Advance Wars Revolution

Hawke: A Bird of Prey Which WILL hunt you down Intro Hawke... Hawke. Hawke first graced our GBA's/VBA's/DS'/SP's/Micro's and DS Lites in the prologue in Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising. He appeared as a seemingly loyal but evil character in the game. As we progress, we see Hawke acting as a leader to Flak, Lash and Adder. He is straight and to the point, secluded and very blunt. During the invasion of Green Earth, Hawke may come off as an egotistic but accepts his losses and doesn't underestimate his enemy's ability. At best, he seems cold, cruel and heartless, driven by his desire to fulfil his own goals. Hawke in Advance Wars: Dual Strike saw his character take a very different approach, but still stayed remarkably in character. His first words were coated in doubt and pessimistic thinking, questioning the new Black Hole and their goals. We see that Hawke fights for a reason, selfish, but doesn't fight needlessly. As the story progresses we see Hawke change his alliance. In his quest to further his own goals he uses the Allied Nations, and they use him. Hawke, in conversations with Kindle and the Bolt Guard, shows his determination and bravery. He fears no-one, which is quite right, having disposed of what is probably the most powerful CO to grace Advance Wars. Towards the end, Jake befriends Hawke, and the game hints at a subtle change in his goals and motivation. Conversing with the kind-hearted and selfless Orange Star CO Jake, he sees other people's drives and their motivation and possibly sees a new beckoning in life. Could this be a turn around in the Hawke as we know him? Possibly, but this mysterious Black Hole CO will be as powerful as ever in the oncoming AW games. Stats CO Hawke Day to Day Ability: All units have 10% extra attack power, at a cost of overpriced powers. COP: Black Wave (xxxxx) +1HP to all of Hawke's units -1HP to all enemy units Default +10/+10 stat boosts. SCOP: Black Storm (xxxxxXXXX) +2HP to all of Hawke's units -2HP to all enemy units Default +10/+10 stat boosts. Tags: Lash (*) Rebel Yell - 110% Andy (*) Shaky Alliance - 105% Eagle: 70% Drake: 90% Jess: 90% Kindle: 80% As we see, Hawke is incredibly powerful D2D as all of his units are stronger than average, but drops in power slightly when powers are put in the equation, as they are overpriced by a star or so. Hawke's 110/100 stats ensure more One Hit Kills, better counterattacks and constant 1 extra HP of damage done (well, mostly constant (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)). This is clearly very powerful and Hawke will obviously beat out Adder and Andy in raw stats when it comes to D2D, however his powers require careful use. Hawke's mass damage powers can change lost first strikes, they can cripple capturing enemies, they can drain funds by forcing repairs on every city an enemy units is on, but most importantly are the mass damage effects. A well timed use will permanently change the course of the battle. Hawke Analysis ========= On Land: ========= D2D: Hawke is very interesting to play as D2D, if he loses first strike, his extra attack power can and probably will be very easily dismissed and unnoticeable, but emphasising first strike, Hawke will perform better than most CO's. Emphasising first strike Hawke not only gets extra damage in; he also gets more and more OHKO's, without relying on luck. Let' see the OHKO's Hawke gets that most CO's need luck to get: Format: Attacking Unit/Weapon/100% attack percentage - 110% attack percentage of damage/Defending unit Md Tank, Machine Gun, 95% becomes 104% when attacking a 100/100 Mech. Rocket, Rocket, 95% becomes 104% when attacking a 100/100 Infantry Piperunner, Primary Weapon, 95% becomes 104% when attacking a 100/100 Infantry Now, that's only 3 units and only against Foot Soldiers. This is very useful against killing meat shielders and all, but it isn't exactly a game breaking strength. However, Hawke's real strength lies elsewhere, and that is in creating new possible OHKO's. These are far, far more plentiful, so here they are: Format: Attacking Unit/Weapon/100% attack percentage - 110% attack percentage of damage/Defending unit Mech, Bazooka, 85% to 93% attacking a 100/100 Recon. Mech, Bazooka, 85% to 93% attacking a 100/100 Rockets. Mech, Bazooka, 85% to 93% attacking a 100/100 Missiles. Tank, Cannon, 85% to 93% attacking a 100/100 Recon Tank, Cannon, 85% to 93% attacking a 100/100 Rockets Tank, Cannon, 85% to 93% attacking a 100/100 Missiles Md Tank, Cannon, 85% to 93% attacking a 100/100 Tank Md Tank, Cannon, 85% to 93% attacking a 100/100 Piperunner Artillery, Cannon, 90% to 99% attacking a 100/100 Infantry Artillery, Cannon, 85% to 93% attacking a 100/100 Mech Rockets, Rockets, 90% to 99% attacking a 100/100 Mech Rockets, Rockets, 90% to 99% attacking a 100/100 Rocket Rockets, Rockets, 90% to 99% attacking a 100/100 Missiles Rockets, Rockets, 85% to 93% attacking a 100/100 un-dived Sub. Piperunner, Pipe Cannon, 90% to 99% attacking a 100/100 mech Piperunner, Pipe Cannon, 90% to 99% attacking a 100/100 recon Piperunner, Pipe Cannon, 85% to 93% attacking a 100/100 Rocket Piperunner, Pipe Cannon, 85% to 93% attacking a 100/100 Anti Air Piperunner, Pipe Cannon, 90% to 99% attacking a 100/100 Missile Piperunner, Pipe Cannon, 85% to 93% attacking a 100/100 un-dived sub So what's this? Hawke gets 20 extra possible OHKO's than 100/100 units...ON LAND ONLY. That is massive, especially at chokepoint busting or simply killing units. Seriously, 20 extra kills, with no drawback D2D. That is ginormous. Oh, and that's not all, any 55% or higher match up which requires luck to do that extra point of damage is now guaranteed to do that extra point of damage, and anything like 56% or higher can actually do even another point of damage with enough luck, so Hawke's seemingly small extra 10% attack can end up doing 2 more damage than a CO with 100/100 stats. These are massive differences, not only will you do more damage, you will take less in counterattacks, with a regular Hawke match up with first strike will (tank on tank) will always be 8-4 in your favour, whilst most CO's can be stuck with 7-5, which is rather annoying. It also works the other way. Like I said, to make the most of Hawke you need to emphasise first strike, but the 10% can actually come in handy even when you lose first strike. If you end up with 5HP after losing first strike, you are guaranteed to do 3 damage (other CO's rely on 28%) and if you end up on 4 HP, unlike most CO's, you still have the chance to do 3 damage. This makes the 10% extra attack even more useful on land. Now that you have gotten a feel of what Hawke can do D2D you probably need to know how Hawke plays. To get the most from the 10% extra attack, you need some units to fall back on. Take this scenario; Andy1 has 2 tanks attacking Andy2 who has 1 tank. Andy2 gets first strike on one tank. Andy1 now needs to attack with both tanks to kill Andy2's single tank, however if Hawke takes over Andy1's position, after the counterattack Hawke only needs the full health tank to kill Andy's 7/8 HP one, allowing the remaining tank to block a choke, harass a capturing infantry or retreat and heal. Now, being incredibly powerful D2D is not all Hawke can do. Hawke's powers, though overpriced, are incredibly well suited to his abilities. Let's start with a short list of what his seemingly simple (S)COP can and will do. -Damage the enemy(ies) and heal Hawke, which branches out even further to include: *Make losing first strike pretty much obsolete *Allows first strikes with same unit matchups to leave the enemy on 1 or 2 HP instead of 4 or 5 *Gives a universal 1-4 HP advantage for the entire battle for those affected units *Allows ALOT more OHKO's. -Gives a potentially crippling monetary advantage (A fresh built Megatank will drain 5600 next turn, on top of all units on cities etc.) so it is possible to drain an entire days funding from using the COP/SCOP, possibly 2 or 3 days if the opponent continuously heals his units per turn. -Basically guarantees a win in War Of Attrition -Delays capturing foot soldiers for the opponent -Reduce terrain star effectiveness Let's go through this one by one, land only. 1) Imagine you just lost a tank on tank match up, and it ended worst case scenario, 8-5. If you activate the regular COP it become 7-6, but if you attack now, you can bring the enemy tank down to 4 or 5 HP to your 4 HP, which ends up a lot better than the original 8-5, this is a whole lot better than the original match up and opens a lot more doors for the rest of your army. Enter Black Storm Black Storm is possibly one of the most powerful, yet balanced, SCOP's. That previous worst-case scenario of a loss of first strike is now 7-6 IN YOUR FAVOUR, and with 120/110 stats to attack with. Apply that to your entire army and you got a force to be reckoned with. Now, that's not all Black Storm does, completely turning the tides of battle and making your army significantly stronger even after you have been on the back foot for a significant amount of time is just a small part of what it does. Now we've been focusing a lot on the worst case scenario so far, and from what I've argued so far, this is possible not going to be the case all of the time. If Hawke is at an advantage and can get First Strike, the battle is already won. A Hawke first strike tank on tank is (on average) 8-4 in Hawke's favour, if you activate Black Storm beforehand that starts off at 10-8 and then you attack with 120 attack to leave the enemy tank crippled at 1 or 2 HP, with you taking an absolute max counterattack of 1 damage, 9-2 (worst case) is not a bad result, that is a minimum of 2 extra HP. Now, obviously Hawke's powers are crazy powerful with the obvious matchups like a tank on a tank, but what about other things like A-Airs and Fighters? A normal 100/100 Anti Air would do 65% to a normal 100/100 Fighter, put in Hawke's D2D and that is 71%, a guaranteed 7 damage with a small chance to do 8 damage. Activate Black Storm and you're guaranteed to OHKO that Fighter, that's a big difference of 3 HP extra damage (4 extra compared to a normal 100/100 CO). oh, and that's not al, let's have a list of land only OHKO's after using the SCOP, which is everything which would usually be a 65% match up with two blandies with no terrain stars, loss of defence due to smaller HP won't be included in the attack percentage increase, but if it required for the OHKO it will be noted. Format: Attacking Unit/Weapon/100% attack percentage - 120% attack percentage of damage/Defending unit Mech, Bazooka, 75% to 89% attacking an 8HP 100/100 APC (OHKO) Mech, Bazooka, 70% to 84% attacking an 8HP 100/100 Artillery (OHKO) Mech, Bazooka, 65% to 77% attacking an 8HP 100/100 Anti Air (70% OHKO) Mech, Machine Gun, 65% to 77% attacking an 8HP 100/100 Infantry (70% OHKO) Recon, Machine Gun, 70% to 84% attacking an 8HP 100/100 Infantry (OHKO) Recon, Machine Gun, 65% to 77% attacking an 8HP 100/100 Mech (70% OHKO)) Tank, Cannon, 75% to 89% attacking an 8HP 100/100 APC (OHKO) Tank, Cannon, 70% to 84% attacking an 8HP 100/100 Artillery (OHKO) Tank, Cannon, 65% to 77% attacking an 8HP 100/100 Anti Air (70% OHKO) Tank, Machine Gun, 75% to 89% attacking an 8HP 100/100 Infantry (OHKO) Tank, Machine Gun, 70% to 84% attacking an 8HP 100/100 Mech (OHKO) Neotank, NeoCannon, 75% to 89% attacking an 8HP 100/100 Md Tank (OHKO) Neotank, Machine Gun, 65% to 77% attacking an 8HP Recon (70% OHKO) Neotank, Machine Gun, 65% to 77% attacking an 8HP APC (70% OHKO) Neotank, Machine Gun, 65% to 77% attacking an 8HP Artillery (70% OHKO) Neotank, Machine Gun, 75% to 89% attacking an 8HP Rocket (70% OHKO) Megatank, Mega Cannon, 65% to 77% attacking an 8HP Megatank (70% OHKO) Megatank, Mega Cannon, 65% to 77% attacking an 8HP Cruiser (70% OHKO) Megatank, Mega Cannon, 70% to 84% attacking an 8HP Lander (OHKO) Artillery, Cannon, 80% to 96% against an 8HP Recon (OHKO) Artillery, Cannon, 70% to 84% against an 8HP Tank (OHKO) Artillery, Cannon, 70% to 84% against an 8HP APC (OHKO) Artillery, Cannon, 75% to 89% against an 8HP Artillery (OHKO) Artillery, Cannon, 80% to 96% against an 8HP Rocket (OHKO) Artillery, Cannon, 75% to 89% against an 8HP Anti Air (OHKO) Artillery, Cannon, 80% to 96% against an 8HP Missiles (OHKO) Artillery, Cannon, 70% to 84% against an 8HP Piperunner (OHKO) Rocket, Rocket, 80% to 96% against an 8HP Tank (OHKO) Rocket, Rocket, 80% to 96% against an 8HP APC (OHKO) Rocket, Rocket, 80% to 96% against an 8HP Artillery (OHKO) Rocket, Rocket, 80% to 96% against an 8HP Piperunner (OHKO) Anti Air, Vulcan, 65% to 77% against an 8HP Fighter (70% OHKO) Anti Air, Vulcan, 75% to 89% against an 8HP Bomber (OHKO) Anti Air, Vulcan, 75% to 89% against an 8HP Visible Stealth Fighter (OHKO) Piperunner, Pipe Cannon, 80% to 96% against an 8HP Tank (OHKO) Piperunner, Pipe Cannon, 80% to 96% against an 8HP APC (OHKO) Piperunner, Pipe Cannon, 80% to 96% against an 8HP Artillery (OHKO) Piperunner, Pipe Cannon, 80% to 96% against an 8HP Piperunner (OHKO) Piperunner, Pipe Cannon, 65% to 77% against an 8HP Fighter (70% OHKO) Piperunner, Pipe Cannon, 75% to 89% against an 8HP Bomber (OHKO) Piperunner, Pipe Cannon, 75% to 89% against an 8HP Stealth fighter (OHKO) That's a lot yeah? We're not done. 10 more OHKO's can be achieved with enough luck (65%+) and if we feel really lucky, anything with a normal match up with 58% or more can OHKO. Not only that, but all the calculations above are made OHKO's too so using Black Storm Hawke gets a possible 74 extra OHKO's, going from a base damage 65% or higher (this number can increase though if any matchups are 57%+). Let's recap section 1. After a Black Storm, Hawke can get a possible 74+* extra OHKOs. *However many 58-63% matchups there are, add onto 74 This is his ground units only, I'll just give the readers some time to let this amazing stat sink in, honestly, 74 more available OHKO's... ... ... ... ... ... Sunk in? Good. Let's move along. The 2-point healing is looking pretty mediocre now that we can see what mass damage can and does do, but it's still a fundamental part of Hawke's powers. There's not much to say about the 2 point healing, it just helps really, puts crippled units back into the game, not to mention if paired with Andy...(IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) 2) Ah, the money advantage Hawke's powers give off. A common thought by people who say Hawke is underpowered because his super expensive powers can be counted by simply putting units on a city. This thought doesn't exactly take in what happens when a damaged unit is on a city, next turn it will repair itself, and when it repairs itself, it will drain funding to do so. On a map with 15 000 income per day, you will probably be spending in-between 12 to 18 000g. If you buy 2 tanks, next turn you will lose 2800g, effectively losing quite a bit of income. Even worse, if any units at all are on a city when this takes place, you will lose that money too. On that same 15 000 a day map, let's say you build 2 tanks and you have a Rocket resting on a city, next turn you have lost 5800g, that's more than a third of your income lost. The more the income, the bigger the map, the worse it gets for the anti Hawke player. Let's take a game on Squash island against Grimm i recently had. On one point, Grimm had just built a Fighter and a Mech, and he had a full health rocket resting on a city with 2 other damaged tanks on a city, with a 20 000g income. I unleashed Black Storm and Grimm the next day was meant to have 22 000g (he had 2000g left over last turn), after the Black Storm, all the repairs he wouldn't need to have one have now cost him a total of 10 400, more than half his income and almost half his funds. So now instead of having 19200 (the two tanks he was originally planning to heal), he has a measly 11 600g. This can also carry over for the next turn as well, if the player wishes to repair the unis which weren't on cities, they have lost more and more funding. While this power may be small, it really makes you think twice before attempting to 'counter' Hawke's SCOP, that's if you manage the survive the 74 extra OHKO's Hawke can do to you before you get your turn. 3) War of Attrition is exactly where Hawke excels at. Not only does he have an extra 10% attack to do more damage, his powers are amazingly useful here. When both you and your opponent have a limited and unreplenishable (in the immediate future) army, you need to emphasise keeping it healthy, intact and getting first strike. Hawke can do this as well (if not better) than every CO, but not every CO can turn the tides in this important land grab, which is War of Attrition quite like Hawke. The ability to heal AND damage gives him a significant advantage, even when he loses the important first strikes, like tank on tank. There really isn't much to say here except that Hawke will have an incredibly easier time than most CO's in War of Attrition, being able to keep his units intact and functioning whilst making the enemies units significantly worse. Only a few other CO's can do this, and none can do both, Hawke also gets this effect cheaper, Olaf needs to wait 7 stars to get mass damage, Drake needs to 4 (but he doesn't get healing) and Von bolt needs 10 stars and Andy needs 6 stars for healing only whilst Hawke only needs 5 stars for both mass damage and mass healing. Hence why Hawke performs incredibly well in War of Attrition. 4) Whilst halting captures (and possibly helping you own) may seem fairly small, it is still a largely useful technique. Halting captures also comes under giving Hawke a possibly monetary advantage, whilst sapping funds; Hawke can prevent the enemy getting more funds the next turn, which is small, but useful. This can also give you more time to prevent the enemy capturing important sections of the map, like the middle airport/base/Comm. Tower/Port/etc. It will in most cases give you an extra day to rush in a Recon or your own infantry to kill the capturing enemies, which can completely alter the course of the game. It can also be used to give you an extra turn to stop a HQ capture in certain maps where you are separated from your headquarters, and it can even speed up your captures. Whilst being a rare occurrence, if you have a capturing infantry on 6HP and you have chipped of 12 of the cities health points, a Black Storm can give an immediate capture next turn. 5) Another good thing about Hawke's powers is his incredible advantage of being able to lower terrain star effectiveness. For each bit 1HP lost, terrain stars give 2 or 3 percent less defence, so when you use your Super or regular CO Power, you are effectively weakening the advantages of terrain stars, and strengthening your own by healing. So overall, on land Hawke is an amazing CO, with an incredible power day-to-day, incredible powers and a variety of uses and techniques. Hawke has access to a lot of OHKO's most CO's don't have both in the powers and every day. ======= In Air ======= D2D: Much like on land, Hawke is largely dependant on first strike to make the most of his skills. If he loses it, he will still perform better than most CO's but Hawke can really make a big difference in the sky with his +10% D2D. Once again, emphasising first strike, Hawke gets even more advantages than most bland CO's, such as: Format: Attacking Unit/Weapon/100% attack percentage - 110% attack percentage of damage/Defending unit Bomber, Bombs, 95% to 104% against a 100/100 Md Tank Bomber, Bombs, 95% to 104% against a 100/100 Anti Air Bomber, Bombs, 95% to 104% against a 100/100 Lander Bomber, Bombs, 95% to 104% against a 100/100 Undived Sub Bomber, Bombs, 95% to 104% against a 100/100 Black Boat B-Copter, Machine Gun, 95% to 104% against a 100/100 T-Copter Stealth, Omni-Missiles, 95% to 104% against a 100/100 Infantry So D2D only, Hawke gets 7 guaranteed OHKO's most CO's rely luck to get, however, this gets even better. not only does Hawke have these 7, Hawke also gains access to some luck based OHKO's most CO's don't have. Format: Attacking Unit/Weapon/100% attack percentage - 110% attack percentage of damage/Defending unit Fighter, Missiles, 85% to 93% against a 100/100 Stealth Bomber, Bombs, 90% to 99% against a 100/100 Neotank Stealth, Omni-Missiles, 90% to 99% against a 100/100 Mech Stealth, Omni-Missiles, 90% to 99% against a 100/100 Recon Stealth, Omni-Missiles, 85% to 93% against a 100/100 Rocket Stealth, Omni-Missiles, 85% to 93% against a 100/100 Anti Air Stealth, Omni-Missiles, 90% to 99% against a 100/100 Missile Stealth, Omni-Missiles, 85% to 93% against a 100/100 Undived Sub So putting these together, Hawke has access to 15 extra OHKO's most CO's don't have in the air, and that's D2D only. With powers this will rise and make an air battle a piece of cake for Hawke, but let's further examine his D2D. So obviously the 10% comes in handy, a lot in the air. Stealth's can now be OHKO'ed by a Fighter, even when hidden, so they are less of a menace. Also, going away from OHKO's, Hawke gets a guaranteed 6 damage to an enemy fighter, which guarantees only 2 HP of damage taken (unless you are fighting Grimm or another CO with increased attack). So taking that 2 damage instead of 3 still allows OHKO's against Black Bombs and Copters, unlike most CO's who would leave them at 1 HP (which is especially bad in the case of a Black Bomb and T-Copter). Now, we know Air units are VERY expensive and can be quite a detriment to your ground forces if you spend too much on them. Air supremacy is very important and is one of the factors in deciding the winner. So you need to be able to make use of your units and Hawke does that perfectly. With his 10% extra attack, first strike will be very important, he will take less on counterattacks and deal more damage, allowing quick kills faster. Hawke is very cost effective in the air, and together with his abilities in the other two factions, he's a very efficient CO when it comes to air supremacy. Once again, being a menace D2D is only the beginning of Hawke's amazing abilities. His powers, whilst not having as much diversity as on land, are still a big factor in air battles. His powers are still a force to be reckoned with, with his powers able to: -Damage the enemy(ies) and heal Hawke, which branches out even further to include: *Make losing first strike pretty much obsolete *Allows first strikes with same unit matchups to leave the enemy on 1 or 2 HP instead of 4 or 5 *Gives a universal 1-4 HP advantage for the entire battle for those affected units *Allows ALOT more OHKO's. -Gives a potentially crippling monetary advantage -Basically guarantees a win in War Of Attrition Once again, let's go through them one by one, in-depth. 1) Losing first strike is much the same as it was on land. If you lose a Fighter first strike, worst-case scenario, you still come out on top 6-6 with first strike using 120/110 stats. This basically echoes across the entire air faction (B-Copters too) and makes gaining and holding air supremacy a whole lot easier. Now, all the advantages are pretty much the same as on land, so let's cut to the chase and go to the big one, the new OHKO's. Format: Attacking Unit/Weapon/100% attack percentage - 120% attack percentage of damage/Defending unit Bomber, Bombs, 75% to 89% against an 8HP 100/100 Carrier B-Copter, Missiles, 65% to 77% against an 8HP 100/100 Artillery (70% OHKO) B-Copter, Missiles, 65% to 77% against an 8HP 100/100 Rockets (70% OHKO) B-Copter, Missiles, 65% to 77% against an 8HP 100/100 Missiles (70% OHKO) B-Copter, Machine Gun, 65% to 77% against an 8HP 100/100 B-Copter (70% OHKO) B-Copter, Machine Gun, 75% to 89% against an 8HP 100/100 Infantry B-Copter, Machine Gun, 75% to 89% against an 8HP 100/100 Mech Stealth, OmniMissiles, 80% to 96% against an 8HP 100/100 Tank Stealth, OmniMissiles, 80% to 96% against an 8HP 100/100 APC Stealth, OmniMissiles, 80% to 96% against an 8HP 100/100 Artillery Stealth, OmniMissiles, 80% to 96% against an 8HP 100/100 Piperunner Stealth, OmniMissiles, 65% to 77% against an 8HP 100/100 Fighter (70% OHKO) Stealth, OmniMissiles, 75% to 89% against an 8HP 100/100 Bomber Stealth, OmniMissiles, 75% to 89% against an 8HP 100/100 Stealth So, yeah, Hawke after using his SCOP gets 26 extra OHKO's, 14 coming from the Stealth. This shows the Stealth's ability to attack every unit in the game's usefulness is magnified even further using Hawke's abilities, making the Stealth a unit well worth your time when playing as Hawke. Hawke's Bombers also get a MASSIVE boost, hitting 8 new possible OHKO's. This makes air supremacy a breeze now. 2) The monetary advantage Hawke gains is exactly the same as the ground units, but even better. If you're opponent has just put a big emphasise on air units, they're massive cost is very punishing, more so than most land units. One Fighter will sap 4000g from the enemies next turn income, the Black Bomb being the most expensive unit, will sap 5000g from the enemies income, effectively making it even more difficult to get good value for money. This is especially good if the opponent has air units healing... 3) Once again, War of Attrition is basically the same as on ground, Hawke can quite safely ignore lost matchups and has a relatively cheap power in comparison to other CO's who have powers which socialise in war of Attrition. He can heal and keep his limited force running longer and more efficient than the enemy. So overall, Hawke is incredibly powerful in the air. He can gain air supremacy very fast and hold it, he can use his air units a lot more effectively than most CO's and has access to a lot of new OHKO's. Hawke is very rarely outdone in the air, and is the only CO who is incredibly powerful in air without a big crippling weakness elsewhere, such as his navy or ground force. ========= The Navy ========= D2D: In short, Hawke is awesome D2D. The whole rock, paper, scissors element of Naval battles makes Hawke's D2D powers amazing. Hawke gets a lot more OHKO's thanks to this and makes him a formidable force at sea. Once again, emphasising first strike will yield in a lot of benefits for Hawke that other CO's don't have the luxury to get, such as: Format: Attacking Unit/Weapon/100% attack percentage - 110% attack percentage of damage/Defending unit Battleship, Cannon, 95% to 104% against a 100/100 Infantry Battleship, Cannon, 95% to 104% against a 100/100 Cruiser Battleship, Cannon, 95% to 104% against a 100/100 Lander Battleship, Cannon, 95% to 104% against a 100/100 Undived Sub Battleship, Cannon, 95% to 104% against a 100/100 Black Boat Submarine, Torpedoes, 95% to 104% against a 100/100 Lander Submarine, Torpedoes, 95% to 104% against a 100/100 Black Boat So straight away, as soon as Hawke builds a Battleship and Submarine he has access to 7 more OHKO's that a normal 100/100 CO doesn't have. It's amazing, but wait, there is a lot more OHKO's that come from luck, such as: Format: Attacking Unit/Weapon/100% attack percentage - 110% attack percentage of damage/Defending unit Battleship, Cannon, 90% to 99% against a 100/100 Mech Battleship, Cannon, 90% to 99% against a 100/100 Recon Battleship, Cannon, 85% to 93% against a 100/100 Rocket Battleship, Cannon, 85% to 93% against a 100/100 Anti Air Battleship, Cannon, 90% to 99% against a 100/100 Missiles Cruiser, Missiles, 90% to 99% against a 100/100 Sub Cruiser, Anti Air Gun, 85% to 93% against a 100/100 Fighter There's another 7 OHKO's that he gets, a guaranteed 9 damage with a chance to do more, which is something other CO's don't quite get. Together Hawke gets 14 new OHKO's D2D with his Navy units, which is quite amazing and very very useful. This 10% though is even better when you take damage, and that's where the Carrier is great. Even after taking one damage, Hawke's carrier will OHKO any air units 90% of the time, even after taking 3 damage, his Carrier can still OHKO a Black Bomb, which is amazingly useful, same with his Cruiser. However, perhaps Hawke's best naval ability is his OHKO'ing of transport units. His subs and battleship will now OHKO Landers and Black Boats, and if they're on reefs (which is very rare), he can still OHKO, which other CO's can't do. Little things are more satisfying than OHKO'ing that Lander with 2 Neotanks in it, very useful on Kita Straight mind you, where there are very little reefs. Much like Air units, Naval units have a heavy price tag, a very heavy price tag. However, Hawke makes life alot easier. Cruisers will only leave Subs at 1HP 10% of the time, unlike most CO's. Battleships will sink cruisers in an instant, keeping your subs safe and your subs will be OHKO'ing those transports, not to mention having the ability to do upto 8 damage to a Battleship, where most CO's can do an absolute max of 7, and only half the time. His Carriers will still OHKO all air units even after taking damage 99% of the time, Hawke is an amazing CO on water, as he will very rarely leave an annoying 1 HP unit remaining. But, what happens when he activates his powers? -Damage the enemy(ies) and heal Hawke, which branches out even further to include: *Make losing first strike pretty much obsolete *Gives a universal 1-4 HP advantage for the entire battle for those affected units *Allows ALOT more OHKO's. -Gives a potentially crippling monetary advantage -Reduce terrain star effectiveness -Hawke changes the balance of the rock/paper/scissors Naval matchups in his favour 1) Well, unlike the other two factions, a loss of first strike isn't that important but it is still a very handy ability to have. Sub on Sub matchups are very similar to tank on tank matchups so that is pretty good, and if you somehow lost first strike Battleship on battleship, this is also pretty useful, if you lost Cruiser on Cruiser first strike (which isn't very important) you can basically heal back to full health or 9HP (which, as said before, has pretty much the same benefits as full HP) and really hurt the Cruiser that attacked you. Losing first strike on naval matchups isn't very frequent or important, but it's really nice to turn it around in those occassions. Another useful little thing is after using the SCOP, Subs can cripple Cruiser quite badly. A sub will 90% of the time lower a cruiser to 5HP after a Black Storm at full health, which is rather useful if you combine that with another Cruiser. Cruisers can also quite harshly cripple other, when one would usualy leave it at 7 or 8HP, it will now leave it at 5, which is rather useful. Now, onto the new OHKO's, which have been shown to be Hawke's stong point, being very numerous in number and very useful. Enjoy: Format: Attacking Unit/Weapon/100% attack percentage - 120% attack percentage of damage/Defending unit Battleship, Cannon, 80% to 96% against an 8Hp 100/100 Tank Battleship, Cannon, 80% to 96% against an 8Hp 100/100 APC Battleship, Cannon, 80% to 96% against an 8Hp 100/100 Artillery Battleship, Cannon, 80% to 96% against an 8Hp 100/100 Piperunner Submarine, Torpedoes, 65% to 77% against an 8HP 100/100 Battleship (70% OHKO) Submarine, Torpedoes, 75% to 89% against an 8HP 100/100 Carrier So that is 6 new OHKO's, and 20 altogether, which is incredibly useful. Considering there are only 4 naval unit capable of attacking, 1 of which already has OHKO's on everything, this is an enormous strength. 70% of these new OHKO's are from battleships too, which is incredibly useful, as they're the biggest offensive unit in naval warfare, and perhaps the game. 2) Once again, the monetary advantage is magnified with naval units, being the most expensive units in the game. A single carrier will cost the opponent 6000 extra if it is forced to repair after a Black Storm. That is enormous and can mean more than a third of the income in most cases. 3) Terrain Star lowering may be very rare and little in Naval warfare, with only 1 terrain which offers only 1 defense star, but nevertheless, it's an advantag that I would rather have than not. 4) This is a big one, as mentioned before, a Cruiser/Sub can now cripple a Cruiser completely and put it out of the game quite easily. This completely throws out the rock/paper/scissor balance of Naval warfare, with 'paper being able to beat Scissors now'. Overall, on water, Hawke can make a really big splash with his abilities and powers. His 4 offensive ships are incredibly powerful, can completely change unit matchups, can deal more OHKO's than most CO's by a phenomenal amount and he can really cripple the enemies funds, which is very important to Naval warfare. ======== Overall ======== Overall, Hawke is an incredibly CO. To fully utilise Hawke's powers and potential, you will need a combination of all 3 factions and a decent army when attacking. For Hawke to be effective he needs to have an army to fall back on and he needs to emphasise first strike. Hawke also requires careful usage of his (S)COP, as a good Hawke player won't unleash his powers first chance they get. To get the most out of Hawke, have a balanced army of navy, air and land units with a decent amount of indirects. His access to in excess of 120 new OHKO's when Black Storm is activated will be an incredibly advantage also. Even though Hawke is rather easy to get adjusted to, he must be used with care just like all CO's. Those 110/100 stats won't save you if you just rush in and expect to come out in top (unless you have Black Storm ready, in which case gogogo). Using Hawke will pay off, as you will see after you rush off to play with him now. Conclusion Overall, hawke is a very powerful enemy to face in a game of Advance Wars. With access to alot more OHKO's across all 3 factions Hawke performs alot better than most CO's in battle. Although he may be somewhat upfront and one dimensional when it comes to CO strategy, he can certainly pack a punch. Throughout this guide I have used alot of worst case scenarios in the non-Hawke players favour, and why? Because Hawke can overcome bad situations and still come out on top, and a CO that is incredibly powerful even at their worse is a CO worth anyone's time. Oh, and if you disagree with Hawke's incredible power, Gameshark would like a word with you (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)