Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp brings a modern touch to two classic strategy titles, and anyone that’s played the originals knows that there are quite a few intense difficulty spikes. While you have a new Casual difficulty mode, there are still a few particular missions that can be a huge roadblock, and for the first Advance Wars none more so than The Final Battle. The penultimate mission has you going up against the intimidating villain Sturm and, for the first time, controlling three different armies and COs. It’s a daunting task no matter what, so we’ll help walk you through The Final Battle of Advance Wars.
Best COs for the Final Battle
The Final Battle requires you to use Andy as your middle CO, but you can choose whichever other two you want, but there are a few that have a clear advantage. Your two best options are going to be Eagle (on the right) and Max (on the left), although the latter can possibly be replaced with Kanbei if you prefer.
Eagle is the best choice for this mission because of his powerful air units, which will be able to bypass the mountainous terrain and immediately reinforce the other COs. Sturm also has extremely powerful mech units, so Eagle’s copters and bombers can help give you a bit of an advantage.
Max is a good choice because the power of his mech units can almost match that of Sturm, and that makes a strong complement to Eagle’s air units. By combining the two you should have Eagles air units counter mechs, and Max’s mechs counter anti-air. Kanbei also has strong ground units, but you’ll need to make the decision on if the extra funds for his units are worth it.
Finally, if you prefer to work with indirect combat units, Grit also isn’t a bad choice for the battle. His extended range can make him a powerful backup force, while you focus the bulk of direct combat through Andy and Eagle. The only problem with Grit is that Strum tends to target him with his Meteor power, so you’ll either want to spread out your units or create a Medium Tank or two as a decoy.
The Final Battle Strategy
As you might expect, The Final Battle hinges almost entirely around Andy. He needs to be your main focus for roughly the first part of the battle, and if Andy’s front falls it pretty much means you’re done.
On your first turn have Andy’s infantry capture the airport and base, which will let you produce more units. You’ll also want to immediately make more infantry and send them South to capture the neutral cities for Andy. The one catch here is if you’re playing as Grit you might consider having him capture the cities, as it’ll help you produce more indirect units.
On the first day of the other COs’ turns, use a few decoy units like tanks or infantry to draw Sturms fighters and bombers in range of your anti-air units. Max will have a few anti-air ground units, while Eagle has a few fighters. You need to take out Sturm’s air force early, or it can decimate Andy.
From there, build up Andy’s front with tanks and medium tanks, and a few indirect units. Capture the airport and base North of Eagle, but focus exclusively on building air units. You’ll want to reinforce Andy’s front line with some copters while making sure you have enough that Eagle doesn’t get overwhelmed.
With Max you’ll want to focus exclusively on having his tanks and mechs punch straight up through the left, hitting Sturm’s forces from the side. Because Max has the strongest tanks you should entirely focus your funds on tanks and medium tanks, along with a few anti-air to counter air units. Pressure from Max’s tanks should help take some of the heat off Andy.
The main thing you need to be aware of during this battle is Sturm’s Meteor ability, which can be absolutely devastating. The power hits a small area of units reducing everyone’s HP to two, and he can use it every two-three turns. Andy’s front can absolutely crumble if he’s hit by it, which is why you should keep a tight group of mechs and infantry for Max or Eagle, as it’s likely to be chosen as a target. While a Metoer can still hurt the other two COs, it’s much easier to recover the sides than the middle.
Essentially you’ll want to use Max and Eagle to distract Sturm while you build up Andy’s forces. Once you’re able to capture the cities at the middle of the map, Andy should be getting enough funds to build up a sizable army that you can use to punch straight through Sturm’s lines. After that, it’s simply a matter of combining all three of your armies in the middle and eliminating Sturm.
The Andy’s Airport Exploit
If you find yourself having trouble, there is a little bit of an exploit you can try and use. Instead of capturing the neutral airfield near Andy’s area, you can instead let Sturm capture it. On practically every turn Sturm will produce a bomber, which knocks out a whopping 22,000 of his funds immediately. If you place a missile unit within range, or an anti-air right next to it, you can take out this bomber every turn, meaning Sturm is essentially wasting funds. Of course, you’ll need to make sure whichever anti-air option you pick is protected and won’t be destroyed.
No matter what, The Final Battle is a lengthy battle that’s going to likely take a couple of hours, but stick with the strategies for each CO and you’ll come out on top. If you’re really having a tough time, don’t be afraid to use Re-Boot Camp’s new Casual mode to notch down the difficulty.
