**Halo Wars 2 — Last Stand: protect the control room through the final assault**

**Halo Wars 2 — Last Stand: protect the control room through the final assault** **Main campaign, mission 12. Ending spoilers.** Last Stand takes away the normal base-building routine. You have the troops and reinforcements provided to you, turret positions and a strong selection of support powers. The work is keeping those tools useful across several approaches instead of piling everything at the first entrance that comes under attack. **Set up the entrances** Build the available turrets and upgrade them for the threats on their routes. Divide the army so the northern and southern sides both have protection, with each group able to respond to its nearby entrances. Use support powers regularly. This mission gives you the resources to use them; recharge time and placement are the things to manage. Drop reinforcements where they can help, put mines on approaching routes and use strikes against concentrated attacks. Keep repair support behind the combat units. Preserving a useful tank or specialist is important when you cannot simply queue an unlimited replacement army at a normal base. [Defense setup](https://t.co/LMMj1aIPaT) **Remove both Warlords** The two Brute Warlords are outside the central defense, and killing them stops their reinforcement contribution. Take a strong strike group to one, eliminate the target and return or move directly to the second if the defense can support that decision. Leave enough troops and turret coverage at the control room. Sending every unit away while an attack is approaching can cost more than the Warlord kill saves. Killing both Warlords earns **Shadow**. There is also a timed commander bonus. Watch the objective's own timing when it appears rather than assume the displayed mission clock is automatically the same countdown. [Mission requirements](https://t.co/0aX4qV8Q8H), [skull condition](https://t.co/ek4uRDyHP5) The one Phoenix Log, **Beyond the Edge**, is on the side route by the southeastern Warlord area. Check to the right of that cleared position and collect it during the Warlord trip. [Collectible location](https://t.co/Hga6x2nFIX) **Keep the control-room shield healthy** For **Nightmare**, keep the control-room shield **above 50%**. Aim to stay above 75% so you have room to absorb an unexpected attack. Intercept enemies before they reach the shield. If a siege unit is firing from outside the turret line, send a suitable response to remove it instead of watching the damage accumulate while the rest of the army shoots nearer targets. After a wave, repair and regroup. The next push may come from a different entrance, so keep the mobile units close enough to change sides without leaving the entire position open. **Handle the first Scarab and use the reinforcements** When the first Scarab arrives, concentrate the force that can safely engage it and use the heavy support arriving during the mission. The Condor and Vultures are valuable here, but keep them supported against anti-air threats. For the **Scarab kill with Archer Missiles** bonus, soften the target first and use the strike for the finishing damage. If every other unit keeps firing, one of those attacks may get the kill before the missiles land. Give the bonus an intentional attempt rather than assume that launching missiles at any point guarantees credit. Once that threat is gone, return units to the approaches. Later attacks mix heavy ground units and aircraft, so retain the Wolverines and other anti-air coverage when the heavier reinforcements arrive. **The final two minutes** The last phase asks you to hold for two more minutes and sends multiple Scarabs into the fight. Focus one dangerous target at a time, use the heavy units' abilities and support strikes, and keep the defensive objective in view. An attack on the control room matters more than chasing an enemy that has moved away from it. If a group is breaking through, move the reserve and use the available powers there. Keep the remaining approaches watched while the large targets absorb your attention. For Heroic or Legendary, enter this phase with the army repaired and your support powers ready where possible. A calm recovery between waves is much more useful than discovering that your Condor, tanks and repair units are all nearly dead as the final attack begins. Hold the position until the mission actually completes. The last big explosion is satisfying, but keep watching the shield and remaining enemies through the end of the objective.