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Combat and Units

Halo Wars uses a strict rock-paper-scissors combat triangle. Building the biggest army does not guarantee victory. You must build the right army to counter what your opponent brings to the field.

The Combat Triangle​

The core combat system relies on unit counters. Learn these rules and apply them to every battle:

  • Infantry counters Air. Marines and Grunts rip through banshees and hornets when properly upgraded.
  • Air counters Vehicles. Hornets and Banshees dominate tanks and warthogs from above.
  • Vehicles counter Infantry. Warthogs, Ghosts, and Scorpions crush ground troops easily.

If your opponent builds a massive army of Scorpions, do not build Scorpions to fight them. Build Hornets. A smaller force of air units will decimate a larger force of vehicles. Always scout your enemy. See what they are producing, and build the counter.

Veterancy Mechanics (The Hidden Math)​

Your units gain experience stars, known as veterancy, by dealing damage and securing kills (bounties). Each star acts as a powerful hidden multiplier, massively increasing a unit's Damage Per Second (DPS) and reducing incoming damage.

A three-star basic unit will often obliterate a zero-star elite unit. Because of these multipliers, retreating and healing damaged units to preserve their veterancy is mathematically superior to fighting to the death and training fresh replacements. Never throw veteran units away.

Build Times and Supply Costs​

Competitive play relies on exact timing and resource management. You must balance the supply cost, population weight, and build time (in seconds) for every unit in your army. This allows you to calculate resource-per-second expenditures and optimize your opening build orders without stalling your economy. If you are floating resources while your production queues are empty, you are losing the macro game.

Unit Upgrades​

Units start out basic and become specialized through upgrades.

For the UNSC, Marine upgrades add rockets and medics. The rockets give them punch against vehicles, and the medics keep the squad alive. Warthog upgrades add a gunner and a gauss cannon.

The Covenant upgrades work differently. Many Covenant units rely on the Leader to research global upgrades at the Temple. Jackals get shields. Hunters get heavier armor. Pay attention to the tech tree at your production buildings.

Secondary Abilities​

Every unit in the game has a secondary ability. On a controller, you activate this with the Y button. On a keyboard, press R. Using these abilities correctly turns a losing battle into a win.

Key UNSC Abilities​

  • Warthog Ram: The Warthog rams into enemy infantry for massive damage. Use this to instantly kill grunts or jackals.
  • Marine Grenades: Marines throw a volley of frag grenades. This shreds enemy infantry squads.
  • Scorpion Canister Shell: The tank fires a high-explosive shell that deals devastating area-of-effect damage.

Key Covenant Abilities​

  • Ghost Boost: The Ghost gets a speed boost to escape combat or run down fleeing infantry.
  • Wraith Plasma Mortar: The Wraith fires a slow-moving, high-damage plasma mortar. This requires manual targeting. Lead your target.
  • Hunter Shield Wall: Hunters lock their shields together, blocking frontal damage while still firing.

Positioning and Micro​

Positioning matters. Keep your fragile units like artillery (Wolverines or Locusts) behind your tanks or heavy infantry.

Do not rely entirely on the "select all" command. If you send your entire army into a chokepoint, they will clump up. A single MAC Blast or Carpet Bomb will wipe them out. Split your forces. Attack from two directions. Force your opponent to divide their attention.

Countering Leader Powers​

New players often feel cheated by devastating Leader Powers like the Prophet's Cleansing Beam or Cutter's MAC Blast. These powers are balanced by high resource costs and long cooldowns.

For the UNSC, the ultimate hard counter to Covenant leader powers is the Disruption Bomb. Dropping a Disruption Bomb completely nullifies active Covenant leader powers within its radius and prevents them from being cast temporarily. This renders a pushing Prophet of Regret highly vulnerable to focused fire without his primary defense mechanism. Use it aggressively when a Covenant leader attacks your army.