Oh boy... if there was ever a map to say 'welcome to the final leg of the story', this is it.
IDS loves it some owl symbolism. And now we're about to get them in full force.
With Greyfield dead, Waylon not interested in fighting us, and no other obvious opponents to fight, Caulder is going to step up and be our antagonist directly. And that means it's time to become more familiar with these three characters, Tabitha, Cyrus, and Penny.
Given how they didn't name her in Chapter 6, I'm surprised Penny just unceremoniously gets a nametag now.
Caulder doesn't even call us by our name. Merely by how we performed. Say what you will about his opinion on the subject of impartiality, you can't deny he's actually doing the legwork to claim a valid position.
The funny thing about this is, Tabitha is not actually the opposing CO in the next map. She does participate in the plot, so Caulder isn't exactly going back on his word, but it is very funny nonetheless.
You know, somehow I get the feeling I'm not going to like this toy nearly as much.
The whole "mildly sheltered British noblewoman" dialect is honestly kinda making it hard to think of Tabitha as having the "cruelty" her bio and theme insists she has. Despite being the one old enough to have the rationality to understand what she is doing, it still very much feels like she doesn't actually have the agency in this situation.
There is one thing worth commenting about this: Assuming that the new toy Caulder is giving Tabitha is, in fact, the titular Great Owl, she does at least do one thing to obey Caulder's suggestion here- Tabitha never puts it on a map and makes it an IDS Structure the way the Talon Gun was.
Now, whether the Great Owl could be destroyed if it was a map feature is another matter.
"Fun" for the Caulder family means explosions.
Well, unless you're Cyrus. Glad one of these four knows how insane the other three are.
So, just what exactly are we about to be on the receiving end of?
...Giant bomber.
Well, I can't say it's not terrifying.
There are, in fact, issues with building a gigantic plane from the laws of physics. Making a plane more massive makes it harder to lift at a faster rate than making the wings bigger makes it easier to lift. The largest plane ever built had a wingspan of 100 metres... and was made in 1947.
It was designed to transport WWII-era armies across the Atlantic, but somehow I get the feeling even if it was completed on time, it wouldn't be doing the things this plane is doing.
That is a lot of units. And they have an uncomfortable amount of overlap.
Now, see, remember back in Chapter 5, when we were introduced to unit production, and the game implied we were building autonomous units in order to justify why we can spam units to our hearts' content in gameplay?
That was either foreshadowing this or this plot twist has forgotten that plot point. I can believe both. I almost suspect both.
Like, Caulder is framing this as a novel idea, and one giving him a hitherto untapped edge in combat... but this is just bog-standard AW gameplay.
Now, granted, this would not be the first time that Advance Wars has flirted with the idea of having an antagonist say "in real life, Advance Wars maps would suck for the guys manning the cannons", but this isn't quite A Mirror Darkly. For one thing, Lash was making that comparison to get under Sonja's skin. Caulder isn't really challenging Will on that.
...You mean you could've contributed at any time? Greyfield must be fuming from his unmarked grave.
Caulder's plan is to see if we can win this map somehow. He's not particularly invested in either outcome, he's just doing this because he's Caulder and that's what he does.
Yes. He means exactly that. A calm discussion, where he discusses topics only vaguely related to evil deeds.
And he expects Will to be perfectly accommodating.
Despite being about as suspicious as possible. I'm not sure whether he's aware this is an issue, but... he certainly doesn't expect it to stop Will or anything.
I think we expected that. The only reason he wouldn't attack immediately anyway is his sense of wanting to reduce variables.
We get a moment to reconvene with Will and Lin, and Will immediately comes out saying he's happy to hear Caulder out.
Lin gives him the standard riot act. I, on the other hand, believe differently to Lin.
Caulder cannot be reasoned with or trusted, yes. But he also cannot be predicted. Talking to Caulder can give us one advantage- information. What does he want, what is he trying to get from us? We'll still deny the hell out of giving it to him, that's just a matter of course, but I'd rather attempt to do so from a position of knowing what that might be.
Will probably knows, on some level, this is why he's going, but it'd be nice if he suggested the reasons to Lin.
Lin trying to assert herself as an authority figure, before Will reminds her she's the one that asked him to be the one in charge.
Oh hey, Will comes up with an alternative reason! Will's just buying time. Seems valuable enough.
Lin posits that no amount of preparation would change the outcome for what Caulder's going to do. Will responds that he'd still rather we were prepared at all, even if we have no idea what to prepare for.
Lin decides the best way to dissuade Will is to tell him that he's on his own. She might not be telling him what she did to Greyfield, but she's sure implying that philosophy is going to apply all the same here.
Will... is either really confident he can get away from Caulder or we need to have a talk about his needs.
Our location is just "in the mountains somewhere".
Although apparently, still in Lazuria. I'm going to take the game at its word on that. I wouldn't be surprised if the two coastlines on the map were meant to be Rubinelle and Lazuria.
Caulder either meaning this genuinely or insulting him for being this trusting. Given what he's about to ask, I think it's the former.
I hope it's the former.
This sounds like it could be anything. Almost nothing we actually want to be doing, but...
Then Caulder comes out with "oh hey, I want access to your soldiers' biometrics." Of all the favours he could possibly have asked, he comes out with the most suspicious thing possible.
Will takes a moment to wonder if he's wasting his time. Because Caulder doesn't really want anything- he's just like that.
Remember Caulder maybe-sassing Will's naivete? When he comes out with this brand of naivete, he compromises his ability to come out of this with a sense of superiority.
...No. I neither understand the scientific gains you expect to get nor why you expect us to consider this an improvement over being attacked directly.
Lin, despite any statements to the contrary, decided to follow Will here and add her own voice to this conversation.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm on the other guys' side here. Lin, trust Will. The only thing you got for showing up personally is provoking Caulder- and while an unprovoked Caulder is still pretty unpleasant, a provoked one can only be far worse.
Lin has basically come to state outright a conclusion that we had already pretty much come to by this point in the conversation- whatever world Caulder is living in, it's not the same one we live in, and engaging with Caulder in reasoned debate is going to be a waste of time.
We didn't even learn that much about what he wanted! He asked us to participate in... something, but that was equally likely to have been a plot to plant bombs in us. Or it was both at once.
Yeah, I think we all knew the conversation was ending that way, Caulder.
Caulder wants to go back to his side and get back to what it was doing.
Given what happened at the end of the last chapter, did you think Lin wasn't going to take the shot while she could?
Caulder was at least prepared for that. I'm not sure if he's supposed to have seen Lin killing Greyfield or just made an accurate assessment of her character. He certainly wasn't likely to have interfered or introduced himself in the former.
It is always disarming, seeing our heroes being introduced to major villains we've known for several chapters now. While working-behind-the-scenes types do need that moment of "hi, I'm here", it's... weird that we're well past that part and still estabilishing Caulder's faction.
She's the oldest-looking daughter we know about. There are two possibilities going on here- either Tabitha, Penny, and... whoever the third daughter is are not born in the order they appear to be and Caulder genuinely has no idea who's oldest, or there were daughters before Tabitha that we never see.
Neither possibility exactly makes this man look better.
This sort of response also implies that whatever he went through to teach these reflexes, he is 100% confident that is an accurate assessment. Which implies that her reflexes are not purely human effort.
Would we be surprised to learn they're not human?
...I can't help but feel like this is what Caulder was really working his way closer to. I'm not sure if his "I almost forgot" is genuine or if this entire conversation was planned to make sure that, when he made this suggestion, he actually had Tabitha ready to shoot.
Don't forget, Tabitha being here at all implies Caulder was just as ready to break the ceasefire as Lin was.
Will, somehow, finds this less appealing than hooking up his own soldiers with weird tech developed by the person about to be shooting at them.
I think Will's response was a pretty clear indication of a no.
Bold claim.
Pics or it didn't happen.
...Given you have spent this entire conversation being genuine at the wrong points, I wouldn't drink any bottle you had ever touched.
And there's the moment that shows his true colours. Caulder thinks that trying to convince Will to give up Isabella will entail highlighting her military weaknesses. Much like when he offered to give us the pacemakers, he either genuinely doesn't understand why someone would say no to this offer or thinks Will is a very different kind of character. Both show that perhaps he should be spending less time observing and more time watching.
Will has more faith in Dr. Morris and Lin than that.
One of these days we'll get a straight answer out of Caulder. And one of these days, there'll be a straight answer to get.
Lin is already back with her soldiers, and the battle is about to begin.
The Great Owl is that giant plane we saw earlier.
And it is quite the bomber.
It can be pretty hard to get screenshots of the Great Owl bombing, because it's on both screens, but I'm pretty proud of that bomb screenshot we got. The Great Owl's bombs are going to be mechanically important, and the radius of explosions we see here is, in fact, the exact effective range of one of its bombs. And it is bigger than a missile silo.
If it was bombing us, it missed.
But, well, it's definitely made approaching the black units worrying.
As promised, Caulder's side begins shooting at us. We will be using Lin to return fire.
Our map. And that is a lot of enemy soliders. This map took me several tries and a few dips into other's strategies, but the main thing to take note of is that the black army doesn't have any airports. There are two on the map, and they're both on our side of the blast radius.
This map will be our proper introduction to Penny as a character, and this conversation will clearly serve as Will's introduction to her existence. Penny also happens to be our opposing CO.
She's somewhat polite for our opponent.
Although with that said, she is just as detached from reality as dad. Note that this also counts as the first time Penny's name is ever said in the game's text.
This is what Penny's like. That bear she's holding half the time is apparently whispering in her ear, and he's a right bastard. Penny herself seems mostly genial, but she's perfectly happy to listen to Mr. Bear and prizes his input.
Penny will also be dispensing advice, in her own childish way. Something she neglects to mention is that the bombs will also hurt her units, too. Possibly because she doesn't seem to notice- her AI will regularly send units into the middle to either attack you, capture those properties, or for no reason whatsoever.
This line confused me for a bit, first time I saw it.
They genuinely expect you to break her formation and capture that already-black factory at the very bottom-right of the map. It's doable, but it's definitely the hardest part of the map.
We need aerial superiority as quickly as possible. Without an airport of her own and with two free War Tanks, gaining air superiority is our best way to superiority of any military kind.
...You know... I have to wonder what, exactly, Penny is hearing when Mr. Bear speaks. When characters talk to inanimate objects like this, the voice that answers is usually their inner conscience, and with Penny being raised by Caulder, it's easy to assume that Mr. Bear being so angry is just her warped morality. But then again... I wouldn't be surprised if Caulder actually put a voice in the bear, to give her instructions.
It's pretty debatable how observant Penny is of her surroundings. Like father, like daughter, that one.
Will either breaking the fourth wall or talking to himself. Both of which scare me. No wonder Lin's in command today.
OK, I guess we're just going there immediately with Penny. Can't be a normal six year old with a substandard father. At least let her mind be reparable.
Mechanically, on the other hand, Penny... well, I suppose somebody had to be Olaf. Penny's weather gimmick makes her particularly mechanically unique, in that she's the only unit whose passive always applies. Even if she's not personally deployed, all of her units ignore weather- deploying is only for the purposes of charging CO Power. Stormfront engineers it so that Penny actually gets to use the weather, generating a weather condition lasting for two turns (another unique edge over other COs) chosen randomly. The three weather conditions, since we've only seen the one, are Rain (reduces vision in Fog of War by 1, and creates it if it's not already present), Snow (reduces movement by 1) and Sandstorm (reduces Attack by 30%). Penny's no slouch, but she is, admittedly, one of the worst COs in the game for not really having a way to enhance herself. Sorta like Greyfield there.
There is a river blocking this airport from all assault by the ground units, meaning it's free real estate.
There's also some other cities to take, of course, but those are clearly in our territory.
All the ground units should be heading in a southward direction.
The annoying part is that Penny has a lot of range on her Fighters. And those Missiles are trained right on the airport. Picking her apart is going to take some doing.
Penny does some vague unit shuffling in our direction, and occasionally moves her Fighters backwards. This also reintroduces her theme, Mr. Bear- and the song makes a lot more sense now that we know what this faction is like.
The Great Owl drops a bomb every turn, on the same spot. Penny has helpfully shown off that it does 5 field damage.
Don't expect me to get hit by it unless there was a target of extreme opportunity.
These bombers are going to be the death of me.
This tank should hopefully be easier to deal with.
I am starting to hate DoR's AI.
Let me know how that works out for you, Penny.
Progress is moving at a snail's pace.
But I think Bombers are going to be an important unit to have in numbers, and this is a good time to have them built.
As funny as it would be, waiting out the fuel is only going to be so helpful.
The poor infantry that captures the top-left property gets left behind, and this APC is both to bring it to the frontlines and built a Temp Airport once it arrives.
Finally, some action! Although Penny doesn't seem to have thought through that attack.
That one, on the other hand, has gone a lot better for her.
She's got an AA to make my planes think twice, but honestly, I just want to get rid of the Bomber.
These guys don't feel like they have long lives ahead of them.
Still, that makes life easier for this lot.
So long as I keep on top of my front management.
Given this, though... well, I just want units to actually approach me at some point.
It's at least faster than hoofing it.
Oh, this is going to end horribly for... somewhere.
But first we've got to let all the other units mill around pointlessly.
There we go, there are the bad things that were promised.
Now then, we've got the scariest air units right in front of us. Let's see if we can't get rid of them now!
It's... it's not really going that well, but those are some good licks.
At least this is going much better.
Last shot. But with the air units' numbers decreasing, these Fighters' usefulness isn't exactly much better off.
Yeah, this Bike isn't going to get to capture that property. Now, it's bait.
I've got an APC to go for the capture bid, at least.
And as for these Bombers, well... They're over there, aren't they?
I don't think it's worth my time to deal with them.
Well done for that much, at least.
Penny's Bombers decide to spend their turn less productively, blowing up these meteors. You sure showed them, huh?
The War Tanks are leering out, and we'll need to use Bombers for that. Best to keep tabs on those AAs.
Over here seems good. It would be nice to block its escape, but that comes later.
This rocket is going to be our biggest problem for the foreseeable future.
The AAs are much easier to handle.
And this just needed one last hit.
Thanks for blowing up that meteor, by the way!
The other Fighter will be retreating for Support and an extra point of HP.
Oh. And I have no units nearby that can shoot ground units. That can go very badly very quickly.
That AA is... well, the arrangement of these units is very fortuitous, but I'm going to have to do some somewhat insane things to capitalise.
The Bombers are going to continue to deal with those meteors.
And Penny's trying to capture those middle properties with infantry. Let me know how that goes for you.
Start by Bombing this.
Denting this is nice, even if we're not going to like being shot back at.
The War Tank, with the enemy unit out of the way, is free to delete this AA.
And now the bike is free to begin the capture. And with the way the enemy is set up, we're pretty much guaranteed to take it.
This side might be more of an issue, but...
We're even out of rocket range!
Hopefully that means we can take these properties, too.
I could always use more of these.
Right... dealing with that issue...
And these ones, too. These ones honestly strike me as more annoying. Especially that Mech.
This Bomber's job is mostly to make building more ground units back there unappealing. It already was, but mostly it's to make it harder to recontest that airport.
Those poor infantries.
Still have a Fighter over here. And it can easily go back anytime.
At some point I'll need to reinforce this Mech, but it's not like there's any better uses of its time around here.
You can kindly not repeat your actions.
...There are just so many units. Destroy one and there's another one ready to replace it.
Hope we can say the same.
These Bombers are mostly going to mop up and consolidate before we make a real push.
At least one infantry is lucking out here.
APC decides here is the place for our airport.
Oh, rude. We'll have to sort that out later.
And Penny has built a Fighter.
We can start on denting it, at least.
At least we're taking back as good as we get.
I'd like to get rid of that missile truck in the near future. Would make that airport a much better launch base.
This War Tank is going to be a problem. Fortunately, though, the AA presence is starting to diminish.
Veteran War Tank, on a city. I can concede first strike if necessary.
Plus, it makes it easier to capture these cities.
Prepare for this, Penny.
Joining up some Bombers, and keeping the War Tank pristine after all.
These guys are to recapture the airport.
Coming right into range, are we, Penny? And even withdrawing your AAs!
That is a bit more unfortunate, though.
Although given she built a T. Copter... I'm not too worried.
Especially with this coming in for the reinforcement.
Fighter needs both recovery and HP.
And it didn't even get away.
Of course, all these AA are in a bit of a fortress here, complete with a second missile truck making this a no fly zone.
Sooner I break in, the better.
And I want this space nice and clear.
Lin boards. The extra stats might come in handy, even if Scout won't.
And the more kills I get quickly, the faster that CO Zone becomes useful. Even if I don't get a build this turn.
I've got money to be making anyway.
Hiding out of Rocket range, and should be away from anything else scary...
And I use the leftover money to make sure we have the AAs we need to take back that airport before Penny can think about contesting air superiority.
That property was in Rocket range. Well, HQ cap is going to be tricky.
Penny has figured out switching around units to get an advantageous lick in.
That's a funny place to take the T. Copter.
Although funnily, she left the airport completely undefended. Like an idiot.
I really can be easily distracted...
At least I'm done with this guy.
Clearing this space is probably going to be an even worse slog.
Well, might as well get started replacing the footsoldiers.
And trying to keep these bombers ready for when the AAs are under control.
Bye bye, Fighter.
Well, a lot of stuff happened that turn, but it looks like Penny is just as hapless as I am.
Taking this back.
And beginning the process of pulling the defensive line back.
Some of it will be easier than others.
Well, this Fighter's annoying.
Gonna try to have more Directs. Seem like the unit I want.
And the APC is being used as a wall for Lin.
This one... well, this'll help reinforce the property captures.
I lost a Bomber to that Missile truck? At this point, I just want the map over- this is the first time I've ever got this far.
And despite everything going on in here, Penny has managed to take a property.
Tried to shoot something, didn't notice nothing was in range, and lost Lin's turn. I really need to stop doing that.
Well, replacement Bombers are on the way.
This formation is just nonsense.
I really wish I knew a better way, but there is clear improvement in obvious places.
At least Lin wasn't badly dented.
Right, enough of you interrupting my bomber.
The Mech is now reinforced.
And the Bike needs to be helping, not capturing.
At least this is something an AA can do.
Lin continues shooting. It's more important than healing for now.
CO units aren't super great in indirects, I'm noticing.
This feels like a waste of a War tank.
At least the APC is doing its old job. Godspeed.
Right. Enough out of you, Anti-tanks or no.
I want closer Bombers.
How many more of these have to go?
These are really the least of my problems, but they do get underfoot.
That inf captured a property all on its own! Now good luck with the next. At least the 4 HP heals it.
Lin puts pressure on Penny while healing up.
And I actually block for her this time.
Not that there's a ton of units to block for, but...
Don't see much in the way of movement around here. Time to begin pinning Penny into that corner.
Excellent, CO Zone expansion.
Our first priority is to delete that Missile Truck by any means necessary. It's even open! Pity about the Bomber being shot down.
I begin the pressure by starting to clear up these units, to give the biggest open runway for my planes.
No more AAs on the map at all. Just that Missile. Bombers are doing super good.
And more Rockets for dealing with the AAs.
Do need to keep an eye on those, too.
It's so cute, how that War Tank took things like a champ.
I'm feeling good about my Power score, at least.
Even if these rockets are going to be doing things to my Speed.
Sometimes you just want to keep deploying units. Given how easily I've lost them...
Plus, all these joining finances have to go somewhere.
At some point I needed to take the shot. At least it was the rocket I didn't need.
Missiles are neutralised.
Time to start blowing holes in this formation to kingdom come.
Some more quickly than others.
Wish I could hit the AA, but I have a surplus of bombers.
I can make do.
Finally getting rid of this. It's just getting in the way now.
Bike's going for a HQ capture bid. Not sure how viable that is, but given that 1HP inf isn't going anywhere...
It's really hard to tell what they're doing when the HP is running that low.
But they certainly haven't stopped me.
OK, this is moderately hilarious. Sometimes what this game makes you do...
Well, these two units have seen better days. That's going to slow me down.
Glad this won't be an issue.
But I do need this guy to stop shooting at me.
The fact these two anti-tanks are largely intact is going to suck, but I don't really have much in the way of choice here. Hopefully the AA holds.
The bike starts capturing a city, to be bait.
That's about the best I could've hoped for from a choice in targeting.
I realise I don't really have the material to run a capture, so I send a bomber to go and kill this infantry. If only the Great Owl would put it out of its misery for me.
Just in case. I think I was fine, but you see the ammo lights...
These guys are significantly more fine now.
Well, giving her a choice- shoot or flee.
She shot. We win.
I was really getting sick of that map.
In Advance Wars, "reinforcements have been sighted" after declaring victory is actually a good reason to turn around and retreat. Have you seen our army? We can't take much more.
And Caulder's back. To continue trying to needle and extort for whatever it is he wants...
Yeah, I'm not buying it. You're attacking us solely for Isabella. Anything else you pitched was cover.
I think it's time we found out why.
...
You know, I don't think we get to be surprised. By either his words or his tone.
She seems pretty normal to me, ignoring the fact that her special interest is military state secrets. I'm sure she found some way to look them up.
One gets the impression having kids the normal way is both impossible and uninteresting to this man.
And Will starting to realise that Caulder may be somewhere beyond just militarily mad and deep into mad-scientist-deranged. You don't usually get these guys in real life.
Well, that certainly explains why he did it. One does not get the impression he was in the business of producing children for the companionship.
As deconstructions of Advance Wars- and all tactical RPGs, really- go, this sure is an interesting one. When you're playing a tactical RPG, you give precise orders to every soldier in your command, and they perform them exactly, down to the letter. In Advance Wars, especially, where damage variance is minimal and the outcomes of particular unit matchups are predictable, you can play like a chessmaster and be several moves ahead.
Well, I'm clearly not, but details.
In a real army, of course, the ability to be the commander of an Advance Wars army is completely shot by boring logistical reasons that most games consider either too complicated or too unfun to implement. The occasional indie will look into it, but that will usually be the feature the game was designed from the ground up to be about.
Caulder has, in-universe, put in the research he needs to actually be an Advance Wars general.
And given how quickly Penny threw her own units into the Great Owl's firing radius, he's done a right fine job of it!
Hey, Tabitha's not that bad! She's a perfectly ordinary, if spoiled, brat to me!
Penny, yeah, she needed things she didn't get, but that may also be a you problem rather than a methodology one.
Oh yeah, and Isabella, too. She's definitely the most normal one of the lot. So normal, in fact, that I wouldn't be surprised if her ability to be the civilised one in the room was something she actually did have when she was with you, and not just something we taught her.
...How exactly is "Isabella" different from "Tabitha" or "Penny"? It's not even like the Dark Conflict names are less jarring here- the three girls are known as Catleia, Larissa, and Lili respectively.
(Although one thing that he could be referencing is the fact that the name Caulder knew her by also begins with "L" in both translations, for a possible theme that we're breaking. I'm moderately surprised Caulder has never actually called her by that name yet.)
Sure, he's dehumanising her, but he does nothing of the sort to Tabitha and Penny.
...Well, to their faces. A troubling sign. Ever thought about acting like the doting father to us, even if it is an act?
It's difficult to say for sure what caused her departure, but given she had amnesia, I am actually more willing than usual to say Caulder is right and there was some kind of glitch involved.
Well, that definitely explains the dehumanisation. Caulder has written Isabella off for her value as a military commander, on the basis that there's more to gain from stripping her for parts.
Really, aside from the obvious monstrosity, the main implication here is that Isabella is comprised of parts that would actually, you know, give information when disassembled. The human brain isn't typically meant to fire neurons when removed from the body.
Caulder certainly sees no reason why this wouldn't work. I trust him on the science, even if I don't trust him on the... waves vaguely anything else.
...OK, on second thought, no, I don't trust that he believes the science will work out the way he thinks it does. It's either punishment, control, or just genuine R&D.
I've seen humans pack-bond over less animate. It's kind of a survival mechanism for the species. But of course, you'd know that, wouldn't you, science man?
You know, Caulder, for a man who prides himself on making assiduous observations, you're blind as a bat when you want to be.
...Oh, huh, I forgot we hadn't had this screen yet. Not used to them putting actual exposition in here.
...Excuse me? Power, I can get. All those 100+s felt good to click. But you're telling me my technique is positive? The speed being negative, though, I can see where that's coming from, but still enough to nearly be S Rank even if my Technique was more accurate to how it felt to play? At least the grading system expected the map to be a bit of a mess.
Lin being the commander of this map does give her a pretty good chance to use a real line here, though.
Stats, as per usual. Wow, I really kept those two numbers even.
And, at last, I finally click R and see what's on this screen. I can... sorta see where the game is coming from with that Technique score? I dunno, 11 units lost feels like a big number. Now granted, 11 will absolutely murder your technique in the Wars World games unless the map took multiple in-game months.
Next time: Isabella gets to interact with the madman who wants to strip her for parts.
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