Advance Wars: Critical Character Comparison guide (v. 3.0) by Uiru (uiru@cephiro.com) Created 10/31/01 The purpose of this guide is to clarify the vauge differences between the individual Commanding Officers' (CO's) abilities. For example, Sami has the best infantry, Grit is the master marksman and Kanbei is good at everything. How do they stack up? Sami and Kanbei's soldiers are actually the same strength, and Kanbei's long-range attacks are superior to Grit's. However, then you get into the details, like how Grit's CO Power cranks his shooter units far past anything Kanbei could ever hope to accomplish. If you have not gone through the Campaign Mode at least once, I suggest you do so before reading, as there are many game and story spoilers ahead. Table of Contents: 1. Updates <- updated :* 2. General Information i. Hiring COs <- updated ii. Activating CO Powers <- updated iii. Terrain Defence iv. Hire Sturm VS Campaign Sturm v. Money vi. The Final Battle! <- new 3. Commanding Officers i. Andy ii. Max iii. Sami iv. Olaf v. Grit vi. Kanbei vii. Sonja viii. Eagle ix. Drake x. Sturm xi. Nell 4. Unit Information i. Soldier class ii. Direct class iii. Long class iv. Movement/Vision/Attack Range list v. Weather Effects 5. Other Information i. Health and Damage <- updated ii. Damage Formula <- new iii. Damage Chart iv. Gold Menu Options <- new v. Personal Records <- new vi. How to Do Stuff <- new Calculating Damage <- removed 6. Credits, legal ~1. Updates~ NOTE: The newest version of this FAQ can always be found at gamefaqs.com. Please make sure you're reading the current version before you EMail me. EMails regarding things that are answered in the latest version will be ignored. Apr. 9, 2002- Added lots of stuff, including the first version of the Advance Wars Damage Formula. Fixed info on units taking damage as their health falls. Message -> I do believe that just about every topic that doesn't relate to actual gameplay (and even some that do) has been covered. Is there anything short of a Campaign/War Room walkthrough guide I should research? EMail me if you have any suggestions. (No, I'm not doing walkthrough guides. :p) Spam -> Check out my Design Maps FAQ at GameFAQs! :) Apr. 6, 2002- Fixed Kanbei's CO Power limit. Apr. 4, 2002- Bothered to upload FAQ. :p Put in a tiny bit on weather effects and fuel consumption. Mar. 22, 2002- Yet more data on CO Power Bars. Transport class absorbed by Direct class (see Max). Mar. 16, 2002- Put in much more data on charging CO Power bars. Fixed the Money section. Mar. 14, 2002- Nell added. More information on charging CO Power bars added. Small section on money added. Added a bit to the Legal section. Dec. 13, 2001- Eagle and Sturm added. Unit information added. Guide 'cleaned up', some sections rearranged. Dec. 8, 2001- Been a while. Changes have been made to unit class rankings. A 'Battle Chart' has been added, as well as information about determining the damage done while considering a number of different variables. Nov. 4, 2001- Fixed descriptions of Tsunami and Double Time. Begun adding defencive stats. Added information on HP and effects of weather on movement range. Nov. 1, 2001- Added a few tidbits on Drake. Begun game again; will have Eagle shortly. Oct. 31, 2001- Began guide. Gathered a ton of information while shelling out candy. ~2. General Information~ There are a few things you should know about how Advance Wars operates before we get into the CO's. First of all, all units can be classified into one of three classes- Soldier, Direct, or Long. By land, by air or by sea, everything falls into these comprehensive categories. Soldier class contains Infantry and Mech. Direct is anything that can attack immediately after moving; Tanks, Cruisers, Fighters, etc. Long is anything that has an attack range. Battleships, Missiles, and Artillery are all Long class. Each character has a certain ranking in these three areas. All of Max's Long units, for example, are weak, while all of his Direct units are extremely strong. Though the game gives the impression that it only affects tanks, Max's superior strength affects his Subs and Bombers and everything else just as much as his Mid Tanks. This is because they are all Direct. To keep things simple, the rankings will be given as percentages, with Andy's ratings being 100%. Sami's Soldiers are 120%, meaning they'll do 20% more damage than Andy's corresponding Soldiers will do. Meanwhile, her Direct units are 90%. They'll only do 90% of the damage Andy's units can do. This will allow you to easily compare the differing abilities of the CO's. However, the CO's CO Power Bonuses are based off their own rankings. Max's +24% is a 24% increase on 150%, for 186% the damage Andy's tanks could do. Unit attributes is another issue. Though several CO's units all move the same way, there are a few differences. Drake's ships can all move one space farther than all other CO's ships. Grit's Long class units can shoot an extra space. These differences will be noted with the characters and the general list will be included at the end of this guide. ~i. Hiring COs~ It seems you can hire Kanbei simply by finishing Campaign Mode. Drake or Eagle can be hired by using Andy or Sami (respectively) for the four Green Earth missions. Getting Grit is as simple as using Max on Mission 4. Sturm appears after purchasing everyone else (you don't need to go through Campaign Mode again just for him). (Thanks to robtracy@mediaone.net for this intel.) Meanwhile, Sonja can only be hired if you unlock her secret missions during Campaign Mode. You have to finish Kanbei's missions on time to do it; you don't have to A rank them as earlier reported. Beat the first in 8 days, the second in 10 and the third in 12 and you should be whisked off to the cutie's testing ground. (Thanks to 'me budday' Fergo for the dates.) Lastly, you can hire Nell by finishing Advance Campaign. You DO NOT need to S-rank it and you DO NOT need to do any War Room missions first. Just beat Advance Campaign and buy her for 80 coins. (I forgot to take note of how much the other COs cost, but they range from 50 to 100.) You need Sturm to buy her. ~ii. Activating CO Powers~ Your CO Power can only be used when your CO Power Bar completely fills. There are two ways to fill it; take damage and dish it out. Taking damage fills it four times faster than dealing it. What determines the rate of charge is the cost of the unit being destroyed. Sonja, for example, has to lose $300 000 worth of HP before her CO Power Bar fills. However, she has to destroy four times that amount, or $1 200 000, to fill it up. An example. Sonja loses ten full health Mechs to a sneak AA Gun attack. 10 Mechs * 10 HP * 3000 per = $300 000. Enhanced Vision time. However, in the next battle, she can destroy 10 Mechs belonging to her opponent, but her bar will only fill by 25%. 40 Mechs * 10 HP * 3000 per = $1 200 000. This, of course, assumes that the Mechs are destroyed in one hit. Counterattacks are calculated just like regular attacks. Interestingly enough, Grit's Fighters do 4 HP damage to Max's Fighters, which do 4 HP back. The two will fully charge their CO Power Bars at exactly the same time. Let's do some math. It takes a loss of 15 HP worth of Fighter to charge a bar that requires $300 000. Three of Grit's Fighters take 4 HP each from Max's Fighters, and both CO Powers are ready. So, that's $240 000 accounted for simply by counterattack. Now, the damage done is 4 HP to three of Max's Fighters. Damage done is 1/4 as effective as damage taken, so that's $240 000 / 4, which, conveniently enough, is $60 000. $240 000 + $60 000 = $300 000; the limit of Max and Grit (and others). However, keep in mind that it actually isn't the loss of the unit that counts; it's the loss of the HP. Olaf can fill his bar by losing 10 full health Mechs, but losing 100 1 HP Mechs achieves the same result. Once your CO Power is activated, it resets to zero. The following effects occur: Attack and Defence of the CO's units rises by 10% unless otherwise stated in the CO's bio. Units that gain special advantages flash; all units begin to glow. The CO Power Bar also stops responding to unit loss. These effects last from the turn it was used to the beginning of that player's next turn. (In short, damaging a glowing unit will not charge the CO's Bar.) For maximum effeciency, CO Powers are best used at the beginning of your turn, with the exception of Eagle. The following will NOT cause your CO Power Bar to charge: 1. Units carrying other units. If Kanbei loses a Lander that was carrying two Mid Tanks, his bar will only register the loss of the Lander. 2. Drake's Tsunami and Sturm's Meteor Strike will not charge bars. 3. Units sinking or crashing have no effect on the CO Power Bar. 4. Glowing units cannot charge a bar; whether by blowing things up or being blown up themselves. Other CO's units can charge bars at their expense, however. After using your CO Power, the requirement to fill it up again rises by 20%. Andy can use Hyper Repair after losing five Artillery, but he has to lose six to use it again. The monetary limits are as follows: Sami: $250 000 Andy, Max, Olaf, Grit, Sonja, Nell: $300 000 Drake: $400 000 Kanbei, Eagle, Sturm: $500 000 (Kanbei uses his own prices) Thanks to kikutaro for pointing out 'Kanbei's Error'. :D ~iii. Terrain Defence~ This guide frequently makes reference to 'Defence levels' or 'ratings'. A particular unit's defence at any particular time is determined by two things; the terrain its standing on and the CO it belongs to. Terrain, as you should have noticed by now, ranges from zero to four stars in the game. Shoals and roads have none, forests have two, mountains four, etc. Each star means the unit takes 10% less damage than it normally would. Examples are good. Assume that a regular, full health Infantry unit is standing on the road, which has no stars (and thus, no defence bonus) and a regular, full health Mid Tank comes up and blows the snot out of it. 105%. (Beaches and bridges also offer no defencive bonuses.) If that same Infantry unit had been standing on a plain, it would have taken 94% damage instead (and stand a fair chance of surviving the attack, albeit just barely). Plains and reefs have one star. Forests have two stars. Infantry 'only' take 84% damage here. Cities and bases have three, so it'd take 73% from that mean old Mid Tank. And lastly, Headquarters and mountains have four stars, so here, the unit would take 63% damage. Another example is Mid Tanks. The progression from no stars to four stars when attacking a regular Mid Tank with a regular Mid Tank is: 55%, 49%, 44%, 38%, 33%. (By 'regular' I mean 'not Max, not Kanbei, but Andy VS Andy'. Andy is always used as the 'other' guy when testing units.) Occasionally in this guide, you will see reference to 'automatic defence levels'. Max has a -1 defence level on all his Indirect units, so attacking one of his Rockets in a forest is just like attacking one of Andy's Rockets on a plain. One or two defence levels either way equals one or two stars that you don't see in the game, but they do count when determining damage. ~iv. Hire Sturm VS Campaign Sturm~ While Sturm is available to be played in VS matches, his abilities are staggeringly different. The Campaign Mode Sturm does 8 damage with Meteor Strike, and has +20% Offence and -20% Defence- the reverse of Hire Sturm. Could Hire Sturm be a modified clone of the real Sturm? Or is Campaign Sturm the clone? ~v. Money~ You need money to buy new units. On maps without bases, money is useless to you. You can get money by capturing properties. You get $1000 per day for each property you own, including your HQ, cities, and all production facilities. I hadn't researched this section properly; special thanks to fireyoshi@mail2world.com for beating me with the club of understanding. As it turns out, the cost per HP recovered while standing on a property is 1/10th the unit's price. I had used Infantry, which is how I had arrived at 100 bucks per HP. Mechs would cost 300 per, which means each damaged Mech you have could run you 600 bucks to heal. In addition, joining two damaged units that would result in a HP of more than 10 actually makes you money. If you join two Bombers that had 6 HP each, you get 2 HP's worth of money put into your account- 4400. I never would have noticed that. ^_^;; ~vi. The Final Battle!~ The Final Battle! is, well, the final battle against Sturm. Your CO is always Andy; however, any two COs other than Sonja, Nell, and Sturm will team up and be yours to command. You're going to need their help; Sturm has a huge initial force and a massive resource bank. Your teammates in The Final Battle! are determined by your actions in Campaign Mode. Thanks to MegaSlime for this intel. The left side will always be Blue Moon forces, and will be Olaf, Grit or Max. The right side will be Green Earth forces unless it is Kanbei, who will be Yellow Comet. Sami, Eagle and Drake appear here as well. Most players will wind up with Grit or Max on the left side; choosing Max for the mission 'Max Strikes!' will give you Grit and choosing Andy will give you Max. However, if you win the 'Olaf's Navy!' mission by route (destroy all units) Olaf will appear instead. The right side is determined by a few things. If you use Sami for the four Green Earth missions, Eagle will appear no matter what. You will also have to take part in the Andy VS Eagle mission 'Rivals!' after The Final Battle!. Kanbei will appear if you make it to Sonja's testing ground. Drake will appear if you DON'T make it to Sonja but DO use Andy for the four Green Earth missions. If you don't achieve any of these goals, you will get Sami. Andy: Maybe it's just me, but Andy does more running away than fighting until his teammates push Sturm into the mountains. This is going to make S-ranking TFB! NC very difficult. ;_; Max: Can you do simple math? What do you get when you add a +50% AT bonus to a -20% DF cut? Max is probably one of the best teammates to have in this mission. His Tanks are cheap and move well, so fill up on them. Sami: At first glance, Sami may seem a little underpowered, but remember that her own +20% AT bonus on her Mechs is often enough to wipe out Sturm's paper units in one shot. Although she isn't much for points, Sami has the damn near foolproof plan of Mech Flood, which will quickly give her a massive force and a huge bank balance to match. Let her troops march all the way into the mountains before moving west; this will draw Sturm's attention and give Andy an easier time. Later in the mission, whip up some Fighters and Bombers to back up her troops. Olaf: I have yet to use Olaf in TFB!, but his hated CO Power is theoretically very useful here. Sturm's 1 movement cost over everything is ruined only by snow, which only Olaf can deliver. However, it will slow down his allies as well. Since Olaf will always be second, try to get Andy and your third member set up beforehand, preferably with Rockets. Grit: I often wind up with Grit, and it's taken a few tries to figure out how to use him. Trying to force Rockets up onto the road under the mountains is futile; Sturm's Tanks and B. Copters will get them if Meteor Strike doesn't. A much better plan is to send Artillery around behind Andy; this will back the lamer up and give him some breathing room. Don't be afraid to get direct with Grit! His Attack penalty is rendered null by Sturm's Defence chop, and AA guns are greatly preferred to the awkward Missiles to deal with annoying B. Copters. Eagle: Lightning Strike Mid Tanks. Drake: Drake is probably the most underrated team member for TFB! (other than Olaf, but Olaf deserves it). People tend to bemoan his lack of ports; what they forget is that Drake's ships are no stronger than other ships. They are merely stronger defencively, which would be rendered null by Sturm's offencive bonus. What Drake DOES have is a solid offencive and defencive capability, and a CO Power that is much more subtle than, but just as useful as anyone else's. Sturm has literally dozens of units- that's dozens of HP taken out of Sturm's hide with Tsunami. Sturm will then lose plenty of bling bling trying to repair units, and may even retreat them, allowing you to push upward. Troops on the field will be weakened, giving Andy and co. a greater chance of critically injuring them next turn. And it'll make Sturm's 2-day capture of new property a 3-day, giving Drake's allies more time to stop him. Kanbei: Kanbei has a nice Offencive bonus to tear Sturm a new one with, and also has the highest Defence of the COs. However, his cost is quite prohibitive since he has so few resources. Max is far better as far as cost, strength, CO Power Bar charge speed, and movement range go. I would rather any of the other three if I had Max on my left, but Kanbei is a good CO to pair up with Grit. S-ranking The Final Battle! is, naturally, very difficult. Interestingly enough, it's harder to do in regular Campaign Mode than Advance Campain. In the latter, all you have to do is win on time. In regular Campaign, only Andy counts towards your score, so Andy has to do all the killing while his partners weaken units and protect him. ~3. Commanding Officers~ ~i. Andy~ Orange Star CO Soldier Strengh: 100% Direct Strength: 100% Long Strength: 100% CO POWER: "Hyper Repair" Hyper Repair restores two HP to every unit under Andy's command. Note that the units' HP will not rise above ten. Hyper Repair is one of the more useful powers, as it not only increases the longetivity of Andy's units, but indirectly increases their power as well, as higher HP means more damage done. Soldier Bonus: +10% Direct Bonus: +10% Long Bonus: +10% PROS: Andy has no real cons. CONS: He's a dork and I hate the sight of him. ~ii. Max~ Orange Star CO Soldier Strength: 100% Direct Strength: 150% Long Strength: 90% CO POWER: "Max Force" Max Force greatly increases the power of Max's Direct units, and gives them an extra movement space. This includes his Transports. Soldier Bonus: +10% Direct Bonus: +24% Long Bonus: +10% PROS: Max is a brute and his Direct units can usually blow away everything in their path, even without benefit of Max Force. Get that on the go and let the tanks roll where they will. CONS: Max's Long units leave much to be desired. Not only are they weak, but their range is shorter than all other Long units. His Artillery is pretty much useless as it can only attack units that are exactly two spaces away. They also have an automatic defence rating of -1. ATTRIBUTE DATA: Max's Artillery, Rockets, Missiles, and Battleships all have -1 on the outer value of their range. All of Max's Direct units gain +1 movement during Max Force. ~iii. Sami~ Orange Star CO Soldier Strength: 120% Direct Strength: 90% Long Strength: 100% CO POWER: "Double Time" Double Time gives Sami's Soldier units a movement cost of 1 over any kind of terrain (except Sea) and in any kind of weather, and also increases their movement range by 1. Their strength is also increased. Soldier Bonus: +28% Direct Bonus: +10% Long Bonus: +10% PROS: On top of being cute, Sami's Infantry and Mech units capture bases 50% faster than any other CO's. Sami is the only CO who can capture a property in two turns with less than perfect Health. They are also tough defencively; they take 10% less damage than usual. Her transport units can move an extra space as well. CONS: Sami's Direct unit strength is a little poor. ATTRIBUTE DATA: Sami's APC, Lander and Transport Copter units can move an extra space. Her Infantry and Mech can move another space under Double Time. Her Cruisers are not affected, even though they can carry helicopters. ~iv. Olaf~ Blue Moon CO Soldier Strength: 100% Direct Strength: 100% Long Strength: 100% CO POWER: "Blizzard" Olaf makes it snow for a turn. This is not a popular ability; it's really only useful for slowing your opponents down for one turn. It will also hinder any of Olaf's teammates in VS or War Room battles. Soldier Bonus: +10% Direct Bonus: +10% Long Bonus: +10% PROS: Olaf is not affected by snow, which increases the movement cost for all other units by 1. It doesn't sound like much, but several units, especially those on treads and tires, will be practically immobilized by snow. And like Andy, he doesn't have any offencive weaknesses. CONS: Olaf is affected by rain moreso than the other CO's. However, rain only affects his Infantry (not Mechs), ships, and planes. Everything else is slowed down only as much as everyone else is slowed down. I also find his music to be especially annoying. ~v. Grit~ Blue Moon CO Soldier Strength: 80% Direct Strength: 80% Long Strength: 100% CO POWER: "Snipe Attack" Snipe Attack increases the power and range of his Long class units to disgusting levels. Soldier Bonus: +10% Direct Bonus: +10% Long Bonus: +64% PROS: Grit's longrange units have an extended range. When his CO Power gets going, anything within range of his cannons is going down. He also looks like an armed Newfoundland fisherman- he gets major points for that. CONS: Grit requires his CO Power to be truly effective. Both his soldiers and his direct offencives are among the weakest in the game. ATTRIBUTE DATA: Grit's Artillery, Rockets, Missiles, and Battleships have an extra attack space. They gain two more spaces during Snipe Attack. ~vi. Kanbei~ Yellow Comet CO Soldier Strength: 120% Direct Strength: 120% Long Strength: 120% CO POWER: "Morale Boost" Morale Boost is like Max Force, only it works for everything. Does this guy have a flaw?! Soldier Bonus: +17% Direct Bonus: +17% Long Strength: +17% PROS: Great at everything. Morale Boost gives every single one of his troops yet another boost. Kanbei is also quite strong defencively; assume that his units start with a defence rating of two. CONS: Interestingly enough, his units are 20% stronger than normal units, and they cost 20% more as well. Infantry go for 1200, Mechs for 3600, etc. This can get pricey. Cost for restoring HP is 20% higher as well. ~vii. Sonja~ Yellow Comet CO Soldier Strength: 100% Direct Strength: 100% Long Strength: 100% CO POWER: "Enhanced Vision" All of Sonja's units can see farther in Fog of War. Units hidden in forests and reefs can be seen. Soldier Bonus: +10% Direct Bonus: +10% Long Bonus: +10% PROS: *swoon* I love Sonja! She's cute, sweet, smart, shy, a bit of a nerd, and deadly lethal. What more do you want? Sonja has the interesting ability to keep her units' HP hidden from her opponents at all times. Though you can count the number of units remaining during the animations (which I usually have turned off) you'll still be left guessing. The HP of a unit can be extremely important, as a Mech can finish off an Anti-Aircraft Gun, but if it's at high health, the Mech will be slaughtered. Her units also have larger vision ranges. And her music is so elegant and refined! CONS: Sonja suffers from chronic bad luck. What this means is that although Sonja's attack ratings are equal with those of Andy and Olaf and the like, they will usually do less damage than the game says. There are some cases where 103% isn't enough to finish off an Infantry, for example. A good rule of thumb is to always round down, and playing to the worst-case scenario means knocking 10% off the value the game gives you. Sonja's CO Power and abilities are also 100% useless on maps without Fog of War. All it can do for you is the very slight attack bonuses. ATTRIBUTE DATA: Every single one of Sonja's units has +1 vision range. It is increased by 2 more with Enhanced Vision. ~viii. Eagle~ Green Earth CO Soldier Strength: 100% Direct Strength: 100% Long Strength: 100% CO POWER: "Lightning Strike" This is evil. All of Eagle's non-Soldier class units that have moved, attacked, or been ordered to Wait can move again. This includes units that have just been produced in factories. Soldier Bonus: -20% Direct Bonus: -20% Long Bonus: -20% PROS: Eagle's aircraft are 15% stronger than normal aircraft, and they consume much less fuel than normal. His Fighters and Bombers use 3 units a day instead of 5 and his helicopters don't use any (they normally use 2). They also have an automatic defence rating of one star. CONS: Eagle's ships do 20% less damage. During the turn after Lightning Strike, Eagle's units take 30% more damage than usual. ~ix. Drake~ Green Earth CO Soldier Strength: 100% Direct Strength: 100% Long Strength: 100% CO POWER: "Tsunami" All enemy units take 1 HP damage, but will not destroy units already at 1 HP. In Fog of War, Tsunami will show you the location of everything on the map, although your units will still need intel to be able to fire on them. Soldier Bonus: +10% Direct Bonus: +10% Long Bonus: +10% PROS: Not affected at all by rain, which happens frequently when Drake is around. Also not affected any worse than any other CO in the snow. His ships can move farther than your average CO's, and have an automatic defence rating of two stars. CONS: Drake's planes are 20% weaker than normal planes. To look at it another way, assume that the enemy unit has two defence rating stars when using his planes. You're probably better off keeping to the seas. ATTRIBUTE DATA: Battleships, Cruisers, Landers and Submarines all have +1 movement range. ~x. Sturm~ Black Hole CO Soldier Strength: 80% Direct Strength: 80% Long Strength: 80% CO POWER: "Meteor Strike" All units in a 5x5 cross lose 4 HP. Meteor Strike cannot be aimed and will damage Sturm's own units. It seems to go after the highest concentration of enemy forces, seeking to do the most damage it can. Meteor Strike will not destroy units. Soldier Bonus: +12% Direct Bonus: +12% Long Bonus: +12% PROS: All units always have movement ranges of 1 over any kind of terrain (that it could traverse in the first place- we aren't talking Gold Chocobo style Mid Tanks running up mountains here). Is not affected at all by rain, but is slowed down by snow just like other COs. Every one of his units has an automatic defence rating of two; just like Kanbei's. CONS: VS Sturm requires much more strategy to be effective than Campaign Mode Sturm would have. You cannot aim Meteor Strike, meaning your opponent could try to divert it with a block of useless Infantry just like you do in Campaign Mode. You cannot use Sturm in War Room. xi. Nell Orange Star CO Soldier Strength: 100% Direct Strength: 100% Long Strength: 100% CO POWER: "Lucky Star" Lucky Star increases the luck of her units. Attacking units will occasionally do heavy damage. Defending units are not believed to be affected. Soldier Bonus: +10% Direct Strength: +10% Long Strength: +10% PROS: Nell is well-rounded. :) She has no offencive or defencive weaknesses. Her innate luck is pretty much exactly opposite Sonja's luck- her units will almost always do rounded up damage, and occasionally do 10% or 15% more. Unlike Sturm, you can use her in War Room. CONS: Nell is like a much hotter version of Andy, in that she doesn't excel at anything. Her CO Power doesn't bestow god-like offencive ability on her units; it's mainly chance that dictates whether 27% takes off 8 HP. This sort of thing is not common. Nell is more of a showpiece than a powerhouse. ~3. Unit Information~ This is the data on each of the 18 unit types in the game. NAME Cost: How much the unit costs to deploy. Unit Type: Vehicles, Planes, Helicopters, Submarines, etc. Traverses: Where it moves. Movement Type: What it moves on. Tires, Treads, etc. Movement Range: How many spaces it can move in one turn. Vision Range: How far it can see in Fog of War. Attack Range: For indirects only. How far the unit can shoot. Fuel: The maximum capacity of fuel the unit holds. Main Weapon: The main weapon. All main weapons have limited rounds. Sub Weapon: Sub Weapons are limitless. Description: A short description. ~i. Soldier Class~ INFANTRY Cost: 1000 Unit Type: Inf Traverses: Land Movement Type: Inf Movement Range: 3 Vision Range: 2 Fuel: 99 [Fuel (well, rations in this case) is consumed at a rate of one unit per space. Land-based units do not use fuel when they aren't moving.] Main Weapon: None Sub Weapon: Machine Gun Description: Cheap but almost useless in battle. Enough of them could stop a Transport Copter or an indirect-attack unit, but their only real purpose in life is to capture the HQ and divert Mid Tank fire. MECH Cost: 3000 Unit Type: Inf Traverses: Land Movement Type: Mch Movement Range: 2 Vision Range: 2 Fuel: 70 Main Weapon: Bazooka (3 rounds) Sub Weapon: Machine Gun Description: Effective against most land-based units. Can also capture bases, but works best with an APC. ~ii. Direct Class~ MID TANK Cost: 16000 Unit Type: Veh Traverses: Land Movement Type: Trd Movement Range: 5 Vision Range: 1 Fuel: 50 Main Weapon: Cannon (8 rounds) Sub Weapon: Machine Gun Description: The strongest land-based unit. Mid Tanks can take a ton of damage and keep dishing it out. Their only real concern is indirect fire. TANK Cost: 7000 Unit Type: Veh Traverses: Land Movement Type: Trd Movement Range: 6 Vision Range: 3 Fuel: 70 Main Weapon: Cannon (9 rounds) Sub Weapon: Machine Gun Description: Cheaper and easier to move around than the Mid Tank, but not as powerful. Still tough against bullets. RECON Cost: 4000 Unit Type: Veh Traverses: Land Movement Type: Tyr Movement Range: 8 Vision Range: 5 Fuel: 80 Main Weapon: None Sub Weapon: Machine Gun Description: Very weak. Good only for recon during Fog of War, and for attacking indirect fire units. They do a fair amount of damage and have the ability to slip in under their attack ranges (most of the time). APC Cost: 5000 Unit Type: Veh Traverses: Land Movement Type: Trd Movement Range: 6 Vision Range: 1 Fuel: 70 Description: APCs do not engage other units. Instead, they are used supportively. Their applications are threefold: one, they draw enemy fire like you wouldn't believe. Two, they transport Soldier class units to the HQ easily, and help take the heat off them by drawing fire and blocking the way. Three, they have an endless supply of fuel and ammo- any unit located next to an APC will get its fuel and ammo reloaded. Interestingly enough, an APC cannot refill its own fuel supply. Other APCs will top it up, however. AA GUN Cost: 8000 Unit Type: Veh Traverses: Land Movement Type: Trd Movement Range: 6 Vision Range: 2 Fuel: 60 Main Weapon: Vulcan (9 rounds) Sub Weapon: None Description: AA Guns do heavy damage against Soldier and Long class units, as well as aircraft. However, their weapons are just about useless on tanks. FIGHTER Cost: 20000 Unit Type: Plane Traverses: Air Movement Type: Air Movement Range: 9 Vision Range: 2 Fuel: 99 [In addition to using one unit of fuel per space moved, Fighters and Bombers use 5 per turn, even if they stay still. All other air and ocean units use two per turn.] Main Weapon: Missiles (9 rounds) Sub Weapon: None Description: Used to eliminate other air units. They're quite good at this, but once the air units are gone, their only use is as roadblocks. BOMBER Cost: 22000 Unit Type: Plane Traverses: Air Movement Type: Air Movement Range: 7 Vision Range: 2 Fuel: 99 Main Weapon: Bombs (9 rounds) Sub Weapon: None Description: Bombers are like Mid Tanks in that they annihilate pretty much anything that gets in their way. The only thing that can stop them from the ground is AA guns and Missile units, and neither of these can take a shot from a healthy Bomber. Helpless against Fighters, though. BATTLE COPTER Cost: 9000 Unit Type: Cptr Traverses: Air Movement Type: Air Movement Range: 6 Vision Range: 3 Fuel: 99 Main Weapon: Missiles (6 rounds) Sub Weapon: Machine Gun Description: While not lethal against anything in particular, Battle Copters can attack any unit type other than Planes, are tough against machine gun bullets and aren't as expensive as some other units. TRANSPORT COPTER Cost: 5000 Unit Type: Cptr Traverses: Air Movement Type: Air Movement Range: 6 Vision Range: 2 Fuel: 99 Description: A transport-only unit, like the APC. Can carry one Soldier class unit. CRUISER Cost: 18000 Unit Type: Ship Traverses: Ocean Movement Type: Shp Movement Range: 6 Vision Range: 3 Fuel: 99 Main Weapon: Missiles Sub Weapon: AA Machine Gun Description: A modified Machine Gun allows Cruiser units to destroy Copter units, as well as damage Planes. Crusiers can only fire on Submarines, but they are the only units other than Subs that can fire on them while they are submerged. Cruisers can also carry two Copter type units. LANDER Cost: 12000 Unit Type: Ship Traverses: Ocean Movement Type: Trn Movement Range: 6 Vision Range: 1 Fuel: 99 Description: A transport. Can carry two of any land-based unit. SUBMARINE Cost: 20000 Unit Type: Sub Traverses: Ocean Movement Type: Shp Movement Range: 5 Vision Range: 5 Fuel: 60 [Subs use 5 units of fuel while submerged. They can't dive or rise on the same turn that they attack. If a sub is underwater when another sub tries to join with it, both will rise.] Main Weapon: Torpedoes Sub Weapon: None Description: Can only fire on Ships and Subs, but their large vision range and ability to hide underwater make them useful and difficult to eliminate. ~iii. Long Class~ ARTILLERY Cost: 6000 Unit Type: Veh Traverses: Land Movement Type: Trd Movement Range: 5 Vision Range: 1 Attack Range: 2-3 Fuel: 50 Main Weapon: Cannon (9 rounds) Sub Weapon: None Description: While not as powerful as Rockets and with less range, Artillery are easier to move and cheaper to produce. ROCKETS Cost: 15000 Unit Type: Veh Traverses: Land Movement Type: Tyr Movement Range: 5 Vision Range: 1 Attack Range: 3-5 Fuel: 50 Main Weapon: Cannon (6 rounds) Sub Weapon: None Description: Rockets do much more damage to naval units than Artillery can. They are tough to move off road. MISSILES Cost: 12000 Unit Type: Veh Traverses: Land Movement Type: Tyr Movement Range: 4 Vision Range: 5 Attack Range: 3-5 Fuel: 50 Main Weapon: Missiles (6 rounds) Sub Weapon: None Description: Will severely weaken or destroy all air units, however, they can't fire on anything else. Their Vision Range is unusually high for a Long class unit. BATTLESHIP Cost: 28000 Unit Type: Ship Traverses: Ocean Movement Type: Shp Movement Range: 5 Vision Range: 2 Attack Range: 2-6 Fuel: 99 Main Weapon: Cannon (9 rounds) Sub Weapon: None Description: The most powerful Long range unit is also the most expensive, however, its worth it. It boasts good movement, the largest attack range in the game, and the maximum alloted fuel supply. As a ship, it is also very difficult to deal with sans Subs or Bombers. It can fire on Land or Ocean units, and anything it hits won't be happy about it. ~iv. Movement Ranges, Vision Ranges, Attack Ranges~ For reference, here is the basic data for all types of units in the game. Refer to the CO Data to see if there are any differences. Name / Movement / Vision / Attack Infantry: 3 2 Mech: 2 2 Mid Tank: 5 1 Tank: 6 3 Recon: 8 5 APC: 6 1 Artil'ry: 5 1 (2-3) Rockets: 5 1 (3-5) Anti-Air: 6 2 Missiles: 4 5 (3-5) Fighter: 9 2 Bomber: 7 2 B Copter: 6 3 T Copter: 6 2 Btl.ship: 5 2 (2-6) Cruiser: 6 3 Lander: 6 1 Sub: 5 5 ~v. Weather Effects~ These are the movement ranges over all terrain types, and how weather affects them. For each column, the first number is Clear, the second Rain and the third Snow. Remember that with increased movement cost comes increased fuel consumption. Terrain / Clear / Rain / Snow Inf Mch Tyr Trd Trn Shp Air Sea - - - - 112 112 112 Reef - - - - 222 222 112 River 222 111 - - - - 112 Mt. 224 112 - - - - 112 Road 111 111 111 111 - - 112 Brdg 111 111 111 111 - - 112 Plain 112 111 233 122 - - 112 Wood 112 111 344 233 - - 112 Airport, Base, City, Headquarters 111 111 111 111 - - 111 Shoal 111 111 111 111 111 - 112 Port 111 111 111 111 112 112 112 ~4. Other Information~ ~i. Health and Damage~ Up until now, all the percentages quoted in this guide have assumed that the attacker is at full HP. But what happens if a unit is damaged when it goes up against something? Interestingly enough, the damage done falls in 10% increments as your HP goes down just as the damage you do falls by 10% as the defence rating goes up. On roads, a full health Mid Tank will do 55% damage to another Mid Tank. At 8 HP, it will do 44%. 4 HP, 22%. 2 HP, 11%. See the pattern? The damage done drops by 5.5% for each HP lost, which is 10% of the original damage. But keep in mind that the remaining HP will have a factor in how much damage your unit takes back. If you use a full health Mid Tank to knock a full health Mid Tank to 4 HP, it'll do 4 HP's worth of damage back- 22%. The attacker always goes first, so if it can destroy its target entirely, it'll get off scot free. This is why it's always a good idea to attack from the best defence point possible. If you can run a Mech up a mountain to fire on a Tank, the Mech will take much less damage than it would on the ground. The Tank will take the same amount of damage no matter what, but your Mech will be in much better shape. ~ii. Damage Formula~ Older versions of this FAQ stated that a damaged unit will take the same damage no matter what its HP was. This is only partially correct; as I ran the trials on roads, that had a 0 defence rating. On anything with a defence rating, damage creeps up by small amounts with each HP lost. Special thanks to ahdok@hotmail.com for bringing this to my attention (as well as everyone else who's written in). I have come up with a tentative formula for this occurance. The way this game does rounding is very strange; thus it may not be perfect, but it will always be within just a few % of the actual value (if not dead on; it usually works). The formula is: D = [(I * B / D) * (A * .1)] - R[(C * .1) - (C * .01 * H)] [%] D = Damage done I = Initial damage (Battle Chart number) B = Attacker's CO Strength modifier (Sami's 120% Mechs, Eagle's 115% Bombers) D = Defender's CO Defence modifier (Max's 90% Artillery, Drake's 120% Battleships) A = Health of attacker (a unit at 3 HP would use 3) H = HP lost by defender (a unit at 3 HP would use 7) R = Defence rating C = Real damage [(I * B / D) * (A * .1)] If it looks complicated, remember... it is. If you wanted to actually USE this formula, you'd have to take advantage of the Battle Chart in my FAQ and use the CO's Strength and Defence ratings to get the Real damage. The defence rating used is based only on the stars shown in the game. 'Automatic defence levels' are already accounted for in the Real damage value. Kanbei's Mech on a Mountain is multiplied by 4 just like anyone else's Mech on a Mountain. Examples: Full math Max VS Kanbei example: Max's Mid Tank at 4 HP attacks Kanbei's Rocket at 8 HP. The Rocket is parked on a Port. D = [(I * B / D) * (A * .1)] - R[(C * .1) - (C * .01 * H)] D = [(105 * 150 / 120) * (4 * .1)] - 3[(C * .1) - (C * .01 * 2)] D = (131.25 * .4) - 3[(52.5 * .1) - (52.5 * .01 * 2) D = (52.5) - 3(5.25 - 1.05) D = 52.5 - 3(4.2) D = 52.5 - 12.6 D = 39.9 (game value = 38%) Andy VS Andy examples (try out the formula for yourself): An Infantry takes 95% damage from a Rocket on a road. If an Infantry was at 6 HP on an Airport (def 3), however, it would take 78.5%. (The actual game number would be 77%; this is due to rounding error.) Another Infantry takes 110% damage from a Bomber on a road (def 0). On a field (def 1) at 9 HP, however, it instead takes 100%. A Battleship takes 75% from a Bomber in clear ocean (def 0). At 4 HP in a reef (def 1), however, it takes 72%. A Recon on a shoal (def 0) takes 55% from a B. Copter. In a forest (def 2) at 2 HP, it takes 52%. A Mech on a shoal (def 0) takes 75% from a B. Copter. In a mountain (def 4), it takes 45%. At 6 HP on the mountain, it takes 57%. ~iii. Damage Chart~ This will give you an idea of how much damage your units will do. It was done Andy VS Andy and on roads (no Defence Terrian bonus). Remember that all damages are relative- as you can see, Andy's Mid Tank does 105% to an Infantry. Max's Mid Tank would do 150% that value, or 157%. Grit's Mid Tank would do 80%- 84%. You get the idea. INFT MECH MTNK TANK RCON APC* ARTL RCKT AAGN INFT 55% 45% 1% 5% 12% 14% 15% 25% 5% MECH 65% 55% 15% 55% 85% 75% 70% 85% 65% MTNK 105% 95% 55% 85% 105% 105% 105% 105% 105% TANK 75% 70% 15% 55% 85% 75% 70% 85% 65% RCON 70% 65% 1% 6% 35% 45% 45% 55% 4% APC* X X X X X X X X X ARTL 90% 85% 45% 70% 80% 70% 75% 80% 75% ROKT 95% 90% 55% 80% 90% 80% 80% 85% 85% AAGN 105% 105% 10% 25% 60% 50% 50% 55% 45% MISL X X X X X X X X X FIGT X X X X X X X X X BMBR 110% 110% 95% 105% 105% 105% 105% 105% 95% BCPR 75% 75% 25% 55% 55% 60% 65% 65% 25% TCPR X X X X X X X X X BSHP 95% 90% 55% 80% 90% 80% 80% 85% 85% CRSR X X X X X X X X X LNDR X X X X X X X X X SUBM X X X X X X X X X MISL FIGT BMBR BCPR TCPR BSHP CRSR LADR SUBM INFT 25% X X 7% 30% X X X X MECH 85% X X 9% 35% X X X X MTNK 105% X X 12% 45% 10% 55% 35% 10% TANK 85% X X 10% 40% 1% 5% 10% 1% RCON 28% X X 10% 40% X X X X APC* X X X X X X X X X ARTL 80% X X X X 40% 65% 55% 60% RCKT 90% X X X X 55% 85% 60% 85% AAGN 55% 65% 75% 120% 120% X X X X MISL X 100% 100% 120% 120% X X X X FIGT X 55% 100% 100% 100% X X X X BMBR 105% X X X X 75% 85% 95% 95% BCPR 65% X X 65% 95% 25% 55% 25% 25% TCPR X X X X X X X X X BSHP 90% X X X X 50% 95% 95% 95% CRSR X 55% 65% 115% 115% X X X 90% LNDR X X X X X X X X X SUBM X X X X X 55% 25% 95% 55% ~iv. Gold Menu Options~ After satesfying certain criteria, your menu options may begin to glow golden. This doesn't really do anything; it's just for show. To make Campaign glow, you must finish Advance Campaign. To make Field Training glow, you must earn 14 A ranks. To make Records (under Stats) glow, you must finish War Room. I've heard from various sources that you can make other options glow by completing the following: Make Battle Maps glow by buying everything. Make Rank (and possibly Stats) glow by getting a perfect Campaign rank. Make War Room glow by getting 20 S-ranks. I'll check them out and update this list accordingly. ~v. How to Do Stuff~ Wipe memory clean: Press Right, Select and L as you power on. Change name: You can only change your name by wiping the memory. Access Campaign Mode (and others): Complete Field Training. You can skip it by completing the Fog of War mission; however, if it's your first time playing you really should do all of them. Of course, you also shouldn't be reading this FAQ, since you've just had the whole thing spoiled. :p Access Advance Campaign: Finish Regular Campaign; buy it from Battle Maps. Hold Select as you select New Campaign to play it. ~vi. Personal Records~ This is just how 'well' I'm doing. :) This'll be updated every now and then when I have something significant to add. It won't contribute to the version # as it isn't that important. Rank 34: Jade Bull Campaign Score: S 951 (whew) Advance Campaign Score: B 776 Field Training: 14 As Battle Maps: All COs, all maps but Royal Channel War Room: Spann Island VS Olaf: Max S 985 11 days Moji Island VS Grit: Max B 837 19 days Duo Falls VS Kanbei: Max B 840 18 days Sole Harbor VS Drake: Drake B 688 33 days Pivot Isle VS Eagle: Max B 842 21 days Land's End VS Olaf: Max A 902 19 days Kita Straight VS Drake: Max S 954 27 days (Yup, first try. Couldn't tell you how to save my life.) Point Stormy VS Olaf: Max A 921 20 days Ridge Island VS Grit: Sami B 699 21 days (Mech Flood is the only way I could finish this ^_^;) Mial's Hope VS Eagle: Max B 771 24 days Bounty River VS Sonja: Drake B 800 41 days Toil Ferry VS Grit: Max B 750 29 days Twin Isle VS Kanbei: Grit B 681 34 days Dire Range VS Eagle: Max C 598 31 days (This stage introduced the concept of E-rank. :p) Egg Islands VS Drake: Max C 562 46 days Terra Maw VS Sonja: Drake C 464 57 days Stamp Islands VS Kanbei & Olaf: Sami B 668 32 days Rivers Four VS Max & Grit: Sami B 705 33 days (Let's hear it for Mech Flood!) Ring Islands VS Sonja & Drake: Max B 705 40 days Last Mission VS Eagle & Sami: Sami A 855 28 days (You can beat Sami in 5-6 days if you do it right.) Average Score: B 761 Total Score: 15227/19980 (76.2%) ~5. Credits/Legal~ Advance Wars is owned by Nintendo. You know that. I know that. They know that. This is a waste of space. This guide, on the other hand, is copyright 2001-2002 Uindamu Uiru. Touch it and you will be fed to a thousand angry Dunsparce. All data in this guide has been collected by myself (with the sole exception of, well, everything with a credit). You may not steal it; if you must steal it, at least provide me with your home address so that I may hunt you down and break your knees. This guide may be posted on your site only if it is 100% unaltered, and if proper credit is given to me (Uiru, uiru@cephiro.com). I would appreciate being informed first. Once you have permission to host this guide, you may take updates from gamefaqs.com (you don't have to bug me for newer versions). It will be your responsibility to keep your version current.