Star Wars: Empire at War - Kuat

Star Wars: Empire at War - Kuat
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.

Imperial Campaign
Available in Mission 6 (Attack on Mon Calamari) / Tech Level 3.

Space Battle
If you rush for the planet at the start of Mission 6, you can get there just before the Rebellion. The Rebellion will send a raid fleet, however, so you can either wait and dig them out, or defend on the planet.

Land Battle
I grabbed Kuat right away at the start of this mission, and right away had to defend it against a raid fleet. The Rebels had PLEX Troopers and MPTL-2a Mobile Proton Torpedo Launchers, which are preceded by spotter droids.
Although the MPTLs are slow to move, slow to deploy, and tend to undeploy and flee when charged, their barrages are devastating to anything the Imperials have on the ground -- even Darth Vader.
For the defense of Kuat, I had landed with only a Field Commander and two squads of AT-STs. The natives comprised two free units and started with the Field Commander far to the northwest.

The layout of the Kuat land battle involves a narrow river crossing between the Imperials and the Rebellion reinforcement point / landing zone. Once I spotted the spotter droid, I charged forward immediately with the AT-STs. They survived one barrage and some fire from PLEX Troopers, and quickly cleared the MPTLs with their own barrage. Then they stepped on the Rebel infantry and the defense of Kuat was fortunately won.

What I could have instead done is just secure Kuat space but let the Rebels take the land, then conquer it later at leisure. Since I would not have had significant time on the planet, there would be no fortifications to lose.

Rebellion Campaign
The Rebellion Campaign starts in Kuat space in Mission 1, but on a special map.
Kuat is available in Mission 2 (Interpreting the Network) / Tech Level 1.

Space Battle

The Rebellion Campaign begins here, with Raymus Antilles in the Sundered Heart. To quickly blow up each component of the shipyard, target the containers, which will trigger a chain reaction.
When you return to Kuat afterwards, the orbital space has no Imperial forces.

Land Battle

The land battle can be done at the start of Mission 2, and is quite easy if you are patient at the start and ignore the tips about scouting.
First, secure the Reinforcement Point with two squads of T2-Bs and one squad of PLEX Troopers. You cannot be flanked from your starting position except by Scout Troopers if they go over water and the long way, which is very unlikely as the enemy starts from the northeast and has no reason to circle around.
There are two Build Pads and one infantry dugout. Choose only 1 to use. I recommend choosing the western Build Pad to put an Anti-Infantry Turret (which, at this early stage, is useful against the lightly armored vehicles that the Imperials have). The Build Pads are far enough away that unless you draw the enemy to one of them, they might not get a chance to fire.
The other Build Pad can be set to a Vehicle Repair Station, although if you build it too early you will probably lose it. Instead, put one squad of T2-Bs nearer the river ford, your PLEX Troopers not far behind to cover them against vehicles, and the other squad of T2-Bs in reserve behind to swap with the forward group if that group's shields get too low. Keep C3PO and R2-D2 behind to repair the Turret and your T2-Bs.

Once the lengthy initial wave (mostly infantry) is over, continue to hold the Reinforcement Point area and send one group of T2-Bs out. If you scout to the west, you can find the single native building near the coast, approximately south of the second Reinforcement Point. Take it out and relocate your force to that Reinforcement Point. Remember to sell the turrets you've built.
At the mouth of that Reinforcement Point are two Build Pads, which you can use if you are worried about holding the location. Call all the PLEX Troopers you've got. Even if you've built more T2-Bs than the initial two squads provided to you, they'll just create a traffic jam in this tight map.
Now start moving on the enemy. Lead the way with either C3PO and R2-D2 (pulling them back to a Vehicle Repair Station when necessary), or a squad of T2-Bs. Follow quite closely with the PLEX Troopers to quickly take down vehicles. If you haven't taken too much time, the enemy may not have built any Turrets on their Build Pads but will probably still have a sizable force of light vehicles that will charge you. If you have a lot of PLEX Troopers, you'll clear them much more quickly than clearing their Infantry.

When I did this land battle right away at the start of Mission 2, there was just one Mining Facility and one Light Factory.