The Advance Wars series does not have a widely organized metagame community currently, but some fans of the series have organized their own mini-tournaments.
Maps[]
Here is the the generally accepted criteria for a competitive PVP (Player vs. Player) map:
Basics
- Two armies (Orange Star vs. Blue Moon)
- No pre-deployed units
- A players wins by defeating all enemy units or HQ capture.
CO Powers
- CO Powers are generally allowed, unless both players agree to turn them off.
- Tag Breaks (in Dual Strike) are generally frowned upon due to balancing issues.
Funds
- Players start with 0G.
- Each property generates 1000G
Weather
- Weather is not allowed (except via CO Powers)
- Fog of War is not generally not turned on, but is in some matches if agreed upon by both players.
Terrain
- Each player has an HQ
- Each player has 2-4 Factories
- Each player has 1-2 Airports
- Throughout the map there are 20-40 additional cities
- Comm Towers, Missile Silos and Sea Ports are not used.
- There should be a balanced mix of Roads, Plains, Mountains and Woods.
Units[]
Common Units[]
The following units will compose the majority of your army in competitive play:
- Infantry - Essential for capturing properties, building power meter and increasing unit count
- Mech - Good on capturing, good for mountains. A cost-effective way to punish enemy vehicles.
- Recon - Moves very fast on Roads ; Good for escorting your capturing Infanry early game
- APC - Gets your Infantry to bases on the center of the map much power
- Tank - Has an advantage over all cheap land units.
[ Days of Ruin ]
- Bike - Stronger/faster version of Infantry, but a little pricier.
Counter Units[]
The following units are essential due to their ability to counter units which prevent you from winning:
- Artillery - Cost-effective indirect unit for holding certain areas. Punishes tanks.
- Battle Copters - These are a good way to punish enemy Tanks and Artillery.
- Anti-Air Tank - This is the only practical way of stopping enemy B. Copters from destroying your units.
- Fighter - Essential to maintain air superiority.
[ Dual Strike ]
- Black Bomb - Effective in punishing clusters of enemy units.
[Days of Ruin]
- Anti-Tank - A good way to punish enemy Tanks and Md. Tanks
- Md. Tank - Price is lowered, so it's a good way to crush regular enemy Tanks.
Tech Units[]
The following units are not as common, usually due to the fact that they are relatively expensive to deploy, but definitely have their use in certain situations, especially late game.
- Rockets - Larger range than Artillery but more expensive and easily punished.
- Bomber - Punishes land units but is hard countered by Fighters and Anti-Air Tanks.
[Dual Strike]
- Stealth Fighter - Wins against almost anything, but is pricy and needs to often refuel.
[Days of Ruin]
Rare Units[]
The following units are rarely used because they either far too expensive or easily punished.
- Missiles - Slow and its indirect range is lower than the Anti-Air Tank's movement range.
[Dual Strike]
- Megatank - Slow and expensive. Usually an Md Tank is just fine.
- Piperunner - Pipes aren't used and even so, they're pricy and easy to punish with Infantry.
Strategy[]
On a 1 vs. 1 PVP map, the following principles determine success:
- Direct units are faster and more reliable than indirect units most of the time.
- Try to capture the bases and cities in the center of the map first, before the opponent does (but don't overextend)
- Having a higher unit count is an advantage because you can use weaker units to protect stronger ones.
- For this reason, generally better to build many cheap units rather than a few expensive units.