OK, so you've mastered all the units from Field Training and learned how to deploy bases. It is now time to take it a step farther through the missions in Classic Campaign. Your paths will vary due to your decisions and playing style in the game. Your Field Training skills should prove handy in this campaign as it's usually common sense in Classic Campaign. The maximum number of points you can get is 300 points (100 Speed, 100 Power, 100 Technique).
The objective of this Classic Campaign Mode Guide is to help you get past the mission you're stuck on. If you need more help, there are video links to assist you on many of the missions. This guide is written for Classic Campaign, and your mileage will go further applying the same strategies on Casual Campaign missions. I recommend referring to Section 15 (Unit Guide) from time to time on the specifics of how you should be using the units that you deploy.
Orange Star
These opening Classic Campaign missions reinforce Field Training fundamentals while adding more practical positioning, matchup, and capture-based decision-making.
Mission 1: Tank Ops!
Nell vs. Olaf
Difficulty: *
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 7
Usable CO: Nell
Enemy CO: Olaf
Predeployed Units:
OS: 4 Infantry, 2 Mech, 1 APC, 1 Tank, 1 Artillery
BM: 2 Infantry, 2 Mech, 2 Tank, 1 Artillery, 1 Medium Tank
General Strategy:
Follow the instruction to load ammo to the artillery so that you can use it. Move the tank and a mech to the east side, blocking the bridge so your tank can defeat three tanks. Move other units south to prevent your enemy from capturing any neutral city. Check the enemy artillery's attack range so none of your infantry get hit. Move the artillery to the east so that it can help you take out those tanks. You can't easily take out the medium tank, but you can block the bridge with other units while you move an APC and drop an infantry onto the HQ to capture it for the victory.
Mission 2: Copter Tactics!
Nell vs. Olaf
Difficulty: *
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 3
Usable CO: Nell
Enemy CO: Olaf
Predeployed Units:
OS: 4 Infantry, 2 Mech, 1 APC, 1 Tank, 1 Artillery, 1 T-Copter, 1 B-Copter
BM: 2 Infantry, 2 Mech, 2 Tank, 1 Artillery, 3 Medium Tank, 1 B-Copter
General Strategy:
To win, you need to transport an infantry southward to Olaf's HQ to capture it. On day 1, use your missile to destroy the battle copter, the anti-air to destroy the battle copter, and the tank to damage the tank. Move an infantry into your transport copter and drop it on the HQ the same day. Move all other units to the right. On later turns, use battle copters against the medium tank, infantry against mechs, mechs against tanks, artillery to attack from distance, and tanks to damage all other units. The HQ capture alone should be sufficient for a victory, though.
Mission 3: Fog of War!
Nell vs. Olaf
Difficulty: **
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 6
Usable CO: Nell
Enemy CO: Olaf
General Strategy:
This is a Fog of War mission. On day 1, move your recon as far southeast as you can, between the two forest tiles, and you'll uncover a rocket and a medium tank. Use your rocket to fire on the medium tank, and your medium tank to finish it off. Use your two regular tanks to attack and destroy the rocket.
On day 2, use your medium tank and tank to wipe out their first tank. You'll spot a second tank and two infantry. The three other hidden units are an artillery (2-3 range) on the forest tile northeast of the HQ, a rocket (3-5 range) on the northern forest tile southeast of the HQ, and a lander on the reef. Move units next to the artillery and rocket to reveal them, then use tanks to take them out. That'll allow you to do an HQ capture to win, or you can destroy the lander for a "defeat all enemies" victory condition.
Mission 4: It's War!
Andy vs. Olaf
Difficulty: **
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 8
Usable CO: Andy
Enemy CO: Olaf
Predeployed Units:
OS: 2 Infantry, 2 Mech, 1 APC, 2 Tank, 1 Md Tank, 1 A-Air, 2 Artillery
BM: 4 Infantry, 2 Mech, 3 Tank, 1 Md Tank, 3 A-Air, 2 Artillery, 2 Rocket
General Strategy:
This was the first mission of the original Advance Wars 1 Normal Campaign, as the first three Classic Campaign missions were converted Field Training missions. Andy's CO Power allows you to heal 2HP per turn, so keep that in mind. There are two ways to win: an HQ capture with an APC loaded with an infantry, or by defeating all other units.
On day 1, use your northern tank and then your anti-air to attack the northern tank. Move your other northern units to the northeast. Down south, move your medium tank eastward to attack their tank. Move all other units eastward, but make sure you check the rocket's range and the artillery's range first so they don't get attacked by them. On both fronts, position your artillery in a way that the artillery can fire on anything that can attack one of your tanks.
On day 2, on the southern front, move your medium tank up to attack the rocket, your tank to attack the anti-air, and your mech to attack their artillery. On the northern front, use your tank to weaken the artillery and begin capturing the northern cities with your mech. In terms of unit matchups, take a look at my Unit Guide. Your fastest units in terms of movement are going to be your vehicles. Remember to use your CO power to heal your units after you've powered them up. Be sure to stay out of the range of any rockets and medium tanks until you have enough units just outside of their firing and movement range to attack the next turn.
Mission 5: Gun Fighter!
Andy vs. Grit
Difficulty: **
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 10
Usable CO: Andy
Enemy CO: Grit
Mission Briefing: You must defend the Orange Star capital from the hordes of Blue Moon forces led by Olaf. Nell talks to you about using your CO power to heal units, the Terms of Victory, and Intel. Good luck to you!
Starting Properties:
OS / BM / Neutral
Cities: 3 / 4 / 0
Factories: 0 / 0 / 0
Airports: 0 / 0 / 0
Seaports: 0 / 0 / 0
Missile Silos: 0 / 0 / 0
Predeployed Units:
OS: 2 Infantry, 1 APC, 1 Tank
BM: 2 Infantry, 2 Mech, 1 Recon, 3 Tank, 1 Md Tank, 2 Rocket
General Strategy:
This is the first mission with a difficulty spike from the last mission. You have two deployment bases. Grit doesn't. What that means is that you can build two units per turn in the two bases northeast of your HQ, but Grit can't build any more units. On day 1, move your infantry into your APC and then drop it eastward. Move your artillery and tank eastward so that your artillery can attack anything that directly attacks your infantry. Build a tank. Olaf will then move some units towards you, including a tank that attacks your infantry.
On day 2, move your infantry southward onto the mountain, attack the tank with your artillery, and finish it off by pulling your tank forward to take it out. Now you can start inching your other units forward. Be sure to check the firing ranges of both rockets and both artillery as you do, so that those units don't fire on you first before you get a shot at them. As you continue playing through the mission, build tanks (and at least one medium tank later on when you get closer to the medium tank) to take out Grit's tanks, artillery, and rockets. Meanwhile, with any remaining funds, build as many infantry as you can to cross the river and attack Olaf's two infantry and mechs north of the river.
Mission 6: Air Ace!
Andy vs. Eagle
Difficulty: **
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 7
Usable CO: Andy
Enemy CO: Eagle
General Strategy:
On turn 1, you can take out the battle copter with your anti-air and use your medium tank to damage Eagle's tank. The unit you must keep alive is your transport copter. That transport copter will allow you to bring an infantry or mech to the HQ.
To get that transport copter there, you need to move your missile and anti-air eastward and get them in position to down the fighters. Keep moving your other units eastward and then northward toward the HQ goal as well. Meanwhile, you can protect your transport copter by surrounding it with your own land units on all four sides. That way, Eagle's fighter can't attack the transport copter directly. There's no airport on the map for you to heal the transport copter's HP.
You'll also need to take out the bomber with a missile or anti-aircraft, or else the bomber will kill any infantry you land on the HQ in a single strike. Lure the bomber into range with any unit other than your anti-aircraft and then kill it with your anti-aircraft. Then land an infantry on the HQ with the transport copter immediately north of it so that the transport copter absorbs tank strikes that may target the HQ-capturing infantry. Capture the HQ by Day 6 for an S-rank victory.
Mission 7A: Max Strikes! (Andy)
Andy vs. Olaf
Difficulty: **
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 7
Usable CO: Andy
Enemy CO: Olaf
General Strategy:
The fastest strategy involves an HQ capture. To do that, you need to take out Olaf's navy to protect a lander that you take to the southeast island.
On turn 1, you want to use your battleship and then sub to take out Olaf's first battleship. You also should put an infantry and mech into the lander and start taking it east. However, make sure to check Olaf's second battleship range and not put your lander in that range. Up north, you want to line up your units on the bridge and move your artillery and rocket as far as they can go so that they can keep targeting Olaf's units that move up.
In later turns, you want to keep moving your subs east. Make the subs dive so that they can't be hit by the battleships. Then use the subs to sink the battleships and then land your mech and infantry on the island. Then you can move the mech or infantry to capture Olaf's HQ. Olaf's recon should be out of reach, and in the north, you can keep moving up your rocket and artillery to fire on enemies, and then finish them off with your tanks and remaining mech. That'll give you the Power score needed to complete a perfect S-rank score on this map.
Mission 7M: Max Strikes! (Max)
Max vs. Olaf
Difficulty: ***
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 7
Usable CO: Max
Enemy CO: Olaf
General Strategy:
On day 1, use your battleship to attack Olaf's battleship, and dive your submarines. On later turns, you'll use that battleship to fire from afar, and your diving submarines to attack the three remaining battleships directly. In the meantime, move your units east to attack Olaf's tanks. Have your medium tank attack the medium tank, and the other two tanks attack Olaf's tanks. Bring the artillery and rocket as far right as you can take them so that they can fire on enemies on your next turn, ideally the more expensive tank units. On Olaf's day 1, Olaf will move the battleships and other land units closer to you.
On the later days, move your battleship to the right and use those diving submarines to attack the battleships. On land, try to use your indirect units (artillery and rocket) to get the first attack in, then use your tanks to damage the enemy tanks. Continue to advance eastward until you wipe out the remaining units. Winning in 4 days by complete destruction is possible.
Mission 8A: Max's Folly (Andy)
Max vs. Grit
Difficulty: ***
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 6
Usable CO: Max
Enemy CO: Grit
General Strategy:
This is Andy's path, but Max charges in to fight Grit. You can't let Grit's two infantry take your HQ in the 6-day period or you'll lose. Max's two artillery and rocket have limited range (-1), so your goal will be to move those tanks up to attack.
You'll lose some of those tanks, but do your best to check Grit's enhanced rocket and artillery range before moving your tanks up so that you don't face a barrage until you know you can move a few units at a time. You can't fully avoid the barrage because Grit will hit you with his Sharp Shooter CO Power, but it'll allow you to preserve enough tanks to keep advancing.
You'll need to wipe out the two rockets and three artillery that are west of your HQ, plus the two infantry that advance on your HQ. At that point, you hang back and avoid getting hit by Grit's remaining rockets and artillery in that 6-day period and you'll pick up the victory.
Mission 8M: Sniper! (Max)
Max vs. Grit
Difficulty: ***
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 7
Usable COs: Andy, Max
Enemy CO: Grit
General Strategy:
This is a Fog of War mission. On turn 1, move your recon down 5 squares and to the right 1 to reveal the hidden infantry. Move your tank down the road and that'll uncover a tank. Use your battle copter to weaken it. Move your other units down the road.
There's a rocket in the forest south of you. Reveal it on day 2 to attack it. There's another recon that will run toward you. Make use of your direct units to attack and wipe both units out. If you move your recon to the right, you'll find that there is a rocket on the city. You can't attack with your land units, but if you attack the rocket head-on from the top or left, a missile to the north will knock the battle copter out of the air. You'll want to locate the missile near or at the blue city in the center-top part of the map before you attack the rocket directly, or strike that rocket from the bottom or right.
Meanwhile, Grit will still have an anti-air and artillery that you'll need to clear before you can advance land units toward the HQ. Use your tanks, which have higher movement and an advantage against both, to take both units out. Meanwhile, you can take a battle copter and transport copter over to the HQ, but beware of the artillery just east of the HQ when you bring an infantry over for the HQ capture. If you are going for a full KO, you'll need to bring a battle copter to the northeast island to take out the remaining artillery.
Mission 9A: Olaf's Navy! (Andy)
Max vs. Olaf
Difficulty: ***
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 6
Usable COs: Andy, Max
Enemy CO: Olaf
General Strategy: Be forewarned that the AI does not always act consistently and will not follow this day-to-day guide perfectly, but if you generally follow most steps, you can just go off the basic idea of the strategy.
In this Fog of War mission, don't bother trying to take out Olaf's whole navy or trying to go up to the northern bridge. You could in the original Advance Wars 1, but the naval AI has gotten much smarter.
Use Max. On day 1, put a mech into an APC, and that APC and another mech into the lander, then move it northeast along the bridge as far as you can take it. Move all other units north and northeast along the southern bridge, moving your recons last (keep your tank east of your recons). Move your battleship south to the reef, and move your sub down to the battleship and dive it. Moving your ships down will lure Olaf's battleships away from the southern bridge. Olaf will then attack your lander with a tank.
On day 2, use your battleship and your sub to target battleships, aiming for the northernmost ones first. Move your tank westward so your medium tank can get to Olaf's tank on the bridge. Then use your medium tank to destroy the medium tank (or just medium tank if your rocket is out of range), and advance all your other land forces eastward. Land your APC on the forest tile across the narrow sea, and the mech northward. Olaf will then try to destroy all your naval units.
On day 3, move your mech up 2 squares. There's a rocket hidden on the forest tile 2 squares north of that mech spot, across the river. Keep moving your other units as far as they can go eastward other than any western units that can't move that far, such as infantry.
On day 4, drop off your mech within 2 squares of the HQ. Keep moving your remaining eastern units down the road toward the HQ. Move your mech up 2 squares to reveal the rocket. On day 5, destroy the rocket with your mech and recon, use your medium tank to destroy the tank, and have the mech start capturing the HQ. At this point, hold at the rivers and capture the HQ and you'll clinch the win.
Mission 9M: Blizzard Battle (Max)
Max vs. Olaf
Difficulty: ****
Days for S-Rank: 8
Usable COs: Andy, Max
Enemy CO: Olaf
General Strategy:
Max has direct power, which is what you need for a faster victory here. You'll need to capture all neutral properties on your side of the river, plus one more. On day 1, move your two infantry up to capture the neutral cities. Move both tanks up and to the right, one mech to the northeast, and another mech into the APC and to the northeast to land on the neutral city to start capturing it the next day. Build two infantry.
On day 2, keep moving your infantry up and continue the neutral city captures that you've started or are about to start. Olaf will continue moving an artillery, two tanks, and a medium tank over. You'll want to move your tank and mech over to wipe out the tank that attacks the mech you moved over with the APC.
Keep building one or two infantry every turn, with the other unit being a tank if you're able to afford it. You'll want to keep moving tanks north and east to defend your side of the bridge and to attack any infantry, tanks, and artillery that may try to cross the river. And you'll want to take the northern neutral base so it doesn't take you forever to move tanks toward the northern bridge. The best neutral city to take will be the city just across the southern bridge. If you can distract Olaf enough with tanks and a medium tank, secure the two bridges, and capture that city, you'll come out with the win. Just make sure Olaf doesn't take any cities on your side of the river.
Mission 10A: Olaf's Sea Strike (Andy)
Max vs. Olaf
Difficulty: ****
Days for S-Rank: 11
Usable COs: Andy, Max
Enemy CO: Olaf
General Strategy:
This is primarily a sea map. On day 1, use your northern battleship and a cruiser to destroy the sub while moving your transport copter down. Move your subs eastward and have them dive so they can't be located. Move your southern battleship eastward to the reef so it stays hidden on this Fog of War map.
For the naval fight on later days, the matchups are as follows: battleships beat cruisers, cruisers beat subs, and subs beat battleships. Landers can be sunk by subs and battleships. After you clear Olaf's navy following these matchups, move your battleships closer to the northeast island where Olaf has his HQ, so that the battleships can fire on those units. He's got two tanks, two infantry, and a few other hidden units, including a battleship to the northwest and a rocket on the northeast forest tile. Reveal those units by getting next to them, damage them by battleship, and then bring a mech or infantry over to capture the HQ for the win.
Mission 10M: History Lesson (Max)
Max vs. Grit
Difficulty: ****
Days for S-Rank: 7
Usable CO: Max
Enemy CO: Grit
General Strategy:
You can creep up on Grit like Max says, but you'll lose some valuable speed. Instead, you want to go for an HQ capture. To do that, you need to win the naval battle.
Again, remember your naval matchups. Battleships take out cruisers, cruisers take out subs, and subs take out battleships. On day 1, use your cruiser to destroy the enemy sub. Move your remaining naval units to the northeast and dive all your subs. Those diving subs can attack a battleship on later turns. Make sure you've got at least one lander that has an infantry heading to the HQ. One idea is two mechs, an infantry, and a medium tank.
With anything you don't put in your landers, take those units, ideally including your recon, north to attack Grit's hidden units. Beware of an artillery that may hang out on one of the forest tiles. Meanwhile, use your naval units to secure a path to the HQ for the HQ capture based on the naval matchups mentioned above. You'll want to, in particular, use your subs to take out a battleship northeast of the HQ so that it can't fire on your infantry or mech when it takes the HQ.
Mission 11: Sami's Debut!
Andy vs. Eagle
Difficulty: ***
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 9
Usable COs: Andy, Max, Sami
Enemy CO: Eagle
General Strategy:
This is a Fog of War map, and you'll be going up against Eagle and his Lightning Drive CO Power that allows him to attack twice in one turn. Choose Andy so that you can make use of indirect units. If you're not comfortable with indirect positioning, use Max instead for stronger air units.
On day 1, use your bomber to attack the missile, anti-airs to attack the battle copters, and your fighter to weaken the remaining battle copter. Move your vehicles along the road to take advantage of movement bonuses, and move your infantry and mechs upward.
On later turns, your objective is to keep your transport copter alive so you can bring infantry to the HQ. Use your bomber against tanks, fighters against bombers, and anti-air against other aircraft. Protect your medium tank from bomber strikes by positioning other units nearby.
Eagle has additional fighters that appear unexpectedly, but once you clear them with anti-air units, you'll open a safe path to advance toward the HQ.
Mission 12: Kanbei Arrives
Andy VS. Kanbei
Difficulty: ****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 6
Usable COs: Andy, Max, Sami
Enemy CO: Kanbei
General Strategy:
Use Andy. Sami has weak direct units, and Max has weak indirect units. To defend, you'll need to be able to use both efficiently. On day 1. move your medium tanks east to damage the rockets, then on day 2, move them back to the cities.
On day 1, move all but your medium tanks outside of rocket range. Meanwhile, move both your medium tanks out to damage the rockets. On day 2, move them back west to the cities. The idea is that you use the mountain range as a barrier from tanks getting in to attack you. Move your artillery and rockets as far as you can out of range but with a medium tank, tank, or mech just to the right of them so that Kanbei's units can't strike them.
On successive turns, Kanbei's units will start attacking you with tanks, wave by wave, and also move up his artilllery. Use your rockets and artillery to attack the enemy units first. Your top targets should be medium tanks, then artillery, then tanks. Keep attacking with your units on every turn. If you can hold the line and use your cities and HQ to heal any units that need the healing, you'll eventually wear down Kanbei's forces and take home the win.
Mission 13: Mighty Kanbei!
Andy VS. Kanbei
Difficulty: *****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 7
Usable COs: Andy, Max, Sami
Enemy CO: Kanbei
General Strategy:
On this mission, you'll need to build a lot of indirect units. So don't choose Max - use Andy or Sami. My recommendation is Andy because his tanks are still decent and he has Hyper Repair as a CO Power. You'll be in control of two bridges, and if any units get past the bridges, you're toast. You must block the bridges, both to protect your rockets and the artillery that you'll be building, but also to limit the number of units that Kanbei can use to attack you.
On the early days, use your mech and infantry to capture the two neutral properties next to your HQ. Meanwhile, make sure your medium tanks do not advance past the bridge. Use your two rockets to chip away damage at their rockets, artillery, and medium tanks in particular. Then use your medium tanks to deal continuing damage. On turns that you can afford to make artillery from your two bases, do so, and then move them off the base and closer to your medium tanks on later turns. If you have extra money, build some infantry as they can take some heat if any units get past your medium tanks. Ultimately, you'll use your artillery and rockets first to do damage, and then use your medium tanks to finish off Kanbei's units.
Eventually, you'll break Kanbei's units from the south, and you'll be able to advance in the south. As this happens, make sure you have an APC in place so you can take an infantry towards Kanbei's HQ for a HQ capture, as Kanbei's HQ won't be well defended. Meanwhile, try to take out Kanbei's remaining units from the east with your rockets and the artillery that you continue to build. Either way, as long as you have units like your medium tank or infantry to defend the artillery and rockets, they'll be able to keep firing on Kanbei's tanks safely from afar and you'll secure the win.
Mission 14: Kanbei's Error?
Max VS. Kanbei
Difficulty: ****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 11
Usable COs: Andy, Max, Sami
Enemy CO: Kanbei
General Strategy:
Choose Max because he has stronger air units than Andy and Sami, and the only way you'll be able to move units to other islands is by air. You'll need to wipe out Kanbei's entire air force as well as a tank that is on the far northeast island.
You must get 15 properties before Kanbei does. This means you'll want to use infantry to capture cities aon your home island, the island to the north, the island to the northeast (to include the airport), and the island to the far northeast. On day 1, check the fighter and battle copter ranges of Kanbei and be sure to move as far as you can without getting in range. The fighter and battle copter will come towards you and then you can use your fighter and battle copter for first strikes. Meanwhile, move one infantry and your transport copter to the northwest island to begin capturing properties there.
On later turns, build a second transport copter and use the transport copters to move infantry to the island to the northeast and the far northeast. Your battle copters will be the key to inflicting damage. Just be sure to check on the range of missiles before you attack, and for anti-air that may get within range to wipe out your battle copters.
Mission 15: Divide & Conquer!
Max VS. Sonja
Difficulty: ****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 8
Usable CO: Max
Enemy CO: Sonja
General Strategy: Be forewarned that the AI does not always act consistently and will not follow this day to day guide perfectly, but if you generally follow most steps, you can just go off the basic idea of the strategy.
This is a Fog of War map. On day 1, move your APC one square to the right and three squares up and you'll reveal a rocket. Use your rocket and then your mech to destroy the rocket. On the left side, move your infantry up to the two neutral cities and starts capturing them, then move your tank (left) and artillery (right) just below that. Meanwhile, on the right, move your units up, with one tank to the forest tile two tiles north of the APC. Sonja will attack you on the left.
On day 2, move your infantry down and use your tank to attack their tank. On the right, use your tank to reveal the artillery that's on the forest tile just to the right of the mountain range. You'll be able to use your tanks and recon to attack the next turn. On day 3, use your artillery and tank on the left to wipe out the remaining units. Use your eastern tanks to finish off Sonja's tank that tries to defend her artillery, and keep moving a mech towards that artillery.
On day 4, you can begin moving north, but make sure your tanks and rockets remain on forest tiles so Sonja can't attack them. You'll find a tank on a city around the rocket range. One square up and one square to the left is a rocket. After you have two tanks within range, move one tank towards that forest tile to reveal the rocket, and the other tank over to destroy it. As you keep moving your units in later turns, keep an APC and mech back because Sonja will send an infantry from the southeast corner towards your HQ to try to capture it. Use that mech to weaken and then destroy the infantry.
As you keep moving your other units up, there will be another rocket one square to the left and one square to the south of the two cities that are next to each other. Like with the previous rocket, sneak up on it with one tank and use another to take it down. The last artillery will be behind the mountain range in one of the two forest tiles that border each other. Do the same with two tanks to sneak up on that artillery and take it out and you'll achieve victory.
Mission 16: Sami Marches On!
Sami VS. Sonja
Difficulty: *****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 10
Usable CO: Sami
Enemy CO: Sonja
General Strategy: Be forewarned that the AI does not always act consistently and will not follow this day to day guide perfectly, but if you generally follow most steps, you can just go off the basic idea of the strategy.
This is another Fog of War map. You do start out with a sizable army this time around. You need to capture almost all of the properties on the northern and southern island to win. Protect your landers and use the reefs for cover for your sea units.
On day 1, move your submarine slightly eastward above the reef and have it dive, which will reveal the northern tank, and move your cruiser to the reef. Use your battleship to fire on the tank. Move a tank and rocket to the southwest corner of the northern island, and a medium tank and a mech to the northwest corner of the southern island. Keep building infantry from the bases next to your HQ and transporting them over with your landers to the northern and southern islands so that you can keep capturing properties, and on day 3, bring your recon over to the southern island.
On day 2, destroy Kanbei's cruiser with your battleship. Move your diving sub eastward to reveal the battleship that can do significant damage to your northern units. Then you also know how to position your northern units to stay out of battleship range. Eventually, you should use your cruiser to take out the remaining sub so that your sub can damage the battleship to allow your infantry to capture the northern island.
Meanwhile up north, on day 3 you'll want to move your tank north to reveal an artillery on the forest tile, and then wipe it out with your tank and rocket. As you bring more infantry over, you'll be able to capture the remaining properties up north, assuming you can deal enough damage to the battleship that they don't instantly destroy your infantry. Your rocket and tank, assuming it stays out of battleship range, can continue to damage any units that cross the narrow sea.
Down south, use your mech to capture the base and move your medium tank eastward, and then bring over a recon for vision. Sonja will send an artillery, rocket, a recon, and tanks. From this base, you want to build medium tanks each turn to take out the waves of tanks that come at you.
Mission 17: Sonja's Goal!
Andy VS. Sonja
Difficulty: ****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 12
Usable CO: Andy
Enemy CO: Sonja
General Strategy: Be forewarned that the AI does not always act consistently and will not follow this day to day guide perfectly, but if you generally follow most steps, you can just go off the basic idea of the strategy.
This is Sonja, so you have one more Fog of War mission to go. This revolves around a big lake.
On day 1, move your submarine northwest to the west of the reef to uncover the submarine and rocket, and dive. Move your cruiser up to damage the submarine, and use your battleship to weaken the rocket. On turn 2, you'll want to use the same two units to destroy the submarine and rocket, and begin moving your submarine eastward. Meanwhile, on turn 1, move your lander up to the northern island so that the missile is in the forest tile and your rocket is on the shoal, and move your battle copter up near the rocket as well. Down south on day 1, move your remaining units east.
On day 2, use your anti-air to take out the battle copter. If you can lure the bomber down south, you can use the anti-air to take down that same bomber, too. With your battle copter, you can eventually do damage north of the missile and rocket to a tank that rolls down. From day 3 onward, Sonja's bomber and battleship arrive. You can potentially also lure planes like the bomber and a battle copter that arrives later with your cruiser. Keep your battle copter out of sea range so the cruiser can't take it out.
Meanwhile, your land forces in the southeast will lead the way. You'll encounter a tank, artillery, and mech, which you can take down with your tanks. As you keep moving up, you can uncover a rocket that's on a forest tile just below a mountain on a part of the island that juts out. In the sea, use your battleship to take out the cruiser, and the sub to destroy the battleship. Remember to refuel your sub that's been weakened.
If you've kept your transport copter alive, you can move an infantry or mech up to capture the HQ to secure the win. Alternatively, take out the remaining two tanks in the northeast with the tanks you bring up, or use your battleship or battle copter, for a full KO.
Mission 18A: Captain Drake! (Andy)
Andy VS. Drake
Difficulty: *****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 11
Usable CO: Andy
Enemy CO: Drake
General Strategy:
You need to capture 12 properties to win. You'll need to capture all properties on the northwest island, central island, southeast island, and northeast island, in that order. On day 1, dive your submarines and move them southeast. You need to make sure that Drake doesn't kill your submarines and lander with Drake's submarine and battleship or else you won't be able to transport infantry to capture the central island. Meanwhile, move your medium tank, tank, rocket, and artillery southward to secure the island. Build two infantry on day 1.
On days 2 and 3, your submarines to damage the battleship, and then the enemy submarine. Meanwhile, move your two infantry from your lander over to attack Drake's infantry already on the central island, and to capture those cities. Down south, hold your ground at the north-south bridge by keeping your tank and medium tank south of your artillery and rocket. Use the rocket and artillery to attack Drake's units as they attack, while your tanks absorb any blows. Be sure to stay out of range of Drake's rocket and Drake's artillery and attack them directly before they can get a hit on you.
In later days, be sure to build an APC so you can refuel your submarines so they don't sink. At the same time, keep building infantry, which will assist you with capturing more infantry. If you have additional money, build more tanks and advance them southward to hold the southeast island. Finally, at the end, move your infantry into the lander to take the properties on the northeast island, and you'll win.
Mission 18M: Captain Drake! (Max)
Max VS. Drake
Difficulty: ****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 6
Usable CO: Max
Enemy CO: Drake
General Strategy:
Be sure to dive all four subs on day 1. Move a rocket and an infantry in your lander, dropping the rocket north and infantry west on the southern beach. Move all other units south for one turn, but otherwise stay put on day 2. The enemy has 3 subs, 2 cruisers, and 3 battleships.
For the naval war, the key is remembering your matchups and attacking with the right units. Battleships and rockets beat cruisers. Cruisers beat submarines, but submarines can take out weakened cruisers. Submarines beat battleships, and battleships can also attack battleships. Hold your ground on day 2 and then attack on days 3-5. You'll find the last battleship southwest of the HQ, and the last sub southeast of the HQ.
Mission 18S: Captain Drake! (Sami)
Sami VS. Drake
Difficulty: *****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 11
Usable CO: Sami
Enemy CO: Drake
General Strategy: Be forewarned that the AI does not always act consistently and will not follow this day to day guide perfectly, but if you generally follow most steps, you can just go off the basic idea of the strategy.
This is a capture properties mission. On the central island, you must capture every neutral property north of the mountain range, plus one to the south. To capture the one to the south, you'll need to have battlefield supremacy on both land and sea. Keep in mind that this also works in reverse: if Drake captures one city north of the mountain range, you lose.
On day 1, land two infantry up north with one lander, and land your medium tank east on the forest tile and the rocket north. It would be safer, although not required, to keep one unit to defend your HQ on the northwest island. On the first few days, keep your best land units on forest tiles and keep them alive, or at least keep them far enough north that they won't get struck easily. You can wall off your most expensive land units with cheaper infantry or mechs.
In the early days, stay on defense. Use your naval units in a way that follows the unit matchups: battleships to attack cruisers, cruisers to attack subs, and subs (dive on day 3) to attack battleships. Make use of defensive reefs for your cruisers and battleship. From the south, Drake will arrive with a cruiser and a submarine, then a battleship. Start with one sub and one cruiser in the south, placing your battleship on a middle reef. Do NOT move naval units past the four reefs that you're closest to before you wipe out Drake's three southern units. That'll be day 5 or so.
From the north/east, Drake will arrive with a cruiser. Start with one cruiser and one sub in the north. Eventually you'll want to shift your northern sub eastward to assist with eastern sea units.
Meanwhile, Drake will have a rocket camped out four squares south of the southwest city north of the mountains. Drake will likely advance northward with a tank, then a medium tank, another tank, and then two artillery and keep bringing up more medium tanks. Build infantry and mechs (mostly mechs) from both bases on just about every turn and just focus on attacking anything that gets close.
As mentioned before, keep your rocket, medium tank, and tank generally out of battleship range and on forest tiles, or at least out of enemy range. Use them to fight back only when it is safe to do so, while primarily attacking with your rocket and mechs. You should also use your mechs to capture properties. Beware of Drake trying to take the final city north of the mountains.
Use your APC to refuel your subs, and also mechs that you build later. Keep your cruisers out of battleship range. After you capture the eastern port, build at least one more sub to join your other sub going around the island, dive them, and take them southward. You'll use these subs to eliminate the eastern battleship on a southern reef that will otherwise make it difficult for you to capture one of the southern cities. Meanwhile, march your mech army across the mountains and capture the final city to earn the victory.
Mission 19A: Naval Clash! (Andy)
Andy VS. Drake
Difficulty: ****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 10
Usable CO: Andy
Enemy CO: Drake
General Strategy: Be forewarned that the AI does not always act consistently and will not follow this day to day guide perfectly, but if you generally follow most steps, you can just go off the basic idea of the strategy.
This pits Andy versus Drake in a mission where you must keep a missile unit from being killed for 10 days. The key to this one is to retreat your landers, missile and three weaker land units, plus your battleship and northern submarine, ASAP, while keeping your remaining units alive for as long as possible to do enough damage to get a high score.
On day 1, use your rocket and eastern sub to destroy the battleship. Move your tanks, recon, and missiles into the landers and move them as far north/east as possible, along with your nothern sub. Move your western battleship north.
On day 2, use your rocket and southern sub to attack the battleship. Use your medium tank to attack the tank. Move both landers northeast as far as possible. Move your sub to the third reef to the west. Move your battleship as far east as possible.
On day 3, use Hyper Repair, then try to destroy two units in one turn. One possibility is to use your battleship, rocket, and medium tank to destroy the tank and medium tank. Land your units from the lander on the shoal.
On day 4, move your sub below that reef and dive, then battleship to the reef. Move your rocket and medium tank outside of battleship ranges. In the northeast, have your two tanks attack the visible tank.
On day 5, use your battleship, medium tank, rocket, and sub in a coordinated fashion to destroy the rocket and cruiser. You'll lose the rocket, but you can then use your battleship and dived sub to destroy sea units that get in range (cruiser, sub, battleship). Keep your medium tank alive by moving it east, and those last subs who round the corner should sink day 9 because they can't get refueled. Last 10 days and you'll pick up the win.
Mission 19M: Naval Clash! (Max)
Max VS. Drake
Difficulty: ****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 9
Usable CO: Max
Enemy CO: Drake
General Strategy: Be forewarned that the AI does not always act consistently and will not follow this day to day guide perfectly, but if you generally follow most steps, you can just go off the basic idea of the strategy.
This mission forces you to use your direct units wisely. On day 1, move your first sub east to attack the battleship, and move the other southeast to dive it. Move the battleship and cruiser eastward. Land a tank and mech on the northern shore. Meanwhile, move your other units a few squares to the east, but no fruther than the cities. Drake will come at you with a battleship, diving sub, and two tanks from the north.
On day 2, use your battleship to attack Drake's battleship and your sub to destroy it. Up north, use your mech and tank to destroy the first tank. Meanwhile, in the south, move up your units, starting with your tank for the increased vision and then using your medium tank to destroy the tank that's there. Drake will attack with the other tank in the north, and bring down a medium tank from the south. Drake will also reveal a cruiser.
From day 3 onward, use the sea unit matchups to win the naval war. Use your battleship against the cruiser, the cruiser against the sub, and the subs against the battleship. Continue using your mech and tank to damage the tank up north, and continue moving your land units up the road in the south.
As you move your underwater subs north, you'll find that there's a rocket on the northwest side. That'll give you a sense of how far you can move up the battleship and keep it out of rocket range. As you move your southern units up the eastern coast, you'll find a tank next to the HQ. Use your medium tank, tank, or rocket to take the tank out. You can move an APC with an infantry to the HQ to complete a HQ capture for the win, or destroy the remaining two tanks and the rocket above to clinch the win.
Mission 19S: Naval Clash! (Sami)
Sami VS. Drake
Difficulty: ******
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 12
Usable CO: Sami
Enemy CO: Drake
General Strategy:
This is a difficult Fog of War mission. Your goal is to take out Drake's naval units before you attempt an amphibious landing of troops, because if you lose a lander, you automatically lose.
First, you want to have your battleship and cruiser on reef tiles when possible so Drake's subs and battleships don't go after those units in the open water. Move your cruiser east on day 1 so that it can attack Drake's submarine from the south later. After you finish off Drake's submarine with your cruiser and submarine on day 2, you can move that submarine east adjacent to the northeast reef which will show you the location of Drake's remaining battleship. You'll have to take that battleship out with your sub before you can land units from a lander on the easternmost beach. You need to take down both battleships before you have a clear path to land units on the northern island.
Meanwhile, on day 1 on land, move your recon to the northeast tile and rocket onto your northeast city as well, as that will allow you to strike at the battleship that goes towards your island on day 2. After you do clear the seas of Drake's sub and two battleships, you can begin landing units on the eastern beach. Your diving sub can be used like a recon to show what units are on shore, with two exceptions. You can also actually land your recon for vision, or a rocket on that side so they can be used in your westward offensive.
Watch out for the rocket (3-5 range) on the forest tile to the southwest of the HQ, and the artillery (2-3 range) on the forest tile to the east of the HQ. They will attack your tanks if they get in range. And Drake also has a recon and two tanks that will come at you once you get within range. That's where your battleship and your rocket can do damage from a distance. Ultimately, it'll be beneficial for you to bring an APC and an infantry over to the HQ to capture it for the win. Keep in mind that you can hide units in the forests to avoid them being attacked if you need them to stay alive so that you don't lose too many technique points.
Mission 20A: Wings of Victory! (Andy)
Andy VS. Eagle
Difficulty: *****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 8
Usable CO: Andy
Enemy CO: Eagle
General Strategy: Be forewarned that the AI does not always act consistently and will not follow this day to day guide perfectly, but if you generally follow most steps, you can just go off the basic idea of the strategy.
This is the easier Fog of War version of the Wings of Victory mission, compared to Sami's version. You'll want to keep your two fighters, bomber, transport copter, and infantry or mech alive so you can go for a HQ capture.
On day 1, move all your units northward, with a focus on moving your rocket and missile as far north as possible. That will give both units a chance to attack Eagle's advancing units in upcoming turns. On day 2, place your land units to the right of your air units. When Eagle's fighters come, that'll protect your air units mentioned above from being seriously damaged by Eagle's air units.
On day 3, you can use your missile, anti-air, and protected fighters to largely wipe out Eagle's fighters and bombers. Afterwards, ideally after you've refueled those units with your APC, you'll want to move your air units up eastward along the top of the map, where none of Eagle's anti-aircraft can damage them.
You'll want to locate and attack the missile that is two squares south of the HQ on the forest tile. The missile will have a range of 3-5 around that forest tile, so count accordingly so no fighter or bomber gets within that range. Then use your bomber to attack the missile at least once. There is one bomber at the top right of the screen, and one bomber at the bottom right. You want to attack each of them at least once. After you've taken at least one shot at those units, you can land your mech in the forest tile just northwest of the HQ, and after that, you can move your mech the two squares to the HQ to capture the HQ in two turns.
In the meantime, you want to have your land units hang back so that they are in a defensive position near the cities (which you've hopefully captured) so that they can better defend and heal themselves. Your rocket can attack from afar, your battle copter can do damage as long as there's no anti-air in the vicinity, and your remaining units can chip away some damage. You'll want to do that to get both a good power and technique score. And be sure to watch out for Eagle's infantry sneakily walking towards the HQ - make sure that infantry doesn't capture your HQ while you're not paying attention.
Mission 20M: Wings of Victory! (Max)
Max VS. Eagle
Difficulty: *****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 7
Usable CO: Max
Enemy CO: Eagle
General Strategy:
This is a short mission. The key is to keep in mind the unit matchups. Prioritize the use of fighters against fighters, then bombers, then battle copters. Prioritize your bombers in destroying anti-air, then medium tanks, then everything else.
On day 1, in the north, use your medium tank to destroy Eagle's tank. In the south, use one fighter to damage Eagle's fighter, and the other to destroy Eagle's bomber. Then use your bomber to destroy Eagle's medium tank. Meanwhile, move all your other units eastward, keeping your battle copter just out of range of Eagle's battle copter but within range of the missile. Eagle will move many of his units westward and eventually damage your battle copter on a Lightning Drive.
On day 2, use your CO power, Max Force. Use your missile to destroy your battle copter, your anti-air to destroy a fighter, and your fighters to take out Eagle's remaining air force. Keep advancing following the unit matchups and you can win in five or six days.
Mission 20S: Wings of Victory! (Sami)
Sami VS. Eagle
Difficulty: ******
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 9
Usable CO: Sami
Enemy CO: Eagle
General Strategy: Be forewarned that the AI does not always act consistently and will not follow this day to day guide perfectly, but if you generally follow most steps, you can just go off the basic idea of the strategy.
This is the harder Fog of War version of the Wings of Victory mission, compared to Andy's version. You'll want to keep your two fighters, bomber, transport copter, and infantry or mech alive so you can go for a HQ capture.
On day 1, move all your units northward, with a focus on moving your rocket and missile as far north as possible. That will give both units a chance to attack Eagle's advancing units in upcoming turns. On day 2, place your land units to the right of your air units. When Eagle's fighters come, that'll protect your air units mentioned above from being seriously damaged by Eagle's air units.
On day 3, you can use your missile, anti-air, and protected fighters to largely wipe out Eagle's fighters and bombers. Afterwards, ideally after you've refueled those units with your APC, you'll want to move your air units up eastward along the top of the map, where none of Eagle's anti-aircraft can damage them.
You'll want to locate and attack the missile that is two squares south of the HQ on the forest tile. The missile will have a range of 3-5 around that forest tile, so count accordingly so no fighter or bomber gets within that range. Then use your bomber to attack the missile at least once. There is one bomber at the top right of the screen, and one bomber at the bottom right. You want to attack each of them at least once. After you've taken at least one shot at those units, you can land your mech in the forest tile just northwest of the HQ, and after that, you can move your mech the two squares to the HQ to capture the HQ in two turns.
In the meantime, you want to have your land units hang back so that they are in a defensive position near the cities (which you've hopefully captured) so that they can better defend and heal themselves. Your rocket can attack from afar, your battle copter can do damage as long as there's no anti-air in the vicinity, and your remaining units can chip away some damage. You'll want to do that to get both a good power and technique score. And be sure to watch out for Eagle's infantry sneakily walking towards the HQ - make sure that infantry doesn't capture your HQ while you're not paying attention.
Mission 21A: Battle Mystery! (Andy)
Andy VS. Drake
Difficulty: *****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 12
Usable CO: Andy
Enemy CO: Drake
General Strategy:
This is another Fog of War map. The lander is hidden on a reef north of the bridge near the end of the island. On day 1, load and unload a medium tank and recon on the western shore, and a rocket (on forest) and tank on the eastern shore. Move your sea units north/east and dive your subs.
On turn 2, you'll want to move your subs slightly east to block any path to the battleship, your battleship just to the west of the subs, and your cruisers on the other side of the battleship. Drake will bring a cruiser from the west and won't be able to attack your subs on the east side. Meanwhile, your subs on the east will protect your battleship from the other side from a cruiser attack, and by not moving them too far on turn 2, they won't get in the battleship range.
Meanwhile, you'll want to move your recon south and then east from the western shore to spot and kill Drake's tank with your medium tank. Meanwhile, your tank on the eastern shore should take out the recon. Your rocket on the eastern tile will be in prime position to attack any naval units that get close on turn 2. Move your landers back so they can transport your remaining units over. You'll want to move your APC to the eastern shore so that they can refuel your subs later on.
On turn 3, make use of the naval matchups in the northern sea. Use your diving subs to attack the battleship, cruisers to attack the diving sub, and your battleship to attack the enemy cruiser. For any naval units that remain after turn 3, make use of those matchups and use your rocket to hit any cruiser that gets in range. Eventually, you'll want to bring your naval units around the island and down to a lander that is hidden on a reef next to a bridge near the end of the southeastern island.
On land, keep advancing your tanks to attack the infantry and any tanks that you see. Your rocket can deliver fire from a distance if you move it down the bridge. Eventually, you can use both your submarines (which you'll have refueled using your APC so they don't sink), your rocket, and tanks to take out the lander and win the mission.
Mission 21M: Battle Mystery! (Max)
Max VS. Drake
Difficulty: *****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 11
Usable CO: Max
Enemy CO: Drake
General Strategy:
You'll want to win battles on the northern island, the sea, and the southern island without spending more units on any of the fronts than you need. Move your submarine as far north as you can and a bit east and dive. Move your battleship, sub, and cruiser towards the northeast and just outside of enemy sub range. Use your lander to transport a medium tank across the sea, dropping off the medium tank on the forest tile. Also place a rocket and mech into a lander - you'll want to land these on the shoal near the HQ later. Move all other units to the east.
On day 2, make use of the naval unit matchups. Use your battleship to attack the cruiser, and your cruiser to attack the submarine. As you advance in the north, you'll want to stay out of immediate range of the artillery on the forest tile to the east of the second group of two cities. At sea, keep advancing and using your submarine to take out the remaining battleship. In the south, you'll want to make sure that one of your tanks or mechs gets the first attack in on the tank just east of your easternmost cities. Then keep advancing with your tank, infantry, and mechs to take out the remaining infantry that Eagle has.
As you get to the HQ, use your rocket on the northern island to damage the artillery on the forest tile south of the HQ. Once it's destroyed, use your mech to capture the HQ. In the west, use your medium tank to hold down some enemy units. Eventually, you can also use your battleship to damage the remaining artillery and tanks from afar. You can bring your sub eastward to damage or destroy the remaining battleship to the east but that's not required.
Mission 21S: Battle Mystery! (Sami)
Sami VS. Drake
Difficulty: *****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 8
Usable CO: Sami
Enemy CO: Drake
General Strategy:
You have to relocate the infantry from the eastern island to the southwest island. You'll want to move the infantry north three squares on turn 1 and send one transport copter over to the infantry so you can fly it away the next turn. Because of all the anti-aircraft, you won't be able to do much with the battle copters on the eastern island short of using it to escort the transport copter out. Take these three copters as far northwest as you can take them, and then you can take the transport copter across the sea in one go to the southwest island to fully secure the win.
Meanwhile, you have two cruisers, a submarine, and a battleship. On day 1, retreat your naval units to the west out of battleship range and dive your sub. This will give you a better defensive position if you also move your rocket northeast to put it in play. Take advantage of the unit guide matchups (battleship/rocket/subs vs. battleships, cruisers vs. subs, battleship/rocket vs. cruisers). You should be able to handle the two battleship, two subs, and two cruisers.
Mission 22: Andy Times Two
Andy/Sami and Eagle VS. Andy
Difficulty: *****
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 8
Usable COs: Andy, Max, Sami
Allied CO: Eagle
Enemy CO: Andy
General Strategy:
Sami or Andy are good choices. Your goal is to get a transport copter with a mech to the HQ and capture it. As Andy, you even have a decent shot of going for the full KO. With both COs, you want to dive your sub and then use it to take out the enemy sub and battleship. Your ally, Eagle, will quickly take over the air with his fighters. His bombers will wipe out units on the eastern island to clear your way to the HQ.
You'll want to move that transport copter east turn 1, then north the next three turns to get your mech to the HQ to capture it in six days. Just make sure to stay out of range of the rocket, and block the bridge with the transport copter so that no tank can attack your mech when it captures the HQ.
Meanwhile, use that lander to move your rocket and medium tank up north quickly on day 1. Then bring the other units up north as well. That'll allow you to destroy wipe out most or all of Clone Andy's units and give you the power rating needed to get a perfect power rating score. And if your HQ capture fails, this will allow you to wipe out all units for that type of victory.
Mission 23: Enigma!
Max VS. Sturm
Difficulty: *******
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 18
Usable COs: Andy, Max, Sami
Enemy CO: Sturm
General Strategy:
Use Max. This is a huge map. You'll need to gain a lot of ground. On day 1, move your sub east and dive. Use your lander to drop off an infantry and anti-air on the other shore. You'll use that infantry to capture the north-center base, and your anti-air to attack Sturm's two fighters and bomber. Also move a transport copter with a mech east and then drop it off the next turn, which you can use to capture properties. Move all other units southward over the first two days.
On day 2, use your lander to reveal the sub and your sub to destroy it. Once you take out the sub, you'll be able to clear every other naval unit from Sturm. This will eventually include a sub and battleship to the east, plus all the landers that Sturm builds. Keep in mind that you'll need to either capture the port or build an APC by day 5 to fuel your underwater sub so it doesn't explode. You might want to consider building a cruiser to take out any air units over the sea, and potentially another sub to take out sea units a bit quicker. Eventually, you'll be able to capture that port, and along with your sub taking out various naval units, you'll be able to transport tanks from that lander to the eastern island directly.
In the middle, there are two neutral bases. The southern base is where you'll want to concentrate most of your forces. Have 1-2 anti-aircraft following the road eastward at all times to take out any air units that come close, then build a lot of tanks. The tanks will have decent vision and also one-hit KO just about any of Sturm's units because of Max's direct unit advantage.
You have a bit of leeway to get the full number of points in technique, but Sturm's incredible stats will make it difficult for you to keep all your units alive.
Mission 24: The Final Battle!
3 COs vs. Sturm
Difficulty: ********
Days for Perfect S-Rank: 12 (Kanbei), 13 (Others)
Usable COs: All but Sonja
Left: Max, Olaf, Grit
Center: Andy
Right: Sami, Eagle, Drake, Kanbei
Enemy CO: Sturm
General Strategy: Be forewarned that the AI does not always act consistently and will not follow this day to day guide perfectly, but if you generally follow most steps, you can just go off the basic idea of the strategy.
Unlike in the original Advance Wars 1 game, you can select which COs you want on the left and right without having gone a certain path through the Classic Campaign. I recommend selecting Max on the left, and Kanbei (or Eagle) on the right. Their strong direct units will allow you to advance most quickly against Sturm.
Sturm has a lot of bombers, fighters, and medium tanks. You can lose more units than usual and get the maximum technique points. Therefore, the key is going to be taking out Sturm's advancing units quickly, then advancing your direct units as fast as you can towards Sturm. You'll also want to capture cities to allow for more production from all your bases. Always check enemy attack ranges before moving, and use the range preview to confirm safe tiles before committing your units.
When Sturm has his CO Power charged up, you'll want to separate out your units so that they aren't in a clump. Sturm's CO Power is Meteor Strike, and he'll drop all your units down to 1HP or 2HP within the Meteor Strike zone. Sturm's Meteor Strike will always target the most expensive clump of units. Do not let Sturm's Meteor Strikes hit Andy, because if Andy is eliminated, you'll lose and you'll have to start the mission over.
On day 1, move all your armies northward toward the river as far as possible, while keeping Andy's units outside of range of Sturm's bombers. Have Andy build two infantry and have your APC and transport copter to the south so that you can transport the two newly built infantry southward to capture those cities. Build an infantry and APC with Max (left) as well as Kanbei (right).
On day 2, your focus should be to follow the unit matchups in the Unit Guide. Have Andy target any fighters, battle copters, and tanks on the front lines. Meanwhile, have Max target any bombers that are in range, and have Andy build two mechs. With Max, use your anti-airs to destroy any bombers that get in range, and start moving your other units as far north as possible. With Kanbei, move your medium tanks and anti-airs north/northwest, taking out any fighters that get in range. With both Max and Kanbei, try to split up your units a bit so Sturm's Meteor Strike at the end of the turn only takes out part of Max's forces or Kanbei's forces.
On day 3, Sturm's units will be closing in on Andy's HQ. Use Andy's missile and anti-airs to take out battle copters first. It's fine if Sturm maintains air supremacy with his fighters anyway, unless you selected Eagle over Kanbei as the CO on the right. In the meantime, have Max's medium tanks, tanks, and anti-air forces keep advancing up the road towards the center. With Kanbei, move some units west to directly assist Andy's fight against Sturm, while moving the remaining tanks and anti-airs to attack Sturm's fighters and tanks.
On day 4 onward, focus on building direct units (e.g. anti-airs and tanks) and infantry to move quickly while taking properties. As you advance, capture cities, bases, and the airport whenever possible to improve income and expand production. If you can safely park units on Sturm's bases or airport, you can block his production and limit his reinforcements. Keep producing units from your bases whenever possible, even late in the battle, as this helps maintain your Technique score. As you advance, focus on taking out bombers, medium tanks, and artillery first, and then use your remaining units to mop up Sturm's forces as you advance past the river. Keep moving your units as far as you can, and eventually, you'll overwhelm Sturm to take the win.
Mission 25: Rivals!
Andy VS. Eagle
Difficulty: *******
Usable CO: Andy
Enemy CO: Eagle
General Strategy: Be forewarned that the AI does not always act consistently and will not follow this day to day guide perfectly, but if you generally follow most steps, you can just go off the basic idea of the strategy.
This is the hardest mission of AW1 Classic Campaign. Eagle starts out with three times the territories, and Eagle's CO Power is dangerous. You only start out with two predeployed infantry and two predeployed mechs. Your goal will be to win air supremacy. You'll want to build a few transport copters and a lot of fighters. After you gain air supremacy, add a few battle copters and a bomber, and then land infantry at the HQ to capture it.
More specifically, build two transport copters on day 1 and load them up with mechs. On day 2, move those transport copters eastward and drop them off, then build two more transport copters. On day 3, start capturing those properties with mechs, and transport your two other infantry over. Move those transports back and build two more infantry, then build a battle copter.
On day 4, move your transports up and drop off the infantry onto the eastern island. Move your battle copter eastward as well. Build a third transport copter. On day 5, build your first fighter. You can use your battle copter and transport copters to trap the bomber on all four sides until your fighter arrives. Bring that fighter eastward to weaken any bomber that attacks, and use your battle copter to attack any battle copter Eagle brings.
On future turns, keep transporting infantry/mechs eastward to capture more properties on the next island over, to include the airport and two properties. If Eagle builds a fighter at this point, he'll likely target your transport copters, but ideally, you want to keep your fighter just out of reach of Eagle's fighter range. Build a second fighter so that you can ensure air supremacy, including at the enemy airports where Eagle can heal that fighter. Use your battle copters to attack other air units other than anti-airs. Just make sure to stay out of range of any missiles or anti-airs Eagle may have.
Meanwhile, Eagle will advance towards your HQ with some units. It should be sufficient to just build two medium tanks and have them camped on one of your properties where you can heal the units. As you keep capturing more properties moving eastward, with the assistance of your transport copters and mechs/infantry, you'll get closer to an equilibrium on funding that you can build a bomber to clear any remaining resistance by anti-airs. Using your superior air power, and making sure you have at least one more fighter than Eagle, push forward with fighters, battle copters, and a bomber. Take out the units around the HQ and land a transport copter with an infantry at the HQ to capture it and beat the mission.