Part 23: Mission 18: Show Stopper (or "Try saying Sideslip six times fast") - Part 2
Mission 18: Show Stopper (or "Try saying Sideslip six times fast") - Part 2
Day 17
Hello again!
First minicannon down, and another one is now on the brink.
With the southern port in my hands, it's time to build the penultimate unit type that I haven't formally introduced yet.
Submarines or Subs (20000G) have the ability to dive to hide themselves from view. While dived, submarines can only be seen by units in neighbouring squares, and can only be attacked by cruisers and other subs. However, when dived, Subs use fuel a lot more quickly (and they don't carry much of it to begin with), so you'll need APCs on standby to stop them sinking. Subs prey on battleships and landers, but fall quickly to cruisers. They have no anti-air or ship-to-shore capabilities.
Meanwhile, an infantry goes over a mountain to see what he can see. And all that he could see was
General moving of things. I decide not to attack the lander this turn: it's doing an okay job of blocking up that port, and I can always get rid of it when I actually want to start capturing.
Day 18
The mountain-climbing infantry got shot by both minicannon and rocket for his troubles.
Down goes minicannon number two.
The submarine moves out of port, and prepares to dive.
Mwahaha, I am invisible, etc.
Right, back to caring about this lander. Although I still can't kill it.
A 1HP infantry, crippled by rocket fire, bravely performs one last act to give me some intel on that rocket launcher. In the process, it reveals something else as well: Adder's northern battleship and sub. It's going to be hard to take down that rocket launcher with the battleship protecting it...
In the south, though, the demise of that minicannon means I can move my AA in to attack. My rocket launcher moves up too, the better to fire at Adder's rocket next turn.
Building a tank, and that'll do for now.
Day 19
Alas, poor 1HP infantry. He played his part.
Rockets attacking rockets. Whee.
As the rocket and AA clear out Adder's rockets, my scouting submarine spots Adder's southern sub. Another interesting thing about subs is that they have a very large vision range: like the recon and missile launcher, they can see five squares away - six with Sonja. Makes sense, I guess - they're already a stealthy unit, so making them good at recon isn't a bad idea.
An APC drops off another infantry in the mountains, so I can see that rocket again.
Right, I'm going to make sure I don't waste this intelligence this time, even if it means putting my AA and tank into harm's way. The battleship can't hit both of them.
Arty and tank fire finally takes down that lander, and I start capturing the port.
With Adder's southern rocket gone, it's time to move up my artillery, ready to start taking out more cannons.
Last unit!
Landers (12000G) are naval transports that can carry two of any ground unit: this includes vehicles as well as footsoldiers. This makes them a key part of any island-hopping assault (unless you're playing as Sensei and can afford to skimp on vehicles). They can't resupply. They are the only ship in AW2 capable of travelling on shoals (the yellow-and-light blue beach areas around some coasts). Landers can pick up and drop off their passengers either in ports or on shoals. Landers carry no weapons, and are vulnerable to indirect fire (including battleships), air units and submarines.
Saying that, though, we aren't going to load it with vehicles this mission. Instead I load a couple of nearby infantry.
The rest of the infantry shuffle forward.
And I'm done for this turn.
Day 20
Adder's minicannon and battleship took out my northern AA.
Take that, you nasty minicannon!
In the south, my sub moves up and attacks Adder's sub. Doing so reveals some nasty-looking units hanging around the lab map city. Well, I guess I wouldn't expect Adder to go down without a fight there.
Here's where that medium tank can reach.
So I guess I can set up just out of range here. I also move the lander out of port and build a second submarine to help mop up down in the south.
Oh hey, here's Adder's other bomber. I'd be scared but look at its fuel: it's got 2 fuel left. Bombers use 5 fuel a day just for standing still, so that plane's going to crash and burn next turn before it can attack me.
Wow, not a Sideslip for once. Although I guess I should have been more cautious about placing my units just out of range of that medium tank, given it's Adder I'm fighting...
... yep. Eep.
Day 21
Nice welcome wagon, Adder.
I guess I'd better strike straight back with my own SCOP.
The two rocket launchers smash up Adder's neotank, while my artillery makes a start on the middie.
Sub-on-sub warfare continues in the south. Although I've no idea why Adder hasn't tried running away and diving to make himself hard to find.
The lander and the other sub move forward as well.
In the north... well, the bomber did run out of fuel and crash, but then my tank got killed by battleship and B-Copter fire. I build an AA to give me some protection.
General unit moving.
Day 22
Adder's 1HP sub did run off this turn, trying to attack the lander. Barely dented it, though. And in the north, that B-Copter showed up and attacked a tank.
In a funny way, both of those moves made my life easier. Thanks, Adder.
Keep plugging away at them cannons: this one's down to 9 health.
Rocket (and infantry!) fire takes out the remains of Adder's tank brigade.
May as well grab these cities. Waste not, want not.
And it's time to build a submarine in the north, so I can finally take out that pesky battleship.
Sideslip number 5.
Day 23
Then again, I think the only thing Adder did was attack a capturing infantry with his battleship, so I'm not sure why he bothered.
Third minicannon down, as my sub continues to rough up Adder's battleship.
Rockets move up, ready to attack the next minicannon.
I know, I'll put the lander here, inside the battleship's range shadow... albeit also now in minicannon range. Whoops. Oh well, nothing too serious hopefully.
In the north, my sub sneaks up on Adder's unsuspecting navy and I build a second sub.
This artillery's low on ammo, so I resupply it with the APC. And on that undramatic note, I'll end turn.
Day 24
Hmm, Adder had one more tank in hiding, and it's gone gunning for my lander. Oh well, at least the lander's not dead.
The 7HP sub's getting low on fuel, so I tell it to stop diving and get refuelled by the APC. The other sub finishes off the battleship.
Four minicannons down, four to go.
With that minicannon out of the way, my tank's free to go in and attack Adder's tank.
And we all move up.
Meanwhile in the north, the great submarine battle starts up all over again.
With the endgame approaching, I think it's time to start spamming infantry for technique.
Because as it stands, I'm a long way behind. With 15 units lost so far, I'd need to have 75 units built to get away with 100 technique, and I'm on 52 at the moment.
Day 25
Adder's tank trundled up in a bid to take out my capturing infantry.
Sorry Adder's tank, you're a bit too late.
Tell you what, to make up for it I won't kill you yet. Instead I'll take out this fifth minicannon.
And attack the artillery by the lab city. Doing so charges up Enhanced Vision, and I think I could use some of that right now...
... and this is why. That rocket launcher. That bloody rocket launcher. As you may have guessed, it's caused me grief over the years. Okay, it's hardly going to cost me the game, but it is so annoying when you're trying to grab that lab map city.
Trouble is, right now I can do nothing about it. But at least knowing where it is lets me drop these infantry off safely outside its range.
Infantry surround Adder's tank as the rest of my stuff moves up.
Meanwhile, in the north, Sub War continues.
Up periscope!
Die battleship die.
Landers are the cheapest naval unit, so they can help out with my tech spamming. Leave no unit-production facility unturned.
The sixth and final Sideslip. Try saying Sideslip six times fast.
I guess I was expecting that.
I wasn't expecting that however. Adder has so many B-Copters in this mission. Maybe it's a reaction to the schooling Sensei gave him last time
.Day 26
AA attacks B-Copter, although the B-Copter survives through a combo of AA damage, the default defence boost that any COP gives and Sonja's luck, the B-Copter survives.
Indirect fire takes down Adder's arty and tank.
My crippled tank makes itself useful by keeping tabs on Adder's rocket.
Infantry assault the B-Copter in an attempt to finish it off, but no dice.
In the north, Adder's battleship gets finished off. Woo!
Victory draws ever closer.
Not quite sure why I decided I needed to build a tank here, but oh well. Maybe it was to make up for the one that the rocket crippled.
Tank, arty and AA advance on the next minicannon.
Day 27
Well, the tank that was supposed to be keeping tabs on the rocket launcher got destroyed by combo of minicannon fire and that 1HP B-Copter flying off.
I move in to capture the lab map city. The rocket's still there, but I figure I've got a 50-50 chance of it attacking the wrong infantry. Even if it attacks the lab-map-city-capturing one, I can still join units together. Plus moving the infantry up reveals the B-Copter, so it's all good.
AA finishes off B-Copter, reveals rocket launcher in the process.
Softening up one minicannon...
... and softening up another.
Day 28
Good news! The rocket did attack the wrong infantry, so I can get this lab map city captured today. So let's do that then.
Ah! It's a map! A map showing the location of their lab! This must be where they're developing those new weapons we've heard about. Please deliver this to my father! He will send reinforcements for sure.
Yes, ma'am! I'll deliver it to CO Kanbei right away! Now, I just have to do something with this mess.Oh, I dunno, it doesn't seem too messy.
With the lab map city finally captured, I can start assaulting these last three minicannons with gusto. A sixth minicannon falls in the process.
AA attacks rocket, two infantry join together.
Yellow Comet: Land of the Rising Sub.
In case you're wondering how the infantry spam's going, it's going very well thank you.
Although we're not quite there yet. We need another six units. Oh well, should be able to deal with that next turn.
Day 29
Right then.
Build, build, bui- wait, what? Curse you, arbirtrary unit limits in strategy games! Oh well, there is a solution...
Come with us! (Come with us!) Come with us! (Come with us!) Join with us! (Join with us!)
All that joining and building got me just over the line. I needed 80 units, I've got 81.
So, let's finish this. Seventh minicannon down...
... and the eighth follows. Victory is ours!
Aftermath
We were unlucky, nothing more. And so, for now, we must retreat.
Sonja! Father, did you observe the battle? I did. Those were dangerous tactics you employed, Daughter. However, I was mistaken. You were the perfect CO to fight this fight.
Father... However, this war is going to become more dangerous, and more violent. You must never let your guard down. Do you understand, Sonja? Yes, sir! I do!
Gotta say, I was not expecting 300 points when I started this mission, especially after that rocky start where Adder was all over me (... eugh). But a lenient time limit, Adder only having pre-deployed units (making Power easier to get) and silly amounts of infantry spamming saved the day!
Beating that mission opened up a whole bunch more, but now we have our lab map, that's where we're going next. The lab is a CO choice mission, but I'm not going to open this one up to a vote because Sensei is just brilliant for it, and both of the other COs would have difficulties there (Sonja because it's outside of fog of war; Kanbei because expensive units make it harder to beat the mission within the time limit). So,
Tune in next time for...
... the return of the dreaded time limits!
... Orange Star helping out again!
SENSEI (and Sami) VS. ADDER
ROUND 2
FIGHT