9 bugs vs. tanks! - collecting the rest of the tanks from 2nd and 3rd level missions

Dear Readers,

I looked up the tank icons on the missions to see what they meant in the instruction manual. It said these missions had abandoned tanks to find! I decided to go over the last few missions with the tank icons and find them!

Replaying the level 2 and 3 missions were pleasant enough. The missions are short and breezy so it was nice to mow down the ants and navigate the mazes to find the tanks. I'm not sure yet if you can just collect and quit without losing what you collected. I'll have to check later.

It was fun and varied to replay the raining one as well.

Now to check out the new tanks I collected!

German Panzer IV Ausf. H - A bigger and more powerful, yet slower tank than my default one in the game. This was made when the Germans had to deal with Soviet firepower.

Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go - A lighter tank that looks nice and speedy from the stats, but weaker in power and defence.

Japanese Type 97 Chi-Ha - looks very much like a main tank. 

Soviet KV-2 - This one got some surprised dialogue because it was an Allied tank, and challenged our theory that the Allies shrunk us. It's got a pretty big turret.

8 bugs vs. tanks! - rescuing other tanks from a big spider's web

Dear Readers,

The next mission was a rescue mission! To be exact it was about rescuing Lieutenant Kremmel. This was mission level 3-4, Operation: Jerk Rescue.

Colonel Diekmann told us we got an SOS from Kremmel, saying they'd been trapped in a spider web in the branches above us. We had limited intel on spiders, so he advised us to avoid direct combat and prioritise rescuing our comrades.

What followed was a cutscene where a bee got stuck in a huge spider web and got gored by the spider lurking there. We were close by! Joachim suggested using the bug carcasses to stay out of sight so we could rescue the others. Ernst then spotted Kremmel's tank all rolled up in the web. We had to burn through it with our firepower.

Straight away we were next to the spider! It was a slow, clumsy, scary journey trying to navigate without getting killed. The spider was just too big and kept catching up with us. We freed the tank at the centre, whose crew were alive and asked us to rescue the other six tanks in their platoon! We got them all while being chased by the spider. I'm not sure if there was any way of doing this without being hit? In any case, we got them all and found Kremmel, who was freaking out and insulting us. We told him we were happy to find him in good spirits and to follow us back. I got an A rank and 475 points for this mission.

Back at the camp, Kremmel continued kissing butt and making bad observations. Diekmann said a spider wouldn't attack unless it was provoked. There was stuff to consider, but for now it was the end of the level 3 missions.

New bug:

Garden Spider. This was the behemoth we had to avoid. Not sure if it was possible to sneak past it undetected. Big scary legs and fangs.

I also got a medal for clearing all LV 3 missions, the Spider Web Houdini award.

7 bugs vs. tanks! - destroying ant hills and fending off giant mosquitoes

Dear Readers,

With lumber secured it was onward to mission 3-2, Operation: Ant Hill.

Colonel Diekmann thanked us for our tireless work. He reported that scouts had found anthills and he ordered us to destroy them. We got on pretty well here, destroying 4 sugar ant hills and 1 big regular ant hill. Once or twice things got a little crowded but we managed it ok. I got 458 points with an A rank.

Ernst boasted about not breaking a sweat when taking out the anthills so Diekmann said he'd assign us tougher duties then. Oops.

New bug entry:

Army Ant. A big white ant with huge jaws. I don't recall seeing these in the last mission. Maybe they were from an earlier mission.

Now for mission 3-3, Operation: Bloody Night.

We got ambushed during the night! We got into our tank and got ready before the others. Diekmann ordered us to hold the attacking mosquitoes off from attacking the base.

It was darker and that buzzing was not pleasant! The mosquitoes came in fast and in big numbers. To make it worse, ants came along as well, including big queen ones! At one point and it was near the end, it got so clustered around the base that I had to call in SOS again and that took care of the big crowd. Thankfully, the mosquitoes were quick enough to shoot down. We finished the mission successfully with an S rank and 503 points.

Ernst said he could shoot mosquitoes until they became extinct. Joachim said that it was going to his head. Diekmann talked about remaining vigilant at night and told us to get some shut-eye before the next mission.

New bug:

Mosquito. They're fast and awful and with our shrunken size they'd suck every drop of blood if they had the chance. Yuck...

6 bugs vs. tanks! - collecting lumber and looking up history of real life tanks i found

Dear Readers,

Now to start the Level 3 missions with the first mission, Operation: Tree Base.

Colonel Diekmann was much more polite and respectful than Lieutenant Kremmel was. He graciously asked us to gather lumber so that we could reinforce our established base against the bugs.

It was a new maze with new bugs and new music with bongo drums! Joachim told me about using weapons to break down bits of logs into small enough parts of lumber to carry back to base. The maze had a nice bit of variety with mushrooms and ferns growing around the place. The echo-y bongo music was cool as well.

I finished the mission and got 385 points, a B rank, a Bug Ace medal for exterminating 100 bugs and a new tank I found.

New bug:

Termite: The white ant-like bugs first seen in this mission and it says they're related to cockroaches. Yuck.

The new tank I found was a Japanese Type 2 Ka-Mi. Not sure why it was here but hey, it's a tank so it qualifies for the overall theme of the game! It's an amphibious tank shaped like a boat, but it could also go on land. Pretty cool to look at from all angles.

I looked at the other tank I found earlier, the Fascist Italian Fiat M13740, which didn't do so well in North African sand. It looks skinny compared to the default tank I was using, the Panzer III Ausf. L. It's fun to look up these tanks online. Good way of learning history I suppose!

5 bugs vs. tanks! - sheltering under leaves against dangerous raindrops

Dear Readers,

On to mission 2-4, Operation: Rain Drop.

It started raining and we had to flee under a leaf for cover! When it stopped, we found out our camp got washed away! Kremmel barked orders at us. Joachim asked him where should we go and he said to use our noggins and escort him somewhere safe. What a jerk he's continuing to be...

Joachim recalled a tree from our previous scouting and suggested heading there to sit out the storm. This one was interesting. We took shelter under leaves and hollowed out obstacles. We were even able to attack bugs this way, even while there were walls between us and the targets! Not gonna complain, especially since we have the burden of weapon cooldown!

The rain effects were visually minimal but the hazard came in frequent waves and we ended up losing half of HP. It wasn't easy going between small shelters of leaves and having to deal with ants and bees at the same time. Some of the shelters didn't really work that well and some bits of rain got through. There were more rock obstacles blocking paths, forcing us to take detours as well. It was a messy mission.

When we reached the tree, Joachim said the rain must've washed away the rock that was blocking the path to it. I guess that explains where the other blockages in the path came from. I got 337 points, a B rank and a Ranger of the Greens medal for clearing all the level 2 missions.

Safe in the shelter of the tree, Lieutenant Kremmel was rattled. Ernst quietly wished the rain washed him away instead of our supplies. We found that Colonel Diekmann's brigade was here and he was happy to see us unharmed. Kremmel brownnosed him and praised his own abilities. Diekmann said they lost many men. He didn't know what caused us all to shrink either and he placed more importance on survival for now. Kremmel did more butt kissing and we groaned quietly. Diekmann told me he was giving me commands directly from here on, taking over from Kremmel.

I took a look at the other medals and the conditions for obtaining them, some of which are dependent on StreetPass and playing Co-Op with another player. Probably not going to win them all... With the all tanks collected award I may need the other Guild games, but I don't know for certain. Oh well...

4 bugs vs. tanks! - finding food and defending the camp against huge disgusting ants

Dear Readers,

Now for more LV 2 missions. This second one is called Operation: Food Forage.

Kremmel told us to find food as we were completely cut off since we got shrunk. He said if we weren't working we weren't eating.

We came across a bunch of ants that were carrying cracker crumbs. Joachim said we needed a total of five so we had to scout around.

It's the same old maze looking for crumbs, but there seemed to be a lot more ants and they were coming out of anthills as well. It's scary when they gang up on you but with ranged fire we were able to catch them in between rocks or around awkward corners. There's also really ugly things like cigarette butts but they're good for cover. The sugar ants seemed bigger this time. I finished the mission and got a B grade.

On to mission 2-3, Operation: Ant Assault.

During Kremmel's briefing, Grenadier interrupted with an emergency: The ants were attacking the camp! Kremmel threatened him with consequences but since this was an emergency, he only criticized him for not telling him sooner. He ordered us to protect the camp at all costs!

I failed this one! It was pretty scary and the bugs came in large numbers. Some of them were absolutely humongous as well! I tried again, but changed to pierce type shell.

It worked out better this time with the piercing ammunition. When the big disgusting winged one attacked I used the SOS button to get rid of it, winning the mission this time, earning 567 points, an S rank, and a safety medal for not getting hit. Yay!

Recorded some more bug information:

Queen Ant: A bigger version of the black ants. Pretty intimidating size and power

Queen Sugar Ant: The massive disgusting winged one. Strange how she's bigger than the other queen, but her subjects are smaller than the other subjects.

3 bugs vs. tanks! - scouting for water resources

Dear Readers,

Now to start the level 2 missions. 

LV 2-01 Sub Mission Operation: Morning Dew. This was about securing water sources. I was able to customise our tank now but I didn't bother for now.

Kremmel ordered us to secure resources, starting with water, since we couldn't rely on being resupplied in our shrunken state.

Joaquim suggested finding water rather than engaging the bugs in combat and Ernst taught me how.

I found this misson pretty clumsy when trying to avoid engagement. The ants and bees were just... there everywhere. I thought of being a bit stealthy but it didn't seem feasible. I eventually just tore through everything I could find and eventually found some dew drops guarded by some gigantic ants. they took several hits and a bit longer to defeat but they were so big they couldn't fit past gaps in rocks, so I was able to beat them handily.

I found two more dew spots and that was the mission! I got a C this time. C for clumsy I guess haha. I got As up until now.