Battle of Bataan (F2P Perfect Clear Guide)

This is for you, Gerd von Rundstedt , a guide for this infuriating mission. Even better, it's a perfect clear and completely F2P, only free gens were used.

A little rant before I get into the guide:  . This mission was hell. It took me 5 tries to do this. First, your allies. Your allies are pretty much useless, you can only rely on them as cannon fodder. They can't even take Manilla on their own. They can't clear the harbors during their landing so they suffer heavy causalities from the American navy. Second, there are just so many things that can go wrong. The big things to worry about are MacArthur, Manilla, and the American navy.

Here's a meme that displays why MacArthur is such a pain in the butt.



This, Easytech knows how to make their games hard. If you don't kill Macarthur fast enough, but managed to kill his Rangers special force, he will equip himself with transport troops and retreat. This, plus him having +3 innate movement means if he retreats, you can say bye to that perfect clear. 

If you want to take Manilla in time, you need to make sure you take the city with an airport northeast from Manilla. This way, you send a paratrooper (it needs two or three stacks to make a difference) to reinforce your allies' struggling attack. It's a pain in the butt trying to get an enemy to kill your special force so you can equip paratroopers.

Lastly, the American navy. Your allies will not kill the American navy in the east. Since this is an annihilation mission, you're going to have to kill the American navy on your own. The airport that I mentioned earlier for Manilla is also needed to destroy these ships. You need to have saved enough money to scout the ships and kill them using torpedo bombers. 

Okay, rant over. Here's what I used:

Generals

• Messe
  
• Bock
• Model
• Ozawa 
  

Tech

• Level 3 infantry, tank, and artillery
• Level 2 Navy and Airforce

Special Forces

• Level 3 Wiking, White Death, Grenadier, Akita, Parachute Jaeger
• Level 2 Prince Eugen, Yoshida, Panther

Reinforcements

• 1 Torpedo Bomber
• 1 Infantry
• 1 Tank

Now, the strategy:

Conditions

• Main: Annihilate the enemy
• Sub: Defeat 12 enemy units in 6 turns
• Sub: Capture Manila in 14 turns
• Sub: Defeat MacArthur in 14 turns

Phase 1: The Landing
You're going to be landing in the east, not the south. Put a wiking and Model on one infantry and send him to be adjacent to the enemy submarine. Equip the other infantry with a Grenadier and move it similarly to Model. Destroy the submarine in one turn by purchasing a torpedo bomber and using it. Move the rightmost ship a bit back so it doesn't get counterattacked. Then, finish the sub off with the ship and Model. Put Ozawa on the battleship and bombard the naval gun in the center. Put a Prince Eugen and Bock on the armored car and send him to be adjacent to the northmost coast. Put transport troops on the last infantry. Move it away from the artillery in the South. Use your last ship to bombard the artillery while staying out of range. Now, its turn 2, so land your troops and use your ships, except for the left one, to bombard the enemy city. Use the last ship to chip away at the units in the South. Don't bombard the city in the south yet because the units will just heal itself. Capture the eastern city and move Bock to attack the factory south of it. Use Ozawa to support him, while you have your other ship rejoin the left one at chipping away at the Southern units. Now, the second phase begins.

Phase 2: No return for Macarthur
Move your infantry to take the city east of the factory. Purchase an infantry and put a White Death on it. Keep using Ozawa and Bock to take the factory. Once you do, recruit stacks for Bock. Thanks to his leadership ability it only costs 10 economy. Keep using your other ships to chip at the Southern units. Watch out for an approaching enemy submarine. Prioritize destroying that sub over chip damage. At turn 6, MacArthur will spawn, you need to make sure your infantry are close enough to the city in order to bait Macarthur into attacking. Next turn, concentrate your army to finish Macarthur off before the end of the turn. Purchase a tank in the coastal city and put Messe on it. Once Macarthur is defeated, a bunch of enemies will suffer a morale drop and you can safely take the city. Now, the third phase begins.

Phase 3: Dropping into Manila
Once you have taken the city, heal your units and split up your army. Bock and Messe will head to the coastal city in the northwest while Model and all the infantry will head for the coastal city northeast of Manila. Use your navy to support Bock and Messe. After Bock and Messe capture their city, have them also take the city in the south. Again use your navy for support. Once they lose their special forces, put a Yoshida on Bock and a Panther on Messe. After Model and your infantry take their city, capture the airport and put Parachute Jaeger on Model. Send Model to help your allies capture Manila since they should only have one or two units left for a final assault. Heal your infantry in the coastal city while Model captures Manila. Now, the fourth phase begins.

Phase 4: Race for time.
Now, we will assault the central city from all directions. Model in the South, the infantry in the East, and Messe and Bock in the West. Use the airport in Manila to drop Model anywhere you want and cooperate with your allies to take the city. Make sure you control the factory and city so you can heal Messe, Bock, and the infantry. Put an Akita on one of the infantry for some anti-tank power. Send Model back to Manila to heal. The airport will be used in the final push. While this is happening, your navy should be chipping away at the forces stationed at the southwest most peninsula. Now, send all your forces to take the peninsula. There are many enemy units stationed here so healing up is absolutely necessary. As the enemy moves up troops, this gives you an opening to drop Model behind their lines. Crush the enemy from both sides. Lastly, use your airports to destroy the remnants of the American navy, both near the peninsula and in the eastern sea. Make sure you save up enough money for this. Parachuting Model to a nearby airport and using his +10 airforce ability is recommended. Use scout planes to look for the enemy and torpedo bombers to kill them. With the American army and navy destroyed, the enemy has been annihilated. 







Here's a legend for the map above:

Colors

• Red: Your Armor 
• Green: Your Infantry (with Model)
• Yellow: Your Infantry (without Model)
• Cyan: Model
• Purple: Your Navy
• White: Your Allies
• Pink: MacArthur
  
  

Symbols

• Arrow: Attack path
• Lines with unfilled circles: Paradrop location
• Filled in Circle: Important enemy