The final campaign mission in ICBM is some kind of super-ultra-nuclear war that makes for a pretty tough fight considering how you get nuked to hell and back within like, ten minutes, but you do get a bunch of points to spend and with them, it's entirely possible to win the nuclear war without suffering a single loss (to your cities)!


So how do you win the unwinnable?
(The only way to win IS to play the game...)

I used the following techs and defenses, choose at your whim.


Important: take the laser defenses, midcourse ABM sites, cruisers and destroyers. These are critical defenses!

Destroyers: hunt down the enemy SSBMs before they get too many nukes off. You must nail these because the majority of the first enemy nukes to hit you come from the subs, and they will overwhelm you very quickly. There is no way to stop all of these nukes unless you knock out the launcher, and fast!

Cruisers: position your cruisers off your coastline so they can intercept missiles before they get too close. These are the crux of your coastal defense - you cannot rely on lasers and ABM sites alone! They will get overwhelmed and you will die immediately with no survivors. Ensure you're covering Houston and Miami because these are exposed and will get nuked by subs.

ABM sites: midcourse ABMs are the only ones you want to take. These are your "line infantry" of the defense, and will spray anti-nuke missiles at the horde of nukes coming straight for your ass. Position these near the north of the country, but also towards the south - mostly just for Houston and Miami - because of the SLBMs that will wreck you.

Laser defenses: these are your point defenses, and while they are effective, you're going to need to thin out the MIRVs with the ABM sites or else your lasers will fail to get all of them. Keep the lasers near cities for the most effectiveness.

Unlike in other scenarios, in this one, you are the underdog and every single one of your units have been pre-sighted and continuously tracked by enemy satellites for nuclear attack.

Fortunately for you, it is actually possible to evade the enemy attack!


IN THE PACIFIC: spread out and flee! It's unlikely you'll be able to save everyone but if you scatter and get away from your starting position, you might be able to save some ships. In my first game, I lost my carriers but managed to preserve the other surface ships. It is extremely important to conserve your forces early on, and that means your planes, too. Go strict EMCOM and keep your planes under the deck. Batten everything down and shield your eyes from the blasts coming from Asia!

Be wary: enemy ships are out there looking for you, and when they find you, they will sacrifice all of their million bodies just to chip at your fingernails. Your ships are more important than theirs - do not engage, hide, and don't let them get a nuke off on you.

IN THE ATLANTIC: it's not as bad but it's still pretty bad. The commies got a fleet out at sea and the captain's got them shoveling more coal - they will catch up to you and blow you up very, very fast. Run behind Greenland and wait them out, they'll be the ones huffing radiation before long.


You won't be able to get this far before the nukes drop, but if you make it here without getting nuked, you should be alright.

The submarine threat is your biggest priority! Remember those destroyers we talked about earlier? Here's hoping they're speedy!



Above are my destroyer deployments. Their positions will be random, but they will generally be:

1. Off the coast of Alaska. I've seen them hugging the western coast of Alaska and just south of Kodiak, so position yourself around there.

2. East of Hawaii. This Chinese submarine could be further north or south, so you might want a few subs to hunt this guy down.

3. South of Mexico. It is impossible to get to this guy before he nukes you, at least with destroyers. Deploy AEW and other MPA planes to find this guy and loiter nuclear bombers in the area. Make sure you're well positioned to drop the bomb on him as soon as he surfaces, or you'll be in serious trouble. This bugger could really be anywhere south of Mexico and has caused me the most resets, so good luck.

4. East of Puerto Rico. My deployment pictured above is approximately where this one is, though it tends to drift north. If your destroyers are close, they should be able to knock out some of its nukes as you catch up to it.

5. East of Canada. This one should be off the East Coast of Canada somewhere. It's within killing distance if you sprint to it with destroyers, so send two and hope for the best!

The war will start abruptly and without warning: there is no way to avoid it. As the red balloon crests the horizon, all you can do is hope your prep work paid off.



Your satellites will all be shot down, but so will your enemies' - as long as you keep your cruisers supplied with missiles. The first wave of enemy nukes will come by sea and they'll be supported by a Chinese fleet bombarding the West Coast. As California burns (by wildfires and poor financial decisions), you'll be able to stop California from burning (by explosives and salted bombs) through use of defensive nuclear weapons by air or by sea. A Russian fleet approaches Alaska and you are helpless to stop it, but they're too busy chasing the Chinese from their irradiated wastes to bomb the helpless citizens of Anchorage.

In the Atlantic, you will be hunted, your ships and sailors cautiously curving around islands and icebergs in futile attempts to hide from the overwhelming tide of the black fighter jets of Putin. Fortunately, the toxic gas and biological weapons unleashed in Moscow was more than enough to keep their vodka supply grounded - depriving the Russians of the only thing keeping them going.

As refugees around the world huddle under the blackened sky and hold their faces to irradiated rain, you can step out of the underground bunker to clear skies, chirping birds and the looming threat of nuclear winter.

From the north you know that the Russians and Chinese have launched a wave of ICBMs at you as well, but with your well-positioned ABM sites, you and your citizens are safe. (On my first playthrough Chicago got nuked so in my case, everywhere but Chicago was safe.)

Unfortunately, there's nothing left of the Chinese and Russian governments to end the war. Either that, or they've grown so disillusioned with whatever they got mad about that they're willing to fight to the death.

It's a good thing you kept all your forces at sea alive, because you're going to need them for the long, awful march from Moscow to Beijing. What, you thought that you won simply because you didn't lose? Wrong! Have fun in the worst slog this game could possibly have!