Sturm

Sturm ヘルボウズ Hell-Bouze
AWAW2AWRBC
Bio
Faction	Black Hole
Specialty	Greater attack and defence power, unaffected by weather or terrain
Hit	Invasions
Miss	Peace
Skills
CO Power	Meteor Strike (Advance Wars only)
Super CO Power	Meteor Strike (Advance Wars 2 only)
Power Meter	(Advance Wars) (Black Hole Rising)
Appearances
Games	Advance Wars Advance Wars 2 Re-Boot Camp
Voice Actor	Craig Lee Thomas (AW1+2:RBC)

	Such power... I regret crushing it.
— Sturm -

Sturm (Japanese: ヘルボウズ Herubouzu, Hell-Bouze) is a Commanding Officer and the leader of the Black Hole Army, and presumably of the nation itself as well. He is the primary antagonist in both Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising.

His Japanese name is romanized as Herubouzu, or "Hell Bouzu". A bouzu is a Japanese Buddhist monk, so his name roughly translates to "Hell Monk".

Role

In Advance Wars

In Advance Wars, Sturm is a puppet master and the instigator of both the Blue Moon invasion of Orange Star and an attack on Green Earth, thereby causing a continental war. Although he remains a mystery for a long time, Sturm is finally revealed and defeated at The Final Battle!

In Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

In Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising, Sturm is revealed to have launched an invasion of all four nations in Macro Land, although he does not lead the invasions himself. Eventually, the nations can fend off Black Hole and bring the war to Black Hole itself, where Sturm is confronted and defeated twice. He then threatens to kill himself and the commanders present, but is stopped by his former underling Hawke, who kills Sturm and seizes power.

Personality

Warmongering with a large ego, Sturm is a calculating and cold leader who capably orchestrates invasions throughout Cosmo Land and Macro Land with remarkable efficiency. Despite the qualities of being ruthless and highly determined, very little is said by Sturm to gauge much of his personality.

Relationships

None whatsoever—Sturm considered everyone inferior to himself, up to and including his second-in-command, Hawke.

Skills

Sturm is a CO proficient with all units, who have improved movement costs and stats. His signature move is Meteor Strike which lays destruction within a 2-tile radius of its target.

In Advance Wars

There are two versions of Sturm in Advance Wars, one being the Campaign-version and one being the Versus-version.

In Campaign Mode

• Day-to-Day (D2D): Sturm's units deal 130% damage and receive 120% damage. Sturm's clear and rain weather movement costs are 1 for every unit; he has the standard snow weather movement costs, however.
• CO Meter: 50,000G
• CO Power: Meteor Strike — Deals 8 HP damage to the units affected. Sturm's universal stats become 150% damage dealt and 110% damage received.

In Versus Mode

• Day-to-Day (D2D): Vs. Sturm's units deal 80% damage and receive 80% damage. Vs. Sturm's clear and rain weather movement costs are 1 for every unit; he has the standard snow weather movement costs, however.
• CO Meter: 50,000G
• CO Power: Meteor Strike — Deals 4 HP damage to the units affected. Vs. Sturm's universal stats become 90% damage dealt and 70% damage received.

In Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

• Day-to-Day (D2D): Sturm's units have 120% firepower and defence, and all movement costs outside snow are 1.
• CO Meter:
• CO Power: None
• Super CO Power: Meteor Strike — Deals 8 HP damage to the units affected. Furthermore, Sturm's firepower becomes 140% and defense 140(+10)%.

Meteor Mechanics

The meteor damages allies and enemies alike, leaving at least 0.1 HP. It has to center on a unit. All units within a 2-tile radius of the target are affected.

In the first game, Fog of War is ignored; in Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising, the meteor can not center on a unit hiding in woods or reefs.

The game randomly selects one out of three calculation methods. Ally units subtract from the calculation.

• Most value in G.
• Most value in G, with indirect-combat units worth double.
• Most value in HP.

(Note: the meteor targetting mechanics are shared by the silo's targetting mechanics in Advance Wars 2.)

CO Powers

	English	Japanese	French	German	Spanish	Italian	Dutch	Chinese
CO Power	Meteor Strike*	メテオストライク Meteo Strike	Frappe Météore*	Meteoritenregen*	Meteoroataque*	Meteoriti*	Meteoorinslag*	陨石攻击* Meteor Attack
Super CO Power	Meteor Strike*	メテオストライク Meteo Strike	Attaque météore*	Meteoritenregen*	Meteoroataque*	Meteoriti*	Meteoorinslag*	N/A N/A

Strategy

Sturm is a CO who is explicitly designed to be overpowered by nature. Despite having different abilities in each of his appearances, this does not stop him from being considered among the best COs in both Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2. In both games, all of Sturm's units are not slowed down by terrain in all weather except snow. He also has his Meteor Strike CO Power, which deals major HP damage to units in a large radius.

In Advance Wars, Sturm's units suffer from lower firepower but also have higher defense. This is generally seen as a favorable trade off, as the defense increase is more valuable and the decreased firepower becomes less noticeable with more powerful units. Sturm's unimpeded movement allows his units to advance towards defensive terrain quicker, further increasing their already high defense. This extends to his foot soldiers as well, allowing them to capture properties much earlier than normal, and thus gaining an income advantage sooner. Although it is by far its weakest iteration, Meteor Strike still inflicts serious HP damage and generally does a good job of effectively neutralizing a large portion of the enemy army.

In Advance Wars 2, Sturm is unquestionably considered to be the best CO in the entire game with almost no competition. Unlike his previous version, all of Sturm's units have increased firepower and defense as well maintaining their unimpeded mobility, leaving Sturm with no weaknesses to speak of. His Meteor Strike has been buffed as well, dealing 8 HP of damage and boosting the firepower and defense of Sturm's units even higher. Meteor Strike being the most expensive Super CO Power in the game and Sturm lacking a normal CO Power are not even close enough to offset the fact that Sturm's day to day abilities are too overwhelming for any other CO. Hachi is the only other CO who can remotely compete against Sturm.

Overall, in every game he has appeared in, Sturm is arguably the best CO. His Advance Wars 2 incarnation, in particular, is considered to be one of the most powerful COs in the entire series.

Gallery

• 

  Sprite in Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

• 

  Artwork in Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp

References

Commanding Officers of Advance Wars
Orange Star	Andy Sami Max Nell Hachi Jake Rachel
Blue Moon	Olaf Grit Colin Sasha
Green Earth	Eagle Drake Jess Javier
Yellow Comet	Kanbei Sonja Sensei Grimm
Black Hole	Sturm Clone Andy Flak Lash Adder Hawke Jugger Koal Kindle Von Bolt