________ __ | | | | | ____| | | | |____ _____ ____ | | _____ | | / __ \ / __ \ | | / _ \ | ____| | | | | | | | | | | | |_| | | |____ | | | | | | | | | | | ____| | | | |__| | | |__| | | | | |____ |________| \___/_| \____ | |__| \_____/ | | ____| | |______/ ________________________________________ |________________________________________| 1. Version History 2. Eagle Introduction 3. Eagle Bio/Statistics 4. Changes to Eagle 5. Eagle Day-to-Day 6. Eagle In-Depth 7. Tag Strategies 8. Eagle vs. Others 9. Opinions on Eagle 10. Copyright and Disclaimer 11. Credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. VERSION HISTORY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ v .70 : Wrote the FAQ v .71 : Fixed spelling and grammar, made slight change to history section. v .81 : Added Tag Strategies v .91 : Wrote the Eagle vs. Others section ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. EAGLE INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Eagle commands Green Earth's air force with lightning precision. First indroduced in Advance Wars, he has also appeared in Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising before AWDS. Unlike his fellow Green Earth CO, Jess, Eagle is willing to make sacrifices to achieve the desired goal as quickly as possible. Eagle can be a devastating CO if played properly, but requires a good deal of experience to learn how to maximize the effectiveness of his abilities. Since his first appearance, Eagle has undergone some exteme changes, but one thing has remained constant: his elite air force. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. EAGLE BIO/STATISTICS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Name: Eagle Country: Green Earth "Green Earth's daring pilot hero. Joined the air force to honor his father's legacy." Hit: Lucky goggles Miss: Swimming Air Units use less fuel than those of other armies and also have superior firepower. Naval units have weaker firepower. Unit Price 100% Air Units: 120/100 Sea Units: 90/100 Other Units: 100/100 *All air units burn 2 less fuel per day* CO Meter: oooOOOOOO CO Power: Lightning Drive Able to move non-infantry units twice during a turn, but their firepower is cut in half. Air Units: -50/+10 Sea Units: -35/+10 Soldiers: +10/+10 Others: -50/+10 SCO Power: Lightning Strike Able to move non-infantry units twice during a turn. No firepower penalty. Al Units: +10/+10 Tag Affinity: Andy: ** "Airlift" Sami: *** "Earth and Sky" Drake: ** "Stormwatch" How to Unlock: Available from start. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. CHANGES TO EAGLE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the origional Advance Wars, Eagle's air units were 115/110 and burned 2 less fuel per day. His naval units were 80/100. Also, in the original Advance Wars, CO's only had 1 power, Eagle's being Lightning Strike. This version of Lightning Strike allowed his non-infantry units to act twice in a turn, but they suffered a -20/-30 penalty. His fantastic power was perhaps the most feared in this game, especially since all power meters were the same length. In AW2, Eagle retained his air force's statistics, but his sea units were reduced to 70/100, by far the weakest in the game. Lightning strike was made his SCO Power, and Lightning Drive became his COP. Lightning Drive offered his air units a further boost of +15/+20 and gave all others the basic 10% defensive boost. Lightning Strike, now a 9-star SCOP, lost all penalties from the first AW and now gave a boost of +15/+20 to all planes and copters, with others recieving the basic 10% defensive boost. In AW2, Eagle lost much of his popularity. Lightning drive was far too specific to be very effective and, despite the improvements to Lightning Strike, it was not enough to save him with its long CO meter and weak CO power. In addition, his sea units were far, far too weak to be remotely effective. Now, in AW:DS, Eagle has regained much of his power. His naval units were made useable(90/100) and now rival those of Colin (except for the cost). Lightning Drive was re-formatted to resemble the Lighning Strike of the origional AW (it lost the defensive penalty, but gained a steeper offensive loss). The length of his CO meter remained the same, allowing for an effective Triple- Lightning Drive,but the charging process changed. In AWDS powers charge faster than before, a huge benefit for characters with long CO meters, like Eagle. Additionally, his reduced fuel usage has become much more useful with the addition of a new unit: the stealth fighter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. EAGLE DAY-TO-DAY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If there's one thing Eagle is not lacking, its a variety of strategies. His COP and SCOP allow him to become nearly as versatile as balanced CO's Andy and Olaf. Generally, you want to have a balanced attack, as you would with any CO. Many new players think "AIR UNIT BOOST! BUILD ONLY BOMBERS!" Don't. The best way to use Eagle is to take advantage of his strengths, but to do so in a beneficial way. Generally, when playing as Eagle, I use air units more than I normally would. That's OK. Just make sure to not overdo it. Couple your air raids with tanks or Md Tanks, and you will find yourself with a very potent assault. The tanks and Md's will allow you to take out enemy anit-air and missile units, while your bombers and fighters can cover your ground force by attacking enemy bombers and tanks. Also, in any battle it is important to gain the first strike. With air units, this is absolutely CRITICAL. Here are some results: Andy vs. Andy: Fighter vs Fighter: 8--5 Copter vs Copter: 8--4 Stealth vs Stealth: 8--5 Stealth vs Fighter: 5--6 Now let's see what happens when you pit Eagle vs. Andy: Fighter vs Fighter: 8--4 Copter vs Copter: 9--2 Stealth vs Stealth: 8--4 Stealth vs Fighter: 6--5 As you can see, Eagle's day-to-day ability really help in dealing that extra 1-2 damage and saves you 1-2 HP in some cases. The stealth fighter has the most noteworthy diffrence here, in that you can actually beat a fighter 1-on-1 if you get the first strike with Eagle. If not playing as Eagle, the stealth doesen't have a chance. Now, burning less fuel may not seem like a big advantage to most people, but it can be one of Eagle's most valuable assets. Now, let's consider the stealth fighter. When staying in one place, it burns 5 fuel each day, uncloaked. That will allow it to survive for 12 days unsupplied, which seems like a long time. With Eagle, that becomes 20 days. Also consider that it is very rare that you would want an uncloaked stealth fighter. When hidden, the stealth fighter burns 8 fuel per day, allowing it to survive for 8 days, staying in one place. With Eagle, that becomes 10 days. Now, those two days may not seem like a big advantage,but consider this: by saving that extra fuel, an Eagle-controlled stealth fighter has an extra range of 12 spaces without being supplied. That suddenly becomes a lot. Additionally, Eagle's copters do not burn any fuel for staying in one place. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. EAGLE-IN-DEPTH ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Addering ======== "Addering" is a term used to describe the mind games that Adder can play with his opponent due to the extra movement he recieves from his COP and SCOP. When facing a human opponent, they will often stay a space or two out of Adder's range to prevent the opponent from getting the first strike. Eagle can do this as well, to a cetain extent. When you have your power meter fully charged move up on your opponent, staying just out of their movement range, but within it when LIghtning Drive is activated. When using this strategy with Lightning Drive, just be sure to attack your opponent with either a superior unit (i.e. Md Tank vs. tank) or in a situation where you will not recieve a counter- attack (i.e. a tank vs. rockets). Why? Let's attack an Andy-controlled neotank with one of Eagle's Lightning Drive neotanks: Neo vs Neo (Both on roads): 7--7 So, you can see that you will suffer as much damage as your opponent and allow him/her the next attack. This strategy is most effective when using Lightning Strike, as your units will acually gain the default 10% firepower boost. Also beware when Sonja's SCOP or the skill Mistwalker is in effect. In this case, attacking under Lightning Drive would be suicide, and Lightning Strike may not fare much better. Timing ====== With Eagle, timing is neccessary. Let's examine some basic scenarios. Your opponent just activated their SCOP. They are one of the following: Kanbei, Sonja, Javier (with any towers), or have the Mistwalker skill. DO NOT USE YOUR COP/SCOP. Javier and Kanebei will simply have too much defense for your power to be truly effective. I know that I have already discussed Mistwalker and Sonja's SCOP, but I feel that I must re-emphasise the point. Those two will let your opponent get the first strike when attacked (though the animation will not show it) and, by the time you activate your power, your units will already be too weak to inflict significant damage. I know that is generally accepted to not attack under these cicumstances anyway, but it is critical for Eagle. Other cicumstances that may affect your decision to use his power may include: unit match-ups (are you sending you squadron of b-copters into an area full of anti-air?), amount of possible damage (can you attack enough units to make is worthwhile?), and possible conter-attack (does your opponent have a significant force coming that will devastate you?). The best way to learn timing is from experience, but these are some basic factors that should be considered. Enemy Pursuit ============= Now, lets say your opponent just suffered heavy losses and is retreating his neo tanks to a nearby group of cities. Your md tanks don't have enough movement range to attack those neo tanks but you don't want them to be repaired. This is the perfect time for Lightning Drive. It will allow you to get that extra movement range neccessary to stop those neos and, even with its offensive cut, will allow you to deal 1-3 damage to those neo tanks and finish the off. Make sure not to use Lightning Strike here, it will only waste 5 1/2-6 stars and is not really necessary for chasing down low-health enemies. Triple Lightning Drive ====================== Basically, for a succession of double-turn attacks, fully charge Lightning Drive. If performed correctly (you attack enough enemies before acivating your power), a Triple-Lightning Drive can be executed. Use this when you are going to need reinforcements in quick succession, are trying to overcome a superior force, or are preparing for to deal a major blow. However, if you are hoping for a single major blow, you a generally better off using Lightning Strike. Guerilla Tacitcs ================ During the Amerian Revolution, the United Stated would not have won the war if they had not employed guerilla tactics. In Advance Wars, guerilla tatics can be the same deciding factor they were in the revolution. Basically the idea is to "hit and run", using high-movement units. Attack that infantry capturing a city with your anti-air, even though there's a mega-tank right next to it. Use Lightning Drive for a quick retreat, and you've dealt some "free damage". The possibilities for this tactic are endless and, when playing as Eagle and wanting to primarily use this, make sure to use neo tanks, tanks, and anti-air as the key components of your ground force. Chokepoints, Reinforcements, & Covering Bases ============================================= Ahh. The chokepoint. This is the best friend of some CO's (Grit), and the worst enemy of others (Adder). With Eagle, chokepoints are not a problem. Genereally, a chokepoint is fortified by a tank or two, followed by indirects. To break through a Grit-held chokepoint, you basically either need far superior units or a big offensive boost (Kanbei's Samurai Spirit). Eagle's Lightning Dive works here as well. Just attack with a unit of the same quality of your opponent's, use Ligtning Drive, finish them off, and sweep away the indirects with the bulk of your army. Also keep in mind that you could advance indirects into firing range of an oppoent, then attack in the same turn. Now, it can work the opposite way also. You could re-inforce your position by using Lightning Drive to get reinforcements into position, or move your tanks forward to attack an opposing force that's preparing to strike, then reteat. Covering bases is an excellent tactic to employ in the mid-late game phases. Lightning Drive basically enables you to destroy a unit on a base, using one or two units or your own, then cover it during the same turn. Simple, but effective. Lightning Strike ================ Now, for Eagle's SCOP. As you can see, Lightning Drive is the more versatile of Eagle's 2 powers, due to its cost being 1/3 that of Lightning Strike. However, near then end of the game, when you are preparing to deal the final (or extremely cripplng) blow from which your opponent will almost never be able to recover, then it's time to break out Lightning Strike. This power causes massive devastation on a large scale. When playing War Room maps, it practically gaurantees a perfect power rating. It doesn't take much explaining, but who said davastation couldn't be simple? Suggested Skills ================ For Eagle, almost any skill can be use beneficially, so it really depends on who you're facing, the conditions of the battlefield, if there is fog, etc. Here are some of my favorite skill sets: General: Covers Eagle's weaknesses and enhances his strengths. -------- Seamanship - Covers Eagle's naval weakness. Brawler - All air units are direct-combat. Star Power - Eagle has a long Power Meter Fire Sale - Air units are expensive. Fog of War: Very helpful in Fog of War, useless outside it. ----------- Eagle Eye - Bigger vision never hurt. Scout - Bigger vision never hurt. Star Power - Eagle has a long power meter. Pathfinder - You want to get into woods as much as possible. Super Stealths: Makes stealth fighters nearly invincible. --------------- Stealthy - Stealth fighters now burn only 4 fuel when hidden. Backstab - Makes his stealth fighters nearly invincible. Fire Sale - Air units are expensive. Star Power - Eagle has a long Power Meter ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7. TAG STRATEGIES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In Advance WArs: Dual Strike, a new concept was introduced to the game: the tag battle. This allows to COs to fight together in battle and, when their CO Meters are full, to activate a Tag Break. This allows you to activate the first CO's SCOP, then switch and move again using the other CO's SCOP. When playing as Eagle, you will have the most devastating Dual Strike in the game. Three turns in a row is almost always going to be too much for your opponent to overcome, if used wisely. However, this devastating attack comes at a price: it will seldom be used, due to Eagle's long CO Meter. Again, you should not use this tag any time you would not use his SCOP. Also note that Eagle MUST lead a tag break or his SCOP will be USELESS. When Tagging, some CO's recieve firepower bonuses or penalties. Here are Eagle's: Andy: 115% Sami: 120% Drake: 115% Jess: 105% Lash: 90% Von Bolt: 90% Hawke: 70% Eagle/Andy ========== Andy and Eagle have a very nice tag break. Chances are that, after two attacks, some of your units will have been injured. When tagging with Andy, your first attack should be to take out opponents while recieving little/no damage. Activate the tag, then go after units that you would recieve considerable damage from (in terms of counter attacks). Here would be the best place to attack that enemy neo tank with your md. After your second turn, switch to Andy. All units are healed, and ready to clean up anything that could possibly be left standing. An extra +10% luck day-to-day doesn't hurt either. Eagle/Sami ========== Eagle/Sami is considered perhaps the most unfair tag in the entire game. Basically, if planned properly, you can take any property on the map. At the start of your turn make sure you have a T-Copter loaded with an infantry and, perferably, a bomber or two. Basically, you use your bombers to clear the way for the t-copter. On your second turn, unload your infantry within 5 spaces of the desired property, then switch to Sami. Finish off any units guarding the property you want to take, then Victory March to capture. Yes, it is unstoppable, and that is why it is considered so broken. Even expert players will have a very, very difficlt time dealing with this tag. If they do choose to defend their HQ against Earth and Sky, it will disrtact from the front lines, giving you a huge adavntage there. The 15% day-to-day luck boost just adds to the brokenness of this power. It is fun to use against the computer, just avoid it when playing other humans. Winning like this really doesn't prove much. Eagle/Drake =========== Now for Drake. This is a tough situation. I would have to say that is ok, but must be used right. You get +10% day-to-day luck and 115% attack bonus on a tag break, but the problem is that Drake's strength is Eagle's weakness. If you choose to use these partners, I would reccomend focusing on Eagle. You would definately want to have the skill seamanship to make up for Eagle' naval defecit. Here, you would build up you air force (seeing as during their tag, Eagle gets 2 attack, compared to Drake's one) and focus mainly on the land campaign. Its ok for a large-scale version of guerilla warfare, as rain will cover your retreat. However, you will have a tougher time attack a third time, considering most air units have low vision. It could work, but there are better options. Eagle/Kanbei ============ Following Eagle/Andy and Eagle/Sami, I would have to say that Eagle's next best Tag partner is Yellow Comets' Emperor, Kanbei. Almost nothing will be able to survive this tag, considering you deal two normal attacks with Eagle, then have a third extemely strong attack followed by awesome counter-attacks. Day-to-day, they are a good team also. Kanbei's air force is expensive, but devastating with its 120 defense. Its good. Eagle/Sonja =========== Sonja makes a good tag with Eagle for basically the same reason as Kanbei: you don't really have to worry about suffering counter attacks after pushing deep into the opponent's territory. As a bonus, they should fully charge their meters at about the same time. In FOW, Sonja's increased vision really helps, seeing as most air units have low vision range. Eagle/Grimm =========== Wow, Eagle really is a great tag partner with these Yellow Comet CO's. Although it may seem like a bad idea, considering how they are both primarily lead CO's. Grimm's 190% attack following Eagle's Lightning Strike, well... none should be able to survive. Eagle/Koal ========== This is another effective tag. Their CO meters should charge at about the same time, if Eagle leads. With these guys, you can really cover massive amounts of territory, given the double move with Eagle, followed by a +2 move with Koal. In addition, Koal's road bonus applies to air units. Eagle/Adder works fairly well also, but since he and Koal have the same SCOP length and Koal gets a firepower bonus, I would reccomend Koal first. Eagle/Max ========= If you want an idestructable air force, here you go. All air units will benefit from Max's stat boost, seeing as they are direct-combat units, and can plow through any army almost as well as Grimm, but with a higher defense. You really don't want to use a lot of indirects here, so holding chokepoints could be tough, but on maps without many, this may be one of your best choices. Eagle/Sasha ========== In this tag, you will mostly want to use Sasha, in order to hold back your opponent's COP/SCOP/TAG until yours is ready. It's not great against Adder/Koal/Sonja, but it is a great team against CO's that have CO Meters of about 7-10 stars. In addition, Sasha's bonus funds can help you get those expensive air units out quickly. Honorable Mention ================ Some of the following teams are effective, but not as much as the previously mentioned ones. These CO's include: Nell, Hachi, Colin, Sensei Javier, and Adder. Hachi and Colin are good choices for their lower deployment costs,but I try to aviod them because of their brokenness. Nell is great for dealing extra damage, but not as consitant when using her SCOP as Max and Grimm. If you really like copters, Sensei is a good choice, the only problem is that the infantry and mechs he creates are unaffected by Eagle's powers. Javier could tag with anyone effectively if there are any towers present, but outside of that, he is not a very good choice. Adder, as I previously mentioned, is ok, but Koal is generaly a better choice unless you want to primarily focus on Adder and use his COP a lot while wating for Eagle's to charge. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8. EAGLE VS OTHERS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For this section, I based these strategies on all of my experience, facing both AI and human players. This will not cover an entire battle, but instead emphasizes the major points. Saying that Guerilla warfare is effective against Sami does not mean to exclusively use Guerilla Tactics, only that they could be employed effectively. The same holds true for units. When I say to use a unit, it does not mean that it should be used exclusively, only that it can play an important role. Rachel ====== Rachel is not an easy opponent. Her SCOP really forces you to spread out your units. Fortunately, there is one unit of Eagle's that functions particularly well on its own: the stealth fighter. This can fire on any unit in the game and, as I previously showed, should even be able to take on a fighter 1 on 1. Make sure you have some APC's ready. Also, if you must quicly regroup, use Lightning Drive to reform your positions. Overall, this is a fairly balanced battle. (The missile guard skill helps a lot here also.) Difficulty: 3/5 Jake ==== Jake is widely regaureded as a mixture of CO's, and that is how you should treat a battle against him. His COP is very similar to Grit's, so you must be careful to stay out of his firing range when his COP is charged. His SCOP is a sort of Grit/Koal combination. He gets 2 extra move for his vehicles, but his air units will be unaffected. Against him, try to avoid plains, as even his air force wil recieve a firepower bonus while on them. Other than that, just take him down, using your powers in the most beneficial ways possible. If you keep track of his powers, this shouldn't be a very difficult match. Difficulty: 2/5 Andy ==== Being the traditional "Balanced CO", by which others' strengths are measured, Andy will provide a decent challenge for Eagle. This particular matchup does lend a slight advantage to Eagle, however. To defeat his "rival", use Lightning Drive/Strike to finish off units, so Andy can't get the full benefits of his COP/SCOP. Difficulty: 2/5 Max === As I already mentioned, Max's air force rivals that of Eagle's. Fortunately, Max suffers from a decreased range on indirect units, which is how you want to approach him. Use those indirects to help defend key chokepoints and break through any that Max possesses. The remainder of your army should be a normal, balanced force. This is another fairly equal matchup. Be sure to minimize the damage Max deals with his powers. Difficulty: 3/5 Sami ==== Not very hard. At all. Despite them being one of the best tags in the game, this matchup is considerably one-sided. A good Eagle player should be able to dominate Sami. Keep in mind that her air units will be significantly weaker than yours. To defeat her mech floods (the most commonly-used strategy of Sami players) use the guerilla warfare tactics, striking with Battle Copters and anti-airs, then retreating to safety. Make sure she doesn't get in range of your critical properties, especially when her CO Meter is nearly full. Difficulty: 2/5 Nell ==== Nell has all units at 100/100, but gets a huge luck modifier, making her a difficult opponent. Even low HP units are capable of inflicting major damage during her powers, so be sure to finish them off or retreat out of range when she is about to activate her SCOP. Other than that, just fight like you normally would. Be prepared for a tough battle. Difficulty: 4/5 Hachi ===== Get lucky. Hachi is a broken CO and the high price of air units makes it even worse. Try to keep it small, where Hachi won't be so affected by unit price and be sure to block nearby cities during his SCOP. Have fun! Difficulty: 5/5 Olaf ==== This is a tough, tough battle. Olaf's snow makes it very difficult on Eagle's air force, especially his stealth units. In this particular battle, do not even think of using a stealth unless you have many, many APC's ready to constantly re-supply. Also be wary that the effects of snow last 2 days, and that when using his "Nuclear Winter" strategy, he can have snow in effect at least 2/3 of the time. I would primarily focus on the ground campaign here, and stick to the basics: chokepoints, covering bases, etc. Be prepared for a hard-fought battle. Difficulty: 5/5 Grit ==== Grit, unlike his superior, Olaf, shouldn't cause too much trouble for Eagle. His air force is considerable weaker than Eagle's and, as long as Eagle's units stay out of the range of Grit's inderects, you'll do fine. You'll basically want to use Lightning Drive/Strike to breakthrough any chokepoints, as these are Grit's specialty. I would once again reccomend the use of stealth fighters: no indirect unit can attack them while cloaked and they should be able to handle any unit in Grit's air force. Black Bombs are especially useful for breaking chokepoints and they will recieve no penalty from Lightning Drive. Be aware that Grit's powers increase the range of his indirects, and be sure to keep an eye on his power meter. Difficulty: 2/5 Colin ===== Get lucky. Colin is a broken CO and the high price of air units makes it even worse. Your best shot is to abuse Lightning Dive since his units are slightly weaker than yours, but should your opponent be smart enough to Double- or Triple-Gold Rush, no CO really has much of a chance. Have fun! Difficulty: 5/5 Sasha ===== Sasha causes a lot of problems for Eagle. First, Market Crash will prevent Eagle from ever activating Lightning Strike and makes Lightning Drive occur a lot less often. Her D2D will also help her in larger maps, which are the primary candidates for large-scale air battles. The best way to approach Sasha is by using Lightning Drive at the most opportune times, without being overly selective. Fortunately, her powers don't really increase her unit stats much, so it shouldn't have an advantage there. Just do the basics: keep a balanced army , cover bases, and try to get the first strike whenever possible. Difficulty: 4/5 Eagle ===== Whenever a CO battles themself, its bound to get interesting. In this case, make sure you make the most of your own powers and try to minimize the effects of your opponent's. Since Neither CO will have an advantage with any unit type, don't be afraid to take to the sea if necessary. Prepare yourself for a difficult battle. Difficulty: 4/5 Drake ===== Drake has been Eagle's opposite ever since the first installment of Advance Wars. They have differing personalities, unit preferances, and appearances. Drake's powers make things very difficult on Eagle's air force, cutting fuel supplies in half and dealing 1-2 damage to all units, a significant amount to the fragile air unit. The key to defeating Drake lies in being well-supplied, using APC's, while staying away from the air for the most part. If the map has small areas of seas that do not need to be crossed, I would reccommend avoiding these areas, only using guerilla strikes to keep Drake's battleships at bay. Concentrate on the land campaign and primarily use Lightning Drive, rather than Lightning Strike: it will still allow you to supply twice with your APC's while helping to break through with your weaker units. Difficulty: 4/5 Jess ==== Jess is Green Earth's ground specialist, giving all wheeled and treaded vehicles a 20% offensive boost. Generally, Jess is considered overpowered, but she can be beaten if done properly. You will want to minimize the effectiveness of her vehicles, so use mountains as cover for your air force. Try to effectively employ guerilla tactics, as to minimize the diffrence between her ground force and yours. Stealth fighters are not a bad choice here, considering that no ground unit can attack them when cloaked, just make sure you have APC's to re-supply them. Also keep track of her COP and SCOP. They provide a movement boost to all vehicles under her command. Difficulty: 4/5 Javier ====== Javier is a very map-specific CO. When a few towers are in play, he is unstoppable. Just 2 towers give him units equal to those of Kanbei, at no additional cost. However, without towers, Javier is easy prey. Javier's one constant ability is increased defense against direct-combat units, which does not have a major impact on Eagle, seeing as his air force is completely direct-combat. To beat him with a few (2 or less) towers, concentrate your energy on taking those towers. If there are more, no CO stands a chance. Difficulty: 1-5/5 (Depends on the number of towers) Kanbei ====== Kanbei's air force actually is stronger than Eagle's, being 120/120 rather then Eagle's 120/100. However, his superior units come at a 20% increase in price. Basicallly, this means that you can build 6 figters for the same price he buids 5 (this applies to all units). Kanbei greatly excells at the capture, building, and intial strike phases, so the key is to withstand those periods while maintaining a fairly equal income to that of Kanbei's. Each subsequent strike Kanbei launches will become weaker, if you and your opponent are on equal income. After a few strikes, you should be ready to launch a major attack of your own. Also note that it is easier to defeat Kanebei on larger maps, where his price increase is more noticeable and the need for transports really hurt him. Difficulty: 4/5 Sonja ===== Without FOW, this battle is a joke. Sonja's D2D ability (which reduces her opponent's terrain stars by 1) is useless against Eagle's air force and, although it still affects his land campaign, is not too much of a problem. Her Enhanced Vision COP, does nothing but give a +10/+10 boost, and her SCOP isn't a problem if you prepare yourself. Her hidden HP isn't as important against Eagle, as he can finish off units, preventing many decoys. In FOW, be prepared for a very tough battle. Sonja's D2D abilities of hidden HP and terrain reduction still won't bee too bad, but her 3rd D2D ability comes into effect, which increases her unit vision by 1. Many air units have low vision range, which will hurt you a lot. Also consider that an air force is primarily used for agression, rather than defense and that FOW encourages a cautious battle. Try to utalize your stealth fighters, as they acutually have decent vision range and are unaffected by Sonja's abilities. Other than that, fight like you normally would in FOW. Difficulty (No FOW): 2/5 Difficulty (FOW): 4/5 Sensei ====== Sensei is an awkward CO in that he recieves boosts in completely diffrent unit types. His battle-copters are superior to Eagle's but his other air units are average. He also gets slightly stronger infantry and mechs, and higher movement range for transports, but his navy is as weak as Eagle's. He is also the only CO that actually deploy troops as a result of his powers. Beating him shouldn't be too difficult. Try to focus on building anti-air, they devastate his infantry, mechs, and copters and figters, to stop his copters. Cover as many cities as possible when his SCOP is charged and try to play a little agressive early on, in order to counter his increased transport range. Difficulty: 2/5 Grimm ===== Grimm should not be a very difficult opponemt. There is a multitude of strategies that you could employ to effectively take him down. The first of these is guerila warfare. Using our high-movement units, you could attack Grimm for decent damage, even if you are using an inferior units type, thanks to his low defense, then retreat to avoid the counter attack. You could also attack under Lightning Drive, even with its attack reduction. Grimm's 80% defense will stil allow you to inflict moderate damage. Just be sure you can bring it down pretty far before attacking. If you can get the first strike and minimize the effects of his powers, this won't be a very hard fight. Difficulty: 2/5 Flak ==== Flak isn't an extremely difficult opponent. To start with, he prefers using smaller, inexpensive units that he can afford to lose, yet still utilize to inflict significant damage. Fortunately, he will have a hard time stopping your air force using weaker units. Forcing Flak to build more expensive units will make his negative luck more noticeable, giving you an advantage. As for the rest, just try to keep a fairly balanced force, and fight using normal stratagies. This shouldn't be too bad. Difficulty: 2/5 Lash ==== In AW2, Lash was considered a broken CO. Now, however, she has been changed to be on fairly equal footing with everyone else. When facing Lash, try to keep her on low-defense terrain, as to minimize her firepower boost and make her SCOP less effective. Also try to force her into taking to the air- her units will not gain any firepower bonuses from terrain and will only get the default boost when her powers are activated. If you can do these two things, your victory is assured. Difficulty: 2/5 Adder ===== Facing Adder is more of a psychological battle then anything else. He will try to push you back, as his powers give him the first stike much of the time. Fortunately, he has some weaknesses. First, he has a lot of trouble breaking a well-supplied chokepoint, and Eagle's Lightning Drive allows him to quickly get any neccessary reinforcements. Second, Ligtning Strike, although it takes twice as much time to charge as Sidewinder, is far superior. With this power, you can turn the psychological tables on Adder and force him to retreat to his chokepoints. One he does, activate Lightning Drive to break though and seize victory. Not too tough. Difficulty: 3/5 Hawke ===== Hawke is a fairly difficult opponent for Eagle to face. Both their SCOP's take the same amount of time to charge, and Hawke gains a 10% offensive boost D2D for all units. To beat Hawke, try to finish off his units when possible, to prevent him from maximizing his COP/SCOP effectiveness. Also try to make the most of your COP/SCOP, as you will be filling at a similar rate. In FOW, also be careful because Hawke's SCOP lets him gain a general idea of how many units you have (Black Wave/Storm will make a little spark whenever it hits one of your units). Keep a balanced force, and try to slowly drive him back with a well-supplied front. Difficulty: 4/5 Jugger ====== Jugger isn't an extremely difficult opponent. To start with, he prefers using smaller, inexpensive units that he can afford to lose, yet still utilize to inflict significant damage. Fortunately, he will have a hard time stopping your air force using weaker units. Forcing Jugger to build more expensive units will make his negative luck more noticeable, giving you an advantage. As for the rest, just try to keep a fairly balanced force, and fight using normal stratagies. This shouldn't be too hard. Difficulty: 2/5 Koal ==== When facing Koal, you will want to use similar strategies to those of when fighting Adder. Try to gain the psychological advantage with your powers, as you would against Adder. Also try to keep the battle off of roads, where Koal's units will gain a 10% attack boost D2D, with a 20$% and 30% under his COP and SCOP, respectively. Keep in mind that even air units will recieve this road boost. Try to utilize and sieze any non-road chokepoints early, as Koal will have the same problems breaking through as Adder. Difficulty: 3/5 Kindle ====== When played properly, Kindle is a difficult opponent. Her city attack boost is very steep at 40%, so try to aviod urban tiles. Her COP and SCOP also have diffrent effects, which means that you will need to be prepared for both. Urban Blight deal 3 HP of damage to all opposing units on properties, which can really cost Eagle a lot of money in repairs. High Society offers a 3% attack boost for each property under her control. Both will also increase her firepower on urban spaces. Try to sieze a lot of properties early on and always have a few infantry and T-Copters ready to capture more during the mid- late phases of the game. Her COP really discourages base-covering, so it is better to slowly creep over her, using Lightning Drive to get a steady line of reinforcements. Difficulty: 3/5 Von Bolt ======== Von Bolt is really not that difficult, despite him being the game's boss. His SCOP is the only one longer than Eagle's in the entire game and, to be honest, Eagle's is far more effective. His units are all at 110/110, so they will be a little harder to defeat, buit it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Keep a balanced attack, and take the Omega War's mastermind down. Difficulty: 2/5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9. OPINIONS ON EAGLE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kiltman2's notes on Eagle: "-Eagle is a CO that if used properly, can be a force to be reckoned with. -He has excellent original CO powers, that used correctly can make the battle one-sided. -He specialises in aerial combat, arguably the most useful unit types. -He can also hold his own on land maps, with additional support from his air units he can dominate. -Has great tags with Andy, Sami and Drake (WOO) -And he's the commander-in-chief of the Green Earth army, by far the coolest of all the armies." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10. COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This guide is (c) 2006 xFlameMaster. It may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any website or distributed publicly without my conscent. Use of this guide on any web site or as part of public display is strictly prohibited. The only websites that are authorized to use this FAQ are: gamefaqs.com warsworldnews.com Advance Wars: Dual Strike, and all characacters are copyright of Nintendo. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11. CREDITS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks to gameFAQs and Wars World News, they really got me involved in this great game. Intelligent Systems for this awesome game. Kireato for being awesome. Kiltman2 for providing his opinion. The people at WWN. They helped me make corrections, pointed out mistakes, etc. They were a big help.