What An Idiot - Rivals AC Video edition

What An Idiot - Rivals AC Video Edition

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoP1L8evwDc

Considering the massive advantage that Eagle has with his predeployed force and preowned properties, Rivals AC had become infamous. It only proves beatable thanks to glaring Artificial Stupidity that's so bad it proved contageous with all the idiocy going around.

-In the kickstarting of the video making, the Advance Wars subreddit has a track record of toxicity that if an outside source determined to give testimony were to look, could be found without too much problem. The toxicity had managed to get as bad as to mock Matthew Pyke, a resident in England who was murdered by a Germany inhabitant with a case of lust toward Pyke's girlfriend, simply over the toxicity author's case of ego and unwillingness to adapt. This same toxicity is the reason the Spiritual Successor "Shattered Throne" never had a chance, as the mere mention of navy was enough to bash on it.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* the Advance Wars subreddit to give Master Knight DH the benefit of the doubt. Even if he can _SAY_ some things in clear outrage about society's busted standards, besides that he had implied a Freudian Excuse even without the point that the video related to his mother's stroke (something that he would reveal about about a month later when his mother succumbed to lung disease), nothing proves he doesn't care, and he has proven selling points in contributions to Advance Wars, up to and including effort to help balance Spiritual Successors such as Shattered Throne. Skill wasn't a problem either: MKDH has a track record of Stating The Obvious Solution and Self-Imposed Challenges, and it shows with how, for example, he has a proven Perfect S-Rank in every single level in BOTH Battalion Wars.
*INSTEAD:* they see fit to mercilessly try to discredit him in front of the Wargroove developers--that the Wargroove developers are dubious in their own right is another story--exploiting reddit's busted voting system, and ban him, and HIM ALONE, instead of including the primary instigator GipFace or any of his accomplices, for giving them a case of "The Reason You Suck" Speech when they persisted in their toxicity. Master Knight DH changed up the timetable for making this video, a single-segment run of a level that's absolutely infamous for _THE ENTIRE FRANCHISE,_ and had a VERY easy time using it to deconstruct the Advance Wars subreddit for using skill at any cost as an excuse to throw stones in their glass house.
*FOR ADDED STUPIDITY:* the nastiness didn't stop there either. XenesisXenon had accused MKDH of harassing him on romhacking.net's Discord when all MKDH did was make a point tearing at GipFace's mockery of Matthew Pyke _WITHOUT EVEN MENTIONING NAMES._ XenesisXenon used the false, hypocritical harassment accusations to chase MKDH off of the Discord by getting the admins to be biased in favor of banning MKDH without considering that he could have been there to learn reverse engineering of games. As a result, the $10/month MKDH was pledging to RHDN was shifted to whoisthisgit, who at the time was allowing suggestion from $20/month patreons, allowing MKDH to suggest a Worst Levels Ever episode for Days of Ruin. At this point, the Never My Fault that XenesisXenon employs to go as far as even claim MKDH just paid whoisthisgit to make the video is flagrant, disgusting hypocrisy at its finest.
-Eagle is having his predeployed air units that actually can attack land units move in.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* on Day 2, if Eagle really needs to have ANY Battle Helicopters adjacent to ANY of the land with the player's main base, he would send in only one, and have it just adjacent to the southern Airport where only one unit can hit it.
*INSTEAD:* Eagle does have one Battle Helicopter move as stated...but not before having ANOTHER one move ONTO THE AIRPORT. Cue attack chain with Anti-Air Tanks getting rid of 2 aerial threats that could have been useful for a surgical strike.
-Among the aforementioned air units of Eagle's are four Bombers that could become really nasty to a barely scrambling force stuck with a 11K income and only 3 infantry built from the start. The AI has a history of cheating with the Fog of War rules by ignoring vision other than hiding tiles, which the map doesn't have anyway. Even without that....
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle would be mindful of anti-air defenses until his Bombers can rampage. Just because it's proven in this game how a beached whale can outmaneuver the anti-air indirect unit in this game doesn't mean that its power can't fail to be appropriate for being able to hit only drunks and idiots.
*INSTEAD:* on Day 3, one of the Bombers moves right into Vision range of the player's just built Anti-Air Missile Launcher. Keep in mind that the Anti-Air Missile Launcher's Vision range is the same as its maximum attack range. Any player who recognizes that mnemonic can see easily that they had been provided a free shot that 1HKOs the Bombers. Nice one, Eagle.
-Also on Day 3, Eagle's predeployed Battle Helicopter count has been reduced to 1.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle would keep the remaining Battle Helicopter in reserve.
*INSTEAD:* He has this remaining Battle Helicopter attack a freaking foot soldier. Sure it's a Mech that could have been used to destroy armor units later, but the player's primary concern would have been to thwart the siege, which Eagle is making easier by not considering cost-effectiveness in the least, considering the Anti-Air Tank 1HKOs Battle Helicopters even with Eagle's +10% defense boost to air units.
-Eagle has Lightning Strike ready on Day 4. Even with the above mistakes, he STILL has plenty of fresh units and the player is still with an underdeployed force. The north flank, especially, is weak with the ONLY anti-armor unit being a frontlined Mech that had taken damage to hit the harassing Light Tank.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* the Light Tank that the Mech attacked would retreat and allow the Anti-Air Tank right behind it to shoot the Mech. The Mech's counterattack would be virtually nonexistant because the Anti-Air Tank deals enough damage to Mechs even with the City boost getting in the way. Without ANY way to hold the area, the AI would inevitably overrun it and grab the 2 much needed Cities.
*INSTEAD:* the Light Tank just attacks the Mech and gets counterdamaged easily, and after Lightning Strike is invoked, the Light Tank *_JUST SITS THERE CLOGGING SPACE DESPITE BEING AT ONE HIT POINT LEFT._* There is being Too Dumb To Live, the only reason for the Light Tank's continued survival against potential luck damage that had never failed in MKDH's experience, from a meager Infantry, being further AI manipulation; and then there is outright gross incompetence that absolutely sabotages your own side.
-Continuing onto Day 4, the Bombers can do INSANE amounts of damage. Eagle's Bombers get a natural 15% offense boost, amounting their total base damage to infantry to 126%, meaning they can 1HKO infantry on 2 Star terrain, and even against the Anti-Air Tanks, the total base damage is 108%, which would still be solid. Lightning Strike does provide an offensive penalty, but even so...
*YOU'D EXPECT:* the Bombers would attack healthy units; those are the ones blocking the way to key units like the Anti-Air Missile Launcher, which could just be attacked during the Lightning Strike.
*INSTEAD:* the Bombers are inconsiderate of what they attack, and go as far as to actively attack _HEAVILY DAMAGED INFANTRY._ The abhorrent waste of perfectly good power doesn't stop the Bombers from being able to hit the Anti-Air Missile Launcher at all, but it kept them from flanking it and making things much worse for the player against later air raids.
*FOR EVEN FURTHER STUPIDITY:* the primary blocking unit against the ground units on the south was a full health Infantry right next to another Light Tank of Eagle's. Attacking this particular Infantry with a Bomber would have let the Light Tank attack one of the Anti-Air Tanks with BOTH attacks, not only opening a Factory to blocking, but also allowing for bombing ANOTHER Anti-Air Tank.
*RESULT OF ALL THIS:* Eagle, with Lightning Strike and sufficing units to suffocate the player with just the double turn provided by Lightning Strike, takes an Epic Fail because of incredibly dumb mistakes. This is literally the ONLY reason a YouTube provided Day-To-Day guide with only one bite of luck reliance is able to work at all.
*EVEN BETTER:* on practice runs, MKDH deliberately avoided using Andy's already fully charged Hyper Repair before having the Anti-Air Tanks shoot the Bombers for this, and stumbled upon oddly guaranteed luck as a result. "Anti-Air Tank VS Bomber. Ninety-Five Percent. BOOM!" He never saw it fail either.
-So now that Eagle's first air attack has been blunted, Eagle is going to need to get smarter. On Day 5, he has the only survivors of the counterattack, 2 mid-tier land units, trapped in by an Anti-Air Tank that positioned itself as it did to shoot down one of the Bombers. Fortunately for them, a MD Tank is coming to the rescue. Meanwhile, MKDH had just built Artillery per the Day-To-Day Guide basis he's following, obviously as a defensive anti-armor measure.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* the mid-tier land units would blow up the blockading the Anti-Air Tank and let the MD Tank attack another unit, most notably the uncovered southeast Factory Infantry that is conveniently uncovered by the Artillery. Even if the MD Tank gets trapped, at least it can attack another unit and cause yet more trouble before falling.
*INSTEAD:* one of the mid-tier land units, the Anti-Air Tank, shoots the southwest Factory Infantry. Not only does the MD Tank have to waste a shot on the Anti-Air Tank that gets attacked by the Light Tank first, but the Anti-Air Tank also becomes an easy target for the Artillery and Eagle is down ANOTHER unit that could have been useful against the infantry congestion.
-By Day 5, anybody following the Day-To-Day Guide basis provided by PaulPower would have a good amount of anti-air and it clearly would have thwarted the predeployed Bombers.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle would stop sending uncoordinated air units; if Bombers supported by Lightning Strike weren't foolproof enough to prevent the results of the already above entries, what makes him think Battle Helicopters will just work.
*INSTEAD:* He mindlessly sends Battle Helicopters. Case in point: Day 5's Battle Helicopter swooping is actually BAD LUCK for the player, and all it does is force MKDH to move the Anti-Air Missile Launcher into a safer position, allowing him to watch the idiot chopper pilot just shoot at an infantry and find his flying machine become yet another piece of target practice for the Anti-Air Tanks.
-Mech VS Anti-Air Tank is 65%--of course, MKDH's experience has suggested to him confusingly full reliability in bumping the Anti-Air Tank down to 3 HPs instead of having it manage to be at 4 instead. What is Eagle's response to the apparent bad luck on Day 6?
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle would retreat the Anti-Air Tank for repairs and get the Mech exposed to the MD Tank right behind. Once again, the north front has little to work with, and if the player can't deal with an unmitigated Anti-Air Tank getting first strike, they definitely won't be able to handle the MD Tank, period.
*INSTEAD:* the Anti-Air Tank just sits there doing nothing, even though Game Boy Wars 3, which is a GAME BOY COLOR GAME AS OPPOSED TO ADVANCE WARS BEING ON THE GAME BOY ADVANCE, actually has 3 HP units retreat for repairs unconditionally. GBW3 admittedly has HP be more influential in general due to subtraction defense being an issue for potential kamikazes or low HP meatwalls, but even so, having a 3 HP unit be nothing but obstructive deadweight was just asking for further AI manipulation.
-Also on Day 6, Eagle's general attack had been all but thwarted, but MKDH is still playing defenive, and ended up eschewing blocking out the escape of the enemy units, in favor of covering all of his available units against land attack using Artillery.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle to cut his losses and get the units to safety, and then wait for another surgical strike opportunity--after all, he does have Lightning Strike, which can especially help with the stronger units making use of double turn attacks.
*INSTEAD:* Eagle just presses on the attack with the 3 land units. Among the defeated units is a MD Tank. As a result, he ends up with fewer units to work with Lightning Strike.
-Also of note, any player having even survived into Day 6, with how absurd Rivals AC is, would have proven the point of the David VS Goliath trope by using micromanagement to stop Eagle's superior forces from rampaging.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle to take notes and consider micromanagement if he is going to ignore the points in the above entry. On Day 6, he could have had the MD Tank and Anti-Air Tank attack the southwest Infantry with the MD Tank attacking from the south, and then have the Light Tank attack the Anti-Air Missile Launcher. At least then Eagle's first attack survivors could go down fighting by hitting a still valuable enough unit.
*INSTEAD:* because the AI doesn't learn, it doesn't make sure to make good use of flanking ability to shatter the infantry defense. All they do is make themselves open targets against the Artillery.
*FOR ADDED STUPIDITY:* what launches its attack from within the hole in MKDH's defense that allows for infantry flanking at all? The damaged Anti-Air Tank. MKDH makes use of it to finish off the Anti-Air Tank using his own from the HQ, which not only provides a defense boost but isn't even in danger of being flanked.
-Day 7 had MKDH build a Transport Helicopter to draw the 4 predeployed Fighters toward his HQ area to get rid of them and clear the way for Eagle's HQ area. What's the problem already?
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle would have had the Fighters actually get going. They may be pure air-to-air, but they can still do utility tasks such as blocking exposed Factories, cutting off attacks against the Bombers, or even suffocating the player's movement in critical manners by being in Advance Wars where a high-flying fighter and a dived Submarine can completely block each other.
*INSTEAD:* The Fighters had just stayed where they started until an enemy air unit was built, after the Fighters had each guzzled 18 Fuel (NOTE: it would be 30 Fuel but Eagle reduces his air units' Fuel upkeep by 2) as a display of how they don't even care about the air units' fuel upkeep, and as a result, MKDH is able to turn them into target practice when they DO move in.
-Day 7 has Eagle's active land forces utterly crippled, but despite this, the MD Tank still presses on against how another Artillery shot would cripple it into being easy to destroy with a followup attack with Anti-Air Tank flak fire, yet more stupidity in its own right, although self-explanatory at this point.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* the MD Tank would at least target the Anti-Air Tank, or even the suspiciously built Recon, if it is going to be going through with its incredibly stupid Last Stand. At least then it could make the most of this attack.
*INSTEAD:* the MD Tank just attacks the Infantry it's adjacent to. By doing this, it has ensured its complete waste of usefulness before being blown to bits, and forever cemented the Advance Wars 1 AI as incredibly stupid long before the APC exploit comes into play.
-Day 8. Eagle should know what he is up against at this point with his initial Bombers having been thwarted.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle would be mindful of a potential trap, especially one to mitigate Lightning Strike, and definitely be wary of his Fighters' positioning because he already has a good amount of chargeup for his second Lightning Strike.
*INSTEAD:* due to MKDH positioning the Transport Helicopter to skew to the north, Eagle's north Fighters end up both being adjacent to land available to MKDH's Anti-Air Tanks. Target practice is one thing, but at least they could provide defensive charging. Only one Fighter would have been enough to finish charging Lightning Strike, so the second one is turned into a complete waste.
-Day 9 has Eagle involve a Rocket Launcher, a siege unit, placed around the player's south Cities south, and able to make use of Lightning Strike by being able to move on the first action, and then attack when Lightning Strike is invoked.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* the Rocket Launcher to do this and attack....GAH, ANYTHING BUT WHAT IT DOES ATTACK! Even with the reduced damage it could at least get something going.
*INSTEAD:* the Rocket Launcher instead attacks the obvious 2 HP Infantry bait. Waste of a perfectly good siege unit doesn't begin to describe this.
-Day 9 again. Eagle's Fighters are basically useless other than holding the Transport Helicopter.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle to at least keep the Fighters in areas that wouldn't be easier for the player to control, or even make sure that the Fighters could block the bridge better than they do.
*INSTEAD:* only ONE Fighter blocks the bridge, and another Fighter finishes its movement to the left of the bridge where MKDH can place his units to trap it, making CO meter manipulation even easier.
-Day 10. Eagle has 2 Bombers each at 1 HP thanks to ANOTHER failed air raid. (NOTE: One of them lived because MKDH intentionally attacked before invoking Hyper Repair to capitalize upon what this entry involves.)
*YOU'D EXPECT:* the Bombers to retreat for healing, and if they need to Join, do it AWAY FROM THE ENEMY'S HQ AREA.
*INSTEAD:* the first Bomber moves to do the Join STILL ADJACENT TO AN AVAILABLE PIECE OF LAND. It only lived past the next Day because of MKDH FINALLY having a What An Idiot moment of his own.
-Day 11 on MKDH's phase. Things are starting to really look up for MKDH's defenses. Of course, he knows that complacency is a spectre never looming far behind, and doesn't need idiocy as blatant as Eagle's above entries.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* MKDH, when ordering his southern Anti-Air Tank, to stay calm and make sure he's not getting hasty with the button presses, as Advance Wars IS turn-based, not real time like Battalion Wars.
*INSTEAD:* in clear haste, MKDH immediately orders an attack, and makes his Homer Simpson impression a second later upon realizing that the game prioritized the target as the already trapped Fighter due to positioning, meaning he messed up his AI manipulation against Eagle. He was able to adapt, but not without failure to shoot down the Bomber, which was able to take out a 3 HP Infantry. (The Infantry's positioning could have counted as a What An Idiot moment of its own, but it can be treated as shock resulting from Advance Wars own handling of base damage values.)
-Day 12. MKDH is holding the south chokepoint with a Light Tank.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle to not send an Anti-Air Tank to attack, and instead recognize the involved unit triangle: tank beats anti-air, anti-air beats air, air beats tank.
*INSTEAD:* Eagle has the Anti-Air Tank attack the Light Tank. It goes as well as you'd expect.
-Day 12 has Eagle able to use Lightning Strike a third time. One of the Battle Helicopters charges in to attack an Infantry on the south. The south's defense is fully reliant on a Light Tank holding the chokepoint.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* the Battle Helicopter use its Lightning Strike turn to flank the Light Tank, ESPECIALLY if Eagle is going to have the Anti-Air Tank attack first to begin with and thus take more counterdamage.
*INSTEAD:* the Battle Helicopter does strike at a unit on the south front: an Artillery on a City. The Artillery heals up, Eagle's offense on the south has failed, and the Battle Helicopter is as good as dead without fanfare.
-Day 13. Eagle has an APC in the way of any potential land attacker on the south front. APCs don't even have so much as an auxiliary weapon as opposed to in the Japan-only Nintendo Wars installments, and MKDH's primary concern with the south is defense.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* the APC to move out of the way first and foremost, so that the Light Tank can move in and shoot at MKDH's own. This wouldn't have been incredibly useful, but Eagle really should be taking what he can get at this point
*INSTEAD:* the APC does move out, AFTER THE LIGHT TANK HAS MOVED. Movement order doesn't apply for Eagle, clearly.
-Also, as a common pattern starting on Day 13, MKDH consistently has a Fighter right next to Eagle's frontal Airport.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle to build a Fighter first and foremost before building any other air units from there. Even though MKDH's own Fighter would be able to strike first, at least it would take counterdamage and be dealing less damage against the next Fighter, or even any other unit.
*INSTEAD:* Eagle builds other air units that MKDH's Fighter(s) can shoot with impunity in a clear case of spawn camping that causes Eagle to lose a good third of his income every Day.
-Even worse about the above? Eagle has an Anti-Air Missile Launcher on the island with the frontal Airport.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle to reposition the Anti-Air Missile Launcher to the City 3 tiles south of its starting position. Even if it wouldn't cover the south and east flanks of the Airport, those are already harder to exploit by some smart-alec player.
*INSTEAD:* the Anti-Air Missile Launcher just stays RIGHT NEXT TO THE NORTH FLANK OF THE AIRPORT, where the only reason it can even hope to hit drunks or idiots, let alone players such as MKDH, is by them being unaware of its existence, possibly from using an online guide. It fails to get ONE kill and eventually gets blown to bits by Battle Helicopters.
-Day 14. MKDH is having an Infantry try to capture a City on the first island down the center. Eagle has 2 Infantry hanging around there already, and MKDH's Infantry is practically isolated against potential flankers.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle to have his Infantry attack MKDH's and scorch the capture entirely.
*INSTEAD:* they just don't do anything worth caring about. MKDH is able to take a City free of charge and speed things up, particularly helpful in getting the whole level done in the Par Time.
-Eagle transports a 3rd Infantry to the aforementioned island on the same Day, keeping in mind that MKDH already has a Fighter out to spawn camp Eagle's air units, and got a couple of Battle Helicopters out to help with the invasion as well.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* the Transport Helicopter to be mindful of its position. The air units coming out is bad enough, but another potential threat shouldn't be discounted. And of course, the AI is happy to cheat with the Fog of War.
*INSTEAD:* hasty to create a wall against the Battle Helicopters, the Transport Helicopter drops off the Infantry from the very edge of the Anti-Air Missile Launcher's range. MKDH's response upon checking that and seeing the free 1HKO was appropriate: "AHAHAHA! WOW, EAGLE! Didn't think you'd be dumb enough..."
-Day 16 on MKDH's phase. MKDH, paranoid about fuel, has the Transport Helicopter refuel. This isn't so bad on its own; it just ensures that it won't crash from upkeep failure before time is already up for the Perfect S-Rank, barring cancelled movement which in Fog of War doesn't refund Fuel. However, resupplying is a vulnerable moment.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* MKDH would have the Anti-Air Missile Launcher would cover the Transport Helicopter, in case the living Battle Helicopter decides to attack.
*INSTEAD:* he's hasty enough to have it work as CO Meter fodder to have the Anti-Air Missile Launcher move too far north to do this. This allows the Battle Helicopter to attack the Transport Helicopter from an uncovered flank, and this would contribute to the underlying result of this moment and the next few.
-On the same phase, MKDH has one unoccupied Airport to build air units from, and guesses--correctly--that a Fighter is inbound to disrupt the frontal Airport spawn camping, leaving his second Fighter busy to help fix this, while a Bomber is able to slip by to cause problems to the available Infantry. After Join funds, he clears the 20K to do what you'd expect.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* he would build a third Fighter to shoot the Bomber, or even poke the Battle Helicopters.
*INSTEAD:* he builds another Battle Helicopter. On the next phase, he has this Battle Helicopter attack an Infantry, even though the air units are the bigger threats and the Infantry can be disposed of if necessary. This keeps adding up, of course...
-Day 17 on MKDH's phase needs him having to move the Transport Helicopter forward, or risk failure to meet the Par Time. Losing the transport would be also be a significant setback.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* MKDH would have the transport drop the Infantry from where he moves it to. Losing the 2 Infantry on the island would still be problematic, but the transport would at least be safer from flanking, which he should be wary of anyway; after all, Eagle had already pulled a fast one with a 2 HP unit taking out a 3 HP unit earlier, he has Lightning Strike ready, and MKDH knows how division defense like what Advance Wars uses blunts only bigger blows instead of smaller ones.
*INSTEAD:* MKDH doesn't consider the drop for fear of the Bomber causing his objective problems. This allows for what happens on the enemy phase.
-On the same Day, moving the Transport removes the vision on the Battle Helicopter adjacent to that same Airport, as no other units have that tile in its Vision range, including the aforementioned Anti-Air Missile Launcher that could have handled this if not for the involved What An Idiot moment already mentioned above. Despite the Fake Difficulty of the vision loss that wouldn't have been a problem in Days of Ruin...
*YOU'D EXPECT:* MKDH would build an Infantry from the Factory right next to the Airport, as that would expose the Battle Helicopter and let the Anti-Air Tank attack it, leaving one less threat to the Transport Helicopter.
*INSTEAD:* MKDH does build the Infantry, _AFTER MOVING THE ANTI-AIR TANK BACK._
*THE RESULT OF THE 4 MOMENTS RIGHT ABOVE:* during Eagle's Day 17 phase, the 2 damaged Battle Helicopters have no problem being able to each use BOTH of their attacks on the Transport Helicopter. Even with the defense boosts from the Hyper Repair use, the damage adds up to enough to destroy the Transport Helicopter from full health. MKDH is fortunate that the Par Time of Rivals AC is 25 Days, but even then, this slowed him down anyway.
-By the way, about more of MKDH's actions on Day 17, you know about how he was intending to have the Anti-Air Missile Launcher act as CO Meter fodder?
*YOU'D EXPECT:* MKDH would remember that CO Meter doesn't charge up if the CO Power had just been used.
*INSTEAD:* He just moves the Anti-Air Missile Launcher into range of the Rocket Launcher on the same Day as having used Hyper Repair, which screams free damage, mixed in with Eagle's Lightning Strike already being available on top of that. If he had moved it south instead, at least that would have exposed the suddenly hidden Battle Helicopter.
-Eagle has his own problems on Days 16 and 17.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle would be mindful on Day 16 of where he moves his Transport Helicopter.
*INSTEAD:* the Transport Helicopter is moved in a convenient location that allows MKDH to chain attacks into having his Battle Helicopter shoot the Anti-Air Missile Launcher on Day 18, right after Eagle had used Lightning Strike.
-Eagle has deployed a Fighter to root out the air threat. On Day 16, it has a solid target.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle would have the Fighter attack MKDH's spawn camping Fighter from the west, where attacking from another flank would be a one way ticket to being 1HKOed by the Anti-Air Missile Launcher, and MKDH can't very well attack Eagle's new air unit from the east without removing the Vision on the Fighter.
*INSTEAD:* Eagle launches his Fighter attack from the north, where MKDH's backup Fighter can open fire from the Anti-Air Missile Launcher's shadow.
-An already common problem, Eagle's Rocket Launcher keeps firing despite being next to an enemy unit capable of finishing it off. Speaks for itself, but it gets worse, as Eagle happens to have a Light Tank that could attack the unit in question if given the chance.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle would move the Rocket Launcher out of the way and then have the Light Tank start dealing devastation.
*INSTEAD:* Eagle just moves the Light Tank to right behind the Rocket Launcher, placing it in range of Artillery within the Rocket Launcher's shadow. The Artillery is used to smite the Light Tank without fear.
-Eagle's Bomber had just bombed an Infantry on a Road on Day 17. After Lightning Strike, the Bomber is capable of reaching the Infantry currently acting as a lynchpin for MKDH's south front defense, and as it is on a Road tile, even with the Lightning Strike penalty, the Bomber would be able to 1HKO the Infantry.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* the Bomber to destroy the Infantry and allow Eagle's units to pour in from the south.
*INSTEAD:* Eagle has the Bomber target the Artillery on a City. NOW he cares about an effort at cost-effectiveness, when his position advantage is long wasted on having Bombers attack heavily damaged infantry.
-MKDH finally starts getting units to Eagle's HQ area, as a Fighter gets to move adjacent to the land to reveal what is hidden in Eagle's Airports.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Eagle to recognize the threat of his HQ area being overrun and build anti-air or send clearly spare units to root out the air raid.
*INSTEAD:* Eagle builds *_ONLY HELICOPTERS FOR FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT!_* Eagle's only defenses are spawn camped garbage and MKDH is able to take the HQ with nothing to contest him out of it.
*RESULT: _YOU LOSE, EAGLE!_*
-Intelligent Systems wants an epic level where all the player's strategies and tactics would be put to the test by what would no doubt be a Brutal Bonus Level. Surely if they can achieve that they'd be living up to their self-proclaimed company name.
*YOU'D EXPECT:* Rivals AC to give player land unit usage competent leg room in its usage, despite the Fog of War. Better yet, have the player's air units consider moving to the sides of the map too.
*INSTEAD:* not only is the terrain bland with not a single Forest, Mountain, OR Reef tile to be found in the entire map, but Eagle's forces are made to be so stacked in and of themselves, that just holding them off requires clear exploitation, and even with the Par Time being 25 Days, more than any other Campaign level in the entire game including the 22 for Enigma AC, ANOTHER Fog of War level with a mobile Glass Cannon, thanks to the map's handling asking for brute forcing from air units, the unit formation required for getting the Perfect S-Rank asks for cheap sex jokes for their own sake that bring up the stunning lack of creativity put into the level's design.