Advance Wars: Days of Ruin Walkthrough

===================================================
ADVANCE WARS DAYS OF RUIN / DARK CONFLICT UNITS FAQ
===================================================
v1.33 (29/Jun/2008)
Created By generiX
ADVANCE WAR-NING!
-----------------
To All Days Of Ruin Owners! I use EU unit names in this FAQ. I do mention US
names, but they are NOT commonplace! Neither are US CO names, CO Power names or
anything else.
=====
INDEX
=====
1. Introduction
2. Game Mechanics
a) Damage Formula
b) Defense Formula
c) Movement Costs Table
d) General Strategies
01) Early Game
02) Direct Fire Units
03) Indirect Fire Units
04) COs And CO Powers
05) Choke Point Central
06) How To Beat Various Map Types
3. The Units
a) Ground Units
01) Infantry
02) Bazooka/US Mech
03) Motorbike
04) Recon
05) Flare
06) Anti-Air
07) Tank
08) Heavy Tank/US Medium Tank
09) Mega Tank/US War Tank
10) Mech Gun/US Artillery
11) Anti-Tank
12) Rockets
13) Missiles
14) Mobile Workshop/US Rig
b) Naval Units
01) Battleship
02) Carrier
03) Submarine
04) Cruiser
05) Lander
06) Missile Boat/US Gunboat
c) Aerial Units
01) Interceptor/US Fighter
02) Bomber
03) Fighter/US Duster
04) Battle Helicopter
05) Transport Helicopter
06) Ship Plane/US Seaplane
3. Thanks
===============
1. INTRODUCTION
===============
Hello, and welcome to my first FAQ on an Advance Wars game! Simply put, the
Advance Wars series is easily one of the most underadvertised games Nintendo
make, and also one of the best! If you've never played Advance Wars before (why
are you looking at this then?), it is probably best that you go out and find a
copy of the original game and get hooked up (AW:DC, while it is absolutely
BRILLIANT, it's also extremely difficult, almost on par with AW2). I aim to
lend the uninitiated a helping hand with the game by listing details on the 26
units of the game.
Personally, this game is right up there as one of THE best games in the world.
The previous incarnations were also brilliant, but AW2 was frustratingly
difficult, and AW:DS was, in a word, unbalanced. Even an absolute idiot could
win thanks to some COs who were beyond broken, and to some units which were
almost unstoppable. Now, AW:DC is perfectly balanced, there are no overpowerful
COs (well, one), and every unit can be countered, resulting in a strategic
masterpiece with potentially limitless replay value (thanks to an awesome map
editor).
Differences Between AW:DC and AW:DOR
------------------------------------
* A lot of identities are different, such as the army titles, CO names, CO
Power names, and some terrain tiles.
* Several units have different identities, and the descriptive text is also
different. In my opinion, AW:DOR have worser unit names (exclude Mech and
Artillery, maybe Seaplane).
* While the storyline is the same, the language used in AW:DC is much more
serious (and better) than in AW:DOR. AW:DOR also has a liberal spread of
profanities in the script.
* The title icon has a different look between games (not just the name change,
obviously).
* There are also rumors of random game glitches in AW:DOR not present in AW:DC.
I don't remember the exact details, but it involved submerged subs, bridges,
and infantry.
* The personalities of some of AW:DOR's COs are much more extreme than in AW:DC
(to the point where Lili and Penny act completely differently).
SERVICE HISTORY
---------------
v0.1  18/Apr/2008 - Began work on the FAQ.
v1.0  06/May/2008 - Eventually remembered to finish the FAQ and get enough data
in for a worthwhile posting on gameFAQs.
v1.1  18/May/2008 - Massive influx of new (and maybe useful) data.
20/May/2008 - Allowed SuperCheats.Com permission to host the FAQ.
v1.2  21/May/2008 - Allowed MyCheats.Com and NeoSeeker.Com permission to host
the FAQ. Refined damage charts and included 'Attacks Used'
charts for units, and added additional info in various
sections.
22/May/2008 - Discovered and corrected minor errors.
v1.3  23/May/2008 - Created the 'General Strategies' section (I know, it's
getting a bit beyond a simple unit guide).
30/May/2008 - Allowed gamesradar.com permission to host the FAQ. Possible
typo fixes included.
v1.31 31/May/2008 - Corrected an error in the damage chart, and included a
separate 'Secondary Attack Chart' section.
v1.32 01/Jun/2008 - Corrected another damage chart error. Added a few random
details here and there.
v1.33 29/Jun/2008 - Revised attack damage formulas. Corrected detail on Bad
Company's defense boost. Allowed pwnguide.com permission to
host the FAQ. Revised details on several non-ground units.
Speaking of which, gameFAQs is the sole site allowed to host this FAQ. Anybody
caught posting this FAQ elsewhere will be mercilessly hunted down by a killer
lawsuit. Or something like that. I mean, I wrote this FAQ to be read by all,
just ask before nicking it for your own sites. If you are looking for the
latest version of this FAQ, look for it on gameFAQs first.
EDIT - Other sites have started calling for permission. I shall now list the
sites which have permission to host the FAQ
# gameFAQs.com
# supercheats.com
# mycheats.com
# neoseeker.com
# gamesradar.com
# pwnguide.com
Whatever you do, don't claim this FAQ as your own work. It makes no sense at
all. It is the work of pretty much every Advance Wars forum on the internet.
Without those guys, this guide would have been left in limbo for a long time.
=================
2. GAME MECHANICS
=================
A) DAMAGE FORMULA
-----------------
If you want to win, you need to understand how the damage system in this game
works. If you have arrived here straight from AWDS, listen up; the formula has
changed slightly. The formula is:-
[BASE DAMAGE] X [ATTACKER HP / 10] X [ATTACK STAT / TARGET DEFENSE STAT] = __%
In the case of an attack which ends in decimal figures, the final damage is
ROUNDED DOWN.
Example: A Tank hits an enemy Tank on a road. The formula would become:-
55% X 10/10 X 100/100 = 55% Damage.
That was kind of obvious; there was no defensive cover, and the attack power of
the Tank was basic. Now assume the enemy Tank is on a Woods tile, and it has an
Ace/Veteran level. The attacker has 8HP and is at Level 1. The formula changes
to:-
55% X 08/10 X 105/(100+20+30) = 30.8%, rounds down to 30%.
Quite significant.
Also, units can deal additional damage known as 'luck'. Luck is calculated as a
random value between 0 and 1, and is multiplied by the unit HP to give up to an
additional 10% damage. Of course this means that weaker units cannot
unexpectedly deal another 1HP of damage, and weaker units will generally deal
less luck damage than healthy units.
Luck damage is also weakened by the Defense stat of the target (during Finn's
CO Power Bad Company, luck damage falls to almost negligable levels). My guess
for this formula is:-
( [RANDOM NUMBER 1 to 10] X [UNIT HP] ) / [TARGET DEFENSE STAT / 10] = __%
Here is how the Attack stat is determined:-
# The default value for attack is 100%.
# If the unit is at Level 1, add another 5%.
# If the unit is at Level 2, add another 10%.
# If the unit is at Level Ace/Vet, add another 20%
# If the unit is in the Command (CO) Zone, add another 10%.
# If the unit is in the CO Zone and meets the COs criteria, add another 10% for
each star.
# If the team has any Communications Towers in their possession, add another 5%
for each one.
# If there is a Sandstorm in effect (and the CO is not Lili), subtract 30%.
For your convenience, here is a list of base damage values for each unit type
combination, including those damn Meteor fragments. These are for the IDEAL
circumstances: the enemy has 100% defense (no cover) and the attack stat is
also 100%, and the Primary Weapon has ammo. Cases where primary ammo runs out
are mentioned shortly.
/===========+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===\
| \ Defender|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | M | B |
|  \        |   |   | M |   |   |   |   | H | M |   | A |   |   | . | a |
|   \       | I |   | o |   |   | A |   | v | e | M | n |   | M | W | t |
|    \      | n | B | t |   |   | n |   | y | g | e | t | R | i | o | t |
|     \     | f | a | o |   |   | t |   | . | a | c | i | o | s | r | l |
|      \    | a | z | r | R | F | i |   |   |   | h | - | c | s | k | e |
|       \   | n | o | b | e | l | - | T | T | T |   | T | k | i | s | s |
|        \  | t | o | i | c | a | A | a | a | a | G | a | e | l | h | h |
|         \ | r | k | k | o | r | i | n | n | n | u | n | t | e | o | i |
|Attacker  \| y | a | e | n | e | r | k | k | k | n | k | s | s | p | p |
>===========+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+=== <
|Infantry   | 55| 45| 45| 12| 10| 3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 10| 30| 20| 20| 14|---|
|Bazooka    | 65| 55| 55| 85| 80| 55| 55| 25| 15| 70| 55| 85| 85| 75|---|
|Motorbike  | 65| 55| 55| 18| 15| 5 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 15| 35| 35| 35| 20|---|
|Recon      | 75| 65| 65| 35| 30| 8 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 45| 15| 55| 55| 45|---|
|Flare      | 80| 70| 70| 60| 50| 45| 10| 5 | 1 | 45| 15| 55| 55| 45|---|
|Anti-Air   |105|105|105| 60| 50| 45| 15| 10| 1 | 50| 15| 55| 55| 50|---|
|Tank       | 75| 70| 70| 85| 80| 75| 55| 35| 20| 70| 30| 85| 85| 75| 8 |
|Hvy. Tank  | 90| 80| 80| 95| 90| 90| 70| 55| 35| 85| 35| 90| 90| 90| 10|
|Mega Tank  |105| 95| 95|105|105|105| 85| 75| 55|105| 40|105|105|105| 12|
|Mech Gun   | 90| 85| 85| 80| 75| 65| 60| 45| 35| 75| 55| 80| 80| 70| 45|
|Anti-Tank  | 75| 65| 65| 75| 75| 75| 75| 65| 55| 65| 55| 70| 70| 65|---|
|Rockets    | 95| 90| 90| 90| 85| 75| 70| 55| 45| 80| 65| 85| 85| 80| 55|
|Missiles   |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Battleship | 75| 70| 70| 70| 70| 65| 65| 50| 40| 70| 55| 75| 75| 65| 45|
|Carrier    |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Submarine  |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| 80|
|Cruiser    |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| 38|
|Msl. Boat  |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| 40|
|Interceptor|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Bomber     |115|110|110|105|105| 85|105| 95| 75|105| 80|105| 95|105| 85|
|Fighter    | 55| 45| 45| 18| 15| 5 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 15| 5 | 20| 20| 15|---|
|Battle Heli| 75| 65| 65| 75| 75| 10| 70| 45| 35| 65| 20| 75| 55| 70| 25|
|Ship Plane | 90| 85| 85| 80| 75| 45| 75| 65| 55| 70| 50| 80| 70| 75| 65|
\===========+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===/
/===========+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===\
|\  Defender|   |   |   |   |   | I |   |   | B | T |   |   |
| \         |   |   |   |   |   | n |   |   | a | r | S |   |
|  \        |   | S |   | M |   | t |   |   | t | a | h |   |
|   \       |   | u |   | s |   | e |   |   | t | n | i |   |
|    \      | C | b | C | l |   | r |   | F | l | s | p |   |
|     \     | a | m | r | . | L | c | B | i | e | . |   | M |
|      \    | r | a | u |   | a | e | o | g |   |   | P | e |
|       \   | r | r | i | B | n | p | m | h | H | H | l | t |
|        \  | i | i | s | o | d | t | b | t | e | e | a | e |
|         \ | e | n | e | a | e | o | e | e | l | l | n | o |
|Attacker  \| r | e | r | t | r | r | r | r | i | i | e | r |
> ===========+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+=== <
|Infantry   |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| 8 | 30|---| 1 |
|Bazooka    |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| 12| 35|---| 15|
|Motorbike  |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| 12| 35|---| 1 |
|Recon      |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| 18| 35|---| 1 |
|Flare      |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| 18| 35|---| 5 |
|Anti-Air   |---|---|---|---|---| 70| 70| 75|105|120| 75| 10|
|Tank       | 8 | 9 | 9 | 55| 18|---|---|---| 18| 35|---| 20|
|Hvy. Tank  | 10| 12| 12| 55| 22|---|---|---| 24| 40|---| 35|
|Mega Tank  | 12| 14| 14| 65| 28|---|---|---| 35| 45|---| 55|
|Mech Gun   | 45| 55| 55|105| 65|---|---|---|---|---|---| 45|
|Anti-Tank  |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| 45| 55|---| 55|
|Rockets    | 55| 65| 65|105| 75|---|---|---|---|---|---| 55|
|Missiles   |---|---|---|---|---|100|100|100|120|120|100|---|
|Battleship | 50| 65| 65| 95| 75|---|---|---|---|---|---| 55|
|Carrier    |---|---|---|---|---| 35| 35| 40| 45| 55| 40|---|
|Submarine  |110| 55| 20|120| 85|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Cruiser    | 38| 95| 28| 85| 40|105|105|105|120|120|105|---|
|Msl. Boat  | 40| 40| 40| 75| 55|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Interceptor|---|---|---|---|---| 55| 65| 80|120|120| 65|---|
|Bomber     | 85| 95| 50|120| 95|---|---|---|---|---|---| 90|
|Fighter    |---|---|---|---|---| 40| 45| 55| 75| 90| 45| 1 |
|Battle Heli| 15| 15| 5 | 85| 15|---|---|---| 65| 85|---| 20|
|Ship Plane | 65| 55| 40|105| 85| 45| 55| 65| 85| 95| 55| 55|
\===========+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===/
In some rare cases, you can continue to attack the enemy using Secondary
Weapons when you run out of ammo. It is extremely inadvisable to run around the
battlefield with no ammo, but as a last resort they can sometimes do okay
levels of damage (but only against unarmoured ground units).
There are five units that can attack even when out of ammo: the Bazooka, all
three Tank types, and the Battle Heli.
Bazooka
-------
Bazooka and Motorbike units share the same Machine Gun type, so the damage is
the same for both.
Light Tank vs.
--------------
Recon:      40%
Flare:      35%
Anti-Air:    8%
Light Tank:  8%
Heavy Tank:  5%
Mega Tank:   1%
Mech Gun:   45%
Anti Tank:   1%
Rockets:    55%
Missiles:   55%
Workshop:   45%
Meteor:      1%
Heavy Tank vs.
--------------
Recon:      40%
Flare:      35%
Anti-Air:    8%
Light Tank:  8%
Heavy Tank:  5%
Mega Tank:   1%
Mech Gun:   45%
Anti Tank:   1%
Rockets:    60%
Missiles:   60%
Workshop:   45%
Meteor:      1%
Mega Tank vs.
-------------
Recon:      45%
Flare:      40%
Anti-Air:   10%
Light Tank: 10%
Heavy Tank: 10%
Mega Tank:   1%
Mech Gun:   45%
Anti Tank:   1%
Rockets:    65%
Missiles:   65%
Workshop:   45%
Meteor:      1%
Battle Heli vs.
---------------
Recon:      30%
Flare:      30%
Anti-Air:    1%
Light Tank:  8%
Heavy Tank:  8%
Mega Tank:   1%
Mech Gun:   25%
Anti Tank:   1%
Rockets:    35%
Missiles:   25%
Workshop:   20%
Meteor:      1%
B) DEFENSE FORMULA
------------------
Defense works dramatically different from previous games. Earlier, defense was
known as 'Absolute', meaning that 20% defensive cover reduced damage by exactly
20%. With enough defense (I'm looking at Javier here) units could become
completely invulnerable. Now, defense works as an Attack/Defense RATIO. It'll
make sense in a minute.
# The default value for defense is 100%.
# If the unit has Ace/Veteran status, add another 20%.
# If the unit is in the CO Zone, add another 10%.
# If the unit is in the CO Zone and fills the COs criteria, add another 10% for
each star.
# If the team has any Communications Towers in their possession, add another 5%
for each one.
# If the unit is lying on defensive cover, add another 1% for each star,
multiplied by the units HP.
# If Finn's CO Power (Bad Company) is in effect, add approximately 270%. (Note:
I thought it would be a bit more precise, like 250% or something.) It doesn't
really matter though: if Bad Company is in effect, his aerial units take less
than 25% of the base damage.
C) MOVEMENT COSTS TABLE
-----------------------
I should mention now that the two tables here aren't entirely my work. The
information was found on several AW forums and gameFAQs, and the table design
is adapted from a chart by 'Deathborn 668'. The chart indicates how many
mobility points are used up in crossing each type of terrain. Higher movement
costs cause the actual mobility of the unit to falter.
/=======+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===\
|   Tile|   |   |   |   |   |   | C |   |   |   |   |   |   | M |   | W |
|       |   |   |   |   |   |   | o |   |   |   |   |   |   | o |   | a |
|\      |   |   | F | A |   |   | m |   |   |   |   |   |   | u |   | s |
| \     |   |   | a | i |   |   |   |   | B |   | P |   |   | n |   | t |
|  \    |   |   | c | r |   | R | T |   | r |   | l | S | R | n | W | e |
|   \   |   | C | t | p | P | a | o | S | i | R | a | h | i | t | o | l |
|    \  |   | i | o | o | o | d | w | i | d | o | i | o | v | a | o | a |
|     \ | H | t | r | r | r | a | e | l | g | a | n | a | e | i | d | n |
|Type  \| Q | y | y | t | t | r | r | o | e | d | s | l | r | n | s | d |
> =======+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+=== <
|Inftry | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
|Bzka   | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
|Tire A | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |---|---| 3 | 3 |
|Tire B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |---|---| 3 | 3 |
|Tank   | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |---|---| 2 | 2 |
|Air    | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |---| 1 | 1 | 1 |
|Ship   |---|---|---|---| 1 |---|---|---| 1 |---|---|---| 1 |---|---|---|
|Trpt   |---|---|---|---| 1 |---|---|---| 1 |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
\=======+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===/
/=======+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===\
|\  Tile|   |   |   | R | S |   |   |   |
| \     |   |   |   | g | e |   |   | P |
|  \    | R |   |   | h | a |   |   | l |
|   \   | u |   | R |   |   |   | F | a |
|    \  | i | S | e | S | F | S | i | s |
|     \ | n | e | e | e | o | k | r | m |
|Type  \| s | a | f | a | g | y | e | a |
> =======+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===<
|Inftry | 1 |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Mech   | 1 |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Tire A | 2 |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Tire B | 1 |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Tank   | 1 |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Air    | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |---|---|
|Ship   |---| 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |---|---|---|
|Trpt   |---| 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |---|---|---|
\=======+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===/
D) GENERAL STRATEGIES
---------------------
01) Early Game
--------------
In the first stages of pretty much any good map, you'll be looking to capture
properties to secure those all-important funds. Look around and find 'key'
properties such as production bases, com towers, and mass clumps of cities. You
should rush the capture of key distance properties rather than slowly expand
your collection from your main area onwards.
The various Infantry units have unique movement speeds and types, so they can
reach properties in varying amounts of time. Basic Infantry have 3 mobility and
are slowed down by mountains and rivers. They are also the cheapest of the
three types, and are advised for capturing where the path is full of forests or
wasteland. Bazooka/Mech units have 2 mobility and aren't slowed down at all
(although at 2 mobility it's horribly slow). Use them for capturing through
mountain ranges. Motorbikes have 5 mobility and are generally your best bet for
long-range capturing, but they are massively slowed down by any non-paved/plain
tile, and cannot cross mountains at all. They also cannot use Transporters
(excluding Landers).
For the less capable Infantry and Bazooka units, there are transport vehicles
that you can utilise to massively boost their mobility. These are the Mobile
Workshop, Transport Helicopter, Lander, and Missile Boat. They can drop off
your Infantry in relative safety and, providing it can return to base, it can
be re-used to transport more units around. However, they cost at least two
Bazooka/Motorbike units to build, so they should be used carefully.
Mobile Workshops can haul Infantry around ground maps with 6 mobility, resupply
more rounds to Bazooka units, and build Temporary Structures (more on those
later). In essence, these pretty much act as little 'bases' for your Bazooka
units. However while they can easily outrun Motorbikes across heavy terrain,
light unrestrictive land means that it can prove tricky for this unit to pay
for itself in comparison to a Motorbike. On the plus side, it's fairly sturdy
in the early game, and the onboard Infantry won't be harmed at all if it comes
under fire (unless the unit is destroyed, in which case both units are lost).
Transport Helicopters are usually your best bet for moving foot soldiers about.
They travel by air, so they aren't slowed down at all, and they are fairly
quick to boot. They burn fuel daily, so the return leg can be a little close
for call on a few occasions. The main problem is that they are notoriously
incapable of withstanding attacks, and they are preyed upon by a lot of stuff.
Landing craft can transport 2 units of any type (from Infantry to Motorbike to
Mega Tank) across naval maps. They are pretty damn strong and fairly quick.
Only capable of dropping off units on Shoals and ports, it's range of areas it
can be used for is sometimes a little off. It also burns fuel daily.
Missile Boats are a new addition (and replaces the AW:DS Black Boat) and are a
good thing to have around with you. They have the highest movement range of any
transporter (7 mobility outruns a lot of stuff including every other naval
unit) and act like Landers. They can transport ONE foot soldier (so it's like
the Workshop) and drop off at beaches and the like. They are also capable of
self-defense: they have a powerful anti-ship weapon that usually pays for the
cost of the unit if it connects. After it strikes, it becomes defenseless,
having only one shot. It's also extremely fragile and it doesn't take much
effort to sink one.
Once you've become skilled in perfecting your early game abilities, why not try
screwing up your opponent's opening turns while you're at it? Usually you're
best sticking to using Recons to disrupt the enemy as they are cheap, really
fast (well, most of the time) and do enough damage to warrant some severe
cursing from your opponent. Sometimes you can send other types around to cause
annoyances. Using Flare tanks is a good idea on plains-heavy maps where Recons
would get hit quite badly by the terrain penalty (as well as intercepting enemy
Recons aiming to cause you some trouble as well). Battle Heli's and the
Fighter/Duster are useful in long-range naval maps. However, doing this will
usually just cause your opponent to divert his funds to developing a simple
countermeasure (this is sometimes a good thing though). Rememer not to spend
too much on early disrupture of the enemy, and focus on building a powerful
assault force.
If the enemy is causing you some hassle, develop counters of your own. A good
way of trying to annoy enemy Recons is to prioritise building Bazooka units and
Mobile Workshops to move them fast. Recons excel when they attack Infantry and
Motorbikes because the counterattack damage only becomes apparent after a few
attacks. Bazooka units can quickly nullify the threat of a Recon, and even if
the Recon gets a first strike, the counter is much more noticeable.
02) Direct Fire Units
---------------------
Direct units attack enemies by moving next to them to launch an attack. Direct
attacks are simple and usually effective, but there are a few drawbacks, most
notably luring. Be aware that most opponents are sneaky bastards and love to
taunt your most important units into the range of their indirects and other
powerhouses. Only wander into the range of indirects if you have enough units
at hand to completely annahilate the enemy's stranglehold on the area, or you
quite frankly have no choice in the matter.
Direct attackers will suffer counterattack damage (unless the opponent can't
hit the target, or the opponent is wiped out). Even the most resiliant units
can have their HP slowly whittled away by luck damage. The best way to null
the threat of counterattack damage in direct attacks is to maximise your attack
power by unit promotion and CO Zone, or simply using heavy armour. Counter
damage is basically negligable if you leave enemies at 2HP at most.
Most of the time, direct units will be playing what is known as 'range dodging'
with enemy units. On several occasions, tanks may face enemy tanks and stay at
the edge of each other's attack range. This is rangedodging, and one reason why
people keep shunning the Mega Tank. More agile units (Missile Boats and Light
Tanks) can sit outside the range of other units and attack the next turn, often
forcing the enemy to retreat. Don't let this happen to you. If it does, have
spare units or heavy armour around to deter the threat.
Fog of War has changed massively in the transition from the previous game.
There are loads more hiding places for enemy units to hide around. Compared to
before, unit vision is spread across the entire area that they move (instead of
just being moved about, causing visible enemies to vanish from view), and so
hiding places are much less effective. Have your directs drive past many hiding
places in one turn to scan them all at once for the enemy, then whack'em!
03) Indirect Fire Units
-----------------------
Indirect units bombard the enemy from far away with no fear of suffering a
counterattack. Indirects cannot move and fire on the same turn (excuding the
Battleship), cannot counterattack when hit (excluding the Anti-Tank) and have a
'blind-spot' where it cannot strike (excuding both the above units).
Indirects are fundamental in success in almost any map, but are at their most
effective in choke-points (mentioned later). Indirects are also great for
laying a defensive 'shroud of fire' around allied units: your units become much
less attractive a target if enemies will get pounded by your Rockets!
Protecting indirects is extremely important. Because they cannot counterattack
(and because some are really costly), they will always be considered a priority
target by your foe. They are also really fragile, so defending them becomes an
art that must be mastered. Loads of people suggest the use of Infantry units as
blocking units, but they cannot take much damage and are extremely easy to KO
in one hit at that stage of the battle. Also, a good player can move his CO
Zone so the shielding units charge his CO Meter like there was no tomorrow. The
art of defending units with other units is commonly known as 'meatshielding'
and it doesn't apply solely to indirects, either.
Fog of War was almost a godsend for Indirects. Previously, all indirects were
blind and needed Recons to spot stuff to shoot at. Now, the improved Mech
Gun/Artillery unit has enough vision to act independantly from other units.
Indirects use hiding places to thrive and survive, relentlessly pounding away
at the enemy while they are stuck thinking "where the hell did that come from?"
and such. If the area you wish to use has no hiding place, make one! Have a
Mobile Workshop build a Temporary structure to hide your cowardly indirects.
The enemy may now know where they are, but they can't hit it if they can't see
it!
04) COs And CO Powers
---------------------
There are twelve Commanding Officers (COs) in this game and they all play quite
differently. There is also a 13th option: playing with no CO at all. I advise
inexperienced players to fight a few Free Battles in No CO mode. The boost from
the CO Zone may be handy, but in most cases there are multiple battles all over
the place and you can only fight the rest using a 'bland' army. Get used to
getting units at Ace/Veteran Level: these are extremely important for No CO
mode. Units level-up when they KILL a unit (whichever unit lands the last hit
gets the level, even if they did minimal damage).
To use the abilities of the CO, he/she must first board the unit, either at the
HQ or a production base (temp. structures don't count). When the unit is on one
select the CO option from the move menu (don't move the unit from the base) to
board the unit at 50% the cost of the unit it has boarded. CO Units are at the
maximum level (Ace/Vet) by default, and they also generate a CO Zone around
them. The radius and effects of the Zone vary across COs.
Ten of the COs also have a CO Power they can use to tear the rulebook to shreds
and potentially turn the entire game around. Battles that take place in the CO
Zone increase the CO Meter. The meter has two distinct halves, each with 6
individual segments. Each segment fills up with every 5HP damage you cause,
irrespective of what unit it was. Counterattack damage by your units also fuel
the CO Meter, but the enemy must also be in the CO Zone for this to occur.
When the first half of the CO Meter is filled, the radius of the CO Zone goes
up by one. When filled totally, the radius increases by another one, and the CO
unit can choose to exchange its entire meter (and its turn) for usage of the CO
Power. Upon usage of the CO Power, the meter drops to Zero, and the Zone fills
the entire battlefield (so every unit gets boosted, not just those in the zone)
however the meter cannot recharge during a CO Power. In addition to boosting
all units, an additional effect occurs that helps the player. These vary from
CO to CO, and some are more useful than others.
If the CO Unit is destroyed, the meter falls to zero, the Zone dissappears, and
the user will have to wait until his next turn to re-deploy the CO. If the CO
Power was in effect, the effects of the CO Power will also be nulled.
When it comes to the actual COs, you'll want to adapt your strategies to make
the most of the abilities of the CO. The Zone gives a bland boost by default
(10% increase in attack and defense) and other boosts depending on the CO.
Stat boosts are mentioned as (Atk/Def %):-
*SPOILER WARNING*
Ed/Will
Laurentian military cadet rescued by the 12th Independant Legion, led by
Captain O'Brian. He vigilantly refuses to give up, at any cost. He also
shares a close friendship with the amnesiac Catleia.
CO Zone Radius: 2, boosts Ground Directs by 20%/00%.
CO Power: New Era/Rally Cry. Increases mobility of Ground Directs by 2.
Moderately useful. Although he is a specialist CO, the units he boosts are
extremely important. During New Era, his directs gain enough mobility to
allow him to tear dispersed enemy armies apart. His effectiveness weakens
on choke-point laden and island maps.
O'Brian/Brenner
Captain of the 12th Independant Legion (Brenner's Wolves in AW:DOR), he has
massive faith in the power of humanity. It remains strong despite the actions
of people such as Admiral Sigismundo and the bloody Mayor of Freehaven. He is
killed (or rather annahilated) by Sigismundo via one of Stolos' creations.
CO Zone Radius: 3, boosts all units by 00%/20%
CO Power: Lifeline/Reinforce. Restores 3HP to all units for free.
Easily my favourite CO of them all. O'Brian is far from an aggressive CO to
play as, so you will need to use a slow and steady approach. Defense boosts
mean blocking units withstand more damage, so its best to use indirects as him.
Lifeline patches up unit damage without cost (akin to Andy from earlier games),
so build more expensive units to exploit the free repairs to the max.
Lin
Second in command of the 12th Independant Legion. Calm and 'unflappable', she
believes that "In battle, the clearest thinker wins".
CO Zone Radius: 1, boosts Ground Units by 20%/20%.
CO Power: Night Vision/Scout. Increases vision by 2, hiding places become
visible from any range.
Another specialist CO, Lin is hard to use due to her weak CO radius. Don't fret
though, as the boost affects all ground units, and they are the most important.
You may want to treat Lin's unit as a solo powerhouse: go beserk and hit lots
of stuff, then return with (hopefully) a la