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Cosmic Wars (コズミックウォーズ Kozumikku Wōzu?) is a turn-based strategy game produced by Konami in 1989 based upon the wars of the Gradius/Nemesis series. It was released only in Japan on the Famicom. The game has a spiritual sequel that was released in 1997 called Paro Wars, which is Cosmic Wars' Parodius equivalent.

Description[]

Cosmic Wars is a turn-based strategy game, in the vein of the Famicom Wars series, pitting the Gradians against the Bacterians. Much like its inspiration, there are several types of units with differing abilities. Armies are formed, and both sides attempt to capture planets to control income, and eventually conquer a capital planet to win the battle. Turns are conducted through several different phases, starting with a 'Hiring' phase, a 'Purchasing' phase, two 'Combat' phases, and a 'Planet Repair' phase. Occasionally, events happen at the beginning of a player's turn which could be beneficial or detrimental.

The introduction shows an alliance that lasted over 900 years between the Gradians and the Bacterians which was shattered by an unknown attack. It is unknown which side attacked first, but this event resulted in an all-out war. The player must take up either the Gradian or Bacterian side and conquer whole systems and finally take over their opponent's home planet. It is unknown what Gradius/Nemesis games this conflict is related to, or if this is simply another branch in the series.

Plot[]

The history of mankind is the history of battle.

Many countries were born with the glory, and they went scattering.
However, the destruction caused by fighting and the circulation of construction will increase the civilization of mankind to a more powerful one,
It became the driving force of a new breakthrough.
And at last the human race started thinking to control the universe.
The creation of that new history,

I did not notice that it was the beginning of a new battle · · · ·
Prologue

In the Procyon star system, the first stellar state of humanity was built. The universe history starts here.

About 100 years after the establishment of the first stationary state, a triangle star system was newly born (106 years of space history). With the development of numerous space developments thereafter, the human race successively formed a nova nation state.

Space history 230 years, the birth of a diamond star system.
In 382, ​​the cassiopeia star system nation was born.
In 418, the birth of a rabbit-like system.
In 532, the Orion star system nation was born.
In 604, Andromeda star system nation was born.

And in 639 years of space history, the human race started the development of Centaurus star system. However, contact from one party investigating the third planet of the same star system Sissain was suddenly stopped.
As a result of the emergency follow-up survey, we concluded that there was an accident caused by a huge meteorite collision. The next year, many unmanned vessels headed to the planet for full-fledged cause investigation.

Space history 645 years, the returning unmanned exploration boat is slightly one machine. However, people shudd at the information brought there. The accident of the third planet of the star Sisain was not a collision of a meteorite. A deliberate attack by someone, the investigation team was annihilated.
Human beings have the most tragic encounters with unknown life forms.

Space history 649, each star system was attacked by an unknown life form. On the other hand, all the fixed star states fought with strong unity.

Here, the spectacular space war "Cosmic Wars" which human beings could not experience yet was started.

Gameplay[]

Phases[]

  • Purchase - Spacecraft can be purchased in this phase. Purchased craft will not be completed until your next turn. There are 16 manufacturing slots.
  • Hire - This is where you hire the commanders needed to create a fleet. You can make an offer, and up to five potential commanders will show interest, at which point you can hire one or more at the price you offered. A higher price tends to attract higher grade commanders and more of them, but there is a heavy amount of RNG involved.
  • Make Unit - You can create a fleet by selecting a commander you have hired, choosing units that have already been constructed from your pool, then placing it anywhere in your capital solar system. Units must contain a single Flagship unit, while Mecha and Fighters require a Carrier unit to be present in the fleet.
  • Warp - This phase has three functions:
    • Warp - permits a fleet to warp to any solar system connected to the one they are currently in, without the Flagship needing to be on top of a warp gate. This cannot be used if an opposing fleet exists in the system your fleet is warping from. You cannot warp a fleet that has warped once already, using this command.
    • Disband - You may disband any fleet inside your capital system, which will return all units of the fleet to your production slots for the Purchase phase of next turn, allowing you to refurbish them to full HP at no cost. You can use this to repair a lot of damaged units for free, or to free up your highly experienced commanders of decimated units.
    • Trade - You can trade units between fleets in the same solar system.
  • Combat 1 - This phase can only be invoked in solar systems containing fleets from both sides. There are three sub-phases called Move-1, Move-2, and Move-3, in which a player may move, attack, or perform special actions, eventually ending the sub-phase. A Warp command is available, which will allow a Flagship to warp provided it is positioned on top of a warpgate. Both players receive a full set each of these three sub-phases, alternating them between each player. If all fleets from either army in the system are removed from play, Combat 1 ends immediately. A solar system that has had combat occur there cannot have a second separate round of combat occur by any means.
  • Combat 2 - In contrast, this phase allows "combat" in solar systems that only contain your fleets. You can use it to adjust your positioning or capture planets in such systems, just like you could in Combat 1. A solar system that has just had a Combat 1 phase cannot have a Combat 2 phase. Note that the Warp command is unavailable; that command can only be performed in Combat 1.
  • Upgrade - During this phase, you can repair damaged planets that are under your control. It costs 500 per bar, for a maximum of seven bars besides the first (which cannot be removed). You can only perform one upgrade per turn per planet. Each upgrade adds 100 to the dividend the planet will give at the beginning of the turn, as well as the amount of damage it can take before it is captured. It will take five turns to break even on a single upgrade (-500, +100 per turn).

Ships[]

There are several types of ships available to each side that can be used in your campaign to conquer your enemy. Their names and capabilities will be listed below. Each group has 10 ships (health) except where noted.

There are 4 possible weapon types:

  • Bombs - Deals good damage to most targets
  • Beams - For dealing with Fighters and Mecha, though there are generic beams that work on most targets
  • Blasts - Which are great for D-Submarines and are otherwise useless
  • X-Bombs - X-Bombs are interchangeable with regular Bombs, save for working well on D-Subs and poorly on Destroyers.
  • Flagships

Flagship Bacterian

  • Original Names - Flagship, Bacterian
  • Fan-Translated Names - Warpbase, Starbase
  • Price - 500
  • Moving Range - 5
  • Slowed by x2 - Blueswirl Greenswirl Sparks
  • Slowed by x3 - Asteroid Crystal Derelict
  • Weapons - Bombs, Beams
  • Cost-efficient against - n/a
  • Cost-inefficient against - n/a
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Bombs, XBombs
  • Description - This is the most important ship in your fleet. If this is destroyed, your fleet will also be destroyed. It has high defense against all attacks, save for the instant kill of the cannons. It is difficult to pin-point the efficiency of this ship in battle, since its destruction equals loss of the fleet, but it can deal some damage to weaker units easily. Fighters, Mecha, and D-Submarines perform extremely well against Flagships, while Destroyers and Cruisers perform pretty abysmally.
  • Heavy Battleships

BattleshipA Bigcore

  • Original Names - Battleship A, Big Core
  • Fan-Translated Names - Warhawk, Samurai
  • Price - 3000
  • Moving Range - 4
  • Slowed by x2 - Blueswirl Greenswirl Sparks
  • Slowed by x3 - Asteroid Crystal Derelict
  • Weapons - Bombs, Beams (Range 3 - 5)
  • Cost-efficient against - n/a
  • Cost-inefficient against - n/a
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Bombs, XBombs
  • Description - Artillery ships. These ships can fire from a long distance but cannot fire if they move. Tough to kill, and deals respectable damage to most ships. They cannot attack spaces below range 3, or counter-attack.
  • Light Battleships

BattleshipB Littlecore

  • Original Names - Battleship B, Little Core
  • Fan-Translated Names - Baracuda, Ninja
  • Price - 2500
  • Moving Range - 6
  • Slowed by x2 - Blueswirl Greenswirl Sparks
  • Slowed by x3 - Asteroid Crystal Derelict
  • Weapons - Bombs, Beams (Range 2 - 3)
  • Cost-efficient against - n/a
  • Cost-inefficient against - n/a
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Bombs, XBombs
  • Description - Same as the Heavy Battleship, except weaker and less expensive. The lower minimum range may help give fire-support to tighter formations, and the higher movement range may aid in keeping up with the main fleet. The Heavy Battleship is usually the better buy, but this ship can still deal heavy damage to most targets.
  • Heavy Cruisers

Heavycruiser Heavycruiserbacterian

  • Original Names - Heavy Cruiser
  • Fan-Translated Names - Injector, Wraith
  • Price - 1900
  • Moving Range - 7
  • Slowed by x2 - Blueswirl Greenswirl Sparks Asteroid Crystal
  • Slowed by x3 - Derelict
  • Weapons - Bombs, Beams
  • Cost-efficient against - Destroyers
  • Cost-inefficient against - Fighters, Mecha, Missile Ships, Cannon Fodder
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Bombs, XBombs
  • Description - Bloated expensive ship. Can deal good damage to most ship types, but will usually take too much damage to be cost effective. Can barely beat Destroyers cost efficiently most of the time, but RNG, commander stat differences, or terrain can easily swing this the other way. Cruisers can also safely defeat Fighters that have had their Bombs depleted.
  • Light Cruisers

Lightcruiser Lightcruiserbacterian

  • Original Names - Light Cruiser
  • Fan-Translated Names - Sunshark, Griffon
  • Price - 1700
  • Moving Range - 6
  • Slowed by x2 - Blueswirl Greenswirl Sparks Asteroid Crystal
  • Slowed by x3 - Derelict
  • Weapons - Bombs, Beams
  • Cost-efficient against - None
  • Cost-inefficient against - Everything
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Bombs, XBombs
  • Description - Same as the Heavy Cruiser, except weaker but slightly less expensive. The massive loss in power is simply too great to justify the small cost reduction. Avoid.
  • Heavy Destroyers

DestroyerA DestroyerAbacterian

  • Original Names - Destroyer A
  • Fan-Translated Names - Eagle, Valkyrie
  • Price - 1200
  • Moving Range - 6
  • Slowed by x2 - Blueswirl Greenswirl Sparks Asteroid Crystal
  • Slowed by x3 - Derelict
  • Weapons - Blasts, Beams (general purpose)
  • Cost-efficient against - D-Submarines
  • Cost-inefficient against - Missile Ships, Cruisers, Cannon Fodder, Fighters, Mecha
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Bombs
  • Description - Destroyers are equipped with the blast weapon, which is solely for attacking D-Submarines. Can fight Fighters and Mecha, but is not a cost efficient trade against them on average. Strangely weak at attacking Flagships, even though its beam weapon is damaging to most ships resistant to beams.
  • Light Destroyers

DestroyerB DestroyerBbacterian

  • Original Names - Destroyer B
  • Fan-Translated Names - Rogue, Demon
  • Price - 1000
  • Moving Range - 4
  • Slowed by x2 - Blueswirl Greenswirl Sparks Asteroid Crystal
  • Slowed by x3 - Derelict
  • Weapons - Blasts, Beams (general purpose)
  • Cost-efficient against - D-Submarines
  • Cost-inefficient against - Everything else
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Bombs
  • Description - Same as the Heavy Destroyer, but weaker and cheaper. This version is only worth using for its Blast weapon on D-Subs. The loss in power makes it far less able to deal damage to anything else, and the loss of 2 movement makes it difficult to catch anything with it.
  • Missile Ships

Missileship Missileshipbacterian

  • Original Names - Missile Ship
  • Fan-Translated Names - Falcon, Medusa
  • Price - 500
  • Moving Range - 6
  • Slowed by x2 - Blueswirl Asteroid Crystal
  • Slowed by x3 - Greenswirl Derelict Sparks
  • Weapons - Bombs
  • Cost-efficient against - Destroyers, Cruisers, Cannon Fodder
  • Cost-inefficient against - Fighters, Mecha
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Bombs, XBombs
  • Description - Can deal heavy losses to just about any ship, and costs very little. One of the few ships that can deal with Cannon Fodder efficiently. Its inability to do much against Fighters and Mecha would keep this from being a prime choice, if not for the fact that the AI doesn't respond to these with the proper units.
  • Ammo Tenders

Tender Tenderbacterian

  • Original Names - Tender
  • Fan-Translated Names - Skymoth, Bloodbat
  • Price - 200
  • Moving Range - 5
  • Slowed by x2 - Derelict Greenhaze
  • Slowed by x3 - Blueswirl Greenswirl Asteroid Crystal Sparks
  • Weapons - Beams (63 charges)
  • Cost-efficient against - Most ships
  • Cost-inefficient against - Missile Ships, Fighters, Cannon Fodder
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Bombs, XBombs
  • Description - These ships can fill up the ammo of any vessel next to it provided the tender nor the receiving ship has moved/attacked. They can attack but are very weak, about the same as Cannon Fodder (weapon and ammo refill both use a Beam charge). This ship can actually fight and harass effectively against most ships, and has the added benefit of not running out of ammunition easily. Cannon Fodder is usually better for the task thanks to a lower cost. It IS a superior ammunition draining ship against weak vessels, however, thanks to its 63 beam charges. Try keeping one or more of these ships with your Capture Ship groups.
  • D-Submarines

Sub Subbacterian

  • Original Names - D-Submarine
  • Fan-Translated Names - Star Car, X-Tank
  • Price - 2000
  • Moving Range - 2
  • Weapons - XBombs
  • Cost-efficient against - Cruisers, Missile Ships
  • Cost-inefficient against - Destroyers, Cannon Fodder, Fighters, Mecha
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Blasts, XBombs
  • Description - The sole carrier of the XBomb weapon, which is almost identical in characteristics to a regular bomb, save for being good against D-Subs and bad against Destroyers. This ship only has 2 movement, but cannot be slowed by terrain. It has a very high defense against every type of attack except Blasts, XBombs, and the Cannon's attack. Generally not a great ship, as its slow movement makes it very unwieldy, and it tends to get ground up by cheap units.
  • Cannon Fodder

Scout Scoutbacterian

  • Original Names - Scout Ship, Cyber Eye
  • Fan-Translated Names - Wombat, Firefly
  • Price - 100
  • Moving Range - 7
  • Slowed by x2 - Blueswirl Greenhaze Sparks Asteroid Crystal Derelict
  • Slowed by x3 - Greenswirl
  • Weapons - Beams (general purpose)
  • Cost-efficient against - Most ships
  • Cost-inefficient against - Missile Ships, Fighters (discounting the Carrier cost)
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Bombs, XBombs
  • Description - Cannon Fodder/Harassment unit. Rarely able to hit anything. However, the low cost means that the few hits that it does cost the enemy a lot more money. Can be used en-masse to wear down the enemy or deplete ammunition. Performs surprisingly well against Flagships. Keep it away from Missile Ships and Fighters unless you're trying to deplete ammo; you can't really fight them cost effectively with Cannon Fodder.
  • Carriers

Carrier Carrierbacterian

  • Original Names - Space Carrier, Zelos
  • Fan-Translated Names - Mammoth, Hydra
  • Price - 4000
  • Moving Range - 4
  • Slowed by x2 - Asteroid Crystal Sparks
  • Slowed by x3 - Greenswirl
  • Slowed by x4 - Derelict
  • Weapons - Beams
  • Cost-efficient against - None
  • Cost-inefficient against - Everything
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Bombs, XBombs
  • Description - They are needed in the fleet if Fighter and/or Mecha are going to be used. They are very weak, but destruction of them will not destroy your Fighters/Mecha, though if a fleet warps without a Carrier, any Fighters or Mecha in the fleet will be lost. Ideally, an orphaned Carrier would be escorted back to its capital system and disbanded for use in a new fleet.
  • Fighters

Vicviper Viccyber

  • Original Names - Vic Viper, Vic Cyber
  • Fan-Translated Names - Sunviper, Sunsabre
  • Price - 500
  • Moving Range - 8
  • Slowed by x2 - Sparks Greenhaze
  • Slowed by x4 - Blueswirl Greenswirl
  • Weapons - Bombs, Beams
  • Cost-efficient against - Cruisers, Missile Ships, Cannon Fodder, D-Submarines, Capture Ships, Ammo Tenders
  • Cost-inefficient against - n/a (Cannon Fodder if their Commander's attack stat is at or near max)
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Beams
  • Description - They have the most movement at 8, and are armed with both Beams and Bombs. They do some of the best damage with either weapon. Fighters get slowed down greatly by Vortexes (takes 4 movement for one). Weak to Beam weapons. Very cost effective against Cruisers, which the A.I. will stupidly hurl into them over and over. Mecha roughly break even in terms of efficiency when fighting this ship on fair terms. This is the ship to beat.
  • Mecha

Battlesuit Cybersuit

  • Original Names - Battlesuits, Cybersuits
  • Fan-Translated Names - Tommy, X-Trooper
  • Price - 800
  • Moving Range - 7
  • Slowed by x2 - Sparks Greenhaze
  • Slowed by x4 - Blueswirl Greenswirl
  • Weapons - Beams (general purpose)
  • Cost-efficient against - Cruisers, Missile Ships, D-Submarines
  • Cost-inefficient against - Cannon Fodder, Capture Ships, Ammo Tenders
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Beams
  • Description - Mecha can hit most targets using their Beams as the Fighters do with either weapon. However, this unit has a lot of trouble damaging Capture Ships. This combined with 1 less movement, half the ammo, and a higher up-front cost, all make this unit pretty substandard when compared to the Fighter.
  • Capture Ships

Ops Aps

  • Original Names - O P S (Occupy Planet Ship), A P S (Anti-Planet Ship)
  • Fan-Translated Names - Scout, Dragon
  • Price - 200
  • Moving Range - 4
  • Slowed by x2 - Blueswirl Derelict
  • Slowed by x3 - Greenswirl
  • Weapons - Bombs, Beams
  • Cost-efficient against - Most ships (Including Mecha)
  • Cost-inefficient against - Fighters, Cannon Fodder
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Bombs, XBombs
  • Description - These ships are the second most important next to Base Ships in a fleet. They are the only ship capable of conquering planets. They can be used as harassment ships effectively, but Cannon Fodder fills that role more cost efficiently. Nonetheless, these ships are the back-bone of your fleets. Using them to drain ammunition from enemies, wearing down enemy ships, and blocking off access to a recently captured planet by surrounding it are all key strategies vital to success. Ideally, enemy capture ships will lose all of their ammunition, while yours constantly refill at a planet that you have captured.
  • Cannons

Bustergun Cybergun

  • Original Names - Buster Cannon, Cyber Gun
  • Fan-Translated Names - Star Gun, X-Cannon
  • Price - 6500
  • Moving Range - 7
  • Slowed by x2 - Greenswirl Greenhaze Sparks Asteroid Crystal
  • Slowed by x3 - Blueswirl Derelict
  • Weapons - Beams (Range 4 only, hits all units in a cross shape)
  • Cost-efficient against - n/a
  • Cost-inefficient against - n/a
  • Preferred weapon to counter this ship - Bombs
  • Description - The Cannons are the most powerful vessel available but it only shoots at range 4 directly (but can hit range 3 and 5 with the splash). It kills anything (including friendly units in range) in a single shot. There is only 1 ship in this group so it's really easy to destroy. A well placed Cannon can instantly remove an entire fleet in one shot to the Flagship, making it a great defense option for your home system.

Commander stats[]

There are four stats in this game, and three of them are used to determine the Battle Value of each combatant. These four stats can be as low as 0, and as high as 15.

Experience and Levels - For every 4000 experience your commander gains, they perform a sort of 'level up', and may gain a point in each stat. It's always a single point, but the stats that gain a point are left to random chance. After gaining a certain stat total, the commander may increase in Rank. This Rank has no bearing on their function, it is just a measurement of how many stat points they have total.

Battle Value - This value is determined by factoring the selected weapon, the ship type, the enemy's ship type, and the terrain the enemy resides on, as well as your attack, defense, and terrain score (if applicable). The resulting Battle Value is then measured against a random roll of 0 - 255, repeatedly. The measurement will be performed an amount of times equal to the attacker's HP (i.e. a 7 HP unit is measured 7 times). If the number rolled is lower than the Battle Value during any of these measurements, then a hit point is deducted from the enemy. The battle values are found at ram addresses 0065 and 0066, with 0065 being the initiator of the battle, and the 0066 value representing the target unit.

Spade Attack - This stat boosts the battle value of a given ship in combat. A stat of 15 can boost your Battle Value by about 18% when compared to a stat of 0. The fan translation calls this "Command". This is easily the most important stat, because the effect is very large in all situations. A commander with a high stat here can vastly improve the damage-dealing ability of weaker units.

Clubs Defense - This stat reduces the opposing ship's battle value. A stat of 15 here can reduce the enemy's battle value by about 6% compared to 0 defense. The fan translation refers to this as "Power". The second worst stat, but every bit can help.

Heart Luck - This stat modifies the random result by adding the luck value directly into the roll. A stat of 15 increases the 0 - 255 die roll by about 5% compared to a stat of 0. HOWEVER... this is a bad thing! A LOWER die roll number than the Battle Value leads to a successful hit, so the increase via the Luck stat can actually cause an attack to miss. Maxing out this stat actually gives your enemy a 5% higher survival. Ideally, this stat would be kept low, but it doesn't harm your commander's performance much, so you can ignore it.

Diamond Terrain - A high stat here simply mitigates the damage reduction of the enemy's terrain. A maxed stat results in an increase to your Battle Value somewhere between 5% and 20% when battling an enemy that resides on defense-boosting terrain, depending on which terrain it is. Aside from Attack, this is the second stat to prioritize when hiring commanders. This stat is called "Wealth" in the translation.

Stats are found starting at the ram address 6840.

Terrain[]

Some terrain offers a defensive bonus to ships residing on it, reducing the Battle Value of incoming fire from an opposing ship by the indicated amount. The Terrain score of an attacker will mitigate some of the damage reduction.

These scores are deduced from some testing, but the actual result can vary slightly based on the Battle Value of the attacker (lower Battle Values seem to be reduced slightly less by terrain than larger ones). The scores indicated by the manual appear to be twice of the actual values used in the game.

Space Space - 0% defense


Blueswirl Blue Vortex - 18.75% defense


Greenswirl Green Vortex - 6.25% defense


Greenhaze Green Haze - 12.5% defense


Derelict Derelict - 6.25% defense


Asteroid Asteroids - 25% defense


Crystal Ice Asteroids - 25% defense


Sparks Sparks - 6.25% defense


Station Starbase - 6.25% defense. Starbase can refill ammo and also will heal 2 units per use of the Supply command (allowed once per turn), however you must have the funds. These are determined by ship type.


Warpgate Warpgate - If you warp, you must exit from these. Additionally, you may use them during the Combat 1 phase by placing the Flagship on top of them and choosing warp from the menu.


Asteroidbrownimpassable Volcanoes - Impassable.


Orangeorganic Organic Wall - Impassable.


Redorganic Red Organic Wall - Impassable.


Metalrock Metal Rock - Impassable.


Comet Comet - Impassable.


Planet Planet - You need to conquer these to earn more funds. A recently conquered planet adds 200$ to the dividend you receive each turn. Can be Fixed during the Upgrade phase for 500$ each, which will increase the payout by 100$ for each one performed. The supply command can be used to restock ammo for all adjacent units, for a small fee (no repairs are performed).


Capitalplanetb Capital Planet - You must capture this planet to win. This planet is much tougher to capture than a normal planet.


Sun Sun - A large impassable object.

Events[]

(the BRC translation patch names are first, the originals are in brackets)

  • Hope (Boom) - Money gained is doubled this round.
  • Mine Find - Money gained is tripled this round.
  • Gas Bomb (Space Storm) - Affected Fleet loses 2 ships in every squad.
  • Bomb (Nova) - Affected Fleet loses 2 ships in every squad.
  • Uprising (Space Pirates) - Total money is cut in half.
  • Doom (Recession) - You get no money this round.
  • Aliens (Plague) - All planets in a solar system lose one bar.
  • Wars (Rebellion) - All planets in a solar system lose one bar. If the level of a planet is 3 or less, it may revert to neutral.

Strategy[]

Warping out has many strategic concerns.

-Warping cannot be done with a Warp Phase if an enemy fleet exists in the system, and must be done by the Warp command during combat by sitting the Flagship on a warp hole.

-Warping out during your turn with your last fleet allows the enemy to warp in on top of it and destroy it.

-Warping out during your opponent's turn allows you to regroup and warp back in on your turn immediately.

-Warping out also can end a combat phase prematurely if its the last fleet. This can be done on purpose.

-Avoid destroying your opponent's last Flagship if you want the combat phase to continue. Similarly, you can suicide your last Flagship to terminate the combat.

-Artillery can fire immediately on warp-in. This includes Cannons.

Additional information[]

  • This game uses the combat model of the early Wars games. Both sides will attack simultaneously, and the damage dealt cannot exceed the amount of attackers.
  • There is a heavy random element in damage dealing, because each shot of a unit is checked individually by RNG, compared to a rarely perfect Battle Value. The same battle under the same conditions can have wildly different results.
  • Damaged same class units can reinforce each other by stacking, as long as one point is missing from either one.
  • If the unit is over the max due to reinforcement, the remaining points will stay with the reinforcing unit.
  • Unlike Famicom Wars, a unit that has been reinforced does not lose its movement. You can chain together many reinforcement actions to ultimately propel your forces much farther than they could have individually. Note that the ammunition of the resulting unit is that of the unit being reinforced (ammo of the reinforcing unit is lost).
  • Commander ranks are G, F, E, D, C, B, A, AA, S, and SS (you cannot purchase above A rank). This is just a result of the total amount of the four stats, not a strength stat on its own.
  • Higher hiring costs can bring in better commanders, but you must offer a lot of money to make much of a difference (and the result is highly random - it still might not pay off).
  • When a fleet warps into a system, enemy ships underneath the units that warp in will be destroyed.
  • Destroying certain stronger classes with weaker classes may net you better EXP.
  • Tired of the AI suiciding Cruisers into your Fighters? Want a better challenge? Try not building Fighters or Mecha - the AI can cope much more easily with other units.

See also[]

Gradius video games
Gradius series GradiusGradius IIGradius IIIGradius GaidenGradius IV: FukkatsuGradius GalaxiesGradius VGradius ReBirthGradius: The Interstellar AssaultGradius NEOGradius NEO Imperial
Spin-offs Salamander (Life Force) (MSX ver.)• Salamander 2Nemesis 2 (Nemesis '90 Kai) • Nemesis 3Nemesis (Game Boy)Cosmic WarsSolar Assault
Parody games ParodiusParodius Da!Gokujō Parodius!Jikkyō Oshaberi ParodiusSexy ParodiusParo WarsOtomedius (Otomedius Gorgeous) • Otomedius Excellent
Other games ScrambleThunder CrossThunder Cross IISpace ManbowForce Gear
Pachislot Gradius: The SlotCR Parodius Da! EXGokuraku Parodius!
Cancelled Vic ViperGradius ArcSalamander HD Remaster
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