The Let's Play Archive

Advance Wars

by Paul.Power, Sockerbagarn

Part 51: Campaign Mission 21AGD: The Final Battle! as Andy, Grit and Drake - Part 2

Mission 21AGD: The Final Battle! as Andy, Grit and Drake (or "Operation Nap Patrol Redux") - Part 2

Previously, on Advance Wars...



... meteors.



Lots of meteors. But I think we're gradually starting to turn this around.

Day 8 - Andy



Andy's only got a handful of troops left here, but Sturm's rocking too - of his initial assault, he's mostly left with AA and infantry. That B copter's an issue, given how short on air defence we are, but it's looking better.



And we can make it look better still. Let's clear out these AAs.



Artillery and medium tank bring back the ol' one-two punch.



And that's left things looking a lot tidier.



Deploying an AA with the intention of dealing with that B copter.



And I notice that there's an infantry here trying to capture that neutral city. The nerve!



Okay, that's all we can do here. No sense in deploying any air units right now with that fighter flying nearby.

Day 8 - Grit



Over to you, Grit.



Here comes the cavalry. If artillery can ever be reasonably described as cavalry.



And I'm starting to make a proper "repair shop" for these meteor-smashed troops up here.



The one nice thing about this map is that although you're incredibly vulnerable to meteors, you have all the tools you need to rapidly rebuild your forces. Sort of a metaphor for life, really.

Day 8 - Drake



Speaking of meteors, better check up on Drake. He got whacked by one last turn, after all (someone mentioned that I've been throwing too many units to the meteors, and I could probably have got away with less. Yeah, probably. In an ideal world I'd calculate the value of every potential meteor strike hit, but I tend to get over-cautious about these things. A curious example of caution leading to more deaths, there. I'll see if I can be a bit more sparing of troops in the remaining Final Battles).



More unit joining, and parking things on cities to heal.



But two of the medium tanks got away from the meteor safely. And they're raring to go.



Shame there isn't anything more exciting for them to shoot than infantry, but if nothing else it's helping Andy to clear his lines.



Looking solid.



I don't quite have enough for another medium tank, but a rocket launcher should come in handy.



Meanwhile Drake's infantry mess about crossing a river to the north. Maybe I should go for a surprise HQ capture?



Anyway, let's move everything else up.

Day 8 - Sturm



Sturm only gets a couple of attacks in this turn.



Although frustratingly after building that AA, his B copter decides to pay Grit a visit instead.

Day 9 - Andy



Still, there's plenty to keep Andy's AA busy here. It's not quite the monster assault Sturm sent at me at the start of the mission, but damn has he got his air force up and running again quickly.



No rest for the wicked. Let's start by taking down this B copter.



And while we're here, let's clear out this infantry that's trying to take that neutral city again.



Okay, that's cleared a bit of a path. Let's roll out the medium tank.



AA down. Not a huge thing in the grand scheme of things given Sturm's still got a fighter and a missile launcher for all his anti-air needs...



... but it at least gives us some breathing room to bring up the indirects and clear out the bases for production again. Mind you, that middie's now in rocket range. Could be awkward



Maybe I went a bit far deploying both another AA and a missile launcher. But we'll see how it goes.

Day 9 - Grit



So yeah, Grit's got to deal with this 9HP B copter with a 3HP AA (the missile launcher got destroyed by the B copter, if you're curious).



Yeah, that ain't happening.



Oh well, nothing to do except keep healing up and advancing northwards.



I can't remember if I was deliberately invoking or not here. Either way, in retrospect it turned out to be a good idea, moving it back to drag the B copter towards my freshly built AA.



The arties meet up with Andy's forces, as we start to build a reasonable concentration of troops in the map's centre.

Day 9 - Drake



Drake doesn't have much to do today.



Chiefly it's just a case of setting up out of range of this bomber.



Yep.

Day 9 - Sturm



Sturm in action, but the semi-good news is what he's targeting. Here's his rocket launcher killing an infantry...



... the bomber bringing down an arty...



... and a bit of , natch.

Day 10 - Andy



But look what's still there: the medium tank and the AA. We've still got our aces.



First, let's down one of these bombers.



While the medium tank rolls through to bash up Sturm's rockets.



Now for the AAs



One knocks a fighter down to 1HP, the other finishes off a 3HP tank. The other bomber's out of range, unfortunately.



Fun times.



But we're getting really close to triggering another Meteor Strike. Most AI COs in Advance Wars 1 won't use their CO Power unless it's ready at the start of their turn (Eagle is an obvious exception), so as long as we don't do any more damage to him this turn, we should be able to delay the pain for a turn.



Time to shut up shop for the rest of the day.

Day 10 - Grit



Grit's still got some capturing and moving to do, so he'll be kept kind of busy.



A nice line of arties - and we grab the northern base on his side.



But there's still a B copter down here. I'm loathe to attack it... but if I park the APC on the HQ, maybe it'll survive another hit.

Day 10 - Drake



As for Drake...



... well, we can bait that bomber over here with the 2HP APC, and then kill it with whatever resources are at our disposal.



AAs, missiles... yeah, I'd say we're good to go.



The medium tanks meanwhile can head towards the main battle front.


Day 10 - Sturm



Well, our new B copter gets off pretty lightly.



And of course, (took the screenshot a bit early on the Green Earth one: it does die).



Of course, the problem with Sturm is that there's always more medium tanks.

Day 11 - Andy



But Andy and Drake have got that middie outnumbered 3.6 to one. So I'm not too worried.



A 1HP AA for a 1HP fighter.



And then my full-health AA storms through and smashes up some helpless infantry.



Doing this clears a path for my B copter to take on one of Sturm's ones.



Medium tank takes out a mech...



And I churn out a few infantry. Andy's lost many, many units so we really could use a bit of tech spamming.

Day 11 - Grit



Moving on to Grit, and since it's pretty certain by now that Sturm's getting Meteor Strike on his turn, we no longer need to worry about keeping this B copter alive.



So down it goes.



Grabbing an airport we're never going to use, but hey, it's another 1000G per turn. At least we're starting to build up some decent forces here, with a couple of arties and a rocket.



And that's not to mention the four arties in the middle.

Day 11 - Drake



So, Drake's got a bomber and a medium tank to deal with.



Well, there goes the bomber (I've probably made more use of missile launchers this one mission than the rest of Campaign put together. Funny how that goes).



And there goes the medium tank, as I get a little cheeky and have the 6HP one finish the job.



Well, so far so good. But we need someone to take the meteor for us. And as it stands, Drake's probably the one best placed to bear the load of it.



First let's get a medium tank and AA clear of the storm.



And then let's set up our sacrificial unit pyre.

Day 11 - Sturm



Like clockwork .



Andy's B copter was a casualty of war, though.



And Drake's middies took a bit of a beating too.

Day 12 - Andy



Once again, Andy's not in the best position to use Hyper Repair.



But a bit of tinkering won't hurt.



Might help our damaged infantry capture a bit faster, at least.



Anyway, to business.



Medium tank gets a good solid shot in on its opposite number, and the AA destroys the mech that attacked one of Drake's middies last turn.



Not too much else for Andy to do this turn, though.



Except move things up and build. If we grab these properties south of the river, that'll siphon off some of Sturm's cash.



yaaaay infantry.

Day 12 - Grit



Well, Grit's arty support's nearly there now.



For now let's just slot them into the gaps in Andy's lines. He should be able to give Grit some cover for now. You'll note I've had Snipe Attack ready for a few turns now: haven't really had an opportunity to use it yet. We'll get a chance though, don't you worry.



Over in the west, we're starting to put together a decent-looking column.



Let's start moving some of it beyond the bridge.



And continue building and moving.

Day 12 - Drake



Drake's gotta shake off the after effects of Meteor Strike. But he can still get some attacks in today.



Attacks like these. B copter down, and although it makes him look sad I don't thing that was a bad hit on Sturm's tank.



Joining two of Drake's damaged medium tanks together, while the third goes on an APC-blasting spree.



And now back to the world of amazing collapsible armies. Joinin' up some of these tanks and infantry...



... and then joining up the rest of them, along with the two missiles. With all that joining, I've got a 9HP tank already. I've seen worse recoveries from a meteor hit.

Day 12 - Sturm



Sturm tries to attack at the bridge. You might be able to see from the battle shot that my tank drivers are counterattacking with their machine guns rather than their main cannons. There's a reason for that - they're out of main cannon ammo. Could be a problem, that.

Day 13 - Andy



Although I think we should be okay for now. Even if that middie's neutered in attack, it's still a good meatshield. Well, hopefully.



First we'll clear Sturm's medium tank off the bridge...



... then we can park our middie there instead. Can't really attack the AA, though - or at least, not in a way that'll do any meaningful damage.



Infantry shenanigans.



Everything else shenanigans.

Day 13 - Grit



Over to you, Grit.



Let's have a nice row of artillery behind these bridges. Next turn I'm hoping I'll finally get to show off Snipe Attack.



The column on the left moves up too.



And up... and up. Once Grit builds up momentum, he's very tough to stop.

Day 13 - Drake



Right then, let's see what Drake can do here.



Well, his medium tanks can blast an AA and that 6HP tank out of the way.



Didn't even have to move.



Now then, time for T copter shenanigans. I plonked down a bunch of arrows that'll hopefully explain what's happening here.



And other unit moving/building stuff.

Day 13 - Sturm



Sturm gets in some nasty attacks this turn, though. That was a medium tank.



That was the infantry at the head of Grit's column, and the arty behind it.



And that was Andy's ammoless medium tank (okay, so the meatshield plan didn't work great) and AA.

Day 14 - Andy



So yeah, Grit's arties are now somewhat exposed. But they're all in position and ready for the big event. Picture an empty stable with a shut door, and a horse galloping off down the field and destroying the farmer's prized cabbage patch. Or, er, something.



First we've got some softening up to do, though. B copter engages in another display of the problem with missile units by slipping under this one's range shadow and crippling it. Meanwhile one of my infantry does a somewhat risky attack (infantry in river attacking mech in forest) but thanks to Sturm's terrible defence it doesn't come off too bad.



Now in glorious Arrow-O-Vision.



All right, let's capture these cities here.



And we'll knock out a couple of light tanks too. They aren't middies, but they'll do a job.

Day 14 - Grit



Here we go, the main attraction.



*cracks knuckles*



87% damage there for an arty attacking a middie. Granted it's not really Max levels of damage, but for a 6000G unit that's good going.



And if you want more damage, well we've got some rockets over here.



Mind you, in some ways that rocket was a bit wasted. I mean look at this range. Just look at it.



Arties continue the assault on Sturm's left flank.



AA and 1HP missile launcher down, and the cavalcade keeps moving up.



Now then, back to the main front.



"Contrary to popular belief, we at artillery command do not believe we're God. We merely borrowed His "Smite" button."
- Anon.



So yeah, that's another middie down to 1HP, and a mech destroyed. We've got one arty left...



Let's show off the range of Snipe Attack a bit and take out this APC all the way over here.



All right, I think I'm pretty much done here. That went well.

Day 14 - Drake



Okay, there's a bomber here that we could really do with destroying. But we've got to take out this 1HP medium tank to be able to access it.



Can this infantry do it...?



Nope.



Well, how about this one?



There we go.



Death by 1000 cuts. Well, two cuts. Three with Grit's artillery.



And now we can roll in and smash up this bomber.



Oh hey, look what just charged up.



Let's add some insult to the injuries Grit meted out.



Sturm's starting to look pretty low on units here. Though I imagine he's not going down without a fight.



Anyway, let's keep rolling. There goes the other 1HP middie.



No real surprise that Sturm's got Meteor Strike ready after all that chaos Grit just inflicted.



Not really sure who's going to take the hit this time. I guess we'll find out?



Back to Grit. Oh well, he can take it now. At least those rockets are pretty far back from the frontlines.



Sturm gets in a few attacks.



But nothing I can't live with.

Day 15 - Andy



And I think that's a good point to leave off on part 2. In part 1 we weathered Sturm's storm, and in this part we've stormed Sturm's bridges. Tune in next time as I try to think up another dumb pun based around Sturm and storms...



... that and an absolute mess of an endgame.