1914 as the Central Powers

[BiteNibbleChomp]

I'm putting this topic up so that people can discuss their strategy for the first ten turns or so of the 1914 campaign as the CP.

At the moment, I have managed to get Liege on turn 3, Brussels on 5 and Antwerp on 10 - are these standard among good players or am I doing really poorly? (I'm fairly new to the game still and was only saved by a guide that was on Steam!)

- BNC

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Furthermore, I kicked a hole in France by turn 26 and had Paris by 30.

Why no-one else sharing their times?

- BNC

[operating]

Go over to the CTGW Matrix forum

[glenghiscan]

We talking AI or pvp ? AI I find easy pvp I i hold the west contain the Balkans and Turkey but ultimately concede to the Russians I still think even with the update the allies are too strong in pvp especially air and even more so subs how come once located they can't be attacked by destroyers sailing up to them ? Like in ceatw also I think if this game had oil fields and mines etc which would limit movement of navy and airforce

[BiteNibbleChomp]

We talking AI or pvp ? AI I find easy pvp I i hold the west contain the Balkans and Turkey but ultimately concede to the Russians I still think even with the update the allies are too strong in pvp especially air and even more so subs how come once located they can't be attacked by destroyers sailing up to them ? Like in ceatw also I think if this game had oil fields and mines etc which would limit movement of navy and airforce

I've been playing the AI. How do you hold Turkey? Even with 'commisar tactics' (2 lines of guys to prevent retreat), they still find ways to run from the British. [No matter... as soon as I squish the last French units then I'll be landing in London!]

Also, in CEAW I just used to turn off Oil rules - otherwise the Axis are too weak (they're already at a disadvantage!)

- BNC

[mpetri]

I usually try to set up a defensive line around Koenigsberg and Danzig on the Eastern Front and push hard into Belgium---I can usually take Brussels after a couple turns at least. As Austria-Hungary I like pushing to Russia while holding on the defensive against Serbia.

[Egge]

I've once managed to take Paris before Christmas, can't remember which turn exactly that is though. But for that to work, you have to be very aggressive and rely a bit on stupid AI decisions. When I'm not as bold, France usually gets into serious trouble in Spring 1915 which forces Italy to transfer units to the French front.
On the Eastern front, I manage to cut off the Russian forces in Poland by capturing Brest with Austrian forces and push south from East Prussia with the German forces. In general though, I focus more on Serbia and the Western front. Serbia has to be at least heavily by the time Italy enters the war.

[nehi]

the fastest way to end this war is to strike france with full force and serbia as heavy as possible, russia is very unstable when france and serbia are down, then it needs usually just warsaw and nearby fortress (or some more minor city/ies) to collapse

when it goes smoothly and swiftly the war dont have to last longer than end of 1914 or very early 1915

ai doesnt disband small garissons, when u do, u can smash west and serbian front and take warsaw all at once (dont understimate german cavalries, they are great offensive force and cheap with faster building time than infantry)

[AEWHistory]

the fastest way to end this war is to strike france with full force.....

Schlieffen should've suggested that instead of his stupid plan!

Just kidding, you are right of course.

In re to MP, there are some serious issues that led to me giving it up, although initially it was because I had to take ca e of my mom--I just never bothered playing again. Buklgaria MUST come in on the CP side. This was VERY likely and the CP IRL usually wasn't doing as well as most in game CP players and yet the Bulgarians still don't enter. This makes it easy to isolate and destroy the Ottomans.

Then there is the disparity of PPs when garrisons are dissolved, not to mention a few other game balance issues. It isn't a bad game by any means, but IMHO it needs some more tweaking and it appears that won't happen. The shame of it is I would gladly pay for this game to get the treatment it needs since I really do love this game.

As for those who want to play MP, I would suggest some house rules such as the allied player agreeing to DOW Bulgaria if the Bulgarians freeze up. I've also thought about doing some research on how many garrison units the allies should properly dissolve to get the right balance. The Allies should have a significant PP advantage but not enough to overwhelm the CP for quite some time. After all, that's why the war went so long, right?

Anyway, if I ever return to this game perhaps I will post my ideas more fully. Anyone interested?

[nehi]

or i can show u that schlieffen plan usually works well even in mp, when executed with speed of blitz

so far attacking my ottomans meant just faster breakdown of france

[Quincy]

I find that you can be as slow as you like playing the Central Powers on the Western front and wait until Italy enters the war in 1915 when the French and British largely abandon the front to stack 30 odd units in Northern Italy which can be stopped by having a few divisions holding a defensive line.

Go on the offensive then and have fun blasting through just a few units

[nehi]

i prefer not to let anybody else to join entente except original four and finish it until end of 1914

ai is just good as sparring partner in speedruns

[mpetri]

So Russia, Serbia, A-H and Germany?

[nehi]

serbia, france, uk and russia

but i forgot belgium, so magnificent five