MJ's Front Mission 4 Guide Welcome to my FM4 guide. Front Mission 4 is a game that requires a good amount of skill to play well. This guide can remedy some of that skill for you by instructing you on what wanzer parts and skills to purchase, along with the general strategies of each mission. You still need to know how to use the link system properly to achieve optimal results in battle. The guide is based on my Unofficial Score Ranking, which is a way to rank how well you've done in each mission based on pre- set criteria. The guide is based on offensive playing and smart resource management, not turtling or simulator abuse. No level in this guide will take more than 20 turns to complete, with an average of 13 or so. I've given each mission a difficulty rating from 1 to 5 stars. 1 Star (*) - A training mission. No risk of dying unless you're trying hard to. 2 Stars (**) - A bit tougher than a training mission. You need to use basic tactics here at least, like the link system, setting up your wanzers and skills properly, etc. 3 Stars (***) - An average difficulty mission. You need to use some specific tactics to succeed, and you might get in some trouble if you screw up. Overall, though, you won't be in too much danger as long as you follow basic battle tactics. 4 Stars (****) - Above average difficulty mission. These missions can be difficult for numerous reasons, but they always involve a higher than normal risk of failure, with some definite 'danger' spots. You need to achieve objectives that are often involved and difficult, requiring use of pre-battle configuration of wanzers, skills, and links, along with effective tactics and use of enemy AI. 5 Stars (*****) - High difficulty mission. On these missions, you must perform mission specific pre-battle configuration of links and equipment, and play at a high level of skill while knowing exactly what to do in the mission. The risk of failure or a destroyed wanzer is quite high and you usually won't make it out of the mission without some heavily damaged wanzers (although no broken parts, I hope). Gameplay Tips: Here are some assorted tips that I'll develop as I write the guide. Make sure to get all the free equipment available in the game through talking to people. You can find this info in other FM4 FAQs on Gamefaqs.com Links with melee units are extremely effective throughout the game. Learn how to attack in sequences that optimize your melee attacks and link chains. Link chain bonuses can do some incredible damage! The most effective fighting method is to attack with a Melee unit who is linked to your gunners, and pull off a large link combo. Then, have all the gunners linked to the melee unit - as long as they have enough AP to fire their weapons, the melee unit can attack with them. Position your melee units between two enemies when possible, because normal wanzers usually don't survive more than a few link attacks. Aiming ranged weapons with link attacks is important to get the hang of. While you can't fire directly in front of a linked unit, you can almost always move a bit to the side and get the same results. Plan out how your units are going to make a successful link attack. Since melee units have low AP requirements, it's smart to angle them to the side or behind an enemy so your ranged units have a clear shot at the enemy, while your melee unit can pound on them with links. Fighting enemies in tight corridors is often a bad idea, since you'll block each other off and become much less effective. Try to lure them out into the open or find something else to attack instead. Unlike Front Mission 3, shields are less important and dual wielding is more of a possibility, due to the healing wanzer. The enemy AI has two main traits. First, it is scripted to wait until a certain turn to move out and attack your party, or it will simply wait to be attacked. Second, it acquires the first target it can attack, and will often stick with that target until it sees a better opportunity (for example, a ranged unit may switch to attacking a melee unit). Damage is worthless without accuracy. You will get ahead in the long run with more accuracy rather than more damage, especially with single shot weapons like RF, BZ, and ML. However, your own pilots evasion isn't something you should worry about until the end of the game when you have more EP points to spend. Shotguns aren't too useful until you can hit more reliably with them and they meet up with machine guns in damage. Some of the best battle skills are the ones that are passive, non- situational, or don't rely on parts breaking to activate. The two most important stats for your pilots in the game are AP and links. Luckily, they're both fairly inexpensive. More AP means more linked attacks, and more linked attacks means more damage and very dead enemies. No enemy can survive a fully linked gang beating with AP stocked pilots for long. What is the Unofficial Score Ranking (USR)? The FM4 Unofficial Score Ranking is a set of rules and rankings that players can use to score how well they played through the missions of FM4. The rankings are easy to calculate, based directly on in game data, and are a good indicator of player ability. The ranking focuses on scores that a good player will strive for - high enemy damage, low player damage, max EP points, and a modest time limit. The scoring system is based on honesty, so play fair and make sure you enjoy the challenge! USR Rules: 1. You may only play the simulator missions one time each. Analysis: Since you can't use the simulator for EPs, gold, experience, or weapon levels, you need to get as much as possible in the missions themselves. 2. You must complete the simulator missions as soon as they are available. All simulator missions are ranked. 3. You must unlock simulator missions whenever possible. You may, however, delay playing a simulator mission as long as that team (Durandal or USN) can play it later without going into their next mission. 4. If you unlock two simulator missions in one stage, complete the lowest number first (for example, do USN04, then USN09) 5. Abuse of quicksaves is NOT allowed. This means saving before an attack then constantly reloading to get a desired result out of their attack, for example an EMP attack, or a hit on an enemy wanzer body. USR Rankings: You are graded for your performance based on each level out of 100 points. Too many penalties will result in a lower rank. However, the system is flexible enough to reward the highest rank even with a few flaws. The ranks are: Platinum: 90 or above Gold: 80 or above Silver: 70 or above Tactics Ranking - The tactics score represents the number of turn cycles taken to end the mission successfully. There is a count of allowed turn cycles for each mission. Subtract 4 points for every extra turn cycle past the turn cycle count. Analysis: These turn counts are not 'as fast as possible' scores, but scores that are a balance between speed and optimal funds/survival/EP. You'll be able to go through the missions at a pace that allows you to keep your wanzers healthy and your enemies dead. This is done through intense pre-battle planning and smart in-battle tactics. Survival Ranking - The survival score represents the number and type of broken parts at the end of the mission. Units other than your main 12 wanzers do not count. Subtract 5 points for each broken part. Analysis: Broken parts will happen, but they can be restored. The turn cycle count is comfortable enough that you can play through each mission with no broken parts by the end of it. Funds Ranking - The funds score represents the amount of money earned at the end of the level, based on a damage formula of total amount of enemy unit damage / 3. There is a funds count for each mission, usually around 90-95% of all enemy unit health. Subtract 3 points for every 100 gold below the score. Analysis: Destroying a wanzer body outright does not give you any funds for the other remaining parts, so if you try to use quicksaves or sniper shots/whatever to destroy wanzer bodies throughout the mission, your score will suffer. Note that NPC ally attacks will count towards your funds. Avg. EP Ranking - The EP gained score represents the average EPs gained at the end of the mission. There is an average EP count for each mission. If a pilot has EP Plus, subtract 20% of their EP score before taking an average. Subtract 2 points for every EP point below average. Analysis: Your pilot gains EP for a kill as long as they initiated combat with the enemy unit. In addition, pilots who initiated combat with an enemy unit will allow a pilot that they are linked to gain in experience from a kill, regardless of whether or not they initiated combat with the enemy unit. Walkthrough: Mission 00 - Jutland, Denmark Difficulty: * Tactics: Turn 08 Funds: 500 EP: +25 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - El: Buy Max AP+1, MG Level+1, Rapid Fire I, and Terror Shot. Battle Position: No detail necessary. Battle: This is a very basic mission. Just make sure Zead gets a target every turn. Use the shotgun to attack and MG to counter. There's only so much you can do on this level, so if luck turns against you, just start over. Mission D01 - Durandal Simulation 01 Difficulty: * Tactics: Turn 08 Funds: 400 funds EP: +12 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - El: Buy Panic Shot I Ze: Buy MS Level+1, Max AP+1, AP Charge+1 Battle Position: North Drop Zone - XXXXZe ElHeXX Battle: Use the same tactics as the first mission - shotgun to attack then counter with MG, while keeping Zead with targets to hit. Mission 01 - German Base Difficulty: ** Tactics: Turn 09 Funds: 1000 EP: +20 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - El: Buy Rank 2, SG Level+1 He: Buy Minus Shot I Battle Position: C2 C1 S1 ZeEl S2 He M1 Battle: The challenge here is getting all the EP gains for everyone, since you don't have any links set up. Destroy M1 first, then S1. Have Zead fire on M1, C1, and S1 (in that order) before they get too close to him. Focus on S2 with Zead while finishing off S1, but don't kill it until Elsa and Hermes can get in a shot. C1 will sometimes get in the way of your party depending on your positions, so you may have to kill it to get to the remaining two enemies. Mission 02 - Eastern Venezuela Difficulty: *** Tactics: Turn 16 Funds: 1000 funds EP: +30 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: None. Battle Position: No detail necessary. Battle: This is a slightly tough mission, since you can't set your pilots up beforehand or use links. Head across the river to take on the machine gunner, then take out the missile launcher, keeping close to his range. Stay out of the tanks range and it won't approach your guys. Once you've finished off the missileer, take on the tanks and remaining mech. Repair/restore any critically broken parts. Mission U01 - USN Simulation 01 Difficulty: * Tactics: Turn 18 Funds: 1200 funds EP: +20 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - Da: Buy SG Level+1, Rank 2 Re: Buy RF Level+1, Aim Ch: Buy Max AP+2 Wanzer Setup - Change all wanzers armor type to impact. Battle Position: North Drop Zone - XXXX XXRe ChDa Battle: Jam up the tanks at the bridge and tear them apart. Have Ch attack first to take their counters. Once they're through, mow down the remaining two wanzers. Mission 03 - Guinerama Base Difficulty: ** Tactics: Turn 14 Funds: 1300 funds EP: +33 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Da: Buy ML Level+1, Rapid Fire I Re: Buy Rank 2, Focus Up Battle Position: Da ReCh Battle: You need to finish this map in 15 or less turns to unlock USN Sim 9, so you'll need to make a few body shots on the melee wanzers from Renges. Quickly take out the base cannons and start blasting away at the wanzers. Use one or two body shots on the melee wanzers but not the gunners, since they die easily enough anyway. Mission D02 - Durandal Simulation 02 Difficulty: ** Tactics: Turn 10 Funds: 800 funds EP: +18 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Make sure you set up your links and wanzers before starting this one. You might not have enough money to do all the wanzer setup here, but you will soon enough. Do not waste your money on power packs for Zead or Latona. Pilot Setup - El: Buy Link Points+2, Double Shot I, remove Panic Shot I and equip Double Shot I Ze: Buy Rank 2, EP Plus Wanzer Setup - El: Body: Latona's Stork IV Both Arms: Gust 500 Right Arm: (optional) Quint w/ Shotgun instead of Gust 500 Legs: Stork IV Backpack: TB-40 Power Ze: Body: Valiant F Shoulders: MGR-IB Missiles Legs: Quint Remove Bone Buster He: Body: Valiant F Left Arm: Gust 500 Legs: Quint La: Body: Quint Left Arm: Quint Legs: (optional) Gust 500 Remove EMP Backpack Change all wanzers armor type to impact. Link Setup - El: Attack link 2 with La and He La: Defense link 1 with Ze and He Battle Position: Center Drop Zone - XX Ze XX East Drop Zone - La He El Battle: If you've set everything up correctly, you should be tearing through the enemies like paper. Kick some butt with link attacks (attack with Zead, then Latona, then Elsa/Hermes on a unit next to Latona). Once the east group is eliminated, have Zead pelt the north group with missiles while the rest of the team catches up. Nobody should take any significant damage. This is an easy level to kick butt in and get some experience with the link system. Mission 04 - Polish Command Center Difficulty: ** Tactics: Turn 07 Funds: 1400 funds EP: +25 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - El: Buy Skill Slots+2, equip Panic Shot I Ze: Buy Max AP & Charge +1, Skill Slots+2, Piercing Missile He: Buy Rank 2, MG Level+1 El: Buy Charge I Wanzer Setup - El: Place a repair 200 in her backpack. Battle Position: G2 S3 S4 G1 ElZe S2 S1 LaHe Battle: It's worth it to heal the NPC ally, since the enemies will pound on him in your place, and he'll dish out a fair amount of damage himself. If he kills a unit, your pilots will still get the experience. Move your units west - Latona first, Elsa second, Hermes third, then Zead fourth. If the allied wanzer gets directly hit by G1's bazooka shot, I suggest you just restart the mission, because he will usually dodge it. Have Elsa repair the NPCs left or right arm, and Hermes repair the NPCs body. Attack S1 with Zead and Latona. Proceed with a general ass beating of G1 and S1-2 - use link attacks again with Latona pounding away. Nobody should take any significant damage, unless you're unlucky with the bazookas - then just do a link-repair with Hermes. Aside from one more heal of the NPCs legs, he should last the rest of the battle just fine. Mission 05 - German Border Difficulty: *** Tactics: Turn 12 Funds: 2900 funds EP: +33 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - El: Buy Rank 3, MG Level+1 Ze: Buy Rank 3, Max AP+1 He: Buy Rank 3, Link Points+2 La: Buy Rank 3, ML Level+1 Link Setup - He: Attack link 2 with La Battle Position: ElHe LaZe Battle: Liquefy the tanks and move out against the sniper and gunner. You should now have both Hermes and Elsa triggering Latona to attack, so she now gets 3 attacks per turn on the unfortunate target of your choice. If you don't block the bridge when killing the gunner, and don't provide the sniper with a shot as he moves down the ramp, he will move into the main road on his own, where you can easily gang up on him, instead of being cramped up. On to the main entrée, the four enemies to the west. It's best if you spread out the enemies target acquiring, since all four enemies beating on a unit is tough to handle. Wait until the shotgunner moves forward at least, so you can distribute the AI targeting instead of having them gang up on one unit. Take out whoever's in front of Dranz, then go after him with melee link attacks. He won't last more than two turns. Take the sniper out next, then the remaining units. Mission D03 - Durandal Simulation 03 Difficulty: ** Tactics: Turn 11 Funds: 1600 funds EP: +23 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - El: Buy Max AP+1, Link Points +2 Ze: Buy Max AP & Charge+1, MS Level+1 He: Buy Max AP+2 & Charge +2, Panic Shot La: Buy Link Points+2 Wanzer Setup - Bo: Right Arm: Gust 500 Remove Sensor Backpack Change all wanzers armor to impact. Link Setup - El: Attack link 1 with Ze, Defense link 1 with Bo La: Attack link 1 with Bo and He, Attack link 2 with El Battle Position: Southwest Drop Zone - HeElBo ZeLaXX Battle: Move your units north to take care of the baddies, while firing a few missiles at the east group. Take out the initial gunner in range, then the missileer. The east group should be right behind your troops to finish off, then the Bazooka troops will be right around the corner to the north. Mission D09 - Durandal Simulation 09 Difficulty: *** Tactics: Turn 15 Funds: 2700 funds EP: +19 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - El: Buy Rank 4, Rapid Fire II - replace this with Panic Shot I Ze: Buy Rank 4, Max AP & Charge +1, Skill Slots+2, Impact Missile La: Buy Rank 4, Link Points +2, Blast Strike I - replace this with Fire Strike Link Setup - La: Attack link 2 with He, Defense link 1 with Ze Wanzer Setup - Change all wanzers armor to piercing. Battle Position: Bridge Drop Zone - XXZeLaElHeBo Battle: As soon as you destroy a unit in the east group, the west group will come after you. Get the enemy bunched up around you and use Latona to trigger mass attacks from Elsa and Hermes. Hermes should have 4AP left for one more Latona attack. It's possible to make 4-chains here which rock, so go for it. You should be taking out one full unit a turn, with the enemies trying to gang up on the evasive Bosch. Move Zead eastward out of the bridge entrance once the west group shows up, and don't let them gang up Hermes either, as he'll take a beating. On turn 9, both teams should be eliminated, so go after the river group. Send Zead after the missileers, and try to take out the sniper asap. Don't let them focus on one guy, especially not both missileers attacking one guy. Mission 06 - Blauer Nebel Base Difficulty: **** Tactics: Turn 19 Funds: 5200 funds EP: +34 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - El: Buy SG Level+1, Skill Slots+2 He: Buy Rank 4, MG Level+1, Link Points+2 Bo: Buy Rank 3, Link Points+2 Wanzer Setup - El: Right Arm: Quint Right Arm Weapon: Kirishima 51 La: Right Arm Weapon: Bone Buster Bring along some repair items. Link Setup - El: Attack support: Shotgun La: Attack support: Bone Buster La: Change Attack link 1 with Bo to Defense link 1 He: Attack link 2 with El Bo: Attack link 2 with La Battle Position: LaEl HeBoZe Battle: Just in time for the Blauer Nebel Base, everybody but Zead is linked with Latona for maximum melee pounding. You can now get a total of 4 attacks out of her per turn, plus counterattacks. Even Wagner won't stand much of a chance once you link out on him. Start out using piercing weapons on the gunners. They will do a bit of damage but nothing you can't heal. Trash em all quickly and move on to the machine gunners. Draw them out a bit instead of fighting them on the ramp, then take them apart. Try to destroy the grenade launcher asap. Do a bit of healing on the way up the ramp, then bring Wagner and friends over. Take Wagner out first thing, then the sniper, and then the gunner. Try to get them focused on Latona and Bosch, since they have very high evasion rates. Make sure Latona is there for every hit on Wagner for more melee support. Wagner should go down in two turns at most with constant attacks. By the time you take them out and the base cannon, the two copters should be right there to blow up. Use Elsa/Zead on the east copter, and Hermes/Bosch (and Zead if necessary) on the south copter. Mission U08 - USN Simulator 08 Difficulty: ** Tactics: Turn 12 Funds: 700 funds EP: +24 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - Da: Buy Rank 3, Charge I Re: Buy Rank 3, Link Points +2 Ch: Buy Rank 2 & 3, Link Points +2, MG Level+1 Wanzer Setup - Da: Left Hand Weapon: Kirishima 51 Link Setup - Ch: Attack link 2 with Da Re: Attack link 2 with Da Da: Attack Support: Bone Buster Battle Position: South Drop Zone - Re Da Ch Battle: Use Darril's links to dish out 3 melee attacks per turn + counterattacks. Don't let any of the melee units start hounding Renges - cut them off. Chaeffer makes a good meat shield, although most units will be attacking Darril. No body sniping necessary in this level. Do not go provoking them, let them come normally. Mission 07 - Port Cumana Difficulty: *** Tactics: Turn 14 Funds: 1200 funds EP: +36 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - Da: Buy SG Level+1, Link Points +2 Re: Buy RF Level+1, AP & Charge+2 Ch: Buy MG Level+1, AP & Charge+2 Wanzer Setup - Change all wanzer armor to piercing. Link Setup - Da: Attack link 1 with Re and Ch Battle Position: No detail necessary. Battle: Have the three meet up by the boxes and start slugging it out with the gunner and Vavliov. Use Darril's 3x melee attacks to take out the gunner, then Vavliov. If he's about dead, you can hop on boxes and blast him away. His destruction triggers the next two units, another gunner and Ivanovna. Try to take the gunner out asap, then Ivanovna. Mission U02 - USN Simulation 02 Difficulty: ** Tactics: Turn 12 Funds: 1000 funds EP: +15 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - Da: Rank 4, ML+1 Re: Rank 4, Blast Shot I Ch: AP+2 Wanzer Setup - Da: Legs: Husky IV (optional) Re: Right Arm: Giza Legs: Husky IV Ch: Body: Recsys V Right Arm: Husky IV Right Arm Weapon: M.Gun Legs: Gust 400 Link Setup - Ch: Set attack/defense support to right arm. Battle Position: Northeast Drop Zone Battle: Immediately take out the right then left misileer while the rest of the enemies stay put. The west group will approach first, then the east. Just take them as they come and use link attacks with Darril. Mission M08 - Cumana City Difficulty: *** Tactics: Turn 8 Funds: 1200 funds EP: +26 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - Da: AP+2 Re: SS+2, Zoom II Battle Position: No detail necessary. Battle: A fairly straightforward battle against the Zhuk. Have Darril and Renges pound on it while Chaeffer heals and provides link attacks. Hopefully your guys will dodge most of the low-hit rate cannon shots. Don't bother with the gunners until the Zhuk is eating dirt. Mission 09 - Refugee Village Difficulty: *** Tactics: Turn 11 Funds: 2600 funds EP: +21 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - Da: LP+2, Rapid Fire II Re: AP+2, Charge+2 Wanzer Setup - Set all wanzer armor to fire. Link Setup - Da: Attack 2 with Re and Ch Battle Position: Ch ReDa Battle: Move Darrils team out east to take on the melee units and copter, while Ines and Luis take out the gunners with grenades and the shotgun. Have them meet around the center to take the second copter out and the remaining two gunners. For some reason the last two gunners try to move west past your guys, but it's not hard to slaughter them. Mission D04 - Durandal Simulation 04 Difficulty: ** Tactics: Turn 13 Funds: 2500 funds EP: +18 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - Ze: Rank 5, AP & Charge+1, MS Level+1 La: Rank 5, ML+1 Bo: Assault Skills I, Skill Slots II, SS+2, Double Shot I, Rapid Fire II Wanzer Setup - The Gust 500 arms are good enough for the second round of equipment, due to their excellent ranged accuracy. You may choose hand MGs if you wish, though. El: Body: Cicada II Right Arm: Cicada II Right Arm Weapon: Catsray X Legs: Tatou Ze: Body: Ratmount Legs: Mareraid Shoulder Weapons: Piz 3 He: Body: Giza 2 Legs: Tatou/Mareraid Right Arm: Valiant F La: Body: Cicada II Arms: Cicada II Legs: Tatou Weapons: Hard Rod Bo: Body: Cicada II Arms: Gust 500 Change all wanzer armor to impact. Link Setup - El: Attack 2 with Bo, Weapon support to left hand (MG) Battle Position: Southeast Drop Zone - ElBoXX LaHeZe Battle: Move your units west to engage with the south group of enemies. Take out the missileers first and repair the grenade launcher. Once the missileers are dead you don't have to repair the turret any longer. Work westward then head up the ramp to engage the jetpack team. Mission 10 - Wassau Difficulty: **** Tactics: Turn 15 Funds: 4000 funds EP: +48 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - El: Rank 5, MG+1 He: Rank 5, Ap Bonus II La: Melee Skills I, SS+4, Double Strike I Wanzer Setup - Set Zead armor to Fire, and all others to piercing. Bring along some repair items. Battle Position: Northwest Drop Zone - Bo El Northeast Drop Zone - ZeHe La Battle: With Bosch and Elsa, trail after Wagner. Once he's close to the shotgunner, stay out of his attack range, or he'll turn around and start firing, and you want him to keep moving. Once Wagner is past the gunner, trash it with Elsa and Bosch, then meet up with Zead's team in the center to take on Wagner. With Zead's team, move south and engage all three enemies. Don't fight the gunner until he's out of the narrow corridor. With those enemies dead, head through the narrow corridor to the center of the map, where Wagner should be passing by. Make sure Wagner has someone to attack when your teams meet, or he'll just keep running north. Bosch, Elsa, or Latona are preferable. Quickly trash the sniper standing in the way before taking Wagner on, so Latona and Hermes can break out. Pull some link madness on Wagner and he won't last more than a turn or two. With Wagner out of the picture, proceed south while doing a bit of healing, take out the missileer then sniper. Do not let the sniper start hounding Zead, as there's no way he can dodge the shots. Finally, work around west to eliminate Dranz and the shotgunner, who have terrible accuracy rates. Mission 11 - Zaftran Border Difficulty: **** Tactics: Turn 13 Funds: 5000 funds EP: +43 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - El: AP Charge II, Double Shot II, Rank 6, Perfect Shot Ze: Rank 6, Perfect Missile, AP-8, 2 SS+4, AP & Charge+1 He: 2 SS+4, Accuracy II, LP+2, AP Bonus I La: Heavy Strike I, LP+2, 2 SS+2, Move Plus I, Piercing Strike, Skill Slots I Bo: AP+2, Rapid Fire I, AP Charge II, Skill Trigger I, Rank 4, MG+1 Wanzer Setup - Purchase Pegase Legs for all wanzers. Set all wanzer armor to fire. Link Setup - La: Attack 2 with El Battle Position: Ze He La Bo El Battle: This battle is annoying because you can't dodge at all with the Pegase legs, and the enemies will do some nasty damage with their machine guns and missiles. Proceed east to take out the two ground units, then spread out to take on the grenadier. Converge on it and kill it, then move north to take on the two gunners and missile launcher. By the time they're out for the count, the south ones should be in your range, so go after them. The enemies will go down fairly quickly, but mobility and health can be a serious problem. The missile launchers will run around all over the place trying to hit their target if you don't keep them put. Try to spread the damage evenly among your units, don't let any gang ups occur, and use Hermes almost exclusively for healing. Mission U03 - USN Simulation 03 Difficulty: *** Tactics: Turn 16 Funds: 2300 funds EP: +22 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - Da: LP+2 Re: SP+2, Focus Left, Focus Right Lu: LP+2 In: Skill Slots I, EP Plus, 2 SS+1, Heavy Strike I Wanzer Setup - Da: Body: Cicada II Arms: Giaour Left Weapon: Catsray X Shotgun Right Weapon: Hard Rod Legs: Cicada II Backpack: TB-60 Re: Body: Cicada II Right Arm: Calm 200 Left Arm: Giaour Left Weapon: Anaconda Rifle Legs: Cicada II Ch: Body: Giza 2 Left Arm: Cicada II Right Arm: Calm 200 Left Weapon: Luis' Cemetary MG Legs: Cicada II Backpack: RP-5 Healing Pack Lu: Remove Backpack Right Weapon: Grave S Optional - Power pack with Giaour arms. In: Body: Giza Left Arm: Cicada II Left Weapon: Hard Rod Legs: Cicada II Make sure she has some Grenade reloads. Set all wanzer armor to piercing. Link Setup - Da: Attack 2 with In Lu: Attack 2 with Da and In Battle Position: Southeast Drop Zone (near the group of 5 snipers) Battle: Ines will be acting as a melee and grenadier unit until the minotaur arms show up. So for now, she can be a second melee link attacker along with Darril. Her grenades are important in this battle - they can really put a hole through the snipers and they're useful for taking out near-dead units. Don't waste grenades, though - only use them when you can hit 2 or more enemies at once. This is a good stage to practice tossing them around. The large group of snipers will bunch up on the road, making perfect grenade targets. As tempting as it might be, don't split your group up to attack the snipers attacking from the side, just take the enemies out one at a time as a team. They will be coming at a fairly steady pace, so you'll almost always have a new one to gang up on. Try to get them to make stupid shots that have extremely poor accuracy. Use the double melee links with Darril and Ines to do some serious pounding. There are some good melee spots north of your team where your units can hop behind bushes, while the snipers have a terrible hit rate. Sometimes a sniper or two may start moving towards your party very late - just chase after them if you've got nothing left to kill. Mission 12 - Caracas Hideout Difficulty: *** Tactics: Turn 17 Funds: 4200 funds EP: +48 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - Ch: Sniper Skills I, Terror, Panic, Minus Shot I, Zoom I, 3 SS+2 Lu: MG+1 In: AP+2 & Charge+1, 2 SS+1 Wanzer Setup - Change armor to impact. Make sure Ines has grenade ammo. Battle Position: InChRe DaLu Battle: Head west and surround/kill the Moth wanzer and melee wanzer. If it gives you hell dodging your shots constantly and activating DMG 30 every attack, just try the level again. Normally it'll go down in two turns at most with Darril and Ines slamming it. Move southwest to save the hideout. Send Darril and Chaeffer to the west copter, and the other three south - snipe the tank and south copter with Renges, have Ines pound on the tank with grenades, and have Luis fire on the south copter. They'll go down fairly quickly. Once Calvo's team shows up, send then west against the mech, tanks, and south copter. They can take them on without much trouble, just haul some grenades from Rodriguez. With Darril's team, move them west along the road against the three wanzers (lob some grenades), then backtrack a bit to stop the north copter dead in its tracks. Renges can hit it fairly accurately from the bridge as it passes over the river. Mission U04 - USN Simulation 04 Difficulty: *** Tactics: Turn 12 Funds: 2400 funds EP: +13 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - Da: Rank 5, LP+2, SG+1, Double Assault, 2 SS+2 Re: Rank 5, RF+1, LP+2, SS+4, Focus Down, Terror Shot II Ch: Rank 4,5 & 6, MG+1, Link+2, AP Bonus II, AP Charge+2 Lu: AP+2, LP+2, SG+1 In: GR+1, ML+1, AP+2 & Charge+1, SS+1 Wanzer Setup - Set armor to fire. Make sure Ines has grenade ammo. Link Setup - Da: Defense link 2 Lu Re: Attack link 2 In Lu: Attack link 2 Ch Battle Position: Northeast Drop Zone - Ines South Drop Zone - Re ChLuDa Battle: Start out by dropping grenades on all 5 units with Ines. Head east with Darril & Co. to take them out up close. Focus on the missileer/grenadier units, as Ines's grenades will quickly paste the gunners and melees. Prioritize grenade drops on the sensor wanzer, as it is a pain to hit, like all sensor wanzers. Take out the copters as they approach while heading west. Engage the west group with grenades and link attacks. Have Renges/another gunner blow off the grenade arm of whatever grenadier/missileer is launching grenades at your party. After that danger is taken care of, beat the crap out of the gunners and melees with grenades and just like the first group. Mission U09 - USN Simulation 09 Difficulty: **** Tactics: Turn 14 Funds: 5300 funds EP: +15 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - Da: AP Charge I, 3 AP Charge+1 Ch: Repair Plus II, SS+2 Lu: AP Charge II, AP Charge+2 In: Rank 4, AP Charge+1 Wanzer Setup - Da: Left Weapon: Heavy Pile In: Body: Cicada II (you got a whole set of this from Calvo) Backpack: TB-60 Left Weapon: Heavy Pile Make sure you have grenade ammo for her. All armor types to impact. Battle Position: Northwest Drop Zone ReLuIn XXChDa Battle: This mission is one of the tougher simulations. Immediately run south and obliterate the missileers and base cannon. The enemy melee units will come at you one at a time, slow enough to deal with them if you put all your power into wiping them out one at a time. Don't fight near the top of the ramp: back down slowly while pounding with grenades and linked melee attacks, so that the enemy grenadier can't get a shot at you until most of the melees are dead. Once the grenadier is in attack range, take him out with the full force of your party (plus or minus Ines), then finish off the remaining melees and the northeast turret. You need top condition skills, wanzers, and links to be able to handle the melees without them backing up. If you take too long, the melee units will back up and the grenadier will tear your party apart. Mission 13 - Governor's Manor Difficulty: **** Tactics: Turn 09 Funds: 4400 funds EP: +46 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - Da: SS+2 In: Heavy Strike II, 2 SS+1, Move Plus II Wanzer Setup - Change armor to piercing. Battle Position: DaReLu InCh Ca SaGo RoPu Battle: In this battle, you must destroy all units. The problem is, they start running away after you kill the fourth one. You have to take out legs and generally weaken the whole group to the point where you can kill them all off in a turn or two without them running away. Grenades are a big help, as is Renges' Focus Down skill. The copters are the easiest to keep alive and kill reliably, as long as they're very low on health and you don't let them run for it. The ranged attackers like the gunners and snipers are most likely to run for the hills while hitting you at range, while the melee units are usually stupid enough to hang around and attack you instead of fleeing. Move Darril's group west and knock the legs off two of the wanzers, and get the copter down to very low HPs. Then proceed south with them to the south group. Have Ines lob grenades on the southwest group to soften them up. Calvo's group should move west and critically wound the copters, as well as try to kill the mech outright. Move Rodriguez westward and start bombing the southwest group along with Ines. Injure the southwest copter, and make sure the sniper isn't going to be running anywhere. Once the southwest gunners are weak enough to be killed with one more grenade shot, start killing them all. Drop a grenade on the crippled north units that are remaining, and shoot all the copters down. Anything that has legs should be prioritized for killing. Take one last day to finish off whatever else you didn't kill. You should definitely get this done, because you need to unlock USN Simulator 10 in order to win the Minotaur Arms, which is nearly essential in the next mission. Mission U10 - USN Simulator 10 Difficulty: **** Tactics: Turn 17 Funds: 4600 funds EP: +14 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - Da: Rank 6, ML+1, SS+2, Blast Strike I Re: Rank 6, Blast Shot I, Snipe, Zoom 3, AP+2, AP Charge II, AP Charge+2 Ch: SS+4, AP Damage II, AP Charge II, SS+2, Repair III Lu: Rank 3, MG+1 In: AP Charge I, 3 AP Charge+1, AP II, AP+2, 2 BZ+1, 2 RK+1 Wanzer Setup - Change armor to fire. Make sure Ines has Grenade ammo. Battle Position: Southwest Drop Zone: XX InDa XXChLu Southeast Drop Zone: Re Battle: Fight your way eastward with Darril's team, droping grenades on the recon unit and meeting the group of enemies at the bottom of the middle road. They will bunch up, so greet them with some heavy grenade fire and linked attacks. With Renges, body snipe the missileer, meet up with Darril, then go around the corner to body snipe the missileer on the other side of the buildings. After crushing the meager opposition, all that remains are two missileers, two recons, and a Zhuk I. Proceed north to the Zhuk, dropping grenades on and ganging up on the recon and sending Renges to snipe the missileer east of the Zhuk. Use Darril and Ines' melee links to give the Zhuk a good pounding. Once the Zhuk is dead, carpet bomb and gang up on the remaining recon, and body snipe/attack the remaining missileer. Mission 14 - Caracas Escape Difficulty: ***** Tactics: Turn 10 Funds: 6700 funds EP: +50 avg. Pre-Battle Planning: Pilot Setup - Da: Skill Slots I, AP+2, AP Charge+1 Re: Skill Slots I, SS+1, Zoom III Ch: Skill Slots I, Escape II Lu: LP+2 Wanzer Setup - In: Body: Giza Legs: Giaour Backpack: TB-60 Power Left Arm: Minotaur Make sure Ines has rocket ammo, and others with her. Link Setup - Lu: Defense 2 with Chaeffer Battle Position: Lu InRe Ch Da Go Pu Ca Sa Ro Battle: This is a nasty battle involving no less than three rocket launcher wanzers, which are to be your mortal enemies. They can bomb you far faster than you can repair yourself, and facing three of them means a whole lot of trouble. You'll need the minotaur arms on Ines to blast away the regular enemies and allow you to focus on the rocket launchers. One good thing about the rocket launchers is that they only have a launcher on their left arm. That means you only have to take out that arm to render them harmless. Renges's sniping will be very handy for blowing those arms away. Start out moving your units south along the road. Move Darril and Luis before Chaeffer, and move Calvo straight south. For some reason, Calvo seems to be the favorite target of most enemies in this level. Have Ines fire the first rocket at the enemy group below you. You'll get smashed by your first rocket on enemy turn 1. On turn 2, blast the baddies with a grenade and rocket blast. Have someone with high evasion attack the rocket launcher - all of the enemies are linked, so whoever attacks first is going to get blasted at. With that out of the way, snipe the rocket launchers left arm, then perform a relentless assault until you break the arm. There's not really any luck involved - just keep attacking and you'll do enough damage to break it. On turn 3, kill one of the snipers blocking the way with Luis, then break out and move southeast towards the second rocket launcher with everyone but Ines, who should move south. If your units aren't too close to him, he won't do anything, which is what you want. If he decides to lob rockets at you, consider trying to approach him at a bit more of a distance. I'm not sure what the exact conditions are - anyway, it's possible to complete the mission while taking the hit. Send the Al Alanzia units east to the bridge to face off with the two linked bazooka units. Don't let them both lock onto the same target, or that target will probably end up in very bad shape and cost you maintenance money. It's best to surround one of them and just fire away, as there's not much of a better strategy. Let one of the non-targeted units attack first to take any counter damage, then fire away with the rest of the group. Meanwhile, move Ines and Luis south to start rocket bombing the south group. They'll give chase to her, so just keep moving back north and bombing them at range, while Luis picks the two gunners off. Once you finish with the second rocket launcher with Darril, Renges, and Chaeffer, send them south (you can move over the low-level buildings) to take out the third one and the rest of the south force, which should be significantly damaged from Ines's carpet bombing. Good thing too, because everyone will be really beat up at this point by the constant rocket flinging. Vavilov will be weak enough that you can blast him without needing to get into melee range. Send Ines and Renges back up northeast to help finish off the bazooka units while you repair any broken parts with Chaeffer. Lob rockets with Ines then fire her bazooka, and use some body snipes with Renges to seal the level for good. More guide coming soon!