The Empire Strikes First: New Dawn 3 Game vs AI

[GaryChildress]

So I've been working on a customized scenario which I'm calling "The Empire Strikes Back" (due to the fact that the randomly generated Anglo regime is called The Empire and they go on the second turn). [:D] This is my play-through of that scenario. The following are the specs for the scenario:

Generated from a random game: 2 player, small map, mirrored.

After generating the random, mirrored map I added the following tweaks.

1. Customized subformation art.
2. Gave each side one Mercenary base which can produce a max of 5 "Elite Rifles" per turn.
3. "Elite Rifles" are essentially Mercenaries with 10/10 initiative instead of the usual 5/5. They represent the cream of the crop in infantry. As Germans I'll be using them to form SS Divisions. If I were playing as Anglos I would use them to create "Royal Guards" Divisions. (Obviously since the AI will be playing Anglos in this case, it will probably be mixing them in with regular formations.)
4. Also gave each side one Research facility which can produce a max of 4 Political Points per turn.
5. Initial production on the first turn was tweaked to include some cavalry and horses on turn 1 for both sides.
6. Jazzed up the landscape a little, adding more forests, streams etc. and re-placed Ore and Oil deposits on the map.
7. Set the regimes to my favorite colors and renamed Anglo "Rangers" to "Commandos" since they will represent the British.
8. Renamed all commanders to RL names of British and German WWII generals.
9. Gave each side one seasoned commander in their officer pool.
10. Put some place names on the map to name a couple lakes and the rivers, just for a little chrome.

And of course I'm playing the latest patch so I can use the TO&E feature!

Next I'll show the initial default layout of the map.

[GaryChildress]

Below is the game map starting on May 1, 1938. Again, small mirrored map, 2 player.

[GaryChildress]

The AI declared war on me on turn 2, June 1, 1938. It's now September 1938 and our forces have met in the middle of the map to square off against each other.

[GaryChildress]

Thinking in advance, I sent a cavalry detachment out ahead of my main force to seize Mr. AI's oil in the south and another cavalry detachment to hold my own oil deposit in the north. Unfortunately my Cavalry detachment is only 8 SFs strong and Mr. AI has sent quite a horde against me in the north. I don't expect to hold onto the Oil deposit for very long. In the south AI is a bit slower (probably due to the rivers blocking the advance to the Southwest. Being a mirrored map I also had rivers to cross to the Northeast but I bridged them ASAP.

Below is a close up of the front line.

[GaryChildress]

Here's the production for this turn (Sept 1, 1938). I created a tank factory this turn and have it set to build a first run of 8 armored cars for the next turn. II Army is the Northern one and will probably be facing the stiffest resistance so they will all be going to it initially.

I'm keeping all other production focused mainly on political points as I want to hurry up and build more factories and upgrade my Ore and Oil fields to level 3 ASAP. I've already upgraded them to level 2. I just hope my forces can hold for the time being until I start cranking out factories to supplement production.

[Josh]

All PP production and almost no Army production...well good choice *but* it's gonna be tough the first few turns, as the AI outproduces you he's gonna swamp you. Personally I would go for a little less PP and some more Inf, and use those to set up a line of defense in the hills in the middle of the map. Just enough to hold the lines, hills/mountains are awesome defense lines. And setup your armed forces in the south part of the map ...oh well that's what I would do [;)] Have fun and kick butt [:D]

[GaryChildress]

ORIGINAL: Josh

All PP production and almost no Army production...well good choice *but* it's gonna be tough the first few turns, as the AI outproduces you he's gonna swamp you. Personally I would go for a little less PP and some more Inf, and use those to set up a line of defense in the hills in the middle of the map. Just enough to hold the lines, hills/mountains are awesome defense lines. And setup your armed forces in the south part of the map ...oh well that's what I would do [;)] Have fun and kick butt [:D]

Thanks for the tip. You may be right about too much focus on political points. However, if I can hold out for just a few turns I hope the gamble to pay off big. I just built a gun factory on the next turn from building the tank factory. Unfortunately I didn't have enough political points after building the gun factory to research any guns. So it's going to sit idle for this turn. NOTE TO SELF: Next time don't build a factory if it can't produce anything the following turn. [:D]

[GaryChildress]

December 1, 1938 (6 months since war was declared): So far my forces are holding out well. The AI hasn't tried to swamp me yet with infantry which it usually does. I hope I didn't do something to mess up the AI routine when I added tweaks to the map. But I've added bigger tweaks before and lost to the AI big time so maybe it's just a matter of time. (Or maybe I'm just getting better at the game?.)

I've created two recon brigades of 4 armored cars each. Right now they are dominating the battle field. Haven't seen any enemy armored cars yet. Again, unusual. But we'll see.

Sent my cavalry on a deep recon mission. The started off in the south and did a loop up north and through enemy lines without being attacked. No losses. Apparently Mr. AI just hasn't massed his forces yet to do anything about it. I am thinking of sending my armored cars on a mad dash to disrupt the enemy lines and see how much havoc they can wreck behind them but the conservative side of me wants to keep them back in case they penetrate my line and I need to repel them.

[GaryChildress]

The AI is starting to get tougher now. So now here's a dilemma. Should I hold my positions where I am a bit more stretched out but controlling the oil in the center of the map or should I fall back to a defensive line which I can manage better? I think I'll hold my positions for another turn and see what happens. I'm pretty sure I'll get kicked off the oil in the north but the south may still hold.

[GaryChildress]

Here's a pick of the TO&E for the basic workhorse of my war machine, the Infantry Division.

[Josh]

Love your counter graphics by the way [&o] As for using armoured cars for recon, they're great...but only four cars have *very limited* recon value, well it's better than nothing but you might stand next to an opposing unit and not see it, it doesn't show up on the map. Even when on open ground let alone forests and hills. The bestest is still the somewhat archaic Cavalry [:D] go imagine Cavalry rules the battlefield hehe but in ATG they sure do. They're mighty expensive to build tho. You are still on very thin ice I see...no tubes and no armour to speak of [X(] Your artillery factory is your best friend here, against the evil masses of unwashed AI units your Arty rules. Especially early in this game each and every tube will be priceless, you'll handpolish each and any tube that leaves the factory [:D] Personally. They will lower the opposing units readiness so they are easy pickings. Armoured cars wreak havoc on enemy Infantry but die like flies against enemy Armour...so yeah Light Tanks ASAP [:D]

Well uh good luck [:)]

[GaryChildress]

The AI has been hitting me pretty hard these past few turns so I'm taking your advice and adding infantry guns to all my Infantry Divisions.
 
Will shoe polish work on the tubes? It's all I have. [:D]

[lecrop]

Interesting AAR, nice counters and amazing new TOE designer...

[Josh]

Oops I didn't mean Infantry Guns (I still have mixed feelings about those, are they efficient? Better than Mortars?) I meant Artillery Guns. They rule the battlefield. When facing masses of AI Inf you got to lower their readiness, even when you take them on with your Tanks. If you are truelly hard pressed with Inf each Inf unit of your own could use a dedicated Artillery unit. So one defending dugin Inf unit and an Artillery unit behind it. They get exp fast so rush them to the front. The real king of the battlefield is the Heavy Gun...but they need halftracks for transport. Well you can move them but only 1-2 hexes at a time. Regular Artillery will move just fine with horses. Oh yeah and definitely add Machineguns to your most pressed units, 5 for evey 20 Inf. Add 1-2 AT guns and your unit in the hills/forests is indefeatable.

Shoe polish will do just fine [;)]