The Design Room in Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is where your creativity meets tactical map-building. Whether you’re constructing custom battles for fun or making brutal gauntlets for friends, the tools at your disposal matter. And in the Re-Boot Camp edition, there’s more than ever to work with. This guide covers all the new terrain pieces and units you can unlock in the Design Room, including some iconic structures from Advance Wars 2, and explains how to access them.

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Standard Design Room Options

Initially, the Design Room includes basic tools from both campaigns:

• Terrain Tiles: Plain, Road, Bridge, Wood, Mountain, Sea, River, Beach, and Reef.
• Buildings: Standard property types for each faction (Orange Star, Blue Moon, Green Earth, Yellow Comet, and Black Hole).
• Units: All standard combat and support units available across all factions.

These let you build functional and fun maps—but they’re just the beginning.

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How to Unlock Extra Pieces

Once you’ve completed both campaigns—or possibly just Advance Wars 2 (confirmation varies)—you’ll unlock a special item in Hachi’s shop called “Extra Pieces.”

🎖️ To be safe, aim to finish both campaigns to ensure everything unlocks.

After purchasing Extra Pieces, return to the Design Room. You’ll now see a new tab filled with powerful and thematic tools that weren’t available in the original games.

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What the Extra Pieces Include

Super Weapons and Structures:

• Mini Cannon – Automatically fires at units within range.
• Black Cannon – A larger cannon from the campaign that functions similarly, targeting high-value units.
• Laser Cannon – Fires a horizontal laser each turn. Hits every unit in its path, regardless of side.
• Death Ray – The massive superweapon from the final battle of Advance Wars 2. Devastating and dramatic.
• Volcano – A terrain hazard that activates periodically. Cannot be placed on the same map as a Death Ray.

Special Terrain and Objects:

• Pipes – Block movement and create chokepoints.
• Pipe Seams – Breakable sections of pipe. Destroying them opens up access.
• Labs – Grant 1,000 income per turn but offer zero defense to units stationed on them.

Volcano Targeting Markers:

• Circle Tiles – Indicate lava strike points on even turns.
• Cross Tiles – Indicate lava strike points on odd turns.

This feature allows players to program custom volcanic activity based on turn parity, adding a new layer of environmental hazard.

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How the Cannons Operate in Custom Maps

There are notable differences in how these weapons behave in versus mode versus campaign play:

• Mini Cannons / Black Cannons: In the campaign, these only fire at player units. In the Design Room, they will target the highest-value unit within range, regardless of faction.
• Laser Cannons / Death Ray: Fire every turn and hit all units in their range. There’s no way to assign targeting restrictions, so all units are fair game.

This ensures that using these structures in multiplayer maps adds unpredictability and tension.

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Limitations and Compatibility Notes

• Volcano and Death Ray Cannot Coexist: If you place a Volcano on a map, it removes the option to place a Death Ray and vice versa.
• Super Weapons Cannot Be Customized by Faction: These pieces behave autonomously, firing at any target based on value and position.

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Strategic Uses in Map Design

• Use Pipes and Pipe Seams to control pacing and create forced chokepoints.
• Position Labs in risky zones for high-risk, high-reward economic play.
• Design volcanic hazards for timed area denial mechanics.
• Add superweapons to simulate boss battles or escalation events.

The sky is the limit with these extras. Whether you want to emulate campaign challenges, build competitive PvP maps, or go full chaos mode with environmental destruction, these tools offer unprecedented design freedom.

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Final Thoughts

The inclusion of powerful campaign features in the Design Room is a massive upgrade from the original GBA titles. Unlocking these extras gives you access to iconic campaign elements like the Death Ray, Mini Cannons, and Lava Strikes, letting you craft maps that feel as epic as the story itself.

So fire up the Design Room, experiment with these new tools, and see what kind of tactical mayhem you can create. Whether you’re building for balance or spectacle, Advance Wars Re-Boot Camp now has all the tools to bring your vision to life.

Happy mapmaking, Commanders!