Jump to content

Tactics and strategy *WARNING SPOILERS*


Recommended Posts

Well,I have come to the conclusion that this game is very difficult even on standard difficulty,and a tips and strategy section would be a welcomed addition to this forum I think.It matters not whether you are new to this game or a seasoned vet by now,this game demands a lot of brain juice,and you must keep focused on your long term goals to have ANY chance of success.After playing this game solid since its release I had made a lot of early ground in my ONLY campaign so far,but now my advance has pretty much totally ground down to a halt,thanks to your new friends 'The Cultists' ,and that age old enemy,indecision.My main problem now is trying to figure out how to make my bases more efficient,and where to direct my attention in general.I appreciate we all have our agendas and goals but I think my rapid expansion early on was a mistake,or was it?.

 

I will now post 2 shots from my current game,one showing the land I now own and the land the Cultists have,the second will be a shot from my base management screen.I am really interested to hear how some of you have set your bases up and what your planned strategies are.

 

Enough cheap talk now,lets get the battle maps out and get down to business gentlemen.

 

https://img360.imageshack.us/my.php?image=geomap7wj.jpg

 

https://img360.imageshack.us/my.php?image=basescreen7id.jpg

 

As you can see from the first shot,I control the biggest part of Europe now,and I have just taken my first Cultist territory in Istanbul tonight and am finally making my voice heard in the Middle East.The Cult still has control over much of Africa and the picture in USA is dreadful!,I wont even go there yet :( .

There is also the pressure mounting from the alien ship which is due in about 9 days.I should also add at this point that all my battles so far have been carried out using low to medium weapons compared to the Cultists,I have no advanced weapons yet,and still only have access to shitty basic armour.

 

The second shot shows my bases,and a lot of them are pretty much ALWAYS being refurbished no matter how much I plan all this out on paper,as the battle changes and new priorities arise.The BIGGEST problem we face with our bases is SPACE!,and the needless space the knowledge buildings take up.For example,my first base in germany has always been designated as my advanced weapons centre,specializing in state of the art weaponry.Well,what do you do with 5 slots?Ideally I only wanted the College,which would have left me with 4 spaces to build say,2 AWL,1 BWL,and say 1EWL.That bloody library is a nuisance!

 

I have also heard some of you have packed some of your bases with nothing more than colleges.Well im a bit sceptical on that idea.

 

I have designated Britain and Russia as my main Jet propulsion facilities,France as my medical supplies,and much of Eastern Europe and the Middle East as my weapons and ammo factories.This CERTAINLY makes sense I think,as these areas are well cut out for such work.Europe is the main military and research hub,together with USA.

 

RIGHT,enough about my game now!,how are some of you doing?,and can you give me any ideas on how to better run your bases?

 

Cheers. :(

 

:(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your main problem seems to be lack of resources.

 

Take SPaIN you will only need one track from britain to there and you will net loads of resources.

 

Then never ever skimp on buildings. Never build a library when you can build a school. Remember they increase your resources as well.

 

Your barracks are pretty much useless. The only time I have fought with barracks troops they lost me the game by dying before I could actually get any where near them to protect them. Your Laputa troops are good enough for defence.

Base buildings should be demolished when useless. I built demolished built demolished and built a load of ordinance factories in my game (which is now stuck because of the stupid mission triggers)

 

Are your territories in russia really worth the track yet?

Especially in the south, You don't have any money comming in from them.

 

You also seem to waste loads of track. e.g.

 

You go from europe east to moscow, then BACK to the baltic.

If you went through the baltic then you would save at least one bit of track = 10 of each resource each hour!

 

Your balkans track seems like a waste too.

 

Take SPAIN and you can connect it up via Spain and the sea saving you loads of track.

 

And don't think all bases need to be connected.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Take Paris and London at the start of the game. That way you are introduced to all three factions and you can find all three resources in the surrounding territories. Try to take as many of the provinces in the British Isles, France and Central Europe asw possible.

 

Build libraries and uopgrade them to schools as soon as you can because they incease resources.

 

Work towards taking Spain, and link it up to London by sea as it is cheaper than maintaining a track through several provinces. Do this before you attempt Istanbul or Algiers.

 

Spain is a major sea transport hub, but this means that it is going to be vunerable to the Cultists when they emerge.

 

Do everything you can to make friends with the Human faction early in the game. Never ignore help missions, be ready to instigate a new help mission in their territory and NEVER attack one of their provinces, even if you really want it. Don't demand resources either if you can avoid it.

 

If the Humans really like you, when you hire soldiers off them, you will get trained soldiers, some of whom have their own weapons (although you will still need to manufacture ammunition). This is how I obtain soldiers with basic assault rifles and snipers. This is more expensive than training soldiers up, but it is useful if you have a large surplus of low tech materials.

 

This works with the Psionics and Cyborgs as well, but it will be a long time before you can manufacture the implants to make best use of both factions.

 

Don't try establishing outposts in the Americas unless Europe is secure, otherwise you waste a lot of time going back and forth across the Atlantic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well,what can I say but...Excellent.

 

Of all the info you both gave me here the bit that got my attention the most was the sea lanes.I REALLY need to get them secure dont I.Link Spain up to Britain you say,very interesting.

 

So,naturally my Balkans provinces are pretty much useless at the moment arent they,as there is no CAPITAL to reap in the yield?,yet if I FIND the capital though,then surely its ok to keep the supply right through Europe going?

 

I think we need to keep discussing the tracks a bit more here,as they have served to do nothing but confuse and annoy people lately.

 

Thankyou both for your time here.

 

:(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ultimately,what ARE the benefits of a track? *so confused now*

 

Ok,they link bases up,yet Ricardo says we dont need them to link EVERY base.I naturally thought a main track through my territory sounded like a good idea at the time but...apparently not,least not at the moment.

 

My tactical game is ok,I have a plethora of knowledge to help me through the actual combat,its just the planning side of the damn land and bases thats a problem! I have lots of goals and ideas,but I think I am relating to the world we live in TODAY instead of how the game actually works.

 

Example: Russia pretty much lead/leads the world with USA in space flight.

Germany has always had a very strong military and powerful advanced weapons.

Britain also has a very strong military.

 

And so on.

 

This game doesnt care though does it. :(

 

I still think Britain should have had 4 slots,3 just sounds like "Britain is a minor contributor in this".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well,I have just this minute made some major changes to my provinces.I have shut down EVERY single track and guess what?,I now have a pretty nice surpluss coming in,which has led me to the conclusion that tracks are 1:VERY expensive to maintain and 2:pretty much useless.

 

Here I'll post a quick shot of the globe now as it stands.

 

https://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=geoscape4ef.jpg

 

As you can see,all the tracks are down and I have a credit in resources now.I checked in the overview section and ALL the bases are still connected too *bizarre*.Ricardo,looking at the Balkans now you can see that this area is rich in HGMs,so the game is telling me that I need to manipulate this by building lots of Colleges?.I am VERY wary of doing this as I personally see Istanbul as another valuable weapons supplier together with Tehran and Riga.A rather unusual role for Turkey to be conducting anything other than providing weapons and the like *just my opinion*.

 

Ricardo (I think it was you) you were right about Spain and I have highlighted it,it does indeed appear to be a major shipping route to Briain and the Americas!,yet what does this tell me?,I have already learned that tracks are pretty much a waste of my precious resources.However,maybe they are only to be used to actually MAKE an incursion into new territories?,and then shut them down if and when a new base becomes available?.

 

Britain also appears to be rich in AMs,so again a natural thing to do would be to again take maximum advantage of this?,im not sure myself,as surely some other vital area would suffer.Its like trying to say that Capitalism works,and it bloody hell does NOT,I hate Capitalism.I just want enough resources to keep my head above water.Military strength and good weapons is my preferred route.

 

The Barracks issue now.Well a bases' ability to defend itself at LEAST seems a logical choice,and when these can be upgraded to a Garrison then the local troops surely would be better trained.I am going to reserve a couple of military defences in 1 or 2 of my bases,generally where the Cultists are at the moment,and in my game that would be Spain,Germany and possibly the Balkans.Britain would also have a garrison too,just in case they make it across the Atlantic!.

 

Thanks a lot for your views here lads,keep them coming in.

 

:(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, that is odd. Now I can't imagine that staying the case after a few hours have wound by.

 

You should be making a profit from the territories of your primary base. But you shouldn't make much else, and all your buildings will be not working properly.

 

I would do this.

 

TRACK germany - france - england

 

germany - baltic - moscow

 

take spain:

england - spain - istanbul

 

What I mean by you don't need all your bases connected was you can't afford to connect all your bases. Every one you leave unconnected is useless to you, but connecting them CAN be more trouble than it is worth. Be selective especially early on.

I won't connect somewhere if it isn't brining in at least 30 units per piece of track required to connect it.

Sometimes later you have to think carefully about the Alien resources too.

 

Anyway, best of luck.

 

For me I am going to have a go from an old save game :(( my level 16 people are now level 12)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BARRACKS:

 

reason I said they were pants was this:

If you get a mission with your mates the goons, you HAVE to keep them alive to win. But they just run off and get themselves killed. They also start miles from your men. I hadn't got out the door of the room I started in before my goons got themselves killed. I had taken about 5 seconds and had gunned down 3 cultists and I lose the game!

 

I'd use College instead of Barracks as at least it gives you resources.

 

Just attack the place back if you lose it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers Ricardo.

 

Guess its just a case of trial and error then eh?

 

Best of luck to you too.

 

One last thing though,you mentioned a track through Germany,France,and into Britain,then Germany into Russia.That was pretty much my setup in the first place,with the addition of the Balkans of course.What IS the general role of a track in this game?.I understand Logistics,but the bases are STILL connected even though the tracks may be shut down. :(

 

I have not had any provinces taken by the Cult yet,and I have never had the opportunity of seeing these "goons" in action.At first I thought the mission would be automatically resolved with the Barracks men,bit like in Rome Total War,where if you dont wish to handle the battle manually you could let the AI do it for you.I have NEVER done that,and will ALWAYS fight battles manually.The "goons" are just there to bolster the numbers then eh?,sound like cannon fodder to me.

 

Thanks again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think i read somewhere that Sea Lane (Tracks) cost a lot less to upkeep than the land ones - can anyone confirm if this is true?

 

 

Talking of strategy - whats best for XP gains. How XP is allocated seems to be a bit of a mystery and very unbalanced, very simple and very hard missions have very similar XP gains.

 

I also read somewhere that if you send say only one guy he only gets the same XP as a group. If this is true then maybe the upgrade to your landing pod research is a good investment as you can have 7 guys getting XP gains instead of 5. Again i have no ide if this is true - can anyone clarify this?

 

thanks

 

Doc

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not sure if a sea lane is cheaper to maintain than a single track (I suspect it is the same), but I do know that it is cheaper than two or three tracks. Linking Spain to France requires running a track through three provinces, so it is a lot cheaper to have the sea lane between Spain and the UK because goods from Spain can then be sent on to Stuttgart via Paris at no further cost.

 

Logically, sea routes should be cheaper because of the effort of protecting hundreds of miles of railway track from cultist or transgenant saboteurs.

 

If you hold a coastal base, such as London, select the province it is in with your mouse. You will see faint lines stretching across the seas - these are the potential shipping routes you can operate from that province. Don't forget that shipping routes are also invasion routes both for you and the Cultists.

 

I think the game does intend you to build at least one knowledge structure in each base because they boost resource production in each province in that country, essential once you have lots of tracks, factories and research labs to support.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When you don't use open tracks(yellow ones) the buildings in the other bases won't work. So what's the point off having 5 weapons labs when only one of them is really working.

I also made a little example how knowledge works:

 

Standard income British Isles: 32 LT - 29 Alien

+ 1 College : 41 LT - 37 Alien

+ 2 College : 54 LT - 49 Alien

So you see that investing some of that precious base space into knowledge buildings really pays off.

 

I also noticed that you (Riley) already have 2 jet propulsion labs so early in the game. According too your screenshot they're just sitting idle! Why not use that space for a weapons lab and factory? My first priority is to equip my squad with light armor, but good assault rifles. And if you look at the amount of damage/sec. you'll see that the XM-8 is the best rifle to manufacture early in the game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes Doc,the XP gains for a single trooper are the same for an entire group.VERY unbalanced allocation of XPs in my opinion and the new patch that is due MAY modify the XP system somewhat...who knows.

 

I enjoyed reading your last post Ricardo,my understanding of tracks is a bit clearer now,cheers :( .I had a basic understanding at first,but I guess really its commonsense eh?,the cost to send goods across the sea is far easier AND cheaper than a land route.A service we British held in VERY high priority during and since the war.Cripple the sea lanes and the economy shoots downward like a wet fart.Spain is DEFINITELY my next target!,it seems Spain also has a link with Istanbul too?,which again is an easy route into the Middle East AND the Far East?.There is still a lot of work to be done though however in my game yet.

 

Great film Dog Soldiers,but my name is Paul,surname is Riley.

In response to your comment,my bases have been going through a lot of refurbishment lately,and I agree that a lot of them are in disarray at the moment,trying to work out what their jobs should be,hence my decision to probably start again soon,at the expense of 2 weeks of solid play!I consider my bases to be permanent facilities and the idea of constantly changing them round is ludicrous and far too costly.For example Germany will always specialise in advanced weapons,the Eastern areas will MAKE them weapons.

As I shut down the tracks from my weapons and ammo plants in Tehran and Riga from mainland Europe,that would explain why im getting an "insufficient resource" note when I try to manufacture stuff?maybe its time to get them tracks up and running again.

Also,IF I start again,is the Geomap the same everytime?in other words are the resources all in the same areas?,or are they random every time?.

Any ideas as to what Britain's role could be?,3 slots is a bit mean I think.

 

Thanks all the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well nothing spectacular about this shot,you might even say its "lame",but one thing it DOES show is good unit placement,as I have been studying for days now countless military field manuals,famous battles,even paintball tactics,just to see if they work in this game,and to my delight they do!.As military strategy and war in general is one of my favourite subjects this game fits me like a glove .I have been pissing around with different squad formations/structures for days now,and some of em work and some dont.I decided to look into American and British tactical warfare online,and I was in heaven,I knew it would improve my game!

 

Anyway,for anyone having problems with their squad layouts,just consider this setup I will display here.I must add that my weapons are by no means advanced yet,but its testament to the fact that sound tactics will overcome a numerically and technologically superior force,even though tech is a MAJOR winning factor.

 

https://img153.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1stmarines9bk.jpg

 

As you can see I am lacking a 7th man here,she is my psi scout and sniper and she couldnt come out on this mission,its a rescue.What we have is a standard 'wedge' formation.Wolfgang is my heavy field gun,designed to rip into any unsuspecting fool that comes into my line of sight,Wilhelm is covering the 12-9 o clock positions for any attempted flanking move on my left,Friedrich is doing the same as Wilhelm only he is scanning the 12-3 o clock position,Otto is my leader or sergeant as his rank is increasing further now,he will be a central figure giving many bonuses to the group when he gains the relevant skills,he is also armed the same as my riflemen,heinrich is my combat medic,armed the same as my riflemen,except for his backpack which is full of medipacks and drugs,hehe not illegal,he will also provide support on the front line when needed,siegfried is my planned combat engineer and grenadier,he will be an expert in detecting and setting mines,blowing breaches into buildings,and providing short to medium blast support to the front line troopers,and will be armed with a grenade launcher,as you can see he is doing a great 'rear guard action' at the moment.

 

As I say,im lacking my sniper and scout,who is a psi.

 

NO Cyborgs in this squad,they are going into my heavy infantry division ©,they will be armed to the teeth with portable planet busters I hope :(

 

Hope I didnt bore anyone with this,but I just cant let go of this game!.

 

I NEED SLEEP!!

 

:(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just wanted to blow the cobwebs from this ageing thread,and bring it near the top again.After I log off now to play a few hrs of AS,I will probably start another discussion about base tactics,as maintaining our bases and setting them up for optimal roles can be a problem.

 

See you all later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay then Riley I post here so it gets back on top....

I'm gonna try a little tactic that I call 'Firestorm' in which basically you burn/blow up everything in sight. Currently my ammo factories are pumping out any explosive or phosfourous ammo I know....nades and rockets....

 

"FIRE! FIRE! *Insane laughter* I am the Great Cornholio"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I agree Phosphorous grenades are great,when used as a sort of fire screen,I do that a lot lately,great against the Cultists.

 

I am just gonna update you on my current game at the minute,and see what you have to say in reply to it.

 

The date is about April 29th now,Wargots landed last night actually,and I fought my first mission against them,fairly easy too,I lost one man.After that though the Wargot attacks increased and now I am facing direct assaults against my provinces pretty regularly.My problem now is managing my growing territory.I have written LOADS of notes on where I THINK bases' priorities should be,and it is proving very difficult to implement.I have ideas where I think certain nations' interests may lie in a future war scenario,but putting that knowledge into a game is different.

 

I have a question for you Gringo,do you see your bases as permanent facilities?or ever changing ones,reflecting the shift in priorities as the war goes on.

 

I now have in my posession

 

Stuttgart

Paris

London

Moscow

Tehran

Riga

Istanbul

Stockholm

Baghdad (just recently captured)

 

What I have done so far is mentally group together the areas that I want for research,manufacture and defence,that means I want my bases to specialize in certain areas,but this is a problem too,as other structures may also be needed.

 

Examples.

 

I designated Stuttgart right from the beginning to conduct high end weapons research.

Paris was my medical facility for ages,but now the Cult/Wargot threat is right on the border Paris is slowly changing into a sort of military/anti propaganda outpost ;)

London,I have had problems with from the start,due to the lack of space.However,the Cult threat in USA is still strong and I forsee an imminent attack on the UK pretty soon,so it has adopted a similar stance to Paris.

Moscow is generally dealing with Cyborg implants.

Tehran,Riga,Istanbul and Baghdad are all conducting basic weapons research and manufacture.I am basically making the 'East' a large manufacturing facility,you know?While the West is the main Research hub.

Stockholm is my rather isolated advanced weapons facility at the moment.

 

I currently have no psi lab or med facility.I could really do with making a trip over to the USA pretty soon,as I expect a few bases will be over there,ones that will take the damn strain off Europe a bit.I have no Jet propulsions though.I DID have one before in Russia,but it had to be disbanded for the implant work to begin.

 

How do you generally plan your bases?do you say,set up identical bases to mass produce a particular item? or do you try and make specialist bases?.

 

In a nutshell,there is so much going on now,its hard to maintain and keep a clear goal.I must say though,I have not lost a province yet,and have lost ONE soldier in the entire war.That will soon change im sure.

 

I think I am going to keep my game going but start a new campaign to experiment for a while.I think a furious blitzkrieg tactic through the whole of Europe this time is in order,and to try and get into N.Africa a lot sooner too.I expect to take the whole of Europe inside a week (in game time),and in a month I expect to be inside USA and beyond!

 

And Gringo,I am adopting a total war strategy this time,NO diplomacy,just speed.THEN when the fires are dying out I may compensate them.

 

Cheers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Yeah, your tactics is sound, and it looks nice. But I'd say you're giving the game AI way too much credit. With few exceptions, the enemies only come from one direction; you just have to find out which. That's not hard to accomplish with a halfway decent scout. While you are frequently outnumbered and outgunned in this game, you always have the advantage that the enemy won't coordinate and will rush at you whenever they see you.

 

My tactic is thus very simple: one scout (and later katana-wielding commando), three rifles (and later snipers) and three machineguns (later gunner). I have the scout's speed pumped as high as I can, and he simply runs around full speed without stopping. Forget perception and all that, anything becoms visible when you're 5 ft away from it. The enemies are very rarely quick enough to react to a rampaging scout, and even if they do you can usually dodge their bullets (without needing the Dodge ability) by running away from their line of fire when they take aim. This, of course, has the added bonus that once you have his speed maxed out, you can even run circles around most enemies to draw their fires in random direction.

 

As for the three snipers and three machinegunmen... well, I really don't think much explanation is necessary. With the scout causing general confusion in the enemy line, my snipers always have plenty of time to get into good firing position. They are usually enough to keep the enemies away that the machineguns never fire a shot in outdoor maps. But when they do get close, the three machine guns will of course be there waiting. Indoor missions call for a different tactics -- an even simpler one. Instead of using the scout, I simply do recon en force with the three gunners, three very trigger-happy gunners. There.

 

Later in the game (where I am now), the enemies become very generous with explosives, so a close formation will just be invitation for rockets. Keep the squad spread out. I'd tried to have a designated medic, but I realized that it would never work. The medic will more than likely be out of reach or be the one knocked out. Basic med kit on everyone is the way to go. I don't use explosives much myself, since they are overkill on weak mutants but don't cause enough damage on Wargots and up. The only use they have is to knock the enemies down and/or burn them to death, but they're usually not packed close enough to justify the effort. Crazy streaking scout is infinitely better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the questions Riley.

 

I'm not considering any of my bases as permanent bases as in research and manufacture. I reconstruct them to fit my current needs and according to the global situation. I do know that this strategy cost a lot of resources but the gains are better then having a idle lab/factory sitting still even if my factories rarely sits still since I'm stockpilling a lot to able to counter what ever that is thrown at me.

 

If you build specialist centres you might get heavily crippled if you loose one instead if loosing a bases with 'one of each' in it. So I build bases with 'one of each' to spread out my specialist knowledge because specialist centres don't get any special bonuses in the game, which would be a thing to include to adopt the specialist centre strategy.

 

I also recently got infravision system which kicks ass....My scout detects enemies almost halfway across the map....So my snipers are having a field day as in my picture 'Reticulan shooting gallery'.

 

One of my concerns is the cloaking systems that I'm currently manufacturing....Infrared is one thing....Psionics is another....Default cloaking systems only makes you invisible but still allows your psionic emissions to light you up like a lighthouse.

 

When I do get the cloaking systems finished I try out a total stealth tactic with silenced weapons when cloaked. 'Oops I just lost my head there!' 'Or why is that guys convulsing heavy while getting a lots of skin punctures?'

 

Denying the enemy the knowledge of your position is always a prime concern for any military leader.

 

If you're discovered you better make it a living hell for your enemy with maximum firepower applied in his general direction.

 

About this out war tactic....I must admit that it is pretty annoying when you want a territory to plug the last holes of potentially rebellion against your presence. So I made some pre-emptive strikes and took over the territories with much bloodshed. 'Am I evil?' I thought for a short time then said 'Naaaah! They were just the wrong place at the wrong time! There isn't any being rights organisations here.' and then plunged further into this war.

 

 

Well I'm off to kick an Cultist invasion force out of Spain (were they going for Ibiza?). I've already kicked them out once. I guess the games AI is somewhat inept of learning.

 

If there is some pictures worth posting I will do so....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

As our screenshots section slowly seems to be evolving into an intricate display of tactics and sheer genius (largely on my part) :P ,I suggest we devote an entire section for the very thing.

Only the most battle hardened need apply here :P

If you feel we need to get this area started I suggest you plough your way through my mammoth contributions to the screenshots section.

 

Lets do this! :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
  • Create New...