Shattered Union - Strategy Guide (Page 01)
Below are the cheat codes, hints and help for Shattered Union - Strategy Guide (Page 01).
Shattered Union (XBOX) FAQ 1.3/Mar 2006
Author: saintly@innocent.com
This FAQ is copyright 2006, but 'Shattered Union', 'Xbox' and other
trademarkable names are probably trademarked by people like
'Take-Two Interactive' and 'Microsoft'. This FAQ is not officially
endorsed or authorized by anyone.
To send questions about things not contained in the FAQ, suggestions
comments, spelling corrections or death threats, send email to me
at the above address. I'll be more likely to read your message if
you include a subject line like
'Shattered Union 1.2' (or whatever version of the FAQ this is)
I still need help with:
- Tips/strategies for Campaign Mode
- Suggestions for more sections to add
- The experience system
I'll credit anyone who helps make this FAQ better.
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Table of Contents [QFC]
There are 'Quick-Find' tags at the start of each major section to
help you jump to them in your browser. To jump to the 'Faction
Powers List', search for 'QFX'. It should only be found at its
entry in the table of contents and the start of its section.
0. About this FAQ
1. What kind of game is Shattered Union? [QFA]
a. Where can I find more information?
b. Is this game popular?
2. Basic Game-play [QFG]
a. Purchase/Repair/Replace units
b. Deploy Units
c. Battle phases
3. Multiplayer [QFM]
4. Skirmish Strategy [QFB]
5. Unit Comparison Table [QFU]
6. Unit type discussions/Notes [QFD]
a. Single-Use units
b. Infantry units
c. Light Armor
d. Medium Armor
e. Heavy Armor
f. Artillery
g. Anti-Aircraft
h. Helicopters
i. Fighters and Bombers
j. Special Units
7. Game Mechanics [QFM]
a. Terrain Effects [QFT]
b. Refuelling & Repairing
c. Attack and Defense
d. Mines
e. Russian Aid
8. Factions [QFF]
a. New England Alliance
b. The Confederacy
c. Great Plains Federation
d. Republic of Texas
e. California Commonwealth
f. Pacifica
g. European Union
h. Russia
9. Reputation level & Faction powers [QFR]
10. Faction Powers List [QFX]
11. Power summary & quick-ref [QFS]
12. Full Powers Descriptions [QFD]
13. Campaign Mode [QFC]
a. Territory Values
b. AI notes
c. Controller tricks
d. Campaign Mode Strategies
e. Unit Experience
14. Campaign Mode Walkthrough [QFW]
a. Turn 1.
b. Beginning-Midgame (Turns 2-25 or so)
c. Midgame-End (Turns 25-50 or so)
d. Endgame (Turns 50+)
15. Campaign strategies
a. Playing as EU on Hard difficulty
16. 101 uses for a Partisan [QFP]
17. Cheat Codes
18. Misc
19. Version History
20. Acknowledgements
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0. About this FAQ
The latest version of this FAQ can be found at:
If you found it somewhere else, make sure to get the latest version before
sending me any questions or comments. Other sites are free to post it
without asking me so long as:
1) It's posted in it's entirety
2) You don't charge people to see it
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1. What kind of game is Shattered Union? [QFA]
Shattered Union is a turn-based strategic warfare game, similar to
the SNES game 'Super Conflict' or the GBA series 'Advance Wars'.
If you haven't played those, you can think of it as being similar
to board games like 'Battletech', 'Warhammer' or even 'Risk' or
Chess. All these games enjoyed a modest success, mostly with
strategy game fans.
In a turn-based strategy game you look down on a battlefield. You
can see all your units and a certain distance away from them
(called their 'Sight Radius'). The rest of the map is hidden from
your view by the 'Fog of War'. All you can see of the rest of the
map are basic terrain features.
On your turn, you can move any of your units to anywhere within
their movement range. If you move them within range of an enemy
unit, you can attack it. The other player cannot take any actions
during your turn, though their units will defend themselves if
attacked or perform other automatic tasks.
After you've moved as many units as you like, you end your turn
and can take no actions during your opponent's phase.
a. Where can I find more information?
The official site (with trailer, screenshots & game information) is:
PopTop Software has it's own website for the game, with links to
reviews from different magazines & websites:
Express World is a fan site dedicated to PopTop games, they have a
page for Shattered Union and a discussion forum: (Forum) (Shattered Union webpage)
b. Is this game popular?
Sadly, no. It was released for the PC and only one console; the Xbox.
Console strategy games are rare, and most of them (and the people that
play them) are with the PC and PS2. Furthermore, it was released
without any advertising at the end of the Xbox's life cycle. To add
insult to injury, Poptop appears to have stopped all work on it, so
there won't be a PC demo, patches or a map editor unless diehard fans
create them themselves.
Reviewers generally liked it, calling it an above average game, but
not one of the outstanding best (it gots lots of 80% scores, 4 out of 5s,
8 out of 10s, etc..).
c. I really like it, what are similar games?
The MOST similar games I can think of are the old NES game 'Conflict',
and the SNES sequel 'Super Conflict'. In both of them you have a hex
grid & modern military units. The goal is to defeat your enemy's
'Flag Tank' (or 'Flag Ship' in Super Conflict).
The 'Advance Wars' series for the Game Boy are also similar, with
modern units on a square grid.
There are plenty of other turn-based strategy games though. For the
PS2, 'Disgaea', 'La Pucelle Tactics' and 'Makai Kingdom' are all
fantasy turn-based strategy games.
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2. Basic Game-play [QFG]
Whether you're playing Campaign Mode or fighting a friend, the
heart of the game is the tactical battle. In 'Skirmish' mode,
this is the whole game.
The tactical battle follows this game flow:
a. Purchase/Repair/Replace units
Repairing units is only done in Campaign mode (in Skirmish mode you
won't have any units to repair). It costs about 30% of the unit's
price to completely repair it to full health.
If you're the defending player in Campaign mode, you can only repair
units or buy Single-use units.
If you accidentally buy something in Skirmish mode, hit 'Y' to go to
repair/sell mode and sell it back for full price. This doesn't work
in Campaign mode, so be careful what you buy.
b. Deploy Units
The attacker goes first and can deploy units anywhere in the
highlighted yellow hexes. You cannot attack or use any special powers
in 'Deploy Units' mode. Press 'Back' to end your turn. After the
defender deploys their units, the tactical battle starts.
c. Battle phases
Generally, the attacker has to capture a certain number of points worth
of towns or structures. Each town has a different point rating, so
attackers often want to prioritize and focus their attack on a few key
cities. Attackers can also win by destroying all the defender's units.
If the attacker fails to capture enough objectives within the allotted
time (15 turns), or all the attacking units are wiped out by the
defender, the attacker loses.
If the attacker wins in campaign mode, they capture that territory and
can launch attacks against other territories touching it.
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3. Multiplayer [QFM]
You can play this game against a human opponent. The simplest
way to do this is the following:
On Controller 1, Pick 'Skirmish', then 'New'
Hit 'Start' on Controller 2
Each select starting faction, cash and reputation
Hit 'A' on Controller 1 when both players are ready
If you have only one controller, use 'R' on it to switch over to
the 'CPU' side, then go up and change the CPU type 'Human'. Now
you will need to hand off the controller to the person playing.
This way is most like the 'Conflict' games, but some features of
the game (the Fog of War, mines, choosing units, etc..) will lose
some of their effectiveness since both players can see what the
other does on their turn. It might be a good idea for each player
to step out of the room during the 'purchase' phase, at least.
The other options are to play against someone with their own
XBOX, copy of the game and separate TV via 'System Link', or find
an opponent on XBOX live.
Note that multiplayer is available only for 'Skirmish' mode, not
the full campaign.
You can select your starting reputation, or pick '?' or 'X'. If
you pick 'X' you'll get no powers for the battle. If you pick ?,
your reputation will be randomly selected (you don't get 5 random
powers, you get whatever powers you'd get normally for having the
reputation you're randomly given).
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4. Skirmish Strategy [QFB]
Both attacker and defender strategies are very different in skirmish
games, as opposed to the single-player campaign mode. The defender
will usually want to have a different strategy from the attacker.
The attacker is focused on offense, attacking power and moving
quickly across the map to capture towns. It's usually better to
keep pressing your attack and try to win quickly. Other
strategies are possible (especially if you know the defender is
going to try a different strategy) but attackers usually aren't
good at defending and occupying territory. It's often better to
avoid the defender's heavy defensive positions and capture as
much undefended area as you can, hoping to lure the defense out
into an offensive war they may not be equipped for. Keep in mind
that defenders usually have a huge air advantage since their
airport can be placed well out of your reach.
The defender, on the other hand, is usually going to want to stay
focused on high-defense and long-range attacks, not worrying about
lack of mobility. For this reason, the single-use units are a
great value: they have high defense and offense scores and are
dirt-cheap. They're great for supplementing your units and making
any attacks on the major objectives costly for the attacker. They
shouldn't be ignored because it looks like they "waste" money in
campaign mode. It's far better to lose a bunker than a tank.
Since fighters & bombers can move over the entire map, you can place
your airport as far away as possible from the attackers and can
afford to invest more in fighters and bombers. Put it on top of a
minor city to use it's 100HP to defend it.
These are the 'classic' strategies, but defenders can also try to
mix it up, perhaps trying to win by wiping out the attackers on
offense, or the attacker focusing on air strikes and air support.
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5. Unit Comparison Table [QFU]
Legend:
Fl - Flag (The country/region that can buy these weapons)
$$ - Unit cost, in thousands
Attack - Damage vs Infantry (If), Vehicles (Vh), Aircraft (Ac)
Df/HP - Defense strength and hit points
CD - Collateral Damage
SR - Sight Range
(The unit clears the 'Fog of War' up to this distance)
TR - Target Range (Unit can attack this far away)
MV/Fuel - Movement range per turn, fuel supply
Attack
Unit Name Fl $$$ If/Vh/Ac Df/HP CD SR TR MV/Fuel
[Single-Use Units]
Militia US 3 12/ 8/ 0 4/14 1 4 1 4/-
Sympathizers RU 3 12/ 8/ 0 4/14 1 4 1 4/-
Peacekeepers EU 3 12/ 8/ 0 4/14 1 4 1 4/-
FH 105mm EU 10 14/11/ 0 3/20 12 3 4 0/-
155mm M777 US 15 15/14/ 0 3/20 16 3 5 0/-
M46 130mm RU 15 17/13/ 0 3/20 15 3 5 0/-
FH 155mm EU 15 15/14/ 0 3/20 16 3 5 0/-
Defense Tower US 15 12/10/13 10/20 2 3 3 0/-
RU Defense Tower RU 15 12/10/13 10/20 2 3 3 0/-
EU Defense Tower EU 15 12/10/13 10/20 2 3 4 0/-
Bunker US 15 10/14/ 0 11/21 3 2 2 0/-
RU Bunker RU 15 10/14/ 0 11/21 3 2 2 0/-
EU Bunker EU 15 10/14/ 6 11/21 3 2 2 0/-
[Infantry Units]
Heavy Infantry US 10 6/13/ 9 3/15 4 3 2 3/-
Guards Infantry RU 10 6/13/ 9 3/15 4 3 2 3/-
EU Heavy Infantry EU 10 6/13/ 9 3/15 4 3 2 3/-
Engineer US 14 5/11/ 0 4/17 10 3 1 4/-
Pioneer RU 14 5/11/ 0 4/17 10 3 1 4/-
Sapper EU 14 5/11/ 0 4/17 10 3 1 4/-
Commandos US 15 15/15/ 0 7/18 3 3 1 4/-
Spetsnaz RU 15 15/15/ 0 7/18 3 3 1 4/-
EU Commandos EU 15 15/15/ 0 7/18 3 3 1 4/-
[Partisans]
PartisanNC GP 3* 6/ 4/ 2 2/15 1 3 1 8/45
PartisanNE NE 3* 4/ 4/ 4 2/15 1 3 1 8/45
PartisanNW PA 3* 4/ 4/ 6 2/15 1 3 1 8/45
PartisanSC TX 3* 8/ 5/ 2 2/15 1 3 1 8/47
PartisanSE CF 3* 6/ 4/ 2 2/15 1 3 1 8/45
PartisanSW CA 3* 4/ 6/ 2 2/15 1 3 1 8/47
[Light Armor]
Humvee US 6 5/ 4/ 6 2/18 1 4 1 10/60
Vodnik RU 6 5/ 4/ 6 2/18 1 4 1 10/60
VBL-1 EU 6 5/ 4/ 6 2/18 1 4 1 10/60
Striker US 15 11/ 7/ 4 6/18 2 4 1 8/55
Pandur EU 15 11/ 7/ 4 6/20 2 4 1 8/55
Bradley US 25 13/13/ 4 8/20 1 3 1 5/40
BTR-90 RU 25 13/13/ 4 8/20 1 3 1 5/45
Marder EU 25 13/13/ 4 8/20 1 3 1 5/40
[Medium Armor]
Sheridan US 28 12/12/ 6 8/18 2 3 2 6/50
LAV US 30 0/18/ 0 11/18 2 3 2 8/45
Vextra EU 30 6/14/ 0 6/18 2 3 2 8/50
M8 US 32 10/14/ 6 2/18 1 3 2 7/45
AMX 30 EU 32 10/14/ 6 9/18 3 3 2 7/45
[Heavy Armor]
T-55 RU 35 12/16/ 3 10/20 4 2 2 4/35
M60 US 36 10/16/ 6 10/20 4 2 2 5/35
Challenger 1 EU 36 10/16/ 6 10/20 4 2 2 6/35
Leopard 2 EU 42 12/17/ 6 12/21 4 2 2 5/35
Abrams US 45 13/17/ 6 12/21 4 2 2 6/30
T-90 RU 50 14/18/ 6 13/22 5 2 2 6/30
FCS Stuart PA 50 19/17/ 8 12/24 4 3 2 7/45
FCS Jackson CA 50 20/17/ 6 13/30 10 2 1 6/30
EU Goliath EU 51 14/18/ 6 13/23 7 2 2 5/35
FCS Bragg NE 51 12/19/ 6 13/22 5 2 2 5/50
FCS Lee CF 52 12/20/ 6 13/22 3 2 2 5/30
FCS Hood TX 53 10/20/ 6 13/24 5 2 2 4/30
[Artillery]
Big Tom US 35 17/13/ 0 3/16 16 3 4 4/45
Paladin US 38 14/13/ 0 4/18 14 2 4 5/40
Zuzana EU 38 18/13/ 4 2/20 16 1 5 5/40
MERL US 40 18/13/ 0 4/20 19 1 5 5/40
PzH 2000 EU 42 12/17/ 0 6/22 15 3 4 5/35
Crusader US 42 15/15/ 5 6/22 12 3 4 5/35
Smerch RU 45 20/16/ 0 3/16 30 1 5 5/40
FCS Grant GP 51 20/17/10 11/25 20 2 4 4/35
[Anti-Aircraft]
Chaparral US 42 0/ 0/19 6/20 0 4 4 6/40
Avenger US 46 8/ 5/14 6/20 1 4 3 8/40
Vulcan US 46 11/10/15 7/21 4 3 2 6/40
Tridon EU 50 6/12/15 7/20 7 5 2 8/50
Gepard EU 55 8/12/17 8/21 3 3 4 5/40
Shilka RU 56 12/13/16 10/25 8 4 2 6/45
[Helicopters]
Warrior US 38 12/ 7/ 0 3/16 3 5 2 10/65
Mangusta EU 45 12/15/ 5 4/18 5 4 2 8/50
Super Cobra US 50 12/13/12 4/18 4 5 2 8/50
Apache US 60 12/18/ 8 6/21 5 4 2 8/50
Tiger EU 60 12/18/12 6/21 5 5 2 8/50
Hind RU 65 15/16/ 5 10/25 8 4 2 6/45
[Fighters & Bombers]
Tornado EU 95 0/ 0/16 6/20 0 5 2 -/-
Super Hornet US 100 0/ 0/17 6/22 0 5 2 -/-
JSF US 110 0/ 0/18 8/24 0 5 2 -/-
Mig-35 Interceptor RU 110 0/ 0/18 8/24 0 5 2 -/-
Typhoon EU 112 0/ 0/18 8/25 0 5 2 -/-
A-10 Thunderbolt US 115 14/18/ 0 8/20 13 5 1 -/-
Bear RU 120 20/20/ 0 5/20 20 5 1 -/-
LA4 Nimrod EU 120 20/20/ 0 5/18 20 5 1 -/-
Stealth Bomber US 125 20/20/ 0 6/18 20 5 1 -/-
[Special Units]
Android/Cyborg/Borg - 30* 15/15/ 6 8/22 5 4 2 5/-
Airfield - 10* 0/ 0/13 10/100 0 3 3 0/-
*Some unit prices are marked with the '*' (partisans, cyborgs, airfield).
These units are always free to the side that gets them, but this is how
much they count as 'money lost' if they are destroyed.
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6. Unit type discussions/Notes [QFD]
a. Single-Use units
These units have good stats, and they are the only units you
can buy when it is not your turn (when other players attack you
in campaign mode).
Mostly not much use on offense since they can't move. For an
offensive player, they are best used to defend your airbase or
your initial placement of artillery units. The light infantry
make decent scouts for offense, you can buy 3 for the price of
1 heavy infantry.
For defense, these have stats comparable to the best tanks and
their lack of movement isn't a problem since the enemy will be
coming to you. Later on in the game, you'll want to have
permanent versions of these units (Heavy Armor = Bunker/Tower,
Artillery = Guns), but if you are caught off guard on defense
and need a bunch of units, this is your only option.
Single-Use units disappear after they have been used in battle,
but you can "pre-buy" them and have them sitting around till
you need them. Since you can buy them anytime, I don't see what
value this has, aside from possibly raising your unit count to
scare off attacks.
b. Infantry units
Commandos are cheap anti-tank and anti-infantry units.
If you place them in cities, they also have great armor.
Engineers are special units that can lay/destroy mines.
Generally, this isn't as useful since you fight most of
the battle at the front lines, and since the attacker gets
to go first, you may not have any time to lay mines.
Heavy Infantry are good at holding spots till your other units
can arrive. Token forces of them at each city can buy some
time. They're also useful for attacking patrolling aircraft
I don't usually bother with infantry units, preferring to save my
money for more heavy tanks.
c. Light Armor
These are your cheapest scouts. They do the least damage of any
unit, but they're very fast and can explore the map quickly.
If you have several of them, you can use hit-and-run tactics
against a single enemy unit (which can only return fire once).
I start with a couple of Humvees, but when I have enough money
I replace them with Warrior helicopters for their wider sight
range. If all their movement is along a road, Humvees can actually
move farther than Warrior helicopters.
d. Medium Armor
More armor than a scout, more mobile than heavy armor. If you
want a vehicle that doesn't suck at anything, you could be
thinking about these. For a defender, good for putting in the
cities you aren't expecting the enemy to attack.
The LAV is a cheap, nasty tank-killer and its more mobile than
heavy armor.
I start with a couple LAVs but eventually replace them with FCS
tanks.
e. Heavy Armor
The stars of the battlefield are your heavy armor. They're the
slow, beefy musclemen that take forever to get somewhere, but
deal punishing damage when they do. They're very vulnerable to
helicopters and bombers, so they should travel with an escort.
They're good for clearing infantry and especially good at
fighting other tanks. Due to their slowness and massive armor
ratings, they're much better at defense than offense.
I like to have lots of these (preferably FCS tanks) since they're
great for defense and can eventually steamroll their way over
everything on offense.
f. Artillery
Although unable to defend themselves against attacks from close
range, and having generally weak armor, these units can all dish
out high damage from a distance. Since they can attack 4-5
squares away, they can fire from the safety of your rear line,
while heavy tanks/bunkers/towers defend them.
They can all fire farther away than they can see, so to get the
most use out of them you need to have 'spotters' like your
scouts or infantry to spread out and expose enemy units to
shoot. All these weapons have high collateral damage, and using
them a lot will make you more 'evil'
These would be nicer if it were easier to protect them, but as
soon as the AI sees them it sends every unit it has to blow them
up. It's tough to keep these alive
If you're playing Pacifica, the FCS Stuart's high move rate and
ability to fire 2 squares away means it can deliver more firepower
than your artillery and reach almost as distant a target as the
best artillery every turn.
The Great Plain's special unit ('FCS Grant') fixes many of the
problems with artillery. It has decent armor, can fend off enemy
helicopters and dish out quite a bit more damage.
For some reason, the CPU really loves artillery, so expect to see
a lot of it coming your way. If you trap the last faction in a
lone territory and let them attack you repeatedly, they'll send
waves of artillery + infantry at you.
g. Anti-Aircraft
Many units can attack aircraft, but Anti-Aircraft units are the
best at it. Even when it is not your turn, AA get to attack first
on any enemy fighter or bomber that tries to attack or patrol in
the AA unit's attack range. They can respond unlimited times this
way, so the enemy can't get free bombing runs just by sending a
fighter on a suicide run.
Although AA has low armor, they can move quite far each turn to
help you get within range of patrolling aircraft or helicopters.
They're nasty enough that I make them my primary target when attacking,
and always take them with me for defense.
A single 'Chaparral' can destroy a stealth bomber occasionally, but
two AAs in the same area can blow up nearly any aircraft that tries
to patrol or attack in their protected area.
An AA unit is also great for protecting your helicopters from enemy
fighters. It can make a great 'base' to keep your helicopters around
when you're exploring.
If the AA can attack ground units, it can attack them at the same
range it attacks air units. This isn't much help to US troops, but it
makes the EU's AA units double as weak artillery.
h. Helicopters
Helicopters are basically anti-tank weapons. Although a couple
of them have a decent air-attack rating, they'll usually die if
they attack fighters. Super Cobras are like weak, but fast
AA guns. Unlike using a fighter to take out another helicopter,
Super Cobras don't trigger an auto-response from AA.
Warriors make great scouts, able to run over any type of terrain
and see up to 4 squares away. Apaches and Tigers are probably the
best units in the game at destroying ground units.
The EU's "Tiger" is better in every way than the "Mangusta", so
you have no reason to keep the Mangustas around. It's the best
attack helicopter around and is great at finishing off other
helicopters as well as the odd nearly-dead patrolling fighter.
Helicopters and jets are unable to capture territory. If you send a
squad of copters to attack an enemy territory and destroy all the
defender units, you still won't take over that territory. Ground units
can move through a helicopter unit, but can't stop on the same square
as one. Helicopters can likewise fly over ground units.
i. Fighters and Bombers
Bombers do lots of damage to units (with high collateral damage)
Fighters basically defend against bombers and helicopters. You
can put fighters on Patrol in an area to expose the map and
attack any bombers/helicopters that try to enter the protected
area. They are basically very mobile Anti-Aircraft.
Fighters & Bombers aren't placed on the map like other units.
Instead you'll be asked to place a single 'Airfield' unit on the
map during the deployment phase. Once placed, it cannot be
moved, and if it's destroyed you lose access to all aircraft and
aircraft-related special abilities until the next battle.
Press 'X' anywhere on the map to call up your aircraft menu.
Cycle through the available aircraft and assign as many as you
like to a task (bombing, patrolling, etc..)
If you see a lone Anti-aircraft unit, you can attempt to bomb it.
Instead of the AA getting to attack first like it usually does, it
will go after your bombing attack. If your attack destroys the AA,
you will get away without taking damage. If there are other AA
around, they still get to attack you first though, so this is a
tactic to be used with caution.
j. Special Units
Many people don't know that you can use the airfield to attack things.
Click it like a normal unit and attack an air unit within 3 squares.
It has 100 HPs, making it nearly impossible to destroy on one turn (it
would take something like 8 attacks from stealth bombers to blow it up,
or 9 or more heavy tanks). Additionally, if it was placed in a city,
not used to attack, and you can clear the squares around it of enemy
units, it will regain 50 health every turn.
If an airfield is destroyed, ALL aircraft the owner brought to the battle
are also destroyed. The manual states in one place that you just lose
access to them for the battle, but this is incorrect.
Androids, Cyborgs and Borgs are created by special powers. They can be
dropped on any square within your sight radius, so they are particularly
nasty when combined with Pacifica's 'All Seeing Eye' (which lets you see
the entire battlefield). Since they're free units, they're also
expendable.
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7. Game Mechanics [QFM]
a. Terrain Effects [QFT]
Terrain has two effects. Units that stand on it have a bonus
or penalty to their defense score, and it may hinder or help units
walking over it. Aircraft are not affected by terrain at all,
though the airfield itself is affected as if it was a 'Ground Vehicle'
Effects on defense:
Unit type City Forest/Hill Road Clear/Field Water
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Infantry +5 +3 -1 -1 -2
Ground Vehicle +1 +1 -1 0 -6
Note that infantry units never get their base defense, it will always
be lower or higher depending on the terrain. If a road runs through
any kind of terrain, you still get the 'road' defense penalty for
standing on it.
Effects on movement are a bit harder to determine, but as best I
can figure out, it seems to work this way:
The unit's movement score is multiplied by 10. Attempting to move
onto each kind of tile subtracts a certain number of points. The
numbers below are my best guess at the moment:
Effects on movement:
Unit type City Fors Road Clear River Mountain Barrier Lake
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Infantry 10 18 7 12 20 12+ +20 -
Ground Vehicle 12 20* 8 12 35 - +50 -
Helicopter 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Barriers are the movement-impairing traps laid by engineers,
'Dragons Teeth' are for vehicles and 'Barbed Wire' are for infantry.
They add their value to whatever the base modifier was for the tile.
Engineers ignore barriers and destroy them automatically when they walk
over them.
The costs for rivers and mountains are usually what is listed, but there
is a cost for climbing/descending heights that can raise the numbers.
Infantry can often move faster through mountains than over hills, since
they aren't moving from one height to a different one as much.
*Forest tiles are more difficult for some vehicles to move over than
others. Vehicles are broken into 'wheeled', 'tread' and 'towed'
categories. It costs 2 more points for 'tread' vehicles and 8 more
for 'towed' (I think only the Tridon is towed).
b. Refuelling & Repairing
If you don't move a unit or use it to attack, it can regain some health
and fuel at the end of your turn (and before the opponent gets to move).
This is normally 25% max health and 50% max fuel recovered (fractions
are rounded down), but these are doubled if the unit was in a city.
The airfield also regains health this way, recovering 50 HPs per turn
if it was placed in a city. Since you cannot move an airfield, the
only reasons it won't recover are that an enemy is next to it, or
you used it to attack an air unit nearby.
An enemy unit can prevents the recovery of all units it is touching.
It does not prevent the recovery of units 2 or more squares away, even
it has an attack range of 2 or more.
Aircraft recover 25% of max health every turn they are not used. They
never get the bonus for being in a city regardless of where the airfield
is placed.
c. Attack and Defense
The formula for determining damage from an attack seems to be:
Typical Damage = (Attack - Defense) * 1.5
Even though this is "typical", the amount can vary from as little as
2/3 of this amount to almost double this amount. The extreme cases
are rare, but slight variations are more common.
Example:
Two 'Abrams' heavy armor tanks attack each other. Both are on
roads, so both are getting -1 to DEF. A vehicle attack score of
17 is attacking a defense score of 11.
(17 - 11) * 1.5 = 9
So they'll usually do about 9 damage. Scores of 10 and 8 will be
about as common as 9. It would be possible to do as much as 18 or
as little as 6, but these would both be extremely rare.
This formula breaks down when the Defense score is equal to or greater
than the attack score. If the scores are tied, the attacker will do
from 1-3 damage, and if the defense score is higher the attacker has
a 50% chance of doing either 1 or 0 damage.
d. Mines
Engineer-laid "standard" mines appear to have an attack score of 20.
To lay a mine, select an engineer and press the 'DOWN' arrow on the
D-Pad (the manual says UP, but it's wrong). The standard mine is to the
left, the dragons teeth are to the right, and barbed wire is 'up'.
Many of the 'evil' powers also leave behind squares that cause damage to
whoever passes through them. The only ones that engineers can clear
are the mines from 'High Altitude Bombing'
e. Russian Aid
'Russian Aid' looks like brown boxes on the map. If a ground unit moves
over it, it can turn into one of four things:
- Heals or resupplies fuel to the unit
- A temporary buff/bonus to the unit and/or adjacent units
- A bonus Russian unit appears to help you till the end of the battle
- A mine (this is very rare; attack strength is low as well, around 8)
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