Are land forts worth building? For example, as the USSR to hold off the German attack?
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Problem is it's unlikely that you hold off the Germans on a static line. I prefer flexible defense.
Forts are more useful for tiny fronts (low countries, North Africa, Spain, Balkans, Italy, Burma but just not Russia).
Forts are more useful for tiny fronts (low countries, North Africa, Spain, Balkans, Italy, Burma but just not Russia).
It might be worth to at least create a level 1 fort in some spots to use the terrain modifiers, but a full-static defence approach is probably not viable...
I admit I never tried the strategy of holding off some strong positions, such as Minsk, Kiev, etc. I guess one could build forts there and leave a few divisions, hoping to divert enough enemy divisions and hold there long enough for winter to come.
I always build forts behind the rivers Riga - Smolensk - black sea, Smolensk is then the only province with no river defense. I usually build 5 forts in each province, depending on when you annex the Baltic states you might not have the time to build level 5 forts in those provinces. I usually guard each province with at least 12 divisions, often more. I always manage to stop the Germans at that line, however the first year or two might prove a bit hard, defending on difficulty. It's possible to do the same with no forts, but it gets bloodier.
you can stop germany at the border with land forts playing as sovjets, problem is getting the front moving forward (you do get another problem in darkest hour and that is: german beach landings, as far as vladivostok, which is actually totally out of range and weird)
I've done this successfully too except it was 3 forts and slightly flexible with Arm/Mot supporting provinces being attacked
usually it depends both on the country you are playing as, as well as the IC available. with the soviets, for example, i like to fortify urban territories. unfortunately the moronic devs forgot what a city is, so places like Kharkov and smolensk = plains. ok...
anyway, fortify those. that way when the germans make it there it allows you to hold the city with fewer forces, and if the germans indeed attack, then reinforce the city. also, if they try a flanking maneuvre, you have more units available to defend since the city can hold with fewer units!
however, in strict terms, land forts are useless. they take forever to build (4 years for a lvl 10 i think), and they are destroyed far too quickly. a lvl 10 fort can be grinded down in two days of combat, a ridiculous premise in any existence.
anyway, fortify those. that way when the germans make it there it allows you to hold the city with fewer forces, and if the germans indeed attack, then reinforce the city. also, if they try a flanking maneuvre, you have more units available to defend since the city can hold with fewer units!
however, in strict terms, land forts are useless. they take forever to build (4 years for a lvl 10 i think), and they are destroyed far too quickly. a lvl 10 fort can be grinded down in two days of combat, a ridiculous premise in any existence.
Although I agree with the above statements that static defense is the folly of madmen ( 
), I'm going to play the other angle for a second... I've had fantastic results as Russia using lines of forts to pocket, encircle and decimate German divisions. Even though they only last for a short period of time, the extra can be just enough for elite infantry (mountain) divisions, cavalry, or armor to destroy German formations. Another interesting place to use land forts is on Korea, as Japan. If the USSR or China pushes up to them, you can essentially reduplicate trench warfare.
But barring a few specific uses of tactics? You'd be far better off producing guns n' butter.
), I'm going to play the other angle for a second... I've had fantastic results as Russia using lines of forts to pocket, encircle and decimate German divisions. Even though they only last for a short period of time, the extra can be just enough for elite infantry (mountain) divisions, cavalry, or armor to destroy German formations. Another interesting place to use land forts is on Korea, as Japan. If the USSR or China pushes up to them, you can essentially reduplicate trench warfare. But barring a few specific uses of tactics? You'd be far better off producing guns n' butter.
lvl 10 forts are the only ones worth their cost, but that is due to the stupid AI that will never attack them. Just build lvl 10 forts, and place a single division. It sucks because I've had france in a few 1936 games build lvl 10 forts to the sea and the germans won't attack
I don't know what version you have been playing but AI will attack level 10 forts when you leave only 1 division. The odds calculation that the AI makes take into account not only the forts level, but also the number of defending units, the weather, the terrain, the units put in reserves, etc.
Level 10 forts are still gamey. Build them as France and Germany will never even try attacking. They should just keep on pounding till the fort is broken.
I say this because I built a line of lvl 10 forts in east finland and a single division at each one caused the soviets to never attack, while I sent the entire remainder of my army elsewhere. And as france I've left a single division on the maginot line and the germans never bothered. I've seen a 2-3 divisions in france maginot line, without supplies and surrounded, but never attacked.
You can use land forts to channel the attack. Let's say you fortify a river in Northern Russia, then you can channel the German forces south and launch a counter offensive through the forts to make encirclements.
You can also use forts to create strongholds (preferably cities) which bind large forces and slow down the offensive.
really? I think we all thought this was WAD to prevent the germans from throwing away mp on the maginot line and that it was really cheesy to exploit this
but yes, as long as there is one division in a 10 fort province the ai will never attack that province
The only time I've ever built forts was as Denmark to see if I could survive WWII. I did, though I'd eventually run out of manpower from countless German assaults (even though they were constantly taking 10 times more casualties as I was).
Best option as the Soviets for me is to attack as early as you can. Just send the entire armed forces in and try to take as much as possible at a manageable pace. You might get pushed back at times, with many encirclement attempts, but the chances of Germany getting anywhere far on Russian soil is minimised (especially if there is a two front war still going on). You should have enough time to keep pumping out infantry to the front to start making the big shove west. Make sure you take Finland so you can access Norway.
I don't think you should stick around long enough to have to use land forts, unless you literally have no way of counter attack and are fighting for your life. With nations like Russia and China it's best to start early and show your huge population the glory of dying for ones country.
I don't think you should stick around long enough to have to use land forts, unless you literally have no way of counter attack and are fighting for your life. With nations like Russia and China it's best to start early and show your huge population the glory of dying for ones country.
If you declare war on the Germans as soon as Poland is offed and you get the cores, it's almost impossible to loose. The only issue is if Germany is allied with Japan at the time, since your DoW will automatically result in one on Japan.