Part 15: It's 300 With Space Suits At APOLLO

Sorry for the delay on this one, I had midterms not too long ago and studying didn't leave any free time for LPing.

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Stage 14 - APOLLO



UNITS IN FACTORIES:
1 (Allies). Charlie, Hadrian, Bison, Hawkeye, Grizzly
2 (Axis). Charlie, Rabbit, Atlas, Atlas, Slagger, Slagger
3 (Neutral). Atlas, Bison, Bison, Mule
4 (Neutral). Eagle
5 (Neutral). Titan, Lynx, Hawkeye, Mule, Trigger
6 (Neutral). Hunter, Titan, Giant, Hadrian, Octopus, Rabbit, Mule, Atlas, Panther

So, this map. You might have noticed the gigantic spike in difficulty from the last one.

The Axis will get factories 5 and 6. There is nothing we can do to prevent them from getting factories 5 and 6. We'll be outnumbered 2:1 no matter what we do. Our only real option is to cluster everyone we can at factory 3 and hold the line there or die trying.

But hey, you didn't really think they were going to go easy on us this close to the end, did you? I spent the last 13 missions promising difficulty, and it's finally here!



First we've got to push everyone towards the factory. The Panther stays on the prison camp to guard it, and the Rabbit and Lynx take the north path for reasons that will become clear soon.



Everyone else deploys from factory 1 in preparation to take and hold the neutral factory just south.



Oh god I don't want to try to hold all this off with 2 tanks and a Hadrian



And now you know why I sent the Rabbit and Lynx north. Two fucking Atlases, right next to each other. The only saving grace is that they can't hit us in the east.



Luckily, if you move your Hadrian as far as you can, it's just in range to hit one of them on your second turn!



This is a hopeless battle for it, but it's going to play HMS Thunder Child so that the other units can hopefully get to safety.



Well, I can already tell this is going to go smoothly.



It's not much of a defense, but we don't have much to work with. As long as that Charlie stays alive long enough to take the factory, we've at least got a fighting chance.



Not surprisingly, as soon as its turn starts the Axis charges our lines. This battle outcome wasn't so bad - we didn't do much damage, but we didn't take much either, and survival takes priority.



Son of a bitch!



Thankfully, that's all they can do in the east this turn. The bad news is, our Hadrian's still got twelve Atlas guns shooting at it.



Farewell, brave Hadrian. You died doing your duty.



It's a small mercy, but it seems like the Lynx has decided to head north instead of joining the attack on our factory. It doesn't stand a chance against what we're sending its way.



Case in point.



In other good news, our Rabbit and Lynx are fast enough that even though they're taking the scenic route, they're almost here already.



With this factory taken, we've got a new wave of reinforcements and a place to heal right on the frontline! We'll need both of them to win.



Right, let's push back. First the Hadrian shoots the softest target it can reach.



Now, this Bison is almost dead. We can't afford to lose units, so in the factory it goes.



Luckily, we've got others ready to take its place.



Things are looking a lot better with the Atlas out there!



...but as soon as the Axis turn starts...



...they're looking a lot worse.



To add insult to injury, the game throws a nice dose of RNG bullshit our way when the Axis attacks our factory.



Oh, please don't let that Bison die...




The Hadrian's sacrifice to the west bought time, but it wasn't enough. That Grizzly is too slow to get out of the range of the Atlases, and it's paid heavily for it.



Wait, what? No! Shit!



...I can't say I'm happy about losing a Bison from our limited supply, but honestly I'm just glad it didn't attack the Atlas. We'll need that more than anything else if we're going to have a fighting chance.



Well, I'm glad they deployed all those other units, including that Hunter. Wouldn't want things to get too easy, now.




It's a small consolation, but at least we've got an Eagle on our side now. Those Atlases are sitting ducks, so bombing them may give our units caught in the killing field a chance to escape. Speaking of, let's see if they can break through in the east.



GUYS YOU ARE BETTER ARMED AND BETTER ARMORED

YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE FOR THIS



At least our boys defending the factory are scoring some solid hits.



It's not much, but it's a start.



Our repaired Bison rolls out of the factory, accompanied by the Mule. The Mule is qualified to help with the defense solely by virtue of having a gun.



You know how when you've got a plate of spaghetti, you can eat forkfuls of it and it'll still look like you've barely touched it? That's kind of what's happening here.



The Grizzly rolls in to soften up the attackers, and despite having terrain and numbers on its side, it does a disappointing job of it.



Despite its overwhelming firepower advantage, the Axis seems a bit uncomfortable with how close we're getting to its prison camp and puts the Hunter on guard duty. That's good, we need every break we can get.



Sudden Unit Incompetence Syndrome, or SUIS, is an ugly, ugly thing. Except in cases like this, where it's the enemy's units that suffer from it.




We've only got one unit still at threat from the enemy Atlases, but thankfully it's the one unit that can take a few hits from them. Let's just hope it's still in shape to fight by the time it reaches the frontline.



And hey, speaking of Atlases, the enemy rounds off its turn by sending its third one our way!




Now's a good time to tilt the scales a bit. It's not, however, a good time for SUIS.



It seems the Axis really don't want our other tanks reaching our factory, to the point they've actually done us a favor by taking pressure off of it.







Well, at least now they're down a Titan and our Atlas has a solid 4 stars.



It's times like this I love the "any unit can surround things" rule.



We've done all we can offensively for now, so our Grizzly and Bison to the west try to draw the enemy into the bottleneck and our Rabbit and Lynx join the fight.



Really now, an experienced Bison doing and taking equal damage with a Lenet?



GUYS THIS IS THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME FOR SUIS








Stand strong, bunnies.



Even though it's badly shot up, one of the enemy Atlases decides to shoot at our Giant again. It gives it two free experience stars.



The last of the enemy reinforcements have left their factories. We're dealing with one hell of a force here, but at least we know it won't get any larger.



To start things off, we finish off the damaged Atlas. This wasn't the Eagle's highest-priority target, but it's 2 easy exp.



It's a bit early to be losing our Rabbit, so let's get it fixed.



This would be passable from a Bison - from a Lynx, it's pretty damn good!



The bottleneck's finally opened. Even though I'd been hoping the opposite would happen, we might as well take advantage of this and see if our tanks can shoot through to the factory.



...I guess that's a "no," huh?



LENETS SHOULD NOT BE THIS HARD TO KILL.



At least one of our units is doing well.



And I do mean one of our units.



That could've gone better, but at least we've got another turn before the next wave comes in, and we've got a pretty solid line.





Well, shit.



Damn, I thought he had a chance of making it!







The Giant's extra stars aren't doing it much good. The way this is going, soon we'll be the ones outnumbered 2:1.

That actually triggers special music, just like outnumbering the Axis 2:1 does. Of course, you'll rarely hear it because you've usually lost any chance of victory by that point anyawy.




Thankfully, the enemy turn ends rather anticlimactically. We've still got to fight our way through Hell to win, though.



First off, our factory needs all the help it can get, now. Killing this Rabbit will ease the pain a bit.



Disappointing that it managed to shoot an Eagle down, and rather worrying with a Hunter so closeby.



Ah, good old Hawkeyes. I was paranoid with how I placed them, and now it's finally off. A 8HP Hunter is deadly, a 5HP Hunter is merely dangerous.



So I guess this Lynx burned up all its good luck on its last shot.



Hmmm...maybe? Worth a try, it's not like we don't need every gun we can get.



Hey, for once I'm glad to be surprised by a combat result!



The Hadrian finishes the job, easing the burden on the front just a little more.



Well, I think I've had enough of this Rabbit creeping around. Time for the Atlas to get a full star!



MOTHERFUCKER!





I guess this is the game trying to make up for that last shot. I'll certainly take it. We've got a full-star Bison on the field, and the new units coming in to attack us are all green. Could the tide finally be turning in our favor?



I'm really worried for that Rabbit, but overall things are actually looking better than they were before.



And once again, the Hunter retreats - not to a factory like I was worrying it would - but to the enemy prison camp! It keeps its damage and we don't have to deal with it surrounding our Eagle or hitting our Hawkeye. Best possible outcome, I'd say.



Damnit, no, he just got back to the frontline!



...You know, I think we've lost more units in this one mission than in all the previous ones combined. We're down to two decent frontliners.



Soon to be one.



You know, Axis, you might have finished the job by now if you could actually be bothered to retreat your damaged units.



Shit, no, they listened to me!



It still doesn't look pretty by any means, but at long last their ranks are starting to thin out. The bad news is, so are ours.




Our turn is off to a good start, with both of our artillery units getting full stars.



Our Lynx follows up on that by finishing the Lenet...



...and our Eagle grabs an easy 2 EXP for an encore.



Now that we've finally got a brief rest from constantly being attacked, let's send our Bison in for repairs. We need to take care of it, and it can help a lot more if it's at full strength.




Since they don't have anything in range to attack us (except the Hunter, but that would be suicide), the Axis turn is pretty short. What you see here is the final wave. We'll have to deal with that Hawkeye quickly so we can keep our Eagle flying.



Hawkeye dealt with.




The Octopus, which was courteous enough to roll right into our artillery range, is also dispatched in short order. The unit counts are looking much better now.

Also note that our Bison has rolled back out.



We're nearly there. If we can kill the Giant, the Atlas, and the Hunter, we should be home free.





Gotta be more careful about where I deploy, I let the Bison drop right into their gun range.



The Trigger and the Atlas are dropped, and the Trigger's going to make it difficult to get at their artillery. We can send our Eagle out, but that's a risky move.



For now, let's play it safe and clear ourselves a path to their prison camp.



We've also got to stop their Giant's advance. With full-star artillery, we should at the very least be able to cripple it before it can reach our factory.



Speaking of, their bombardment of our own Giant has given it a full star. Will it survive long enough to put it to use?





The game was, at least, decently generous with my stupid mistake here. A lucky shot from an Atlas can one-hit-kill a Lynx.



Oh, and look who's come back from the factory to make our lives more complicated!



That Lynx has been doing a good job, but we can't keep it exposed while it's damaged. In it goes.





Our strategy of "stand by the factory and mow them down as they come" has been working pretty well, so we're sticking with it. Plus, keeping the Eagle there will stop their Rabbit from reaching our more fragile units.



...Yeah, it doesn't look like that Giant's going to survive long enough to do anything. Damn shame, after all it's been though.



This is it. If we can clear out that Rabbit and Titan, we'll stop their assault cold.




Damn it, this is not a good start!



Well, that Rabbit isn't getting away again.



Even if that Titan escapes, at least we've got it off our back for now. At 4HP and with an Eagle in its way, it can't really do much.



Sure enough, the Giant does not survive.



On the plus side, the enemy Titan has sacrificed itself to mildly inconvenience us!



The Giant is at our doorstep, but it's a lot less threatening now that it's at half-strength.






And with that, the enemy's no longer in any condition to launch an attack. The only thing left to do is figure out how to break through their defenses - admittedly, that'll likely be tricky.



As proof, this is the only thing they do during their turn.



I suppose it was a bit much to ask, but I was still hoping our Lynx could finish off the Kilroy as retaliation.



A 3HP Lynx can't do much, even at a full star. It's time for him to retreat.



This Bison is overdue for repairs, too.




Killing that Kilroy gives us an open path to their prison camp. The Mule was, admittedly, less important, but hey, it was in range.



While we're at it, the Eagle has been at 7HP for awhile. We'll need everyone in top shape for the attack, so let's get all the repairs done this turn.



The Axis doesn't really do much of anything for their part, and that's just fine by me. Let's work on smashing that Trigger so our Bison and Lynx can flank their artillery.



I'm hoping this is just an unlucky shot, otherwise this might take awhile.



The Lynx, the Bison, and the Eagle redeploy, this time with me taking care to keep all the ground units away from their Atlas.



Oh, hello enemy Hunter! How nice of you to put yourself right in the range of my Hawkeye! I hope damaging the Eagle I can just send in for repairs was worth it!







With the last of their air defense gone, there's really nothing stopping our Eagle from bombing their artillery to dust.



There goes their Hadrian, but that Atlas would still kill our Charlie if he went for their prison camp.



PROBLEM SOLVED.



Well, it's all over. Leonidas would be proud.



I didn't really need to do this, but I wanted to hear the "you're about to win" music before capturing their prison camp




This was by far the toughest battle of the campaign yet. This is the first mission I actually lost on, and I had to replay it 3-4 times before I was able to beat it. An unlucky roll from the RNG, or the enemy Hunter attacking at an inopportune time, can cripple your carefully-developed frontline in an instant.

Thank fuck this is over. The next map isn't by any means easy, but it'll still not as brutal as this one.

NEXT TIME: Point-blank at KAISER.