Very Cool Game-Strategy discussion

[BossGnome]

Hey guys,

Well, having just bought the game a week ago, I must say I am very favourably impressed. Of course the game is ridiculously low budget and the interface is crap, but the game mechanics work, and work very well. The game is remarkably open-ended, while still being realistic. I think my favourite part of the game is the fact that both sides can mobilize their forces however they want to in 1914, which can lead to some very interesting historical "what ifs". However, I would like to talk strategy a little.

Simply put, in terms of winning the game (not the war), is it possible for a conservative CP to win? By that I mean, should the CP pretty much do what was done historically, I.E., not go all out on either france or russia, is it possible for them to acquire the VPs needed to win? Or would more experienced players not recommend that strategy?

Also, what about the "russia first" strategy? It seems to me that such a strategy would be VERY advantageous to the CP. Germany doesn't have to attack belgium or luxemburg, avoiding international condemnation, and forcing France to attack them if she ever wants to break through a weakened germa west front. Meanwhile, Russia would be getting steamrolled and hopefully fall to the commies early. What would you say the allies could do to counter this?

The air war. Is it worth it? In my game vs the computer I noticed that the AI never builds new aircraft. As CP I have mastery of the air and I found it very useful for artillery spotting, but I never put any RD points in to research better aircraft. It is mid 1916 and aircraft tech is 0... Should more points be invested in aircraft? I remember the manual stating that the air war could be ignored altogether, but I like having the red baron over the skies of belgium and france.

Assault training VS tanks. Which one is better? Why?

OE-German "resource shuffle". I just thought of this but have no idea if it would work. The ottomans are rolling in Raw materials which they can send to germany. Once germany produces industrial points with all of those raw materials, they ship them all back to the OE, giving something like a 12 point turn for the turks. This could allow for some much needed infantry reinforcements, HQ, barrages, and the like. Has anybody ever managed to invade something with the OE? It was my impression that they are pretty useless, and I was just wondering if anybody managed to make them useful, except for shipping raw materials across serbia and bulgaria.

Finally, diplomacy. Who do you use it on, and when?

As you can see, most of my questions pertain to the CP, simply because, having only had this game 1 week, I haven't played the Entente yet.

Thanks a lot for all your answers!

[Strike1905]

On s'engag, et puis on voit.
I couldn't have said it better.

[Strike1905]

1st engage, then see what happens.

[hjaco]

A lot of good questions. My input relates to PBEM games alone.

First you have to recognize that most games won't go through to the end of 19'. Important factors for end game victory are morale, conquest and lost/taken cities. Furthermore your score is halved for each successive year. This boils down to that the CP must either achieve a lot in VP in the first part of the game or prevent the Entente in achieving the same in the last part of the game.

Yes its possible but you need to focus in taking out all the countries you can regardless of their value and you definitely must switch to defense before your attrition rate becomes too high.

In any case if you go into defense mode in France early you should (read must) take out Russia and the Balkans in every game.

There is a lot to be said about a soft west first in order to bleed the French army and gain valuable raw materials for a long war. Just be certain to deal with Serbia and Italy in good time.

An all out west first normally dooms the game to end one way or another in late 16' or early 17'.

Yes an east first is the "safe bet", put you must be pretty darn sure to leave enough forces in the west. I normally deploy 18 corps at setup to match the French, taking out Luxembourg and concentrating the 5 field artillery to barrage the open ground south of Verdun with air support to cause French casualties and buy time. All air is deployed in the west to increase effectiveness of my artillery and I research entrenchment each turn until I am at level 4. It's vital to defend with 3 corps per hex to avoid losing ground and equally important to bleed the French. With time hopefully you are going for a late war high tech super Schlieffen maneuver through Netherlands/Belgium.

The Entente must try to open a route to Russia to send them Food. That means either taking out Constantinople or through Serbia/Romania.

If you ever get two tech levels behind in air tech, you are going to loose a lot of aircraft very fast. You will then not be able to reverse this situation until you reach level 5 rather late in the game.

You can use assault troops rather early in the game but tanks have their uses as well.

I only shuffle raw materials around to maximize immediate production. I need my strategic movement intact for my troops. In an east first the OE can be immensely effective with an early focused offensive in the Caucasus especially to take the two southern Russian cities before the Nov/Dec reinforcement takes effect there. It is also great fun to transfer huge amounts of German stuff in a rush against Egypt [:D]

You quite simply must use diplomacy each turn on Italy and America !

[talldwarf]

As a beginner myself, I found the east first strategy easier to manage.  There is a CP Serbia thread which I suggest you read.  Eliminating Serbia in 1914 and standing on the defense in the west means only the Russian front is an active front.  Not declaring war on Belgium delays US entry (it never entered in my first campaign) without diplomacy.  Diplomacy with Italy every turn can delay its entry until after Russia is beaten.  End result is only one active front at a time.
I would recommend it as a first campaign to learn the mechanics.  You can easily beat the AI with it, though I don't know how it would do against a human opponent.

[Strike1905]

Okay, I'm gonna bite.
I haven't faced an CP opponent with a East Front Strategy 1st, (I'm actually facing my 1st two opponents now, one as TE, one as CP), and I am curious, has any one done what I call the "Marche Slav" strategy against a human and won?
Is any one up for such a try via PBEM?

[hjaco]

ORIGINAL: Strike1905
has any one done what I call the "Marche Slav" strategy against a human and won?

Yes twice - both was a win.

[BossGnome]

I was also wondering what role people saw for the german navy in this game? Obviously try to take out some british transports with the UBs, but where? Does anybody ever try to rebase the germans to the meditteranean? What about Baltic trade? How many extra subs should be built by the end of the game?

[SMK-at-work]

You can't rebase to eth Med because CP shipping can't get past Gibralter - yuo can give AH points tho and get tehm to build U-boats....i've never done it but it might be worth a crack.
 
There's still soem discussion about the role of hte high Seas Fleet within the game....in earlier versions yuo could send the whole fleet out to raid the Nth Atlantic and be guaranteed of screwing British commerce for at least a year regardless of losses!  fortunately that option doesn't exist any moer IIRC, as "Raiding" cannot be selected for PD and DN ship types.
 
Really it's purpose in life is to force the RN to use up British resources patrolling the Nth Sea and Atlantic.  If it looks like the Brits are trying to slack off and only poutting a few ships out then a quick sortie can maybe catch them off guard.  Subs don't achieve much unless you use unrestricted sub warfare IMO - they get the occasional hit or 2, but often take more than they dish out.
 
RN subs can attack German baltic shipping, so it pays to keep a few DD's on ASW patrol there as well as a DN or 2 - you dont' want to have to build transports - the 4 you get initially should suffice to carry the Baltic trade for the whole war.
 
How many subs to build depends on what you are trying to do - if you're going to use unrestricted sub warfare then as many as possible IMO, within the constraints of also keeping your army properly supplied and equipped......but if you're not going to use it then 0 (zero - none - zip) - don't waste the points.