Sami (Japanese: ドミノ Domino) is a CO from one of the four countries that comprises the Allied Nations, Orange Star. She is one of the first CO's played in the games, debuting in the eighth mission of the first game.
Personality[]
Sami is pretty calm and lively most of the time, sporting a somewhat "happy-go-lucky" attitude, similar to Andy. However, she is not one to be crossed with, and can easily get angry in the right situation. This is best shown when fighting Sonja in Advance Wars, where she almost goes berserk on Andy for being tricked so easily. She is also outspoken and doesn't hesitate to be rude when angry, as shown in Advance Wars 2, where she is cornered by Adder, who tries talking her into surrendering. Her response is shown to be quite "inappropriate", to the point that one of Green Earth's soldiers doesn't feel "comfortable" reading it out loud, and Eagle starts laughing upon reading it. Sami also seems to be a bit of a suck up to her superiors (specifically Nell), as noted by Andy. Despite all this, she is shown to be caring of those close to her, like in Advance Wars when she refuses to leave Eagle behind to fend off Sturm's forces, or in her talk with Eagle before the final mission of Advance Wars: Dual Strike, where she refuses to accept Eagle's promise in the case he dies, stating that making a promise like that means one of them will most certainly die.
Appearance[]
Sami is a young woman of the Orange Star, appearing to be in her mid-to-late teens. She has short orange hair and black eyes, she wears a dark green headband, sleeveless belly-revealing white tank top, dark green pants with the knee pads and combat boots. She has a white wristband on her left arm and an automatic rifle hanging on her back. She also has dog tags around her neck.
CO ability summary[]
She is a graduate of special-forces training, giving Infantry and Mech units an extra firepower boost when under her command.
Changes between games[]
Advance Wars 2[]
Day-to-Day Infantry DEF boost of +10% removed
Day-to-Day Infantry ATK 120% -> 130%
CO Power "Double Time" Base Cost 25000G Defensive -> 3 Stars (27000G defensive)
- Offensive Charging Base Requirement 100000G -> 54000G
- CO Power "Double Time" Infantry ATK 154% -> 150%
- CO Power "Double Time" Infantry DEF boost of total +20% removed
- CO Power "Double Time" no longer provides Infantry with 1 Movement Cost on all viable terrain
- CO Power global ATK boost removed
- Addition of Super CO Power "Victory March"
Dual Strike[]
- Day-to-Day Infantry ATK 130% -> 120%
- Day-to-Day Transports no longer have +1 Movement Power
- CO Powers have global +10% ATK boost again
- CO Power Charge for foot soldiers increased due to the Power Meter mechanic change.
Advance Wars[]
CO abilities[]
Infantry and Mech units get a 20% firepower boost and a 10% defense boost. As well as a firepower boost, all of her foot soldiers capture at a rate of 150%, always rounded down. This means an unhurt Infantry will reduce a property's capture number by 15 points instead of 10, and an Infantry with 6 hp will reduce a property's capture number by 9 rather than 6. In comparison to her special-forces when measured against generic 100/100 stats, her non-infantry Direct Combat units are slightly below average. Sami's Indirect Combat units are equal to the generic stats. Transports have an extra space of movement.
Here is the chart of her capture rate:
| Unit HP | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capture Pts. | 15 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
CO power[]
Double Time - Increases movement range and firepower of Infantry and Mech units by one space and 50% respectively. Has the shortest charge meter in the game. Movement cost for Infantry units is reduced to 1.
Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising[]
Storyline significance[]
Sami returns in Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising as a well-trained and intelligent special-forces commander. After successfully liberating Orange Star with the help of her comrades, she later makes cameo appearances in other missions later in the Campaign.
CO abilities[]
Infantry and Mech units receive a 30% firepower bonus and capture 1.5x on a daily basis. Sami's indirect capabilities and deployment costs are equal to normal stats, while non-infantry direct units suffer from a slight firepower reduction of 10%. All transport units boast +1 movement. The in-game description also states her foot soldiers move farther, though this is not the case.
CO power[]
Double Time - Increases movement range by one for all Infantry and Mechs, and their firepower is raised to 150%. All units receive a +10% defense bonus.
Super CO power[]
Victory March - Increases movement range of Infantry and Mech units by two spaces. All foot soldiers have 180% firepower, and allows any such unit to be able to completely capture any unallied property in one turn, regardless of unit health.
Advance Wars: Dual Strike[]
Storyline significance[]
Sami again returns in Advance Wars: Dual Strike, offering aid to Omega Land late into the war. She plays a significantly smaller role in the Campaign's plot, though her personality and abilities remain somewhat intact.
CO abilities[]
All Infantry and Mech units have 120% firepower, reduced to their original levels in Advance Wars. Non-infantry Direct Combat units retain their small firepower reduction of 10%. Foot soldiers still capture at 150%. However, her transport unit movement bonus has been removed.
CO power[]
Double Time - Increases movement range by one for all Infantry and Mechs by 1 space, and their firepower is raised to 160%. They also receive a +10% defence bonus. All other Units get a 10% boost in firepower and defence.
Super CO power[]
Victory March - Increases movement range of Infantry and Mech units by 2 spaces. All foot soldiers have 190% firepower and may capture in one turn, regardless of HP.
Tag Breaks[]
Sami has Tag Breaks with the following COs:
- Sonja, 110%, "Girl Power" (1 star) - Sami goes first to capture cities, while Sonja finishes off battle with the ability to counter-attack during your opponent's turn. You could do the other way around (Sonja first) as well if you feel like it takes an extra turn to clear a path for captures.
- Eagle, 120%, "Earth and Sky" (3 stars) - Despite only having a 20% boost, it is probably the most overpowered Tag Break in the game, and can quite often instantly seal a victory. Start out with Eagle, load infantry/mechs on transport units, give an all-out assault with units to open a pathway. Then use Tag power, continue the assault to clear pathway for the second time with Eagle, move transport units, and unload them. Then switch to Sami, continue assaulting to clear pathways, and then capture the enemy HQ for a Victory.
- Andy, 105%
- Max, 105%
- Nell, 105%
- Von Bolt, 90%
Quotes[]
Black Hole Rising[]
Power
"All right! Time to end this!"
"Stay cool, stay calm... He who panics loses!"
"In a test of skill, I'm unbeatable!"
"Ready or not, here I come!"
"You're not bad! Now it's my turn!"
Dual Strike[]
Switch
"Leave it to me! I'll work something out!"
"Roger! Advance to the front lines!"
Power
"Move out, grunts!"
"Alright! It's make-or-break time!"
"Hooya!"
"Payback time!"
"A commando never gives up..."
"Gotta stay cool..."
Campaign, Pre-Battle
Final Battle
"Yowza! I wonder what that gigantic oozium is going to do to us."
(with Eagle)
Eagle: "I want you to promise me something, Sami. Promise that if we both return from this battle alive..."
Sami: "Oh no you don't! Stop it right there! If two people make a promise like that, one of them is going to end up dead! You might as well tell me that you're two days away from retirement! Save the promises for later, OK? We'll talk when we get back in one piece."
(with Sonja)
Sami: "Fiddlesticks! This will be it for the Omega Land war! I mean, I'm glad for peace and all... But I have homework to catch up on! Hey, Sonja? Teach me math again, OK?"
Sonja: "You're insanely confident at a time like this. It's funny... but I feel the same. Calm. Completely at ease. I feel like there's no way I can lose if I team up with you! We're going to win!"
Victory
"Area secured!"
"Score one for the grunts!"
"Commandos always complete their mission."
(with Eagle)
Eagle: "Our victory is secured."
Sami: "Ha! That's my Eagle!"
(with Sonja)
Sonja: Our chemistry is fantastic.
Sami: Well, we go back a long way. I'm sure that helps.
Sami: Don't ignore us because we're girls!
Sonja: Our team is the second to none.
Tactics[]
Due to the amount of changes Sami receives per game, tactics can vary. However, the tactics are still similar.
Sami strategies usually evolve around gaining an economic advantage through her superior capture rate. In the early game when both sides are attempting to gain sources of funding by capturing cities, Sami's 150% capture rate allows her infantry to capture property even under attack from enemy infantry or tanks, as most early units cannot reduce her infantry below 4 HP (the threshold to prevent a two-turn capture) by themselves. For Sami to fail a 2-day capture at full health, the opposition needs to get her foot soldier capturing to 3. She can also capture cities in 2 days with soldiers at 7 HP uninterrupted. Meanwhile, her powerful infantry can severely disrupt enemy infantry during the capture-phase, usually siding with Sami as the victor in engagements. Your opponent is going to try taking her units down as fast as possible, often with anti-airs, so indirects are your protective options. In small maps, Sami often has advantage due to soldiers being close, especially her mech-spamming tactic.
However, Sami's weakness is that she is map-dependent. On mid-sized maps, Sami will have to rely on some transports to push her soldiers to the front lines. Her biggest map weaknesses are large maps, maps that have a lot of sea terrain, or pre-deployed maps that rely on direct fire. It may seem like she is more economic just spending mostly on foot soldiers. However, transports do add up on costs and it is easy to forget the calculations. Maps with a lot of sea terrain lessens Sami's use outside of captures.
In the original Advance Wars, she has one of the best stats in the game. The combination of Sami having 120/110 foot soldier stats (almost Kanbei but cheaper), the smallest charge time for CO Power, and +1 transports is not something that should be taken lightly. That extra 10% defense means the opponent will have a hard time to 1HKO her foot soldiers, even for Anti-Airs and Max. Transports having +1 movement ensure that Sami's units get to the front lines quickly. Since indirects have normal stats, Sami uses them as backup coverage against the other units too powerful for Sami to handle.
In Advance Wars 2, she no longer has that 10% defense, making front line engagements and capturing weaker. On the other hand, her increased 10% attack means her soldiers can go more offensive. It's a toss-up. While it does take slightly more time to charge up her good CO Power, her new Super CO Power Victory march is what Sami is known for. Even though her Super CO Power requires a large 8 stars, she can instantly turn the tide in her favor or win the match that same turn when used right. Keep in mind that Sami needs proper setup for this or it can cost her the game. Sami needs to precisely measure the amount of spaces her mechs can move to counter her opponent's ground and copters (or capture if in the right spots), while having her infantry do the capturing. In Fog of War, mountains will absolutely help with the vision. Sami needs to either capture the HQ that same turn for the instant win or capture enough buildings the opponent owns to leverage on her favor. Whoever has more bases usually has the economic advantage, so using foot soldiers just to do mass damage may seem tempting but is less practical in most situations. Otherwise, a blocked Super CO where no cities are captured means your opponent has won due to them using their own CO Powers more often than you.
In Advance Wars: Dual Strike, her foot soldiers took a damage nerf, now 120% damage. Her role fits better as a Tag partner than solo. With skills added as a mechanic, Sami can add Invader and Conqueror skill to make her capture rate a capture in 2 days in more situations. The addition of Black Bombs can really help Sami clear out units that she cannot normally handle, but be careful of investing on Black Bombs as that would mean less mechs in the long run. Sami fits best as Eagle's Tag Power due to the Tag Break. Have Eagle go first, load up foot soldiers on transports, move transports, use Tag Break to move transports again, unload, CO Swap, and have Sami capture HQ (or cities if HQ is heavily guarded). If Eagle is not the choice, Sensei as a tag partner also works, given that Sensei goes first to deploy the mechs. Hachi or anyone with the Soul of Hachi skill can also work wonders for Sami if they go first with Sami finishing last. Like before, this requires a clear setup to make this happen. Be careful when facing Sasha because Sasha's CO Power reducing Star Power means that Sami will almost be unable to use her Super CO Power, thus relying on CO Power when the chance is given.
Trivia[]
- Sami is one of three COs (the others are Gage and Grit) to carry a real firearm with her. It appears to be an M16A2 or M16A4, hinting that her faction is based on the United States military. However, the Orange Star infantry uses what looks either like the M1A1 Thompson submachine gun or the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle. Older games featured her with the German H&K MP5. It is likely that this is because real US Special Operations Forces use the MP5.
- For some reason (perhaps safety), the M16 that Sami wields has no magazine inserted, this is the case in both Dual Strike and the Re-Boot Camp.
- One of her quotes, 'Hooyah!', is inaccurate as this line is quoted in real life by soldiers of the United States Navy. More likely to be affiliated to the Orange Army than to the Orange Navy, she should use 'Hooah!' as this is used by the United States Army soldiers in real life (however the quote may most likely be a reference instead of attempting to imitate exactly).
- Sami's design is extremely similar to that of a generic soldier, probably to emphasize her specialty with Infantry.
Gallery[]
Advance Wars[]
Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising[]
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp[]
Videos[]
- Sami's Theme (GBA)
- Sami's Theme (Dual Strike)
- Sami's Theme (Re-Boot Camp)
- Sami's Power Theme (Re-Boot Camp)
References[]
- ↑ "Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp - Full Cast & Crew". IMDB. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| Orange Star | |
| COs: | Andy | Hachi | Jake | Max | Nell | Rachel | Sami |
| Former COs: | Grit | Olaf |