*Colin FAQ* Table of Contents: 0. "Before I begin..." 1. "Find out about me" 2. "Version History" 3. "Legal" 4. "Why do I like Colin?" 5. "What can Colin do?" 6. "Going into Colin" 7. "In-depth Colin" 8. "Colin Verses...." 9. "Strats" 10. "My favorite CO's in the order" 11. "Thanks!" 12. "Contact me" ---------0. Before I begin...------- BEFORE I BEGIN-I would like you to know that I expect you to be very used to Advance Wars 2, and that you know strategies, and other stuff. If you don't, then go look at other guides. Most of them have strategies. However, I like to believe that you should play on your own-develop your own strategies. I'm not here to tell you how to play the game. I'm just giving you more info about Colin and why I think he's underrated and stuff along those lines. I don't have master "strats" as they call them. I believe some people take this game WAAAY to seriously. I think the objective of this game is fun, not your life. I have gotten this in every email I received so far, and I'm going to put an end to it right now. THE DOCUMENT I USE FOR THIS GUIDE DOES NOT HAVE A SPELL CHECK. I should have stated that before, and I apologize for it. Also, I'm going to say this too. I DO NOT HAVE ANYBODY ELSE TO FIGHT BUT MYSELF. I have also heard that in every email I got. I apologize if I offended the people who have emailed me thus-far, but I'm just sick of hearing this. Also, please understand UPDATES ARE ON THE WAY. Just give me some time, that's all. Anyway, I just wanted to make that clear. Now, let's get on with this! -----1. Find out about me----- Hello, and welcome to my guide. Name's SuperSonic612, or Kai; either will work. I hope this guide will help you somehow. AW2 definitely isn't a game to be missed, and with CO's like Colin, Eagle, and everybody else, this game is just perfect. I like to collect comic books, and I also enjoy going for a nice swim in my pool. And of coarse, I love to play video games. I've been playing since the Atari, but the Sega Genesis is when I really started getting into gaming. But enough about me-we got ourselves a Colin to learn about. ----------2. Version History--------- 0.1 Created Table of Contents, Find out about me, Why do I like Colin?, and Going into Colin. 0.2 Created In-depth Colin, started Colin vs..... 0.3 Finished Colin vs.... 0.4 Created Legal 0.5 Created My favorite COs in the order, Thanks!, and Contact me. Finished document. Read "Contact me" for info about how to add things to this guide if I missed any. I will also be updateing when I find something wrong. 0.6 I felt bad that this was so short, so I decided to increase it's length alittle. Added bits and pieces all over the place. 0.7 Added more stuff here and there. 0.8 Made crucial updates, and created Before I begin... 0.9 Made updates that I kept getting in emails to do. 1.0 Continued from where I left off. Also created "Strats." 1.1 Added "Rush" to "Strats." Also fixed a few typoes. ----------3. Legal------- This is copyrighted by Kai, 2005. Only use this for your own, personal use. If I see this guide anywhere that doesn't have my permission, you wouldn't beleive what I could do. Be cool; email me first. If I give you permission, you are alowed to use it on your site. Visit "Contact me" at the bottom of this here document for my email. ----------4. Why do I like Colin?-------- Colin is awesome, simply put. While his units are weaker than most, he can pop 'em out really fast. Got a Neotank breathing down your neck? Build two, surrond it, then BLAM! Crush it. Colin needs alot of skill to work with, and, fortaintly for all of my loyal fans (lol), I have that skill. You know what? Most people like Kanbei. And with good reason. He has the most powerful units in the game, but for the same price as Kanbei's bomber, you could get two fighters to counter that bomber, and have a little left over. Colin's units might be bad; but they're cheap. In my eyes, Colin is actually a bit overpowered. Many people think Sturm is cheap (check out Colin vs....for my feelings on that), and I suppose he is. But when you got 10 bombers, $40,000 in the bank, and Power of Money activated, we'll see how far that "cheapness" gets him. ---------5. What can Colin do?------ Spam units, that's what Colin can do! Pesky A-Air hit that precious bomber? Smoke it with your Md. Tank, then go in there with another bomber. What Colin can do is endless. I say, for this game, it isn't about who you pick-it's about how good you are. You could pick the worst character in the game, up against the best in the game, you would still win as long as you had more experiance. Colin is in the top three favorites of my COs (look at the section "My favorite COs in the Order"). His true power is hidden. Look at the description in the game. Now play him a few times. There are probably three kinds of people out there: Love-absolutely loved him. I didn't know he was this strong and fun to play. OK-he was OK, but I'm gonna stick with Eagle/Hawke/Kanbei etc. Hate- Worst player in the game (shame on all of you!) In case you couldn't guess, I was part of the first one. The first time I ever played Colin (campaign mission Reclamation), I knew he was special. I picked him for every thing I had the chance to in the rest of Campaign. And you want to know something? He beat the Deathray once I got to the end. Right there, I knew that he was the character....my character. I used him for a very long time, that is, until I beat Green Earth and unlocked Eagle. Me and him were inseperable. Well, now I gave Colin another chance. Between Colin (1st-2nd favorite), Eagle (1st-2nd favorite) and Andy (third favorite), I was unstoppable. Well, now the Colin just awoke in me and it's time to show you what he can really do. ----------6. Going into Colin-------- As stated in the above section, Colin spams units, and he spams 'em good. Now, though I don't have him, I know what Hachi does. I do my homework, afterall. He has the same prices as Colin, but his units are normal strengh. Sure, that's awesome, and is probably better than Colin in predeployed matchs....key word=probably. Sure, Colin's units are weaker than Hachi, and the old coot can also build from cities with his SCOP, but I like to believe that Colin's Super power is far greater than that. By the time you get your super power, you will probably have so much money, it will just devestate your foe. I mean, you aren't going to be buying anything. Speaking of getting your super power, let me show you what his CO power meter bar looks like: xxXXXX When you look at it, you probably say, "Wow, he must get his regular power pretty fast." And that is true, he does, only being two stars. But now let me explain to you what the powers do: Gold Rush-increases funds by 1.5. It is pretty good, and the more money you have, the better, obviously. Now go through a couple long battles, using GR whenever you get it. Sure, you probably got to use it alot, but it probably won't help you out nearly as much as his Super. YuGiOh15 also wanted me to mention something called Double Gold Rush, or DGR. Basically, you just save up for Power of Money, and then use Gold Rush as many times as you can, instead of using PoM. Effective, I'm sure, but if you have his SCOP, I recommend using that, unless you are $1,000 away from that game-breaking bomber or whatever. Power of Money-the more money you have, the more offense you get. Now that's a spicy meatball. Very spicy. If you are Colin's opponent, you won't want to go to this restarant again, if you know what I mean. Now let me give you a few tips on how you should use this grand power: MAKE SURE YOU USE IT AT THE RIGHT TIME-just getting PoM and throwing it out there won't probably even flinch your opponent, unless you're really lucky. Don't take the chance. Try to have as much money as possible, but don't wait so long as to lose all your units. Kinda takes the point out of it, don't you think? MAKE SURE YOU CAN ATTACK WITH AS MANY UNITS AS POSSIBLE- it doesn't matter how much you want to destroy that Rocket that always shoots an important unit, if you can only hit one unit, then you just completely wasted your power, and, if against a very powerful foe, will probably just flush that victory down the toilet. I, unfortainately, did the same thing just a little earlier today, without even realizing it. ------7. In-depth Colin----- Colin doesn't take skill to learn; he takes skill to master. Let me define how I look at skill for a moment: Skill is the amount of time you took to really learn something. Like Yu-Gi-Oh! You can't just throw a deck together, win once, and call yourself a Master Duelist. It doesn't work that way. If you look up skilled in the dictionary it says, "Skilled. Having skill; trained or experienced." Colin needs skill. Just like it might take awhile to master Kanbei, or if you are an outside-er, than maybe getting skilled at a bike. Well, while playing as Colin, you might not get as much exercise as a bike, but you can definitely become a better AW2 player. And if atleast SOME people are like me, that might actually matter. I'm still playing this game. I don't care how long ago it came out. I'm still playing Super Mario 64 for crying out loud! And that game came out in, like, 1996! My point: if you truely are dedicated to anything, you're going to keep coming back, no matter how old it is. But this isn't a life lesson, so let's get back to the subject here. When push comes to shove, Colin's almost always going to win. Now, I BELIEVE that his units take a 10% deduction. But with the cost, it's going to be worth it. Let's take a look at Colin's cost for units (ground, air, then sea. Also in order they are found when you select either a port, airport, or base): Infantry-$800 Mech-$2,400 Recon-$3,200 Tank-$5,600 Md. Tank-$12,800 Neotank-$17,600 APC-4,000 Artlry-$4,800 Rockets-$12,000 A-Air-$6,400 Missles-$9,600 ------ Fighter-$16,000 Bomber-$17,600 B. Copter-$7,200 T. Copter-$4,000 ------- B. Ship-$22,400 Cruiser-$14,400 Lander-$9,600 Sub-$16,000 I didn't do anything fancy, and if you need to know what each unit does, either email me or just simply go to another guide-that is much more prefered. Like I said, each unit is decreased in power, but you can just put more out on the field and more than do anything about that. Let's see, if each unit is decreased by 10%, and your attacking with two units, that's another 80% damage right there. OK, now let's talk if you like to play with CO powers off. As long as there are bases (which there almost always are), Colin can still pull through, unlike, let's say, Olaf or Andy, who rely on the powers. A better chance anyway. In fact, I think Colin might be at an advantage when they are off. That way, if up against, oh let's say a Kanbei player, they don't have to worry about his immense and overall scary powers. Of coarse, you don't get your PoM, but when you look at some other people's CO powers, like Kanbei, that won't matter. Actually, that would be an interesting battle, Colin v. Kanbei. Oh well, I'm doing that section a little later, so anyway, back to this one. I would like to mention something about his SCOP. If you either know that you are going to get it next turn, or got it during your turn, don't buy anything. Here's an example that I swear is real-it just happened today: I had a Neotank, 9HP (I think), against Lash's Infantry (8HP I think). Now I didn't buy anything at the end of the turn. So on my next turn, I had about $40,000 in the bank, slapped on PoM, and I did 222% to it. Another one, if you didn't beleive that one: It was the same turn, except this time it was Infantry v. Infantry. Mine had 8HP, and her's had 9. I went up to attack it, and it did 86% to it. If you don't get it, it means that PoM is very effective, but it isn't neccessary. --------8. Colin vs....----- It's that time now, kids! This will probably be my most favorite part of the guide. It's time to figure out how easily you can crush your foes with everything I just taught you so far in this guide. I want to say this right here. I cannot give very good "strats" to these characters because I HAVE NO ONE TO FIGHT. I am sorry if you are sick of hearing that, but by all the emails I got, so am I. To quote The Master in Paper Mario, "To Battle!" Colin vs....Andy! Probably either a big threat or a pushover. It depends if your fighting a human (big threat) or the computer (pushover). The computers are sad in Versus, but are absolutely ruthless in War Room and Campaign. I can't really tell you here; I don't think you have to much to worry about though. Be careful of his healing powers. Even 2HP could destroy you, if used at the right time. Colin vs....Sami! MAKE SURE YOU PREPARE AGAINST A MECH SWORM!! You don't have to worry about this as much if you are fighting a computer, but otherwise you must be extreamly careful. If she is doing a MS, make the best possible use out of the cost reducing effects. If you were able to pop out a Neo every turn (or better yet, Bomber/B. Ship) then you might be able to pull through fairly easily. But since that is a total of $18,000 a turn, unless your playing on a map with alot of money, that isn't to likely. Also, don't forget, she doesn't need much money to attack ($1,000, $3,000, $6,000, and maybe $8,000 for Infantry, Mechs, Artillry, and an A-Air, if there are airports). However, if you use battleships, unless she came up with a master plan to defeat that attack, will pretty much always win. But since they cost more than Neos/Bombers, see what you can do with those first. One more thing, NEVER leave your HQ ungarded. Against Sami, that would be stupid. Especially in FoW. One Victory March will just end it right there. Always put something on the HQ against her. Colin vs...Max! He might be about as much trouble as Kanbei is. With his suped up units, at no price cost, you might have alot of trouble. However...if you could counter him with his greatest weakness, he probably won't stand a chance..... Colin vs....Nell! Nell is also a fun CO to use. I used her for awhile, but Colin is just better to me. You shouldn't have that much trouble, as her luck means nothing to Colin as he can just deploy more units than what she can destroy. Not too much trouble, but you should still be careful if up against a human. Colin vs.....Hachi! This is an interesting battle. Unfortainately, I can't tell you much on him, for I haven't unlocked him yet. I'm trying hard to though. Go to another guide, learn his strategies, then beat him back with every weak point you found out. Right now I'm about 95% through Blue Moon, so that just leaves two and a 1/4 more countries (I don't count Black Hole) to go. I'll update this as soon as I unlock him. Colin vs.....Olaf! Look at Andy, and then substitute everything from "Andy" to "Olaf." However, Olaf might be a little harder to beat than Andy, seeing as how you will have so many units, the snow will be a huge "snow"-down. Heh heh... Try to play with CO powers off if you have the chance. If you fight the computer, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. If you can play with CO powers off, he won't stand a chance. By the time he gets two tanks, you'll already have a Md. and possibly a Neo. Colin vs.....Grit! Phew, Grit eh? This could get annoying. However, as long as you mass-produce units, it shouldn't be that hard, but you really need to be careful. ALWAYS do air units when fighting him. Since Colin is so unpredictable, you could try to get him to focas on Artillrey/Rocket units, and then go in there with a Bomber swarm and blow away everything before he can get Missles set up. Colin vs....Colin! Umm....this is a little weird. It's pretty strange they even let you fight the same character as you're playing....freaky. But anyway, I don't think this would be that hard...I don't know: I've never fought myself before. If you are fighting a computer, go beat up a twig outside-you'll get more of a challenge. If you are fighting another human player, as long as you got more experiance, you shouldn't be that worried. Colin vs....Sonja! Sonja, if caught off-gaurd, will be simple. If you fight her in FoW.....good luck. Once more, if it's the comp., you won't have anything to worry about. However, if you play against a friend, chances are they know what they are doing-not good for you. If you know how Colin works, it shouldn't be too bad. As for her ?HP for all her units, you are going to be swarming her, it doesn't matter. It won't save her. The extra sight will. Even if it is only 1 extra sight, that is one more than you have. If you can play without FoW, don't worry about anything. Be careful, but don't worry. As Grit said in Campaign, "Don't mistake what I said, son. Being relaxed and being careless are two different things." Colin vs....Sensei! Once more, PREPARE FOR A MECH SWARM. This battle shouldn't be as hard as a Sami battle. Still, make sure your covered. Just like his sister, always keep a unit on the HQ. Whether it be an APC, or even an Infantry, make sure you never leave it ungaurded. Build A-Airs: they are strong against both of his strengths. Of coarse, don't do JUST A-Airs. Throw in tanks, Md. Tanks, and even a Bomber. He won't stand a chance. Colin vs....Kanbei! You thought I forgot about him, didn't you? Haven't you ever heard of saving the best for last? Anyway, Kanbei is a very challenging opponent. I have a friend far away from where I live who likes to play with the emperor, and it would be a blast to challenge him. I can't give you much info. If I can get any, I'll update this (hopefully soon after, maybe before, I unlock Hachi). Colin vs.....Drake! Drake....phew....got our work cut out for us here. Even if there are no ports, it doesn't mean to just put down Drake. He is an awesome CO....and a better challenge. Since you are going to have so many units, both of Drake's powers are going to seriousely hurt you; the fuel-halving effect, and the damage. Very difficult. And if there are ports....I don't even want to go there. Try to use air units against him, and also try to avoid being in water. If you are in a spot where Cruisers can't reach you, with a Bomber, than he can't do anything about it. Just try your best; you'll need to. Colin vs....Jess! My brother plays her. He plays very fiercely though. You almost never see him use her SCOP; he always uses his power. However, since most people have more strategy than my stupid brother, you got a challenge ahead of you. Just try to save up for your SCOP, and unleash it at the right time. Since she has strong tanks, try to use air or sea. She is very difficult. Just do your best. Like Drake; you'll need to. Colin vs.....Eagle! WOW! The hardest of all the Green Earth COs. Air units are hard to get by. Ignore all commen sense when fighting him and do a solid 5-6 Fighters, 7-8 A-Airs, 0-2 Missles. I don't reccomend missles. I don't beleive them to be as effective. And also a Cruiser or two, if there's water. Now, this is kinda situational. Build Subs. Although that might be weird, though extreamly weakend, Eagle's sea units are very powerful, and very surprising. I don't recommend very many subs, unless you know that he is launching a surprise attack. Also throw in the usual Md. Tank, Neo, you know. Commen stuff like that. Be extreamly careful of Lighting Strike, and even L. Drive can be devastateing if done at the right time. Colin vs.....Flak! Now we're entering familer taratory. I fight Black Hole almost every battle, so I know the ins and outs of these idiots. Flak is stupid. I see absolutely nothing that interests me, besides beating the crap out of him. I'm sorry if I offended the one person out there that plays Flak, but there are SO many more better...good players out there. Trust me, you don't need a strategy to beat the clown. Flak is like a rock to water-sinks every time. Colin vs....Lash! One of the 2 1/2 people in Black Hole, if you know what I mean. She can be trouble, but you still have nothing to worry about. You know how a quoted Grit a little bit above? Well, except this time, you can be careless. If you are fighting a very experinced player, be careful of what she can do. Watch out for for her powers, too. They can be cruel, especilly if she can get on a mountain. Harsh. But still, just keep calm, and fight til the finish! Colin vs....Adder! I think were going pretty far down on the totem poll here. Adder blows chunks. It doesn't matter how fast it gains it's power. Notice I said "it's." A gender hasn't been proven yet (just kidding). While his CO powers are pretty brutal, and ruin that base that you thought you were going to capture next turn, it's still nothing you can't recover from, especially if you are Colin. Rip the Michel Jackson-wanna-be in two, and go on to a better opponent. Colin vs....Hawke! Now we're going somewhere. Hawke can be pretty good, but he does come from BH, so you got to subtract points for that. Hawke's units get the 10% bonus that Colin loses (Thanks YuGiOh15!), but trust me-he doesn't have that much to show for it. Colin vs....Sturm! The leader of Black Hole.... Shows quite a bit, when you think about it a little. He sucks just like all the other Black Hole COs. Don't worry about anything, except maybe if your are going to run out of rocks to shoot in the water. It doesn't matter how strong his units are. It doesn't matter how much it takes for him to cross woods and rivers-when you got blahby (just made that word up) computers built in this game, you don't have anything to worry about. ANYTHING. Don't even worry about Meteor Strike-you'll have so many units, it won't matter anyway. Note: I received an email from YuGiOh15 that complained about what I say about BH. That is true. I do put them down a lot. However, for every CO that I mentioned, you are going to have to come up with your own stratigies. I cannot help you in this department, for I don't have anyone to fight but myself. And I could fight myself, but what good would that really do? Note: I have never fought any human, so all these have been against the computer. I live in the middle of nowhere, so I don't know many people, let alone people who have this game. -----------9. "Strats"---------- I've refered to them several times in this guide, so I decided to add a few. If anybody knows any others, don't be a stranger to email me. Mech Swarm: I do believe Colin's quite good at this. Here's how I would do a mech swarm: 3 subs, 2 fighters, 2 A-Airs, 4-5 Artillery, and about an endless supply of Mechs. Obviously, Colin is going to be pretty good at this, as he swarms anyway. Why not swarm a popular way? Blitzgreig: I think it's called something like that....Anyway, what you do here is, build a bunch of something. I know that sounds like a mech swarm, but it does have a cooler name. I suggest building two things to counter everything your opponent can throw at you (example: bombers and fighters). Rush: Thanks to YuGiOh15 who I believe was trying to tell me this in his email. This tactic is very simple; just go send normally-would-be expensive units early in the game over to your opponents side and devestate them before they can get going. This might be THE only way to beat a good Kanbei player. Take a few Md. Tanks in there and pummle the crap out of your opponent before they can get the engine going. This move ain't too bad; probably at it's prime against Kanbei and Grit. Not that I have anything against those two, they can just have a rough starting sometimes. ---: Hmm..don't really have a name for this one. Anyway, this works best, and maybe only, in FoW. I like bombers. I like bombers alot. They are easily my favorite unit. So pretend your me, and love to build bombers. So do that, but then build B. ships (I think the B. Ship is most effective in this move), while still holding your foe's attention on bombers. Colin is very good at this, as his lower prices make buying bombers and B. ships as easy as can get. This is probably my favorite, as you completely screw the comp./friend over. Nice. Any others, anybody? I know that four isn't alot, but it's all I could really come up with. If I can dig up any more, rest assured that they'll be here. ---------10. My favorite COs in the order----------- Well, here we are. The last part of the guide that anyone really looks at. I apologize if this was a little short. I'll be updateing it as soon as I find something wrong with it, if time allows. Anyway, here is the list of my favorite COs, in the correct order: 1. Colin 2. Grit 3. Eagle 4. Drake 5. Max 6. Kanbei 7.Sami 8. Andy 9. Nell 10. Jess 11. Olaf 12. Sensei 13. Sonja 14-19. Black Hole. I didn't appreciate them very much in the guide, why would I like them here? The only one that I have some urge to play is Sturm, and I only do him in War Room. And I also try to avoid doing him. Also, please, please don't be offended by this. Just because Olaf only came in 10, doesn't mean I don't like to play him now and again. Just like everybody else. Sure, Colin is my favorite, and I play him most often, but I also like to play as Andy sometimes, and look where he came in! Note: My favorites have changed since section 5. I said that Andy is my third favorite, but when you look at it a second time, I said that they WERE my favorites, not my current ones. Also take into account that my favorites change often. Since, however, they do change so much, don't expect too many updates here, unless I really have the time to kill. -------11. Thanks!------- I would like to thank me, for my perfection....lol. Just kidding. However, seeing as how much patiance I have, I'm surprised I did write this. Thanks me! I would like to thank the creator of Gamefaqs, CJayC. Thanks for creating an awesome site (that I visit just about every day)! Also on my thanking list, I would like to mention Ebooz, who I saw in his Sami guide how much HP she needs to capture a properity. Thanks! Thanks out to YuGiOh15, who pointed out many things I did wrong, especially how much Colin's units are reduced, and how much Hawke gains. My bro, who, for some reason, has inspired me in many places, both in this game and life. As weird as this is, Haruka, I couldn't have done this guide without you. Thanks! And I would like to thank everybody that endured me, my beloved audiance. Thanks for reading everybody! And don't forget! COLIN RUELS!! -------12. Contact me-------- I would like to thank everyone one last time, and I assure you that updates are on the way! Just let me unlock Hachi, and maybe even come up with more strategies. You better hope so; Kanbei's a tough customer. My email is: [email protected] Do not send me spam. I WILL block you. Do not even think about doing anything else. You must ask for permission to use my guide. If you wish for something else, email me. I will think about what it is you wish for, and then reply with a Yes/No, or whatever the question is. ALWAYS put in the subject line: "Colin FAQ" or something of the sort. If you do not do this, you're message will get deleted right on the spot, and therefore never read. I do not do AIM. I am on it occasionally, but I do not wish to give my screen name away. Also in your email, do not curse. And also talk like a human (no substituting "you" for "u," or anything else). I will, of coarse, accept typos, but do not do it on purpose. It makes the email so much harder to read, and also might be ignored. If you think you got something that this guide to Colin needs, email me, and tell me to either put it on here, or if you would like it done secretly (I don't know why), than I will just email it back to you. State wether you would like it in an email or posted on the guide. If you would like to reveiw my guide, also email me, but unless you also include a question, don't expect a reply. Also in an email, I would like you to talk politley. Do not say "Yo, Suczwad." Say, "Dear Kai." If you are rude, do not expect an email back. However, if you would like to state your opinion, for example, why Olaf should be number 1 instead of ten, be my guest. I aplaude that kind of behavior (as long as you put it in a nice way. Example: I beleive that Olaf should be in your #1 spot because...." not anything like, "Yo, you jerk! Colin sucks eggs, he's horrible! You must be on somethin', 'cuz the CO you picked sux.") Follow all of this, and there is a 99.5% chance that I'll reply back to you. Also, the the only site(s) that is alowed to use this: www.gamefaqs.com www.neoseeker.com If you see this on ANY other site that doesn't have my permision, and if you are an honest person, let me know. Also, if you see this on any other site, come down to the "Contact me" section, and see if I have added any sites here. Somebody may have asked for permission and got it, and I gave it to them, hence the reason that it is on that site. Also if I do give you permission, if you put it in your own name...oh, your in soooo much trouble. Don't try it. You don't want to know what I could do. Thank you. *FIN*