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Nell (Japanese: キャサリン Catherine) is the chief CO of Orange Star. She is also the player's instructor in field training and assists the player in Campaign by giving hints and strategical advice. Her little sister Rachel takes Nell's place as the player's advisor in Advance Wars: Dual Strike. Nell attended military school with Grit and Max.

Physical appearance[]

Nell's appearance and outfit is based on World War II-era female military officials. She has wavy blonde hair, violet eyes, pink lips and pale peach skin. She wears a bright purple business suit and bright purple heels. She also has a mole on the left side of her face, near her left eye.

Nell also has another outfit which is unlockable in Advance Wars: Dual Strike. Instead of wavy hair, her hair appears straighter. She wears a bright purple headband, gold earrings, a gold necklace and gold-colored strappy sandals. Also, instead of a bright purple business suit, she wears a bright purple dress with layered frills at the bottom. Despite all these changes, her facial features and skin color remain the same. (See gallery below for an image of this outfit).

CO abilities[]

Nell was born under a lucky star, giving her units a Luck bonus of 20% instead of the standard 10%.

CO power[]

Lucky Star - Increase Nell's Luck to 60%. All of her units also get a 10% boost in defence, and in Advance Wars: Dual Strike they also get 10% boost in offence. Interestingly, in Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising her units are stated to damage multiple foes, though nothing of this sort ever actually happens.

Super CO power[]

Lady Luck - Raises Nell's Luck to 100%. All of her units also get a 10% boost in defence, and in Advance Wars: Dual Strike they also get 10% boost in offence. Interestingly, the in-game info of Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising states her units to damage multiple foes, though nothing of this sort ever happens.

Fair Warning: Bear in mind, luck is still luck. That damage counter may actually be right, and that could spell the end of your brave little recon.

Tag Breaks[]

Nell has Tag Breaks with the following COs:

  • Rachel, 130%, "Windfall" (3 stars) Absurd levels of luck coupled with free missiles... a very scary tag indeed.
  • Andy, 105%
  • Max, 105%
  • Sami, 105%
  • Von Bolt, 90%

Unlocking[]

To use Nell outside of Field Training in Advance Wars, complete the Advance Campaign. You can then buy her for 80 coins.

To unlock Nell in Advance Wars 2, complete any campaign with an A rank average or better. You can then buy her for 3500 points.

To unlock Nell in Advance Wars: Dual Strike, complete the Campaign and buy her for 2000 points.

To unlock Nell in Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, get a 100% complete all stages in Advance Wars 1 campaign, including the final unlock mission Rivals. You can purchase her for 1000 points.

Tactics... Sort of.[]

Since Nell is one of the 3 pure luck COs, there is really no skillful strategy. Just hope you get Lady Luck on your side for most engagements. See Luck for more detailed information of how it works or see below for more detail.

Of the 3 luck-based CO's (herself, Jugger and Flak), Nell is the best because she doesn't suffer the additional bad luck dice roll. Unlike Jugger, Flak, and Sonja, you can just play like normal as if you don't have CO Powers, with the chance additional damage (not to be confused by firepower) and without worrying about dispersion.

Instead of possibly doing an additional 1 HP damage during engagements, Nell has a chance to do up to 2 HP damage normally. Her COP goes up to 6 HP. Her SCOP can potentially destroy a unit . Yes, this includes a full HP Infantry versus a full HP Megatank on a 0-Defense terrain (road or beach). However, keep in mind Nell's unit having less HP and opponent's unit having additional defenses (i.e. terrain or CO abilities) reduces the luck values because they are calculated last. Example: Nell's full HP Infantry during SCOP won't damage any unit with 100% defense increase rating, such as a Kanbei ground unit at an HQ or Javier with 10 towers. On the bright side, if you are facing against Grimm who has lower defenses, the luck damage is increased even more.

Dual Strike's mechanics can either help or hurt Nell as well. Additional luck can be given to other COs due to other factors like Tag Affinity and the Luck Skill. What does help her out is the how fast CO Meter increases, thus activating her SCOP is faster and more common to use.

During gameplay, it is best to try to get as many engagements as possible during the time you use your COP (AW1), SCOP (AW2), or Tag (AW:DS and preferably tagging with Rachel) due to the much increased chances of doing additional damage, so having a swarm of lesser priced units would be optimal. However, if you are unlucky and get engagements that did not go in that increased luck favor during COP and SCOP, you could be left wide open for counterattacks against your opponent.

Quotes[]

Dual Strike[]

Power

"Don't hate me just because I'm lucky!"

"Pull together, everyone!"

"Everything will work out!"

"This will bring me luck!"

Victory

Ha! Too bad for you!

...And that's how it's done.

(With Rachel)

Rachel: "Not bad, huh, Sis? Whooo! Yeah! We rule! Yeah!"
Nell: "Excitable, aren't you?"

Nell: "Huh. We won. Lucky us."
Rachel: "Don't be such a downer, Nell. Smiling won't kill you!"

Trivia[]

  • It is implied in Advance Wars that Nell and Grit (before he left Orange Star for Blue Moon) had something going on, it is also implied that Max used to have feelings for her at this time too.

Gallery[]

Advance Wars[]

Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising[]

Advance Wars: Dual Strike[]

Videos[]

References[]

  1. Doolam, Liam (23 April 2023). "Advance Wars English Voice Actors Officially Announce Their Characters". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
COs of Wars World
Orange Star: AndyMaxSamiNellHachiJakeRachel
Blue Moon: OlafGritColinSasha
Green Earth: EagleDrakeJessJavier
Yellow Comet: KanbeiSonjaSenseiGrimm
Black Hole: Clone AndyFlakLashAdderHawkeSturm
JuggerKoalKindleVon Bolt
Orange Star
COs: Andy | Hachi | Jake | Max | Nell | Rachel | Sami
Former COs: Grit | Olaf
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