Rocket Launcher

Rocket Launchers of each force from AW2.

Rocket Launchers are powerful indirect combat units capable of firing on both ground and naval units from a great distance. Their range of fire is better than standard Artillery units and so is their power. In all Advance Wars games, they are dubbed Rockets.

In the Game Boy Wars series, Rocket Launchers are more individual units, as they deal more damage against infantry (and Unarmored vehicles in Game Boy Wars 3) than Artillery, but deal less against armored vehicles.

Rocket Launchers should be well-guarded, as they are more expensive and have an even worse defense than the Artillery.

Information

Super Famicom Wars

Rocket Launcher Information

Primary Weapon	Ammo	Ammo Price	Range	Machine Gun?	Special Commands
Rocket Launcher	6	8G	3-5	No	None
Move	Fuel	Cost (G.)	Vision	EXP Value
4, Tire	50	15000	1	4

Game Boy Wars 3

Rocket Launcher Information

Unit Group	Cost		Movement		Fuel	Initiative		Production
			Power	Type		Base	Loss
Armored	4200	32	5	Treads	50	12	2	City
Rockets B								Special Commands
Attack					Details			None
					Ammo	Price	Range
24	27	-	18	-	5	20G	2-3
No weapon								Other abilities
Attack					Details			None
					Ammo	Price	Range
-	-	-	-	-	N/A	N/A	N/A
Defense					Other
					Transport		Supply
					Type	Number
17	17	10	17	-	N/A	N/A	Land

Rocket Launcher S Information

Unit Group	Cost		Movement		Fuel	Initiative		Production
			Power	Type		Base	Loss
Armored	4800	40	4	Treads	50	12	2	Rocket Launcher Promotion
Rockets A								Special Commands
Attack					Details			None
					Ammo	Price	Range
28	31	-	20	-	3	22G	3-4
No weapon								Other abilities
Attack					Details			None
					Ammo	Price	Range
-	-	-	-	-	N/A	N/A	N/A
Defense					Other
					Transport		Supply
					Type	Number
20	20	12	20	-	N/A	N/A	Land

Advance Wars

Rocket Launcher Information

Weapon One	Ammo	Range	Weapon Two	Special Commands
Rockets	6	3-5	None	None
Move	Fuel	Cost (G.)	Vision
5, Tires	50	15,000	1

Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

Rocket Launcher Information

Weapon One	Ammo	Range	Weapon Two	Special Commands
Rockets	6	3-5	None	None
Move	Fuel	Cost (G.)	Vision
5, Tires	50	15,000	1

Advance Wars: Dual Strike

Rocket Launcher Information

Weapon One	Ammo	Range	Weapon Two	Special Commands
Rockets	6	3-5	None	None
Move	Fuel	Cost (G.)	Vision
5, Tires	50	15,000	1

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin

Main article: Rockets (Days of Ruin)

Tactics

Rocket Launcher in Advance Wars : Days Of Ruin

Rockets are, for all intents and purposes, more powerful, versatile, and expensive indirects than Artilleries. Most units in all games can be destroyed by their barrages within a salvo or two. Despite their great range and firepower, rockets are lightly armored and can be taken out quickly if caught out of position.

Rocket units move on tires, which means they need roads or shoals to deploy speedily. Therefore, when trying to find a rocket unit, look near roads. This also means that they move significantly slower in Woods, where Rockets are often placed to get them out of the enemy's vision, and can heavily delay their combat involvement. Rocket units attack in a range from 3 to 5 spaces wide. This means that a Rocket unit's range can completely surround any unit 4 spaces away from it, and is able to retaliate no matter which direction such a unit is attacked from. As a demerit, Rockets' minimum range is also 1 space wider than Artilleries, making them vulnerable to fast-moving units as well as Artilleries 2 space away.

Competitive Play

Rockets are uncommon in competitive play. Players usually use Artilleries instead, as they're a cheaper alternative and can provide firepower all the same. Spamming hordes of Mechs easily overwhelms Rockets, and this is worsened by the fact that Rockets have even less defense than Artillery. In Dual Strike, Black Bombs are a serious threat to Rockets. Their slow movement speed makes them especially difficult to deploy and reposition, usually taking spaces that can otherwise be used by other units with faster speed. They're also very expensive, at 15,000 G, almost tripling that of a single Artillery, which makes saving up for them extremely risky.

Ultimately, Rockets are best used when you have a lot of leftover Gold and provide better firepower per space as the battle progresses. Covered by multiple Infantry meatshields, and hidden is Woods, Rockets can be devastating to all units, land and naval alike, destroying an entire army without taking a single point of damage.

Trivia

• The Orange Star's and Rubinelle's rocket artillery resemble both the American M270 MLRS (body, rocket launcher) and the American HIMARS rocket artillery (runs on tires).
• The Blue Moon's, Lazurian's and IDS rocket artillery resembles a Russian BM-21 Grad.
• The Green Earth's rocket artillery loosely resembles the German Wurfrahmen. A Wurfrahmen 40 can be either a halftrack or a prime mover.
• The Yellow Comet's rocket artillery is based on the Japanese Isuzu Type 97, with rocket pods.