AWDS Hard Campaign Guide - Mission 1: Jake's Trial
Difficulty: Easy with skills, moderate without.
Objective: Rout Rachel or capture her headquarters.
Suggested Main COs: Kanbei, Jess.
Support COs: Sonja, Sami, Andy.
Suggested skills for Main CO: Slam Shield, Missile Guard, Fire Sale, Gold Rush.
Suggested skills for Support CO: Slam Shield, Teamwork, Synergy, Bodyguard.
General Strategy
The biggest threat you have here is the three partially damaged Mid Tanks to the North East of the map. Fortunately, you have Mechanised Infantry to hold them back while you buy time to build an Artillery unit.
The next biggest threat you have in store for you is Rachel’s Super CO power. If you’re not careful, units can be whittled down to 1HP and prove as deadweights to your force. However, all is not lost as you can force the computer to concentrate the missiles onto three or four mechs at full HP bunched together in a square while keeping your other units separated. This way, you can potentially keep all your Tanks intact and ready to fight on your turn.
There’s virtually no other way to beat this quest with a perfect 300 score without churning out a tank from each base after day four and sending it straight onto Rachel’s units. Join damaged mechs together and you should be able to retain a high technique score.
In-Depth Guide
To begin with, the three Mechanised infantries to the north should capture all three buildings and the southernmost Mechanised Infantry should hold its ground at the mountain. Assault Rachel’s northernmost Tank from the woods and finish it off with the westernmost Mechanised Infantry. You should barely sustain any damage whatsoever if at all. Move the Armoured Personnel Carrier to the city two spaces to the east and prepare an Infantry unit in the factory. Move the Reconnaissance unit as far south as possible.
Chances are, if you’re Kanbei with Slam Shield and Sonja with Bodyguard on, Rachel won’t attack you at all. (You attack something with 133/142 stats, never mind terrain!) This is where things get nice and easy. Finish capturing the three cities, attack her Reconnaissance unit (Destroy it if you’re Kanbei with 133/142) with your tank and your own Reconnaissance unit behind or above the tank as cover and finally move you Mechanised infantry closer to the mountains. Leave the Mechanised Infantry on the mountain, on the mountain. Load and unload your infantry into the APC ready to capture the factory to the south the following turn. Deploy an Artillery unit.
From here on, Rachel varies what she does from time to time. All I can suggest is to capture the southern factory and use it to continuously produce tanks on a daily basis. After you’ve moved the artillery away from the factory, closer to the north eastern city, produce tanks there too but prioritise on building tanks from the southern base rather than the northern one because its in a better location to counter what Rachel does. Attack the Md. Tanks with your Mechanised Infantry from the mountains first as this boasts higher defences than that of the city. If you’re lucky, you’ll only need two mechs to finish the job. Mechs that get damaged further than 6HP should be joined together to retain your technique score.
When Rachel nears her Super CO Power (Four stars) you should spread your units apart from each other or huddle them closer to the Mid Tanks to the northeast. If you don’t have Missile Guard, it’ll hurt a lot. It still hurts with it on but it does save your units from a cheap 3HP damage. You’ll more than likely be very close to your Tag Power by Day 8 so switch to your partner to gain the final few stars and blast your Tag to crush Rachel. You may not need to at all if you chose the Kanbei/Sonja team. With or without forces, this team is highly recommended for almost all missions on Hard Campaign.
My Score: 300 Points, Day 9, Kanbei/Sonja.