One of the great things about Rebel, Inc. is that while gameplay is relatively light on interaction, its systems hide a surprising amount of depth. Later maps and higher difficulty levels can provide a huge challenge to even the most seasoned player.
On the surface, Rebel, Inc. looks a lot like a military strategy game, but the most important things are going on behind the scenes. It’s easy to get distracted by chasing insurgents around zones trying to trap them when your real mission is to build up support with the local population. Zones with high levels of support and especially those already secured are very difficult for rebels to pop up in. Make sure to take some time to pause the game and check on your levels of corruption and stability and make sure you are adding new developments continuously.
Here are some of the more advanced secrets to putting down an insurgency that may have slipped by you:
Location Location Location
The first thing to do is make sure your operation has an amusingly incongruous name, like Volcano Tornado. Then, at the beginning of any map, base location is vital. There are three things to consider. Firstly, you’re going to want a lot of infrastructure and connected cities.
This speeds up deployment of your developments, since they spread outward from your main base. Sticking your base right in a corner means development can only spread in one direction, which slows you down in building support with the population overall. For controlling insurgents, however, being pretty close to a corner can be a big benefit. If they appear in that area, you can easily wipe them out. Additionally, quickly controlling one side of the map reduces the likelihood of insurgents catching you in the middle and forcing you to split up your military forces.
Services
Initially, you’re going to want to start with providing basic Services that have fast roll-outs and do well with hostile population: education and healthcare. But don’t get Core Health or any vaccinations right away, because you can get a big support boost by immediately responding when people complain in an event later. A few government improvements also have a stronger effect at the beginning of the game:
- PR will multiply your support gains.
- Effective Procurement will keep each of your following improvements from generating too much corruption.
- District Representatives will speed up intel collection.
Once some basic Services are in place, Developments will solidify your hold on provinces where you have a positive reputation, making it difficult for insurgent groups to rise up there.
Watch your inflation level and notice when it makes prices rise. When the difference is only one dollar, it’s usually better to go ahead and implement the policy to get its benefits started earlier. After that, prices will spiral out of control, hurting your ability to respond to emergencies. It only takes a few months for things to settle down, so then it’s better to wait.
COIN
With military action, your goal should be to keep the insurgents on the run, since you start losing reputation as they take hold of regions. Don’t spend too much on units to try to trap them early in the game–better to build local support and make it harder for insurgent groups to appear. A well-supported unit that can push insurgents out before they take hold is better than two units that get bogged down and let the insurgents grab more territory.
Early military improvements (translators and the ghoulishly-named ‘Human Terrain System’) should help gather Intel and gain support of the locals, since your units will be operating in more distant locations. After that, garrisons are easily the most effective military advancement once you’ve started recruiting your first National soldiers. Once purchased, they will pop up regularly, usually in a useful province, essentially giving you a cheap and instantaneous stationary support army.
Drones should also not be underestimated. Before a military unit can engage the enemy, they have to gather intelligence about the region, which slows them down massively and lets rebels spread quickly beyond your capabilities. Drones also help you find insurgent bases and are necessary on Brutal difficulty. Speaking of which…
Brutality
Brutal mode makes the game more difficult by increasing the rate of appearance and strength of the insurgents. Your first instinct might be to rapidly deploy Coalition soldiers to try and corner the rebels. This strategy works well at standard difficulty and can clear maps very quickly, but on Brutal you’ll have to play a longer game. There are simply too many rebels to successfully defeat them purely through tactics.
As a result, you’ll need to focus your development on improvements that will also help your soldiers or undercut the insurgents from the very beginning. Local Representatives and the Census will improve intelligence-gathering. Dirt Roads will let soldiers move more quickly into rural areas. Requesting help from an NGO, taken as cash delivered over time, serves as an investment that can pay off later when money is tight. Security improvements will make it more difficult for rebels to take hold of a province. On Brutal, directly building support becomes less important than keeping the support you have from being lost due to rebel activity.
One of the biggest differences in Brutal mode is the higher rate of insurgent bases appearing. These need to be taken out as quickly as possible because they will spawn new insurgent groups and give bonuses to the ones that are already out and around. On Brutal, don’t be shy about using drones and airstrikes freely to take out those bases–they will also help defeat insurgent groups.
Peace in Our Time
When you get the opportunity to negotiate with the rebels you are in the endgame. Keep in mind any territory they still hold will hit your reputation hard, so it is often better to take a small reputation hit in negotiations if you have a better military position so you can focus on pushing them back. In a very strong military position, it’s better to not enter negotiations, since it’s likely to cause more insurgents to spawn, and you can win the game by stabilizing all regions without declaring peace.
Hope this helps your mission to bring stability to [unnamed country]! Has a different strategy worked better for you? Let us know in the comments!
