First, take a look at the map through the preview.
Take a look at the neutral properties near you, and note what the available production facilities are. If there’s land and air, Drake probably isn’t a good CO to choose. Pick the CO you feel most comfortable with and feel gives you a fair chance at victory, then continue.
Obviously, total victory is our goal. Here, I’ve outlined the HQ. HQ capture will be incredibly difficult to manage against a decent human player, so we will have to use a show of force instead. This is our long-term goal; to have such an overwhelming force against the opponent that he will have no choice but to surrender.
This neutral base here should be our first goal (I’m aware my cursor is pointed to a neutral city). It has a nice position near the enemy’s base, and allows us to maintain a foothold in the middle region. Odds are we won’t reach the neutral airport in time (it’s 4 days away by T-copter, as opposed to 3 days from Blue Moon’s HQ), so let us ignore that. The neutral base is the farthest we can safely expand, so all properties before the neutral base should be secured by you in a relatively short time. This is our first goal; to secure all neutral properties up to and including the neutral base.
I said before that we won’t reach the neutral airport in time. Well, after the capturing phase is done, we enter the combat phase. Here, I pinpointed the airport and base as locations to attack. You want to focus your troops into attacking the defense surrounding these two locations and capture them for yourselves. This could take a couple days or a couple weeks. In any case, the neutralization of these two production facilities should be our second goal, because then the enemy is on the run.
Notice that our first two goals helps lead into our final goal; total victory. That’s how I think AW should be approached. It’s a lot like chess in that regard.
Now, I’ve selected Andy as my CO and Max as my opponent. Weather is clear, funds set to 1000 G per property, and there is no FoW.
Day 4. As you can see, I’ve already captured 2 of the neutral properties and am in the process of capturing two more, including the neutral base. My T-copter is in position to load the Infantry in order to capture more neutral properties. In the bottom left corner, you can see I’ve built a Bomber. Why? You’ll see in the next picture.
This is Max’s Day 4. I built a Bomber because he has only one Anti-Air unit and he has no nearby base to back up his Anti-Air. Now, since he is an AI, I can afford this luxury. Don’t think the same strategy against computers also work for human opponents. Anyway, note that he has already secured the neutral base and airport. I was wise not to go for the neutral airport; it would’ve stretched my force too far apart so soon. Max has built a B-copter in his airport near his HQ. I will have to take note of that; I have no units that can stop it for now.
I’ve nearly achieved my first goal; soon, phase two will begin.
Here is an example demonstrating the importance of enemy range. As you can see, the red square indicates the area the Anti-Air is capable of attacking. Therefore, it is important that I maneuver my air units outside the area. While Max does have powers that increase his movement, since combat hasn’t started yet, his CO meter is empty. No worries here.
This is my Day 7 situation. I have three units ready to begin the offensive, but which units should I strike? The B-copter would be nice, but the Fighter cannot reach the unit. The basic idea is this: attacking/eliminate the units who pose the greatest threat. In the next scene, you’ll see what I attacked. In addition, when attacking, bring the units farthest from the battle first into combat. In this situation, this would be the Md. Tank.
As you can see here, I ended up attacking the Tank with the Md. Tank, the Anti-Air with the Bomber, and the T-copter with the Fighter. I attacked the Tank because it was the only one available for the Md. Tank and the T-copter with the Fighter for the same reason. I attacked the Anti-Air because it was the unit posing the greatest threat to my air force right now. I built a Tank because I felt I needed some ground support. End of Day 7.
This is a decision making situation. As ou can see, I can block the airport by destroying the T-copter and moving the Bomber atop the airport. However, this leaves the B-copter alone, which could wreak havoc on my ground forces for the day. What should I do?
I ended up blocking the airport. In the long run, plugging up the airport will benefit me far more than destroying the B-copter. The B-copter will only annoy me for one day, where the Fighter will be able to take it out then. You can see the rest of my moves here, including my attempt to secure more funds into enemy territory. I also built an Anti-Air to deal with the Infantry that are sure to clog up my ground forces by use of the “meatshield.”
Here is Day 9, essentially the aftermath of my decision. It benefited me greatly, as you can see. However, I did lose my capturing Infantry (this is actually an exploit of the AI; they take priority in attacking capturing Infantry. You can see that Max has used his COP or SCOP (I’m not really sure which one was used).
This is the end of Day 9, just so you can see what I did. I built an APC in order to refuel my Bomber and Fighter, if you were wondering.
As you can see here, I made a mistake. I did not check to see what Max had built in his bases back at his HQ, and I paid for it with the loss of my Bomber. Lesson to be learned: Always be aware of the entire map. Just because the action is happening in one area does not mean that you can neglect what is happening elsewhere. On the other hand, this loss charged my SCOP. Judging by my current situation, I felt that now was a good time to use it; to make this decision, be fully aware of the benefits of your SCOP. Andy’s Hyper Upgrade recovers 5 HP, increases offense by 20%, increases defense by 10%, and increases movement by 1. I have a number of units nearby to take advantage of the offensive benefits, and I have two wounded units who can make use of the 5 HP. It’s time to use it.
This is the aftermath of my SCOP. As you can see, I have turned the battle decisively towards my favor. Max’s airport is now being captured, his Fighter has been destroyed, four units have been destroyed, and another has been severely wounded. The lesson: Using a SCOP at the right time can tilt the battle in your favor tremendously.
This is an image of my Day 13. You can see that my second goal is nearly achieved. If you need a reminder, it was the neutralization of the airport and base under Max’s control. I believe it is quite obvious that Max is
clearly on the run.
The following day, my second goal has been achieved. The endgame begins now.
After some minor skirmishes, Max has managed to charge my second SCOP. At this point, using it only ensures my overwhelming victory.
The end of my Day 16. It’s all but over.
Day 17. I’m only showing this screenshot to show that my victory is nearly achieved. It will be total annihilation.
And victory is mine. Remember, this was against the AI. I have yet to participate in a match here, and my experience with humans has been limited to a couple of stalemates in AW1. I can guarantee that a human opponent will probably be a lot more difficult than Max here was. No offense to Max or anything.
Do I have any questions?