First Impressions...

[ArthurDesmond]

I just recently signed up to Steam to buy the SRU bundle with the WW1 standalone & DLC. I tried an earlier iteration of Supreme Ruler several years ago. I completely forgot that I had until I started playing the tutorial of SRU and remembered the Nationalist China missions. I have not even played much into any campaign, so this is very much a first impression of the game's features and organization.

1) I need to learn how to use battle groups, rally points, etc. because there are a ton of brigades all over the place - especially for freakin' China.
2) The economic and build system is more involved than Hearts of Iron 4 or Making History TGW. I really want to get a grasp on how to progressively build up an economy and improve its ability to be self-sufficient or at least trade for what I need confidently.
3) The first sandbox setup I used I put everything on Easy and turned World Tension to None. This might have been over the top - it was very easy to form alliances with many countries without any diplomatic effort, and non-aggression treaties with most of the rest.
4) After I figure out some of the basics of economic and production management schedules I want to play a second-tier country who can take place in a minor theater of Great War; it would be perfect if I got into a situation where Argentina was fighting Brazil on opposing SoI! In any case I really want to try out the combat system and see how wars progress, as I have mostly played Hearts of Iron 2 & 4 - both great games, but 'encircle with tanks' is nearly 100% effective against AI and I want to see if this game offers some variety in front battles.
5) The economic and approval aspects of this game would make it a nice option for a version of Kaiserreich. Aside from that I'd really like to learn to use the editor and set up my own 'what if' sandboxes and scenarios.

[Rosalis]

You need to have patience coming from HOI. You have more control with brigades, but it will also cost more time and defintely more clicks. If you dont like that you wont like the game. While in HOI attacking is more promoted in this game its more about countering, or setting up traps to lure the enemy. Mistakes can be deadly. As beginner i would entrench all border cities and counter the ai. If you think you can quickly annex half the world your wrong. Well not entirely, US can wipe the world in no time with the B2. Luckily for you the ai dont know how strategic bombers work and only attack arround the city they are based, or get eaten by nuclear missiles in this strategic pool doing nothing, but yeah.

[ArthurDesmond]

While in HOI attacking is more promoted in this game its more about countering, or setting up traps to lure the enemy.

One of my disappointments with HoI is that there are so many clear mechanical breakpoints and AI flaws that almost every game turns into me using tank or mixed brigades to encircle the low-IQ AI over, and over, and over again. It pretty much makes a lot of single-player strategies and units irrelevant as just using tanks and encircling the dumb AI is hugely effective (as in, win wars with the Soviet Union in a few months). So I'd like to have a war game that's more about maneuver and long-term plans; that's also why I wanted to try a WW1-era game, too much of the WW2 market is dominated by the (in many ways ahistorical) Blitzkrieg meme in gameplay.

[Rosalis]

I mean here you will quickly annex enemies, cause they never made a tank in their life, and dont have the unit design. Also to expect ai to be competetive with you after ww1 is over, thats not really realistic. For one there are no peace deals like HOI. If Germany is annexed, its gone untill you release it yourself. Besides that tanks are just crap, planes are useless, naval combat exists on who the most subs has, so yeah myself im more of a cw/2020 player. You can play longer games in any scenario, it doesnt have to be WW1. Playing from '49 to 2020 can take months. I find the WW2 and WW1 games extremely boring. AI cant handle the harsh environment. Whole armys in the world just standing still cause world wide consumption for military goods is out is no exception and then it can take years in game if it gets even fixed. As player you can only fix it by taking over the middle east for oil and then you could build military goods facilities to sell goods to the world. More likely you rather use it for your own tho. Not to mention the low suply everywhere can be easily exploited by the player. I beat WW2 in my first game with 300 land units.

If you want to experience the whole tech tree, Cuba 2020 will do just as good if you give them access to Russian designs in the modding files. Just warning you, cause loosing all the players going for a longer game and then get dissapointed, thats no way to grow the game. If you want to experience the combat system i suggest US 2020, super easy its up to you how hard you wanna make it.. roleplay taking over the middle east and China or just defending your allies and help them expand. You wont know what to do with all the money, but the combat is still a challenge, as long you dont use the B2. For a beginner why not take over America in your first game and use allies to expand further, after that it depends on you which limit you give yourself. It will teach you far more then the tutorial.

[ArthurDesmond]

I have no idea whether I will play this campaign to the end, but I also don't intend to take a huge role in any war. No doubt that merely by existing as a player I will distort the world economy and diplomatic situation. In Europa Universalis IV I often have the effect of bringing world peace because my Eurasian empire and its allies are so transcendently powerful (I could easily defeat the entire world by myself) that nobody dares invade Siam for fear of provoking the alliance web that includes Space Marines. I don't necessarily mind a weird ahistorical devolution but I would like a slightly different one than what Civ or Hoi give me. I like micromanaging brigades and unit design, too.

In later campaigns I want to develop the skills for precision invasion plans, using specialist units designed to defeat certain enemies with limited resources. In HoI I end up so rich and high tech it's always tanks, tactical bombers and aircraft carrier fleets that dwarf the historical US fleet. As the Netherlands.

[ArthurDesmond]

Also, Ala HOI, is America the most OP cheez country?

[Rosalis]

US 2020 is just insane, i only give their money to important US allies or areas like Turkey for important transit treaties. If you gonna spend US money on India and stuff it will just turn into world peace. Regions fear the US sphere. The real challenge is to grow a Russian or Chinese sphere or create your own as Belgium or something. Usually 5 years into the game my US treasury turns into tens of trillions of dollars. Besides that they got the best unit designs, altho Russian anti air is prolly better and if i had to choose i would choose Russian designs cause they are cheaper. China 2020 is a real challenge economicly. Also unit designs are pretty bad.

The interesting thing for me in this game is you can lock stuff in regions and play as another. Also once you get the hang of it modding can improve alot. But its not for nothing there are no WW2 mods left.

36 i would say Germany is the strongest, but they dont got unit designs after WW2 till the 80's UK can be a powerhouse in 36, but as new player you prolly wont know how to monopolise the resources to the best it can be. Personally i also like to play with Japan for a chill game, since its very easy to defend an island. Plus cloose to the action.

On your earlier comments about economy, its deep on one side, its pretty flat after you know the effects. Like only uranium missiles you need uranium (and alot), but tanks, planes whatever doesnt need resources to build them, just money, also as long there is enough produced in the world you can always buy goods for running the economy. You need oil and military goods after you build the units tho.

[ArthurDesmond]

Money being the main commodity makes sense in a market, but I think that corruption and bureaucracy should be a more serious problem in games, as well as internal conflicts of interest for large states l. But as someone pointed out to me, most people don't like declining empire simulators. They prefer Rome Aeternus

[Rosalis]

This game definetely got the potential to do stuff like that. In a previous game SR2020 Gold there was the UN which helped regions in war and kicked you out if you were too aggressive. Not in this version tho, but i have faith for next version. They were cloose with something like internal wars, but it didnt made it for the final patch. Thing is it will always depend on money, as long you have high enough law enforcement, design is things like this will not fire. In other words its the regions that are already strugling that will become even more weaker. I think the best we can hope for is trade and treaty embargos. It would be cool to cause a devastating civil war in US tho. Maybe when politicans figure out there is only 3% gold to money in the world.

[ArthurDesmond]

Second Impressions
Since I first posted in this thread I have played something like twenty hours of this game, almost all as China in the Cold War scenario. After doing some conquests in the original sandbox (Israel/Egypt, Burma, Tibet) letting the computer run things I decided to start over and try less mega-building (according to some in the Discord it was likely causing a lot of inflation) and more hands-on control of the combat.

I became involved in the Vietnam war almost immediately. I first turned on 'low' and then disabled Minister control, but I kept having a strange issue: after a unit had taken a certain amount of damage it would retreat all the way back to China. There was no reason for this to be happening (there was supply in Vietnam(, and it seemed to be automatic with every single unit whether I had adjusted any ROE or not.

The war involved no naval assets, and a few of my best airplanes. When the Brits and Americans got involved in the air war it roughed up some of my air units but the conquest of Viet Nam went smoothly otherwise.

Like many other people who have played I think better OOB and more integrated planning for operations and attacks would be great, and the economy is somewhat opaque, but I think I'd recommend this to other people who like the modern grand strategy market.

[CertainDeath]

there are 2 areas in the menue where you have to turn off unit automation, when you want to do them only "what you say".
in the "defense production" tab you have to remove ministerial control, and in the "defense" tab -> global rules of engament you have to cut "initiative" there,
then apply to all, and apply as standard for new units.

[ArthurDesmond]

Got it. I think I am getting the hang of basic mechanized operations and I don't need the computer running engineers all over the place when I am trying to get a bridge built