8. Kaiser Wilhelm: Chasm

Level Medal 1: Kill 100 Infantry with Vehicles

Level Medal 2: Fully Upgrade 5 Turrets

This may well be the most messed up level we have faced in the game so far. Seriously.

The battlefield is divided into four sides, on two facing sides are the spawn points, and on the other two facing sides are the Toyboxes. In between them is a square, with bridges, but that is NOT the only route that the attacking units have to reach the Toyboxes.

With us so far?

In the center of the square are four spts you can use for heavy units, and a smattering of light unit placements. But here is the rub - you have to play this completely different for the challenges than you do for regular play.

A wider difference than we have seen before actually, as the challenges - at least the first one anyway, requires a very different strategy.

The second challenge will be very easy in comparison. Or it would but for the fact that there are Infantry carrying bombs who will suicide at the Turrets to destroy them. Yeah, there is that.

So as we have before, let's address the Challenges / Medals first.

Level Medal 1: Kill 100 Infantry with Vehicles

In case it is lost on you, this challenge is actually a LOT harder than it appears. Because why? Because to do it you are going to need to spawn Hero Vehicles. Which means building sufficient Action Points in the AP Bank to do that. At least twice.

That means you need to personally do the killing. And THAT means we have to place as few turrets as we can manage, as far apart as possible, to maximize our personal kill sprees. You follow the logic in that, right?

The simple solution is often the best - and in this case the simple solution is to use the two most strategic placements, at the foot of the bridges leading to the two Toyboxes.

That way you can at least have a better than average chance of taking out the enemy prior to their getting to the Toyboxes - but only if you make it a serious goal to eliminate as many of the stacks of chips as you can that are blocking your shots and view!

Level Medal 2: Fully Upgrade 5 Turrets

Finally there is the matter of actually getting the funds to upgrade the 5 turrets. That sounded a little too easy, right? Right.

The easy method for unlocking this is simple enough - you place one MG Turret at the bridge heads for the Toyboxes, you place one Anti-Armor Turret at the bridge heads for the spawns, and you place ONE Flak Gun wherever you like. That is IT.

You then work at fully upgrading all of them. Keeping them repaired, and effective. There are some tricks you can use for this...

First, let them get low health and then instead of repairing them, upgrade their HP. That gets you the HP upgrade and a free repair.

Second, focus on upgrading damage first, then range. Only do the HP upgrades when you need to repair the turret.

Third, each of these turrets is way more effective when YOU are manning them. So try to do that as much as you can but not the the point where you risk losing a turret form damage because you are not checking them often enough.

If you follow that strategy, it will be a walk in Central Park at night, during a Police Union Strike while you are buck naked with $100 taped all over your back. But still, a walk in the park... Heh.

Right, tall order, but we have it to do...

Hero: Phantom

The bad news is that this level does not get easier with Phantom. It basically requires the same frenetic and dedicated effort that it did with The Kaiser, which sort of sucks but what can you do?

While there are plenty of difficult Challenges in the game, it is THIS level that we feel has the worst of them. To complete these you really have to be playing at the top of your game and perfectly.

Considering that the frustration factor runs really high for this level, would you be surprised to learn that we both left it for last and made it the one we go back to every so often to try so that the frustration does not get too out of hand? We recommend that approach to you too.

Hero: Star Bright

I have to admit that I am not a big fan of this level, but then that was before we had Star Bright to play with! Yep, her weps do way better - waayy better - than the weps we have used here before. Of course that could be a manifestation of our past experience with the level - but we don't think so.

No, in truth if you place the correct turrets in the correct spots, and then properly upgrade them, this level is really a snap with Star Bright. So what is that placement strategy?

At the two ends of the zone near the bridges you place MGs, then in the corners you place Anti-Armor. In the center you place one or maybe two Flak Guns and that is IT. You then upgrade them as fast as you can manage but, and you knew that there would be a "but" here right? But - you need to man the turrets yourself so that you are eliminating the armor mobs at long range - father than the turrets can manage on their own.

You use this strategy, and this level loses ALL of its teeth. Conversely it also makes the challenges a bit easier too, though to be honest Star Bright's vehicle? Not our fave. Just saying...

Hero: Darklord

You will be using the same strategy that we used for The Kaiser for this hero.

His weapons are not as robust in terms of dishing damage overall as that of Star Bright, but they are as strong and maybe - at least in the case of the Anti-Armor - a little bit stronger.

You may find that this hero is particularly challenged for doing the challenges / medals - which is why we don't recommend it. This one, specifically, is what you might call an acquired taste.

Hero: GI Joe Duke

This hero is basically a new and improved version of The Kaiser - which means you can follow the strategy from The Kaiser run-thru pretty much to the letter, though Duke will be a bit more effective both in damage dealing and defense.

Hero: GI Joe Cobra Enemy

The Cobra Hero uses the same strategy that you used for The Kaiser, having similar weapon platforms (though more modern).

If you are looking for the perfect hero to do the medal challenges, this is very likely the one. It certainly has an edge over all of the other Heroes, that is for sure. Particularly in terms of its anti-armor, which is Stinger Missile based.

Simply follow the strategy from The Kaiser section to complete the level.

Hero: He-Man

This hero is basically an energy-based version of The Kaiser - which means you can follow the strategy from The Kaiser run-thru pretty much to the letter, though He-Man will be a bit less effective both in damage dealing and defense.

Of course if you just want to play He-Man - you know, you have He-Man fantasies and such - well nobody is stopping you! Go for it!

Hero: Ezio

For the Ezio Hero you follow the standard strategy that is used by The Kaiser. Bear in mind though that the weaker attack and damage powers of Ezio's turrets means you will need to begin your attacks earlier and pay closer attention to how close you allow the enemy to get to your toybox.