Part 10: Nobody Uses An Atlas Properly At GALIOS

Sorry for the delay on this one, I moved back to college a couple weeks ago, so updates will be a bit slower coming now.

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Stage 9 - GALIOS



UNITS IN FACTORIES:
1 (Allies). Mule, Kilroy, Falcon, Eagle, Polar
2 (Axis). Lynx, Mule, Atlas, Octopus, Slagger, Falcon
3 (Neutral). Falcon, Eagle, Polar, Rabbit, Lynx, Hawkeye, Pelican, Atlas
4 (Neutral). Hunter, Pelican, Charlie
5 (Neutral). Falcon, Bison, Bison, Lenet, Mule, Trigger, Pelican
6 (Neutral). Slagger, Titan, Hadrian, Rabbit, Hawkeye, Mule, Trigger

This is our first two screen-by-two screen map, and it's the kind we'll be seeing exclusively for the second half of the game. This one is still pretty simple - for the most part it's just a battle for the center - but these larger maps mean we'll be dealing with complicated situations later on.

The Axis are going to get factories 4 and 6 - there's really no way to stop them. We can get factory 3 pretty easily, but we'll have to push through to the center pretty quickly (while fighting off a Hunter, of course) if we want to get factory 5.



We unload units from our factory to start off. No bonus points for guessing what I did with the Kilroy, his job will be to take the southwest factory.



Meanwhile, everyone who wasn't in a factory makes a mad rush for the center.



The Axis starts off its first turn by sending its Panther north, just to make sure we have to deal with every Hunter they could ever throw at us as soon as possible.



Then, just like us, they throw everything at the center. Difference is, they have a bit more than what we do. The Atlas got loaded into the Mule, and I'm really not looking forward to holding the center against that thing.



Speaking of the center, here's the situation on turn 2. We have better tanks, but that aside the enemy's got a worrying advantage here. It doesn't help that they'll reach their factory before we reach ours.



Nothing to do but protect our factory and our Charlie the best we can.



This is me doing everything I can to turn the Hunter's impending attack into a suicide run. Let's see if it works.




...Yep, I'm sure chipping 2HP off that Charlie was worth wandering into the range of a Falcon, a Hawkeye, and a Seeker. I know I should be glad the game's being ridiculous in my favor, but now I feel kind of stupid for talking about how terrifying Hunters are.




The Axis tries to mitigate the damage by crippling my Seeker, although really that's the least of their problems right now.



It's actually understandable my Grizzly did a bit badly here, since the Slagger was getting supporting fire from the Titan that attacked my Seeker.



Yeah, they'll get the factory next turn.



Now in the meantime, we've got a bit of a situation here.




I wish just for once I could get some Hunters. It's hard to waste a unit that's so freakishly powerful, and yet the Axis manages to.



Really? That's the best you guys can do against a Rabbit?




I know I'm taking a huge risk sending my Eagle in like this, but I'm counting on my ability to smash the enemy tanks at my frontline. This puts us off to a good start.



That's more than a little disappointing, considering I hit the damage cap and all.



Well, that's why we attack with Rabbits first. It can make room for more units to finish the job.



Our Bison obliges.



My only real complaint about this is that the Polar didn't have a better target.



Fuck! Guess killing the Rabbit will have to wait.



It's not going anywhere, though. We can at least get our Seeker to relative safety, it's got plenty of aircraft left to shoot down.



I knew this was going to happen, but that doesn't make it any nicer to watch



See above. At least the Eagle survived! On my next turn I can pull it back for repairs and in no time it'll be -







Even outnumbered 2:1, a Grizzly shouldn't do this badly against a Lenet. You know, this kind of incompetence is really unforgivable.



I wish to retract my previous statement.



We've hit them hard, but things are getting trickier now. We don't really have any less tanks to contend with thanks to that factory shitting out a Slagger and a Titan, and we've got to deal with the two Octopi on top of them.



Well, we've got to win. We'll start off by applying some pressure to the south.



This should ease things considerably!



So should this (once these units finally get to the frontline)!




These are all nice units, but the Atlas (which I've loaded into the Pelican) should really swing things in our favor.




IT SHOULD NOT BE THIS HARD TO KILL A LENET



Seeker goes in for later redeployment, where hopefully it won't be getting shot at by tanks as much.



...

I don't have the words or the emoticons for this.



Young man, you sit in that factory and think about what you've done



The problem with sending in all your guys to repairs is eventually you run out of units on the field.



Hell yeah! After attacking so many times, I finally killed that, uh, Lenet.



A fresh wave of troops rolls in to keep the fight going. The Bison Trio here's going to be busy.



To cap off our turn, a Falcon arrives from the southwest...



...and it's just gotten the perfect target.



WHAT

NO

YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO ATTACK MY FALCONS

WHAT ARE-



At least the utter inability to kill anything goes both ways.



Meanwhile, we get a tank battle in the center. To save screencaps, I've marked who lost health. The Bison trio almost became the Bison duo because the lead tank got rushed by 3 units (and didn't do much damage in return), and I stupidly left my artillery open to get flanked by a Slagger.



Then for good measure, they make their frontline even harder to break through.



Up to the northeast, we've got two more problems. The Hunter is the obvious one, but that Charlie in the Pelican can and will take your prison camp if you get distracted.



But then my Falcon oneshotted it and the whole thing became a moot point.



The other falcon heads south to kill the enemy's. At least my air force is making its shots count.





 Can you spot my fuckup? 



With one Bison crippled and needing repairs, it's up to the other two to carry the fight for now.



Well, them and the Polar. Also, I screencapped this too soon and the 1HP damage my Polar took didn't show up.



Grizzly and Rabbit roll out of the factory. The way this the armies are set up, it looks like my only real option is to smash through their tanks and hit their artillery as fast as possible.

This ain't gonna be pretty.



The numbers look a hell of a lot better when I'm the one doing the attacking, though! The Atlas damages the Slagger, Hadrian and Bison pair cripple the Seeker. We already saw the results of the Polar vs. Slagger battle.



To the south, the rest of our reinforcements very slowly come in.



The enemy Hunter weaves around my Falcons, aaaaand...



Eesh, that was messy. I stupidly put my Atlas in range of the enemy Hadrian, costing it another 2HP. The Hunter shot my Eagle, but all things told it didn't go too terribly. Slagger shot my Hadrian but thankfully only scratched it, and the Octopi and tanks pummeled my frontline. And then...



...Welp, there goes the Bison trio. At least the guy who died did some damage on the way out.



For some reason I can't figure out, the Axis haven't deployed their Atlas yet, although they've loaded their Trigger into their other Mule. If there weren't an army between me and them, I could kill them before they could be a threat.

Right, I believe we had a Hunter to shoot down.



Ehm.



Much better. Why are my pilots my only troops capable of killing anything?



See?

Although I guess I kinda deserved this one for letting my Atlas get shot up like it did.



The enemy's lost its air force, so the only thing these Falcons can do is get in the enemy's way. I pull this one back so I can surround their tanks.



It works beautifully.



That Polar's got a full star now, but with only 3HP I won't be getting much mileage out of that.

Now, these enemy units are looking a lot less threatening now that their tank lines are gone. It wouldn't be too difficult to just rush in and mop up the survivors...



...but I've got other plans.



Desperately trying to hold their crumbling position, the Axis soldiers shoot my guys a bunch of times.



The only concern left here, though, is that they'll see what I'm up to (they usually do) and make a break for their prison camp. They might be able to kill my Charlie if that happens.









This is to make sure they don't.



I don't really have a good reason for this, though.




This was definitely a step up - in scale if nothing else - from previous battles we've seen. A large number of units crammed into a small canyon down the center of the map means you've got to deploy and position very carefully to make good use of what little room you've got. Your job amounts to surviving in the center until your reinforcements from the southwest can come in, because you'll be outnumbered and outgunned before then.

Also holy shit they never deployed their Atlas

NEXT TIME: Survival of the fittest at DARWIN.