Valkyria Chronicle 4 Challenge Run Walkthrough
Revision 2.4 - 4/18/19
Contact - mjfaqs@live.com

This is a challenge run with no reloading from mid mission saves, no class 
leveling, no orders, minimal or 0 damage taken, reliable strats, low turns, 
most or all leaders, tanks, and aces killed, and no grinding.

This guide is intended for intermediate to advanced players, although beginners 
may find the advice section helpful.

Playthrough videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc2WVt24CiwWd9FR3wLKt-pjYIpHnii0X

Resources used to create this guide:
https://kamikouryaku.com/valkyria4/
https://psnprofiles.com/guide/7805-Valkyria-chronicles-4-trophy-guide



Run conditions:

1. New Game, normal difficulty.

2. No reloading from mid-mission saves. Missions are restarted by selecting 
give up and retry in the menu.

3. No orders or ship orders.

4. No class leveling.

5. Mission strategies will involve a balance of low turn counts/command point 
efficiency, minimal or no damage taken, most or all leaders 
(non-boss)/tanks/aces killed, and reliable strategies. All mission strategies 
were formulated by myself.

6. Restricted use of last stand. If a unit goes into last stand, I'll select 
stand up, and then immediately end their turn without any further action. If 
the unit goes into last stand on enemy turn, I'll select counter as that likely 
has less impact than inspire. If for some reason I'm forced to use inspire, 
I'll consider the extra command point not usable.

7. All missions are played with appropriate equipment and recruits, or used in 
a restricted manner.

8. DLC missions will be reserved until after the on disc content is completed. 
DLC missions will be played in a new game like manner. Rewards from one DLC 
won't be used in other DLC missions.

9. No repeating missions to grind dct/renown/ranks while there are still 
uncompleted non-DLC missions. However, if I run out of non-DLC missions, I will 
unlock the remaining squad stores manually by repeating a mission.

10. Videos are recorded in a single take with no cutting. If there's a large 
amount of idle time in a video, I'll selectively speed up idle times so there 
aren't large gaps with nothing happening.


Table of contents:

[01] Revision History
[02] Playthrough Results
[03] Combat and General Advice
[04] Squad Stories, A Rank Turn Limits
[05] Main Game Walkthrough
[06] Squad Story Walkthrough
[07] Skirmish Walkthrough (non-DLC)
[08] DLC Walkthrough


[01] Revision History

This no reload run started on January 15, 2019 and ended April 18, 2019, 
including creation of the guide and videos.

Revision 1 - 2/25/19
first version.

Revision 1.1 - 2/26/19
Organized, added to, and fixed typos/errors in the advice section.

Revision 1.2 - 2/27/19
Organized, added to, and fixed typos/errors in the advice section.

Revision 1.3 - 2/28/19
Organized, added to, and fixed typos/errors in the advice section.
Added skirmish 4 Hard.

Revision 1.4 - 3/03/19
Organized, added to, and fixed typos/errors in the advice section.
Added skirmish 5, 6, and 7 Hard.

Revision 1.5 - 3/06/19
Organized, added to, and fixed typos/errors in the advice section.
Added skirmish 8 and 9 Hard.

Revision 1.6 - 3/12/19
Added challenge skirmishes 1-3.

Revision 1.7 - 3/14/19
Added the 3 postgame squad stories.

Revision 1.8 - 3/17/19
added squad 7 DLC and Captainless 1

Revision 1.9 - 3/21/19
added Captainless 2-3

Revision 2.0 - 3/23/19
added beach 1-2
added section on unlocking squad stories, recruiting characters, and a rank 
turn limits

Revision 2.1 - 3/31/19
added expert 1-2

Revision 2.2 - 4/06/19
added expert 3-4

Revision 2.3 - 4/12/19
added expert 5-6

Revision 2.4 - 4/18/19
added Valkyria 1-2. every mission including DLC is now covered.



[02] Playthrough Results

A 'D' indicates that damage was taken on the mission, otherwise zero damage was 
taken (NPC Raz excepted).

Prologue (2t)
Chapter 1 (3t)
Chapter 2 (3t)
interlude 1 (2t)
Chapter 3a (2t)
Chapter 3b (3t)
Chapter 4a (3t)
Chapter 4b (3t)
Chapter 4c (3t)
Chapter 5 (2t)
Chapter 6 (2t)
Chapter 7a (4t)
Chapter 7b (3t)
interlude 2 (1t)
Chapter 8a (1t)
Chapter 8b (2t)
Chapter 9 (3t)
Chapter 10 (4t)
Chapter 11 (3t)
Chapter 12 (2t)
Chapter 13 (3t)
Chapter 14 (2t)
Chapter 15a (2t)
Chapter 15b (3t)
Chapter 16 (3t)
Chapter 17a (3t D)
Chapter 17b (2t)
Chapter 18a (3t)
Chapter 18b Normal (5t)
Chapter 18b Hard (5t)

Skirmish 1 Normal (1t D)
Skirmish 2 Normal (1t)
Skirmish 3 Normal (2t)
Skirmish 4 Normal (2t)
Skirmish 5 Normal (2t)
Skirmish 6 Normal (1t)
Skirmish 7 Normal (2t)
Skirmish 8 Normal (2t)
Skirmish 9 Normal (1t)
Skirmish 10 Normal (2t)

Skirmish 1 Hard Into the Woods (3t)
Skirmish 2 Hard Out of the Box (3t)
Skirmish 3 Hard Beneath the Frost (3t)
Skirmish 4 Hard Off the Rails (3t/4t)
Skirmish 5 Hard Through the Fire (3t)
Skirmish 6 Hard Across the Bridge (3t)
Skirmish 7 Hard Within the Ruins (3t)
Skirmish 8 Hard For the Centurion (2t)
Skirmish 9 Hard From the Capital (3t)

Skirmish 1 Challenge A True Battlefield (2t)
Skirmish 2 Challenge The Dream Team (2t)
Skirmish 3 Challenge Blitzkrieg on the Canal (3t)

Squad Story - A Prayer For the Broken (2t)
Squad Story - All the Single Ladies (2t)
Squad Story - Gambler's Ruin (3t)
Squad Story - Honor, Pride and Regret (2t)
Squad Story - Legacies Left (3t)
Squad Story - Like Old Times (3t)
Squad Story - Love and Logic (2t)
Squad Story - The Price of Skill (3t)
Squad Story - To Live Unbound (2t)
Squad Story - Treading New Ground (3t)
Squad Story - Unfortunate Souls (3t)
Squad Story - Worlds Apart (3t D)
Squad Story - Mischief Makers (4t)
Squad Story - Girl in the Iron Mask (2t)
Squad Story - A Chivalrous Heart (3t)
Squad Story - Reluctant Solitude (2t)
Squad Story - Soul of the Navy (4t)

DLC missions:
Edy's Advance Ops (2t)
Squad 7 1 Team Building (3t)
Squad 7 2 Two Fronts (3t D/4t)
Squad 7 3 Brilliant Minds (3t)
A Captainless Squad 1 A Sleuth of Bears (4t)
A Captainless Squad 2 Snowball Fight (3t/4t)
A Captainless Squad 3 The Price of a Picnic (4t)
Beach 1 Raiding the Base (1t/2t)
Beach 2 Bathing Suits and Bullets (3t D)
The Two Valkyria 1 The Unchosen One (5t)
The Two Valkyria 2 The Chosen One (5t)

Skirmish 1 Expert Hafen Escort (3t)
Skirmish 2 Expert Blitz Assault (4t)
Skirmish 3 Expert Escape from a Dire Situation (4t)
Skirmish 4 Expert Struggle on the Bridge (5t)
Skirmish 5 Expert A Night-Shrouded Liberation (3t)
Skirmish 6 Expert Clash Between Elite Squads (3t)


One more playthrough:

Additionally, you can find a 2nd play through of VC4 by myself that has more 
strict conditions (100% kills, no R&D, limited use of vehicles, direct command, 
and Grenadiers) but allows reloading from mid mission saves to compensate. This 
secondary playthrough is not covered by this guide.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc2WVt24CiwXQ5gXwEkXvFHCyiRRA--Ih




[03] Combat and General Advice

This section aims to cover techniques and strategies that are (probably) not 
found in the in game tutorial. It's currently in progress with more planned.

If any information is wrong or out of date, please let me know.

Combat and General Advice Thanks:

Advice feedback/contributions from DoomyDoom:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/790820/discussions/0/1742231705652523574/#c179627
8072848004715

General:

Enter look mode (l2/r2) to look around corners and spot additional enemies, you 
can additionally use the analog stick while looking for even more sight. Your 
units won't be exposed or spotted by looking around. Spotting is crucial for 
your grenadiers to have targets to shoot at, and staying out of interception 
fire.

Using look mode reorients the facing of your current unit, and any units 
following them if using direct command. Use this to make them face the way you 
want without having to physically move them.

You can usually fire safely from a corner or obstacle if you're firing to your 
right, while trying to fire to your left from a corner or obstacle usually 
results in the shot being blocked. The enemy still has a chance to dodge if 
they aren't being surprise attacked. If you don't kill them, they will 
counterattack if they can see you and sometimes their shots can still land, 
although there is a higher chance of the terrain blocking their shots compared 
to a counterattack out in the open.

While in aiming mode, press l2/r2 to switch between left and right shoulder 
stances. This can help you get a slightly better angle on things like tank 
radiators. This still doesn't allow you to fire safely to your left from a 
corner.

You can get an undodgeable attack against enemy infantry by confirming your 
attack as they are in the middle of their reloading animation. However, they 
still get the defensive bonus from dodging while the reload animation continues 
to occur, even if they don't physically Dodge. The defense bonus wears off 
after the reload animation ends.

For that reason, you should time your attack confirmation so that the reload 
animation is almost finished, so they can't dodge the shot, and they won't have 
the defensive bonus by the time your unit opens fire. If you fire at the enemy 
while they are reloading and they get a big defensive bonus, it means you fired 
too early. This is most easily done with a bulletproof vehicle.

Snipers can team attack with each other and other gun fire attacks (scouts, 
shocks, tank gatling gun, etc.).

Lancers can team attack with each other and allied tank cannons against enemy 
armored targets. Lancers and tank cannons can't team attack against infantry 
targets.

If you see a crouched stationary enemy that doesn't seem to do anything on 
enemy turn, it might start acting and doing things if you disrupt it with an 
explosive. Consider carefully before disturbing and idle enemy.

Early on in the game, your scouts and snipers are not very accurate or 
powerful. Use team attacks, early Ace scout rifles, grenades, or tank mortars 
to make up for this.

If you are trying not to grind or repeat missions, spend your spare command 
points on units that you'd like to promote to corporal during missions, before 
finishing the mission.

Team attacks between characters who like each other have higher accuracy. Team 
attacks occur based on proximity, not random chance. Characters may not 
participate in a team attack if their firing line is blocked, or if there are a 
large number of characters bunched together and not all of them can participate.

When firing, bullets emerge from the barrel of the gun. If you get too close 
you will fire past the enemy's head despite the reticule. However, you can aim 
the gun or Lance inside the enemy's head and get head shots with the right 
aiming.

Your vehicles can fit through some pretty tight spots, even if it takes a bit 
of effort or movement back and forth. If there is no "can't enter" sign, the 
APC at least can probably fit through it.

Rifles can be used to hit ragnite crates from long distances, because it only 
takes one damage to make them explode. Some shots like APC Gatling fire will 
disappear before being able to hit a crate at a long distance.

Command points carry over between turns, so it's a good idea to save it up 
sometimes when waiting for reinforcements, waiting for the enemy to do 
something, or restoring the AP a character has available to move with.

Getting multiple kills with a single attack: Enemy hitboxes naturally sway with 
their idle movement animation. If you aim at a precise position so that your 
target changes from one enemy to another as they idle, your bullets will hit 
both of them more evenly. Enemy corpses can absorb bullets before they drop out 
of your firing range, so when you fire between two units, the target in front 
will fall out of the way more quickly.

Team attacks can kill multiple separate targets with proper positioning.

You can no longer 'quick draw' (my term for it) on enemies where you select 
your unit and get into aiming mode before they can interception fire you, but 
they can still do it to you on enemy turn.

Similarly, when your grenadier sets up their equipment, enemies can still 
interception fire on them. However when enemy grenadiers set up their equipment 
your units are forced to stop intercept firing.

Your unit's hit box changes slightly with the direction they're facing.

When using direct command, sometimes the position that the unit is behind your 
leader is important. The 1st person recruited will be to the leaders left, and 
the 2nd person will be to the leaders right. If you want to swap that, you can 
dismiss both of them and then re-recruit them in the desired order.

If you want to fire at an enemy without the risk of it turning and 
counterattacking or intercept firing, you can try a 'target swap' (my term for 
it). To do this, you want the game to show that your target is something other 
than what you're trying to fire at. You can do this by adjusting the camera or 
placing allied units nearby that the target chevron and upper left target 
indicator will jump to. This is also very useful for breaking sandbags near 
enemies without the game assuming that you're trying to fire at them.

Just like the original, there are differences in units between gender. For 
example, male snipers are taller and can shoot over barricades that female 
snipers can't. There are some parts of the map that male scouts can reach while 
female scouts cannot. Some female classes (shocks) can slip past landmines more 
easily because of their thinner hitbox.

Sometimes your snipers can get surprise attacks by edging around the corners of 
fences and anti-mortar shelters.

If you can bait an enemy counterattack from a safe spot, you might be able to 
distract other enemies into facing the counterattacking enemy.

Enemies often act differently depending on who is in their line of sight and 
where.

You can tell which class of enemy is moving during enemy turn by the frequency 
of their footsteps.

If you can't aim very close to an enemy infantry's head, try aiming down 
towards their neck (but still centered on a headshot). Some shots might hit 
their body, increasing damage over a miss. This does slightly reduce the chance 
of a headshot, however.

Accessories that increase range only work on weapons that are researched 
through R&D. They won't increase the range of reward or ace weapons.




weapons and ranks:

A ranks are entirely based on how quickly you finish a mission.

some missions reward up to 5 royal weapons for clearing them with certain 
additional objectives.

1. Defeat all non-boss and non-Ace leaders. If you see a boss or ace that is a 
leader, it doesn't count towards this objective.
2. Destroy all tanks. Any armored target that isn't a tank doesn't count.
3. No units downed, including vehicles. Redeploying the unit or vehicle doesn't 
work.
4. No units killed, including leaders that have been forced to retreat but 
haven't actually died.
5. Get an A rank.

The reward weapons can be earned separately on different attempts of the 
mission.

The 13 reward weapon missions are: Ch 2, Interlude 1, Ch 4a, Ch 4c, Ch 6, Ch 
7b, Ch 8b, Ch 9, Ch 11, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15a and Ch 17a.

The tier of reward weapon that you get is tied to the current level of R&D for 
that weapon type.

You can't grind reward weapons, but you can purchase them using renown in the 
post game infirmary. The tier of reward weapon that you can purchase from the 
postgame infirmary is tied to how many total reward weapons you've earned on 
the 13 reward missions. If you don't see tier 5 in the infirmary, It means you 
haven't earned enough total reward weapons.

Units are promoted to corporal by spending command points on them during 
missions. They don't have to attack or do anything. They are promoted after 
reaching 40 points, and certain mission types reward more points per command 
point spent on them than others. Normal skirmishes reward one point, main game 
missions reward 2 points, and hard skirmishes reward 3 points. I'm not sure 
about squad stories and other DLC content.

Some characters are already corporal or higher rank but using them still 
contributes to unlocking a squad story. For example, using Claude helps unlock 
the squad story "Treading New Ground".

Enemy Ace weapons vary in usefulness depending on the weapon type and what 
point you are in the game.

Ace rifles are useful early in the game for interception fire and close up 
surprise attacks, but any 7 shot rifle is better. 

Ace machine guns are useful for killing high HP infantry bosses, and the 
occasional crouched enemy if you don't have any better way to kill them.

Ace lances can be useful early on, but not mid or late game. the reward and R&D 
lances are generally better.

Ace sniper rifles aren't particularly useful, because their damage is almost 
always unnecessary and their range is short. Any 3 shot sniper rifle is 
generally better.

Ace Grenadier antipersonnel mortars are very useful for most of the game.

Ace Grenadier antiarmor mortars are not particularly useful because they have 
low accuracy.

weapon accuracy is numerical, the letter shown in game is only an estimate and 
can be misleading. 2 weapons with the same letter grade can have different 
accuracies.




potentials:

There are a few notable personal potentials that are both reliable and 
effective because they are proximity based which means you can keep trying 
until they activate using AP.

Brittany and Gertrude both get antitank buffs for being in proximity of allies 
(female allies in Brittany's case).

Mabel and Louffe get an attack buff for being in an allied camp, you can 
trigger this by walking back and forth on the border of a camp.

Jester gets an attack buff for being near female units. This can be very useful 
for throwing a grenade and killing crouched enemies in 1 command point instead 
of 2.

Claude and Riley both have proximity potentials for each other that are very 
powerful later in the game.

To reliably trigger proximity potentials: Grenades have a range of 90, and 
proximity potentials have a range of ~100. I usually try to find the point 
where the grenade line turns blue then take two steps back, then move forward 
and back from there. It's best to move the camera to max vertical so you have a 
solid reference frame to use.

Proximity potentials can be triggered by climbing up and down ladders, or 
entering and exiting doors, etc.

Potential proximity distance takes height into account, keep that in mind when 
on elevations or using ladders.

Proximity-based potentials stay after leaving the proximity of whatever 
triggered it.

Proximity potentials can activate both from a trigger appearing, or 
disappearing (sight lines, for example).

Proximity potentials based on being near people work like this: Take jesters 
fancies women. You get a proc chance when he steps within 100 range of a 
female, and another chance when he steps out of 100 range. If he's already 
within 100 range of a female and it didn't proc, he won't get another proc 
chance until he steps out of any females 100 range, and then back into range, 
etc. Meaning you can't overlap/stack proximity proc chances.

If your unit is safely behind something like a tank or fence while an enemy is 
interception firing, and they have a beneficial interception fire potential, 
you can trigger it by entering and exiting aiming mode repeatedly. Interception 
fire potentials trigger when an enemy starts or stops firing on them, not 
randomly during.




Line of sight, visibility, spotting, and aiming:

Provoke enemies to turn and intercept fire on your units to make them face a 
certain direction, then sneak past them or kill them.

Firing a targeted weapon like a gun or a Lance at an enemy while they are the 
active target will cause them to turn and face your unit, even if your unit is 
firing at them from behind a wall, or an elevation, with 0 chance that either 
of your bullets would hit each other. Use this to safely reorient an enemy 
without being counterattacked or taking damage.

Enemies have different interception fire radius for noticing your units and 
turning towards them to fire. Scouts have the highest, while shocktroopers have 
the lowest.

Most enemies will lose sight of your unit if you hide them in the grass or run 
them out of line of sight.

If you get very close to an enemy (about 25 range), they will start to turn and 
interception fire. However, if you get away from them fast enough before you 
are in their interception fire radius, they will stop turning around. Your 
scouts can reorient enemy shocks by quickly running past them, for example.

Line of sight is extremely important for avoiding unnecessary interception fire 
and getting up close from behind for headshots.

Enemies cannot dodge from directly behind them, but they can dodge from the 
front or sides, even if they aren't actively interception firing.

Enemy units cannot dodge your attacks if you start firing while they are in 
their reload animation. However, they still get the defense bonus from dodging 
while they are in the reload animation, even if they didn't actually have a 
dodge animation. To avoid this, you want to time it towards the end of their 
reload so they don't get the defensive boost, but still cannot dodge.

Units have 2 different sight statistics. The interception fire stat determines 
what angle they can start turning and firing at units. Scouts have the highest, 
elite snipers have the lowest. Different classes also turn around at different 
speeds when attempting to interception fire, with scouts again having the 
fastest turn speed.

The visibility stat determines at what range a unit can see an enemy. Scouts 
can spot hidden enemies further away than other classes. Visibility can be 
affected by environment conditions like fog/whiteout (100 range), or night (250 
range).

Unsighted units have a significant defensive bonus if hit by explosives. This 
means it's usually beneficial to spot an enemy before firing on it, even if you 
know it's there.

Grenadiers can magically alter sightlines and turn yellow to blue, because by 
sitting down to set up their grenades, they lower their height which makes them 
less visible.

Try doing things like setting up, entering and exiting aiming mode, and putting 
away to get a surprise attack with a grenadier.

This can also work for any infantry when they become exhausted and slouch over, 
sometimes enemy sightlines will go from yellow to blue on them.

It's a good idea to frequently check out enemy stats such as their dodge rating 
and range on their weapons. Enemy aces can have very different dodge rates.

It's easy to get surprise attacks on any night mode stage, because enemy sight 
range is greatly reduced. Try spotting enemies, and then moving back out of 
sight to shoot at them.

There are many safe spots where you can fire at an enemy but they usually can't 
hit you back. This can include trees, flagpoles, lampposts, fences, oddly 
shaped terrain, above or below elevations, etc.

Some parts of terrain look like you can fire through them but you cannot. If 
your targeting reticule is white and not red and focused in, that's usually a 
sign that your shots will be blocked.

Enemies hiding in the grass will tend to stay hidden and not intercept fire. 
Once an enemy has been spotted, they are aware that they have been spotted, and 
will interception fire more readily.

You can use this to your advantage by sneaking past hidden enemies that you 
know are there by using classes with less visibility then a scout. Classes like 
engineers and shock troopers can sneak by a hidden enemy that a scout would 
spot, and once it's been spotted it will start firing.

Once a unit has been spotted, they will have to stand up and crouch back down 
to re-hide. If your unit is within an enemy's visibility radius when trying to 
hide in grass, it won't work because they are instantly spotted and compromised.

Units that are hidden in the grass can still act as spotters and prevent 
surprise attacks, even if you haven't spotted them. If you're trying to launch 
a grenadier attack and it doesn't seem like anyone has sightlines on your unit, 
there might be someone hidden in the grass. Or it could be buggy terrain and 
sightlines.

All units in a weapons line of fire or explosion have a chance to dodge it, 
even if they aren't the intended target. This can be bad when you fire at one 
enemy, and another nearby enemy dodges and turns to face you when it wasn't 
previously doing so. To avoid this, try shooting at angles and positions where 
there are fewer enemies in the line of fire.

The targeting chevron is red when your unit is in range on a flat surface, and 
yellow when it's not. However, the chevron becomes much less accurate when 
height is involved. The chevron can also be slightly inaccurate when just out 
of range when firing a gun on a flat surface. If in doubt, look at the "to 
kill" number indicator showing how many shots are needed, this is usually more 
accurate.

The chevron indicator is not very useful when throwing explosives. Explosives 
don't have their damage reduced from being fired at long range. Sometimes 
splash damage can hit a target even if the center of the shot isn't in range.

Sightline bugs:

Sightlines are much less reliable than they were in the original. Enemies can 
spot and shoot at your units with blue or even no sightlines, depending on the 
terrain. Or sometimes it looks like there are no sightlines in action mode, but 
when you exit to map mode, the sightlines will show up. Sometimes sightlines 
can go straight through solid terrain. Take care when hiding your units to make 
sure they really aren't visible.

When an enemy grenadier rag dolls your unit, the sightlines can bug out, 
causing sightlines to appear through normally solid terrain and causing the 
grenadier to continue intercept firing on your unit when it shouldn't be able 
to. Sometimes moving around a bit can reset the sightlines, but sometimes the 
grenadier will be able to continue firing on your unit even when there are 0 
sightlines and the enemy cannot see you.

In areas with reduced visibility, such as night mode or fog, you can spot and 
then get away from an enemy before they can interception fire on your unit by 
moving just into their visibility range and out of it. This generally takes 
practice and knowing where the enemy is ahead of time.

The Valkyria's interception fire radius is 90 degrees, like shock troopers and 
engineers.

On night mode maps, units (particularly Grenadiers) have reduced interception 
fire capabilities. They are unable to interception fire unless they directly 
see an enemy, spotters won't work. This usually works to the players advantage 
since it's easier to sneak up on Grenadiers.

When infantry fire from within smoke, they remain hidden, unless directly 
spotted by an enemy inside the smoke.

When standing outside smoke and firing at an enemy within smoke, if your unit 
is currently spotted by another enemy outside the smoke, the target enemy has a 
chance to dodge even though they can't directly see your attacking unit.

Allied units with smaller character models have an easier time getting surprise 
attacks from the front or side by aiming around corners or terrain. Female 
scouts (besides Minerva) tend to have the shortest and smallest models.


Crouching, sandbags, explosives, and mines:

It's important to use a spotter for your grenadiers. After one of your units 
finishes attacking, try running them forward and spotting something, but ending 
the turn before they take damage.

Explosive attacks like grenades and mortars can't be dodged by the enemy if the 
attacker has no enemy line of sight on them, even if you don't see "surprise 
attack" shown when throwing the grenade. This can be useful when throwing 
grenades from a higher to a lower elevation from out of sight.

Explosive attacks can be surprise attacks if thrown from behind the enemy, even 
if you don't see "surprise attack" shown when throwing the grenade.

You can disrupt a crouching enemy with grenades, lancer shots, mortars, 
destroying the sandbag, and running them over with a tank.

Flamethrowers deal a lot of damage to crouched enemies and turret bunkers. They 
ignore the defensive bonus from crouching and from being on a camp, but don't 
ignore the units personal armor, and can still be Dodged.

Sandbags can be destroyed with any grenade, mortar, anti-tank lance, or by 
being run over by a tank. Objects like trees and benches can usually also be 
run over and destroyed by a tank.

Destroy sandbags ahead of time to prevent enemies from crouching at them, if 
you know they are incoming.

You can use grenades or mines to your advantage to launch your character over a 
fence or barricade, or to travel distances without using AP.

You can knock enemies off base flags with grenades and other explosives and 
capture the flag without having to kill them.

If your unit steps on a land mine and ends their cp while still standing on it, 
you can then run over the mine with other characters and it will not detonate.

When using mortars and grenades, you can often manually hit enemies out of line 
of sight that the game does not auto-highlight for you. If you know they are 
there, and your attack can reach them, you can hit them with it if you aim 
correctly.

Sandbags can be a vexing issue for some missions, due to limited 
explosives/grenades. Sometimes a good solution is to grenade two nearby 
sandbags together instead of touching the enemies behind them.

Grenades have a small bounce to them, so you may want to compensate by aiming 
just a little off from your actual target.

Tossing a grenade and destroying a sandbag does not alert an enemy that was 
crouched behind it if they were not hit by the blast. They will simply stand up 
and continue to not notice your unit. On the other hand, using a lance to 
destroy a sandbag might alert the unit if the games targeting system thinks you 
are aiming at them (look at the upper left target and where the aiming chevron 
is).

Explosive shots do more damage the closer they are to their target.

Tank mortars cannot be timed to be undodgeable shots because they are dodged at 
the time of impact, and not at the time that the shot is confirmed.

Targets that are close to very large elevation differences (such as buildings 
or cliffs) can be difficult to hit with grenadier explosives, because there is 
a chance the grenade will land on the top of the building or drop off the cliff 
instead of on the target. Try using a more accurate sanders mortar or aiming 
the targeting reticule slightly away from the target and obstruction.

Unlike grenadiers, mortars and grenades don't get the luxury of aiming the 
camera upward to get a higher view of what they're firing at.

Not only that, but the game won't automatically select the target you want to 
fire at if it's not visible. For example, an enemy on a lower elevation that 
you want to throw a grenade at but can't see.

There are two methods for effectively locating the enemy, despite the games 
unhelpfulness. First, open the mini map and amy your camera view at where the 
enemy is located. This can greatly help narrow down the general area of the 
enemy. 

Second, try to manually spot them by turning the camera around, and then slowly 
rotate the camera back to the correct angle and then press l1 or l2 to 
reposition your character so they fire at the direction your camera is focused.

You can also try getting a sightline to the enemy, press l1 or l2 to reposition 
your character so the sight line is at the center of their head, and then 
walking backwards until you are out of sight for the surprise attack. You can 
also try getting sightlines by pressing l1 or l2 and holding it and looking 
around. Sometimes this isn't possible however.

The telescope is one of the best accessories, both for throwing grenades and 
out ranging enemies. Although generally it's much more useful for grenades than 
out ranging.

Grenadiers get the most use out of the telescope outside of throwing grenades 
and mortars. For example, you can add 50 range to the Sanders 600 range to make 
it fire as far as the 650 range Hartman while having much better accuracy. This 
can be great when you need to pick off an enemy Grenadier (550 to 600 range 
max) that is in difficult terrain that a Hartman might have trouble hitting.

When firing an explosive arc from a lower to a higher height, the effective 
range is reduced. If you find an enemy grenadier on a higher elevation, you may 
need to get to higher ground to reach it, or equip a telescope.

When firing an explosive arc from higher to lower height, the effective range 
is increased.

Explosive splash damage can sometimes pass through terrain or objects. e.g. you 
can sometimes fire at a wall and hit someone standing on the roof.

Grenadier chance to land near the center of the reticule is worse the farther 
out the shot is. Try to get closer if you're making a sensitive shot.

If you spot an enemy grenadier, it usually helps to check their stat sheet and 
see whether they're equipped with an anti-personnel, or an antitank mortar.

Enemy antiarmor grenadiers have 550 range, making it pretty easy for your own 
Grenadiers to outrange them, unless they are on difficult or elevated terrain. 
You also have the option of using a fortified treads order to bypass anti-armor 
Grenadier AP down effect.

Your tanks are nearly immune to enemy antipersonnel Grenadier damage. You can 
use them to make the Grenadiers face a different direction in order to flank 
them, or safely get up close to fire. Enemy antipersonnel grenadiers have 600 
range, so equipping a telescope might help.

If all else fails, try taking the path of least resistance. Most missions have 
an alternate path without enemy Grenadier coverage.

Avoid firing Grenadier arcs too close to obstructions, including things like 
camp flagpoles. Even if it looks like the firing line is clear, it might not 
be. The firing arc is only a projection, if your grenadier fires a very 
inaccurate shot, the beginning of the mortar's arc might shift close enough to 
an obstruction to collide with it.

When aiming your grenadier at the Vulcan radiator, it's better to move the 
targeting reticule slightly inward towards the base of the tank, rather than 
outward or to the sides.

Units can't counterattack explosive attacks, although they will turn to face 
the direction the attack came from if it wasn't a surprise attack.

Scouts and shock troopers usually have different grenade throwing arcs. 
Additionally, male scouts and shock troopers throw from a slightly higher 
position since their model is taller. This can come in handy when throwing over 
body height obstacles like the front of a truck.




Tanks, APC:

Light tank/assault tank turrets fire ahead of them, while medium tank turrets 
fire behind them. Heavy tank turrets are slow and need to 'travel' to the 
person they are aiming at. Use this to your advantage by quickly running past 
before they can get a lock on your character, or entering aiming mode to reset 
the turret.

Tanks do not cause any damage when they explode. Feel free to get as close to 
them as you like.

Use your tank to block enemies interception fire to provide your infantry safe 
passage across dangerous areas, or allow them to get up close to safely fire at 
the enemy while they are reloading.

Your tanks can be used as bulldozers to knock around enemies to either alter 
their position/facing, or shove them next to another enemy to kill them with 
explosives. Once an enemy is knocked down, all of their sight is 'reset', so 
they will no longer target the tank if they stand up facing away from it.

Keep your tanks radiators backed up against just about anything solid to 
protect them from attack. Although late in the game, you can stack enough 
resistance that the Hafen radiator takes less damage than the front of the tank.

Tanks can run over and detonate small anti-personnel mines without taking 
damage, but they will still damage infantry if they are nearby.

Using your tank(s) to provide interception fire is a great way to mow down lots 
of infantry without using cp.

When controlling your vehicles, they will either turn or move forward/backward 
depending on the camera angle. If the camera is aligned with the vehicle's 
front/back, moving the stick left or right will cause it to turn, and moving 
the stick up or down will cause it to move forward/back. If the camera is 
aligned along the vehicle's side, the controls will be reversed. If you want to 
turn the tank around 360 degrees, you can adjust the camera angle slowly as you 
turn the vehicle. Remember, tanks need a wide clearance to be able to turn 
around.

In vc4, it's generally not a good idea to hug the corners with a vehicle, 
because the terrain is much easier to get caught on. There are exceptions, but 
getting stuck on what looks like passable terrain is annoying. There are even 
spots in the map where moving forward will drain your AP, but your vehicle 
won't go anywhere.

Tanks can use their momentum to effectively slide down hills and stairs and 
conserve some AP.

Tanks are nearly immune to damage from antipersonnel Grenadier mortars.

It's hard to do, but your vehicles can knock enemies into fire on chapter 6, 
etc.

The APC deploys units on its right-hand side, even if there are enemy infantry 
or environmental hazards nearby. If the right hand side is blocked, it will try 
the left-hand side. Orient the APC in the position you want to deploy infantry 
from.

Defense upgrades on the APC can increase its defense to the point where it no 
longer takes damage from some Gatling turrets and heavy/ultimate tanks turret 
fire when hit from the front. The APC starts at 183 defense and goes up to 192. 
It gets a plus one defense at chapters 6 8 11 and 13, and I'm not sure when it 
gets the fifth upgrade. 190/192 are the postgame upgrades.

Vehicle plating (non-radiator) defense including the APC works differently from 
infantry defense. Infantry and vehicle radiators always take a minimum of one 
damage no matter what. But vehicles can take 0 damage from vsArmor attacks if 
their plating defense is higher than the attack. If an enemy throws a grenade 
at your tank and it does no damage, it probably means the tank defense is 
higher than the vsArmor of the grenade.

When an Allied vehicle fires from within smoke, it becomes compromised, meaning 
that it must exit and reenter the smoke in order to become hidden again. This 
happens even if the vehicle uses a Gatling weapon, or if it is a surprise 
attack that kills the target, or if there is nothing spotting the vehicle. I 
believe this is a balancing mechanism against vehicles firing from inside smoke.

If a tank is hiding inside the smoke, and it gets hit with cannon fire, that 
will dissipate the smoke. However if a tank fires cannon fire from within the 
smoke to a target outside the smoke, it won't dissipate the smoke. For some 
reason tanks exploding inside the smoke won't dissipate it.

Vehicles have difficulty spotting other vehicles inside smoke.


Conserving ap, command point efficiency, direct command:

Before you have access to scout leaders, I prefer using Riley to direct command 
units around, since she is one of the most useful non-scout leaders.

Remember to deploy your leaders to get more command points per turn. Some squad 
stories allow you to deploy your leaders after the mission begins.

Consider moving your characters around the map like a race track. Hug corners 
tightly and don't veer off and you can make the most of your AP.

Areas like ladders can be used as soon as the "x" button is displayed. Save AP 
by slowly walking up to them and pressing x the moment it shows up.

You can also use ladders to move forwards and save a bit of AP by climbing up 
them and then climbing back down. After climbing back down, they will be 
positioned at the center rather than the side they climbed up from.

Always consider your strategy in 'cost of cp'. For example, say you have an 
enemy crouched behind sandbags. A shocktrooper could kill it in one cp with a 
flamethrower, or a scout could kill it in two cp (grenade and gun down), but 
the shocktrooper may take 3 cp just reaching the enemy, while the scout mayonly 
take 1 cp due to its higher AP. Thus the scout would be the better option to 
use.

Use team attacks to take out entrenched enemies that take a lot of hits to die 
(turrets, tanks, etc.).

Moving over sandbags does not cost AP. That means if you use sandbags 
correctly, you can increase the distance your unit can travel.

Enemy friendly fire can kill their own units. This is best done with a 
bulletproof vehicle. Depending on the type of enemy firing, and the HP of the 
target, it can take quite a while.

the APC can board units in map mode through solid objects like fences and walls 
that it cannot pick up during action mode because line of sight is blocked.

If an enemy is at a very low HP, consider aiming at their feet or using 
explosives so that even if they dodge, they will still die.

Sometimes it makes more sense to throw a grenade than fire shots that have a 
chance to miss and not kill the target.

Say you have a scout that needs to reach an important target, and your strategy 
would fall apart if they were delayed and had to face AP loss. To mitigate 
this, clear as much of the path as possible with other units before moving the 
scout, and only use the scout for actions that have very high reliability.

Pay attention to enemy movement and try to get as many interception fire kills 
as possible to save command points.

Sometimes you don't have to kill an enemy grenadier to get past them safely. By 
disrupting them with an explosive, they will stand up and be unable to fire 
until they set up on the next enemy turn.

Using direct command on a leader unit resets their AP to full. Use this to 
cover large distances with a single leader unit, or take several actions with a 
leader unit, and then reset their AP to carry their allies.

Direct command can be used to reorient a units facing, to make them face the 
right direction for defensive interception fire. This can often be done in 
addition to moving units around by selectively recruiting and disbanding 
multiple units along the way.

When using direct command, if your leader crouches in grass or at a sandbag, 
the units following them will also try to crouch. Use this to hide or crouch 
multiple units at once.

Be careful when using direct command around thin obstacles like fences or 
gates. The follower units will teleport to the leader after a couple of seconds 
if they can't reach, and they may end up on the wrong side of a gate or fence.

When you hug a wall or corner using direct command, the units may stack behind 
each other, which can make team attacks impossible because they are blocking 
each other's firing line.

On the other hand, sometimes stacking behind each other is beneficial on narrow 
terrain so that units can pass by each other after the direct command is 
finished.

Following units can get stuck behind solid terrain when trying to follow the 
leader. In this case if you wait a few seconds they will usually teleport 
properly behind the leader. If you end your action before they are teleported, 
they will remain standing behind whatever terrain they were stuck on.

Vehicles can get stuck on destructible terrain such as sandbags, trees, and 
lamp posts before they disappear. To conserve AP, tap them lightly and wait for 
them to completely disappear before continuing.

By turning the direction of your leader around before your followers can catch 
up, you can more accurately position where you want them to stand. For example 
if you run ahead and then quickly turn your leader around 180 degrees, your 
followers will run 'ahead' of them.

When using direct command, team attacks work differently. if your controlled 
leader does not currently have any followers, they can team attack as normal. 
However, if they do have a follower, they can only team attack with their 
followers.



Survival:

Staying hidden is the best way to survive in this game, always keep an eye out 
for hiding spots. Even vehicles can be hidden with large enough structures.

Your units cannot take damage after they've ended action mode. Use this to 
negate grenadier fire or other attacks that are about to land.

There are several types of fences in the game. All fences are bulletproof, but 
from there it can vary.

wooden slatted fence: Can be seen through and units will try to fire or 
interception fire through it, can be destroyed by explosives or vehicles, will 
absorb one cannon shot before being destroyed.

wooden solid fence: Can't be seen through and units won't try to fire or 
interception fire through it, can be destroyed by explosives or vehicles, will 
absorb one cannon shot before being destroyed.

steel slatted fence: Can be seen through and units will try to fire or 
interception fire through it, can't be destroyed.

steel solid fence: Can't be seen through and units won't try to fire or 
interception fire through it, can't be destroyed.

The steel slatted fence is the most unique from a survival perspective, because 
enemy tanks will try to fire through it, but it's invincible so the shots will 
always be blocked. Even Selvaria can't deal damage through it.

If an area is too dangerous around a captured flag, retreat your character and 
deploy a new person. The enemy will have nothing to attack during enemy turn, 
since your deployment will arrive at the start of your next turn.

Smoke grenade clouds can be fired through without dispersing the cloud, even 
grenadier fire and mortars. You will have to manually aim, though.

I did manage to disperse a smoke cloud once by firing with the tank at another 
tank inside the cloud. Moral of the story, try not to have tank battles inside 
smoke clouds.

Your leaders can't die, so even if they are knocked out, they don't need to be 
rescued by a medic. This includes the character assigned the leadership star.

Go into aiming mode or end action mode quickly to limit enemy interception fire.

Enemy turrets have a limited radius that they can turn while interception 
firing on your units. During enemy turn, they can turn around at a wider angle 
to fire on your units.

Use vehicles to block enemy interception fire, and then attack or run past them 
while they are reloading.

When an out of sight grenadier interception fires, it exposes its location. 
This might lead to them getting targeted. You can use this to your advantage by 
spotting and killing enemy grenadiers.

Sometimes it's best to leave units facing away from the enemy so they don't 
interception fire and expose themselves or cause an enemy to stop and fire at 
them.

Grouping your units together may cause the enemy AI to use explosives or 
flamethrowers. It's generally better to stay spread out and/or hidden.

Enemies that are crouched and idle may start doing things if they are disrupted 
by explosives and/or damage. Consider that before firing on one.

If your unit steps on a mine, the mine can still be disarmed by an engineer as 
long as they don't step off of it.

If an enemy spots one or more of your units, but dies to interception fire, 
your units will remain not spotted.

Going into aiming mode resets tank turrets. Use this on slower moving turrets 
like the heavy tank to avoid taking damage.

Units that are inside an anti-mortar shelter can't take damage from grenadier 
or Valkyria fire, even if it looks like the shot landed right on them. This 
doesn't apply to tank mortars, infantry grenades, etc.

There are certain times when the game doesn't allow you to immediately end 
action mode. If your unit runs out of ap, they will have about a second of 
exhaustion. If your unit dodges an enemy attack, they won't be able to end 
until they fully stand up.

It's better to use the dialog box prompt way to end your turn, rather than the 
immediate end turn button. Your unit also has an invincibility frame whenever 
the end turn prompt is pressed. With good timing, you can be completely 
invincible to things like grenadier fire or single shots.

Enemies hidden in grass can take a while to stand up and start attacking. You 
can sometimes use this delay to throw grenades at them before they can fire.

Smoke is still very useful in this game, both offensively to get surprise 
attacks, and defensively to avoid being spotted.

Engineers are completely immune to damage while disarming mines, and probably 
while repairing sandbags and repairing vehicles.

There are many spots of terrain in the game where if you run past them fast 
enough at the proper angle, enemies won't be able to get a shot off even though 
they try.

Units slow down when moving over sandbags. That puts them in danger of 
interception fire. Try not running over sandbags if you're under Grenadier fire.

Hiding in grass will usually stop an enemy from interception firing on your 
unit, unless they become compromised the moment they crouch into the grass.

Breakable defensive terrain like fences and barricades usually work to your 
advantage by blocking enemy sight and interception fire. Think carefully before 
breaking what might be useful cover.

The Vulcan always moves before firing. It might be safe to end your turn next 
to it if it moves away and out of your sight.

If an enemy doesn't have a spotted target to look at, they will usually stop 
while facing in the direction they were walking. you can strategically leave 
your units spotted so that the enemy will face them during enemy turn and then 
one of your hidden units can move out and surprise attack them.
</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
Burning fire patches on chapter 6, etc. cannot be seen through, and units 
inside are considered hidden. You can effectively hide your vehicles inside the 
fires and get surprise attacks by firing from inside them.

Enemies will stop intercept firing if there is another enemy between you and 
them. You can sometimes use this to your advantage to get closer to an enemy 
without being fired upon.

Enemy grenadiers won't fire if you're standing close to another enemy.

Ladders cannot be climbed up or down if there is another unit on the opposite 
side. This applies to both Allied and enemy units. A ladder can still be 
climbed up or down if the unit is standing on the side that your unit is 
approaching from.

On chapter 9 and 15 a/b maps, there are parts of the map that are shaded and 
dotted. Those areas are safe from all Grenadier and Valkyria interception fire, 
even if it makes no sense that they would provide any protection.




AI behavior:

Pay attention to enemy actions during enemy turn. You can often spot scripted 
actions. Sometimes bosses have special trigger conditions to learn and exploit.

How the AI works with its non-special units, is that it has a list of units 
available to act with. It chooses from that list randomly, in a random order. 
Some special units like bosses always act first, no matter what.

The AI partially cheats in regards to the position of your units. It can tell 
when a path is blocked off even when your units that are doing the blocking 
aren't visible. This can cause the AI to divert its units or not move them at 
all.

There are two general enemy infantry AI types:

The most common is the suicidal AI. It will run towards a target regardless of 
interception fire, until it gets very close to the target, and then it will 
fire or capture. These guys are pretty easy to kill when you know they're 
coming.

The second type is the stop and shoot AI. It will run towards the target, and 
as soon as it receives interception fire, it will stop and shoot at whatever it 
can, even if not the intended target. If it decides to keep moving after 
firing, it will again stop after taking a bit of interception fire. These guys 
can be annoying and should be killed ahead of time if possible.

Sometimes the AI will position itself close to one of your units (your unit 
being visible to the enemy) while out of your sight, but still looking towards 
your unit. I'm guessing this is the ai's attempt to ambush the player, except 
it's obvious to tell which enemies are moving where based on watching enemy 
turn closely.

The AI will often send enemies towards a captured camp. Capture camps 
strategically to lure enemies towards them and away from your main camp or 
other objectives.



VC4 bugs:

Reposition bug:

The most persistently annoying VC4 bug is the reposition bug. Whenever your 
character walks instead of runs, they have a small chance to teleport forward 
~5-10 range in the direction they were going, with AP loss to match. This can 
have disastrous consequences if you teleport into enemy interception fire, or 
teleport straight into an enemy you're trying to walk up behind.

The bug only happens when you let go of the d pad or analog stick. If you enter 
aiming or look mode (l2/r2) or some kind of action that interrupts your 
movement before letting go, the bug can't happen.

Also, I'm pretty sure the bug can't happen if you simply tap on the D pad 
quickly and only move your character a tiny bit, but the bug happens randomly 
so it's hard to test.

I believe this bug is related to the stagger effect that an infantry has when 
they finish running. The game confuses walking with running and applies a 
stagger to the end of the walk, but since there's no real animation for that, 
the infantry gets teleported. Similarly, when your unit is running, you can 
avoid the stagger effect by going into aiming mode or ending your turn, etc.


Valkyria look bug:

You can prevent the Valkyria boss from ever firing interception shots when 
controlling an infantry unit. Enter look mode (l2/r2) as soon as her sight line 
turns red, or you hear her interception fire voice line. Her attack will be 
completely interrupted for a brief period of time, even after exiting look mode.

This only works before she creates an ice lance. If she gets to the point of 
creating the ice lance, you can't stop it from launching.

After a few seconds she will try attacking again, so you will have to enter 
look mode again to interrupt her repeatedly.



Mid battle save bugs:

There are numerous bugs involving loading from a mid battle save across 
multiple chapters. They can range from cosmetic, to leaving terrain features 
behind that shouldn't be there, to altering how the AI behaves and moves its 
units. These bugs are usually in the players favor in my experience.

Chapter 14 night mode bug:

Once you reach part 2 of chapter 14, the environment condition changes from 
night to witch's blizzard. If you then try to start chapter 14 over again, 
night mode will no longer be applied. This bug happens whether you use mid 
mission saves or not. The only way to fix this as far as I know is to restart 
your game entirely.

reward weapon bugs:

There are some reward weapon bugs related to having loaded a book mode save 
with mid or late game R&D progression, and then exiting to the title screen and 
starting a new game. These bugs generally work in the players favor. I suggest 
restarting your game entirely before starting a new game, to avoid any bugs.

This bug might also happen if you loaded a book mode save with mid or late game 
R&D progression, and then loaded into another book mode save earlier in the 
game.




orders and last stand:

This guide doesn't use orders or last stand shenanigans. Regardless, here're 
some tips for using them.

The all units defend, and radar order can be useful when first playing a 
mission blind.

Bombardment is one of the best ship orders because it allows you to pick off 
entrenched enemy Grenadiers.

Rapid deployment can be useful in a pinch if you need a unit right away, keep 
it in mind.

Don't forget about medic request order to rescue a downed ally instead of 
putting someone in danger.

Use defense boost on a scout to scout rush camps and clear some missions much 
more quickly. Equip a defense accessory to make this even more effective.

A shock trooper with demolition boost and penetration orders can easily destroy 
any tank up to and including the Vulcan.

The attack weak spot order can make quick work of almost any armored target 
when using lancers, antiarmor snipers, or the tank.

Use the fortified treads order to completely ignore enemy antiarmor grenadiers 
when your tank needs to reach a goal.

Use the area boost order to destroy multiple radiators at the same time in ch 
18b when using a Grenadier.

A unit with a morale boost has an almost guaranteed last stand when their 
health reaches 0. When using inspire, a grenadier can grant another unit 
increased blast area size, which is normally only possible with orders. 

Inspire can also grant free command points. You can greatly increase your 
command points available by attacking an enemy or reaching an objective, and 
then deliberately getting the unit downed so you can use inspire and get the 
command point back.

When using stand up, your unit is completely invincible and can get multiple 
enemies killed with enemy friendly fire, reorient the direction enemies are 
facing, and pretty much anything a bulletproof tank can do. You can also 
capture camps with them.

Last stand can be used to create infinite action loops between certain units 
with certain potentials in order to one turn stages.





Lv 1 class analysis:

Scouts: Scout leaders are ideal for carrying slower units long distances. Using 
direct command on a scout leader to reset its AP bar can allow it to run all 
over the map. Scout damage is adequate most of the time for killing enemy 
infantry in a single command point.

Shock troopers: Easily the worst class on a level 1 run. Typically only useful 
for camp defense and killing high HP infantry bosses like the twins or Valkyria.

Snipers: Useful during the early game and on night stages, but their usefulness 
drops off as enemy dodge rates climb and they are unable to get surprise 
attacks as easily as scouts or grenadiers. Still situationally useful for 
firing at low dodge rate targets at long distances.

Engineers: Useful for resupplying the many ammo using classes in the game, and 
also useful as leaders for carrying those classes around. their triple grenades 
and utility are also situationally useful.

Lancers: Pretty much only useful for destroying tanks, sandbags, and turrets. 
However, there are a lot of tanks to destroy, so they never go out of style.

Grenadier: Overall the most powerful/versatile infantry class in the game, 
provided they have spotters to spot targets for them to fire at. Able to get 
surprise attacks that no other class or vehicle effectively can. Not as 
powerful as vc1 scouts, but they are the best solution for quite a few 
situations.

Tank: Incredibly powerful, especially since they only cost one command point, 
but you only have one or two per stage. Sometimes they aren't worth using on 
maps where you have to cover a lot of terrain and they're limited by AP, or 
when most of the map isn't accessible to vehicles.

APC: Great if you need something more powerful then direct command, and usually 
able to fire undodgeable shots without taking damage. However, there are 
situations where two tanks is a better option, usually when there are a lot of 
enemy tanks to blow up.

lv 1 units that I prefer using for their accuracy and/or potentials (non-DLC):
Scouts: Claude, Minerva, Christel, Azusa, Curtis, Jester
Shocks: Raz, Ryan, Vancey (after her negative potential is removed), Viola 
(after her negative potential is removed), Lily
Lancers: Gertrude, Keigel, Brittany, Jimmy, Laurent
Engineers: Rita, Eileen
Snipers: Kai, Aladdin, Mabel
Grenadiers: Riley, Aoife, Jascha, Louffe



[04] Squad Stories, A Rank Turn Limits

Main game squad stories:

I have placed stars next to the recruits that are probably the easiest to use 
to unlock the story without resorting to repeating missions.

Like Old Times - to unlock Eileen, get Curtis downed and then rescue him, then 
complete the mission
Curtis*, Laurent, Eileen
Reward: ZM Kar 2(e) E+ 180 40 52 5
This weapon is useful on ch 3a/b.

Gambler's Ruin
Jester*, Teresa, Connor
Reward: VB PL 2(e) D 400 130 1200
This weapon is useful on ch 4a.

A Prayer For the Broken
Godwin*, Rosetta, Nico*
Reward: ZM MP 2(e) D 100 36 50 20
This weapon is useful on ch 5.

Honor, Pride and Regret
Fleuret, Rebecca*, Mabel - to unlock Mabel, complete 3 squad stories
Reward: VB GW 3(e) E 450 520 200 and Mabel damage potential
This weapon is useful as soon as you get it.

All the Single Ladies
Millennia, Brittany*, Rita*
Reward: no ace

Mischief Makers
Simon, Viola, Emmy
Reward: no ace

Girl in the Iron Mask
Stanley, Ferrier, Jean
Reward: no ace

Worlds Apart - To unlock Gertrude, accumulate 1,000,000 dct in current funds. 
funds that you have already spent don't count, you need to reach at least 
1,000,000 in the upper right dct indicator at HQ.
Zaiga, Gertrude, Vancey
Reward: ZM SG 3(e)

Legacies Left
*Ronald, Ryan, *Keigel
Reward: Spring Drive 50 AP for Glory

Treading New Ground
Dan, Aulard, Claude
Reward: Reinforced Frame

Unfortunate Souls
Odin*, Lily, Jimmy
Reward: ZM MP 3(e)

The Price of Skill
*Aladdin, Leonhart, Neige
Reward: no ace

Love and Logic
Hanna, *Jascha, Aoife
Reward: VB GW 4B(e)

To Live Unbound
*Azusa, Scott, Norid
Reward: ZM Kar 4(e)


postgame squad stories: accessible after completing chapter 18b.

Christel - can be unlocked at the cenotaph at HQ
Stahlschrott - complete hard skirmish 1
Brian, Sergio, Andre, Louffe - complete hard skirmish 5, which is unlocked by 
completing hard skirmishes 1-3
*** - complete hard skirmish 3, this unlocks a cut scene in chapter 13. watch 
the cut scene and head to the cenotaph at HQ

A Chivalrous Heart
Minerva, Christel
Reward: no ace

Reluctant Solitude
Louffe, Stahlschrott
Reward: VB GW 7B(e)

Soul of the Navy
Brian, Sergio, Andre
Reward: ZM Kar 6(e)




A rank turn limits:

Prologue: 3 turns
Chapter 1: 6 turns
Chapter 2: 4 turns
Interlude 1: 3 turns
Chapter 3a: 4 turns
Chapter 3b: 4 turns
Chapter 4a: 4 turns
Chapter 4b: 6 turns
Chapter 4c: 4 turns
Chapter 5: 4 turns
Chapter 6: 4 turns
Chapter 7a: 6 turns
Chapter 7b: 6 turns
Interlude 2: 3 turns
Chapter 8a: 3 turns
Chapter 8b: 5 turns
Chapter 9: 5 turns
Chapter 10: 4 turns
Chapter 11: 6 turns
Chapter 12: 4 turns
Chapter 13: 5 turns
Chapter 14: 4 turns
Chapter 15a: 6 turns
Chapter 15b: 6 turns
Chapter 16: 5 turns
Chapter 17a: 5 turns
Chapter 17b: 4 turns
Chapter 18a: 5 turns
Chapter 18b Normal: 6 turns
Chapter 18b Hard: 6 turns

Squad Story - A Prayer For the Broken: 3 turns
Squad Story - All the Single Ladies: 3 turns
Squad Story - Gambler's Ruin: 4 turns
Squad Story - Honor, Pride and Regret: 5 turns
Squad Story - Legacies Left: 5 turns
Squad Story - Like Old Times: 4 turns
Squad Story - Love and Logic: 4 turns
Squad Story - The Price of Skill: 5 turns
Squad Story - To Live Unbound: 4 turns
Squad Story - Treading New Ground: 3 turns
Squad Story - Unfortunate Souls: 5 turns
Squad Story - Worlds Apart: 5 turns
Squad Story - Mischief Makers: 5 turns
Squad Story - Girl in the Iron Mask: 3 turns
Squad Story - A Chivalrous Heart: 4 turns
Squad Story - Reluctant Solitude: 4 turns
Squad Story - Soul of the Navy: 4 turns

Normal Skirmish 1: 2 turns
Normal Skirmish 2: 2 turns
Normal Skirmish 3: 2 turns
Normal Skirmish 4: 2 turns
Normal Skirmish 5: 2 turns
Normal Skirmish 6: 2 turns
Normal Skirmish 7: 2 turns
Normal Skirmish 8: 2 turns
Normal Skirmish 9: 2 turns
Normal Skirmish 10: 2 turns

Hard Skirmish 1: 4 turns
Hard Skirmish 2: 4 turns
Hard Skirmish 3: 5 turns
Hard Skirmish 4: 6 turns
Hard Skirmish 5: 5 turns
Hard Skirmish 6: 3 turns
Hard Skirmish 7: 6 turns
Hard Skirmish 8: 4 turns
Hard Skirmish 9: 5 turns

Challenge Skirmish 1: 6 turns
Challenge Skirmish 2: 7 turns
Challenge Skirmish 3: 4 turns

DLC:
Edy's Advance Ops: 3 turns
Squad 7 mission 1: 4 turns
Squad 7 mission 2: 6 turns
Squad 7 mission 3: 4 turns
A Captainless Squad 1: 5 turns
A Captainless Squad 2: 5 turns
A Captainless Squad 3: 7 turns
Beach 1: 1 turns
Beach 2: 3 turns
The Two Valkyria 1: 6 turns
The Two Valkyria 2: 5 turns

Skirmish 1 Expert: 4 turns
Skirmish 2 Expert: 7 turns
Skirmish 3 Expert: 5 turns
Skirmish 4 Expert: 10 turns
Skirmish 5 Expert: 4 turns
Skirmish 6 Expert: 7 turns




[05] Main Game Walkthrough

Chapter 1 (3t)
https://youtu.be/gPOc_jckDpg

part 1: The tank is driven north to destroy the enemy tanks and mortar the 
infantry by the enemy main camp. Two scouts are sent around to clean up the 
remaining infantry and capture. Avoid the enemy Gatling interception fire by 
the main camp.

part 2: Infantry are used to pick at the enemy gatlings before Riley arrives, 
while setting up to provide interception fire on incoming enemies on the 
bridge. Once Riley arrives, she opens fire on everything and anything. A scout 
and engineer are sent with Riley to help clean up and finish the mission.


Chapter 2 (3t)
https://youtu.be/J32a-hUUj_I

Part 1: Scouts are best for running around and spotting the tanks. Deploy the 
grenadier to help your scouts if they get in trouble. Since they are heavy 
tanks, you can reset their turrets by entering aiming mode, running away from 
them before the slow moving turret can get a lock, or just ending their action 
before the tank can open fire.

Once a scout opens the gate, the tank can roll in and mortar any resistance on 
the west part of the map. The shock leader in the east corner can be killed 
with a surprise grenade.

Part 2: Several infantry will advance on the first enemy turn, so I suggest 
staying mostly hidden. Position a sniper to make a run for the north guard 
tower where they can fire at the last signal panel. It's pretty easy to clear 
this part by using your tank and grenadier, but if you're trying to unlock 
squad stories, I suggest using those units instead. The ace to the east can be 
killed with a surprise grenade attack by throwing it around the corner with 
blue or no sightlines.


Interlude 1 (2t)
https://youtu.be/eZasqR0TlCo

Aside from the CPU controlled Raz, no damage is taken.

Deploy a lancer, engineer, and scout. The enemy infantry are easy to flank and 
they will despawn as soon as you capture the camp.

The second part of the mission puts a tank in your way. Note that if you want 5 
royal weapons, you have to destroy the tank, you can't make it despawn. Destroy 
it and then take the back path to get behind the shock troopers and capture.

The most common strategy for getting to the final base is to have Raz destroy 
the gatling turrets, which takes 2 to 3 command points. Alternately, if you 
destroy the 2 sets of barricades by using grenades, you can sneak past the 
gatling turrets entirely by hugging the south wall. This takes 2 command points 
and you don't need to worry about double killing the gatling turrets.


Chapter 3a (2t)
https://youtu.be/8XYKBPH7dp4

This chapter features my favorite accessory in the game, the telescope. This 
accessory is amazing when avoiding damage is a concern. I feel like the 
telescope and grenades in general are a little unappreciated. Not surprising 
when tank mortars, grenadiers, and flamethrowers are typically more powerful 
and easier to use.

The telescope is equipped on Jester. It's used against the enemy engineer 
crouching in the grass on turn 1, and again against a shock standing near the 
goal. Godwin and Curtis also throw important grenades to clear the way for 
Claude and Raz.

2 command points are reserved for killing the enemy scout leader. if Jester 
doesn't kill it on his attempt, Curtis will advance and finish it off with 
Jester in a team attack. In the video Jester kills it on his 1st shot.

Curtis reaches corporal rank after completing this chapter. His squad story 
grants access to the ZM Kar 2(e) which is very powerful for interception fire 
early in the game.


Chapter 3b (3t)
https://youtu.be/8XYKBPH7dp4

The ZM Kar 2(e) and Raz makes it easy for the rescued party to avoid any 
damage. All scouts and Raz can safely reorient themselves without any shots 
fired. This almost guarantees the reliability of the strategy, but takes timing 
and command points. In order to ensure near 100% reliability, I reorient 3 
different units. Without reorienting any units, the chance of success is about 
50%.

Claude can sneak away from the 2nd wave of reinforcements without being fired 
on.

Many more grenades are tossed in this mission. Rebecca has the telescope which 
allows her to grenade the shock troopers across the river if need be.

Jester reaches corporal rank after completing this chapter. Additionally I try 
to get Rebecca and Nico more points. Even though Eileen is overall a better 
engineer, I'd like to get Rebecca to corporal, because her squad story unlocks 
an important weapon. Messed up a little bit at the end, could have got Nico one 
more command point.


Chapter 4a (3t)
https://youtu.be/gY3e80TzYs8

The main camp is set up to deal with the incoming shocks while minimizing the 
chance of Claude's negative antitank potential. The 1st variable in this 
mission is the shock just south of the middle camp. It's a stop and shoot AI, 
meaning once it takes interception fire damage, it stops and shoots at anything 
it can. It's more annoying than the typical suicidal AI.

It will try running south, and depending on where it stops and which direction 
it faces, the APC may need to kill it before the tank can move. You could try 
to kill it on turn one with the APC, but that introduces additional 
complications.

I try to minimize any infantry exposure to Gatling chaff by deploying and 
staying near the APC and cover such as horizontal walls and sandbags. I take 
advantage of the fact that infantry can board the APC over solid obstacles such 
as walls if it's done on the map and not in action mode.

If you look at the gatlings in the distance, you can tell when they're firing 
chaff onto the map and putting your units in danger. This is easier by pressing 
the button to turn off sightlines. When it's safe, the gatlings will only 
appear to be firing upwards, and when it's not safe the gatlings will appear to 
be firing both upwards and downwards.

On 2et, there's a chance the Northeast tank won't move South. If that happens, 
it will require one additional command point to reach and destroy.  
Additionally, the layout of the tanks is sometimes different, but I haven't 
seen an impossible layout.

The generic tanks will appear at your main camp, unless you've captured the 
middle camp, in which case they'll appear there. The generic tanks are very 
useful, so make it a priority to capture the middle camp. The right side isn't 
even worth considering unless you're trying to kill every enemy on the map.

Near the end of turn 3 the Hafen makes an unlikely shot at a tank, but it's 
fine if this shot misses. I should have veered more to the left so that I had a 
better angle on that radiator. There's still enough ammo and AP to finish off 
the remaining tanks. The mission can end with up to 3 spare command points, so 
there's some leeway for misses.

As far as the enemy grenadiers damaging the tanks, I positioned a tank with its 
radiator exposed to a grenadier on this stage for an hour and it didn't take 
any damage.


Chapter 4b (3t)
https://youtu.be/KdWq9l5QLDg

The most effective route is taking the 1st ladder and heading east and down the 
ramp. This bypasses the north camp and still gives you the high ground and 
access to the enemy ace.

The APC remains parked near the 1st ladder, since it isn't efficient to clear 
the antitank stuff.

Command points are spent on Riley to carry Brittany and Rebecca eastward. Once 
Riley has the high ground, it's open season on imperials.

On 2et there's some randomness in which enemies act. Sometimes the shock leader 
will move from the base, sometimes the Southwest sniper will move, and 
sometimes the scout reinforcement on the north base will move. Riley and 
Rebecca can handle any combination of enemy activity. Nico's movement should be 
reserved until the path is almost entirely clear.

The mission can be cleared with up to 3 command points to spare, or rarely more 
if Riley manages to one shot some of her targets.


Chapter 4c (3t)
https://youtu.be/gDoylnR9ISU

Aside from the cpu controlled Raz, no damage is taken.

The combination of vb pl 2(e) from Jester/Teresa/Connor's squad story and 
upgraded tank cannon can destroy the boss in 3-4 command points without hitting 
the radiator. You can try using an antiarmor mortar, but the accuracy isn't 
great at this point in the game.

Scouts are positioned to attack the shock that runs east near the main base on 
1et.

Riley is equipped with the t1 royal grenadier weapon for 2 reasons. 1st, it 
ensures consistency with the position of the enemy tanks on the 1st enemy turn, 
since their movement won't randomly be stopped.

2nd, it allows her to safely target the grenadier facing the main camp. This is 
an annoying grenadier because it's significantly uphill, and the developers 
didn't see it fit to grant a safe vantage point. Grenadier range is reduced 
when firing at a target on an elevation. Usually it takes Riley 2 command 
points to kill it, although she can do it in 1. You can give Riley the 
telescope to hit this grenadier more easily, although it will lower her 
accuracy when firing at other targets during the mission.

The tank is sent west to clear out the assault tanks and head southwest to kill 
the shock leader. The APC is sent west to assist Nico with taking the northwest 
base and killing the ace. Nico continues along the north path, while Curtis and 
Rebecca continue along the south path. Rebecca is given the telescope to make 
long-range tosses on the enemies below. At this point in the game, t-2 grenades 
are more powerful and reliable against infantry than grenadiers.

The tank maneuver on t2 requires avoiding the interception fire of 2 different 
shocks and grenading the shock leader, and also not ending the turn too close 
to the crouched shock or else it will throw a grenade on enemy turn.

Riley kills the scout leader in this video, but if she doesn't kill it, it will 
run west and die to Nico's interception fire. Similar to how the shock leader 
dies to the tank.

Even on a good run, there's 1-2 command points leeway for a 3 turn clear.

Both Rebecca and Nico reach corporal Rank after this mission. Now that Rebecca 
is a corporal, i'll start using Eileen who's overall the better engineer.

Rebecca's squad story not only rewards Mabel's reliable damage potential, but 
gives the vb gw 3(e) grenadier weapon, which is very powerful if you get it 
early on.


Chapter 5 (2t)
https://youtu.be/uDQ7LoH0h1M

Basically a light version of my 1st run strategy. Aladdin, Curtis w/ telescope, 
and Odin deal with the left side of the map, while Mabel, Claude, and Eileen 
deal with the right side. Raz uses the ace machine gun to kill the crouched 
leader in one attack.

I use the tank to destroy the enemy tank instead of deploying a lancer from the 
northwest base. 3 command points are reserved for Claude to destroy the glory.

Enemy shock leader dodge rates are up to 2%. I start taking extra precautions 
for surprise attacks.

It's hard to surprise attack christel, and she has 25% dodge rate. If she's 
left alive she can see Odin even though the game reports that she has a blue 
sight line, which means there's a chance that the glory will attack him. Sight 
lines in this game are pretty unreliable, unlike the original game. There's 
probably a more reliable place to hide him without having to defeat her.

This mission can end with up to 2 command points to spare.

I unlocked the squad story treading new ground after clearing chapter 5. I've 
never used Aulard and don't use the APC often, so i'm guessing using Claude in 
the tank counts towards it.


Chapter 6 (2t)
https://youtu.be/4ahkhoSJSxI

Claude and the APC move up West, Riley carries lancers northeast towards the 
Vulcans spawn point. Eileen and Odin run around killing things. The APC gets a 
friendly fire kill, and a plain old fire kill. Once again the boss is killed 
reliably using Claude and Lancers.

The mission can end with up to 3 command points to spare.

Brittany reaches corporal rank after completing this chapter.


Chapter 7a (4t)
https://youtu.be/iUjnVHjFDaQ

This is the longest mission yet, but with the help of the APC and grenadiers, 
it's not too tough.

The APC heads up west with connor, Keigel, and Aoife. Riley heads up east with 
Rita and Odin. Claude stays behind to deal with the reinforcements. 

On turn 3 at the middle of the map the APC continues on with Riley, Rita and 
Aoife. Connor stays behind to surprise attack the ace.

It's possible for Claude to deal with the south reinforcements in a single 
command point. If you position the tank correctly, he can hold off the 2nd wave 
of reinforcements without them being able to attack anyone. However, the 
positioning is finicky and since I had plenty of command points to spare, I 
mortared them. I should probably work on mortaring them while they're reloading.

You can save 3 command points on turn 4 by destroying the heavy a-t cannons 
while at the same time knocking over the grenadiers so they can no longer 
interception fire.

The mission can end with up to 6 command points to spare.


Chapter 7b (3t)
https://youtu.be/AozFKsR_nOU

Odin heads east to divert the 1st train car, Claude and the APC make their way 
north to the middle train. The APC brings along Rita, Curtis, and Keigel. Riley 
uses direct command to bring Kai and Aoife along.

Claude and Keigel dismantle the train car, Riley picks off infantry, Rita is on 
resupply duty, the APC and Curtis head east and up the hill to capture the main 
base, Aoife fires at armored targets, and Kai just sits there because i'm still 
afraid of her empty stomach.

Turn 3 is a grenadier spam fest to clear the way for Curtis. There are command 
points to spare for missed shots. I didn't put much effort into turn 3, but I 
could afford to.

If you're concerned about pushing into turn 4, send Rita to the northwest 
switch to divert the north train car, and capture the southeast camp with 
Curtis. This will stop all reinforcements, assuming the middle train car is 
destroyed.

This mission can be longer and more difficult if you don't use the tank, APC, 
and grenadiers. On the other hand, there's something cool about clearing it in 
3 turns given the run conditions.

Anyway, I already did that with my 1st run including killing all enemies. Some 
parts of it are unreliable, especially dealing with the train cars.

Odin reaches corporal Rank after completing this chapter.


Interlude 2 (1t)
https://youtu.be/oi6oVBGnZnk

Send Claude northeast and through the grass, destroy the rag crate to distract 
the shock, andd then run up the ramp and shoot all 3 targets. The best spot to 
hit the far lancer from on top of the hill is between the fence and crates. Raz 
can also hit 1 of the targets from his position. You don't need head shots, 
body shots are fine as long as your weapon is in range.


Chapter 8a (1t)
https://youtu.be/i-9YW9vtnWU

I think one turn clears are pretty boring. enemy turn gives the AI a chance to 
capitalize on the players mistakes and positioning, and go on the offensive. 
Removing that takes away half of what the game mechanics are about.

For whatever reason the developers added no antitank mortars or cannons on this 
map, or even place something like gatlings or heavy tanks which could damage or 
body block the APC. So almost everyone drives through and clears the map on one 
turn, since there are no royal weapons involved.

Maybe facing the player off against the navy personnel similar to chapter 5 or 
a captainless squad mission 3 would have been better.


Chapter 8b (2t)
https://youtu.be/i-9YW9vtnWU

Minerva kills the grenadier and then takes Raz and Keigel northeast, Aladdin 
moves east into the grass to do some sniping, Jascha destroys the heavy 
antitank, and Claude starts driving towards the goal. Lancers are killed along 
the way, Raz gets in position for the bosses, and Keigel destroys the heavy 
tank.

It typically takes Riley 2 command points to clear out the southwest camp, 
although she can do it in 1.

On turn 2 there are plenty of command points to spare. Raz gets a reliable kill 
on nikola. It isn't necessary to smoke grenade chiara, but it's the most 
effective and reliable way to defeat her. You can also kill her with grenadier 
surprise attacks, and/or try timing Claude's gatling fire while she's reloading 
so she cannot dodge.

The royal rewards you get at the end of this mission can alter the next several 
missions. Particularly the tier 3 royal lance, which does significantly more 
damage (1400) than the standard lance at that point. The tier 3 rifles and 
sniper rifles that fire 7 and 3 shots each are also very nice.

In the interest of fairness, i've shown the royal weapons I got at the end of 
the video. It's not a "no reload run" if someone rigs which royal weapons they 
get by playing through a different save-allowed version of the chapter than the 
video they uploaded.

Aladdin reaches corporal Rank after completing this chapter.



Chapter 9 (3t)
https://youtu.be/_nWQGouD6gM

Deployment is arranged so that the northeast sniper and Vulcan have no targets 
to fire on during any turn.

T1 Claude goes into hiding while positioning to intercept incoming enemies, and 
Minerva takes brittany and Raz southwest.

The most reliable way of dealing with the recall order is to not kill anything 
on turn 1. Instead, position to kill incoming enemies with interception fire, 
and start moving towards the west base. Enemies killed on enemy turn won't be 
revived because the order is used before units are moved. Since this mission 
isn't about covering vast distances, you're not losing out by mostly staying 
put.

On t2, Riley moves west and shoots some stuff, Kai and others get to safety, 
and Minerva and brittany capture the west base. An additional sniper is 
deployed from the west base.

As I quickly found out, the Vulcans movement is altered if you reload from a 
save. If you don't reload, instead of heading southwest like in the 1st run, he 
heads southeast. I've tested this using the same deployment and actions with 
the only difference being a reload.

When the Vulcan heads southeast, it has full firing range at anyone on the main 
camp. This means the main camp has to be abandoned. Also since the Vulcan is 
relatively further away, lancers have to move quite a bit to fire on it 
reliably.

The lancers strategy costs 6 to 7 command points including deploying and moving 
the lancers. The antiarmor mortar is less reliable per attack, but overall 
destroys the Vulcan in 4 to 5 command points including deployment and movement. 

Typically, the Vulcan paces back and forth in front of the main base. In order 
to lure it closer, a few conditions have to be met. 1. The Valkyria has to be 
active. 2. None of your units can be in the upper half of the map, whether 
they're visible to an enemy or not. 3. Claude can be the only vehicle on the 
map. This probably isn't 100% accurate but it was good enough for the strategy 
shown in the video.

The Vulcan isn't destroyed on turn one for reliability reasons. Destroying the 
Vulcan isn't necessary to get 5 royal weapons. At its t3 position in the video, 
you can ignore it if you're running low on command points.

T3 Claude takes a shot at the Vulcan on his way northwest, the Vulcan is 
destroyed by Aoife and Jascha, Claude continues northwest to do stuff, various 
enemies in the way are dealt with, and Azusa makes her way towards the main 
base while killing things. You can replace Azusa with an engineer to increase 
reliability against the Vulcan, but I wanted to start unlocking her squad story.

The mission can end with up to 5 command points to spare.

Chapter 9 notes for improvement: I probably could have smoked my main camp on 
turn 2 instead of abandoning it, which would save a command point. Not used to 
thinking about integrating smoke, since I didn't use it at all in the last run. 
Also should have waited until turn 3 to deal with the south sniper.

Aoife reaches corporal Rank after completing this chapter.


Chapter 10 (4t)
https://youtu.be/Z2RDKFHGzSQ

Claude clears some stuff out of the way and positions for base defense, Azusa 
heads into the west tunnels to capture the northwest camp and kill the ace, 
Minerva heads to the east high ground, Aladdin repositions the shocks and heads 
for the nearby high ground, Jascha fires at some stuff, Kai and Mabel snipe 
things, and Raz takes care of the bosses.

I'm pretty sure this is the 1st time i've deployed 2 shocks on this run. They 
have limited use on a level one run imo. But two of the things they're good at 
are base defense and killing high HP bosses.

The boss AI on this stage is relatively simple. On t1, they always advance. On 
t2, if there's an allied sniper visible by any enemy, they will advance towards 
a sniper. If no allied snipers are visible to the enemy, the bosses will do 
nothing. There may be additional conditions for the bosses to do nothing, 
including capturing the northwest camp and killing the ace.

You can hide your snipers by standing in corners of the map, using smoke, and 
killing the sniper on the east high ground. You can also use this to control 
where and when the bosses will be standing to defeat them more easily.

The easiest and most effective way to defeat the bosses is drop smoke on them 
and then kill them inside the smoke while they can't dodge or intercept. If 
they're crouched on a sandbag, destroy the sandbag 1st before firing the smoke.

You can turn the bosses around by shoving them with the tank, although this 
isn't as reliable. You can also fire at them while they're reloading so they 
cannot dodge.

The most difficult method is to run a scout through the west tunnels, kill the 
ace, and capture the northwest camp. From the camp, you can deploy shocks to 
attack from behind. This also lets you get a surprise attack on the ace. This 
method doesn't require smoke, but smoke can still be useful insurance in case 
your shock doesn't kill 1 of them in a single attack.

I used a combination of snipers on the high ground and at the main camp to 
snipe the incoming targets.

Some paratrooping enemies are okay to allow to land. They will run forward and 
die to your base interception fire, assuming you have adequate defense. This 
saves command points instead of having to fire at them. T1 you can leave the 
shock and scout alive. T3 you can leave the lancer alive. Several existing 
enemies on the map will also die to interception fire.

I spend many excess command points on Azusa. Azusa reaches corporal Rank after 
completing this chapter.


Chapter 11 (3t)
https://youtu.be/2TMwxldxx4U

I don't have Gertrude yet because i've been spending on R&D and haven't 
repeated any missions. I haven't been spending on every single upgrade, so I 
have about 600 k saved up.

The tier 3-4 royal lance is the most powerful weapon in the game relative to 
how early you can get it. It's capable of destroying assault tanks in this 
chapter in 2 attacks, instead of the 3 required with other weapons. It can 
destroy the battery cannon(s) in a single attack on the radiator. You can save 
quite a few command points on this chapter by using one or more.

Deployment:
1
23

Deployment on this mission is a little confusing. When looking at the 3 
available deployments, the upper left deployment spot (1) corresponds to the 
fog near the cannon battery and Raz - put a lancer here. The lower left 
deployment spot (2) corresponds to the south upper area - sniper or grenadier 
is good here. The lower right deployment spot (3) corresponds to the middle, 
which puts them in the sights of an enemy shock trooper - deploy a durable unit 
or leave the spot empty.

Starting out, you can ignore pretty much every enemy on the left side of the 
map. The left battery radiator can be hit from the low ground. Take Claude and 
a grenadier east, capture the middle camp to deploy lancers and an engineer, 
and continue east to kill the leaders and tanks. grenadiers can bombard 
everything safely from within the fog. The only tricky portion of part one is 
spotting and killing the scouts in the fog without getting fired on.

Part 2 turn 2 is a little tight on command points. The glory and APC are moved 
to safety, and various infantry standing in the way are dealt with. Turn 3 the 
glory mops up the tanks and ace, and any remaining infantry are blown up. Once 
again grenadiers are effective and reliable at firing above and below.

It seems possible to clear part 2 in a single turn, without taking damage and 
destroying all the tanks. However, it would require an unlikely grenadier shot 
to destroy the assault tank on the ramp in a single command point, instead of 
taking 2 command points with the lancer. Also Claude wouldn't be able to spare 
his direct command on moving units from the starting position. This seems more 
like the kind of strategy for a reloading allowed run.

On my 1st run, part 2 was bugged with fog in places it shouldn't be. As it 
turns out, this is yet another bug related to reloading from a mid mission save 
during part 1. If you reach part 2 without doing any reloading, and the bug 
hasn't occurred, you can reload from part 2 safely without the bug occurring.

Keigel reaches corporal Rank after completing this chapter.

In the interest of fairness, i've shown the royal weapons I got at the end of 
the video.


Chapter 12 (2t)
https://youtu.be/9D2CCE91aLg

It wouldn't be VC without at least one chapter where you spam scouts and little 
or nothing else. One scout heads north and east up the ladder, 2 scouts head 
southeast towards the ace and tunnel entrance, and Claude makes his way to the 
goal.


Chapter 13 (3t)
https://youtu.be/vR_IWhq4IoU

Another mission where grenadiers are forces of nature, kind of like scouts in 
VC1 when they could easily team attack tank radiators down.

I take the direct route straight down the middle, while avoiding the east and 
northwest areas, with the exception of heading east to destroy the 2nd hidden 
tank.

Aoife uses the antitank mortar, Riley uses the ever reliable ace mortar, 
Aladdin does some sniping, Minerva and Rita provide backup and direct command, 
the APC runs around dealing with the hidden tanks, and a lancer is carried from 
the main camp to deal with the 2 light tanks.


Chapter 14 (2t)
https://youtu.be/5fsLh1zlzKg

Previously I showed Riley firing over the wall at the ace to get 2 surprise 
attacks. This is a good strategy, but with access to R&D, there's a generally 
better strategy available.

Instead of the typical strategy of sending Claude left and ronald/APC right, 
their roles are switched. This is made possible by the increase in AP through 
tank upgrades. With Claude on the right side, he can fire smoke on the ace and 
allow a surprise attack from the engineer. There are several reasons why this 
strategy is overall better:

1. It eliminates all unreliability related to grenadier shots.
2. It saves a direct command, allowing you to use 2 direct commands on the 
right side and bring 3 lancers up to the boss without an APC, by using a lancer 
leader. Claude has an equivalent cannon damage (1450) to the tier 3 royal 
lance, and acts as a substitute lancer.
3. Since the APC is not required, you can deploy both tanks, which is important 
for reliability, efficiency and taking no damage. The tanks can make much more 
reliable shots on enemy tank radiators without risk of damage.
4. Minerva is no longer required to carry Riley, allowing her to deal with 1 of 
the leader reinforcements instead.

If a player has access to R&D, there's no reason to fire over the wall with 
Riley.

Note that since Rita is behind the enemies before they spawn, technically she 
could kill the ace without smoke. Smoke just lets her move in for a closer shot 
and avoids any potential interception fire.

T1 the glory and Raz head up the left side, a triple lancer team, Claude, and 
Rita head up the right side, and Minerva heads southeast to deal with 1 of the 
reinforcements. 

T2 the remaining tanks are dealt with, Rita resupplies and gets in position for 
the ace, the reinforcements are triggered, Minerva and ronald deal with the 2 
south leaders, smoke is fired and Rita kills the ace, and then the boss is 
finished in 4 command points.

There's only one command point to spare for a 2 turn clear. However it can be 
stretched to turn 3 by passing turn 2 and accumulating more command points.


Chapter 15a (2t)
https://youtu.be/GLPV7SWoUcQ

Like 8a, this stage is a pushover unless you have to kill everything on the 
map. Otherwise the stage doesn't last long enough for the bosses to be a 
threat. At some point I might come back and do a 100% kills run of the stage, 
to give it a fair shake.

I'll go over the boss AI anyway. From enemy turn 2 onward, the bosses can join 
together and fire a large aoe attack in the 4 cardinal directions. However, if 
you keep your units out of the attack zone, they will never join together. The 
AI can cheat and prepare to fire on your units even if they aren't visible, so 
they need to be completely out of the attack zone. However, most players kill 
the boss in 1 or 2 turns, so this mechanic is hardly seen except on a 1st blind 
run.

In order to avoid taking any damage, and for the sake of reliability, I need to 
take 2 turns. It's possible to clear this mission in one turn while getting 5 
royal weapons and not relying on a child's wish, but it's not reliable enough 
for me.

The southwest quadrant is the easiest to take over, and since the Vulcan always 
moves before firing, it's safe to stand on. It also has 3 of the needed targets.

Claude heads north to deal with the ace, sniper, and scout in Minerva's way, 
and also to distract the Valkyria. Minerva heads northeast through the passage 
to grenade the sniper leader. The APC picks up everyone else and heads 
southwest to kill a bunch of stuff and hide. Should have left Raz or Kai behind 
for the APC.

T2 any other enemies in the way are cleaned up, and then Riley is let loose on 
the Vulcan. It takes 7 direct hits on the radiator, and even with the accuracy 
accessory, Riley has a chance to miss. Reserve 7-8 command points for killing 
the boss, and an additional 1-2 for resupplying if Riley is the only grenadier 
you're using.

I haven't tested the average command point cost of using the ammo belt versus 
the accuracy accessory, but I went with the ammo belt. If you have the ammo 
belt and land 7 direct hits, you only need to resupply once, but the chance of 
missing is greater (8 command points minimum). If you have the accuracy 
accessory, your chance to hit is greater, but you always have to resupply twice 
(9 command points minimum). The ammo belt probably wins out on average 
considering the upgraded antiarmor mortars are fairly accurate.

You can also take Riley and another grenadier or 2. If all 7 shots between 2 or 
3 grenadiers land, resupplying isn't needed (7 command points minimum).

It takes a quadruple lancer attack with 1450 damage lances to approximate a 
single grenadier hit on the radiator. 
Similar to chapter 9, the command point cost of arranging and lining them all 
up isn't outweighed by their damage or reliability. I dislike that grenadiers 
are the easiest and most effective way to take out the boss on the stage, 
because I like the added complexity of using lancer teams, but grenadiers are 
just that powerful at this point.

15a 1t clear without using a child's wish.

1-2 send Claude north, mortar the sniper and kill the ace. Reposition the 
Valkyria to face west.
3 use direct command on Minerva and head northeast through the passage to 
grenade the sniper leader. She may take damage running past the scout, but at 
least the sniper and Valkyria won't be firing.
4 load 2-3x grenadiers and lancer and engineer (not entirely necessary, but why 
not?) into the APC and head south. Kill the sniper or shock.
5 continue west with the APC and kill the grenadier leader. If the sniper is 
still alive, knock it out of place .You can try to position to body block the 
enemy infantry near the boss so your grenadiers can fire at a closer range. 
Although i'm not sure if they'll jump out on the side you want them to.
6-7 destroy the 2 tanks. You can do this with an anti-armor mortar or a lancer.
8-14 you have exactly 7 command points to destroy the boss. You should have 
Riley with the ammo belt and a 2nd grenadier for 7 shots total. Or Riley with 
the accuracy accessory, and 2 other grenadiers. A child's wish and extra ammo 
are not necessary, but obviously they help.


Chapter 15b (3t)
https://youtu.be/hisl6Cip62s

This mission takes us back to the chapter 13 strategy of Riley and another 
grenadier killing a lot of entrenched infantry, with an engineer providing 
support. Non-leader scout dodge is up to 7% which is not fun for a no reload 
run. grenadiers can get surprise attacks that no other class or vehicle can, 
and this only gets more important as the dodge rates climb.

It takes an additional 12 to 13 command points to kill all leaders and tanks on 
the map, hence the need to take 3 turns. Otherwise you could likely do 2 and 
still take no damage.

On the right side, the grenadiers and engineer make their way up to the north 
camp. Minerva is available in the APC in case things go bad.

On the left side, accuracy upgrades provided by R&D allow me to destroy 2 tanks 
from the main camp, without having to trek over there.

Once the north camp is captured, a lancer, shock, and grenadier are deployed to 
deal with the boss and remaining targets. T3 any remaining tanks on the left 
side are destroyed, and the boss is defeated.

The sb9-5 lance has a slightly higher accuracy than the m1r royal lance. 
Considering you can get that lance in chapter 2, it lasted a long time.

The ace grenadier weapon still hasn't been outclassed in damage. At this point 
it must be the most useful ace weapon in the game overall. Workshop gets 
overtaken by the upgrade grenadier weapon on the next chapter.

Gertrude finally joins after this chapter, it took so long because I still 
haven't repeated a single mission.


Chapter 16 (3t)
https://youtu.be/NPd5VtNeg60

In order to deploy a scout leader next to Raz, place the scout next to Raz 
while they are not a leader. After you've placed the scout, assign them the 
leadership star and then start the mission. You will have to repeat this step 
if you want to start the mission over from book mode.

Curtis w/ ammo belt and Raz are on the left side, Claude moves up the middle to 
deal with the lone tank and spot the ace, and the APC picks up a grenadier, 
lancer, and engineer to move up the right side. The 2nd backup lancer is taken 
just in case.

For the sake of reliability, taking no damage, and destroying all tanks and 
leaders, 3 turns are required.


Chapter 17a (3t) - South camp
https://youtu.be/4xDYvyNW8OA
Damage taken/Allies downed: minimal damage taken

This is the most reliable main camp deployment layout i've come up with. 
There's a close to 0% chance of losing any units and you get to keep 3-4 
infantry plus Claude. This deployment also allows you to capture all 5 camps </pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
within 3 turns regardless of which base(s) reinforcements are deployed from. As 
far as I know, there's no impossible set of camp reinforcements.

This mission is much easier if you deploy a 2nd vehicle and it survives. I 
decided to go for reliability here.

H123
Mk45

H = Hafen
M = Minerva
K = Kai
1 = unit that will tank the boss grenade - equip the medics pouch accessory
2 = empty
3 = empty
4 = Azusa (leader), or other scout leader
5 = empty 2nd vehicle spot

Riley and an engineer are deployed on the west spots.

On enemy turn one, the AI prioritizes shooting grenadiers, and shooting the 2nd 
vehicle radiator if possible. The glory and APC can't stack enough resistance 
to survive a radiator hit, and grenadiers have very low hp. I suggest not 
deploying any grenadiers or a 2nd vehicle to reduce the risk of downed units.

The west tank will fire at a grenadier, or the 2nd vehicle radiator if not, or 
whoever is in deployment spot number 2 or 3 if not. The west tank never fires 
on deployment spot 1, 4, Minerva, or Kai. I suggest not deploying a 2nd vehicle 
or anyone in spots 2 or 3, so that this tank doesn't fire any shots at all.

The south tank will fire at a grenadier, or an infantry that has been brought 
to low HP if not, or Hafen's radiator if not.

The boss and west tank typically attack whoever is in spot 2 or 3, assuming no 
grenadiers or 2nd vehicle is deployed. If spots 2 and 3 are filled, they will 
prioritize number 2. Even if a unit in spot 2 survives being hit by the boss 
and west tank, the south tank might prioritize them over Hafen's radiator if 
their HP is low enough, and finish them off. This is another good reason why 
not to deploy anyone in spots 2 or 3.

If you deploy a full 6 infantry at the main camp, the boss will fire a shot. If 
you deploy 5 or less, the boss will throw a grenade. Since I don't deploy a 
full 6 infantry, the boss will throw a grenade at spot 1. This unit should have 
the medics pouch accessory equipped which grants stun immunity or a high 
percent chance to avoid being stunned. If they do get stunned, they are on the 
main base so they can be retreated for free.

What happens on this deployment:
1. Boss advances and grenades the unit on spot 1. If they get stunned, you can 
retreat them for free.
2. Boss fires on Claude and moves west, south, or east.
3. West tank advances but doesn't fire on anyone because spots 2 and 3 are 
empty, and no 2nd vehicle is deployed.
4. East tank advances but doesn't fire on anyone.
5. South tank advances and fires on Hafen's radiator. Assuming the Hafen has 
800-950 resistance and up to date R&D upgrades, it will survive the shot. There 
is a very small chance the shot will misfire and hit Minerva, but she usually 
has a chance of dodging. I've only seen this happen once, but it can happen.

T1 you pretty much always want Kai to shoot the northeast grenadier. Minerva or 
your scout leader should use direct command to get Kai into a side street to 
hide. Send Claude after the boss and help out with capturing the camp.

If tank reinforcements are requested in the northwest or northeast areas on t1, 
it's totally possible to deal with it. Your units may take a bit of 
interception fire but nothing dangerous.

Use direct command on Minerva and your scout leader to doubletime around the 
map as needed to capture camps. Having double scout leaders is what makes it 
possible to capture any combination of camps.

Keep your units away from camps during enemy turn, because tanks and the boss 
may roll in. Hide in the side passages when possible. It's preferable to 
retreat and redeploy a unit rather than risk the boss firing at their heads and 
downing them.

West camp: use Riley to bombard the infantry, and then capture with the 
engineer and get the engineer back to a side street for safety. Or you can try 
rolling in with Claude in a pinch.

South camp: get behind the scout, grenade him and break the sandbag while not 
disturbing the shock, kill the shock and capture. If the boss is nearby use 
Claude as a distraction. 

East camp: using Kai and Minerva, you can distract the grenadier to face 
northeast and then move north with Kai to get a sighttline on it without being 
intercepted on. Claude can also roll in and fire a mortar at the wall near the 
grenadier which will hit and kill it.

Northwest camp: Riley and the engineer can move northwest through the manhole 
shortcut and take it over on turn one if need be. Riley can bombard the 2 
northwest grenadiers whether they've been spotted or not. You can also safely 
approach with a scout from the east while hugging the wall, because the 
grenadiers can't clear the building when trying to interception fire close to 
the wall.

Northeast camp: you can approach from the north and east, and flank around the 
base from behind. The enemy sniper leader may get a shot of interception fire 
off if you do this, unless you take the really long way around. You can also 
approach from the northeast side st., although the crouched shock is tricky to 
run around without him opening fire.

Generally you want to stick Claude on the boss and keep him there. The Hafen 
with 950 resistance and up to date upgrades can handle quite a few attacks from 
the boss and/or tanks, so he serves as a good distraction. You can also park 
him on a camp so she can't capture it.

I recommend not killing the boss on turn 1, since whatever camp they respawn at 
may be far away from Claude and might make it very difficult to capture. It's 
preferable to allow her to recapture a camp rather than kill her. It usually 
takes less effort to recapture.

On turn 2, it might be a good idea to kill the boss if you have the command 
points to spare and you know which camp they will show up at and can deal with 
them on turn 3 as well.

The easiest way to kill the boss is use Claude's gatling fire and time it so 
she is finishing reloading and cannot dodge. This usually takes 2 command 
points. You can also deploy a shock to get a surprise attack, although this can 
be hard to set up with the randomness in the map. Killing the boss isn't 
necessary to get 5 royal weapons.

In the video, the game gives me a hard time with an initial south and northeast 
camp, followed by a west and northwest camp. This causes me to burn a lot of 
command points running my scouts around to deal with it, but they still get the 
job done.


Chapter 17a (3t) - East camp
https://youtu.be/rug228cA5gs

Chapter 17a is unique in that the strategy can vary depending on camp 
deployments and boss actions. It's like 2 or 3 different missions in 1. Every 
other mission in the game has much less variability.

Note that the mission is much easier overall if you deploy a 2nd vehicle and it 
survives its radiator being fired on, or if you deploy a grenadier and they 
survive being fired on rather than the vehicle. Having 2 vehicles means you can 
run through the camps much more easily than infantry. I still feel like my 
deployment requires less restarts on average as long as the player knows what 
they're doing.

With that in mind, i've played through it again with initial deployments on the 
east and west camps, instead of south and northeast. I kill the boss and 
additionally allow some tank reinforcements to get a higher score than the last 
17a video. I might do one more video with initial deployment on the west camp.


Chapter 17b (2t)
https://youtu.be/unBGSaJ9PDQ

There are quite a few threats that would love to open fire on Claude, and the 
dodge rates are still climbing.

It's possible to run past the ace without it getting a shot off. I don't manage 
it in the video, but it's possible.

Explosive attacks like grenades and mortars can't be dodged by the enemy if the 
attacker has no enemies spotting them, even if you don't see "surprise attack" 
shown when throwing the grenade. This is a good map to take advantage of this, 
by getting out of sight and throwing grenades down below. I used similar 
strategies in soul of the navy squad story.


Chapter 18a (3t)
https://youtu.be/0HN4nAzeUms

Kind of a rough 1st attempt, but whatever. Almost everyone loads into the clown 
car to take a road trip. Claude makes his way south to assist with dismantling 
the harpoons. Kai can't really go anywhere because of her stomach. Minerva and 
Ryan are left on the base.

Did I ever mention I really wish you could choose where to deploy a unit from 
the APC?

Probably should have given Riley a more accurate weapon, and practiced more 
where to fire it.

Gertrude reaches corporal rank after clearing this mission.



Chapter 18b Normal (5t)
https://youtu.be/tQxxbWDmWSQ

Antiarmor grenadiers are the easiest way to dismantle the boss, even without 
orders. Like the Vulcan, aiming is tricky and there's a chance to miss, but 
generally radiators can be taken down in 2-3 command points once you have the 
aiming down. It's better to aim slightly inward than outward, like the Vulcan.

A lancer with the t4 ace lance can one shot a radiator, but it takes a 
significant amount of command points to deploy the lancers, destroy all of the 
turrets and infantry that pose a threat (with a chance of miss/dodge), use an 
engineer to build the ladders and resupply the lancers, kill the 
reinforcements, and then hide everyone so they don't get fired on or run over 
during enemy turn. It's much easier to drive a crew around in the APC and 
deploy to fire ranged attacks.

I attack enemy grenadiers from outside their 550 range in case they dodge and 
turn to face my unit. That way they don't start getting interception fired on. 
This is even more important in the hard mode of this mission where grenadier 
dodge is doubled from 2 to 4%.

There are no enemy leaders or tanks other than the boss. I have more command 
points than I know what to do with. By turn 5 I realize the video is a bit long 
so I finish it up.

The hard mode version of this mission is more complicated mainly because the 
boss emerges in the southeast on turn 4. Meaning your APC probably has to make 
the trek over there and deal with all the infantry, and the boss can fire on 
Claude or your snipers unless they're hidden or out of range. The enemy snipers 
are also a larger threat.





Chapter 18b Hard (5t)
https://youtu.be/I4JBbcv1ZJw

To unlock this mission, go to the infirmary at HQ, and purchase a steamy 
interlude. After some very classy cut scenes, you will be able to choose normal 
or hard mode by selecting the chapter 18b mission.

After a quick stop at R&D and the infirmary, we jump right into 18b hard mode. 
The mission is longer, more complicated, less command points to spare, and more 
threats to deal with. Here are some of the differences:

Enemies are Paragon.

You have one less turn to get Riley to the goal, but that shouldn't matter.

The boss takes a different route, emerging from different points compared to 
the normal version. It will emerge in the southeast on 4et instead of 6et. 
However, the APC can still make its way over there without issue, assuming the 
antitank grenadiers are dead. The APC can hide in the northeast corner to avoid 
being shot at (like really far in the corner apparently).

When the boss emerges in the Southeast it can fire on anyone in the initial 
deployment, but you should have lots of command points to either retreat or 
hide your units. Claude can hide to the west, and your snipers can either 
retreat or move south far enough that they outrange the boss cannon. You could 
also fire some smoke on the spot where the boss will appear, or fire smoke on 
your units to hide them.

The Southwest engineer and Scout are replaced by an engineer and shock trooper. 
The APC and Minerva can kill them as before.

The sniper north of the start position is now crouched. It might get up and 
start moving on 3et, so I suggest killing it.

The shock that starts on the southwest enemy camp and moves North next to the 
Lancer will crouch instead of standing on 1et.

There's an additional sniper in the Southwest near Riley's goal point. I 
suggest killing it with a grenadier from behind the APC in case it dodges.

The Grenadier on the northeast base now advances south every turn, instead of 
staying put. Your snipers can hit it before it becomes a threat.

The boss uses a defensive order, instead of an attack order. In practice it 
doesn't have much effect because the reinforcements that spawn around the tank 
don't get the buff.

There are additional mines placed around, but nothing your APC and engineer 
can't deal with.

If you shoot the intake valve, the boss won't dive, but it won't expose its 
radiator either. Not much use IMO since it delays your clear by a turn.



[06] Squad Story Walkthrough

Squad Story - Like Old Times (3t)
https://youtu.be/Rb6GUoDK3lE

Leaders (non-boss)/tanks/aces killed: missed 2 tanks

Positioning units to manipulate the AI is important in taking no damage here. 
Incoming enemies are killed with interception fire before they can do anything, 
and enemy tanks never open fire.

The AI partially cheats in regards to the position of your units. It can tell 
when a path is blocked off even when your units that are doing the blocking 
aren't visible. On turn 2, Curtis and Eileen form a blockade in the southwest 
portion of the map, which causes the AI to divert its shock troopers northward 
instead of getting in the way.

You can also try to let the AI through and kill anything incoming with 
interception fire, including the ace, but I found this a bit unreliable with my 
current equipment.

Laurent can make multiple long-distance shots at the tank radiators, It's 
mostly a matter of luck how many tanks I end up destroying. I could have taken 
one more Lancer shot on turn one but I didn't want to potentially change how 
the mission plays out.

The ace is killed with a surprise attack for reliability. Veer to the right on 
the West Hill to avoid aggroing it.


Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run - Gambler's Ruin, Honor, Pride and 
Regret, A Prayer For the Broken (3/2/2t)
https://youtu.be/6-eirOf7pK0

Squad Story - Gambler's Ruin (3t)

Teresa is equipped with the telescope. Many grenade trick shots are thrown. The 
scout in front of the Ace is harder to kill than the ace itself. Did I mention 
grenades?


Squad Story - Honor, Pride and Regret (2t)

"Try not to get shot, ladies." - Rebecca. Challenge accepted.

Telescope on Rebecca.


Squad Story - A Prayer For the Broken (2t)

Telescope on Rosetta.


Squad Story - Treading New Ground (3t)
https://youtu.be/8fHS-7YHY-I

The tread damage cut scene happens whether or not anything takes damage. You 
can trigger it by advancing Claude to the west, which also teleports Aulard. If 
it doesn't trigger, you'll still see the cut scene after ending 1pt, but Aulard 
doesn't get teleported.

Aulard after being teleported seems to have some weird sightline issues before 
being selected. My advice is to not teleport him because it puts him out in the 
open. Which means at minimum you'll have to spend command points to hide him 
again.

Anyway, don't turn your nose up at the federate tank. It's very useful, just 
like in 4a.

If the federate tank misses the shot on the heavy tank on turn 2, Riley can 
kill the grenadier, and then Aulard can advance and disarm the mines so it can 
get a closer shot.

Claude can sneak past the heavy tank on turn 3 without taking damage by 
continually entering aiming mode and resetting the heavy tanks turret, but you 
usually have enough command points to destroy it from the front.

Also, the invincible lampposts on this stage are apparently the strongest in 
Europa.


Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run - All the Single Ladies, Unfortunate 
Souls (2/3t)
https://youtu.be/eLiIgRCK_m4

Squad Story - All the Single Ladies (2t)

"Commander, we've got a s*ituation." - Rita.

It's simpler to repair and climb down the ladder than deal with the gatlings 
down the ramp. Brittany really gets inside the head of an unfortunate imperial 
scout. Riley and Kai show up and basically kill everything. The end.


Squad Story - Unfortunate Souls (3t)

If Jimmy misses his shot on the Grenadier tower, he's going to get fired on. If 
you want to be extra cautious, you can target swap so the grenadier doesn't 
look at him if he fires and misses. I didn't bother though.

Other than that, just some jukes here and there. If you destroy the sandbags at 
the end you can run past the tank and scout much more easily.

Being able to make Odin a leader really helps.


Valkyria Chronicles 4 - To Live Unbound, Love and Logic, The Price of Skill 
(2/2/3t)
https://youtu.be/veP_2_OiQ5s

Squad Story - To Live Unbound (2t)

Our old friend the telescope returns for this squad story. interception fire is 
useful for a 2t clear.

if you have the T4 grenades (I don't in the video), you can kill the 2 crouched 
shocks and crouched engineers in one grenade. this isn't necessary, but makes 2 
turning easier.


Squad Story - Love and Logic (2t)

I position my grenadiers facing away to increase the consistency of the 1st 
enemy turn. Otherwise all sorts of random things can happen with the grenades 
flying around. After that, it's a standard clear to the main camp.

I didn't position Hanna as well as I could have to reduce her risk of friendly 
fire.


Squad Story - The Price of Skill (3t)

This mission is just a turkey shoot while praying that the enemies don't dodge 
your attacks. Too many dodges and you'll be pushed to turn 4 or later. I'm 
voting this for worst squad story in the game.


Squad Story - Legacies Left (3t)
https://youtu.be/I0G0od6lmJE

I shot the medium tank with the Lancer, but you can also shoot at it with the 
tanks from across the valley.


Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run Worlds Apart (3t)
https://youtu.be/cx8IDwoPB2g
Damage taken/Allies downed: minimal damage taken

This mission was played after clearing 18a, due to the time it took to recruit 
and promote Gertrude without repeating any missions.

It's possible to take no damage on this mission, but it requires some reloading 
or great luck, and it takes 4 turns. Basically, you hope for the 1st 2 enemies 
to miss their shots, and hope Gertrude doesn't miss her shots. Additionally you 
spend an extra turn waiting around for scouts to die to interception fire since 
your shocks can't normally outrage them. Since it's not feasible on a no reload 
run, I went for a 3 turn clear instead.

If you don't use R&D and don't do much or any grinding, you'll get Gertrude on 
reaching chapter 11. Based on that, 
I think it's appropriate to equip tier 3 royal weapons at most, which you can 
get by chapter 8b at the earliest.

In order to keep things fair, I equip tier 1 royal weapons. I have tier 5 
grenades at this point (you have tier 3 grenades by chapter 11 iirc), but it 
shouldn't matter for the grenades thrown in the video. Unfortunately I can't 
downgrade them.



Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run Mischief Makers, Girl in the Iron Mask 
(4/2t)
https://youtu.be/-IQPB8ZIVpY

Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run Girl in the Iron Mask (2t)

Since this is an early game mission with level 5 enemies, a leadership star 
isn't assigned, direct command isn't used, Minerva isn't used, accessories are 
limited to capped bullets and military cape, and weapons are limited to tier 1 
royal.

My tank is fully upgraded but I only use it in a manner that would be possible 
with an early game tank that only has the 1st 3 weapon upgrades. E.G. Not one 
shotting enemy tanks from the front, and stopping with 50 AP remaining.


Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run Mischief Makers (4t)

This mission is played with weapons and accessories available after clearing 7b 
and getting access to the leadership star, but before clearing chapter 8.

Grenades are tier 5 since I can't downgrade them, but there's no practical 
difference between them and tier 3 grenades as thrown in the video.

Bug in mischief makers: if you skip the cut scene right after getting 
reinforcements as soon as possible, before the character dialog shows up, the 
character that was active when the enemy was killed doesn't get teleported with 
the rest of the team.


Squad Story - A Chivalrous Heart (3t)
https://youtu.be/O2u5TuqYVXQ

If Minerva is the first to cross the bridge, the direct command cut scene and 
unit repositioning will occur on the bridge. However, if a generic unit crosses 
the bridge first, the direct command cut scene will occur at the next captured 
camp. I use this to my advantage to relocate my units to the southeast Camp 
instead of the middle of the bridge, which leaves them less exposed to attack 
and able to resupply.

In order to capture the main enemy camp without being fired on by any of the 
enemy scouts along the way, both routes into the camp have to be taken. This 
lets you get a surprise defeat on both Godwin and Rosetta. Nico is also 
defeated with a surprise attack from the front by using terrain irregularities 
and the shorter hit/sight box of the generic engineer.

Aulard and Teresa are hiding in the grass near the west passage into the main 
enemy camp. In this case, the scouts increased visibility range works against 
them, because once the hidden units have been spotted, they will open fire. Use 
any class but a scout in order to get past them without them opening fire.

The generic shock trooper is able to defeat Stanley Without being interception 
fired on by edging along the 200 range.

t1 Curtis is defeated by snipers from the grass. The engineer crosses the 
bridge, grenades Niege, and continues to the southeast base to grenade Raz and 
Co. Minerva heads to the southeast base to clean up and capture. The engineer 
breaks the southeast fence leading towards the main enemy camp and stops on the 
South East camp to resupply.

t2 The shock heads West to defeat Stanley. Minerva and the engineer defeat 
Godwin by throwing 2 grenades. The engineer positions next to the shock to take 
the west entrance into the main enemy camp.

t3 The shock and engineer continue west through the double barricaded passage 
by throwing grenades. Rosetta and Nico are defeated by surprise attacks. The 
shock and engineer enter the main enemy camp and clean up Claude, Kai, and 
Viola.


Squad Story - Reluctant Solitude (2t)
https://youtu.be/XtGBc_BBO1U

Minerva and Riley are deployed to support the other grenadiers. Kill the 
snipers on the top of the cliff and Ace before proceeding with the lower team.

There are lots of fences and cliffs on this map, try positioning your shots so 
there's less likelihood of colliding with them, even if it's not right on top 
of the enemy target.

The upper shock by the fence can be distracted instead of killed, to save a 
command point. The South scout that faces south for some reason is also not a 
threat.

Minerva can surprise attack kill the ace by throwing a grenade. Normally she's 
sighted by enemies when standing on the bridge, which prevents a surprise 
attack. however if you exhaust her AP, she will slouch over and her hit/sight 
box will lower which causes the sightlines to turn blue and allow the surprise 
attack.

Grenadiers can also get a surprise attack on the ace, however the shot might 
hit the Cliff or fence, so it's less reliable.

t1 Minerva gets a surprise grenade kill on the lower scout. The lower 2 
Grenadiers kill 2 shocks each, and face away so they don't cause inconsistent 
results with the incoming engineer.

t2 Minerva runs south, spotting enemies along the way, killing a shock, and 
stopping by the fence shock. Riley follows up by killing a sniper and 
distracting the fence shock so that Minerva can continue south and kill the 
second sniper and surprise kill the ace. The lower Grenadiers make their way to 
the goal while killing enemies along the way.

Might be able to save a command point by not killing the Gatling turret turn 
one with Minerva, but I didn't test this.


Squad Story - Soul of the Navy (4t)
https://youtu.be/likllTtUIN0

The most reliable method of completing this stage is heading southeast and then 
cutting west through the middle, instead of running up and around. Running up 
and around is simpler and easier to execute, but if you face too many enemy 
dodges, the enemy shock(s) near the south ladder will reach the goal.

Andre is equipped with the telescope to make the long-range tosses needed to 
clear out some of the lower level. Lances are used to break some sandbags in 
the absence of any other option. The tier 5 Royal lance has the highest 
accuracy in the game, paired with the marksman gloves. Brian is equipped with 
the volatile powder to make killing infantry easier.

Getting team attacks can be finicky when firing from lower elevations. 
Generally the further back you are, the more likely your unit is in a spot 
where they will participate. Standing right next to the goal tends to work.

Explosive attacks like grenades and mortars can't be dodged by the enemy if the 
attacker has no enemies spotting them, even if you don't see "surprise attack" 
shown when throwing the grenade. This is a good map to take advantage of this, 
by getting out of sight and throwing grenades down below.

Normally if you fire a lance at the snipers sandbag, the targeting system will 
think you're trying to fire at the sniper, and the sniper will counterattack, 
turn, and start interception firing. To prevent this, I do a target swap so 
that the targeting system is tricked into thinking Sergio is firing at Andre 
when he is aiming at the sandbag. There is no risk of the Lance hitting Andre 
since it projects past him.

One of the largest threats on turn 2 is the shock standing above the southmost 
ladder, who will try to rush the goal. There are 2 ways to keep him from 
rushing the goal if you can't kill him. You can either stand directly 
underneath the ladder, so he can't climb down (this works with any ladder in 
the game). Or you can make a two-person blockade on the bridge, which will make 
the AI path around instead of through, and likely won't attack anyone.

The mission can end with up to 3 command points to spare, including taking 
multiple tries to kill the enemy Ace. There's more RNG than usual on this stage 
due to the lack of surprise attacks, the chance of long-range rifle attacks 
missing, and the chance of lances not hitting the sandbags.

t1 Brian uses direct command and takes the others down the right side, while 
grenading the crouched engineer. Andre kills the southeast scout and positions 
for the target swap. Sergio fires at the sniper sandbag while targeting Andre, 
completing the target swap. Brian moves next to Andre and kills the sniper. 
Andre grenades a scout on the lower level. Brian and Andre and in a position to 
interception fire on the enemy ace and reduce its health slightly.

t2 Andre grenades the ace and moves next to Brian. Brian uses direct command 
again and brings the pair down the ladder and kills the nearby scout. Sergio 
destroys the scouts sandbag. Don't position your scout and engineer too far 
forward or they might fire on the shock on the upper level which might cause it 
to stop and crouch on a sandbag.

t3 The priority targets are the scout that was previously crouched, and any 
shock that moved towards the south ladder. Start with the scout, and then kill 
the shocks below the ladder, and then the shock above the ladder. If you run 
out of command points, blockade the ladder so the shock above can't climb down. 
This kill order provides the highest chance of survival.

The shocks on the side are not a high priority. If you want, you can try 
leaving them alive on turn 3 and killing them with surprise attacks on turn 4 
by throwing grenades or flanking them. You run the risk of running out of AP on 
turn 4, however.

t4 Kill any remaining shocks. Clear up to the crouched shock and scout in the 
Northwest part of the map. Kill the scout first, and then the grenade and kill 
the crouched shock to finish. Make sure not to hit the shock while firing at 
the scout or it will turn around.



[07] Skirmish Walkthrough (non-DLC)

Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run Skirmish 1-6 Normal (2/2t)
https://youtu.be/eqJNZr5UNFM

Skirmish 01 Normal: 1 turn
Damage taken/Allies downed: Curtis was deliberately downed in order to recruit 
Eileen.

This is the easiest mission in the game, which is why I used it to get Curtis 
downed/rescued and recruit Eileen. I used Jester to clear the rest of the 
mission since I'm trying to unlock his squad story.


Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run Skirmish 7-8 Normal (2/2t)
https://youtu.be/RythtoRB154

Skirmish 7 isn't very remarkable, like most of the early skirmishes. Just don't 
leave your tanks out in the open.

Skirmish 8 is the 1st non-pushover skirmish, at least if you're concerned with 
taking no damage, and killing all the tanks leaders and ace. Most players will 
pick off the grenadier and ace and then ram the tank/APC through in one turn.

If you are going for a one turn, you can fit the APC or even 1 of the tanks 
through the doorway and start knocking the ace around for a surprise attack 
follow-up.

Rita, 2 grenadiers and a lancer take the left side, Rita throws a bunch of 
telescope grenades, the grenadiers pick off important targets, and the tanks 
roll through destroying enemy tanks along the way. Minerva moves last to pick 
off any surviving targets and capture.

It's possible to get multiple infantry killed with enemy friendly fire, but 
this usually isn't necessary.


Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run Skirmish 9-10 Normal, Interlude 2, 
Prologue (1-2t)
https://youtu.be/oi6oVBGnZnk

skirmish 9 is a little sketchy to one turn but it's possible. skirmish 10 is 
mostly grenadiers and tanks weeding out the mess of enemies while trying not to 
get bombarded.

interlude 2 and Prologue are also included at the end.


Skirmish 1 Hard (3t)
Into the Woods
https://youtu.be/q4YthXZA1VE

Since we're not bombarding the grenadiers on the cliff, they need to be killed 
the old-fashioned way. They can't be effectively hit from below, and there's a 
crouched shock leader on the right path, so both paths must be taken. Even 
though this isn't a 100% kills run, I end up killing all but a handful of 
enemies anyway.

The double or triple grenadier team is pretty standard on most post game 
content, due to the high dodge rates and risk of attacking upfront. Riley with 
the hartman/ace weapon for crouched or high HP enemies, another grenadier with 
the more accurate sanders for hitting lower HP enemies in tighter quarters, and 
a third elias grenadier for gatling turrets, tanks, and other things that might 
need high accuracy. It helps to have an engineer leader to back them up as 
well. I've said this before, but it reminds me of scouts in VC1 where they were 
the go to solution for most problems.

2 grenadiers and an engineer go down the right path, two scouts, a lancer, and 
another grenadier go down the left path. Taking damage is literally one misstep 
away on this map and most hard skirmishes.

T1 is mostly about dealing with initial threats to the main camp and pushing up 
to the right side.

T2 the remaining five enemy grenadiers are spotted and killed, my grenadiers 
take over the right side and start bombarding the left side, and the main camp 
team starts pushing down the left side.

T3 tanks are destroyed, mines are dodged, and remaining enemies are dealt with.


Skirmish 2 Hard (3t)
Out of the Box
https://youtu.be/bh4OhaiPutI

I fire two smoke rounds to defend the main camp instead of the less reliable 
strategy that I used in my first run. The general strategy is scouts branching 
out to capture camps with long-range and vehicle support. Smoke is used both 
offensively and defensively to get surprise attacks and stay hidden. Again, 
despite not being a 100% kills run, I end up killing all but a handful of 
enemies.

How the AI works with its non-special units, is that it has a list of units 
available to act with. It chooses from that list randomly, in a random order. 
This is important on this skirmish, because depending on the random order of 
units it chooses, it may send them in completely different directions towards 
different camps.

This is why even with smoke, it's important to capture the west and southmost 
camp on t1 because it will always lure scouts towards them, instead of the 
scouts heading towards the main camp and causing trouble. This greatly 
increases reliability of enemy turns, and pulls enemies away from the other 
camps.

T1 the west and southmost camps are cleared out and captured.

T2 the west and southmost camps are defended and/or recaptured. The northwest 
camp is cleared and captured, ace is killed, and reinforcements are deployed at 
the south camp. The ace is killed reliably in 1cp without relying on Kai 
potential. Should probably have killed the rooftop shock on this turn. Wasn't 
anticipating the rooftop shock to move or I would've killed it.

T3 the tanks push southeast destroying all enemy tanks in the way, and also 
repositioning the enemy grenadiers for the infantry to flank and kill. The 
grenadiers are killed and the remaining two camps are captured. Things don't go 
quite as planned because the AI behaves differently from the practice run, so I 
have to improvise a bit.


Skirmish 3 Hard (3t)
Beneath the Frost
https://youtu.be/39EHhjUZjmI

The grenadiers become honorary snipers on this map, thanks to their effective 
range increasing when firing from the high ground due to the height difference. 
This allows me to get a lot of surprise attacks.

It's not a free ride though, since the targeting system is finicky when firing 
hundreds of range below, even for grenadiers. If the target is too close, even 
if it's in range, the targeting system won't pick it up. I already know where 
to stand to hit which targets to make things go smoothly. Spotting is also very 
important.

Without orders, we need to carry a lancer around the map to destroy the tanks. 
This is mostly accomplished with direct commands. The lancer is also given the 
leadership star in case they need to make the move themselves because the 
scouts might be busy clearing out the west tunnels.

The sniper leader is safely killed with a surprise attack. Units are properly 
hidden from the sniper until it's killed.

T1 the initial tank is destroyed with a team attack, after which the assisting 
lancers retreat. Both enemies on the east high ground are killed with surprise 
attacks. Minerva carries Kai and Rita up to the east high ground away from the 
sniper, and then picks up Claude and Gertrude to move them further towards the 
second tank. The scouts and engineer are positioned to kill any incoming shock 
troopers that survived the grenadier bombardment. An additional grenadier is 
deployed from the main camp.

T2 Riley clears the way to reach the second tank, the north camp, and the 
sniper leader. Claude carries Minerva and Gertrude down to the second tank, 
after which Claude heads to the north camp, and Minerva heads to the sniper 
leader. the Grenadier reinforcement sets up on the high ground and starts 
bombarding the Southwest camp. Claude is left visible on the north camp so that 
the ace will face towards him and Minerva can get an easy surprise kill on t3.

T3 the west tunnels, third tank, and remaining enemies are cleared out.


Skirmish 4 Hard (3t)
Off the Rails
https://youtu.be/9s5cGsoSqKw

For this mission, I restart the entire game and load from book mode to make 
sure the supply caches are really randomized and there isn't something 
lingering in memory from a previous attempt. I kill every engineer to get the 
location of the caches ahead of time. The deployment and general strategy can 
handle any combination of supply cache locations.

It's possible to clear this mission in 3t while still taking no damage and 
killing all engineers, leaders, tanks, and ace. You may need a bit of luck with 
shots or with supply cache locations. If the Southwest cache is located near 
the South train by the grass, it's easier to reach since you can sneak past the 
infantry and train car. If it's located near the South train signal and 
crouched shock, it's harder to reach because there are more enemies in the way. 
Since I'm not fixing the location of the caches by using mid mission saves, 
it's up to random chance and not making mistakes.

The train cars have greatly extended vision despite being night mode, which can 
ruin a surprise attack. This is complicated by the fact that sightlines are 
buggy in this game and a train car may be spotting your unit even if you don't 
see any visible sightlines. Attack from grass or solid cover behind any 
existing train cars to mitigate this. As far as I can tell, standing next to 
one of the streetlamps doesn't spoil a surprise attack.

On turn 1, the locations to trigger the trains are closer than they are on turn 
2 onward. Try not to go up the south steps or too far up the West Hill unless 
you want the trains arriving early.

How the AI works with its non-special units, is that it has a list of units 
available to act with. It chooses from that list randomly, in a random order. 
This is important on this skirmish because the AI doesn't have enough command 
points to act with every available unit, so it will choose them at random until 
it runs out.

The most important units to keep in mind are the 2 scouts and 2 shocks to the 
West that might or might not start running down the hill. Incoming enemies from 
the north moving down the East Hill can also vary somewhat. The scout already 
on the west hill should always be killed on turn one, along with the scout and 
shock to the East by the guard tower.

The best way to mitigate this West Hill randomness is breaking both sandbags at 
the bottom of the hill, and rolling the Glory up the hill to provide defensive 
interception fire. By breaking the sandbags, the enemy AI will be more likely 
to charge ahead instead of crouching at the sandbags and entrenching 
themselves. There shouldn't be a problem dealing with any combination of 
infantry moving down the hills on t2 or t3.

Riley with the Elias MA10 antiarmor mortar and plus 15 accuracy accessory has 
almost perfect coverage on the train radiators. This makes it simple and 
reliable to destroy the middle train car in 3 command points. Get as close as 
possible to make her shot, because Grenadier chance to land near the center of 
the reticule is higher the closer the shot is.

The train turrets on the hard skirmish have a lot more armor, health, and 
interception fire range. A smoke round is used to neutralize the south train 
and safely reach the switch and/or caches. You could use Riley, but she can 
only safely fire from behind the fence. Also there's a chance to take damage 
even when the fence is being fired at because there are so many shots and they 
go everywhere. Smoke is the sane choice here.

t1 The tanks clear out initial nearby enemies. scout leader, Jascha, and Keigel 
head East to kill most enemies in the area. the East guard tower is used to 
spot enemies and hit rag crates. Kai provides sniping support.

t2 Scout leader's team continues to the southeast base, while Ronald, Christel, 
Kai, and Claude clear any infantry that ran down the West hill. Ronald and 
Christel continue up the West Hill to trigger the middle train and clear out 
the West high ground. depending on if there are any remaining enemies that will 
move up the west ladder on et2, Christel can either advance closer to the 
ladder, or hide behind the fence to avoid being shot at. Riley destroys the 
middle train in 3 command points. Claude repositions himself to start heading 
south.

t3 Make it a priority to hit train switches unless you are confident of a 3t 
clear. Scout leader's team pushes up to the Northeast camp, and the scout 
leader can use direct command to reach the far north corner of the map if the 
supply cache is there. Christel heads down the ladder to hit the North train 
switch and possibly reach a supply cache, a third scout/engineer will reach the 
Southwest supply cache, depending on where it's located. The crouched shock 
near the train switch can be distracted by attacking it from behind the fence 
and making it look away so the unit can run around behind it to reach the train 
switch or supply cache.


Skirmish 4 Hard (4t)
Off the Rails
https://youtu.be/VD_qg_cQqOo

To perform a more reliable 4 turn clear, delay triggering the South train car 
until turn 4, deploy an engineer instead of a third scout, don't kill the 
Southwest engineer until turn 3 or 4, and make it a higher priority to hit the 
north train switch instead of reach supply caches. You can also deploy 
additional units on turn 3 from any camp to make things easier. On turn 4 you 
should have more than enough command points to finish up.

Using the APC on a 4 turn clear might be more helpful instead of the Glory. The 
APC can bring Raz up to the West high ground to help Christel, and if you don't 
mind spending additional command points, you can send it south to help capture 
the South area. However, when I tried using the APC, it had reliability issues 
killing the scouts running down the West Hill, while the more powerful Glory 
gatling had no issue.

Similar to the first video, I restart the game and load a book mode save, and 
the supply caches are different from the first run. A few other things like 
enemy reinforcements and enemy movement happen differently as well, but they 
are dealt with.


Skirmish 5 Hard (3t)
Through the Fire
https://youtu.be/pxrfAzhaMa8

The tier 5 Ace Lance with 2000 damage turned out to be pretty useful on this 
skirmish. Maybe completing the skirmishes in numbered order isn't such a bad 
idea.

Burning fire patches on chapter 6, etc. cannot be seen through, and units 
inside are considered hidden. You can effectively hide your vehicles inside the 
fires and get surprise attacks by firing from inside them.

Similar to skirmish 2 hard, a smoke round is used to cover the base on turn 1. 
The general strategy is fending off 2 waves of incoming enemies, and then 
branching off to the Northeast and Southeast bases. Vehicles are used at the 
Northeast camp to cross through the flames and reach the northwest base, while 
infantry take the Southeast and Southwest. Grenadiers play a heavy role in 
clearing most of the camps quickly, reliably, and safely.

The middle of the map is covered by 3 Grenadiers, so it's best to avoid that 
area. It's much easier to work around the sides and flank. The crouched shock 
and Lancer near the main camp don't move unless disturbed afaik.

t1 Both ultimate tanks are killed in 2 command points using 2 quadruple team 
attacks. Smoke is fired on the main camp and important targets are killed. 
Units are loaded into the APC or retreated as necessary. Claude and the APC 
position themselves to blockade the northeast entrance to the main camp, which 
causes the AI pathing to divert its infantry even though the vehicles aren't 
spotted.

t2 Once the smoke clears, there's a second wave of incoming enemies visible. 
These enemies are killed, and we begin pushing to the southeast and Northeast 
camp. Laurent destroys the assault tank near the main camp and then moves south 
to spot the southeast Grenadier. Minerva, Rita, Riley, and Laurent take over 
the southeast camp and position to take the Southwest camp. Claude and the APC 
head to the Northeast camp and position to take the Northwest camp. Claude 
moves into the nearby flames to get surprise attacks on the infantry and finish 
off the heavy tank.

Note: The Lancer that suddenly dies on turn 2 is the one that walked into the 
flames during the enemy turn.

t3 The cannon on the southwest camp helpfully opens the fence for us. You can 
also use a scout to get a double kill on both rag crates to break the fence and 
destroy the cannon in one command point. Minerva's team heads to the Southwest 
camp, and then the APC heads to the Northwest camp to finish. After blowing up 
the southwest camp, Riley moves north to provoke the Grenadiers facing the 
middle of the map. This isn't strictly necessary but takes the edge off 
capturing the Northwest camp. Dan, Jascha, Gertrude, and Raz pick off key units 
in the Northwest camp and capture. When approaching from the northeast, it's 
easy to get a surprise attack on the ace.

Again there's a choice between a 3 turn clear with few command points to spare, 
and a 4 turn more reliable clear.

4t clear:

t1 Same as above

t2 Take your time and fire a second smoke round instead of pushing Northeast 
and Southeast at the same time. Just make sure to kill all the same incoming 
targets.

t3 You should have plenty of command points to capture the Northeast and 
Southeast camps and position for the Northwest and Southwest camps.

Enemy reinforcements will arrive from the northwest and southwest camps on et3. 
The Northwest reinforcement is a shock and isn't much of a threat because it 
can't go far. The Southwest reinforcement is a scout and it will hunt down your 
exposed units, so make sure they are well hidden. It might also head for your 
main camp but it doesn't have enough AP to reach.

t4 Capture the northwest and southwest camps in the same fashion as above. You 
should (probably) have enough command points and available units to kill every 
enemy on the map, without taking damage.


After completing skirmish 5 hard, I learned that defense upgrades on the APC 
can increase its defense to the point where it no longer takes damage from some 
Gatling turrets and heavy/ultimate tanks when hit from the front. I thought 
that since it wasn't a tank it wouldn't work that way.

That might have changed the strategy a bit on some missions where I avoided 
putting the APC in front of those kinds of interception fire.

For example the ultimate and heavy tank guns in skirmish 5 hard do 191-192 
versus armor, which is the value the APC can reach with the final defense 
upgrade. The APC will still take damage from the Gatling turrets which do 196.


Skirmish 6 Hard (3t)
Across the Bridge
https://youtu.be/meP4aihVS7U

The enemy ace has perhaps the lowest ace Dodge rating in the game, at 1% Dodge. 
Which means there's no issue shooting it out in the open.

The general strategy is the team clearing the East Garrison, so that an 
engineer and 2 Grenadiers can make their way to the West Garrison and capture. 
Additional units are deployed from the West camp. This is pretty simple and 
easy compared to the last 2 hard skirmishes 4 and 5.

Deployment:

1234
5678

1 - Kai / accuracy sniper rifle / ammo belt
2 - Louffe / antiarmor mortar / 50 AP boots
3 - Gertrude / accuracy Lance / plus 10 accuracy
4 - Raz /  / 
5 - Claude / Brown rifle / 
6 - Riley / Hartman mortar / plus 15 accuracy
7 - Eileen / Brown rifle / volatile powder
8 - Minerva / Brown rifle / 

Reserves:
Laurent /  / 
Rita /  / 

Turn 1:

Kai begins by running up the West steps to kill the ace and then provoke the 
grenadier into reorienting itself. This works even if her negative potential 
procs.

This creates an opening for Minerva to run up the East steps without being 
interception fired on. Minerva kills the scout on the lower level, climbs up 
the steps to kill the Grenadier and sniper, and then provokes the scout on the 
middle level to face south.

Claude kills the scout on the middle level that has been turned around.

Eileen uses direct command to carry Gertrude and Louffe up the east steps and 
around to kill the shock near the ladder.

Gertrude destroys the assault tank on the lower level. This is much more 
reliable than using an antiarmor mortar to hit the radiator at lv1.

Riley advances up the west steps and attacks the shock on the lower level camp, 
and then kills another shock on the bridge.

Eileen re-supplies Riley, climbs down the steps to finish the camp shock, 
captures, and positions near the bridge for t2.

Louffe advances to destroy the Gatling turret on the bridge, and then falls 
behind Eileen.

Enemy turn one, a scout should advance across the bridge and not fire at anyone.


Turn 2:

Minerva goes south down the ladder to kill the grenadier leader.

Riley kills the shock and scout on the bridge. This is fairly reliable since 
it's 2 surprise attacks and Riley has the plus 15 accuracy accessory. If all 
else fails, try sniping the shock with Kai.

Kai Snipes the 2 grenadiers on the West Garrison.

Eileen uses direct command to carry the 2 grenadiers across the bridge. I 
should have waited for Riley to catch up here, she gets in a bit of a snag 
behind the cargo crate.

Eileen and the Grenadiers kill the crouched shock on the West camp and capture 
it.

The shock overlooking the West camp is also fired at and probably killed. 
Eileen can fire at this shock twice for free while capturing the West camp.

Laurent is deployed at the West camp, and if you have command points to spare, 
you can deploy an additional engineer for extra insurance on turn 3.


Turn 3:

Riley kills the shock and scout if they are still alive.

Laurent destroys the Gatling turret and tank.

Eileen uses direct command to carry the Grenadiers towards the main enemy camp, 
and spots the shock leader. Eileen can take a shot at the shock leader but it's 
okay if she doesn't kill it.

The Grenadiers dismantle the remaining shocks and Gatling turret covering the 
main base. If you somehow run out of Grenadier ammo, that's what the backup 
engineer at the West camp is for. Don't use Eileen until you're sure the coast 
is clear, or she won't have enough AP.

The skirmish can end with up to 5 command points to spare.



Skirmish 7 Hard (3t)
Within the Ruins
https://youtu.be/lKjjvV7u0fU

There are no infantry leaders on this map besides the ace, and only a couple 
tanks. That means a free pass to skip some enemies, since this isn't a 100% 
kills run.
</pre><pre id="faqspan-4">
Smoke isn't necessary if you're aggressive enough to kill all the threats ahead 
of time. Since this is a night mode stage, there's already plenty of cover by 
hanging back.

The general strategy is the tank and APC + boarded units heading around while 
Minerva provides a bit of backup from above. grenadiers are used to bombard the 
usual targets, while a sniper and engineer are on hand to kill a few targets 
that the Grenadiers can't hit as easily. The engineer is used to repair the 
West ladder and flank the enemy Cannon to give the vehicles safe passage.

t1 The Grenadier facing the main camp and nearby infantry are dealt with. 
Minerva takes Brian and Kai up to the upper level to destroy a Cannon and 
Grenadier. Everyone else loads into the clown car and takes a road trip. The 
main camp is abandoned, saving us from having to kill the 2 lancers overlooking 
it, since they don't normally move. As usual, units are deployed and boarded 
into the APC while completing objectives a.k.a. killing things. Various 
infantry in the southeast corner are killed, and Claude positions to 
interception fire kill the Lancer that approaches from the southeast camp.

Sometimes the South Lancer will advance on enemy turn one, I believe it's 
related to how far south Claude has advanced. In the video I didn't advance 
much out of caution due to the enemy tank around the corner, so that might be 
why it didn't move. It's generally better if it moves because then the APC can 
pick it off while driving west and save a command point.

t2 The tank and APC continue west to the Southwest camp. Grenadiers, lancers, 
and cannons are all spotted and killed. The engineer captures the Southwest 
base, repairs the ladder, and kills the Grenadier on the upper level. Sometimes 
your engineer will get fired on by the Grenadier, but as long as they stand 
behind the column and then run for the ladder in between the Grenadier 
reloading, they can't get hit.

t3 The engineer climbs down the northwest ladder to flank the Northwest Cannon. 
This opens the way for Claude to roll up and destroy both tanks. The APC 
advances, deploys a sniper who provokes the ace, and the ace is killed safely.

Enemy sightlines seem to have issues on the west corridor of the map, which is 
why I repositioned the APC and killed the crouched Lancer on turn 2. I've seen 
the ultimate tanks shoot at my units with nothing nearby afaik.

It may be difficult to get a surprise attack on the ace. Even if you have no 
sightlines on your unit, an enemy may be spotting your unit from an elevation 
and/or through walls. The best spot to get a surprise attack on the Ace is 
probably near the guard tower.

Unfortunately, the game doesn't give a general indicator that you're being 
spotted other than the lack of a surprise attack indicator. Sometimes it can be 
hard to tell if your unit is being spotted legitimately, or if it's because of 
enemies seeing through walls, glitchy terrain, etc.



Skirmish 8 Hard (2t)
For the Centurion
https://youtu.be/B1gnWQ51-b8

The AI is very passive on this map, although enemies will open fire if they 
have a target. Just stay out of sniper range. There's no need to bother with 
the west side of the map, since the route to the goal is on the east side.

The tier 5 and 6 Ace sniper rifles allow you to zoom in further than the wasp 
11, even though they have a worse letter accuracy grade. This gives then more 
effective accuracy assuming you can deal with the shorter range. They also 
benefit from being able to one-shot the ace on this skirmish, and having high 
attack power during support attacks. This is the first time in this run that I 
use Ace sniper rifles.

Reliability is increased by sniping from inside the steam vent cloud, which 
makes the attacks undodgeable. You will have to aim manually, however.

Claude is equipped with the telescope to make long-range grenade tosses to 
break the sandbags at the south end. No need to bring a lancer along.

Riley can hit a limited number of targets depending on her position, but this 
isn't a great map for Grenadiers. It's possible for her to get a surprise 
attack on the 2 shock troopers on the lower level by setting up behind the 
barricades near the east stairs.

t1 The snipers make 5 undodgeable kills. Claude uses direct command, brings the 
engineer leader forward a bit, picks up Riley, temporarily recruits the snipers 
to assist with a surprise attack kill on the northeast shock, and then 
continues to carry Riley South. Claude continues south to grenade the Southeast 
sniper. If this sniper dodges, it's counterattack won't hit Claude because of 
the grenade angle, and one of the snipers can finish it off from inside the 
steam cloud. Riley heads down the stairs to nuke a scout and sniper. The turn 
ends with everyone hidden from the remaining snipers.

t2 The engineer leader uses direct command to carry the snipers south, resupply 
them, and take a shot at 1 of the shocks on the lower level. The snipers clear 
out more infantry backed up by the engineer. Claude breaks the ace sandbag with 
his handy telescope and heads down to the lower level. Once the Southwest 
grenadier is spotted, Riley can surprise attack it, or one of the infantry can 
run up and throw a grenade below. Once all infantry blocking the goal are dead, 
the engineer, Claude and Minerva if necessary clear the final Gatling turret 
and reach the goal.

note: The fence in the southeast corner is breakable with explosives, even 
though it looks unbreakable and is marked as an unbreakable fence. I didn't 
want to base my strategy around something like that. If you wanted you could 
break the fence to get surprise attacks on the ace and shock in front of the 
goal, or clear on turn 1.


Skirmish 9 Hard (3t)
From the Capital
https://youtu.be/Mi-TYRCnePY

Two lancers are taken instead of an antiarmor Grenadier and a Lancer, to 
destroy more tanks on turns 1 and 2.

Splitting up your infantry isn't a great idea due to the limited deployment of 
6 units. Instead, the APC takes 5 units and charges through the lower part of 
the map, while Claude and Kai stay back to defend the base.

Raz is equipped with the telescope to give his gun 250 range which allows him 
to outrange the enemy Gatlings on the map. This is useful since the arches on 
the map block Grenadier fire from passing through, unless you're firing from 
underneath the arch.

The sandbags on this skirmish can be disruptive to vehicle movement, wait for 
them to disappear after breaking them before proceeding.

t1 Kai surprise attacks the sniper leader and hides. The APC boards everyone 
else and heads southwest. Minerva destroys the nearby cannons, clearing the way 
for the APC to continue West and hide. Lancers deploy and destroy the 2 nearby 
tanks. Claude advances and mortars the 2 Grenadiers, and then backs up to the 
main camp.

t2 One of the lancers advances and destroys the 2 cannons. The APC advances, 
passes the assault tanks, and positions to blockade the enemy ace interception 
fire. Lancers are deployed to destroy the 2 assault tanks, and then Raz/Minerva 
destroys the 2 Gatling turrets. The 2 nearby lancers are also killed. the APC 
advances on the ace and kills it with a undodgeable shot, and then proceeds 
north. Enemies around the main enemy camp are killed. 

At this point with the ace dead and the main enemy camp open, we could capture 
on turn 2. However there are still more tanks and leaders to kill.

On enemy turn 2 some shocks will advance on the main camp, but with Claude 
camped on it they have no chance.

t3 Claude kills any shocks around the main camp, destroys the nearby tank, and 
advances North. The APC and other units spread out to destroy the remaining 
tanks, Gatling, and shock leader on the map.



Skirmish 1 Challenge (2t)
A True Battlefield
https://youtu.be/DgehsKi2cK4

On this skirmish you can do crazy things like destroy AT cannons with a single 
sniper shot, destroy tanks with a single Lance, one shot unspotted enemies 
through their defense bonus, or kill crouched camped shock leaders in a single 
grenade. The damage multiplier generally works to your advantage if you don't 
get hit. This skirmish would have taken more turns if not for the damage 
multiplier.

Units are deployed so that no one ends up in the range of the sniper near the 
main enemy camp.

Similar to skirmish 4 hard, the AI has more available units to act with than it 
has command points. Almost any infantry on the map is available to move, so 
expect different arrangements every attempt. The AI will tend to seek out your 
exposed infantry, and rush your main camp if not. The strategy can handle any 
combination of enemy activity, since units stay hidden in the grass and 3 
vehicles are protecting the main camp.

Allied infantry make their way west through the grass to avoid detection and 
get surprise attacks. Vehicles are used only for camp defense because it's not 
worth the command point cost of dismantling all the antitank cannons.

Snipers are used to get surprise attacks from the grass while an engineer and 
Lancer make their way across to kill tanks, leaders, aces, and capture.

t1 Riley kills a grenadier and crouched Scout and then hides. Aladdin advances 
and hides. Eileen takes Gertrude and Kai Southwest. Some targets are picked 
off, and everyone is hidden in the grass at the end of the turn. Claude 
repositions for base defense.

t2 Aladdin kills some more targets, Gertrude destroys more tanks, Eileen kills 
the ace and crouched shock leader. Eileen uses direct command to get her AP 
back and make her way up to the main enemy camp and capture.



Skirmish 2 Challenge (2t)
The Dream Team
https://youtu.be/vo6VmkoFuwI

The Vulcan can easily be killed on turn 1 or 2, making it not much of a threat 
unless you deliberately leave it alive for challenge reasons. Unlike a lot of 
the hard skirmishes, there are no unbreakable fences put up to force the player 
to deal with generics. The bosses, ace, tanks, and leaders all seem to be 
placed conveniently to be killed without having to deal with generics. In the 
video the only generic enemy I have to kill is a Gatling turret next to the 
Valkyria.

Similar to 15a, I'd probably have to leave the Vulcan alive and kill every 
enemy on the map to give this mission a fair shake.

t1 Snipers hit the Valkyria staff so that she kills the enemy Ace on the enemy 
turn. Riley destroys the Vulcan using 10 shots and one resupply. Claude fires 
smoke to protect the main camp from other enemy activity.

t2 The APC picks up some units and heads to the middle of the map. Units are 
deployed to destroy all remaining tanks, leaders, and the boss. Eileen was 
supposed to get a double kill but oops.


Skirmish 3 Challenge (3t)
Blitzkrieg on the Canal
https://youtu.be/4wAi2YPSF7c

This skirmish doesn't have a damage multiplier gimmick, or 2 bosses, but it 
ends up being the most difficult of the 3.

The general strategy is loading 3 Grenadiers, an engineer, and a Lancer into 
the APC and heading for the goal. Starting out, the left path is the easiest to 
take but is closed to vehicles after turn one because of the mortar that breaks 
the ice. Don't let the 2 leader tanks on the left intimidate the APC, their 
main turrets are a mortar and a flamethrower, which are relatively harmless to 
vehicles.

Spotting and killing the enemy Grenadiers is very important and it's best to 
learn where each one is located.

On enemy turn 2, the AI doesn't have enough command points to act with all of 
its available units if you've been killing enemy leaders. That means more 
random enemy activity.

The first important infantry is the scout near the main Allied camp. The Scout 
is a stop and shoot and will approach the main Allied camp. In the video this 
scout moves and attacks but doesn't cause any damage because of my deployment 
and position of Claude.

The second important infantry is the shock near the snow bank by the 2 heavy 
tanks in the northern part of the map. This shock might advance to the team of 
crouched enemy snipers, or it might stay put. If it stays put you can generally 
avoid it, or if it advances then it has to be killed.

t1 Claude destroys the snowbank and positions for the potential incoming scout. 
The grenadiers and engineer clear out the 3 cannons and enemy grenadier, and 
get ready to be picked up by the APC. The APC picks everyone up for one last 
road trip. The grenadier on the left side behind the snowbank is spotted and 
killed. The APC drives up behind the assault tank leaders and our Lancer 
deploys to destroy the one with the mortar cannon. The remaining flamethrower 
tank can't do anything to the APC so it's safe to end the turn right next to it.

t2 The Lancer destroys both tanks while spotting a grenadier leader, which 
Riley kills. The APC opens the snow bank and then hides. grenadiers start 
killing the crouched snipers and crouched scout. Killing the crouched scout 
isn't necessary, but it makes it a lot easier to take no damage on this section 
of the map.

t3 Any remaining snipers are killed, and if there's a shock in the way, it's at 
least disrupted from crouching. The cannon near the heavy tanks is destroyed, 
clearing the way for the APC to advance. The APC can finish off the shock if 
it's still alive, and then proceed to spot the next Grenadier. The APC will 
pick up the antiarmor Grenadier but leave an anti-personnel Grenadier behind to 
kill the spotted Grenadier.

Once that slightly random situation is dealt with, the Lancer is deployed to 
destroy the 2 tanks while the APC kills the scout and moves north. The 
antiarmor mortar Grenadier is once again deployed to destroy the Northwest 
Gatling. The engineer is deployed to carry the Lancer West to the ace tank 
while accomplishing various objectives. After the ace tank is destroyed, all 
that remains is to move someone onto the main camp and capture.



[08] DLC Walkthrough

Edy's Advance Ops (2t)
https://youtu.be/23Myg9OGKno

This mission is played using a book save earlier in this run, after clearing 
chapter 1 but before clearing chapter 2. No squad stories are unlocked. This is 
the earliest you can access this mission.

t1 Kai and Aladdin team attack the sniper on the windmill. Laurent fires a 
quadruple team attack against the nearby light tank, because it looked at me 
funny and I really didn't appreciate it. Claude kills the nearby engineer and 
positions to intercept fire enemies.

t2 Riley nukes the scout in the middle of the map, Claude advances and kills 
the shock, Laurent team attacks with Claude to destroy the second tank, Claude 
mortars the far engineer and blocks 1 of the Gatling turrets, and then Riley 
fires on the 2 scout leaders. this clears the way for Curtis to make his way to 
the base and capture, while finishing off any surviving scout leaders. 1 
command point spare.


Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run DLC Squad 7 Missions 1-3 (3/4/3t)
https://youtu.be/qBNQxvpjhjQ


Squad 7 mission 1 (3t)
Team Building

These missions are played using a book save earlier in this run, after clearing 
chapter 1 but before clearing chapter 2. No squad stories are unlocked. This is 
the earliest you can access this mission.

Pretty simple mission, nothing complicated about it. 3 t are required to 
destroy all the tanks and leaders on the map before capturing the last camp.


Squad 7 mission 2 (4t)
Two Fronts

Send Rosie to the Northwest Camp, Largo to the west camp, and Welkin and Alicia 
cut through the east side of the map to the south camp.

t1 Rosie and Largo head West, with Rosie throwing a grenade at 1 of the fences 
on the Northwest camp. Welkin moves south through the barricade, gets the 
nearby scout killed with interception fire from the enemy Gatling, and then 
destroys the Gatling.

t2 Alicia heads south and then west to hit the crate behind the tank leader. 
Rosie captures the Northwest camp by destroying the shock sandbag, and then 
getting a double kill on the shocks and capturing. Largo gets behind the tank 
on the west camp, destroys it and captures. Welkin heads south through the 
barricade, destroys another Gatling, kills the nearby scout, and backs off. 
Alicia heads south and hides to avoid being fired on by the lancers standing 
around.

t3 Welkin and Alicia finish capturing the South camp. this is most easily done 
by sending welkin South and then west while destroying everything in his path 
for Alicia.

It's possible to clear part one in 2 turns without taking damage and destroying 
all the tanks. It's unreliable, however. It can be done reliably with minimal 
damage taken and Alicia only running past a single crouched scout and not being 
fired on by the Gatling on the South camp.

Part 2 isn't particularly difficult, send Claude out to fire a mortar to kill a 
scout, shock, and kill 1 of the tanks, and then back off. On the next turn 
reinforcements arrive to help clear out everything else.


Valkyria Chronicles 4 No Reload C.Run DLC Squad 7 Mission 2 (3t)
https://youtu.be/Ueq7Ct_y5GI

This is an alternate attempt of the squad 7 DLC mission 2. The mission is 
cleared in 3t instead of 4t, by finishing part one in 2t. Alicia takes a 
minimal amount of damage from an enemy scout in exchange for the turn saved. 
This strategy is very reliable and doesn't involve hoping that Alicia survives 
interception fire from the Gatling turret on the South camp, etc. All enemy 
tanks/leaders are still destroyed on this attempt.

t1
1 Rosie West, grenade fence, face West
2 Largo West
3 Welkin South through barricade, get scout killed with interception fire, 
destroy Gatling

t2
1 Alicia hit ragcrate behind tank leader
2-3 Rosie kill the crouched shocks and capture Northwest camp
4 Largo destroy the tank on the west camp and capture
5 Welkin destroy Gatling
6 Welkin break Southeast scout sandbag, kill scout, continue west
7 Welkin mortar ragcrate, which should kill the tank, standing scout, and 
shock. veer right to avoid provoking the crouched shock in grass. continue west
8 Welkin break the shocks sandbag and destroy the Gatling on camp. Welkin can 
try to knock the shock off the camp, but the results can be unreliable and it 
might end up facing towards Alicia.
9 Alicia run past the Crouched scout and kill/knock off the shock on the camp 
and capture. Alicia will take minimal damage from the scout, but with the 
Gatling already killed, she has no risk of dying.

Alternately, use Welkin to knock the shock off the camp. If Alicia can kill the 
crouched enemy scout, she will be able to capture the camp without taking any 
damage. She needs her anti-personnel potential to reliably kill that scout in 
one command point. I've tried killing it a bunch of times without the 
potential, and it usually survives with tiny amounts of HP.


Squad 7 mission 3 (3t)
Brilliant Minds

Very easy mission, capture the nearby camp and park your Grenadiers there. 
Climb the nearby guard tower to spot other targets to destroy. Enemies will run 
around like it's some kind of carnival shooting game. They will conveniently 
run over multiple sandbags so your Grenadiers have an easier time hitting them 
with interception fire.

I believe this gives the wrong impression on how Grenadiers are effectively 
used elsewhere in the game.



A Captainless Squad 1 (4t)
A Sleuth of Bears
https://youtu.be/YmLOvuUwrW8

This mission is played using a book save earlier in this run, after clearing 
chapter 9 but before clearing chapter 10. This is the earliest you can access 
this mission.

No Royal weapons are used on this mission, although they are useful if you have 
them, especially the tier 3-4 Royal lance.

Squad stories for Rosetta, Hanna, Rita, Connor, and Neige have been completed 
on this save file.

Azusa or Rosetta are good choices for leaders on this mission, unfortunately I 
don't have them promoted to corporal on this save file. Rita was promoted to 
corporal for this DLC instead.

Once any unit advances close enough to the main enemy camp, the boss and 
reinforcements will appear. The mission goal changes to bringing 3 units to the 
Southwest flag on the map. Destroying the boss is optional.

Use Connor and Neige to pick off enemies with surprise attacks from behind 
cover or in grass. Hanna is on antitank duty obviously. Send one scout to 
trigger the boss while other units head towards the southwest flag. If you plan 
on killing the boss, keep Rita around to resupply Hanna if needed.

t1 Connor, Simon, and Neige clear out some initial enemies. Rita uses direct 
command and repositions the shocks to face incoming enemies, while carrying 
Hanna forward and destroying a Gatling turret. On enemy turn a bunch of enemies 
show up and die to interception fire.

t2 Connor and Neige pick off more assorted enemies. Connor kills the the 
crouched sniper and Grenadier, Hannah kills the assault tank leader, Rita 
carries the shocks south while resupplying, and the scouts clear the way to 
trigger the boss's appearance.

t3 Connor and Neige pick off more assorted enemies. Rita kills the enemy ace. 
Rita and the shocks position to kill incoming enemies from the southwest. Other 
units get out of the way of the boss or incoming infantry so they don't take 
damage.

t4 I wasn't exactly sure how to deal with the 2 scouts around the boss, 
probably could have done that better. Hanna climbs the Northwest guard tower 
and fires lances at the bosses radiator to destroy it. 3 units reach the goal 
and finish.



A Captainless Squad 2 (3t)
Snowball Fight
https://youtu.be/-QjP9YFdYNQ

This mission is played using a book save earlier in this run, after clearing 
chapter 9 but before clearing chapter 10. This is the earliest you can access 
this mission.

As usual your units are immune to Valkyria and Grenadier fire while standing 
underneath the bunkers around the map.

On chapter 9 and 15 a/b maps, there are parts of the map that are shaded and 
dotted. Those areas are safe from all Grenadier and Valkyria interception fire. 
Unless your unit is far away from the Valkyria or hidden, it's best to be 
standing under some kind of cover.

The assault tanks with 2000 HP & 450 armor can be destroyed in 2 command points 
with the tier 3 Royal Lance (1450 damage), and 3 command points with other 
available lances. A 3 turn clear while destroying all 4 tanks and taking 0 
damage is feasible with the tier 3 reward lance. Otherwise 4 turns is the safer 
option.

Since I have a tier 3 reward lance available on this save, I'll be using it to 
get a 3 turn clear. I have other royal and Ace weapons available but I'll be 
limiting to the lance.

The general strategy is leaving some decoys on the main camp to distract the 
Valkyria, while another force moves north, east, and then south to reach the 
goal while killing the ace and other targets.

Valkyria movement can be difficult to predict depending on the position of your 
units and who she decides to target. Using decoys keeps her position stable, 
increases reliability, and costs no command points.

The strategy of running south east generally results in a lot of Valkyria and 
Grenadier interception fire, which isn't reliable enough for me. The Valkyria 
is more likely to target your units running southeast rather than attack your 
decoys sitting on the main camp.

If the Valkyria doesn't fall for the decoys on the main camp, you then have to 
worry about distracting her so your main force can reach the goal, which can 
get messy quickly.

The enemy lancers are equipped with mortar lances, and the enemy tanks are 
equipped with anti-infantry turrets. This makes them less of a threat at long 
distances, as long as you don't get too close to them.

Rosetta, Neige, and Zaiga remain on the main camp as a distraction for the 
Valkyria. Rosetta provides interception fire to hold off the stop and shoot 
Lancer. If this Lancer gets too close, Neige can always shoot it.

t1 Connor kills the sniper and North Grenadier and continues north, Simon heads 
north to kill the Northwest shock, Hanna heads south to destroy the Southwest 
tank and then returns north, Rita uses direct command to carry Hanna and Azusa 
North through the side passage.

t2 Rita, Connor, and Azusa kill the nearby infantry to take over the North 
camp. Hanna destroys the 2 tanks facing the main camp. Azusa moves towards the 
ace. If everything goes right, the Valkyrie will continue firing on the main 
camp and ignore Rita's team. For additional insurance, Rita's team should be 
underneath the North Camp bunker, so they will all survive even if targeted.

t3 Rita's team makes their way south while killing everything in the way. Azusa 
kills the ace and heads south to join Rita. All 4 units make it to the goal.


A Captainless Squad 2 (4t)
Snowball Fight
https://youtu.be/yektatlz4ks

In this alternate mission attempt, I don't use the tier 3 Royal Lance, or any 
reward/ace weapons. This makes the mission longer and more complex since the 
tanks aren't destroyed as easily.

It's interesting that a single reward weapon can make the difference of an 
entire turn on this mission. The t3 Royal Lance lets you save a few command 
points in other missions, but not an entire turn. Maybe chapter 14.

t1 Connor kills the sniper and North Grenadier and continues north, Simon heads 
north to kill the Northwest shock, Rita uses direct command to carry Hanna and 
Azusa North through the side passage.

t2 Rita, Connor, and Azusa kill the nearby infantry to take over the North 
camp. Azusa moves towards the ace. Hanna destroys the nearby mortar tank and 
the southeast tank, and then retreats and is redeployed on the main camp. Hanna 
will probably get targeted if she stays by the southeast tank, so it's 
important to retreat her. 

The flamethrower tank will still be up and will advance on the main camp, so 
retreat anyone on the front 2 deployment spots. Unfortunately this makes the 
decoy lure weaker so I suggest hiding Rita and Connor so the boss won't target 
them. They can hide east of (behind) the bunker wall at the North camp.

What should happen is the boss will continue targeting the decoys, and the 
flamethrower tank will advance and not fire on anyone. Hanna is safe since she 
has been retreated and is in the process of redeploying.

As long as Rita and Connor are at least underneath the North Camp bunker, they 
won't die even if the boss targets them. Someone on the main camp can fire at 
the boss to turn their direction back towards the main camp so you can continue.

t3 Hanna is now on the main camp, where she can safely destroy the flamethrower 
tank from the front. With Hanna no longer available to reach the goal, Simon 
will take her place and move towards Rita to be carried by direct command.

t4 The Southwest tank will advance close enough that Hanna can destroy it 
safely from under the main camp bunker. Rita's team (Rita, Simon, Connor, 
Azusa) makes it to the goal.



A Captainless Squad 3 (4t)
The Price of a Picnic
https://youtu.be/90wpopl4KSQ

 123
4567
   8

1 - empty
2 - empty
3 - Simon / reising-m9a5d / soldiers buckle
4 - Rosetta / any rifle / 
5 - Connor / Sanders m7 / telescope
6 - Azusa / zm kar 3 / specialist bullets
7 - Rita / Gallia-x5d / small knife
8 - Zaiga / zm mp 3 / improved powder

Reserves:

1 - Hanna / any high damage Lance / service boots

This mission is played using a book save earlier in this run, after clearing 
chapter 9 but before clearing chapter 10. This is the earliest you can access 
this mission. No Royal weapons are used on this mission, although they are 
useful if you have them.

Scouts and shocks should have the highest damage anti-personnel weapons to deal 
interception fire and handle the high HP of enemy leaders. The tier 2-3 ace 
scout rifle and machine gun are both easy to obtain from available missions. I 
also use the Gallia-x5d rifle and the reising-m9a5d machine gun awarded for 
clearing the first 2 missions in this DLC.

All 4 infantry leaders have 30% Dodge rates so it's best to surprise attack 
them whenever possible.

Raz and Kai are the first 2 leaders encountered. Depending on how far south 
your units are advanced, and whether or not you broke the snowbank covering the 
main path, Raz will either enter through the main pathway, or by taking the 
side hill. I prefer having him enter by the main path because it's easier to 
distract him. Raz is easily distracted, and Kai can be defeated with Grenadier 
fire. Next up are Minerva and Riley.

If you capture the camp near the bridge (second camp), Minerva will use direct 
command and bring Riley and a Mortar Lancer across the bridge. Defeating 
Minerva with interception fire requires a lot of firepower, and Riley or the 
mortar Lancer may also target your units. The best spot to defeat Minerva 
without taking damage is behind the truck and around the corner leading to the 
first camp.

If you position carefully with the right equipment, Minerva will almost always 
be defeated. Riley and the Mortar Lancers won't be able to spot your units to 
fire on them after Minerva is gone. Rita's rifle has a defense down debuff, 
Zaiga and Azusa have tier 3 ace weapons for heavy interception damage, and 
Connor gets to take a few shots. If you're concerned about guaranteeing a kill, 
move Simon South to assist.

If Minerva doesn't cross the bridge, you'll have to go to her. Riley will be 
set up on the third camp and it's difficult to get surprise attacks on her out 
in the open.

Claude will use rapid deployment when all 4 infantry leaders are defeated. To 
avoid this, you can leave 1 of the leaders alive and run for the main enemy 
camp. That may be simpler and easier than having them all redeployed on the 
main enemy camp. Riley is probably the easiest to leave alive while running for 
the main enemy camp.

The strategy allows for the option of doing this, while taking no damage in the 
process. However, since it's a 4 turn clear either way, I allow the rapid 
deployment in order to defeat the squad a second time.

When taking the main enemy camp, it's best to soften it up with grenadier fire 
before moving in. Connor can disrupt Riley, the enemy grenadier on the cliff, 
and defeat Minerva. Connor can then attack from west of the camp so that his 
attacks cause Raz to face West. This allows units to enter the main enemy camp 
from the ladder entrance without being interception fired on, where they can 
pick off any remaining units plus Claude to capture.

I retreat and redeploy Simon because he has a 200 range machine gun, which 
allows him to hit Kai on the cliff at her second deployment spot. Zaiga's 
machine gun with 120 range can't reach her. Defeating Kai a second time is 
completely optional, I only do it to say that all enemy leaders are defeated at 
the end of the mission.

t1 Rosetta moves west and spots the enemies behind the fences. Connor advances 
and destroys all enemies behind offenses. The rest of the team moves south and 
captures the first base while positioning to intercept an incoming Scout. You 
don't have to retreat Simon immediately like I do in the video.

t2 Azusa distracts Raz and the nearby shock, allowing Zaiga, Connor, and Rita 
to advance and defeat all targets. Rita repositions Azusa, takes Zaiga 
Southwest, leaves him by the truck, and captures the second base. Rita then 
returns to the rear of the truck to position to intercept Minerva. Zaiga 
repositions himself next to Rita to intercept. You may also want to move Simon 
south to help intercept.

note: When using the ammo down weapons on Riley, she can still fire with her 
interception fire shots even with 0 ammo. However it is effective against the 
mortar lancers, if you can hit them and drain their ammo they can't do anything.

After Minerva is defeated, Riley will advance and recapture the second camp. 
It's very easy for Riley to spot units through the truck because of glitchy 
terrain, so be very careful and precise with where you position them. There is 
very little safe area where she won't spot your units behind the truck and fire 
on them.

t3 Riley will be located on the second camp facing south, making it very easy 
to surprise attack her. The team defeats everyone in their way onto the third 
camp and hides. Simon and Hanna are deployed from the third camp. Connor 
disrupts the grenadier on the cliff by hitting the crate next to it.

t4 Connor disrupts Riley, and then advances Southwest to defeat Minerva and 
distract/knock off Raz and the shock on the main enemy camp. Rita uses direct 
command to carry Simon and Hanna down the ladder towards the main enemy camp, 
while resupplying Connor and clearing the way for him. Rita is available if 
Connor runs out of ammo. Once the camp is suitably softened up, Simon advances 
to defeat Raz, and take a shot at Kai if there are command points available. 
With all other leaders defeated, Hanna climbs up the ladder, defeats Claude, 
and captures.

Kai is shot at from a right angle behind a solid fence so even if she 
counterattacks, the bullet almost certainly won't hit Simon. You might be able 
to get a surprise attack from this position if you defeat the shock that's 
looking at Simon from where he's standing. Either way, don't risk it if you're 
not confident.



Beach 1 (1t/2t)
Raiding the Base
https://youtu.be/LK_CS_VgJbU

This mission is played using a book save earlier in this run, after clearing 
chapter 9 but before clearing chapter 10. This is the earliest you can access 
this mission. No ace or royal weapons are used.

The mission is cleared in one turn with no orders, all 4 aces killed, and 0 
damage taken. Every ace is killed with a surprise attack or undodgeable shot to 
increase reliability. The tank, Grenadiers, and scouts are used.

1-2 Claude moves West, knocks the nearby shock out of the way, and kills the 
first ace. Claude continues west, veering south to avoid the crouched shock to 
the north of him from facing southwest, and then mortars the main enemy camp to 
kill the grenadier and knock the enemy camp shock off. He then continue west to 
make the enemy camp shock face southeast. This is timed and angled so the tank 
radiator doesn't take any damage.

3 Curtis uses direct command and takes Minerva and Riley North, dropping them 
off near the barricades. He then grenades the barricades and continues north 
and around South to spot the second ace near the main Allied camp.

4-5 Jascha kills the second ace, continues west, and kills the engineer in the 
passage. He continues north into the passage.

6-9 Riley and Jascha kill the remaining 2 aces by carefully aiming. Since they 
aren't spotted, all of their attacks are surprise attacks.

10 Minerva provokes the shock into reorienting itself, and then gets away from 
its proximity range before it can fully turn. She kills the nearby scout and 
then captures.

In the alternate attempt, the mission is cleared in 2 turns with all aces and 
both tanks killed, with a generally more reliable strategy. This results in a B 
rank however.


Beach 2 (3t)
Bathing Suits and Bullets
https://youtu.be/vztNewFr5zU

The mission is cleared in 3 turns with no orders/last stand, ace killed, 4-5 
out of 7 tanks destroyed, and minimal damage taken. Tier 3 Royal and Ace 
weapons are used.

With the high enemy density and low a rank requirement, this mission can't be A 
ranked + ace by offensively clearing everything in the way. Instead, the party 
splits up into 2 teams, one team to defend the base camp from incoming enemies, 
and another stealth team to sneak north undetected to the main enemy camp and 
ace. As usual, stealth is the greatest weapon on a challenge run like this.

Since the stealth team is not visible to the enemy during enemy turn, the AI 
will continue sending its units towards the main Allied camp on the beach to be 
killed by interception fire and counterattacks. This saves a significant amount 
of command points.

The stealth team is made up of an engineer leader, a Lancer, and Riley. The 
stealth team can complete its mission without taking any damage.

Everyone else stays back to defend the base. The camp defense is reliable with 
the t3 ace and royal weapons plus anti-personnel accessories. Minimal damage is 
expected to be taken by the camp defense team.

The AI doesn't have enough command points for every available unit, and the 
order in which it moves its units can affect subsequent actions. That means 
actions on enemy turn can be pretty random. Generally, the AI will send its 
units down towards the beaches, but sometimes it will send them north. I'm not 
100% sure if that's a pathing issue with the stealth team, or if it's related 
to the order in which the AI chooses to act with its units.

In the video I get a bit lucky and the AI basically clears the way for the 
stealth team, which doesn't happen every time. The stealth team can handle a 
few enemies if they move north, but it does complicate things and reduce 
command points.

The mission can end with up to 5 command points to spare. This gives some 
flexibility to deal with additional enemies in the way of the stealth team or 
ace dodging.

t1 Rebecca takes Laurent and Riley North while killing an enemy scout. Riley 
kills a nearby shock and Grenadier. Each member of the stealth team ends their 
turn in a position where enemies can't see them as they run towards the main 
Allied camp on enemy turn. If you mess up and your units get spotted during 
enemy turn, it's lights out as the AI will redirect its focus onto the stealth 
team.

t2 Riley clears any nearby enemies out of the way for Laurent to destroy the 
nearby tank. Rebecca uses direct command and takes the team north and then 
west. The middle camp is ignored. The shock on the main enemy camp is killed, 
along with any other nearby enemies, and then Laurent destroys the 2 tanks in 
the way. I suggest hiding Rebecca further West from Laurent than I did in the 
video, in case he's spotted and the enemy Grenadier across the wall decides to 
fire.

t3 Rebecca uses direct command and heads West with the team, while killing 1 of 
the Northwest Gatling turrets. Riley kills the crouched sniper and heads east 
to kill the Grenadier and position on the main enemy camp. Rebecca finishes off 
the other Gatling and head south. Laurent can either head straight for the 
light tank, or optionally try destroying the nearby heavy tank. Either way, 
Laurent destroys the light tank and distracts the shock behind the truck.

The way is now clear to kill the Ace. There are too many enemies around to get 
a surprise attack on the ace, but Rebecca should have 3 grenades and right 
angle attacks to kill the ace safely. Once the ace is down, Riley can capture 
and finish.



expert skirmish rewards: aces drop the (e) weapons, other weapons are awarded 
for clearing the mission.

		aim	range	vspers	vsarmor	shots	ammo	skirmish
Brown M9D	B	400	50	86	7	inf.	1
ZM Kar X (e)	D	180	30	150	7	inf.	1
Robinson M99D	C	200	43	72	20	inf.	2
VB PL 6 (e)	D	300	200	3000	1	3	2
M2EQ-9D		C	700	280	1800	1	3	3
ZM MP 8 (e)	C+	350	48	66	7	inf.	3
LF-ASR No.9D	B	1000	135	100	3	3	4
X2 ZM SG (e)	C+	1000	95	1500	1	3	4
Elias MA9D	B	600	300	1400	1	3	5
ZM Kar 8 (e)	C	230	90	70	5	inf.	5
Lenfield D9	B+	420	43	55	5	inf.	6
VB GW 8 (e)	E+	600	720	2300	1	3	6

Skirmish 1 Expert (3t)
Hafen Escort
https://youtu.be/tkWWOtX_2O4

There are quite a lot of anti-armor enemies in between the tank and the goal. 
Grenadiers, scouts, and engineers are useful for picking off enemy grenadiers 
and breaking the barricades in the way. Minerva, Kai, Raz, and Ryan make up the 
base defense team, and Jester, Riley, Louffe, and Aulard make up the offense 
team along with Claude.

The AI will send enemies towards the main Allied camp, or hunt down any spotted 
infantry. Most of the incoming enemies are on the east half of the map. Having 
a strong base defense can save command points by killing or distracting 
incoming enemies, provided you can keep your other units hidden and not hunted 
down. You can play it safe and clear out the east half of the map instead of 
letting them run around.

Use the blue Rose door on the east part of the map to get close to the first 2 
sets of grenadiers. Keep your vehicles hidden in the flames and don't destroy 
barricades until you're ready to progress. Use spotters to spot the grenadiers 
and then blast them.

Jester is used for his anti-personnel potentials to make it easier to get 
double kills on infantry with a single grenade. There are a lot of ladders and 
doors on the maps that can be used to proc his potential. On a level one run, 
I'm limited to tier 5 grenades, which are starting to show their age. Jester's 
potential can be a reliable way to get around that.

The Ace is hiding in the middle garage on the east side near the East camp. The 
shock on the East camp is most easily dealt with using a scout or engineer with 
the telescope by throwing grenades from behind the nearby tank wreckage. 
Normally I don't use Aulard as I find him an annoying character, but in this 
case the taller male engineer model has an easier time throwing grenades over 
the Tank wreckage. The ace can be killed reliably without taking damage by 
throwing grenades with a range extension like the telescope.

There is a shock on the east part of the map above the east camp that will 
probably move south towards the east camp at some point. Capture the east camp 
and crouch at the sandbag or climb up the nearby East ladder and hide on the 
roof of the building to avoid being killed by the shock. My strategy accounts 
for this shock moving on either turn 1 or 2, or not moving at all.

On the camp defense, give Minerva a long-range accuracy rifle to fend off the 
incoming stop and shoot engineer and scout, and give Raz and Ryan the highest 
anti-personnel weapons and accessories available to kill the incoming shocks. 
If you're going to turn 4, you might want to kill the enemy lancers that 
outrange Minerva.

The engineer leader secluded near the west camp makes this mission more 
difficult for me. Killing it is completely optional, but part of this challenge 
run. A rifle grenade would be very useful in this situation. There is more RNG 
than usual mainly due to this engineer leader.

The ultimate tank in front of the goal is most easily destroyed using an 
antiarmor Grenadier. Alternately, you can disarm or run over the tank mines to 
the south of the ultimate tank to flank its radiator with Claude. If you're 
running out of command points and or low on tank HP, fire smoke around the goal 
to sneak past the anti-tank cannons. I don't use smoke in the video but it is 
an option.

t1 Riley breaks the first barricade and spots and kills the shock near the 
door. Jester uses direct command, sets up the camp defense, carries Louffe and 
Aulard through the door, heads up the ladder to grenade the 2 grenadiers, and 
then hides. Riley kills the 3 grenadiers across the road on the roof. Claude 
destroys the nearby tank and destroys the second barrier, and then hides in the 
flames. Aulard heads north to destroy the antitank Canon and grenade the shock 
on the East camp, and then hide on the nearby roof.

t2 Aulard head south, kills the shock that was on the east camp, and either 
kills the incoming shock that had moved south towards the east camp, or 
grenades the garage barrier. Jester heads north and up the ladder to grenade 
the 2 east grenadiers on the roof. Both end up hiding on the nearby roof. 
Claude mortars the shock leader from inside the flames, and then proceeds 
north. Riley kills the scout leader and then heads west and north of the letter 
to kill the Grenadier on the West camp. Claude continues north to mortar the 3 
ragnite crates which destroys the third barricade and both antitank cannons, 
and spot the 2 grenadiers on the main enemy camp. Riley kills the 2 grenadiers 
on the main enemy camp. Louffe heads north to destroy the final barricade. 
Claude moves into the flames while destroying 1-2 tanks.

t3 Jester and Aulard kill the ace. Louffe kills the ultimate tank. With the 
ultimate tank down, the way is open to reach the goal.

If there are command points to spare, Jester and Louffe head towards the 
engineer leader to kill it. Jester procs his potential using the ladder to kill 
the shock and engineer near the engineer leader more easily. Somehow I made a 
bad throw in the video, the shock should have died there. The engineer leaders 
sandbag is destroyed, and then hopefully killed. The right antitank Cannon near 
the main enemy camp is also spotted from the West rooftop to make it easier for 
Claude to kill. Otherwise, Claude kills any remaining tanks and reaches the 
goal.



Skirmish 2 Expert (4t)
Blitz Assault
https://youtu.be/YXfFMeOikd8

Enemy turns 1-2 have been sped up to 20x since it's mostly lancers firing at a 
barricade.

Claude's team includes Raz, Laurent, and Kai. Minerva's team includes Eileen, 
Riley, and Aladdin.

This mission has one of the strangest gimmicks in the game. Claude's team is 
placed behind barricades, with a number of lancers firing at the barricades, 
mortars dropping, and incoming enemy reinforcements.

Behind the last barricade are 2 powerful Gatling bunkers. The problem is since 
it's night mode, the Gatling bunkers can't assist interception fire, and your 
units can defend the main Allied camp while staying out of their sight.

The lancers are not stop and shoot so they can all be killed as they run 
towards the main camp by Claude and 2 shocks with heavy antipersonnel weapons. 
other enemy reinforcements come in at a trickle if at all. Unless you're trying 
to kill every enemy on the map, there's no reason for Claude to venture far 
past the main Allied camp.

If you're going for a 5 plus turn clear I suggest deploying an additional shock 
instead of Laurent. One shock and Claude is not quite enough to mow them all 
down as they run for the main Allied camp.

As it turns out, it's better for me if the 3 barricades are down, because it 
makes it easier to kill the tank down the road. The tank down the road won't 
start moving until the front 3 barricades are destroyed.

If the tank doesn't move, it can't be destroyed by my Lancer reinforcement 
coming from the middle camp. It's so important that I deploy my own Lancer at 
the main Allied camp to finish off the last barrier if it's still up by turn 3. 
This can happen if 1 of the enemy Lancers dies to friendly fire from another 
Lancer.

As this is a night mode map, expect sight line bugginess. Enemies can see you 
through walls or over obstacles, and grenade fire can fall through the floor. 
Still, night mode means easy surprise attacks and easy sneaking up on enemies 
most of the time.

Minerva's team is tasked with making it to the main enemy camp. Without orders, 
enemies must be carefully spotted and killed. The strategy can handle enemy 
dodges or Riley misfires, provided there are command points to spare. Team 
attacks out of enemy sight range are used frequently to ensure kills.

The mission can end with up to 4 command points to spare on a 4 turn clear. 
Enemy shocks have 9% Dodge, Laurent might have to assist in taking down the 
third barricade, Gertrude can miss her shots on the tank radiator, and Riley 
can misfire. Usually the attempt will end with 0-1 command points to spare.

The strategy is resilient to enemy shock dodges as long as command points are 
still available. e.g. Minerva probably won't run out of AP getting to the main 
enemy camp even if a shock dodges her on turn 4 because direct command is 
reserved for her, and her allies can assist in killing the shocks. There's 
still some RNG involved in a 4 turn clear as you might expect for an expert 
skirmish.

t1 Minerva's team make their way up to the ace and knock it out of hiding. You 
can kill the ace in 2 command points by blind fire head shotting it from the 
stairs, but it comes with additional complications so I didn't do it in the 
video. The Ace is hiding on the east enemy camp near the high ground next to 
the 2 unbreakable fences. To kill the ace you can either grenade it out of its 
hiding spot, or spot and snipe it.

t2 Minerva's team kills the ace and makes their way to the middle portion of 
the map using ladders. Several enemies in the middle of the map are killed.

t3 Minerva's team finishes claiming the middle of the map and captures the 
middle camp. The team positions to make the final push to the main enemy camp. 
Gertrude is deployed from the middle camp. Laurent finishes destroying the 
front barricade if necessary. Claude's team uses direct command, kills the 
Lancer leader, and gets out of sight of the lancers.

t4 Gertrude destroys the tank. Minerva's team make their way to the main enemy 
camp. Riley and Aladdin can provide long-range backup from the bridge facing 
the main enemy camp. There is a small, special spot of terrain where Minerva 
can spot both shocks from above the stairs. I take advantage of this to make 
killing them easier and more reliable. If there are command points to spare, 
the remaining stationary targets on the map can be destroyed by Eileen and 
Claude.

Skirmish 2 Expert notes for improvement: 1. It's possible to surprise attack 
the Northwest scout from the front with the right position near the pillar. 
Which means I can probably kill the Northwest shock with Riley instead, 
although it's a sketchy shot for her. 2. You can run behind the North shock on 
the main enemy camp without having to attack it from the side or front, 
assuming the other shock isn't in the way. This will slightly increase 
reliability.

I've been thinking about other strategies I haven't fully tested like blind 
fire killing the ace, or using Claude to bring a lancer to the tank, or 
sneaking Claude up to the ace. I think I'm just going to leave them though.


Skirmish 3 Expert (4t)
Escape from a Dire Situation
https://youtu.be/5BsLim2sfNg

Claude is on anti-personnel and anti-Gatling turret duty. Riley is needed to </pre><pre id="faqspan-5">
pick off the enemy Grenadiers, snipers, sandbags, and other targets. Eileen is 
on resupply duty and is equipped with the newly acquired ZM Kar X (e) rifle 
which allows me to destroy the tanks on the map without needing to deploy a 
lancer. 

This rifle takes me back to the VC1 days where scouts and shocks could destroy 
tank radiators with easily acquired weapons. In vc4 it's typically only 
possible with orders/last stand, or post game/DLC weapons. This weapon doesn't 
make lancers obsolete because it still can't do anything to tanks from the 
front or sides, it can barely one shot most tank radiators even with the ultra 
tank shard accessory, and it only has 180 range.

As usual for the expert skirmishes, clearing with a turn count this low has 
some RNG involved. Typically there are 0-1 command points to spare. I take 
advantage of a child's wish 2 times, but I end with 2 command points to spare, 
so it kind of evens out. I usually pass on a child's wish but with the amount 
of things that can go wrong with enemy shocks dodging or Riley/Claude 
misfiring, it's not terrible using it once or twice. The strategy is still fine 
with a 5 turn clear.


The ace is located on the south part of the map behind the tank. Hit it with 
explosives from behind cover.

Enemies generally have to be killed in a certain order for your infantry to not 
get shredded while passing through the middle of the map. Take advantage of the 
anti-mortar bunkers to spot the Grenadier's safely.

Skirmish 3 Expert notes for improvement: Turn one I should have used Eileen's 
grenades a second time to finish off the ace with a surprise attack. At the end 
of turn one I should have moved Riley further north, so she could fire more 
shots at the scout as it moves south along the Northwest part of the map. It 
saves command points if she can destroy the Northwest shock leaders sandbag and 
knock the scout out of grass with interception fire.


Skirmish 4 Expert (5t)
Struggle on the Bridge
https://youtu.be/ium4k4kqHzQ

The limit of 9 command points per turn combined with the large number of 
incoming enemies makes it difficult to avoid taking damage. Enemy density is 
high and enemies are well fortified with sandbags, anti-mortar bunkers, and 
fences. It's telling that the a rank clear time is 10 turns, the longest of any 
mission.

Similar to skirmish 2 and 4 hard, smoke is a reliable way to avoid taking 
damage while getting surprise attacks. Smoke is also useful for firing onto the 
bridge to flank the enemy tanks.

Even if you fire smoke, enemies will still attempt to rush the camp flag. That 
means you still have to kill, distract, or get out of the way of incoming 
enemies. Once an enemy rushes into the smoke and spots some or all of your 
units, the smoke is nearly useless from that point on. You also have to 
consider whether it's worth the command point cost, especially if you have to 
keep firing smoke every turn.

It's possible to take no damage without using smoke, but it's unreliable. 
Basically you huddle in the west corner and pray your shots land and your camp 
doesn't get captured. I've done it before and it's not suitable for a no reload 
run imo.

When infantry fire from within smoke, they remain hidden, unless directly 
spotted by an enemy inside the smoke.

When standing outside smoke and firing at an enemy within smoke, if your unit 
is currently spotted by another enemy outside the smoke, the target enemy has a 
chance to dodge even though they can't directly see your attacking unit.

When an Allied vehicle fires from within smoke, it becomes compromised, meaning 
that it must exit and reenter the smoke in order to become hidden again. This 
happens even if the vehicle uses a Gatling weapon, or if it is a surprise 
attack that kills the target, or if there is nothing spotting the vehicle. I 
believe this is a balancing mechanism against vehicles firing from inside smoke.

If a tank is hiding inside the smoke, and it gets hit with cannon fire, that 
will dissipate the smoke. However if a tank fires cannon fire from within the 
smoke to a target outside the smoke, it won't dissipate the smoke. For some 
reason tanks exploding inside the smoke won't dissipate it.

Prioritizing targets based on whether they can reach the main Allied camp, and 
whether they are stop and shoot or runners is very important for surviving 
turns 1-3. Command points can be saved by killing some enemies with 
interception fire. There are very few enemies on the upper half of the map that 
can be safely left alive.

Almost every enemy unit on the upper half of the map is available to be moved 
by the AI. That means plenty of randomness as some enemies move and some don't. 
The strategy should account for most enemy activity.

Raz and Ryan are on interception fire duty against incoming enemies from the 
north, with the highest anti-personnel damage available. Raz, Ryan, and Mabel 
head to the Northwest camp to kill the ace and snipe targets from the elevation.

Claude moves between the main Allied camp and northeast corner to clear out the 
tank there and deal with other enemies.

Kai stays on the base sniping targets and not triggering her negative potential.

Minerva, Christel, Louffe, and Riley make up the capture team. Christel is 
equipped with the antitank rifle. This rifle almost puts lancers out of 
business. The Grenadier's also provide bridge defense on the earlier turns. 
Riley is equipped for precision shots and Louffe has the tier 5 Royal weapon.

Most of the enemies on the lower half of the map can be skipped. The key is to 
not capture the camp near the bridge, or advance past the bridge, which will 
cause the AI to keep its units south of the bridge passive instead of advancing 
them and causing a mess.

This was the longest single segment recording of this run so far at 45 minutes. 
Chapter 18b hard difficulty took 40 minutes.

t1 Claude fires smoke and mortars several enemies near the main Allied camp. 
Mabel spots a scout behind the tank and uses direct command to rearrange some 
units on the main camp, and then carry Raz and Ryan North to interception fire 
enemies. Kai snipes an additional 2 enemies.

t2 Claude fire smoke and heads northeast to destroy the Northeast tank and 
disrupt the Grenadier. There may be a shock in Claude's way but he can run past 
it. Raz uses direct command to reform the team if Claude had knocked any of 
them out of position, and kills a shock. Additional enemies are killed on the 
bridge by the Grenadier's or Kai if visible.

t3 Claude moves west to destroy the Gatling turret, and then south to fire 
smoke and hide. Riley kills the Northwest sniper. Mabel's team pushes Northwest 
to the northwest camp to kill the ace and capture. Mabel kills the Lancer 
leader. additional enemies on or near the bridge are killed.

t4 Smoke is fired onto the tanks on the bridge. Christel flanks the tanks and 
destroys them. In the video I didn't try destroying the medium tank on the camp 
near the bridge on this turn, but I should have. Minerva uses direct command to 
carry the Grenadiers South.

t5 The medium tank doesn't move on to the camp every time, sometimes it stays 
put. If it's still up, it has to be destroyed. Christel destroys any remaining 
tanks, the Grenadier's deal with the enemy Grenadier and shocks near the main 
enemy camp, and Minerva takes Christel behind the ultimate tank to destroy it 
and then capture.


Skirmish 5 Expert (3t)
A Night-Shrouded Liberation
https://youtu.be/fjTKO-gPviQ

I suggest learning the spotlight patterns unless you like dealing with 
additional shocks and your units being teleported. Once you know to avoid the 
spotlights and disable/kill the incoming enemies, this is a pretty simple 
mission. After the past expert skirmishes, I expected the camps to be more 
heavily defended.

The shock weapon that makes enemies drop their ammo is a pretty cool concept. I 
finally found an opportunity to use it in a real mission attempt, instead of 
just for fun. I would have used it on 17a except the boss can throw grenades 
even when they have 0 ammo left. I would've used it against Grenadier's but 
they can fire using their interception ammo, which is infinite. 

The only enemy the weapon is really useful against is lancers since they are 
completely disabled with no ammo. On this stage there are multiple mortar 
lancers headed for the main Allied camp. Raz is equipped with the ammo 
depleting weapon to neutralize the lancers. It's also possible to kill them 
with interception fire, but ammo depletion only requires a single shock instead 
of a shock and another unit to help with damage. This frees up a deployment 
spot and opens additional strategies.

Allied units with smaller character models have an easier time getting surprise 
attacks from the front or side by aiming around corners or terrain. Female 
scouts and snipers (besides Minerva) tend to have the shortest and smallest 
models. You can get front/side surprise attacks around a lot of terrain with 
non-Minerva female scouts, although the shots are sometimes partially blocked.

Minerva heads north and east up the ladder to kill targets from the roof.

Azusa, Eileen, and Riley make up the southeast team. This team captures the 2 
South camps, kills the ace/tanks, and heads into the southeast manhole to 
assist in capturing the East camp and killing the remaining leaders.

Claude and Gertrude head East to the east camp and destroy the Gatling, assault 
tank, and 2 leaders along the way.

Raz and Kai make up the base defense. Kai doesn't really do anything except 
prevent the main camp from being captured.


Skirmish 6 Expert (3t)
Clash Between Elite Squads
https://youtu.be/Z9QvZIVSd1Q

There are many angles of approach for this stage. The main decision is whether 
to take the antitank rifle down the West path or the East path. The rifle is 
crucial for destroying tank radiators in a timely manner. Grenadier's are 
relied on heavily to clear out the camps. There's some randomness involved in 
killing enemies on the camps because of their HP and camp/crouch defense.

Claude and Jascha head down the West path. Claude captures the Northwest camp 
and kills or distracts enemies that are a problem for the East team. he can 
also reach and kill the ace if need be.

Riley, Minerva, Eileen, Kai, and Louffe make up the East team. the Northeast 
camp is captured quickly. Eileen, Kai, and Louffe reach the Southmost part of 
the Southeast high ground. from there, Eileen destroys the ultimate tank, and 
heads west across the chasm to destroy the last 2 tanks and capture the 
Southwest and Southeast camps.

Sending the antitank rifle down the West path is simpler, since you don't need 
to get past the ultimate tank and shock blockade on the southeast part of the 
map. Sending it down the east path is more complicated, but it works better if 
you're trying to kill all the leaders and tanks on the map. Whoever has the 
antitank rifle should be set as leader so they can use direct command to knock 
out multiple tanks in the same turn.

Distracting the shock on the East high ground between the first and second 
ladders is a good idea for conserving AP.

Getting onto the southmost part of the Southeast high ground is difficult. The 
shock near the ultimate tank has to be distracted and/or killed. The ultimate 
tank can be snuck past by taking the third ladder and running past the bunker. 
From there the landmines leading to the fourth ladder have to be disarmed. 
Unless your units are hidden on the southeast high ground, the nearby Lancers 
may attack on enemy turn. Position your units by the Southeast wall while out 
of potential enemy sniper attack range and the lancers will probably leave your 
units alone even if visible.

Once a certain number of enemies have been killed, reinforcements of random 
enemy types will start dropping around the map. Although I don't think I've 
seen an enemy grenadier reinforcement. The number of reinforcements likely 
depends on how many enemies are remaining. It's in your best interest to clear 
the map as quickly as possible as more enemies advance from the corners of the 
map and reinforcements drop.

Enemy AI activity is based on the position and visibility of your units, as 
well as whether bases have been captured or not. Generally, the less camps 
you've captured, and the further away from the camps that your visible units 
are positioned, the more passive the AI will be. Stage a full on assault and 
the AI will be very active.

The enemy Lancer leaders will leave their sandbags and pursue your units or 
Allied camps. I take advantage of this to save the effort of breaking the 
sandbags.

Fire at enemies from across the map to make them change their position and 
sneak past them for surprise attacks.

There are 3 main ways to kill the ace. The first method is to run a scout down 
the West path and hope that the aces interception fire doesn't hit your unit. 
If you have units positioned on the southeast part of the map, you can fire at 
the ace to make him face northeast to avoid being interception fired on. The 
second method is to bring a sniper to the southeast part of the map and snipe 
the ace. the Ace has 5% Dodge, and even if it dodges, it will turn around and 
face northeast so 1 of your scouts on the West path can flank without being 
interception fired on.

The third method is to use a grenadier from the Southwest high ground, with at 
least 650 range. This probably won't be a surprise attack, but it's possible.

Targeting with Grenadier's from the high ground is tricky. If your Grenadier's 
are too close to the enemy target, the automatic targeting system won't select 
them, you will have to aim at them manually. This can be almost impossible to 
do if you can't visually verify their position by raising the camera elevation.

The mission can end with about 4 command points to spare, but it's likely some 
shots will misfire. You'll probably need every command point you can get.

t1 Claude and Jascha head down the West path while destroying a rag crate, a 
scout, and a grenadier. Jascha spots the scout on the northwest camp and the 
scout and shock on the Northeast camp from the Northwest high ground. Riley 
attempts to kill the Northwest and Northeast scouts with surprise attacks, and 
if she fails, the other grenadier's will finish the scouts off. Louffe attacks 
the shock on the northeast camp. Eileen advances Minerva, and then takes Kai 
and Louffe East to the Northeast camp to finish the shock and climb onto the 
first ladder of the East high ground. Louffe kills the nearby scout and 
Grenadier on the southeast camp.

t2 Claude distracts the shock next to the ultimate tank, kills the Lancer 
leader on the Northwest camp, and positions himself for the incoming second 
Lancer leader. if Claude doesn't hit the shock, the shock can still be killed, 
it just won't be a surprise attack. Louffe kills the scout on the southeast 
camp and distracts the shock between the first and second ladders on the East 
high ground. Minerva heads southeast, recapturing the Northeast camp and 
killing the shock near the ultimate tank. Eileen uses direct command to bring 
Kai and Louffe down the third ladder and up the fourth ladder to the southmost 
part of the East high ground. from there, the Ace and Grenadier's are targeted. 
Eileen also destroys the ultimate tank and heads back up the ladder.

t3 The East team kills or distracts enemies from the high ground. Claude heads 
south to kill the Southwest sniper that would otherwise fire on units crossing 
the chasm. Claude can also kill the Ace from here. Claude destroying the 
Gatling turret is completely optional, I only destroyed it because I had 
command points to spare. With the way clear Eileen heads west across the chasm 
to destroy the heavy tank and capture the Southwest Camp with support from Kai 
and Louffe. Eileen then uses direct command to refresh her AP and head east to 
destroy the assault tank and capture the southeast camp.


The Two Valkyria 1 (5t)
The Unchosen One
https://youtu.be/h88I2zd1ym0

This mission is typically completed by sending your Valkyria into the middle of 
the map and letting her 1/2 HP potential activate so she can melt Selvaria. The 
strategy for this challenge run is a little more complicated.

The mission has an above average amount of randomness, due to Selvaria and 
other infantry acting randomly. The AI will usually call a reinforcement from 
each camp that it controls. Selvaria typically moves between the 4 Eastern 
enemy camps, although if allied units are visible farther from the camps, she 
may break to chase them. the generic enemies will also seek and destroy, or 
head for Allied camps and shoot at anything along the way.

Typically, Selvaria has command point priority if there are Allied units 
visible, otherwise generic infantry will get command point priority. It's 
preferable for Selvaria to act because she usually moves to confined and 
predictable locations, and uses 2 command points doing little or nothing. Enemy 
infantry are much harder to control as they only cost one command point and 
will head for Allied camps, which can get messy quickly.

Unless you are trying to kill every enemy on the map, it's better to leave most 
camps under enemy control. This will make the AI burn command points summoning 
units that it won't have command points to actually use. Capturing the West 
camp on the hill near the main Allied camp is a good idea, however.

In order to take no damage, the main Allied camp needs to be abandoned, and 
most of your units need to be hidden.

Most of the enemy leaders are easy to reach, except the 2 shock leaders in the 
northeast corner. You will need to wait for Selvaria to move out of the way to 
reach them without taking damage.

Don't destroy fences unless necessary, they provide important cover from 
interception fire.

Grenadier fire is more accurate the closer the grenadier is to its target. You 
can see this in action by comparing the average amount of damage done to 
Selvaria at max range versus close range. Since we're not relying on the 1/2 HP 
potential, firing at close range to get more damage is crucial. Generally you 
want to do 2000 damage per attack, meaning you'll need to do 11 attacks, which 
is 22 command points, not including re-supplies. Since you have 50 command 
points for a 5 turn clear, about half of the budget needs to be dedicated to 
defeating Selvaria.

It's good to send a scout and Lancer of the West Hill to capture the camp, kill 
the engineer leader, and destroy tanks. There is RNG involved in the Lancer 
shots to destroy the 2 heavy tanks. It's fine if they miss one shot, but if 
they miss 2 shots and run out of ammo on turn 2, you may be in trouble as far 
as not taking damage.

A single scout heads to the southeast camp to kill the engineer leader and 
scout leader, and hide behind the Southeast-most fence. It's crucial to 
position the scout behind this fence on turn 2 onward, because it will lure 
enemies including Selvaria to attack your scout, instead of running towards 
Allied camps and causing trouble. Attacks and counterattacks passing through 
the fence are nullified, so the scout won't take damage. This greatly increases 
chance of success and is probably the most important part of the strategy.

The various patches of grass are good for your own infantry to hide in. Keep a 
sniper hidden in the grass near the main Allied camp to pick off troublesome 
incoming infantry.

There are 3 good hiding spots on the map for Crymaria without spending excess 
command points. The first 2 are the trucks northeast of the main Allied camp. 
For various reasons, the East truck is better to hide behind on turn 2, and 
from turn 3 onward, it's best to hide behind the West truck. the third hiding 
spot are the backwards facing L-shaped solid walls near the West Hill. This is 
a good spot to hide behind if Selvaria moves to the Northeast camp. Crymaria 
should always face away from the center of the map to avoid interception firing 
and exposing her position.

Use direct command wisely to fire large numbers of shots from a good position, 
and then refill AP to move back to a hiding spot.

You'll need to adjust your strategy on the fly depending on where Selvaria 
positions herself. The Northeast camp is the easiest and safest position, 
allowing you to move pretty much unhindered. The middle camp is slightly more 
dangerous, but objectives can still be completed unless you've destroyed fences 
unnecessarily. The East Hill camp is pretty dangerous, and generally you can't 
safely advance north past the 2 cargo trucks. The southeast camp is probably 
the worst, because it makes it more difficult to kill the scout and engineer 
leader nearby, and get behind cover.

t1 Crymaria defeats 2 clusters of enemies, and brings Scout 1 and lancer closer 
to the west Hill. Scout 1 and lancer destroy some tanks, defeats the engineer 
leader, and capture the West Hill camp. Scout 1 retreats while the Lancer hides 
behind a truck. The enemy sniper is killed with a team attack, and the allied 
sniper hides in grass. The 2 assisting snipers retreat. Crymaria is positioned 
to defeat the scout leader as it approaches.

t2 The Lancer destroys the remaining heavy tank and retreats. The next set of 
actions depends on Selvaria's position. Crymaria defeats the nearby triple 
Gatling turret and engineer, and either hides behind the East truck, or takes 
one more action to destroy 1 of the Northeast shocks, if it's safe. the allied 
engineer kills the enemy engineer and hides next to Crymaria. Scout 2 heads 
east to the southeast camp to defeat the engineer leader, Scout leader, and 
hide behind the southeast fence. If Selvaria is on the southeast camp, I 
suggest hiding the scout in grass and trying again on turn 3.

t3-5 Once all but the Northeast shock leaders have been defeated, it's a matter 
of finding a way past Selvaria to defeat them without taking damage, while 
dropping attacks on Selvaria at close range. Your scout or sniper may be able 
to distract Selvaria to sneak past. You need about 25 command points to defeat 
Selvaria without any potentials activating, including engineering supplies.


The Two Valkyria 2 (5t)
The Chosen One
https://youtu.be/GbcCYa8DYI0

Use the invincible fences to draw tank fire without any risk of damage. 
Interception fire can safely kill all but the stop and shoot scout and shock.

Crymaria tends to lurk around the south part of the map if Selvaria advances 
aggressively.

Selvaria has no problem destroying the nicely lined up tanks. The 2 tanks on 
the West Hill are a command point drain, but a 5 turn clear is still reliable.

Position Selvaria underneath mortar bunkers or hide her to avoid damage from 
Crymaria.

Not too much to say about this one, it's not as complicated or difficult as 
Crymaria's mission.