Eagle

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Summary

Eagle is an aerial-only specialist; however, the real threat he poses in the battlefield is his Super CO Power, Lightning Strike, which gives all non-footsoldier units an extra turn. Even though he has pretty bland land units, Lightning Strike makes said units deadly enough to beat most COs with better unit stats.

He pays for his really strong Lightning Strike with a very long Power bar, and relatively weak 100/100 land units.

Green Earth CO Eagle

Abilities

Air units have +15% attack, +10% defense and consume 2 less fuel per day. Naval units are 30% weaker

Power: Lightning Drive -- Boosts Air unit attack by 5% and defense by 10%

Super: Lightning Strike -- Boosts Air unit attack by 5% and defense by 10%. All non-footsoldier units may move and fire again even if built this turn (use this power after moving!)

Strategy

Eagle has arguably the strongest Super CO Power in the game, but his units are relatively weaker day-to-day; what you'll have to do, generally, is survive with enough units. The easiest way to do this is to play more defensively.

Avoid trading off units, retreat when you have to, maintain a strong frontline at all times, whatever, as long as you eventually get to use Lightning Strike on enough units. It's fine if you lose some ground and 1-2 cities, you will easily regain that with proper SCOP usage; just don't lose too many units.

Building a B-Copter or two helps a lot more if playing as Eagle; they trade really well against other air units, forcing the opponenf to counter with an Anti-Air instead of the usual B-Copter. They also give at least one star of charge when destroyed (including the damage dealt by the copter before it gets destroyed), so you'll be able to get the Lightning Strike earlier. Don't go overboard though, or Anti-Airs will ruin your day.

On the day you get to use Lightning Strike, make sure:

• You can hit a lot of enemy units with it (don't use it if the opponent has retreated a long way)
• Powers like Olaf's Blizzard, Sonja's Counter Break, Javier's Tower of Power, Lash's Prime Tactics, etc. aren't active (Basically avoid anything that limits movement or increases enemy defense significantly)
• You use it after you've moved all vehicles, air units, and naval units, but before moving footsoldiers (Footsoldiers do not move again during Lightning Strike, but get the usual 10% increased offense and defense during CO Powers anyway).

Don't forget that the mere threat of Lightning Strike can send entire armies on the retreat; it can be beneficial to delay it a little and advance into areas the enemy cannot cover anymore.

How to Counter

Sasha naturally counters COs who rely more on their powers; Market Crash can easily wipe out half a CO's power bar and will crash COs like Eagle to the ground.

Aside from that, you can heavily pressure him with a CO with superior day-to-day abilities, like say, Von Bolt. Go on the offensive early; contest cities, trade units, zone him away. The point is to force him to lose a lot of units, or lose a lot of ground (like more than he can handle) if he doesn't oblige. Never let him build walls of units in the process so he cannot defend well.

If you can, go all out right before and right after the Lightning Strike! If you manage to heavily damage his army, it wouldn't matter if he moves twice; damaged units deal less damage and get more damage in return.

If a game needs some naval units, it is not very wise to choose Eagle. On small maps with only air and ground units he has only advantages, however they are not to impressive. In most cases it is better to choose Hawke, who has a 10% firepower increase for all units. For most direct battles, Max is a better choice than Eagle. Eagles SCO power becomes usefull if a game contains more vulnarable expensive units, like bombers and rockets. To make good use of his SCOP the map should be large, so his SCOP can be used sufficient times to make a difference.