Q: Where can I get the campaign?
A: The campaign is a XXX kilobyte ZIP-file and can be downloaded from the Crimson Main Page at http://www.netti.fi/~squirt/ra/crimson.html.

Q: How do I install it?
A: Use a program like PKUNZIP or WINZIP to decompress the Zip-file into your Red Alert game-directory. (Defaults to C:\WESTWOOD\REDALERT at install.)

Q: How do I play?
A: After installing, start Red Alert (Dos or Win95-version) normally, then select New Campaign - any difficulty setting - Soviet. This will start the campaign. You can save the missions normally. NOTE: You can also load your old savegames from the original campaign, but if you restart, the mission from Crimson at that position will start instead of the old one.

Q: How many missions are there?
A: There are a total of twenty-three (23) missions. As you might have noticed there were fourteen linear missions for the Soviets, with the alternative map selections there were nineteen. Crimson has one mission more for the Soviets than the linear missions from the original campaign, plus Counterstrike.

Q: How do I know what to do in each mission?
A: In the beginning there will be a short text-only briefing stating your mission goals. Just like in the Counterstrike missions. While Crimson uses a few rendered action videos from the CD, no briefing videos were inserted due to lack of time, expertise, interest, acting skills, budget and bandwidth.

Q: Can I play the campaign without Red Alert?
A: Definitely not.

Q: Can I use a modified Rules.ini with your campaign?
A: You might be able to, but we recommend you do not. Most Crimson missions introduce slight modifications to the Rules.ini which are crucial to the internal functioning of the missions themselves. While the values introduced in the missions override the ones in the Rules.ini, it is possible that a conflict of some sort could arise, rendering the mission in question unplayable.

Q: How can you do single-player missions, anyhow?
A: Even now, the creation of missions is a painstaking process, owing to the lack of full-fledged map editors. The Red Alert Single Player Mission Creation Guide by Andrew Griffin and Charles Francis Harkins is at the moment, the most complete reference to mission creation. You can download the latest version from Andew Griffin's web-site Random Particles of Inspiration.

Q: Can I distribute your campaign?
A: If by distribution you mean putting your name on it, and uploading it to the 'net, we advice you don't. You can, however, link the Crimson Main Page and/or the campaign ZIP-file on your web-site, advertise it on the newsgroups, mailing-lists, magazines, milk-cans and what not. You can also apply to start a mirror-site, if you can convince me that there is need for one. All in all, the Main Page should be linked, or mentioned wherever the campaign can be downloaded. We would prefer if you just linked to the main-page and left it at that.

Tips
This section is designated to giving not just tips, walkthroughs really, for the campaign. Even with these, solving some of the missions might prove to be a difficult task, but the campaign is, after all, designed for players who have a lot of missions behind them. The complete briefing comes immediately after the name of the mission.

Mission I - Blackout
In this mission you are required to take out an Allied radar outpost. Your units will be dropped off near their base. If the area is mined, you will receive reinforcements to aid you in making a safe journey.
Destroy their RADAR DOME to complete mission.
In the beginning you follow an LST seeking its way to the enemy base. A mine goes off, and the LST backs off. Now just take control of it, and move it back the way it came and dock to the island to your west. A chinook should have landed/be landing there now. Unload the LST. Move two grenadiers ('cause they're fast) on the chinook, then fly them over to the flare that lit up to your east. Move the grenadiers to the eastern edge, then start going north. Finally turn west, and south when the cliff ends. Move the other grenadier, carefully, close to the shore where that mine went off. Then force fire (Ctrl+click) the water until you see some pyrotechics. Now make sure you detonate all the mines you can reach from that particular spot. When you're sure you're done, take your LST past the area you sweeped, to the north and then west. Move troops with the chinook to where your grenadiers are. Move straight west, take out the gun turret first. Then use the LST to reveal the Camo. Pill Box straight to its west. Use a bazooka or two to knock it out. Now move your infantry to the bridge. Stand on the north side of the weak spot, and force-fire it until it crashes. Now go up a bit, and force-fire the remaining bridge until you create a gap wide enough for your LST. Once done, take your LST, preferably empty, past the bridge, then north-north-west, following the shore. At the extreme north edge, dive into the small cove (never MIND the gun turrets). Until you hit its end at the west. Now load your chinook and bring all your remaining infantry over (hopefully at least one bazooka infantry).. Now run an engineer or another as useless troop first straight north, then west, to reveal the Camo. Pill Box. Take it out with a bazooka. Move to the north edge, then proceed west. At the middle of the concrete wall, make a hole, then destroy the power plant directly to your south. Move through that, locate their RADAR DOME on the west border, destroy it, and you're done. Simple.

Mission II - Crimson Gate
Allied forces are launching an attack to destroy the bridge in your area. It is the only one around here, and we need it badly. Make sure it stays intact.

This mission starts with you having troops on both sides of the bridge. The global timer is initialized at 35 minutes, which is the duration of the time you have to keep the bridge intact. Quickly build up your base, and start tank production. Heavy tanks and V2-launchers. It is propable that you will not make it the first time, but you will get the hang pretty quickly. After 15 minutes or so, the Allied troops will come streaming in, from land and sea mostly. Try to avoid battling on the bridge, since tanks exploding on it, and V2's missing a tank and hitting the bridge itself can have negative effects on its structural integrity. Chances are you will see the slightly overdone pyrotechnics of the bridge "going boom" at least once. Be sure to intercept the cruisers, there are only two, since they have the potential for greatest destruction against the bridge. And be sure to keep your own units alive, too.

Mission III - Mining Incident
Your target for today is a small compound consisting of Allied Forces and civillians. They hold an ore- rich area we need badly. Destroy all enemies.

In the very start, head for the bridge. Notice that the General you have with you isn't exactly harmless. He's got a Sniper's rifle and C4. Go to the middle of the bridge, then regroup. Mark all of your units as group one, and the general as group two. Head north with both groups. Right after the bridge to the left is a gun turret, and a medium tank somewhere. Direct group one to attack the tank, and group two to C4 the turret. Don't pursue the tank to the east with infantry, there's a Camo. pill box over there. Instead, take your jeep (if you still have it; if not, then the light tank will have to do.. if you don't have that, then just sacrifice an infantry. NOT a bazooka) and head east just so you reveal the pillbox. Then take it out with your bazooka. Now it's pretty straightforward, blast the majority of the buildings (and civillians) with the general.

Mission IV - Gleaming Tusk
A convoy of four prototypes of the new Mammoth tank has fallen under attack. Protect them, then wipe out allied presence.

You start with your construction yard visible. Immediately pan, or use the 'N' key to locate your mammoths at the northern edge. They're under heavy attack. Move the mammoths into a tight formation, and move the jeep out to their southwest a bit. The computers will often just ignore the jeep, and you'll get a lot of good shots at the infantry. Then just defend your hide, move a badly damaged mammoth to cover, and what not. Moving east while battling the tanks will be helpful. Make sure the choppers don't blast one of your mammoths by surprise. After things have quieted down, take the mammoths to your base, through the western route, then build it up. And do stuff like grenadiers and rifle infantry. (Not too many grenadiers as this yields into a highly explosive mixture.) Their base is a tiny little thing on the northeastern corner.

Mission V - Spray
This large naval base has been the base of operations for multiple allied coastal strikes. Build up your base, then take on the base.

You should first build up a considerable strike force of mainly heavy tanks and V2s. Then take this force around the ridge to your north, and the eastern edge. To your north there is part of the Allied base. Devastate it, but make sure you capture the construction yard or at least the ship yard. Make sure you have enough troops to stake your claim of the base, and build a few subs. Take this west, and wipe out all their ships and ship-yard. After the cruisers are gone, taking on the base shouldn't be too hard, especially since you can now build your own cruisers.

Mission VI - Hot Coals
A crucial cargo needs to be delivered through this narrow ravine. We know, however, that it is under Allied control, and is possibly mined. Destroy allied presence and sweep any and all possible minefields before our convoy arrives.

In the very beginning, build up your base, then build as many rifle infantry and grenadiers as you can (it's ok to sell your cons. yard). Divide these into two groups. Have the V2RL accompany the group that takes the western route. Start out with a single infantry, and move directly south. If and when he goes boom, use the V2RL to force fire around that spot to sweep mines. Move the western group south, following the ridge, and then around it. Have somebody scout ahead so you'll know what you're dealing with. Take out all their infantry, the gun turret and the camo. pill box. The trucks are going to follow a route starting from the western border, following the clearing in the woods, to the east, through the pass you used, and from there straight east. Follow this path with the occasional force firing of the ground. Once the trucks arrive, just cross your fingers.

Mission VII - Sitting Duck
The Allies are sending a strike force of light and medium tanks through this valley. Habitate the valley and ambush them once they arrive. This will hopefully shift the scales enough in your favor.

Immediately build up your base. Build an additional harvester, or two, or three. Whatever, just start producing a lot of tanks. And a couple of flame turrets to the west side of your base. When the seconds have ticked away, array your tanks into a defensive perimeter in front of/behind your base and wait.

Mission VIII - Bodycount
This friendly town is under Allied attack. You must rescue our field marshal from the Forward Command Center in the town. A chopper will be sent once he is located.

This mission isn't very hard if you don't know what you're doing. Just start following the road into the city center. Dodge some parabombs, and locate a church. Once you've blasted it, go directly north where the Forward Command Center is. The general will run out, move him to safety. To the north lights a flare, and a chopper lands. Move the chopper to a more advantageous position for you to get the general in it but make sure it isn't blown up by some angry tank. Get the general in the chopper, wait for a while, and you're done.

Mission IX - Steep 'N Narrow
We have detected seismic disturbances from this Allied base. Our spies inform us they are developing a new secret weapon. Get in with your commando squad, and eliminate the Tech Center. We do not need any technological toys the Allied swine construct. Now go.

After the chinook has unloaded all of the infantry, it is time for you to get going. The tech center you're after is in the extreme north corner of the map, so that's where you'll want to go. Notice, using the spy to explore is relatively safe here.. The best and safest route would be to stick to the western border. Take out the tank and the infantry accompanying it, then make sure you don't accidentally walk into the camouflaged pill box on the ridge. Use a bazooka on that. Proceed north, destroy the concrete wall and go through that, then destroy the whole chain link fence when you reach that. There's a camouflaged pill box to the right, and a turret to the left. Take out the pillbox, don't worry about the turret, just go around it. Now go straight up until you reach the upper edge of the map. Then start going east until you find the tech center, then just command all of your troops to attack it.

Mission X - Watchers
There is a sizable Allied base in this estuary. We need you to eliminate it in order to drastically weaken their radar sight. Destroy their air defences first.

In this mission, the enemy base is a sizable construct, with most of it surrounded on all sides by river. There is one bridge to the base, which will propably be destroyed in the heat of the battle. This mission can be easily won, if you first strand the Allied to the confines of their base, then carefully advance around their base and knock out their air defences. After that, the route will be clear for any aerial troops you want to call upon. Also V2 launchers work great from the opposite shore.

Mission XI - Payback Time
Three strategically high-ranking allied generals are visiting this base. We do not dare a frontal assault for fear of giving them time to escape. Instead, you have been supplied with a modified Hind-chopper with one of our best snipers on it. Kill all three.

The only unit that you'll have under your control in this mission is the Hind. It has been equipped with a sniper, you have five shots between each reload. There are three hidden sections of the map, and surprise, surprise these are also the areas which the generals reside in. Move as close as you dare, and keep a watchful eye out for traffic around their base. What a kamikaze attack into AA-Guns won't do, a little bit of patience might. The most important thing to making the kill is TIMING.

Mission XII - Crimson Rapids
The allied base by this river has crippled our use of it as a transport route. Build up your own base on the other side then destroy every Allied unit and structure.

Their base is on the other side of the river from you. After you've built up your base, build an engineer or two, then move on to your northwest and capture at least one of their buildings on the eastern (your) shore. Now start tank production, and construct a sub pen. Once you're confident enough, move your troops over with LSTs to the landing area to the north, and have a blast.

Mission XIII - Grapple
A highly packed Allied supply convoy is due through the area. You are to intercept them, and destroy all the trucks, collecting all money they carried. There is an abandoned base in the area. Use your spy to infiltrate the Forward Command Center to re-activate the gun turrets. They should help you in stopping the convoy.

Even though the guns will not guarantee your prolonged life, they would be helpful, so in the very beginning send your spy to the FCOM at the center of the abandoned base. Note that you cannot sell/repair or build next to the buildings in the abandoned base. It has a life of its own. The most efficient way is to build up your base in the extreme middle (where there's an intersection of the roads), and just wait for them to come for you. For security reasons, have a minigunner or the like standing far out of trouble's reach, so that in case you'll get accidentally blown to hell, you'll still be able to gather the loot. Experiment what works best with blowing the greatest number of Convoy Trucks, and gathering the money crates they leave behind. Money is extremely important, since what you gather here will be your only income in the next mission.

Mission XIV - High Passes
We have found out that a number of allied units is to arrive here with choppers and regroup before campaigning. You have 45 minutes to build up your bases before they arrive. Try to drop as many choppers as possible.

The positions where you have your MCVs in the very beginning are quite good spots to deploy your primary air defence in. There will be a lot of choppers just waiting to start pounding you with their contents, so that you'll need more than one SAM Site. The time you have will certainly be enough to set up air defence, but you might also want to consider building up the basics for moderate ground defence.

Mission XV - Crossed Swords
You now have revealed your location and must battle all units that managed to land in the previous mission. Destroy all allied units.

The purpose and set-up for this mission are propably quite clear. In mission 14, they landed, in 15 they come after your blood.

Mission XVI - Goldfinger
Our Iron Curtain research-base has been infiltrated by an Allied spy. We know that he has disguised himself as one of our own scientists, and attempts to knock out all four power coils, causing the explosion of the whole base. He has managed to cut off our power, and your first task is to find the auxiliary generator and get it going. Then locate the spy and kill him. DO NOT KILL ANY REAL SCIENTISTS.

This mission can be separated into a few logical steps. Firstly, since you cannot see anything nor kill anything (what a loss), you will have to race for the backup generator. It's located in the northwestern corner. Command your spy to infiltrate it, and the "lights" will go on. Now move back into the central area. The spy's targets are the four power coils that house the excess and wildly oscillating static generated by the still crude Iron Curtain. If he is able to knock all out, all that power would be directed back at the Iron Curtain itself, and the place would go boom. He will target the two eastern coils first, so head there unless he's already blown those, (you hear the explosions).. The real trick is knowing who is the spy and who is not. The only way to do this is to hang around a coil you know to be the next target, (not too close, mind.. it'll just zap you), then waiting until it does explode and figuring who had the possibility to slip a bomb in and run away. TIP: The bombs go off the moment the spy leaves the room the coil is in. Oh, and you'll have to force-fire the spy in order to take him out.

Mission XVII - Marooned
While taking the research material back into our headquarters, the leading Iron Curtain researcher was attacked by allied naval units and is now marooned on an island. Build up your base then find Einstein and the trucks. Once located, move Einstein to the island to the northwest. A chopper will be sent for him. You have some time before an Allied scout plane flies over and reports his location to the cruisers. Also, be sure that the chopper has a clear escape route.

Build up your base as fast as you can, don't bother about defences and such. An ore refinery, barracks, and sub pen will do... What you need are two transports, and some five grenadiers to fill the other with. First take the full transport and head straight north. There is an island of some sort at the extreme northern border, with gun turrets on it. Go around to its western side where there is a spot where you can unload (not without any harm to self, though). Anyway, your only concern is to keep those grenadiers alive. Take them to the north, then take out both AA-Guns, now don't you feel important? Now back to the empty transport, the one that's still in one piece preferably. Take it on a northwestern course, and look for the island where Einstein and the trucks are. Once located, get them on board, and set your course to the exterme northwestern corner. Unload, and send them inland a bit more. The trucks will indipendently drive out of the map, and a chopper will arrive for Einstein. Notice that when you board it, it takes off to fly exactly over the AA-Guns you just took out..

Mission XVIII - Clash of Steel
This base is the main source for Allied tank production. Taking it out will cripple their land support. A lot of the tanks have no pilots, but there are some rushing to the cockpits. We'll paradrop your first units to this island in front of their base. A transport will soon arrive, destroy it, then we can send one of our own that's rigged with explosives to their checkpoint. After that, the path will be clear for more reinforcements.

In the very beginning move your troops to the west, and take out the gun turret at the southern edge. Then start waiting by the beach for the transport. Once it arrives, blast it to pieces. The rigged transport will come in, and blow up their checkpoint. Two more LSTs enter, start following the one that comes first. As soon as it unloads, direct the troops coming out from there to destroy at least two powerplants. Now turn your attention to the second LST. Move your units southward for a little distance, then deploy your base. Capture their weapons factory to give you more variety while planning the big attack.

Mission XIX - On the Verge
A long awaited moment is at hand. Stalin has ordered you to protect the four nuclear missile silos until they can be launched in 35 minutes time. Allied troops have learned of the missiles and are rushing to stop you. Make sure they destroy neither the silos nor the Tech Center.

In the very beginning, build an additional harvester, then an MCV and deploy that somewhere safe (in the middle of your base). Rapid tank/tesla production is a must. The Allies will come swarming in from pretty much all directions, so make sure you patch your weak spots carefully. The primary attack, however will be done from the east. Each power plant that gets destroyed sends a power surge in the base's system that delays the launch of the missiles. The rest of your base takes second priority when the silos or the Tech Center are under attack. For increased efficiency in defence, order the flame turrets of your four outposts to attack any and all possible artillery units, instead of their usual targets.

Mission XX - Violent Streak
These mountains home an Allied base. Deploy your MCV and take it out.

The beginning of this mission is a bit tricky. Instead of deploying your harvester where you stand, it's much wiser to start going north with all your troops. Stick to the eastern border. Pass the first bridge, and on the second bridge, first send your flamethrowers to attack the turret right after it, then immediately bring in the tanks. Once you've knocked it out, advance over the bridge, still following the eastern border. Deploy your MCV a bit to the south of theirs, then destroy their immediate defences. Capture vital buildings, as well. As quickly as you can, start a point defence at the narrow entrance to your west, since this is the only route their units have to get into your base. After that, build up your strength and take on both of their bases.

Mission XXI - Crimson Tide
The main allied nuclear missile command center is protected by this huge base on an island. You are given troops on both sides of the island. Destroy the base utterly.

The main Allied base might be a hard to get at, in the very beginning. Build up both of your bases, be extremely careful to put the most important structures close the edges, as far away from the river as possible. Yes, cruisers. The eastern shore holds an other Allied base you should take out first, they have a naval yard, which, when captured will only give you the possibility to build Gunboats and LSTs. Once the base has been taken out, your first task will be to assume ocean supremacy. Fleets of submarines will do the job. Now you'll have to start thinking about your landing on their base. Some parts of it can be attacked by V2s from the opposite shore, but this will not be the most rewarding thing you ever saw. For the main attack, or the beginning of the main attack, send an Iron Curtained LST to their docks, (you should sink their docks with subs at the first chance), stop right at the shore, where all of the guns will have a blast at you, now unload your five, hopefully mammoth, tanks. This will give them a blow they'll never forget. You might also want to deal small-scale attacks to far-out areas of their base with paratroopers and the like. Once the turrets at the landing area have been taken out, immediately bring in new units, and make a rush attack for their construction yard. If you don't get to destroy that, they'll just always make new gun turrets at the beach. A big bunch of V2s would work here pretty well.

Mission XXII - The Ghostly Double
The missile command center is a huge underground complex. Lead spies to infiltrate all five entrances. Only then can you continue from the inside.
NOTE: The entrances are disguised as HELIPADs.

Even though the entrances look a bit funny, this mission is not exactly easy. You have to know quite explicitly what to do. You have five spies, all on the eastern side, and you have to infiltrate a helipad with EVERY SPY, most of which are on the western side. You might want to start with your eastern troops. Leave the spies to the southern border, away from harm until they really are needed. You might want to go out exploring, and with your first tries it might be worthwile, HOWEVER, be forewarned, there are a lot of dog patrols that are just dying for a snack or two. Move your units north, until you encounter gun turrets. Take them out with minimized losses to yourself. Then the pill boxes, too. Now, it's time to move to the western troops. Load up an APC with three bazookas, and two flamethrowers. Move this APC north, and use it to reveal the two pillboxes at the entrance. You could just punch a hole in the wall here, and use that, but then you'd risk future encounters with the pillboxes. Whichever way, enter their base, then move west. Now punch a hole in that wall, then start following the western border northwards. Their base is actually a huge walled-off area with five clusters of buildings in it. With the APC, go through their base, killing as many patrols as possible whilst keeping your structural integrity. And try to reach your eastern troops. You propably shouldn't run around with just spies, instead, stuff them in the APC, then try to reach each helipad separately, and command exactly one spy to infiltrate. You should be able to reach them without too many losses.

Mission XXIII - Genocide
The missile launch centers are spread along this underground complex. Your objective is to infiltrate all SIX of the TECH CENTERS, so that we may re-target the nuclear missiles. Commandoes are spread along the entrances. Keep an eye out for dog patrols when exploring. Infiltrate all six before 90 minutes have passed, or those missiles will crush our strategically most important bases. We are NOT going for civillian targets, but important military field bases.
Once it is relatively safe, I will personally arrive to oversee the launch.


Good Luck
-Comrade Stalin
This mission is the not-so-cinematic finale to Crimson. There is a plot of some kind involved, but I haven't figured it out, though. Find the group of infantry that holds your spies. Take one spy, and head west with it. Try to take it to the commando at the extreme southwestern corner. A lot of the units in this mission have been modified in some way. The most important thing you should know about are the changes to the gun turrets. Gun Turrets can effectively take out infantry, but their rate of turn has been minimized, so it is possible to sneak up on one with a commando from behind with little or no harm caused to you. The main point to finishing this mission is exploring, experimenting and studying. For example, figuring out when patrols come and from where will help you a lot especially when moving the more vulnerable units around the map. What you should do, is group two or three commandoes together and with them, and maybe a spy for exploring purposes, blast holes in the chainlink fences around the four tech centers that are spread around the complex. After this, you might want to set about attacking dog patrols, to decrease their numbers. This will make journeying with spies a lot easier. Once you've infiltrated the four separate tech centers, it is time to concentrate on the central missile launch facility. It is moderately guarded, so you should have as many units left as possible. You won't need much time once inside, so medical assistance to your commandoes is adviced. One way to deal with the defences is to lure all the infantry and dogs to come after you, then cut them down in ones or twos. After that, do a full frontal C4 attack on the gun turrets. Try to approach from a position they will have to turn to before firing. After you're done, make sure there are no dogs anywhere near, and infiltrate the two remaining tech centers. After you've done that, something cool will happen.