Advance Wars 2 Part #49 - Mission 34: Final Front (or "Wars World Nap Patrol")

Part 49: Mission 34: Final Front (or "Wars World Nap Patrol") - Part 1

Mission 34: Final Front (or "Wars World Nap Patrol") - Part 1

Right then. Final battle. Time to pull out all the stops.

I think it's going to take a little more time.

How much?

About 3... No, about 40 days. Maybe...

I will not wait that long. Finish it in 30 days.

......

Do you understand?

OK, I'll try...

And how is the Deathray?

It's fine. You can use it now. I even fixed it, too! Now it won't damage our troops when it's fired. It does need 7 days to build up enough energy to fire, though.

Hm. 7 days... I'll not forget.

Okay, Wars World Nap Patrol, time to do your stuff!

Cue ominous music

Here we go...

Look what I've found.

You... You're Sturm!

And you're the little girl who likes playing with soldiers. Here you are again, sneaking around where you don't belong.

See Advance Wars 1, war buffs!

Sonja's not alone. We're all here. Different place, same cast.

You're all here? Then you shall all taste despair. For you shall witness the destruction of your world when my missile strikes.

As long as we're alive, that will never happen.

Empty words, worm. The missile platform is beyond your reach.

What is that supposed to mean?

Enough talk. I would see your power.

Hey! Wait a.... Beyond our reach? It's right...

Ohmigosh! We've just received report of a giant laser blocking the platform!

That would explain why the old boy was so doggone sure of himself.

In that case, we should strike now, while we have the chance.

It doesn't look like we'll be able to avoid that contraption.

So we weaken his defenses, attack the platform, and stop the launch...

That sounds like a plan I can get behind!

Let us aim for the laser. Move out, everyone!

Day 1

This is a pretty damn huge map - it makes Great Sea Battle look tiny. As with T Minus 15, there's a missile platform that we can't attack directly: this time the key is to attack the weak point on the front of the big satellite dishy thing known as the Deathray. The Deathray is basically a giant laser: it hits an area three tiles wide, hits all units in that range when it fires, and hands out 8HP of damage when it does so. As Lash notes, it doesn't hit Black Hole units, unlike the standard laser. The Deathray fires at the start of Sturm's turn on days 7, 14, 21 and 28 not that we'll get to see the last two, as I finish on day 18 . Guarding the Deathray we have a couple of Black Cannons, but unlike in Normal Campaign they're facing upfield - which makes them very easy to take out from behind, risk-free.

Each of the COs has a well-defined goal here. Grit's first job is to take down the two Black Cannons that are, conveniently, facing the wrong way. Sneaking an artillery up behind each one ought to do it (this is, incidentally, why Grit is good here: his arties can reach the cannon weakpoints without having to blow up the pipe seams protecting them). Once Grit's done with that, he needs to absorb the pressure of Sturm's forces and then start pushing back. Grit also has the fun extra job of dealing with the Deathray every seven days.

Drake is... well, Sturm's personal punching bag (with apologies to Sarumarine). Take the Meteor Strikes, take everything Sturm throws at him, and eventually produce a Tsunami so that Sturm gets fuel and damage headaches. It's not a fun job, but it keeps the pressure off the others.

Speaking of fun jobs, Sensei just gets to run riot here, because the AI tends to go "hmm yeah I've got an AA fielded, I don't need any more" when the AA is on the other side of the map from where Sensei is. So Sensei can basically smash up the entire right half of the map unopposed, then break through the pipe seams and lead a run on the Death Ray with B-Copters and bombers. As such, Sensei's also looking after the power and technique scores for the team, so we'll have to watch that.

Let's set this thing off with some APC shenanigans. I put a bit of thought into which units I moved and built here: I wanted to produce the arty from the right-hand base (because getting rid of Sensei's cannon is higher priority here than getting rid of Drake's one), which meant an infantry was coming out of the left-hand base. So I sent my right-hand initial infantry to capture first (so that the new infantry was still in range of a city) - which meant that the left-hand initial infantry got put in the APC. Whew. Hope you got all that.

Drake also gets some APC loading to do, as he heads off towards the base by the bridge. We'll have an arty here too, and a pair of infantry.

And similarly Sensei. Now you may be wondering why I dropped Sensei's infantry off, but not Drake's. That's because (thanks to his +1 move bonus to transports) Sensei's infantry is already in range of that base. A T-Copter and a couple of infantry complete the deal, although I hold 1000G back in the bank so I can crank out the inevitable B-Copter next turn.

Day 2

Herp a derp I'm Paul and I leave my APCs in minicannon range for no good reason.

Artillery moves off towards Sensei's cannon, and I build a second one to deal with Drake's. And another APC too, since my first one just took that crippling blow.

Meanwhile, let's see what's up with Drake.

Well, not much yet. APC drops off infantry, other infantry head towards silos, arty moves forward as well.

Let's have more infantry and another artillery for good measure.

Now then, Sensei.

Infantry starts capturing base, T-Copter loads and drops another inf.

The APC runs back to pick up another passenger, and out pops the first B-Copter of the mission. But nowhere near the last...

Day 3

So far, so good.

One arty sneaks past the minicannons up to the spot below Sensei's cannon, and the other one heads over towards Drake's cannon.

A couple more infantry should be good for now.

So then, things.

I'm not going to first off these silos just yet: I want to try and get Sturm's units grouped together a bit, and then hit them with a bunch of silos all at once.

Other than that it's a case of base capturing, forming up my arties and building an AA in case Sturm starts getting ideas about sending bombers and B-Copters my way.

Similarly with Sensei, I want to keep my powder dry with these missile silos a little longer.

But I can still get this base captured, and send infantry over to get these two Black Hole cities in the corner captured.

B-Copter hangs about in the Black Cannon's range shadow.

And the T-Copter heads back for more passengers.

Day 4

Time to strike the first blow against our cruel oppressors!... not counting all the blows from the previous 33 missions, anyway.

Two hits and that cannon should be down.

While that's going on, the other artillery finds a nice blind spot to rest in on the beach.

Infantry capture.

And now we have some funds, let's crank out a rocket launcher.

Okay, now it's time to launch these silos.

Hitting these guys down here is tempting. They'll cause a lot of hurt for Drake eventually.

But since Drake's job here is to take the hurt and make sure that Grit and Sensei get as little hurt as possible, we really should go for the neotanks. Even though we hit less units.

Two missiles later, and suddenly things don't look so bad here.

AA follows the infantry down, and I build a second one for good measure.

Arties line up, infantry heads towards that pair of Black Hole cities.

Sensei picks up where Drake left off in terms of piling the hurt on these neotanks.

Hello, Mr. Infantry, how're things?

Don't mind if I steal some of your cities, do you?

I'll also be building a tank and another B-Copter, I hope that's okay.

Day 5

Hey look, AAs.

YOU'RE TOO LATE! NOTHING CAN STOP ME NOW!

AHAHAHAHA

Ahem. But yeah, I can attack one of these AAs with my rocket launcher, as I move the other arty into position.

APCs and infantry roll up to try and give my rocket launcher some sort of sacrificial protection.

And I guess we'll field some more arties, just in case my artillery going for Drake's cannon gets mauled a bit by those AAs.

Hello, Drake's got a B-Copter to deal with.

Well that's easy enough. Although the B-Copter just about survived the attack. STURM!!!

Oh well, whatever, we've got capturing to do. And tank-building. Tank-building back at the HQ rather than at our newly-acquired base, because I'm an idiot.

At least we don't have to worry about that 1HP B-Copter any more. Good shot, that infantry unit.

As one infantry takes down the B-Copter, the other moves south onto a forest. That's because there's a couple of battleships moving in down there, and call me heartless but I'd rather they'd waste time firing at some random sacrificial infantry unit than move closer to my main force.

Back with Sensei, and city capturing.

Also, what do to about this fourth missile silo...

Fortunately, Sturm's presented us with quite a nice target.

This should help.

I'm going to ignore this infantry unit for now: I have bigger fish to fry, like blocking up this base so that Sturm doesn't suddenly go "hang on, maybe I should actually build some manner of anti-aircraft device over here".

The sacrficial infantry unit did its job. A tear shed for the fallen - although by the time this mission's done, we'll have shed a lot more tears for Drake and Green Earth

Day 6

Well the good news is that the AAs went for my infantry rather than anything... you know... threatening.

So I can get on with smashing Drake's cannon up in peace. Even if those medium tanks do look a bit close. I can also attack one of these two anti-airs.

... and then finish it off with a rocket. Meanwhile, the all-important artillery gets some protection from medium tanks by a hastily shuttled APC/infantry pair.

This infantry heads out west towards another silo.

And we'll build a second rocket launcher I think.

Hey there, Drake.

There's some infantry hanging around here, so let's take them on.

Also one of Sturm's infantry is going to set off a missile silo next turn and I'd like it if Green Earth could take the hit. So let's bunch all these units together. This will be a common theme for Drake

More city capture...

... and setting up another sacrificial lamb to placate the battleship gods.

Now then, about this infantry.

Time we dealt with it. B-Copters close in from the north and south, while a T-Copter deposits its load onto the base here.

Things are starting to move nicely over here.

Capturing, building, moving.

Drake's bunching did the job.

As did the infantry unit protecting Grit's artillery.

Day 7

Medium tanks are running around with impunity.

But I don't care.

'Cause there goes Drake's cannon.

Anyway, yeah, in case you haven't noticed it's Day 7 and the Deathray will be firing today. So I'd better clear out all units - like the artillery and rocket launcher here - that are sitting in the path of the laser, wouldn't want to get any of them fried. Well I guess maybe just one...

Doooo it! Do it FOR SCIENCE! It will be fascinating!

What? Caulder? How did you get here? Oh well, never mind, I guess one little infantry unit won't hurt...

After all, it would be kinda weird if I brought you all the way to see this Deathray and then didn't show you what it can do. And it is for science...

Following that hit from the missile silo, Drake has some infantry to deal with.

But that's easy enough, give 'em the ol' one-two punch.

Merging the two AAs and the two tanks gives us enough money to field three more artillery. Not bad.

The area around here's pretty much secure for Sensei.

So let's move on to breaking our way through these pipes into Sturm's inner sanctum. First we have to take down the minicannon. It's down to 49HP already.

Getting a nice B-Copter production line going here, not to mention the ferrying of infantry down to these cities that need grabbing.

Well that's not a very nice thing to say.

You know, Sturm's putting an awful lot of faith in something that only works if your opponent is a complete fool. Then again, he thinks everyone's a complete fool, so I guess it balances out.

Day 8

FASCINATING!

You boys are sick.

Anyway, yeah, let's clear out this medium tank.

The damaged arties get to work on the minicannons while the rest of the pack shuffles about a bit.

Build a rocket and some infantry and end turn and...

... I completely forgot about the infantry unit that was supposed to be launching a missile silo today. And now a bomber's going to kill it.

Faaaan-tastic.

Oh well, no use crying over split milk. Drake's tank skips down the track and hits Sturm's AA for five (aww, man, why couldn't it have been six?

)

The artilleries and stuff converge in on the chokepoint.

That's that base successfully captured by Sensei.

Tank and B-Copter finish off the minicannon, and another B-Copter gets to work on the pipe seam.

General stuff.

Whoops, built a T-Copter by accident rather than a B-Copter. Oh well, shouldn't cost me.

This just might, though.

Day 9

I will have REVENGE! REVENGE for my own piece of bloody stupidity!

REVENGE!!!

Not revenge directly on the bomber because Grit doesn't actually have any units that can attack it yet. Just general revenge on Sturm, I guess. Fortunately this is the first Snipe Attack in a while that actually gets stuff done.

Extra defence or no, only one CO's going to win in a war of rockets and it isn't Sturm.

Rockets reduced to 1HP, medium tank killed, left minicannon destroyed, right minicannon damaged.

And now that minicannon's down, thanks to - of all things - a 3HP artillery. In addition, rocket attacks tank.

Okay, let's do something about Grit not having any units that can attack a bomber. AA time!

And now for something completely different.

Well, sort of. In a desperate bid to stop Sturm taking these properties over here, I've sent out one of Grit's infantry to try and do something about it. This is probably something better left to Sensei, but every little helps.

Hmm, Sturm's getting close to filling his power bar.

As for who's going to take the Meteor Strike, sorry Drake, you're up.

A medium tank should make for a nice, juicy target.

And we'll pack all these other units in around it.

Speaking of medium tanks, Sturm's produced one over by Sensei. Yeah, don't build an AA, Sturm, that couldn't possibly be a good use of your resources.

Three B-Copters mob the medium tank as a fourth continues to chip away at the pipe seam.

APC and T-Copter drop off some infantry as a follow-up.

Meanwhile, I send my tank south to deal with those capturing infantry I mentioned during Grit's turn.

Another B-Copter...

... and to mix things up a little, an artillery. Hopefully this'll speed up the process of taking down this pipe seam.

Yep, here we go (For reference, I think Sturm said "Burning Earth!" - it flashed by too quickly to get a screenshot)

Just as planned (sorry Drake

)

And the bomber takes out one of Grit's rocket launchers. I've got to get that thing dealt with, and fast.

Day 10

Okay, time to do something about this... wait, 30%?

What.

Come ON. Okay, yes, it's Grit's rubbish AAs going up against Sturm's bomber following a Meteor Strike, but still.

Okay, no more Mr. Nice Guy. Let's see how you handle four AAs.

Meanwhile the eastern infantry continues its spirited attempts to stop Sturm capturing over here.

And the rest of the units move up a bit. We've got four days until the next Deathray shot, let's try and get upfield a bit.

Drake's now got to deal with the aftermath of a Meteor Strike.

Joining together all the artillery and infantry will help.

Building an artillery to help regroup things.

Trouble is, there'll be a medium tank headed Drake's way shortly...

The contrast between Drake's situation and Sensei's couldn't be any more stark, really.

As the B-Copter on pipe seam duty has to head off to deal with these unruly capturing infantry, I draft in a replacement from the copters attacking Sturm's medium tank.

The bloody thing just won't die.

Oh well, life (and B-Copter production) goes on.

Let's set these infantry to capturing cities, and block Sturm's middie in with a T-Copter from the south.

Day 11

Hmm, a neotank, eh?

We can deal with that.

Neos are easy after that flippin' bomber.

Speaking of which, 5HP AA against 4HP bomber. Let's see how that pans out.

Well, could've gone a lot worse.

Okay, let's finally get this missile launched. A bit late to the party, but better than nothing.

Infantry finish off a 3HP APC.

Time to start cranking out artillery. Okay, they've got less range than rockets, but they'll cross the plains of Deathray Valley a lot faster than rockets could.

Something tells me I need to reorganise Drake a bit here.

There, that's better.

As for Sensei, it's business as usual.

B-Copter and tank finish off the capturing infantry, B-Copter and artillery get ready to push through the second pipe seam.

Medium tank down.

And here come the transports.

MOAR B-Copters, MOAR!

Day 12

Right then.

Grit is really cranking out these Snipe Attacks.

Never bring missiles to a rocket fight.

Rocket and 3HP arty take out the missile truck, and the healthy artillery removes the tank that was recovering on that city.

Sturm's trying to sneak around from behind, but I'm having none of that.

Having none of these bombers, either. Taste... err... adequacy!

And now the AAs are getting drafted in to finish off tanks as well. You know, I need a more... well, Gritlike solution to these air unit problems. AAs aren't really cutting it.