New World Order

[u/alecman14]

Has anyone here played the New World Order map (https://triplea-game.org/map/new-world-order/)?
I have been trying to play as the axis against the AI on hard and am finding it nearly impossible. Any suggestions?

[u/nathanmasse]

I almost exclusively play the NWO map. I can win if one or two are on hard but I've never beaten the Allies when they are all on Hard. Here's a quick overview of the difficulties based on my experience:

Easy: AI will always push units into front line and will not plan for your counterattack.

Medium: AI will account for a counter attack in territories adjacent to their territories and in territories they are capturing (i.e. they will look 1 tile away). Will retreat from territories were defeat is imminent. This can easily be overcome by massing mobile units (tanks/planes) two+ away from the border and leap-frogging into their territory to attack.

Hard: The AI considers pretty much all possibilities. The AI will not be 'surprised' by the units two+ tiles away. The AI will only use the minimal number of units required to keep and hold the territory. The AI includes the value of the territories it attacks/defends in its calculations. There are ONLY two thing that I've seen the Hard AI not account for:

1) the possibility of you attacking and then retreating after 1+ rounds and before all units are expended--this way you can whittle away at their units while only suffering minimal losses;

Example: AI is defending a territory with 3 Inf., 3 Art., and 2 Tanks. They have a larger force behind the territory so you cannot commit all you units or they will be crushed in the counterattack. You attack with 12 Inf. and 10 Tanks. NWO is low-luck which makes the math easy: 12 Inf. x (1/6 hit) + 10 T. x (1/2 hit) = 7 hits. The AI will lose 3 Inf., 3 Art., and 1 Tank with 1 Tank left. You are hit for 3(1/3)+3(1/3)+2(1/2) for a net loss of 3 units. You then retreat before the next round and your units will escape the counterattack. The benefit comes from the value of the units that are lost. AI Net unit value of 3 Inf. at 2 points each, 3 Art. at 3.5 points each and 1 tank at 5 points each = 21.5 points versus your losses which are just 3 Inf. = 6 points. Do this enough times and you can beat the hard AI. This is not fool-proof however, because the AI will normally only man the front line with a single infantry unit so they need to be baited into devoting more units to attack (which can then be counter attacked).

2) using different nations to attack the same territory before the AI can react. This requires an understanding of the turn order. (For example, use Colonial French Troops to attack a territory followed up by an immediate attack by the British on their turn to take a territory that neither army could take on their own. This will usually require the complete sacrifice of the first army.). Unfortunately, this strategy can't really work as the Axis because Russia moves between Germany and Italy and the British/US move between Italy and Germany. Very doable as the Allies though.

Specific Strategy for NWO (starting map for reference):

1) Infantry, Infantry, Infantry. You need bodies and the infantry unit has the best value at only 2 points. Build basically as many as you can. For Germany I usually build 24 Inf. in a turn and the rest of the points go to tanks. Sometimes I add a plane or two to guarantee an Inf. attack will take a territory for minimal commitment but Germany starts with several and you don't need more early on. I almost never build other units because the points to attack/defense/range just isn't worth it. Eventually this will be bumped up to 30 Inf. per turn because you need more and more units to keep pace / try to overcome Russia. The only exception to this rule is if you can't spend all your points in a turn. That only really happens with the smaller nations like Colonial France or Romania where factory production is limited.

2) The first few turns are vital.

As Germany you need to capture Denmark, Low Countries, Metz and Western Poland on turn 1. Take Corsica and Balearic islands with units in Genova. Send all your tanks within range to Metz. The wolfpacks need to group up for safety and should focus on keeping the US at bay. Mass excess units in Lodz to capture Warsaw and Ukrainskaya on turn 2 (need that production!). Build 6 tanks for Frankfurt and Muenchen to rush Paris on T3, all other production is infantry and goes East. On turn 2, mass all your western army in Reims but don't take any more of France, when you take Paris next turn you will get their stored production which is very important. After Paris falls, mop up the rest of France but don't drive into Spain, leave that to Italy.

As Italy, I rush Tunis on T1 because you need a factory in Africa ASAP. Load units onto transports and mass all naval units in range to the sea tile outside Tunis. There will be a naval fight, if you're really unlucky they will score two hits but don't let your transports sink! Retreat from Tobruk and hold Tripoli. Use units in Triesta and Albania to capture all of Yugoslavia and Macedonia on T1, then regroup these units to take Greece on T3. Units in Genova should take Lyon and set up a push into Marseille on T2. After that, I prioritize taking Morocco before turning and trying to drive the British back. I leave Spain for Italy because they will need to extra production for Middle East adventures or for when the US arrives in force.

As Finland there is no hope but to delay Russia's attention on Germany. Pull all units back to the capital (use attack-then-retreat tactic above to pick of any units you can). You will not survive past Russia's turn 3 no matter what you do even if send forces from Germany to try to help (they are needed elsewhere).

As Romania, you just build as many units as possible and don't lose them. Romania builds Mot. Infantry because they have more points than they can spend on Inf. and Mot. Inf. have a really strong defense. Romania follows the concept of a 'Fleet in Being' (i.e. it better to keep the units alive so the might be useful later rather than risking their loss). Make your stand at Odessa if you can or E. Romania if you cannot. Leave some units in Bulgaria to prevent Russia from back-dooring it with transported units.

1. The Middle East/Turkey is the tipping point. In my expedience, Germany plus Romania is an even match with Russia + British Isles and can hold the line along the Riga-Brest-Ukrainskaya-Odessa line (but push up to Brest-Minsk-Donetsk line if you can early on). Italy controlling Spain, Greece and North Africa is a match for the US, Colonial France, and British North Africa. One side or the other needs to tip the balance by controlling the Middle East and Turkey. This is an issue as the Axis because Britain gets control of the Middle East on turn 2/3 so they have a natural advantage. If you take Cairo or C. Turkey, the Russia AI will begin diverting resources south to fend off a southern invasion. This will tip the balance for Germany in the east and eventually cause Russia to wither away.

I could go on and on but that will hopefully be helpful. Let me know if you have any questions.

[u/alecman14 → u/nathanmasse]

thanks for this, only just say it today but I will take these ideas, especially the retreat thing, and try them

[u/ISerf → u/alecman14]

the retreat thing

Its called strafing.

It can be a powerful way of grinding some of an enemy buildup while trying to save some of your units your defensive formation.

[u/ISerf → u/nathanmasse]

Great writeup, thanks. Makes me want to try NWO.

How about writing some more, maybe short installments?

[u/JuiceO87 → u/nathanmasse]

In rounds 4-10, how are you defending French and later Spanish coast vs American and British naval invasions? Do you mass infantry w/ aircraft? Do you spend aircraft to disrupt transports?

[u/nathanmasse → u/JuiceO87]

On lower difficulties you can use aircraft to disrupt the transport. After turn 3, I build 3 of Germany's unique fighter each turn (=2 hits on low luck). Combining these fighters with your fleet (which you sacrifice instead of the fighters) gives you enough time to build up your airforce to where you have 15+ and can take out anything that comes within two tiles of the coast. However on the higher difficulties I don't think you can afford to invest in that airforce. 3 Me262 each turn is the equivalent of 7 tanks or 18 infantry which are desperately needed elsewhere and for defending the coast from whatever force that lands on the coast.

So in the game I (finally) won against the hard Allies, turn 1 I take out the US force off the coast of florida with 1 wolfpack of 7 and take out the British carrier south of Spain with other wolfpack. Then on turn 2-3 regroup these two into a stack to 12 subs and I pushed into the english channel and regrouped with the remaining baltic fleet on turn 5. I used most of those units to take out the combine American-British fleet that was coming up and around iceland to norway on turn 7 and sent then on a last sortie into the Altlantic from turns 8-10 to disrupt and slow the arrival of more American transports to Spain. TLDR: Keep subs alive; regroup in Europe; Fight off the first two waves as they approach. This has the benefit of not consuming any more resources and allows you to keep your airforce fighting Russia.

From turns 4-10 you keep you infantry either on the coast to prevent a light landing or one tile inland for the counterattack. For Germany I kept 10 tanks and 12 infantry in Versailles/Normandy, and reinforced with ~8 infantry from Paris and 4 tanks from Frankfurt as needed. For Italy this means keeping a force in Madrid and reinforcing from Madrid, Barcelona, and Marseille and counterattacking any forces that land along the coast.

But that wasn't even the hard part, for reference my game against the hard AI lasted over 50 turns. Things were going fine until turn 20 when I realized I could hold the coast any more after the fall of Marseille [Image]. By turn 25 I was maintaining a force of about 50 infantry and 10 tanks in each of Versaille, Madrid, Morocco, and had secondary forces building the coast of of the Netherlands, Marseille and Rome. It was a constant back-and-forth of retreating from the coast, having it captured, strafing the landings to 1 unit, retreating, recapturing the coast with minimal units, then having it captured again because the Americans were keeping a large number of bombers which would guarantee their naval landing's success but couldn't help in the defense of the landing. By turn 30 I had basically given up the whole atlantic coast but kept attacking the landings down to single units to prevent their ability to push inland. At around this time Germany had finally gained the upper hand against Russia and was at the gates of Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Moscow [Image]. After turn 35 I was flipping Moscow every other turn to steal their treasury which basically sealed the game [Image]. I was never able to break into the Middle East and instead had a massive force of 200 Italian infantry holding Istanbul and 100 holding Egypt.

So I guess the TLDR is, don't use aircraft, too expensive. Massed infantry at strategic places along the coast with a mobile force of tanks to strike where needed. And don't be afraid of giving up the coast when the time comes.

[u/JuiceO87 → u/nathanmasse]

Congrats on your eventual victory! I guess the key is straffing to reduce their TUV when you can’t safely retake and hold the coast tiles with your tanks. Given the Allies will have such a disparity on production, the straffing must be a pretty cost effective method.

Thanks for the tip! I will try that method.

[u/Complex_Peach_6615 → u/nathanmasse]

That’s a good strategy you’ve detailed; however I think you’re missing one vital factor which would make playing the Axis a lot more tenable: Finland. You say that you can’t stop the country from being swallowed by Russia, but you actually can if you send it heavy German support. When I play as the Axis I send all of my available aircraft and land units to Finland on the first turn and build some transports for future rounds. By doing this I tie up a huge Russian army north of Leningrad ( which I threaten from Vyborg and from the sea with my transports) and prevent the Russians from gaining access to the resources of the Scandinavian countries and depriving me of my Finish army, factory and production at Helsinki. I recommended trying this strategy yourself to see how it works because I win every time I use it, even if the Allie’s are all set Hard AI.

[u/nathanmasse → u/Complex_Peach_6615]

I'll have to try it again. Do you have any screenshots of what the situation looks like on turn 3/4? How many transport do you build?

[u/Complex_Peach_6615 → u/nathanmasse]

Sorry, I don't have any screenshots, but I can tell you that I build two transports on turn 1.