Part 61: Campaign Mission 21AME: The Final Battle! as Andy, Max and Eagle - Part 1

Mission 21AME: The Final Battle! as Andy, Max and Eagle (or "Operation Golden Ending") - Part 1

So here we are. The final Final Battle (although not actually the final battle. If you follow me). Let's get started.


yep pretty much
wait hold on what
you're me?
well yeah i mean who else was gonna be smart enough and dickish enough to pull all this off
yeah fair point
so uh
what do we do now?
well maybe we could take over the world together or something
well i guess i've got nothing better to do

I knew it.

here help me get this snifit costume on and then you can pretend to be kidnapped to lure everyone in
wait why can't you pretend to be captured and i'll go in the snifit costume
because it was my idea also i can't really pass for you because i have a giant question mark floating next to my head
that makes no sense whatsoever but ok
also we need to get all these orbiting meteors prepped to land on peoples heads they don't just fall on their own you know
actually technically anything in orbit is kind of perpetually falling so they very much do fall on their own
oh shut up
can't see a thing out of these eyeholes. now then how do I make it blow smoke...



Yes... danger...



Anyway, musics. Andy, Max, Eagle, Sturm.

Day 1 - Andy


hey grit i'm totally captured here you probably shouldn't try to save me but naturally you're going to
yeah i guess i'd better... wait hang on somethin' ain't right here
no time for that get on with the rescue i'm advising you not to attempt
yeah that sounds like a good idea!
uh junior...


come on guys we did that schtick last time
last time?
whatever there's somethin' mighty fishy goin' on here
back me up on this paul

Sorry Grit, but if I don't keep an eye Andy and Max in this battle, who knows what they'll do.

go round chasin' apcs probably
granted i can't talk
go on then fight if you must
heck use my troops you've got max after all so goin' by past results you'll probably steamroller this "sturm"

Well, we'll do our best. And now, some actually new dialogue:



Yeah, sort of.

Eagle! You're OK! Thank goodness. (sigh)
Sami, we'll talk later. First, we must destroy him! Paul, wasn't it? I'm yours to command.

Good to have you on board.

welp time to go rescue sonja from sonja!
wait i think i got that wrong
(do you think he's on to us?)
(nah that's just andy being andy)
(hey i think i found the smoke generator!)



We're already familiar with Max's starting troops here, so let's look at Eagle. As might be expected, he gets some air units - two fighters, two B copters and a bomber. Those fighters will go a long way towards beating off Sturm's initial air force, and the bombers and B copters will make for a nice compliment to our ground assault. The only weakness really is how expensive - and thus attractive to meteors - the fighters and bomber are, so we've got to be careful where we place them.



The strategy's going to be a fair bit looser this time around, with more of a focus on tactics and reacting to the situation on the ground - which is a problem for me, as I generally prefer to think strategically. So yeah, take these arrows as loose suggestions mostly. Again Max is going to be bringing his medium tanks in around behind Andy, but I'm going to be grouping up all his other units so that he takes the first Meteor Strike - after spending all of Operation Orange Star being shielded from meteors by Sami, he kind of deserves it. Beyond that... well, we'll see how it goes.



Andy starts off in typical fashion - footsoldiers grabbing the base and airport, anti-aircraft measures heading out front, transports going out on duty to lure Sturm's planes in.



Middies spread out and I grab some infantry.

Day 1 - Max



No indeed, Max. Sonja and Sonja will take over the world if we do.

wait what?

Never mind.



Medium tanks go off on their journey to head round the back of Andy's base.



And everything else heads north, in the hope of splatting some planes/taking a meteor to the face.



We could probably use some infantry and APCs over here too.

Day 1 - Eagle


I was losing my edge fighting that darned clone!

Well, he's confident, I'll give him that.



Let's send this fighter up, as close to Sturm's fighter's attack range as possible without going in it.



The other fighter and the AAs also head north, along with a capturing infantry.



And everything else spreads out a bit.

Day 1 - Sturm


all right i think i'm getting the hang of this helmet thing now
just as well they're all gearing up for an assault
eh i've got a ton of properties and meteors up my sleeve what could possibly go wrong
did you even watch the other final battles
what other final battles
never mind
oh hey look there's an apc and a t copter down there!
oh come on those are completely obvious...



... traps.
oh yeah whoops
are you sure you're my clone
hey i'm sure you'd've done exactly the same thing in my situation

Well yeah, I mean even Sonja has to bow to the whims of the AW1 AI.

Day 2 - Andy



Yep, that drew those units into a trap all right.



Although once more, there's still something I can't hit. And this time, Max can't hit anything! STURRRM SONJAAA.



Oh well, we do what we can. I'm prioritising targeting the fighters a bit, so that Eagle's own fighters can run round mostly unopposed. It's risky, because Sturm's bombers can deal a heckton of damage to my ground forces, but at least there's some reasoning behind it.



Two more fighters get it in the wings.



And as per usual I finish grabbing the base and airport.



Spreading the medium tanks, and infantry head down to capture some cities.



B copters get in place to protect this middie from bomber damage.



And let's have another AA, because why not.

Day 2 - Max



Oh, if only Max had a missile launcher (now there's something you don't hear every day).



Oh well, best prep for the meteor strike. We've got 53,000G in that little pile; should be enough.



Infantry grab cities...



Medium tanks continue their adventure, and I build an infantry and APC on Max's side as well.

Day 2 - Eagle



Air vs. Air time.



Well, not just yet. Got some softening up to do first.



That'll do all right.



First let's bring down this bomber.



And finish off this fighter too.



Everything else spreads out because, as I say, planes can be Meteor Strike magnets.

Day 2 - Sturm



Here we go again.



hey look the meteor thingy worked!
yeah good job targeting the obvious decoy



The bombers get in on the action.



Before tanks roll in and mess everything up.



Eesh.

Day 3 - Andy



Hmm. As per usual, Sturm has a lot of stuff.



A lot of stuff. The AI's also been careful to make sure it finishes off any wounded units, to stop Hyper Repair being of any use to us.



But hey, can't let it get us down.



AAs target the B copters, leaving the bomber to Eagle's fighter.



And my own B copters do some softening up of Sturm's armour. Yes, I appreciate that these two screens are stupidly identical.



What can I say, I knocked two light tanks down to 5HP apiece. I could have focused fire on one of them, but for now it seemed a good idea to spread the damage out more.



Middies advance, infantry head back to capture.



I build an APC to a few hits, as well as a light tank.

Day 3 - Max



Max's turn, but there's no time to recover from the shock of that meteor. Not with this bomber on our doorstep.



Instead it's time for some suicide missions.



The first pair of AAs perish in this battle to bring down the bomber.



The second pair of AAs manage to finish the job, though.



A tear for those lost in the Great Chip-Damage Assault.



Tanks join, APC delivers infantry.



The middies continue their journey to Andy's lines, and I build another AA. I have a feeling I'm going to need it...

Day 3 - Eagle



Right then, let's see what Eagle can do with his fighters.



Well, one of them's going to be heading north to cover Sturm's base area - keeping out of range of Sturm's own fighter up there, of course.



The other's bringing down this bomber.



Eagle's other units continue to press forwards, and another tank and infantry pop out of his bases.

Day 3 - Sturm



Just as Max deals with one bomber, Sturm brings in another. This is why Max needed that fresh AA.



Andy's APC tanks two hits, but that's all it can take.



His B copters go down too, but at least they're taking the flak (literally) for Eagle's fighter.



As are these infantry.



Now that's annoying. Not only does Max have to deal with a bomber, he's got this B copter to cope with as well.



Finally, Sturm's medium tanks get in on the act.

Day 4 - Andy



And again Andy doesn't have anything to Hyper Repair.



Oh well. We do what we must (because we can).



Andy's middies target AAs, to try and buy Eagle some breathing room.



Sturm's still got a lot of stuff here, but once Eagle and Max are done with their turns it should look a lot better.



Finishing up with some tank-on-tank action. Sturm now has a bunch of 5HP tanks littered around the place.



I build an arty, on the offchance it'll do something useful, and finish capturing some cities in the south.

Day 4 - Max



On to Max.



This isn't exactly an original observation, but Max just tears Sturm apart, doesn't he?



I'm keeping the second middie back a bit for now though, because I have a horrible feeling that a meteor's going to come. And I'm in no real position to set up a decoy for it. So I'm going to want to spread things out as much as possible.



Max may be having fun in the centre, but it's a different story out east. We've got a bomber and a B copter, and we're in no real position to deal with them right now.



But pulling back and using APCs as lures to drag those air units towards my AAs seems like a decent plan.



Let's have another AA for good measure.

Day 4 - Eagle



Busy turn for Eagle coming up here.



Let's start with the bomber. That's some damn good damage for attacking a medium tank in a forest, even with Sturm's poor defence.



And this fighter lands a really good hit on Sturm's fighter, too. Granted, if this were Max, that might have been a one-hit kill, but 75% is still nothing to be sniffed at.



Yep, that's a good start from the planes.



Some follow-up from the ground forces.



Taking down one each of the many 5HP tanks and 1HP AAs.



B copters flutter in to clean up the other 5HP tanks.



In an ideal world, it'd be Max and Eagle doing the softening and Andy running cleanup to boost our power score. But with Andy always going first, that's tricky to arrange.



Mass infantry and APC assault.



Oh, one other thing - I didn't show it earlier, but I snuck one of Eagle's AAs across the bridge last turn to see if there were any targets of opportunity it could hit. Well, here's one - we can stop this retreating 4HP fighter dead in its contrails.

Day 4 - Sturm



As feared, Sturm gets to chuck a meteor at us.



And it hits Andy . Like I said, didn't really get a chance to organise a decoy this time. Luckily, everything's spread out enough that not too much damage was done.



Although an Eagle 2HP B copter caught in the impact crater gets shot down by Sturm's crippled fighter.



At least Max's APC decoys work like a charm.




Eagle loses his other B copter to AA fire...



But luckily, Sturm's other AAs are more interested in messing with APCs and whatnot than targeting Eagle's planes.

HIS BOMBER IS RIGHT THERE YOU IDIOT
sorry what?



Slightly embarassing bit of chip damage from this infantry to finish.

Day 5 - Andy



There is one good thing about Andy taking some of the meteor hit here, though.



It means we finally get some use out of Hyper Repair.



That helps a bit. But the main units carrying Andy's counterattack will be his healthy ones.



AA gets rid of the 2HP fighter, and the full-health middie smashes up one of Sturm's AAs.



Y'know, it's only day 5 and Sturm's already looking thin on the ground.



A bit of an attack of opportunity from Andy's damaged medium tank, and general movement/building stuff. Time to start giving Andy B copters, I think.

Day 5 - Max



Well, look what we have here.



The bomber goes down nice and easy, and Max's CO power charges up. I could use it...



But I decide to hold it back. A pity in some ways - would have been interesting to see whether this 4HP AA could still have one-shotted a B copter, rather than merely doing a still rather crazy 79% damage.



Least appropriate Max sweatdrops ever.



That big grin's more like it, as we mow down some capturing infantry with a medium tank.



And other general moving and capturing.



Hmm... I wonder if chip damage'll finish this B copter off.



Yep .



Max can't afford much right now, but a tank's a tank.

Day 5 - Eagle



Lightning Strike's charged. Aw, if I had used Max Force then all four COs would have their powers going at once. Oh well.



We'll just have to make do with smashing up AAs.



A nice little tank convoy coming through here to support Eagle's flagging frontline.



Bomber swoops over the river to take out an AA. Risky with that other AA around, yes, but Lightning Strike'll take that risk out of the equation.



Chip damage, glorious chip damage.



This'll hold Sturm's capturing infantry up nicely, while also positioning these 2HP units better so they can take out their 1HP opposite numbers on the extra turn.



Fighter flies straight into Sturm's base to take out this repairing bomber. Again, risky, but we've got Lightning Strike on our side.



Churning out another medium tank.



And let's get this party started. I wonder what precisely it was that Sturm (or indeed Sonja) did to make Eagle flip like this.

Day 5 - Eagle (again)



Anyway, now everything's up and running again (infantry aside), let's do stuff.



I could attack this AA here, but with Eagle's defence getting shot during Lightning Strike I'm wary of the counterattack damage.



Instead the bomber and fighter retreat. Hit-and-run isn't the most obvious use of the extra turn, but it's a nice one, especially with AW1 Eagle - and AWDS Eagle's Lightning Drive power too, for that matter.



Light tank finishes off that 1HP AA down south.



While, as promised, the 2HP AA and middie take out their 1HP opposite numbers.



All clever stuff.



And Lightning Strike also helps Eagle keep materiel flowing forward, stealing a march on Sturm.

Day 5 - Sturm



Quiet turn for Sturm, although he does take out Eagle's two 2HP units. But they'd done their duty.

Day 6 - Andy



Sturm looks like he might be able to regain some ground here, with that medium tank and rocket launcher. But between Andy, Max and Eagle, we've got the tools to nip this in the bud.



First of all, Andy needs to clear a path by knocking down some infantry.



There we go.



No prizes for guessing what Max is going to be doing on his turn.



Meanwhile, the B copter and 4HP medium tank take out this forest infantry.



A bit of capturing...



... retreating the 3HP light tank, and since Andy's taken a lot of hits this time round, I decide to start technique-spamming infantry. A bit early in hindsight, perhaps, but oh well.

Day 6 - Max



Right then.



I'm not even sure I need this, but may as well have the extra insurance.



Oh goodness.



Hahaha. So much for Sturm's counterattack.



This push does have a couple of issues, in that it's going to draw Sturm's defensive medium tank forward, but that could be a blessing in disguise - even if one of Max's medium tanks gets smashed up a bit, I can easily avenge it, and luring that middie away from the HQ is probably a good thing anyway.



Anyway, bunch of miscellaneous stuff happens over here.



And out pops another light tank.

Day 6 - Eagle



Now then, how can Eagle follow that?



Well, he might not be one-shotting medium tanks, but he can one-shot AAs.



And I do a bit of a sacrifice run to stop this B copter before it can do any damage. Yes, that fighter's going down, but it's a good cause.



Stuff, stuff, stuff.



Bomber flies up into a nice little AA blindspot here.

Day 6 - Sturm



Fighter goes down, but it keeps two of Sturm's AAs occupied.



This was Eagle's 2HP APC, ing to the end.



And here comes Sturm's HQ medium tank to mess up Max's one. 7HP damage is owch.

Day 7 - Andy



Hmm. That's... hmm. That's a lot of AA and missiles. Sturm may be well and truly on the back foot, but I might need to rethink my strategy in order to crack his base. But all that's to come next time. Stay tuned for...



... some cold equations...



... Max's continuing rampage...



... and silly numbers of infantry!