4 replies to this topic

[ROCKSTAR]

Hey guys, absolutely loving this game.. great job!

Just wondering if anyone has any general hints and tips for strategy.. just basic do's and dont's?

Thanks.

EDIT BY BEREK: Spoiler Alert, quick map/card codes!:

Spoiler

IIRC, from the main menu:



Unlock all cards: L-button, L-stick, R-button, R-stick

Unlock all maps: D-left, D-right, D-up, D-down, L-stick, R-stick, Y-button, B-button, Y-button, B-button

[Lohengriehn]

ROCKSTAR, on Oct 26 2009, 12:52 PM, said:

Hey guys, absolutely loving this game.. great job!

Just wondering if anyone has any general hints and tips for strategy.. just basic do's and dont's?

Thanks.

Hello

Hm. Lets see. What do you count as "do's" and "don't"?

As far as I can speak for the single campaign its often useful to hold some cards back to sacrifice them. Recruits or so giving you 6 or 7 points. They arent very good in combat, so it doesnt hurt to send them first toward the enemy beeing cannon fodder lets say

A battle card to cancel a possible attack (and to secure this unit for your later strategic use) is often useful too.

And dont underestimate the power of towed guns. They provide a +5 support - sure for a short range, but very effective, specially -and they do that as default- when dugged in (means they will fire at first when attacked. What a great weapon imo )

Generally I found out its sometimes better not to wait for the following round. Just attacking the enemy and keeping up your advance will do the job (speaking for the normal campaign). In the hard one, and I suck there in mission 2 yet, I havent found a good strategy at all. Its just to difficult (for me) to line up effective and possessing enough rounds after the line was built to reach the mission goal Thats addictive though

Ah and a good card is "take one / two unit/s out of your graveyard"...always nice to have such one in your hand - at the very end Im to the conclusion, all cards are great to have / play - it all depends how you want to play your game / attack / defense

Greetings. -Lohengriehn

[ROCKSTAR]

Thanks for the advice.

[Chuck Kroegel]

Here are some hints and strategies that we found useful in
the game:

1. Be sure to move up all your units to provide support
before you launch your attacks.
2. Move any unit you may have in your Home Base to
make way for a reduced cost reinforcement you place
from your hand.
3. Look at your cards carefully before you plan your
strategies. The key in this game is to use your cards
to their fullest.
4. Buy extra cards whenever you can, but still leave at
least 10-15 prestige available.
5. Read carefully the ability of the Units on their cards.
How you use these unit abilities will make or break your strategies.
6. Take advantage of units with high support, especially
those with a range greater than one. Units may
provide support to multiple battles in the same turn.
7. Be aware how quickly you use your cards. A player
with no cards left is at the mercy of his opponent.
8. Be aware that you may place reinforcing units on
any space with your control marker. This can be very
handy to add in extra support on the front lines.
9. The ranged artillery units are critical to have in place
to support your attacks.
10. Keep in mind that Action Cards can give your units
extra attacks and moves.
11. Beware of units that have dug in. They will fire first.
12. When you attack and fire first do all you can to
eliminate that unit so you avoid its return fire.
13. Pay attention to your Prestige level during your opponent’s
turn to have enough for your turn. Keep in
mind you receive more prestige at the end of your
turn.
14. The fact that Action Cards can give you extra moves
and attacks can be critical. Keep in mind that you
can take these extra actions and then execute your
normal actions.
15. Some terraingrants you fire bonuses such as hills.
Consequently,some terrain such as rivers and beaches give
negativebonuses to your fire. Fortresses are very effective
in their values and their ability to always be dug
in (you fire first on a fortification).
16. Keep in mind the rule that allows you to subtract
prestige from your opponent instead of adding it
yours when you eliminate enemy units. This can effectively
“starve” your opponent from prestige.
17. Fight your less important battles first to draw out
your opponent cards.
18. Don’t always advance after combat if it places your
unit next to several enemy units with good support
values.
19. Take note of the high prestige tiles such as Cities
and Towns. They can make a big difference in your
prestige levels throughout the game.
20. Be sure to protect your Home Base and Home Row.
21. Maneuver your units so that you attack the enemy
first. Often the key to winning in this game is to aggressively
attack your opponent first.
22. Take note of the unit ability “Transfer Action” on
your commander/field marshal cards. This is a very
powerful ability that used properly can turn the tide
of the battle in your favor. Granting extra actions to
units can be decisive.
23. Be sure to use the “Bluff” card instead of sacrificing
a card for its battle value. You need to conserve your
cards, especially when you already have a huge differential
going in the battle.

[Tartrazine]

Chuck Kroegel, on Oct 26 2009, 12:23 PM, said:

Here are some hints and strategies that we found useful in
the game...

These are great tips, so I thought I'd just add on them.

4 - I agree with this, but only for newbies.  When I went for superior victories in the Hard missions, there were often times when I was low on prestige and found it crucial to buy every last card that I could, provided that there were some weak enemy units I could easily kill to earn some quick prestige to use on the serious challenges.  Get used to zooming in on enemy units to check their prestige cost so you know how much you'll get for killing them (half of their cost, rounded up).  Remember that you can use cards whenever you have the prestige (or sacrifice them when you don't) but you only get one chance a turn to buy more.  (Not counting cards like Reserves, which is crazy powerful precisely because it lets you bypass that limit.)

11/12 - The importance of being the first to fire is pretty severe.  In early versions of the game, did you ever toy with the idea of using some variant of the old initiative system back?  Ha ha, and nothing brings terror to an old Panzer General fan like "RUGGED DEFENSE!".  Not that I can really talk, since I still haven't gotten any further in the original games than the first mission of the first game with the smart (more like sadistic) AI on.  (Man, I hope we at least get a German campaign in an expansion, complete with Polish horse cavalry to slaughter.)

15 - I wish that units didn't visibly dig in as soon as they stop onto a fortification (as opposed to at the start of each player's turn with "auto dig-in"), because it implies that it somehow gives a superior bonus (+6 terrain defence for softies aside) than granting the unit normal "auto dig-in" while it's on the tile.  A little Prep Fire is still enough to send them scurrying out of the hardened fortifications.

22. Transfer Action is extremely useful, but there are some important limits to keep in mind.  While you can have multiple jeeps in play, you can only Transfer Action to any particular unit once per turn.  Transfer Action only transfers ONE action - a mechanized unit you Transfer Action to only gets to move OR shoot, not both.  I learned both of these the hard way.

23.  Yeah.  Don't sacrifice cards to get the bonus that you should be getting from artillery and other high-support units.  (A single Prep Fire card can let you save the 3 or 4 cards you would have needed to survive the initial counter-attack of a dug-in enemy with a lot of support, especially in campaign where you're on the offensive virtually every mission.)  And if you've only got one buff card to spare for a fight, remember that you often get a bigger bonus for sacrificing it than spending prestige to activate it (most notably the four different cards whose ability is for 3 points, but sacrifice for 5).

- Unlock as many cards as you have patience for before you try multiplayer.  (There's no achievement for beating the hard campaign, but they sure give you a lot of bonus cards!)  It isn't practical to use a deck full of nothing but high-prestige cards, but there are so many opportunities in this game to place expensive units for free (starting units, home tile, Rapid Deployment, Counter Offensive) that you should always be using those to place double-digit-prestige-cost heavy hitters with them.

- Play to your faction's strengths.  Read through all the cards (hit right bumper in the deck manager to "show collection", it's much more straightforward than the cumbersome deck editor) and take note of the cards that are unique to each side, and the ones that are superior to the enemy's version (if you thought the American version of Deadly Fire was fun...).  And just as importantly, plan to counter the other side's strengths.  Germany needs those 88s out to protect against America's superior air power.  (Note that the American version of Strafing Run can kill weak artillery units that you thought were safe in the rear!)  America needs towed guns and such for the support bonuses to be able to kill the mighty King Tiger.  (Note that every other tank in the game is a generic unit that's identical for both sides, with the King Tiger literally in a class by itself.)

- Always keep the damage formula (damage done is equal to half of the difference between attack and defence, rounded up) in mind when deciding whether to attack or to spend cards.  When you absolutely need an enemy to die this turn, assume the worst once you get to the sacrifice phase - that he'll sacrifice a 7 and you'll roll a -2, and plan around that.  Of course, before you get to that phase he might play a Smoke Screen to cancel combat (usually right after you played a juicy buff card, LOL), which is why you want a command jeep nearby or that card that gives you a bonus attack (Opp Fire?), so you can nail him after his bag of tricks is emptied out.

- Infuriatingly, the game doesn't let you zoom out and see the whole board when you're responding to enemy attacks during his turn, so try to remember how things looked and to anticipate other attacks you probably need to save cards for.

- Do read the game errata that pops up on the forums, so you know stuff like the secret requirement for the "fewer tile" card that they only work on turn 3 and beyond.