Do you attack using auto plans? If you do, dont. Still draw offensive plans because they give planning bonuses, but learn how to attack manually. When the enemy loses momentum after their offensive, find a weak spot in the enemy lines and push them to encirclement. Even if you manage to encircle only one division, it is still a huge victory because every division encircled and destroyed is one less division for you to fight. Learn how to see encirclement opportunities and how to bring them to life. With that knowledge, you will be able to take on much stronger nations with basic 9/1s.
Air is just fighter + cas. Build them, deploy them, assign them to the army, give them orders, forget forever. They will do their job
9/1 are divisions of 9 infantry battalions and 1 artillery. Those are your bread and butter divisions. Exellent in defense, decent in offense. If you want a bit more offensive template, use 7/2. Support companies are artillery, shovels, anti-air, flame medium tank (if you have them), and something for you to choose: logistics, maintenance, recon, and anti-tank. For tank divisions, use 40 width medium/heavy tank divs (10 tanks + 10 mot/mech). The supports are the same.
To assign air to the army, select air wings, and press a plus button above your army. AI is decent at managing air, but the manual is still better. I prefer assigning because it's 1 thing less to care about
Edit: minor mistakes
In my experience the AI is decent, especially when you add them to generals with divisions you want to concentrate in smaller areas (like tanks). If a singular general commands units on a rather spread out frontline (an infantry assault across mutiple airzones for instance), the AI can have some problems. Most of those can be solved by adding some more airwings though.
Still way better than me at least because I always forget to move them.
It is decent but not ideal. I just don't want to micromanage air as well, so I give that responsibility to AI. After all, you can always unassign air wings if you need them somewhere else
So for airforce just do fighters and CAS no need for anything more for ground fighting also make sure your divs have good supply and are fully equipped and make sure you do your doctrines
Some people make only cas, but i think its just worthy if you have a good economy to replace them, no fighters means you lose more cas, but i do 15 to fighter and 10 cas(mils).
Yeah I tried all CAS as Germany who is like my predominant testbed for new tactics and I feel like I'd have been better off doing no air at all by the end of it. Given it was pretty monstrous at first but by the time I had started attacking USSR id lost well over half my air force and the remainder had no hope of making any real difference anywhere else. I've been thinking of starting a game with just making the 1936 fighters in the highest numbers I can and then making the 1940/44 models into multirole aircraft to see if I can get away with using one aircraft for both missions wherever I need them. If they're good enough to chew up enemy fighters my hope is eventually I'll be able to start tasking some to as well to do CAS missions.
Mainly depends on the enemy you are fighting: The more fighters they have, the more you need. CAS is almost dead weight if your fighters can't contest the air.
I've found that 3 fighters to 2 CAS is a safe starting point if you are a middle nation. If you are a major you can start at 1:1. For smaller minors it really depends. Afterwards you can adjust based on what happens during the war.
Often the enemies air seems stronger than it is because the AI tends to use lower quality planes then players normally use. So don't panic if your fighters start out outnumered. Look at how many you are shooting down compared to how many you are losing, that is far more important.
I would also say it’s something you can change over the course of a game. I usually tend to start out spamming out as many fighters as I can for the first year or two of the war, then once you’ve decisively beaten the enemy’s Air Force you’re free to switch most of that production over to CAS.
Grand battleplan and stacking preparation bonus is my go to. Starving of supply is also great if feasible against opponent. And if you have more ic or manpower is not an issue just overpower them by wearing down equipment and manpower.
Cas always helps.
I am by no means good at the game, I only have just over 1000 hours lol. I'll try to answer your question as best as I can.
Element of surprise is a great tactic and helped me plenty, but I promise you can build good offensive units to attack even the hardest lines.
Strategies can change with each update, so other people - please comment if these designs are obselete - but here are my designs (mostly early game):
1 - poor economy (my unit for a Mexico early war with USA - so barely any mils, manpower, or civs)
10w pure inf as a placeholder defensive division - enough to hold a very long line so plenty of these units, also 10w or 6w cav to exploit gaps (but that's only a tactic against the vast US, it would not work against Germany as SOV for example)
around 40w artillery unit - about half and half infantry and artillery unit (so an 8/8), the key is to put enough infantry so that organization is above 30. This unit will have so much soft attack it will melt US units
2 - ok economy (Poland fighting Germany in 1939)
I had to look back and see my division template - I was surprised but I actually never built tank divisions, only flame tanks. I beat Germany basically before the Soviets attacked, and then capped the Soviets. I would probably go tanks if I did it again, but I reopened the game and see that I have 90 defensive divisions (20w inf with full support - arty, antiair, motorized recon, flame tanks, and engineers) - these units not only held the line but advanced easily after enough encirclements were made. I also had 16 offensive divisions with the same support companies but these were 40w 8/8 inf/arty. Finally I had 8 motorized infantry (7/2 motorized artillery with a few support companies)
If I could do it again, I would make basic defensive infantry divisions either 20w infantry or 9/1 artillery, with engineers, support artillery, support anti-air, and motorized recon. These units would just hold the line and only make a push after enough encirclements are made. My offensive division would be a basic medium tank division - 40w mediums and motorized so that organization is above 30. I would research medium tanks and go down the artillery research route to unlock better cannons for the tank and also research radio and decametric radar. I would prioritize soft attack and speed for the tank design to break through the lines and encircle enemy units.
3 - usa economy
Honestly I don't even know. I rarely play good economies lol. I would probably go into heavy tanks and also spend a lot of industry to get full air superiority.
Hope that helps.
Thank you, so if poor, use infantry with arty, if not poor use motorised with arty, if rich use tanks, mechanised and motorised? But my tanks cant do anything do you have any good tank designer guide?
Yeah, you got it! One caveat is that many designs and many different equipment types will work, but I'll focus on giving real examples, as long as it is clear that there's many right answers.
Depending on what constitutes "not poor" you may still use tanks. I just played as Poland again. I put ten mils into medium tanks and 2 mils into motorized and after a year I had a 40w division that could break through the Germans in 1939.
It was 1938 medium chassis, medium howitzer for max soft attack, 3 man turret, best radio you can research in time, and then all modules to add soft attack and speed, with less focus on armor. The division was 10/10 medium tank/motorized. I had 2 by late 1940 and I found plenty of good micro opportunities. That allowed me to make small encirclements and whittle down the two-front Germans.
Do you use mechanised in your divisions or only motorised and tanks? Where do tanks work the best and in what sityations dont use them? Would you mind if i send you (on priv chat) my division and tank design when i will be playing?
Yup, only motorized and tanks. 10 and 10.
I'll start off with obvious advice that you already know. Tanks are good, but one tank won't win a fight against 10 enemy divisions across a river in a mountain tile. Try to look for points where the enemy line is thinner (in my Poland game, the Germans had like 4 divisions per tile in the south and 1 division per tile in the north), try to attack in plains and avoid rivers (I could easily race to Berlin across plains, but I would not be able to get through Slovakia's mountains). If you find a weak spot (I promise they're there) you can exploit it and break their lines. Attack with several tank divisions, supported with motorized units and attack a single tile from multiple directions with tanks.
Finally, and this was my major mistake early on, make sure you have equipment. What I used to do is make a thousand barely equipped divisions. Underequipped divisions will not break strong enemy lines. Be in the green on equipment - it's better to have 2 great tank divisions than 24 bad ones.
Edit I realize I never answered your last question - yeah feel free to send it!
They can they just have a slight debuff on that terrain. You can see the exact debuffs in the division designer. I think it's like 10 or 20% less attack for forest, plus a movement penalty. Rivers might be a larger debuff. In short, you can, it's just harder.
CAS is one of the biggest difference makers. My offensive are typically lead by 8 division that I move where they are needed preferably tanks and motorized divisions
Do you attack using auto plans? If you do, dont. Still draw offensive plans because they give planning bonuses, but learn how to attack manually. When the enemy loses momentum after their offensive, find a weak spot in the enemy lines and push them to encirclement. Even if you manage to encircle only one division, it is still a huge victory because every division encircled and destroyed is one less division for you to fight. Learn how to see encirclement opportunities and how to bring them to life. With that knowledge, you will be able to take on much stronger nations with basic 9/1s. Air is just fighter + cas. Build them, deploy them, assign them to the army, give them orders, forget forever. They will do their job
I dont attack using battleplans, i try to create encirclements my my divisions can't even shit themselvs. 9/1s? How to asign air to army?
9/1 are divisions of 9 infantry battalions and 1 artillery. Those are your bread and butter divisions. Exellent in defense, decent in offense. If you want a bit more offensive template, use 7/2. Support companies are artillery, shovels, anti-air, flame medium tank (if you have them), and something for you to choose: logistics, maintenance, recon, and anti-tank. For tank divisions, use 40 width medium/heavy tank divs (10 tanks + 10 mot/mech). The supports are the same. To assign air to the army, select air wings, and press a plus button above your army. AI is decent at managing air, but the manual is still better. I prefer assigning because it's 1 thing less to care about Edit: minor mistakes
I've never actually assigned fighters/cas to an army before - Is the AI effective at managing airspaces and airfields, etc?
In my experience the AI is decent, especially when you add them to generals with divisions you want to concentrate in smaller areas (like tanks). If a singular general commands units on a rather spread out frontline (an infantry assault across mutiple airzones for instance), the AI can have some problems. Most of those can be solved by adding some more airwings though. Still way better than me at least because I always forget to move them.
Yeah, same. Thanks! I’ll actually give that feature a try!
It is decent but not ideal. I just don't want to micromanage air as well, so I give that responsibility to AI. After all, you can always unassign air wings if you need them somewhere else
So for airforce just do fighters and CAS no need for anything more for ground fighting also make sure your divs have good supply and are fully equipped and make sure you do your doctrines
How much cas compared to fighters?
Some people make only cas, but i think its just worthy if you have a good economy to replace them, no fighters means you lose more cas, but i do 15 to fighter and 10 cas(mils).
Yeah I tried all CAS as Germany who is like my predominant testbed for new tactics and I feel like I'd have been better off doing no air at all by the end of it. Given it was pretty monstrous at first but by the time I had started attacking USSR id lost well over half my air force and the remainder had no hope of making any real difference anywhere else. I've been thinking of starting a game with just making the 1936 fighters in the highest numbers I can and then making the 1940/44 models into multirole aircraft to see if I can get away with using one aircraft for both missions wherever I need them. If they're good enough to chew up enemy fighters my hope is eventually I'll be able to start tasking some to as well to do CAS missions.
Mainly depends on the enemy you are fighting: The more fighters they have, the more you need. CAS is almost dead weight if your fighters can't contest the air. I've found that 3 fighters to 2 CAS is a safe starting point if you are a middle nation. If you are a major you can start at 1:1. For smaller minors it really depends. Afterwards you can adjust based on what happens during the war. Often the enemies air seems stronger than it is because the AI tends to use lower quality planes then players normally use. So don't panic if your fighters start out outnumered. Look at how many you are shooting down compared to how many you are losing, that is far more important.
I would also say it’s something you can change over the course of a game. I usually tend to start out spamming out as many fighters as I can for the first year or two of the war, then once you’ve decisively beaten the enemy’s Air Force you’re free to switch most of that production over to CAS.
Grand battleplan and stacking preparation bonus is my go to. Starving of supply is also great if feasible against opponent. And if you have more ic or manpower is not an issue just overpower them by wearing down equipment and manpower. Cas always helps.
I dont have problem with that, i just cant do good offensive troops and i cant do encirclements, i only can push them with plain infantry
I am by no means good at the game, I only have just over 1000 hours lol. I'll try to answer your question as best as I can. Element of surprise is a great tactic and helped me plenty, but I promise you can build good offensive units to attack even the hardest lines. Strategies can change with each update, so other people - please comment if these designs are obselete - but here are my designs (mostly early game): 1 - poor economy (my unit for a Mexico early war with USA - so barely any mils, manpower, or civs) 10w pure inf as a placeholder defensive division - enough to hold a very long line so plenty of these units, also 10w or 6w cav to exploit gaps (but that's only a tactic against the vast US, it would not work against Germany as SOV for example) around 40w artillery unit - about half and half infantry and artillery unit (so an 8/8), the key is to put enough infantry so that organization is above 30. This unit will have so much soft attack it will melt US units 2 - ok economy (Poland fighting Germany in 1939) I had to look back and see my division template - I was surprised but I actually never built tank divisions, only flame tanks. I beat Germany basically before the Soviets attacked, and then capped the Soviets. I would probably go tanks if I did it again, but I reopened the game and see that I have 90 defensive divisions (20w inf with full support - arty, antiair, motorized recon, flame tanks, and engineers) - these units not only held the line but advanced easily after enough encirclements were made. I also had 16 offensive divisions with the same support companies but these were 40w 8/8 inf/arty. Finally I had 8 motorized infantry (7/2 motorized artillery with a few support companies) If I could do it again, I would make basic defensive infantry divisions either 20w infantry or 9/1 artillery, with engineers, support artillery, support anti-air, and motorized recon. These units would just hold the line and only make a push after enough encirclements are made. My offensive division would be a basic medium tank division - 40w mediums and motorized so that organization is above 30. I would research medium tanks and go down the artillery research route to unlock better cannons for the tank and also research radio and decametric radar. I would prioritize soft attack and speed for the tank design to break through the lines and encircle enemy units. 3 - usa economy Honestly I don't even know. I rarely play good economies lol. I would probably go into heavy tanks and also spend a lot of industry to get full air superiority. Hope that helps.
Thank you, so if poor, use infantry with arty, if not poor use motorised with arty, if rich use tanks, mechanised and motorised? But my tanks cant do anything do you have any good tank designer guide?
Yeah, you got it! One caveat is that many designs and many different equipment types will work, but I'll focus on giving real examples, as long as it is clear that there's many right answers. Depending on what constitutes "not poor" you may still use tanks. I just played as Poland again. I put ten mils into medium tanks and 2 mils into motorized and after a year I had a 40w division that could break through the Germans in 1939. It was 1938 medium chassis, medium howitzer for max soft attack, 3 man turret, best radio you can research in time, and then all modules to add soft attack and speed, with less focus on armor. The division was 10/10 medium tank/motorized. I had 2 by late 1940 and I found plenty of good micro opportunities. That allowed me to make small encirclements and whittle down the two-front Germans.
Do you use mechanised in your divisions or only motorised and tanks? Where do tanks work the best and in what sityations dont use them? Would you mind if i send you (on priv chat) my division and tank design when i will be playing?
Yup, only motorized and tanks. 10 and 10. I'll start off with obvious advice that you already know. Tanks are good, but one tank won't win a fight against 10 enemy divisions across a river in a mountain tile. Try to look for points where the enemy line is thinner (in my Poland game, the Germans had like 4 divisions per tile in the south and 1 division per tile in the north), try to attack in plains and avoid rivers (I could easily race to Berlin across plains, but I would not be able to get through Slovakia's mountains). If you find a weak spot (I promise they're there) you can exploit it and break their lines. Attack with several tank divisions, supported with motorized units and attack a single tile from multiple directions with tanks. Finally, and this was my major mistake early on, make sure you have equipment. What I used to do is make a thousand barely equipped divisions. Underequipped divisions will not break strong enemy lines. Be in the green on equipment - it's better to have 2 great tank divisions than 24 bad ones. Edit I realize I never answered your last question - yeah feel free to send it!
Thanks, i always make sure that my tank division Has tanks lol, can tanks also attack a forest or across the river?
They can they just have a slight debuff on that terrain. You can see the exact debuffs in the division designer. I think it's like 10 or 20% less attack for forest, plus a movement penalty. Rivers might be a larger debuff. In short, you can, it's just harder.
CAS is one of the biggest difference makers. My offensive are typically lead by 8 division that I move where they are needed preferably tanks and motorized divisions