White Sands: 5 Best Tips for Beginners

Binge Gaming OU's love letter to RTS fans, White Sands, is a breathless game. Set in the near future, players take on the role of a Union Commander tasked with restoring civilization to its norm. This is after a devastating sandstorm hit Earth, destabilizing its magnetic field, leading to mutations and destroying life. The lucky few remaining grapple with mutants fighting for the few resources. 

With a troop and dozens of pieces of military equipment at your disposal, it's your job to eliminate these aberrant creations. If the idea seems daunting, don't worry. Our guide on the best tips for beginners at White Sands will provide you with a valuable head start. Let's dive into it.

5. Man Up

RPGs have a knack for providing players with limited resources. It's practically the norm to start with a primary weapon and grind your way to unlocking upgrades or better gear. It's starkly different in White Sands. The game generously throws all the weapons and gadgets at your feet but with one twist. You don't have enough people to manage them. Thankfully, there's a system for recruiting more people for your team.

The game uses popularity standing as a stat for progress. This means the more popular you are with the villagers, the higher your chances of getting people to volunteer to join your cause. Unlike the historical monarchy rules where boys and men had to join the military, in White Sands, you must prove yourself worthy of receiving help from the villagers. It's ironic, considering they stand to lose if they don't volunteer their men, but so do you. It's your first day on the job, and the low popularity among the villagers will undoubtedly have you kicked out.

Therefore, to win the hearts and minds of the villagers, you must beef up security in the area. This includes setting up patrols and tradeposts.

 4. Choose Your Weapons Wisely

Besides ground troops, the game gives you plenty of air support to complement your troops. This includes a mercy missile, a cyclops, an armed drop ship, and a Vulcan cannon. All these weapons deal insane damage, clearing out an area in seconds. Plus, the explosions give off a satisfying feel—what you'd expect from a real battlefield—like glowing confetti. But there is a downside. 

See, the mutants and bandits are frequently attacking villages. This means they're almost always a few meters away from the settlements. Launching the Vulcan cannon, for instance, lets you trace the weapon's path, dictating where it hits. You must be cautious and ensure this path doesn't fall on civilians because you risk losing your popularity. The game emphasizes survivors, so the number of casualties you take affects your XP at the end of each round.  

Moreover, the weapons have a 30-minute cooldown timer. It'll be wise to save the bad boys for a major catastrophe, which I guarantee will come. You don't want to be caught pants down without an artillery strike that will grant your team victory over an insane wave of bandits.

3. Switch to Iron Bow View

As a Union Commander, you can see how combat unfolds from a drone's point of view. You don't step foot on the battlefields but keep your mates alive, watching their progress using thermal imaging. The game gives you three view options; normal, white-hot, and Iron Bow. The normal mode provides a colorized view, like watching the field from a bird's eye. While it does show you the temperature variations across the scene, it doesn't paint a clear picture of what's unfolding.

Next, you have the white-hot mode, which sharpens the image for clarity. The mode enhances the contrast between cold and hot objects, making identifying targets against various backgrounds easier. However, its limited color palette makes it hard to discern temperature variations. That is why you're safer using the Iron Bow Mode.

Iron Bow gives a comprehensive battlefield view with overlaid tactical information, such as target tracking, threat identification, and friendly force tracking. Characterized by a green and white color scheme, you can easily distinguish your troops from the bandits. It doesn't provide a colored view that might appeal to some but it is ideal for quick strategic battle decisions.

2. Prioritize Patrols

White Sands will always offer plenty of missions. More often than not, you will have two to three missions simultaneously. This means that you'll probably be starved for manpower, which forms the core of the gameplay; you must decide strategically where to place manpower if you're shorthanded. But word of advice, ensure you have some men on patrol.

Patrol helps beef up security in the area, which restores the villagers' faith in you, as alluded to above. But that is not all it does. Your men on patrol may come across bandits and engage in combat. Consequently, this triggers a mission that you will likely come across. Ideally, it's like killing two birds with one stone.  

Moreover, patrols can uncover old underground structures or buried buildings that might have supplies. Having more supplies for your population will also increase your popularity rating. So rally up your men, boots on the ground, and eyes on patrol.

1. Save Your Game Frequently

Ensuring you save your game frequently isn't just a casual suggestion. It's a gamer's golden rule. In White Sands, this is your only solace for evading frustration. See, every time you lose men, you lose XP points, and it's a hassle getting them up again. Nothing dampens the gaming spirit more than having to redo tasks you've already mastered. Plus, constantly redoing sections of a game can break the immersive experience. 

A mission might have low difficulty, but sending in 20 or 30 troops leads to their immediate demise. As a union commander, it's a tragic loss you can't have on your reputation. That's why I recommend saving and restarting the mission wiser with enough manpower. You can keep track of the combat from the bar at the top of the screen. If things are going left, choose not to count your losses.

So, what's your take? Do you agree with our White Sands: 5 Best Tips for Beginners? Are there more tips we should know about? Let us know over on our socials here.