Advance Wars 1 and 2: Re-Boot Camp might look like a bright, approachable tactics game at first glance, but there are subtle mechanics under the hood that can make or break your strategy. One of the most important—and often overlooked—elements is terrain. New players (and even returning veterans) may not realize just how much terrain influences survival, attack efficiency, and overall battlefield success. This guide breaks it down clearly, with direct damage comparisons to illustrate why terrain positioning matters so much.

---

Understanding Terrain Defense: Zero to Four Stars

Most terrain types in Advance Wars provide defensive bonuses ranging from 0 to 4 stars. These stars reduce incoming damage when your units are attacked. Here are the common terrain types and their respective defense bonuses:

• Road / River – 0 defense
• Plains – 1 defense
• Woods / Forests – 2 defense
• City – 3 defense
• Mountain – 4 defense (infantry only)

The lower the terrain defense, the more damage your units will take. This also means you will deal more damage to enemies if they’re standing on weak terrain like roads or rivers.

---

Damage Differences in Action: Infantry vs Infantry

To demonstrate how terrain affects damage, the guide runs a series of mock battles between identical infantry units. Here’s how much damage one unit dealt to another based on terrain defense:

• Road / River (0) – 6 damage dealt, 1 received in retaliation
• Plains (1) – Slightly less damage dealt, more taken due to the defender having more active units
• Woods (2) – 5 damage dealt
• City (3) – 4 damage dealt, very even trade
• Mountain (4) – Break-even or potentially even lower damage, depending on RNG

This showcases the pattern: as terrain defense increases, the attacking unit deals less damage, and the defender suffers less.

---

The RNG Factor: How Randomness Influences Damage

Even with the same units and terrain, damage can vary due to a small RNG (random number generator) element built into the game. For example, two identical infantry attacks on road tiles could produce 6 or 5 damage depending on how the RNG rolls. These fluctuations are subtle, usually rounding up or down based on fractions (like 44.5 rounding to 45), and are influenced slightly by CO traits.

This means you might deal 2 damage instead of 3—or take slightly more or less retaliation—depending on the roll. But terrain defense remains a consistent influence that affects every engagement.

---

Tank vs Infantry Comparison

When a tank attacks infantry, the outcome is drastically more severe. On terrain with no defense (like roads or rivers), the infantry unit is practically annihilated:

• Road / River (0) – Infantry is reduced to 2-3 HP
• Plains / Woods / City / Mountain – Infantry survives with progressively more HP (up to 4 in mountains)

This confirms that placing vulnerable units in high-defense terrain can literally save them from being one-shotted. And keeping a damaged unit alive can still serve strategic purposes, like blocking enemy movement or capturing properties later.

---

AA Gun vs Infantry: Total Overkill with Slight Survivability

Anti-Air (AA) guns are specialized infantry killers. Their results across terrain look like this:

• Road / River / Plains – Infantry is completely destroyed
• Woods – Infantry survives with 2 HP
• City – Survives with 3 HP
• Mountain – Survives with 4 HP

This scenario shows that terrain can literally be the difference between instant death and a surviving unit. Keeping units alive—especially in defense-heavy terrain—means they can serve as roadblocks, scouts, or potential reinforcements.

---

Strategic Takeaways: How to Use Terrain Effectively

• Attack from strong terrain when possible. Even though you’re the attacker, you might still take retaliation damage. Being on a forest, city, or mountain reduces that risk.
• Avoid leaving your units on roads or rivers. These offer no protection. Even plains, with only 1 star, are better.
• Infantry should take cities, forests, or mountains whenever possible. They’re often on the front line, and these tiles can drastically increase their longevity.
• Vehicles should prioritize cities or forests. They can’t use mountains, but forests often offer enough cover, especially when defending against enemy indirect fire.
• Think beyond attack power. Survivability adds value. A unit with 2 HP left might still block a bridge, capture a building, or act as bait to pull enemies into range of your artillery.

---

Final Word: Terrain Is More Than Background Art

Terrain isn’t just for looks in Advance Wars: Re-Boot Camp – it’s one of the most important layers of the game’s strategy. Learning to position units based on defensive values, unit matchups, and the likely retaliation scenarios will make you a smarter and more successful commander.

So next time you’re moving your army across the map, ask yourself: Where is this unit most likely to be attacked from, and what’s the terrain defense there? Answering that might be the difference between victory and a critical loss.

Stay smart, play tactical, and let terrain be your shield!