Jake (Japanese: ジョン John) is an Orange Star CO that specializes in fighting on Plains. Jake is a good CO choice for beginners, as his powers offer him a degree of flexibility in play, while having no real weaknesses.
Abilities
Day-to-day Effects: All of Jake's units have 10% increased offense if they are fighting on a Plains tile. This bonus extends to Air units as well.
Power: Beat Down -- All of Jake's Land Indirect units gain +1 Range. All of Jake's units gain 20% increased offense when fighting on Plains, 10% otherwise. Jake's units gain 10% increased defense as well.
Super: Block Rock -- All of Jake's Land Indirect units gain +1 range, and all of Jake's Land vehicles gain +2 movement. All of Jake's units gain 40% increased offense when fighting on Plains, 10% otherwise. Jake's units gain 10% increased defense as well.
Strategy
Jake is solid on many common AWBW maps, with no inherent weaknesses and better than average d2d offensive power on plains. One of the most interesting aspects of Jake is not actually his d2d abilities, though. His COP comes fairly early, and with it you get an okay attack boost added to plains on top of your d2d, but usually more importantly, a boost to the range of your indirect units.
In many cases, your opponent will have to rethink their entire strategy simply because of your ability to temporarily have Grit-style range. It's fantastic for breaking infantry and artillery stalemates. Worst case scenario for a Jake player, your opponent is forced to retreat his units for a day, giving up valuable ground and possibly even cities. Best case scenario, your opponent cannot fall back one tile without lose something valuable and will instead hold their ground, and you'll inflict significant artillery damage on their walls. Time your COP use well, and your opponent will definitely start to hate the subtleties of Jake's abilities.
Your SCOP gives a similar effect, but with two key differences: Even more plains damage, and a +2 to movement for all vehicles. The second bonus here is nice for a number of reasons. The most obvious is to get first strike on tank vs tank fights, especially on maps featuring lots of open plains where your direct units buffed by the SCOP will devastate enemy units for a turn. However, it's also quite nice for positioning of indirects if the map in question has longer supply lines. However, your COP already gives you the +1 to indirect range, so you should really only save up for the SCOP if you plan on taking advantage of the +2 movement range.
Obviously, Jake's main downside is that he has no real use on maps that do not feature plains, and on those maps he may have to rely on his COP or SCOP to survive, since he'd have 100/100 d2d in all situations. He also doesn't compete well with the higher tier CO's, usually due to d2d bonuses. When choosing a CO, always check the map carefully to see what CO's will be viable.