Star Wars: Empire at War - Coruscant

Star Wars: Empire at War - Coruscant
This is a hint / walkthrough for a planet in Star Wars: Empire at War. The index of all our guides for Empire at War is here.

Rebellion Campaign
Coruscant is available for conquest after Mission 10 (Handle with Care!).

Space Battle
Raymus Antilles, C-3PO, and R2-D2 were removed from play after Mission 9; Han Solo is removed from play after Mission 10; and Mon Motha has no combat role. Therefore, you have no major heroes to help you.

The planet has a Hypervelocity Gun, so you are certain to lose units because it ignores shields. I was curious to try a fleet of corvettes with a lot of Marauders, but the stutter-bug that occurs whenever a Corellian Corvette is hit by a tractor beam made this impractical. I therefore went with a Raid Fleet first to seize the planet and take out the Hypervelocity Gun.

Even without the Hypervelocity Gun, the planet is probably impossible to take without losses because (on Hard difficulty) the fleet has at least two Imperial Star Destroyers, and quickly swells to about 66 points and adds Captain Piett and the Accuser. Instead, let Captain Piett lead the Mon Calamari invasion force out of Coruscant, thereby splitting the garrison.

You receive an announcement when Captain Piett moves his fleet, but it does not actually move in the usual way on the Galactic Map -- It will simply appear Corellia when your prep time is over and you instantly enter space combat.
Once you destroy Captain Piett's fleet, there will probably be only a minimal garrison at Coruscant, as lone Imperial Star Destroyers will typically have been sent out to try to take initially neutral planets (not occupied by Rebels or Pirates, and therefore can be taken with no resistance).

Land Battle
If you use a Raid Fleet to take Coruscant quickly, you can destroy the space station before the scripted buildup begins. Put an Ion Cannon on the ground to help with the space battle. By the time you are given Admiral Ackbar and four free Mon Calamari capital ships, the space garrison (without space station) can be over 60 points.

This special land map has a lot more structures than is normally allowed. There is no MagnaPulse Cannon, but there is a Repulsorlift Jammer, which means you can land T2-B Repulsor Tanks, but they are grounded until you destroy the Jammer (which is helpfully unshielded in the east, but if you are here with a Raid Fleet you have no Bombing Runs to take it out).

I conquered Coruscant with a Raid Fleet first to destroy the level 5 Space Station and the Hypervelocity Gun before taking orbital space. With only three units and no heroes, I landed one unit of T-4B Heavy Tanks, one unit of MPTL-2a Mobile Proton Torpedo Launchers, and one unit of Rebel Infiltrators. With just these three units, you can complete the Coruscant land battle with no unit losses if you are very protective about your Infiltrators and don't try them against Saber Tanks.

This map is not as scary as it looks as the Imperials tend to keep building infantry to try to take your landing zone Reinforcement Point. At the landing zone, seize the Build Pads near the single ramp leading down and build a Vehicle Repair Station on the north Build Pad; and an Anti-Infantry Turret on the south pad. On the other two, one should be a Bacta Healing Station as you will be using your Rebel Infiltrators to do the bulk of the work.

Initially, you need to just hold ground with your T4-B and MPTL-2a units. Keep them all constantly in the useful radius of the Vehicle Repair Station because there will be Scout Trooper suicide runs to drop thermal detonators. Keep the Rebel Infiltrators nearby to help against the Scout Troopers, but not too close to the vehicles in case of a thermal detonator.
While holding ground, use the MPTL Spotter Droids to reveal the map using its Ping power. Try to locate the native structures because their waves of infantry need to be stopped.

Once the initial wave, which includes vehicles, is over, you should start to see only natives and Stormtroopers. The Turret and your T4-B Heavy Tanks should be able to clear out any that get too close to your Mobile Proton Torpedo Launchers.

Cautiously move west with your Rebel Infiltrators. When you take a Build Pad, put down an Anti-Infantry Turret (although you should also have one Bacta Healing Station somewhere closer to where the Infiltrators are operating) -- But don't do this until there are no enemy units who can see you doing it. Otherwise they will probably send a Scout Trooper to suicide run it while it is building (or worse, a Saber Tank).

Use the Spotter Droids' Ping ability to see what's coming ahead and how your Rebel Infiltrators could approach without getting the attention of too many vehicles. In going west, then north to the shielded area in the northwest, you will encounter all the native structures, including Emperor Palpatine's Imperial Palace, which spawns Royal Guards.
Two thermal detonators should take down each native structure.

Destroy every building and Build Pad structure the Imperials have so that they are progressively blind on the map. Do not take the Reinforcement Points since you have no reinforcements to call, and the Imperials have no reason to send infantry over to try to take them.

When you reach the northwestern shielded area, check it with a Spotter Droid. If the AT-AT is not there, see if you can attract its attention by entering the area and attacking something before fleeing. After exhausting the additional land units, the AI typically defends critical bases (e.g., the power generators in the northwest) with vehicles and other units, and will not let them stray too far from the Shield Generator.
This is good because we don't have bombing runs in a Raid Fleet, and so the Power Generators are not as critical as the Factories and Barracks to stop the enemy from continuously building units.

If the AT-AT is in the northwest, your next objective to destroy the Factories and Barracks will be easier. Cautiously insert your Rebel Infiltrators into the shielded area and hit one building at a time. It will take four thermal detonators to destroy the Advanced Factory. Do that first, then the Heavy Factory next if possible, as the Saber Tanks are deadly to your Rebel Infiltrators. Leave the Barracks last -- even though Scout Trooper suicide runs are annoying, we actually want the Imperials to keep churning out infantry, because the alternative is that they will start building vehicles.

You may be tempted to relocate your tanks and artillery to the Build Pad just south of the central factory area. I recommend against this because your Rebel Infiltrators can outrun everything the Imperials have except Scout Troopers. If they should come out far enough to see your armor, they might end up blitzing them, or calling the AT-AT over. In which case, unprepared, you will probably lose those slow units.

When you have destroyed the factories and cleared the last of the roaming units, sell your unused Turrets and relocate to the central area. Now the Imperials should be basically on the defensive, keeping close to their remaining Shield Generators. When you have dug in with armor and artillery, attack their buildings again with your Rebel Infiltrators and watch out for the AT-AT. If possible, lure the Sabers toward Anti-Vehicle Turrets or to your artillery instead of trying to take them on with Rebel Infiltrators and thermal detonators -- you are likely to lose one, if not both Infiltrators, especially as the thermal detonators have a very long fuse.

Eventually the AT-AT will come out, possibly after you have exhausted the lesser units. Retreat your armor. Hopefully your T-4B Heavy Tanks are between the AT-AT and your MPTL artillery. If one Heavy Tank is critically damaged, stop the other two and hope they draw fire briefly. The T-4B Heavy Tanks can turn their turrets in any direction, and therefore fire while fleeing, so that ought to continue to draw the AT-AT's attention if it isn't occupied with an Anti-Vehicle Turret.
Meanwhile, try to get around to the side of the AT-AT with the Rebel Infiltrators. Two thermal detonators will blow off about half its health and make it retreat. Charge it with your armor and artillery to finish it off.

Once you've mopped up the last of the units, the map is essentially yours to take your time with. Destroy all the buildings as usual to win. Taking Coruscant with a raid fleet will also destroy the space station, leaving only two Imperial Star Destroyers and a few lesser ships to deal with.