The map that broke me in Iron Tide Command

Every strategy game has that one mission where the difficulty spikes and you have to actually learn the systems. In Iron Tide Command, for me, it was the third coastal defence map.

I lost four times in a row. Each loss taught me something small, usually that I'd committed my artillery too early or ignored the high ground. The game never explained this. It just kept letting me fail until I paid attention.

The fifth attempt I sat and planned before touching a single unit, and it worked almost cleanly. That shift from reacting to planning is the whole game, really.

If you're stuck on a mission in any turn-based strategy game, the fix is usually to stop moving and start reading the map. Boring advice, but it's saved me every time.