Advanced strategy guide

[storm__]

A few words as an introduction: Having played the game sind September, I didn't really know wether I liked it or not. I come from the RTS / arcade crowd. I don't really like tactical "tricks" or micromanaging units, and in the beginning the game seemd a bit tedious to play. However, after a while I began to notice the sheer endless strategic opportunities and by now really love the game. By now I have beaten a lot of players in 1vs1 that were much better than me on a tactical level. They would flip their infantry in and out of trees, position their 88s in perfect location, exactly time where to shot down my planes, have perfect reconnasaince etc. And they would still lose.
So here is my simple apporach, I am thankful for any input and friendly discussion. I start with the most important concept IMHO, and will post more if people are interested.

1. Check the infrastructure. This is the most important part for me. A lot of people seem to think that they should at least hold their half of the map, and gain a bit form the other half. I look at the roads and decide what parts of the map I can hold while having a good reinforcement postion. This is basically the key to victory. If your reinforcements arrive faster than those from your opponent, your units will gain the upper hand and inflict a lot of damage while only taking few casualties.

 

[Gilmund]

I agree with you. A big part of the game is to know the path of units on the main roads and disembark them just around. And related to that, another part is to create no-go zones around these roads and around open parts of the map with any form of AT to force your opponent to disembark early and make rreinforcements slower. Then with the remain locations, everything is about having direct and indirect fire support behind your first line of fire : a line of inf and a line of support units with long range machineguns, aa, arty. Keep your inf just behind the contested treeline, let the enemy come, don't push your own inf against his own support fire line. Counter-push. Then repeat when you're advancing.
And always keep in mind to create crossfires. The key to disable armor is side shots.

 

[roirraw]

Yes, attacking down roads, or denying roads to the enemy and forcing them across open ground. Both of these are ways to control the flow of reinforcements and movement. This wins games.

 

[storm__]

Thanks for the input. I actually consider good placement of units as tactics, something I do not bother with. I know it would make me a much better player, but would also kill the fun for me. My approach to tactics is to select all frontline units and order them to move to a distant point on the far end of the map so they move in parallel lines. That‘s actually my only tactic.

Back to strategy:

2) Under pressure
If part of my frontline is under attack, my first impuls is to hold the line and send reinforcements. However, that‘s a sure way to lose. If the opponent attacks, he has probably build up some forces, chosen his favorite terrain and placed his units in a tactically superior position. Fighting would result in high losses, and any reinforcements would come too late and would then be killed by superior forces.

So for me it works best to run (aka tactical retreat) to some better position and gain time. At the same time I send my reinforcements to a spot on the map where I can attack with superior force. Most opponents will then send their reinforcements to that spot. Now you killed his frontline units, you have an easy game with the reinforcements and gained some terrain. It should now be easily possible to stabilize the front where the opponent attacked in the first place.

 

[Windy]

If part of my frontline is under attack, my first impuls is to hold the line and send reinforcements. However, that‘s a sure way to lose. If the opponent attacks, he has probably build up some forces, chosen his favorite terrain and placed his units in a tactically superior position. Fighting would result in high losses, and any reinforcements would come too late and would then be killed by superior forces.

So for me it works best to run (aka tactical retreat) to some better position and gain time. At the same time I send my reinforcements to a spot on the map where I can attack with superior force. Most opponents will then send their reinforcements to that spot. Now you killed his frontline units, you have an easy game with the reinforcements and gained some terrain. It should now be easily possible to stabilize the front where the opponent attacked in the first place.

I could not agree more about that. That is the best response to those people call 'first (several) engagements decide the conquest game; players could just sit and holding 51% and win the game with defensive bonus or more number of troops';
If the defensive side is unprepared for the coming attack, the defensive bonus or advantage of troops in other parts of the map means nothing (little, unless bringing out air forces to neutralize this threat) to this engagement within a small time window. One of the best options for the unprepared defensive side is to retreat and regroup at the second defense line, attack enemy where it is weak and gain some land back.

 

[IronHead]

Oh the satisfaction of having a planned attack work, man its something else. When my damaged units enter the positions that I planned to take, I usually sit there for a while in awe of my victory, then quickly lose it because I was sitting there in awe.

 

[Gilmund]

I could not agree more about that. That is the best response to those people call 'first (several) engagements decide the conquest game; players could just sit and holding 51% and win the game with defensive bonus or more number of troops';
If the defensive side is unprepared for the coming attack, the defensive bonus or advantage of troops in other parts of the map means nothing (little, unless bringing out air forces to neutralize this threat) to this engagement within a small time window. One of the best options for the unprepared defensive side is to retreat and regroup at the second defense line, attack enemy where it is weak and gain some land back.

One efficient strategy is even to keep some hidden units behind treelines in the first line if possible to keep points, bait and kill incoming units with a second defensive line. But imo, the real thing is to make the rythm of the game yourself, being the aggressive part, you always loose if you are just reacting enemy moves, all is about to make the enemy react to your own moves. And yes, open a counterattack in another part of the front is a good strat in this matter cause it forces the enemy to react elsewhere and leave his successfull attack die with nos reinforcements.

 

[roirraw]

Sending out recon on attack move, then turning them on "hold fire" is a good way to prevent your units from actually going too far into the enemy line and dying from engaging a unit in cover. Since your recon has higher stealth and higher vision, you will often spot even regular infantry in green cover and they won't engage you.

 

[roirraw]

Selecting all of your available planes with a shift-click and right clicking on a target will see the planes come out in a quick and close pattern. Then you can select individual targets as the planes head to engage. They will arrive at the same time and this will minimize the amount of damage you take to your planes from enemy AA. Since the AA will try to panic each plane before it tries to kill a plane, you will most likely make it out of the attack zone with minor damage. Your attack will be damaging though, since only your first plane or two will take enough damage to send it home or make it inaccurate.

You should also approach your target at a 90* angle from where your front is. The letter "T" is an example, your planes come from the bottom of the T, move to an edge of the letter and attack to the middle point. When they "evac" it will be over friendly territory and not into the enemy and out of the enemy.

 

[storm__]

You should also approach your target at a 90* angle from where your front is. The letter "T" is an example, your planes come from the bottom of the T, move to an edge of the letter and attack to the middle point. When they "evac" it will be over friendly territory and not into the enemy and out of the enemy.

It also has the advantage that you do damage against the side armor. You killed my beloved Avre once that way. Bastard

 

[roirraw]

 

[facmanpob]

You should also approach your target at a 90* angle from where your front is. The letter "T" is an example, your planes come from the bottom of the T, move to an edge of the letter and attack to the middle point. When they "evac" it will be over friendly territory and not into the enemy and out of the enemy.

This! The Typhoon AT especially, should always, and I mean always, be sent in for a side shot.

My tip for the top is use of smoke. I very rarely see it used, and it is a game changer. Dropping off a 1200m range mortar early and smoking past the front line is a great way of protecting your truck mounted infantry as they drive up to their drop-off positions, and mortars fire so quickly you can send smoke to 2 or 3 locations in very short order to help your deployment go smoothly. A smooth deployment can help you secure the initiative early. Also, that early in the game most people are too busy micromanaging to check to see where the mortar shots are coming from, so you are pretty safe from counterbattery fire.