Brute Chieftain 1v1 guide

Games Halo Wars Series
1

Okay, I already tried writing this once but my piece of garbage computer froze and when I restarted it everything was gone. Sigh.

Anyway, here are the basics (I trust you’ve got these down pat):

Scouting
Don’t be complacent
Don’t stack supplies

So yeah. I’m going to structure this in a map to map sort of fashion. Also, I only included advice on how to play vs Anders and vs Brute since they are the most used and most viable out of all the leaders in 1v1. However, you can apply them to other leaders and still be successful. I tried to be specific as possible, but understand that each situation is unique. These strategies are good, but they won’t guarantee victory; no strategy will do that. It’s how you play and the decisions you make while you play that determine the outcome of the game. Anyway… Here you go.

Barrens- (Vs Anders) This is a bad map for Brute as an Anders player can harass you with Hogs with little to no consequences because of the healing spire in the middle of the map. The normal build is temple 2nd (temple 3rd if you’re edgy and want to risk it) and a Factory 5th. Don’t bother with turrets as once again the Hogs can just get a heal. Once you have your first Wraith out, you can go get supplies and catch Hogs with your leader while the Wraith defends the base. Keep spamming Wraiths and get a Brute out to capture one of the reactor hooks. Once you’ve got tech 2, get Birthright on your leader. This protects your Wraiths from Gremlins (which are terribly easy for an Anders player to get on this map due to the reactors) and those pesky Spartans. Also, make sure your enemy doesn’t try to transition into air units. If they do, push on them. Transitioning leaves them vulnerable, and if they get up air you’ll be in a bad position. Notwithstanding that, do this strategy and you’ll be set up to win.

(Vs Brute) The best way of playing a Brute mirror on Barrens is to go temple 1st and mass Brutes. Never stop queuing them up. Scout the enemy and see if they’re Brute rushing. If they are, just stay at your base and get ready. They’ll be walking into Brute-central. If they aren’t, go ahead and hit them. They’ll probably start making Brutes to defend their base, so get Inheritance and stun them whenever you can. If they push you off, get Citadel and start double pumping Banshees. If they don’t push you off… Well then you won :wink:

Blood Gulch- (Vs Anders) The standard build on this map is to go temple 2nd and get your leader to the supply hook ASAP. Queue up a Brute to take the hook. As a side tip for taking hooks as the Brute, move your leader in first to vortex the sniper then run him away while putting your Brute squad in the hook. The rebels will target the Brute and you can bring your leader back in to finish them. Scouting is vital on this map as some Anders players like to go Hogs and some like to go full on infantry in order to get map control faster. If they’re building Hogs, get a turret up before 2:30 (which is usually when the Hogs come it to harass you.) After you capture the hook, get Citadel. If the enemy has Hogs, go for a Hall and Factory and produce Jackals and Wraiths. If they have Hogs, it’s also smart to take both reactors by splitting up your Jackals in order to keep the enemy from getting Gauss Hogs. If they’re going full on infantry, double pump Jackals and prioritize the supply hooks over the reactors since upgraded Marines aren’t as dangerous as Hogs. And remember to always watch out for when the enemy tries to be sneaky and transition to air.

(Vs Brute) Go temple first and scout the enemy while getting control of your supply hook. If they’re Brute rushing, make sure to produce your own Brutes and get Inheritance if necessary. Keep your Chopper at the enemy teleporter and ram any Brutes that come out. If they build a Hall on their Keep, they’re most likely performing a delayed rush and mixing Brutes with Jackals. This is typically more dangerous than just a standard Brute rush as it can catch you off guard. The only good way to counter it is to do it yourself. Build a hall on your Keep and produce Jackals and Brutes. If that is the way the game goes, a base race ensues and whoever destroys the enemy base first wins. However, if it’s just a standard Brute rush (which is probably will be), just transition into a double Summit after you push the Brutes off and pump out Banshees. The enemy most likely won’t be able to counter it fast enough due to them spending too much on the early game.

Blood River- (Vs Anders) Go temple 2nd and get to your supply hook ASAP while queuing up a Brute vortex destroys the sentinels very quickly, but try to avoid using it as it will drain your eco. After you’ve captured the hook, build a Hall 5th and get the Jackals pumping. It’s also important to upgrade your leader’s vortex as UNSC love to spam flamethrowers on this map. However, some people build Hogs as well and if that is the case (scout as always) then get up a turret before 2:30. If no Hogs are being produced (you can tell if a Hog is queued up if the lights on the UNSC base are flashing) don’t bother with a turret. If the enemy tries to take your hook, station Jackals in the sniper towers and vortex the flamethrowers. You should be able to hold them off even if they’re double pumping. If they go for their reactor hook, ambush them while they’re engaging the sentinels there. Then you can hijack the reactor and get beam rifle. With that, you can then take their reactor and get map control. Between all that, make sure to get Citadel and get up another Hall (if they’re going full infantry) or a Factory (if they’re going Hogs). Most likely once the enemy loses map control, they’ll try to transition into tanks. Just sit back and pump Hunters. However, remember not to assume anything. Make sure to scout.

(Vs Brute) Go temple 1st and take your supply hook ASAP. Don’t stop producing Brutes and go for a Hall 5th. Once again, upgrade your vortex. If they don’t push on your hook, push on theirs. Target the Jackals in the towers and get into them while vortexing enemy Jackals to try and get an advantage. Also, station your Chopper on the enemy teleporter to ram reinforcements. If they push you off, you’ve lost the game since they can then push on your hook and you have nothing to defend it. If they get both supply hooks, they can just out produce you to death. However, if you manage to take their hook, you win. It’s quite simple.

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PART 2

Chasms- (Vs Anders) (UPDATE: April 12th. Reason: I found fault with my build. This is a better one.)

Go temple 2nd and queue up a Brute the moment it comes up. Get the two stacks of crates nearest to your base with your leader so that you have enough to queue up another Brute and upgrade pads later on at the same time. Go get your supply hook and port in two more Brutes to get them into the sniper towers. A good Anders will have Flamers on the way to take your hook. The garrisoned Brutes will stop that. Go Factory 5th whilst still pumping Brutes. Get up a turret in the back of your base by 3 mins in at the latest and upgrade your leader’s vortex. This will be absolutely crucial against Hogs and bunched up Flamers. Get the Wraith shield upgrade and pump out 2 Wraiths while still getting Brutes. If the situation calls for it, you can keep pumping Wraiths, but I’d say that they’re too susceptible to Spartan hijacking once you get over three of them. The Brutes can only cover so many of them at once. Destroy the Factory once you think you have enough tanks to be effective against the Flamers and Hogs. Push on their hook while getting Citadel and port in as much of your army as you dare. A 2nd turret is a good idea at this point as a counterattack will most likely be coming from the Hogs. When pushing on the enemy hook, watch out for a Cryo. Get the Brutes in the towers and tank the damage from the garrisoned marines with the Wraith shields. Once Citadel comes up, go double summit. Pump Banshees, prevent them from expanding, and win.

(Vs Brute) This map is insanely fast paced when it comes to Brute mirrors. Go temple 1st and immediately send your leader over to the enemy base while queuing up Brutes and teleporting them through. Don’t stop for supplies; you need to get to the enemy base ASAP. If the enemy gets Inheritance and tries to stun your Brutes, micro them away. Keep a look out for queued up turrets and ram any opposing Brutes with the Chopper. Don’t bother to defend your base if they do the exact same thing to you. Just queue up Citadel ASAP to give your base more time to live. Whoever destroys the others base first wins.

Pirth Outskirts- (Vs Anders) Go temple 1st and walk your leader over to the expo near the enemy base. About halfway there, queue up a Brute. I say halfway because if you queue up the Brute right as your leader comes out, the Brute spawns before your leader reaches the expo and sometimes Anders players don’t take the expo. If you get to the expo location and they built there, keep building Brutes and take down the Barracks that is undoubtedly being built. Don’t stop queuing up Brutes. If they manage to get flamers out, vortex them and ram them with your Chopper. Also, they’ll try to ram your Brutes with their Hog, so vortex them before they can. Once you destroy the expo, just move on to their main base. If they push you off, take one of the reactor hooks and get Citadel. However, if in the beginning of the game you get there and they didn’t take the expo, dequeue the Brute and get Inheritance on your leader. Go to the enemy base and start hammering on a supply pad. Remember to target the upgraded ones and building ones first. Vortex any Hogs that come out. If they manage to push you off, take one of the reactor hooks and counter the enemy appropriately (Wraiths and turrets if Hogs, double Hall Jackals if infantry). Keep the enemy out of the reactors; Anders can get Gauss very quickly on this map.

(Vs Brute) Once again, this is a very fast paced map pertaining to Brute mirrors and forces a base race. Just go temple 1st and initiate a standard Brute rush. Keep in mind that little things matter. Make sure to ram as many enemy Brutes as you can with your Chopper while keeping it alive. If the enemy is on defense, that’s a good thing. Unless you let them get a turret up (which you shouldn’t), they shouldn’t be able to push you off. If they do, just go double Summit, as Banshees are the quickest and best unit to use in Brute mirrors that make it past the early game. However, the more likely situation is that they aren’t playing defense. They’re most likely Brute rushing you at the same time. So just don’t let the enemy kill your Brutes before they teleport and make sure you’re targeting upgraded and building Warehouses first while also making sure no turrets are getting up. If they start to target the base, just stop building Brutes and save up for Citadel. Self destruct your temple if you need to; getting Citadel ASAP once they start targeting your base is vital. It gives you more health and thus a better chance of winning the base race.

Release- (Vs Anders) This map is the one on which I feel the most confident because it caters to my favorite playstyle (eco boom). Go temple 3rd and scout to see when the enemy builds their reactor. If they go reactor 2nd, keep the temple 3rd build. However, if they’re going reactor 3rd, you can get away with a temple 4th. Once your leader gets out, just gather supplies. This map is a lot more laid back than the smaller ones. Still, make sure to get a turret up by 2:30 unless you want Hogs to destroy your Warehouses and lose you the game. After you’ve deflected any and all Hog harassment, get Citadel while you scout again. If they have a Vehicle Depot or an Air Pad queued up, go double Hall. However, if they continue building Hogs, go Factory and Hall. The most common thing for a UNSC player to do on this map is to clear out an expo once they’ve finished their attempts at harassment. So just get your leader to their side of the map and teleport Jackals and Wraiths in. However, be sure to have two turrets up by this point. If you leave your base unguarded, you’re asking for trouble. If you can time it perfectly and catch the expo as it builds, that’s good. If the UNSC get that expo up, your chances of winning drop drastically. They can double pump Hogs, improve their eco, get out flamers and Spartans, and more if they get that base up. So your main objective is to prevent them from getting it. Once you destroy the base (if you manage to) the enemy will most likely either go to try and clear out the one on your side or bring their units back to their base and build up turrets. If they do the former, just push on their main base. If they do the latter, take the expo on their side and put a shield on it. Then go over and make sure they don’t get the other one. If you manage to keep them on one base, you’ll most likely do fine.

(Vs Brute) Go temple 1st and queue up Brutes. However, don’t push. While some players like to Brute rush on this map, others think it’s too large and takes too long to get across. If they don’t push on you, go ahead and push on them once you feel you have enough Brutes. You can catch them off guard with a delayed rush if they don’t see it coming. They will only have their leader out and most likely no turrets.

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PART 3

Tundra- (Vs Anders) Go Temple 3rd and scout. If they’re going Hogs, you know the routine by now. Get that turret up. However, some players like to fast expand on this map and rather go for an early barracks to clear out the expo. If they do this, just upgrade your leader to Inheritance and upgrade their vortex. Then push in and try to take out the barracks. Failing that, try Banshees. However, that strategy is not common with Anders and much more popular with Cutter, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Get Citadel up right as your last Warehouse goes up; the delay in between the 5th building finishing and the 6th building queuing up is just time wasted. Go Factory and Hall. Much like Release, an Anders player will undoubtedly clear out an expo after they finish harassment. Scout the expos and go to the one they’re clearing out with your leader. Teleport in a Wraith or two to scare them off. They’ll most likely transition into Hornets then, so start building Brutes and Grunts. Infantry is good against air, but often air units will just run away. So you have to fight them on their turf. If they push on you with air and you only have infantry, they can just juke you and destroy your base. So make sure to get at least two anti-air turrets up if you find yourself in this situation. If you keep down the enemy’s attempts at expansion and resist pressure from Hogs and Hornets, you’ll win.

(Vs Brute) (UPDATE: April 12th. Reason: defense is actually good on this map :P)

Go temple 1st and mass Brutes. If they rush you, that’s good. Because of how long it takes for the Chieftain to cross the map, you are given enough time to get out a good number of Brutes. They might be able to kill one of your pads, but ultimately they won’t win with the push. After you kill or push off his leader, counter push and keep spamming Brutes. He won’t have enough Brutes to defend and won’t have enough time to get too many turrets up.

…And that’s all the maps. Phew. That took a while.

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> 2533274830489835;3:
> PART 3
>
> Tundra- (Vs Anders) Go Temple 3rd and scout. If they’re going Hogs, you know the routine by now. Get that turret up. However, some players like to fast expand on this map and rather go for an early barracks to clear out the expo. If they do this, just upgrade your leader to Inheritance and upgrade their vortex. Then push in and try to take out the barracks. Failing that, try Banshees. However, that strategy is not common with Anders and much more popular with Cutter, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Get Citadel up right as your last Warehouse goes up; the delay in between the 5th building finishing and the 6th building queuing up is just time wasted. Go Factory and Hall. Much like Release, an Anders player will undoubtedly clear out an expo after they finish harassment. Scout the expos and go to the one they’re clearing out with your leader. Teleport in a Wraith or two to scare them off. They’ll most likely transition into Hornets then, so start building Brutes and Grunts. Infantry is good against air, but often air units will just run away. So you have to fight them on their turf. If they push on you with air and you only have infantry, they can just juke you and destroy your base. So make sure to get at least two anti-air turrets up if you find yourself in this situation. If you keep down the enemy’s attempts at expansion and resist pressure from Hogs and Hornets, you’ll win.
>
> (Vs Brute) Go temple 1st and Brute rush. Keep in mind all the tips I mentioned in all the other Brute rushes. It’s that simple.
>
> …And that’s all the maps. Phew. That took a while.

This will probably just get lost on the forums somewhere :S you may want to post this somewhere else

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> This will probably just get lost on the forums somewhere :S you may want to post this somewhere else

I really just wrote this for people who come back from Halo Wars 2. So people who google how to play brute in halo wars or something. I know most people here currently don’t care :stuck_out_tongue:

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> 2533274830489835;5:
> > 2533274929625446;4:
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> > >
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> > This will probably just get lost on the forums somewhere :S you may want to post this somewhere else
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> I really just wrote this for people who come back from Halo Wars 2. So people who google how to play brute in halo wars or something. I know most people here currently don’t care :stuck_out_tongue:

Fair enough

7

I’m adding another strat for Release and Tundra (vs Anders)-

Double Hall isn’t as good as I thought it was :stuck_out_tongue: Hogs are just too good against Hunters. On both maps, go Temple 1st and queue up a Brute the moment you can. Go to the other side of the map with the Chopper and collect their supplies while getting yours with the Chief. Keep building Brutes. Get a back turret by 2:30 (queue it by 2 mins) and keep your Brutes locked in the base until you have a good enough number of them to deter the Hogs from ramming them. When the Hogs come in, release the Brutes. They’ll most likely be able to deal with them with the turret defending the back of your base while your leader is still collecting supplies. After you push off the harassment, push on their base and port through the Brutes while getting another turret up and upgrading vortex. The vortex keeps Hogs and Flamers away from the Brutes. They most likely either build turrets or are spamming Flamers. Either is a good result. If they start turtling, just tech up and get superior units and/or take an expo. If they spam Flamers, get Citadel and start double pumping Banshees. That’s what the whole strat revolves around. Force them to build anti-infantry then counter with air. It works very well :wink:

I’m still leaving what I had before up because it still works, but I would recommend this strat more.

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You actually should go temple first on every map.
Considering hooks are very important and if you go temple 2nd you are behind and that give the anders a chance to lift camp your brutes. while taking hooks faster than you
Release and tundra is basically temple first and get to there base. and then its hogs vs brutes.
Barrens: factory 5th wraiths get countered by barracks 5th because Spartans so its safer to go brutes vs hogs.
and anders will have a barracks because of reactors so.
Blood river is temple 1st. grab hooks and build only jackels. then push and you win.
The more I read through your guide I find holes that will cost you the game.

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> 2533274855353246;8:
> You actually should go temple first on every map.
> Considering hooks are very important and if you go temple 2nd you are behind and that give the anders a chance to lift camp your brutes. while taking hooks faster than you
> Release and tundra is basically temple first and get to there base. and then its hogs vs brutes.
> Barrens: factory 5th wraiths get countered by barracks 5th because Spartans so its safer to go brutes vs hogs.
> and anders will have a barracks because of reactors so.
> Blood river is temple 1st. grab hooks and build only jackels. then push and you win.
> The more I read through your guide I find holes that will cost you the game.

I added a temple 1st strat to the Tundra and Release section. I’ll keep updating as I find better ones.

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If you want to win every game, you should just play anders.

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> If you want to win every game, you should just play anders.

I know :stuck_out_tongue:

It’s just I’ve played Covie for so long and learning UNSC is a bit hard for me. Still gonna try though.

12

I find your release strat a little bit questionable in a high level scenario, because pressure is needed for brute to win at all. By going temple 3rd you lose crate control immediately against a good UNSC, so temple 1st or 2nd is better in that regard (considering that you gain 100 resources for having warehouses up before temple and 90 for crates, sort of evens out. Having the chieftain out also gives early map presence). Having a factory and hall on your base in my opinion on non hook maps tends to be bad for your economy, especially when you’re forced to keep on building units and tend to never get the opportunity to tech up to 2. Release in general for brute is a bad matchup overall, and the last time i checked it took a minute plus for the chieftain to walk across the map, so a disruption bomb easily can win the game for the UNSC if they use it to take the second base. I personally think release is by FAR the worst map, along with barrens, while playing the chieftain.

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> 2533274881126396;12:
> I find your release strat a little ehh in a high level scenario, because pressure is needed for brute to win at all. By going temple 3rd you lose crate control immediately against a good UNSC, so temple 1st or 2nd is better in that regard (considering that you gain 100 resources for having warehouses up before temple and 90 for crates, sort of evens out. Having the chieftain out also gives early map presence). Having a factory and hall on your base in my opinion on non hook maps tends to be bad for your economy, especially when you’re forced to keep on building units and tend to never get the opportunity to tech up to 2. Release in general for brute is a bad matchup overall, and the last time i checked it took a minute plus for the chieftain to walk across the map, so a disruption bomb easily can win the game for the UNSC if they use it to take the second base. I personally think release is by FAR the worst map, along with barrens, while playing the chieftain.

Yeah, I added a temple 1st strat that revolves around Brute spam. I’ve been getting a lot better in the past few weeks.

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> 2533274830489835;13:
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> > -snip-
>
> Yeah, I added a temple 1st strat that revolves around Brute spam. I’ve been getting a lot better in the past few weeks.

You could do temple 1st on blood gulch even, to get the supply hook. Most* of the time UNSC players love to ram with 2 hogs before the 1:00 mark, though you should be able to kill 1 hog with a combination of ram w/ chopper and brute fire. Your brute would survive 90% of the time with a hog down, while allowing you to still get into the elevator. If they don’t ram, you get the hook 30 seconds earlier than a temple 2nd which gives an earlier economy boost. If you ever want any suggestions on brute feel free to ask me, I was around a 48-45ts brute player a few years ago. Anyways your guide is rather spot on !! Keep up the good work.

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> > >
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> You could do temple 1st on blood gulch even, to get the supply hook. Most* of the time UNSC players love to ram with 2 hogs before the 1:00 mark, though you should be able to kill 1 hog with a combination of ram w/ chopper and brute fire. Your brute would survive 90% of the time with a hog down, while allowing you to still get into the elevator. If they don’t ram, you get the hook 30 seconds earlier than a temple 2nd which gives an earlier economy boost. If you ever want any suggestions on brute feel free to ask me, I was around a 48-45ts brute player a few years ago. Anyways your guide is rather spot on !! Keep up the good work.

Thanks! I’ve been stuck at TS 39 for a while now, so I’ve been renovating my playstyle. I learned from Marco’s vids and he loved double hall, which I see now is a rather outdated strategy. I’m hoping I’ll hit 40 sometime soon.

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> > > >
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> Thanks! I’ve been stuck at TS 39 for a while now, so I’ve been renovating my playstyle. I learned from Marco’s vids and he loved double hall, which I see now is a rather outdated strategy. I’m hoping I’ll hit 40 sometime soon.

I can show you brute if you really want. I don’t like to play brute, but I do know how to play brute.

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> I can show you brute if you really want. I don’t like to play brute, but I do know how to play brute.

That’d be cool. My Brute mirrors need work.

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> > > 2533274830489835;15:
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> > I can show you brute if you really want. I don’t like to play brute, but I do know how to play brute.
>
> That’d be cool. My Brute mirrors need work.

Of course you need help with the “hardest” matchup.

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> 2533274811417927;16:
> I can show you brute if you really want. I don’t like to play brute, but I do know how to play brute.

I think arbiter might be slightly better match-up for you than playing brute against his, even though that’s an “impossible match-up”.

> 2533274811417927;18:
> Of course you need help with the “hardest” matchup.

Does that qualify for being the “hardest” matchup?

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Okay, so I know it’s been awhile, but I’m going advise people to not follow most of what I wrote previously. I’m going to go back over the matchups vs Anders (as I think what I had for Brute was okay). I’m not going to go into too much detail, but I can’t let my flawed strategies of the past stand uncorrected.

Pirth, Blood Gulch, and Blood River:

Temple 1st, get your supply hook (If Blood Gulch/River that is), go Factory 5th and get the reactor on their side. Basically just Locust/Brute rush. Spartans can be an issue, so always be paying attention to your Locusts and make sure you micro them away when necessary. It all comes down to micro here.

Chasms:

All I can add to this is go Temple 1st, not 2nd. Also, escort your Brute to the hook with your leader, as if he gets rammed to death, you’ve already lost. Don’t self-destruct your Factory for Banshees, just spam Wraiths. Putting two Brutes in the hook is dumb as they’ll both die if Anders has flashbang (any good player will have that researched). Just keep your Chopper positioned so that you can see when the Flamers are coming and send a Wraith on defense.

I not going to even mention Barrens, as Brute will lose to Anders every time on that map.