Part 13: Ball (2 of 2)

Part 13: Ball (2 of 2)



Previously, I decided the challenge of limiting our spending to the enemy's income was going to be too boring for finishing off the map, and threw it out the window after 25 turns. So we burn all our built-up funds on fun stuff, and send out our stashed funds-burning "throwaway" units to go overwhelm the enemy.



The enemy phase isn't terribly interesting, but I did leave this battleship on the coast where it could get hit by both a rocket and a medium tank. Luckily battleships are so sturdy that it only took a combined 3 damage from the two attacks. The bigger problem was the AA tanks severely damaging both our scout and our fighter, but I didn't have much use for those two units anyway. There are no worthy targets for the fighter, and the scout is about to crash for running out of fuel.


Turn 26



With six bombers and two battleships from locked challenge funds now on the way, let's see how long it takes to mop up this map. The longest part is just getting everyone across this extra-large map. Most of the bombers need to stop to refuel on the way, too.



We can get more aggressive on offense now, and we start with a couple of lander attacks. Battleship sunk!



A couple bombers finish off a rocket and an AA missile, opening up the middle area of the map.



I probably wouldn't have been so aggressive with the bombers under the challenge rules, given that the scout and AA tank each hurt one pretty bad here, but given all the reinforcements on the way it's worth the trade now. The AI also builds a lander that will proceed to sit at the port for the rest of the map.


Turn 27



Not sure I've ever seen this message before, but apparently we've hit a hard cap on the number of units we can have out at once.



Our battleships and artillery collectively wipe out a medium tank and an AA tank. I've got a wall of copters protecting a capturing infantry, and the first of the horde of mechs has arrived. The landers also drop off some reinforcments - a new medium tank, and an AA tank to scare off the scout. I also merged a couple bombers together so that I could go buy a new one.



We had a bomber get shot down and lost a rocket to a tank, but otherwise the enemy phase was pretty uneventful.


Turn 28



I probably could've kept going with the challenge, given enough time and leveraging a fleet of battleships to do massive damage unchecked.



But that's much less fun than seeing a max-size army steamroll the opposition. A couple more tanks and an AA tank got removed here, and our own AA tank hit the enemy scout. I diverted a couple of bombers to take care of the stranded medium tanks on the upper-left, too. A wipeout is going to be a much quicker victory path given all the firepower we have now.



We lost a mech and a copter, both cheap disposable units. And we have lots of options to take out the few remaining threats here (chiefly the rockets and AA missiles).


Turn 29



Pictured here: Me about to lose a lander without realizing it. Naval units don't consume additional fuel each turn, but they will be destroyed if they move around enough to start the next turn with no fuel.



I'm only buying bombers at this point, since I don't think any other unit would make a difference right now. The map is too large and everything else is too slow.



Taking over more of the middle area here. We also hit one of the rockets and one of the AA missiles, and the remaining enemy anti-air units can't reach our bombers.



We did lose two medium tanks to the enemy this turn but those aren't our most important units right now anyway.


Turn 30



Yup, ran that lander right out of fuel.



I panicked and checked all our other naval units and found out that this lander carrying two medium tanks was also critically low on fuel. Luckily it was close enough to this island to unload its passengers before it sunk. (Spoiler alert: Those medium tanks never make it across to the enemy island anyway.)



The surge of bombers has finally arrived, taking out two rockets and one AA missile while neutralizing another. I even had a couple of mechs take out an AA tank to let an infantry start capturing another city.



Our copters and mechs took some more hits but our battleships and bombers are still ready to continue pounding the enemy. The toughest enemy units left to deal with are the scout and copter, unless one happens to wander into range of a battleship or AA tank.


Turn 31



Normally I'd have the battleship go after the medium tank, but I have plenty of bombers to deal with those, and not many other ways to handle this copter.



Won't be too much longer now.



Even after building a few cheap units, Blue's army is down to just ten units remaining. I don't even care about the new AA tank, because our battleship fleet can make quick work of it and we have plenty of bombers to throw at it, too.


Turn 32



Nothing to see here, just a copter running out of fuel. They've been targeted by so many attacks lately that I'm surprised one survived long enough to crash.



I've got bombers and battleships everywhere but that scout is still causing trouble. Our damaged fighter from way back at the beginning of the update is finally fully repaired and on its way to deal with the problem.



The landers expose themselves to go after the nearby bombers, and the scout left itself in range of two different battleships, so I might not even need the fighter.


Turn 33



Still, it's not like the figher has anything better to do.



The battleships finish off a lander and soften up this copter for a mech to destroy.



The bombers take care of the rest, destroying the second lander and the AA missile before finishing off this mech.



Ten bombers and five battleships involved with that last round of attacks. Not much they can't do.



Huzzah!



We ended the map with about 50% more funds spent compared to the enemy. So the challenge was holding us back but not by a lot. Sure I wouldn't have had over a dozen bombers and battleships wiping out the enemy at the end, but I'm pretty sure we would've gotten there eventually. It just would've been boring to watch. Not sure what the COs are again; I know "Homme" is "Man" in French but "Tonbana" is a mystery to me. A quick Google search mostly brought up sex sites and a reference to a Japanese Iris Society.




A final score of 33 turns for the Ball map. Average is supposedly 32 turns, and we definitely could've gone a little quicker without the challenge so I'll take that. Anything is better than the Triangle map at this point.



Next up we have the Coral map. I've got an idea for a challenge this time that will make the map harder in the middle without slowing down the beginning or end. I'm calling it Ride or Die - once a unit has joined the fight, it's committed! No retreat, no surrender! (In other words: No repairs allowed.)