Things you WISHED you knew in your first game...

[Rannug61]

Upgrade(mobility) only key units when it's needed, specially in NA and just before Barbarossa.

[BillRunacre]

This is a great thread, and I encourage others to contribute as it helps me to know what areas we might want to focus on highlighting in future. [:)]

[demyansk]

What is the best way to position your HQ units while moving close to Moscow or other Areas?

[yooperdrew]

Man, do I wish posters on this site wouldn't use acronyms like NA. I could really learn a lot but usually have no idea what they mean.

[bfcj]

Pretty sure NA = North Africa

[bfcj]

Here's something I wished I'd known NOW!!! When the UK mainland capital falls and is transferred to either Egypt or Canada, any units in the production queue are lost. For me that meant an HQ, a fighter, an army, and several home guard garrisons, which I'd been holding off on deploying since I figured I'd just end up having to ship them to Egypt anyway. Very probably a fatal mistake.

[ivanov]

I wasn't aware of the long distance amphibious functionality. So I was trying to invade Sardinia by transporting the units from the UK to Gibraltar first, unloading them there and then loading again in the amphibious transports. Still, the landings were weak and disjointed

I continue to forget, that the aircraft can attack the convoys and that the city supply drops, if you have two enemy units attached to it.

[Falkon1313]

I wish I'd paid more attention to what the battle estimates actually mean. As a long-time wargamer I would line up some "4:1" attacks because that seemed like pretty good odds in my favor. But I was having bad luck, kept taking heavy losses. Until I realized that it wasn't showing an odds ratio but estimated losses! Luckily it was early in the game.

[MPHopcroft1]

Scouting is important. I had four Fallschirmjäger units landing on top of London and the Midlands in my first PBEM game as the Allies, because I didn;t know how to effectively scout the enemy and didn't know he'd invested in them so heavily and massed them along the French coast.

In fact, I still haven't figured out how scouting works. Which is a problem, as what I don't know about the enemy keeps biting me and causing me to endure "fool's mates" (a borrowed chess term) as I make fundamental mistakes I can;t quite fathom.

[Sugar]

There are 2 ways to get the necessary information: 1. by actively doing recon missions, preferably with fighters, and 2. by developing "long range". Maritime Bombers and balloons are very good at passively unveiling the map.

[MPHopcroft1]

I did not know anything at all about air recon. I paid for my ignorance when the Germans carried out a successful Sealion with four paratroop units I had no idea were in place. I still don't know how to do recon sorties.

I did not build nearly enough air in general in that game.

[El Condoro]

4 paratroop units? I thought the max. the Germans could have was 3.

[PvtBenjamin]

Probably no build limits, taking advantage, sad

If by air recon you mean Axis sending fighters (to no where) first because the Allied fighters are weaker and don't have aerial warfare its a weak/unrealistic part of the game.

You need to manage by setting fighters to escort.



[8|]

Maritime bombers best scout

[forestrouse]

1) Make sure to invest in production and industrial technology along with the seriously un-sexy command and control, logistics and spying.

Production technology lowers unit costs and industrial technology increases the number of MPPs. if you are not at level 4 or 5 by 1944/45 time frame you die no matter which side you are on.

Command and Control increases the effectiveness of your Headquarters - increasing the number of units the HQ can control and the number of action points for the HQ unit. This is one aspect of improving the supply situation.

Logistics is extremely important for the western allies as it increases the transport units but cannot be ignored by the Soviet Union or the Axis. Each level of logistics increases the build limit for the number of HQ units. Once you are on the offensive, lack of supply is a major reason why the offensives petter out.

Each level of spying increases the chance of getting tech breakthroughs thereby reducing the time it takes to complete tech upgrades. As someone pointed out in this thread, being behind by 2 tech levels is a death sentence in this game.

2) Keep your fighters and tank units in good health. I was wondering why the AI was eating my aerial lunch until I realized that that once fighters fall to around 6 in strength, they become pretty frail. If you allow them to fall behind in tech, then they get chewed up pretty quickly thereby making you more vulnerable to aerial which is also a death sentence - especially against the AI which knows how to pick on units by air to create openings for ground attack.

Similarly for tanks. If you allow them to drop to about 6 or so in strength, they become pretty vulnerable to counter attack. It takes discipline to take them out of your attacking/defending force, but if you don't do it, the opponent (AI or human) will pick them off.

3) I am pretty sure that you cannot upgrade units that are in the zone of control of an opponents unit. Also, if a unit is not controlled by a headquarters unit, upgrades and reinforcements are more limited - at least review the rules and limitations on upgrade and reinforcements.

[Sugar]

Prod. is far more valuable for Italy or the UK p.e., while Ind. is for nations with already huge industrial basis. The discount you`ll get from Prod. is only related to the core unit, not to their upgrades.

[PvtBenjamin]

ORIGINAL: Sugar

Prod. is far more valuable for Italy or the UK p.e., while Ind. is for nations with already huge industrial basis. The discount you`ll get from Prod. is only related to the core unit, not to their upgrades.

Did the rules on Production Technology change? I thought Prod Tech did reduce upgrade cost.

Manual

"Advances in any of the Manual Upgrades research
areas result in cumulative increases in production
and reinforcement costs for upgraded units.
High technology areas such as aircraft and Heavy
Tanks – units that consume vast quantities of oil
and minerals – will necessarily incur higher costs.
Thus, to offset these additional costs, developing
Production Technology will not only improve a
country’s industrial capacity but also the efficient
use of raw materials"

"Each new level of Production Technology research
decreases unit costs and the cost of Manual
Upgrades by 5%"

[Sugar]

You mean like in the most outdated manual ever, hehe?

Do the Maths: a fighter without any upgrade will cost 187 MPPs on the highest lvl of Prod. compared to 250 originally, equals 74.8% = 5%/Lvl.
A fighter with 5/5 will cost 375 MPPs compared to 438 originally, equals 85.62%.

[PvtBenjamin]

Whats hard for me to understand is the numbers of hours I played and never noticed.

tnx

[Elessar2]

Devs wish to comment on the above...?

[Sugar]

Well, I don`t think it`s that of a big deal, Prod. still has a decent return of investment, given the fact that it applies to all reinforcements/rebuys/buys.

It`s more a calculation of priorities: investing in Prod. comes at opportunity costs; research is capped, and especially in the beginning of the campaign there are far more valuable and urgent requirements. The cheapest way to run your forces is to avoid losses by techn. superiority and/or experienced units.