A Handful of Tips For Brand-New Players

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    • A Handful of Tips For Brand-New Players

      Conflict of Nations: WWIII can be a bit of a daunting game for new players. There's a lot of depth, a lot to do, and not a lot of time to learn. The game itself doesn't offer a ton in the ways of tutorials, and while the forums can and do help with that, I just wanted to take a moment to share 10 tips that have carried me through a lot of maps. These are simple, blunt, and effective tips, and while they might not work for everyone, it's a good framework to build your own strategy off of. I may update this with more tips as I go, but for now, sit back, relax, and enjoy:

      1. Invading on day 1 is a terrible, terrible idea. I've been playing this game for months now, and I can say that every single time I've invaded an active player on Day 1, I've lost. More often than not, I even have more cities than my opponent and still lose! Your army is simply too weak on Day 1 to be very effective in combating an active player, so don't do it alone. Joint invasions are another matter entirely.

      2. Manage your resources. It is very easy to deplete your resources early in the game. This is especially true of 5 city nations, which only have one city per resource. Bonus resource provinces can help alleviate this struggle, but those provinces can only be upgraded so much. Always be aware of how many resources you produce, and how much you consume. If you have occupied cities producing a valuable asset, be sure to annex them as soon as is convenient, if not as soon as possible.

      3. National Guard is a last resort. National Guard is a severely weaker version of motorized infantry. While it is not unwise to use them in defensive scenarios, such as defending an island or combat outpost, they still eat up valuable production space, and require too much maintenance to be useful. Even at maximum level, Motorized Infantry is still vastly superior, and is only slightly more expensive. At later levels, M.I. can also attack at a small distance. It isn't much, but it can still serve as a good entrenchment strategy.

      4. Strike Fighters and Air Superiority Fighters are NOT the same thing! I can't tell you how many times I've seen even veteran players use AS Fighters as a ground bombardment unit. It isn't effective, and it will destroy your fighter! Different aircraft serve different purposes, and the AS Fighter is designed to shoot down other planes/helis. Strike Fighters are far better suited to attack ground units, and should be used as such: they lack effective anti-air armament.*

      *Drone Bombing is effective against ground units as well, due to their easy to produce nature, but they cannot defend themselves. From anything. Keep this in mind.

      5. The Corvette is not the only naval unit you need. I'll admit it, I have a soft spot for Corvettes. They are fast, cheap(ish), and early in the research tree. However, they have a very specific purpose, and it is not to bombard ground units. To be perfectly honest, no naval unit is perfectly equipped to do damage against ground units, but I digress. Corvettes suffer in the open seas, and are also very weak against most other naval units, save for submarines. Therefore, Corvettes should really only be used as a defensive unit, and you should experiment with different kinds of naval units to see what works best for you.

      6. Get Tank Destroyers before getting actual tanks. This might sound a little counter-intuitive, but getting a good defensive edge against armor units is crucial to securing your dominance. Tanks are deadly, but Tank Destroyers are even deadlier. Augment this with infantry, and it will take far more than just a couple of tanks to break your line. Tank Destroyers cost about the same as Main Battle Tanks (though just a little bit cheaper), but carry an excellent defensive bonus against tanks. They are weak against infantry, so I would recommend providing a Recon Vehicle along with infantry for maximum effectiveness.

      7. Beware the insurgencies. Too often have I seen massive powerhouse countries falling to the insurgents. They are easy to prevent, and while not overly powerful, they can be an absolute nuisance later in the game. If morale is less than 35, keep at least 1 infantry unit in the province: an insurgency may be in the works.

      8. There's no shame in asking for help. If you have allies, make the most of them. Need help with an aggressive neighbor? Ask an ally. Want to take on your rival coalition? Communicate and plan. Teamwork is almost crucial in this game: I've yet to see anyone win solo. If you have good, active allies, so long as you keep them in the loop, you'll do just fine. You need only ask. That's what teammates are for: you're all in this together!

      9. The larger your borders, the harder it is to play defensive. Unlike Bytro's Call of War: 1942 and Supremacy: 1914 games, Conflict of Nations: WWIII doesn't let you produce units anywhere you like. All unit production is limited strictly to cities, and the larger your country, the more cities you have. That being said, bigger countries have bigger borders, and bigger borders are harder to secure. You can't just call up an army out of thin air to defend your over-extended flanks. Always be mindful of your massive borders when preparing for an invasion! Russia almost never lasts long in this game due to the sheer size of the country: if one side falls, the rest will follow.

      And finally,

      10. Loss is normal. There's no point in getting salty about a defeat. In every failure, there is a lesson, and if you learn that lesson, next time you will get closer and closer to victory. The human element is what makes this game unpredictable: no two matches are going to function exactly the same. There will be some parallels, sure, but not identical matches. If you lose, move on. Join another game, or take a break, and try again. It is perfectly possible to win, but everyone loses a match once in a while. That's fine. What isn't fine is degrading your fellow players just because you weren't victorious: this game is not going to hand you victory on a silver platter, so don't expect it. You really do have to try.

      I hope this was helpful to anybody, and have a nice day!
    • 1. Invading on day 1 is a terrible, terrible idea. I've been playing this game for months now, and I can say that every single time I've invaded an active player on Day 1, I've lost. More often than not, I even have more cities than my opponent and still lose! Your army is simply too weak on Day 1 to be very effective in combating an active player, so don't do it alone. Joint invasions are another matter entirely.

      1. if you have to do this have no less then three people in youre coalition do a joint so each of only have to send half your out and have something left to protect youre own homeland from an invasion

      2. learn to share with others in youre coalition, if youre low on a resource say so to others in youre theyll help you get what you want, one of the sorest points is agreeing on what cities everybody gets then to have later a member swipe a city your shelling with artillery to clean it out troops and have them say well your werent capturing so i did, this will not i repeat not go over well with coalition members this will more then likely get you kicked and your lands confiscated quit the poaching.

      3 learn to stack youre infantry. 3 infantry vs 3 infantry doesnt work youre enemy gets a defense bonus

      4 dont leave leave aircraft sitting on the ground unless there using a hospital to heal

      5 to build stuff other then regular infantry you have to build an arms industry plus it increases your production
      • hello
    • hmm solid tho here's a few things:

      JesterTheBaka wrote:

      4. Strike Fighters and Air Superiority Fighters are NOT the same thing! I can't tell you how many times I've seen even veteran players use AS Fighters as a ground bombardment unit. It isn't effective, and it will destroy your fighter! Different aircraft serve different purposes, and the AS Fighter is designed to shoot down other planes/helis. Strike Fighters are far better suited to attack ground units, and should be used as such: they lack effective anti-air armament.*
      Using ASF against ground units isnt really that bad, unless there is some sort of AA in the stack the fighters can easily take care of 2-3 units trying to run through somewhere. While you're correct that each aircraft has different purpose, if needed to they also can work outside their niche, how well depends on the level ofc

      JesterTheBaka wrote:

      *Drone Bombing is effective against ground units as well, due to their easy to produce nature, but they cannot defend themselves. From anything. Keep this in mind.
      Due to them being pretty slow and only having only 2 HP they're really not that effective against ground units, seeing how almost every ground unit has some stats for defending against air... so these drones die rather easily while not dealing that much dmg.


      JesterTheBaka wrote:

      6. Get Tank Destroyers before getting actual tanks. This might sound a little counter-intuitive, but getting a good defensive edge against armor units is crucial to securing your dominance. Tanks are deadly, but Tank Destroyers are even deadlier. Augment this with infantry, and it will take far more than just a couple of tanks to break your line. Tank Destroyers cost about the same as Main Battle Tanks (though just a little bit cheaper), but carry an excellent defensive bonus against tanks. They are weak against infantry, so I would recommend providing a Recon Vehicle along with infantry for maximum effectiveness.
      This is a bit too general advice. For example eastern doctrine can produce Tanks far earlier than any other doctrine while getting a malus on TD research and having tanks out early can be great for early attacks, TDs have the downside of dealing only dmg against armored units and less HP then tanks, making them far more vulnerable to other ground units
      "a bit cheaper" :D they cost like 30% less than tanks and are also build much faster, but yeah they're the better long term investment compared to tanks
      I am The Baseline for opinions
    • Teburu wrote:

      hmm solid tho here's a few things:

      JesterTheBaka wrote:

      4. Strike Fighters and Air Superiority Fighters are NOT the same thing! I can't tell you how many times I've seen even veteran players use AS Fighters as a ground bombardment unit. It isn't effective, and it will destroy your fighter! Different aircraft serve different purposes, and the AS Fighter is designed to shoot down other planes/helis. Strike Fighters are far better suited to attack ground units, and should be used as such: they lack effective anti-air armament.*
      Using ASF against ground units isnt really that bad, unless there is some sort of AA in the stack the fighters can easily take care of 2-3 units trying to run through somewhere. While you're correct that each aircraft has different purpose, if needed to they also can work outside their niche, how well depends on the level ofc

      JesterTheBaka wrote:

      *Drone Bombing is effective against ground units as well, due to their easy to produce nature, but they cannot defend themselves. From anything. Keep this in mind.
      Due to them being pretty slow and only having only 2 HP they're really not that effective against ground units, seeing how almost every ground unit has some stats for defending against air... so these drones die rather easily while not dealing that much dmg.

      JesterTheBaka wrote:

      6. Get Tank Destroyers before getting actual tanks. This might sound a little counter-intuitive, but getting a good defensive edge against armor units is crucial to securing your dominance. Tanks are deadly, but Tank Destroyers are even deadlier. Augment this with infantry, and it will take far more than just a couple of tanks to break your line. Tank Destroyers cost about the same as Main Battle Tanks (though just a little bit cheaper), but carry an excellent defensive bonus against tanks. They are weak against infantry, so I would recommend providing a Recon Vehicle along with infantry for maximum effectiveness.
      This is a bit too general advice. For example eastern doctrine can produce Tanks far earlier than any other doctrine while getting a malus on TD research and having tanks out early can be great for early attacks, TDs have the downside of dealing only dmg against armored units and less HP then tanks, making them far more vulnerable to other ground units"a bit cheaper" :D they cost like 30% less than tanks and are also build much faster, but yeah they're the better long term investment compared to tanks

      Add to 4):

      Important as always is to compare your potential attack damage with their potential defense damage:
      a) Attacking a level 1 motorized with 0.3 aircraft defense with 2.0 soft target attack: no big deal
      b) Attacking a stack of 1 recon and 2 infantry commulating into 2,1 aircrat defense: have fun seeing your ASF killing itself

      Add in regards of drones:

      Also don't forget, drones are extremely slow and they have the worst healing rate of all units. 2 HP in the air and 15 HP on the ground means, they need about 7,5 times longer to heal a HP than a ground unit.
    • most maps Day 1 go for auto nation .. nations. use your given airs supp plane to soften up the nat guard unit guarding city without taking too much damage.

      Just playing Blood and oil and day 1 algeria a bigger country sent whole army at me... he lost all and i took minimal damage. was sleeping and lost one city as one of last stacks came through a different route than had troops but got it back.
      "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him "

      aka ...The killer formerly known as BuckeyeChamp
    • Wow... Great comprehensive beginners guide overall, a lot of good stuff here. Here are my modifications to the recommendations:

      2. Manage your resources. "It is very easy to deplete your resources early in the game." True, it is important to factor production in order to maximize efficacy. However, immediate annexation is not always prudent due to the amount of resources required across the board; sometimes, this can critically hamper mobilization, as it takes about ten days to recover the resource value from annexation (refer to Germanico's comment in my annexation thread). Generally, it is better to wait until a defensive position is established, or allies are available to blunt an enemy attack, before annexing due to this vulnerability. A good rule of thumb is how powerful your army is compared to those it will encounter in the next ten days and all the benefits of annexation, including the extra mobilization. On the flip side of that, if you have more resources than you can do useful construction and mobilization with, don't hesitate to annex. Also, as has been mentioned, don't fail to leverage your coalition and the market to acquire the resources you need. If you have a surplus, sell it and mention it to your coalition so they can benefit if possible.


      3. National Guard is a last resort. For the most part, yes. However, national guard can be utilized to effectively augment a combat force. This is primarily when used as a followup force almost exclusively for conquering territory already cleared of enemy units since they are so weak in combat, but they also don't take up as much production space as motorized. Although mot inf is generally recommended and almost universally superior for combat roles, there is a small niche occupied by ngs that should not be overlooked, and they are excellent as the consummation of the price advantage of motorized infantry. Out of defense, use only as a cheap distraction unit, to follow up advances, or to hp pad an under-strength division.


      4. Strike Fighters and Air Superiority Fighters are NOT the same thing! True. But they can operate out of their niche, and that quite excellently. Level 1 Eastern ASF max efficiency size stack doing 10 damage against soft targets in one combat tick is considerably useful especially early game with 15 hp mot inf, knocking out 2/3rds of their health. Strike Fighters can effectively fight ASF in combination with a distraction, bombing them on the ground as they refuel and are vulnerable, in a modernization of the tactic recommended by Sun Tzu in the Art of War.


      "Drone Bombing is effective against ground units as well, due to their easy to produce nature, but they cannot defend themselves. From anything. Keep this in mind." Um... not really very useful, except as a literal suicide attack, which is quite realistic. Essentially, regard it as a significantly cheaper, but significantly less effective CM. The main utility of drones is recon, and they should only be used to attack ground units that present themselves as targets of opportunity, or are absolutely devoid of air defense. As I see it, the only other case in which drone bombing should be used is if the drone is going down anyway, e.g. ASFs headed toward it and an infantry division right under it. In that case, might as well, and no real loss at that.


      5. The Corvette is not the only naval unit you need. Broadly accurate, but sometimes not. Corvettes, being fast and cheap, are superb early game units and can be useful well into the middle game, especially on Flashpoint maps or for just plugging ports. Never neglect their utility.

      "However, they have a very specific purpose, and it is not to bombard ground units." Sort of, but not really. Although artillery is not their primary purpose, it is an extremely useful feature of most naval units. I use it primarily as fire support for landing operations, or to completely clear out an area before my troops arrive. I use naval units all the time for this, and it works quite well, for example a recent invasion of Iceland I did. One of my corvettes, arriving far ahead of the troop transports due to their speed, destroyed the entire national guard battalion in the city before my transports were even within the littoral regions of Iceland.

      "Corvettes suffer in the open seas, and are also very weak against most other naval units, save for submarines." True. Against other naval units, they are essentially the ng/mot inf of the seas.

      "Therefore, corvettes should really only be used as a defensive unit, and you should experiment with different kinds of naval units to see what works best for you." Broadly accurate, as addressed above. It is always good to experiment. As is emphasized in many military manuals, don't let doctrine supersede novel good strategy.


      6. Get Tank Destroyers before getting actual tanks. "This might sound a little counter-intuitive, but getting a good defensive edge against armor units is crucial to securing your dominance." Absolutely true, although tanks can give a good defensive edge against armor units also. This depends entirely on your doctrine, aggression, and especially location. Cities can be well defended with TDs, but tanks can trounce enemies on the wide open spaces of the East

      "Tanks are deadly, but Tank Destroyers are even deadlier." This is also totally situational. Tanks are designed for combat on open ground, and have enormous attack and defense buffs on open terrain, at 50% attacking. Combined with solid base stats and their equally large hp pool, tanks on open ground would trounce tank destroyers on open ground.

      "Augment this with infantry, and it will take far more than just a couple of tanks to break your line." Yep, technically true.

      "Tank Destroyers cost about the same as Main Battle Tanks (though just a little bit cheaper), but carry an excellent defensive bonus against tanks." Again, sort of, but not really. TDs are, as has been stated, much cheaper than MBTs, even in Eastern doctrine. They only get an excellent defensive bonus in urban areas, and possibly forests or some other more closed terrain type. On open ground, that advantage is inverted. They also have identical base damage attacking or defending, as most, if not all, armored vehicles do.

      The difference is akin to knights and bishops in chess; knights/TDs for a closed position, bishops/Tanks for an open position.

      "They are weak against infantry, so I would recommend providing a Recon Vehicle along with infantry for maximum effectiveness." Accurate overall, but TDs, especially with the antipersonnel ammo, are actually decent against infantry. Instead of CRVs, which aren't very useful anymore, I recommend accompanying the TDs and Infantry with AFVs, which are significantly stronger than TDs, Inf, or CRVs against Infantry.


      7. Beware the insurgencies. "Too often have I seen massive powerhouse countries falling to the insurgents. They are easy to prevent, and while not overly powerful, they can be an absolute nuisance later in the game. If morale is less than 35, keep at least 1 infantry unit in the province: an insurgency may be in the works." This is absolutely accurate, in one game I actually lost just from having to fight a COIN campaign in the Middle East (history repeats itself indeed). I ended up turning all my research to getting the best COIN force possible, neglecting peer-adversary combat capabilities to my detriment, along with the time loss (eerily similar to the US situation with the War on Terror). You can also see the chance of insurgency with the information button on the morale bar for a city. I tend to keep 1-4 infantry in a city when possible, unless momentum on the attack is absolutely critical.
    • Stratieon wrote:

      Wow... Great comprehensive beginners guide overall, a lot of good stuff here. Here are my modifications to the recommendations:

      2. Manage your resources. "It is very easy to deplete your resources early in the game." True, it is important to factor production in order to maximize efficacy. However, immediate annexation is not always prudent due to the amount of resources required across the board; sometimes, this can critically hamper mobilization, as it takes about ten days to recover the resource value from annexation (refer to Germanico's comment in my annexation thread). Generally, it is better to wait until a defensive position is established, or allies are available to blunt an enemy attack, before annexing due to this vulnerability. A good rule of thumb is how powerful your army is compared to those it will encounter in the next ten days and all the benefits of annexation, including the extra mobilization. On the flip side of that, if you have more resources than you can do useful construction and mobilization with, don't hesitate to annex. Also, as has been mentioned, don't fail to leverage your coalition and the market to acquire the resources you need. If you have a surplus, sell it and mention it to your coalition so they can benefit if possible.


      3. National Guard is a last resort. For the most part, yes. However, national guard can be utilized to effectively augment a combat force. This is primarily when used as a followup force almost exclusively for conquering territory already cleared of enemy units since they are so weak in combat, but they also don't take up as much production space as motorized. Although mot inf is generally recommended and almost universally superior for combat roles, there is a small niche occupied by ngs that should not be overlooked, and they are excellent as the consummation of the price advantage of motorized infantry. Out of defense, use only as a cheap distraction unit, to follow up advances, or to hp pad an under-strength division.


      4. Strike Fighters and Air Superiority Fighters are NOT the same thing! True. But they can operate out of their niche, and that quite excellently. Level 1 Eastern ASF max efficiency size stack doing 10 damage against soft targets in one combat tick is considerably useful especially early game with 15 hp mot inf, knocking out 2/3rds of their health. Strike Fighters can effectively fight ASF in combination with a distraction, bombing them on the ground as they refuel and are vulnerable, in a modernization of the tactic recommended by Sun Tzu in the Art of War.


      "Drone Bombing is effective against ground units as well, due to their easy to produce nature, but they cannot defend themselves. From anything. Keep this in mind." Um... not really very useful, except as a literal suicide attack, which is quite realistic. Essentially, regard it as a significantly cheaper, but significantly less effective CM. The main utility of drones is recon, and they should only be used to attack ground units that present themselves as targets of opportunity, or are absolutely devoid of air defense. As I see it, the only other case in which drone bombing should be used is if the drone is going down anyway, e.g. ASFs headed toward it and an infantry division right under it. In that case, might as well, and no real loss at that.


      5. The Corvette is not the only naval unit you need. Broadly accurate, but sometimes not. Corvettes, being fast and cheap, are superb early game units and can be useful well into the middle game, especially on Flashpoint maps or for just plugging ports. Never neglect their utility.

      "However, they have a very specific purpose, and it is not to bombard ground units." Sort of, but not really. Although artillery is not their primary purpose, it is an extremely useful feature of most naval units. I use it primarily as fire support for landing operations, or to completely clear out an area before my troops arrive. I use naval units all the time for this, and it works quite well, for example a recent invasion of Iceland I did. One of my corvettes, arriving far ahead of the troop transports due to their speed, destroyed the entire national guard battalion in the city before my transports were even within the littoral regions of Iceland.

      "Corvettes suffer in the open seas, and are also very weak against most other naval units, save for submarines." True. Against other naval units, they are essentially the ng/mot inf of the seas.

      "Therefore, corvettes should really only be used as a defensive unit, and you should experiment with different kinds of naval units to see what works best for you." Broadly accurate, as addressed above. It is always good to experiment. As is emphasized in many military manuals, don't let doctrine supersede novel good strategy.


      6. Get Tank Destroyers before getting actual tanks. "This might sound a little counter-intuitive, but getting a good defensive edge against armor units is crucial to securing your dominance." Absolutely true, although tanks can give a good defensive edge against armor units also. This depends entirely on your doctrine, aggression, and especially location. Cities can be well defended with TDs, but tanks can trounce enemies on the wide open spaces of the East

      "Tanks are deadly, but Tank Destroyers are even deadlier." This is also totally situational. Tanks are designed for combat on open ground, and have enormous attack and defense buffs on open terrain, at 50% attacking. Combined with solid base stats and their equally large hp pool, tanks on open ground would trounce tank destroyers on open ground.

      "Augment this with infantry, and it will take far more than just a couple of tanks to break your line." Yep, technically true.

      "Tank Destroyers cost about the same as Main Battle Tanks (though just a little bit cheaper), but carry an excellent defensive bonus against tanks." Again, sort of, but not really. TDs are, as has been stated, much cheaper than MBTs, even in Eastern doctrine. They only get an excellent defensive bonus in urban areas, and possibly forests or some other more closed terrain type. On open ground, that advantage is inverted. They also have identical base damage attacking or defending, as most, if not all, armored vehicles do.

      The difference is akin to knights and bishops in chess; knights/TDs for a closed position, bishops/Tanks for an open position.

      "They are weak against infantry, so I would recommend providing a Recon Vehicle along with infantry for maximum effectiveness." Accurate overall, but TDs, especially with the antipersonnel ammo, are actually decent against infantry. Instead of CRVs, which aren't very useful anymore, I recommend accompanying the TDs and Infantry with AFVs, which are significantly stronger than TDs, Inf, or CRVs against Infantry.


      7. Beware the insurgencies. "Too often have I seen massive powerhouse countries falling to the insurgents. They are easy to prevent, and while not overly powerful, they can be an absolute nuisance later in the game. If morale is less than 35, keep at least 1 infantry unit in the province: an insurgency may be in the works." This is absolutely accurate, in one game I actually lost just from having to fight a COIN campaign in the Middle East (history repeats itself indeed). I ended up turning all my research to getting the best COIN force possible, neglecting peer-adversary combat capabilities to my detriment, along with the time loss (eerily similar to the US situation with the War on Terror). You can also see the chance of insurgency with the information button on the morale bar for a city. I tend to keep 1-4 infantry in a city when possible, unless momentum on the attack is absolutely critical.
      I appreciate the feedback! I'll be sure to tweak this thread sometime in the near future.