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time required: 15 effect: increases weapon damage to 10-20. Range and weapon type are unaffected type: WEAPONS lv. 3
AP Cost: 3000 time required: 20 effect: increases weapon damage to 15-30. Range and weapon type are unaffected type: WEAPONS lv. 4
AP Cost: 4000 time required: 25 effect: increases weapon damage to 17-35. Range and weapon type are unaffected type: WEAPONS lv. 5
AP Cost: 5000 time required: 30 effect: increases weapon damage to 20-40. Range and weapon type are unaffected type: SENSORS lv. 2
AP Cost: 1000 time required: 10 effect: increases sensor range to 200 meters type: SENSORS lv. 3
AP Cost: 1500 time required: 15 effect: increases sensor range to 250 meters type: SENSORS lv. 4
AP Cost: 2000 time required: 20 effect: increases sensor range to 300 meters type: SENSORS lv. 5
AP Cost: 2500 time required: 25 effect: increases sensor range to 350 meters type: PAYLOAD lv. 2
AP Cost: 1000 time required: 10 effect: increases Dropship slots to 14 type: PAYLOAD lv. 3
AP Cost: 1500 time required: 15 effect: increases Dropship slots to 18 type: PAYLOAD lv. 4
AP Cost: 2000 time required: 20 effect: increases Dropship slots to 20 type: PAYLOAD lv. 5
AP Cost: 2500 time required: 25 effect: increases Dropship slots to 24 type: ENGINES lv. 2
AP Cost: 1000 time required: 15 effect: Dropship moves at 60 m/s type: ENGINES lv. 3
AP Cost: 1500 time required: 20 effect: Dropship moves at 75 m/s type: ENGINES lv. 4
AP Cost: 2000 time required: 25 effect: Dropship moves at 100 m/s type: ENGINES lv. 5
AP Cost: 2500 time required: 30 effect: Dropship moves at 150 m/s type: FUEL lv. 2
AP Cost: 1000 time required: 10 effect: Dropship can stay on battlefield for 40 seconds type: FUEL lv. 3
AP Cost: 1500 time required: 15 effect: Dropship can stay on battlefield for 70 seconds type: FUEL lv. 4
AP Cost: 2000 time required: 20 effect: Dropship can stay on battlefield for 90 seconds type: FUEL lv. 5
AP Cost: 2500 time required: 25 effect: Dropship can stay on battlefield for 120 seconds

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12-GENERAL TACTICS
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Let me first talk about experience levels. Each time a unit delivers a fatal blow to an enemy (the enemy's health drop to or beyond 0), the killing unit is awarded experience points. If the unit has earned enough experience points, it will progress one level. Higher the level, more experience points (killed units) the unit will need to pass. It is possible to check a unit's experience progression by selecting a single unit and watch the bar below the forest/building bonus icons. A nearly full bar means the unit has lots of experience points, a dark bar means that the unit hasn't earned any points.
Level progression will affect only the damage a unit can allocate. For example, a level 1 NSA Sniper does 30-60 damage points, meaning that damage will be within those two numbers. A Level 3 Sniper will do 40-60 damage points, considerably rising its damage potential, as the minimum damage it can allocate is now 40 points, not 30. So far, I succeded in bringing a single unit up to level 10, and its minimum and maximum damage values are the same. I doubt that there's a 11th, 12th or any level beyond ten and that other stats will be affected.
Note that this applies to both your units and AI-controlled units.
Acquisition Points are earned by completing an objective, killing enemy units or by...waiting. On the upper edge of the screen, there's a small bar with a xxx/xxx % value. The first value indicates how many units are currently under your direct control while the second you upkeep cost. Higher is this value (near 100%), more APs you will recieve over time. The percentual will drop as you order units, reducing the APs you'll recieve. An upkeep cost of 0% means that you won't recieve extra Acquisition Points by "waiting". The only way to mantain the upkeep cost at high levels, is to employ as few units as you can; basically, the game wants you to use your existing units at best.
AP points can be used to call down units using the Dropship, upgrade it or use
Off-Map attacks. The first option is self expliantory and I'll cover the
Dropship later. Off-Map attacks are what the name suggests: you can use these attacks in whatever part of the map, without restrictions. Offensive attacks (like Artillery Barrages or Assault Pods) cost a lot of APs and must be used wisely; although powerful, Artillery Barrages, for example, aren't made for precision strike and won't track any moving unit, as are aimed over a certain location. Also, the more powerful is the attack, the more time it will require to be activated: expect some delay after ordering an Artillery Barrage, as bombers have to reach the designated area (NSA) or the Clanship must aim its main cannons (Virons). Viron Assault Pods are very particular; first, the Pods themselves can be targeted by anti-air defenses and therefore can be destroyed, and if they land, they "create" a Prime Clanguard. Each Pod holds a single
Clanguard and each attack sends five Pods; the Clanguards will be under your direct command. Being able to strike whatever zone of the map (as long it's passable terrain) and then move, Assault Pods are a very dangerous attack.
After being used one time, each Off-Map attack needs to be recharged. The amount of time required is indicated by a bar below the attack icon.
Dropships are used to bring your units to the battlefield; they are very powerful units, able to withstand large amount of punishment and deliver some heavy punches especially if their weapons are upgraded.
Even when unloading unit (process where they touch the ground for some seconds) they can be targeted only by units capable of firing at air units, and due to their particular armor, missiles aren't as effective as against Helidynes.
Dropships aren't invincible though: a full group of 16 Fighter/Attack/Scout
Helidynes can take a Dropship out and will be impossible to call down an other
Dropship until it has been replaced; the reinforcment icon will turn red and a bar will begin to show the replacement process, which takes some time. The most useful upgrades a Dropship can have are engines (upgrade their movement and unloading speed), payload (allows more units to be carried) and firepower (self expliantory...useful when enemies are knocking on your LZ and extra firepower is needed). Upgrades won't be passed from a mission to an other in single player game and they are seldom useful as they are in multiplayer games. As all air units, Dropships cannot take control of LZs or hold them if under attack by enemy ground troops; if a Dropship is going to drop its cargo and the LZ becomes neutral or hostile, it will fly back to base, without delivering the order units and all APs spent for those units will be lost, so keeping safe LZs is a primary objective. Note that when upgrading a Dropship, it won't be available to deliver troops, and higher is the level of the upgrade, longer it will take. For a complete listing of time, APs required and effects, see the appropriate section.
The mechanics of this new chapter are very different from the first chapter:
GCII is far more fast-paced and allows to call down extra units, allowing to costumize your units to your fighting style and what you are going to encouter; the faster pace negates much of the time spent for an accurate tactical preparation, meaning that fire-support units like artilleries are less useful than before, although underestimating a strong defenseable position and proceeding with a frontal attack without knowing the sorroundings will bring a defeat, no matter what.
As in the previous game, all  "active" (manned) units and buildings aren't showed neither on the minimap (lower left side of the user interface) nor on the 3D map; to see them, you need a direct line of sight from any of your units (or allies' own). Line of sight is normally obstructed by hills (or other terrain features) and civilian buildings. Trees and military buildings do not obstruct line of sight but trees and civilian buildings/bunkers can provide infantry a stealthness bonus. Weather can affect line of sight too: first, it decreases maximum visual range and second it enhaces stealthness of any unit that already has a stealth value above 0, so don't expect Terradynes to being stealthier due to rain or snow; it is interesting to note that rain or snow give the same "bonus" over line of sight. Night doesn't affect these parameters, as cloudy conditions don't.
Unlike the first Ground Control, placing a unit is shadows doens't increase its stealthness, although placing them under a spotlight decreases its stealth bonus, but this "malus" cannot lower the listed stealth value.
Weather doesn't affect weapon ragen, damage or unit speed.
Although direct line of sight isn't established, you will always see any unit's weapon fire; this is especially useful in determining if the enemy is using artillery units or long-range turrets and/or units; all these cathegories are easily recognizable: artillery units fire their shots upward, long-range anti-infantry turrets produces four streams of energy bolts in rapid successions while Pulverizer turrets a single, streamlined gray/blue line with a small "flame" at the barrel's nozzle; AT cannons produces a strong thunderous sound, with yellowish fire (standard shells) or blue for energy cannons.
Gatling guns generate a very thin grey line with a typical machinegun sound; flamethrowers and gas weapons a yellowish/red or green cloud.
Terran features also give units accurancy and damage bonuses; the latter is molty given by the fact than most units use a very thin armor on their "top" location (last armor value)m while the accurancy bonus is given to all units firing to a target downward. Due to these factors, Helidynes have an advantage over all ground units, although they pay this and their other benefits with a general structural weakness. Ground units attacking other ground units on higher ground must rely on brute force or artillery and other long-range fire units.
Speaking of armor, each vehicle has a front, side, rear and top armor rating: higher the rating, more damage the armor will absorb; this value is further modified by the armor type and weapon type.
Snipe weapons are efficient against infantry-type armors but not against any other type. Gatling guns are effective against light armors and a bit less agains infantry; heavier armors greatly reduces their effect. AT weapons are the best against heavy and very heavy armors (the latter type is used on
Dropships only) but they suffer against any other type of armor. Missile weapons gain a considerable bonus against armors used by Helidynes. Explosive weapons doesn't have any particular malus but they can devastate infantry and light armors. Gas weapons are the top against infantry. Plasma weapons have a bonus against all armor types.
Taking advantage of the various weapon types to deal the most damage is vital, as it is to continually move to target the weakest sides of the enemy; unfortunately  this also exposes your units' weak sides, so it is very important to decide quickly if you can withstand a front-to-front battle and to use any terrain feature to avoid counterfire; moving will decrease unguided shots accurancy, and terrain will block any incoming fire; missiles are an exception, as they are guided and so follow their target until it's destroyer or it has gone out of sight, though they aren't able to evade any obstacle.
Of the two main factions, the best scouting unit is the Viron Scout Helidyne, followed shortly by the NSA Guardian; although the Viron Helidyne cannot cloack itself, in secondary mode can reveal any unit within a 400 meter radius, which is also the great visual range of any unit in the game. The Guardian's cloack mode doesn't grant complete invisibleness: at very short ranges, Guardians can be spotted.
Speaking of secondary mode, note that when switching a unit from a mode to an other, the unit will stop all its current orders; for example: if a Liberator is moving and you switch to secondary mode (anti-infantry machinegun, doesn't affect movement capabilites at all), the Liberator will stop and an other movement order must be issued. This is clearly a glitch in the game, and I think Massive is working on it and an other important glitch, the camera; whenever clickin on the minimap to frame a certain portion of the map, the camera will decrease its altitude, reducing the portion of battlefield you can see. When tracking units (double click on the unit's icon), the camera will adjust itself ot its maximum visual range; tracking a Scout Helidyne in secondary mode will grant a suberb sight on the battlefield, though fog and other graphic effects (and framerate, if your PC isn't up to it) will reduce the effectivness of such a large view; when a camera is moved by the arrow keys