The good news is that you can do most of this construction without fending off attacks; the Nazi diehards in the town aren’t likely to come near your base unless you draw them out. Simply build a few AT 88 Bunkers slightly west of the mine — you won’t need many because the terrain limits where the enemy can move. When your inventory of Resources reaches a healthy level, you’ll want to build three Airfields (as far east as possible to keep them away from any probing attacks by the enemy) and upgrade them with Extended Airfield capability. Even if you’re over the Army Limit and can’t use the Paratroops these Airfields provide, you can always take advantage of the Call-In Junkers.

Back at the enemy base, the first wave of attackers will be followed by a pause in the action. Use this opportunity to attempt to capture as many buildings and tanks at the base rather than destroying them. Use tanks to protect the Wehrmacht Infantry attempting to capture the buildings and vehicles; the infantry can come from the Barracks, a Paratroop Drop, converted enemy forces, or Preiss’ Reinforcement skill.

Take special care to capture rather than destroy the Research Lab, the Tank Factory, and the Radar Station. Expect heavy counterattacks from the city to the west — use your Core Units to block these assault waves from reaching the infantry, retreating and regrouping if necessary. After capturing the Tank Factory, you’ll likely need to make some Repair Trucks to bring all these important units back to full strength. Whatever else you do, be sure to keep your very best Core Units (probably two Maus tanks) alive throughout them mission! If you don’t already have a Research Lab at your base, use the one you capture here to upgrade your tanks’ rate of fire and the range of your machine-gun fire.

After producing some Repair Trucks to heal up your Core Units and perhaps a few tanks to reinforce them in their blocking maneuver, crank out some Wurfrahmen and use their long-range bombardment to destroy the AT88 and AA Bunkers protecting the Airfield. Augment them first with Panthers and then Tigers the moment you reach Tech Level 2. When the Airfield’s defenses are down, it’s your call whether to destroy it or capture it: either one will achieve the objective. At this point, the outcome of the battle has been essentially been determined — but that doesn’t mean finishing it will be a breeze.

Above: Support your allies whenever you can. This Maus tank is leading the way for Allied paratroopers as they head into the center of the city to bring “The Leader” in dead or alive

Because of all the troops that have switched sides, it’s likely you’ll be over the Army Limit (120 Army Points) as this attack starts. Even worse, many of those Army Points are attributable to weaker units like Panthers, Wehrmacht Infantry, and Wirbelwinds. Here’s our solution: designate the two Maus tanks and the two most experienced Wirbelwinds as Core Units to be taken into the next applicable battle. Then gather the Infantry and Panthers and use them to spearhead assaults. You’re bound to lose a lot of them, allowing you to replace them with stronger units like Tiger tanks.

As you gain room under the Army Limit, build Wurfrahmen and Tigers at the main base and send the northwest to begin eroding the AA defenses around the perimeter of the town. Don’t worry about wiping them all out; you just want to give your Stukas and Call-In Junkers a chance or survival. As Hellmann’s group moves in with the Allies from the north, use air power in the south to slowly chip away at the defenses. The Nazis will make weak attempts to attack your base, but you should be able to throw up enough AT88 and Flame Bunkers to stop them in their tracks.

Now that Hellmann and the Allies are in town, send his forces to begin destruction of the Allied base to the southwest of the city as you continue to use air power, artillery, and tanks to hammer the town’s defenses in the south. Use the Combat Strategies upgrade at the Command Center and select Air Superiority to give a little extra “oopmh” to the bombing runs of your Stukas and Call-In Junkers.

As the German and Allied coalition rolls into the heart of town, The Leader realizes his plans of a totalitarian empire lasting for a millennia have been smashed by the people he most detests: those who love freedom and are willing to die for it. Hiding in his office and knowing that his capture is imminent, The Leader does what those close to him suspected he would if the war turned out the wrong way. He detonates a bomb that destroys his hideout — and the Nazis’ dreams of world domination along with it.