

 Advance Wars: Critical Character Comparison guide (v. 1.1)

 by Uiru (uiru@cephiro.com)
 Created 10/31/01


 The purpose of this guide is to clarify the vauge differences 
between the individual Commanding Officers' (CO's) abilities. For 
example, Sami has the best infantry, Grit is the master marksman and 
Kanbei is good at everything. How do they stack up? Sami and Kanbei's
soldiers are actually the same strength, and Kanbei's long-range 
attacks are superior to Grit's. However, then you get into the 
details, like how Grit's CO Power cranks his shooter units far 
past anything Kanbei could ever hope to accomplish. If you have not 
gone through the Campaign Mode at least once, I suggest you do so 
before reading, as there are many game and story spoilers ahead.

 (Please note that at this time, I do not have access to Eagle, 
Sturm or Nell, so information on these characters will not be as 
indepth as the others.)

 Table of Contents:
 1. Updates

 2. General Information

 3. Commanding Officers
 i. Andy
 ii. Max
 iii. Sami
 iv. Olaf
 v. Grit
 vi. Kanbei
 vii. Sonja
 viii. Eagle
 ix. Drake
 x. Sturm
 xi. Nell

 4. Other Information
 i. Terrain Defence
 ii. Hiring COs
 iii. Movement/Vision/Attack Range list

 5. Credits, legal



 ~1. Updates~

Nov. 1, 2001- Added a few tidbits on Drake. Begun game again; will 
              have Eagle shortly.
Oct. 31, 2001- Began guide. Gathered a ton of information while 
               shelling out candy. 



 ~2. General Information~

 There are a few things you should know about how Advance Wars 
operates before we get into the CO's.

 First of all, all units can be classified into one of three classes- 
Soldier, Direct, or Long. By land, by air or by sea, everything falls
into these comprehensive categories. Soldier class contains Infantry 
and Mech. Direct is anything that can attack immediately after 
moving; Tanks, Cruisers, Fighters, etc. Long is anything that has an 
attack range. Battleships, Missiles, and Artillery are all Long 
class.

 Each character has a certain ranking in these three areas. All of 
Max's Long units, for example, are weak, while all of his Direct 
units are extremely strong. Though the game gives the impression 
that it only affects tanks, Max's superior strength affects his Subs 
and Bombers and everything else just as much as his Mid Tanks. This 
is because they are all Direct. To keep things simple, the rankings 
will be given as percentages, with Andy's ratings being 1. Sami's 
Soldiers are 1.21, meaning they'll do 121% of the damage Andy's 
corresponding Soldiers will do. Meanwhile, her Direct units are 
0.89. They'll only do 89% of the damage Andy's units can do. This 
will allow you to easily compare the differing abilities of the 
CO's. However, the CO's CO Power Bonuses are based off their own 
rankings. 

 Unit attributes is another issue. Though several CO's units all move
the same way, there are a few differences. Drake's ships can all move
one space farther than all other CO's ships. Grit's Long class units 
can shoot an extra space. These differences will be noted with the 
characters and the general list will be included at the end of this 
guide.

 ~3. Commanding Officers~


 ~i. Andy~

 Orange Star CO

 Soldier Strengh: 1.00
 Direct Strength: 1.00
 Long Strength: 1.00

 CO POWER: "Hyper Repair"

 Hyper Repair restores two HP to every unit under Andy's command. 
Note that the units' HP will not rise above ten. Hyper Repair is one 
of the more useful powers, as it not only increases the longetivity 
of Andy's units, but indirectly increases their power as well, as 
higher HP means more damage done.

 Soldier Bonus: 1.08
 Direct Bonus: 1.09 
 Long Bonus: 1.09

 PROS: Andy has no real cons.

 CONS: He's a dork and I hate the sight of him.


 ~ii. Max~

 Orange Star CO

 Soldier Strength: 1.00
 Direct Strength: 1.50
 Long Strength: 0.89

 CO POWER: "Max Force"

 Max Force greatly increases the power of Max's Direct units, and 
gives them an extra movement space.

 Soldier Bonus: 1.08
 Direct Bonus: 1.24
 Long Bonus: 1.09

 PROS: Max is a brute and his Direct units can usually blow away 
everything in their path, even without benefit of Max Force. Get that
on the go and let the tanks roll where they will.

 CONS: Max's Long units leave much to be desired. Not only are they 
weak, but their range is shorter than all other Long units. His 
Artillery is pretty much useless as it can only attack units that 
are exactly two spaces away. 

 ATTRIBUTE DATA: Max's Artillery, Rockets, Missiles, and Battleships
all have -1 on the outer value of their range. All of Max's Direct 
units gain +1 movement during Max Force.


 ~iii. Sami~

 Orange Star CO

 Soldier Strength: 1.21
 Direct Strength: 0.89
 Long Strength: 1.00

 CO POWER: "Double Time"

 Double Time gives Sami's Soldier units a movement cost of 1 over any
kind of terrain (except Sea) and in any kind of weather. The movement
ranges of her Soldiers and her transport units are increased by 1. 
Their strength is also increased. 

 Soldier Bonus: 1.28
 Direct Bonus: 1.09
 Long Bonus: 1.09

 PROS: On top of being cute, Sami's Infantry and Mech units capture 
bases 50% faster than any other CO's. Sami is the only CO who can 
capture a property in two turns with less than perfect Health. Her 
transport units can move an extra space, and I believe that range is 
extended again during Double Time. Her Soldier units are also 
stronger defencively; the easiest way to describe it is to add one 
unit of Terrain Defence to her soldiers at all times. 

 CONS: Sami's Direct unit strength is a little poor. 

 ATTRIBUTE DATA: Sami's APC, Lander and Transport Copter units can 
move an extra space. They gain another space under Double Time. Her 
Cruisers are not affected, even though they can carry helicopters. 


 ~iv. Olaf~

 Blue Moon CO

 Soldier Strength: 1.00
 Direct Strength: 1.00
 Long Strength: 1.00

 CO POWER: "Blizzard"

 Olaf makes it snow for a turn. This is not a popular ability; it's 
really only useful for slowing your opponents down for one turn. 

 Soldier Bonus: 1.08
 Direct Bonus: 1.09
 Long Bonus: 1.09

 PROS: Olaf is not affected by snow, which increases the movement 
cost for all other units by 1. It doesn't sound like much, but 
several units, especially those on tires, will be practically 
immobilized by snow. And like Andy, he doesn't have any offencive 
weaknesses.

 CONS: Olaf is affected by rain moreso than the other CO's. However, 
rain only affects his Infantry (not Mechs), ships, and planes. 
Everything else is slowed down only as much as everything else is 
slowed down. I also find his music to be especially annoying.


 ~v. Grit~

 Blue Moon CO

 Soldier Strength: 0.79
 Direct Strength: 0.79
 Long Strength: 1.00

 CO POWER: "Snipe Attack"

 Snipe Attack increases the power and range of his Long class units 
to disgusting levels. 

 Soldier Bonus: 1.10
 Direct Bonus: 1.09
 Long Bonus: 1.64

 PROS: Grit's longrange units have an extended range. When his CO 
Power gets going, anything within range of his cannons is going down.
He also looks like an armed Newfoundland fisherman.

 CONS: Grit requires his CO Power to be truly effective. Both his 
soldiers and his direct offencives are the weakest in the game. 

 ATTRIBUTE DATA: Grit's Artillery, Rockets, Missiles, and Battleships
have an extra attack space. They gain two more spaces during Snipe 
Attack. 


 ~vi. Kanbei~

 Yellow Comet CO

 Soldier Strength: 1.20
 Direct Strength: 1.20
 Long Strength: 1.20

 CO POWER: "Morale Boost"

 Morale Boost is like Max Force, only it works for everything. Does 
this guy have a flaw?!

 Soldier Bonus: 1.15
 Direct Bonus: 1.16
 Long Strength: 1.16

 PROS: Great at everything. Morale Boost gives every single one of 
his troops yet another boost. Kanbei is also quite strong 
defencively; assume that his units start with a defence rating of 
two. (See 'Terrain Defence'.)

 CONS: Interestingly enough, his units are 20% stronger than normal 
units, and they cost 20% more as well. Infantry go for 1200, Mechs 
for 3600, etc. This can get pricey.


 ~vii. Sonja~

 Yellow Comet CO

 Soldier Strength: 1.00
 Direct Strength: 1.00
 Long Strength: 1.00

 CO POWER: "Enhanced Vision"

 All of Sonja's units can see farther in Fog of War. Units hidden in
forests and reefs can be seen. 

 Soldier Bonus: 1.08
 Direct Bonus: 1.09
 Long Bonus: 1.09

 PROS: *swoon* I love Sonja! She's cute, sweet, smart, shy, a bit of 
a nerd, and deadly lethal. What more do you want? Sonja has the 
interesting ability to keep her units' HP hidden from her opponents 
at all times. Though you can count the number of units remaining 
during the animations (which I usually have turned off) you'll still 
be left guessing. The HP of a unit can be extremely important, as a 
Mech can finish off an Anti-Aircraft Gun, but if it's at full health,
the Mech will be slaughtered. Her units also have larger vision 
ranges. And her music is so elegant and refined!

 CONS: Sonja suffers from chronic bad luck. What this means is that 
although Sonja's attack ratings are equal with those of Andy and Olaf
and the like, they will usually do less damage than the game says. 
There are some cases where 103% isn't enough to finish off an 
Infantry, for example. A good rule of thumb is to always round down, 
and playing to the worst-case scenario means knocking 10% off the 
value the game gives you. Sonja's CO Power and abilities are also 
100% useless on maps without Fog of War. All it can do for you is 
the very slight attack bonuses. 

 ATTRIBUTE DATA: Every single one of Sonja's units has +1 vision 
range. It is increased by 2 more with Enhanced Vision. 


 ~viii. Eagle~

 Green Earth CO

 CO POWER: "Lightning Strike"

 This is evil. All of Eagle's non-Soldier class units that have moved
or been ordered to Wait can move again. Though they'll have slightly 
lower attack ratings, you're still cleaning out the map.

 PROS: Eagle (presumably) has stronger aircraft that can move farther
than normal.

 CONS: Eagle's naval power is weaker. In the turn after Lightning 
Strike, his units' defencive ratings go down. (Thanks Dee.)


 ~ix. Drake~

 Green Earth CO

 Soldier Strength: 1.00
 Direct Strength: 1.00
 Long Strength: 1.00

 CO POWER: "Tsunami"

 All enemy units take 1 HP damage. This is fine for finishing off 
units, but it can be sort of useless against Andy or Sami in property
race missions. The good news is that your units' CO Power Bonuses 
will be boosted a little bit more by the fact that your opponent is 
1 HP weaker. When you've only got ten, one can mean all the 
difference. Tsunami can also be used as a very crude radar in Fog of 
War, as it will (very quickly) point out the location of every unit 
on the map.

 Soldier Bonus: 1.08
 Direct Bonus: 1.09
 Long Bonus: 1.09

 PROS: Not affected at all by rain, which happens frequently when 
Drake is around. Also not affected any worse than any other CO in the
snow. His ships can move farther than your average CO's, and have an 
automatic defence rating of two stars.

 CONS: Not as effective in the air. Is also a dork.

 ATTRIBUTE DATA: Battleships, Cruisers, Landers and Submarines can 
all move an extra space. 


 ~x. Sturm~

 Black Hole CO

 CO POWER: "Meteor Strike"

 All units in a 5x5 cross are reduced to 2 HP. If a unit is at 2 HP 
already, is reduced to 1 HP. Meteor Strike will not hurt Sturm's 
units, but it also cannot be used to destroy things. It only reduces 
HP.

 PROS: All units always have movement ranges of 1 over any kind of 
terrain (that it could traverse in the first place- we aren't talking
Gold Chocobo style Mid Tanks running up mountains here). Is more than
likely unaffected by weather.

 CONS: His units are, on the whole, a little bit weaker offencively 
and defencively. You probably didn't notice during Campaign Mode as 
he has so many of them. He's also fairly stupid-looking. And what's 
with the sissy pink smoke?


 ~xi. Nell~

 Orange Star CO

I have heard very little about Nell, and I'm not even sure if she's 
really available for hire. It is said that you have to finish Advance
Campaign to be allowed to use her. Considering I took one look at 
Advance Campaign and decided to sweep the regular game with all S 
ranks before going back, it'll be a while before I know for sure. 
(Incidentally, I've gotten S ranks with Andy on every single level, 
except for the last two against Sturm. I'm gonna sweep with Sami 
next, and most likely pick up Eagle on the way.)

 PROS: Nell is said to be extremely lucky; as in, her units will do 
more damage than what the game says. She's also cute when she's 
angry.

 CONS: If you have to finish freaking Advance Campaign to get her, 
Nell better not have any cons worth talking about. :)



 ~4. Other Information~


 ~i. Terrain Defence~

 Plains, forests, bases, etc. all bestow certain levels of cover for
your units. More cover means they take less damage when attacked, 
and can then deal back more damage (if applicible). Though more 
research in this area is needed, it seems that for each defence 
level, the damage done falls by about 10% of the original value. 

 Examples are good. Assume that a regular, full health Infantry unit
is standing on the road, which has no stars (and thus, no defence 
bonus) and a regular, full health Mid Tank comes up and blows the 
snot out of it. 105%. (Beaches and bridges also offer no defencive 
bonuses.) If that same Infantry unit had been standing on a plain, 
it would have taken 94% damage instead (and stand a fair chance of 
surviving the attack, albeit just barely). Plains and reefs have one 
star. Forests have two stars. Infantry 'only' take 84% damage here. 
Cities and bases have three, so it'd take 73% from that mean old Mid
Tank. And lastly, Headquarters and mountains have four stars, so 
here, the unit would take 63% damage. 

 Another example that supports my 10% theory is Mid Tanks. The 
progression from no stars to four stars when attacking a regular Mid 
Tank with a regular Mid Tank is: 55%, 49%, 44%, 38%, 33%. (By 
'regular' I mean 'not Max, not Kanbei, but Andy VS Andy'. Andy is 
always used as the 'other' guy when testing units.) 

 This is what that stuff about Sami and Kanbei's units means. Sami's
Soldier units act like they have one star plus the terrain defence 
rating, and all of Kanbei's units act like they have two. Other COs 
may have defencive bonuses/penalties, as well. This section needs 
research. 


 ~ii. Hiring COs~

 All I know about hiring COs is that Andy is linked to Drake (and 
possibly Kanbei). Max is linked to Grit, and Sami is linked to Eagle. 
Using Andy against Drake all the time will probably increase your 
chances of hiring him after you finish the game, for example. 
Meanwhile, Sonja can only be hired if you unlock her secret missions 
during Campaign Mode. You have to score at least A on all three of 
Kanbei's levels to do it. Beat the first in 8 days, the second in 10 
and the third in 12 and you should be whisked off to the cutie's 
testing ground. (Thanks to 'me budday' Fergo for the dates and 
character relationships.) However, I don't know anything about 
hiring Sturm, or even if you can. 


~iii. Movement Ranges, Vision Ranges, Attack Ranges~

 For reference, here is the basic data for all types of units in the 
game.
 Name / Movement / Vision / Attack
 Infantry:  3   2
 Mech:      2   2
 Mid Tank:  5   1
 Tank:      6   3
 Recon:     8   5
 APC:       6   1
 Artil'ry:  5   1  (2~3)
 Rockets:   5   1  (3~5)
 Anti-Air:  6   2
 Missiles:  4   5  (3~5)
 Fighter:   9   2
 Bomber:    7   2
 B Copter:  6   3
 T Copter:  6   2
 Btl.ship:  5   2  (2~6)
 Cruiser:   6   3
 Lander:    6   1
 Sub:       5   5


 ~5. Credits/Legal~

 Advance Wars is owned by Nintendo. You know that. I know that. They 
know that. This is a waste of space. This guide, on the other hand, 
is copyright 2001 Uindamu Uiru. Touch it and you will be fed to a 
thousand angry Dunsparce.

 All data in this guide has been collected by myself, with the sole 
exception of, well, everything in the Hiring CO's section (which 
contains the credit). You may not steal it; if you must steal it, at 
least provide me with your home address so that I may hunt you down 
and break your knees. 

 This guide may be posted on your site only if it is 100% unaltered, 
and if proper credit is given to me (Uiru, uiru@cephiro.com). I would
appreciate being informed first.