Advance Wars: Dual Strike/Moji island

Moji Island, another fairly basic map. Your enemy CO is Koal, a fairly average CO with bonus firepower on roads. Because this map is fairly open and large, you can approach this in many ways, but in this guide, I will be primarily focusing on the fast rush down the left side and around the bottom. The heavily forested region on the right will be merely a defensive position, with a late game rush.

A good CO choice here is Jess, the gallant tank driving lass from Green Earth. The reason to select her for this map is quite simple. Vehicular units work great here, and her CO power/SCOP resupply, increase movement range, and boost offense/defense. Because the bottom most factory is quiet a distance from Koal's HQ/factories, the extra movement here is incredibly useful.

That being said, if you are playing without skills, Jess should still pack enough innate power to be great. If you are using skills, try something like the following setup:


 * Brawler (direct attack +8%)
 * Sniper (indirect attack +8%)
 * Star Power (power meter fills up quicker)
 * Road Rage (road attack +10%)

Overall, a well balanced offensive setup, with additional bonuses on roads to counter Koal's own bonus.

Strategy
The key point for an early advantage is to quickly reach the bottom of the left side, and capture that lone factory. With that in mind, start off day 1 with all infantry (don't forget the right most factory too!) and then the next consecutive turns, build one APC + infantry at the leftmost factories. With 2 APCs, you can shuttle infantry down the left side quickly and reach that factory before Koal can even get near. Build 1 tank immediately after the 2 turns of APCs. As for the right side, capture the factory among the forests, then still up a defensive position with 1-2 artillery (no rush to do this however) and a couple infantry/mech. This is only the minor front however, so don't focus your efforts here.

As for the left side, most likely when you are capturing the factory, Koal has a recon unit near range. As long as you have sent your tank down, don't worry about your lack of firepower here yet. Station your APCs strategically to make sure your infantry can secure that factory. Meanwhile, the other infantry can slowly capture the remaining cities.

After several turns you should be near the bottom bridge, and ready to start focusing on offense. Ideally, you'll want a small force consisting of 1 artillery, 1 rocket, ~2 tanks, 1 midtank/neotank. This should be doable if you have managed your funds and captured cities at an efficient pace. Koal loves his midtanks/neotanks as well, so mostly likely he'll have one or two by the time you are building your own. Be patient here, and approach slowly, picking off Koal's units, but making sure you are not in range of his midtanks.

As for the right side, Koal probably will be rushing with infantry, but as long as you have your artillery stationed there, with 2-3 infantry/mech, you should be fine. If he does send a tank at your tank, the heavily forested region will severely hinder its movement range. He will not rush if your artillery is positioned well.

Once you have captured the two cities just beyond the bridge, you can start pushing ahead. Toss out your APC/infantry units as bait and use them to shield your midtanks/tanks. Position your artillery and rockets accordingly so that his midtanks/neotanks that attack will be in their firing range. Focus on taking out his midtanks and neotanks first, while using your regular tanks to push ahead.

Most likely Koal's SCOP and your SCOP should coincide at similar timing, so prepare ahead if you are anticipating an offensive counter-attack. Koal's SCOP increases the movement of all his units, so plan ahead and don't leave any gaps in your formations. If you happen to get your SCOP beforehand (which is possible with Star Power), quickly attack all his heavier units. This leaves his counter-attack heavily weakened.

Once the battle is at Koal's doorstep, you can start infantry rushing the right side forested region and start capturing the cities there. At this point, the tide of battle should definitely be in your hands, so its simply cleaning up here.

Estimated time of completion should be around 16-18 days with skills, and fairly similar without. An S-rank is easily achieved if you can successfully achieve the below:


 * 1) capture the bottom factory early
 * 2) maintain defensive position at rightmost forest region
 * 3) eliminating Koal's midtanks/neotanks effectively
 * 4) strong resistance to Koal's SCOP