The Poor Start Position

[O.O. Howard]

Friends,

There are start random map positions with very poor production opportunities, and against AI++ it is hard. Rivers, mountains, and most of all lakes combine to choke off expansion. Having just got the game lately I am not an expert at quick expansion. I am not even good at quick expansion in games that I have played for years. There are other people here who can speak to that problem far better than I.


Yet, I can offer my very conservative strategic 'insight' to you. This is philosophic advice and doesnt apply well once you have gotten things going your way and you are producing plenty and running over your enemy. You may not even need my advice, but I feel like writing it today. [:)]

First observe the choke points on the map. Instead of thinking that starts like this are bad, I look at capturing those points and employing engineers to dig short fortified lines across them. Don't worry so much about production at start, instead be thankful for and take advantage of such a good defensible position. Man the forts with SMG infantry, some machine guns. No trucks, no tanks. Very cheap! Add whatever else you need, like anti tank guns, etc. Put a battery of artillery behind it if a strong force approaches. AI++ cannot break through a fortified line. They lose many troops when they try.

With such a secure base of production you can watch the enemy and pick your fight.

Whenever possible, attack the nation that is winning, dont attack the ones that are losing. If you cannot safely take a city from the winner, strategic bombing(if plausible) against the winner's cities helps the losing AI++ nations to beat him for you. A very weak nation nearby with a good defensible position(for you after you take it) is a fine target also.

Dont advance into an area that is between two nations, or you will find yourself caught in the open between two fires. Even if you hold out, you are weakening yourself via attrition far beyond the value of that city. With a small production base you cannot afford even to win such battles.

Where should you attack? With limited production, here is my strategic approach to an Offensive: An enemy city of the winning nation with great production which, if captured by you, only adds a little to the line you must defend, and does not add at all to your exposure to another enemy. That is a prime target! If the prime target isnt available, look for the next best city, giving more wieght to the defensibility of the city than to its production. Give more weight to the production of the city that to what nation has it. Defensibilty>production>nation who controls city.

Do not research everything. You cannot afford it. Research bazookas or tank destroyers, not both. Core attack units need mixing. Your front line riflemen on the plains needs mortar, a few tanks and some trucks. Again do not research both heavy and medium tanks, you are better off taking medium to a high level and just building those.

Operational approach to an offensive: The headquarters of the division which spearheads such operations should be abundantly supplied so it can run the risk of being cut off. It is going to keep moving forward with the front. The core units should be well mixed offensive types, with carrying capacity to spare. Add a few specialty units, which are tailored to the type of terrain and enemy you expect to meet. But scouts(no trucks) and artillery(with trucks!) are a must.

Because your home base is so safe you can actually put together a local advantage against even the largest nation. Feed new troops into a '2nd' division that will already be managing the air units, engineers, and possibly paratroops as well. But mostly this 2nd division will watch the flank, keep on encircling enemy troops who try to cut your lines of supply, keep encircled enemies from making trouble, guard your supply line, and will later have the job of defending the newly captured prize city. This 2nd division should have mostly smaller units, since the AI++ loves to loop small raids around your front lines. Some of these units may be called upon for frontline jobs(defending the artillery which has already fired if the front line moves far beyond them) so that the spearhead units dont get held back for such mundane tasks.

Tactical approach to the offensive: Very different from the slow, careful method which is applied to Strategy and Operational preparation. The scouts always advance further than is safe and post up as deep as possible. Locate his specialty units before they even arrive at the front, be ready to apply the appropriate counter to them. Take every chance to cut the enemy from supply. The artillery is constantly moved forward and softens that crucial enemy position that you determine must be taken, or that big enemy unit that might tear into you next turn. However, the overall philosophy is to make a fast break for that city, bypassing any strong points or distractions. It is very important that spearhead units never be slowed down, or be positioned anyplace where they are 'defending' anything except each other. A new forward airbase should be built within range of your target enemy city. The AI++ has a weakness, it does not defend cities well. Get to that city. At most you will need to shell it once, bomb it once, and then attack it from several sides. It should fall in one turn, and be repaired by you immediately.

Even if you are cut off the captured city will more than keep you supplied. The jump off city and airbase is no longer relevent to the spearhead and soon the 2nd division as well. With few loses you are liberty to punish the enemy further. Many enemy units are trapped behind you with no supply. Often the enemy in front feels 'soft' at this point, there is a strong temptation to keep going forward.

Do not allow a purely tactical advantage to overrule strategy! The purely tactical advantage melts away unless you are so good at continually exploiting it... eventually there you are slogging it out, it becomes attrition, you start to get overwhelmed. And you say, "ah I made one mistake or got unlucky on that one turn! I will reload the save from that turn." But in fact you put yourself in a position where you had to continually be perfect, and most of us arent. This is how you lose to the AI++.

[OTOH... Do what makes you happy. If you like the high wire act and reloading games, go for it. Me, I feel 'unrealistic' loading saved games because of a bad outcome. I never save game unless I am about to stop playing]

Therefore, at this juncture, I advise a strategic re-assessment with exactly the same questions asked as before.

And then an operational re-assessment is made: Is the spearhead division in good shape( Is it still well supplied? If it lost anything, is it vital, or a minor loss?) Can the 2nd division get set up in the new city quickly? etc.

If the Strategic/Operational situation denies another offensive in this area at this time, there is still plenty to do here. You can polish off surrounded units. You can do more damage to the enemy as he rushes in an uncoordinated way to retake the city. Punishing/encircling attacks are performed as part of defense. In my opinion it is not an Offensive.

If it appears that the next Offensive will not be launched here, defenses are quickly built. The Spearhead division can be moved/shipped or stripped down for elsewhere. The 2nd division, stripped of some units, holds the fortified line near the newly captured city.

In summ: when starting in a poor production, high obstacle, high bottleneck/chokepoint area, defensive advantages can be found. Sieze those points and fortify. At all points where the AI++ enemy attacks he is severely punished at low cost to you. This is the advantage of being in a 'poor' position on the map.

At the time and place of your choosing an Offensive is launched to overwhelm the enemy at the point most advantagous to you. This is the advantage of having a secure base, that with light defenses in your forts you can secretly mass for an offensive at the critical place. The Offensive is not slow and careful, it is like a sword which flashes briefly while the stroke falls upon the target. A strange audacity, which appears to be contradicting the overall strategic approach, rules the tactical method. Advance so quickly and boldly that the city is taken in a short time. It can seem very difficult to take the city, but this is your best move, (and your only move) while your enemy is distracted in many places. The enemy will tend to leave the city when he realizes how strong you are and how close you are to it. Be very bold and you can scare the AI++ into dispersing.

After a victory, do not allow tactical success to draw you into a poor operational situation, nor should you allow operational success to draw you into a poor strategic situation.

Even so, a time comes in the war when you will know its time discard this conservative approach...it is time instead to launch a general offensive or launch an offensive on a smaller front which is not limited in time or space because it hopes to accomplish sweeping goals. The time for that is dependent upon the production, the geography, and upon the skill and instinct of the player. Perhaps someone else could write about that time, describing it in detail, and can give advice how to recognize it, so that the player can discover when to discard my advice.

I also hope someone will add to or correct my approach for starting the game in a 'poor' position.


Regards,

[IRONCROM]

 Excelent advice bro. I have come to follow many of those ideas myself.
I haven't used scouts very much though, but from other threads I'v read as well as this one it sounds like they can be very good at harrasing the enemy.
 I use mostly fighters for recon and haven't felt the need to invest heavily in scouts. Although I am considering using them more often if for nothing else than to disrupt enemy supply.