Factory & Base Management
Effective Factory and Base management is the backbone of any successful Advance Wars campaign. Your ability to produce the right units at the right time, while maintaining a strong economic footing, will often dictate victory or defeat. This section will guide you through optimizing your production facilities and leveraging your bases to their fullest potential.
Understanding Production Buildings
Each type of production building specializes in a specific category of units. Knowing which units come from where is crucial for planning your turns and anticipating enemy movements.
- Factories (Ground Units): These are your primary source for land-based combat units.
- Infantry: Cheap, versatile, and essential for capturing properties. Produce these early and often.
- Mech: Stronger than Infantry, especially defensively, and good for early-game pushes.
- Recon: Fast, good vision, but lightly armored. Excellent for scouting and harassing undefended units.
- Tank: Your bread-and-butter combat unit. Balance their production with cheaper units.
- Medium Tank: Powerful, heavily armored, but expensive. Reserve these for critical engagements or late-game dominance.
- Anti-Air: Crucial for countering enemy air units. Don't neglect them if your opponent has an air force.
- Missile: Long-range anti-air, but immobile after firing. Best for defensive setups.
- Artillery: Long-range ground support. Keep them protected behind your front lines.
- Rocket: Even longer-range ground support than Artillery, but more expensive and less mobile.
- APC (Armored Personnel Carrier): Transports Infantry/Mechs and resupplies adjacent units. Invaluable for mobility and logistics.
- Lander: Transports ground units across water. Essential for amphibious assaults.
- Airports (Air Units): These produce your aerial forces, offering speed and powerful attacks, but often at a higher cost.
- Fighter: Your primary air-to-air combatant. Essential for air superiority.
- Bomber: Devastating against ground units, but vulnerable to Fighters and Anti-Air.
- B-Copter (Battle Copter): Versatile air-to-ground unit, good for flanking and supporting ground pushes.
- T-Copter (Transport Copter): Transports Infantry/Mechs over any terrain. Excellent for rapid deployment and capturing distant properties.
- Ports (Naval Units): Control of the seas can be decisive on maps with significant water bodies.
- Cruiser: Strong anti-air and anti-submarine capabilities. Good for escorting other naval units.
- Submarine: Stealthy and powerful against naval units, especially Cruisers. Requires careful management of dive/surface states.
- Battleship: Long-range naval artillery. Can bombard shorelines and enemy ships from a safe distance.
- Lander: (Also produced here) Transports ground units across water.
Optimizing Production Flow
Your production strategy should adapt to the current map, your CO's strengths, and the enemy's composition.
- Early Game (Days 1-5):
- Infantry Rush: Prioritize producing Infantry from all available Factories. Their low cost allows you to quickly capture neutral cities, increasing your income.
- Recon for Vision: One or two Recons can provide crucial early-game scouting, revealing enemy movements and potential capture targets.
- First Tank: Aim to produce your first Tank around Day 3-4 from your forwardmost Factory to counter early enemy Infantry/Mech pushes.
- APC for Logistics: If you have many properties to capture or need to resupply units quickly, an APC can be a great early investment.
- Mid Game (Days 6-15):
- Balanced Production: Start diversifying your unit production. If the enemy is building air units, get an Anti-Air. If they're massing Tanks, consider your own Tanks or even an Artillery.
- Property Control: Continue capturing all accessible neutral cities and any enemy properties you can safely reach. Income is paramount.
- Air/Naval Expansion: If the map features Airports or Ports, begin producing relevant units to establish air or naval superiority. A single Fighter can deter many enemy air units.
- Repair and Resupply: Utilize your Bases to repair damaged units and resupply those running low on fuel or ammo. This saves money compared to building new units.
- Late Game (Days 16+):
- Power Units: With a strong economy, you can now afford more expensive units like Medium Tanks, Bombers, and Battleships. These units can turn the tide of battle.
- Counter-Composition: Analyze the enemy's forces and build units specifically designed to counter them. If they have many Bombers, mass Fighters and Anti-Air. If they have a strong naval presence, Subs and Cruisers are key.
- CO Power Synergy: Plan your production around your CO's unique abilities. For example, if you're playing as Max, focus on direct combat units like Tanks and Medium Tanks to leverage his attack bonus.
Base Utilization and Strategy
Bases are more than just production hubs; they are vital strategic locations.
- Repair and Resupply: Any unit (ground, air, or naval if it's a Port) that ends its turn on a friendly Base or Port will recover 2 HP and fully resupply its fuel and ammunition. This is a free action and crucial for maintaining unit longevity.
- Defense: Bases provide a significant defensive bonus (+3 Defense Stars), making units stationed on them much harder to destroy. Use them as strongpoints to defend critical areas or to bait enemy attacks.
- Chokepoints: Often, Bases are located at strategic chokepoints or near valuable properties. Holding these bases can deny the enemy access to resources or key routes.
- Forward Operating Bases: As you advance, capturing neutral cities and turning them into your own bases effectively extends your production and repair range, reducing travel time for new units to the front lines.
Remember, every unit produced costs money, and every turn you spend producing is a turn you could be moving or attacking. Balance your economic growth with your military needs to achieve victory.