New players perspective on Axis and questions (Full Version)

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Akahige -> New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/26/2021 4:44:43 PM)

Tldr:
The SU builds more units than I can destroy at the eastern front with little effect on Soviet national morale.
How I am supposed to win with Axis on default difficulty setting while SU is pumping out units like a mad man so that I can't advance at all and simultaniously the US starting landing operations in 1942 already?


The situation:
I switched from SCWWI to SCWWIIWiE, against KI only. It is December 1942 with the Axis in the Storm over Europe. Default difficulty settings and I am kind of confused and angry about the game now. Why is it so much harder than SCWWI?

The situation is bad on the Eastern Front and US started their first invasions which I luckily defeated at sea close to Gibraltar. Before I conquered the whole of France, Malta and Northern Africa with the addition of Gibraltar recently, I invaded Iraq and reached the mountains south of Baku. I spared Greece and Yugoslavia. No enemy units in the mediterranian exist any more. Easy game I thought to myself. Before operation Barbarossa there was an event about Lithuania, which I declined to not upset SU to keep the mobilization low. I guess that was a huge mistake in hindsight, because I couldn't build up enough troops close to the border to deal a devastating blow due to the restrictions. I put my high value units like tanks, armies and HQs at the border and let the corps and air force follow after declaration of war to SU in mid '41.

With Germany I only got to a line from Odessa-Kiev-Minsk-Riga and very close to Tallinn. But my overstretched most northern army will be cut off soon if I do not retreat. I just couldn't capture Tallin in time due to supply and reinforcement problems. Leningrad and Stalingrad are still so far away and unreachable now. The eastern front as a whole came to a complete standstill in early '42 already, because suddenly the SU pumped out a crazy amount of tanks, heavy tanks and infantry. I destroyed 114 SU land units already (among them 14 tanks, 16 armies, 42 corps) and I still can't advance. Every destroyed unit gets replaced immediatly plus reinforcement of additional units. Although I get close to 1000 mpps every round, most of which is used to reinforce the troops, it is impossible to make progress now and the tide will change soon with the UK starting strategic bombing on the industry in France and Germany recently. I put AAs on the mines which cut my budget on the eastern front. What brought some relief is the arrival of Rommel south of Baku that forced A LOT of SU redleployments. But there are now so many units that it seems impossible to advance through northern Persia without fresh unit support.

Due to supply issues and costs I barely can replenish my units to 10 and never could use elite reinforcements once. Initially I wanted to shell Sevastopol with a Rail guns lead by General von Manstein and Blitzkrieg the SU with an Armada of Stukas and tanks, but can't even reach the Krim. Am I supposed to be on the defensive in '42 already and loose with axis in this game on default setting if not played a perfect setup Barbarossa in '41? What am I missing here? SCWWI didn't feel that punishing on default difficulty.



Some more questions on the game:
1) Should the Axis attack Saudia Arabia as well to get the two oil fields or stop in Kuwait? After the US entered the war I don't see any major disadvantages for that but I didn't do it yet.

2) How probable is it that US or UK tries to land troops via Persian Gulf after conquering Iraq and Kuwait with Axis? Do I need to protect the south of Iraq with HQ, Corps and Armies in case of allied Invasion?

3) How can I purchase Reconnaissance tanks for the eastern front? Cavallery is so WWI and my Luftwaffe units are always low on unit strenght.

4) When purchasing new units I always went for all upgrades available except AA defence. Should I have taken more units without upgrades instead? For example: The cost of an Army goes up from 200 to 325 with Infanty Weapon and Mobility upgrade. Almost double the cost, but it feels so much better to use.

5) Is artillery worth it and where should I use it? Compared to SCWWI artillery seems to be weak.

6) Which artillery is the best: heavy, rocket or rail gun? Or skip completely?

7) What is the role of the mechanized infantery compared to an Army? I love the unit icon of the mod I use (Sd.Kfz.251).

8) What and where is there to do with German submarines effeciently? Going all the way to Canada or US to lay a mine and then get gang banged by destroyers followed by returning all the way back to France for reinforcement and supplies doesn't seem very effective to me. There must be something I am missing.

9) How to push through the mountainous terrain around Tabritz in Northern Persia to Baku against Corps and tank spamming Russia?

10) I have only one strategic bomber with Germany at the east front. Should I get more? The constant losses from enemy fighters to my bombers and escorts are a heavy drain on my mpps and reduce their availability.

11) Finland sided with the Axis and there was a tooltip about going for Murmansk. I didn't do it because of ressource constraint, but I can't imagine that is the sole reason for the situation I am in at the eastern front. Is it really important to get additional finish troops and what should I do in Finland in detail? How many troops are necessary for reaching Murmansk?

12) How can I get elite reinforcements when the suppy is always low in the Middle East and the eastern front? Due to the constant losses my fighters and tanks have almost 0 xp.

13) Are anti-tank units worth it? I get the same losses like the tank when attacking with it and in defence the KI just uses infantry to destroy them. Armies seem to be a much better allround unit.

14) What should I do with Italy after clearing the Mediterranian. Should I send italian troops to the eastern front or France in case of landings?

15) Why does the KI deploys special forces for the SU? Aren't they for amphibious assaults only?

Help is greatly appreciated.



PvtBenjamin -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/26/2021 6:53:51 PM)

1) One of the most important concepts is SU mobilization, how far they are leaning towards the Allies. I've never played vs the AI but in PBEM skilled players will have SU mobilization (without taking Lithuania) <20/25 going into 1941. I would bet vs the AI one could have this number <15. What was the SU mobilization in your last Game? US mobilization also very important.

These posts are a little dated but still pertinent.

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4380022

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4410258

2) Are you wiping out ALL non Leningrad SU reinforcements on the first turn of Barbarossa?

3) Having HQs in cities and linking them is how to handle supply in the mid east.

4) Do you have the Germans researching Ind Tech & S&I?

This is a start.









Akahige -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/26/2021 8:21:30 PM)

Thank you for your answers.

1) Operation Barbarossa started in Jul '41 when the diplomatic percentage with SU was 48% (this is mobilization, right?), with US 20%. I reloaded the save game without FoW and there are barely any troops in SU at all. A line of infantry from Riga to Smolensk, 1 HQ and 1 fighter and single infantry units in some cities. No tanks. Of course I didn't know that at that time.

2) Since I play with fog of war, I probably haven't been agressive enough and my setup was surely not ideal. I have no idea if I wiped all of non Leningrad SU reinforcements (FoW). But the build up of units by the SU is just crazy. I compare here the land numbers only. They started in Jul '41 with 38 (trash) units, Germany 74. In Dec. '42 they had 102 units, among them lots of (heavy) tanks and 5 additional HQs (in addition to 101 units already destroyed), Germany 112 (plus 18 destroyed). That is a buildup of 165 units in 1 1/2 years by the SU.

It is a little confusing to get unit spammed like this because nothing indicated the game would be like this hard in the first 2/3 of the game. Now I have invested many, many hours and realize I can't progress, even have to retreat (which means I guess it's getting much worse when the landings in the west will start).

3) So I should go with a pair of two HQs and put them into towns? I always placed them behind the front lines like a mobile town. I thought the closer the HQ to the fighting unit the better. The closer to town the better even if that increases the distance to the fighting unit?
Without FoW I can see that the KI doesn't place HQ into towns.

4) S&I is 3/3, Production 4.8/5, Industrial 3.5/5, Infantry 2/2, Tanks 3/5, Fighters 3/5, Subs 3/5, C&C 2/2, Logistics 3/5 and some more. I think that is ok for the time being, maybe too much research, because I can't even afford the upgrades?



PvtBenjamin -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/26/2021 9:00:06 PM)

Again I haven't played this version vs the AI. You want the HQs as close as possible but if you are playing a PBEM game and your HQ is right behind a forward unit its going to get destroyed or injured. Being in a city also protects the HQ and optimizes supply in low supply areas.

48% SU mobilization sounds high in Jul '41, you don't recall the number at the beginning of '41? I'll check some of my games.



Practice attacking SU reinforcements.

Play the first turn of the '41 scenario with FOW off then on, this will show you what you should be prepared for.


How many HQs do you have and are they the best ones? What units are they attached to?

Please describe your SU attack.

I'm sure you know but the "S" key shows supply.

The best Axis attacks overwhelms the Brits in Egypt and continues to the Caucuses via Iraq & Iran. Sounds like you are doing that.

IMO Ind Tech is more important than Production, Germans should always have two chits on Ind Tech.






Akahige -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/26/2021 9:49:05 PM)

In the first round in 1941 February the diplomacy percentages were 15% for SU and 20% for US.

I admit my setup for Barbarossa wasn't great, especially in the south where I attacked few rounds after DoW. At Bialystok I went for encirclement instead of brute force and afterwards I acted cautiously expecting heavy resistance because I had no reconaissence tanks like in Africa. In my opinion that should result in some delay of progress and not a complete campaign failure. It seems weird to me that I have to practice part of the game with a cheat (uncheck FoW) to be able to finish the campaign on normal difficulty. That wasn't necessary in SCWWI which at least by my understanding is almost the same game with another WW setting and had tolerance for mistakes or non-optimal setup.

The supply key with 'S' I know, but I don't know how to make the numbers better except of putting a HQ there and waiting. And even with HQ and Malta taken the numbers in Middle East are quite low.



PvtBenjamin -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/27/2021 10:44:29 AM)

With those mobilization numbers you should be able to take Leningrad & Moscow by the end of '41. So you need to work on your attack. Do you really want to play a game that you win the first time or two you play? The game is easy to start and very difficult to master.

I wouldn't view turning off FOW as cheating, its more like accelerating your game knowledge. You could just play multiple times and get the same knowledge if you feel like you are cheating.

WW2 was much more complex than WW1 from a strategic & tactical standpoint.

The Middle East has more challenging supply for both sides. Makes sense right?

Send some screenshots of your attack.



Akahige -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/28/2021 5:05:18 PM)

quote:

Do you really want to play a game that you win the first time or two you play? The game is easy to start and very difficult to master.


Absolutely. Based on my experience with SCWWI I totally expected a similar game in WW2 setting I can beat on normal difficulty. Being completely new to the franchise I could finish both sides in WWI with different campaign goals (Russia first/France first) on default difficulty setting. It was challenging at times, but never overwhelming. Never have I felt cheated by the KI or felt the need to turn off Fog of War. I enjoyed it that much that I bought WiE and WaW at once, too. Single Player in a game like this is nothing more like a tutorial for multiplayer anyway.

But WiE on Axis seems very odd. What I complain about is not that the axis campaign is hard on normal difficulty. What is irritating is that it appears to be easy to normal for hours in Poland, France the Mediterrenian, the Middle East and even in Russia (having read about how to take Malta beforehand). And then suddenly *BAMM* it feels like the KI is cheating. The game doesn't give you any feedback that it is actually quite hard on normal difficulty for most of the play time. Only after having spent many, many hours into the Axis campaign you realize you suddenly get drowned in enemy units and that you are toast.

After some research I found out, that I am not the only one who complains about Axis campaign on single player (not allowed to link).

quote:

I had no problems playing this as the Allies, but when I try as the Axis, this go much worse. The USSR seems insurmountable. I just get buried under wave after wave of Soviet units, both in Europe and Iran. What gets really fun is when you reach the point where your units can no longer do damage to the Soviet units. I've gone into the scripts and turned off most of the Soviet units that spawn out of nowhere, but still.... In my last game i had killed over 150 Soviet units but was still way outnumbered. I think the Dev is lying when they say the game doesn't cheat. Any tips on fighting the Red Menace?

quote:

I think that this game is unfair. The KI is cheating! The KI spawns Unit after unit and place it even in areas without connections to the capitol city or mainland. I blocked all roads and railroads in the Elbrus mountains and pushed from Persia but no way to reach Baku. The KI planes always know where my units are and bombs them to hell.

quote:

Love the game ideas and played many hours on it's predecessor Clash of Steel. Also a seasoned WW2board gamer.
I find the game VERY stacked in favour of the Allies. Fighting against Russia is brutal, even on novice/green setting and fog of war and weather are off for you and on for Allies! (shabby tricks I know ;o). When I finally beat them, there was something like 1,500 destroyed Russian units!! They just keep coming at you! In latest game I'm invading UK, but they don't give up even when London, Manchester and Edinburgh have been captured - I mean really guys?! Developer Patch tip : - Please think about tweaking the USSR resource levels as they get far too powerful far too quickly.


The advice here to turn off FoW to spy on the enemies positions or by developer to turn off the additional unit spawns seems strange to me. I'd rather have a lower baseline difficulty in the latter part of the campaign for the sake of a larger player community. I will stick around but I guess a lot of other new players will think this game is not for them, write off the 10 bucks they payed for it and move on (not buying any future releases).


Does anyone have some advice on the other questions?



Markiss -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/28/2021 5:46:54 PM)

I don't know anyone who plays this game who, after a few matches, could not completely outclass the AI. The game is not too hard, you just need a little more seasoning. Stick with it, and you will shortly obliterate the AI even on the hardest settings. So much so, that you will end up seeking PBEM games to give yourself a challenge.

If you could blitz right through the game the first time you played it, it wouldn't be much of a game.



Taxman66 -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/28/2021 5:48:29 PM)

Learn the supply rules.

All of them (of particular note is that the way air units get supply is not the same as land units and requires some forethought with their usage).

This is absolutely critical.
Being able to fully reinforce your units and keeping their morale and readiness (and thus their combat effectiveness high) is all based on supply (and HQ attachment/HQ quality).



Taxman66 -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/28/2021 6:17:14 PM)

Some more questions on the game:
1) Should the Axis attack Saudia Arabia as well to get the two oil fields or stop in Kuwait? After the US entered the war I don't see any major disadvantages for that but I didn't do it yet.

If you have the spare time and units, it's worth it. Note there are a lot of partisan hexes to guard.


2) How probable is it that US or UK tries to land troops via Persian Gulf after conquering Iraq and Kuwait with Axis? Do I need to protect the south of Iraq with HQ, Corps and Armies in case of allied Invasion?

Haven't seen the AI do that, live opponents will do so frequently.


3) How can I purchase Reconnaissance tanks for the eastern front? Cavallery is so WWI and my Luftwaffe units are always low on unit strenght.

You can't. GE & UK each get 1 via the Med reinforcements and can not build them intrinsictly.


4) When purchasing new units I always went for all upgrades available except AA defence. Should I have taken more units without upgrades instead? For example: The cost of an Army goes up from 200 to 325 with Infanty Weapon and Mobility upgrade. Almost double the cost, but it feels so much better to use.

Axis land units: Excluding the mobility upgrade, and the GAR units, I upgrade fully. I chose Mobility on some depending on need/purpose.

Axis air units: Unless I'm planning Sea Lion, I don't upgrade Naval combat on the air units. If I have a specific purpose I usually find I can upgrade that at a later time.


5) Is artillery worth it and where should I use it? Compared to SCWWI artillery seems to be weak.

Arty is useful to reduce entrenchment without risking air unit damage. Once upgraded, each shot reduces entrenchment by 2 iirc. Arty also hurts units in swamps pretty consistently.


6) Which artillery is the best: heavy, rocket or rail gun? Or skip completely?

I don't build the rail gun. If you look at the stats you'll find rocket is slightly better at attacking units and heavy slightly better against resources.


7) What is the role of the mechanized infantery compared to an Army? I love the unit icon of the mod I use (Sd.Kfz.251).

Mech Infantry gets 2 attacks, but is a bit more vulnerable to true tanks than an Army. It also has more action points.


8) What and where is there to do with German submarines effeciently? Going all the way to Canada or US to lay a mine and then get gang banged by destroyers followed by returning all the way back to France for reinforcement and supplies doesn't seem very effective to me. There must be something I am missing.

Generally the best thing is to keep them moving. There's various different methods of using them. You could open a whole thread about it as well.


9) How to push through the mountainous terrain around Tabritz in Northern Persia to Baku against Corps and tank spamming Russia?

This depends on how many units you have in the area and keeping them in good supply. Against the AI, if there isn't a creditable threat from the north you will get bogged down.


10) I have only one strategic bomber with Germany at the east front. Should I get more? The constant losses from enemy fighters to my bombers and escorts are a heavy drain on my mpps and reduce their availability.

GE Strat bomber is generally a major luxury unit. Particularly considering the Tech investment needed to make it more useful.


11) Finland sided with the Axis and there was a tooltip about going for Murmansk. I didn't do it because of ressource constraint, but I can't imagine that is the sole reason for the situation I am in at the eastern front. Is it really important to get additional finish troops and what should I do in Finland in detail? How many troops are necessary for reaching Murmansk?

Note vs. a live player Finland might be fighting to survive early in the war. Against the AI, a neat trick is to sneak a GE transport or 2 along the Norwegian coast before Barb starts, and then land them at Ptesamo.


12) How can I get elite reinforcements when the suppy is always low in the Middle East and the eastern front? Due to the constant losses my fighters and tanks have almost 0 xp.

You need to chain multiple HQs. You may also have to wait for the towns to repair and park the HQ in the str 5 town so the HQ can push 8 supply.


13) Are anti-tank units worth it? I get the same losses like the tank when attacking with it and in defence the KI just uses infantry to destroy them. Armies seem to be a much better allround unit.

Many people don't bother with them. If you're going to use them, they are not good front line units. They shine in counter attacking the opponents armor thrust and then falling back behind INF units.


14) What should I do with Italy after clearing the Mediterranian. Should I send italian troops to the eastern front or France in case of landings?

They're never going to be all that good. Probably better off against Russia where they won't come under the superior Wallies air power. Here, as many places what's good against the AI might not be so good against a live player.


15) Why does the KI deploys special forces for the SU? Aren't they for amphibious assaults only?

Check their stats, better than Corps not as good as Armies (though faster than Armies). For Russia they're a unit that gets fully upgraded at INF WEAP 2 instead of having to wait for INF WEAP 3.



PvtBenjamin -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/28/2021 6:34:03 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Akahige



After some research I found out, that I am not the only one who complains about Axis campaign on single player (not allowed to link).





You also wouldn't be the only player to complain the game isn't fair just because you haven't taken the time to acquire the proper skill set and knowledge to win a winnable game.

And I explained why you turn FOW off don't manipulate what I said.

Glad I tried to help.




Akahige -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/28/2021 8:07:38 PM)

Thank you for the detailed and helpful answers, Taxman66. I will conquer Moscow soon and file my taxes this year, promise!



Taxman66 -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/28/2021 9:01:19 PM)

The 3 biggest most important issues you are having are: Supply, supply and supply.



Mithrilotter -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/29/2021 12:16:12 AM)

I like playing the Allied vs. the Axis AI on Intermediate Difficulty with the Axis AI getting a +20% MPP bonus. However, as Axis, I like playing on Intermediate Difficulty against the Allied AI with no MPP bonus. The Allied AI gets too many bonus units (especially Soviet) to need bonus MPP's to give a good game. As Axis, I am also fond of activating the historical German minors script. I got really burnt by a very late Romanian entry in a previous game.

I would suggest not doing a Sea Lion. Bad weather in either England or France can ground your air force. That can happen a lot in Fall and Winter. The British AI will suddenly get bonus units in England for defense. Britain can be taken, but their capital will just move to Canada. Meanwhile, the US and the Soviets will get mad and mobilize faster. The US AI will sent a great force very quickly to liberate Britain. The Axis attack on the Soviet Union will be far weaker from all of the Axis MPP's spent on taking Britain and from the Axis units needed in Britain to garrison and defend Britain that could have been fighting on the Eastern Front.



Hubert Cater -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/29/2021 1:39:56 PM)

Hi Akahige,

Welcome to the forums here and to the WWII games [:)]

As others have noted here as well, the WWII games will feel and play a bit differently than our WWI game.

1) Supply here is indeed critical and as the Axis, just like in real life, you will run into supply issues in the Soviet Union due to overstretched supply lines, scorched earth effects, and simply due to reduced occupational efficiency of the Soviet resources.

A strong and overwhelming start with your Axis forces with the invasion of the USSR is key here as even without scripted UNIT bonuses for the USSR, they will be producing a lot of units and reinforcements, just as they did in real life. Historically the Axis were not able to defeat the USSR and there were reasons for this as noted here.

2) Optimal use of your HQs, where to place them, how to chain them to provide maximum supply, as well as where to place your own units within the supply network will be of the utmost importance. It does as others have noted above, play a key role in the readiness, morale and overall effectiveness of your units.

3) The first Soviet Winter and Partisans will play a role in weakening your forces and disrupting your supply, keep an eye and manage these factors as needed.

4) Destroying 150+ Soviet units is par for the game, as well as in multiplayer. The Soviets, as mentioned above, will potentially throw a lot of units at you over the course of the game.

5) One of the advantages the Axis have is gaining unit experience over the first few years of the war. Careful management of your units, to limit your own losses, and thus limiting the number of times you need to reinforce your units, will pay off with units with higher experience levels. These units can really pay off against the greener Soviet and other Allied units later in the war.

6) The Soviet UNIT bonus scripts are designed to optimize the game play experience, e.g. once you get a better handle on items 1) through 5) above, you'll typically find they help the AI as needed to make up for its shortcomings. However, if preferable, the easiest way to play without them (almost all of them disabled), is to select the easiest difficulty level (GREEN) as this will disable these bonus UNIT scripts for the AI. You can still set the MPP bonus collection setting for the AI to 0%, e.g this is then a sort of modified INTERMEDIATE setting with the UNIT bonus scripts removed from the game.

7) AI also will play by the same rules as a human player. We have an AI FAQ that we put together found here, hope this helps:

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=5075864

Hubert



stormbringer3 -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/30/2021 1:44:00 PM)

In my past games I've always kept Axis research at the maximum at all times. I usually have trouble in Russia. I've seen some older posts that focus on unit building to max out tanks, bombers and mechanized units and not as much on early research. Is that a viable approach?
Thanks for any opinions.



Elessar2 -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (9/30/2021 2:16:45 PM)

The philosophy there is that you need a QUICK victory (vs. the Russians if not the Chinese), and any techs that will only be useful in the later game should be forsaken. If you do decide to max out, make sure ALL tank corps and medium bombers are bought before the Afrika Corp events fires (so you'll get an extra tank and bomber essentially).

The downside to that is if you DON'T get the quick knockout, the Allies' research edges will be very bad news for you. For ex. you don't need AA against the Russians, but you do against the Western Allies' air forces when they start bombing your resources. Another dilemma is what to do with the economy techs: even if you are doing great after Barbarossa, you'll still need to spend hundreds of MPPs to repair your units (esp. after Russian Winter hits) and any levels in Production Tech will help with that. But that means one or two fewer corps.



stormbringer3 -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (10/1/2021 2:08:41 AM)

Thanks for the reply. Another question. Is it a good idea to build the Hungarian and Romanian tank units or they too expensive?
Thank you for any opinions.



Elessar2 -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (10/1/2021 2:40:24 PM)

If you can spare the funds, they can help cut off enemy units if nothing else. If you can spare the funds. Usually for me not before 1942 rolls around.



Akahige -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (10/2/2021 8:56:10 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater

Hi Akahige,

Welcome to the forums here and to the WWII games [:)]



Thank you for the warm welcome!

I tried to make progress on the same campaign with more HQs. The SU land unit kill count is now at 159 (among them 64 Corps, 29 Armies, 21 tanks, 8 heavy) and they still have more units against me in the SU. Despite the increased SU losses my troops could advance just a few hex fields and reached Baku and Tallin. Leningrad, Stalingrad and Moscow are still far away. I get it that Axis lost the war in real life and the eastern front in winter was no walk in the park, but it is still a game and should be a fun experience.

The Allies didn't get the memo about the historic timeline and started Operation Overlord in June 1943 already. The first round they landed with 10 corps, 2 special forces and 1 tank. After installing a bridgehead they flooded half of France with units. It is August 1943. The game is officially over.

It still feels like I am playing against a cheater and the ramp up in enemy units is too much after Barbarossa for my taste. I guess the margin of error is too thin for normal difficulty and the time table is too strict. How am I supposed to avoid DDay in 1943?

I did recommend SCWWI to a friend and despite the more interesting setting, I wouldn't recommend WWIIWiE based on this fresh Axis experience. It feels odd.

For the next playthrough I am gonna use a better setup for Barbarossa and cheat on enemy position (not proud of it). But thanks for all the tips, that should make the next campaign easier!



Bavre -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (10/3/2021 8:48:46 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: stormbringer3

Thanks for the reply. Another question. Is it a good idea to build the Hungarian and Romanian tank units or they too expensive?
Thank you for any opinions.


While they are more expensive, units from minors can be a great thing in SC:
They have the stats/tech of their parent major plus the additional trait that they can serve not just under their own HQs, but also under any HQ from majors of the same side.

So a hungarian tank is as strong as a german one and can serve under a hungarian, german or italian HQ.

This makes such units imho the ultimate rapid reaction force.



Hubert Cater -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (10/4/2021 2:46:46 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Akahige

Thank you for the warm welcome!

I tried to make progress on the same campaign with more HQs. The SU land unit kill count is now at 159 (among them 64 Corps, 29 Armies, 21 tanks, 8 heavy) and they still have more units against me in the SU. Despite the increased SU losses my troops could advance just a few hex fields and reached Baku and Tallin. Leningrad, Stalingrad and Moscow are still far away. I get it that Axis lost the war in real life and the eastern front in winter was no walk in the park, but it is still a game and should be a fun experience.

The Allies didn't get the memo about the historic timeline and started Operation Overlord in June 1943 already. The first round they landed with 10 corps, 2 special forces and 1 tank. After installing a bridgehead they flooded half of France with units. It is August 1943. The game is officially over.

It still feels like I am playing against a cheater and the ramp up in enemy units is too much after Barbarossa for my taste. I guess the margin of error is too thin for normal difficulty and the time table is too strict. How am I supposed to avoid DDay in 1943?

I did recommend SCWWI to a friend and despite the more interesting setting, I wouldn't recommend WWIIWiE based on this fresh Axis experience. It feels odd.

For the next playthrough I am gonna use a better setup for Barbarossa and cheat on enemy position (not proud of it). But thanks for all the tips, that should make the next campaign easier!



If I can just add some thoughts to your notes here, and in sympathy to your original post which indicated that there was little to no feeling that the game would suddenly feel so difficult after the first 2/3rds of your playthrough, the issue here really is that for the Axis side, the first 2/3rds of the game likely will feel very easy and stacked in favour of the Axis, while the last 1/3rd can indeed feel like the tables have turned, and rapidly so, if things have not lined up properly for the Axis in the early critical parts of the game.

With that I would just argue here that this is not necessarily a particular fault of the game, but rather that this should indeed be the correct WWII feel, and more or less what one could expect. Again, this is not to say that this means the Axis will or should lose every time, in fact we've made a concerted effort to bring the game balance to 50/50, but rather just to reinforce that playing as the Axis side really is a race against time.

For example, as the Axis, the race is to get into a position of strength and dominance on the map before the Allied industrial might ramps up and is able to effectively push you back. Mid 1942 is usually the tipping point and if you can push the Allies past the brink by mid 1942 then you should be able to win outright, if not then the Allied industrial and resource strength will be very difficult to overcome and likely push you back into defeat.

The first few years should feel easy for the Axis, but could be misleading in that if you haven't pushed quickly and strong and far enough by the end of 1941, you may have already mathematically lost and it is just a matter of time before inevitable defeat. This just means one could look at your position pre-Barbarossa, and already know that the war is lost if the setup is not sufficient enough, and despite already having great success throughout the map with a defeat of Poland, France, the Low Countries, Yugoslavia, Greece and so on.

My suggestions would be to perhaps try an all out Barbarossa as the primary focus, with the right research and upgrade combinations and skip North Africa until you get a good feel for what it might take to be able to reach Moscow and ideally eventually knock the USSR out of the war. Then modify and experiment with your strategies after that.

You could also try the GREEN difficulty level to see if that helps as well. I suspect a few experiments will eventually get you the right place to eventually defeat the game as Axis with ease.

Hope this helps,
Hubert



Hubert Cater -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (10/4/2021 2:47:24 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Akahige

It still feels like I am playing against a cheater and the ramp up in enemy units is too much after Barbarossa for my taste. I guess the margin of error is too thin for normal difficulty and the time table is too strict. How am I supposed to avoid DDay in 1943?



If the Allies landed in France in 1943, then they likely did not do a Torch landing in Algeria in 1942 and put their resources to an early France. This is possible in game for variety as well.




Sugar -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (10/6/2021 1:26:36 PM)

Hi Akahige,

there`s actually a trick to get the Sovyets done: don`t care about their massive troops, get to the next town/city and after that fight the troops in your back under far more advantageous circumstances (which is nearly no supply).

The Sovyets are no match for well equipped/trained Axis/supplied troops.




Duedman -> RE: New players perspective on Axis and questions (10/6/2021 8:12:29 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Sugar

Hi Akahige,

there`s actually a trick to get the Sovyets done: don`t care about their massive troops, get to the next town/city and after that fight the troops in your back under far more advantageous circumstances (which is nearly no supply).

The Sovyets are no match for well equipped/trained Axis/supplied troops.




Yes, thats pretty much it lol.
You need to grab land as fast as humanly possible or Russia will zerg you to death.
Dont waste TIME on conquering every village right away. Just gogogo. Once the enemy held towns are cut off, they drop in supply value. Put two spare troops next to them and just wait for the supply drop to zero. Never turn your tanks backwards unless they are in danger.
Dont hesitate to rail transport you HQs from time to time. Not reaching the level5 village right behind your troops by 1 hex basically looses you the next turn on that front due to bad supply. If its summer and you have a striking opportunity - rail transport that HQ just for 1 more Hex.

Also Scouting:

The first move of your fighter planes gets boosted vision (like with all your troops). In Russia you dont really have an active role for Fighters. Use them in this way to scout. Their vision gets huge with a few levels of longe range research. Fly to the border, enjoy all the scouting you would wish for and then plan which empty town to grab next.



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