Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising/Walkthrough

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This article currently has the correct information for Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising. While this guide can also be used for Advance Wars and Advance Wars: Dual Strike, please note that there may be differences between the games.

=Authors= Rob Kohr, LiteYear

=Links=


 * Official Site
 * Black Hole Headquarters - Strategies, statistics and general discussion about all the games in the Advance Wars series.
 * Advance Wars Net - The largest Advance Wars site on the web.
 * AdvanceWorld (French Website) - The largest French Advance Wars site on the web.
 * Advance Wars Bunker Forums - The largest Advance Wars community on the web.
 * Advance Wars Revolution
 * Advance Wars X - Clean, tidy Advance Wars site, easy to find info
 * Online AW2 damage calculator
 * http://www.awcentre.netfirms.com/AW2CalculatorV4.zip - Copy and paste URL in your web browser; this is a downloadable (15k) damage calculator by ddsdds/Cyber/CyberSach (Author's note: Has many inconsistancies, but will work for the most part)
 * GameFAQs AW2 Guides - Provided values for luck based CO's (Nell and Flak) thanks to Xenesis Xenon's CO stats FAQ, and has some good files on strategy.
 * Wars World News - Advance Wars community providing the most accurate Advance Wars info. Also has the largest and best Custom CO database on the web.
 * Check this site out - Some really nice in-depth FAQs, guides, and walkthroughs.

Web Based Game

 * Advance Wars By Web - Play Advance Wars online

=Charts=

Terrain Movement Chart
'*'Property in this listing stands for city, base, airport, and HQ.

=Unit Info=

Direct
These units have to be adjacent to the target to attack.


 * Infantry - foot soldiers. Can capture properties but are only really useful in battle when finishing off enemies with their machine guns or as fodder.
 * Counter -- Any


 * Mech - foot soldiers with strong Movement Type but THE lowest Movement Point. Otherwise similar to Infantry, but also use a Bazooka that deal damage similar to that of a Small Tank's on vehicles. Defense is also slightly higher than that of an Infantry.
 * Counter -- AA, air units, and Tanks


 * Recons - vehicles that have high Vision. Uses poor machine guns. Armor mostly protects vs. machine guns.
 * Counter -- any tank, air units


 * Tank - war vehicles that can inflict damage to most ground vehicles, but isn't armored enough to withstand a lot of cannon fire.
 * Counter -- heavier Tanks and Indirect fire, air units


 * Anti-Air - war vehicle that primarily targets air units, although it is able to deal a little damage to Small Tanks and can quickly tear apart foot soldiers. No machine guns.
 * Counter -- any tank and Indirect fire, Bombers


 * Medium Tank - war vehicles that have strong attack and defense.
 * Counter -- Indirect fire, Neotanks, air units, particularly Bombers


 * Neotank - war vehicles that have very strong attack and defense.
 * Counter -- Indirect fire and bombers

Indirect
These units cannot be counterattacked, but they can't counterattack themselves, and have to attack from the right ranges. (No machine guns, period.)


 * Artillery - Cannon launchers. Attacks land and sea units from medium range.


 * AA Missiles - Missile launchers. Attacks air units from long range.


 * Rockets - Launches Rockets. Attacks land and sea units from long range.

Other
These units strictly perform tasks outside of battling and cannot use weapons.


 * APC - vehicles that can't attack at all, but can transport foot soldiers or supply other units. Move an APC next to units running short on ammo or fuel and select "supply" to fully resupply all units around the APC. Additionally, any unit standing next to an APC will be resupplied when the turn begins.

Sea
Sea units cannot travel on land, except for Landers traveling on Shoals. They also use up 1 Fuel per turn and sink (die automatically) if they run out. It has the same rule with air units: if the fuel runs out after you move it, it will live until the beginning of your next turn. Sea units can be resupplied by standing for one turn on an allied port, or with an APC.


 * Lander - ships that can transport two land units each, but aren't armed with any weapons.


 * Cruiser - ships that are good for killing subs and attacking air units, but cannot attack anything else. Can carry up to two copters at a time.


 * Submarine - submarines that can fire torpedoes to damage other sea units. Can submerge to hide and also avoid targeting by anything but Cruisers and Subs, at a cost of 5 fuel units per turn. Large vision range of 5


 * Battleship - ships that can blast away land and sea units from very long range.

Air
Air units are unaffected by terrain defenses. However, copters use up 1 fuel per turn and planes use 5, and they crash (die automatically) should they run out. Note that an air unit with no fuel (i.e. just moved, so it has no fuel left) will not die until the beginning of your next turn). An air unit can be resupplied by standing on an allied airport for one turn, or with an APC.


 * Transport Copter - copter with the ability to transport foot soldiers, but has no weapons or supply ability.


 * Battle Copter - copters that are good against land units besides anti-air units and heavy tanks, and are moderately powerful versus naval units. Battle Copters can also attack other copters.


 * Fighter - planes that can fire missiles to severely damage other air units. Cannot attack anything else.


 * Bombers - planes that drop bombs to devastate land and sea units. Cannot attack air units.

=Commanding Officers=

Basics
A commanding officer (or CO) is a character that directly affects the units you use. Some CO's do not give any bonuses, some CO's have a slight bonus to all their units, and some CO's gain a bonus to a type of unit, while having a disadvantage on another type of unit. Still other CO's give their units non-combat bonuses. Each CO also has two powers, a CO power, and a Super CO (or SCO) power. A CO power usually gives a bonus to the type of unit that CO specializes, or it will damage enemy units. An SCO power costs more, but gives a greater effect. All bonuses are additive (i.e. if you had 20% attack bonus innately and you gained 30% from your CO power, you'd have a 50% attack bonus for that turn), and all CO power bonuses last until your turn comes up again.


 * Note: A 50% damage bonus means that the damage you inflict will be increase by half, and not 50 points. I.E. an Infantry attacking another Infantry does 55% damage.  If the attacker had a 50% attack bonus, then the damage perentage would be 82% (and NOT 105%).

Each CO power has a star cost. Each star represents 9,000G of damage. Whatever damage your units' take is directly added to your power meter, so if you lose a full health tank, your power meter will gain 7,000 points. Any damage you inflict is given at half cost towards your meter. So, the person who destroyed your tank in the previous example will gain 3,500 points in their meter. Modified costs do count twards the meter, though, so if a Kanbei tank is destroyed when it had full HP, the attacker gains 4,200 points towards his meter, and the player who lost the tank gains 8,400 points towards his meter.

A couple of other notes about CO powers. Unless that unit gets a defense bonus mentioned the CO/SCO power, it will gain a 10% defensive bonus. Also, when you use a power, the cost to use another power increases. Every power you use (whether CO or SCO) will increase the star cost by 1,800 (i.e. 20%), but if you had any power left over (i.e. you used your CO power when your SCO was nearly full), then those points will carry over. Example: if you had 40,000 points in your meter, and used a CO Power which cost 3 stars (27,000 points), then you'll have 13,000 left in your meter, but the next CO power will cost 32,400 total points to use (so you'll need 19,600 more points).

The COs of Advance Wars are designed so that each have their strength and weaknesses - as such, there is usually no "strongest" CO to choose from. However, there are three CO's that have only strengths and not weaknesses (Hachi, Sturm, and Nell) that require special conditions to unlock. These CO's are generally considered stronger than the 16 other CO's.

Andy
Andy is the first CO introduced to you in the campaign, and is regarded as an easy CO to use. His forces are very balanced, as none of his units gain a combat bonus or penalty. His main advantage is through his CO powers, which allow him to heal up his units.


 * CO Power: Hyper Repair (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, Hyper Repair heals all of his units by 2 HP.
 * SCO Power: Hyper Upgrade (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, Hyper Upgrade heals all of his units for 5 HP. This power also increases all of his units' movement by 1, and also gives them a 20% attack bonus.

Max
Max is for the player who likes direct combat. All of his direct combat units (except Infantry/Mechs) gain a 20% attack bonus. However, his indirect combat units are weaker than average. They have a 10% attack penalty, and the also have 1 less maximum range (i.e. a Rocket hits 3-5 spaces normally. Under Max, that range is 3-4 spaces)


 * CO Power: Max Force (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Max's direct units (minus infantry/mechs) gain a 20% attack bonus, and also gain +1 movement.
 * SCO power: Max Blast (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, all of Max's direct units (minus infantry/mechs) gain a 40% attack bonus, and also gain +2 movement.

Sami
Sami is an infantry specialist in this game. She excels in capturing properties easily, and her infantry are among the best in the game. All of her infantry/mechs get a 30% attack bonus, and they also capture properties at 1.5x normal (i.e. Sami's 10 HP infantry will take 15 capture points off a property. Half values are rounded down). APCs, Landers, and T. Copters get a +1 movement bonus as well. However, all of her other direct units take a 10% attack penalty.


 * CO Power: Double Time (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Sami's infantry/mechs gain a 20% attack bonus, and also +1 movement.
 * SCO Power: Victory March (Cost: 8 stars)
 * When used, all of Sami's infantry/mechs gain a 50% attack bonus, and also +2 movement. Finally, any Infantry/Mech can capture any type of property (including a HQ) instantly, regardless of the unit's HP.

Nell
Nell is generally considered a Super CO. She has a chance of dealing up to 10% more damage (on top of the standard luck of +10%) than normal. However, her powers are awesome, and can allow even poor match-ups (like her B. Copter attacking an AA) to end in her favor.


 * CO Power: Lucky Star (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, her units can do up to 6 more damage on an attack.
 * SCO Power: Lady Luck (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, her units can do up to 10 more damage on an attack.

Hachi
Hachi is generally considered to be a Super CO. All of his units cost 10% less than normal, while retaining normal stats (i.e. a standard Tank costs 7000, so Hachi's will cost 6300).


 * CO Power: Barter (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Hachi's units cost 50% of the normal price (i.e. Hachi can buy a Tank under Barter for 3500).
 * SCO Power: Merchant Union (Cost: 5 stars)
 * When used, all of Hachi's units cost 50% of the normal price. Also, Hachi can deploy troops from any city that he owns.

Olaf
Olaf is a fairly average CO. None of his units gain any combat bonuses or penalties. He does take weather differently than other CO's, though. In Snow, Olaf's units are unaffected, so he can move like it was Clear, giving him a movement advantage. However, in Rain, Olaf's units are affected like it was snowing, so the enemy will have the movement advantage.


 * CO Power: Blizzard (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, it changes the weather to Snow. This Snow lasts until it's your turn again.
 * SCO Power: Winter Fury (Cost: 7 stars)
 * When used, all enemy units take 2 damage, and the weather is changed to Snow. Again, the Snow lasts until it's your turn again.

Grit
Grit is an indirect combat specialist. All of his indirect units gain 20% attack and +1 maximum range (i.e. a Rocket shoots 3-5 squares normally, so Grit's Rockets hit 3-6 squares). However, all of his direct units (except infantry/mechs) take a 20% attack penalty.


 * CO Power: Snipe Attack (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Grit's indirect units gain a 30% attack bonus, and also +1 maximum range.
 * SCO Power: Super Snipe (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, all of Grit's indirect units gain a 30% attack bonus, and also +2 maximum range.

Colin
Colin's specialty is being able to afford a large army quickly. All of his units are 20% below actual cost (i.e. a standard Tank costs 7000, so his costs 5600). However, all of his units have a 10% attack penalty.


 * CO Power: Gold Rush (Cost: 2 stars)
 * When used, Colin's current funds are multiplied by 1.5.
 * SCO Power: Power of Money (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, units gain an attack bonus dependant on the funds you have. You gain 3.33% attack for every 1000 funds you have (so if you had 15000 funds when you used this power, you'll gain a 50% attack bonus).

Eagle
Eagle is for a player who prefers Air units. All of his Air units get a 15% attack bonus and a 10% defense bonus. Also, his Air units consume 2 less fuel per day. However, his Sea units get a massive 30% attack penalty.


 * CO Power: Lightning Drive (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Eagle's Air units gain an additional 15% attack boost and 20% defense bonus.
 * SCO Power: Lightning Strike (Cost: 9 stars)
 * When used, all of Eagle units that have acted this turn can act again (excluding Infantry/Mechs). Additionally, Eagle's Air units gain a 15% attack and 20% defense bonus.

Drake
Drake's forte are Sea units. All of his Sea units gain a 10% defense bonus, and have +1 movement. When present, Drake also increases the chance of Rain, and his units also take no movement penalties in Rain. However, his Air units take a massive 30% attack penalty.


 * CO Power: Tsumani (Cost: 4 stars)
 * When used, all enemy units take 1 damage, and they also lose half their fuel.
 * SCO Power: Typhoon (Cost: 7 stars)
 * When used, all enemy units take 2 damage, and they also lose half their fuel. The weather also changes to Rain until Drake's next turn.

Jess
Jess has strong land vehicles. All of her land units (except Infantry/Mechs) have a 10% attack bonus. However, all of her Air, Sea, and Infantry/Mechs have a 10% attack penalty.


 * CO Power: Turbo Charge (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Jess's land vehicles gain a 20% attack bonus and +1 movement. Also, all of her units' fuel and ammo are refilled.
 * SCO Power: Overdrive (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, all of Jess's land vehicles gain a 40% attack boost and +2 movement. Also, all of her units' fuel and ammo are refilled.

Kanbei
Kanbei is for the player who likes a few superior units. All of Kanbei's units gain a 30% attack bonus and a 30% defense bonus. However, all of his units cost 20% more (i.e. a standard Tank costs 7000, so Kanbei's Tank costs 8400).


 * CO Power: Morale Boost (Cost: 4 stars)
 * When used, all of Kanbei's units gain a 20% attack boost, and a 10% defense boost.
 * SCO Power: Samurai Spirit (Cost: 7 stars)
 * When used, all of Kanbei's units gain a 20% attack boost, and a 30% defense boost. Also, your units gain an extra 50% attack boost on counterattacks (for a total of 200%).

Sonja
Sonja's specialty is gaining and keeping intel. All of her units have +1 vision, and gain a 50% attack bonus when counterattacking. Also, all enemies see a question mark where her HP number is, so they can't tell how much HP that unit has. Please note that AI players are not affected by this. However, she may do up to 10% lesser damage than normal.


 * CO Power: Enhanced Vision (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Sonja's units gain +1 vision, and can see into Forests and Reefs without needing a unit adjacent to them.
 * SCO Power: Counter Break (Cost: 5 stars)
 * When used, all of Sonja's units gain +1 vision, and can see into Forests and Reefs without needing a unit adjacent to them. Also, if she is attacked while this power is on, her units will attack first.

Sensei
Sensei specializes in only 3 units, but they are supremely powerful. All of his Infantry and Mechs gain a 40% attack bonus, and his B. Copters have a 50% attack bonus. APC's, Landers, and T. Copters get +1 movement as well. However, all of his other Land and Sea units suffer a 10% attack penalty.
 * CO Power: Copter Command (Cost: 2 stars)
 * When used, all of the cities Sensei owns will gain a 9 HP Infantry that can move right away. If a city has a unit on it (either yours, allied or enemy), it will not gain an Infantry. Also, B. Copters gain a 25% attack bonus.
 * SCO Power: Airborne Assault (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, all of the cities Sensei owns will gain a 9 HP Mech that can move right away. If a city has a unit on it (either yours, allied or enemy), it will not gain a Mech. Also, B. Copters gain a 25% attack bonus.

Flak
Flak is unreliable, but if he gets lucky, he can do brutal amounts of damage. None of his units gain an attack or defence boost, but all of his units have a chance to either do up to +25% damage or -10% damage.


 * CO Power: Brute Force (Cost: 3 stars)
 * When used, all of Flak's units have a chance to increase their damage by up to 4 HP, or they could decrease their damage by up to 2 HP.
 * SCO Power: Barbaric Blow (Cost: 6 stars)
 * When used, all of Flak's units have a chance to increase their damage by up to 7 HP, or they could decrease their damage by up to 3 HP.

Lash
Lash's units gain attack bonuses from terrain in addition to the normal defensive bonus. They gain an attack bonus equal to the defensive bonus of the terrain.


 * CO Power: Terrain Tactics (Cost: 4 stars)
 * When used, all of Lash's units have a 1 movement cost over any terrain they can normally pass over.


 * SCO Power: Prime Tactics (Cost: 7 stars)
 * When used, all of Lash's units have a 1 movement cost over any terrain they can normally pass over. Also, all of the bonuses Lash normally gains from terrain are doubled.  (Additionally, Lash's units also get the normal +10% defense when a power is used)

Adder
Adder is probably the most average CO in the game. His units gain no attack or defense bonuses. His CO bar is short, so he can use his powers at a rapid pace.


 * CO Power: Sideslip (Cost: 2 stars)
 * When used, all of Adder's units gain a +1 movement bonus.
 * SCO Power: Sidewinder (Cost: 5 stars)
 * When used, all of Adder's units gain a +2 movement bonus.

Hawke
Hawke has slightly stronger units across the board. All of his units have a 10% attack bonus. However, his CO powers are weak for their cost. (Although the game says that "his CO Power builds up more slowly than those of other CO's", this is only reffering to the length of his CO bar. He gains power points at the same rate as other CO's, it's just that his power cost is high.)


 * CO Power: Black Wave (Cost: 5 stars)
 * When used, all enemy units take 1 damage, and all of Hawke's units heal 1 HP.
 * SCO Power: Black Storm (Cost: 9 stars)
 * When used, all enemy units take 2 damage, and all of Hawke's units heal 2 HP.

Sturm
Sturm is classified as a Super CO. All of his units gain a 20% attack bonus and a 20% defense bonus, at NO extra cost. Also, all of his units have a 1 movement cost over any terrain they can normally pass over. However, if the weather is Snow, Sturm loses that movement advantage (i.e. he is affected by Snow like other CO's are). Also, Sturm only has one CO power.


 * SCO Power: Meteor Strike (Cost: 10 stars)
 * When used, a meteor drops on enemy troops. Any unit hit by the meteor loses 8 HP, even allied or your own (but will be reduced to 1 HP if it had 8 or less).  You cannot control where the meteor lands; instead, it will hit the area that you can see that will do the most damage (in funds) to enemy troops.  The meteor has the same range as a standard Silo.  If you can't see any enemy troops, or if the meteor would do more damage to you/allies than the enemy, the meteor will not fall.  Sturm's units will also gain an extra 20% attack and 30% defense bonus.

=Strategy= Ok. Though Advance Wars has many characters with different skills there is one thing that will always stay the same. Follow your characters strengths. CO powers can turn the tide in any battle, but if they are used ineffictively they are only a waste. You can look at the basic strategies for each character in the game.

Andy

His CO powers allow him to keep his units in the field for a much longer period of time, and are great counters to the damage dealing CO powers of Hawke, Drake, and Olaf. Because of his balanced forces and his healing CO powers, Andy prefers a large, balanced map with numerous bases, airports, and naval ports.

Olaf

His powers should be used very strategically, at a crucial point to either halt the opponents' retreat or advance, allowing Olaf to take the initiative. Olaf's strategies greatly resemble those of the Soviet Army in World War 2, relying on 'General Winter' (a very cold winter with many blizzards) to halt the Nazi Army's advance on Stalingrad and Moscow.

Grit

In close-quarters, Grit's CO powers can allow your indirect units to massacre a very large portion of the map (or possibly the entire map if you're playing in a small, enclosed map like Little Island). After using his power, artillery units fire as far (or farther than) other COs' rocket units! Rockets for the price of artillery! You'll find the sound of artillery fire will shortly become your halleluiah chorus. You'll want a good proportion of your army to consist of indirect attacking units such as artillery, rockets and battleships. However, don't let that 20% direct attack penalty scare you; you're still gonna need a couple of tanks to clean up what your rockets don't quite finish, or a couple anti-air to cover your rear whenever airports are involved in the match.