Offline Defense

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    • Offline Defense

      People keep taking my land and killing my units when I'm offline. It's rude. It makes me sad on my insides. It makes me cry my own tears. It's similar to something that's "not at all irritating", except that it's "infinitely irritating."

      Please provide tips for how to stop this.

      I respond with the vengeance when I get back online, but that doesn't help my stats. That territory already counts as lost and those units still count as dead.
    • Oh, wait. Let me stop you before you post something super obvious. I'm not talking about super obviously stuff like "Don't leave your planes patroling over enemy territory" or "don't march single infantry into enemy territory while offline"; I'm watching out for the stuff like that (I think). I'm talking about a situation where I do all of the obvious stuff I can think of, and I still log back in to a bunch of red messages that wouldn't have been there if I had been online.

      "The unprotected Xth Infantry unit invade your empty province of Nowheresville, followed by zero other units."

      "The Xth single Air Superiority fighter attacked your single marine on Nowhere Island 78 times while you were asleep, finally killing him 10 seconds before you got up."

      "The random Xth Ghost Naval Task Force of a nation you killed about 10 days ago wandered into your actual Xth Naval Task force while it was traversing the Pacific, and your Task Force won, but you lost a Frigate."

      "Your opponent, who previously didn't even have the facilities to build SAMs, suddenly researched them, constructed the facilities to build them, built them, and rolled them alone to just outside one of your cities where you had your fighters on patrol. Now all your fighters are dead. Sorry."

      "Oh, you didn't put your fighters on patrol? Then while you were asleeping three countries got together, focused on your city with the airfield and attacked your grounded fighters. Now all your fighters are dead. Sorry."

      The post was edited 3 times, last by PerigeeNil ().

    • If offline for a bit.. back troops up a prov or two which gives you best def boosts and enemies most likely off boosts and have a stack that would withstand an assault (maybe build a quick outpost) dont really care if someone temporarily takes an ocuppied prov so no sense defending the exact edge. This by no means would guarantee you wont get troops killed but make it take longer for them to get to you so less likely to die offline. Also make them pay the highest price possible.

      Without specifics hard to say what you/they did and how to avoid. But appears you may be talking about onesy/twosy units advancing and stop near the enemies front and they get picked off? So I lead with strong stacks on paths of fastest travel based on terrain.. which is where they most likely coming from. theyn clean up wider paths with single units behind leading front. safety in numbers. also if think any chance of attack will hold up in closest city away from front and wait till can be back on.
      "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
    • PerigeeNil wrote:

      Right? Good point. I feel like I do make more artillery than most people (especially when playing Eastern Doctrine), but probably still not enough. Thank you for the suggestion. I'll try to increase my artillery.
      but offline artillery isnt going to really stop much (unless high stacks of MRLs). if you leave offline in the path of an attack might get 1 hit off then is engaged in direct contact. If you have off to the side will weaken them with 1 or 2 hits as they pass by . To me effective use artillary needs active participation. (ie - hit them.. back up an hr .. hit them again.. repeat so continuely cheaping at them as they approach your awaiting defending stack. then continue backing art on otherside of wher battle will be at then chip away while they are locked in engagement
      "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
    • Buckeyechamp wrote:

      If offline for a bit.. back troops up a prov or two which gives you best def boosts and enemies most likely off boosts and have a stack that would withstand an assault (maybe build a quick outpost) dont really care if someone temporarily takes an ocuppied prov so no sense defending the exact edge. This by no means would guarantee you wont get troops killed but make it take longer for them to get to you so less likely to die offline. Also make them pay the highest price possible.

      Without specifics hard to say what you/they did and how to avoid. But appears you may be talking about onesy/twosy units advancing and stop near the enemies front and they get picked off? So I lead with strong stacks on paths of fastest travel based on terrain.. which is where they most likely coming from. theyn clean up wider paths with single units behind leading front. safety in numbers. also if think any chance of attack will hold up in closest city away from front and wait till can be back on.
      I was hoping you'd reply because, from your other posts, it sounds like you play a pretty tight/conservative game, which I assume is necessary for reducing casualties. I have a grasp of the concept(s) you're expressing here, but perhaps I'm not being as vigilant about them as I need to be.

      Here's the problem: I see people talking about how their Territory Lost/Gained ratio is like 15:1, and I'm like, "HOW?!" I'm a pretty aggressive expander, but often when I log off, I lose an empty territory or 2. Now I have to claim 15 or 30 more to get that ratio. I almost always (unless I end losing the whole game) get back what I lost plus more, but 15 territories for every one I lose? In order to do that, I'd have to stop losing territories when I log off.
    • Main thing is I dont get into big potential battles/ territory against enemies you know pose a threat (via CON etc) unless I have time to get into a good position before i'm off for awhile.

      I do play conservatively aggressive ;) very aggressive against weaker opponents and more deliberate against stronger ones. And I move all my chess pieces in the right spot before starting that war. Need to be systematic if they have good diverse army. last game was pretty rapidly going through countries that beat themselves up early then came to a few bigger countries with air; navy; tanks the whole shabang. so not going to rush in with land troops till can take out air; and couldnt take air till I took out Navy (as he strong AA on Frigs).

      So A. took out Navy .... B. moved in my Friggs and took chunk out of his air with AA and caused him to fall back at least. then I can start pushing him back little by little. I try best by end of day to have a level front slowly moving across his territory ... etc. If I just went full bore Air/Navy/ground simultaneously you get countered. Chess was designed to teach war... so use your pieces to counter the others strgths that threaten you and attack those where you have advantage. But like chess if you move your pieces too far fwd with out complimentary defenses they are exposed and get picked off.

      My Frigs and AA mobile protect my planes from his; which allows my planes protect my troops from his planes and/or weaken enemy troops in advance of the line. as you move away from coast than friggs useless so I scope out the closest enemy airbases / airfields and will take them out. This pushes his air capability back while i move fwd and also reduces speed he can move reinforcements to front.
      "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
    • PerigeeNil wrote:

      Back to losses of forward troops, though. So, are you leaving entire stacks in your conquered cities? If so, that's got to be a SLOW advancement.
      its a marathon not a sprint; plus you heal up when off if dinged up abit. in long run still better off instead of losing troops / get more troops beat his troops and regain same territory twice. end of day what approach thinks works in long run. Another thing I never lose troops unless defending a charge.

      so after 30 - 40 days I have a huge army because I didnt waste them early on. plus I can spend my resources on good stuff instead of repopulating Inf units every night.
      "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
    • Right, right. See, I think we're straying a little bit from "Offline", or I'm missing the transition. I think I'm pretty good at what you've outlined above when I'm online. And I think I even plan ahead pretty well. It's not usually that I didn't systematically take out a strong enemy when attacking. It's that @Joe-Goofus02112 got a wild hair and charged into my territory at his own peril while I was asleep. Do you see what I'm saying?

      I'm not running face-first into the buzzsaw. I like to think that I have a very systematic and effective methodology when actively advancing. It's when I'm sitting still for a few game hours that people start creeping in. Your strategy above with the taking out the Navy and taking out the air and all that? I'm right there with you. I'm comfortable with that part. It's that when that part is over, I've beaten that guy, I have all his land and his cities, and I'm settling things down... in walks one infantry unit from the Southeast Bhutan player and takes 3 empty territories while I'm taking a shower. Now, in order to get to a 15:1 ratio, I have to take more territories than Southeast Bhutan even owns.
    • Perfect example:

      I'm Iran. I watched India play for days. Checked out all of their buildings, forces, etc. launched an attack they couldn't possibly hope to defend against, it was wildly successful. I wake up this morning, and China, with whom I was not at war, built an airfield, flew all of his infantry and Recon Vehicles to the west and marched them in a straight line through my territory while I was sleeping. What? *Sigh*, so I kill the China stack because it had no air defense, but I wasn't awake to do that at the time, but it's already taken all kinds of ground that I now can't make up the ratio on.

      Do you see what I'm saying? I can plan for an opponent who's going to behave in a reasonable, rational way. But how do I dictate whether or not I'm negatively affected by some nutbar who tries some nonsense craziness while I sleep? That's what I need to know.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by PerigeeNil ().

    • That is great situational awareness on Chinas part and part of your Situational awerness you should anticipate what country C may do when you attack country B.

      I do the same thing. Like I may have had plans in the mix to hit India... but im not going in on a 3 way war with you and India. let you two duke it out and then hit the winner while you are weakened a bit from previous battle. Some think to go after the loser and get teritory but I'm going after the winner as you are now a threat to me

      Think like your enemy ... If Im China why would I wait till you get all settled into India and full reinforcemets etc. as most likely your heading my way so Ill fight you in India not in my back yard.

      also like abdul noted: I try to observe online patterns of nearby players by when they advance.. sit still etc. get a general idea of when they may or may not be online.
      "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
    • Okay, good. So this is a GREAT example of what I'm talking about. I wish I had taken a screenshot this morning before I cleaned it up.

      "That is great situational awareness on Chinas part and part of your Situational awerness you should anticipate what country C may do when you attack country B."

      True, IF there's a logical goal in China's attack. Stay tuned.

      "I do the same thing. Like I may have had plans in the mix to hit India... but im not going in on a 3 way war with you and India. let you two duke it out and then hit the winner while you are weakened a bit from previous battle. Some think to go after the loser and get teritory but I'm going after the winner as you are now a threat to me."

      That makes perfect sense IF you go after the winner in a way that has the potential to grant you some success. BUT... stay tuned.

      "Think like your enemy ... If Im China why would I wait till you get all settled into India and full reinforcemets etc. as most likely your heading my way so Ill fight you in India not in my back yard."

      That's how you and I would think, and it SHOULD be how China would think, but they didn't. I DO try to think like my enemy, but that only works if what my enemy is doing is logical. I can't think like them if they are making random, illogical decisions. Stay tuned.

      ...alright, we're here. Here's why I can't "think like China":

      1. China marched in a stack of Level 1 Infantry and Level 1 Recon Vehicles. I would never have done that because it makes no sense. If they were following CoN News, they would have known that I've been using planes and helos like a madman. They brought no air defense. I wouldn't do that. It's a recipe for utter failure. As I said above, I took them out with air units as soon as I woke up. It was a slaughter.

      2. They avoided every one of my cities and units. All they did was claim a single swathe of empty provinces. I can't/won't predict this because, again, it makes no sense. They made no plans to hold the territory, so I took it all back with a single infantry unit as soon as I woke up. They destroyed none of my units and took none of my cities. All the entire thing cost me was a bit a time, whatever defensive damage that stack did to my planes and helos while I was destroying the stack, and whatever miniscule amount of revenue I lost from those empty provinces while I was asleep.

      I don't think you're giving me enough credit here. It's not that I don't understand strategy; it's that I can't predict things that directly oppose what one would consider good strategy. I'm fine with the enemies who make solid, logical tactical and strategic decisions. While there are certainly better players than me; I don't begrudge any ground lost to anyone who has simply outsmarted me. What I'm having a bigger problem with is losing ground/units to people who are NOT making good strategic/tactical decisions.

      There's no way I could have prepared for bed last night thinking, "I bet China will run a stack of undefended units through these exact empty territories while I'm asleep and do absolutely no real damage at all except for making more "territories lost" show up in my stats; I better do something to stop that."

      The post was edited 1 time, last by PerigeeNil ().

    • well then dont worry if you lose 3 occupied prov when off then I guess?? Losing a occupied prov has virtually no impact on anyone.

      Now that may raise a point to the how to rank/stats a player and separate cities won /lost versus Providences. losing an occupied city does impact as lose resources and bigger issue when retake need to sit there two days to get morale back up.
      "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
    • But im not caught up on prov win / loss really. focused more on troops won/loss (8 to 1 live) like almost (12 - 1 AI) that will pretty much take care of Prov ratio which is 13 to 1 and this in turn leads to victories.

      but I would gladly lose occupied prov over losing troops any day.
      "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