W.i.n.t.e.r
Frozen!
Since CDG will be shut soon I went and transpherred the last file over here- and I figured many people might not have seen this yet- so I'm posting it for you to read. This is a piece of writing that describes how you can establish a successful routine and win against a numericaly and far more advanced enemy against all odds, that a surprise attack eventualy does bring along:
Run to the hills, it's....
A Victim's tactic for Modern Warfare (PART 1)
---------------------------------------------
What frustrates me is that I am usually lagging behind in technology and thus keep up only a moderate military size for defense purposes. I mean, what good is it to have expensive resources tied up by having a large but crappy army that would crumble under a mere few units your neighbour can throw at you. Now, my oponent neighbours are usually busy with themselves and as long as they are banging somebody else's head I try to stay allied with them and keep up trade relations (I had sth like 80% of the silk trade in my hands- this also kept my alliances open even when things got nasty) then cometh the time when their greedy eyes fall upon me... and then it is crucial to have a backup plan...
----------------
Only that I didn't have one- I was a weak and technologically backward Monarchy with WWI Infantry and only a handfull of (modded) WWI tanks facing modern armor, paratroopers and marines...
Worst than this contrast in power was the geographic issue- the enemy had expanded around me until virtually encircling me with his cities.
If I had not realised his true intensions early enough (2 rounds) I would not have stood a chance- I had to draft everything I could in every possible city- some 20 something (so that was about 80 units in two rounds plus all projects started within these rounds) to stop the initial brunt of the attack. After these two rounds my population was depleted, my resources were cut and my production dwelling somewhere below the floor level.
Well, I survived in fact after 26 turns I was able to dictate a peace deal... forget trying to hold cities- it won't work, especially not with conscripts- if you lose a city lose it- try to make the AI engage you in the field; in rough terrain- mountains and fortesses on hills- give your troop-stacks one or two veteran modern units, the rest should be conscripts. Save these veterans from direct enemy attack even if you should loose a couple of conscripts in their defense- your army will gain more and more experience and the AI will either avoid attacking a dugg-in military formation, or in the end bleed to death trying to take out your troops.
Do never gather all your veteran troops in one stack- they will eventually be wiped out in a few attacks- try to spread your professional army evenly throughout the front(s) as the strong arm of conscript armies. Dig in and counterattack only to mop up damaged, valuable enemy units in immediate reach- this will give your conscripts experience- and buy you time.
Always keep a rapid response force ready to reinforce your positions. It is therefor crucial to prevent the enemy to destroy vital road/rail connections- keep those open for counterattacks (I am saying this because many players opt for destroying these in order to slow down the enemy assault- this does not help because the idea is to let the enemy bleed to death before your fortifications- NOT to slow down the carnage- stay in control, keep the initiative).
Now repeat after me: I refuse to be a victim
Commentary:
-----------
No matter how hard you try to keep up with science, wasting turns in buildng libary,universities.. in Regent level , you are still behind because, like Winter says, you need to have a strong army in case of a surprise ex-allied attack!... If in PTW build the "towers" . Build these in reomote areas so you can see any suspicious advances.
Another suggestion is to try to biuld a lot of cheaper units:
The reason is you can place them on the front line, then when you are attacked, enemy ground forces will attack them first.
Then in the 'back" place the stronger units and counter-attack!!! on your turn. In conclusion the best strategy in buiding the great libary then biuld markets, banks , make more gold when it comes time when Education is discoverd, then start buying important adavance from other civs.
One more thing NEVER TRADE MAPS!!!!!!!!!!
If you do, all tho maybe that civ is your friend, they can trade with other civs, then the entire world knows where you at!
Better off be hidden so that you can't be attcked from all over.
I learned that the hard way.
My 2 cents !!!!
PART 2)
Persistent (generous) trade is the best way of reducing the chances of your immideate oponents going after you. I had a very good military and economic status with my neighbour for a long time, then something changed- he got his resources elsewhere after having stomped another civ into the ground. This meant he was not threatened on two fronts anymore, and that he was relatively self-sufficient... except silk ... which I had. And its mood began to shift to less favourable stances towards me.
This is a very good indicator that the AI will not feel bound to its treaties:
Eventually mutual protection pacts will run out, trade relations will not be renegociated anymore. Finally the AI will start to provoke you by not reducing its military presence in your country, despite the fact that the free-passage agreement expired a few rounds ago. This is the moment you should get scared and move your ass to VERY speedy emergency mobilization... proven fact: the larger your army size, the less likely is an attack from your opponent; the AI knows exactly how many units you have and can recalculate the odds of waging war against you every turn. At a certain level of advantage to its favor the AI will (!) attack you.
---
The thing is that even towers would not warn you in such a case- the enemy is already there, within your country- he has been a welcomed partner in defense in the past. But now he is hungry for some more- and that lil something is you - so the question that remains is: "When should you start mobilising, and how far should you go?"
Well, the answer to the first one is of relative simplicity in theory: Don't do it too early, otherwise you might cripple your economy and eventually your enemy would not attack due to the size of your army (it really (trust me on this one) makes a difference how much troops and attack power you can field). So you might never know if he would really have attacked you had you not mobilized. The other side is to mobilize too late (as almost happened with me)- then your troops may be built- but you will not be able to place them strategically efficient- mobilization involves three phases:
1) BUILD your units (depending on size, importance of cities, geographical issues and the kind of technology and ressources available- in contrast to the type of enemy to be encountered)
2) POSITION your units according to the data obtained from the above, and of the availability of units after phase 1- you must establish their objective
3) REEVALUATE availability, number and efficiency of your units in the field and the tasks you have assigned them to in phase two- now you have to monitor their achievements to their objective and- if necessary take corrective action- re-start phase 1 to reinforce action...
In my case I was able to build two turns before the outbreak of war- thus getting the gross ammount of infantry units deliverd one turn before hostilities, and in the turn after- then my ressources were cut and it took many rounds until I could re-establish supply of needed resources to continue building modern military units- even those for drafting (which considerably reduces the probabilities of survival).
"Superior training and superior weaponry have, when taken together, a geometric effect on overall military strength. Well-trained, well-equipped troops can stand up to many more times their lesser brethren than linear arithmetic would seem to indicate." (...) "The prime victory-triad combines Mobility, Flexibility and Initiative"
Col. Corazon Santiago, "Spartan Battle Manual"
Run to the hills, it's....
A Victim's tactic for Modern Warfare (PART 1)
---------------------------------------------
What frustrates me is that I am usually lagging behind in technology and thus keep up only a moderate military size for defense purposes. I mean, what good is it to have expensive resources tied up by having a large but crappy army that would crumble under a mere few units your neighbour can throw at you. Now, my oponent neighbours are usually busy with themselves and as long as they are banging somebody else's head I try to stay allied with them and keep up trade relations (I had sth like 80% of the silk trade in my hands- this also kept my alliances open even when things got nasty) then cometh the time when their greedy eyes fall upon me... and then it is crucial to have a backup plan...
----------------
Only that I didn't have one- I was a weak and technologically backward Monarchy with WWI Infantry and only a handfull of (modded) WWI tanks facing modern armor, paratroopers and marines...
Worst than this contrast in power was the geographic issue- the enemy had expanded around me until virtually encircling me with his cities.
If I had not realised his true intensions early enough (2 rounds) I would not have stood a chance- I had to draft everything I could in every possible city- some 20 something (so that was about 80 units in two rounds plus all projects started within these rounds) to stop the initial brunt of the attack. After these two rounds my population was depleted, my resources were cut and my production dwelling somewhere below the floor level.
Well, I survived in fact after 26 turns I was able to dictate a peace deal... forget trying to hold cities- it won't work, especially not with conscripts- if you lose a city lose it- try to make the AI engage you in the field; in rough terrain- mountains and fortesses on hills- give your troop-stacks one or two veteran modern units, the rest should be conscripts. Save these veterans from direct enemy attack even if you should loose a couple of conscripts in their defense- your army will gain more and more experience and the AI will either avoid attacking a dugg-in military formation, or in the end bleed to death trying to take out your troops.
Do never gather all your veteran troops in one stack- they will eventually be wiped out in a few attacks- try to spread your professional army evenly throughout the front(s) as the strong arm of conscript armies. Dig in and counterattack only to mop up damaged, valuable enemy units in immediate reach- this will give your conscripts experience- and buy you time.
Always keep a rapid response force ready to reinforce your positions. It is therefor crucial to prevent the enemy to destroy vital road/rail connections- keep those open for counterattacks (I am saying this because many players opt for destroying these in order to slow down the enemy assault- this does not help because the idea is to let the enemy bleed to death before your fortifications- NOT to slow down the carnage- stay in control, keep the initiative).
Now repeat after me: I refuse to be a victim
Commentary:
-----------
No matter how hard you try to keep up with science, wasting turns in buildng libary,universities.. in Regent level , you are still behind because, like Winter says, you need to have a strong army in case of a surprise ex-allied attack!... If in PTW build the "towers" . Build these in reomote areas so you can see any suspicious advances.
Another suggestion is to try to biuld a lot of cheaper units:
The reason is you can place them on the front line, then when you are attacked, enemy ground forces will attack them first.
Then in the 'back" place the stronger units and counter-attack!!! on your turn. In conclusion the best strategy in buiding the great libary then biuld markets, banks , make more gold when it comes time when Education is discoverd, then start buying important adavance from other civs.
One more thing NEVER TRADE MAPS!!!!!!!!!!
If you do, all tho maybe that civ is your friend, they can trade with other civs, then the entire world knows where you at!
Better off be hidden so that you can't be attcked from all over.
I learned that the hard way.
My 2 cents !!!!
PART 2)
Persistent (generous) trade is the best way of reducing the chances of your immideate oponents going after you. I had a very good military and economic status with my neighbour for a long time, then something changed- he got his resources elsewhere after having stomped another civ into the ground. This meant he was not threatened on two fronts anymore, and that he was relatively self-sufficient... except silk ... which I had. And its mood began to shift to less favourable stances towards me.
This is a very good indicator that the AI will not feel bound to its treaties:
Eventually mutual protection pacts will run out, trade relations will not be renegociated anymore. Finally the AI will start to provoke you by not reducing its military presence in your country, despite the fact that the free-passage agreement expired a few rounds ago. This is the moment you should get scared and move your ass to VERY speedy emergency mobilization... proven fact: the larger your army size, the less likely is an attack from your opponent; the AI knows exactly how many units you have and can recalculate the odds of waging war against you every turn. At a certain level of advantage to its favor the AI will (!) attack you.
---
The thing is that even towers would not warn you in such a case- the enemy is already there, within your country- he has been a welcomed partner in defense in the past. But now he is hungry for some more- and that lil something is you - so the question that remains is: "When should you start mobilising, and how far should you go?"
Well, the answer to the first one is of relative simplicity in theory: Don't do it too early, otherwise you might cripple your economy and eventually your enemy would not attack due to the size of your army (it really (trust me on this one) makes a difference how much troops and attack power you can field). So you might never know if he would really have attacked you had you not mobilized. The other side is to mobilize too late (as almost happened with me)- then your troops may be built- but you will not be able to place them strategically efficient- mobilization involves three phases:
1) BUILD your units (depending on size, importance of cities, geographical issues and the kind of technology and ressources available- in contrast to the type of enemy to be encountered)
2) POSITION your units according to the data obtained from the above, and of the availability of units after phase 1- you must establish their objective
3) REEVALUATE availability, number and efficiency of your units in the field and the tasks you have assigned them to in phase two- now you have to monitor their achievements to their objective and- if necessary take corrective action- re-start phase 1 to reinforce action...
In my case I was able to build two turns before the outbreak of war- thus getting the gross ammount of infantry units deliverd one turn before hostilities, and in the turn after- then my ressources were cut and it took many rounds until I could re-establish supply of needed resources to continue building modern military units- even those for drafting (which considerably reduces the probabilities of survival).
"Superior training and superior weaponry have, when taken together, a geometric effect on overall military strength. Well-trained, well-equipped troops can stand up to many more times their lesser brethren than linear arithmetic would seem to indicate." (...) "The prime victory-triad combines Mobility, Flexibility and Initiative"
Col. Corazon Santiago, "Spartan Battle Manual"
