How to stop losing coastal maps in Iron Tide Command

Iron Tide Command punished me for hoarding resources, over and over, before I figured out how the game actually wants to be played. If you're stalling out on the mid-game maps, this is for you.

Spend early and spend often. Sitting on resources feels safe, but the waves scale faster than your bank account grows. I started dropping cheap early defenses the moment I could afford them and my survival rate went up immediately.

Wall layout matters more than raw firepower. Funnel enemies into a single lane and stack your damage along it. On the fog maps especially, controlling where raiders can go is worth more than seeing them coming.

Keep a small mobile squad in reserve. When a wave breaks through in one spot, having units you can rush over saves runs that would otherwise collapse. Don't commit everything to static defenses.

Finally, don't be shy about retries. The checkpoints are generous, and half of getting good at this game is learning each map's pattern. The mission that took me six attempts felt easy on the seventh.