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Both players spawns on a plateau in the south. The two entrances are located in the west and in the east, each guarded by a Tech Turret and a Tech HMG Tower. It is much easier if ground defenses are organized around these chokepoints. Send troops or build stationary defenses there as soon as possible (base expansion or MCV pack-up may be needed).
The ground fight does not differ from ordinary Skirmish battles. Even with a permanent armor boost, the enemy troopers stand no chance against static defenses, given that Stalkers and Rahn are handled swiftly with a mobile taskforce. Deploy stealth detection at the entrance to deal with Shadow Tanks, as well as proper Infiltrator counters.
For the Golden Armada, potent anti-air units are required to intercept it. $20000 or more worth of any advanced AA units/defenses barring Catastrophes and Shadrays can fend it off with minimal loss. Considering that Salamanders still tear aircraft and tanks even without confusion weapons onboard, Pacific Front's Hyperions (provided the commander has already built some fodder to tank the assault for them, as the Basilisks can still tear through them with their sheer numbers) and Last Bastion's Giantsbane are arguably the best choices. The United States' Aeroblazes, China's Sentinels, and PsiCorps' Gehenna Platforms are also very effective at thinning out the Golden Armada rapidly, although it is recommended to focus down the Salamanders and Irkalla first in order to negate losses, if possible. Ignoring the casualties, a swarm of rubbish AA units barring basic anti air infantry (due to the Basilisks' dreadful effectiveness against foot soldiers) triumphs over the Golden Armada in the first few minutes of the game. Do keep in mind that Rahn and Stalkers can and will attack the anti-air defense lines from below the cliff, so prepare some anti-infantry defenses (preferably Rocketeers, Gyrocopters, Invaders, and Condors depending on which recommended faction you're playing as) to dispose of them efficiently and quickly.
If playing as either PsiCorps or Scorpion Cell, acquiring Dybbuk-Seizers may be useful, as they can steal Salamanders from the Golden Armada. These will be powerful inclusions to your army, especially to defend other air units such as Basilisks or Invaders.
Although the European Alliance, Russia, and the Wings of Coronia possess formidable airborne tier 3 anti-air units and it makes sense to fight fire with fire, they are not recommended subfactions for this challenge as the Salamanders have superior firepower and range, making such a counter cost-inefficient.
Allied players can use Chrono Legionnaires to remove all the Tech Nuclear Plants in the map and prevent the three enemy bases from having enough power. This is not a permanent solution, however, as eventually their bases will go online again.
The top-most Epsilon HQ base controls the Golden Armada, and defeating them will eliminate the threat for the rest of the challenge.
