Prologue

Well, as I mentioned in the other post Kane’s Wrath Launch Error Troubleshoot, I’m a BIG fan of Kane’s Wrath. It keeps the C&C tradition with nine specialized factions and my personal favorite is the Black Hand.

I play PVE the most, and is able to defeat brutal enemies with a fair winning ratio. Recently I made some progress to make this ratio close to 100% by adjusting my strategy. So, here I’d like to make a summary of my experience with the Black Hand.

All my game recordings can be found at Bilibili: Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath.

Strategies

No matter what strategy you use, there is something to keep in your mind.

Economy is crucial, so ensure your income in the early game, and transit to other expansions in time.
Scout regularly to know your opponent’s move.
T1 unit is important at early game.

A small tip for you, keep at least 9 harvesters for a steady late-game income.

Now comes the strategy. I’ll focus on the idea only as the battlefield can be complicated. So, good luck, have fun! 😎

Early-Game Rush

Only rush your enemy on small maps. ⚠️

Black Hand has the most fierce ground unit in game, which is effective for early-game rush. To rush your enemy, you can open the game with the following steps.

2 ~ 3 Confessors for scout
Refinery
War Factory + 1 Harvester
Operation Center + Liquid Tiberium Core
Flame Tank × N

Scout is important to find weakness in your enemy’s defense. When your Flame Tanks are ready, let them sneak into your opponent’s base. At the same time, you can also build a Reckoner, and put in one or two Black Hand squad to assist your Flame Tanks.

You can get a discount Black Hand squad by selling Operation Center.

Usually, you can just burn down the computer’s base and enjoy the victory. If not, you are at risk as your economy will be far behind your enemy.

Examples

What to do if you failed to rush

Don’t get panic, just sell your Operation Center, build a second Refinery and more Harvesters. If possible, use the scouts to keep an eye on your opponent and build T1 units in reaction to possible attacks.

Comments

Rush is good, but you should be aware that brutal enemies have doubled income, and build faster. Once the rush fails, you will probably be overwhelmed by an endless army.

Standard

This is what I recently developed, and it works well with zero defeat. Unlike rushing, you focus on your economy in this strategy. So, the opening can be a little different.

2 ~ 3 Confessors for scout
Refinery
War Factory
Refinery
Harvesters × 2 + Raider Buggy × 1 + Harvester × 2
Move MCV to your second expansion

Now you can see the difference, we prioritize harvesting here. If you are out of money when building the second refinery, which is most likely, offline your War Factory to pause vehicle production. Also, you will run out of power after when the second Refinery is down, but don’t worry, just move your MCV. You will have enough money when you reach the second expansion, where you build a third Refinery.

Economy is only one part, the other is scouting. Make sure you see more than 50% of the mini map, or at least have visual on the paths that your opponent most likely to invade. The Raider Buggy you built is the perfect choice to scout enemy base.

Don’t go for tech too soon. Build some T1 units such as Scorpion Tank and Raider Buggy to prevent or stop early attacks. At the same time, prepare to move to your third expansion (most 1v1 maps have three Tiberium fields for each player).

When you have a third expansion, you can prepare your army. Depends on the faction of your opponent, you may have different choices for units. In most cases, Confessors and Rocket Militant with Black Disciple and Purifying Flame upgrade is the silver bullet. As for Purifiers, 3 to 5 are enough. If the air is a problem, build some Mantis. If economy allows, you can build a Redeemer. And that’s it, victory awaits.