General Tips and Help Sheet 
for Blood of Zeon on the
Sony Playstation and
Giren no Yabou (Giren's Greed)
for the Sega Saturn (and Dreamcast too, I think)

(That was long. ^_^)

******

This document may not be used for anything besides non-profit usage.

I only played the PSX version, so I'm not responsible for any accidental
misinformation caused by different consoles. I'm also not at the second half
of the game yet.

Before I forget : Some of the material in this document actually comes from
hints and tips found in two separate FAQs to the game...Dan Green and JL
Lee's. However, I just thought I'd compile them in an easier-to-read format,
as well as add my own discoveries - my guide is in NO WAY intended to rip off
and\or plagiarize their excellent work. In fact, you should go read both FAQs
too, because they explain the basics better than I do. (And Dan's even has a 
menu translation!)

******

Basic Hints and Tips :

1. Know which side you're picking. The Federation starts off with most of
Earth and a LOT more Money and Resources, as well as the ability to produce
the mighty Gundam series when Project V reaches fruition. They also gain the
services of the White Base crew later on in the game.

The Jions, on the other hand, have a LOT more ace pilots than the Federation.
And I do mean a lot - before White Base appears the Federation is pretty much
strapped in this regard. They also have more space-control but less in terms
of cash.

In terms of units, the Federation focusses on a more well-rounded approach;
their units, while not as strong as the Jions (in general - the Gundams are
a notable exception) they are more multi-purpose and adaptable to a variety
of situations. The Jions tend to have one-use powerful units. This difference
in design philosophy will be very important in the game, so be sure to
understand it. However, it becomes less noticeable as the tech levels of 
both sides increase and they are able to build a variety of units.

Of course, if you're really a true Gundam fan you're probably going to play 
both. ^_^

2. Keep a piece of paper or small txt. document full of your troop movements,
current areas of battle, currently researched units etc...yes, I'm serious
here. This is a big game, and it's very easy to get bogged down by the 
enormous amount of information you have to process. Writing it all down not
only helps with strategizing, but it makes things more fun when you don't
lose major battles because you had 5 going on at one time and forgot which 
one to send the supply units to. 

3. Here's a list of Strategy Points and their corresponding space locations 
for easy reference. I've also included how much revenue on average that they
produce  :

Peking - Peking (low)
Jaburo - Jaburo (high)
Odessa - Odessa (high)
America - America (medium)
Africa - Africa (medium)
New York - America (medium)
California - America (medium)
Belfast - Odessa (low)
Kilimanjaro - Africa (medium)
Hawaii - Peking (medium)
Trenton - Australia (low)
Madras - Odessa (low)

(in space)

Granada (medium)
Solomon (high)
A Bao A Qu (high)
Side 3 (high Money, low Resources)
Luna 2 (high)

---

Strategy and Movement Phases :

1. Research constantly, because your opponent is doing so too. Always pump to
the maximum whenever possible, especially when there's only a little bit left
at the edge of an almost-full bar - research carries over, and each level is
more expensive than the one before. If you want, you can let slack your MA
development a bit (they won't become useful until the middle to late stages
of the game) but try not to.

2. Keep your spy bar full. It doesn't really cost that much and is absolutely
essential to success in this game. At lower levels, it lets you see how many
units the enemy has at each given terrain as well as supplying you with other
useful information, and at max it even lets you steal enemy plans. 

3. Move units. I know this sounds like stupid advice, but with the game being
as complex as it is, it's too easy to leave units sitting in factories after
their completion. And you always want your ace pilots at the forefront, doing
what they do best, so move! Keep HLVs going to space-drop points, supply
ships to weak areas, and reinforcements for defense. The green dots indicate
that a unit is moving FROM that territory and not TO, BTW.

4. Know when to do what. Yes, another obvious-sounding tip, but one that 
bears repeating. For example, when gearing up for a series of risky advances,
it's okay pump the money normally used for research into new units, or call
in some favors from your allies. Then go for a speech to increase morale. 
As I said, a game this complex has lots of variables; things are dynamic - go
with the flow. 

5. Always initiate (if possible) Special Plans the minute they become 
available, because they usually need a long time to be completed and for some
of them every turn is precious. The others allow you to attack Special Areas,
so I'm sure you can see their use. 

6. Consider making a speech before attempting large invasions, because it ups
all units' morale by 15. Useful.

7. Develop new units ASAP, because most of them take rather long to be 
completed. You can supply money to get the job done in half the time, but I
don't think it's worth it unless you really need the unit. Another reason to
develop new units is that upon completion, you get a free sample of that unit
delivered to your home base. More important, though, is the fact that you
will not receive the plans for somelater units if you haven't developed the
earlier ones they are based on.

8. Focus on the frontline. It's no point having already occupied areas hold
units (except maybe one or two in case of emergencies) - transfer everyone to
where the actual fighting is going on.

9. The stealing of enemy plans carried out in two ways; (1) spying, (2) 
getting it from enemy technicians when your relationship with them is maxed 
out. This way, you too can build NT1-Alexes or Big Zams. ^_- If you're 
extremely lucky, that is. Normally you'll get trash like Dodais or Fly 
Manthas. But getting it from method (2) allows you to see in advance what it
is..

10. Under no circumstances let your leader (General Reville, Giren Zabi, or 
later Paptimus Sirocco, Jamitov Highman, Haman Khan, Aguille Delaz, Casval 
Daikun (aka Char Aznable), Kishiria Zabi) get killed in a unit; if this 
happens, your leader dies, your side has no leadership, your troops will get 
massacred, and, most important of all, YOU WILL LOSE. (Unfortunately, this 
doesn't work if you kill the leader of any opposing side. Life sucks.)

11. BTW, stuff like the NT-1, Big Zam, White Base, and the O are *not* one of a 
kind. Keep that in mind. ^_-

12. Remember to check back every turn to reassign wounded commanders who have
recovered! It is important! Even people with extremely low statistics *can*
increase the performance of a unit...also, since units do not automatically
recover past a certain extent (when they have lost actual troops and not
just taken damage) you need to manually choose the Supply command, so check
your troops periodically.

13. Keep relations with various powers up, because it affects your trade; 
even with next to no territory, one can still gain a large amount of 
resources from trade.

14. Consider standardizing your units. Around the middle of the game, when
I was attacking\defending 8 or so areas at once, I found myself having
trouble keeping track of what was where, so had each active area stationed 
with a supply ship, some mobile suits and a squadron or so of air support.
This greatly helped with unit cohesiveness, especially since each group was
more or less equipped to most situations thrown at it. 

15. Always develop useful units the moment you receive the plans for them,
and consider pumping in cash to produce them faster - you'll need them. 
Also develop cheap units so that you can receive the first free one at low
expense.

16. If your relationship with the enemy technicians is very good (and it's
easy to get that high by constantly giving them info on your technology -
don't worry, this won't backfire on you) you can ask them to give you enemy
plans straight off; very useful, especially as you'll be able to see what 
you're getting. This is another reason to keep your spy meter high - without
having a high enemy tech level (only added to by spying and asking for 
technician favors) you won't be able to produce what you obtain from the 
enemy.

17. Units with Shields can sustain a lot, and I mean a LOT more damage than
those without. What you probably don't realize is that this is because they
absorb entire hits - that's right, a Shield-equipped unit can actually almost
deflect whole direct attacks. That's not something to laugh at, so be very
careful using and fighting against such mobile suits. 

18. If you want to draw an enemy out of an area badly, you can always lure 
them by placing a small number of units in an adjoining area; they will 
almost always attack. This has two advantages - first, they will not attack
will all their troops, thereby splitting their forces and two; it's much
easier to defend rather than attack a territory.

19. In the second part of the game, if you're really having a hard time, you
can increase relations with one of your enemies a lot and call a ceasefire
with them. This will be costly, though - around 20,000 Money. 

---

Combat :

1. Conserve your ace pilots. If any named pilot dies in battle, it's a 2 to 
3 turn wait until they can return to active duty - not so bad when small fry
like Apollie or Bernard Monsha are concerned, but do you really want to lose
the services of the likes of Char Aznable and Amuro Rei? Which leads me to my
next point...

2. Arrange your troop layers. When stacking units (moving units on top of
each other so they can attack and defend as a group) note that ONLY the first
unit gets attacked - the others take damage, but it's negligible. The first
unit bears the brunt of the attack, so be sure to shift your unit order so
that damage is minimized and spread out equally amoung all units in a group.
(Especially when dealing with ace pilots!)

3. Movement ranges are VERY important in this game. What with all the moving,
invading, garrisoning and fighting you do, you've got to be very aware of 
each unit's abilities. Some tips to remember :

a) It's generally a good idea to have a carrier or supply ship of some sort
accompany the bulk of your troops so you can transport them more easily -
Zakus and tanks aren't exactly very speedy. Just be sure to unload the units
when actually going into combat, or your carrier and all the forces inside 
will go boom. The same warning applies to HLVs.

b) Planes can fly pretty fast, so they're ideal for flushing out the last one
or two units on a map which prevent you from occupying it. Keep in mind that
your actual fighting force should always consist of mobile suits, though -
flying units are mainly support. Another good trick you can pull off with
planes is to move them along unoccupied supply lines, thereby turning them 
your color and enabling your slower-moving main force to move faster along
them.

c) Units can move one hex more than usual on supply lines that they control,
which can be a godsend in mountainous areas. While on them they also get 
their energy supplies refilled by a small amount each turn.

d) Don't move all over the place. Decide on specific routes to take and 
stick to them - fighting, combined with long journeys, seriously drains your
energy reserves. Supply ships and lines solve this problem, but it's good to
be wise about your travel decisions.

4. Now, about HLVs. Believe it or not, the enemy ACTUALLY CONSIDERS THEM
VALID TARGETS and will divert forces to attack them, sometimes even ignoring
your own troops. So, don't scrap old HLVs - use them as decoys! 
Unfortunately, they aren't very sturdy and will usually blow up after an 
attack or two. Another thing to remember is that you can actually move HLVs
in space, creating even more decoy opportunities. Finally, HLVs can go back
up to space, but only at Strategy Points.

5. Watch the terrain. Land units have trouble moving over mountainous 
terrain and can't move over water (or rivers) at all. Submarines, of course,
are water only. The problem with realistic maps like the ones in this game
in that you often can't tell exactly what terrain a given hex is on, so keep
your eyes open. You should also check out the battle maps of whatever areas
you're going to be attacking\defending so as to know how best to manuever on
them. 

6. Although they don't get any bonuses for doing so, normal pilots CAN use
the Customized mobile suits (Special Issue Char Zaku I, Special Issue Black
Trinary Doms etc.) as well, so don't junk them when you upgrade your aces'
current units. Because "normal pilots" are automatically supplied by the
computer, it's like getting new units for free!

7. Keep a variety of units around. You don't want to send RX-79's against
submarines where they can be bombarded and not retaliate, and neither do you
want your tanks to attack flying bombers. Having various types of units also
means that your resources for dealing with different kinds of enemy attack
and defense are increased - you don't need to use "attack in full force" as
your default plan any more.

8. A good strategy to consider when trying to Control multiple points is to
split your infantry (mobile suits and the like) so they can hit different
areas. Also, it actually takes energy to Control a point, so totally depleted
units can't do anything at all.

9. Section off map entry points to prevent enemies from entering them. If you
can get enough units to surround one, it's basically the same as controlling
the adjacent territory since they can't invade. Combined with the Bog-Down,
this can be an excellent tactic for delaying enemy advances.

10. Now we come down to what is probably the most-used and effective combat
tactic in all of Blood of Zeon...the dreaded Bog-Down. Drum roll, people.
In order to succeed, you'll need to know both how to apply and defend 
against it.

The basic use of the Bog-Down is simple. Make sure the enemy can't defeat 
you. Note that this doesn't necessitate defeating the enemy - just so he 
can't kill you. The usual tactic is to get one unit and place it in a 
far-away position, thereby making the enemy walk a damn long way to get to
you. You can also place high HP units in Control points or do basically 
anything to remain alive - another good strategy is to use marine units when
the enemy has no means of attacking them.

Now, I'm sure you can see the obvious applications of this technique. While
a territory is considered to be engaged in combat (even if it's just one 
unit sitting there) you can't produce units from it, move through it, 
resupply units inside...you get the picture. Basically, anything besides 
reinforcing your position with more units is a no-no. The only way you get
out of this jam is to either eliminate all the enemies (or, if you're
attacking, Control all points) or retreat.

So you're thinking to yourself - "Cool! With this, I can slow down my enemy's
advance like nobody's business!" Well, although that may be true, the enemy
AI (while stupid in some regards) tends to use this technique on you an 
awful lot. You've got to learn how to counter as well as implement it, which
is where my tips come in :

Impletation :

a) Use marine units (or air units) which enemies cannot attack.

b) Attack surrounding territories of an area you are really attacking to
prevent them from reinforcing - all you need to do is tie them up, you don't
need to kill them.

c) Don't haphazardly attack. You'll have a bunch of units fighting prolonged
battles which can't be gotten out off. This can be offset by having supply
planes carry your units around, though.

d) Bog-Down strategically. Try to target Strategy Points (so the enemy can't
produce anything) areas which border many territories, areas with lots of
troops etc.

Against :

a) Use speedy units to fly and destroy that single enemy unit that's giving
you trouble. Keep supply planes around to ferry ground units.

b) Don't be afraid to retreat if you really need your forces in another area.
After all, you can attack and gain back lost territory later.

c) Get correct types of units. I've lost count of the amount of times my
advance has been stopped by either marine units or stupid air units which my
Zakus can't attack effectively. 

11. Although it's generally a good idea to identify what kind of unit an
enemy is (if not, all you'll see is it's name, and even if you've fought 
against it, none of it's other stats, even HP) sometimes, you should just 
fire away and not waste time. Try to use only your units with high Scanning
rates to identify and the rest to fight. But if a unit uses a close range 
attack on you, it will be auto-identified.

12. Ranged fire is an extremely important factor in combat, especially later
in the game. With it, you can attack units that cannot retaliate because
their weapons don't reach so far...of course, your enemy can and often does
this to you too. Develop units with ranged weapons fast and remember this 
fact - even if stacked, ONLY units which can attack from afar will do so;
the rest will just sit around. Also, note exactly which attacks hit from what
range; you don't want to waste all your firepower and ping at the enemy with
lousy missiles, even he can't counterattack.

13. Although it gets boring after a while, I recommend you keep the battle
animation on. Why? Because then you can see how your different weapons do 
damage. If you find that your missiles aren't as effective as you thought,
don't use them next time. Though it's faster, the scene skip for battle 
doesn't allow you to gather this vital information. However, battle animation
isn't always an accurate indication of what is doing how much damage; the 
unit shown on screen will almost always deal the finishing blow, sometimes to
an unbelievable extent; imagine a Guajin losing 400 HP to a continuous stream
of machine gun bullets after taking no damage from a salvo of lasers, and you
get the general idea. But it's still useful for, say, noticing that your 
beams are bouncing off an I-Field or something...

14. The switchable weapon configurations on some units (most notably the 
basic Zaku) are there for a reason - so you can decide which fits the 
situation. In plains terrain, for instance, using the Machine Guns and 
foregoing the more powerful Zaku Bazooka might just give you that extra boost
of speed you need to finish the enemy before he brings in reinforcements on 
the next turn.

15. "Scatter Minovsky Particles!" You've probably heard this line before, and
what's more now you can say it too! ^_^ Well, the fact of the matter is that
Minovsky Particles are good at diverting long-range assaults - just have your
capital (or supply) ships churn out a wide enough field and the enemies can't
fire at you. This works better on defense since the enemy will have to come
to you (and you can fire back!) but a savvy commander will find ways to 
exploit this function to his\her advantage. When fighting in space, always
check the Minovsky Particle concentration perodically - since most battles 
there are fought with capital ships, doing so can mean the difference 
between victory and defeat.

16. It's usually a better idea to kill of all the enemies on a map rather 
than attempt to Control all the points because 1) only certain units can
Control points, and they tend to be slow 2) it's a lot easier. 

17. Decoying can prove a useful tactic in battle. The enemy often will move
out of it's positions to attack weaker units and you can prevent the full
defensive power of a unit from being utilized if you just have one unit split
from the main group and attack from the side - the enemy will not hesitate to
counterattack, which means they can't pick the defense option and end up
taking a lot of damage. The best thing about decoying in this game is that
you can always shift the decoy back into a unit stack and place it at the
bottom order to keep it alive while still retaining it's firepower. 

Also, the aforementioned tactic works great when attacking a powerful 
opponent (like Johnny Raiden in a Customized Zaku) - simply attack with a 
weak unit from the side and he'll counterattack it instead of your main
force, thereby minimizing casualties. If you approach a large force with 
capital ships and a weak fighter escort, the enemy goes for the fighters all
the time. Learn and remember this and it'll aid you tremendously.

18. When producing units, keep in mind the number of troops that make up one
unit of that type - for example, submarines are considered 1 unit by 
themselves, but fighter planes usually come in 3 to 5 groups. For each troop
within the unit, it gains an additional attack (for example, planes will
fire 5 times if at full health, as opposed to Customized Zaku, for instance)
whereas single units fire only once. However, when a unit composed of 
multiple troops has lost life, you can only recover it to it's current level
of troops on the battlefield - (though on the Strategy Map it can go back to
full life) for example, I have a Zaku-J unit which is damaged down to 34 HP.
It can only recover up to 60 HP (the maximum for two troops in that 
particular unit) because I've lost one; whereas a single unit always fires
the same amount. Keep the differences between both kinds of units in mind
(troop units tend to have more firepower to make up for the potential losses)
when planning what to manufacture. 

19. Keep track of which units can Control and which can't - you don't want to
protect an area with planes only if your opponent's coming in with a whole 
lot of mobile suits - some will get past your guard and seize your Control
points. Remember, you can take an area by getting all points under your 
control - in space, where moving around is easier, a good fake-out can land
you the victory without you having to expand precious units.

20. Only the first unit in any stack will attack the enemy with close-combat
weapons - that's why it's sometimes wiser to split up and attack singly,
especially if you have lots of units with close-range weapons. Also remember
that ace pilots in their own Customized units can hit like crazy in melee
combat (I once got 6 attacks from Ramba Ral and 8 from Anavel Gato) - this
alone can win you the victory. While we're on the subject of melee battle,
note that unit will correspondingly only attack the first unit in the enemy
stack (if the first unit was destroyed in the initial attack, it'll shift to
the second) so be sure you know who you're attacking; things can get hairy
if you launch an assault and get counterattacked by Land-Type Gundams.

21. Along with the Control points around the map, map entry points (while 
not as important) are not to be overlooked. The enemy can only enter from
entry points that it controls, so if you seal those off (or attack the
territory they correspond to) it definitely improves the situation in your
favor. I once won a battle when I realized that the enemy couldn't reinforce
it's men - I was able to retreat some much-needed units and return to take
the area when I could later.

22. You might think scouting units (units that can only Scan and not do much
else) are useless. Well, for the most part, they are. However, in a large
battle, they can be lifesavers by allowing you to get the details on most of
the enemy units at one shot, rather than having to Scan at multiple 
intervals with different units, thereby wasting attacks. If that wasn't good
enough, the Zaku Scouter's non-damage dealing Gun Camera (which has a range
of 5) boosts the hit percentages of any other units firing on it's target -
extremely useful when used in conjunction with capital ships' Main and 
Support Cannons.

23. Occasionally, the enemy will hunker down at Control points to prevent you
from taking them when your forces are superior. This is generally effective 
and can be very irritating...but sometimes, human intelligence proves it's
worth when the computer let's you fire at them with capital ship weapons from
a distance without the danger of counterattacking. ^_^ Yes, you heard me -
you can actually blast away (as long as you don't get too close) and they
won't move to attack you! This can win you many a space battle.

24. Use supply planes. Besides the obvious advantage they have of being able
to move ground troops faster, they're also invaluable in long conflicts 
because they can recover units' HP and EN. An oft-overlooked detail is the
fact that you can switch mobile suits' weapon configurations using them as 
well.

******

That's it for now. ^_^