For the longest time I have been trying to figure out some use for Elite Honor Guards and Ghosts in large numbers.  This was how I stumbled upon a fairly sound victory.  I made roughly 25 Ghosts and 25 EHGs, both fully upgraded and with Shield of the Forerunner.  The result was a fairly impressive force. 

The player was quick to counter, making Banshees, Jackals, and Hunters, but by dividing my team I was able to cover each units weaknesses.  I found that ghosts are fairly adept at taking out Banshees, as Banshees anti vehicle projectile is slow and innately inaccurate.  Couple this with shielding and dodge ability and my Ghosts were able to defeat them.  The Hunters were an easy kill too, all that was required was scouting around for where they were being kept and then stealthing my elites in.  As the Arbiter came to save his army my Ghosts bashed en masse into him.

As base killing was slow for me, the Arbiter had the good strategy to build Locusts to take out my base faster than I could his, but a fully upgraded PoR was very skilled at destroying them.

 

So, experienced players, any advice on improving my strategy?  How should I change it for other leaders, such as the Brute who can conquer masses of weak units fairly easily, or UNSC armies?  I base my victory largely on having an army fully shielded, so I would like to keep every unit in my army a type that uses forcefields.  Would Wraiths be better?  I only didn't choose them because I couldn't spam 'Y' on the Arbiter.  I assumed he would simply jump out of the hot zones.  Or, in your experience, was my victory simply a fluke?

welcome to the forums!

but elite honor gaurds are very useful, I have learned from the computer to just keep them being made constantly and they build slowly so you money will come back faster and whe you make other units your god, alos elite honor guards own ODST, and they are good for hit and run tatics, grab about 10 and send them in backa  base and attack a building, as soon as you se enemy units cloak them and when they go away attack agin and repeat.

 and ghosts are not bad aginst air untis but they need the tech 2 upgrade and by them yo can have vampires so -=(

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GT: EverCuteKitty
1v1-front page (random all)
2v2-front page (anders)
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The problem with your strategy is in the early game. The units that you choose are both fairly weak untill they are fully upgraded. Pretty much any form of rush would take you out.

To improve, I would do the following. Use the Arbiter as your leader. He is possibly the best early defence unit, and also does great mid and late game.

You should also go for fast Wraiths. If you have ~6 out by 6 minutes, you will have a) 6 Shelided Wraiths b) Even more early defence and c) a pretty good economy, if you're only getting them at 6 minutes. From the out, build some more Wraiths and your other units, and attack as soon as your ready. An advantage that I see is that your army choice can be massed fairly quickly, so you should have a decent shot.

Your strategy isn't fool-proof, but it could net you some low-medium level wins, especially if you incorporate my suggestions. Also, you may want to try this in 3v3, as those games tend to make it to late-game more.

Hope this all helps, good luck!

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GT - II Omniscient

ive never used EHGs, are they actually any good? i take it they cant do much damage to buildings very well...

maybe ill try it tonight, although i hate being prophet 

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looking for a few more contributors!

To further improve this strat. Just dont make elite honor guards. Their only use is capturing hooks and dealing with arby really early game

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1v1 - 48
2v2 - 50
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your strat is countered by wraiths btw. just want let you know.

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I get banned for no reason

Foxy:

The problem with your strategy is in the early game. The units that you choose are both fairly weak untill they are fully upgraded. Pretty much any form of rush would take you out.

To improve, I would do the following. Use the Arbiter as your leader. He is possibly the best early defence unit, and also does great mid and late game.

You should also go for fast Wraiths. If you have ~6 out by 6 minutes, you will have a) 6 Shelided Wraiths b) Even more early defence and c) a pretty good economy, if you're only getting them at 6 minutes. From the out, build some more Wraiths and your other units, and attack as soon as your ready. An advantage that I see is that your army choice can be massed fairly quickly, so you should have a decent shot.

Your strategy isn't fool-proof, but it could net you some low-medium level wins, especially if you incorporate my suggestions. Also, you may want to try this in 3v3, as those games tend to make it to late-game more.

Hope this all helps, good luck!

 

Thanks for the advice.  This idea doesn't seem to weak against PoR rushes though.  I just tested it out in 1v1 Standard.  I easily deflected several waves and made them quit.  Rushers don't want to waste time playing mid and late game if they can win four others in the same amount of time, so I wasn't surprised.  As long as I apply two Shield Generators to my base the shield easily holds out while I produce an army of Ghosts and EHGs.  I also had the time to upgrade Cleansing, a major help in defeating other PoRs who tend to research the other half of their prophets skills first, in order to get two plasma cannons.

The ghosts took out the enemy PoR and Jackals easily enough, and the EHGs handled the Hunters.  I reserved my Cleansing Beam for the enemy EGHs and PoR.

studmuffin:

welcome to the forums!

but elite honor gaurds are very useful, I have learned from the computer to just keep them being made constantly and they build slowly so you money will come back faster and whe you make other units your god, alos elite honor guards own ODST, and they are good for hit and run tatics, grab about 10 and send them in backa  base and attack a building, as soon as you se enemy units cloak them and when they go away attack agin and repeat.

 and ghosts are not bad aginst air untis but they need the tech 2 upgrade and by them yo can have vampires so -=(

 

Yes, EGHs trump ODST, and for two reasons: EGHs have shielding and stealth (which reduces damage from attacks as well), and for every member of an ODST squad that dies, the net damage that single squad unit can deal is decreased.  The EGHs, alternatively, deal the same amount of damage, no matter how low their health becomes.

Exactly, Vampires are better.  But as I've found so far, Vampires should really just be used against UNSC players.  There are a few key reasons why I don't use them against Covenant: they have no force-shielding, they are weak against infantry and vehicles, and the Covenant have absolutely no powerful air units that I really don't need to worry about, such as Hawks and Vultures.  I would only use them, and in small numbers, if I were up against a PoR, fully upgraded to flight.

Besides, I find the Ghosts' Boosted Ram ability much more useful against infantry than Vampires could be.  And as both are equally as weak against vehicles (which I leave my PoR and EGHs, who are suprisingly fair against vehicles for infantry) .

Im Allhere:your strat is countered by wraiths btw. just want let you know.

 

Wraiths are extremely vulnerable to Cleansing Beam and fuel rod cannons.  Not to mention, they are little more than useless against an upgraded, flying PoR.  And the Elite Honor Guards have high survivability, especially when cloaked (which further adds a defensive bonus to incoming attacks).  Ghosts are fairly weak against them, but, as the experienced players have pointed out to me many times, it is always foolish to hit the left bumper and then press 'X', in combat.  Meaning, every unit is specialized, you can't expect to send them all into combat against the same type of unit, in most cases.

If a player masses Wraiths, then they have lost.  Send EGHs in first to absorb the damage, and then destory them with your PoR.

Summed up, I haven't lost to Wraiths yet.

I FJ I:To further improve this strat. Just dont make elite honor guards. Their only use is capturing hooks and dealing with arby really early game

 

EGHs are considered by many to be among the best infantry in the game.  As I explained earlier, the most obvious reasons are their shielding, their cloak (for extra defensive bonus and tactical advantages), and the fact that no matter how much damage they take they will continue to do the same amount of damage until they die.  Their biggest draw backs are their speed and melee combat.  A perfect reason why I use Ghosts instead of Jackals for countering Flamethrowers and Jackals.

Fletcher:

I FJ I:To further improve this strat. Just dont make elite honor guards. Their only use is capturing hooks and dealing with arby really early game

 

EGHs are considered by many to be among the best infantry in the game.  As I explained earlier, the most obvious reasons are their shielding, their cloak (for extra defensive bonus and tactical advantages), and the fact that no matter how much damage they take they will continue to do the same amount of damage until they die.  Their biggest draw backs are their speed and melee combat.  A perfect reason why I use Ghosts instead of Jackals for countering Flamethrowers and Jackals.

On paper they are good. But infantry sucks, its not fast enough to do anything on this game. Infatry is a bad choice to make because its so slow. Also, EHG are melee, making them even worse

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1v1 - 48
2v2 - 50
3v3 - 47

Best player evar!!!1!

Fletcher:

Im Allhere:your strat is countered by wraiths btw. just want let you know.

 

Wraiths are extremely vulnerable to Cleansing Beam and fuel rod cannons.  Not to mention, they are little more than useless against an upgraded, flying PoR.  And the Elite Honor Guards have high survivability, especially when cloaked (which further adds a defensive bonus to incoming attacks).  Ghosts are fairly weak against them, but, as the experienced players have pointed out to me many times, it is always foolish to hit the left bumper and then press 'X', in combat.  Meaning, every unit is specialized, you can't expect to send them all into combat against the same type of unit, in most cases.

If a player masses Wraiths, then they have lost.  Send EGHs in first to absorb the damage, and then destory them with your PoR.

Summed up, I haven't lost to Wraiths yet.

ok but how do you stay alive against any rush? you can't really get that until 12-15 min. and any leader with the wraiths can kill your doods too. 1 vampire not upgraded can stasis your flying prophet and if he is not flying, wraiths owns him. wraiths have lots of health and the have shields, micro them and you won't even lose 1 to the cleansing beam.

any smart player will drop the wraith at your base and kill it, ehg can't run across the map fast enough and ghost get owned, you por gets owned by thier leader plus all the wraiths.

also an lone arbiter without units can also kill you late game.

another counter is just banshees, if you attack him he boosts to your base(s) and kill it. if you meet in the open feild they can just run and the ghost can't kill them.

how can you have not seen a wraith rush? if you beat a good wraith rush with that then wow. 3 wraith at your base with shields at 3:30

 

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I get banned for no reason

By far the most difficult opponent for me is Professor Anders, though.  Covenant have no other sound ways of counter Hawks than Vampires, which are easily destroyed with Cryo Bomb.  Does anyone know if Grunt infantry fully upgraded could stand up to them?  Needlers seem to be an anti-air weapon in this game, and they are upgradeable for Grunts.