HC32: Great Sea Battle

Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
Hard Campaign Guide

Mission 32: Great Sea Battle


Difficulty:

Recommended Player COs: Eagle, Andy, Sonja
Enemy CO: Hawke
Perfect speed limit: 21 days

Use a team consisting of Eagle, Andy and Sonja (you may want to place someone
else on the YC force, but Sonja will make it the easiest for you here). Eagle
will make up your main attacking force consisting of a dominance of air units.
Andy should build land units to support Eagle’s assault and defend against
Hawke’s early attacks. Sonja should try to take out the southern Black Cannon
and try to claim that island, heading for the pipe seam. She will then move in
with a Rocket to destroy the pipe seam and completing the mission. Remember
that Eagle counts for power and technique on this mission.

One important thing to keep in mind on this mission is to try to have Hawke
build as few units as possible. Because of the Factory and the huge amount of
bases and cities on the map, Hawke will always quickly rebuild units whenever
he loses them. However, not destroying Hawke’s units will result in him
reaching the unit cap (max. 50 units deployed per army). In that case, he will
not be able to build anything anymore. The factory will then also stop
spawning units. To get a good power score, this is essential. This will also
cause Hawke to fill up his power bar more slowly as you aren’t dealing him
that much damage.

Another important thing to notice is that you’ll be able to fire two missiles
early on (both Eagle and Andy have one close to their base). Both of these
missiles should be fired at the lone Mech on the island with the southern
Black Cannon. This will reduce its HP to 4. Now, Sonja can come in with her
Lander loaded with Infantry and remove the Mech from the base before it has
finished capturing it. Now the island is up for grabs for Sonja.

The strategy to beat this map is to have Eagle advancing north quickly,
grabbing the airport on the forested island north of the bridge as soon as
possible. He should also have the main part of the cities on the western
island. Build a few B-Copters in the beginning from your airports, but switch
to building Bombers and Fighters rather soon. Use the B-Copters, a Tank and an
Artillery to take out the units on the island south-east of Andy’s base. Once
the area is cleared there, move on to support Andy with Fighters and Bombers.
Build both air units according to your current needs (buy a Fighter if Hawke
is building more air units, buy Bombers if he builds ground units. When you
can, help Andy destroy the northern Black Cannon, as well as some of the
minicannons that get in your way. Once Sonja is in place to destroy the pipe
seam and you have placed your units correctly, destroy enough units to get a
perfect power score.

Andy should hold off Hawke’s forces until Eagle arrives. He will have a rough
time with this, so it’s best to stick with the two choke points on the island
with the northern Black Cannon. Destroy the Black Cannon using Artillery and
then try to hold off Hawke who will be spawning lots of units from the factory
and send them straight to Andy. A support force of A-Air and Missiles might
help you with this. Try to take the base near the Black Cannon too, as it will
help you getting new units to the right places when you need them. Once Eagle
arrives, let Andy provide him a decent ground support with a variety of units.
Hyper Repair and Hyper Upgrade are both really good powers to counter Hawke’s
and have your units last a bit longer. Just remember to refrain from
destroying units, but rather focus on blocking Hawke’s advance.

Sonja will need to take out the pipe seam, making her the most important CO
when it comes to clearing the mission. However, she’s also the one who stays
away from the frontlines. What you should do with her is loading your two
Infantry in the Lander and directly head for the island with the southern
Black Cannon. Avoid getting your Landers into either B-Ship or Sub attack
range (they won’t move if they can’t attack). Drop off one Infantry on the
southeastern island and then directly move towards the Black Cannon island.
Use your remaining Infantry to dispose of the 4 HP Mech (Eagle and Andy should
have fired their missiles on it) and capture the base.

At your HQ area, you should build two Infantry only and capture the four
neutral cities with them. After that’s done, leave the entire area alone. The
Infantry on the southeastern island should capture the neutral port first,
then fire the missiles and capture the bases. You should be able to build a
B-Ship from there at about the same time you can build a Rocket from the base
on the Black Cannon island. Use the B-Ship and the Rocket that you move one
space south to destroy the Black Cannon. After that, move your Rocket north
and place it just below the pipe seam so it can just fire on it. Note that
this is in range of the minicannon guarding it. In order to solve this, you
should also build an MD Tank from the base there and place it on the neutral
airport, which is also in minicannon range. The cannon will now fire on the MD
Tank instead of the Rockets, allowing you to strike the seam with a full HP
one. Switch the MD Tank for a healthy one next turn to ensure victory.

Strategy by HPD. Map image by Tsuruya.