Difficulty: ***
Days: 6-15
Technique Limit: 2-5
Briefing:
The Final Battle is a unique level in the campaign, where you
control three separate COs against Sturm. It's also one of the most
difficult to write a guide for, since you have a large combination of
COs, some COs and CO teams are better than others in this level, Sturm
acts very randomly, you have to manage all three COs one turn at a time,
and the battle can end up being long and drawn out. In this briefing,
I will describe all of the COs and how to use them appropriately, as
well as all the tactical intelligence you need to win.
Let me start out by saying that The Final Battle is not a
difficult level. The primary difficulty of the level is managing a
large number of units over three COs. In terms of fighting Sturm
effectively, you may be hindered by a weaker CO. Whether you want to
take the map slowly or tear into Sturm, the map is lenient with the
speed score and your forces can easily take it to Sturm, with his -20%
defensive penalty. The scoring of technique and power only count for
Andy, so you must make sure to destroy a large amount of units with
Andy on one day, and must not lose too many of Andy's units. On the
other hand, your team mates units can be used to protect Andy's units.
The key to moving aggressively and defeating Sturm quickly is
mobilization. Don't bother creating infantry or capturing far off
cities and factories. By the time you have them, the map will be
almost over. If you're going for a six day victory, just produce tanks
and anti-air units. By day five, tanks you create in the factories of
your left and right hand teammates will be at Sturm's bridge. Whatever
initial forces you have are the forces you need to keep alive and
healthy through the six or seven days you'll be pounding Sturm into the
ground.
Take all of your units into consideration when moving forward,
planning out tactical strategies, attacking, and building units. If
you put a weak unit up front, a stronger unit of another CO may not be
able to move as far ahead as they could have. If you attack an enemy
with a weak or ineffective unit, you may have blocked off an attack for
another of your CO's stronger units.
Sturm's initial air rush can be eliminated on day two, depending
on whether all of the units move into your attack range (you should try
to make them all move into range, if you want to finish quickly).
After you execute his mid tanks, fighters, and bombers he will rarely
create any more. His CO attack location is decided by the total cost
of a group of units together, so he will attack two fighters and a mid
tank over a group of infantry.
If you want to finish the level quickly with less hassle, keep
trying to get Sturm to move all of his bombers and fighters into your
attack range. What I recommend is that you save your game on day one
with your right hand teammate and keep moving your units north in
different positions, which will cause the AI to recalculate what it's
doing for the next turn. It does require a bit of luck for the AI to
move all of it's air units into position and move the ground units so
that the mid tanks aren't able to attack on day two.
Keep in mind that Sturm's units have no terrain movement
penalties unless there's snow. Also, he moves his bombers & fighters
first, then tanks, then anti-air, then copters, then mid tanks,
followed by any other units he creates. Unless you're planning for a
long battle, don't bother making infantry and APCs and etc, since they
aren't worth it by the time they actually do something. Remember,
depending on your team you'll want to build different units to make up
for any imbalances you have.
Andy is the central player on the map, and his units have the
shortest path into Sturm's territory. Since the technique and power
score rests on him, don't let him lose too many units, and make sure he
gets to destroy a large amount of units in one day. Andy should
generally build tanks and anti-air units.
The teammate on the left hand side is a minor one, since they
have a long path to reach the main battle area in front of Andy's
territory. Use them to take the first meteor strike hit, and then
rebuild and send what's left up to support the final push into Sturm's
territory. Try to capture the airport and factory before the cities in
the middle, in order to produce units that will get to Sturm fast
enough.
Max is a smash hit on the battlefield against Sturm. The only
problem is that his units will take a while to reach the front lines,
and unless you have Sami as your right hand teammate, he will be the
one taking the first meteor strike. Try to get his units up into
Sturm's face as fast as possible, and create tanks and anti-air units
to move up and support Andy at the bridge. In the final stretches of
the level, Max and Kanbei combined can provide the firepower to really
rip Sturm a new one.
Grit is a good teammate, and works well with Eagle and Kanbei.
Since it takes him so long to get up into attack range, the best place
to attack from is the mountains to the left of Sturm's territory. If
you're going to create any units, make artillery and anti-airs.
Olaf is a decent teammate, but his CO attack is worthless, since
it slows down his teammates as well as Sturm. Since his units are all
average like Andy, it's best to just move whatever he's got north and
at Sturm as fast as possible to provide late game relief.
The teammate on the right hand side will be a major assistant to
Andy, and will have to use their units to protect Andy's units from
attack. They can immediately move up and combine with Andy's forces to
provide much needed support.
Sami is unfortunately the weakest of the teammates on the map,
and she will make the map much more difficult to win. Then again, if
you didn't fill any of the requirements to get at least Kanbei or Drake, you were pretty much asking for her by playing so poorly. Her mechs
are too slow to reach the front lines fast enough, her infantry are
near worthless, and all of her direct combat units are weakened. You
should try to build distance units which are not penalized, and APCs &
mechs.
Kanbei is a good teammate, and he comes with a massive amount of
expensive and powerful units. Since his mid tanks are a bit slow, he
may take an extra day moving in to support Andy. Use his superior unit
strength just like you would with Max, and don't bother building much,
since he has all he needs to help Andy out.
Drake is a decent teammate. His CO attack is mostly useful
because it drains Sturm's funds away when his units are automatically
repaired. Stay away from air units, obviously, and support Andy with
well rounded tactics, since he average with all ground units.
Eagle is the best teammate to have on the right hand side. He
can almost immediately move in with powerful air units and his CO
attack can easily rend Sturm apart. His ground units are average like
Andy, but the real advantage are the air units he has immediately at
the start of the level. While other COs will have to capture the
airport and build air units, Eagle has two fighters, two copters and a
bomber all ready to move out and trash Sturm, as well as two helpful
mid tanks. His initial unit costs combined are worth more than 125,000
funds. With Eagle on your team, it's best to focus on destroying the
copter and anti-air units, so that Eagle can move his air units in with
maximum force without being quickly destroyed.
Walkthrough:
Day one, Andy, begin capturing the air port and factory, move
your APC one north two east, your transport copter two east, your
missile launcher north, your west anti-air three north two west, your
east anti-air three north two east, your mid tanks east and north of
your missile launcher, and your copters two north.
Day one, left hand teammate, move your anti-air and missile
launcher units north, followed by the other ground units, and create a
tank.
Day one, right hand teammate, move your units north, create a
tank.
Day two, calculate which air units can be destroyed by each
character and proceed with that plan, maximizing the destruction. It's
better to leave a bomber alive than a fighter. When destroying the air
units, try to clear up the road between Andy and his right hand
teammate, so that his units can move through to attack on day three.
Sturm will move his tanks, anti-air units, copters, and mid tanks in a
random position at the bridge.
Day two, Andy, destroy the air units with your anti-air units and
missile launcher. Move your APC two east one north, and your mid tanks
to the north and east of your missile launcher. Move your two infantry
south to begin capturing the south cities. Create a tank. Depending
on how Sturm moves his units at the bridge, you may have to adjust the
APC and transport copter, but it should almost always work out ok.
Day two, left hand teammate, destroy the air units and position
your units to take the first meteor strike. Remember that you don't
need to jam every single unit together, just enough so that Sturm picks
the left hand teammates' units to be attacked. You should be able to
take the hit and still have two or three units not in the meteor strike
range, and don't waste your infantry needlessly by throwing them in the
mess. If you have about 50,000 funds worth of units packed together
and keep your other units spread out, Sturm will go for it.
Day two, right hand teammate, destroy the air units and try to
move your ground units into position to attack some of Sturm's units on
day three. Do not jam the units together or combine them with Andy's
units, or you may risk a meteor strike hit. Use your APC to zip north
and begin capturing the factory and air port.
Day three, hopefully Sturm has struck the left hand teammate with
the meteor strike, and done almost no damage to Andy. This is the big
day for Andy and the right hand teammate to stick it to Sturm. If you
have Eagle, concentrate on destroying the copters and anti-air units so
Eagle can move in safely, and if you have anyone else, just do as much
damage as possible. With good tactical skills, you can wipe out almost
every unit in Sturm's invasion force, leaving only a few units left.
Day three, Andy, give Sturm a massive pounding, and don't let up
for a second. You should be able to destroy three copters, a tank, and
two anti-air units. Leave the units to the right to your right hand
teammate. Save your CO power until day four.
Day three, left hand teammate, move your damaged units north as
cannon fodder for Sturm's units, to make some small distractions.
Day three, right hand teammate, get in as many hits as possible
through the small passageway. If you have Eagle, slam two tanks, an
anti-air, and a bomber. Sturm should have nothing left but two mid
tanks and a bunch of units in his territory.
Day four, from this point on you have to invade past the bridge
and destroy Sturm. The situation can get very messy, and Sturm has the
terrain advantage on city and forest area. Try to block up the
factories as best you can. If you linger too long and keep destroying
too many of Sturm's units, he will use his CO attack on day six and
ruin your invasion units.
Sturm has created an inordinate amount of infantry and he has two anti-
air units and a mid tank stationary by his base, along with a copter
and an anti-air or some other weak unit.
Day four, Andy, use your CO power and start wiping out the
infantry. You need to do this quickly to get into Sturm's base ASAP.
Day four, left hand teammate, keep moving those busted units up
to distract the enemy.
Day four, right hand teammate, give Sturm a light pounding, and
do not trigger his CO attack.
Day five, this is the day where you'll be making in roads to
Sturm's base. He'll also be using his CO power, so watch out! Try not
to let your front line units get smashed, instead move a group of units
together that are farther behind, so you can continue making in roads
to Sturm's base.
Day six - onward, you have plenty of time to force your way into
Sturm's territory and eliminate his forces. Depending on your CO, use
their units to your advantage and move in fresh units. Don't let your
units get too crowded, and block up Sturm's production capabilities so
he won't be able to use his CO attack from all the units you're
destroying.
Mission List
Next Mission: Rivals!
|
