Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload Challenge Run

[fatgamecat]

Chapter 15a (2t)
https://youtu.be/GLPV7SWoUcQ
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

like 8a, this stage is a pushover unless you have to kill everything on the map. otherwise the stage doesn't last long enough for the bosses to be a threat. at some point I might come back and do a 100% kills run of the stage, to give it a fair shake.

I'll go over the boss AI anyway. From enemy turn 2 onward, the bosses can join together and fire a large aoe attack in the 4 cardinal directions. however, if you keep your units out of the attack zone, they will never join together. the AI can cheat and prepare to fire on your units even if they aren't visible, so they need to be completely out of the attack zone. however, most players kill the boss in 1 or 2 turns, so this mechanic is hardly seen except on a 1st blind run.

In order to avoid taking any damage, and for the sake of reliability, I need to take 2 turns. It's possible to clear this mission in one turn while getting 5 Royal weapons and not relying on a child's wish, but it's not reliable enough for me.

the southwest quadrant is the easiest to take over, and since the Vulcan always moves before firing, it's safe to stand on. it also has 3 of the needed targets.

Claude heads north to deal with the ace, sniper, and scout in Minerva's way, and also to distract the Valkyria. Minerva heads northeast through the passage to grenade the sniper leader. the APC picks up everyone else and heads southwest to kill a bunch of stuff and hide. should have left Raz or Kai behind for the APC.

t2 any other enemies in the way are cleaned up, and then Riley is let loose on the Vulcan. It takes 7 direct hits on the radiator, and even with the accuracy accessory, Riley has a chance to miss. Reserve 7-8 command points for killing the boss, and an additional 1-2 for resupplying if Riley is the only grenadier you're using.

I haven't tested the average command point cost of using the ammo belt versus the accuracy accessory, but I went with the ammo belt. If you have the ammo belt and land 7 direct hits, you only need to resupply once, but the chance of missing is greater (8 command points minimum). If you have the accuracy accessory, your chance to hit is greater, but you always have to resupply twice (9 command points minimum). The ammo belt probably wins out on average considering the upgraded antiarmor mortars are fairly accurate.

You can also take Riley and another grenadier or 2. if all 7 shots between 2 or 3 Grenadier's land, resupplying isn't needed (7 command points minimum).

it takes a quadruple Lancer attack with 1450 damage lances to approximate a single grenadier hit on the radiator.
similar to chapter 9, the command point cost of arranging and lining them all up isn't outweighed by their damage or reliability. I dislike that Grenadier's are the easiest and most effective way to take out the boss on the stage, because I like the added complexity of using Lancer teams, but Grenadier's are just that powerful at this point.
1t clear without using a child's wish.

1-2 send Claude North, mortar the sniper and kill the ace. reposition the Valkyria to face West.
3 use direct command on Minerva and head northeast through the passage to grenade the sniper leader. she may take damage running past the scout, but at least the sniper and Valkyria won't be firing.
4 load 2-3x Grenadier's and Lancer and engineer (not entirely necessary, but why not?) into the APC and head south. kill the sniper or shock.
5 continue west with the APC and kill the grenadier leader. If the sniper is still alive, knock it out of place .You can try to position to body block the enemy infantry near the boss so your Grenadiers can fire at a closer range. Although I'm not sure if they'll jump out on the side you want them to.
6-7 destroy the 2 tanks. you can do this with an anti-armor mortar or a Lancer.
8-14 you have exactly 7 command points to destroy the boss. you should have Riley with the ammo belt and a 2nd grenadier for 7 shots total. Or Riley with the accuracy accessory, and 2 other Grenadier's. a child's wish and extra ammo are not necessary, but obviously they help.

Edited February 11, 2019 by fatgamecat

[fatgamecat]

Chapter 15b (3t)
https://youtu.be/hisl6Cip62s
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

This mission takes us back to the chapter 13 strategy of Riley and another grenadier killing a lot of entrenched infantry, with an engineer providing support. non-leader Scout Dodge is up to 7% which is not fun for a no reload run. Grenadier's can get surprise attacks that no other class or vehicle can, and this only gets more important as the Dodge rates climb.

it takes an additional 12 to 13 command points to kill all leaders and tanks on the map, hence the need to take 3 turns. otherwise you could likely do 2 and still take no damage.

on the right side, the Grenadier's and engineer make their way up to the North camp. Minerva is available in the APC in case things go bad.

on the left side, accuracy upgrades provided by R&D allow me to destroy 2 tanks from the main camp, without having to trek over there.

once the North camp is captured, a lancer, shock, and grenadier are deployed to deal with the boss and remaining targets. t3 any remaining tanks on the left side are destroyed, and the boss is defeated.

The SB9-5 Lance has a slightly higher accuracy than the M1R Royal Lance. considering you can get that Lance in chapter 2, it lasted a long time.

the Ace Grenadier weapon still hasn't been outclassed in damage. at this point it must be the most useful Ace weapon in the game overall. workshop gets overtaken by the upgrade Grenadier weapon on the next chapter.

Gertrude finally joins after this chapter, it took so long because I still haven't repeated a single mission. I probably could have gotten her a little sooner if I was smarter with my R&D spending, but it's my 1st play through using R&D. it's good having her back.

[fatgamecat]

Chapter 16 (3t)
https://youtu.be/NPd5VtNeg60
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

Curtis w/ ammo belt and Raz are on the left side, Claude moves up the middle to deal with the lone tank and spot the ace, and the APC picks up a Grenadier, Lancer, and engineer to move up the right side. the 2nd backup Lancer is taken just in case.

for the sake of reliability, taking no damage, and destroying all tanks and leaders, 3 turns are required.

[fatgamecat]

Chapter 17a (3t)
https://youtu.be/4xDYvyNW8OA - South camp
Damage taken/Allies downed: minimal damage taken
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

This is the most reliable main camp deployment layout I've come up with. There's a close to 0% chance of losing any units and you get to keep 3 infantry plus Claude. This deployment also allows you to capture all 5 camps within 3 turns regardless of which base(s) reinforcements are deployed from. As far as I know, there's no impossible set of camp reinforcements.

H123
MK45

H = Hafen
M = Minerva
K = Kai
1 = Lancer that will tank the boss grenade
2 = empty
3 = empty
4 = Azusa (leader), or other scout leader
5 = empty 2nd vehicle spot

Riley and an engineer are deployed on the west spots.

On enemy turn one, the AI prioritizes shooting Grenadiers, and shooting the 2nd vehicle radiator if possible. The glory and APC can't stack enough resistance to survive a radiator hit, and Grenadier's have very low HP. I suggest not deploying any Grenadier's or a 2nd vehicle to reduce the risk of downed units.

The West tank will fire at a grenadier, or the 2nd vehicle radiator if not, or whoever is in deployment spot number 2 or 3 if not. The West tank never fires on deployment spot 1, 4, Minerva, or Kai. I suggest not deploying a 2nd vehicle or anyone in spots 2 or 3, so that this tank doesn't fire any shots at all.

The South tank will fire at a grenadier, or an infantry that has been brought to low HP if not, or Hafen's radiator if not.

The boss and West tank typically attack whoever is in spot 2 or 3, assuming no Grenadier's or 2nd vehicle is deployed. If spots 2 and 3 are filled, they will prioritize number 2. Even if a unit in spot 2 survives being hit by the boss and West tank, the South tank might prioritize them over Hafen's radiator if their HP is low enough, and finish them off. This is another good reason why not to deploy anyone in spots 2 or 3.

If you deploy a full 6 infantry at the main camp, the boss will fire a shot. If you deploy 5 or less, the boss will throw a grenade. Since I don't deploy a full 6 infantry, the boss will throw a grenade at spot 1. This unit always ends up stunned, however they are on the main camp so they can be retreated for free.

What happens on this deployment:
1. boss advances and grenades the Lancer on spot 1. you can later retreat them for free.
2. boss fires on Claude and moves west, south, or east
3. West tank advances but doesn't fire on anyone because spots 2 and 3 are empty, and no 2nd vehicle is deployed
4. East tank advances but doesn't fire on anyone
5. South tank advances and fires on Hafen's radiator. assuming the Hafen has 800-950 resistance and up to date R&D upgrades, it will survive the shot. There is a very small chance the shot will misfire and hit Minerva, but she usually has a chance of dodging. I've only seen this happen once, but it can happen.

t1 you pretty much always want Kai to shoot the Northeast Grenadier. Minerva or your scout leader should use direct command to get Kai into a side street to hide. send Claude after the boss and help out with capturing the camp.

If tank reinforcements are requested in the Northwest or Northeast areas on t1, it's totally possible to deal with it. your units may take a bit of interception fire but nothing dangerous.

Use direct command on Minerva and your scout leader to doubletime around the map as needed to capture camps. Having double scout leaders is what makes it possible to capture any combination of camps.

keep your units away from camps during enemy turn, because tanks and the boss may roll in. hide in the side passages when possible. it's preferable to retreat and redeploy a unit rather than risk the boss firing at their heads and downing them.

West Camp: use Riley to bombard the infantry, and then capture with the engineer and get the engineer back to a side street for safety. or you can try rolling in with Claude in a pinch.

South Camp: get behind the scout, grenade him and break the sandbag while not disturbing the shock, kill the shock and capture. if the boss is nearby use Claude as a distraction.

East camp: using Kai and Minerva, you can distract the grenadier to face northeast and then move north with Kai to get a sighttline on it without being intercepted on. Claude can also roll in and fire a mortar at the wall near the Grenadier which will hit and kill it.

Northwest camp: Riley and the engineer can move northwest through the manhole shortcut and take it over on turn one if need be. Riley can bombard the 2 Northwest Grenadier's whether they've been spotted or not. you can also safely approach with a scout from the east while hugging the wall, because the Grenadier's can't clear the building when trying to interception fire close to the wall.

Northeast camp: you can approach from the north and east, and flank around the base from behind. the enemy sniper leader may get a shot of interception fire off if you do this, unless you take the really long way around. you can also approach from the northeast Side St., although the crouched shock is tricky to run around without him opening fire.

Generally you want to stick Claude on the boss and keep him there. the Hafen with 950 resistance and up to date upgrades can handle quite a few attacks from the boss and/or tanks, so he serves as a good distraction. You can also park him on a camp so she can't capture it.

I recommend not killing the boss on turn 1, since whatever camp they respawn at may be far away from Claude and might make it very difficult to capture. It's preferable to allow her to recapture a camp rather than kill her. it usually takes less effort to recapture.

On turn 2, it might be a good idea to kill the boss if you have the command points to spare and you know which camp they will show up at and can deal with them on turn 3 as well.

The easiest way to kill the boss is use Claude's Gatling fire and time it so she is finishing reloading and cannot Dodge. this usually takes 2 command points. you can also deploy a shock to get a surprise attack, although this can be hard to set up with the randomness in the map. killing the boss isn't necessary to get 5 royal weapons.

In the video, the game gives me a hard time with an initial South and Northeast camp, followed by a West and Northwest Camp. This causes me to burn a lot of command points running my scouts around to deal with it, but they still get the job done. I would like to do videos for the West and East initial camps as well. Stay tuned.

[fatgamecat]

Chapter 17b (2t)
https://youtu.be/unBGSaJ9PDQ
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

There are quite a few threats that would love to open fire on Claude, and the Dodge rates are still climbing.

it's possible to run past the ace without it getting a shot off.

explosive attacks like grenades and mortars can't be dodged by the enemy if the attacker has no enemies spotting them, even if you don't see "surprise attack" shown when throwing the grenade. this is a good map to take advantage of this, by getting out of sight and throwing grenades down below. I used similar strategies in soul of the Navy squad story.

[fatgamecat]

Chapter 17a (3t) - East camp
https://youtu.be/rug228cA5gs

chapter 17a is unique in that the strategy can vary depending on camp deployments and boss actions. it's like 2 or 3 different missions in 1. every other mission in the game has much less variability.

note that the mission is much easier overall if you deploy a 2nd vehicle and it survives its radiator being fired on, or if you deploy a grenadier and they survive being fired on rather than the vehicle. having 2 vehicles means you can run through the camps much more easily than infantry. I still feel like my deployment requires less restarts on average as long as the player knows what they're doing.

with that in mind, I've played through it again with initial deployments on the East and West camps, instead of South and Northeast. I kill the boss and additionally allow some tank reinforcements to get a higher score than the last 17a video. I might do one more video with initial deployment on the west camp.

[fatgamecat]

Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run Skirmish 9-10 Normal, Interlude 2, Prologue (1-2t)
https://youtu.be/oi6oVBGnZnk
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

skirmish 9 is a little sketchy to one turn but it's possible. skirmish 10 is mostly Grenadier's and tanks weeding out the mess of enemies while trying not to get bombarded.

interlude 2 and Prologue are also included at the end.

[fatgamecat]

Chapter 18a (3t)
https://youtu.be/0HN4nAzeUms
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

kind of a rough 1st attempt, but whatever. almost everyone loads into the clown car to take a road trip. Claude makes his way south to assist with dismantling the harpoons. Kai can't really go anywhere because of her stomach. Minerva and Ryan are left on the base.

did I ever mention I really wish you could choose where to deploy a unit from the APC?

probably should have given Riley a more accurate weapon, and practiced more where to fire it.

Gertrude reaches Cpl. rank after clearing this mission.

[fatgamecat]

Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run Worlds Apart (3t)
https://youtu.be/cx8IDwoPB2g
Damage taken/Allies downed: minimal damage taken
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

It's possible to take no damage on this mission, but it requires some reloading or great luck, and it takes 4 turns. basically, you hope for the 1st 2 enemies to miss their shots, and hope Gertrude doesn't miss her shots. additionally you spend an extra turn waiting around for scouts to die to interception fire since your shocks can't normally outrage them. since it's not feasible on a no reload run, I went for a 3 turn clear instead.

if you don't use R&D and don't do much or any grinding, you'll get Gertrude on reaching Chapter 11. based on that,
I think it's appropriate to equip tier 3 royal weapons at most, which you can get by chapter 8b at the earliest.

In order to keep things fair, I equip tier 1 Royal weapons. I have tier 5 grenades at this point (you have tier 3 grenades by Chapter 11 iirc), but it shouldn't matter for the grenades thrown in the video. unfortunately I can't downgrade them.

[fatgamecat]

Chapter 18b Normal (5t)
https://youtu.be/tQxxbWDmWSQ
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: n/a

antiarmor Grenadier's are the easiest way to dismantle the boss, even without orders. like the Vulcan, aiming is tricky and there's a chance to miss, but generally radiators can be taken down in 2-3 command points once you have the aiming down. it's better to aim slightly inward than outward, like the Vulcan.

a Lancer with the t4 ace Lance can one shot a radiator, but it takes a significant amount of command points to deploy the lancers, destroy all of the turrets and infantry that pose a threat (with a chance of miss/dodge), use an engineer to build the ladders and resupply the lancers, kill the reinforcements, and then hide everyone so they don't get fired on or run over during enemy turn. it's much easier to drive a crew around in the APC and deploy to fire ranged attacks.

I attack enemy Grenadier's from outside their 550 range in case they dodge and turn to face my unit. that way they don't start getting interception fired on. this is even more important in the hard mode of this mission where Grenadier dodge is doubled from 2 to 4%.

there are no enemy leaders or tanks other than the boss. I have more command points than I know what to do with. by turn 5 I realize the video is a bit long so I finish it up.

the hard mode version of this mission is more complicated mainly because the boss emerges in the Southeast on turn 4. meaning your APC probably has to make the trek over there and deal with all the infantry, and the boss can fire on Claude or your snipers unless they're hidden or out of range. the enemy snipers are also a larger threat. I should have that video up soon.

[fatgamecat]

Chapter 18b Hard (5t)
https://youtu.be/I4JBbcv1ZJw
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: n/a

After a quick stop at R&D and the infirmary, we jump right into 18b hard mode. the mission is longer, more complicated, less command points to spare, and more threats to deal with. here are some of the differences:

Enemies are Paragon.

You have one less turn to get Riley to the goal, but that shouldn't matter.

The boss takes a different route, emerging from different points compared to the normal version. It will emerge in the southeast on 4et instead of 6et. However, the APC can still make its way over there without issue, assuming the antitank Grenadier's are dead. The APC can hide in the northeast corner to avoid being shot at (like really far in the corner apparently).

When the boss emerges in the Southeast it can fire on anyone in the initial deployment, but you should have lots of command points to either retreat or hide your units. Claude can hide to the west, and your snipers can either retreat or move south far enough that they outrange the boss cannon. You could also fire some smoke on the spot where the boss will appear, or fire smoke on your units to hide them.

The Southwest engineer and Scout are replaced by an engineer and shock trooper. The APC and Minerva can kill them as before.

The sniper north of the start position is now crouched. It might get up and start moving on 3et, so I suggest killing it.

The shock that starts on the southwest enemy camp and moves North next to the Lancer will crouch instead of standing on 1et.

There's an additional sniper in the Southwest near Riley's goal point. I suggest killing it with a grenadier from behind the APC in case it dodges.

The Grenadier on the northeast base now advances south every turn, instead of staying put. Your snipers can hit it before it becomes a threat.

The boss uses a defensive order, instead of an attack order. In practice it doesn't have much effect because the reinforcements that spawn around the tank don't get the buff.

There are additional mines placed around, but nothing your APC and engineer can't deal with.

If you shoot the intake valve, the boss won't dive, but it won't expose its radiator either. Not much use IMO since it delays your clear by a turn.

[fatgamecat]

just realized a little late that the ailment pouch protects against 17a boss stun (or at least it gives a chance to?). whoops. you still can't deploy a grenadier on that spot, but it might be helpful to have a Lancer without having to spend a command point to deploy it, or a 3rd scout.

however, depending on enemy reinforcement locations, you might not have enough command points or direct command slots to get them to safety off the main base, so you might have to retreat them anyway.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run Mischief Makers, Girl in the Iron Mask (4/2t)
https://youtu.be/-IQPB8ZIVpY

Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run Girl in the Iron Mask (2t)

Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

since this is an early game mission with level 5 enemies, a leadership star isn't assigned, direct command isn't used, Minerva isn't used, accessories are limited to capped bullets and military Cape, and weapons are limited to tier 1 royal.

my tank is fully upgraded but I only use it in a manner that would be possible with a early game tank that only has the 1st 3 weapon upgrades. e.g. not one shotting enemy tanks from the front, and stopping with 50 AP remaining.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run Mischief Makers (4t)

Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

this mission is played with weapons and accessories available after clearing 7b and getting access to the leadership star, but before clearing chapter 8.

grenades are tier 5 since I can't downgrade them, but there's no practical difference between them and tier 3 grenades as thrown in the video.

bug in mischief makers: if you skip the cut scene right after getting reinforcements as soon as possible, before the character dialog shows up, the character that was active when the enemy was killed doesn't get teleported with the rest of the team.

Edited February 21, 2019 by fatgamecat

[fatgamecat]

Shocks are easily the worst class on a level 1 challenge Run. without flamethrowers, they are like scouts with more damage but less AP. almost all of the time, lv1 scouts can land the same kind of kills as lv1 shocks, with better reliability from surprise attacks, and the additional AP is almost always more useful for reaching objectives.

lv1 shocks and scouts have about the same survivability since both classes die quickly to interception fire as the game progresses and lv1 HP values don't scale with enemy damage.

there are 3 main situations where lv1 shocks are useful. Camp defense, where you usually don't have to spend any command points on them since they're firing defensively. Defeating high HP infantry bosses like the Valkyria and the twins. And killing enemies that are crouched or hidden in grass that your other classes can't kill as effectively or reliably - this is rare, though.

Sometimes it's okay to use Raz because he's a leader, his deployment pays for itself, and you might have limited deployment space. This doesn't happen every mission though.

using leveled up elite shocks makes a little more sense because they have increased survivability and powerful flamethrowers. but if you see a level 1 challenge run that regularly uses more than one shock per mission, they could probably use some advice.


reposition bug:
the most persistently annoying vc4 bug is the reposition bug. whenever your character walks instead of runs, they have a small chance to teleport forward ~10 range in the direction they were going, with AP loss to match. this can have disastrous consequences if you teleport into enemy interception fire, or run straight into an enemy you're trying to walk up behind.

the bug only happens when you let go of the D pad or analog stick. if you enter aiming or look mode (l2/r2) or some kind of action that interrupts your movement before letting go, the bug can't happen. I start doing this on hard skirmish 1 avoid misstepping into enemy fire or mines, which are literally everywhere.


Skirmish 1 Hard (3t)
https://youtu.be/q4YthXZA1VE
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

since we're not bombarding the Grenadier's on the cliff, they need to be killed the old-fashioned way. they can't be hit from below, so both paths must be taken. even though this isn't a 100% kills Run, I end up killing all but a handful of enemies anyway.

the triple Grenadier team is pretty standard on most post game content, due to the high Dodge rates and risk of attacking upfront. Riley with the Hartman/ace weapon for crouched or high HP enemies, another grenadier with the more accurate Sanders for hitting lower HP enemies in tighter quarters, and a third Elias Grenadier for Gatling turrets, tanks, and other things that might need high accuracy. It helps to have an engineer leader to back them up as well. I've said this before, but it reminds me of scouts in VC1 where they were the go to solution for most problems.

2 Grenadier's and an engineer go down the right path, two scouts, a lancer, and another grenadier go down the left path. taking damage is literally one misstep away on this map and most hard skirmishes.

t1 is mostly about dealing with initial threats to the main camp and pushing up to the right side.

t2 the remaining five enemy Grenadier's are spotted and killed, my Grenadier's take over the right side and start bombarding the left side, and the main camp team starts pushing down the left side.

t3 tanks are destroyed, mines are dodged, and remaining enemies are dealt with.

[fatgamecat]

Skirmish 2 Hard (3t)
https://youtu.be/bh4OhaiPutI
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

I fire two smoke rounds to defend the main camp instead of the less reliable strategy that I used in my first run. the general strategy is scouts branching out to capture camps with long-range and vehicle support. smoke is used both offensively and defensively to get surprise attacks and stay hidden. again, despite not being a 100% kills run, I end up killing all but a handful of enemies.

how the AI works with its non-special units, is that it has a list of units available to act with. it chooses from that list randomly, in a random order. this is fairly important on the skirmish, because depending on the random order of units it chooses, it may send them in completely different directions towards different camps.

this is why even with smoke, It's important to capture the west and southmost camp on t1 because it will always lure scouts towards them, instead of them heading towards the main camp and causing trouble. this greatly increases reliability of enemy turns, and pulls enemies away from the other camps.

t1 the west and southmost camps are cleared out and captured.

t2 the west and southmost camps are defended and/or recaptured. the Northwest camp is cleared and captured, Ace is killed, and reinforcements are deployed at the South camp. the ace is killed reliably in 1cp without relying on Kai potential. should probably have killed the rooftop shock on this turn. wasn't anticipating the rooftop shock to move or I would've killed it.

t3 the tanks push Southeast destroying all enemy tanks in the way, and also repositioning the enemy Grenadier's for the infantry to flank and kill. the Grenadier's are killed and the remaining two camps are captured. things don't go quite as planned because the AI behaves differently from the practice run, so I have to improvise a bit.
 

[fatgamecat]

Skirmish 3 Hard (3t)
https://youtu.be/39EHhjUZjmI
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

The Grenadiers become honorary snipers on this map, thanks to their effective range increasing when firing from the high ground due to the height difference. this allows me to get a lot of surprise attacks.

it's not a free ride though, since the targeting system is finicky when firing hundreds of range below, even for Grenadier's. if the target is too close, even if it's in range, the targeting system won't pick it up. I already know where to stand to hit which targets to make things go smoothly. spotting is also very important.

without orders, we need to carry a lancer around the map to destroy the tanks. this is mostly accomplished with direct commands. the Lancer is also given the leadership star in case they need to make the move themselves because the scouts might be busy clearing out the West tunnels.

the sniper leader is safely killed with a surprise attack. units are properly hidden from the sniper until it's killed.

t1 the initial tank is destroyed with a team attack, after which the assisting Lancers retreat. both enemies on the East high ground are killed with surprise attacks. Minerva carries Kai and Rita up to the East high ground away from the sniper, and then picks up Claude and Gertrude to move them further towards the second tank. the scouts and engineer are positioned to kill any incoming shock troopers that survived the Grenadier bombardment. an additional Grenadier is deployed from the main camp.

t2 the way is cleared to reach the second tank, the north camp, and the sniper leader. all three objectives are dealt with.

t3 the West tunnels, third tank, and remaining enemies are cleared out

[fatgamecat]

I've spent the last 2 days converting the run into a guide, complete with advice and tips section.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1666797472

if there's anything wrong or out of date with the advice section, I would appreciate any feedback. Thank you.

[fatgamecat]

Skirmish 4 Hard (3t)
https://youtu.be/9s5cGsoSqKw
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

Ideally you'd clear skirmish 5 hard first to get the Grenadier ace weapon, since you can clear skirmishes 4 through 6 in any order and the Grenadier Ace weapon is one of the most valuable. I decided to go without it.

For this mission, I restart the entire game and load from book mode to make sure the supply caches are really randomized and there isn't something lingering in memory from a previous attempt. I kill every engineer to get the location of the caches ahead of time. The deployment and general strategy can handle any combination of supply cache locations.

It's possible to clear this mission in 3t while still taking no damage and killing all engineers, leaders, tanks, and ace. You may need a bit of luck with shots or with supply cache locations. If the Southwest cache is located near the South train by the grass, it's easier to reach since you can sneak past the infantry and train car. If it's located near the South train signal and crouched shock, it's harder to reach because there are more enemies in the way. Since I'm not fixing the location of the caches by using mid mission saves, it's up to random chance and not making mistakes.

The train cars have greatly extended vision despite being night mode, which can ruin a surprise attack. This is complicated by the fact that sightlines are buggy in this game and a train car may be spotting your unit even if you don't see any visible sightlines. Attack from grass or solid cover behind any existing train cars to mitigate this. As far as I can tell, standing next to one of the streetlamps doesn't spoil a surprise attack.

On turn 1, the locations to trigger the trains are closer than they are on turn 2 onward. Try not to go up the south steps or too far up the West Hill unless you want the trains arriving early.

How the AI works with its non-special units, is that it has a list of units available to act with. It chooses from that list randomly, in a random order. This is important on this skirmish because the AI doesn't have enough command points to act with every available unit, so it will choose them at random until it runs out.

The most important units to keep in mind are the 2 scouts and 2 shocks to the West that might or might not start running down the hill. The scout already on the west hill should always be killed on turn one, along with the scout and shock to the East by the guard tower.

The best way to mitigate this West Hill randomness is breaking both sandbags at the bottom of the hill, and rolling the Glory up the hill to provide defensive interception fire. By breaking the sandbags, the enemy AI will be more likely to charge ahead instead of crouching at the sandbags and entrenching themselves. There shouldn't be a problem dealing with any combination of infantry moving down the hill on t2.

Riley with the Elias MA10 antiarmor mortar and plus 15 accuracy accessory has almost perfect coverage on the train radiators. This makes it simple and reliable to destroy the middle train car in 3 command points. Get as close as possible to make her shot, because Grenadier chance to land near the center of the reticule is higher the closer the shot is.

The train turrets on the hard skirmish have a lot more armor, health, and interception fire range. A smoke round is used to neutralize the south train and safely reach the switch. You could use Riley, but she can only safely fire from behind the fence. Also there's a chance to take damage even when the fence is being fired at because there are so many shots and they go everywhere. Smoke is the sane choice here.

t1 the tanks clear out initial nearby enemies, and scout leader, Jascha, and Keigel head East to kill most enemies in the area. the East guard tower is used to spot enemies and hit rag crates. Kai provides sniping support.

t2 scout leader's team continues to the southeast base, while Ronald, Christel, Kai, and Claude clear any infantry that ran down the West hill. Ronald and Christel continue up the West Hill to trigger the middle train and clear out the West high ground. depending on if there are any remaining enemies that will move up the ladder on et2, Christel can either advance closer to the ladder, or hide behind the fence to avoid being shot at. Riley destroys the middle train in 3 command points. Claude repositions himself to start heading south.

t3 make it a priority to hit both train switches unless you are confident of a 3t clear. scout leader's team pushes up to the Northeast camp, and the scout leader can use direct command to reach the far north corner of the map if the supply cache is there. Christel heads down the ladder to hit the North train switch and possibly reach a supply cache, a third scout/engineer will reach the Southwest supply cache, depending on where it's located. The crouched shock near the train switch can be distracted by attacking it from behind the fence and making it look away so the unit can run around behind it to reach the train switch or supply cache.

 

Skirmish 4 Hard (4t)
https://youtu.be/VD_qg_cQqOo
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

To perform a more reliable 4 turn clear, delay triggering the South train car until turn 4, deploy an engineer instead of a third scout, don't kill the Southwest engineer until turn 3 or 4, and make it a higher priority to hit the north train switch instead of reach supply caches. You can also deploy additional units on turn 3 from any camp to make things easier. On turn 4 you should have more than enough command points to finish up.

using the APC on a 4 turn clear might be more helpful instead of the Glory.

Similar to the first video, I restart the game and load a book mode save, and the supply caches are different from the first run. A few other things like enemy reinforcements and enemy movement happen differently as well, but they are dealt with.

Edited February 27, 2019 by fatgamecat

[fatgamecat]

3 seems to be the magic number with these hard skirmishes. I predict another 3 on the next skirmish.

Skirmish 5 Hard (3t)
https://youtu.be/pxrfAzhaMa8
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

The tier 5 Ace Lance with 2000 damage turned out to be pretty useful on this skirmish. Maybe completing the skirmishes in numbered order isn't such a bad idea.

Burning fire patches on chapter 6, etc. cannot be seen through, and units inside are considered hidden. You can effectively hide your vehicles inside the fires and get surprise attacks by firing from inside them.

Similar to skirmish 2 hard, a smoke round is used to cover the base on turn 1. The general strategy is fending off 2 waves of incoming enemies, and then branching off to the Northeast and Southeast bases. Vehicles are used at the Northeast camp to cross through the flames and reach the northwest base, while infantry take the Southeast and Southwest. Grenadiers play a heavy role in clearing most of the camps quickly, reliably, and safely.

The middle of the map is covered by 3 Grenadiers, so it's best to avoid that area. It's much easier to work around the sides and flank. The crouched shock and Lancer near the main camp don't move unless disturbed afaik.

t1 Both ultimate tanks are killed in 2 command points using 2 quadruple team attacks. Smoke is fired on the main camp and important targets are killed. Units are loaded into the APC or retreated as necessary. Claude and the APC position themselves to blockade the northeast entrance to the main camp, which causes the AI pathing to divert its infantry even though the vehicles aren't spotted.

t2 Once the smoke clears, there's a second wave of incoming enemies visible. These enemies are killed, and we begin pushing to the southeast and Northeast camp. Laurent destroys the assault tank near the main camp and then moves south to spot the southeast Grenadier. Minerva, Rita, Riley, and Laurent take over the southeast camp and position to take the Southwest camp. Claude and the APC head to the Northeast camp and position to take the Northwest camp. Claude moves into the nearby flames to get surprise attacks on the infantry and finish off the heavy tank.

Note: The Lancer that suddenly dies on turn 2 is the one that walked into the flames during the enemy turn.

t3 The cannon on the southwest camp helpfully opens the fence for us. You can also use a scout to get a double kill on both rag crates to break the fence and destroy the cannon in one command point. Minerva's team heads to the Southwest camp, and then the APC heads to the Northwest camp to finish. After blowing up the southwest camp, Riley moves north to provoke the Grenadiers facing the middle of the map. This isn't strictly necessary but takes the edge off capturing the Northwest camp. Dan, Jascha, Gertrude, and Raz pick off key units in the Northwest camp and capture. When approaching from the northeast, it's easy to get a surprise attack on the ace.

Again there's a choice between a 3 turn clear with few command points to spare, and a 4 turn more reliable clear.

4t clear:

t1 Same as above

t2 Take your time and fire a second smoke round instead of pushing Northeast and Southeast at the same time. Just make sure to kill all the same incoming targets.

t3 You should have plenty of command points to capture the Northeast and Southeast camps and position for the Northwest and Southwest camps.

Enemy reinforcements will arrive from the northwest and southwest camps on et3. The Northwest reinforcement is a shock and isn't much of a threat because it can't go far. The Southwest reinforcement is a scout and it will hunt down your exposed units, so make sure they are well hidden. It might also head for your main camp but it doesn't have enough AP to reach.

t4 Capture the northwest and southwest camps in the same fashion as above. You should (probably) have enough command points and available units to kill every enemy on the map, without taking damage.

[fatgamecat]

Skirmish 6 Hard (3t)
https://youtu.be/meP4aihVS7U
Damage taken/Allies downed: No
Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: All

The enemy ace has perhaps the lowest ace Dodge rating in the game, at 1% Dodge. Which means there's no issue shooting it out in the open.

The general strategy is the team clearing the East Garrison, so that an engineer and 2 Grenadiers can make their way to the West Garrison and capture. Additional units are deployed from the West camp. This is pretty simple and easy compared to the last 2 hard skirmishes 4 and 5.

Deployment:

1234
5678

1 - Kai / accuracy sniper rifle / ammo belt
2 - Louffe / antiarmor mortar / 50 AP boots
3 - Gertrude / accuracy Lance / plus 10 accuracy
4 - Raz /  /
5 - Claude / Brown rifle /
6 - Riley / Hartman mortar / plus 15 accuracy
7 - Eileen / Brown rifle / volatile powder
8 - Minerva / Brown rifle /

Reserves:
Laurent /  /
Rita /  /

Turn 1:

Kai begins by running up the West steps to kill the ace and then provoke the grenadier into reorienting itself. This works even if her negative potential procs.

This creates an opening for Minerva to run up the East steps without being interception fired on. Minerva kills the scout on the lower level, climbs up the steps to kill the Grenadier and sniper, and then provokes the scout on the middle level to face south.

Claude kills the scout on the middle level that has been turned around.

Eileen uses direct command to carry Gertrude and Louffe up the east steps and around to kill the shock near the ladder.

Gertrude destroys the assault tank on the lower level. This is much more reliable than using an antiarmor mortar to hit the radiator at lv1.

Riley advances up the west steps and attacks the shock on the lower level camp, and then kills another shock on the bridge.

Eileen re-supplies Riley, climbs down the steps to finish the camp shock, captures, and positions near the bridge for t2.

Louffe advances to destroy the Gatling turret on the bridge, and then falls behind Eileen.

Enemy turn one, a scout should advance across the bridge and not fire at anyone.


Turn 2:

Minerva goes south down the ladder to kill the grenadier leader.

Riley kills the shock and scout on the bridge. This is fairly reliable since it's 2 surprise attacks and Riley has the plus 15 accuracy accessory. If all else fails, try sniping the shock with Kai.

Kai Snipes the 2 grenadiers on the West Garrison.

Eileen uses direct command to carry the 2 Grenadier's across the bridge. I should have waited for Riley to catch up here, she gets in a bit of a snag behind the cargo crate.

Eileen and the Grenadiers kill the crouched shock on the West camp and capture it.

The shock overlooking the West camp is also fired at and probably killed. Eileen can fire at this shock twice for free while capturing the West camp.

Laurent is deployed at the West camp, and if you have command points to spare, you can deploy an additional engineer for extra insurance on turn 3.


Turn 3:

Riley kills the shock and scout if they are still alive.

Laurent destroys the Gatling turret and tank.

Eileen uses direct command to carry the Grenadiers towards the main enemy camp, and spots the shock leader. Eileen can take a shot at the shock leader but it's okay if she doesn't kill it.

The Grenadiers dismantle the remaining shocks and Gatling turret covering the main base. If you somehow run out of Grenadier ammo, that's what the backup engineer at the West camp is for. Don't use Eileen until you're sure the coast is clear, or she won't have enough AP.

The skirmish can end with up to 5 command points to spare.

[fatgamecat]

Skirmish 7 Hard (3t)
https://youtu.be/lKjjvV7u0fU

There are no infantry leaders on this map besides the ace, and only a couple tanks. That means a free pass to skip some enemies, since this isn't a 100% kills run.

Smoke isn't necessary if you're aggressive enough to kill all the threats ahead of time. Since this is a night mode stage, there's already plenty of cover by hanging back.

The general strategy is the tank and APC + boarded units heading around while Minerva provides a bit of of backup from above. Grenadier's are used to bombard the usual targets, while a sniper and engineer are on hand to kill a few targets that the Grenadiers can't hit as easily. The engineer is used to repair the West ladder and flank the enemy Cannon to give the vehicles safe passage.

t1 The Grenadier facing the main camp and nearby infantry are dealt with. Minerva takes Brian and Kai up to the upper level to destroy a Cannon and Grenadier. Everyone else loads into the clown car and takes a road trip. The main camp is abandoned, saving us from having to kill the 2 lancers overlooking it, since they don't normally move. As usual, units are deployed and boarded into the APC while completing objectives a.k.a. killing things. Various infantry in the southeast corner are killed, and Claude positions to interception fire kill the Lancer that approaches from the southeast camp.

Sometimes the South Lancer will advance on enemy turn one, I believe it's related to how far south Claude has advanced. In the video I didn't advance much out of caution due to the enemy tank around the corner, so that might be why it didn't move. It's generally better if it moves because then the APC can pick it off while driving west and save a command point.

t2 The tank and APC continue west to the Southwest camp. Grenadiers, lancers, and cannons are all spotted and killed. The engineer captures the Southwest base, repairs the ladder, and kills the Grenadier on the upper level. Sometimes your engineer will get fired on by the Grenadier, but as long as they stand behind the column and then run for the ladder in between the Grenadier reloading, they can't get hit.

t3 The engineer climbs down the northwest ladder to flank the Northwest Cannon. This opens the way for Claude to roll up and destroy both tanks. The APC advances, deploys a sniper who provokes the ace, and the ace is killed safely.

Enemy sightlines seem to be bugged on the west corridor of the map, which is why I repositioned the APC and killed the crouched Lancer on turn 2. I've seen the ultimate tanks shoot at my units with nothing anywhere near them spotting them. Also, you can see in the video I'm unable to surprise attack the Southwest Lancer and Ace despite not being spotted. Regardless, I have enough command points on t3 to brute force the ace down with explosives, even if it dodges every time.

There may be some glitched terrain that's causing an enemy far away to be able to see your units on that side of the map even though they shouldn't be able to.  With the sightline issues on skirmish 4 hard as well, there might be something generally buggy about night mode sightlines in general.

This is also 1 of those maps where Grenadier fire can fall through the floor. It doesn't happen on every map.

I'm trying to unlock the 3 post game squad stories without resorting to repeating missions to grind Corporal. however if I run out of missions I'll be forced to do that.

Edited March 3, 2019 by fatgamecat

[fatgamecat]

Skirmish 8 Hard (2t)
https://youtu.be/B1gnWQ51-b8

Unfortunately I had to break the streak of 3 turn clears on this skirmish.

The AI is very passive on this map, although enemies will open fire if they have a target. Just stay out of sniper range. There's no need to bother with the west side of the map, since the route to the goal is on the east side.

The tier 5 and 6 Ace sniper rifles allow you to zoom in further than the wasp 11, even though they have a worse letter accuracy grade. This gives then more effective accuracy assuming you can deal with the shorter range. They also benefit from being able to one-shot the ace on this skirmish, and having high attack power during support attacks. This is the first time in this run that I use Ace sniper rifles.

Reliability is increased by sniping from inside the steam vent cloud, which makes the attacks undodgeable. You will have to aim manually, however.

Claude is equipped with the telescope to make long-range grenade tosses to break the sandbags at the south end. No need to bring a lancer along.

Riley can hit a limited number of targets depending on her position, but this isn't a great map for Grenadiers. It's possible for her to get a surprise attack on the 2 shock troopers on the lower level by setting up behind the barricades near the east stairs.

t1 The snipers make 5 undodgeable kills. Claude uses direct command, brings the engineer leader forward a bit, picks up Riley, temporarily recruits the snipers to assist with a surprise attack kill on the northeast shock, and then continues to carry Riley South. Claude continues south to grenade the Southeast sniper. If this sniper dodges, it's counterattack won't hit Claude because of the grenade angle, and one of the snipers can finish it off from inside the steam cloud. Riley heads down the stairs to nuke a scout and sniper. The turn ends with everyone hidden from the remaining snipers.

t2 The engineer leader uses direct command to carry the snipers south, resupply them, and take a shot at 1 of the shocks on the lower level. The snipers clear out more infantry backed up by the engineer. Claude breaks the ace sandbag with his handy telescope and heads down to the lower level. Once the Southwest grenadier is spotted, Riley can surprise attack it, or one of the infantry can run up and throw a grenade below. Once all infantry blocking the goal are dead, the engineer, Claude and Minerva if necessary clear the final Gatling turret and reach the goal.
 

[fatgamecat]

Skirmish 9 Hard (3t)
https://youtu.be/Mi-TYRCnePY

Two lancers are taken instead of an antiarmor Grenadier and a Lancer, to destroy more tanks on turns 1 and 2.

Splitting up your infantry isn't a great idea due to the limited deployment of 6 units. Instead, the APC takes 5 units and charges through the lower part of the map, while Claude and Kai stay back to defend the base.

Raz is equipped with the telescope to give his gun 250 range which allows him to outrange the enemy Gatlings on the map. This is useful since the arches on the map block Grenadier fire from passing through, unless you're firing from underneath the arch.

The sandbags on this skirmish can be disruptive to vehicle movement, wait for them to disappear after breaking them before proceeding.

t1 Kai surprise attacks the sniper leader and hides. The APC boards everyone else and heads southwest. Minerva destroys the nearby cannons, clearing the way for the APC to continue West and hide. Lancers deploy and destroy the 2 nearby tanks. Claude advances and mortars the 2 Grenadiers, and then backs up to the main camp.

t2 One of the lancers advances and destroys the 2 cannons. The APC advances, passes the assault tanks, and positions to blockade the enemy ace interception fire. Lancers are deployed to destroy the 2 assault tanks, and then Raz/Minerva destroys the 2 Gatling turrets. The 2 nearby lancers are also killed. the APC advances on the ace and kills it with a undodgeable shot, and then proceeds north. Enemies around the main enemy camp are killed.

At this point with the ace dead and the main enemy camp open, we could capture on turn 2. However there are still more tanks and leaders to kill.

On enemy turn 2 some shocks will advance on the main camp, but with Claude camped on it they have no chance.

t3 Claude kills any shocks around the main camp, destroys the nearby tank, and advances North. The APC and other units spread out to destroy the remaining tanks, Gatling, and shock leader on the map.
 

[fatgamecat]

Skirmish 1 Challenge (2t)
https://youtu.be/DgehsKi2cK4

On this skirmish you can do crazy things like destroy AT cannons with a single sniper shot, destroy tanks with a single Lance, one shot unspotted enemies through their defense bonus, or kill crouched camped shock leaders in a single grenade. The damage multiplier generally works to your advantage if you don't get hit. This skirmish would have taken more turns if not for the damage multiplier.

Units are deployed so that no one ends up in the range of the sniper near the main enemy camp.

similar to skirmish 4 hard, the AI has more available units to act with than it has command points. almost any infantry on the map is available to move, so expect different arrangements every attempt. The AI will tend to seek out your exposed infantry, and rush your main camp if not. The strategy can handle any combination of enemy activity, since units stay hidden in the grass and 3 vehicles are protecting the main camp.

Allied infantry make their way west through the grass to avoid detection and get surprise attacks. Vehicles are used only for camp defense because it's not worth the command point cost of dismantling all the antitank cannons.

Snipers are used to get surprise attacks from the grass while an engineer and Lancer make their way across to kill tanks, leaders, aces, and capture.

t1 Riley kills a grenadier and crouched Scout and then hides. Aladdin advances and hides. Eileen takes Gertrude and Kai Southwest. Some targets are picked off, and everyone is hidden in the grass at the end of the turn. Claude repositions for base defense.

t2 Aladdin kills some more targets, Gertrude destroys more tanks, Eileen kills the ace and crouched shock leader. Eileen uses direct command to get her AP back and make her way up to the main enemy camp and capture.
 

[fatgamecat]

Skirmish 2 Challenge (2t)
https://youtu.be/vo6VmkoFuwI

The Vulcan can easily be killed on turn 1 or 2, making it not much of a threat unless you deliberately leave it alive for challenge reasons. Unlike a lot of the hard skirmishes, there are no unbreakable fences put up to force the player to deal with generics. The bosses, ace, tanks, and leaders all seem to be placed conveniently to be killed without having to deal with generics. In the video the only generic enemy I have to kill is a Gatling turret next to the Valkyria.

Similar to 15a, I'd probably have to leave the Vulcan alive and kill every enemy on the map to give this mission a fair shake.

t1 Snipers hit the Valkyria staff so that she kills the enemy Ace on the enemy turn. Riley destroys the Vulcan using 10 shots and one resupply. Claude fires smoke to protect the main camp from other enemy activity.

t2 The APC picks up some units and heads to the middle of the map. Units are deployed to destroy all remaining tanks, leaders, and the boss. Eileen was supposed to get a double kill but oops.
 

[fatgamecat]

Skirmish 3 Challenge (3t)
https://youtu.be/4wAi2YPSF7c

This skirmish doesn't have a damage multiplier gimmick, or 2 bosses, but it ends up being the most difficult of the 3.

The general strategy is loading 3 Grenadiers, an engineer, and a Lancer into the APC and heading for the goal. Starting out, the left path is the easiest to take but is closed to vehicles after turn one because of the mortar that breaks the ice. Don't let the 2 leader tanks on the left intimidate the APC, their main turrets are a mortar and a flamethrower, which are relatively harmless to vehicles.

Spotting and killing the enemy Grenadier's is very important and it's best to learn where each one is located.

On enemy turn 2, the AI doesn't have enough command points to act with all of its available units if you've been killing enemy leaders. That means more random enemy activity. The deployment and strategy can handle any combination of enemy activity and is also resilient to enemies dodging or inaccurate Grenadiers.

The first important infantry is the scout near the main Allied camp. The Scout is a stop and shoot and will approach the main Allied camp. In the video this scout moves and attacks but doesn't cause any damage because of my deployment and position of Claude.

The second important infantry is the shock near the snow bank by the 2 heavy tanks in the northern part of the map. This shock might advance to the team of crouched enemy snipers, or it might stay put. If it stays put you can generally avoid it, or if it advances then it has to be killed.

t1 Claude destroys the snowbank and positions for the potential incoming scout. The grenadiers and engineer clear out the 3 cannons and enemy grenadier, and get ready to be picked up by the APC. The APC picks everyone up for one last road trip. The grenadier on the left side behind the snowbank is spotted and killed. The APC drives up behind the assault tank leaders and our Lancer deploys to destroy the one with the mortar cannon. The remaining flamethrower tank can't do anything to the APC so it's safe to end the turn right next to it.

t2 The Lancer destroys both tanks while spotting a grenadier leader, which Riley kills. The APC opens the snow bank and then hides. Grenadier's start killing the crouched snipers and crouched scout. Killing the crouched scout isn't necessary, but it makes it a lot easier to take no damage on this section of the map.

t3 Any remaining snipers are killed, and if there's a shock in the way, it's at least disrupted from crouching. The cannon near the heavy tanks is destroyed, clearing the way for the APC to advance. The APC can finish off the shock if it's still alive, and then proceed to spot the next Grenadier. The APC will pick up the antiarmor Grenadier but leave an anti-personnel Grenadier behind to kill the spotted Grenadier.

Once that slightly random situation is dealt with, the Lancer is deployed to destroy the 2 tanks while the APC kills the scout and moves north. The antiarmor mortar Grenadier is once again deployed to destroy the Northwest Gatling. The engineer is deployed to carry the Lancer West to the ace tank while accomplishing various objectives. After the ace tank is destroyed, all that remains is to move someone onto the main camp and capture.

I managed to unlock Louffe's squad story after finishing this mission. Unfortunately I'll have to unlock the other 2 postgame squad stories manually since I've run out of on disc missions to play.


I went through the list of boss missions that would be significantly more challenging if you had to kill every enemy on the map (under the conditions of this challenge run).

14 - There are a lot of enemies on the upper level, and reinforcement enemies, that are often completely ignored. It's difficult to deal with this due to reinforcement limits and the enemies being spread out everywhere. This also potentially gives the bosses and reinforcement enemies a chance to act on enemy turn if they can't all be killed in a single turn. estimated turns needed: 4

15a - Killing every enemy will give the bosses a chance to launch their special attack, and generics aren't pushovers at this point either. estimated turns needed: 4-5

18b - Despite the boss running all over the map, there are sections of the map that don't need to be fully cleaned out, such as the Northwest camp, Northeast camp, and the camp near your start position. Clearing these out on hard difficulty would put strain on command point resources while still getting an A rank. Not to mention the boss turrets and cannons. estimated turns needed: 6+

Challenge skirmish 2 - Similar to 15a, except by destroying the Vulcan first and leaving the Valkyrie alive, the rest of the map can be cleared with minimal interference from her. The player would have to kill the Vulcan last to get the full experience. Klaus uses a recall order from turn 4 through 7 every single turn if he's still alive.  estimated turns needed: 5-6