Require lot of micro. Good choice for playing on air spot due to versatility.

Description

• ACU - Decent HP, has two gun upgades and better range that other faction's gun upgrade, Double Shield upgrade. Chrono upgrade that stuns units. Double RAS.
• SACU - Bad in combat since only one gun upgrade available. Double Shield Upgrade or Nano Reapir.
  • RAS upgrade, Teleport, Sacrifacion system.

Tech 1

• Land:
  • Scout - Hover, can go on water.
  • Light Assault Bot - can shoot from transports.
  • Aurora Tank - bigger range than other tanks, but low HP and slower speed. Hover, can go on water.
  • Artillety - most accurate from T1 artilleries
• Air:
  • Bomber - Slightly worse than Seraphim, stuns units.
• Naval:
  • Frigate - has torpedo defense, no AA
  • AA boat - very fast boat with good AA

Tech 2

• Buildings:
  • Point Defense – Strong PD that is not blocked by terrain,slow fire rate, splash damage
  • Static Shield - Strong Shield but small radius. Can't be upgraded to T3.
  • TMD - Deflect Missiles, can counter infinite number of missiles at once, weak against rapid fire missiles
  • Aeon had no Engineering Station
• Land:
  • Obsidian Tank - Strong shielded tank with slow fire rate but high damage.
  • Blaze Tank - Fast hover tank, can go on water.
  • Mobile Flak AA - Hover, can go on water.
  • Mobile Missile Launcher - Worst from all factions. Slow fire rate.
  • Mobile Shield - Hover, can go on water.
• Air:
  • Swiftwind Combat Figher - Best from all factions. Does not have bombs.
  • Gunship - High accurancy
  • Mercy - Suicidle aircraft with low HP that deals lot of damage. Used for sniping ACU and units.
  • Torpedo Bomber - Drops Depth Charge. Can't be used in shallow water.
  • Transport - Slightly better than Cybran, can carry up to 2T3 + 4T1 or 1T3+4T2 units.
• Naval:
  • Submarine Hunter - Good torpedos and torpedo defense.
  • Destroyer - Big range, slow fire rate, high damage. Torpedos, torpedo defense and depth charges.
  • Cruiser - Good AA, can shoot on naval and land targets.

Tech 3

• Buildings:
  • Static Shield - Strong shield but with slightly smaller radius.
  • Rapid Fire Artillery - Very expensive, breaks thought any shielding. Aeon game ender.
  • Quantum Optics Facility - Provides small vision radius anywhere on map.
  • Sonar - has torpedo defense
• Land:
  • Harbinger Bot - Fast shielded bot with good damage but slammer range. Can Reclaim and Repair.
  • Mobile Artillery - High accuracy. Deals damage over time. Can shoot while moving as only mobile artillery.
  • Shield Disruptor - Big range, great weapon against shields. Hover, can go on water.
  • Sniper Bot - Big range, good damage, slow fire rate, low HP. Inaccurate while moving.
• Air:
  • Strategic Bomber - Deals most damage from all T3 bombers, low splash.
  • AA Gunship - Good AA and decent anti ground damage.
  • Torpedo Bomber - Only Aeon has T3 torpedo bomber. Drops multiple torpedos that deals lot of damage.
• Naval:
  • Battleship - Small range but good damage.
  • Aircraft Carrier - Can carry, build and repair aircrafts.
  • Strategic Submarine - Can build nukes. Has cruise missiles.
  • Missile Ship - Long ranged rapid firing cruise missiles. Almost impossible to be stopped by TMD.

Tech 4 – Experimental

• Galactic Colossus - Strong Experimental Bot with lot of HP. Long range laser. 2 Tractor Claws. Has Omni and decent vision radius.
• CZAR - Experimental Aircraft Carrier. Anti ground bean that deals lot of damage. Decent AA. Can carry, build and repair aircrafts.
• Tempest - Experimental Battleship. Long range, slow fire rate with huge damage and splash. Has good long ranged torpedos, torpedo defence. Can build T1 and T2 ships. Can be submerged.
• Paragon - Experimental Resource Generator. Very expensive. Produces up to 1m energy and 10k mass

Tutorial Videos

Basics

Playlist of tutorials created by Coloner Sheppard - link here. As you can notice some of the videos are not mentioned below, that is because they are outdated also here you can find some new once that aren't in that playlist. What you can find there:

Game Mechanics User Interface Setting up Hotkeys + UI Economy Build Range Templates Reclaim

Overcharge Engineers Transports & Ghetto Gunships Defences Adjacency (Current Values) Cheat Menu (spawning units)

Unit Presentation ACUs T1 Land Units T2 Land Units T3 Land Units Air Units T4 Land and Air Experimentals

Advanced Tutorials

Micro Basic Land micro: How to dodge correcly Unitblocking Bomber Micro T3 Air (ASF Micro) General Air Micro Tips & Tricks

Build Orders Bacis Build Orders & PvP Gameplay Basic Build Orders List of Build Orders Build Orders to Specific Positions on Maps

Specific Units Seleens (Seraphim T1 Scouts) How to couner: Early Air How do deal with T2 Turtles Fire-Beeltes

Replay Analysis

It's always the same, you lost a game and you are asking yourself: Why? Why have I lost? You are looking the replay again and again, but there is no answer ...

FAF offers two options:

• Replay Analysis Thread on forum, where you can post your replays. The Trainer team and all other players who will like to help, will try to have a look on your replay and give you a feedback about your game.
• Gameplay Video Review from speed2. You can submit your replays into this forum thread. Done videos will get posted in same forum thread and on his Youtube channel.

Zock Lessons

One of the top Supreme Commander players offering lessons. More information here.