Battle Strategies for Super Robot Wars : Kansetsuken
for the Sega Saturn by Zhou Tai An 
kain@pacific.net.sg

Disclaimer : Using this guide anywhere? Mail me first. If not, I shall be 
forced to use my mystical powers to annihilate you. So there.

Second Disclaimer : I only have the last part of this game (i.e, I didn't buy
SRWF, the first installment) so all the stuff there has been tested only on
Kansetsuken. Sorry, but I didn't have the cash...

Note of sorts - Try your best to see as many of the series inside the game
as possible BEFORE playing it. No, it won't enhance your commanding of troops
or increase combat ability, but it makes playing it a lot more fun, which is
the main point. ^_^

******

This is not really one of my complete guides; more along the lines of my
Tactics Ogre and SaGa Frontier ones. So everything is in point form, though
with some kind of order to it. 

Before I continue with the main part of the guide, though, I should probably
write out all the algorithms I've found on the Net - actually, from a 
Japanese gaming page in particular. Many thanks to Masaki Ando for use of
these.

Attack Power = Weapon rating (the number in the weapons screen) X morale%
(i.e, 136 morale would be the first rating times 136%) X pilot's attack rating
% (same as above, changes for short and long range attacks) X terrain
adjustment.

Terrain adjustment is the average of the pilot's grade in the terrain you're 
on (Land, Sea, Air or Space) and the terrain value of the weapon (again, 
viewable through the weapons screen). A = 120%, B = 100%, C = 80% and D 60%.

That was a bit messy...I'll write it again below without the explanations
this time.

Attack Power - Weapon Rating X Morale% X Pilot's Attack Rating X Terrain
Adjustment.

Damage is, of course, Attack Power - Defense Power. 

Now you need to know Defense Power, which is quite simply Armor X Morale% X
Terrain Adjustment (average of pilot and mecha)

Chance of Sword Cut and Shield Defense being used is 16 divided by Skill 
Level : therefore, someone with a Shield Defense of 4 has a 16 divided by 4
 = 1/4 chance of his\her ability being used.

1) Who to pick for battle? There are basically two kinds of pilots in SRWF :
Realistic and Super. Realistic pilots are fast, don't rely on Morale heavily
but lack super weapons. Super Robot pilots have lots of life and armor, 
can't hit a target to save their lives (without 100% Hit, that is) and need
high Morale to unleash their most powerful attacks. Your party should consist
of a mix of both of these, with a bunch of other pilots thrown in for good
measure.

Basically, Realistic pilots take out the normal enemy troops (considering 
that most of them, like Amuro and Char, can't even be hit normally) and
Super ones do the boss in.

2) Which kind of character to choose? Picking Super will give you the 
Potential skill and a Genpesuto Mk II that can use Slash Ripper after 
movement - you'll only be able to move twice late in the game, though. Also,
your lover (if you choose to have one) will be worse than his\her Realistic
counterpart; no Beam Coating for your chosen mecha either.

HOWEVER, your character WILL have an ability NO OTHER Super Robot Pilot in
the game has. Spirit. That's right - you can actually TRIPLE the damage done
by an already powerful weapon (either Slash Ripper or, later in the game,
Teitoraigouken : Ankensatsu) and with 100% and the ability to move twice...
you do the math.

If you pick the Realistic path, you can move twice much faster, have a 
better lover (not THAT way! ^_^) who has Spirit, Rally AND Move Again (not to 
mention a high SP count) and will eventually get a powerful mech with 
After-image, IF Field and both the Rip Slasher and Black Hole Cannon - 
weaker weapons than the mighty Teitoraigouken : Ankensatsu but not requiring
that high a morale cost. 

And of course, the scenario paths will differ.

It's really up to you; I've outlined the greater differences above, so you
pick. 

3) What to upgrade? For Gundams and the like, energy (to fire the big weapons)
mobility (to avoid attacks, all of them in most cases) and limit (for when
your pilot becomes too damn good for his\her mecha) are essentials. Don't
bother with HP at all; though a bit of armor might be useful for those 
rare times when an attack actually hits a Gundam pilot.

Super Robots need armor; lots of it. (A substitute for this is using Hybrid,
Super Z and New Super Z Armor, though) HP doesn't hurt either (it's not 
required) and energy for the big guns. You won't even need to touch 
mobility for the most part - a base size of L for a Super Robot makes dodging
laughable, and you'll be using 100% Hit to attack anyway.

4) More about upgrading. Use your money well - it doesn't come in easily.
Upgrade the weapons you use most frequently; don't be afraid to blow over
100000 simply powering-up Beam Rifles, 'cause you use those a lot; 
conversely don't upgrade cheap stuff you won't use simply because it costs
less. Be careful about upgrading mecha that will be outmoded by more 
powerful ones later - cases in point are Type 100 and Z Gundam; powerful
and effective when you first get them, next to useless near the end of the
game.

5) Gundams Are Good. Why? As I've said before, their ability to avoid almost
any normal attack is essential to winning battles. Give key units High
Performance Radars (more on this below) to push their attack range higher 
than the bosses so they can nail them from afar. Place them into crossfires 
to weaken enemies who can't fire back. Remember that they can also move twice
quite fast.

6) Distance is an important factor in many SRWF battles - always, ALWAYS try
to attack from a position which is uncounter-attackable. The basic range 
for an normal enemy is 6 (the magic number of distance - take note!) and for
bosses, usually 6 to 7. Some enemies like Aura Battlers, for instance, have
horrible ranges (2 to 3 for their Aura Vulcans and worse for the Swords) 
Basically, a weapon range of 8 is safe as far as things go. However, watch
out later in the game; several mighty bosses have ranges of up to 8 or 9
(though the last is a rare) especially the Guest ones. Normal enemies also 
will also increase their basic ranges as the game progresses, so your 
ultimate safe haven is probably having Amuro in Nu Gundam at a high enough 
level - pushing his Fin Funnels range to 10.

7) Now to go on to weapon types. Beam weapons are your best bet against 
normal foes (they have a 10% Critical Hit adjustment) but as the game 
goes on, later enemies will have protection against them in the form of the
horribly irritating Beam Coating. Physical weapons do full damage but are 
then susceptible to Sword Cut rendering them useless. The ideal weapon,
therefore, is an attack which cannot be nullified by Sword Cut (i.e, energy-
based) nor reduced in effectiveness by other skills. Generally, though, beam
weapons are good against the later bosses, who will cut your Funnels to 
ribbons with surprising regularity.

8) Use Methuss. Yeah, I know - it's a lousy MS, has one of the weakest 
weapons in the game and basically sucks all around; but it can repair. That
one skill will save your butt countless times if used well, not to mention
making levelling up Newtypes as easy as pie. What you're going to need is
a pilot who can move twice; equip Methuss with tons of Mega Boosters, then
send it into the battlefield to repair and then get out. One hit (two if 
defending against a non-boss enemy) and the mecha is toast, so watch out. 
Nevertheless, it remains an excellent way both to recover HP and level-up. 

9) Understand the use of Concentrate. When used on a powerful Newtype (Char
comes to mind) it will allow the pilot to stand directly in the range of
incoming boss enemy fire and counterattack perfectly, Why? Do the math -
bosses rarely have more than a 30% chance to hit an ace and the ace in
question usually has a hit rate of 70% or more. What's more, since the "magic"
lasts for another turn you're getting more free whacks in. This also works 
with normal enemies, though you'll rarely even need to use the skill in
question - simply place the chosen Gundam in the midst of the opposing 
forces.

10) The Super Robot Equivalent to the above strategy is equipping a heavily
armored mecha (usually with two New Super Alloy Zs) sticking it in the middle
of the enemies and plunking on a 100%. Tada - instant massive damage.

11) One word - Ideon. Maybe two in this case - Ideon Sword. 9999 damage and
full-screen range is NOTHING to laugh at. Strategy is simple - place Ideon
where it can be hit by enemies and wait (It's 15000+ Hp ensures that it won't
die, of course) for either the Sword or Gun to be charged. For Sword, make 
sure that Ideon's in the position to hit vital targets - you don't have to
worry with Gun, but in the latter's case, it is ESSENTIAL that you do not
let too many enemies attack within one turn - doing so will run the risk of
Ideon going berserk and using the Gun on YOUR forces - Not a Good Thing.

Finally, remember that destroying enemies will cause the gauge to decrease
(3 for Sword, 4 for Gun and 5 berserks) so be sure to block and not counter
enemy attacks (unless you've trying to avoid a berserk of course) Base rate
for gauge increase is something like 15-20 attacks to Sword and about 10 
more to Gun...I think. I'm not too sure on this so take this info with a 
pinch of salt.

Then what? Use Giji's 100% Hit and Spirit and let the fun begin...

12) Sometimes, it's advantageous to fail a mission (chuck all your units into
the mothership and let it be killed) so that you can rack up more experience 
and money. For the latter, use pilots with powerful MAP weapons, give them
high morale (with Rally) with Hot Blood\Spirit and of course, Lucky. Great
for nabbing cash.

13) Use terrain than can recover energy to your advantage. Many powerful
weapons (F91's VSBR, Cybaster's Cyflash etc) use up tons of it, so place key
units in those squares. Upgrade energy as well, of course. The same rule 
applies to map squares that can recover HP.

14) Know who to train and what robots to pick. It will save you time when
the enemies start getting really powerful later. As a general rule, series
aces tend to be the only ones you'll pick for combat, but remember that
support characters are also necessary...

15) The EVA units have an invaluable ability : the AT Field. NEVER improve 
their HP since you want them to draw fire; just give them high armor. When
enemies attack, block...which, since it doubles defensive ability, makes
the damage threshold for the Field a whopping 8000 - quite a number for an
enemy, even a boss, to penetrate. You can use this tactic to defend against
almost ANY early-game attack with no life loss (later on Guest weapons render
the Field breakable) though be careful of powerful MAP weapons that don't
give the EVAs a chance to block. Increasing morale also raises the threshold
somewhat.

You'll want to use Unit-01; Shinji's high synch-rate actually lets the Unit
avoid most attacks, and he can move twice at about Level 55. Also, if 
Shougouki is destroyed, it will berserk, a tactic which can cripple most 
bosses (for a 40,000 cost - and it can cripple YOU twice as fast if any units
are near it when it goes boom) Upgrade the Progressive Knife for best 
results - Shinji can't do much normal damage otherwise.

16) BTW, just a small mention - 100% Hit bypasses the protection that Sword 
Cut and any other attack-negating skill offers; something to remember. 
However, Shield Defense still applies and Flash will render the "magic"
useless for one attack.

17) On the same note, remember that as powerful as Funnels are, they can
be Sword Cut away. Save the game before firing a Spirit-powered one.

18) Later in the game, Exhaust will become very useful. Why? Because the 
bosses suddenly experience a massive boost in power. Ones like Posydal simply
HAVE to be killed in one turn due to things like 30% Life Regen, and most
Guest bosses possess a MAP weapon which has both high accuracy and power.
Among other things.

So each morale point means a BIG difference in damage done and received. 
(Also, Guest bosses' super-weapons are usable only with 120 morale) If you 
still don't want Exhaust (let's face it - all the characters that have it
suck) then it might be wise to attack a boss BEFORE all the normal enemies 
are killed (remember that each enemy death nets a boss a 1 or 2 morale point
increase) and NEVER let a team member die from a boss attack, since that 
means a 4 point plus...

19) With a mere 15 point cost, Flash is one of the best "magics" in the game,
especially to draw the fire of bosses who become insanely strong after a
comrade\loved one is killed (they gain like, 100% Hit, Flash AND Spirit, to
name but one) Its also powerful enough early on, when not every boss can
move twice.

20) I've mentioned this one or twice in the above paragraphs, but it bears
repeating clearly now - Spirit, Lucky, 100% Hit and all attack-related skills
also work with MAP weapons. In fact, all normal skills (Shield Defense, for
example) and applicable magics (Iron Wall, Flash) still work as per normal.
The main differences MAP weapons have, actually (despite the obvious one of
being able to attack more than one unit at a time) are 1) you can't block or
dodge them and 2) you don't receive morale from either killing units with or 
being hit by one.

21) More uses of Flash - it can be used to let a weak unit survive the two
consecutive attacks a powerful boss usually levels at it (you can block the 
second shot and repair the unit later) as well as escaping enemy 
counterattacks easily.

22) With some especially powerful enemies, it's actually worth sitting there
and absorbing as much enemy fire as possible from them to whittle down their
ammo reserves - especially on, you guessed it - Guest bosses. This usually
takes 15 turns at least but with enough patience (and a book nearby) it can
turn the tide of battle in your favor by robbing the enemy of it's most
powerful weapon/s. This technique is really useful on MAP weapons, but note 
that you need to have 3-5 units within the blast radius in order to have the
boss attack you with it as opposed to a conventional weapon. 

How to decoy? Simple. Place ONE (and only one) unit JUST within the range of
the weapon you want to exhaust.

23) Let your morale-dependent units (Super Robots) kill the enemy small fry
in order to gain the prerequisite amount of it to use their superweapons -
Motivate is rarely enough. 

24) Always, if possible, wait for the enemy to come to you. (Retreat to 
recovery areas - towns etc too.) After all, as Sun Tzu said, if you can choose
the battlefield war becomes a lot easier. The enemy will usually dispatch 
it's forces against you in waves, so hunkering down and taking them out one 
by one is better than venturing forth and getting plastered since the next
wave will take longer to get to your position. You can also check the enemy
movement ability by pressing C while on them - the green area is where they
can move next turn.

25) Decoying can be an extremely useful trick, but difficult to master since
you need to do a full damage computation to determine exactly which unit a
given enemy unit will go for. Never fear - I have the algorithims for your 
easy perusal. ^_^ Basically, the enemy will go for the unit it can inflict
the most damage on...EXCEPT when there are already damaged units. Even then,
it's no sure bet which one the CPU will attack, so there is an element of
guesswork here.

Also, beware that the enemy will move and use P weapons to attack units if 
they're within range and weaker than other units in it's normal weapon\s 
range. However, you can ASSURE that the enemy attacks a unit of your choice
by plonking it right in the firing range of the enemy with no other units to
move to attack\attack normally. Then it WILL fire at the lone unit. This is
where your heavily-armored mecha figure into the equation. ^_^

26) Use terrain to your advantage - towns, forest and the like give you a 
20% boost to both defense AND evade; not something to be taken lightly. 
Conversely, try to lure enemy units out of any cover they might be using. 
Note that flying units don't gain any defense\evade bonuses (though they do
recover EN and HP) unless they've landed in the chosen terrain. 

And that's about it so far. Enjoy. ^_^