AI for MWiF - Germany

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AI for MWiF - Germany

Post by Froonp »

I try my luck at Germany.
I've written a somehow long document in MS Word, converted into PDF that I can send to anyone interested.
I'm trying to put it here too in fragments.

A. FOREWORD
First, I'm only talking about strategies with the 39-45 Campaign game in mind. I never played scenarios and have no clues as for the strategies to use in them.

Second, I'm in no way the best player around the block, so these are only my ideas about strategies in WiF, there may miss some bits, there may be misconceptions. It is based on my experience of my own WiF campaign plays (10+). It is in no way exhaustive.

I prefer to say this first, to avoid having to type "in my opinion" in every sentence below.

Also, I numbered each part herein for easier cross referencing when referring to other major powers strategies.


B. INTRODUCTION
Of all the Axis Powers, this is Germany who sets up the pace and the orientations of the whole Axis side.

Japan and Italy must comply with Germany's choices, or see the Axis side be doomed. WiF is a team game, as well in the Allied side and in the Axis side. The Team Leader for the Axis is Germany. If it is not played as a team, the side will lose.

This is said to explain why I'll begin with Germany.


C. ASSUMPTIONS
I expect the game will know how to tactically attack and take advantage of the counters it have and the counters the enemy have. I call this the Tactical AIO [Edit :I know now that Steve called these the Field Marshalls, coordinated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff].

There may also be a Garrisoning AIO, responsible to garrison controlled territories and a Production AIO responsible to product units that should answer to the needs of the Tactical & Garrisoning AIO.

The Grand Strategy AIO is inputting data into the Production AIO, Tactical AIO and Garrisoning AIO, because it decide what will be done next.

The Tactical and Garrisoning AIO are also inputting data into the Production AIO because they express their needs in units, repairs, replacements…
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - GRAND STRATEGY AIO

Post by Froonp »

D. GRAND STRATEGY AIO
Germany is an offensive major power for the start of the game. It needs to be aggressive and to take actions. In 1942+, it will gradually shift to the defensive, and be forced to react to the Allies decisions and campaigns.

The Grand Strategies for Germany are.

D.I. USSR First (Historical)
D.I.1. Poland 39
D.I.2. France 40
D.I.3. USSR 41 (the so called Barbarossa)
D.I.4. Sideshow in the Med
Led by the Italians with some German support.

D.II. CW First
In this Strategy, the steps 1 and 2 will be conducted the same way military (on the field) as in the USSR First Strategy, only the production will be different.
D.II.1. Poland 39
D.II.2. France 40
D.II.3. Spain / Gibraltar 41
With the objective of closing the Med, securing Italy, and having the Italian fleet help against the UK.
D.II.4. United Kingdom 42
Sealion, with the objective of knocking out the UK, or damaging her so badly that it is less efficient in the Allied team for the Allied come back (conquering the southern plains up to Manchester).
D.II.5. USSR 43
This Barbarossa 43 may well end as a Sietzkrieg / Sideshow depending on the previous successes.

D.III. Close the Med then hammer USSR
D.III.1. Poland 39
D.III.2. France 40
D.III.3. Spain / Gibraltar 41
With the objective of closing the Med, and securing Italy.
D.III.4. USSR 42
Barbarossa 42, with the objective of pushing the Reds as far as possible, and destroying as much the Red Army as possible to hamper its return in 43/44.

D.IV. France first
This is a high risk variation on the C.I (USSR First) Strategy. If France doesn't fall early, the Axis is doomed.
D.IV.1. France 39
D.IV.2. Poland 39/40
As soon as France falls, the Wermarcht turns back eastwards, quickly enough to defeat the Poles as soon as possible and be ready for the meat of the game, USSR.
D.IV.3. USSR 40/41
D.IV.4. Sideshow in the Med
Led by the Italians with some German support

D.V. USSR first
This is a doomed strategy that I saw in action in one game.
It fails because it does not deal with the CW & France. I include it here because people might have insight to improve it and perform it while dealing with France & the CW.
D.V.1. Poland 39
D.V.2. USSR 40
D.V.3. Sitzkrieg in the West
Defence position against an unconquered France, who happens to be a dreadful opponent in 43-45 if left alone.
D.V.4. Sideshow in the Med
Led by the Italians with some German support
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - INNER STRATEGIES WITHIN GRAND STRATEGY

Post by Froonp »

E. INNER STRATEGIES WITHIN GRAND STRATEGY
Those are the wheels within the Grand Strategies wheels.

E.I. BALKANS
Germany has to decide what to do with the Balkans, and precisely, with Yugoslavia & Bessarabia. There are two broad choices : Align or Conquer Yugoslavia, in the aim of keeping Bessarabia or leaving it to USSR.
E.I.1. Align Yugoslavia
E.I.1.a. Points of interest of this inner strategy (advantages & drawbacks)
- Aligning Yugoslavia on Italy to provide Italy with a fall back Home country when Italy will be incompletely conquered. Aligning Yugoslavia on Germany is less interesting.
- Yugoslavian units won't cooperate with the Germany units, so they won't be as useful to garrison France for instance. They will be better left in the Balkans.
- Germany won't have the Zagreb City-based volunteer MTN unit (because Zagreb won't be Germany controlled).
- Germany won't have the Rumanian HQ, if done in 1939. Anyway, this is USSR who is dealing the cards here, and if USSR demands the Bessarabia in 1939, Germany has to choose whether still to follow this ploy or not.
E.I.1.b. Chain of events to follow to achieve this
Germany & Italy must control, one way or another, all countries around Yugoslavia.
- USSR demands the Bessarabia --> Germany accepts.
- Hungary & Bulgaria demand their share of Rumania --> Germany refuses.
- Germany immediately Declare war on Hungary, Declare War on Bulgaria (to prevent USSR from aligning it), Aligns Rumania (mandatory when refusing the Hungarian & Bulgarian demands).
- Hungary is dealt with immediately with troops prepared for this.
- Bulgaria is dealt by the Rumanian units first, reinforced by the victors of Hungary next.
- Declare war to Greece, and conquer Greece with the army victorious in Hungary & Bulgaria, and Athens with an Italian unit (to allow the Italians to align Yugoslavia).
E.I.2. Conquer Yugoslavia
E.I.2.a. Points of interest of this inner strategy (advantages & drawbacks)
- This allows for a follow up of aligning Rumania, thus denying the Bessarabia to URSS.
- This prevents the alignment of Yugoslavia on Italy.
- Germany won't have the Rumanian HQ if done in 1939, and if Germany tries to postpone this into 1940, USSR will demand Bessarabia before Germany can Declare War on Yugoslavia, leaving the case resolved by who has the Initiative in J/F 40.
E.I.2.b. Chain of events to follow to achieve this
- USSR did not demand the Bessarabia.
- Germany Declare War to Yugoslavia and immediately align Rumania.
- Next Impulse, Germany aligns Hungary.
- As soon as Belgrade is in German hands, Germany aligns Bulgaria.
- Now Germany can choose to declare war on Greece or not, depending on which Grand Strategy it is. Greece is a good supply throughput for Axis troops in Libya / Egypt, needing only 1 CP in the Eastern Med to supply the North African Theater (no CP in the Italian Sea needed).

E.II. BLITZKRIEG IN THE WEST (FRANCE)
Whatever the Grand Master Plan, Germany will have to wage war to France and its surrounding countries, with the objective of subduing them.
E.II.1. Denmark
E.II.1.a. Conquest
A lone 4-mover INF is needed to conquer Copenhagen at the first opportunity (weather) from the war outbreak.
Some players like to have another 4-mover (a DIV can be good at this too) conquer Frederikshavn to avoid any CW early war nuisance invasion. I do not.
E.II.1.b. Garrison
This is Defensive Garrison.
- Garrison A : Copenhagen. Germany must hold it until the end as it controls the access to the Baltic Sea. It should always be garrisoned. It should not be lost.
- Garrison C : Frederikshavn and hex 0640 should be garrisoned too, to hamper allied liberation of Denmark as much as possible.

- Note : Some form of Kriegsmarine should survive long enough in the war to help prevent the allies from tracing supply across the strait leading into the Copenhagen island. This can delay the fall of Copenhagen for a long while.
E.II.2. The Netherlands
E.II.2.a. Conquest
Whatever the position of the Dutch Army, the key is to conquer Rotterdam and Amsterdam at the first Impulse, to avoid seeing CW troops coming to support the Netherlands.
- If playing with the “no ZOC on surprise” option, the Netherlands can be conquered at the first non rain weather impulse, if you have the necessary troops to insure an overwhelming combat ratio on the Dutch Army.
- If not playing with the “no ZOC on surprise” option, you should wait for the German PARA to be deployed to take the vacant city. The other city will be assaulted regulary.
E.II.2.b. Garrison
This is mostly Defensive Garrison.
- Garrison A : Amsterdam (Objective hex).
- Garrison B : Rotterdam should be occupied by garrison as soon as possible. Amsterdam & Rotterdam they are too much important for the allied comeback in Europe.
- Garrison D : A third garrison should be deployed in the northern shores when the Allied invasion menace gets hot.
E.II.3. Belgium
E.II.3.a. Conquest
The key here is to cross the Dyle in the first impulse of the declaration of war (conquer at least 2 of the 3 hexes Antwerp / Brussels / RP hex).
- Germany should be prepared to use breakthrough aggressively here, even if disrupting in the Ardennes forests is needed. A HQ has to be near enough to reorg. Crossing the Dyle is critical.
- Then the rest of the story is ground striking and blitzing.
E.II.3.b. Garrison
This is mostly Defensive Garrison.
- Garrison A : Brussels and Antwerp should be garrisoned as soon as possible.
- Garrison C : The wooden hex 1031 (NE of Metz) should be too, because its ZoC prevent Partisans from appearing in the French resources hex below.
E.II.4. France
E.II.4.a. Conquest
It comes down to 2 notions : ground striking and blitzing, aiming at surrounding Paris to get a decent shot at it the soonest possible. The rest is pure war waging (Tactical AI).
Needs lots of planes, lots of Armor, lots of HQ.
E.II.4.b. Garrison
This is mostly Defensive Garrison.
- Garrison A : Paris (never let a capital city be paradropable).
- Garrison C : All invadable ports & cities should be garrisoned, and if possible, all invadable hexes should be at least ZoCed. This makes 11-12 units.
- Garrison C : Hex 1725 is very important to be garrisoned because an allied invasion here cuts the way down to Bordeaux.
- Garrison C : Some units must be kept inland. In or adjacent to resources hexes / red factories to avoid seeing partisans appearing there. The required garrison value of 15 should be reached.
- Garrison D : Le Havre is less important to garrison. It is a dead end.
- Garrison D : Bayonne is the least important port to garrison. It is the most far away point in France from Germany.

- Note : Cooperating HQs should be maintained in Britany (2 hexes from Brest to supply the U-Boats in Rain & Storm) and in Aquitaine (2 hexes from Bordeaux to supply the U-Boats in Rain & Storm - 1725 is fine). Those HQ should possibly stay on railroad hexes to allow for a quick redeployment, and forest hexes to protect from bombers. They should approach to a range of 2 hexes from their troops / navies when the weather forecast are bad (late J/A for instance).
- Note : In the late war period (43/44) an Armored reserve should be maintained, possibly out of reach of the Allied tank busters, and in forests, either around Paris or in the Ardennes.
- Note : I am talking about a Vichified France Here. For a collapsed Vichy France, southern France's ports should be garrisoned too, but with less priority than the rest.
E.II.4.c. Vichy
France should be Vichyfied the soonest possible, and kept vichyfied the longest possible (in a strategy where Spain wasn’t attacked) because Vichy protects the southern reaches, and because Vichy is bringing lots of BP to Germany the day it is collapsed, so the later the better. About the BP producted, Vichy should have CP left for it (or built if there aren’t), this CP placed in the Western Med and it will be transporting 1 RP from Algeria (If Vichy too) to Vichy factories to product more BP. But this may be covered by some sort of Economist AI.

It should be collapsed when the Allies are potentially near to conquering the cities where the stocked BP are. The German units must be able to over the cities where the BP are and hold them until the end of the turn, and keep open a path for these BP to Germany.

If playing with the unlimited BP stacking, all should be stacked between Vichy & Lyon, even if that makes a high target value for strat bombers. Anyway, the Allies have few chances of Declaring War to Vichy.

E.III. BLITZKRIEG IN THE EAST (POLAND)
E.III.1. Poland
E.III.1.a. Conquest
It comes down to 2 notions : ground striking and blitzing, aiming at surrounding Lodz & Warsaw to get a decent shot at them the soonest possible. The rest is pure war waging (Tactical AI).
E.III.1.b. Garrison
This is mostly Anti-Partisans Garrison.
Partisans appearing in Poland can be dangerous because it make valuable reinforcement for the East Front loose time to reach the front. Partisans in Poland should be avoided at all cost.
The best is to garrison Poland with 3 low combat value SS units (making for the 6 needed Garrison points) (City-based volunteer).
- Garrison A : One in or around Warsaw (avoid letting a conquered capital city empty).
- Garrison C : One in the wood hex in northeast Poland (it prevents Partisans to appear on important Russian railroad hexes, and is in supply mot of the time).
- Garrison C : One west of Minsk (it prevents Partisans to appear in Minsk & on important Russian railroad hexes, and is in supply mot of the time).

E.IV. BARBAROSSA
E.IV.1. Invasion of USSR
Well, that’s a big fish that may be broken into two nearly independent fronts, and should be dealt in sequential steps.
E.IV.2. Army Group North
This deals with the assault from East Prussia / Poland in the direction of Moscow / Leningrad.
E.IV.2.a. Step 1 – Brest-Livosk & Lithuania

E.IV.2.b. Step 2 – Minsk & Latvia

E.IV.2.c. Step 3 – Vitebsk, Estonia & Pskov

E.IV.2.d. Step 4 – Smolensk & Leningrad

E.IV.2.e. Step 5 – Moscow, Gomel, Tula, Briansk

E.IV.3. Army Group South
This deals with the assault from Bessarabia / Rumania / Poland in the direction of Kursk & Rostov.
E.IV.3.a. Step 1 – Chisinau & Lvov

E.IV.3.b. Step 2 – Kiev & Dnepropetrovsk

E.IV.3.c. Step 3 – The Factory line, Kursk, Kharkov, Stalino

E.IV.3.d. Step 4 – Voronezh & Rostov

E.IV.3.e. Step 5 – Saratov, Stalingrad, Stavropol

E.IV.4. Garrison
This is mostly Anti-Partisans Garrison.
- Garrison A : Leningrad, Helsinki, Moscow, Kiev.
- Garrison B : West of Dnepropetrovsk (for the RP and the railroad hub), around Odessa.
- Garrison C : Gomel (too good place for Partisans to appear, and too hard to destroy them if here), Between Stalino & Kharkov (fot the red factory), Kursk, any city within reach of the Russian PARA.

- Note : No effort should be made to supply the garrisons. Hence, those garrisons, once in position, should not move. If partisans appear somewhere, an HQ will rail move (the least useful HQ elsewhere) in the area to supply the maximum number of troops, and those troops will eliminate the partisan.
- Note : Germany should be wary of the long range Russian ATR and hence about the possible paradrops or air drops on partisans that URSS can make. Germany should avoid at all cost that USSR liberate a city behind the frontlines this way.
- Note : Germany should deal seriously with partisans, and not let them appear in masse. 2 Partisans in the same area begins to be critical.

E.V. SEALION
I never did or saw this, so my advice may be of little value here.
E.V.1. Invasion

E.V.2. Garrison


E.VI. SOFT BELLY
E.VI.1. Italy Garrison
Italy should ask for its German brother to provide some garrison and counter attack troops for its defence. This will be covered in the Italian AIO (If I do it one day !!!).
E.VI.2. Balkans Garrison
Garrison for these places should follow the Garrisoning AIO rules.
- Garrison A : Athens (Greece), Belgrade (Yugoslavia), Bucharest (Rumania), Budapest, (Hungary).
- Garrison C : Salonica (Greece), 2415 (Greece), Tirana (Albania), Dubrovnik & Split (Yugoslavia – rail lines reaching these), Zara.
- Garrison D : Other threatened coastal hexes.
- Note : Overall, this area of operation is less important than France or Italy, because even if badly protected, an invasion force would progress slowly from the shores, and there would be plenty of time to bring reinforcements, and it would be easy to stop the invaders with even poor troops.

E.VII. AFRIKA
Lets say that Italy has the control there, and it will be covered in the Italian AIO (If I do it one day !!!).

E.VIII. SUB WAR
Waging war to the Allied convoys in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, or anywhere else is MANDATORY for the Axis. This is true for all Axis power, who should all wage some form of Anti allied shipping warfare.
Waging war to the Allied convoys is cheap, and has big come backs. Cheap because SUBs are cheap (3 BP at most) and quickly built (6 turns). Each CP sunk is 1 BP that the Allies will have to build back, and moreover, it could mean less RP reaching factories, so less PP, so less BP. Moreover, it is naval moves that the allied is forced to take to replace the lost units.
E.VIII.1. Built SUBs
- Germany (and the 3 others Axis major power too) must have a SUB building dedicated production.
- My rule of thumb for Germany is to invest 2-3 BP in SUBs each turn (1-2 only in the first 8 turns). The aim is to have 10+ SUBs in the French ports as soon as possible to plague the Allied CPs.
E.VIII.2. Move SUBs
- Germany (the 3 others Axis major powers do also not have this problem) must compel to an obligation of 1 Combined move from time to time, depending on the situation. At least 1 Naval move each year to move all, depending on the situation too.
- To be efficient, SUBs must be gathered in the same Major Port to be able to all sail at once in a Combined. The major ports sheltering a seizable naval force must always have some form of land unit defending the port.
- A good trick to make the SUBs more efficient, while expending less naval moves, is to let them at sea, even if they drop to the 1 box. This must be done in a timely manner so that the SUBs do not fall in the 1 box when bad weather comes. When bad weather comes, they must be in the higher box, because it is the moment they risk the less.
- SUBs left at sea at the end of the turn also often disrupt the planned Allied TRS / AMPH return to base. This may lead to them loosing time, and the game is a race against time for the Axis powers, to be alive when the end of the game rings. So each impulse / turn gained is good.
- Italian search, Germans fight : Germany must also use the stay at sea tactic when the good weather turns come, because even it Germany won’t have a Combined Impulse to activate searches, it can leave this to Italy who can chose a Combined Impulse more often.
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - MINOR NUISANCES

Post by Froonp »

F. MINOR NUISANCES
F.I. Support Portugal
In 1939 & 1940, keep an INF DIV stacked with operational naval units in Kiel able to sail into Lisbon if the CW Declare war on Portugal and invades with a DIV adjacent to Lisbon. The German DIV will then postpone the CW plans and annoy him, forcing him to send more powerful troops to kill the German DIV.
There’s nothing better than annoy the CW.
WiF is a race against time, making the CW loosing time (Impulses) is always good.
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - GARRISONING AIO

Post by Froonp »

G. GARRISONING AIO

G.I. Ranking Garrison hexes
A garrison hex is an hex where there is a reason to keep a garrison. This can an Anti-Partisan reason, or a Defensive reason.
- Defensive Garrisons are places where the garrison will prevent / hamper invasions, paradrops with its presence or its ZoC. An hex is only a garrison hex if it is one way or another threatened by enemy units able to attack and conquer it.
- Anti-Partisans Garrisons are places where the garrison will prevent / hamper partisan apparition (RP hexes, Red Factory hexes, key railroad hubs hexes) with its presence or its ZoC.

Garrison hexes could be ranked to sort their importance out :
- Garrison A : Crucial / Vital garrison hexes : Capital Cities, Objective hexes, Ports with important fleet based.
- Garrison B : Important garrison hexes : Key hexes (Gibraltar, Malta, Copenhagen…), multi Sea Area hexes (Manila, Canton, Menado, Makassar, Rabaul…) …
- Garrison C : Normal garrison hexes : Invadable hexes, paradropable coastal hexes (Venice for example), or anti partisan hexes.
- Garrison D : Least garrison hexes : invadable hexes, paradropable coastal hexes (Venice for example), or anti partisan hexes, both with already a ZoC covering it, or with low chances of being chosen by the enemy for invasion / paradrop.

G.II. Garrisoning
A guide to garrisoning would be :
- General picture : Give the least protection to the place where you would want the allies to invade. I prefer to see allies land in Bayonne rather than Normandy, or in Bari rather than next to Venice (Venice itself is not invadable). This advice is good too for Italy. Choose yourself where your enemy will land by creating yourself a weak spot in your defenses. Anyway, you will have a weak spot, at least choose where it is.
- Crucial / Vital hexes should always be garrisoned. Rare exceptions may happen, for example when the garrison must move to kill a partisan or for another reason, but as soon as possible the hex should be garrisoned again.
- Important hexes should be garrisoned as soon as possible with 1 unit, then with 2 if a large amount of important garrison hexes have already been garrisoned with 1 unit, and if units are available.
- Normal garrison hexes with 0 units, and 1 unit when important hexes begin to get garrisoned to 2 units.
- Best if Defensive Garrison can also be Anti-Partisan Garrison.
- Defensive Garrison should be kept in supply most of the time if possible.
- Anti Partisan Garrison is not necessarily in supply, though it is best if it is. An HQ can eventualy come (rail move) if there is a partisan surge to help mop them out.
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - PRODUCTION AIO

Post by Froonp »

H. PRODUCTION AIO
H.I. GENERAL RULES
Some rules should be followed by the Production AIO

First, allocate a rough percentage of builds allocated to the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, depending on the type of war the country is involved in.

Land War :
These are operations on a land frontline (more than 3-4 contiguous hexes -- below that size they are pockets operations), with the objective of seizing resources, factories, capital cities, objectives hexes, or simply destroying enemy armies.

Sea War :
These are operations that involve taking control of Sea Areas that are far away from the Sea Areas already controlled, with the objective of seizing resources, factories, capital cities, objectives hexes or new bases. This includes projecting air power through the use of Aircraft Carriers.
- A Sea Area is considered Enemy Controlled when you are only able to send there your Navy (or simply SUBs) with thin or no Airpower. This kind of Sea Area will generally only be the theatre of Convoy War.
- A Sea Area is considered Contested when you are able to send there your Navy with Airpower and Invasion Forces.
- A Sea Area is considered Air Controlled when you are able to send there more Airpower than the enemy.
- A Sea Area is considered Controlled when you are able to send there more airpower than the enemy and you control more land hexes and ports than him in this Sea Area.

Air War :
This is either :
- Strategic bombing operations involving bombing factories, oil resources and stored Oil & BP, with the objective of diminishing the enemy production and fighting and destroying his Air Force.
- Air supremacy operations involving bombing any valuable target (even simply oil-costly units) with the objective of fighting and destroying enemy Air Force.

H.II. LAND BUILDS
H.II.1. Land War
- Build HQ as soon as available in the force pool.
- Build ENG as soon as available. Equal priority with HQ.
- Build as much Armor as possible, try to build out the force pool if mathematically possible.
- Build ART as soon as possible.
- Build lots of troops.
H.II.2. Sea War
- Build cheap garrisons to hold your bases against enemy invasions. White print preferred.
- If in offence, built invasion capable troops. MAR, PARA, along with their assets, to invade new bases in Contested Sea Areas.

H.III. AIR BUILDS
H.III.1. General
- Build FTRs to try to achieve air superiority. Bombers are nothing if the enemy masters the skies.
H.III.2. Land War
- Build Tactical Bombers to help attacking armies, or to prevent enemy units to attack or use their capabilities (especially HQs).
- If a sizeable Strat force can be created with the available force pool, build Strats en masse to carpet bomb the enemy units (USSR, CW & USA are concerned here).
H.III.3. Convoy War
- Build short range NAV for 0 & 1 Section escort & long range for 3 & 4 Section escort.
H.III.4. Sea War
- Build long range NAV to project Air Power in the Contested Sea Areas.
- Build long range FTR to project Air Power in the Contested Sea Areas.
- Build some tactical bombers (strong fighter bombers are good too) to help invading new bases in Contested Sea Areas.
H.III.5. Air War
- If no Land War is in view for the moment and the next year, and if a sizeable Strat force can be created with the available force pool, build Strats en masse to bomb the enemy factories and oil resources (USSR, CW & USA are concerned here).
- Build Tactical Bombers just to strike units and provoke Air combats.

H.IV. NAVAL BUILDS
Naval builds must be programmed with a large advance. It may be good to tell the USA and Japan that they will be involved in a Sea War one day or the other, even if it is not evident in S/O 39.
H.IV.1. Land War
- Build ships that will be able to deliver troops to the overseas frontlines (if there are overseas frontlines) : TRS.
H.IV.2. Convoy War
- If the country is the aggressor, built SUBs for X BP of SUBs per turn (I say 2-3 for Germany)
- If the country is the Defense, built CP, TP, ASW & CL for X BP of those per turn (I say 3-5 for the CW).
- X is determined by the availability of any BP allocated to the Navy available, by the importance of the Convoy War reported to the rest of the Sea War and by the amount of losses.
H.IV.3. Sea War
- Build units that project Air Power in Contested Sea Areas : CV & CVL.
- Build units that helps invading land hexes & ports in Contested Sea Areas : BB.
- Build assets that will complete the fleets and absorb the losses : CA & CL.
- Build ships that will be able to deliver troops to invade new bases in Contested Sea Areas : AMPH, TRS.
- Build ships that will be able to deliver troops to the overseas frontlines : TRS.

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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - PRODUCTION AIO

Post by Shannon V. OKeets »

Patrice,

I like all of this, some parts more than others. Section D, E1, and G are of most interest to me. I also liked your discussion of the convoy war.

Right now, I am thinking that I need to receive about a dozen of these, from different people for different major powers - it doesn't matter particularly. Once I have a certain heft of ideas about strategic plans, then I can start giving them a better structure. I am a strong advocate for structure because it leads to writing code that is not completely unique for each country for each scenario.

Along those lines, what do you see as Germany's victory hex total as the game progresses? Which victory hexes does Germany capture/lose and when? These can be broad outlines, without a lot of specifics. I want to know towards which victory hexes the AIO pushes the German army each year; and how to assess whether things are on schedule or not.
Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - PRODUCTION AIO

Post by Froonp »

Along those lines, what do you see as Germany's victory hex total as the game progresses? Which victory hexes does Germany capture/lose and when? These can be broad outlines, without a lot of specifics. I want to know towards which victory hexes the AIO pushes the German army each year; and how to assess whether things are on schedule or not.
I sent separately you an Excel file that I hope will answer your question about the game progression and especially the objectives hexes controlled turn after turn (from the Millenium Annual) for each major power.
Please, tell me if it is sufficient.
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - INNER STRATEGIES WITHIN GRAND STRATEGY

Post by c92nichj »

Germany has to decide what to do with the Balkans, and precisely, with Yugoslavia & Bessarabia. There are two broad choices : Align or Conquer Yugoslavia, in the aim of keeping Bessarabia or leaving it to USSR.

You assume that USSR always will demand Bessarbia, I have seen a few games where this does not hapen, one of the reason being that Germany then will be unable to align Yugoslavia prior to an attack on USSR. If Germany goes for a Sitz strategy it is a good tactic to align rumania and yugoslavia after you declare war with the USSR.
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - PRODUCTION AIO

Post by Froonp »

I like all of this, some parts more than others. Section D, E1, and G are of most interest to me. I also liked your discussion of the convoy war.
OK, So I will consider this case close, and begin to think about another major power. I'll try to focus on the same aspects.

I invite others to add to what I've already written, especially for the Sea Lion case.
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - INNER STRATEGIES WITHIN GRAND STRATEGY

Post by c92nichj »

E.II.4.b. Garrison France
This is mostly Defensive Garrison.
- Garrison A : Paris (never let a capital city be paradropable).
- Garrison C : All invadable ports & cities should be garrisoned, and if possible, all invadable hexes should be at least ZoCed. This makes 11-12 units.

I would note use this amount of units for garrision in france if I want to be able to give Russia a real good kick during 41. later maybe but not allready after the conquest.
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - INNER STRATEGIES WITHIN GRAND STRATEGY

Post by Froonp »

You assume that USSR always will demand Bessarbia, I have seen a few games where this does not hapen, one of the reason being that Germany then will be unable to align Yugoslavia prior to an attack on USSR.
I thought I had discussed this second case in E.I.2.
If in J/F 40 the USSR has not demanded Bessarabia, I as the German would Declare War as son as possible to Yugoslavia and align immediately Rumania.
Keeping Bessarabia is in my opinion much more useful than aligning Yugoslavia.
Aligning Yugoslavia to Italy is a mixed blessing.
The down side is that the Yug units do not cooperate with German ones and hence make poor garrisons in Western Europe. So they are best kept at garrisoning Italy & the Balkans, and even in Italy they create problems when the Germans begin helping Italy (because of the non cooperation).
The up side is the backup home country for Italy, and a surviving Italy helps Germany a lot because it ties down a lot of Allies units, who are delayed on their assault on Germany.
If Germany goes for a Sitz strategy it is a good tactic to align rumania and yugoslavia after you declare war with the USSR.
I think that Germany going to do a Sitz strategy with the USSR is a loosing strategy, and this should only happens with Germany unwilling to do it, but forced by the allies.
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - INNER STRATEGIES WITHIN GRAND STRATEGY

Post by Froonp »

ORIGINAL: c92nichj
E.II.4.b. Garrison France
This is mostly Defensive Garrison.
- Garrison A : Paris (never let a capital city be paradropable).
- Garrison C : All invadable ports & cities should be garrisoned, and if possible, all invadable hexes should be at least ZoCed. This makes 11-12 units.

I would note use this amount of units for garrision in france if I want to be able to give Russia a real good kick during 41. later maybe but not allready after the conquest.

Yes indeed.
That's why I made categories of garrison hexes. So that some are garrisoned before the others. Garrison C hexes should be garrisoned not all at the same time, but the most close to the heart of the Reich before the others, with some logical priorities wiothin the groups I defined.
Germany should have a politic of production that include building out the MIL & the GARR to be able to garrison her numerous conquests.
No garrison is certain downfall.
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - INNER STRATEGIES WITHIN GRAND STRATEGY

Post by c92nichj »

I think that Germany going to do a Sitz strategy with the USSR is a loosing strategy, and this should only happens with Germany unwilling to do it, but forced by the allies.
Yes but combined with a seal the med or a sea lion a sitz in USSR might not be that bad, depending on options ofcourse.
The axis can have a pretty solid line and good production with an aligned Yugoslavia, Rumania,hungary, Bulgaria, a conquered spain and a sealed med. Not my prefered or best strategy but it can work, with the right set of options.
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - INNER STRATEGIES WITHIN GRAND STRATEGY

Post by c92nichj »

Garrison C hexes should be garrisoned not all at the same time, but the most close to the heart of the Reich before the others, with some logical priorities wiothin the groups I defined.
Germany should have a politic of production that include building out the MIL & the GARR to be able to garrison her numerous conquests.
No garrison is certain downfall.
Agreed
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - INNER STRATEGIES WITHIN GRAND STRATEGY

Post by c92nichj »

E.II.2. The Netherlands
E.II.2.a. Conquest
Whatever the position of the Dutch Army, the key is to conquer Rotterdam and Amsterdam at the first Impulse, to avoid seeing CW troops coming to support the Netherlands.
- If playing with the “no ZOC on surprise” option, the Netherlands can be conquered at the first non rain weather impulse, if you have the necessary troops to insure an overwhelming combat ratio on the Dutch Army.
- If not playing with the “no ZOC on surprise” option, you should wait for the German PARA to be deployed to take the vacant city. The other city will be assaulted regulary.
It might be uneccesary to wait until the PARA is built.
- You can invade from the North Sea in the vacant Hex if you have a div or a AMPH which you can risk putting in the North Sea, a british fleet in the med and strong German air cover can make this possible.
- It is possible that the CW will not have any transports readily available to reinforce Rotterdam (poor play by CW but might happen)
- You might want to take a chance to get a double move and declare war late in a turn.
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - INNER STRATEGIES WITHIN GRAND STRATEGY

Post by Froonp »

Yes indeed, it is a strategy to take into consideration.
It is E.II in my post above.
It's true that with this strategy, the war in the east can't begin earlier than 43, and I fail to see how the Wermarcht can win the upper hand in attacking the Red Army then. Hence a Sitz is highly likely in this strategy.
When I wrote about the Balkans, I had more regular strategies in head.
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - INNER STRATEGIES WITHIN GRAND STRATEGY

Post by Froonp »

ORIGINAL: c92nichj
E.II.2. The Netherlands
E.II.2.a. Conquest
Whatever the position of the Dutch Army, the key is to conquer Rotterdam and Amsterdam at the first Impulse, to avoid seeing CW troops coming to support the Netherlands.
- If playing with the “no ZOC on surprise” option, the Netherlands can be conquered at the first non rain weather impulse, if you have the necessary troops to insure an overwhelming combat ratio on the Dutch Army.
- If not playing with the “no ZOC on surprise” option, you should wait for the German PARA to be deployed to take the vacant city. The other city will be assaulted regulary.
It might be uneccesary to wait until the PARA is built.
- You can invade from the North Sea in the vacant Hex if you have a div or a AMPH which you can risk putting in the North Sea, a british fleet in the med and strong German air cover can make this possible.
- It is possible that the CW will not have any transports readily available to reinforce Rotterdam (poor play by CW but might happen)
- You might want to take a chance to get a double move and declare war late in a turn.

You're right, but these are gambles I do not like to take when I'm playing Germany.
Those early turns are critical to the Axis success, and I prefer to ensure my success by making the failure the slimest possible possibility.

A DIV invading can be intercepted, ecept if there are no CW ships in the North Sea, but as for the lack of CW Sea lift to ship troops in Rotterdam, this would be poor CW play, and I prefer not to rely on poor enemy play to win.

Anyway, you're right in one way, it is that the game should not be locked into predefined strategies, it should be able to take advantage of poor enemy play.

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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - INNER STRATEGIES WITHIN GRAND STRATEGY

Post by c92nichj »

A DIV invading can be intercepted, ecept if there are no CW ships in the North Sea, but as for the lack of CW Sea lift to ship troops in Rotterdam, this would be poor CW play, and I prefer not to rely on poor enemy play to win.
A DIV invasion is not as bad/risky as it sounds.

Assume you sail with Gnesenau to the 3 box on your 3rd pulse loaded with a DIV you also fly the NAV there and maybe the longrange fighter to the 2 box.Assuming british ships in the 4 box, there is 54% chance that there will be no combat or that you get enough SP to be able to avoid combat. CW has 18% chance to find you on 4 suprise points which is required to call a Surface combat otherwise you'll need to clear through atleast three factors to be sure to abort the german planes.

Next impulse 4 the allies can search again you still got 54% chance of avoiding the combat alltogether and CW only have 18% chance of finding with 4+ SP's.

If you survive those two impulses at sea you can decide to declare war on impulse 5 no search roll needed to be made, if you didn't survive just bite the bullet and go for the m/a PARA. If you did survive you can declare war and take out Netherlands in 39 Belgium in J/F 40 if the weather permits, its ok with snow or rain. And be in great position by M/A for france. It might even go quicker in my current game I viched france J/F '40, with a poland first strategy, lucky weather rolls though.

You can alos sail out during impulse 1 in N/D hoping for rain or better weather by impulse three(50%), you will even have a bigger chance of sucess since CW will not be position in the four box on your first pulse.

Of course this strategy depends on how the CW fleet is setup, if all of it is focussed on the North Sea maybe you will not go for it, but it is not uncommon that the CW will put some of his CV's in Gibraltar early to have some projection power in the med.
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RE: AI for MWiF - Germany - INNER STRATEGIES WITHIN GRAND STRATEGY

Post by Froonp »

Good demonstration. You try it and if it fail you fall back on the PARA ploy.
I would like the AI to be able to do this.
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