MPP ALLOCATION and AI SUB HUNTING

[yolo911]

HI,

I am playing Gold. I'm trying to improve my understanding of the game.

There are never enough MPP's to go around so I need to know what to spend the excess on. Between buying units and replenishing losses there is only a small aount left for research and dipolmacy.

I have been playing the Strategic Command series for a long time and so far I have never spent any MPP's on diplomacy. I always play as the Axis.

Is there some area of Diplomacy that I could gain strageically if I spent MPP on dipolmacy?

Now research. I never spend MPP's on the vague areas that are Infrastructure, Production, Industry, Intelligence, Amphibious etc. What do the the Pros consider a good return on their investment? Which ones pay off? Or are these only slightly helpful if at all?

Last question. The AI destroyers seem to home in in my subs like they have secretly put tracking devices on them. Does the AI "cheat" in this area"

Thanks.

[Strategiclayabout]

Hello Yolo911,

- I'm not very experienced but I can try to answer some questions you have:

(no absolute certitudes, only how I understand it)

- Destroyers:

* each time you raid a convoy, your opponent knows where on its turn so if you don't move your subs and enemy send ships to catch them, you'll be found.

* subs in silent mode have better chance to be undetected

* even in silent mode, if you are near an enemy unit, port, city, or ressource you'll be "seen" (naval spotting range)

* destroyers have better chances than other ships to detect subs in silent mode

* if your sub tech are lower than your enemy antisub tech, you'll get found more often (better upgrade your units)

(if AI has antisub 3 destroyers and you subs at level 1, it'll be ugly quickly)

* aerial recon from planes can spot subs location

- Diplomacy could be better but it's a wargame so it's not a priority. You also have to consider several major points:

* Diplo costs are higher for Japan

* Diplo costs are higher when trying to influence a major country

* Diplo is better used during early game (more options)

* if you want quick results, invest heavily = all chits on one country

(but you can also spread your efforts on several targets and see which one gives better/more promising results)

* you can "cross-invest" MPPs to get better results

(Japan and Italy adding their chits to german ones in Turkey)

- That said, you can build various strategies around diplo:

* influence majors to reduce effects of war declarations on minor countries

(decreasing mobilization % = reducing MPP output and delaying war entry)

* bring minors on your side earlier (like Hungary, Romania or Bulgaria for axis)

* gain territory without declaring war (Thailand for axis)

* create a diversion for your opponent (Mexico or Iraq for axis)

* counter enemy diplo efforts

* gain a strategic advantage (Spain or Turkey for axis)

* gain economic advantage (trade with Turkey for axis)

* use a minor major as a diplomatic chits bag, neglecting everything else

(France or Italy, hardly China, but it's a dangerous gamble)

- Research, as for diplo, depends of your grand strategy but you have to note several things:

* it depends on the campaign you play

(if you begin in 1942, it's harder to focus on research, obviously)

* depending on the country, you can/have to ignore some areas

(Italy/China/France are very limited, USSR needs no naval techs, UK do...)

* you can get quicker results with multiple chits put on 1 field

(3 max per field, but if you do that, you'll have to neglect other areas)

* you can have breaktroughs once you reach 40%

(so if you're lucky and invest heavily, you can gain clear advantages)

* each country has a max research capacity

(USA 1400, Germany/USSR 750, Japan/England 650, others 400 or below)

* the cost of each field is 100 or 125 but not the same for each country

(better to plan a combination of 100 and 125 cheat to reduce waste)

* some fields have more levels than others (1 to 5)

(if you delay too much the research in one area, you'll never catch up)

* some countries have specific fields with valuable units/bonuses

(rockets for germans, soviet artillery... better take a look)

There are three major fields you need to consider first:

(take a look at the manual for all bonuses):

* Intelligence: better research, spots enemy units, behind the scene bonus ?

(not an absolute priority but neglecting it can cost you dearly later)

* Production: not a first priority but much needed for big armies

(discounts on buying and reinforcing units saves a lot of MPPs in the end)

(as weapon techs increase all unit costs, your army will cost more and more)

* Industry: the MMPs increase speaks for itself, 25% per level is HUGE

(especially for Japan given its high MPP input at the beginning)

(but every country should at least consider it, except France)

(even Italy can become a pain for the ally with level 4 and nearly x2 MPPs)

Others:

* Infrastructure: not a priority unless/until you have to move units a lot

(shifting troops between fronts like germans did can kill your economy)

* Amphibious: not a priority but very usefull for Japan/USA

(a big bonus to naval blitz punch can make the difference)

* Antiaircraft: to protect ressource tiles/counter enemy air superiority

(you can upgrade ports, cities, ressources and units)

* Antisub: mostly for UK and Japan against german and US subs

(usually a must go for UK, especially against agressive naval german players)

* Motorization: not a priority but gives a mobility advantage

(only one level, some countries already have it, best for offensive)

Conclusion: it depends which country you play and how you play it .

[yolo911]

WOW!!!

Thank you very much! I didn't expect such a comnprehensive and useful reply.

I really appreciate the time and effort you spent documenting all of that information.

Larry