The devil is in the details (bombing campaign)

[Harin]

Still haven't face UK, USSR and USA though. Now just monkeying with the regional powers. In your opinion, how would you have played this campaign?

I have played very few elite games so I believe you are well beyond my advice. Still, I like your aggressive play, taking out Turkey. It gives you a land bridge to take out the Suez Canal before the Allies start to naval invade you and gives you access to that oil in Iraq and Iran. If you have the planes to sink the Allied fleets in the Med you could secure yourself a cozy nest from Gibraltar to the Suez to build up in.

 

[I had a bad name 99]

I have played very few elite games so I believe you are well beyond my advice. Still, I like your aggressive play, taking out Turkey. It gives you a land bridge to take out the Suez Canal before the Allies start to naval invade you and gives you access to that oil in Iraq and Iran. If you have the planes to sink the Allied fleets in the Med you could secure yourself a cozy nest from Gibraltar to the Suez to build up in.

Thanks for the feedback! I am playing this campaign a little different though. Cos I am not aligned with Germany and also haven't declare war on UK. I am just forming my own faction with Spain, Bulgari and Portugal. So, I am most likely aiming for USSR next.

Edit: I am playing on veteran though. A bit sick of the late game grind.

 

[Harin]

Thanks for the feedback! I am playing this campaign a little different though. Cos I am not aligned with Germany and also haven't declare war on UK. I am just forming my own faction with Spain, Bulgari and Portugal. So, I am most likely aiming for USSR next.

Edit: I am playing on veteran though. A bit sick of the late game grind.

Ahh, that explains why North Africa is still in Allied hands. I was wondering. That grind is why I do not play a lot of elite games, well that and skills, lol. Good luck in Russia.

 

[I had a bad name 99]

Ahh, that explains why North Africa is still in Allied hands. I was wondering. That grind is why I do not play a lot of elite games, well that and skills, lol. Good luck in Russia.

Do you think it is possible to defeat Russia without German help?

 

[Harin]

Do you think it is possible to defeat Russia without German help?

I have only tried it a few times with Italy, but I was not able to beat Russia, before Germany jumped in on her own. After that it was a sure win, of course. I am not sure how to stop Germany from attacking Russia.

 

[I had a bad name 99]

I have only tried it a few times with Italy, but I was not able to beat Russia, before Germany jumped in on her own. After that it was a sure win, of course. I am not sure how to stop Germany from attacking Russia.

Okay, i gave up on this campaign. The SU has so many troops and they overran Romania and pushed into my territory (where I have no troops). This happened when I was pushing hard into Caucasus.

On a side note, I just realised there is no fixed way to play this game. It is still a bit too arcadey and in no way an accurate simulation of how real war is fought. So I give up trying hard to play in a non-cheese way

 

[Harin]

Okay, i gave up on this campaign. The SU has so many troops and they overran Romania and pushed into my territory (where I have no troops). This happened when I was pushing hard into Caucasus.

On a side note, I just realised there is no fixed way to play this game. It is still a bit too arcadey and in no way an accurate simulation of how real war is fought. So I give up trying hard to play in a non-cheese way

Yes, it is a sandbox type game, played inside a rough approximation of WW2. Maybe you can beat the USSR with just 52 divisions by setting up a choke point somewhere north of Turkey and let them suicide on your front lines in the mountains until you are able to move out and take the victory tiles. That is super cheesy though.

 

[I had a bad name 99]

Yes, it is a sandbox type game, played inside a rough approximation of WW2. Maybe you can beat the USSR with just 52 divisions by setting up a choke point somewhere north of Turkey and let them suicide on your front lines in the mountains until you are able to move out and take the victory tiles. That is super cheesy though.

The problem is that Soviet can open a new front by defeating Romania, and the German AI sometimes loses to the Soviet (especially if there is a second front).

Anyway, I just tried a different strategy and this time, I tried to invade UK. You can't comprehend how relieved I was when the German airplanes arrived to relieve my front. I was having a -20% penalty due to UK overwhelming airpower. My beachhead was stuck, and I was close to London but not quite. Anyway, my beachheads are so far solid, and I am trying my best to push deep. Hopefully, it works.

 

[Harin]

The problem is that Soviet can open a new front by defeating Romania, and the German AI sometimes loses to the Soviet (especially if there is a second front).

Anyway, I just tried a different strategy and this time, I tried to invade UK. You can't comprehend how relieved I was when the German airplanes arrived to relieve my front. I was having a -20% penalty due to UK overwhelming airpower. My beachhead was stuck, and I was close to London but not quite. Anyway, my beachheads are so far solid, and I am trying my best to push deep. Hopefully, it works.


View attachment 581336

Leave it those pesky Russians, to thwart such a cheesy plan.

But you found a different way. Nice going. Since you are now at war with the Allies you get to have the Med to yourself. I have seen the Med only a few times, but if I could own an ocean, that is good one to have. The colors and clarity, when I saw it, take the breath away.

 

[I had a bad name 99]

London captured.

 

[I had a bad name 99]

@Harin

Did a test run and the German AI absolutely crushed the Soviets without a second front. I did not interfere.

 

[Harin]

That is good to see. In my last several games, the Germans get stuck around Rostov and then get pushed back. It was about the same line each game, so I was beginning to worry.

 

[I had a bad name 99]

That is good to see. In my last several games, the Germans get stuck around Rostov and then get pushed back. It was about the same line each game, so I was beginning to worry.

Did the Germans have a second front? Cos the AI usually lose unless i help them. For example in my last Italy campaign, I sent some forces to garrison the most vulnerable coast.

 

[Harin]

Did the Germans have a second front? Cos the AI usually lose unless i help them. For example in my last Italy campaign, I sent some forces to garrison the most vulnerable coast.

The Germans probably did have a lot of forces defending their coasts. The Allies landed several times and the Germans beat them back, but I guess that cost the Eastern Front and they lost there. I was playing India, China, and some other country in those games, so I was not around to help Germany out.

 

[I had a bad name 99]

@Harin I think I should be able to defeat the Axis by now. I have to make them run out of fuel, through a combination of nukes, massive air campaign and land forces.

An extremely campaign, no doubt...

 

[I had a bad name 99]

The new world order led by Italy and its allies (Spain, China etc). Notice how I tried to emulate the Roman empire as much as possible.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I believe the mark of an efficient player is to get as many green attacks as possible, so you don't suffer unnecessary casualties.

Efficient players can get very favorable casualty trades without any air support whatsoever against the AI. Manual micromanagement (possibly with constantly updated spearhead orders) will trash anything the battleplanner can do for you, and it's not close.

A few examples as ridiculous nations:

Spoiler

Here's an example of invading a foothold:

Spoiler

[url=https://imgur.com/aqiy8sw] [/url]

Pin provinces so they can't contest, and overrun the port so you have supply. If the air is red, use AA.

When I look at @EliteWehrmacht 's idea for the infrastructure bombing of Siam with the idea of how it can be right, instead of wrong, I suddenly see something viable there.

I used it at the end of the battlecry achievement back when it still basically forced world conquest. Nuke infrastructure + ports to ruin supply and then surround 100's of divisions with low-consumption divisions of your own while they can't fight back due to org issues. It's a last-resort measure since setting it up takes so long, but it does help you wade through situations like "Japan has 500 divisions on home isles" or "UK has retreated 80% of its forces to its island" and you need to deal with them.

It's all a bit contrived for SP though. This game's base mechanics are broken in numerous ways, to the point of frustration/run ending nonsense. And though the game can screw you over with nonsense, once you know how it (doesn't) work you can trivialize it, too:

 

[I had a bad name 99]

Efficient players can get very favorable casualty trades without any air support whatsoever against the AI. Manual micromanagement (possibly with constantly updated spearhead orders) will trash anything the battleplanner can do for you, and it's not close.

A few examples as ridiculous nations:

Spoiler

Here's an example of invading a foothold:

Spoiler

[url=https://imgur.com/aqiy8sw] [/url]

Pin provinces so they can't contest, and overrun the port so you have supply. If the air is red, use AA.

I used it at the end of the battlecry achievement back when it still basically forced world conquest. Nuke infrastructure + ports to ruin supply and then surround 100's of divisions with low-consumption divisions of your own while they can't fight back due to org issues. It's a last-resort measure since setting it up takes so long, but it does help you wade through situations like "Japan has 500 divisions on home isles" or "UK has retreated 80% of its forces to its island" and you need to deal with them.

It's all a bit contrived for SP though. This game's base mechanics are broken in numerous ways, to the point of frustration/run ending nonsense. And though the game can screw you over with nonsense, once you know how it (doesn't) work you can trivialize it, too:

This thread is probably dead in my book, since I already stopped or at least tried not to damage the infrastructure too much (unless it is a situation of end game where the enemy has 1000 divisions.)

As for the definition of efficient micromanagement, I do need to test the strategy of not relying on air support too much. Probably because I only played major nations where you get to rely on it a lot. I can definitely see it as a viable strategy for minors though.

Edit:

I am a pretty lazy player. I will just set a standard infantry template where I have a single battalion of AA, AT and ART to back up six or five infantry battalions (making up a combat width of 20). And this template can remain largely unchanged. I thought this is an ideal template for dealing with any situation. Hence why air support is so important for me, is because it will provide that extra variability to my firepower (some ppl recommend adding more artillery or creating a 40 width breakthrough division).

Now that i think about it. Why people are frustrated with battleplans and it is better to micromanage without them. The irrational shuffling of divisions have dismayed me to no end in my recent Italian campaign. Managing troop positions is like playing a chess. You don't want the computer to help you decide the position randomly.

 

[Harin]

As for the definition of efficient micromanagement, I do need to test the strategy of not relying on air support too much.

I just played Democratic France without building any aircraft until it was obvious France was going to win and I had so many factories I had to build something different. I used the video below as a guide. Someone had posted it in another thread. It taught me several game mechanics I did not know or had forgotten over time.

The video is a hoot, even if you already know everything he brings up.

 

[I had a bad name 99]

I just played Democratic France without building any aircraft until it was obvious France was going to win and I had so many factories I had to build something different. I used the video below as a guide. Someone had posted it in another thread. It taught me several game mechanics I did not know or had forgotten over time.

The video is a hoot, even if you already know everything he brings up.

I am currently playing as Imperial Japan. My micromanagement has improved since I am able to advance steadily by encircling multiple Chinese divisions without breaking much sweat. Takes time and effort to learn the mechanics.