This events took combat to the skies with the vaunted Green Army Air Cavalry.
The main protagonist of this story is a Green Air Cavalry pilot named William Blade. An all-new hero Captain William Blade leaded the Air Cavalry in a new campaign where they joined up with Sarge Hawk, the hero of the Green army from those times, with participation of Thick and Vikki too. Continuing the epic battles between the Green and Tan plastic soldiers from that era, together they fought in the air and on the ground to rescue POWs, to extract wounded allies, to sabotage enemy plans, and most importantly, to fight the good old evil Plastro Tan nemesis.
Captain William Blade, the leader of the newly formed Alpha Wolf Battalion, does battle against the mighty Tan Republic in both the Real World and Plastic World first conflicts.
Green Plastic News special report during the start of Air Attack events:
“Hello fellow Green Plastic citizens. We are sorry to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming, but this is a special GPN (Green Plastic News) report just in from the front lines of the Green Army. A massive plot constructed by the evil General Plastro of the Tan Army has been uncovered by our Military Intelligence Division. A major offensive of the Tan Army is planning to push through and seize our borders. War is unavoidable. Once again, we must step up to the task of crushing the evil Tan forces. We will now take you live to one of our reporters on the front line.”
“Hello ladies and gentlemen. From what I can see here, we are only moments away from war with the Tan Army. Col. Grimm is just now unveiling the new Alpha Wolf Battalion and preparing to make a speech to rally the boys for what looks to be a very intense battle. Let’s see what Col. Grimm has to say.”
“All right, listen up soldiers! The Tan aggressors are on the move and we’re gonna stop ’em dead in their tracks. We have sent several scouts out to gather recon on the Tans’ movements. So far, none have returned. We can only hope those scouts aren’t danglin’ over a candle right now.
The Evil General PLASTRO’S Tan Army on our front”The Alpha Wolf Battalion is the most lethal force ever assembled. You have been hand picked for this task because we know you’re the best of the best. Your orders are simple, find the enemy and blow the living tar out of every last one of them! Am I making myself clear, soldiers?! Let’s go melt some plastic!”
(background cheers) “YEAH!!!”
“Those were some strong words from Col. Grimm. With me now is Captain William Blade, leader of the Alpha Wolf Battalion. Captain, can you tell me exactly what is going on?”
“Well sir, many of the details about this operation are classified. What I can tell you is, those Tan are in for one heck of a fight. We plan to do whatever it takes to win this thing and put an end to the Tan Army once and for all.”
“Spoken like a strong plastic soldier. We understand you’re the son of a highly decorated officer.
“Yes sir, my father fought in this army. He fought hard and he fought proud. He served the Green Army with honor until the day he was shot down by one of those Tan scum. His body has never been found. I believe that he is still out there… somewhere… waiting to be rescued. I won’t rest until the day all those tan-colored slime balls are eradicated from the face of the planet!”
“Truly a heartfelt statement… thank you for your time, Captain. We could use a lot more soldiers like you. We wish you the best of luck in the field. We wish all of the troops in the Green Army well. Hopefully, they can destroy the Tan menace once and for all, keeping the world safe for Green Plastic people forever. We’ll keep following the progress and inform you of any new developments. We now take you back to your regularly scheduled programming.”
The other pilots and co-pilots were Blade right hand, and were responsible for winch operation and aiming the guns. With this band of capable co-pilots, his job of taking out the Tan Army was a lot easier. There were three different co-pilots from Alpha Wolf Battalion could choose. Each co-pilot had uniquely affects, abilities and performance on each mission.
The Alpha Wolf Battalion:
An elite squad of Green Nation Helicopter pilots who appear in Army Men: Air Attack & Army Men: Air Attack 2 events
They were known as a threat to the Tan Army due to their incredible air dominence, and were able to defeat Baron von Beige.
Members:
– Captain William Blade – Lead Helicopter Pilot
– Lt. ‘Wily Coyote’ – Lead Technician (MIA?)
– Lt. ‘Woodstock’ – Machine Gun Specialist (Air Attack), Paratrooper Specialist (Air Attack 2)
– Lt. ‘Hardcore’ – Swarm Missile Specialist
– Lt. ‘Hooligan’ – Air Strike Specialist (Air Attack 2)
– Lt. ‘Rawhide’ – Winch Specialist (Air Attack)
– Lt. ‘Bombshell’ – Napalm Specialist
Helicopters:
– UH-1 Iroquois “Huey”
– CH-47 “Chinook”
– CH-53E “Super Stallion”
– AH-64 “Apache”
– Bell 309 “King Cobra”
– Bell Boeing V-22 “Osprey”
Sources for this article:
Screenshots
Real behind the game facts:
Army Men: Air Attack on Playstation, but titled Army Men: Air Combat in the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color versions, is a third-person shooter game from the Army Men series developed and published by 3DO. The game was released in 1999 for PlayStation, in 2000 for Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color, and in 2001 for Microsoft Windows.
This game has over 16 missions with three extra choppers to unlock and 8 Multiplayer maps.
The first helicopter is a Huey, then a Chinook, a Super Stallion, and finally an Apache.
There are also three extra co-pilots to unlock. The first pilot is ‘Woodstock‘, then ‘Rawhide‘, next is ‘Hardcore‘, and lastly Sarge Hawk in his first appearance. N64 version, Air Combat, contains a new character: Lt. Felicity Wannamaker, A.K.A “Bombshell”.
There are 4 game versions: Playstation 1, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color and PC, being the N64 and GBC versions called “Army Men: Air Combat“. Each one have differences in graphics. Except GBC, they have the exact same campaign to play it in single or multiplayer (2 players cooperative).
But There are differences between Playstation 1 and Nintendo 64, being the main difference the Multiplayer versus mode.
Playstation 1 have only 3 escenarios “flag nab-it”, a capture flag version for only 2 players. But Nintendo 64 have several more modes, escenarios and the capability to play with 4 players.
“The Officers Club” Multiplayer Versus modes from Nintendo 64 are: Bug Hunt, Flag-Nab-It, Food Fight and Rescue. Each mode with 2 escenarios, conforming a total of 8 Multiplayer maps (numbered from 17 to 24 following the campaign missions). PC it’s almost the same than Playstation 1. GBC it’s unique, but based the most on the other games campaign.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer VS options are 8 escenarios:
- Mission 17 – Bug Hunt mode: Chew Chew Bug-B-Q
- Mission 18 – Bug Hunt mode: Crispy Critters
- Mission 19 – Flag-Nab-It mode: Fort Frenzy
- Mission 20 – Flag-Nab-It mode: Freezer Burn
- Mission 21 – Food Fight mode: Picnic Panic
- Mission 22 – Food Fight mode: Cherry Surprise
- Mission 23 – Rescue mode: Don’t Feed The Crabs
- Mission 24 – Rescue mode: Tide Pool Terror
Game manuals, guides, cheats and codes:
Army Men: Air Combat N64 Manual
Download Army Men: Air Combat N64 Manual PDF
Codes / Passwords:
– All Levels, Co-Pilots & Helicopters:
At the password screen enter R, C-Left, Right, Up as a password (It is the same password from the last level).
– Level Passwords:
Mission 2: Up, Down, Left, Right
Mission 3: Up, Down, Left, Up
Mission 4: Down, Up, Left, Right
Mission 5: Down, Up, Left, Down
Mission 6: Down, Up, Right, Down
Mission 7: Left, Down, L, Up
Mission 8: Left, Down, L, Down
Mission 9: Left, Up, L, Down
Mission 10: L, Up, Left, Down
Mission 11: L, Up, Left, Up
Mission 12: L, Up, L, Down
Mission 13: L, Down, Up, Left
Mission 14: R, C-Left, Up, Right
Mission 15: C-Down, L, Down, Down
Mission 16: R, C-Left, Right, Up
Sources for this article:
https://armymen.fandom.com/wiki/Army_Men:_Air_Combat
Army Men Air Attack official website (Internet archive)