Strategy Guide Available for Download

[pzgndr]

After much effort, a Strategy Guide for Strategic Command is now available as a free download at Strategic Command HeadQuarters. As the intro states, credit for this guide goes to everyone on the forum for debating the various strategies and sharing their ideas - and I do thank you all.

I'd like to thank Dan Fenton for helping me put this together. And a big thanks to Hubert Cater for providing his insights and support, not to mention providing us this fine game which was not even available a year ago.

This guide is primarily oriented toward beginner and intermediate players. It is not the be-all end-all instruction manual to make everyone an expert. Although this guide is 79 pages and covers just about EVERYTHING, there are still areas that need some work. (I consider this a final draft.)

I am interested in feedback, particlarly from some of the experienced ladder players who have honed their Axis and Allied strategies. I'll look for comments through the end of May and then work on an update. An email with an attached list of comments would be preferable to a thousand one-liners please. So take some time to review the guide, think about it, and feel free to offer some suggestions to make it better. Enjoy!

[Edwin P.]

Many thanks for a great guide. Most interesting reading not only the strategy comments but also Hubert's designer comments.

PS: It has shown me the value of Bombers and the related Tech, which I have always avoided using.

Many Many Thanks

[ May 03, 2003, 03:02 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[JerseyJohn]

Thanks Bill, this should be interesting. Even if you classify it an overall biginner/intermediate manual there's doubtlessly a lot of information that those who consider themselves more advanced will find useful.

[ May 03, 2003, 01:13 PM: Message edited by: JerseyJohn ]

[Shaka of Carthage]

Beautiful piece of work. Even the "grognards" should read it.

[Moon]

Just wanted to pop in and say - many thanks to Bill for writing, collecting and putting this together. Make sure you guys check it out, it's a great read!

Martin

[Hubert Cater]

Congrats Bill on this excellent body of work!

Hubert

[KDG]

Thanks for the strategy guide. Very well done. These things are usually sold for $10, available here for free by the hard work of many. Thanks.

Question for you Mr. Hubert Cater;

You mention turns in the strategy guide, and gave the example of the current system compared to a 2 week system. Then gave a MPP comparison. The MPP comparison you gave was actually a bi-monthly system that ended up with 24 total turns, 12 for each player.

If you had chosen a two week system, each side would still end up with 13 turns ( 52 / 2 wks = 26 total turns). Winter would be longer, & keeping partison pct the way it is would have resulted in a greater winter effect on supply, which is what most players seemed to have wanted based on these discussions.

By the way, have you every thought of releasing a unit editor, as well as a tech editor as a possible add on for purchase ($10 maybe).

Food for thought.

Thanks for this great game, and this community,

Ken

[ May 05, 2003, 06:52 PM: Message edited by: KDG ]

[General Brock]

in the guide is mentions a 1.07 patch but on this site I can only find pacth 1.06. is it a typo or can I find the pactch someplace else?

[pzgndr]

The v1.07 beta is available - see the sticky below. Since Hubert did release this first, it allowed me to mention the changes regarding 2-city supply in England and Allied coup in Yugoslavia based on status of Greece. And to take out mention of the Carrier intercept "bonus." I believe most everything in the guide is current and correct, but if something slipped through the cracks then I'll certainly make a correction.

[Leopard]

Thanks for the time to put this together. It has been valuable to me as I learn this great game which I have only had for 2 weeks.

[jmbunnelle]

Damn, very nice work, I'm impressed! Printing it now.

[Hubert Cater]

Question for you Mr. Hubert Cater;

You mention turns in the strategy guide, and gave the example of the current system compared to a 2 week system. Then gave a MPP comparison. The MPP comparison you gave was actually a bi-monthly system that ended up with 24 total turns, 12 for each player.

If you had chosen a two week system, each side would still end up with 13 turns ( 52 / 2 wks = 26 total turns). Winter would be longer, & keeping partison pct the way it is would have resulted in a greater winter effect on supply, which is what most players seemed to have wanted based on these discussions.

You'll have to forgive me as it has been a while since I thought about this aspect of the game in complete detail , and part of my original analysis was probably incorrect as well as you've noticed, but I think the meat and potatoes of it all was that in any system there will be a list of tradeoffs.

With the current system there was no need to make any adjustments to the game mechanics like action points and combat effectiveness of the units during different times of the year. What you currently get is longer periods of combat during the warmer summer months of the year and quick progression during the winter months where not a lot usually happened. So for example without making a single change to the game mechanics it was easier to match events like the 6 week victory over France etc. (I know this does not happen every time but for the most part is possible on default settings against the AI)

Now with a general 2 week system the number of overall turns would be pretty much the same and the amount of MPP collected at the end of each turn would make more sense, BUT a lot of the game mechanics would have to change to smooth out the expected game play. Taking France in 2 turns would be very difficult (Axis first and last turn plus Allied middle turn adding to 6 weeks) without making tweaks like combat bonuses for summer blitzkrieg, increased action points etc. and so on.

The flipside would have to happen in winter, decrease in action points to slow things down in the winter and a lot of this would take a lot more time and testing to make sure it all works out as compared to the current system.

In general I would not say that the current system is perfect, there are other styles that could be used such as impulses or perhaps even a combination of the above 2 described systems, but either way I would still be in favour of longer turns during late spring/summer/early fall times of year with shorter turns during the winter. While I realize some would like to see completely normalized turns, I look at this way for the main reason of optimizing game play.

For example, as it is now, it takes a lot of patience and discipline as an Allied player to not become too involved for almost the first 2 years of the war as you watch the Axis run rampage all over Europe, where if you now introduce a system where winter months are longer and less mobile you risk enhanced boredom during gameplay. As you've said there are also flipsides going the other way such as increased partisan activity and I guess the trick is in balancing out all the best available options.

In general though, not to worry as I realize some would like a more normalized system, so I will hint that the current system is under consideration for review and change

By the way, have you every thought of releasing a unit editor, as well as a tech editor as a possible add on for purchase ($10 maybe).

Definitly something to think about

Thanks for this great game, and this community

My pleasure

Hubert

[pzgndr]

I'm giving this topic a bump because the thread was recently downgraded from being a sticky. Hubert has included the Strategy Guide link in the FAQ/Strategy & Tips/Suggestions sticky thread. Plus he's graciously included a link on his Fury Software site.

I am hoping to receive more feedback from players. I have some items to add for an updated version, plus some ideas for editorial corrections to smooth out some sections. Like jello, there's always room for more strategy discussion. So if you'd like to contribute something, please send me your comments - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

[Iron Ranger]

Good job Bill, an extensive and exellent work. This should help all the beginers get up to speed fast and not feel so over whellmed when they can't take France in thier first IP game.