Hold the Line
The following is IGN's walkthrough for the story mission Hold the Line in Halo Wars 2.
To unlock the Sickness skull, you need to complete the mission with all barricades intact. To get the Firestarter skull, you need to complete the mission with the particle cannon's health above 50%.
Optional Ob. | Bonus Ob. | Skulls | Logs |
1. Keep barricades intact 2. Build on all available base plots | 1. 5 kills with Turret Drop 2.Kill 10 enemies with the lightbridge | Sickness, Firestarter | 2 |
Much like the previous mission, this mission has you "hold the line" for a length of time, except this time it's for 30 minutes.
Your first goal of this mission is to get every single turret on the map up and running. They are located all over and are easy enough to find. Turrets are the deciding factor between success and failure in this mission. Additionally, make sure your supply pads and generators are upgraded well. We recommend you have two supply pads and two generators at your main base before you even upgrade it.
Make the minibase to the north of the main base have a air pad to create Hornets and Nightingales. If you so wish, you can station a few Marines and a Scorpion there, but the turrets should be more than enough.
The rest of your main base should have a Garage and an Armory. No Barracks is needed for this mission unless you plan on getting a Cyclops or two, and if you do, hold off until around the 21:00 mark. Use your Armory, Airpad, and Garage to bring out units and, more importantly, to upgrade them. We highly recommend you invest in the upgrades at your first change. They will make a huge difference.
Using the map above, we recommend you do the following:
- Red lines indicate where you should station anti-infantry turrets
- Blue lines indicate where you should station anti-vehicle turrets
- Yellow indicates where you should station Wolverines
- Purple indicates where you should station Hornets and Nightingales
- Orange indicates where you should station your main forces
Now, when you station your troops is just as important. Focus on the turrets first. You won't need to station any troops (other than the ones you use to take over the energy stations) until the 18:00 minute mark.
At 19:00 on the timer, you'll want a large force of Scorpions (2+), Warthogs (3+), Cyclopses (optional, but very helpful), Marines (2+), Hornets (1-2), and Nightingales (2) to be stationed at the orange circle on the map above. Scorpions really help here, so make sure you upgrade your base accordingly. You have a long time before they're needed. Make sure you check in on this group to be sure that they aren't just out of range of the Locusts while still being attacked by them.
Around 16:00, you'll want to send about four or five Hornets and at least one Nightingale (but preferably two) to the purple circle on the map above.
At 6:00, send at least four Wolverines to each yellow circle location on the map above. This will protect both your base and defenses from the in coming Banshee assault.
Do not activate the lightbridge in this mission. It will only hurt you. Additionally, use your Leader Powers as much as you want as you'll be bringing in a lot of supplies and energy after only a short while. We highly recommend you use the Turret Drop power as it is very effective against all enemies and is extremely helpful at reinforcing yourself. Use it early on to quickly complete the bonus objective.