Slitherine

Hello,
I am new to this game and this forum. Would like to ask more experienced players for advice. Description below will be long

It ain't easy being green so I play on handicapped difficulty. Started with Central Powers 1914 campaign.

First few attempts ended up with:
- Serbian front in stalemate
- being overwhelmed by Russian army
- being beaten by British army in Turkey
- stalemate on western front

Then I made some changes. In current game I disbanded AH and German battleship. For saved PP I bought artillery which finally let me make some advance on Serbian front.
On western front easy quick defeat of Belgium then quick advance along coast. I was lucky and managed to capture French ports along Channel so Brits had to send expeditionary corps to Brest. Only 1 British inf unit managed to unload in Calais. Then western front slowed down but I managed to encircle Verdun step by step. With use of 2 art Verdun was captured. Next step was capturing Paris.

Eastern front makes my life always most difficult. I don't get it why AH inf units of level 4 lose in confrontation with Russian inf units level 2. It happens to me all the time. At start this front stands still both in German and AH sector. Then Russian army begins it's overwhelming march. They always have more units then I do. German army has to fall back slowly to Oder river, from Baltic sea to Breslau. AH army falls back almost to Viena.
After successes in western front I managed to send new units to the east, mostly infantry. Defeat of Serbia allowed me to send AH units north to face Russian army. Plus 3 units to AH-Italy border just in case.
Then eastern front stabilises but Russians operate with 20-22 inf/garrison plus 1-2 cavalry and then even 2 art units. I can face against them ca. 10 German inf units plus 10 AH inf/garrison units with 1 AH art and 1 AH cavalry. At this time AH inf is at level 4 and german 5. Russian units are at level 4.
What is most difficult. I cannot mount any successful attack on eastern front. Doesn't matter if I attack or defend my units lose most of the fights. It's really annoying. Front stands still, only in some places I managed to force Russian army to fall back. But to do this I needed to have superiority in numbers of 3 to 1.

At this time Italy enters war but their army appears in France! Italy itself is almost undefended. So I entered it and captured venice, Milano and Florence. Fighting in France goes well. I have superior numbers and German infantry beats up last of French units like crazy. Italian army managed to withstand only in mountains.

Please advice me what I can do better. Maybe my focus in beginning on western front is wrong? But I cannot understand why Russian units are so strong and their resistance so tough. For example when I attack 1 Russian inf unit with 3 German or AH units I manage to bring it down from 10 to 8 or 7. If this situation is opposite then my unit gets down from 10 to 5 or even less and falls back.

By the way, does Great Britain do any landings along the coast?

If you can't occupy Paris in early 1915, focus on Russians. If you will start beating them in 1915, you will surely start the revolution there and they will surrender very fast.

Hi andu,

Welcome to the forums, you've come to the right place!

Unfortunately, I'm sorry to report that the Handicapped AI is bugged in the released version of the game. This bug is fixed in the first patch which is currently in public beta (viewtopic.php?f=102&t=39777). The bug means that the AI actually gets production bonuses in Handicapped mode, which actually makes it harder than balanced!

So as a first tip, either download the beta patch, or play on Balanced, it's actually easier!

But that in fact makes my day! If in handicapped mode AI gets bonus and I finally managed to make some advance then it's not that bad. I thought I play so badly that I cannot handle even the easiest AI Thanks for info! I was really wondering how Russia can setup such big army. But still I must be doing something wrong as I get beaten while attacking.

Next question. In the east German forces hold the line on Oder river while AH army started a counterstrike in Przemysl/Lemberg area with chance to break through to Russian rear. It's like Germany holding them by the nose while Austrain kicking them in the ass. Will AI fall back or will Russian army stand where they are?

Another thing is Turkey which causes me biggest problems. Turkish army has been beaten of course. Last 2 inf units are trying to fall back while British army on that front consists of 7 inf/garrison units. No idea how to stop them. Turkish units are hopeless while facing British forces. Any advice? Shall I do anything or let Turkey go down?

And one more thing. Is it worth investing into research of air units?

The AI should react, but it depends... wait and see

If you download the beta patch, you should be able to continue your game and the AI will stop getting it's bonuses straight away, and start getting penalties (as it should in handicapped). It's up to you...

By the sounds of it, the situation in Turkey is not recoverable. The best you can do is delay the inevitable. As Turkey, it's important to try to hold the Gaza Aqaba line, it's one of the few choke points at which you can truly entrench and hold a short line.

As to Russians, I encircled in Poland 7 Russian INFs and some garrisons and AI hadn't withdraw to their last moments, eventually losing supply.

As to Turkey defence, the key is to upgrade infantry with machine guns and entrench. When English will break your line, counterattack with some spare cavalry and cut them off supply. If the situation gets worse, try to withdraw and make new strong entrenched line.

All of my games were against privileged AI, so it's not that difficult, but you must remember that this is WW1, so trenches and artillery are the kings of battlefield.

Hi all. Thank you for help.

That is my plan on eastern front. To move some new German units north and attack with them into southern direction. AH is already on offensive in opposite direction. So pincers shall meet in Warsaw and encircle Russian army in Pozen, Breslau area.

I do research machine guns (already done) and entrenchment for Turkish army. But before I accomplished it the Brits have pushed me back. Now I have only 2 units over there. So Turkey will most probably collapse. We will see. I will let you know later.

Most strange to me is that Italian army rushed to help the French and left their homeland almost undefended.

Outside installing the public beta patch.

Also read SlickWilhelm`s excellent AAR as it teaches some main game-play principles, good for any beginner to start.

viewtopic.php?f=131&t=38749

Well, t's over now. Defeating the rest of French army and supporting them Italians went quick and easy. After that some of my units were moved to Italy and rest to the east.

Eastern front finally went forward. Very true is that the key to winning combat is proper use of trenches and artillery. Art units helped a lot push Russians back. What was interesting. When Russians noticed my attemt to encircle them in Poland, they started to fall back and same time attack my units which were making the encirclement manouver on the eastern bank of Vistula river. So I managed to catch more or less half of Russian army. Rest got away. But after that I managed to advance constantly. Russian revolution took place when my forces were just outside Petrograd, Sevastopol, Kursk, Orel. They surrendered. Most of my army was transported to Turkey.

Turkish front was about o collapse but suddenly British army held it's advance. Strange as they had 8 inf units supported by a bomber and 3 art units.