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Total Annihilation is an incredible RTS game. There are a number of excellent writeups of the game at everything2; those should give you an overview of the game. One thing that they mentioned but, I feel, didn't get into enough, is the queuing system. EVERYTHING can be queued: movements, attacks, reclamation, repairs, and (here's the kicker) buildings. No other game that I'm aware of allows the player to tell one of his builder units to build that, that and that there there and there, and then go off and worry about other things.

So. Awesome game. This page is to get you up and running for maximal enjoyment.
First off, the expansions:

1. The Core Contingency
   This one is pretty critical. It adds
   • 75 new units, a lot of them naval units. Any sea map is pretty lame without this expansion.
   • 50 new multiplayer maps
   • 6 new landscapes
2. Battle Tactics
   This one is less important. It adds
   • 100 single-player missions
   • a few multiplayer maps
   • 4 "bonus units", which you can also download from their website

If you can get the Commander Pack, grab it. Otherwise, TA and TA:TCC are the two you really want.

So, speaking of their website, you'll want to download a few things:

• the 3.1 patch
• if you don't have Battle Tactics
  • the Arm Flea
  • the Arm Scarab
  • the Core Hedgehog
  • the Core Immolator
• the Arm FARK
• the Core Necro
• If you ever get bored of playing with just these units, you will want to check out the DUE pack. Notching up the scale a tad bit... incredible amounts of resources, major damage, and so on. It's a whole other game with this installed.

So, now to install it. It's important that you do it in the right order:

1. Total Annihilation
2. The Core Contingency, if you have it
3. Battle Tactics, if you have it
4. the patch
5. any add-on units

Go have fun now.

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