Advance Wars

Mar 2025 - Added sketches of CO's and tanks, merged all previous Advance Wars stuff from 2013 into this page

See this page about converting Dune 2000 to an advance wars like game

See this page for similar lineups of command & conquer tanks and stuff 

Custom CO's have always been a hot topic when it comes to Advance Wars. Pretty much every player has a fantasy CO they want to add into the game. These custom CO's usually end up being overpowered and broken or don't really fit in to the rules of the game, try to add new units etc.

Instead of adding something new and drastic, I will try to add new CO's that can use what there already is and try to keep them less broken. (Let's be honest, AW is somewhat imbalanced already and is a hard game to balance if even possible)

Mule is a logistics and bridgehead landing expert. Transports are usually unappreciated and are rarely in the spotlight unless it is Sami that gets +1 trying to capture something using her SCOP so Mule is my attempt to come up with a CO that will put transports back into daily play. 

At first her powers may suggest she is pure infantry / mech spam but to use her SCOP to maximum effect would require the player to endure bit of punishment to fill her bar while spending money on recons and light tanks to make the best out of delivery speed. 

Passive (daily) power: 

All transport units have + 1 move points and can carry 1 additional unit

This daily power allows APC or Transport copter to carry 2 units, turning them into ideal rush machines. Landers can now carry 3 ground units making them extra effective for naval landings, Blackboats can carry 3 infantry or mechs, Cruisers can now carry a total of 3 battle copters while a Carrier will be able to carry any 3 air units on its deck.

CO Power - Pack Mule

All transports gain an additional +1 move points

This power is probably better if it costs 2 stars as it doesnt really give any crazy benefit but allows the rushing of transports (and the usual +10% defense bonus to all units that every CO receives). This is more of a spam when required power rather than wait until the correct moment sort of thing.  

SCOP Power - Packing Hell

All transports gain additional +1 move points, infantry and mechs can be loaded and transported by all ground units until end of turn. Any remaining infantry or mechs inside ground (lets say there was no empty tile to unload them, or the player decided to keep them inside the vehile rather than unloading) will be used to resupply the unit they occupy and sold for cash at the start of the next turn.

This power should cost 7 (or maybe 8) stars as it can be super effective if used correctly. Loading infantry and mechs to light tanks or recons can be increadibly powerful, loading to artillery or rockets can also allow quick protection of such ranged units. Footsoldiers can also be sacrificed to refule and resupply the vehicles if required.

Below is the old stuff I had merged from 2012 / 2013

 Old games nostalgia hits me again and this time I find myself doing a quick sketch of Sami, Andy and Max from Nintendo's Advance Wars series. AW is incredibly addictive stuff and is probably one of the best turn based war games ever made.

4 fictional but realistic countries; yellow comet (japan), green earth (germany), blue moon (russia) and orange star (the states) are pitted against each other until they join forces and defeat a fourth, hi tech nation, the black hole (which reminds me of nazi germany due to dress codes and the evil intentions)

You pick a commanding officer from a list of lovely designed weirdos who posses unique special powers, build tanks, infantry, planes, ships and the usual war machine lot, capture cities, bases and all.

Panzer General (pc), Field Commander (psp) and Shattered Union (pc) are namely a few of similar games but surprisingly non are as good as good old Advance Wars.

Commanding Officers of the Orange Star Army. Sneaky Sami, Brute Max and Mr Fixit, Handy Andy

Commanding Officers of the Yellow Comet Army from Advance Wars. Old fart Sensei, Pop star lookalike emperor Kanbei and his daughter the nerd chick Sonja.

Commanding Officers of the Blue Moon Army from Advance Wars. The laid back cowboy Grit, santa's aggressive twin Olaf and the timid rich kid Colin.

Any multiplayer veteran should know Grit was one of the most broken CO's in the game as his day to day bonus to artillery range and strength allowed cheap victories by placing hordes of infantry front of ranged units to be used as meat-shields.

Commanding Officers of the Green Earth Army from Advance Wars. Captain Drake, Supply & Logistic expert Jess and superior air force commander Eagle.

Jess is one of my favourite CO's in the game, Her special power allows all her units to replenish their fuel and ammo allowing them to push forward without stopping to re-supply. It also gives movement and attack bonus to all ground units (apart from infantry) which is always a great bonus to have in turn based games. She receives penalties to her air and naval units but most maps focus on ground units anyway.

Such a shame her infantry units were weaker than the average infantry, making her a slightly poor choice in Advance Wars 2 as AW games heavily rely on meat shielding long ranged units with infantry. This was balanced in AW Dual Strike as they made her troops as strong as the rest.