Burma Road Kawkareik Pass

[banshee_slith]

I have played about 1/2 the Order of Battle DLCs. While some battles are difficult for me at the middle setting, the first one that seems absolutely unfair is Kawkareik Pass. This is the first time I recall the briefing to deliberately lie to the player. Following it led me to a hopeless situation. I was able to restart, and with knowledge of how things would play out it wasn't all that hard, but it really ticked me off. Just felt abusive.

The first playthrough my force was too slow to retreat fast enough (my bad), the change in orders came really late (maybe turn 12) and my allies collapsed instantly. They collapsed so fast that there must have been a fifth column operating. On the second play-though I chose a faster force (again, my bad), the change in orders came much earlier, and my allies actually put up a little resistance. And since I knew what was coming, I prepared for it. Very gamey.

So does anyone know what the heck is goign on here? Why did the orders change happen so late? Why so much variability in how long the Allies fight effectively? is this designed to sometimes put the player in an unwinnable situation?

[Epperaliant]

Here's my strategy on max difficulty for that mission , hope it helps:


In case you are having difficulty with the mission, you can see that both the Japanese massive attacks depend on a single hex giving lots of supply.

I managed to cut off the entire main Japanese attack force that was supposed to capture the central city (which I was supposed to lose) and got their entire huge army to zero efficiency in a couple of turns using a sneaky paratrooper unit dropped right on their supply hex.
Then I used a Gurkha unit to cross the northern jungle near the mountain pass and cut off the main supply hex of the secondary attack force that held my new main objective.
That got them into yellow.
After some turns of strategic bombing on the objective, got the entire force to dark orange efficiency.

It was a SLAUGHTER on both fronts, I basically turned a desperate defense mission to a huge mop up operation.
Guaranteed to work on max difficulty.

[banshee_slith]

<deleted, accidental duplicate>

[banshee_slith]

Thanks for the comment. Yes, I can do something like that too. But it is very gamey and it depends on knowing what the computer is going to do. I try to avoid this sort of tactic. Which is why I don't play maximum difficulty. There are all sorts pf sneaky tactics to beat the AI, but I hate using ones that wouldn't work against a somewhat capable human. My bad, I guess.

I did manage to win this playing straight up once I realized the trigger for the mission change is destroying a certain number of units and not buying time. It really bugs me that the mission instructions re outright lies designed to upset the player. WTF? The mission should say hold the pass until sufficient damage is inflicted on the Japanese. Surprises and changes in objective are ok. Outright lying is not.

[Epperaliant]

Yes, objectives description and triggers for that mission are really wonky, I recently opened a similar thread here.

[prestidigitation]

Thanks for the comment. Yes, I can do something like that too. But it is very gamey and it depends on knowing what the computer is going to do. I try to avoid this sort of tactic. Which is why I don't play maximum difficulty. There are all sorts pf sneaky tactics to beat the AI, but I hate using ones that wouldn't work against a somewhat capable human. My bad, I guess.

I did manage to win this playing straight up once I realized the trigger for the mission change is destroying a certain number of units and not buying time. It really bugs me that the mission instructions re outright lies designed to upset the player. WTF? The mission should say hold the pass until sufficient damage is inflicted on the Japanese. Surprises and changes in objective are ok. Outright lying is not.

Cutting off enemies -- especially when the Japanese were famous for leaping into the enemy rear with minimal thought regarding logistics -- isn't "gamey", it's a core and very intended part of the game.

[banshee_slith]

It is gamey when the enemy has a "magic" supply source in its rear that it is too stupid to defend. As in this scenario. Automatic win that would never work against a half competent human.