Mobile games aren't known for real-time strategy games. However, one RTS-tower defense combo game has suddenly sprouted out of nowhere and became a popular strategy game on the mobile platform.
Iron Marines is a real-time strategy game that involves tower defense mechanics wherein I control a hero and sets of units to carry out a mission and protect a planet from alien creatures.
The game does a great job at introducing new players like me to the game with the tutorial. However, there are still a lot of things to learn apart from the basics. Here are some tips on how you can play the game, get more money and points, and many more with my guide below.
- Move Your Units On The Map Carefully
- A Reason To Explore The Planet
- Unlock Special Abilities By Reaching Milestones
- Check The Enemy Behavior By Their Icons
- Complete Achievements For Money And Points
Move Your Units On The Map Carefully
Most of the strategy involving units in Iron Marines is all about protecting your towers and other structures. However, there is still a need for players to move their units around to cover more ground.
Many might think that moving units around the map is easy, and while it is relatively simple to move my units across the map, the fog of war makes it very difficult to spot incoming enemies. The map is covered by a fog of war, and only when I move my units around will it reveal the enemy.
This can be very dangerous as enemies can use this to their advantage. What I do is I move my units toward the edge of the fog of war to reveal the area close to them.
Then, I also make sure that the units are covered and protected by long-ranged units so that I can still protect them if a fight breaks out. Moving around the map is a rather risky strategy, but it will pay off soon. You'll have to learn how to move your units carefully.
Use Scouts To Reveal The Map
If you don't like to risk your entire squad when moving around the map, I would suggest using two or three units to scout. Moving them in short distances will still reveal a lot of the map.
I usually use these scouts to reveal the map and then get them back into the squad as soon as possible. Once I can reveal the map, I can freely move my entire squad towards any areas of the revealed section.
However, remember that you still need to protect your units. Make sure to have snipers at the back row of your squad while the tanks go to the front lines.
A Reason To Explore The Planet
Moving units have many different purposes in Iron Marines. One of which is to explore and reveal the map so I can see whether enemy units are coming to attack.
Another reason why exploration is necessary to the game is to expand the number of units that you can recruit. At the start of the game, I can only recruit one squad or unit.
Players can check how many units they can recruit by the blue icon at the top left corner of the screen. To increase the unit count, explore the map to find a hologram image of a marine.
Move a unit towards that image, and it will help increase the number of units that you can recruit.
Adapt To The Current Situation
Now that you have already gathered enough units through exploring the map, it is time to learn how to adapt to specific situations in the game. There are a lot of different types of units. Grunts are the melee attackers, while snipers have long-ranged attacks.
Tanks are mostly the frontliners, while heroes have special abilities that can lead an entire unit to battle. Many players do not know this, but you can change the units that you have by swapping them out.
Change the unit roles, and it will immediately swap from grunts to snipers and vice versa. If you find yourself needing to go head to head with an enemy, swapping them back to grunts is a good idea but if you want to gain an advantage by range, swap them to snipers.
Unlock Special Abilities By Reaching Milestones
Heroes tend to have more impact in the game than many other units. Heroes have special abilities that can be upgraded by reaching certain milestones. Before that can happen, players must use these heroes in battles to gain experience.
The more experience each hero gains, the more the hero levels up. Upon leveling up, each hero will receive a point. These points can then be used to acquire special abilities.
Each hero will have their unique abilities depending on the character role they portray in the game. Whether you win or lose, your hero will always gain experience.
Improve your hero skills by unlocking these abilities, which can also turn the tide of battle.
Equip Proper Power-Ups During Battle
Power-ups are also available for purchase whenever you start to earn credits or money in Iron Marines. This is why money and points are significant. I'll teach you later how you can start earning money, but for now, here's how you can get the proper power-ups to help you in battle.
Players can only equip three power-ups at a certain time. Make sure to read all the mission details so that you'll know which power-ups are needed in the game.
These power-ups can be used to deter enemies from entering your base or increase your capacity to mine for resources, and help you recruit even more units. It all depends on how you want to win the game, and the best strategy is to first experiment with these power-ups.
Check The Enemy Behavior By Their Icons
At the start of the game, I always get surprised by the sheer number of enemies that I am not familiar with. This can be detrimental to anyone's game if they do not know what they're up against.
The game does provide key information on each unit on the battlefield. All I needed to do was to tap on the enemy icon, and it would reveal crucial information such as strengths and weaknesses, including how they attack.
Knowing this information is key to victory. I can immediately switch my units to another role so I can manage their threat level. Make sure to check their strengths and weaknesses and adapt appropriately.
Take Advantage Of Dropgun's
There's another key element in the game that has helped me a lot, especially in the earlier stages. The dropgun is unlocked around the second level, and this is one of the most important structures that has won me many victories in the game.
Dropguns are turrets that can be deployed on the battlefield. While it does have a cooldown, it is still one of the most critical structures to have with you as a player.
Dropguns can be placed in key areas in the battlefield either as a defensive or offensive tool. Dropguns are also considered units, so make sure to make good use of them, especially if you plan on sieging enemy bases.
Complete Achievements For Money And Points
I've mentioned before that money and points are very important in Iron Marines. Money or credits are used to purchase different power-ups that will change the course of the game in my favor.
Having money in this game is ultimately a goal, so learning how to get them is equally important. For starters, completing achievements will help me earn at least 50 credits.
This is just the start, and there will be more achievements that can be unlocked as soon as you play more games. Check out the medal icon to check for all the list of achievements that you need to unlock to gain money and points.
Replay Stages To Earn More Points
Another great tip to earn more points that I have learned from playing the game is to replay stages. Each stage has its difficulty settings. The more difficult the level becomes, the more points I earn.
However, if you want to earn a steady amount of credits and points in the game, I highly suggest that you repeatedly replay the same level.
This is also useful if you want to level up a hero and help them gain experience to unlock more special abilities. Rotate each hero that you own when replaying these levels, so you make the most out of the game.
Conclusion
Iron Marines require a good amount of strategy to win more games. It also helps you learn more about the game and some tips that will give you a few advantages.
Iron Marines is currently available for download on all mobile devices at the Google Play Store and the App Store.
