Most of the missions in Section 8 are relatively easy to trigger. Since each of the missions I've talked about - convoys, intelligence, VIPs, and commandos - is triggered by a single type of resource, a little focused effort can kick off your mission of choice. From something as simple as staying on defense or aggressively firing rockets at enemy bases, you can easily coax out a convoy or commando, respectively.

However, the last two mission types aren't going to happen so easily.

Read about bombs and outposts after the jump.

These last two missions each require two kinds of resources. And since missions trigger automatically, you're first going to trigger one of the single-resource missions. For instance, an outpost mission needs both support and assault points. However, as soon as you build up enough points for a convoy or VIP missions, it's going to drain those support or assault points. So an outpost mission isn't going to happen until much later in the game. The payoff is that these types of missions give you 100 points instead of 70. And the incentive for the other team to stop you is 50 points instead of 35.

Bomb missions are, in my opinion, the hardest to pull off. Not only do you have to pick up a bomb and carry it into the heart of an enemy base, but you also have to guard it while the timer counts down. The secondary benefit of a bomb mission is that you destroy base structures such as turrets and AA guns within a certain range.

Outpost missions, on the other hand, are like a sudden and dramatic shift for everyone to move the fighting to some spot out in the boonies. A beacon drops onto the map. The defenders have to outnumber the attackers in the area by the time the beacon's timer counts down. At that point, if the defenders have secured the area, an aircraft flies in and drops off a big fat supply depot with an AA gun on top to keep enemy troops from dropping in nearby. If the defenders keep the outpost alive for about three minutes, they get the 100 points. Otherwise, the attackers get 50 points.

The great thing about an outpost mission is that it creates an impromptu base, which makes the ensuing fight that much fiercer. The defenders would do well to buy deployables, spending their money on a few conveniently placed turrets. Alternatively, the attackers might want to call in deployables of their own before the outpost lands. Because once the AA gun arrives, it will shoot down anything coming in from above. In fact, a shrewd attacking team will immediately call an AA gun down onto the same area as the beacon, which will keep the defenders from setting up their own defenses.

It's all part of the really smart give-and-take that goes on during a game of Section 8.

Tomorrow: why can't I kill that guy I'm shooting at?
(Click here for the previous Section 8 game diary.)