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Valkyria Chronicles
Storyline Mission Walkthrough, Guide/FAQ
Version 2.4, 21 April 2009
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Game Copyright Sega, 2008. www.sega.com
Guide Copyright by madSomnambulist, 2008-9. See contact info.
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Table of Contents:
>>> Section 1: Getting Started--
RDF : Read Me First!
TSG : Tips on Using This Guide
EXX : Future Expansion of the Guide
>>> Section 2: Before you Begin--
ASX : Assumptions in Advance
EXH : Exchangeable Terms
BCT : Basic Combat Tactics and Terms
PRM : A Promise to Make!
RMD : Final Reminder Before Starting
>>> Section 3: Storyline Walkthrough, "On the Gallian Front"--
C00 : Prologue: Gallia, to Arms!
C01 : Chapter 1: In Defense of Bruhl
C02 : Chapter 2: Escape from Bruhl
C03 : Chapter 3: Vasel Urban Warfare
RP1 : Report: Ellet Embedded
C04 : Chapter 4: Operation Cloudburst
RP2 : Report: Largo's Passion
C05 : Chapter 5: The Kloden Wildwood
RP3 : Report: A Taste of Home
C06 : Chapter 6: A Desert Encounter
C07 : Chapter 7: The Battle at Barious
RP4 : Report: Signs of Awakening
C08 : Chapter 8: The Woodland Snare
C09 : Chapter 9: A Midsummer Incident
RP5 : Report: Squad 7's R&R
C10 : Chapter 10: Liberation of Fouzen
RP6 : Report: What Lies Beyond Hate
C11 : Chapter 11: The Marberry Shore
C12 : Chapter 12: The Fight for Bruhl
RP7 : Report: War Without Weapons
C13 : Chapter 13: The Clash at Naggiar
RP8 : Report: Flower of the Battlefield
C14 : Chapter 14: Loss Within Victory
RP9 : Report: Parting Ways
C15 : Chapter 15: Citadel Ghirlandaio
C16 : Chapter 16: The Maiden's Shield
C17 : Chapter 17: The Bridge to Hope
C18 : Chapter 18: Shadow of the Valkyrur
C19 : Finale: Shadow of the Valkyrur (Part 2)
>>> Section 3.2: EX Reports / Downloaded Content
"Enter the Edy Detatchment!"
EX1 : Enter the Edy Detatchment!
"Behind Her Blue Flame":
EX2 : Assault on Ghirlandaio
EX3 : Rout of the Gallian Forces
EX4 : Silencing the Artillery
EX5 : Covert Op "Azure Witch"
>>> Section 4: Headquarters--
BRK : Squad Barracks
CMR : Command Room
TRF : Training Field
RND : R&D Facility
CLF : Castlefront St
WRC : War Cemetery
AUH : Audience Hall
>>> Section 5: Other Combat Elements--
SKM : Skirmishes
SKX : Expert-level Skirmishes
ICT : Intermediate Combat Tactics
ACX : Advanced Combat Tactics
>>> Section 6: Final Remarks and Other Information--
CLS : Closing Statements
NGP : "Cleared" Game Status
USV : Unresolved Content Questions
JPX : Japanese and Regional Version Differences
WRT : About the Author and Writing the Guide
VHT : Version History
RSU : Reuse of Guide
TKS : Special Thanks
CTC : Contact Info
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Section 1: Getting Started
----------
-----
RDF ~ Read Me first!
-----
The style of this guide:
For every operation, things will be separated out into "Setup notes" and
"Potential Strategy". Setup relates to what information you have going in to
the mission, but primarily relates to how you position your units on the map.
Strategy is just that... A possible strategy. It's what's worked for me. By no
means is what I'm suggesting the only way to do things, but the goal here is
to get you through the story, enjoy it, and have some fun on your operations.
This is to help you "beat" the game or get you through trouble spots you might
be in. At this time this is not a 100% comprehensive FAQ for all things
related to speed.
What this guide is:
This is a guide for those progressing through the storyline missions, designed
for people playing through their first time or those having troubles in
particular battles. Generally this is spoiler-free, but I wouldn't go diving
into future missions in case a few names or places pop up that could give
things away. I do very much apologize for times I use a particular name in a
battle strategy. Use these suggestions as a walkthrough for rough spots, but
remember that these are just suggestions! Most of this is how I've done
missions and won, and I'm just trying to be of some help. There are a lot of
details such as Potentials and bits of the battle system that enhance game
play, but those don't per say change your general battle strategies... so they
won't be mentioned in the Walkthrough.
I cannot assure you victory with this guide, and you should always expect to
lose sometimes. Things like luck, an unexpected enemy move, and other small
things can turn a battle either way without warning.
What this guide is not:
It is not a step-by-step guide for each battle or each turn. I highly
encourage everyone play through the missions using his or her own style, as
there is very rarely any one specific way you can reach your objectives.
Hopefully you've picked up this guide as encouragement and advice and not as
instructions.
-----
TSG ~ Tips on Using This Guide
-----
I've given a code to each chapter from the table of contents (C01 or RP1, for
example), so use the find feature in your browser to jump down to a particular
section. All other sections have odd letter flags so you don't get caught up
elsewhere in a search.
As for game play itself, read the instruction manual if you're missing some of
the terms or things seem a bit off.
Even after clearing the story, I'd highly suggest you play on in the "Cleared"
playing mode if you enjoy the game. There's the Japanese audio to enjoy if you
used English the first time as well as some other features when you re-play.
-----
EXX ~ Future Expansion of the Guide
-----
As it stood in first published form (Version 1.1), this FAQ/Guide/Walkthrough
covered every mission of the game storyline as well as the extra episodes you
unlock along the way. The goal was just to get any kind of guide out there,
and this was the first comprehensive guide found anywhere online.
The great reaction and large number of hits on the FAQ encouraged me to act
rather quickly about adding more content and new versions were frequent. There
is still more to come in the future, as I plan to dive into unique Potentials
and top-tier Skirmishes a bit.
This will never be a true 100% FAQ for this game, as I have no intention on
including a "speed clearing" guide for highest rank on all missions and it's
quite unlikely I'll ever dive into discussing every squad member. Guides for
each of these already exist and I encourage you to reference them if you'd
like more help on this aspect. The 'Answers' section on GameFAQs as well as
the message boards can also help you with more generic questions (and perhaps
I'll see you there).
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Section 2: Before You Begin
----------
-----
ASX ~ Assumptions in Advance
-----
Before we get going, here are some general rules it can be helpful to follow.
1) Listen to the tutorial-type sections and mission briefings.
2) You are generally familiar with combat terms and abilities of each job.
3) All jobs are being leveled up at roughly the same rate.
4) You will head to the war cemetery at least once every chapter to collect
all orders once it becomes available.
5) Your weapons are at their highest level available... at least rifles,
lanncars and armor.
6) The Edelweiss is well kept with body upgrades (+Attack, HP and DEF). Cargo
slots are not as important overall, but try to keep some installed.
7) Care is taken to reduce casualties and fatalities amongst your members. If
you play things smart and relatively safe, it's quite possible to clear the
storyline without losing any members.
8) You keep at least 2 members of each class on your roster at all times.
You're free to mix around members and try different setups, however.
Most notably for this guide...
9) You are not playing through the missions to complete the storyline at no
specific pace. This guide is to help you to victory and explain things, not
hand all the answers to you on a silver platter.
-----
EXH ~ Exchangeable Terms
-----
Although I like to be as specific as possible when it comes to game terms,
there are a few that'll be used interchangeably or that you'll want to use:
"Mission" = Interchangeable with "Operation".
"Leaders" = Your units that add CP when deployed. They consist of Welkin,
Alicia, Rosie and Largo.
"Camp" = Any flagged position you or the enemy hold on the command map. Or, a
generic term of a strong concentration of enemy units. Lastly, a forward
fighting position you take up that is being covered but not labeled as a
special base area.
"Boss" = A special enemy unit, often a mission objective.
"Footsoldier" = Any unit that is not a tank or machinery.
"Recon" = An act of getting a forward view of enemy units. This is most often
done with Scout units, or by looking over the battlefield on high ground.
"Decoy" = Placing a unit in a particularly vulnerable position to distract
enemies or change triggered events in battle.
"Crossfire" = Setting up your units to fire defensively at advancing enemies.
"Rocket" = A Lancaar/Lance (the weapon ammunition of Lancers)
"Ammo" = Lancer or Sniper ammunition which can be reloaded by Engineers.
"Mines" = Referring to either anti-personnel or anti-tank mines.
"Upgrade" = Using the R&D Facility in Headquarters to improve your weapons.
"Cash" = DCT (ducats), the game currency.
"Royal Weapons" = Special version weapons obtained via the Audience Hall (with
tag -R at the end of the model). Some are of higher stats than normal upgraded
weapons. The 'R' may also refer to House Randgriz.
-----
BCT ~ Basic Combat Tactics and Terms
-----
Most of these are covered in the tutorial-style missions, but here are some
more detailed explanations. A lot of these are common to most any action-
shooter type of battle.
Recon: Using a unit to try to look at advanced positions. Sprinting into an
open area diving for a cover location or walking up to high ground are two
basic means. At melee range, you can use the L2 and R2 shoulder buttons to
"peek" around a few places.
Cover: Using any sort of object, map or terrain feature to hide a unit from
enemy fire. There is "ducked cover" (sandbags, grass) that offer large
defensive bonuses and allow you to counterattack. "Standing cover" would be
walls, etc., where you merely out of the line of sight and are out of combat.
Headshots & Radiators: Using the Left Stick to manually adjust the aiming of a
unit instead of just using L1 and R1 to target. Headshots will require
(roughly) 1/4th as many hits to eliminate a unit. Targeting a Radiator on a
tank with a rocket has roughly the same bonus and will in all but the most
extreme situations instantly destroy it. Later on, using machine guns against
radiators will also work effectively.
Convoy: Moving units in a group, with a tank leading in order to block as much
enemy fire as possible.
Crossfire: By placing one of your normal fire units (Scout, Shocktrooper, and
Engineer) or a Tank in the expected path of an oncoming enemy you will be able
to attack it once it comes within range.
Grenades: Obvious and multiple uses. Particularly early in the game, Grenades
can turn scouts into formidable offensive units. Using extra AP to maneuver to
a close position, the relatively-short ranged Grenade can be throw at a foe's
feet, almost certainly killing anything but a Lancer
Versus Lancers: Just like your own, enemy lancers are very resistant against
explosive attacks (Grenades, mortars). More often than not, it will take
direct weapons fire to defeat them. Thankfully, they don't evade very well.
Line of Sight: Watching the "tracer" vision lines while controlling a unit and
looking at connecting lines while at the command map. This can be used
offensively and defensively. In both circumstances, you're likely handling
long range units (Snipers or tanks)--either to set up one of yours for a shot
or to make sure you are clear of an enemy attack.
Unit Swapping: As a battle progresses, using your intermediate bases to
retreat then deploy new units of a job class better suited for the battle
situation. A common example would be swapping Scouts for Lancers when faced
with coming Tanks.
1CP Orders: These cover the most basic of Orders, such as
Evasion/Attack/Defense/Aim boosts, healing and Medic requests. They are not to
be relied in a make-or-break situation, but you can use them to help out with
actions where you "must" complete a task (eliminate a certain unit, run a long
distance, etc.).
Area Of Effect: A few of your attacks can either injure or take out more than
one enemy unit at a time. Grenades have some area damage effect, whereas Tank
mortars have a substantially larger damage radius.
Killturn: If you find a unit to be under heavy enemy fire and is at risk of
being KO'd, to limit damage press the 'Circle' button immediately upon
realizing your situation and end that action. It's good to get in the habit of
this any time you're taking unexpected damage, as even if you choose not to
end that action it at least gives you a moment to think about the situation.
High Ground: Hills, ridges, rooftops or sniper nests that offer a very wide
Recon view. They offer Snipers a good chance at clear shots, or can let you
fire explosives to otherwise hard-to-reach areas. Units left in these
positions, however, can be very vulnerable if not removed from the high ground
at the end of a turn.
Aces: Killing an enemy unit with a special, specific name will give you a
small bonus on the evaluation screen, and will give you an enemy weapon.
Though most of these are not particularly strong, always check their stats and
consider equipping them.
-----
PRM ~ A Promise to Make!
-----
Before getting going, I'd like you to make a promise to yourself that you'll
listen and pay attention to the story as best you can. This game is partially
an RPG, and you'll be missing out on a lot if you're not following it all.
This would include watching all of the episodes marked with an asterisk (*).
Although the game tells you they are optional, none of them are wasted content
and they can make things much more interesting. Furthermore, you should unlock
all the Reports before you complete the storyline to or you'll be missing out
on some of the primary content.
Also, I'd like you to promise to yourself that you won't fret over mission
evaluation rankings. You do get EXP bonuses for 'C' or higher, but your aim is
just to win. If you feel you need to be a bit stronger, complete skirmishes
for extra EXP. If you are still failing a mission repeatedly even using the
guide, all I can suggest is to level up a bit higher and make sure your
weaponry is upgraded. This game is a lot about trial and error, so you should
be ready to fail some missions. Press on even if it gets frustrating... it
makes victory feel all the better in the end. I beg of you, do not just repeat
Skirmishes for EXP to reach maximum level during the storyline. It entirely
eliminates a lot of the difficulty and makes a lot of these types of
strategies obsolete.
This can be an emotional game for a lot of people, and it's entirely common to
love/hate some of your members. You can use that to decide what members you
like to use on missions, but part of your promise to yourself should be to
protect all of your squad members regardless of your opinion of them and aim
for them all to be alive at the end of the campaign. There's no shame
whatsoever in restarting a mission because someone has been killed and lost
permanently, and I did this many times.
-----
RMD ~ Final Reminder Before Starting
-----
If you have the space, doing the game installation will greatly help a lot of
load times.
Remember to Save! A good habit would be to save before every mission, or
before you start a skirmish battle, just in case something goes wrong or you
need to start over without the shame of the "Game Over" screen. If there's a
particular battle you liked very much, just create a save in a new slot after
you complete it. Upon loading the game you get a warning about auto-save and
the HDD, however GAME PROGRESS WILL NEVER AUTO-SAVE. Only things changed on
the Options menu will automatically save.
---------------
---------------
Section 3: Storyline Walkthrough, "On the Gallian Front"
----------
As you proceed through the storyline, additional Chapters called "Reports"
will become available to you. These have been placed in this Walkthrough in
the position they fall in the Chapter list in-game to give a smooth flow to
the story.
The Reports are generally purchased at Castlefront St in Headquarters
(available after Chapter 2). Please refer to Section 4 for more information.
Though not required content, they greatly add to character development and
make the game feel more "complete" in the end.
-----
C00 ~ Prologue: Encounter at Bruhl
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 1
This is a good smooth introduction to the basics of the battle system. Take
your time and get some practice with cover and aiming. Head over the bridge to
finish the targets as seen on the command map and press 'X' to capture the
base when all enemies are defeated.
-----
C01 ~ Chapter 1-3a: Defense of Bruhl
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 2
Setup Notes:
--The units are prepared for you. The main thing to notice here is that
despite their status as main story protagonists, Welkin and Alicia have no
extra strength or particular powers compared to every other unit of the same
type you'll be using in the future.
Potential Strategy--
This is also a type of tutorial battle, teaching you skills on advancing and
recon. Your eventual target is on the north part of the map, around where the
'I' icon is in command mode view.
Push ahead and use cover. You should get used to a style of always having a
particular spot on the map in mind as a destination when you move a unit to
make sure no one is left out in the open. Victory comes when the unit in red
armor is taken out. It is not necessary to clear the area, though it makes
things much safer.
---
Chapter 1-3a.2: Defense of Bruhl (part 2)
---
This is actually a 2-part battle. However you ended the first portion, you
will begin this part of the battle on the next turn number and in the position
where you killed the enemy leader. The primary tutorial skills here are
evasion and how to deal with tanks while using normal footsoldiers.
The part of the battle will continue with all units in new positions
regardless of where they were before and will start at the next turn number.
Potential Strategy--
Use the west side of the main road as cover. Although only Welkin needs to
make it to the final point, you can use your other units for moving ahead as
well. As long as you don't stand anywhere in the front of the tank you should
be okay. Crossing the road on the far south end of the map is safe, and is a 1
CP move away from darting to the objective. It is not necessary to clear the
map of foes.
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C02 ~ Chapter 2-3: Retreat From Bruhl
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Turns for Max Bonus: 3
Setup Notes:
--You are heavily outnumbered here, so it's dangerous to go out on offense.
You can use the watchtower at the starting area to recon enemy units, though
because the tank may fire up there I wouldn't end a turn with anyone up it. It
might "feel" like a strategic position, but it's not a place where your
relatively lightly-armed units can gain any real advantage.
--The gate can take a total of 5 hits from the tank before it is destroyed.
Grenades will do roughly 100 damage to it. Tanks take 2 CP to use, so assume a
worst-case where the enemy might use their entire CP pool to fire at it.
Generally the game AI will not have a tank fire more than twice in a turn in
any battle, but you should never risk units or a battle on this.
Potential Strategy--
The Watchmen do not actually start under cover, despite standing behind the
sandbags. Take a CP to put them into cover or expect them to be killed.
The solid green slashed spots on the map show tall grass you can crawl down
into to take cover. It works similarly to cover from sandbags, but you are far
harder for the enemy to see. Alicia is a good candidate to move ahead in the
first turn to the patch directly in front of your starting position. While
camping out, you may wish to save a few extra CP for turn 3. The easiest way
to do this is to not command the Watchmen on turn 2. Though they may die, it
will not affect the mission.
Welkin arrives on turn 3. You now have the Edelweiss to command! Drive him
west through the wall toward the main road. Ignore the enemy units in their
camp and entirely use your CP to destroy their tank. Move as close to the tank
as possible so you hopefully won't have any accuracy problems. If for whatever
reason you realize you're going to need another turn, be sure you don't have
the back of the Edelweiss (the radiator) pointed at the enemy.
Upon completing Chapter 2, the main flow of the storyline begins and you will
have access to Headquarters (see separate section for information).
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C03 ~ Chapter 3-5: West Bank of Vasel City
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 1
NOTE: From now on deploy Alicia, Rosie and Largo at the start of every
operation, without exception. Even if you do not use them, you gain 1 CP per
turn by having them deployed and they're conscious.
NOTE: The missions are no longer set up in a way that victory is almost
impossible to obtain. Expect some casualties from here on out and always be
sure to get a medic to them!
Setup Notes:
--You can now choose what units to place where on the battlefield at start.
Also, this marks the first time you have two separate groups. One common
strategy is to "trade" turns with using one, then the other.
--Adding a second lancer to your defense group might help on ammunition.
--Using an engineer in the east group to support the Eidelweiss can be very
helpful if the battle drags out more than 3-4 turns.
--On top of Rosie's words, Shocktroopers make excellent defensive units in
close quarters because they will fire at moving units in their field of view.
Scouts will also do this but with less power, but have a longer range. This
idea of "crossfire" is an important strategy you'll be using the entire game.
Potential Strategy--
Put your units at your west camp into cover on turn 1. Feel free to clear the
units you can see near you via normal fire or grenades, but remember to get
back to cover before the turn ends. Units not behind the sandbags at the end
of turn 1 are quite likely to be KO'd.
As you start to advance up the east, you will find an enemy "Ace" in the high
grass. These units are more difficult to kill and in this case very deadly to
scouts. You can use Rosie to flush him out, but you'll likely need to pop him
out of cover using a grenade first. For future Aces, they are distinguished by
having a unique name and red armor, although they do not hold an enemy CP when
killed. Aces along the way will be units of all job types and even a few tanks,
and they all supply you with 1 enemy weapon of some sort.
There are 2 tanks. The first should be cleared by your Lancers at your camp,
and the one on the north end should be prey for the Edelweiss as you advance.
Do note that you can move the Edelweiss before and after firing, and this can
be helpful in running over enemy sandbag cover so your units can work a bit
faster. Better still, you can plow through the benches and trees.
If you're concerned about clearing the north portion of the map with just the
eastern group, you can move up the alley on the west end of the south camp to
flank off your foes. Shocktroopers or scouts attempting to aim for headshots
can clear these units fairly quickly.
There is an enemy Shocktrooper on the roof of a building in the dead center of
the map. Clear him if you're coming under fire while advancing. You can get up
to him by moving a unit to the ladder icon on the map on the east side of the
building. Although not a strong offensive position, it can be used to make
enemy units visible.
-----
RP1 ~ Ellet Embedded
-----
Get to know your squad with this series of cutscenes!
-----
C04 ~ Chapter 4-4a: Battle for the Bridge
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 2
Setup Notes:
--This can be a challenging battle, as it greatly increases the difficulty
level.
--Deploying a Sniper is an absolute must. An Engineer is also highly suggested,
to reload the Sniper and escort the Edelweiss.
--Because you're limited to 10 turns and speed is important, scouts are good
to start with. You can remove them and replace them with other units from the
forward camps as you advance.
--Although you're warned to be stealthy, attacking units immediately on turn 1
will not change the operation.
--Stationary tanks named "Imperial Tank" instead of "Light Tank" do not show
up on the command map. These can be ignored.
Potential Strategy--
Keep in mind from the start, the key to this mission is to capture the
northeast camp before the end of turn 3.
Start with your sniper, move up the tower and fire at the ragnite containers
at the first intermediate camp and the block right next to it. The active tank
should be at low health, so move the Edelweiss in for a killing shot. Run up a
scout to clear the unit out of the first camp and occupy it on turn 1. Bring
up another unit to cover the scout, as you'll face a small counterattack here.
Be careful not to leave anyone out in the open without cover.
You'll likely want to use your sniper every turn to scout units across the map.
Keep an eye out for containers by tanks and hit them whenever possible. Use an
engineer to reload your sniper if needed.
To get to the far camp by the end of turn 3, use Scouts via the south alley.
Remember that you only need to take it over and that you don't have to leave
units in it at the end of the turn. There are Snipers across the street that
you'll need to take out, and these can be dispatched with your own Snipers, or
by running a Scout up to the ladder icon in the far north to walk up onto
their roof.
Assuming you can take the camp by the end of turn 3, you've bought yourself an
extra turn before reinforcements start to show up. Use it to move units
forward for the main assault on the base camp or to retreat from your camp and
re-deploy ahead. There are 2 remaining light tanks in the last section, so
plan accordingly. Use cover on the edge of the main road on your last push.
Remember, you don't have to clear the map of enemy units-- if you can take out
the 2 soldiers behind cover in the base you can run a scout up to claim it
more quickly.
-----
RP2 ~ Largo's Passion & The Vegetable Route Incident
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 2
Setup notes:
--This is very much a for-kicks mission more the pace and style of Chapter 2
or 3. I'd suggest filling your PT with Alicia or Rosie to get the extra 1 CP
every turn.
Potential Strategy--
Move around clockwise, clearing enemies. There is nothing terribly dangerous
around, but hit R1 if you're unsure where you're taking fire from to so you
can check your surroundings. Check around buildings for hidden prey, turning
the camera around corners.
Beware of a turret in the northwest area, which Largo can take out. Take out
your objective targets while hiding in the tall grass to the west of them,
using the ladder. You will probably be limited by Largo's ammo, so aim for
radiators if you can.
As a reward for this mission, Largo obtains the potential "Veggie-Maniac",
which is much stronger and more helpful than it might sound. It transcends the
incredible amusement of whenever it activates.
-----
C05 ~ Chapter 5-5: Wildwood Warfare at Kloden
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 2
Setup notes:
--This is also a higher difficulty, and introduces you to the second "main"
type of combat--very large and expansive wilderness areas versus fighting in
cities. Whereas a sniper could shoot across the entire distance on the last
map, you have much farther to travel here.
--Beware of mines! You get a tutorial in the briefing, but makes sure you walk
around slowly at first so you can see what they look like in battle. A good
"test run" of this is to advance an engineer forward on the north path when
you start, where there are a few personnel mines to disarm.
--Both because of mines and repairs for the Edelweiss, an engineer is
absolutely necessary in the south group.
--A Lancer in the south group is suggested.
Potential Strategy--
Before moving along the south road, you'll need to clear and occupy the
northern camp. This can be done fairly easily on even the first turn. Either
normal fire or explosives can destroy the anti-tank gun here.
This done, push up the south road with the Edelweiss in the lead (a "Convoy").
The trees across the road blocking your path can be cleared with explosives
from any unit or by driving through them. Even if Lancers get the better of
you on the south path, your Engineer can keep things in order. Whichever units
you brought along on the south path can clear these out. As you've learned by
now, any unit not protected by the Edelweiss at the end of the turn is prone
to a quick and ruthless slaughter on the enemy turn.
Along the north path, move ahead toward the north entrance to the base. Do not
enter the camp until you have cleared and captured the intermediate base in
the middle of the map! There is an optional 3rd front on this map-- by moving
a unit along the far southern path, then up through the forest so you end up
on the south ledge overlooking the enemy base camp.
After clearing the routes into the enemy base camp, be sure your units are all
in position, as things are about to get a bit more complicated.
If you used the hidden south path or can sneak other units around, it's
possible to capture the base for the win without defeating the boss, though
your foe will retreat after dropping below 25% HP regardless. The Edelweiss
might take a substantial beating, but if you keep it repaired fully on each
turn you shouldn't lose it.
-----
RP3 ~ A Taste of Home
-----
How is life away from Bruhl for Alicia?
-----
C06 ~ Chapter 6-2: Battle at Barious Desert
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 3
Setup notes:
--Varrot's advice on Snipers is quite valid. The eastern spot is a good place
to deploy them, as they can run back to your base camp and safety after taking
a few shots. You'll likely be retreating them from the base camp and the
redeploying with Scouts at the intermediate camp.
--A normal balanced squad is fine on the west end. Just be ready for a wide
variety of enemy units.
Potential Strategy--
This is the first time you'll be vulnerable to substantial Sniper fire. Some
units you can see, while some others will be in cover on top of the building
at the intermediate camp just to pop out to fire and hide again on the enemy
turn. It's an absolute must to keep units in cover or behind the Edelweiss.
Your Snipers should do something similar-- fire at the building area and move
to safety (behind the narrow rock to toward your camp) or they're very likely
to be KO'd on the enemy turn. Just be sure their movement ends with as few
orange tracing lines as possible so you are not seen by enemy units. Even so,
it's quite possible you'll need to evacuate an injured sniper after turn 1.
Sniper activity aside, you should start a convoy on the west side and start
pushing ahead. There are enemy units behind pretty much every corner which a
Scout can flush out--assuming you've been upgrading you might be getting close
to the point where a Scout can take out a Shocktrooper face-to-face aiming for
headshots. Edelweiss mortar rounds can also help a lot here. Just watch out
where you end your turn with the Edelweiss so that its radiator is not exposed
in any way--several Lancers are coming. If you have a problem with losing the
Edelweiss in turn 1, on your re-attempt move it forward a bit less at the
start, or delay it entirely and use ground units to take out the Lancers as a
priority over other units. Beware of mines! Remember that you can walk up and
fire point blank at Lancers since they do not have defensive fire.
Since you'll be facing enemy reinforcements coming every turn at the
intermediate camp you should move with some haste. Assuming you've had good
luck with your sniper fire, a reasonable goal would be to take that camp on
turn 3 or 4. This completes the harder part of the mission.
There are two general--but diverging--strategies to take from here. One is to
engage in heavy tank combat with the Edelweiss and Lancers. The other is to
turn the enemy left flank with faster units and take their base camp from
behind. Go with whatever style you'd like, as they're both fairly safe with an
engineer at the Edelweiss.
If you go the tank route, keep in mind that you can't cross the larger
trenches. Moving up to "trench 4" puts you in good range to the enemy tanks
and gives you a natural camp for your other units. Once you move across trench
4, a sandstorm will pick up. This is a perfect opportunity to use the other
strategy. 2 scouts can run up the east side of the map in one turn and
sneakily take the enemy camp. Since they have a lot of AP even on 2nd and 3rd
uses, you can run across nearly the entire map with a scout in one turn. This
strategy largely ignores the tanks and does not destroy them.
NOTE: Sandstorms come on alternating turns and are present on both enemy and
your actions.
-----
C07 ~ Chapter 7-4a: Desert Duel with Maximillian
-----
..This battle's guide is very, very long. You have been warned.
Turns for Max Bonus: 9
WARNING: Many players consider this mission to be of extremely high difficulty.
Fatalities are quite possible here regardless of your efforts to avoid them.
Regardless of your confidence in your combat skills this mission is like
nothing you've seen yet. Be prepared for several re-attempts and up to an hour
for the battle itself if you think things through and play very strategically.
For this mission specifically I have detailed things more on a turn-by-turn
basis just to give you a general idea of what your progress should be.
IMPORTANT: Hopefully you've been going to the War Cemetery and have the Order
"Retreat" by now. It can save a lot of lives here. Just remember that you can
only use it once per turn. It's a great way to evacuate a unit that is under
heavy fire that you simply had to kill the turn of mid-action.
Setup notes:
--For reasons you'll see in a minute, Snipers can be very useful in the west
section of the south camp.
--The south side of the south deployment area is a trench with good natural.
Time to let your Lancers shine!
--The north starting positions are safe for turn 1, although it becomes very
difficult to withdraw those units after this.
--Not deploying 1 or 2 units (leaving the spaces blank) will free up CP for
your other members the first few turns, allowing you to more quickly redeploy
at your other camps.
--This is one of a few missions where it's not necessary to deploy an Engineer
to escort the Edelweiss if you can remember to keep moving it forward.
--Whatever you do to set up, make sure all your Leaders are in. You can
retreat them and immediately re-deploy elsewhere so you can still utilize
their CP, but you'll need every last point.
--If you start and realize after turn 1 that you do not like your deployment,
just start over. It's not worth fighting out a battle you're struggling with
from the start. If your turn 1 does not go well you're at an extreme
disadvantage.
Potential Strategy--
There is no way I can understate the importance of your turn 1. Every one of
those 10 CP has to be used perfectly. You have 2 things that must be done,
regardless of your other progress: Kill as many enemy footsoldiers as possible,
and retreat units in your north camp. The first can very much set the tone.
There are 4 troops up on the ledge... you need to make it a goal to have at
least 2 dead on the first turn. The Scout should be your first target. If you
fail to down 2, your attention needs to move to your base camp. The enemy
Scout can reach your base camp at the end of turn 2 so you'll have to deploy
something there ASAP during turn 1 or it won't be there in time. Even with 2-3
killed you will still need to defend your base camp and deploy there by the
end of turn 2, which is one reason I suggested you leave one of your starting
deployment spots empty. Better still, if you left 2 slots open you can deploy
a scout at the middle camp, which will help you in a few turns. Lastly, you
should save 2 CP to start moving the Edelweiss. It's vital that it stay on the
west wall of the map and ahead of the Batomys.
Regarding your north camp, if it's not cleared at the end of turn 1, any unit
you start an action on in turn 2 inside it will come under constant cannon
fire. This forces you to retreat the unit immediately, effectively wasting a
CP. The unit is 100% a fatality if it is inside the base at the end of turn 2.
Once the enemy behemoth gets moving, it gives you a great opportunity on turn
2 to fire away at some of its cannons. Feel free to blow your ammo on any
Lancers you have deployed and make it a goal to destroy at least one turret.
The two on both sides will all need to be taken out eventually, an in tandem
with an Engineer you may have placed there it could be worth using every CP on
turn 2 to fire, reload, and fire to destroy the 2 left side cannons. This is
one reason turn 1 is so important-- if you've been smart with CP then you have
a bit of a free turn for your other units. Refill your roster at your base
camp, including AT LEAST 1 SCOUT. Very important!
Ok, 2 turns in. Time to take a deep breath and start the second major part of
the mission.
After you come up with the ruin wall plan, the one closest to the boss will
need to be hit on turn 3 or it will have no effect, however you MUST move the
Edelweiss past it first. There are 4 total, meaning 4 extra chances for
victory you've bought yourself in the end. A rocket or an Edelweiss shell will
knock one down. They have preset places to fall, so don't worry about attack
angle. Above all, keep the Edelweiss moving or you won't be able to destroy
the walls along the Batomy's path.
As the boss turns to the south, you'll see that this gives the Edelweiss a
chance to try to knock out the turrets on the right side. Your Lancers on its
left, you now have a pincer for clearing the guns off the massive heap of
metal. Though this should be the focus of your CP, be sure to clear out any
remaining enemy footsoldiers around your base camp you didn't get on turn 1.
That done, you can start to re-sort your units for a defensive posture at your
base camp--You'll want probably 2 scouts. In all of this mess, .
At the end of turn 3, Isara manages to come up with a very suicidal-sounding
plan for you. Believe it or not, this is what you'll have to do. More on this
a bit later on. In case you were unable to the last turn, you absolutely need
to have a scout deployed at your base camp or it will be lost.
As the Batomys continues your advantageous pincer will quickly fall apart. The
Edelweiss will essentially be retreating counter-clockwise around the map
toward your base camp, destroying walls behind it. Your Lancers you originally
put in the trench at start can now safely be moved around the back after they
take care of the two guns on their side. It's very unlikely the Edelweiss will
have been able to clear the two on this side on turns 2 and 3, so use the
Lancers on these now. Despite what the briefing told you, you can destroy the
turret on the back... though it's up to you whether you'd rather run it out
and save a rocket. "Trench A1" is safe on turn 3 if you use 2 CP on a Lancer
to move around out of gun range. Note: If you deployed a lancer in this trench
to start the mission, they're now in perfect position.
Ok, we're 4 turns in, having isolated the damaged the Batomys a little and
solidified your hold on your base camp. So far so good.
If you've played things well and moved your Lancers intelligently, hopefully
you have at least the left side guns cleared on turn 4. It's worth noting that
the right side becomes pretty much impossible to strike after turn 5 until its
final turn to the left. Just in case you've left anyone behind, anyone left in
your intermediate camp is a 100% fatality after turn 6. No matter the timing
on things, it is your goal to have the 4 side cannons and rear turret on the
Batomys destroyed by the end of turn 6. If you need a little more offense on 6
to get it done, the "Retreat" Order can save a unit that would otherwise be
running toward certain death next to the Batomys while firing one more rocket.
After 5 turns you now have a plan for victory, and all units have (hopefully)
either been retreated or are moving around the map to return to your base camp.
Main cannon is fired! Now things get downright ludicrous.
Remember that Scout I was so insistent on you deploying at your base camp on
turn 2 or 3? Now they have the ridiculous-sounding task of running straight up
to the Batomys, climbing a ladder, and destroying a radiator. This is done via
throwing a grenade straight down into the hole at the top. Aim carefully! My
advice would be to clear the rear-most radiator on this run. It is only
possible to destroy one per main cannon firing--the others will go back into
the body of the tank if one is destroyed. You should have spare CP on this
turn to get the Edelweiss to your base camp as well as knock down the other 3
wall segments.
Naturally, now that things have turned in your favor, there's bad news of
reinforcements coming. Make sure you've set up a defense at your base camp,
though you'll likely want at least 3 Scouts and 2 Lancers in your party for
reasons unfolding. Simply put, the extra scout is a backup in case your first
runner missed with his or her grenade on a radiator. Time is your enemy
starting now so you need to be entirely prepared to complete your characters'
plan as soon as possible.
You can now see that knocking down the ruin walls was not to buy you time so
much as it was to force the main cannon to fire. Your goal for turns 7 should
be to get a scout hidden in the southwest corner or the map. There is a brick
wall corner at the west end of "Trench B3" which provides 100% cover from the
Batomys. Another scout should be waiting in "Trench A4"--likely the one that
took out the rear radiator.
Note: If you miss the first opportunity to destroy a radiator, you can push
back the timetable on everything else by 2 turns. The Batomys will move right
up to your face in your base camp, but you can still pull it off.
The Batomys fires again at the end of turn 7. Time for Scouts to jump into
action! I'd suggest you take out the left-side radiator this time (the side
facing north now), as you'll want to have all units cleared of that half of
the map in a bit. Run forward out of A4, up the ladder and toss your grenade.
If you miss RUN BACK FIRST, then use that 3rd Scout I suggest you have active
to run from base camp to here and take care of it. Selvaria will appear when
the second radiator is destroyed, as warned ahead of time. Use "Retreat" on
this scout, or they'll almost certainly be killed by either the tank or
Selvaria once they're left in the open. This is also why you ran the scout
that missed back toward camp before the radiator was destroyed, otherwise they
would not have made it either. With her appearance, now's the time to make
sure you have a nice huddled defense at your base camp. Hopefully the only
unit not there is the Scout waiting in the southeast corner.
Lucky for you, Selvaria is more concerned with Maximillian's safety than
attacking you directly, and will run due west. Any units left anywhere on the
north or west sides of the map are now essentially 100% fatalities. You now
have the misfortune of sitting around for 2 turns with little to do but look
in horror at the mess of foes circling around to attack you. You can move
around counterclockwise and attack the rear of Selvaria's vanguard, but this
can be risky since you certainly don't want to get her attention. Lobbing a
few mortars into the A4 area is pretty safe and can score you a bonus Ace kill.
Selvaria might look intimidating, but so long as you've kept to the south side
of the map clear as I've suggested, she shouldn't be able to harm anyone.
Get the Edelweiss and your phalanx of Lancers into position looking straight
ahead at the Batomys. Conserve as many CP as possible on these turns so you
have some spares ready. Almost time for the final phase! Besides the 1 or 2
scouts out for demolition and an engineer for the Edelweiss and reloading,
feel free to entirely fill your deployed troops with Lancers if you have them
available. The Batomys fires at the end of turn 9 and 11.
Now put that scout that's been hiding to use and destroy the last radiator.
Because of where you've been hiding, you're not at risk from the front turret,
and you have the tank as a large block between you and Selvaria's massive pain.
That done, Retreat or run the Scout back and get on demolition duty. With 18-
20 CP (hopefully!) available, 2-5 Lancers with full ammunition and an Engineer
to reload them, and an Edelweiss itching for action... The Batomys will fall
to you easily on this turn, not allowing Selvaria to interfere. Operation
Complete!
The absolute minimum number of turns to complete this mission is 9. This
assumes you can take out one radiator every time the main cannon is fired from
the start. This is virtually impossible your first time playing through with
units of a normal level, so I wouldn't advise even trying it unless you're
entirely on top of things.
-----
RP4 ~ Signs of Awakening & Taking the Barious Highlands
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 2
Note: This is one of the reports that might appear for sale at an odd time.
Just as a warning to you if it seems out of place in the flow of the game, I
can offer no explanation as to why this might happen. It does, however, have
important repercussions for later events.
Setup notes:
--Put 2 Lancers in the south group. Fill the rest with pretty much whatever
you want. Shocktroopers are fun to play with here and can survive a lot of
random crossfire if you walk a bit too far up a ramp.
Potential Strategy--
There's a feisty Sniper on the highest level that might pick off a weaker unit.
Strategy on this map is pretty open. Between the dual roads up, separated
groups and ladders... it gives you a lot of freedom. The safest way to go
would be to move a few footsoldiers up the first ladder on the south side,
then move clockwise to join Welkin and Alicia. From there you can convoy up
fairly normally. Just be sure to clear the tank before you go up, which is why
you brought along Lancers. You might want to put a "Defense Boost" order on
someone climbing to a new level, if you have it available. Just expect there
to be foes behind sandbags and atop each ladder and you should be fine. Be
wary of the tank in the camp, but if you clear things out go ahead and capture
the base without eliminating it. The path the Edelweiss runs up is what heads
into the entrance of the camp so it's hard to miss your targets. Have fun with
this one... it's far less taxing that what you've been through in other
Chapters leading up to this. Here's your chance to surround a helpless enemy
and pick them apart as you please for a change!
-----
C08 ~ Chapter 8-2a: Escape from Forest Snare
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 4
Setup notes:
--As you're warned by Welkin, your visibility is greatly reduced in darkness
and sight rules for detection are changed.
--Do not worry about pace! You have 20 turns to work with, so don't take any
risks.
Potential Strategy--
Though a bit tricky, the linear progression of this mission makes it more
straightforward. It's also refreshing not to have a base to defend or any
attacks to worry about.
Welcome to the wonderful world of mortar fire! Both this and the searchlights
are features you'll have to get used to. This style is repeated on future
missions. Every turn, there is some kind of random area targeted for a large
enemy mortar to hit at the end of the turn. These will essentially kill any
footsoldier besides Lancers except in exceptional circumstances. Just be sure
to end a unit's turn outside the circle--to be safe I'd suggest the entire
unit icon on the command map be outside it.
Hobble off around the first corner and into the back path as mentioned. Get
both Welkin and Alicia to the glowing flower in turn one to make your life a
bit easier. Be sure Welkin arrives there last, using your 3rd CP of the turn.
Your general movement will be in a flattened 'S' shape up to your final
destination, and expect enemies to be anywhere. Alicia may be injured, but
Welkin can still cover a lot more ground and get some grenades at enemies for
instant kills. If you're at all injured, I highly suggest you take a turn to
heal with Ragnaid and maybe save up a few CP.
</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
Moving onto the bridge will start your sortie into areas covered with
searchlights. If a searchlight spots a unit, it will send additional mortar
firing that turn, centered on the position of the unit when spotted. Again,
you need to get fully outside of that circle. Each searchlight has a specific
repeated pattern here... use the map to see where the path extends and timing
a run through past the light is pretty easy with Welkin. In some cases your
movement past the light will need to be in two stages, or you may wish to end
a turn in some cover in the middle of a circled search path. Alicia is another
story with her reduced speed, so we're going to introduce the concept of
Decoys here.
First, let me say that it is entirely possible to finish this mission without
being detected by any searchlights, even with Alicia slowed. That considered,
it's quite likely you'll trigger a few (or many) firings. At no time can
Welkin not outrun the range of a mortar if detected, but Alicia will likely be
in the kill area unless you have at least one spare CP to use to move her
farther.
Making a quick advance to clear a triggered mortar is also risky in that you
can run into enemies ahead--unseen because of darkness. How do we solve the
issue of Alicia being easy prey if she triggers a mortar? You can use Welkin
to deliberately catch attention and focus a firing on a particular spot! Say
you were to use your first CP of a turn with Welkin. Let him be spotted
somewhere along the back end of the search path, away from your normal motion.
You'll then have a clear idea of where you need to be to be safe. Move him
forward after the deliberate detection out of the zone as seen on the minimap.
If you run into foes, either take a quick shot or kill your turn immediately.
Now, with 2 CP left for Alicia, she can clear the mortar area without any
special effort. End your turn with them both in the same place and repeat the
process next turn. Following this, a good spot to stop and fully heal is at
the second healing herb, which is west of the second searchlight.
Your biggest trouble spot is next, in the form of an Ace with a Scout friend.
The Ace, as all are, is exceptionally hard to down. Use grenades and stay in
the grass cover while staying outside the search light zone at the end of
movements. Take a few turns here if you need to. This Ace is a Shocktrooper,
so if you can set up a crossfire in defense or space yourselves out you can
fend him off a bit better. These enemies will not shy from using grenades on
you if you are clumped. It's worth mentioning that you can bypass of the third
searchlight is on the northeast. This one can be exceptionally tricky. Past
that light, it's possible to make a mad dash to the objective in one turn.
Note: If you're feeling incredibly bold, it's possible to move past the Ace
without actually engaging. You'll probably take some damage, but if you stay
in the grass along the right edge of that area it is possible.
---
Chapter 8-5: Reunion in the Forest
---
Turns for Max Bonus: 3
Setup Notes:
--Your south group will be attacked heavily at the start, so plan accordingly.
--You'll have to keep the Edelweiss at high HP, so put in an Engineer. Even
though you're in a base and you'll automatically get some HP back every turn,
you'll want the extra repairs.
Potential Strategy--
There's a lot to do here. Despite looking fairly straightforward, getting
Welkin and Alicia to your base camp is quite a challenge. In fact, they have
an entire crowded camp to clear out. It is possible to skip this area and try
to rush across the river, but don't say I didn't warn you about having to
watch your back. My usual motto of playing it safe holds here. On the bright
side, once they destroy the mortar cannon you won't have to worry about that
the rest of the mission. If for some strange reason you're having extreme
difficulty getting these guys off the north bank, bring over an Engineer or
other unit from your base camp to help and/or clear mines for you.
Still, your camp defense is your top priority and you can simply ignore the
northern two for awhile. Get behind cover and fire off a few rockets and
sniper shots. Setting up a crossfire in front can greatly slow the advancing
units. Prepare to be frustrated by manic enemy accuracy. The enemy attack will
get weaker after turn 2, so regroup and slowly push forward on the remaining
units, looking at capturing the intermediate camp. Do the normal sandbag-to-
sandbag advancing you're accustomed to by now. This would be a good time to
start working on Welkin and Alicia--they'll need at least 2 turns to clean up
the north side. The walls around the mortar are your only cover there, but the
enemy doesn't seem to counterattack. Jump out and fire quick for headshots, or
bend around a corner to throw a grenade, and immediately walk back. When
finished and ready to move on, the path back to your base camp is down a ramp
to the east, then backward west along the river dodging mines, then across the
planks and up the broken ladder.
Defense is now offense! Ram the large wall with the Edelweiss and cruise in
for the easy finish.
-----
C09 ~ Chapter 9-4a: Kidnapping of Cordelia
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 3 (possible in 1)
Setup notes:
--Talk about a change of pace! You might assume that Scouts would be the way
to go while starting so spread out, but that eliminates offense you'll
desperately need later on. Since explosives are out of the question,
Shocktroopers are your best weapons here. Snipers can do fair damage on
radiators, but misses can cost you CP you'll be very short on.
--Although you can only start with 5 footsoldiers deployed, you can call out
up to 3 more to reach 8 once you begin.
--After deploying but before starting, take note of the icons at intersections
on the command map. Any route marked with a small box icon (well, it's
actually a tank) with a slash through it means a tank cannot pass. The enemy
armored vehicle can, however. This is vital when trying to intercept.
--The only way to damage the vehicle here is to fire at the radiator. Any
explosive will instant destroy it.
Potential Strategy--
On each of the first two turns, you'll need to move the Edelweiss east to
block off the advancing vehicle. Get whatever units you deployed on the south
slots up on the rooftops for recon purposes. Note the position of the tank-
blocker icons on the map and you can judge the route the enemy vehicle will
have to take the first half dozen turns or so. Just think of where you'll be
blocking and how it will adapt, and then where you can't travel.
Reinforcements will come in after blocking on turn 2. You have two main splits
in strategy to take from here. Regardless of which one you pick, it should be
said that the enemy vehicle has different routes it might take so there is no
one specific way this mission will play through. As you continue your attacks,
the vehicle will start to move twice per turn when damaged below 50%.
Option 1 is to keep using the Edelweiss to block progress. However, looking
over the map, you can see that you'll run out of avenues to drive down in the
southeast corner. Don't forget to use your recon units. If you overshoot the
Edelweiss an extra block it might result in the vehicle making an early turn,
but I wouldn't count on this as a way to plan an ambush. If you go this route,
your endgame will likely be in either the southeast corner or west-central
area. Be sure you deploy up to your max of 8 footsoldiers and run them down
the east side after the vehicle and generally in convoy with the Edelweiss.
Option 2 involves heavy use of Shocktroopers. If you positioned 2-3 in the
north starting spot and at your base camp, run them up the center alley on the
north edge on turns 1-2 and keep them behind cover to avoid fire. After that,
it's a chase after the vehicle while dealing with reinforcements as it turns
right at the northeast corner. You can save a few CP here on turns 3-4 and/or
use this time to call in reinforcements of your own. Once the enemy vehicle
turns its back to your Shocktroopers, the hunt is on. Run up to within range
of the radiator, fire, and get back behind cover. Your level and weapons
determine how much firing you need to do, but saying "a lot" is likely a fair
guess.
Note: You'll want to go to the Audience Hall in Headquarters after each
chapter now to collect possible medals and start obtaining Royal weaponry. Go
to your Barracks to put these on units you tend to use more (typically your
Leaders).
-----
RP5 ~ Squad 7's R&R
-----
Expensive to purchase, but worth the price. To the beach!
-----
C10 ~ Chapter 10-2: Infiltration of Fouzen
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 4
Setup notes:
--Fill your squad with whatever you feel comfortable convoying with. You'll
probably want 2 scouts, as you'll see in a minute.
Potential Strategy--
Despite looking rather complex on the command map, this mission is actually
quite straightforward and not terribly difficult. This may sound ridiculous,
but if you didn't have to move the Edelweiss to the objective point, this map
could possibly be cleared with a single Scout using stealth and grenades.
Varrot's tip about the rail cars is dead-on. Get a scout on there and take the
trip, where they can single-handedly move across the east edge of the map and
clean up the Snipers you were told to be weary of in the briefing. There are 4
of them total.
Use that other scout to move ahead of your convoy. Your weapons now should
give you a decent shot at getting enough headshots to defeat an enemy in one
turn, meaning the Scout can use other cover besides the Edelweiss and stay in
front safely. Note all the tall grass around the map. Push ahead and be
prepared for more searchlight fun after Bridge 2.
How you move your convoy can bit a bit different this time. The Edelweiss
happens to make an excellent decoy, since it should survive a hit if it's on
the fringe of the mortar and you can't get out of the way. You can start a
rhythm of moving the Edelweiss with your first action to deliberately trigger
a mortar, then move your footsoldiers past safety. Next turn, just repeat the
process--in fact the map is small enough that the Edelweiss can move through
the full attack spread of 2 mortars on one action. Past each light there is a
safe place for you to hide your footsoldiers from other lights.
One last note about the searchlights... if you do trigger a mortar, for some
reason the destruction radius seems easy to get out of and is often centered
so far away from a spotted unit that they don't need to move farther to hide.
It literally takes triggering every single mortar to block off all escape
routes, but since it takes extra CP to move units out of the way it's better
to take things slowly.
Moving across bridges 3 and 4 doesn't require anything special--as long as you
stay on the east side of the last bridge you won't trigger a mortar. If you
put a scout on the 2nd trolley you can pull off the same trick on the west
edge of the map. There are 2 more Snipers to clear, but you may wish to avoid
going to the far north as an Ace awaits you.
Last roadblock cleared, you can easily move the Edelweiss from the edge of the
final bridge all the way to the objective with 2 actions. Operation complete!
---
Chapter 10-5: Liberation of Fouzen
---
Turns for Max Bonus: 5
NOTE: You'll see enemies labeled as "Elite"-types now. If you're playing in a
more relaxed way as I did my first time through, you probably don't have any
of these yet, and that's fine--we'll worry about that in future missions. Just
don't think it's your imagination that your foes are much stronger and evasive
now, since they are. Some were in the level 10 range even in the last mission,
whereas they can be in the 17-20 range here. Better still is that you'll
likely be exposed to Flamethrowers from enemy Shocktroopers. Just don't worry
about that for now--the guide will assume you are not into "Elite" levels yet.
Setup notes:
--You can set up for this mission like any other normal convoy.
--The Train will move back and forth in 3 positions atop the bridge. if it's
in the center, it will rain turret fire at footsoldiers. If the Edelweiss ends
a turn with the main cannon on the train in view, it will fire. This shouldn't
destroy the Edelweiss, but will destroy the treads and leave it stranded for
the time being.
--Trolleys are back, and Lifts have been added here. You'll get a tutorial--
but in short, run up to the power box and use the X button to activate, then
just walk or roll the Edelweiss onto a lift to change level. Multiple units
can use a lift on the same turn.
Potential Strategy--
Yes, that is a mortar fired into the middle of your camp on turn 1.
This battle isn't so much "hard" as it is just plain tricky. It can be
separated out into three phases, and each is entirely separate. Your convoy
will go through each of them in turn.
First you will move west across the first bridge and clear the west bank.
Regardless of how the angle might work, you cannot fire rockets over the ledge
down below. An Engineer will need to clear the mines, though they'll be out of
range. With the tanks below, I'd suggest keeping footsoldiers on the south
(far) side of the bridge while walking in case their action ends there. Your
goal here should be to try to take out both the tank along the bank (which
will come to you), and later the one across the second bridge, but separately!
It's unlikely the Edelweiss can survive 2 medium tanks and a lancer firing on
it at the end of turn 1 or 2. Focus on the units on the bank then the tank on
the bridge after. Hiding on the tight turn at the corner and under the trolley
bridge is a good camping spot for your convoy to wait.
Speaking of the trolley, repeat what you did last mission and ride a Scout
across. Part of your clearing the west bank will be to work up toward the
intermediate camp, but after clearing the one defender your scout on the upper
level can activate the lift, hop down, run up to the camp, capture it then
toss a grenade at the bridge to complete your first objective. Better still,
you can then retreat the scout to redeploy at base camp or save for later.
The second phase involves moving east across the second bridge, clearing
defenders and destroying the southeast bridge to stop reinforcements just as
you did in the northwest. Since the tank from this area should already be
destroyed, start off with your Engineer clearing the mines and blowing up the
barricades. A pair of 2 can be destroyed with a grenade, or an excellent
mortar shot with the Edelweiss might tag 4. Moving across the bridge proper is
by far the most taxing part of this mission. As said in the setup notes, the
Train will move each turn but it will take a random destination. If it is in
the center, it can (and will) rain bullets down on anything crossing the
center bridge, as well as anything exposed between buildings on the east bank.
That means a slow convoy across with the Edelweiss is an absolute must, but
you need to be careful not to strand units either out ahead or left behind as
you're moving.
The sandbags on the far side make great cover for units just barely inside
turret range. If you just feel completely trapped, do NOT stay bunched
together to end your turn. If the train is in the center while the Edelweiss
is on it, it'll blast a heavy round on you. If you're in tight convoy to avoid
normal fire, expect a lot of casualties and a nearly 100% chance of having to
restart. Crossing the bridge after train moved to the left or right side is
key. That gives you a full turn to get onto the bridge and try to clear a
beachhead, and on the second you can rush your footsoldiers into cover on the
east side and let the Edelweiss limp across. Clear up the fairly sizable force
over here, run a scout down to the corner to destroy the wooden bridge and get
ready for your final push.
You might think it's a bit cruel for there not to be an intermediate camp in
this area, but if you'd like to swap out members or bring reinforcements
there's no need to worry! Activate the lift at the south of the east bank and
you can hop units up and down from your base camp. Finish organizing, keep at
least one scout, and prepare for a hectic final phase.
Move an Engineer up first, and you'll probably be intimidated by what you're
facing in the final enemy camp. Fortunately, there's no need to be. Take a
quick peek--it's only Lancers defending the base. Move the Edelweiss up as far
as possible, but entirely ignore the tank. Lob mortars over it and into the
sandbags in the canyon behind. Even if you only defeat one of them you should
be fine. Take one of your Scouts, put on a Defense and Evade order if you're
worried about the train, and you'll be making a massive run for it. First
action should get you up the lift and through the back of the base, ignoring
the Lancers and the Edelweiss blocking the tank fire on the way up. If the
mortar(s) didn't clear the few units behind, finish your first action with the
scout to eliminate the other. Second action takes you to the final lift, up
and over to the center. Regardless of the position of the tank, it cannot fire
at you from here. Draw your weapon, Hit L1 to target the bomb and fire away.
..If this is causing you trouble, you can certainly clear the upper level in
a more normal fashion--but since occupying the enemy camp means absolutely
nothing here, I don't consider it worth the hassle. If you do stay to fight,
watch out for how much damage the Edelweiss might take.
-----
RP6 ~ What Lies Beyond Hate & Hostage Rescue Operation
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 2
Note: Rests in the book between chapters 10 and 11. If you do have access to
it this early, I would suggest your Scouts be level 11 or higher before
attempting, for the same reason I insist upon it for the Chapter 11 mission.
Setup Notes:
--Scout AP range allows them to literally cross the entire map in one action.
--If you do employ a Sniper, he or she must be in the northern-most slot.
Potential Strategy--
There are three units for you to take out, and when you do strike they'll all
need to be taken out on the same turn. "Not being seen" is even a little
harder than you might have imagined--not only can you not end a turn with a
unit not in cover in tall grass, but you can't even end an action! This is why
a Sniper can only be placed in the first slot, because they would otherwise
run out of AP to cross territory.
If you'd like to scratch your brain a bit, figure this one out yourself,
otherwise, read a simple solution below.
For the easiest of victories, use 3 scouts. Place one in the east and two in
the first west tall grass on turn one. On turn 2 or 3, just jump out of cover
and fire a grenade launcher round at each unit. To hit the enemy on the roof
you'll need to run all the way up the hill to the west to launch one over.
-----
C11 ~ Chapter 11-4a: Battle at Marberry Shore
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 6
NOTE: I'm going to be cruel here and insist that at least your Scouts are
upgraded to level 11 so they have grenade launchers equipped. You'll be amazed
at how strong this can make them. The briefing also mentions flamethrowers on
your Shocktroopers-- they're really not that vital here, whereas the launchers
will make a lot of things easier.
NOTE: You have the Shamrock! For simplicity purposes, for all times it is
mentioned the rest of this guide, I will assume you're leaving on the heavy-
duty Flamethrower. It's outclassed in anti-tank combat by the Edelweiss and
Lancers, so I don't see any point in gearing it for that. When using it in the
future, remember that it isn't like the Edelweiss--it can be destroyed in a
battle and you will not instantly fail. You will lose 1 CP, but you can
continue.
NOTE: The 'ISARA' Smoke Grenade is equipped from the Edelweiss for this
mission AND EVERY LATER MISSION. Do not forget that it will always be there!
You have one round to fire every turn, regardless of if an Engineer comes to
reload.
Setup notes:
--You're going to be capturing the first intermediate base and redeploying
from there on turn 1. As such, it's a waste of active units to fill in the
east deployment area.
--You can't convoy this mission, but the same troop variety is efficient.
--The layout of the ground itself in the mission is a lot more confusing that
the command map makes it appear.
Potential Strategy--
Regardless of how Zaka says he'll be a great help here, I can't think of a
single reason why you would ever want to move the Shamrock in this mission.
Just... ignore him. It's almost as though this mission was re-inserted into
the game in a different position than the storyline was written originally.
Continuing the game theme of miniature recreations of the more famous battles
in history, you're rushing up the beach into what sounds like certain death.
Fear not! Fire your smoke round (selected with the Square button like all
other weapons) to a spot just a little north of the center rock formation
entering the narrow canyon and that should cover any ground unit moving from
the beach all the way to the first intermediate base. That's right, you'll be
going straight there. There are no defenders. That quickly changes, however,
and you'll need to fight your way clear from here. Already on the first turn,
you can be using those lovely grenade launchers of yours to clear the units
north and west of the camp to defend your position. Now treat this as your
base camp and deploy your full desired roster. Whatever you do, DO NOT move up
the ramp to the west at the end of this turn.
..When you poke your head up there with the Edelweiss on turn 2 you'll see
why. Blast the Medium Tank to bits with Lancer help using as many CP as you
need and keep an Engineer handy here. The Edelweiss cannot move any farther
than this little ledge, so your footsolders have a lot of work to do. This
does give you plenty of range to offer support, at least. Slowly move north
from camp, putting units in the trench and creeping up the hill. You're
probably seeing even more foes that are instantly dispatched using the grenade
launcher. End actions behind rocks or in the trench, since I doubt you'll want
to be turret or heavy tank cannon fodder. The tank should come out into the
open if you've at least poked your head around the northeast corner and had
the units in the next intermediate base spot you. That nest might look
tempting for a Lancer or Sniper, but you can be easily picked off. Even worse-
- standing behind it doesn't offer cover from the tank firing shells at you.
The tank exposed, blast it with the now-stuck Edelweiss and whatever other
help you have. The north turret can be taken out the "normal" way (by
destroying a ragnite container behind it) with a gun, or you can lob a mortar
over the back to explode it. This method is particularly useful for the turret
to the west. In case you haven't caught on to the Scout theme yet, you can
easily take the intermediate camp even by walking Scouts up in plain sight
without cover and lobbing grenades over the sandbags to instantly kill foes.
Occupy the camp and regroup.
Reinforcements will continue to come in at the third intermediate camp
(directly below the ledge west of the Edelweiss), but it's in perfect position
to toss a mortar over the wall to stop any units from advancing.
Reinforcements will start to come in 2s if you include the enemy base camp, so
you'll be making a swift strike down the entire west side of the map. If
you're been keeping this base clear, you should be able to run in with a scout
and occupy it without opposition. Gather Scouts (2-3) and another unit at the
wall of 3 metal barricades south of this last camp and end turn.
The end of this missions is actually very similar to the last--you can either
go through a straight-up fight with some enemy footsoldiers and tanks, or you
can slip around the west side of the large building with your scouts. Either
way, you'll need to land in a smoke round for cover. This time aim for just
beyond the little barricade in the middle of the canyon between the two
turrets and you should be able to get by without any trouble. I really, really
don't suggest you take the battle route because you have to rely on clunky
Lancers to destroy two tanks from scratch in the face of other units coming at
you and the tanks shoving you backwards into the turret fire.
Assuming you've gone the slightly-stealthy way, hide your scouts at the end of
the building (watch out for the mine!). There are 2 defenders in the open and
2 in the base itself you'll have to clear. Unsurprisingly--the grenade
launcher does an awesome job of this. If you have "Mortar Support" as an Order,
it's also nice in this spot. Try leaving at least half AP remaining on one of
the scouts who will make the final run into the camp. Give a Defense and Evade
Order to ensure the tanks don't cause an unpleasant end to things.
-----
C12 ~ Chapter 12-3: Recapture of Bruhl
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 1
NOTE: After being mean and insisting you have your Scouts upgraded for the
last mission, this time I'll have to insist your Shocktroopers be to "Elite"
as well.
Setup notes:
--A double-convoy is one possibly approach here, using an Engineer on each
tank.
--If not your style, a single convoy can move up the west side, but beware of
Sniper fire.
--It is entirely possible to win this mission (and is arguably easier to)
without capturing the eastern alley and the intermediate camp.
Potential Strategy--
Your foes are well-prepared for you, with 9 snipers, two anti-tank cannons and
a heavy tank in the main alley. At least you have home field advantage. In
fact, if Snipers are something you absolutely can't stand to put up with,
launch a Mortar Support Order on the two in the windmill on turn 1 just so you
have a bit less to worry about. It's 3 CP, but it's unlikely that your Snipers
could have done it in 2. Even with those gone, it's imperative that you always
end the movement of your footsoldiers while in cover. The other snipers are
spread out pretty evenly and can be tricky to pick off. If you're fortunate
enough to spot one while advancing, use one of your own or a Scout to clear it.
Even if you can't defeat all of them you can still move up the main road
fairly safely between the Edelweiss, sandbags, and other miscellaneous cover.
It might be because you're used to the area already, but this mission progress
very naturally and doesn't toss out any surprises. Even though the wall Welkin
ran over in Chapter 2 is blocking the path up the east side, there's plenty of
grass cover so that even just a few Scouts can move up and turn that flank and
take the intermediate base. On the west side, despite there being heavy
cannons, unless you leave the Edelweiss in the middle of the road they can't
particularly hurt you. Remember, you can pick apart this type of cannon with
normal light fire--even from a scout. The Ace Tank is the only real obstacle
on the road... and fortunately there's only 1 enemy Lancer to worry about, so
pushing ahead with the Edelweiss is a (relatively) safe procedure compared to
normal.
The last push to the plaza and into the base can be a bit trickier with a lot
of stubborn foes being behind cover, which is why I suggested you have
flamethrowers available for this mission. The last thing in your way an enemy
Ace in the camp itself which might throw you fits. If you lob some explosives
and/or mortars at the cannon next to him, you might get lucky and kill him
with collateral damage. If not, there are always your scouts. Those have come
in pretty handy the past few missions, haven't they?
-----
RP7 ~ War Without Weapons & An End to Darcsen Hunting
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 3
Events take place between chapters 12 and 13. Shocktroopers upgraded to
"Elite" are now a must and I'll assume you have them.
This mission can be quite emotional for some people, so I suggest you try to
complete it on your own without reading ahead if it suits you.
Setup Notes:
--Be prepared for a lot of brutal, angry, melee combat.
--Not surprising since it's Rosie's extra mission, Shocktroopers perform well.
Potential Strategy--
It's a fair assumption that enemies are hiding in every imaginable place with
cover. This also makes them incredibly hard to damage, unless using a
flamethrower or mortars. Pretty much the only way a non-Shocktrooper can flush
out and even try to kill an enemy here is to use a grenade to blow them out of
cover first and then use another action. In this sense, a Scout & Shocktrooper
pair can work together to clear one patch at a time.
Taunting cutscene messages come after 3 and 6 kills. On the 8th footsoldier
kill and if both tanks are destroyed you'll hear a retreat order. Starting on
that enemy turn, all remaining units will come out of hiding and attempt to
dash to an exit area. Even if they do reach an edge of the map, they'll say
they're "nearly" gone, giving you one turn to eliminate them. It's worth
mentioning that if an enemy unit is caught in a crossfire while retreating,
they're likely to stop. With that in mind, try to keep pointed inward toward
units.
As crowd control, you should try to have both exits blocked. The Shamrock and
its flamethrower make a nice parting gift for enemies bunched together at the
north exit. With the enemy tanks out you can roll it up the east side. Because
of the nature of the map and where you deployed from, it's far more likely
that you'll be dealing with enemies trying to flee in the north than south or
west. The things most likely to get you hung up here are units that need extra
CP to take down an enemy (in cover right next to an enemy unit in cover, kills
will take more than even a flamethrower hit), and an enemy Ace in the north
with high HP.
-----
C13 ~ Chapter 13-4a: Showdown at Naggiar (1)
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 5
Note: Having the Order "Demolition Boost" is extremely helpful here.
Setup notes:
--Your "A Team" is best put to use if deployed to the west.
--Deploy a Sniper in the front-left position in the west camp to use the nest-
-this is also the only safe way to clear a path across the middle.
--You may wish to only deploy 2 or 3 on the east side so you can more easily
deploy in advance positions.
--No tanks at start, so no point to keep an Engineer in for now.
--Hopefully all your units should be "Elite" status by now. If they're not,
you should probably go Skirmish until they are.
Potential Strategy--
Don't be hasty--though you can hide units in the midfield bunkers on the left
side, moving ahead as a group is substantially safer. On the east side, the
Gatling turret makes for suicide to anyone in the open. This includes units on
the top ledge even if they are in crouched cover position. In other words,
just stand on the bottom of the trench.
Once you get a sense of how the map layout works and get gathered, you'll be
making your crossing on the west side away from the Gatling turret. Scouts can
make it in 1 CP, whereas Shocktroopers and Lancers need 2. I wouldn't even try
to bring a Sniper over. Shocktroopers should take the lead to (literally) blow
out whatever is left in the trenches. Enter on the farthest west side and
capture the first intermediate camp. Pull east and kill anything in your way.
You'll reach the camp with the objective icon, however... DO NOT OCCUPY THIS
CAMP YET. If you want to bring over your troops from the east camp you'll
either need to capture the Gatling turret camp and destroy it, or retreat them
and re-deploy to your new west forward camp. As Varrot has warned you, things
will likely change soon. You have been warned. Whenever you do decide to
capture the middle camp, be sure you have at least 2 CP remaining in your pool.
As expected, things do indeed change drastically once you occupy the center
camp. The good news is that you get tanks. The bad news is that there's only
one thing you can do with them. Use those 2 CP I suggested you save and move
the Edelweiss due east into the deep ditch. It will conveniently keep you
covered safely and let you fire mortar rounds at just the right range to your
target. Once this event is triggered, it is also impossible to move any units
across the center area. You'll need to use your first 2 CP of every turn here
on to block progress. If you didn't have a full active roster deployed, call
in units at the center camp. You'll most certainly want an Engineer for the
last push. A final note about this situation before you set for your last
attack-- tanks will likely need to back up a little bit onto the angled part
of the ditches for enough angle to fire. Just be sure you move them back down
to the bottom if you do this. Leave nothing exposed.
The enemy base camp is nothing to sneeze at. Neither of your entry options are
any fun (don't slide the left stick too far when controlling your Engineer!),
though I do prefer the back for a quick strike. If Lancers are more your thing,
blast in the front with flamethrowers and rockets. If you'd like to be sneaky,
come behind and use a few Orders to let you clear the base in short order.
Whatever your plan, leave a unit or two at that center camp in case of random
counterattacks, and save a few CP to get the last strike done in one turn. If
you really want to go insanely all-in, you can position the Edelweiss to fire
a smoke round into the camp but put yourself at risk of being vulnerable at
the end of the turn.
-----
RP8 ~ Flower of the Battlefield & Guarding the Refugee Camp
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 5
Events taking place between Chapters 13 and 14. This is technically impossible
since there is a continuation in plot at the same location between these
chapters, yet the dialogue perfectly matches the events as of the end of 13
and can actually only fit here in this one niche. Once again, I might write
this up to a mission being added (14), or more likely that this was originally
14 and was changed to an extra Report mission. This is a unique and small
window in the game where Alicia is out of action--Susie and Largo mention this
in the mission cutscenes here.
Further Discussion:
After completing Chapter 13 in a "Cleared" game, you are allowed to skip ahead
to the next battle (in 14) as normal. However, they leave a cutscene episode
thumbnail grayed out (14-2), and until this point only the cutscenes at the
end of chapters have been required viewing to move ahead. Both 14-2 and 14-4a
have the "New" icon at the same time. This might be evidence that this extra
mission was actually in an old version of Chapter 14, with the current
cutscene 14-2 being the end of that chapter (since you're pointed toward
watching it instead of skipping it). 14-3 would then be the start of the next
chapter... and I could see this working if the story had been written just a
tiny bit differently regarding the outcome of Chapter 13 to allow the 7s to
relocate.
I could go on but it would be entirely diving into spoiler territory. Just
something odd to think about.
Setup Notes:
--This of this as being the exact opposite type of mission as EX7 was.
--You are limited to only 2 units on top of the 3 pre-set for you. Plan on
being frustrated.
--An all-Shocktrooper setup is very feasible.
Potential Strategy--
Harder than it looks. You can't let a single unit into the box drawn on the
command map. This isn't like EX7 where you got a warning when a unit got there
and then had one more turn to eliminate them--you get zero leeway here. Even
though you're low on numbers, even with what you have, you can set up a
defense like you would of any other base. Think about using cover, setting
crossfire, making counterattacks and playing around in the back lines. As I'm
sure you've noticed by now, enemy units will most always stop if they are
running head-on into a defensive firing/crossfire from a Scout or Shocktrooper.
Use that to your advantage. Don't let the fact you're outnumbered about 4:1
get you down!
Largo has an excellent point... it would be great if you could have had room
to add an extra Scout to your lineup here. Instead, he'll have to prove his
worth by trying to disable at least 2 enemy tanks in the first 2 turns. Since
there's no way an Engineer is justifiable on this mission due to low numbers
and because the Edelweiss needs to use CP to defend and not destroy tanks, you
really have to keep them stuck where they start. The Medium Tank is equipped
with a flamethrower and will head straight up the road, meaning you can ignore
it for a few turns if you have to. If you're bold enough to leave Largo in
cover in the center area, he can tag this tank in the radiator.
The Heavy Tank on the east side is particularly annoying if you can't disable
it, as it'll literally just tromp over the grass on that side of the map,
making it impossible to cover. The Ace tank is hardest to hit on turn 1 so you
can let it move forward a little. Just be sure you can get one out of action
on turn 1.
To be successful here, your offense will come via your defending actions.
Shocktroopers, for example, put out a lot of return fire when hit with normal
attacks and that alone might kill a weaker unit, meaning you get a bonus kill
for 0 CP. Ironically, you may do best with this mission if you don't use the
Edelweiss whatsoever... it means you've productively used your 3 (Largo
doesn't really count) other units. Another part of CP conservation is using
area damage attacks, so if you do use the Edelweiss be sure it's to fire a
mortar that should take out at least 2 foes.
One last and rather unexpected thing you might have to worry about--there is
an enemy Engineer present and it may actually repair the tanks (seems very
random, but can happen). I know it's not a ridiculous thought, but the enemy
isn't exactly known for keeping its tanks in good shape. Keep Largo on the
edge of that high ridge in the middle so he can re-disable them as needed.
Eventually you'll probably find yourself turning clockwise around the west
edge of the map, and slowly forward in the center. Stand up, run until you hit
a crouched target, blast with fire, repeat. If you're not in the mood to cut
down the tanks and the rear guard that's fine, but put a Demolition Boost
Order on Rosie and she'll happily blast through all 3 for you.
-----
C14 ~ Chapter 14-4a: Showdown at Naggiar (2)
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 4
Note: This mission can bring back frustration for people that had managed to
disappear since Chapter 7. There an easy way to complete this mission that's
nothing more than a horrible exploit, and though I feel bad including it I've
put a tip in at the end of this section. You should know by now it's a lot
more fun to play through the missions normally, so I hope you try to!
Setup notes:
--I entirely hate just handing information away, so instead I'll say this;
your gut feeling is correct.
--Treat this like it's going to be a double-convoy mission.
Potential Strategy--
Your "friend" will not to attack your squad, regardless of warnings from
Welkin. However, you may just not want to move at all on turn 1, because you
may actually mess up the attack plan of what's ahead. Clear the ditch in the
middle, but don't fire at anything else on turn 1.
To confirm what your gut was telling you, this is indeed too easy to be true.
Do NOT, I repeat-- DO NOT go and immediately capture the enemy base. Split up
into your two convoys and set one at either side of the enemy camp. Axe one
turn to save CP, then go ahead and take it.
Since it's on more than one front, it's impossible to really give a detailed
way of how to handle this. There are some rules to follow, regardless of what
how you try to approach this. Every enemy footsoldier will reappear at the
start of every single turn, no matter what. This happens even if the tank on
that front is destroyed, or if you kill all units on one side. Because of the
types and formation of enemies that appear, the Shamrock (with flamethrower)
seems suited well for the south front since its able to take out 4-5 units
with one swipe. Furthermore, there are conveniently-placed sandbag walls
pointed toward the corner for your units to take cover behind and be in close
range. Conversely, the Edelweiss seems suited for the north front, since it
has more HP to fend off Lancers and can completely block off the path to your
base camp.
As for those enemy tanks, it even takes more than one heavy lance hit to the
radiator to destroy them. Shocktroopers are entirely ineffective, even with a
Demolition Boost Order placed upon them--the tanks are entirely immune to
bullets. You can at least walk around the sides and behind them without being
fired upon, which is the advantage you'll need to take out the north tank.
One method: Use 2-3 CP a turn to do so if you need must, but get a Lancer down
the grassy ramp on the north side, keep them crouched and turn them in behind
the tank. On a fresh turn, stand them up, get to point blank range and fire
the 2 shots you'll need to take it down. Helplessly outnumbered and surrounded,
they'll need a Retreat Order. The other big issues of the north front are
keeping the Edelweiss healthy from rocket hits and keeping your weaker units
under cover from snipers. You're mostly banking your success up here on your
ability to block the path between the small building and the cliff wall with
the Edelweiss for at least 2 turns with an Engineer on hand.
On the South end, because you're blowing a few extra CP on top to get into
position to destroy the tank, you're going to have to fend things off for a
bit with one hand tied behind your back. More likely than not, you'll have to
offer the Shamrock as a decoy/sacrifice just to hold all the units there at
bay for an extra turn while you get into position. You may learn on one
attempt that you'd prefer to have more units at the south front, which is
understandable. The goal here would be that, later on or the next turn after
the north tank is destroyed, you've distracted the units and tank on the south
side enough that you can pound enough rockets into the thing to take it down.
Sneaking in behind it is possible, but more risky. The Shamrock will be torn
to pieces within 2 turns whether you have an Engineer on this front or not, so
at least try to position it forward and at an angle where it can distract and
move the tank a little.
Alternatively to these, you can just blast apart the heavy tanks with rockets
and shells like any other, but because on high-HP targets you're prone to CP
shortages and running out of ammo this can be a challenge--especially on the
north where you'd have to share your Engineer between Lancers to resupply and
the Edelweiss to keep alive. Feeling out a balance for if you can outlast your
foes here is something that'll greatly help you create a winning setup--it
could be 8 Lancers for all I care, so long as it works go for it.
Although you don't need to destroy both tanks on the same turn, using this
general guide it can work out that way probably on the 2nd turn after you took
the base camp. If you almost get the win on this strategy but are defeated in
the end, it's likely because your northern Lancer had a bit too far to run and
you were overwhelmed at the south. The incendiary mortars can be a bother, but
honestly they have almost no impact on the battle whatsoever given you only
really have 1-3 turns of total strength where you have any hope of victory. If
you get one that lands in an especially terrible spot (very unlikely), chalk
it up to bad luck, or just push through it for a turn while you try to finish.
Exploit Hint: Think about where you could have your units placed when you
trigger the main part of the battle.
-----
RP9 ~ Parting Ways
-----
This Report comes automatically and is not purchased.
The fact it is placed in the story and handed to you could lend to the
argument that the section of the story around Chapter 14 was adjusted. It
could be seen that this report would have taken place after Ch13 and in
conjunction with report RP8 as the mission for that theoretical chapter. Some
dialogue adjustment allows it to come after 14, and I suppose it was a
stylistic decision of the writers to place these revelations in after the
battle in Ch14.
-----
C15 ~ Chapter 15-4a: Fight for Ghirlandaio
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 6
Setup notes:
--The map looks very expansive, but the distance you can cover with a unit in
one action is actually a lot larger than you might expect.
--Pair a Shocktrooper plus a Scout on both the east and west side of your
formation.
--Prepare for tank to tank combat.
--This is another instance of a mission where you can rush in to the final
objective without worrying about the safety of putting a unit in that position.
Potential Strategy--
With the layout of each missions getting more and more complicated and lots of
little details continuing to appear, it's really important that you sit back
at the start and look everything over. Plan routes, check sight lines, etc..
In actuality this mission is not that high of difficulty--it just takes a
solid plan and no hesitation to strike.
You'll be moving those Shocktrooper+Scout pairs I suggested up each side of
the map, eventually making an '8' shape. Clear the lower areas on turn 1 and
pinch off the enemy flanks. Come up the middle and blast yourself through to
take the first intermediate camp and hit the switch. The steel barricade just
north of this camp is as far as the Edelweiss will go--you can't destroy these,
leaving a rather frightful mine field ahead of you. Thankfully, you'll only
need to slip one unit through here eventually to hit the switch and capture
this camp. Use Lancers with the Edelweiss to knock out the tanks in your way,
and very carefully use your support Engineer to clear through. For whatever
reasons, all reinforcements that come in at this camp funnel to the right side
of the map, so you won't need to worry about any units getting in your way.
While working in this, use those pairs again to move ahead and cover both of
your flanks. If you place both units in cover--grass on the left and behind
the sandbags on the right--you should be able to set up a defensive crossfire
that halts advancing units. Strikes on the right are particularly strong, with
2 or 3 foes coming per turn (generally Shocktroopers). You have the normal
random heavy mortar fire around, but it seems to like to target areas inside
Imperial territory rather than push you backwards.
The gauntlet might look intimidating, but you'll be making a rather straight
dash to the final switch. First, let's count off your units. You have a pair
on each of your flanks, the Engineer that cleared the middle and has supported
the Edelweiss, and you may have a Sniper up in one of the nests. At most
that's 6, so you can free up 2 spaces for your last actions. Call up 2 Scouts.
Wait for a turn there is not a mortar shot on the far left edge of the map,
and move them into the last tall grass area, then next action to the northwest
camp. At most there should be one defender left, or your (optional) Sniper has
been handling things. Rush in and capture this, get behind the sandbags and
end this turn. Even with a dent deep into their territory, you shouldn't
really face any counterattacks here. For your final dash in, toss a smoke
round from the Edelweiss onto the area of the switch. The range won't let you
fire this far, but the important part is that your unit will be in cover of
smoke when standing around to hit the switch itself (standing still versus
when it was running). The turrets about are hungry, but the usual Defense and
Evasion Boost Orders should make this no sweat. Operation complete!
-----
Chapter 15-5a: Selvaria's Last Stand
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 8
Setup notes:
--Whatever units you position in your back row when you begin will be under
extremely heavy machine gun fire when you take an action with them.
--There are a lot of intermediate camps, so don't worry about your initial
startup if it doesn't seem to help you advance. The first segment is
demolition duty.
--The layout is incredibly complex, as it appears. When you do begin, take all
the time you need to think things over.
--While there are not all that many enemy footsoldiers present on the map to
begin, reinforcements will quickly start pouring in.
Potential Strategy--
You're trapped in to start with by a lot of heavy hardware. Toss whatever
types of explosives you have at whatever you see. Your focus should be to
clear your left flank. Before ending your first turn, try to move any weaker
units you have in your back row ahead to the train cars for cover, or they're
entirely vulnerable. ...From what, you might wonder? The 10 or so units
wandering around the top level firing down at you, of course. There is no
quick cure to dealing with these, as you might expect.
Selvaria's weapon fire is EXTREMELY powerful, so much so that even catching
the side of some defensive fire while advancing can take out a unit. Don't
stop moving when controlling anything, and you'll probably want to put a smoke
grenade onto the highest landing of the stairs when you start to go up.
Alternatively, you can fire a smoke round up to the level where Selvaria is,
but this is not foolproof. I'd very highly recommend you go up on the left </pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
side, as it's slightly less maze-like and it doesn't have 2 turrets that'll
blast you as soon as you walk up.
My suggested advance team is be Shocktrooper+Scout. Move to the top of the
stairs, hugging the highest wall of it so Selvaria doesn't have an angle on
attacking you. Even if you can pull this off, if she finishes her turn on the
west side of the upper level you'll have a difficult time moving south without
another smoke screen. When you decide to make the dash south, make your goal
the intermediate camp and use every CP you have to get there in one turn. If
you end without the base, you'll face near-certain death from Selvaria's
weapon and reinforcements coming. Activate the lift if you can, but hit it
next turn if you must and pull up the Edelweiss. This complete, your basic
strategy has unfolded; You're going to turn clockwise around the entire map
using the Edelweiss as a lead. You can pretend it's some kind of twisted
indoor convoy if you'd like, but you'll need to move much more quickly than a
normal convoy trip can do for you.
As you loop around, it's kind of a race against reinforcements appearing ahead
of you. You'll move the Edelweiss, blast away large things, then move Scouts
in to grenade or shoot whatever's left inside an intermediate base, capture,
retreat units you've left behind and call them up to the front, repeat.
For some reason, after you capture the northwest intermediate base and turn
the Edelweiss up on the highest level, Selvaria likes to run away toward the
far corner. I'm not certain why, but this has happened each time I've cleared
this map. This lets you take out the tank on the top level and capture the top
camp without much opposition. This camp will (hopefully) be your last
deploying spot, so call up what you think you'll need for Selvaria.
It's not terribly exciting a battle strategy, but by now you're more than used
to the fact that you can pin in an enemy by pointing the Edelweiss at them at
close range. In a way it makes sense that normal foes might stop in the face
of head-on machine gun fire from a tank, but in Selvaria's case it just looks
foolish since each hit takes off such a small amount of HP. It doesn't matter
where you do it, just make sure you can get the Edelweiss pointed at her as
soon as possible. This isn't to do damage so much as it is just to hold her.
Use this time bought to clean up the northwest area, and hopefully you
shouldn't need to move southeast. In fact, with some luck you'll be able to
make a quick kill on her. As you sweep in against the tank in this corner and
Selvaria, you'll still need to be careful with your footsoldiers, as Selvaria
will be more than happy to tear through them if they're at all out in the open.
It doesn't matter what angle you run at, she will always turn to spot you and
fire.
Speaking of not moving into the open, hitting the switch to the middle level
might look tempting now that you're staring at it. DO NOT activate this. Since
you haven't activated the lift in the southeast there's simply no point--and
this gives a route for reinforcements coming in to strike you. Leave this be--
they'll move down the stairs on this side back down toward your base camp. The
Shamrock should still be around to handle things, and you've probably left a
stray unit or two down there without realizing.
Once you can clear the tank in the northeast and since you've called in your
reinforcements from the center camp, it's time for the final attack. She's
certainly frustrating... even if you attack from multiple angles at the same
time she'll always turn to the unit in action, and thus evade any attack.
Dropping grenades and mortars will have no effect--though launched grenades
can do a little damage if they're launched entirely behind cover and the unit
started his or her turn without her being able to see you. Your most effective
direct weapon will be flamethrowers.
Toss a smoke round on top of her so she can't see you coming, and finish the
job. If you've paced yourself well, you never allowed the flow of
reinforcements delay your progress as you turned clockwise around the map--if
you get overwhelmed anyway you may wish to retry and try to push a little
faster. Have faith in your Scouts that they can clear an enemy Shocktrooper in
1 or 2 actions by themselves so you can move them safely as far as possible.
-----
C16 ~ Chapter 16-3a: Diverting the Marmota
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 8
Setup notes:
--It looks like an insane task, and it pretty much is.
--Filling every slot will be a drain on CP, so put in your leaders and an
Engineer. Anything else is optional and a risk.
--Units squashed by the Marmota are 100% fatalities. If you have units KO'd
along the way by normal means, you can still evacuate these with a medic.
--Even if you can see guns and cannons firing at you from the Marmota and
there are sign lines drawn from there, you cannot target [to fire] at them.
Potential Strategy--
Easier than it might look!
CP is a precious resource here and you don't really have the luxury of wasting
a single one unless it helps move a unit forward. First two turns are mostly
just scampering forward. You'll face some light resistance along the way. Take
the hint and hit the ragnite crates along the walls of the canyon--every one
directly in the Marmota's path will buy you 1 turn. The two located on either
side of the south branch to the road are an absolute must to destroy or you
will fail the mission. Scouts (Alicia) can pick these off and still have AP
left over to keep running in the same action.
Once you reach the "checkpoint" area in the middle, things get a little messy.
You might notice that there are a few hundred mines in your way--a definite
problem. Use your Engineer to blast the barricades on your left side with a
grenade, and (very slowly and carefully) move ahead disabling mines. You
should have a few CP to spare since you did not deploy a full squad this
mission, so you may want to take an extra action with the Shamrock to slowly
drive down the dirt road and deliberately trigger the anti-personnel mines to
give yourself a path to continue. Before filing the rest of your forces
through the minefield, there is a pair of crates to destroy on the northern
edge of this area.
Exiting this section you'll find your last obstacles in the southwest corner,
and this shouldn't pose much trouble. As your last units leave the center
minefield, there are 2 more crates to fire at. The final crates are on the far
southeast edge of the map with one on either side. These are a must-destroy,
like at the first branch. If all has gone well, you should be able to sit
around and relax with all your units at the destination point for 2-3 turns
with nothing to do. The mission ends in success at the end of the turn the
Marmota makes the 2nd turn due to road blockage.
The absolute minimum of turns possible is 8, if you don't destroy of the
crates.
-----
C17 ~ Chapter 17-2a: Breaching Jaeger's Blockade
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 6
WARNING: This mission is probably on par with Chapter 7 in terms of difficulty
and sheer ability to make you throw your controller to the floor. Actually,
it's probably worse. It's hard to really write up a strategy for since there
aren't normal "fronts" or distinct straight routes of attack like on every
other mission. There's a ton to do in a ton of different places at the same
time. Each CP, every AP moved and each shot needs to count.
Tip: No matter how much or little you use the information below, just
attempting the mission a few times to see how units move and what to expect
will teach you far more than these words alone.
Note: If you're just having awful luck no matter what you do trying things put
in Strategy, I'm going to include a more detailed account of precisely what
has worked for me.
Last Note: Like the mission at Chapter 14-4a there's an exploit here that
makes the mission much easier, but far less exciting.
Setup notes:
--The north area will be a strike team. The Shocktrooper+Scout pair has been
working well lately and can get the job done here as well.
--The center starting slots are mostly reserved for Snipers and/or support.
These positions are very vulnerable from enemy fire even on turn 1, and any
unit left open here will almost surely be a KO. I like to use 1 Sniper here.
--The south deployment area is your actual base camp. If you think it's so far
back you won't need to worry about it, think again.
--Battle conditions will change quickly once you start and you'll have to look
after every one of your units. Think through every action.
--This is one battle where equipping the Shamrock with normal shells might be
advantageous.
Potential Strategy--
These things will be revealed to you on turn 1-2 anyway, but since there are
several things you always need to be thinking about I figure I'll just list a
few of the frustrating conditions you're up against at all times:
--"Lupus Armor" is just an extra shell of armor on top of the actual Lupus
Regnum. He can fire out at you, but you will be unable to damage the tank
itself with this on. This means treads and the radiator cannot be taken
advantage of.
--You'll need to capture every base to have any chance of victory. If there is
even one left over, if Jaeger can slide over to it on the enemy turn the armor
will be fully repaired. If you can predict his movements it is possible to
skip a few of the camps.
--Reinforcements will pour out quickly starting at the end of turn 2 (after
Varrot's warning) from any base under enemy control.
--Enemy units will make an active attempt to retake any lost bases and won't
shy from running toward your base camp.
--As Jaeger starts to build up a CP surplus, use of "All Units" Orders are
likely on each turn.
--Per turn, The Lupus generally moves (2 CP) and fires a shell at that time if
a target is available. It will then use 2 more CP, may or may not move again,
and throw up a smoke shell that will land in a place of enemy occupation. The
area in the far south is hit because an Ace is hidden (optional to clear).
--The Lupus follows a path that kind of looks like this~
x x
---
-| x
x|
..with Xs being the location of the enemy camps and the lines being 1-block
movements made with a 2 CP action. He's apt to patrol the route connecting any
two of these that are under enemy control. If you capture a base, it can cut
that part of his route. When all bases are captured, he should hopefully be
forced onto the one alley block on the far left to roam, but this is far from
foolproof. In any case, his mobility should slowly ramp down. Even when it
would be advantageous for him to remain in a combat position he will most
always complete a patrol movement every turn.
..Ok, just don't forget about his smoke rounds. You may think they're mostly
there to cover the enemy, but they'll be your savoir in terms of your offense
as well.
Starting off, you immediately face a counter-intuitive decision to make with
the Edelweiss. Looking over your position, you'll see that you're incredibly
vulnerable here with a street lined with tanks and heavy cannon. Your odds of
survival here for even one turn is low, especially because you don't have the
bulk of your units to support your actions here and take out the greatest
dangers. You might be able to take out the first cannon with a perfect rocket
shot from the building near your base, or it would require a Sniper shot with
'Penetrator'. Honestly, I found that CP are too precious on turn 1 to risk in
a situation where you could miss a target. This gives you two options... to
toss out a smoke grenade before the end of your turn to cover yourself, or
simply to withdraw the Edelweiss and move it south (backwards). After a lot of
trial and error, I learned to enjoy the later. It saves the 2 CP per turn
required to defend yourself which can be far better used in other areas.
After squishing your Sh+Sc pair by moving backwards over them, they'll be off
on a solitary mission that will cover the entire north side of the map without
support for probably the entire mission. Run across the road and around the
building to the north. In the first turns they'll be clearing that first enemy
camp, destroying the heavy tank and carving through the rooftops on the north
side. Sound like a lot? It is, but each of those actions alone isn't that
difficult. Put a Demolition Boost on the Shocktrooper to 1-shot destroy the
tank. The 2 CP order should be enough versus the 3. Flamethrower and grenade
will clear the camp. You may wish to pause them at the sandbags facing the
main street for a turn to cover your move for the center camp (info coming
later). Once the entire eastern side of the map is clear and you have some
forward positions established, get the Shocktrooper up the ladder and clean
house. Gun the cannon and flamethrower the others--none of these units can
return fire so get in their faces. Hop down the ladder on the far side and
stand by while you work on other objectives. These actions in total should
hopefully be done by turn 4-5, using a few CP each turn. You can leave the
Scout at the captured camp to give defensive fire across the main road if you
wish. This can also force units advancing on your base camp to halt.
Focus remaining around the Edelweiss, it's now backed up halfway down the east
side of the map and it's time to think about what to do with the deployed
group of 2. I like to use a Sniper to the left and head atop the building...
the Royal sniper rifle with the 'A' aim is incredibly powerful and when
combined with certain Potentials it can get off a headshot on almost any foe
with nearly 100% accuracy. This is also a good place for your Engineer, since
it'll let you move with either the Edelweiss or Shamrock as you choose an
offensive route. Another option is a Shocktrooper that will spearhead your
attack against the enemy center later on. As mentioned in the pre-mission
notes, units kept in the open here at the end of your first turn are likely to
meet a quick end--especially the left slot.
It's tough to pick what begins in your base camp. Safety and logic would
dictate you keep a Scout and another unit for basic defense. Enemy
reinforcements will be coming here via the alley directly west and the
destroyed building to the northeast every turn en masse so go with whatever
you usually defend with. Setting up a defensive crossfire is a must to keep
enemies stopped before entering the camp itself. You can also choose to use
the Shamrock as nothing more than a defensive unit in this location. This
makes a good spot to leave a scout for quick movements later. A generic "safe"
and multi-tasking force here would be Shocktrooper, Scout x2 and a Lancer.
Speaking of tanks, you are going to need to launch your primary strike forward
against. This would mean the Shamrock in anti-tank mode, or the Edelweiss
you've been awkwardly moving backwards can clear the way for your normal units,
though if you trust your aim you can advance along the South with only Lancers.
My preference is the Edelweiss for use in an extended solo campaign along the
south end of the map. If you choose the Edelweiss, it'll reach the end of its
backwards trek after a 2nd full-AP movement. This will also be when you spot a
Heavy Tank moving east and approaching quickly. Temporarily borrow the Lancer
from your base camp (likely on turn 3) and dump your CP into taking out the
tank. You may wish to pull the Lancer back, but get an Engineer over for the
stressful trip all the way to the enemy southwest camp.
Thinking back to your base camp, you'll probably start having Lancers pouring
in--most units called as reinforcements from the southwest camp are Lancers.
Instead of supporting their right flank from your offense they seem content to
just run straight down the narrow alley connecting to your base. If you can be
really efficient and pro-active, try to keep them from getting close enough to
your base to destroy the sandbags you need for cover... since you'll certainly
be wanting those versus the stream of Shocktroopers coming in from the enemy
northwest and center camps. Here's where that Scout you may have left in the
northeast camp and the extra unit deployed in the center area come in handy.
Naturally, you can't just sit there defending forever and you'll eventually
have to push toward the center camp. Really the only safe way to do this is to
way for a turn the Lupus put a smoke grenade coving this area. Without it,
you'd be vulnerable to Shocktrooper defensive fire and likely direct fire from
the Lupus itself while you tried to clear. Since that smoke has to stay there,
you also can't use any explosives to manage the situation. This is probably
the trickiest part of the battle, since you'll literally be inventing an
offensive front out of units that are already entirely occupied elsewhere. The
strike force will likely be a Scout from your base camp, whatever spare unit
you deployed in the center (Shocktrooper, probably) and the Scout from your
north attack group. You may also wish to pull your Shocktrooper waiting in the
northwest area that is currently idling. However your organize it, it has to
be fast and finished in one turn. It's even alright if the enemy re-captures
it this turn (or any turn), just so long as they can't call reinforcements
from here. There's a safe hiding place behind the large tents where nothing
can get a shot at you. If remotely possible, try to get the Shocktrooper that
was stationed along the north edge back into position before the end of this
turn.
No rest for the weary, and the next 2 turns will probably decide the outcome
of the battle once you get to the center and the make-or-break fight will
almost certainly be along the west edge. You were forced to put yourself in a
vulnerable extended position to get this camp because of lack of manpower, so
you're forced to keep moving ahead from here or risk being outnumbered and
overwhelmed quickly from reinforcements from the last 2 camps. Because of the
Lupus hanging around the western road, you won't even be able to move as a
combined group. Without any true reserves to call upon for continued offense,
you'll have to go all-in and clear defenders from your base camp. Charge west
and strike hard with the Edelweiss/Shamrock and try to capture the southwest
base in one turn--with any kind of luck you can work this into a turn where
smoke has been put over this camp to let you run up safely. Position the
Edelweiss so its side is perpendicular to the front of the Lupus to give your
units cover. If you're unable to clear the area entirely on one turn, to
salvage any victory attempt you absolutely must keep your mobile footsoldiers
safe for another turn.
On the northern side you'll be doing some incredibly unsafe attacking on the
northwest camp, with perhaps only 2 units available. I asked you try to move
the northern-positioned Shocktrooper back because they'll get at least one
free attack in the enemy camp this way. A flamethrower is almost required to
cut down defenders. If you run out of steam, at least get behind cover and
hope for the best for a turn. There is the matter of that nasty tank up in
that corner, too... sprint in one of your attack units from the center and
give an Demolition Boost to eliminate the tank before it becomes a problem. A
Lancer also works here, though I prefer a Shocktrooper since they can defend
themselves on the enemy turn.
All 4 bases captured and the enemy out of footsoldiers, it's academic to pick
apart the Lupus. Just keep Lancers covered and supplied and always shove the
Edelweiss in its face. Shuffling units in-and-out with the last bases captured,
you can set up a monstrous rocket barrage on all sides. It'll take ~10 rockets
to crack the armor... and similar to the Tanks in chapter 15, 2 hits to the
radiator are needed for a kill. Pump your fists in the air and scream as you
deliver the killing blow for an EXP bonus.
My specific method--
I only suggest you do this if desperate, since it takes a lot of the
excitement out of things. Also, this might get you a 'A' if you hit all your
targets without hassle, but it's not perfect so don't assume a speed clearing.
If it sounds insane or is just too fast for you to be able to think you can do
safely, just reduce the pace. The motion of battle is still the same. If done
more slowly, a big key is to gain the last 3 enemy camps on successive turns.
This also takes a modest-to-high amount of luck... I've only been able to do
it once without any units KO'd. My most common losses are from lucky Sniper
hits or in the center.
North deployment: Alicia, Rosie.
Center deployment: Sniper, Shocktrooper.
South deployment: Largo, Engineer, Scout, Shocktrooper.
Shamrock: Flamethrower equipped and left near base camp.
Turn 1: Sniper to the roof, support clearing the first intermediate base (2
shots). Alicia and Rosie to the path to the back of that base. Take out at
least one defender. Edelweiss backed down the east road. Largo to southeast
corner. Place Sh+Sc in base camp under cover. 10 CP used.
Turn 2: Edelweiss backwards to the southeast corner. Demolition Support (2CP)
on Rosie, destroy tank in the north. Flamethrower, clear base, capture. Up
ladder, normal fire at the heavy cannon. Edelweiss west, convoy with Largo and
an Engineer. 10 CP used. Rosie will likely kill the Sniper on top of this
building via defensive fire on the enemy turn.
Turn 3-4: 3 rockets and an Edelweiss shell take out the south tank. Convoy
west. Rosie kills whatever is left, down the ladder and waits. Alicia
positioned in first camp taken in cover pointed at the center camp. Shamrock
or defenders clear base camp.
Turn 4-5: When the center camp is covered in smoke. Reserve Shocktrooper and
Alicia to center camp and capture. Flamethrower needed... and headshots are
easy under smoke. Attacks to base camp are halted by defensive fire.
Turn 4-5: When southwest camp is covered in smoke. 2 CP to run scout from base
camp over and clear one defender. Toss in an Edelweiss mortar (clears smoke),
complete kills with Engineer and capture base. Clean up base camp.
Turn 5-6: 2 CP Demolition Boost on Rosie. Rosie destroyed heavy tank and last
base is captured borrowing unit from the center. Units shuffled for Lancers.
Edelweiss rammed into Lupus to cut off a retreat route.
Turn 6-7: Blast away on Lupus.
Final thoughts on this mission--
It comes down to momentum. If at any point you feel you're having an agenda
shoved on you and not vice-versa, you are likely in severe trouble. Even if it
appears that you have yourself covered at that time, there's probably
something amiss that might not even be under your control. When things are
really clicking for you, you'll see that you're capturing bases at just the
perfect pace so that there are no reinforcements coming in whatsoever. Fewer
units to clear means CP saved, which roll over to the next turn, etc..
Hopefully turns 2-4 can go this way for you.
Finally, there are just some elements of luck that can ruin things.
There's certainly no shame whatsoever in being defeated here, repeatedly... it
can just really hard.
Exploit Tip: On turn 3, the Lupus is exposed without much support in the
southwest corner of the map. If you can avoid using your tanks up to this
point you should have plenty of CP to use.
-----
C18 ~ Chapter 18-5a: Marmota's End
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 3
Setup notes:
--You know which members you like and their abilities by now, so go with
whatever you're comfortable with. With demolition work to be done, you may
want to take 2-3 Lancers.
Potential Strategy--
All units, regardless of where they are positioned at the start, will be under
continuous fire from the heavy-duty turrets above. One the narrowest of areas
along the south edge of the map are entirely immune from fire. To put it
another way, don't move a unit away from its cover without a plan of some sort.
So long as the units in your camp are behind sandbag cover, even constant fire
from above won't hurt you all that much. Your first priority should be to
clear the southwest corner. Using a Mortar Support order can help make quick
work of them. There'll be some random reinforcements here, so don't neglect
this corner entirely afterwards. Reinforcements will keep appearing on
alternating turns on 3 sides, which is more an annoyance than a true danger.
Position your tanks so that you defensive fire set up that will stop advancing
units in their tracks when they get within machine gun range. Whatever
formation you end up wanting to take, absolutely do not leave your base camp
unguarded with zero units in it.
Though it's not necessary to eliminate them, taking out the turrets eliminates
some worries. The anti-tank cannons specifically will probably save you hassle
in the long run if you destroy them. Shells and rockets work, or if you're
feeling bold you can run a Scout up a ladder and toss a grenade in on them
(similar to how it worked in Chapter 7).
Clear the path upward by firing an explosive at the damaged area. Your best
weapons on the back of the Marmota will be Lancers, so send a squad up using a
smoke round as cover past the turrets. The Heat Sinks on either side of the
main weapon can be taken out in one action with any sort of attack, be it guns
or rockets.
Your "special" Rear Guard will help by healing units at the end of turn 2.
When talk comes of being able to angle your tanks upward, you need to sneak a
tank into the divots behind. When positioned correctly you should have just
enough upward angle to hit your target and with decent accuracy. Rockets do
good damage, but shells from the Edelweiss are strongest. As for the Shamrock,
you may wish to leave the flamethrower on to help with crowd control on
reinforcements. The general flow is to save a few CP on turns the lance weapon
will fire after moving back your tanks, then move them in on the opposite turn
to fire. If you'd rather keep your tanks at your flanks for defense, a
demolition squad of 2-3 Lancers with an Engineer for reloading can stand on
the back of the Marmota and fire upward with almost perfect accuracy. It will
take a lot of shots, and don't leave units out in the open at the end of your
turns.
This all sounds complicated, but take actions slowly and you'll find the
battle over sooner than you might have expected.
-----
C19 ~ Finale: Final Showdown
-----
Turns for Max Bonus: 3
Setup notes:
--How did your tanks get up here?
--Units positioned in the front-center might come under immediate fire at the
start.
Potential Strategy--
I'm going to let you do this one on your own with only a few tidbits of wisdom.
Shocktroopers, Lancers and Snipers can all 1-shot destroy the supports with
highest-level or Royal weapons. Use that to save as many CP as you can for
attack and have at it!
Congratulations! Enjoy the ending, but there's much more still to play. See
entry in Section 6 for what to do next. Also, the Personnel tab receives a lot
of updates after this.
---------------
---------------
Section 3.2: EX Reports / Downloaded Content--
----------
On 16 April 2009, 3 downloadable add-on packs were made available for the
English version of the game on the Playstation Network Store. Each pack was
offered at 4.99USD and were as follows:
Pack 1: "Enter the Edy Detachment!", a single mission.
Pack 2: "Behind Her Blue Flame", a short campaign with Selvaria.
Pack 3: Expert-Level Skirmishes.
Packs 1 and 2 are accessed via the title screen under the new option "Extras".
Pack 3 is accessed normally and is selectable with skirmish difficulty.
IMPORTANT: Regardless of your main story progress, levels or equipment, all
units in the add-on missions are of a preset level.
VERY IMPORTANT: Saving over an existing file while playing these missions will
overwrite all of your main story progress. SAVE IN A SEPARATE FILE.
Note: Unlike the main story, your battle ranks will be saved automatically
with your system data for packs 1 and 2.
Note: There are no EXP or DCT rewards for any of the add-on missions.
Final Note: You must upgrade your game version to 1.2 or higher in order to
enjoy the add-on content.
----------
EX Reports: Enter the Edy Detachment!
----------
Note: This mission will make a lot more sense and be a lot more fun if you've
used Edy in your Squad in the main story
-----
EX1 : Enter the Edy Detachment!
-----
Turns for max rank: 5 (possible in 4)
In this lighthearted stand-alone mission, you will be commanding a group of 6
squad members under the leadership(!?!) of Edy. There are a lot of subtle
character development bits to pick up upon, so I encourage you to use these
characters in the main story to get to know them a bit better.
Though played in relaxed spirits, this is a very tactical mission and will
most likely take you at least several tries to work out a successful strategy
for maximum rank.
Setup Notes / "Here's the situation, darlings":
--This mission is played on the same map as the report mission "Vegetable
Route Incident" in the main story.
--Your setup is preset with the 6 members from the cutscenes. This comprises
the rather balanced group of Edy and Lynn (Shocktroopers), Jann (Lancer),
Susie (Scout), Homer (Engineer) and Marina (Sniper).
Possible Strategy--
You're seemingly doomed from the start, and Edy was correct in saying you are
entirely outclassed. To make thing even more fun, a long-range mortar will
fire every turn in one of two places. The specific spot is important to note.
For the southern firing, the two rows of sandbags on that side are not safe.
For the northern firing, the two rows to the north are not safe. Knowing this,
and having Homer present to repair sandbags, you'll be shifting your formation
in your camp up and down each turn to avoid the mortar. Thus, it's entirely
possible to always end your turns with all members under cover.
Your first objective is taking out the north tank. Use 3 rockets to rid
yourself of this danger. With the remaining 5CP, you should focus more on
setting up a defensive position than eliminating targets, though I would
suggest Marina take out the enemy sniper farther to the south. At the end of
your first turn (and turns 2 and 3), you should have a rifle-using member
(Susie or Homer) facing in each direction, with your Shocktroopers likely
facing both ways as well. This is very, very important as it will jam incoming
enemies--on the north side this prevents them from walking into your camp and
on the south it will protect you from enemy Shocktroopers.
There is a pesky Sniper in the tall grass just above your camp. If you keep
all your units under cover, you should be safe from anyone being killed in 1
hit. Once a mortar round fires to the northern position, the Sniper should be
killed anyway. It's generally okay to leave him alone because of this.
On your second turn you'll want to destroy the tank to the south. To do this
without wasting CP, use Marina first, then control Homer so you can both
repair all the sandbags and reload Jann and Marina at the same time. Again,
worry about defense and setting up your longer-range light units to jam
enemies into advancing close to your camp. Turn 3 is basically the same
scenario as 2.
Upon hearing terrible news over the radio, Edy takes up a new objective on
turn 4. For victory, you'll need to get her to the southernmost point on the
map. There is no need to clear the whole map. From this point forward, there
will be no more enemy reinforcements coming from the north, so you can focus
your defending units pointing south. Again, it is very important you keep
either Susie or Homer as defense to jam enemy reinforcements from nearing your
camp and using heavy Shocktrooper fire. If a large group starts to form in the
open area south of you don't worry... whenever the mortar fires to the
southern location it will wipe out any enemies standing in it. Since you've
been jamming them with longer range this should be easy.
For offense, you'll have to work counter-clockwise around the map. The center-
area tank you'll likely want Jann to clear out, though it is possible to run
by it around to the side building. Alternatively, you can use Jann to run
ahead and deliberately blow up the mines across the map to clear a path for
Edy. This is most important at the southwest corner, where both paths around
require some extra effort. If you're feeling bold, it is possible to sneak by
to the south in the tiny line of tall grass though you will probably need to
heal yourself.
Coming this far, now only Edy needs to move ahead any farther. Though the
final run into the open and to the objective looks intimidating, your foes
seem to be at quite an offensive disadvantage and will damage Edy very little
per hit. The more turns you have allowed to pass to get this far the larger a
group of enemy Shocktroopers there will be in the sandbag cluster, but they do
not seem to spot you until you are within flamethrower range. When you're down
to just the two units farthest in the back, just jump over the sandbags for
the win.
Tip for max rank clearing: Once you've learned how to defend your base
efficiently, you can send Edy out on offense early (turn 1 or 2). By walking
around or using Jann to blow up mines it means you can leave Homer at your
camp.
Final Tip: The ending cutscene for this mission varies depending on your rank,
and I'd highly encourage you to deliberately get each rank in order to watch
them all.
----------
EX Reports: Behind her Blue Flame
----------
For this short campaign, you'll be taking the role of Selvaria's new personal
Engineer, Johann. More importantly, you'll be able to control Selvaria
herself!
VERY IMPORTANT: After completing one mission in this series you CANNOT resume
if you quit without saving. Create a new save file at the start of each
mission to assure you don't need to repeat anything too painful too many times.
ALSO IMPORTANT: Don't be confused by the system save messages. It will save
your battle results automatically, but your campaign reward will appear in the
main story and needs to be saved there after equipping. In other words, just
don't overwrite a main story file no matter what the cryptic text says.
-----
EX2 : Assault on Ghirlandaio
-----
IMPORTANT: Depending on your actions during this mission, you'll receive one
of two different outcomes. Each will lead you to a different second mission.
In short, just completing the objective will lead you to EX3, but if you
destroy Damon's tank in the process it will bring you to EX4 below. Just
completing the objective is far easier, so it is listed as the "next" mission
and I will explain possible strategy for that goal first.
Note: As much as I am against including speed-clearing guides in this FAQ, I
will provide a more detailed mission process for these battles, as it is
necessary to A-rank clear them all in order to access the final bonus mission.
Note: Selvaria is a one-woman army, literally. Even in her human form here,
she has incredibly high HP and nearly has the defense of a tank. Scout and
Shocktrooper bullets often hit her for just 1HP. As she is in the main story,
she has an amazing evasion. Better still, she has the range and stamina of the
best of Scouts. ...And on top of all of that, her weapon has the range of a
Sniper rifle with outstanding accuracy and amazing power. With her normal
regeneration each turn, it's highly unlikely you'll ever need to cure her.
Turns for max rank: 3
Setup Notes / "Brothers-in-arm in the service of His Grace":
--Make sure all "red" units are deployed, as they hold CP for you just as in
the main story.
--Place a Lancer on the west side.
--Keep in mind your base defending will all be on the west.
--Setup can be the same for both mission outcomes and there is no need to
arrange things especially for that.
--The eastern side of the map is completely cut off from the west, meaning
Possible Strategy for progress to EX3--
The only thing preventing you from completing this mission in one turn with
Selvaria alone is the barricades around the east half of the map. The door
closest to the ramps is shut, the elevators are off, and barricades force you
to move all the way clockwise around the map to get Selvaria to the lower
level and the enemy base camp. Don't be confused about Johann's role, he is
absolutely horrible in combat and will fall as easily as any other Engineer.
Basically, he's only there to use grenades to destroy the barricades in the
eastern central corridor and below the ramp so Selvaria can stroll to victory.
Despite his weak combat abilities, you can still use him to clean up the
northeast corner on turn 1 (with headshots and a grenade, respectively per
enemy).
If you don't mind a possible unit sacrifice and want to move out on offense a
bit to stop enemy reinforcements, take you Lancer northwest on Turn 1 and take
out the enemy tank. Since you should have at least 1 Scout due to it being a
leader unit, it's what you'll need to use to run ahead and capture bases.
There is a Heavy Gatling which protects the center camp and can fire into the
second-most northwest camp, so use caution. Since there are no enemy Lancers
about, you can use your tank as a battering ram and for jamming fire without
any risk for its safety (this is why you took out the enemy tank in the
northwest on turn 1).
It's not at all necessary to go out on offense and you can certainly box up in
your camp. Have at least 1 Scout and 1 Shocktrooper facing west, and combined
with your tank no unit should actually get near your base camp until reserves
come up from the west-center corridor on turn 5+. Even then you should be
mostly safe.
As you move Selvaria and Johann around the east side, there will eventually be
3 barricades you must destroy with a grenade to allow Selvaria to get through.
So long as she clears everything out, Johann should be safe.
Tips for max rank clearing:
Rush far to the east on Turn 1, clearing Shocktroopers with Selvaria and
others with Johann. Since Johann's movement range isn't as large as Selvaria
you'll need an assist in destroying the barricades in the inner corridor to
complete on turn 3, meaning you'll have to blindfire a Rocket to destroy at
least one of the two. This is the sort of thing you'll want to save before
doing, however much I dislike having to save mid-mission. I only offer this
advice because you eventually need an 'A' ranking here to access the final
Selvaria mission.
Run past the southeast tank no turn 2, and on turn 3, Johann should be around
the southeast corner and be able to toss a grenade down below to destroy the
last barricade in Selvaria's way. She can easily run for the objective in
multiple movements without any risk of her dying. Even direct fire from the
tank in the enemy base camp won't be enough to kill her before she can run
behind it to hit its radiator.
As for defending your base in the process of rushing through the mission,
remember that you only need to avoid your base being captured and nothing more.
Casualties are okay. For extra defense, you can move your tank to the level of
the base to provide jamming fire on advancing enemy units.
No need to feel bad if a few units die and are lost, since this isn't attached
to anything else in the game. As inhumane as it is to say, trying to save
downed comrades here can waste a ridiculous amount of CP and get you into even
more trouble. It's absolutely impossible to move ahead on offense proactively
and still have all the CP you need to clear Selvaria's path and get her down
in 3 turns.
Victory here brings you to EX3 as the next mission.
Possible Strategy for progress to EX4--
IMPORTANT: You'll likely be doing this on a second or third play of this
mission, as it's impossible to achieve an 'A' rank and this bonus objective at
the same time. If you clear it with max rank first, then you can proceed to
the EX4 mission without worrying about having to repeat this yet again.
This is largely the same as the first strategy, except that you'll be
conserving CP to make a push for Damon's tank in the far southwest corner
instead of burning it to move Selvaria farther.
There are 3 main ways to take out his tank: Capturing the intermediate enemy
bases to call up a spare Lancer and take some shots at range, saving two full
turns of CP and making a charge for him with your tank, and capturing the
center-west corridor and coming up with a Lancer from behind. None of these
are foolproof, unfortunately. With the first option, you risk horrible
accuracy. With the second, it takes 16 (yes, sixteen) CP to take out Damon's
tank with yours (8 hits) assuming you never miss and you've been able to keep
your tank's treads undamaged so it has enough movement to get near him. The
last is incredibly risky and leaves your base camp more open to assault. The
second method is probably the "easiest".
After destroying his tank, you finish the mission the same way as the other
route with Selvaria capturing the enemy base camp. Don't worry about your rank.
5-7 turns is the likely result using this method.
Victory in this way brings you to EX4 as the next mission.
-----
EX3 : Rout of the Gallian Forces
-----
IMPORTANT: Make a new, separate save game file after starting to avoid having
to repeat the last mission to continue here.
Note: I highly encourage you push through this mission in a few of turns as
possible, for reasons I will explain below.
Turns for max rank: 3 (possible in 2)
Setup notes:
--Once again, deploy all your "Red" units.
--Just as it sounds, you need to consider both rescuing Selvaria and going out
on offense as part of your battle strategy.
--To better protect her, deploying more than one Sniper can save you from
having to advance more units forward more quickly.
--The effect of Selvaria's defensive fire versus units heading toward her
seems to vary from unit-to-unit, meaning there is no set number of turns until
she is captured. It seems it can be on either turn 2 or 3, so plan on 2.
--Place a Lancer in the farthest-right position.
Possible Strategy--
The map once again looks very intimidating, and luckily you don't have to
clear the whole map. A quick glance shows you that the enemy right flank is
weaker, with just a tank versus a defended base with Gatling. Use that Lancer
you placed on the east end and take out the tank using only 2 shots. Clearing
this opens up a path around this side of the map you can run Johann through to
get to Selvaria. Move him up to the Lancer (likely behind the middle sandbags
on this path) before ending your turn.
Warning: There is an enemy ace Scout (with a familiar name) in the east side
of the trenches, and a hidden Shocktrooper on the west. It can be tough to
move Johann past these without getting killed, so either stop to cure yourself
in the middle of running or walk farther around the edge of the center. Taking
out the ace is very difficult and is quite a distraction should you choose to
do so.
Unfortunately, you'll need to wait until at least turn 2 to try any kind of
rescue. On enemy turn 1, most all Shocktroopers will come out of cover and run
through the open toward Selvaria. Since Johann is incredibly weak, it's best
to clear out the entire area with your Snipers before making your dash to her.
Be sure you end all of Johann's actions with him behind sandbag cover and
facing south to maximize chances of evading.
After rescuing Selvaria, it's possible to run her straight toward the
objective on that same turn. If you hadn't noticed, you actually have access
to a few Orders on this battlefield, and it would do you well to place a
defense boost on her before making a wild charge into the face of Gatlings and
Damon's tank. Remember, you only need to reach the objective point and not
clear the base as you did in the last mission. For a little bonus cutscene,
feel free to take out Damon's tank again.
If you're having trouble getting everything to click on the first few turns,
you can make you dash south on turn 3. With more CP to burn, this opens the
safer options of running around the west side toward the objective, or running
around the east side via grenades to destroy the barricades in the way. If
you'd like a bit more fun, it can be enjoyable to run Selvaria around the
center of the map and clearing everything out on a few turns. If you capture
the intermediate bases to prevent reinforcements it should buy you enough time
to goof off a bit.
For every turn past 4 you take to complete this mission, the harder it will
get. Generally on enemy turn 3, the tank on the west side of the map will
start to move in toward your base camp and can destroy your tank with 3 hits.
Reinforcement units will also likely start coming up that side. To prevent
being overwhelmed, you need to capture the intermediate base directly
southwest of your base. Moreover, if you capture all enemy intermediate bases
a large bulk of reinforcements will come in from their base camp in the south.
Though not a real danger toward your end objective, if they can accumulate to
larger numbers you'll likely need to move down some of your other units to
clear the area around the objective.
Note: Your rank for this mission will change the cutscene afterwards, just as
it does with the Edy mission.
Tips for max rank clearing:
It's mostly as described above, where you get to Selvaria on turn 2 with 3 CP
remaining to make sure she can get down toward the objective. There is no need
to clear everything in your way.
Reward!: By completing this mission you now have Selvaria's deadly machine gun
available to equip on one of your Shocktroopers at Headquarters. You will only
ever have one available, even if you repeat these missions.
-----
EX4 : Silencing the Artillery
-----
Turns for max rank: 3
Setup Notes:
--Use all your "Red" units again
--Place a Lancer on the far left
--Other slots are not particularly important
Possible Strategy & Max rank tips--
This is somewhat similar to EX3 above, but the enemy unit layout is different
and Selvaria's position has changed. In the end, your tactics and objective
are still the same.
You'll need to clear the west side of the map to allow Johann to get into the
trench and rescue Selvaria. An enemy Shocktrooper is stubbornly holed up there,
and you may well find the easiest way to flush him out is by lobbing a tank
mortar over the wall. Exposed, you can use your normal units to get rid of him.
You can also eliminate him in close quarters with Johann, but as you might
expect this is very risky.
The only sure way to victory is to complete this mission as quickly as
possible. Tactical strength is balanced very heavily against you and it's
incredibly difficult to get yourself into a position to defend your base camp
and advance outward from it without using many CP on Rocket and Sniper fire.
Selvaria can be captured on turn 2 or 3 so she needs to be your first priority,
and with the enemy advancing on your base camp on turn 4 or 5 you'll need to
rush to the finish.
After getting Johann into the trench and to Selvaria, you'll need 3 CP to run
her west out of the trench, then counter-clockwise down toward your objective
in the south. Though she is hard to take down, stay away from massive turret
crossfires if possible. This is likely the only point in the campaign where
she can be killed without a mistake on your part while controlling her.
-----
EX5 : Covert Op "Azure Witch"
-----
Turns for max rank: 3
IMPORTANT: To access this secret mission, you must have completed ALL THREE of
the other missions with an A-ranking. This means you'll have to complete the
EX2 mission at least twice; once for rank and another for Damon.
Note: This mission appears on the "Extras" menu from the title screen as well,
and can be played separately without having to repeat the rest of the campaign
again.
Setup and Strategy--
Just have fun. It's practically impossible to lose, so enjoy yourself.
---------------
---------------
Section 4: Headquarters--
----------
Headquarters will become available to you after completing Chapter 2. This is
your general base of operations for the remainder of the story.
-----
BRK ~ Squad Barracks
-----
Here you can look over your Squad 7 members, assign them specific developed or
captured weapons, and review their Potentials. Only the 20 recruited members
you hold on your roster upon visiting will be displayed here.
-----
CMR ~ Command Room
-----
The first time you fill your squad to 20 members there will be a few recruits
you don't use, but as the game progresses you'll eventually have a pool of
about 50 people to choose from to fill out your squad. Here you can add and
remove members as you'd like. It's not necessary to keep swapping around your
members, though it can be fun to explore the personality of different ones.
There are also times that you might want to heavily stack one type of unit
into your squad for a certain mission, in which case don't forget to move them
back later!
Remember, if a member dies in combat it is lost forever. Even if you're too
coldhearted to not care for your members it's worth mention that the total
pool of available Engineers and Snipers is very low compared to the other jobs
so losing even a few could trouble you greatly.
-----
TRF ~ Training Field
-----
</pre><pre id="faqspan-4">
Spend your EXP gained in battle to level up your units. As your drill
instructor tells you, all units of a particular class will level up at the
same time and there is no specific personal EXP. Levels go up to 20, and at
level 11 they will be flagged with "Elite" at the start of their job name. For
Scouts and Shocktroopers this opens up powerful new abilities, and all jobs
will continue to gain new Potentials as they level up.
For the most part you'll probably want to keep the levels of your jobs fairly
close (within 1 or 2). You'll see that Scouts and Engineers have a lower
required EXP for each level, which is something I can't particularly explain.
There are two times in the Storyline Walkthrough that I "insist" you have a
particular class to this status, but besides that your pace of gaining EXP is
up to you. Stopping to gain an extra level or two on a difficult mission can
very much help you clear it, though it can take a lot of the strategy out of
the game if you quickly try to rush all of your units to the max level as soon
as possible.
One "average" pace of leveling that should keep you on par with what you'll
need to clear missions is to complete every Skirmish on both Easy and Normal
difficulties twice as soon as they become available. Assuming an average of B
or C-rank evaluations the balance should be roughly 1 level total for each job
class each chapter.
-----
RND ~ R&D Facility
-----
Fairly self-explanatory, this will be where you upgrade weapons and armor for
your footsoldiers and outfit your tanks. It's a good habit to check here every
chapter to see what's become available. With roughly 20 missions and 10
upgrades for most things, it's not hard to assume that there will be an
upgrade for most things every other Mission, on average.
Weapon upgrades will branch out after your level 3. Each route changes a
different feature of the weapon, as it's defined. It can be interesting and
fun to micromanage your members with specific types of each weapon for uses in
different missions or in different places on the battlefield, but for
simplicity and money-saving purposes you can stick to the "middle" row of
accuracy upgrades and you won't need to tweak your tactics in any way.
As for tank upgrading, it's mostly a personal choice on which support items
you might want to install. Body Enhancements do not take up space and should
always be purchased as quickly as possible. Since the Edelweiss does not level
up like other units, these upgrades are basically the only way you can make it
stronger than when you started the game.
-----
CLF ~ Castlefront St
-----
Keep up-to-date on war news by reading "The Writing on the Wall", published by
your own embedded reporter! This gives an interesting perspective on how
battles you complete may (or may not) fit into the broader scheme of the war,
and has some general interest stories as well. New content is generally
available each Chapter.
More importantly, this is where you purchase Reports. Once a Report becomes
available for purchase it will always be on the list, so no harm in returning
later when you have the cash. There are some unknowns regarding precisely when
Reports become available to you and where they fit into the storyline--see
entry in Section 6 for more information on this.
-----
WRC ~ War Cemetery
-----
There is an Aged Gentleman for you to meet here... as you'll see he has a lot
to teach you. Using your EXP as currency, at times he will offer to teach you
a new Order for use in combat. Generally, it's a good idea to keep an extra
10000exp around at all times in case he has something new to teach you. This
will mean less EXP available to level up your units, but Orders he teachers
cannot be obtained in any other way and are quite indispensible.
Similar to how Reports seem to become available at some unknown times, his
teaching schedule can be somewhat manic. Once again, it's just safest in
general to visit here whenever you drop by Headquarters. A major difference is
that if you do not choose to learn the Order when he offers it (or
you don't have enough EXP), he will not immediately offer it to you again.
Keep that EXP buffer!
-----
AUH ~ Audience Hall
-----
Available after completing the mission in Chapter 9, this is where you'll be
presented Decorations for certain achievements, and awarded particular Royal
Weapons. After completing normal storyline missions, on the evaluation screen
a certificate will usually appear that says you can report to the Audience
Hall for reward.
Decorations have particular conditions that need to be met, but merely
completing normal missions will earn you weapons. I call these "Royal" because
of the tag of -R at the end of the model numbers. On average, they are
superior weapons than are available to you at time via normal upgrading. Since
you only have a few of each model at most, give them to the units you
generally use the most. Be sure you keep checking back at the Barracks to see
if a newer Royal Weapon has superior statistics, or if something you have
developed might be better suited for your units. In other words, once you
manually choose a weapon for a particular unit, you will always have to change
it manually.
---------------
---------------
Section 5: Other Combat Elements
----------
-----
SKM : Skirmishes
-----
Besides missions, this is your only other way to earn EXP. There are 8
skirmishes in total, all of which are played on maps from particular missions.
Generally speaking, playing on "Normal" difficulty will be almost the exact
same combat as the mission that took place there. Thankfully, you won't have
to worry about bosses or other oddities (for example, there is no train
present to blast you on the Upper Fouzen skirmish map).
Generally you'll have access to a new skirmish after every few chapters. Enemy
level and EXP awarded is equal to what you received on the corresponding
mission. Although these don't take place within the storyline, a member killed
and lost here will still be gone forever.
-----
SKX : Expert-Level Skirmishes
-----
One of the three downloadable add-on content packs offered on 16 April 2009
was an added "Expert" difficulty level for all 9 skirmish maps. As is with
"Hard" difficulty, the enemy locations and units are rearranged on the map,
resulting in a much different strategy used. On Expert things are once again
mixed up with a variety of different objectives besides the standard base camp
capture, but the largest adjustment to make is that neither the Edelweiss nor
the Shamrock can be used. Welkin is used as a Scout, instead and can be
equipped at the Barracks.
-----
ICT : Intermediate Combat Tactics
-----
These are ideas for you to consider in battles that are a bit more complex. As
with everything else, this is just for reference and I encourage you to figure
things out on your own as well.
Jamming: Deliberately pointing a Tank at a unit in fairly close range such
that the Tank will spray defensive Crossfire when that enemy unit attempts to
take an action.
Team Attack: As you gain levels and progress through the game, your units are
progressively more likely to engage in simultaneous attacks when using normal
fire. Units of the same type are even more likely to work together from a
wider range or different angles. Setting up a team attack can often clear an
enemy Lancer or a unit in cover in one action instead of using explosives or
multiple CP. Mixing weaker units with Shocktroopers or Tanks (obviously)
multiplies possible damage significantly.
Decoy: Using a unit or Tank to deliberately attempt to distract an enemy (draw
fire) or to trigger a particular event in battle. Examples could be to
deliberately make an enemy mortar fire so its location is known and other
units can move past safely, or using a stronger unit in a somewhat vulnerable
situation to hold a position before other units can advance.
Grenade Launchers: Once your Scouts reach level 11, they will have access to
these wonderful weapons. They have a much extended range than thrown grenades
(roughly +300%) and can be used to again turn scouts into a preferred
offensive unit. Using their high AP, they are able to run up to enemy
positions, fire and easily run away out of range.
Flamethrowers: Obtained by Shocktroopers at level 11. This solves the issue
that arises with increased enemy level and evasion, where a Shocktrooper
action would largely be wasted trying to fire at a unit near cover.
Flamethrowers will fire through sandbag cover and leave the cover intact for
your own use. Better yet, they are not affected by stronger Lancer armor.
They can be "evaded", but at 50 or 75% damage reductions instead of a 100%
evade of normal fire. It is possible to use these are an area attack, but at
risk of missing your original intended target.
Leapfrogging: Retreating units from one camp and immediately deploying them at
another to cover longer distances. This can be used offensively or defensively,
and can be used in conjunction with Unit Swapping. Unlike when a Medic needs
to evacuate a unit and they cannot be deployed for 1 additional turn, any unit
retreated can be re-deployed anywhere at 100% health and ammunition on the
same turn (to appear at the start of next turn).
2CP Orders: Mostly comprising of the "All Units..." orders, you may wish to set
a tone for a particular phase of a battle. This is also the level where you
obtain anti-tank abilities so that any units can destroy tanks.
Order Stacking: Placing 2 (or more) 1-2CP orders on the same unit to greatly
enhance their abilities. Just as a comparison, let us take a Scout versus an
enemy Tank on open ground. Normally this would be a slaughter, but adding
Defense and Evasion Boosts and a Demolition Order on the Scout, it can run a
circle around the tank out of its gun range then use normal fire on its
radiator to possibly destroy it in one action. This is also very useful in
"stealing" enemy base camps for victory using Scouts without clearing all
portions of the battlefield.
Smoke Rounds: Beginning in Chapter 11, the Edelweiss will be able to fire 1
smoke cover shell per turn. Any unit fully encircled by the smoke is virtually
immune from enemy fire, though it cannot fire outward with any real accuracy
either. These can allow units past dangerous areas, such as Turrets or heavy
tanks that would normally kill them easily. Note that any explosive detonated
inside or near the smoke will immediately disperse it. A cloud will last one
full turn.
High Ground, Correctly: Instead of being cannon fodder to enemy Tanks, Lancers
and Snipers, as you upgrade your weapons you will eventually develop enough
accuracy where you can (hopefully) take out these sorts of threats to your
high ground first so you can actually occupy it as a strategic benefit.
Action/Turn Skip: At times when you are planning an offensive maneuver or know
a difficult spot in a battle is coming, you can choose not to use some (or
most) of your CP for a turn to add to your available pool the next turn. Use
with caution as to not leave units without cover or in general danger.
Royal Weaponry: Obtained beginning at the end of chapter 9, these special
weapons are very often of higher quality than the level of upgrade you can
have obtained via the R&D facility at that point. By visiting the Squad
Barracks you can choose specific units to give these weapons to and enhance
their combat ability. Be sure to continue to change for newer weapons as you
obtain and develop them. This takes a fair amount of extra effort to do each
chapter, but has fair benefits.
-----
ACX : Advanced Combat Tactics
-----
Only for the highly-experienced, it's little details like these that can save
you from the brink of defeat, or complete an overwhelming victory.
Delayed Deployment: If on a particular mission, you know you will quickly be
capturing an intermediate base or if you realize on a first attempt that you
don't have the CP pool to move most of your units together in Convoy, you can
choose to not fill all of your unit slots when deploying at the briefing
screen. It's always important to deploy your "Leader"/CP units, but often a
few CP can be saved in the first few turns for later use. Upon capturing the
intermediate base simply call reinforcements there and continue as usual.
Turret Tiptoeing: It can be incredibly dangerous to control a footsoldier with
a turret or any type of tank remotely in its vicinity. There is one (albeit
rather cheating) way to give yourself a little more safety while moving around
on a crowded battlefield. When a Gatling or Tank turret spots your units in
its normal gun range, it takes a moment for it to swing around to fire at you.
You can "force" the guns to turn around to their starting position by pressing
R1 to enter action mode. Then press Circle to return to movement, take a few
steps while it aims and repeat. It's tedious and ducking away from a clear
error in judgment on your part, but in a heated battle you may wish to do this
to get to cover instead of performing a Killturn and using a "Retreat" order.
Do note that this does not work on "Heavy Turrets", Turrets hidden in bunkers
or some weapons of Boss foes. Use at your own risk.
Blitzkrieg: Momentum can be very important in some battles and it might
actually be to your advantage to deliberately push ahead quickly and stretch
out your units in order to clear certain areas or take an enemy camp. Later
missions have a constant stream of enemy reinforcements coming for you, but in
almost every case these come from the intermediate camp next "in line" of your
advance. If you can dart in and take enemy camps on consecutive turns you can
prevent any reinforcements from appearing. If you feel the unit capturing an
enemy base is in danger, simply Retreat them. It's not even terribly
important if the enemy re-captures the base on their turn--so long as you
prevent the reinforcements from being deployed.
Spread Offense / "Chessboard": Looking overhead with the command map view
might sometimes make your missions look more like a game of chess already. In
fact, you might find yourself making symmetrical formations for an appealing
overhead view, but there is actually some merit to this. Moving units off in
groups of 2-3 that compliment both strengths and weaknesses (such as a Lancer
and a Scout) can offer bits of offense that can handle any sort of target, yet
is self-sufficient. Other times a symmetrical formation may be advantageous is
when trying to cover a wide defensive front, flanking an enemy base, or in
Convoy. This is hard to specifically think to do on the spot is more the sort
of thing you'll likely find yourself doing subconsciously as you get through
more battles.
Un-Cover: Enemy units behind cover get progressively more tedious to eliminate
as you progress. Your Shocktroopers have a solution for this, but what about
everyone else? Even your top Sniper with all sorts of bonuses could well need
3-4 headshot hits to take down a unit behind cover. How might you force these
into the open? Grenades, of course. Even if they only do a few damage points,
any unit in cover that is within the area of effect of a grenade should be
forced to stand up. In some cases not all are, but your specific unit target
certainly should be. Using grenade launchers you can also do this safely from
afar. With the unit exposed, any normal weapon fire can take care of it.
Feint: This is sort of a hodgepodge of a lot of the other tactics. You could
think of it as a fancy decoy or flanking motion, but with more bite. Here,
you'll be taking advantage of the usual advancing routes that enemy
reinforcements take, or the original direction an enemy unit faces. Here,
you'll need at least one unit to move in a separate attack pattern. The goal
is to create a situation where the enemy has multiple directions it needs to
face to attack or defend and subject it to possible jamming on its turn.
Either you attack from the direction they face and they can be dispatched with
one action from behind, or you distract it with any harmless attack from
behind then come out of cover and storm the front. In either case, it's to
your benefit.
Blindfire: Sometimes, you just know there's a unit in a particular spot. You
might see a '?' on the command map, or maybe not. You have no direct line of
sight, so you can't target it to fire or even call in a sniper/mortar Order.
If you're feeling bold (and you're an awesome shot), you can lob either
grenades or tank mortars into tall grass, beyond smoke, or over cover or onto
high ground to try to flush out whatever's there. If you can't get the kill,
if you were able to damage it at all it should still appear on the command map
for the rest of the turn.
Extended Crossfire/Jamming: A more complex and deadly form of the Jamming
you're already used to. On a broader battlefield or ones with more spots for
cover, you can effectively trap a group of units into such jamming that they
won't even take an action on their turn if you have several (3+) points of
crossfire. Better yet, the enemy might waste 2-3 CP trying to move this unit
and still fail to get off a single attack. Jamming with only a tank (or a
lucky crossfire) only covers units at close range, but if you can spread your
front or use flanks you can often keep even incredibly frustrating enemy
Lancers away from your Tanks and force them to fire low-accuracy shots at
normal units. The best of the best of these formations will literally cut down
any enemy that walks into firing range for even an instant, and you can even
use this to nullify enemy reinforcements and deliberately not capture an
intermediate base to plan farther ahead.
Micromanaging: As your upgrades progress, you'll eventually have different
aspects of the weapons to enhance. Equipping different units of each type with
a different version of their weapon is an extreme form of micromanagement.
Though not at all necessary to succeed, there are some times where a
particular weapon enhancement can help significantly.
Scout versus Anything: As you've probably noticed, Scouts are amazingly
versatile. By the middle and later missions after obtaining "Elite" status,
it's possibly to complete some missions using absolutely nothing but scouts.
Between grenade launchers, the use of Orders and their outstanding accuracy
for headshots, it is entirely possible to send scouts up against strong enemy
units in cover, or even against tanks. It can take a lot of extra CP to do
this and it may leave your Scouts very vulnerable, so use at your own risk.
Kamikaze: Tagging several Orders onto a single unit (generally a Shocktrooper)
and wildly charging them at a strong enemy defensive position may seem quite
insane, but can have great rewards. For example, a Defensive Boost and
Demolition Boost might let them run straight past enemy heavy turrets then up
to and around a tank in order to fire and one-shot destroy a tank. The
difference between this and "Blitzkrieg" is that you don't necessarily have an
objective to your attack and it won't matter where the unit winds up so long
as you save 1 CP for a "Retreat" Order.
Endgame Potentials: At levels 16 and above and/or after you've used a
particular member heavily enough to fill out their information in the
Personnel tab, the unit classes will develop their last Potentials. Some of
these don't mean much, but others are amazingly powerful and make some of your
members stand out significantly--in some cases making "normal" recruits more
powerful and versatile than your Leaders. A few examples of amazing Potentials
are "Ultimate Accuracy" for Snipers (reducing the aiming circle to nothing but
a single dot), "Ultimate Damage" for Shocktroopers (a permanent 100% damage
bonus) and "Ultimate Anti-Tank" for Lancers, which will let them destroy any
class of enemy Tank in just 1 or 2 rocket hits.
Betting on Leaders: Not to be forgotten in the face of Endgame Potentials,
your Leaders have some Unique Potentials (signaled by an animation with a
yellow background) that can be powerful enough that you may bet the success of
a turn or even an entire mission upon them. These include looking for the
(comically useful) "Veggie Maniac" to activate for Largo in a situation where
you may have 1-2 CP remaining and need to decide between trying to destroy an
enemy tank or defending yourself. There are other examples, though I will not
discussion as a matter of Spoilers.
---------------
---------------
Section 6: Final Remarks and Other Information
----------
-----
CLS ~ Closing Statements
-----
I hope you enjoyed this game and story as much as I and many other people
have! My playtime on my first game was 48 hours, but with restarts and time
sitting around pondering strategy it was probably around 60-70. I was quite
stubborn about losing my squad members and I feel bad for even letting 2 of
them die.
If you'd like the adventure to continue, see the next section.
-----
NGP ~ "Cleared" Game Status
-----
After completing the Finale and watching the ending you're given the option to
save your progress as "Cleared", where you can run through the story again.
Put this data in a new slot and enjoy a few new features.
Though these benefits explained in the game, this includes a more rapid play-
through of the storyline missions and the ability to repeat them while keeping
your end-game levels and equipment. Between your experiences the first time
and your level you should be able to blow through the missions much more
quickly, which is actually another feature here. There'll be a new tab for you
to check your mission ranks and number of turns completed--the goal being you
can get rank 'A' on all of them and receive more available medals.
Not to be forgotten is a new "Hard" difficulty for Skirmishes in this mode,
and the name lives up to itself in toughness. Unlike the normal Skirmishes at
those locations, the battles are entirely different. Go ahead and use the
Japanese audio track for a change of pace, too!
Note: Part of promised downloadable content in early 2009 is a 'Super-Hard'
Skirmish difficulty.
-----
USV ~ Unresolved Content Questions
-----
One thing which seems very confusing while progressing through the storyline
is when Reports become available for purchase. The first few seem to pop up at
the natural time, but the later ones have been known to be a bit more manic.
This is somewhat frustrating, as for a few of them the events literally take
place specifically between chapters and can only fit into that one place. My
best advice on this would just be to visit Castlefront St at the start of
every chapter and purchase whatever is available.
Another matter that is unresolved is which Royal Weapons you can obtain. This
is both which type and which level, and how many you can receive after each
mission. In my testing, it seems that for whatever number of weapons you are
to receive, the weapon types are entirely random. For example, I completed the
Chapter 11 mission twice... the first time I received 2 rifles and a sniper
rifle and the second time 2 rockets and a sniper rifle, receiving an 'A'
ranking both times.
There is a bug with your EXP and DCT rewards at the later chapters with a
large bonus modifier where a digit is cut off when sections are being added.
Beyond these there are a few minor plot inconsistencies and nonsensical
statements, though they are essentially cosmetic.
-----
JPX ~ Japanese and Regional Version Differences
-----
The original Japanese release of this game was offered downloadable add-on
content on 30 October 2008. This same content was made available for the
English language version on 16 April 2009 (See section 3.2). Also in the
Japanese version was a rank 'S' for mission completions (common in Japanese
games), whereas we start with 'A' as the highest. The highest ranks give the
same exp bonus of +200% in both versions. Presumably 'D' rank was in the same
place for both versions, so the Japanese game had a shorter B or C range.
Regardless, you're working on the same rank curve for the same EXP and DCT
bonuses.
As for other regional releases of this game, I can't see why there should be
any differences between all versions of the game published with English as the
primary language. Please contact me if you know if you are aware of any
difference between these.
-----
WRT ~ About the Author and Writing the Guide
-----
Official FAQ Link:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps3/file/942165/54860
My Official Review:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps3/review/R130424.html
I honestly have no idea how long Version 1.0 took. I don't think I really want
to know. As of when I started this there were no FAQs posted for this
outstanding game, so I figured I'd have at it. As I said at the start, this is
my first FAQ, so thanks for putting up with whatever doesn't quite work.
To be frank, this is something I wish I could do more often. I've been writing
a lot of game reviews and have other FAQs in the works. These are (hopefully)
for later use in a portfolio of sorts, and anyone with any information about
where the labor of someone willing to dump 100+ hours into writing a game
guide can be used, please contact me!
The fight for Gallia has remained in the top PS3 games for almost 2 months
straight, and I'm very happy if this FAQ has helped out anyone and kept
interest in this amazing game high!
The content of this FAQ is 100% typed and entered by myself and as of Version
2.0 it is still 100% my ideas and material with zero outside referencing. I'm
quite proud of this.
-----
VHT : Version History
-----
Version 0.0, 13 Nov 2008: Project begins.
Version 0.5, 15 Nov 2008: Most simple of outlines and information.
Version 0.9, 19 Nov 2008: Coverage of all missions to some extent.
Version 1.0, 21 Nov 2008: Added Reports, making a "full" walkthrough. Rewrites.
Version 1.1, 22 Nov 2008: First submitted version. Strategies rewritten.
Version 1.2, 23 Nov 2008: Merged Chapters and Reports.
Version 1.3, 24 Nov 2008: Consistency and grammar changes. Rewrites.
Version 1.4, 26 Nov 2008: Added Headquarters.
Version 1.5, 29 Nov 2008: Gamefaqs bounty winning version. Edits.
Version 1.6, 2 Dec 2008: Rewrites for consistency and repeated information.
Version 1.8, 5 Dec 2008: Added tactics. Edits.
Version 1.9, 24 Dec 2008: Formatting changes and some new misc info.
Version 2.0, 6 Jan 2009: Full comb-over of entire guide with edits in each
section and for every battle.
Version 2.1, 10 Feb 2009: Formatting changes. FAQ is mostly awaiting add-on
content.
Version 2.4, 21 Apr 2009: Added information for downloadable content packs
that were released on 16 April including guides for missions.
-----
RSU : Reuse of Guide
-----
You may link directly to this guide for personal use or if you'd like to add
it to a generic FAQ database, but do not repost/republish it. Keeping it on
one site is far easier, and I'd like total control of it. More likely than not,
I'll never mind someone linking to it, but the publishing will remain on
GameFAQs.
I highly encourage you toss info around and bounce ideas off your friends and
on forums and whatnot. I'm glad I can help people out, but I'd also like to
keep the satisfaction that this is 100% my writing alone so I'd appreciate it
if people didn't suggest new text to add or stylistic changes.
-----
TKX : Special Thanks
-----
--To GameFAQs, for publishing this FAQ.
--Sega, for this amazingly unique and complex game.
--"Fanmail", I do appreciate it.
--You, for reading!
-----
CTC : Contact Info
-----
Please feel free to track down my other submissions on Gamefaqs and my
Gamespot profile for a number of detailed game reviews. For now I consider it
growing a portfolio.
Email:
[email protected]
PSN: madSomnambulist
Gamespot:
http://www.gamespot.com/users/madSomnambulist/
Feel free to email me anything that doesn't seem to work or is flat wrong in
this guide so I can fix it in later versions. Please DO NOT send tips in about
speed clearing. Other FAQs cover this. I'm about 99% certain there must be
some errors in here, so I apologize for that. General mail and comments are
also quite welcomed on PSN.
I greatly appreciate my privacy and am quite shy, so please forgive me if I
don't get out a reply to everything or just entirely ignore angry writings.
Cheers to you all and happy playing~~~
