A rush can be a good thing, or a bad thing for you. If you Defend the rush with the least losses and only have to use a small amount of resources it can be a good thing for you. Your enemy will have sarcrafised much of his resources rushing you.

On The Other hand, If the rush catches you off guard when you least expect it, it can be a very very bad thing. Your opponent will not only of depleted most of your resources in a struggle for you to defend his rush, but will have also killed many workers, the main purpose of a rush.

A rush isnt ment to kill you off, its just ment to break your economy until your opponent can get heavy weapons etc. There are some exceptions to this for example, mounted troops.

The biggest, best and easiest way of defending is to make the changes to stop it before it happens.

Spotting a Rush - How do you know you are going to be rushed?
In order to stop a rush before it can do any real damage, you must take note of your enemies base. In a game with 4 or more players, after you have thoroughly scouted your base for resources and nerfs/banthas, scout the player closest to you. If you have 2 or more allies and your in the middle of them, the chances of you being rushed are slim, but still possible, so its still best to have a good scout of all your enemies base. Scout the areas between you and your closest enemy, and your enemies base.

Now take note of the following. Pressing F11 will reveal the game time.

If your opponent has a troop center before the 6 minute mark this ushually means he dosent know how to rush, and is just putting up a troop center not knowing what to do, check their score and make sure

If your opponent has a troop center(s) after the 7 minute mark, beware. This ushually means your going to be attacked with most likely troops, or mounted troopers
Gear up to be rushed. Build a power core and troop center at the far side of your base away from your enemy in case he gathers his troops around it . If you havent got a good carbon flow already (around 10 workers) wait until you do. begin queuing troops immediately. Its also a good idea to make a small wall from the sides of your carbon mines to your command center out of prefab shelters + light walls.
Make sure to wall in your power core with prefab shelters, your own troop centers and light walls! if your enemy has mounted troopers he will tear down your power core in 2 seconds.

Go Tech 2 as soon as you can, and keep making troops. If your opponent has 2 or more troop centers, you should make some more as well. Keep making troops and gather them in your carbon mines, and get ready to garrison your farmers in case they are going to be attacked. Once you reach tech 2 get ALL your carbon workers to make 2 turrets near your carbon center but not immediately next to each other. Hopefully you have around 8 troops by now, make sure you upgrade them to troops and their range.

Once your enemy attacks, garrison any workers you have in turretss, so when he comes his troops die faster, and make sure you garrison at least 5 of your farmers to protect your other farmers in your command center. Thats a basic guide to stopping a troop or mounted troop rush. But if he has overwhelming mounted troops which are going to destroy your command center, ungarrison your workers and repair it! repairing command centers being attacked by mounted troopers and pummels is free due to a bug!

What do i do if im stuck in tech 2 and i have an enemy in tech 3?
The First Thing you should do: Make anti air troops! at least 5 of them! Chances are, if your in a 3 vs 3 game the enemy in the center of your enemies will try help his allies with air/mechs. It is also ideal to get a few turrets to defend your carbon mines with and if you have enough ore for an extra turret, put one up by your command center as mechs are very resistant to command center fire. Its also a good idea to notify your ally in the center (pocket) that you may need assistance, but if you feel like you have everything under control dont worry .

If your opponent has jedi temples, Chances are he is going to jedi rush you. Or he may be collecting holocrons, either way you will see some jedis coming your way some part through the game.
Chances are he wont attack until at least after 18 minutes. The Main counters to jedi are mass troopers and mounted troopers. Start making troopers and some mounted troopers, but still try to obtain a decent tech 3 time. Mine ore with about 5 workers. Upgrade your troops with all upgrades while going tech 3. As soon as you get to tech 3, plonk down a fortress, buy some ore if you have to from a spaceport and make 2-3 bounty hunters. If he really catches you off guard garrison all your workers, or sneak some off and get enough ore for a fortress to make bounty hunters, or even ask your ally for accistance in the kidnest manner you can.

If your opponent has a mech factory he may strike mech raid you and try kill all your workers. To Counter this make mech destroyers. If he turns up without you knowing and you have no mech factory but a troop center, make some grenadiers. If he catches you off-guard make whatever units you have and try to get mech destroyers. Again, ask your ally for assistance.

Enemy Does a Fast Tech 3?
Get anti air troops! it is a good idea to get around 7, and scout his base and check for an airbase. Its best to position anti air troops in your carbon mines as the command center workers can retreat much quicker.

Your Enemy is confederacy and builds a fortress as soon as he reaches tech 3
This almost certainly means a genosian warrior rush. Genosian warriors slay all types of troops, workers and even mechs! Even anti air troops are slightly inneffective vs them, but they can still do their job if used right. Get at least 10 anti air troops and go T3 Quickly. The biggest weakness to a genosian warrior rush is anti air turrets so make sure you buy some ore or even mine some!

Pocket/Flank Players
Though you may not think it, your position affects your game a lot!
In a 1vs1 or 2vs2 game your position does not really matter. Ushually both teammates will rush the enemy. But in 3 vs 3 and 4 vs 4 it all changes. The Players in the center of their team (known as the pocket players) Ushually will not rush - especially with troops or mounted troopers. Typically they will go tech 3 fast and make lots of workers, support their allies and attack you with fighters/mechs. Flank/Wing players are the players on the end, the players who dont have an ally either side of them. Typically it is the flank/wing players who are rushed, so if you are either of these beware...

Genral tips to defending rushes
Instead of placing them in seemingly random places, try to position your prefab shelters in a wall-style which leads toward your command center. This will mean rushers will have to walk around it, and through your command center fire killing off much of their forces. If troops turn up you can instantly make turrets, but should probably save the ore for turrets and command centers if it dosent look like your going to be rushed. If you do notice troops heading toward your base, gather all your carbon workers and get them to make a turret in your carbon mines instantly! garrison your command-center farmers in your command center. The advantages of having a small wall of prefabs can mean rush failure or rush succesful!

Try to make a power core when you are going tech 2 every game. If your opponent rushes you, you can instantly make a troop center with all your workers and some troops to defend with.

And remember to scout your closest enemy heavily! Even scout him more than once. The best time to scout your enemy again is at the 10 minute mark.

[This message has been edited by AU_Skythe (edited 08-20-2002 @ 07:49 AM).]