Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS)

“Ugh I can't edit this? 1 HTML mistake ruins the whole post :(”

“lol 3rd attempt

Let me just get this out of the way. This game is different from the other Advance Wars that came before it. The characters are in a whole new universe and the story itself is dark. If you've played the other ones you might have trouble adjusting, because it is much harder. I guess I'll start with the changes in this version. Keep in mind that there are a lot of them.

Unit changes:

Infantry cost 1,500 up from 1,000
Mechs cost 2,500 down from 3,000
New Unit: Bikes cost 2,500. Basically an Infantry with high wheel mobility. Cannot cross rivers or mountains. They can capture bases, which make them pretty damn important early on.
New Unit: Flares cost 5,000. Think of it in terms of offense/defense as a tank without its cannon. It is very useful in Fog of War because it has the ability to reveal a nearby area that is a 13 square area (the same as a missile launch in the other games). Can only shoot 3 flares off before it needs resupplied.
Anti-Airs cost 7,000 down from 8,000
Medium Tanks cost 12,000 down from 16,000
War Tanks (aka Mega Tanks from Dual Strike) cost 16,000 down from 28,000
New Unit: Anti-Tank. It is basically an Artillery that can return fire when under direct attack. Oh and they can hit Copters too for some reason. Range: 1-3 (Artillery range is 2-3 so it is superior in every way except mobility and vision)
Rigs aka APC from the other games. The Rig has been upgraded. It can make a temporary Airport on land, and a temporary seaport on Shores. These temporary buildings cannot build units, only resupply the units that can be built there. They do not give you extra cash per turn either.
New Unit: Dusters cost 13,000. The Duster is a strange unit. It is good against Infantry and even effective vs. Fighters. It is the perfect Anti-Air against Copters since Copters cannot return fire against Planes. Its mobility is just 1 less than the Fighter, which is one of its best advantages.
Bombers cost 20,000 down from 22,000
New Unit: Gunboats cost 6,000. Gunboats are another strange addition. They can transport a single Infantry unit, and only have 1 salvo before it runs out of ammo. Also let it be known that its only salvo can only do any real damage when you are attacking, not defending. A good unit for rushing those bases on the islands early on.
Landers cost 10,000 down from 12,000
Cruisers cost 16,000 down from 18,000
Battleships cost 25,000 down from 28,000. The Battleship has been both buffed and nerfed. It used to have 3-6 Range, now it has the same range of a Rocket: 3-5. However, unlike every other indirect combat unit, it can move and fire on the same turn! Definitely still a must-have for any major battle.
Carriers cost 28,000 down from 30,000. They also have no attack of their own now. Instead they have the ability to build:
New Unit: Sea Planes cost 15,000. They are built from Carriers themselves. Sea Planes have low fuel and ammo, so you'll be constantly sending them back to the Carrier or an Airport. They can fulfill the role of both Bombers and Fighters, only a little less effective than either of the two.

Environment changes:

New Building: Radar Tower. Capturing a radar tower in fog of war grants you a constant 5 vision around. Basically a free Recon.
New Terrain: Wasteland. It is basically a crappy Mountain. It doesn't give troops additional vision during Fog of War and has only 2 bonus defense compared to the Mountain's 4.
New Terrain: Ruins. Like the Wastelands was a crappy Mountain, this is a crappy Woods. It only has 1 bonus defense compared to the Wood's 3 (Woods have been buffed with +1 defense). It also hinders movement of nearly every unit more than Woods does.
New Terrain: Meteors. Meteors are like the destroyable pipelines in the other games, and Plasma is the impassable pipelines. Except Plasma disappears when the nearby meteor is destroyed. Also note that thank god there are no pipes in this game. YES!
Cities give +2 bonus defense down from +3
New Terrain: Fire. It is practically a Radar Tower for both sides that is impassable.
New Terrain: Mist. It works like a Reef in Fog of War, but it does not hinder ship movement. It also provides 1 bonus defense compared to the Reef's 2.
New Terrain: Rough. Identical to the Reef except it cannot hide units in Fog of War.

Factions: 12th Battalion, Lazurian, New Rubinelle, Intelligent Systems, Bandits

New CO's:

Brenner. Captain of the 12th Battalion. He has an unshakable faith in humanity's goodness, and will aid any in need.
Passive CO Effect: CO Zone: 3-5. Boosts: All units. Effect: +2 defense
CO Power: Reinforce - All units recover 3 HP.
Love this guy. He has the best music imo and is the only CO in the game that looks like a Marine. Truly a badass. He's pretty balanced and similar to Andy from 1 and 2.

Will. A former Rubinelle military cadet who joined the 12th Battalion after being rescued by Captain Brenner - whom he idolizes.
Passive CO Effect: CO Zone: 2-4. Boosts: Direct-attack ground units. Effect: +2 attack.
CO Power: Rally Cry - Direct-attack ground units receive +2 mobility.
The main character of the story. He's a total n00b that gets educated by Lin and Brenner. He has good music too. Play him like you would play Max from the other games. Except don't be afraid to throw in some indirect combat units.

Lin. The 12th Battalion's unflappable second in command. She has tremendous respect for Captain Brenner, although they disagree often.
Passive CO Effect: CO Zone: 1-3. Boosts: Ground units. Effect: +2 attack +2 defense.
CO Power: Scout - Ground units receive +2 vision and can see through hiding places.
She reminds me a lot of Sonya from the other Advance Wars. Only Lin actually has a personality. Her music ain't too shabby either. She is the best CO to choose in Fog of War.

Isabella. Has no memory of her past. Rescued by Will, she has joined the 12th Battalion-where she dreams of living in peace.
Passive CO Effect: CO Zone: 2-4. Boosts: All units. Effect: +1 attack +1 defense.
CO Power: Deep Strike - Indirect combat units receive +2 range, and all units receive +2 mobility.
Really gay music. Sorry had to throw that out there. Wow she is really overpowered....anyway, besides the cliche story she has with Will you should play her like Jake from Dual Strike. Only you don't receive bonus firepower on plains...waaahhh who cares.

Tasha. A Lazurian soldier who burns with the desire to avenge her late brother.
Passive CO Effect: Co Zone: 1-3. Boosts: Air units. Effect: +4 attack +2 defense
CO Power: Sonic Boom - All air units receive +2 mobility.
She's pretty hot and has some sweet music. Yowza. Putting that aside she's one of my favorite characters because she's really rash and reminds me of Knuckles the Echidna...anyway play her like you would play Eagle from the other games. Her CO Power is kind of pointless because air units already have the best mobility. Oh well.

Gage. A Lazurian soldier. He is a man of few words, but a consummate professional.
Passive CO Effect: CO Zone: 2-4. Boosts: Naval and Indirect-attack units. Effect: +2 attack +1 defense.
CO Power: Longshot - All Indirect-attack units receive +2 range.
He doesn't look like a soldier. More like a blue haired emo with a Sniper Rifle. That aside I respect the guy and he has some snazzy Celtic/Rock music going. Play him like you would Drake with a Grit CO Power.

Forsythe. The Lazurian Army commander. He was called out of retirement to defend his nation.
Passive CO Effect: CO Zone: 5. Boosts: All units. Effect: +1 attack +1 defense.
No CO Power.
I really respect this guy. Unfortunately he's a pretty weak CO. His advantage is that it's easy to play him with his huge CO Zone that boosts all units.

Waylon. A member of the New Rubinelle Army who seeks only to fulfill his own pleasures and desires.
Passive CO Effect: CO Zone: 2-4. Boosts: Air units. Effect: +2 attack +3 defense.
CO Power: Wingman - Boosts defense for all air units.
He has a kind of comical appearance. I was shocked to find out he was straight. He may be stronger in Air combat than Tasha because his CO Power applies to defense and not mobility. Play him like Tasha I guess.

Greyfield. Ambitious and power hungry, he wants to destroy the Lazurian Army and rule the world as its new king.
Passive CO Effect: CO Zone: 3-5. Boosts: Naval units, Seaplanes, and Copters. Effect: +1 attack +4 defense
CO Power: Supply Chain - All units are instantly refilled on ammo and fuel.
The guy looks like a mix between Saddam Hussein and Joseph Stalin. He's a total idiot too. But he is very powerful in a Naval battle, and fuel and ammo is the least of your concerns when you play as him. Kind of like Jess from 2 and Dual Strike.

Penny. The youngest child of Dr. Caulder. Numerous experiments have left her mind permanently shattered.
Passive CO Effect: CO Zone: 3-5. Boosts: All units. Effect: Units unaffected by weather.
CO Power: Stormfront - Changes the weather conditions.
Oooooo the Olaf of Days of Ruin right here. Who doesn't love a little girl with a creepy teddy bear killing innocent people? I bet her and Alma from FEAR would get along fine.

Tabitha. Belongs to the private military company IDS. A daughter of Dr. Caulder, she is extremely cruel and vindictive.
Passive CO Effect: CO Zone: 0-2. Boosts: All units. Effect: +5 attack +5 defense
CO Power: Firestorm - Damages units over a wide area.
First off let it be known that she kicks major ass. Second I hate pigtails. Third she's somehow kinda hot besides second point. I don't think she's mean...more like she's bored and doesn't know she goes too far. She plays similar to Hawke from 2 and Dual Strike.

Caulder. No description because I haven't beaten the game yet :(
Passive CO Effect: CO Zone: 3. Boosts: All units. Effect: +5 attack +5 defense, all units heal 5 HP every day, but at full repair price.
Sooooooo ridiculously overpowered that he is banned from Wi-Fi battles. The guy is a mad scientist who is just a total douche. I mean he experiments on his "daughters" which are just clones of himself, with another gender somehow? Grumble Grumble.

Like I said before this game has a different play style to it. You can appoint a CO to a specific unit. The more kills the CO gets as that unit fills up its CO meter. Every kill makes you "CO zone" larger. The CO zone is essentially the passive CO ability. And when you use your CO power it only effects units in that zone that the power effects. Sometimes you get a CO with universal CO power. They are badasses learn to respect them.

The same way CO's get stronger, individual units can get stronger too. 1 kill = 1 star, a little stronger. 2 kills = 2 stars, a bit stronger. 3 kills = Veteran status, it's noticeably tougher, but not too much.

All in all I'm an Advance Wars fan and loved this game. If you're new to the series you should avoid this and pick up one of the earlier ones, because it's difficult even for seasoned vets.”

“Another thing I forgot to mention is that the Design Maps feature allow you to make anywhere between 5x5 to 30x30 size maps. In the other games you could only save 3 maps you designed. In this game you can save 50!”