Kindle FAQ 1.03 September ~ October 2005 Copyright 2005 Christmas C. Gonzales (justchillinjc@gmail.com) ================= Table of Contents ================= 1. Introduction 2. Introduction to Kindle 3. Statistics 4. Kindle's Abilities In-Depth 5. Factors to Strategy 6. General Strategies 7. Tag Strategies 8. Countering Kindle 9. Kindle vs Other COs 10. Opinions on Kindle 11. Legal Information 12. Credits 13. Email Information ==================== *1. Version History* ==================== 1.0 First version submitted to GFAQs (9/19/05) 1.01 Some corrections applied after 6 days of waiting... I should never attempt to create a fresh FAQ in one day, learned my lesson with the first version. =.=; 1.02 Major corrections applied. I plan to adjust some pieces to be more in-depth. 1.03 Some spelling corrections are needed. Time is needed, too. =.=; ================= *1. Introduction* ================= This guide is an FAQ made to inform players on why players should use Kindle. Strategies are explained to help players use her properly and examples of her powers are included to help players understand why she's a deadly force to reckon with. I recommend you at least know the basics of the game before reading this guide, otherwise you may find yourself quite lost. Enjoy reading about Kindle, the queen of urban terrain. =========================== *2. Introduction to Kindle* =========================== Who is Kindle? She is a CO in the Black Hole Army and a perfect example of an arrogant, self-centered beauty. She serves the Bolt Guard as second-in-command to Von Bolt, the new leader of the Black Hole Army. She is a very blunt woman whom isn't afraid to insult someone if she feels they are under her in any way. Her queen-style personality almost gives an impression that she'd be like Cleopatra and try to take over the Bolt Guard, but no clues were given if she'd do such a thing. She's merely there for the ride to keep her beauty and youth. Name: Kindle Faction: Black Hole Jugger and Koal's commanding officer. Has a blunt, queen-like personality. Hit: Anything chic Miss: Anything passe Skills: An upper-crust CO who excels at urban warfare. Firepower of all on-base units is increased. CO Power Meter: xxxXXX CO Power: Urban Blight -Increases the attack of all units on a base. Also inflicts 3 HP of damage to enemy units on bases. CO Super Power: High Society Greatly increases the attack of all units on a base. The more bases she controls, the more firepower she gains. Tag Affinity: Jugger: * Koal: * How to Unlock: Complete Normal Campaign once. Then buy her from Hachi for 4,000 Points. Kindle is a unique CO. One that is effecient for virtually every situation and proficient with every unit in the game. Her abilities are taking advantage of urban terrain which although make up a small portion of tiles on a map, give her a very nice boost and are highly contested areas. Kindle has virtually no weakness. Some will state that her weakness are lack of terrain tiles, and that is true to an extent. She tends to be weaker on pre-deployed maps that have little to no terrain. However, in maps where units can be deployed, yet have little terrain, she can still gain the initiative and may overwhelm an enemy with her skills. Although she sounds really good on paper, she has to be used effectively rather than carelessly. Without any sense of strategy and she'll look super plain as she did in Campaign mode. The CPU has no brain, and isn't able to think as logically as a human mind can. This is a gift that you must take advantage of to make Kindle into one of the most powerful COs ever created. =============== *3. Statistics* =============== All of Kindle's units are at 100/100 which is normal strength. This means that they all have 100/100 stats. The first 100 indicates attack strength while the second 100 indicates defense strength. Defense strength reduces the damage a unit takes and is increased by terrain stars, at 10% a terrain star. During the effect of a COP, SCOP, there is a default 10% increase to attack and defense. So all units are 110/110% during either, excluding the firepower increase from her COP/SCOP. Kindle has the following Tag firepower modifications: Jake: 90% Hawke: 80% Jugger: 105% (Fireworks) Koal: 105% (Flash Point) Listed below are the firepower increase that are innate, cop, and scop. Note: The firepower is only increased while her units are over an urban terrain tile. Terrain tiles include: cities, factories, airports, seaports, HQs, silos, and towers. Normal ____________ Land units: 140% Naval units (seaports only): 140% Air units: 140% Urban Blight _____________ Land units: 190% (10% cop/scop increase included) Naval units (seaports only): 190% (" " " ") Air units: 190% (" " " ") High Society _____________ Land units: 240% (10% cop/scop increase included) Naval units (seaports only): 240% (" " " ") Air units: 240% (" " " ") Now, it is time to factor usual outcomes in battles if Kindle were to attack first normally, compared to a city tile attack. The enemy Co is Andy. Infantry vs Infantry ____________________ Road attack (both on road): 7-5 City attack (both cities): 9-5 City attack (Andy on road): 10-2 So, through this example. Kindle's powers are quite handy, and these are only innate abilities. This seemingly gives a feeling that Kindle's firepower bonus can somewhat negate an enemy's defense if you use her terrain firepower bonus. Now, let's try the above example, but with her COP active: Infantry vs Infantry ____________________ Road attack (both on road): 9-4 City attack (both cities): 82%; Unit was @ 7 hp due to COP effect. 10-0 City attack (Andy on road): 104% 10-0 Pretty interesting results, na? Kindle's COP power basically effectively doubles her attack power whilst on a city tile. Even if the units have trouble doing One-Hit-Knock-Outs to each other, like Infantry to Infantry or Neotank to Neotank, Kindle's COP can effectively make her units destroy units that other COs have trouble eliminating. Let's take a look at her SCOP, na? Another example, but about how Kindle gets an increase in firepower from High Society: Opponent is Andy, terrain is marked by a letter. p is plain, c is urban, w, is woods, r is road. Kindle attacks first while HS is active she is the left unit. Firepower is with 11 cities, so roughly units are at roughly 143%. Neo (p) vs. Neo (p) 70%, result = 9-3 Fighter (p) vs Fighter (p) 78%, result = 9-2 Infantry (p) vs Infantry (p) 70%, result = 9-3 Copter (p) vs Copter (w) 91%, result = 10-1 Mech (p) vs Mech (p) 70%, result = 9-3 Tank (p) vs Tank (r) 78%, result = 10-2 Md Tank (p) vs Md Tank (p) 70%, result = 9-3 Recon (p) vs Recon (p) 45%, result = 9-5 Stealth (p) vs Stealth (p) 78%, result = 9-2 Now, let's try a city based attack with her SCOP. ;o Neo (c) vs Neo (p) 129%, result = 10-0 Fighter (c) vs Fighter (p) 144%, result = 10-0 Infantry (c) vs Infantry (p) 129%, result = 10-0 Copter (c) vs Copter (w) 170, result = 10-0 Mech (c) vs Mech (p) 129%, result = 10-0 Tank (c) vs Tank (r) 144%, result = 10-0 Md Tank (c) vs Md Tank (p) 129%, result = 10-0 Recon (c) vs Recon (p) 82%, result = 10-2 Stealth (c) vs Stealth (p) 144%, result = 10-2 The damage soars through the roof while on a city tile. The fact is though the boost is situational for such a small map, but the end results are quite good when it applies to all units, most units are crippled beyond effectiveness. How about we increase the amount of cities in her control? Mega (p) vs Mega (C) 77%, result = 9-2 Fighter (p) vs fighter (P) 93%, result = 10-1 Copter (p) vs Copter (p) 110%, result = 10-0 Neo (p) vs Neo (p) 83%, result = 10-2 Infantry (p) vs Infantry (c) 65%, result = 9-4 Stealth (p) vs Stealth (c) 93%, result = 10-0 Now, lets go for city attacks. Mega (c) vs Mega (C) 131%, result = 10-0 Fighter (c) vs fighter (P) 159%, result = 10-0 Copter (c) vs Copter (p) 188%, result = 10-0 Neo (c) vs Neo (p) 143%, result = 10-0 Infantry (c) vs Infantry (hq) 95%, result = 10-1 Stealth (c) vs Stealth (c) 159%, result = 10-0 So, when you look at it. The boosts, although situational, are very deadly when used. At 20 properties, her boosts off of urban terrain are quite impressive, and only means that she gets even deadlier with more properties. She actually gets 3% per property in her control, so basically with 33 properties she has a 99% boost, which is 209% boost off of urban terrain, since the SCOP effect has a default 10% boost. So, noteably, she only needs 25 properties in her control to have a strong enough increase to destroy nearly every even unit off of urban terrain. If it is city defenses, about 31 will be suffcient. In any case, here is a percentage chart: Qty | Firepower off of urban terrain ____________________________________ 1 | 113% 2 | 116% 3 | 119% 4 | 122% 5 | 125% 6 | 128% 7 | 131% 8 | 134% 9 | 137% 10| 140% 11| 143% 12| 146% 13| 149% 14| 152% 15| 155% 16| 158% 17| 161% 18| 164% 19| 167% 20| 170% 21| 173% 22| 176% 23| 179% 24| 182% 25| 185% 26| 188% 27| 191% 28| 194% 29| 197% 30| 200% 31| 203% 32| 206% 33| 209% 34| 212% 35| 215% 36| 218% 37| 221% 38| 224% 39| 227% 40| 230% I think that's enough... 41+ just means you are way too likely to win... so it almost doesn't matter. Having such an advantage in attrition at that point just means you should be winning enough to where your opponent may decide to fold. In any case, you should know the formula by now on how it works. ================================ *4. Kindle's Abilities In-Depth* ================================ Like most COs, Kindle has several built in abilities which are augmented by her CO powers. However, unlike most COs, her COP and SCOP are similar, yet give different secondary effects. This means that one has to choose wisely when deciding which power to use. Urban Terrain advantage ________________________ A very great advantage, that can easily change the tide of battles when used correctly. Due to this, human players will try to avoid stopping near adjacent cities, or avoid them like the plague if you have a decent hold on the area. Even if Kindle is attacked first (while on an urban terrain, in most conditions the player will suffer as much damage as Kindle did, and will be ready for next turn for a stronger counter. In most situations, the result can be 6-6 or 6-7, so Kindle will be on semi-even plains to the Enemy CO. However, since she will most likely get first strike next turn, she'll be able to considerably do more damage due to her boost. Surprisingly, her air units get this boost as well if they are over an urban terrain as well. This creates an interesting effect as no other CO gets a large boost like hers. Urban Blight _________________ Kindle is at her best in maps with plenty of terrain properties. The increased firepower is the largest of any terrain boosts, yet is also one of the least amount of tiles in most maps. Despite that little downside, they are highly contested throughout the game. Her COP nearly doubles her attack power, and her seemingly weak 5 hp units can now do about as much damage as a 10 hp unit if they are on an urban terrain tile. Also, if your human opponent is trying to occupy your wanted terrain, Urban Blight also adds in 3 damage to any enemy unit on an urban tile. This will help you soften enemy units that are trying to prevent your advantage on terrain by weakening them greatly. While they are weakened, you can most likely destroy them in one shot and then occupy the terrain yourself.It is one of the most damaging COPs if used correctly, and it is only worth 3 stars. This power is also great at making a human player worry if they should even go near such tiles or risk weaker protection. This can also be a hinderance at slowing down capture, and virtually negates repair attempts by your opponent. Lastly, this can effectively drain your opponent's funds to prevent them from deploying fresh and stronger units. High Society _________________ On paper, High Society is extremely powerful, not only does her units get roughly 2.5 x normal strength on terrain tiles, she even gets a firepower boost for all her units that aren't even on terrain tiles. This boost can grow very large and makes her units that attack on terrain so deadly that very few units may survive her assault. The more properties she has under her control, the tighter that grip will feel when her attack power rises and nearly doubles the bar. In most normal conditions, like Spann Island, she'll get a 150% boost normally and that is off her urban terrain. This is also for every unit, so she has a great firepower boost for all units, instead of just a few specific ones. She loses her 3 hp damage on terrain that she gets from Urban Blight, but if that were included, she'd be broken. Remember that this power does sound nice on paper but a decent amount of cities underneath your control needs to be noted otherwise you'll get a mediocre boost. A good amount would be like 13 at least. I recommend using High Society late game when you have nearly 20 properties under your control, it starts becoming extremely devasting. Size of COP Meter _________________ Her COP meter is roughly an average size among most Cos, which is 6 stars. This means she effectively gets her COP and SCOP quite quickly, like most COs can. She can also tag well with such a short meter, since tags can happen quite fast with such a short bar. Force Rank Skills __________________ I almost can't comment much on Skills; I personally do not use them. However, I can still try my best at giving ideas on what to use. I would appreciate it, if someone can give their own two cents on which forces to use. I think that pathfinder and prairie dog are effective at getting her to city tiles faster, as well as APC Boost. *Tronn Bonne suggests: Urban fighter is also a good choice, that only makes her even deadlier on urban terrain by having an innate 150%. Conqueror is also a good choice to help ensure captures in contested areas. Soul of Hachi and mistwalker may be overdoing it, but those are very powerful skills, though. *Damien suggests as quoted: scenerio is normal weather and no fow general skill list 1. conquerer 2. snipe shield 3. gold rush 4. star power offensive skill list 1. urban fighter 2. brawler 3. ranger or road rage (map based) 4. luck ======================== *5. Factors to Strategy* ======================== What abilities, and to a certain extent strategy, Kindle can use depends on one factor. That is the amount of properties in a map. Low property maps _________________ Kindle appears to be extremely terrible on low property maps. This may be the case in most, but it is extremely depedant if it is a pre-deployed (PD) map or not. In PD maps that have little terrain, she is at her worst. There is almost no way to gain the initiative with little terrain as her terrain advantage can't be used. Also, cutting funding can only slow down repair rates, while although useful, it isn't always probable since there are little terrain tiles and the money is saved up over time. So, Kindle is pretty moot during PD maps with little terrain. Fortunately, in normal maps, she can still be a deadly force to reckon with. The factor relies on funds. In maps with low properties also comes low funding. Funds can be very hard for the enemy CO to come by if their units keep getting damaged by Kindle's urban blight, and the enemy CO can have difficulties getting properties if units are damaged while capturing. Delaying a unit from capturing a key property while Kindle arrives there is a key factor in winning an early game. Because of this, Kindle is both bad and good during low property maps. The most used power you will want to use will be the COP, but once you have enough properties in your control, you may want to opt for the SCOP. Against normal COs, she has a better advantage, since their boost usually won't be as big as hers, unless the property amount is below 10 for her. If she has 13 the boost is nearly 150% during her SCOP, still making her deadly since it is with all units instead of just a few speciality ones. High property maps ___________________ Kindle is at her best in high property maps. She can get firepower boosts that can make her one of the strongest COs in the game. The main thing that is needed to note is that she will _need_ to take control of most of the properties to do so. Nothing is truly changed though, a majority of matches are basically war of attritions. So most general strategies of gaining properties to have better funding than the opponent applies naturally. Still, the main advantage is that she has higher chances of taking properties away from units, just like how Sami can do so. The choice between her COP and SCOP lies solely on best judgement, as both are effective in these situations. However, the timing is very crucial. You can choose to damage a ton of enemy units that are freshly deployed, or go for a firepower boost to damage the front lines to advance foward. The choice can be tough to make, but it must be noted that usually one will find that it is almost possible to use her COP twice in a row. It isn't possible right away, but it is quite likely to gain the last star again during your next turn. Doing this, will usually maim your opponent's back up units. Human Opponent ________________ When fighting a human opponent you must carefully choose when to use your powers. Also, you must carefully advance foward. Your opponent may or may not go near certain property areas, but they won't hold out against attacking forever. One will have to break the ice when it comes to attacks, and you must carefully prepare when to do so. Do you send in suicide units to build your meter, damage his units, then push foward? Or do you press onward, having weakened units become nearly full damaging units with your SCOP? The choice can be difficult, so be wary. Positioning of units is crucial as well, humans aren't stupid like the CPU is. The human can be predictable in some cases though, so take note that they may stay away from properties, if so, take an aggressive stance. CPU Opponent ____________ The CPU is predictable, and will usually be easy to manipulate to go near tiles that are adjacent to cities, giving you a great advantage to attack with stronger attack power. Also, the CPU constantly creates units, so be sure to use your COP when it will hurt most. ======================= *6. General Strategies* ======================= Every CO has their distinct personality and abilities that match it. Playing "in character" with any CO is a good idea with this game. With Kindle, be cautious with how you position yourself and know your enemy. Use your CO power's tone to strike fear into your opponent. Try to bait your enemy to attack one of yours on a city tile, this can make their own unit become quite damaged, and then you can pull off a stronger attack next turn. Be wary of indirects, and use units that can attack and damage them easily. If your opponent avoids terrain tiles, take advantage and go for the first strike to weaken their front. The more they attack, the faster your meter builds and this in turn may make your weak units become strong again, and can push your line foward. Use great judgement when doing so though, you do not want to have your lines fall apart from recklessly rushing in. Army Composition ________________ Just like most balanced COs, she can use any type of units to achieve victory. She can use land troops to create a strong front line while pushing foward, have a strong air force that can be boosted with her powers, and even have an average naval fleet. There is no set army composition for Kindle and it is generally best to have a diverse amount of units. However, some very specific strategies will require you to take another approach and use more than one unit if not be heavy in several units to advance. It is best to experiment and see what suits your taste. Favorite units can be applied, and will usually work. Be sure to use your opponent's counters for their specialty force, if they have one. FOW combat ____________ I seem to have failed to mention that Kindle isn't exactly her best at FOW. She tends to have trouble in it, except for the fact that if the enemy can't see her, they can't weaken her units to prevent full city usage. Although this is true, this is also a bad two-way street for her, as it is harder to use Urban Blight to its full advantage. One will have to be careful when using it, and may find it wasted unless it is a contested area. For FOW, I recommend recons to help see further, while using indirects and tanks as a foward advancement. The best strategies are to hold chokepoints while using infantry to gain more properties as best you can. Once you have a steady amount of properties, push your recons forward and use your highly powered units to envelop your opponent's front lines. Aggressive stance _________________ Playing as Kindle while aggressive is not easy but it may be best in some situations where early games are key. Her powers can make strong units become seemingly weak to where they are destroyed easily by artillery and rockets. Recons can be effective walls and tanks can help destroy seemingly tougher units. Mechs can also become really effective at destroying units, but of course, this is only a situational strategy as being aggressive isn't the best. Just be sure to remember that while being aggressive you can slow down your opponent's capturing process while you are capturing properties behind your line. This will in turn help build up a stronger counter attack from when your SCOP will build while your units are damaging and being damaged. Being agressive works well on COs with weak defense (ie: grimm), and can work well on Kanbei if you are decreasing funds. Countering Meatwalls ____________________ Since Kindle does lack a strong attack power bonus (off of urban terrain), meatwalls (Infanry and Mechs being used to shield other units) can be a problem, unless the meatwalls are on or near property tiles. These meatwalls are tricky if they are wooded terrain, as Kindle will have trouble piercing through. One could wait for a SCOP bonus, which will allow Kindle's units to plow through usually, and her Anti-airs should be able to destroy infantry and mechs with ease, while her tanks can take on units of their own strength and destroy them in one swoop depending on the amount of properties you occupy. If there are very few though, then only good strategy can get you through. Breaking Chokepoints ____________________ Like meatwalls, chokepoints (holding a piece of narrow terrain, like a bridge or mountain pass, that can not be easily flanked) can also be a big problem for Kindle unless her SCOP comes into effect. Air units are preferable in this case, since even a slight SCOP boost can make her destroy most units easily with decent air support. If there are few options, the only other choice would be to lure the enemy towards urban terrain or a choke point that you can take advantage of. If the chokepoint rests upon urban terrain, then the best bet is to use your Urban blight if you have low properties, or to use High Society while you control a lot of properties. Kamikaze Attrition __________________ A strategy that is new to me, but can be effective like the aggressive stance. Although similar, this strategy is basically disallowing the opponent room to breathe. You focus on baiting the enemy by feeding them recons so that you build up your COP meter constantly, and to use meat shields as chokepoint pieces to slow down your enemy's advance. This in turn gives you more time in your war of attrition. Because of the forced killing your opponent's capturing and freshly built units will be weakened. Unless your opponent wants to seriously delay his/herself from stopping you, he/she will be using 9 or 7 hp units to advance foward with. If used properly, you can have a small force holding off while stronger units of yours start to show up. The effect in the end can result in a relatively swift victory, but it can backfire against certain COs. I recommend you skip out on this against a CO like Jess, or Hachi. Both will just laugh at this. The strategy can work well against human players if they do not suspect the bait. Mech Flood __________ Looked down upon by some, mech floods are surprisingly effective with Kindle. She doesn't get a boost from the units, but they are annoying meatshields and can become extremely deadly if they are attacking 7 hp units that have been hit by Urban Blight. If she has enough properties in her control, the mechs can nearly rival if not overpower Sami & Sensei's. This can only be done effectively on certain maps though, and it is pretty interesting to see mechs take down waves of units. Do not try this in a map with air units though :s Other Strategies ________________ Being a balanced commander, Kindle can perform almost any strategy that is not dependent on another CO's COP. Feints, Blitzkrieg's, Ambushes, and Flanking maneuvers are all within Kindle's abilities to successfully implement. You should try experiments with Kindle to see other styles that may work well. Surprisingly, it may be difficult to use certain strategies with her due to how situational she can be. Nevertheless, a balanced CO is effective in most cases. =================== *7. Tag Strategies* =================== Kindle is an odd tagger. She is good in some situations, but sadly doesn't get a large innate luck with anyone, and has a situational, yet deadly SCOP. Her tag abilities are solely dependant on the other CO, and how they can support each other instead of her taking the lead in every assault. During Tags her COP may be overlooked in favor of a two turn assault, and this can be a mistake in some cases. So, when using Kindle, be careful on when you tag and swap. Sami-Kindle Team ________________ A pretty ingenious mix. I heard this from Naki Feralkin of AWN, so I believe the credit for the thought should go to him. The main idea is that this tag works both ways. Kindle can go first, using her highly boosted units to pry off enemy units from properties, then Sami's infantry and mechs can start seizing properties en masse, to further the war of attrition. This can only make Kindle's hold on the map even stronger and easily gives the team the advantage. If it is Sami going first, then she can capturing more properties to further boost Kindle's units when she tags in. In either case, this tag results in no firepower boost but is still a deadly force to be reckoned with. Sensei-Kindle Team __________________ A similar strategy for Sami and Kindle, but Sensei gets a transport boost, which can help the war of attrition idea further. Using sensei to spam units can only help further damage units that are near your properties and then Kindle's following assault will ensure destruction in nearly every situation. In yet another similar fashion, Kindle's firepower boost can help destroy enemy units occupying urban tiles to allow sensei's 9 hp deployed units to further advance towards capturing properties. Also, not only sensei will be able to take advantage of copters, but Kindle can as well, especially if she hovers over urban terrain. Sonja-Kindle Team _________________ Oddly enough, these two together is quite deadly. Kindle's foward assault of beefy units will help break chokepoints that Sonja may have trouble with, anthing that is left-over will be destroyed with ease by Sonja. With Sonja's following Counter break, it is hard for the opponent to act on the next turn if there are any forces left. Allowing for a strong pierce team, and then an uber strong defense with first strike. Koal-Kindle Team ________________ A very good team when it comes to the war of attrition. Koal is effective at moving quickly, and with a tiny day to day luck, plus two short CO bars, this only further improves movement and first chance to gain properties. Koal and Kindle can push a line forward really well, and while both bonuses are situational, the terrain advantage is still an advantage that can be used to break lines and destroy units, one by one. Roads are and cities are near each other and intertwine usually, so this results in more chances to take advantage of the terrain. It can also further push away your enemy from going near city and road tiles to avoid the terrain advantage. Manipulation and fear is key. Jugger-Kindle _____________ Not an odd pair, but quite effective. The day to day luck fits in well, and Jugger exists there for Kindle. Firepower boosted units can only mean pressure on the opponent by using weakened units as I said with not only Kindle, but with Jugger, too. Jugger has a much higher chance to kill units in cases where Kindle has no boost at all, despite dispersion it is a chance thing and it doesn't always come out in your favor. Jugger may act like Kindle's lap dog, but both of them together acting like Master and pet may seem weird but effective at the same time. This pair is nothing to laugh at, unless the opponent likes to chuckle to hide his tears. Von Bolt-Kindle _______________ A not-so-common pair. People will think to avoid Von Bolt like the plague, but these two together can really help the war of attrition out. VB's units are slightly more powerful w/o terrain which can help Kindle's weakness if there is no enemy near any terrain. Having two powerful SCOPs go off at once is also a deadly force, since it will cripple one force on the enemy's side, which will give more chances for this team to act upon in war of attrition. VB's units going second isn't a bad idea at all as well, since if Kindle eliminates most of the units on the enemy's front lines, whatever is left may be freshly deployed units. This will make VB's prevent those units from moving from factories, seriously crippling your opponent's next turn. This only paves way for Kindle to move in your Opponent's HQ area, where she'll have a huge advantage since urban terrain is mostly near HQ areas. ====================== *8. Countering Kindle* ====================== Kindle may be somewhat difficult to counter. Still, if one can prevent her from using urban terrain, that's one part done. The next thing to do is prevent her from gaining more terrain than you at any cost. It is also wise to try to prevent deploying tons of units at once, except when there is no fight going on. Otherwise you may be spending Kanbei prices to get units that are weaker. A good effective front on even terrain will put both players on even fields and it is better to destroy one of her units or weaken them to 3 hp to prevent messy counters from her the following turn. Effective funding can help prevent her Urban Blight, but the money COs can do so properly with the extra funds they will have. Sasha can surprisingly be a very good counter against her, but one will have to be careful on not having enough funds to prevent her high society. The extra funds should also compensate for the damaged units, but be sure you spend money wisely. A Kindle player may use her power at any time, instead of always using it at the beginning of the turn. ========================= *9. Kindle vs Other COs * ========================= Kindle if quite capable of being on even grounds with most COs, except when SCOPs become active, then hell can break loose. It is best to try to counter your own weakness by exploiting your enemy's weakness. Jake ____ Day-to-day Jake is less situational than Kindle. His bonus can have Kindle in some trouble if she doesn't get first strike. Usually one will want to lure him towards urban terrain to exploit him. However, if your opponent is insistent on luring you to plains, he can find himself at a disadvantage in the war of attrition. His indirects should be a top priority for you to destroy, since they can hit you w/o being damaged themselves. His movement bonus can become a problem if you're not careful about it, so be wary of his powers and try to eliminate him when he's near urban tiles or to overpower him during your SCOP. Rachel ______ Her ability to repair units faster is a blessing but yet also an annoyance. It effectively cancel's out Kindle's Urban Blight damage, but yet it also forces Rachel to spend more funds, so it is a good and bad thing in the end. It is very wise to strike her with Urban blight while she pulls back units to repair and to also damage any Megas or Neos she may have deployed. Her COP is pretty ugly but her SCOP only gets scarier if you have units on cities. This can in turn start leaving you dry on funds as well as her. One will have to have a staggered formation with slightly cheaper units while pushing forward. Rachel is a tough cookie, and is quite difficult on small maps with little properties. Andy ____ He is a tough one to beat sometimes. His Hyper repair/upgrade can almost negate ubran blight damage, and he will rarely be on cities unless it is a CPU. So, he may make Urban blight look useless in some cases, but repairs on cities come before any CO action; so he'll still have to pay. Funds or not, he is still able to repair in heated conditions, and this will mean that Kindle will have to eliminate units instead of weakening a ton of them at once. Be wary of his boosts during his SCOP and plan ahead for it. Max ___ Max is pretty ticky. His firepower boost can allow him to cripple your units on urban terrain, so you must have intiative when striking and must use his achille's heel to defeat him. Indirects on cities will only easily destroy his units, paving way for your force to move forward for a first strike advantage. You may also catch him off guard by not using cities, but be sure to get first strike in, or effectively cover pieces to allow your indirects to destroy him. Sami ____ Timing and anti-airs will see to the death of Sami. Mech floods are hazardous to you, and she will want cities more than you. It can be hard to prevent her from capturing units since she can capture easily, even if her units are at 7 or 9 hp. One effective strategy is to use recons and anti-air units to overpower hers and have your SCOP clean house. Holding terrain will be key as well as using Urban Blight when she deploys a huge amount of non-infantry units--if she does so. Nell ____ Nell is a dangerous opponent and there nothing you can really do to counter her luck skills. The best method is a quantity of units as well as getting first strike when you can. She is a broken CO and is tricky to beat if a human controls her. Hachi _____ Another broken CO that can easily overwhelm you with superior numbers, which will counter your war of attrition strategy. It is best to cover his cities as best you can, and press forward for a quick victory. If you're on a large map, there little you can do to counter him well. Olaf ____ Olaf is a very tricky opponent because of the snow factor. He can cause it to snow for two days which gives him an attack bonus and causes you to burn fuel at an increased rate. Despite these advantages, his firepower boost is only during his powers, and if you are able to effectively gain control of certain properties, he will have trouble countering you except during his SCOP. It is best to cripple his forces before they have a chance to overwhelm you during his SCOP. APCs will be extremely valueable during the entire match. Grit ____ The Indirect master may give some trouble unless you use weaker units like recons and anti-airs to damage his indirects to the point of uselessness. He will be worried about hanging around on cities, beacuse of Urban Blight. He'll have trouble moving his indirects into woods or plains for better cover, or he can risk being in single line formations on roads. It only spells doom for him, though. Unless he likes paying taxes for standing on cities to repair and resupply, he will be needing APCs. So, be agressive and have a few strong tank units to destroy any tanks he may bring out. Destroy ACPs if he isn't staying on cities, his indirects will have trouble staying supplied and moving around. Colin _____ Cheap costs will give trouble when it comes to attrition and funds. Colin can easily afford the extra costs, especially with Gold Rush. The only manner to defeat him is to keep making him pay extra while pressing forward with stronger units. Outnumbering him with units is also a good bet, yet very hard to do so. Even with property advantage, he can still have a steady income with Gold Rushes and is hard to rout his forces since they have equal defense. Try to use the urban advantage to eliminate his units entirely. If feasible, use black bombs to weaken his units greatly to make complete routs instead of leaving a lot of weak units around. Sasha _____ When it comes to Sasha v Kindle, it is a race for properties. Sasha can afford extra costs from Urban Blight, so it will be tricky to make her funds fall low. Also, without taking advantage of urban terrain, you will be on even grounds with her. So first strikes are very important in this battle, as well as diversity. When the timing is right, overwhelm her with superior powered units from your High Society. Kanbei ______ Tricky, his units are superior in every way especially during SCOP. It is best to plan ahead and make sure to not be near him during his SCOP, and to force him to spend even _more_ funds if you force him to repair constantly. If you have air support, Black bombing him will easily wipe him out. Eventually, he may not have enough quantity nor quality units. Sonja _____ An annoyance and deadly CO to fight against. Getting struck first is something you do not want when fighting her, her terrain abilities are deadly and it is imperative you are careful when attacking her during her SCOP. Fund draining helps against her, but be sure you can strike first against her, then you are mostly on even grounds. Sensei ______ Anti-airs are his bane, but be sure you are careful in how you position him. If you really need to act quickly, be sure you prevent his captures as best you can and be prepared for mech assaults. If you're still having trouble with the air superiority, try to have a few fighters take control of it. Do not allow his copters to get first strike on your units, it will hamper you badly. Grimm _____ When play against Grimm, aggressive strategies are best. He won't be able to take advantage of his superior firepower if his units are damaged beyond usefulness. Urban blighting him will only lower his overall effectiveness, and if his units have an even lower defense if they are weakened in this case. Just try to always get first strike and you should do fine. Eagle _____ A CO that will most likely use air units, so try to have the best counters possible against him, and try to make his air units fight above urban terrain. Some players won't even take note that Kindle gets boosted units while they are over urban terrain, which can be unexpected and makes it easier to have a hold on airports. Try use this nearly unnoticeable advantage as best you can to damage his units further, that way his COP feels useless. Drake _____ Drake is a tough one to fight. If it is navy to navy, he has the advantage unless you constantly drain his funds away to prevent him from deploying fresh units. Your units can suffer ugly damage which will harm you, but if he has little to no units, quantity will ensure victory. Always have a few black boats to refresh your units. Jess ____ A powerful CO. One that you must prepare to fight beforehand. You will need to gain not only more properties than her but more units than her while having strong units. Again, Urban blighting and forcing her extra movement to stop on areas adjacent to cities is your best bet. If there are airports, try to go for an air battle to be at an advantage. Javier ______ With his reliance on Com Towers, Javier's great strength is also his great weakness. Top priority is to gain control over towers. He will also be forced to send multiple infantry/mechs towards towers, if not, then send suicide recons in both directions(his capturing infantry and main area) to boost your COP. While he tries to capture, Urban Blight will prevent him from capturing towers easily and he won't be able to repair if he finally does capture the area It will also allow your infantry to easily take advantage of his. Early game is key. With control over towers, you should be able to break his chokepoints with little trouble and should end up negating his indirect defense. Try to use almost no indirects though, since his SCOP will usually negate the damage done by indirects. Flak ____ Like Nell, Flak is dangerous because of his ability to deliver serious damage with weaker units while using his CO Powers. However, day-to-day he can experience a drop in attack power but he is also capable of delivering more damage too. Be sure to overwhelm him to gain the advantage. Destroying his units is key. Adder _____ Adder is a very flexible CO and will often gain the first strike with his powers. Yet his movement also allows him to reinforce his lines faster and to retreat further away if necessary. Furthermore, because his CO Meter is so short he will be able to use his extra movement quite often. Trying to hold a chokepoint against Adder is a good strategy because his movement will not help him break through (Unless he has air units). Also, be aware that Adder is capable of using his COP twice in a row. Lash ____ Lash has been toned down quite a bit. Her terrain advantage will be your only worry aside from her SCOP. You may have trouble breaking her lines in some cases but if you can effectively overpower her out of her SCOP, then you will have no worries on defeating Lash. Her boost on cities pales in comparison to Kindle's-- exploit it. Hawke _____ Hawke's superior attack strength can give some worries, but the moment you activate your SCOP, he will be afraid like a kitten unless there are very few properties under your control(10 or less). In either case, his COP meter is quite long so try to abuse that and make his advantage of healing units look like a weak power with constant Urban Blights. Jugger ______ Jugger is almost exactly like Flak with only two noticeable exceptions. The first is that his day-to-day dispersion is slightly higher which means his attacks are even more erratic. The second, more important difference, is that Jugger's SCOP is one star longer. This means Jugger can use his COP twice in a row. Be careful of his dispersion, if they tip in his favor, you may be suffering some hurt and may not be able to effectively counter attack. Attrition helps the most and be sure to overwhelm him. Koal ____ With Adder's movement benefits, Koal can be very good at gaining first strike, positioning his units well, reinforcing his frontlines, and running away when needed. War of attrition is tricky with his speedy units. Cities and roads tend to intertwine, but you can be sure that Koal will know to stay away from cities and may have an easier time damaging your units on cities. Overwhelming him late game may be your best bet, unless you hold a strong chokepoint on where cities are. Kindle ______ An ugly stalement in most situations. Unless you are smarter than your opponent then you're going to lose. This is an even situation in symmetrical maps, but whoever draws first blood can start the beginning of the end. It may be whoever gets enough properties, or it may end up as whoever wins in the early game. Attacking that first recon may not be wise, lest you want to build up her bar faster than yours. However, timing is the key. If you have enough units deployed while you're off cities, then her Urban Blight is useless and playing mind games during FOW is probably your best bet. Von Bolt ________ Kindle's superior officer should be more threatening than her. However, that is usually only day to day. Kindle can easily surpass his superior innate fire- power. However, during SCOP, Kindle can overpower him to the point where his extra defense can't help him. Nevertheless, his SCOP is still evil since it will cripple your units and you will not be able to move them and thus, it will be possible for him to position himself for a stronger attack the current or following turn. Be careful and know when to time your attacks on VB. ======================== *10. Opinions on Kindle* ======================== This section of my guide will include opinions on Kindle in addition to my own. Please contact me if you want to share your opinion on Kindle. My Opinion on Kindle ____________________ Kindle has potential to become a really powerful CO. Her urban boosts are quite high for being innate yet since there are so few, it is easy to see why. Nevertheless, urban terrain are highly contested areas in most maps and she is the only one that can take full advantage of urban terrain. Her COP and SCOP are unique in their own ways, instead of just being a slightly beefed up version of her innate powers. Although such effects still exist, her COP and SCOP differ from each other and have to be used correctly according to the sitation she is in. She is deadly when written on paper, but she _must_ be used correctly otherwise she's very inneffective like how Kanbei can be in the hands of a novice. Experience is key for Kindle. Learn how to use her and you will find strategies that you almost can't explain for her. Thrawn Fett's opinion on Kindle _______________________________ "Kindle is the queen of the city. She has incredible strengths, all based around the properties. Her powers are immense and diverse, allowing her to win in almost every situation. Day to day, Kindle's units are 100/100. She has no weakness, and as thus can use many strategies easily. However, when you get one of her units on a property, she gets a tremendous +40 attack. Simply by placing units on the best terrain, she can do significantly more damage and obtain more OHKO opportunities. Now, some may object that properties are too rare to make the attack bonus worth much. Properties are the only terrain required on a map. You can make a map without sea, plains, or any other terrain, but try to make a map without at least an HQ and you'll be out of luck. While in some maps properties are rarer, if you watch carefully in most battles, the fiercest fighting tends to be over a few cities in the center of the map. Properties already give one of the best bonuses that terrain gives (with its three star defense), so tagging on a nice +40 attack makes Kindle lethal. Another advantage that Kindle has over the other terrain queen (Lash) is that the property bonus applies to all units, even air units flying above a city. Kindle's COP is arguably the best COP in the game. It's tailor made to Kindle's strengths and allows so many options that it's a wonder why anyone wouldn't use it. It does 3 HP damage to all enemies on properties in addition to increasing her city bonus to +80 attack, all for a minuscule three stars. The additional attack will ensure that she does massive damage to enemy units while sitting on a property. The more strategic aspect, however, is the damage. With good timing, you can devastate enemy forces or, at the very least, ruin them financially. On smaller maps with a lot of cities, a majority of the units will likely be on cities, allowing for immense damage. Even on medium or large maps, Kindle can do good damage to the enemy. The most obvious advantage is that any units that the enemy is 'cleverly' using to block properties will be down to 7 HP, much easier to kill off and move your unit on for a better strategic position. Any units that happen to be on a city near the front will be easy prey. The most subtle advantage comes when you end your turn. As every AW player knows, damaged units sitting on a property (of the right kind) will repair damage automatically. Kindle uses this to her advantage by forcing repairs on the opponent. By timing it so that an expensive enemy unit is on a property, you can force the enemy to repair it and lose those funds for that turn. Catching a Neotank on a city means that your opponent will be out 4400. If you time it so that there's a few expensive units placed right, your opponent will be penniless upon taking control. All this for a mere three stars. Can you ask for a better deal? Actually, the COP is even more useful, as it is one of the few COPs that can prevent an HQ capture in a tight spot. Using it will bring the offending soldier down to 7 HP and give you a turn to build a unit near the HQ and kill it. As if Kindle's COP wasn't good enough, she has an equally as useful SCOP to go along with it. Not only does her property attack bonus jump to an incredible +120, she also gets +3% attack to her units per property she owns. On smaller maps, it's not as useful, but get her 20 properties and her units are suddenly 170/110 (after the default +10/+10) with the possibility of jumping to 290/110. With 20 properties, her units firing from a city will do nearly triple the normal attack. Few COs can match her in attack power, and those that could are even more situational that Kindle's. The combination of Kindle's abilities and powers are pure genius. Her day to day allows her an attack bonus that no other CO can match. If the enemy starts blocking properties, she can whip out Urban Blight and destroy the offending
units and the enemy's funds. If good timing doesn't present itself for a good
use of her COP, she can use High Society for even more devastation." 


Tronn_Bonne's opinion on Kindle
_______________________________

Out of all the terrain COs, Kindle is the most specialized and, simultaneously,
the one that is the most reliable in her strengths. That is because every map
will have properties on it and Kindle can use even a small amount of these
properties to her advantage. Her extremely high attack boost while on cities
will enable her to win almost any urban fight and will give her the edge when
competing with the enemy for resources. Yet what makes Kindle a truly great CO
are her CO Powers. Urban Blight, in particular, is a power that can be
devastating if employed correctly and it has many uses such as slowing enemy
capture rates, forcing repairs on the enemy, and weakening enemy defensive
positions. High Society is nice to have if Kindle finds herself fighting her
enemies away from cities and it can be used to help Kindle's forces break
through a chokepoint if the need arises. The fact that their effects are
different, besides further increasing Kindle's attack bonus on properties,
makes Kindle an extremely flexible CO. This flexibility also gives Kindle a
slight psychological advantage since the enemy will not always be able to guess
what power she might use. Finally, Kindle is a balanced CO which means she is
fully capable of implementing any strategy to defeat her enemies and she has no
weaknesses that can easily be exploited.



=========================
* 11. Legal Information *
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This document may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for 
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=============
*12. Credits*
=============

Xenesis for the incredibly helpful CO Stats FAQ and for clarifying Kindle's
urban boosts that are innate, cop, or SCOP boosted. Thanks Xenesis.

Tronn Bonne because his/her excellent FAQ inspired me to start writing this one.
I also thank him/her for permission of the similar format of his/her FAQ.

-Again, I thank Tronn for the support (s)he has given to me and his help for the
much need corrections in my FAQ. Suggestionns for force ranks are also helpful.

Naki Feralkin for his idea of Sami-Kindle team. Not a bad pair.

Thrawn Fett for his permission to use his opinion. Also, I must thank him
for writing a great Kindle FAQ as well. It only makes her look better. :)


=========================
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