I tried Advance Wars today
Let's just say it's not my cup of tea
I played the first few "training missions" and I disliked how it favors going offensive over defensive and the fact you need specific units to beat certain ones and if yours die it's basically game over
But I like how Fog of War is implemented as the AI doesn't have an advantage and follows the same rules as you unlike a certain other game made by IS
That's cool we all have are certain tastes though I don't think Field Training is the best way to gauge whether or not AW is for you or not (that's sorta of like playing Lyn mode in FE7 and saying FE isn't for you lol). You might be lead to believe that the game is a cake walk with the easy Field Training Missions and the first couple of missions in the Campaign but it gets really harder as you progress. AW1's Hard Campaign even more so which IMO is similar in difficulty to Hector Hard Mode from FE7.
As for the units though that's a major part of the strategy. IMO, AW's gameplay has much more depth than FE's with knowing to properly utilize all your units on the map and it's one of the reason why I much prefer AW over FE because FE is sorta generic (not boring) with the same sword-lance-axe triad and the magic stuff. You usually get some of your broken units in FE and then got about clearing the map most of the time though it is more trickier than that for sure, not downplaying it. AW requires knowing which unit to use to gain an advantage over your opponent.
Don't necessarily agree with the notion that offensive play is always better than defensive because there's going to be tons of instances where you're going to have to play defensively against your opponent. More specifically when you opponent is loaded with indirect units and you have to maneuver your units in a way that won't get your units blown in to bits lol.
FoW is very cheap in AW1-AW3 VS a CPU, no doubt about it. I even think FE's FoW is more fair though someone can quote me on that if i'm wrong. It didn't get fixed until Days of Ruin. You should never play FoW unless your playing against a human. In the Campaign when your forced in to FoW missions you should just properly utilize the woods and the reefs because those are the two places the CPU can't find you. Like I said in the above this is where playing defensively is rewarded because you can lure the CPU's units towards you and then destroy them with a surprise assault.
All in all I much prefer AW over FE but both games are great in their own ways. Just wished Intelligent Systems wouldn't neglect the former series all the time in favor of it's little brother and gives AW a chance to make a comeback the same way FE did with Awakening. Gotta have ma Andy in Trash Bros y'know?
Also on that note I did an entire playthrough of AW1's Normal Campaign today. I'm officially an AW wannabe master.
****, I have been rused
I think they at least can't see the units in forest tiles, right?
Yeah, the opponent can't see you in the woods or reefs incluiding the CPU so that's the best place to put your units. Makes for strategic planning in gameplay.
