I’m very early! Thank you for the very useful information I’ve been struggling pushing back the enemy attacks,I think it’s the communication trenches that are causing my trouble
You are quite welcome! Glad to know we could all help with our collective tips. There are two more videos in the description you would benefit from watching.
Triple trenches, interior lines, a couple of machine guns a coupleof arty. Shift and shuffle units in and out of the Frontline. I have fended off 5 to 1 attacks turned major losses into stalemate and cost the enemy 200 moral points through September of 1915. This is a very fun game.
Hi Phil and thank you kindly for sharing your experience with us. I am glad to see so many people enjoying this game. I was afraid it wouldn't find a large audience but I am very glad to know it has.
@perafilozof I am 58 and have been gaming since I was 12. I have seen several attempts at WW1, and by far, this is the best to date. Once you fixed the arty taking out the MG nests, etc. Like modern arty would. The puzzle of trench warfare becomes crystal clear. Well done.
@@philswift791 I agree it is the best attempt yet. The only issues I have with it is that it becomes repetitive when you are taking down * from regions you are attacking with the same units and tech.
@@ostrowulf Very true. But the problem is you can't find any to attack from more than 2 of your own regions. Which means you don't have a lot of supply available. It is a trade off.
So I’m a big fan of machine guns, but they require a few things to be useful. 1. By far the most important thing to have is a squadron of fighters. Enemy bombers have been the biggest reason for me loosing a ton of MG nests so it is crucial to contest the air to keep them alive. 2. I like to keep at least 1 horizontal placement line between my trenchs and my MG nests. This makes it less likely for the mg to be suppressed by arty that is suppressing your forward trench. It also keeps it out of grenade range if that forward trench is taken. 3. Having barbed wire in front of your trenches to help delay enemy’s longer to allow the mg’s to do their thing. Though this does double up with helping your rifle company’s as well. Using these I have kept my MGs operational for entire defensive battles only loosing 1 or 2 of the 6-10 I usually place down.
Thank you kindly for sharing your tips and experience. Those are very good rules to follow when using MG nests. I am quite surprised by the amount you use. I haven't dared use more than 2-3. What is your experience with tanks so far?
Well if you mean fighting against. I’ll use a mixture of bombers, grenadiers, and lots and lots of artillery. If I have my own tanks I’ll also use those. They can be annoying to deal with and have had them take out several mg nests before I can kill them. As for number of mg nests I found them pretty survivable when following the rules I laid out so I like using a lot of them as they can quickly whittle down enemy units trying to get to your trench’s a lot faster than rifles. And if your rifles are engaged in melee the MGs can continue to whittle down the enemies reinforcements before they get into your trenches.
Loving this game so far, just remember supply is everything. You can defend with a two stack (40 companies) against a 9 stack (180 companies), as long as you have enough supplies to set up a good defense. Only 30 companies or art. batteries can be present at a time and reinforcements cost more to bring in after the battle starts, so always max out in pre battle set up. Sticking planes in the region, even if you have no unlocks for them yet, +100 supply, +120 with landing strip. Supply depot lvl 1 is like having a little over 2 extra stacks of infantry in the space, +400 supply. You will almost never run out of companies before you run out of supplies to bring them in the battle. Tactics wins battles, logistics wins wars. 🤓
If you have the supply to spare, I find that having the trenches connect to each other across the entire line can help a lot with reinforcing attacked areas, and with repositioning undefended areas. Having whole lines of trenches across the battlefield allows you to 'shuffle' entire lines of troops, rather than risking them in the open when repositioning or reinforcing - rather than pushing upwards with troops from the back trenches, you can simply move the troops directly to the left/right of the trench that's been overrun, and then shuffle the troops next to that along to the now-vacant trench, and so on and so forth across the entire line - it means that all troops stay in the trenches while moving, and allows for troops to be ready to reinforce at a very close distance at all times. Once you've 'shuffled' the entire line across to reinforce a given area, you can then call in your new troops at the end of the line or at the back - crucially, away from the fighting and thus safe to move into a trench without being shot at.
This sounds good, and I thank you for sharing your experience and advice with us, but what happens when the enemy gets into that battlefield wide trench? He can also travel the whole length from one objectvie to the next?
A bro I think I found a op way to attack and that's having tanks with infantry close together and there able to destroy the enamy even when iam out numbered like 10 to 3 and iam attacking many time I don't fully use every slot of troop place ments because iam already winning my fastest win was like 18 or somethin but 18 was when I was fighting a small army the 10 corps one last to 14 I belive.
@@kingdomsandcastles3770 well thanks give infantry extra morale. And tanks are amazing at taking down enemy infantry at range as well as enemy gun emplacements.
Just make sure you don't do the same mistakes I did like sending tanks with out infantry I sent 12 tanks unsupported and lost 8 of them lol and the rest super damaged.
Thanks for taking viewer advise! You connected the trenches with comm lines, but that actually defeats the purpose of the no-mans land. Have nothing connecting the front lines in case you are overrun. The enemy gets battered trying to reach your second line and often uses it's own artilery while attacking, causing huge blue-on-blue casualties. My next video will have the 2 tier trenches.
Hi, I understood you that I only have to avoid connecting the first line with back lines. No reason not to connect the back rows with each other so I can keep the support and fire line strong at the back?
@@perafilozof Personally, I'd suggest focusing on isolated trench systems, giving them comms trenches only to their own unique reserve locations (and of course statics)- blockhouses or trenches placed so that they can't fire toward your end of the map. That way you can run straight in from your side without it being a significant vulnerability if the enemy takes it.
Heres a few things ive leard playing,.. I’ve noticed that the ai tends to chose where to attack based off of logistics, where their arty is, and information about your obj. And dont let your ballons just die because you pay 120-150 for them, use them as bait along with emplacements to draw out the enemy air force to lower morale and raise victory conditions for them, also the arty tip is bad because they dont shoot and mive only frag and move meaning heavy artillery for when they’re in no mans land attacking you and when they’re dug in your trench line and light artillery for basic counter attacks to retake your trenches and lastly this barbed wite/ razor wire stays and this one isnt a tip but I’ve noticed that the persistence on the battlefields adds to no mans land and spreads more towards the side that got barraged and the more arty the quicker, but it would be nice to have settings that allowed us to chance how persistent the battlefields are for performance reasons like bodies and arty holes ect…
Using 3 trenches works quite well, I often do the same with the frontline trench leaving an empty row before the 2 supporting rear trenches to avoid suppression, I also like to use some angled trenches to also add to the firepower
Yeah, I have personally yet to master trench setup to make more room for those diagonal ones to give my lines more fire support. Thank you for the comment and sharing your knowledge.
Great guide. I totally agree with you and all the other players that have commented on the question of 'does the ai cheat with unlimited supply?'. After playing many battles and having more than 11 hours of game play time I also agree that the ai does not cheat. Not only will the ai run out of supply during a battle he will also run out of gold on the strategic map. This really helps in stopping him from launching offensives in the first place.
Hi, thank you for the feedback and praise. And yes, exactly. It doesn't cheat in supply. It does have an unfair advantage in remembering everything it sees and on perfect math for supply points.
@@perafilozof even so I'm ok with that. Soon a lot of us are going to completely figure out this game. Then the advantages the ai has won't make too much difference
@@perafilozof I haven't researched tanks yet in my campaign. I have fought the enemy tanks. I think they are working fine and as intended. Tanks foced me to upgrade my trenches and research stronger rifles and grenades. That seemed to help my infantry do better against tanks. Light artillery doesn't do much and heavy artillery is not much better. I haven't tried bombers yet . I'm still quite a ways off from unlocking tanks as I have not researched enough prerequisite tech.
You can also bait the AI where to attack by place less troop at start. When ballon up start target the ballon so the AI will not see your troop after that. The AI will only got info on what they have only so after ballon down can shift all the troop to defend that place & have some ready to attack the less defend AI point
A very interesting idea. The only issue I have with it is that units cost 100% more in supply points during the battle, compared to the deployment phase. Maybe we could hide the units in the trenches that are all the way back at the maps edge and move them up once the battle starts and we have blown up his observation balloons? But it is risky.
if want to low the risk can place troop at blockhouse or connected trench from front to back far from observations ballon range for fast moving or save some room to deploy the troop. Can also use barb wire & light artillery to slow them down
I tend to go with relatively few trenches and instead use lots of artillery. With enough heavy guns and a balloon you can decimate enemy units in their trenches before they even start advancing. Keep hitting them as they cross no man's land and they can struggle to even get to your lines. It's risky but works for me.
Hi, see that is very interesting as most people comment about artillery dealing very low damage to infantry and best damage being done by infantry in trenches and tanks. Do you have any supply points left by the end of the battle?
Ex infantryman - these tactics are called “defence in depth”, have been doing the same in my games ! Always have machine guns in depth, and counter penetration troops ready to retake trenches
Hi Peter and thank you for the feedback and comment. Glad to see some real world tactics aligning with the gameplay. What do you think of the game so far?
@@perafilozof It’s great. Steep learning curve but just finished my first German Campaign. Your videos have been a great starting point to understand the mechanics
@@perafilozof OP I think, I was demolishing the Entente with my A7Vs. I wonder if it would be helpful or annoying to balance their speed and reliability?
My first rule of thumb in designing a defensive line is: If the enemy can suppress more than one of my units with a single artillery barrage, my units are too close to each other. The more firing positions the better. Use both width and depth. Bulges, rather than straight trench lines, allow for overlapping fields of fire and more guns to be brought to bear on an enemy attempting extreme concentration of force.
Hi and thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. My problem with Bulges is that the units sometimes don't target enemies as efficiently at an angle as when they are in a straight trench. Have you noticed this too?
Pretty close to what I have been doing thus far (though I am early in, so some stuff is not so built up yet). Has been working like a charm. Only just started putting in the barbed wire, as my areas being hit had low amounts of troops (and thus supply). But my anchor points, which I inyend the computer to keep hitting me at, will eventually look like that. I like the coms trenches to keep the mg nests more seperated, I will have to start doing that, now that my first and second lines are mostly dug in. I also lime to have spaces between some of my frontline trenches, so if they win one trench, but loose another, they have to hop out and run across to it, or get shot in tbe back, sometimes making stagered forward and back individual trenches, as my frontline, with a solid secondline trench near behind it.
Thank you for sharing your defense designs with us Ostrowulf! Glad to know you found some useful tips on this video. What do you think of the game so far?
@@perafilozof Mama did not raise a quiter. Bottle of rum and over the top lads! To be fair, I have a bit of an added intrest in this game. I used to be in the army, and my regiment was founded in 1914, making it the last privately founded regiment in the Comonwealth. Some of the places on the map are battle honours on our penant.
@@perafilozof to prevent this i only move the grenadiers inside the trenches and always suppress the attacker with light artillery. Smoke could also work. Btw good game but tanks are unfortunately too strong :/
I like to use mgs to draw the artys fire away from my trenches and I use my light arty to suppress the enemys if I have the supply. Also using the trees is a must on defense as the enemy will not target them until they are point blank.
@@perafilozof it's pretty good a few bugs to sort out. I find the campaign very easy I seem to win by national will even when I try go for Paris or the German capital. I'm doing it on elite which is a challenge, so I think some more events to increase national will or buff the AI to have more.
@@perafilozof I think to balance it. Casualties could have a less effect on national will or have the medical base structure reduce casualties taken rather than simply reduckng the cost, this should make it so it will do the same function as before but also lessen the amount national will drops too.
Indeed, probably the best way. In any case the two victory conditions need to be close, not so far apart. By which I mean it shouldn't be so much easier to achieve one compared to the other
Found out that you can even just focus on one point usually the command trench, even If the ai captures the other points they don't stay there, they immediately move to the command trench where they could be easily slaughtered, I held out for 20 mins, outnumbered 10 to 3.
Hi Stoyan Dimitrov and thank you kindly for sharing that tactic with us. I have seen something similar when I was making my how to attack guide. The AI did exactly that, attack my lightly defended objective, took it over, but left not units to defend it, while attacking constantly at it's own command trench once I took it over. You can see it here: th-cam.com/video/ZJ7zsOl6adk/w-d-xo.html
Thank you again for your tips, as I said I appreciate them very much and always showcase other players tips and advice. Come back any time to share what you have learned.
This ones just a bit of theory, but I think I may have an idea for how to put your obsession with defensive light artillery to an actual use. Perhaps you could use it to take field battles, in no mans land, allowing your troops mobility to avoid shells while still not recieving fire courtesy of suppression?
Hehe, "obsession with defensive light artillery" does it show that much :) Haha! It is a fine idea, more like offensive, active defense rather than totally defensive combat. Interesting idea, I will give it a go.
I've been trying to supress enemy artillery with my own but it seems the guns can keep firing even with the supressed icon applied. On the defense, the only "reliable" way I've found to mute them is through heavy arty shelling or some scout blimp + bombers. The faster they are removed, the better. Seems like a bug, there's clearly a design choice to display arty batteries on the minimap through FoW, when they're firing, so there "should" be a choice of revealing a battery exposing it to counter shelling Also, those tips are all useful and nice... but how do you stop tanks from whittling away your second line emplacements (mg / mortar) without a way to safely get raiders in the first line ? the 1914 start is easy to wrap up before the tank's advent, but you better have a plan ready by mid 1916. Also, Flamethrowers and raiders... idk if it's their range, company health or the terrible pathing of infantry when transitionning in / out of a trench system, but man is it hard to get 40 pts worth of utility out of them... basic infantry still chucks grenades at emplacements, and with the damage tech, do a perfectly serviceable job at removing them, guess it's just one of the (many) points they need to iron out ?
Hi William and thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. I think you can't stop an ongoing enemy artillery barrage but you can stop them from firing a new one. Problem is you have to hit them while they are in the middle of their cool down which is really hard as you have no UI element to help you. You can see them, and even observation balloons on the mini map. I think it is design. As that way you know where to attack but not actually see to make it too easy. Tanks are hard and I am currently working on a video about that. Flamethrowers and raiders just waste my supply points 99% of time. Too hard to use them.
Golden rule when defending & you don’t have many supplies, just protect the Command trench, use a V trench system, focusing on machine guns & mortars to quickly damage tanks. Don’t waste points on shelling artillery, makes no impact, in fact don’t use artillery when defending as it has little impact on attacking forces, especially veterans. Awesome game 😊
@@perafilozof Hi, I’m wading my way through it, loving the graphics etc. I’m playing the Brits so and love that they have Canadian, Indian and Aussie representation. I think so far once I get tanks it’s all over. I tend to use heavy artillery on one flank, then send the tanks in to swing around that flank. Thanks for the video, enjoying it 👍
@@perafilozof Well I think its ok with a lot of potential. Thank you for asking. I think the tanks move too fast almost like they are feathers and not huge dirty slow tanks. Also the ai bombers can laser guided bomb my mgs with two of my fighters on their tail. but i like the defense structures and the combat is cool. its quaint. the different nations have bonuses and penalties thats great. anyway, i used your advice on 2 units in the second trench and it worked like a charm.
@@jasonvega9942 Hi, glad to hear your managed to make good use of my tips. I agree that tank's speed and bomber's accuracy are not realistic but if they were the battles would be much slower. It is a trade of between historical accuracy and gameplay.
That is also a game I follow, we have the same taste I see :) I showcased it in my videos on upcoming RTS games every year. You can find out about more similar RTS games there: th-cam.com/video/WzSqFUl3HUw/w-d-xo.html
Hello and thank you for the suggestion. I actually was in the middle of making one before the latest patch hit the game :( So I had to start over. But I will get it done. Stay tuned in.
That is true, but you have to boost your fire line and melee combat power on many occasions. So when you do move units you move them sequentially. It requires more clicks and more units moving at the same time, but the double firepower and manpower in melee is worth it
I only changed the thumbnail and title, it is the video before this one. Using the comments from fellow players, testing them and mixing in my own experience I created this video to show how to get the best use out of gun emplacements. So they are useless if used at the front line, but you can get more use out of them by following this defense design
How to defeat the tanks ??? Yes I use the bombers or arty but I wish they had a unit or some sort of trap for the tank 🥴 My unit does close to 0 damage on them, unless grenadiers but they all so inefficient
Best way I’ve found to deal with them is get of a tank of your own to engage them to pin the enemy tank down and then spam all the artillery you have on them. 4 light gun batteries plus an a7v quickly melts British MK 1/4s.
In a pinch, sufficient volume of rifle fire can do it, but itll be immensely costly if you have to do it in an open field. French infantry or conscripts are suitable.
Hi James, and thank you for the recommendation. I am a huge fan of Total War but after several disappointments starting from Rome 2, I lost interest with the franchise. The latest Warhammer games and dozens of DLCs where the last nail for me.
I play the game on the max difficulty - Elite. Its stupidly, stupidly easy. The new update made it easier. Game needs serious AI adjustment. You can win a campaign and not even attack once in the whole war. I often end the war on 900+ public morale.
I know. That mechanic is seriously problematic and it looks like the developers took it for granted when play testing, not really going into the mind of the average gamer and how they will play it. I think they are doing a lot of changes, they just need to find the right mix.
I use 2 heavy and 1 light the heavy for when theyre in the open crossing no mans land and my light arty for counter attacks to take back my trench line or stop the enemy from staying back and shooting or probing
They can stop and shot and move. There are somethimes 10+ units attacking, and they will stop to shot at your own units with several of their own units. That is what I was referring to.
@@perafilozof yeah but thats only if you have units moving between trenches during waves and i get your point but they can only shoot at infantry outside of trenches or grenade your emplacements but if you use heavy arty to soften them up before they reach because as they push in mass it will save your supply allowing you to bomb nearly all for nothing and light arty as a back up to soften them up additionally with heavy or if theyre to close to friendly lines this keeps companies in the fight minimizing casualties and getting medals, at least thats how i play on the defensive but all tactics vary like having flammers and raiders
Good point. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I do move units during the attack while rotating the damaged which I withdraw and put in new ones I call from reinforcements.
I’m very early! Thank you for the very useful information I’ve been struggling pushing back the enemy attacks,I think it’s the communication trenches that are causing my trouble
You are quite welcome! Glad to know we could all help with our collective tips. There are two more videos in the description you would benefit from watching.
Triple trenches, interior lines, a couple of machine guns a coupleof arty. Shift and shuffle units in and out of the Frontline.
I have fended off 5 to 1 attacks turned major losses into stalemate and cost the enemy 200 moral points through September of 1915.
This is a very fun game.
Hi Phil and thank you kindly for sharing your experience with us. I am glad to see so many people enjoying this game. I was afraid it wouldn't find a large audience but I am very glad to know it has.
@perafilozof I am 58 and have been gaming since I was 12. I have seen several attempts at WW1, and by far, this is the best to date. Once you fixed the arty taking out the MG nests, etc. Like modern arty would. The puzzle of trench warfare becomes crystal clear. Well done.
@@philswift791 I agree it is the best attempt yet. The only issues I have with it is that it becomes repetitive when you are taking down * from regions you are attacking with the same units and tech.
@@perafilozof Yeah, that really does make 2 star sectors atractive targets.
@@ostrowulf Very true. But the problem is you can't find any to attack from more than 2 of your own regions. Which means you don't have a lot of supply available. It is a trade off.
So I’m a big fan of machine guns, but they require a few things to be useful.
1. By far the most important thing to have is a squadron of fighters. Enemy bombers have been the biggest reason for me loosing a ton of MG nests so it is crucial to contest the air to keep them alive.
2. I like to keep at least 1 horizontal placement line between my trenchs and my MG nests. This makes it less likely for the mg to be suppressed by arty that is suppressing your forward trench. It also keeps it out of grenade range if that forward trench is taken.
3. Having barbed wire in front of your trenches to help delay enemy’s longer to allow the mg’s to do their thing. Though this does double up with helping your rifle company’s as well.
Using these I have kept my MGs operational for entire defensive battles only loosing 1 or 2 of the 6-10 I usually place down.
Thank you kindly for sharing your tips and experience. Those are very good rules to follow when using MG nests.
I am quite surprised by the amount you use. I haven't dared use more than 2-3.
What is your experience with tanks so far?
@@perafilozof using or fighting against?
@@rampageTG more about defending. People have more problems with that part
Well if you mean fighting against. I’ll use a mixture of bombers, grenadiers, and lots and lots of artillery. If I have my own tanks I’ll also use those. They can be annoying to deal with and have had them take out several mg nests before I can kill them.
As for number of mg nests I found them pretty survivable when following the rules I laid out so I like using a lot of them as they can quickly whittle down enemy units trying to get to your trench’s a lot faster than rifles. And if your rifles are engaged in melee the MGs can continue to whittle down the enemies reinforcements before they get into your trenches.
@@rampageTG great tips
Thank you kindly for sharing!
Loving this game so far, just remember supply is everything. You can defend with a two stack (40 companies) against a 9 stack (180 companies), as long as you have enough supplies to set up a good defense. Only 30 companies or art. batteries can be present at a time and reinforcements cost more to bring in after the battle starts, so always max out in pre battle set up. Sticking planes in the region, even if you have no unlocks for them yet, +100 supply, +120 with landing strip. Supply depot lvl 1 is like having a little over 2 extra stacks of infantry in the space, +400 supply. You will almost never run out of companies before you run out of supplies to bring them in the battle. Tactics wins battles, logistics wins wars. 🤓
Exactly great tips and point about logistics mate! Glad to hear you are enjoying the game! What is your view on tanks?
If you have the supply to spare, I find that having the trenches connect to each other across the entire line can help a lot with reinforcing attacked areas, and with repositioning undefended areas.
Having whole lines of trenches across the battlefield allows you to 'shuffle' entire lines of troops, rather than risking them in the open when repositioning or reinforcing - rather than pushing upwards with troops from the back trenches, you can simply move the troops directly to the left/right of the trench that's been overrun, and then shuffle the troops next to that along to the now-vacant trench, and so on and so forth across the entire line - it means that all troops stay in the trenches while moving, and allows for troops to be ready to reinforce at a very close distance at all times.
Once you've 'shuffled' the entire line across to reinforce a given area, you can then call in your new troops at the end of the line or at the back - crucially, away from the fighting and thus safe to move into a trench without being shot at.
This sounds good, and I thank you for sharing your experience and advice with us, but what happens when the enemy gets into that battlefield wide trench? He can also travel the whole length from one objectvie to the next?
Thank you all for the tips used in this video and keep them coming to help your fellow players!
A bro I think I found a op way to attack and that's having tanks with infantry close together and there able to destroy the enamy even when iam out numbered like 10 to 3 and iam attacking many time I don't fully use every slot of troop place ments because iam already winning my fastest win was like 18 or somethin but 18 was when I was fighting a small army the 10 corps one last to 14 I belive.
@@kingdomsandcastles3770 well thanks give infantry extra morale. And tanks are amazing at taking down enemy infantry at range as well as enemy gun emplacements.
@@perafilozof anyway I hope you do a video about tanks because man there amazing
That is going to be my next guide :)
Just make sure you don't do the same mistakes I did like sending tanks with out infantry I sent 12 tanks unsupported and lost 8 of them lol and the rest super damaged.
Thanks for taking viewer advise! You connected the trenches with comm lines, but that actually defeats the purpose of the no-mans land. Have nothing connecting the front lines in case you are overrun. The enemy gets battered trying to reach your second line and often uses it's own artilery while attacking, causing huge blue-on-blue casualties. My next video will have the 2 tier trenches.
Hi, I understood you that I only have to avoid connecting the first line with back lines. No reason not to connect the back rows with each other so I can keep the support and fire line strong at the back?
@@perafilozof Personally, I'd suggest focusing on isolated trench systems, giving them comms trenches only to their own unique reserve locations (and of course statics)- blockhouses or trenches placed so that they can't fire toward your end of the map. That way you can run straight in from your side without it being a significant vulnerability if the enemy takes it.
I see. I will try that out thanks for the advice!
Heres a few things ive leard playing,.. I’ve noticed that the ai tends to chose where to attack based off of logistics, where their arty is, and information about your obj. And dont let your ballons just die because you pay 120-150 for them, use them as bait along with emplacements to draw out the enemy air force to lower morale and raise victory conditions for them, also the arty tip is bad because they dont shoot and mive only frag and move meaning heavy artillery for when they’re in no mans land attacking you and when they’re dug in your trench line and light artillery for basic counter attacks to retake your trenches and lastly this barbed wite/ razor wire stays and this one isnt a tip but I’ve noticed that the persistence on the battlefields adds to no mans land and spreads more towards the side that got barraged and the more arty the quicker, but it would be nice to have settings that allowed us to chance how persistent the battlefields are for performance reasons like bodies and arty holes ect…
Great tips! Thank you kindly for sharing them with us all! Keep it coming!
Using 3 trenches works quite well, I often do the same with the frontline trench leaving an empty row before the 2 supporting rear trenches to avoid suppression, I also like to use some angled trenches to also add to the firepower
Yeah, I have personally yet to master trench setup to make more room for those diagonal ones to give my lines more fire support. Thank you for the comment and sharing your knowledge.
This is an awesome video and does and excellent job of describing real WW1 trench tactics (to an extent) applied within a game.
Thank you kindly for that feedback Lothar! Cool nick! What do you think of this game so far.
Great guide. I totally agree with you and all the other players that have commented on the question of 'does the ai cheat with unlimited supply?'. After playing many battles and having more than 11 hours of game play time I also agree that the ai does not cheat.
Not only will the ai run out of supply during a battle he will also run out of gold on the strategic map. This really helps in stopping him from launching offensives in the first place.
Hi, thank you for the feedback and praise. And yes, exactly. It doesn't cheat in supply. It does have an unfair advantage in remembering everything it sees and on perfect math for supply points.
@@perafilozof even so I'm ok with that. Soon a lot of us are going to completely figure out this game. Then the advantages the ai has won't make too much difference
Good point. What do you think of tanks so far ? How do you use / counter them?
@@perafilozof I haven't researched tanks yet in my campaign. I have fought the enemy tanks. I think they are working fine and as intended. Tanks foced me to upgrade my trenches and research stronger rifles and grenades. That seemed to help my infantry do better against tanks. Light artillery doesn't do much and heavy artillery is not much better. I haven't tried bombers yet . I'm still quite a ways off from unlocking tanks as I have not researched enough prerequisite tech.
@@w8taminute278 Right, good points there about infantry fire against them. Bombers do great. Thank you for sharing your experience.
You can also bait the AI where to attack by place less troop at start. When ballon up start target the ballon so the AI will not see your troop after that. The AI will only got info on what they have only so after ballon down can shift all the troop to defend that place & have some ready to attack the less defend AI point
A very interesting idea. The only issue I have with it is that units cost 100% more in supply points during the battle, compared to the deployment phase. Maybe we could hide the units in the trenches that are all the way back at the maps edge and move them up once the battle starts and we have blown up his observation balloons? But it is risky.
if want to low the risk can place troop at blockhouse or connected trench from front to back far from observations ballon range for fast moving or save some room to deploy the troop. Can also use barb wire & light artillery to slow them down
Right, I get your point. I just tried something like that with blockhouses and indeed it helped to keep the enemy artillery off my infantry units
I tend to go with relatively few trenches and instead use lots of artillery. With enough heavy guns and a balloon you can decimate enemy units in their trenches before they even start advancing. Keep hitting them as they cross no man's land and they can struggle to even get to your lines. It's risky but works for me.
Hi, see that is very interesting as most people comment about artillery dealing very low damage to infantry and best damage being done by infantry in trenches and tanks. Do you have any supply points left by the end of the battle?
Ex infantryman - these tactics are called “defence in depth”, have been doing the same in my games ! Always have machine guns in depth, and counter penetration troops ready to retake trenches
Hi Peter and thank you for the feedback and comment. Glad to see some real world tactics aligning with the gameplay. What do you think of the game so far?
@@perafilozof It’s great. Steep learning curve but just finished my first German Campaign. Your videos have been a great starting point to understand the mechanics
@@devp194 That is great to hear! Glad I could help. What do you think of tanks so far in the game?
@@perafilozof OP I think, I was demolishing the Entente with my A7Vs. I wonder if it would be helpful or annoying to balance their speed and reliability?
@@devp194 I see them as too fast as well. But the battles are on a time limit so they have too be.
My first rule of thumb in designing a defensive line is: If the enemy can suppress more than one of my units with a single artillery barrage, my units are too close to each other. The more firing positions the better. Use both width and depth. Bulges, rather than straight trench lines, allow for overlapping fields of fire and more guns to be brought to bear on an enemy attempting extreme concentration of force.
Hi and thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. My problem with Bulges is that the units sometimes don't target enemies as efficiently at an angle as when they are in a straight trench. Have you noticed this too?
@@perafilozof I haven't really noticed anything like that, but I will have to try to pay attention next time.
Pretty close to what I have been doing thus far (though I am early in, so some stuff is not so built up yet). Has been working like a charm. Only just started putting in the barbed wire, as my areas being hit had low amounts of troops (and thus supply). But my anchor points, which I inyend the computer to keep hitting me at, will eventually look like that. I like the coms trenches to keep the mg nests more seperated, I will have to start doing that, now that my first and second lines are mostly dug in. I also lime to have spaces between some of my frontline trenches, so if they win one trench, but loose another, they have to hop out and run across to it, or get shot in tbe back, sometimes making stagered forward and back individual trenches, as my frontline, with a solid secondline trench near behind it.
Thank you for sharing your defense designs with us Ostrowulf! Glad to know you found some useful tips on this video.
What do you think of the game so far?
@@perafilozof I love it, I just have to be mindful to stop and get sleep.
Hehe, that too. "Take all things in moderation" :)
@@perafilozof Mama did not raise a quiter. Bottle of rum and over the top lads!
To be fair, I have a bit of an added intrest in this game. I used to be in the army, and my regiment was founded in 1914, making it the last privately founded regiment in the Comonwealth. Some of the places on the map are battle honours on our penant.
That is really awesome thanks for sharing!
Grenadiers are quite useful as a rapid intervention force in the 2nd trench. The grenades are also very good against tanks ^^
I agree, but they melt away before I can ever use them. Like 99% of time I used them they died before they managed to do anything.
@@perafilozof to prevent this i only move the grenadiers inside the trenches and always suppress the attacker with light artillery. Smoke could also work. Btw good game but tanks are unfortunately too strong :/
@@anitaibele7743 Hmm, I guess I just haven't mastered their use yet. And tanks are a wildcard. My next guide will be all about them.
I like to use mgs to draw the artys fire away from my trenches and I use my light arty to suppress the enemys if I have the supply. Also using the trees is a must on defense as the enemy will not target them until they are point blank.
Good tips! Thank you for sharing! What do you think of the game so far?
@@perafilozof it's pretty good a few bugs to sort out. I find the campaign very easy I seem to win by national will even when I try go for Paris or the German capital. I'm doing it on elite which is a challenge, so I think some more events to increase national will or buff the AI to have more.
Yeah, I think the developers should have pointed out that victory type more to players as many were surprised by it.
@@perafilozof I think to balance it. Casualties could have a less effect on national will or have the medical base structure reduce casualties taken rather than simply reduckng the cost, this should make it so it will do the same function as before but also lessen the amount national will drops too.
Indeed, probably the best way. In any case the two victory conditions need to be close, not so far apart. By which I mean it shouldn't be so much easier to achieve one compared to the other
Found out that you can even just focus on one point usually the command trench, even If the ai captures the other points they don't stay there, they immediately move to the command trench where they could be easily slaughtered, I held out for 20 mins, outnumbered 10 to 3.
Hi Stoyan Dimitrov and thank you kindly for sharing that tactic with us. I have seen something similar when I was making my how to attack guide. The AI did exactly that, attack my lightly defended objective, took it over, but left not units to defend it, while attacking constantly at it's own command trench once I took it over. You can see it here: th-cam.com/video/ZJ7zsOl6adk/w-d-xo.html
I made it into a TH-cam video. Cool. But yes I figured out very quickly how you had have your trenches set up to hold the line
Thank you again for your tips, as I said I appreciate them very much and always showcase other players tips and advice. Come back any time to share what you have learned.
@@perafilozof anytime
Btw Any more tips on Tank battles? Offensive and defensive? I was hoping on doing a guide on those too
@@perafilozof I'm trying to figure that out as well
@@scottruch76 ah good to know
This ones just a bit of theory, but I think I may have an idea for how to put your obsession with defensive light artillery to an actual use. Perhaps you could use it to take field battles, in no mans land, allowing your troops mobility to avoid shells while still not recieving fire courtesy of suppression?
Hehe, "obsession with defensive light artillery" does it show that much :) Haha! It is a fine idea, more like offensive, active defense rather than totally defensive combat. Interesting idea, I will give it a go.
I've been trying to supress enemy artillery with my own but it seems the guns can keep firing even with the supressed icon applied. On the defense, the only "reliable" way I've found to mute them is through heavy arty shelling or some scout blimp + bombers. The faster they are removed, the better.
Seems like a bug, there's clearly a design choice to display arty batteries on the minimap through FoW, when they're firing, so there "should" be a choice of revealing a battery exposing it to counter shelling
Also, those tips are all useful and nice... but how do you stop tanks from whittling away your second line emplacements (mg / mortar) without a way to safely get raiders in the first line ? the 1914 start is easy to wrap up before the tank's advent, but you better have a plan ready by mid 1916.
Also, Flamethrowers and raiders... idk if it's their range, company health or the terrible pathing of infantry when transitionning in / out of a trench system, but man is it hard to get 40 pts worth of utility out of them...
basic infantry still chucks grenades at emplacements, and with the damage tech, do a perfectly serviceable job at removing them, guess it's just one of the (many) points they need to iron out ?
Hi William and thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. I think you can't stop an ongoing enemy artillery barrage but you can stop them from firing a new one. Problem is you have to hit them while they are in the middle of their cool down which is really hard as you have no UI element to help you.
You can see them, and even observation balloons on the mini map. I think it is design. As that way you know where to attack but not actually see to make it too easy.
Tanks are hard and I am currently working on a video about that.
Flamethrowers and raiders just waste my supply points 99% of time. Too hard to use them.
Golden rule when defending & you don’t have many supplies, just protect the Command trench, use a V trench system, focusing on machine guns & mortars to quickly damage tanks. Don’t waste points on shelling artillery, makes no impact, in fact don’t use artillery when defending as it has little impact on attacking forces, especially veterans. Awesome game 😊
Good points there neilcuneo! How do you like the balance now after the first few patches?
@@perafilozof Hi, I’m wading my way through it, loving the graphics etc. I’m playing the Brits so and love that they have Canadian, Indian and Aussie representation. I think so far once I get tanks it’s all over. I tend to use heavy artillery on one flank, then send the tanks in to swing around that flank. Thanks for the video, enjoying it 👍
@@neilcuneo2803 Thank you for sharing. Glad to read you are enjoying it.
nice share thank you
I am glad to hear that. Thank you for the feedback! What do you think of the game so far?
@@perafilozof Well I think its ok with a lot of potential. Thank you for asking. I think the tanks move too fast almost like they are feathers and not huge dirty slow tanks. Also the ai bombers can laser guided bomb my mgs with two of my fighters on their tail. but i like the defense structures and the combat is cool. its quaint. the different nations have bonuses and penalties thats great. anyway, i used your advice on 2 units in the second trench and it worked like a charm.
@@jasonvega9942 Hi, glad to hear your managed to make good use of my tips.
I agree that tank's speed and bomber's accuracy are not realistic but if they were the battles would be much slower. It is a trade of between historical accuracy and gameplay.
Their is a new indie RTS games called liquidation it’s a mix between Dawn of war and Warcraft it’s not canceled the creator is still working on it
That is also a game I follow, we have the same taste I see :) I showcased it in my videos on upcoming RTS games every year. You can find out about more similar RTS games there: th-cam.com/video/WzSqFUl3HUw/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for video. Could you please do a new vid now game has been updated and balanced differently ?
Hello and thank you for the suggestion. I actually was in the middle of making one before the latest patch hit the game :( So I had to start over. But I will get it done. Stay tuned in.
one improtant thing: dont double stack because no other units can move through a trench when its full
That is true, but you have to boost your fire line and melee combat power on many occasions. So when you do move units you move them sequentially. It requires more clicks and more units moving at the same time, but the double firepower and manpower in melee is worth it
Shot the artelerie alone of the enemy?
I don't think the ia cheats, but they are smart, really smart
Very true. Math is on the PCs side :) BTW what do you think of the game so far?
I do like it, but I feel thé width of the battlefields is à bit small..
The unit count is low as it is for this battlefield size. They would need a bigger limit for units if those got bigger.
Agreed, I think its because I'm used to think of battles in term of weeks and kilometers...
I totally get that.
Interesting how you made a video recently on machine guns being useless and now i can't seem to find it....🤔🤔🤔
I only changed the thumbnail and title, it is the video before this one. Using the comments from fellow players, testing them and mixing in my own experience I created this video to show how to get the best use out of gun emplacements. So they are useless if used at the front line, but you can get more use out of them by following this defense design
How to defeat the tanks ???
Yes I use the bombers or arty but I wish they had a unit or some sort of trap for the tank 🥴
My unit does close to 0 damage on them, unless grenadiers but they all so inefficient
Best way I’ve found to deal with them is get of a tank of your own to engage them to pin the enemy tank down and then spam all the artillery you have on them. 4 light gun batteries plus an a7v quickly melts British MK 1/4s.
Hi, my next video will be all about this. But so far the unit which does the most damage to tanks is the bomber plane.
This works too. The AI doesn't move once it starts to shot with the tank.
In a pinch, sufficient volume of rifle fire can do it, but itll be immensely costly if you have to do it in an open field. French infantry or conscripts are suitable.
Good point, thank you for sharing!
Have you heard of total war Warhammer 3 it’s really good
Hi James, and thank you for the recommendation. I am a huge fan of Total War but after several disappointments starting from Rome 2, I lost interest with the franchise. The latest Warhammer games and dozens of DLCs where the last nail for me.
@@perafilozof really? I heard that the total war Warhammer 3 gotten a lot better because of the new expansion
@@perafilozof are you sure? I heard the new expansion made total war Warhammer 3 a lot better also it had a lot of new players.
@@jamespaguip5913 Hi, I just stopped enjoying it due to content beginning constantly ripped apart into mini DLCs.
I play the game on the max difficulty - Elite. Its stupidly, stupidly easy. The new update made it easier. Game needs serious AI adjustment. You can win a campaign and not even attack once in the whole war. I often end the war on 900+ public morale.
I know. That mechanic is seriously problematic and it looks like the developers took it for granted when play testing, not really going into the mind of the average gamer and how they will play it. I think they are doing a lot of changes, they just need to find the right mix.
👏🙂
the AI will bomb my trenches the second i click to move a unit. the very second.
Do you first destroy his observation balloons?
THEY CAN'T SHOOT WHEN MOVING SO ITS USELES 'TIP;
I use 2 heavy and 1 light the heavy for when theyre in the open crossing no mans land and my light arty for counter attacks to take back my trench line or stop the enemy from staying back and shooting or probing
They can stop and shot and move. There are somethimes 10+ units attacking, and they will stop to shot at your own units with several of their own units. That is what I was referring to.
Check this
@@perafilozof yeah but thats only if you have units moving between trenches during waves and i get your point but they can only shoot at infantry outside of trenches or grenade your emplacements but if you use heavy arty to soften them up before they reach because as they push in mass it will save your supply allowing you to bomb nearly all for nothing and light arty as a back up to soften them up additionally with heavy or if theyre to close to friendly lines this keeps companies in the fight minimizing casualties and getting medals, at least thats how i play on the defensive but all tactics vary like having flammers and raiders
Good point. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I do move units during the attack while rotating the damaged which I withdraw and put in new ones I call from reinforcements.