Difficult

[Gilmer]

ORIGINAL: Empire101

If I'm faced with a defensive R&D tech or an offensive R&D tech, I will always give precedence to the defensive tech first.

Getting those Barbed wire/Concrete Pillbox/Concrete dugouts as early as possible is my major R&D priority. Then Counter-Battery Fire.

This is for whatever side I play.

Of course there is pressure especially early game for the CP player to let offensive techs take precedence over defensive techs. This is a mistake.

If you look at WWI in the West the Germans conducted a mostly defensive strategy after the failure of the Schlieffen Plan, and apart from Verdun ( no one was thinking straight in my opinion ), and Michael in 1918 the Germans gave offensive priority in the East rather than the West .

Most CP players will not get to Paris in 1914, so the Western Front has to be turned into a giant fortress.
Wherever the enemy can attack on a three hex front must be evaluated in terms of its worth.
If you are gaining no strategic benefit from its occupation, or it is not to be used in future offensive ops, consider withdrawal.

And always maintain a strategic reserve.!!

Actually, that makes a lot of sense for Entente, now that I think about it, since Entente (or at least me) seems to be on defensive for at least 2 years. Maybe that is what I will do next game. This last game I lost to the overstack flow 34 error.

In your opinion, what does the AI do as it relates to research? Offensive?

[Empire101]

ORIGINAL: H Gilmer

Actually, that makes a lot of sense for Entente, now that I think about it, since Entente (or at least me) seems to be on defensive for at least 2 years. Maybe that is what I will do next game. This last game I lost to the overstack flow 34 error.

In your opinion, what does the AI do as it relates to research? Offensive?

I think the AI concentrates on offensive strategies first, but that is only a guess.

My experience in PBEM, is that the human opponent is FAR more devious and clever than the AI.
I have played a couple of games against Warspite, and he has sorely tested me and had me rushing to the drinks cabinet on more than one occasion in sheer panic.
I am more than looking forward to our next match which starts at the weekend.

When you feel confident and comfortable with the game, PBEM is the way to go believe me.

I am a regular player of WitP AE with a current AAR, but CTGW is going to be a game I'll play for years.
Not only is it great fun, but it requires alot of thought.
It looks deceptively easy, but it certainly is not.


Good luck sir!!



Barrhhghh

[Bossy573]

The handicapped AI mode does indeed function - beyond the shadow of a doubt because I finally won a game. I never did get a formal notice of victory tho. The UK held out and an invasion would have been necessary. Also, just as an FYI, I had to occupy every city in France before it would offer a surrender. In Russia I was east of Moscow and Rostov before a surrender was received. Seems a little strange based on what I have read here in other user games.

Probably will try the Allies on handicapped next. There are a lot of intricacies in the game mechanics still to be learned before I ramp up the difficulty again - or take on a human opponent.

[Myrddraal]

Thanks for the confirmation bossy. What did you think of the Handicapped AI? Was it handicapped enough for a new player?

[Bossy573]

ORIGINAL: Myrddraal
Thanks for the confirmation bossy. What did you think of the Handicapped AI? Was it handicapped enough for a new player?

Well, I'm embarrassed to admit it but I lost the first game I played. Second time around I changed up both strategy and tactics, explored the game mechanics a bit and was able to come to grips with offensive techniques instead of constantly reacting. I am certain the production penalties to the AI helped. The AI is still clever, in particular executing a few nice encirclements, but it was noticeably easier to recover against it.

My feeling is first time players will have a rough time the first few games even on handicapped. The game is deceptively simple but complex at the same time. It takes time to learn - and the handicapped AI is a great place to start.

[Myrddraal]

We're looking at perhaps introducing an extra difficultly level where the AI is more passive (as well as getting the production handicap). It sounds like this might be a good idea.

[JJKettunen]

ORIGINAL: Myrddraal

We're looking at perhaps introducing an extra difficultly level where the AI is more passive (as well as getting the production handicap). It sounds like this might be a good idea.

How about an option to set the AI to:

1) passive
2) normal
3) aggressive?

[lparkh]

Here's a funny twist on the issue of AI difficultly. First my brag, then my humility. My brag is I beat the CP AI on "AI advantage" (took me till late 1917 though and was quite a game). The humility was the one of the reasons I won was I kept studying how the AI played and imitated some of its methods So that's one way to improve For those who want a tip based on my latest experiences (plus a possible AI weakness for the developers to be aware of) keep reading:

-- manoever -- I've never had AI's outmanoever me but this one consistently does until I learned to imitate it. The key is to approach a front with more units then the opponent (use garrisons to get numeric superiority) then wrap around the edges (outflank) or carefully go through holes (harder) and focus on causing out of supply or minimally getting 3 to 4 attacks lined up on a single unit.
-- AI exploit -- my impression is that often the AI doesn't react to getting near a city/objective till adjacent. So often now I line up my offensive two hexes away and then charge.

[jwduquette1]

ORIGINAL: Empire101

Remember with Ammo factories that the upper ceiling for storing ammo is 50, so its a good idea to plan your expansions when you need to build up stocks ( say over the winter ).

That's something I was meaning to ask about in terms of the Designers thoughts. Why are you limited to accumulating only 50 artillery ammunition points per country?

[ParaB]

I just managed my 1st "significant victory" with the CP in January 1919 on "balanced". Had lots of frustrating moments in a couple of "learning games" until I understood how things worked. The French at least were charming when they ravaged me, can't say the same about the Russians... [:(]

Anyway, I finally won!

[:D]

Managed to take Paris in October 1914, fought through the winter and created a beautiful pocket around Verdun, trapping the bulk of the French army. From then on it was just a mopping-up operation in France. The fighting in Serbia was hard although I managed a nice flanking maneuver. Took me until Spring 1916 to brake their back. On the Eastern Front things looked grim until the summer of 1915 when I finally was able stabilize the front along the line Königsberg-Warsaw-Lemberg. Then it was trench warfare at its best with little gain for either side until I started to gain the upper hand in late 1917 with lots of artillery. Took Warsaw and steadily pushed the Russians back until the Revolution took care of them. In the Middle East the Turks put up a spirited defence along the Gaza-Aqaba line, thwarting one British offensive after another. And when finally the line broke in the summer of 1916 they managed a brilliant counter-attack, restoring the line. Over time the Bulgarians reinforced the line and no matter what the British army threw at them, infantry, artillery, aircraft and even tanks (!) they held fast. What a fight!

In Italy it was a mean slugging match along the Trento-Venice line with me steadily pushing the Italians and a British Expeditionary Force back.

In Summer 1918 I decided to land a small expedition force myself in England, capturing Plymouth and holding Cornwall/Devon until the end.

What an amazing game!

There were battles that warranted a full AAR.

Too tired now... need sleep...

Just wanted to say: great job, Lordz team!

[Gilmer]

I played my first game after handicapped was fixed. I played it on handicapped and played Entente. I won decisively with all belligerents surrendering. First game. Early on in the game, I thought I would still be over-matched, because there were a few times when I had units in the yellow and the red and I was wondering where I would get the units to rotate out since even my reserves were under-efficient. I got through it, though.

I shipped 2 British garrisons early to Serbia. Then when Italy entered the war, I sent all their island garrisons to Serbia to shore up the Bulgarian front for when they would enter the war. An Italian artillery piece and a couple more French and British corps, and I just pushed Bulgaria back, pretty gradually. Once I was able to push them out of the war, then Turkey was next and while that was happening, the lines started disintegrating for the CP.

Very nice. I'm not quite as bad as I thought, but balanced will be tough.

[Bossy573]

ORIGINAL: H Gilmer
Very nice. I'm not quite as bad as I thought, but balanced will be tough.

I went back to balanced after beating the AI on handicapped a few times and got smoked. Funny how much you can miss the extra garrison units you get on handicapped. Going to play handicapped a couple times more to perfect the less noticeable game mechanics and then probably leave it behind for good.