N00b tips / tricks?

[ScottYelich]

Hi guys/gals -- love the game (@ $19.95 for iPad) ... well worth it.

Ok, where can I read about some tips and techniques? I'm just starting to play
but I find that 2 88s can just about rip up my entire compliment of units.

Basically, I'm finding that it's pretty damn easy to defend, and nearly impossible
to attack/assault.

Also, am I playing wrong or are tanks, for some reason, unable to punt a dent
in hedges? Basically, the maps become a maze of killing zones and gauntlets.

Seriously, I've tried brute force (was decimated), tried sneaking up -- every
since piece, once spotted, was pummelled into submission before even being
able to think about attacking. Combine this with a turn limit seeming to
force require an almost mindless aggressiveness, I'm kind of lost what to do
or try.

So, two german smgs in a building, 5 tanks suppress the building -- the 2 guys
are completely unharmed... not even suppressed. March up a scout and
from across the map the smgs rout the scounts. wtf? Also, what's up with
the odds? If you're shooting at something multiple times -- that surely needs
to have some effect on the target? I get 80% chance of destruction... shoot,
miss. next unit attacking same target unit -- 80% chance of destruction,
miss. 8,9 10 times -- what does 80% mean to the coders of this game? Chalk
it up to bad luck? sure, the first couple of times -- but when it's the norm,
I begin to wonder.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the responses.

Thanks!

Scott

[pipfromslitherine]

Welcome to the forums!

The biggest thing I can recommend is remember to hunt - your chances of being spotted and your penalties if you need to shoot are negated if you hunt rather than move fast.

You get some improvements to hit for the same unit firing on the same target, but this is not the case for different units firing on a single target. Also, again, moving fast drops your chance to hit by half. Be sure you are looking at your Chance to Kill (which combines your chance to hit and chance to penetrate).

If you have a specific example (perhaps with a screenshot) then I can probably explain better what is going on.

With regard to actual tactics - there are others better suited than I to give tips. I tend to lose no matter whether defending or attacking .

Cheers

Pip

[gortwillsaveus]

A few things I might suggest:

1 - Try playing against a human opponent. You'll be able to see how they deal with your defences or attacks. Then all you need to do is replicate the things they do. (sounds easy,..it is not)
2 - Read these forums and post questions often.
3 - It sounds like you're stuck on a scenario where you're playing the computer AI. There were a few scenarios that I almost gave up on. But, I was determined to win,..so I must have tried 15 different approaches and eventually won. There was one particular scenario that I just could not beat,...so I clicked the "Make the AI stupid" check box. Forget what the check box is really called,...but, you get the idea.
4 - I have found that sometimes when playing a Human opponent, I will get extremely lucky on almost every shot I take. I know my opponent is probably feeling like you're describing. But then,..I'll play the same scenario, and then every shot I take is with rubber bullets. The odds you describe and that are visible are not to be trusted entirely. I have assaulted my opponent with a 90% chance,...and they are suppressed at 0,..and I still was repelled. In some ways,..this is like real life. (or should I say, real war)

In multi-player,...I am really good at a few scenarios (i.e. I beat 9 out of 10 people in a particular scenario). However,...I have yet to win one game as the Allies or the Axis when playing the DDay+3 scenario. I just can't figure it out yet. Try, try, again.

[ScottYelich]

I found another wiki site that had a bunch of hints and tips -- and I had already discovered all of the ones listed.

Granted, yes, I have to read the instructions -- I have the ipad version -- and I've seen "hunt" but never used it.

still boggled at the level of detail that you can remove wreck, but you can't drive a tank through a few bushes.

I'd love to see barb wire, tank traps, etc... right now, I guess a line of green hedges serves as both combined.

Not that I'm getting picky, but it would be cool to see overpowered, or combine units (2 inf with a 3? combine into 1 6) ...

overall, pretty cool. I'm a long time player of panzer general, allied general (etc) -- although my favorite -- BY FAR --
was Sudden Strike -- allied power mods ... 6 on 6 real time battles -- but those got to the point where it was micro steps
which was like PBEM but in real time -- click fest.

I'm still getting use to the squares vs hexes.

One tip I found -- maybe it's obvious -- is to "creep" units -- vs movine one unit full movement, next unit full movement...

I tend to move one unit to a point with LOS ... then creep up a few more... then creep up that initial unit a few more squares, etc.

Oh, and the real "no duh" -- don't blindly drive trucks around.
I tend to use trucks like a jab -- go in with something else (or a few units, to make sure there's no ambush) and then, if clear,
bring up a truck and unload forward. Also, thing about creeping is you can pick your path -- sometime when you click full
movement, the path that is taken is, well, not the best.

I'm still trying to get use to the double-tap and stuff, I'm constantly moving units to the wrong place (and backwards).

Scott

[junk2drive]

There are no official wire or mines but in the modding and scenario forums Merr has come up with lots of extra stuff. Some of it is in my Pacific campaigns.

The hedgerows or bocage is a design decision by Slitherine. Tanks cannot see through them or destroy them. However if you move your unit next to them, the enemy, either tanks or troops, can now see and shoot them. Hard to understand but that is how it works.

[vakarr]

if you are faced by 88s check the bottom left corner of the screen, hopefully there's an aircraft and/or an artillery attack option there eg in the North Africa scenarios you get 25 pdr or 5.5" gun support every four turns and a Blenheim or Hurricane attack every four turns. Otherwise you may have a Bishop or 25 pdr gun - these can fire a barrage virtually anywhere on the battlefield, does not need line of sight. Hit the 88s with the artillery barrage and/or air attack and they won't last long.

the Normandy hedgerows were extremely difficult to cross by any sort of vehicles and it was necessary to blow up the walls or use bulldozers or improvised devices on the front of tanks to get through them.

[ScottYelich]

Hi --

Ya, I haven't tried a long range bombardment ... I'm still tricking myself into thinking I have to be close to shoot at something.
I've managed to make a lot of progress since my first post above.

Some things I've found -- although you're usually racing against the clock -- it seems that defense has a HUGE advantage ...
so using "hunt" is imperative. You may not get there as fast, but you might not get as chopped up on the approach.

I do get a little tired of 6 shots from 3 different tanks (shermans? not those m5 things) bounding off the german
armored cars and then 1 shot form a puma taking out a hellcat, etc.


The only thing I can see that's making a different for me is to try to pull the computing into attacking. I make a little
forward progress, and then set up a row of armor or flanking position and let the enemy come to me -- and it gets
chopped up (unless the enemy has the ever invincible tiger. Panthers are pretty near impossible too.

The best strategy I have seen against tigers (other than wasting many many tanks trying to get a flank) or sitting waiting
in ambush around a hedge -- to try to get an ambush ... are engineers.

[vakarr]

try using historical tactics - fire and movement. this means that you think of one part of your force as moving, and another as firing. You move the movers forward while the firers sit still and shoot at anything that gets in their way. then the movers and firers switch - the movers stop moving and start shooting, and the firers move forward, then they switch again, and so on. You are using historical tactics if it takes several Shermans to defeat a single Tiger, that's how it was done!! Yes the defence does have an advatage, as tanks were unable to shoot accurately on the move even with stabalised guns. the Puma should be able to take out a hellcat if it shoots first as the hellcat had an open turret and thin armour and the Puma had a 50mm anti-tank gun. If you don't shoot in your turn your are more likely to get the first shot yourself, which might help against the puma. Read the wiki about this game, it explains how opportunity fire works and how to get more shots in your opponent's turn.

[ScottYelich]

Yes, I've learned not to take pot shots at things... but I can drive a sherman up behind one of those german armord cars -- 1 square away ... on the rear... get
100% chance to penetrate .. and still not kill the thing. It's just kind of sad/funny some times... assault w/ 96% == respulsed... 90% failed... etc.

The other thing I've learned is not to split up the forces, if I'm attacking. I figure I'm going to get shredded, so I keep as much as I can together.

Visibility seems like a key in this game too -- so having spotters that aren't shooting, can really help.

[gortwillsaveus]

I actually like the fact that even though you are shown that an attack may be 99% successful,..there is that 1% chance that you are repelled.
In my honest opinion,..although this may be frustrating (it is for me), but that is more like a real battle.

Think of it this way,..just like in real battle,..a leader makes a judgement call based on the facts he sees at the time of attack.
Things taken into account such as weather, number of forces on each side, armament, morale, LOS,....
All these things may give you the impression that you have a 99% chance of a successful attack, only to find out when you make the attack that the enemy has a line of hidden bunkers with SMG nests. Now the odds are 99% against you.

[ScottYelich]

gort --

I agree! However, when it happens 4 times in a row -- I wonder what type of dice this game is using!

Also, does this game have a movie mode? I'd love to watch the battle from start to finish AFTER the game's over (win or lose) ...
with a slider for speed (of animations, etc) as well as perhaps breadcrumbs for pieces and/or heat maps. I have a few books on
WWII battles and they all have sweeping red/blue lines of attack, etc... I think it would be neet to at least see a movie of the
whole battle. The other thing I like about this game is that the pieces have some depth -- they gain extra abilities and some
can move, shoot, move, etc.

I also don't think it would be too difficult to implement stacking. Again, I'd love to see the ability to put two similar pieces into
one sqaure and combine the unit. Dissimilar pieces could be stacked (according to max size per square allowance) and then show
a multi-unit visual -- and when you tap, you get a fan-out and can select the piece. Although this game seems to be based around
mobility, it would be nice if pieces that didn't move gained some defensive bonus -- per turn not moved -- up until a max (ie: armor
would be applying camo, infantry would be digging in and finding best cover/LOS/LOF).

In any case, this is the best $19.95 (iPad) I've spent in a long time.

Scott

[junk2drive]

Move is worse than Hunt, Hunt is worse than not moving, the farther you travel with Move or Hunt, the worse the shot gets.

So if you use Move for the maximun distance allowed, the shot on a German A/C is probably going to miss that small target.

[ScottYelich]

Ya, I guess the sherman isn't an M1A1 but at least they supposedly shoot AP and not paint rounds ...

Scott

[junk2drive]

You missed an important word in my post. Miss

Your Shermans can have AP and all the rest but they can't aim well while moving fast and not very well when moving slow. If you get a hit and don't destroy the target, that is a different story.

[vakarr]

Move is worse than Hunt, Hunt is worse than not moving, the farther you travel with Move or Hunt, the worse the shot gets.

So if you use Move for the maximun distance allowed, the shot on a German A/C is probably going to miss that small target.

Wrong, hunt is the same as standing still. If you are moving closer to the target the shot does not necessarily get worse as decreasing the distance to the target increases the chance of penetration

[junk2drive]

From the wiki

Once you start the battle, you can only reposition your troops by moving them, using up their action points. When a unit is selected, all the tiles it can move to are highlighted. Also, most units will have the option to “Move Fast” or “Hunt“. Moving fast gets to the destination quicker but makes you much less accurate if you attempt to shoot that turn. When hunting, you move slower but have no accuracy penalties and are more likely to sneak up on enemy tanks and get off the first shot.

So I stand corrected. Somehow I thought than any movement got a penalty. Sorry.