In a lot of real-time strategy games I've played (Age of Empires II, Warcraft III, and StarCraft II come to mind), some of the levels of the single-player campaign usually involve you controlling a handful of units and achieving your objective without managing a base. Typically these levels are laid-out linearly, with a set path or series of paths for you to follow until a pre-defined endpoint. The game will also usually give you more units along the way as a means to replenish your army. There is no base building or economy management involved the level, though occasionally you might get access to a few unit-production buildings to also replenish your army.
These levels seem like such a common occurrence in RTS's that I'm wondering if there's a term for them? "No base building" seems like a bit of a clunky name for it.
Best Answer
I would think the term RTT (real time tactics) would be a good fit. It is a sub/related genre to RTS, and is "focused on tactical and operational aspects of warfare such as unit formations or the exploitation of terrain for tactical advantage" as opposed to the "logistics and production".
I have also heard the terms non-base building used fairly frequently. Alternatively, I've heard the term "Call ins" used to refer to games where you simply call in the troops you need to fight with as opposed to building them.