Publish your favorite Tactics to the Supreme Wiki

Place any military topics in this forum. How long can you run your country peacefully?

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catatonic
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Publish your favorite Tactics to the Supreme Wiki

Post by catatonic »

I am writing a new article for the Supreme Wiki topic "Guide to SR2020" under its "Defense" topic entitled "Conducting Warfare":

http://www.supremewiki.com/index.php/SR2020_Warfare

The last part of the topic has a sub-heading of "Strategy" and another is titled "Tactics". A stratagy is a large military plan, like how to conquer a Region or to win a game. A tactic is a smaller scale method of using your units to win a battle, like how to neutralize a town full of garrisons.

The "Tactics" section is divided into two parts: "Defensive" and "Offensive". I have already filled in over a dozen "stub" headings for common tactics such as "Engineer Rush".

Just writing the body of this article is plenty of work for me and it occured to me that there are dozens of wonderful strategies and tactical descriptions already in the Forum. Since I don't want to have to dig them all out myself, I would like to ask for your help.

"Hundane" has volunteered to help and we have devised a plan:

If you have previously posted a detailed description of a favorite stratagy or tactic on this Forum and would like to share it for this project then please locate it, copy it and post it as a "Reply" on this thread. You can also just copy and post a link to your tutorial post as described below.

If you have an un-published favorite SR2020 warfare tactic that you wish to contribute or remember someone else's military strategy Forum posting that you liked, then again please post it in detail on this thread, along with the user-name of the author.

Please include a short title/description for the tactic like "Fleet Screening" and a classification of "Offensive" or "Defensive". I need tutorial articles that contain enough details that I can quickly edit them into a topic for the Wiki. Please limit your postings to usable descriptions of strategies or tactics and how to use them in a game. Please remember that what may be self-evident to you may not be understandable to a reader with less SR2020 exprience.

Don't worry about the English, spelling or punctuation of the text - I guarantee that I will edit anything that you submit. However I promise not to change its over-all content and to add a credit line, crediting you or the other author for each accepted submission.

In addition there are dozens of other topics in this Supreme Wiki SR2020 Guide article, and at the end of each I have tried to provide tips to the reader on how to handle that aspect of the game. So I encourage you to contribute your own tips.

It is after all BG's Wiki and any of you are free to correct any B.S. that I have written or to add your own tips. However I would greatly appreciate it if you would PM me about it first so that we can discuss the best way to incorporate your wisdom.

HOW TO FIND AND SHARE OLD FORUM ARTICLES

It is much easier if you first begin your new reply post to this thread and then activate a second browser window or "tab" to search the SR2020 Forum with. Then you can use this second internet session to conduct your search for an old post that you wish to share. Once you copy the post's text or the URL link to the old post that you find, then you can simply switch back to your new post window for the final step.

You can locate your own old posts by selecting the "View Your Posts" option at the top of the screen below the date. You can also locate your own old posts or those of others by using the Forum's "Search" function using "keywords" - words that you remember were used in these old posts about battle tactics.

Once you locate an old post you can copy its entire text or just copy its link from the "URL" text box at the top of your browser. The URL in this box will probably read something like "http://www.bgforums.com/forums/...". To copy the link simply click your mouse on this text and then right-click on the large line of highlighted text. Then select the "Copy" option from the pop-up menu.

For the final step, "Paste" the copied text or URL link of the battle-tip that you wish to share into your new Forum post window in order to share it with us.
Last edited by catatonic on Oct 03 2009, edited 2 times in total.
"War is merely the continuation of politics [diplomacy] by other means"
General Carl von Clausewitz - 1832

"Defense: De ting dat keeps de cows off de road."
Catatonic - 2012
Hundane
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Re: Publish your favorite Tactics to the Supreme Wiki

Post by Hundane »

I would like to see the Buzzsaw included in this.

It was discussed here by Tkobo.

http://www.bgforums.com/forums/viewtopi ... saw#p94871
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sa_3_d911
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Re: Publish your favorite Tactics to the Supreme Wiki

Post by sa_3_d911 »

Hundane wrote:I would like to see the Buzzsaw included in this.

It was discussed here by Tkobo.

http://www.bgforums.com/forums/viewtopi ... saw#p94871
actually the buzzsaw tactic is not effective at least against a player ,i was playing a game with one of my friends & he used the same method all i had to do was to station a 20"MIM-212 " 190 km away & along with the garrison they shot down all his air crafts ,so i prefer a different & more effective tactic ,i use a AWACS plane that has a detection range of 200+ km for the city that i want to clear out of garrison & when i see the number of garrison they have i don't need to to pop them out ,i use 100 WS-2 400 mm & use the "bombard" key & 10 seconds later they have no garrison,this is very effective & all i have to do is station a couple of" MIM-212" near the artillery to protect them from air force attacks & i station the main attacking force of tanks & IFV in front of the artillery to protect them from land counter attacks .i think that this is the most effective method &it costs almost no casualties .that is my tactic & if you want any more clarification just tell me
"If I weren't an Egyptian, I would have wished to be an Egyptian" Mostafa kamel


MAY THE SOULS OF THE THOUSANDS WHO GAVE UP THERE MOST PRECIOUS THING FOR US REST IN PEACE ,AMIN
catatonic
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Re: Publish your favorite Tactics to the Supreme Wiki

Post by catatonic »

[quote="sa_3_d911...i use a AWACS plane that has a detection range of 200+ km for the city that i want to clear out of garrison & when i see the number of garrison they have i don't need to to pop them out ,i use 100 WS-2 400 mm & use the "bombard" key & 10 seconds later they have no garrison,this is very effective & all i have to do is station a couple of" MIM-212" near the artillery to protect them from air force attacks & i station the main attacking force of tanks & IFV in front of the artillery to protect them from land counter attacks .i think that this is the most effective method &it costs almost no casualties .[/quote]

Done:
http://www.supremewiki.com/index.php/SR ... e_Buzz-Saw

and

http://www.supremewiki.com/index.php/SR ... _Artillery
"War is merely the continuation of politics [diplomacy] by other means"
General Carl von Clausewitz - 1832

"Defense: De ting dat keeps de cows off de road."
Catatonic - 2012
vorius
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Re: Publish your favorite Tactics to the Supreme Wiki

Post by vorius »

Great information here! Going to be sifting through this for a while!

One thing I cannot find is a tactic to suppress enemy AA... any ideas?

I mean clearing the way for your missiles and aircraft to pound the enemy without dropping ground forces. Just like what the US did to Iraq in both invasions... first a large air strike targeting all possible AA sites allowing for more general bombardment later. Anyone to accomplish this in game?
GIJoe597
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Re: Publish your favorite Tactics to the Supreme Wiki

Post by GIJoe597 »

Send in a first wave of sturdy or disposable planes loaded with AGM's. All the AA fires at that wave, then have your primary wing come in while the AA is distracted and right click hexes with AA in them and select fire missile. You can then select the unit to fire at. It is how I kill off AA when I need to. I normally use FB on initial wave and Stealth bombers with standoff/long range missiles on primary wave.
https://www.youtube.com/user/GIJoe597


Older/retired gamers, who do not tolerate foolishness.
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catatonic
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Re: Publish your favorite Tactics to the Supreme Wiki

Post by catatonic »

vorius wrote:Great information here! Going to be sifting through this for a while!

One thing I cannot find is a tactic to suppress enemy AA... any ideas?

I mean clearing the way for your missiles and aircraft to pound the enemy without dropping ground forces. Just like what the US did to Iraq in both invasions... first a large air strike targeting all possible AA sites allowing for more general bombardment later. Anyone to accomplish this in game?
Surpression of enemy AA is explained by Tkobo in the topic Wiki "Wild Weasel".

I have changed the title so that it will be easier to find in the future:

http://www.supremewiki.com/index.php/SR ... ild_Weasel
"War is merely the continuation of politics [diplomacy] by other means"
General Carl von Clausewitz - 1832

"Defense: De ting dat keeps de cows off de road."
Catatonic - 2012
Snowpig
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Re: Publish your favorite Tactics to the Supreme Wiki

Post by Snowpig »

ok, i try to post a nice infantry-tactic i used to conquer Africa and the Middle East:

introduction: A large portion of the map consists of "low visibility"-hexes (hotkey V), which means that all your fancy tanks, anti-tanks and other toys wont be much of a help. In those parts of the world the infantry shines and is often (for the poorer nations) the only way how to conduct a war. Before going into detail you should decide first: do you want a 'poor mans army' which consists of many, cheap/shorter to build units or a 'rich mans army' where every single unit has been in the factory for at least 60 days and afterwards is ready to kick some serious a...rmor.

This decision affects, which infantry units you will build to conduct your operations and - to some extend - the percentage of unit losses.

infantry, the important stats:

depending on your decision you have either very few or quite many possible infantry units to build. Now you have to compare them to decide, which ones will be your spearhead into enemy territory. Check the close combat attack value (that is the submachine-gun icon) and the close combat defense value (submachine-gun in front of a shield) and pick that unit, which has both values as high as possible. You should favor a higher close combat defense vs. a higher close combat offense. The values should be near 20/20 in the beginning.
In a 'poor mans army' you would take the only infantry you have got, like Light infantry, but many regions have several different models to choose from.
Dont bother with unmounted infantry or you will take ages to the next battlefield and home from there ;).

the numbers:

Start off with 21 Infantry units, organised in 3 stacks with 7 units each. This is already quite a task force - even if it consists of light infantry - which is capable to seize cities with low to medium amounts of garrisons in them.

When attacking an enemy city, never forget the zone of control (ZOC) of every city, which consists of all the neighbour-hexes. In the beginning try to approach the city with your infantry stacks without moving them into the ZOC of other enemy cities nearby. While your (up to ) 21 infantry units are having fun on the battlefield, hover with your mouse over that stack, which receives the enemy fire. The reason for this is to save that infantry unit which gets all the enemy attacks before it would be destroyed. This is a key procedure which will help you to master more advanced tactics in the future.

As soon as one infantry unit is moving close to orange/red, send it back for repairs. the remaining 20 units will still do their job. Later, as you build more infantry units you can move to the

resupply chain:

...or how to tackle cities where you can place safely only one stack of infantry.
Several locations on the map prevent the attack from different directions which leads you to one possible attacking direction while facing some 7 garrisons, 3 hidden infantry units and 3 mortars in that city hex. No problem, just put the first stack in attacking position and place the others nearby (and out of range of that artillery/mortars). As soon as one of the front units is badly damaged, you move it back and replace it with the next unit ...and so on ;)

the 'kill the arty'-rush:

now i mentioned enemy artillery. In most cases the AI stacks a lot of artillery near the capital and the military complexes. Sometimes the layout of the city/complex-hexes allows some near-suicidal rush to hit this pesky artillery from close range. Here you need 1-2 stacks. one plays bait for the artillery and takes the hits and the other rushes to the enemy emplacement and kills the artillery. As soon as the job is done, withdraw immediately both stacks out of range and conduct some repairs. If you have the time/money you can build a dedicated tank-stack for this task. In addition a 7-stack of tanks is your weapon of choice against industrial/military complexes without low visibiliy modifier.

desert wars:

deserts and other areas with very low supply level require that you bring supply vehicles.
Although supply planes are fast and look nice in the sky, they often become victims to enemy AAA or interceptors. For our 'poor mans' infantry army we use therefore supply trucks. if placed properly a supply truck can supply up to 3 stacks of infantry, therefore you will never need more than 5-7 supply trucks for a full blown 80+ -units formation. Be careful though: enemy artillery likes to play turkey shot on them, but usually you have more time to react to that, compared to the turkey shot game of the AAA/enemy interceptors with your supply plane.

rivers, muds and other landscapes:

as soon as you can afford it (or even in the beginning) consider changing your infantry units to tracked/amphibeous type (look for the icon with a swimming car). These units are a bit slower than wheeled on a road, but move quite decend offroads and can traverse rivers, which opens you additional attack vectors. There is even an amphibeous supply truck (ASV-AX Supply Vehicle) in the game, which makes sure, that the ammo wont stay back on the river shore ;)

'enemy planes, i hate enemy planes...':

in my africa conquest game i ran in the middle east into myriads of enemy F16s and Mig29s which were tossing everything and everyone against my infantry. this was the first time, were i lost more than 10 units in a short time. The answer for this is: AAA/SAM. In the game the anti-aircraft units can be roughly divided into two groups: high damage/close range/low altitude target/short reaction time and medium damage/long range/all altitudes target, long reaction time. As you can see, one single type of anti-aircraft unit wont help you here. If your region does not have both types of anti-aircraft units, you have to trade them. I used a mix of SA-20 Triumf for long range and 2S6 Tunguska for short range. Obviouly the short ranged anti-aircraft must move close to those attacking units, while the long range anti-aircraft should stay back and be in the vicinity of supply trucks. Depending on the amount of enemy air coverage, you should consider adding 2-3 stacks of anti aircraft to your
assault group to lower your losses.

'oh noes, Oman makes a tank rush through the desert...'

Sometimes the enemy will attack you with armored units. several valid tactics apply here:
1. lure them to a low visibily hex and fight there
2. if its less than 3 tanks in a stack vs. your infantry stack of 7 units, then fight it out. Your army is an infantry army, therefore its not your quality which makes you dangerous, but your quantity.
3. if you have enough numbers, you can dispatch one of your stacks to move around the enemy formation to encircle it. As soon as their supply level (check button 'S') drops down to 0, the whole enemy task force will be degraded to some target practice dummies

'now you see me, now you dont see me...':

These hexes with low visibility modifier are not always your enemies. You will find plenty of locations in the world where two or more city hexes lie adjacent to each other. If you manage to conquer one of them, move your infantry inside, which will grant it some nice defensive bonus. In addition (see 'oh noes...') enemy attacking units have to use their close combat value, which usually is lower than their attack value in open terrain.

other specialties:

As soon as you get used to this type of fighting, you can try some variations and employ additional units for specific tasks, like scout units to look up enemy forces and layouts of enemy artillery, anti-tank units to stop enemy tanks and armored units (check the 'hard target' icon) - and your own artillery units to supress enemy movement and firing positions. In my game i tried to keep civilian casulties low, because i wanted to conquer enough regions to reach 1 billion population, thats why every formation had only one or two stacks of artillery, mostly Crusader or WS 2-400


examples for some infantry units i had good experiences with:

- Light Infantry: 20/18 (close combat attack/defense), Tech 0, 14 days, soft target, wheeled

This one brings quick a bang for the poor mans buck. Those 14 days build time mean that even with 1-2 ground troop factories you will have a decent strike force in less than (half) a year. Also these units recover very quickly. Their most important drawback is their low survivability against superstacks of defending enemies (like 7 garrisons, 3-5 infantry or mortars)

- Engineer: 20/33, Tech 0, 76(!) days, soft target, wheeled, amphibeous

until Update 7 this unit was a monster. considering its close combat defense value it still is, but one with drawn teeth. Those 76 days build time are a big turn off now. In that time you could have built 5 light infantries with an accumulated 100/90. Still those units are good for for accelerating contruction.

- XA 200 AMV: 18/22, Tech 103, 38 days, hard target, wheeled

With this unit i started my african conquest playing with SA. compared to light infantry, the survivability is much better and the slightly lower punch does not have a big impact on the length of the fights. With 38 days build time it takes a little bit longer to get the initial 21 units, but the first thing i did in this game was to upgrade to 13 ground unit factories :D

- M-2 Puma: 25/29, Tech 105, 65 days, hard target, tracked, amphibeous

After long searches i found this beauty in west germany. This unit brings everything you need to accomplish the above mentioned tactics successfully. It is fast, durable, can move everywhere and brings a decent punch. A stack of these will 2-hit-kill most of the enemy tanks in the field. Its little, but main drawback is its quite long construction time. On the other hand, you wont lose many units of them (unless you zerg into an airfield with 20 bombers waiting or run in one of those pesky RN-94M 120mm self propelled mortar-superstacks the A.I. builds and makes zergs with.)
baltic1284
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Re: Publish your favorite Tactics to the Supreme Wiki

Post by baltic1284 »

i personally do the cut off tactic
i build a large enough force and cut the country in to if possible gradually expand the front and surrond cities and hold any attck and just wait till there supplies are nothing then i attck all out and grand theme under my tracks of my army.
The Mithar Empire
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Re: Publish your favorite Tactics to the Supreme Wiki

Post by The Mithar Empire »

Yep, the good ole' Anaconda plan, works everytime, unless the nation you are invading is allied with someone who comes swooping in to save them and cuts off your advance.
CheefCoach
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Re: Publish your favorite Tactics to the Supreme Wiki

Post by CheefCoach »

I rely heavily on air force and infantry. Prefer planes who have both air to air and air to ground capability (J 10 or F 15k in beginning, then move to F 35A, than F/A-131, Terra's) as well as attack helicopters (recommend Comanche II and once with basic laser). For infantry I watch how good are in close quarter combat and what annual maintenance is (ZBL09 is good for beginning). G6-52 Rhino is good arty (from South Africa). Usually I form brigades with 3 inf, 1 arty and truck supply. Tanks are over expensive (inf can do same job for same praise) and not very good in cities (for open terrains I use air force). Recon can be done with UAVs or independent recon battalions. Stealthy strategic bombers can be useful for cleaning fields as well. I am trying not to have to many artillery so I would reduce collateral damage (civilians worth much more alive). Also stealth recon planes who fly on high altitude are very useful (U 3 I believe).
For defense military fortress with fortification are great. Put one in every 3rd hex. Garrison don't receive entrench bonuses so entrench some infantry instead. Also (towed) artillery and tank destroyers are good for fortresses. With help of air forces and mobile unit it is very easy to beat charges of enemy mobile forces!
Anti ship missiles (specially Russians SSN-26, BraMos) are great for destroying ships. They can be launched from ships (frigates, patrol boats, destroyers), submarines, land launchers, helicopters or planes (those with high flying are specially good for this). Use stealth recon planes who fly on high altitude for discovering enemy ships. If ships are or around ports, Russian have anti ship missiles with high altitude (SSN-19 shipwreck).
Airborne troops like Green Berets II are great for capturing capitals. I recommend transport plane AN-225 Cossack.
I mostly play with Serbia.
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