Balanced or Not or I suck at the game??

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Balanced or Not or I suck at the game??

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Gary Grigsby's War in the East 2 >> The War Room >> Balanced or Not or I suck at the game??

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Balanced or Not or I suck at the game?? - 7/5/2021 11:35:00 PM

joliverlay

Posts: 635
Joined: 1/28/2003
Status: offline

First thing. I hate the security thing when you log on to post. Often I give up after too many fails. This time I got in on my 4th try. My eyesight is OK, but I guess I can't read the thing that screens out robotic logins with the "trash" obscuring the letters. Please Matrix find some other way.

Regarding the Game. I've started 6X as Axis vs AI and have set Soviet AI at 110 and Axis at 100, and by turn 8 or so I simply can't do anything. Even with 2M Soviet casualties. The soviet units are as strong individually as the axis ones at this point. I have to mass 3 of 4 divisions to push back on soviet stack. So after bogging down in late August I just give up and try again. I think the problem is the massive cheat the AI uses for movement or perhaps the endless reaction of reserves.

And no I'm not that generally bad with these games or new. Been playing these since Atari, Commodore 64 and Apple 2+. Beating the AI on hard is pretty trivial on WITPAE, WITE, and most other GG games. I'm probably going to have to try setting 109 across the board to cut the Soviet teleporting across the map on defense. What is the experience of others? I'd enjoy the game more if I lost in 1945, but I feel like the game will end in 1943 the way its playing now with early destruction of the German Army. The game does not play anything like the histories I've read. To much resistance the first summer. Is it just me?

The other issue I have is the excessive use of reserves. I attack a security regiment with a division and it gets 3 or 4 divisions activated. And when I win, I don't think the activated units lose much, nor do they seem to lose much when attacked individually later. I think that either the reserve activation should be toned down, or the teleporting of units.

Finally, I find the interface extremely difficult, and complex. I learned to do naval interdiction in my first try at the game, and now in the last three (using the newest beta) I set it up, but nothing ever flys. Always 0 and no interdicted hexes. Did something change? I assign half of LUFT 4 to Odessa, and not one plane takes of. Is the AI controlled AIR overriding in the execution phase?

I want to like this game, but this may be the first G.G game I had that I'm struggling to enjoy. It just does not feel right. Is it just me. Maybe it like the other poster said. I suck at this.

Post #: 1

RE: Balanced or Not or I suck at the game?? - 7/6/2021 12:04:23 AM

Wild

Posts: 364
Joined: 12/10/2007
Status: offline

Why not just play on normal and call it a day.

I hate AI cheats so i play on normal. The AI is good enough in this game to still give you a real challenge. But it's not overwhelming. Just make sure to prepare for winter.

(in reply to joliverlay)

Post #: 2

RE: Balanced or Not or I suck at the game?? - 7/6/2021 12:05:28 AM

Seminole

Posts: 2105
Joined: 7/28/2011
Status: offline

I've started 6X as Axis vs AI and have set Soviet AI at 110 and Axis at 100, and by turn 8 or so I simply can't do anything.

That�s setting the Soviet AI to have bonuses (morale, etc)

(in reply to joliverlay)

Post #: 3

RE: Balanced or Not or I suck at the game?? - 7/6/2021 12:29:19 AM

joliverlay

Posts: 635
Joined: 1/28/2003
Status: offline

Going to restart on normal. Feel like its cheating not to play on hard.

(in reply to Seminole)

Post #: 4

RE: Balanced or Not or I suck at the game?? - 7/6/2021 1:21:10 AM

Aurelian

Posts: 3916
Joined: 2/26/2007
Status: offline

It isn't cheating. Once you won a game or two, then kick the settings up a notch.

_____________________________

If the Earth was flat, cats would of knocked everything off of it long ago.

(in reply to joliverlay)

Post #: 5

RE: Balanced or Not or I suck at the game?? - 7/6/2021 5:43:24 AM

Rosencrantus

Posts: 318
Joined: 1/9/2021
From: Canada
Status: offline

In 1941 you shouldn't need 3-4 units to break a soviet stack. A mistake I made during my first game was not managing CPP properly. As soon as I did I managed to get historical rates of advance.

(in reply to joliverlay)

Post #: 6

RE: Balanced or Not or I suck at the game?? - 7/6/2021 7:15:19 AM

Slush

Posts: 33
Joined: 11/25/2007
From: Danmark
Status: offline

Just a question, since I haven't tried: Is it possible to set the German AI lower than 100, so you don't have to yank up the Soviet one in order to increase difficulty?

(in reply to Rosencrantus)

Post #: 7

RE: Balanced or Not or I suck at the game?? - 7/6/2021 7:28:38 AM

loki100

Posts: 10920
Joined: 10/20/2012
From: Utlima Thule
Status: offline

yes, you can modify any of the values over or under 100. Morale is by far the most important so be careful with that one.

setting the axis NM to 95% won't harm most German units but it will weaken their allies. If the Rumanians have a notional NM of say 50 you've just dropped it to 47. Given the way that morale and TOE interact around units being unready or shattering that could be quite a hit on your overall effectiveness.

to the OP, at 110 the key is to get and keep the Soviets off balance. If they start to slow your advance and limit your gains their army will grow to the point where you are limited to small gains. The AI also sets pretty much everything to reserve status, if they lose those units will suffer (low morale/experience).

So to solve the second problem, most testers broke down the mot divisions into brigades and slotted them into the Soviet front around where they planned to attack - that reduces reserve reaction to only units behind the front line.

Don't worry about playing at 100, till you feel you can set and sustain a particular attack tempo. If you get to T10 and the soviet lines are just ragged clusters of units then its time to go to 110. But get there first, CPP, the logistics system etc all demand careful management.

edit: it might be worth posting more (with images?) about the naval patrol issue, that shouldn't be happening so there may be a ready solution but can't really say just from the description)

< Message edited by loki100 -- 7/6/2021 7:30:49 AM >

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(in reply to Slush)

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RE: Balanced or Not or I suck at the game?? - 7/6/2021 2:24:41 PM

AlbertN

Posts: 3693
Joined: 10/5/2010
From: Italy
Status: offline

If it can have you feel any better, I am in the same boat but with Soviet AI at 100.

I feel my Axis formations are getting shanked quickly and lose steam swiftly. Soviet troops seem to bloat up quickly and by turn 7 or 8 Axis advance is pratically shored in front of a wall of entrenched Russians.
That against an AI that pratically run away. I noticed the AI never attacks to break out of pockets (and I think a player would), pockets often contained by a pretty weak regiment line.

(in reply to loki100)

Post #: 9

RE: Balanced or Not or I suck at the game?? - 7/7/2021 2:07:05 PM

jubjub

Posts: 493
Joined: 5/2/2021
Status: offline

quote:

I assign half of LUFT 4 to Odessa, and not one plane takes of. Is the AI controlled AIR overriding in the execution phase?

Yep. I know you can order the AI air assist to do naval interdiction, but I don't know how. I turned it off in the game settings as soon as I realized it overrides my manual directives.

If you run AI air assist in the ground phase it will transport stuff and move your planes for you, but won't set up or override your air directives.

(in reply to AlbertN)

Post #: 10

RE: Balanced or Not or I suck at the game?? - 7/25/2021 1:33:35 AM

potski

Posts: 50
Joined: 7/12/2021
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: jubjub

quote:

I assign half of LUFT 4 to Odessa, and not one plane takes of. Is the AI controlled AIR overriding in the execution phase?

Yep. I know you can order the AI air assist to do naval interdiction, but I don't know how. I turned it off in the game settings as soon as I realized it overrides my manual directives.

If you run AI air assist in the ground phase it will transport stuff and move your planes for you, but won't set up or override your air directives.

You can get the AI to use Naval Patrol missions if you set them in the Air Doctrines screen. The AI cannot ignore what you set there, it gives it general instructions such as the days of the week you want for each type of missions, altitude etc. The AI only selects the targets and which AOGs to use to carry out the Air Directives to put into operation the Air Doctrines you set. Or don't set if you do nothing with the Air Doctrines as it uses the default Doctrines.

Or you can manually just select that you want a Naval Patrol Air Directive, choose the Air HQ it will be assigned to, then select the target area etc. and which AOG(s) will carry it out. If you don't select an AOG, and have a specific naval AOG available that will be preferred. Obviously, you want to select a target which maximises the effect on enemy shipping if you are attacking, such as close to either an import or export port. It needs to be in range, and not more than 30 hexes away. If you say choose two days of the week and two sorties per day, then you should see the results of four sorties reported in the Air Summary once the air phase is completed. Plus you can enable to air combat icons on the map and select these to see the detailed results. Detailed results show the effect on your planes (any losses/damages due to operational loss or flak) and the result of any air combat if there is interception by the enemy.

The naval patrols can be defensive in nature, ie. you can set the target area to be close to one of your own ports where your shipping is being attacked.

Attacks by the naval bombers on specific ships are not modelled and reported in the air combat reports, in the way you get in WITP. This part of the game is abstracted and each sortie will just report a naval interdiction figure. The overall result of the interdiction will disrupt cargo ships from carrying freight or even block entirely ships from operating out of a port so no freight leaves or arrives. The naval patrols also increase reconnaissance and will report any transport ships or amphibious HQs which are at sea at the end of a turn.

If you create the Air Directive manually, then click on the AI to manage the Air Directives then it will overwrite your Air Directives, going to the Air Doctrines to see what Air Directives it should use and how to set them up. This is the most common mistake as the relationship between Doctrines and Directives (and the similar names) is not immediately clear. If you create manual Directives, you must not allow the AI to create its own Directives, as it will ignore everything you have spent ages setting up.

If there is a manual Naval Patrol, but your Air Doctrines don't specify that you want the AI to use Naval Patrols, then the AI will cancel your Naval Patrol Directive and replace it with something that fits your Doctrines, such as using the AOGs to carry out normal bombing, ground support or escort missions. I think by default, the Axis don't have Naval Patrol in their Doctrines in much the same way as they don't have strategic bombing. And while they have tactical bombing, their Doctrine specifies that this will be aimed at interdiction, not bombing airbases or railways. If you want the AI to manage the Air Directives but bomb enemy airbases, you must first tell it using the Air Doctrines.

I hope that explains how that works. To try it, load up a new game of the 1941 GC as Axis and set Luftflotte 1 just to use the Flieger Fuehrer Ostsee to carry out Naval Patrol in the Gulf of Riga on the first turn, as a single Air Directive. Run the air phase without selecting AI control of the air and check the summary to see that there were Naval Patrol sorties carried out. Once you get the hang of it, try it in your own game with a suitable AOG in the Black Sea.

(in reply to jubjub)

Post #: 11