Tips & Tricks

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2xPelin
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Tips & Tricks

Unread postby 2xPelin » Wed Nov 09, 2011 1:19 pm

So, here are tips and tricks for new (and old) players!
Quoted posts are from our internal beta test forum started by Davin Valkri.

Davin Valkri wrote:I, and other players, may be so worried about enemy units throwing my supply lines into disarray that the urge is to destroy as many of them as possible, even at the expense of forward progress. And while it's possible for them to force a breakthrough (such as in the south in 2nd Kharkov), I've learned, and others should know, that you can do the same thing to them, and a force that's out of supply is much less of a threat to yours. And then you can push through to your objectives more easily. (At least, that's the impression I got from Astrakhan and other player's demonstrations.)

Also, remember the words of Guderian--one punches with a closed fist. Concentrate your heaviest punching units, usually armor and motorized divisions, at one point in the enemy defenses, blast through, and wreak havok in his rear.


ComradeP wrote:An important rule when you want to win is to always mentally plan ahead to where you want to be at the end of next turn, and don't just focus on the current turn. Don't focus entirely on the objectives, but always keep them in mind.

Sometimes a detour is the quickest way to get somewhere. Don't always try the obvious or historical strategy, but try various strategies a few times to see what works best for the forces you have at your disposal.

Don't play like you would as the Axis when you're playing as the Soviets, or vice versa. Keep the strengths and weaknesses of the side you're playing as in mind.


Nenad Jalsovec wrote:Back when I was learning the game, one of the things that helped me boost my efficiency is the knowledge of exact workings of ZOCs.

In UoC, a unit can move any number of times per turn as long as there are MPs left. However, once you enter an enemy ZOC hex all the remaining MPs will be lost and the unit is locked in place for the current turn. If you are aware of this you will choose carefully where to move with respect to enemy ZOCs. That way you can significantly increase overall mobility of your troops which is essential for blitzkrieg-ing.

This is especially important for strong mobile units like veteran armored divisions. If you're careful about ZOCs when maneuvering such units, the greater mobility combined with overruns can wreak havoc on the enemy every single turn.

The tactic I like to use when breaking the enemy line is to sacrifice a weak cannon fodder unit to dismantle the ZOC at the attack point and then (in the same turn) attack multiple times from the clean hex, circulating the strong units.


Davin Valkri wrote:Well, here's another couple for the well.

Scoring, such at it is, is based on spaces taken (the objectives) and time taken, not units destroyed or preserved. Although keeping your divisions strong will help with the objective, don't be afraid to "sacrifice" a division or two to push through to the objective, if their sacrifice will bear fruit, like weakening an enemy armor unit before the breakthrough. This may be especially helpful in Soviet missions, where your units may not be as strong as the German ones, but certainly outnumber them.

Remember to keep an eye on the terrain and weather before planning an attack. Cross-river attacks into entrenched enemy infantry in the snow (a few scenarios will start with long lines of dug-in infantry across a river from your units) is a good way to get your men killed, mostly fruitlessly.

Theater assets like air attacks and logistical enhancements replenish every turn, so use generously but wisely. Concentrate air attacks where you want to make the breakthrough, and use logistics to increase the supply radius of areas where you'll need to keep your offensive swimming in bullets and shells (and food and stuff). It's a fairly no-brainer where to use your logistics if one of your supply sources sits on a rail line that you need to follow to reach your objectives (as in Edelweiss).

RadioactiveMan
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Re: Tips & Tricks

Unread postby RadioactiveMan » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:04 pm

I'd like to add a tip for playing through the campaigns:

Don't be afraid to spend a little prestige now and then! Are you having trouble securing an objective as fast as you would like? A little carefully spent prestige can go a long way towards making that objective easier.

You CAN beat every scenario without using any prestige troops, but its quite a bit easier to accomplish a decisive victory or brilliant victory with a little extra prestige. And, if you DO get a good victory condition, you will earn some additional prestige that you can take forward into the next scenario.

When playing the campaign, you will see a little progress graphic that shows how many scenarios you've completed, and how many are remaining in the campaign. What you may not realize is that not all those scenarios will be accessed in any given campaign (some only unlock with decisive or brilliant victories). So, if you are saving your prestige for a rainy day because you are only 4/7 through the campaign, you may want to rethink that!

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2xPelin
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Re: Tips & Tricks

Unread postby 2xPelin » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:49 pm

Addition to RadioactiveMans post:

On lower right part of campaign screen, you can see scenario names and arrows in front of them.

victory needed.JPG


To continue your campaign to Stalingrad, you have to have normal victory (or better), but to also have choice to go to Edelweiss, you must have Decisive victory (or better).
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Davin Valkri
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Re: Tips & Tricks

Unread postby Davin Valkri » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:46 pm

Here's another tip:

READ THE MANUAL. It's got lots of explanatory and mechanical fun stuff that can make your game much easier to play!

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Tomislav Uzelac
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Re: Tips & Tricks

Unread postby Tomislav Uzelac » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:55 pm

Very true... maybe if it said DON'T PANIC in reassuring red letters on the cover then more people would check it out ;)

Imperial Dane
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Re: Tips & Tricks

Unread postby Imperial Dane » Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:26 pm

Well an "Achtung !" Could also do the trick i wager :D

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Tomislav Uzelac
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Re: Tips & Tricks

Unread postby Tomislav Uzelac » Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:27 am

Seriously, here's my own tip. Kinda advanced but still...

When adding reinforcements, take care not to drop a unit's experience level. For example, if the unit is "veteran +8/25", it makes sense to add one reinforcement step but not two. This is because adding each step will remove 5 experience points (1/5 of 25). If you add one reinforcement, your unit will be "veteran +3/25", but if you add two it will drop to "standard".

Unit experience really matters, so the unit is probably stronger overall as "veteran" even with one step less.

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Spooner
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Re: Tips & Tricks

Unread postby Spooner » Fri Nov 11, 2011 4:36 pm

That is a very useful one, since a smaller unit with experience has a huge advantage over an unexperienced one. I'm forever accidentally reinforcing and causing this drop in exp level. If you are feeling kind, marking on the reinforcement menu which reinforcement amount (one, two and/or three steps added) will cause a drop in experience (a big red arrow pointing downwards, for example), this would save people doing maths in their heads and remembering that you lose 10 / 5 = 2exp at regular, 25 / 5 = 5exp at veteran and 50 / 5 = 10exp at elite (and by people, as usual I mean me :D).

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Tomislav Uzelac
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Re: Tips & Tricks

Unread postby Tomislav Uzelac » Fri Nov 11, 2011 5:35 pm

Interesting idea... I'll be putting this on the list under "maybe".

It would have to be a pretty subtle reminder, not too prominent visually. Remember, this is for the player who is far enough advanced to actually consider this effect. At the same time, we should not freak out all other players (the majority!) with yet another incomprehensible symbol.

And the math is not that hard. You should have seen the original version: added steps were taken to be "standard + 0/10" and then we took the average of new and old steps. I caught myself doing that math during a game a few times before I decided we should really use a simpler system ;)

Davin Valkri
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Re: Tips & Tricks

Unread postby Davin Valkri » Sat Nov 12, 2011 10:51 am

That's right, another tip!

Objectives in scenarios have turn limits attached to them, indicating when the point worth for those objectives will start to depreciate. Unless you're playing for the BRILLIANT VICTORY (and even in most cases when you are), there's no need to plan your attack such that the objectives are taken in order of increasing turn limit. The first decisive victory I scored in the Crimea tutorial scenario, for example, reversed the nominal objective order--instead of taking Kerch in 2 turns and Sevestapol in 4, I blasted open Sevestapol by turn 2 and slogged over to Kerch by turn 4. It made more sense to me given the amount of Soviet infantry between the German start points and Kerch.