TheOnlyElite:

I think both are alright, just depending on who uses them... but I think all for all, two equally skilled players going at it, I would have to say...

 

UNSC.

 

But why?

I think that UNSC are better in the long term because the covenant are really only good for rushing. If the UNSC fends the rush off, its game over for the covy. Not only because the rush failed but because the covy dropped all its resources. I remember my first game on Xbox live as UNSC I fended off a decent prophet rush and they resigned. Lol.

 
 But later on Covys are pretty dead. Even a fully upgraded arbiter cannot stand to 4 mac blasts, or two vulture barrages, or well... yeah you get the point. Sure a covenant can drop a scarab, but really, scarabs suck. 3000 resources can be kill by 4 mac blasts (600 res) or two vultures (1800 res) and plus any covenant vehicle, the thing that CAN stand up to UNSC will get raped by a spartan. hm...

 

And finally, the covenant empire will collapse to a well enough army of hawks, grizzlys, or ODST's

 

Win.

 

 

Yup, The covenant suck, which is anoying cos that means everyone can only use UNSC unless they rush....... 

 

Now thats poor game design, 2 unbalanced races for $60......... WEAK

daverigor:

TheOnlyElite:

I think both are alright, just depending on who uses them... but I think all for all, two equally skilled players going at it, I would have to say...

 

UNSC.

 

But why?

I think that UNSC are better in the long term because the covenant are really only good for rushing. If the UNSC fends the rush off, its game over for the covy. Not only because the rush failed but because the covy dropped all its resources. I remember my first game on Xbox live as UNSC I fended off a decent prophet rush and they resigned. Lol.

 
 But later on Covys are pretty dead. Even a fully upgraded arbiter cannot stand to 4 mac blasts, or two vulture barrages, or well... yeah you get the point. Sure a covenant can drop a scarab, but really, scarabs suck. 3000 resources can be kill by 4 mac blasts (600 res) or two vultures (1800 res) and plus any covenant vehicle, the thing that CAN stand up to UNSC will get raped by a spartan. hm...

 

And finally, the covenant empire will collapse to a well enough army of hawks, grizzlys, or ODST's

 

Win.

 

 

Yup, The covenant suck, which is anoying cos that means everyone can only use UNSC unless they rush....... 

 

Now thats poor game design, 2 unbalanced races for $60......... WEAK

Actually, the covenant don't suck, you just suck with them, which is ok, since you still have the UNSC to play as, assuming you don't suck as them.  If play as the covenant and build the right units + upgrades, then you will be fine, same as any other game, the trick is to find which untis to use against which, how to micro your units properly, learning where and when to attack, and when + how to use your unit's abilities and powers.

Here's an example: a wraith is very good at absorbing damage once they have their shield upgrade, but their attack isn't very strong. Consider supporting them with hunters, and just have your wraiths out front when the enemy arrives then command your hunters (which should be behind your wraiths) to attack the enemy scorpions/warthogs/vechicles, just remember to use jackals against enemy infantry so that your hunters don't get cut up, and remember to focus fire on enemy spartans so that they don't jack your vechicles. That is just one strategy, out of very many other strategies available to the creative player.

Also, the fact that the covenant have an increased pop cap makes it so that you can have more units in the end, making up for the fact that the UNSC have units that are slightly stronger than their covenant equivalent.

I think the UNSC are better even though i prefer the Covenant, the UNSC play more like an RTS, quick access leader powers but with a price and descent time limit, upgradeable super units and spec units, and they get better the longer the game goes on like an RTS should.

Covenant on the other hand, super hard leader units that require all attention on them in order to use them effectively and without them leave the army more often than not struggling, crappy spec units (although the honour guard are pretty cool) and no super units AT ALL! PLUS your basically forced to rush in order to win as they dont really get much better later on hence why they are at the top of the boards, rushing is the bane of this game cus it works too easy and loses the whole idea of multiple strategys! the lack of focus needed on your base means you can just spew out troops and mob the enemy, wheres the strategy there??? why even bother going into the detail of upgrades when they can win with a few basic units within 5 minutes!?

They should have created the Covenant similar to the UNSC and had a sortof NOD vs GDI thing going where they build and use fairly similar but have very unique differences making gameplay much more satisfying win or lose!

Oh and the Covenant have the same pop cap as the UNSC (+10 upgrade) and marines costing the same as grunts...what the hell!?

I have really tried to enjoy using the Covenant for preference reasons but i cant, i hate rushing, theres no satisfaction in it and couldnt care less about being top in the leaderboards, all they can do is rush 1st and if it fails either resign or build counter units and hope to survive as most counter units available in the limited pop cap are crap against buildings leaving you unable to retaliate before they rebuild. in 2v2's etc maybe more of a chance but i like to know i can go 1v1 and survive and comeback on my own, i will probably stick with UNSC now but cant see the point in only using one army in a RTS. In StarCraft i used all the forces, same for C&C but in this the Cov jus arent set up as RTS material!

---

Live By Honour, Kill By Stealth!!!

YinYangNinja:

Oh and the Covenant have the same pop cap as the UNSC (+10 upgrade) and marines costing the same as grunts...what the hell!?

Wrong, the conenant start off with 10 more pop cap, and have a +10 upgrade too... a grunt squad gets better than a marine squad with upgrades (in my opinion) due to needlers, having more grunts, and the deacon. 

Elabajaba:

YinYangNinja:

Oh and the Covenant have the same pop cap as the UNSC (+10 upgrade) and marines costing the same as grunts...what the hell!?

Wrong, the conenant start off with 10 more pop cap, and have a +10 upgrade too... a grunt squad gets better than a marine squad with upgrades (in my opinion) due to needlers, having more grunts, and the deacon. 

You not faced off with ODST's i take it!? i might be wrong about the pop cap thing (my xbox died 3 days ago and havnt played it much since i bought it) but either way the Covenant dont play equal to the UNSC leaving the game constantly 1 sided, Cov to win 1st half or UNSC to win 2nd, lots of ppl are saying it n theyre not all noobs to RTS', including myself!

---

Live By Honour, Kill By Stealth!!!

The UNSC is better than cov because they have special perks for your base (ie. half cost research and time). Plus their aircraft make mince-meat of almost any vehical and take out bases fast with mega barrage :p

UNSC all the way. The units are more diverse, more (and in my opinion better) upgrades, you get the Spirit of Fire, which just kicks ass.  Also their bases look cooler and the leaders give economic, combat, and super unit bonuses whereas covenant just give combat bonuses plus you can kill the Covenant leaders pretty easily. 

The UNSC vehicles are amazing compared to the covenant. I took out a fully upgraded locust with a shrapnel from my scorpion and one other shot.  And it wasn't even fully upgraded.  The wolverine can devastate anything airborne thats stupid enough to get near it, and can beat the crap outta buildings if you upgrade it. 

UNSC infantry are decent as well.  I used one squad of ODST's in a sniper tower to kill 5 grunt squads, 2 hunter pairs, and the arbiter.  Not bad for one basic infanrty squad at all.

Wraith3506:The UNSC is better than cov because they have special perks for your base (ie. half cost research and time). Plus their aircraft make mince-meat of almost any vehical and take out bases fast with mega barrage :p

Thats another thing that, why not give the Covenant similar things like this!? Its so frustrating to have the Covenant the way they are considering you only get two armies to choose from, Ditch the Stupid Hero characters, Recreate to play more like the UNSC (as in super units SoF type powers and bonuses to bases)! Surely im not the only one who wants this!?

The online play will get quickly stagnent if ppl just keep rushing or quiting when it doesnt work, the games been out a week and all you see on the forums is ppl slandering the game because of the way the armies work and its mostly targeted at the covenant. the control scheme is awesome but they went stupid by designing the Covenant to play the way they do!

---

Live By Honour, Kill By Stealth!!!

LOL @ people saying unsc are more difficult to use. Mass hawks or grizzlies= a real brain twister eh?

This is just my opinion but I believe UNSC are better. Whenever I play 3v3 and there's a Covenant user who rushes, we have never failed to put it down with some warthog kiting and flamers. Then we just rush to build our super units and wipe the floor with them. I've also noticed that in a game of 3v3 and there's 1/3 or 2/3 Covie users they are the first to go down while the UNSC base is still standing. Or maybe it's just because my teammates and I hate Covie and always go for them first, lol.

P.S. Anders is my favorite leader. =]

---

"100 victories in 100 battles is not the pinnacle of excellence, subjugating the enemy without fighting is."

cov is WAY OVER POWERED

 

so they are better i guess 

II TFerg II:LOL @ people saying unsc are more difficult to use. Mass hawks or grizzlies= a real brain twister eh?

Believe it or not, but a constant swarming of phantoms backed up by a leader are able to defeat an army of hawks (and grizzlies of course) mainly because they're cheaper and train faster.

And as long as the Covenant have such strong leader units in the beginning of the game, I see little to no reason to give them any economic bonus. What many people have not yet realized is that the cov can very effectively be used to turtle the crap out of your opponent.

---

Remember, kids, the more you whine about unbalancedness or resigning, the bigger your penis is!

Its not which side is better...

Its how you use their units...

---

"During the Pendulum Wars, the COG had a vast army... Now, it's made up of a few battalions..."
-COG Chairman

it depends on your stratigy if you are a rusher then the usnc but if you like to stay back and build a army then the cov. the cov has shilds but the usnc can make worthogs from the starter base.

---

if you rush you are scrude