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Advance Wars strategy

RymRym
edited April 2008 in Video Games
All right, in the interest of preserving the FCC:ROF thread for FFCC:ROF bashing, we can talk Advance Wars strategy here. ^_~

Comments

  • Repost for completeness' sake:

    For every version except DOR, it's simple:

    Get cities quickly using the APC trick.

    Use artillery liberally.

    Keep track of your money 100%, and spend EXACTLY what you mean to, planning at least five or six rounds worth of purchasing ahead. (e.g., I want a rocket four turns from now, so I'll only buy two infantry instead of three NEXT round in order to still be able to pick up that AA in round three; when I buy that rocket, I'll have exactly zero dollars left).

    Whenever you have spare money, build infantry and mechs. ALWAYS. Even late-game. Send mechs and infantry along in constant streams with your other units, moving all of them every round even if it seems pointless and victory is assured. Infantry should be coming out in a semi-steady stream from your bases throughout the entire game.

    If you go on the offensive, have a clear goal. Capture a city, gain a chokepoint, kill a missile. If you don't have a specific, clear goal, your troop movements are wasted.

    You should know exactly where every unit is going for the next two or three rounds. EXACTLY. You should know EXACTLY how far that tank could get in the best-case scenario four or five turns ahead, including enemy troop movements. No movement should be fuzzy or non-planned. Every single square must be accounted for. Are your infantry moving up two or up three? Why? Where will they go next round? The round after? What will the enemy do?

    You should anticipate how your enemy will react to your movements. You should know the best possible response your enemy could make to anything and everything you do, and assume that they will do it. Along these lines, know exactly how much money your enemy has, and anticipate what he will build.

    Capturing and holding cities is the most important goal you can have. A one-city differential will win you the game if you hold it long enough.

    Play to your CO's strengths, almost exclusively.

    Do not attack if you cannot achieve your goal: you will only serve to increase the enemy CO's power meter.

    Do not attack if you do not have solid supply lines of fresh troops OR assured victory assuming the best possible response from the enemy.

    If you can do all of those things, you cannot lose to most people.
  • Who is your CO of choice in the original games, Rym?

    I know mine is (obviously) Grit. I played him even before I realized how OP he is, though I admit he isn't quite as potent in full maps (air, ground, sea).
  • Who is your CO of choice in the original games, Rym?
    My simple answer is Grit, since I tend to rely heavily on indirect fire.

    Hawk is my favorite CO by far, due mostly to his generic and versatile powers. Against real challengers, I use either him or Olaf.

    I often use Drake, unleashing his minor CO power at each and every opportunity in order to whittle down and demoralize less apt opponents.

    Sami, however, is my CO of choice in most battles, since few people are careful enough to avoid the surround-capture strategy.
  • Capturing and holding cities is the most important goal you can have. A one-city differential will win you the game if you hold it long enough.
    Let me add my own voice to this chorus: in a game like Advance Wars, economics are the most important factor in determining who wins. Differences in player skill and and general trickery can compensate for a difference in income to a limited degree, but not forever and not if the income difference becomes large enough.

    I say this is not to denigrate the other aspects of strategy, but to reinforce that changing the balance of economics in your favor should be the goal behind most of your other decisions.
  • Do you guys bother with Tag battles? They're definitely interesting, though they usually break the game heavily.
  • Do you guys bother with Tag battles?
    Nope.
  • The biggest choice in a map is when to betray your allies... I lost a big match verse Rym and Alex because of that one. Especially because I didn't notice the 20 round turn limit on the match till way too late...
  • Wow! After reading that basic strategy guide I realise I am completely rubbish at this game. I think I need to do some serious training on it.
  • Yeah, I'm good enough to beat normal modes. I really doubt I'm good enough to beat the advanced/hard modes.

    One thing, though...what happens on pre-deploy maps? If most of the strategy is economics, what part do you work on next?
  • One thing, though...what happens on pre-deploy maps? If most of the strategy is economics, what part do you work on next?
    Be economical with the units you are given. Do as much with as few units as possible. Healing in cities becomes super important.
  • what happens on pre-deploy maps? If most of the strategy is economics, what part do you work on next?
    Economics is the overall strategy. Pre-deployed maps simplify this, in that money is no longer relevant. Cities, to a degree, still are.

    Use cities and your HQ to heal units. Never lose a unit unless its loss provides a clear advantage and directly sets you on the course to final victory. Hold a strong position, and choose your battles. Hit and run tactics are very effective.

    On a broader note, area control and area denial are greatly important, immediately after general economics. n+1 fighters denies an airspace to n fighters. n+1 AA denies an overland airspace to n bombers. An anti-tank in a city, outside of air or sea attacks, is extremely powerful.
  • You have to admit, in purely ground maps, having a steady stream of mechs can be quite useful. If I'm using Grit, it's easy to clutter up the map and make it difficult for my opponent to get to my Artilleries, which would end up growing in number.
  • Your steady stream of mechs is limited to N per turn, where N is the number of factories you control. Because they are so slow, you'll be at a serious disadvantage if you try to group up more than N at a time; faster units will be able to reach most objectives and set up a good defensive position before you can possibly attack. Again because they're so slow, more than a handful of mechs will never be able to attack the same position in one turn; they get in each other's way too much.

    If your opponent's defenses are capable of killing - or nearly killing, which is in some ways worse - N mechs per turn, relying on the mech stream gets you nothing. This isn't all that difficult to set up, again because the mechs are so slow; artillery or rockets will work nicely, with an air unit or two to keep the mechs off them.

    The mech stream is handy in a supporting role - to capture and defend any bases your other troops overrun - but you can't rely all that heavily on it.
  • It depends on who you're using. If you're using sami in AW Dual Strike, mech floods can be great. Also, if you use Will in the newest game, his +2 movement power can make mechs a lot less slower and thus a lot more awesome.
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