Help me become Top Goose.

[Jango]

Hello.

Ive been playing this game a bit since Christmas when I got it and I cannot seem to be good at it. I havnt read all the rulebook, I thought I read what I needed to but still I have problems.

I keep playing as the Axis in various periods, usally in September or Fall Whirlwind campaign and I cannot seem to win. Ive been reading up on how to win good and reading your posts but still cannot figure it out. I remember reading you people can take out Benelux in 1 turn, it takes me 2 all the time. Ive been stuck in Norway for a little longer then me already long French Campaign that usally ends in September. Usally I invest stuff in Spain, sometimes they join me but after France falls I usally get Romania, Finland, Hungary to join me, sometimes Spain. Then I take Yugoslavia, the other country, and then Greece. By

then things look pretty good. I ship stuff to North Africa and try and storm that. I usally cannot do it. I usally can destroy most of the British Navy and I try to land troops on the other side. Yet I never link up and they die.

Or I prepare for Russia, Russia has a tendancy to backstab me and attack me before the historical Barbaroosa. By then Africa units are only being wasted and getting no where. US ends up joining fast and it looks bad for me. Not being ready for Russia I end up pulling out of NK. Partisans often appear around and usally things go down hill and I end up quitting after that. Most of my games go like that. How can I improve? Any micro managing tactics?

Or I play lots of campaigns in the East and end up staying near Moscow our Stalingrad for a while, then everything gets eaten up in battles and I end up retreating a lot with just about nothing. By then every other front caves in.

When I do 44, things are hectic. In the West I can never mount a good counter attack so I end up raising back to the Rhine and diging in weak troops at the Siegfried line. In the East I get overruned a lot in the first turn, I usally retreat to the first River, all reorganize things and all usally get slammed back again. I find it I can either choose to reteat to a new spot, or die in a lot of fighting and counter attacking then retreating with the nothing that survives.

What can I do?

Should I never atatck across rivers? I try to set up my defensive lines in the East on the other side of rivers but they still break through.

Help my game so I can become Top Goose and take over the world! Most of my games are on Novice or Begineer. Sometimes on moderate.

[Edwin P.]

Tip 1: To take Benelux in one turn use air power (two or three air strikes) to soften up the garrison and then attack, keep a corps in reserve to take the city when the defending garrison is defeated by the two attacking ground units. Don't waste an attack on the unit outside Brussels until you occupy Brussels. Once Brussels is occupied the country surrenders.

[Bromley]

Then I take Yugoslavia, the other country, and then Greece. By

then things look pretty good.

Russia has a tendancy to backstab me and attack me before the historical Barbaroosa.

The two are not unrelated . There's a 5-10% increase in Russian activation when you declare war on Yugoslavia.

Russian readiness increases their MMPs per turn (i.e. they get their maximum MMPs multiplied by their readiness percentage). So they get something like 15-25 MMPs per turn from your attacking Yugoslavia, whereas you get ~20 but need a couple of garrison units.

Try a game where you just concentrate on Russia. So usualy Poland, LC/Denmark & France. Don't attack Scandi countries (not worth it for the Germans) and, for this game, don't get distracted if the UK attacks Norway. Attack Russia in the first clear month in 1941 (probably May). Make sure that you don't anger Russia by placing more than 4 units in/adjacent to Konigsburg and 5 in/adjacent to Warsaw (for that and other advice, see the link):

http://www.panzerliga.de/en/docs/lehrgang/lehrg_sc2_eng.php

Choose whether you want to diplo Spain or not. If you do, pour the maximium into it. It's probably just a distraction for this game though.

Get your INF up to max. Then AT, Air, LRA and HT are techs that you might invest in (don't forget to redeem your chits when you get to INF 3).

Make sure you have enough German HQs. Each German HQ can attach 6 units, so keep roughly to that ratio. Make sure your HQs are in supply (take the supply value of the city and count down the movement points from the city square (i.e. supply=10 in a 10 city, 9 one square away, etc.) - your HQ needs to be in a square with a score of 1 or more). Keep your units as in supply as possible (although beware of enemy air units - if your HQs are near the front lines then try to put them on cities/mountains/forests.

Reinforce your units frequently to keep readiness at maximum. If a units soft attack value is say 4 but it's readiness is only 25%, it will attack with the same power as a basic corps (i.e. not much ).

There are various air tactics, but the simplest is to always use air first as this reduces morale (and hence readiness), thus reducing your casulaties when you ground attack.

Ignore Africa for this game. Just defend Tobruk. You might want to try two chits in GLR for the Italians (to help fight off the Brits near Tobruk) and then buy another airfleet for them (don't bother with the HQ - as long as they don't get involved in air battles, Italian air units are just as good as German ones. Just make sure your upgraded Germans fly first and they'll then draw any interceptions.

Ignore Leningrad. Just cut it off and leave a corps covering it as it can be a tough nut to crack.

Read this post about partisans in Russia:

http://www.battlefront.com/cgi-bin/bbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=34;t=001961