Call of War Strategic Discussion Thread

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    • Call of War Strategic Discussion Thread

      Welcome to the Call of War Strategic Discussion Thread, where we discuss different strategies within the game and how they can be used effectively. This thread aims to generate helpful discussion that will shed some light on the game and make it so all of the features that the developers so passionately coded in can be used to their full potential.

      Anyone can bring up any topic here for discussion or express any thoughts they have on the game, from highly specific things like the province of Gibraltar to whole concepts, such as resource management. Each week (probably every Saturday if I can) I will post a new "Topic of the Week" to spark ideas and help keep this thread alive.

      Have fun, and hopefully the deepest, darkest secrets of this game can be revealed in time :D

      Topic of the Week: Armored Cars

      Armored cars are the first unit researched in the armored tech branch. They are very fast and have decent damage against basic infantry, but aren't very good at attacking main armies.

      Some questions to consider:

      -How often should armored cars be built?
      -How should armored cars be used to maximize their potential?
      -What units do armored cars pair best with?

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

    • Turtling sucks. I tried it after some very rapid expansion. I even had an ally backing me up. It may have been because my army was too small as well as my opponent being untouchable by my originally devastating bomber force or I didn't build enough forts but either way turtling sucks.

      Forum ArmyField Marshall :00000441:

      Mess with the Bill, you get the scorn!

    • Defense is my field of expertise so I will explain briefly and post a more detailed explanation about it later.
      1.turtling is a viable strategy for only a select few of countries and is purely situational, an early offensive is quite advantageous but disadvantageous in some situations (more on that later)
      2.the best time to use this strategy is in the early game, stop in the mid game, and start again in the late game( more on that later)
      3.resource and time will be purely on this strategy to work, from building bunkers, guns, to diplomacy. But there are other variants of the turtling startegy that can be used.
      4. The time to stop attacking is based on your military power Andy confidence, if you think you can win or not, will decide to adopt a new strategy or stay as is.

      I'm quite busy at the moment so I will post more about it soon.
      "Victory needs no explenation, defeat allows none"
      -imperium thought of the day
    • Now, turtling is quite a difficult move to pull off and I don't recommend it to those who are new to the game or don't have the patience of a turtle, I will do my best to make you understand how and why this strategy works.

      1.Introduction
      -1.1. Who turtles?
      -1.2. Why should one turtle?
      2.Components of turtling
      -2.1. Military
      --2.1.a. Infantry
      --2.1.b. Armor
      --2.1.c. Field guns and its uses
      --2.1.d. Naval fleets
      --2.1.e. Air superiority
      -2.2. Country improvements
      3. Defense economy
      -3.1. Resource priority
      -3.2. Tech path
      4.Diplomacy
      -4.1. Economic allies
      -4.2. The iron curtain
      5. Defense adaption
      -5.1. Resource availability
      -5.2. Demography
      6.variance
      -6.1. Cloak and dagger
      -6.2. Juggernaut
      -6.3. Eternal fortress
      7. Weakness and ways to break the defense

      1.introduction
      Like its namesake the strategy of turtling is purely a defense strategy, it is to passively refrain from any form of direct conflict againts others. The strategy in itself is purely to defend ones nation from any form of attack by building a large defense network and an army to back it, it is by far the most difficult strategy to pull off due to many factors that will be explained later at Diplomacy

      1.1.who turtles?
      The strategy is to defend ones nation, by that statement alone anyone who wants to defend their country can adapt their own unique defense strategy or method, but it is important to know who should turtle in order to understand why these nations must invest heavily on the defense. (Example will use 10-player map).
      The countries that will most likely go turtle are:
      France
      (Just france in the 10 man map, but everyone can do it)

      1.2. Why should one turtle?
      Like was stated before to defend ones nation, there are many factors why it is so. Firts is the volatility of the position, in the example like France, she is surrounded by Britain across the English channel, Germany in the north-east, Spain in the south-west, and Italy in the south-east. France is in the center between these 4 playable countries, with bad-luck France will see a 4 front war between 4 countries trying to reach others, what should france do? Adopt a turtle strategy. Reasons why a nation adopt a defense strategy is many, from defending from multiple enemies due to stratigic importance, to simple survival, there are no shortage of opportunities that a defense strategy can carry a game, with will, knowledge and patience.
      "Victory needs no explenation, defeat allows none"
      -imperium thought of the day

      The post was edited 2 times, last by V1nd1cat0r ().

    • 2. Components of Turtling
      A defense strategy should require a base to defend and the troops to defend it. Here we will talk about what a total defense strategy will look like.

      2.1.Military
      It is important to know the different units that will work better defending the country, from the ground that will fight to hold even an inch of land against an enemy, a naval blockade, and total air superiority, the size and strength must be accounted due to the limiting effects of turtling. The military must be large enough to repel even a dedicated invasion from both land and sea, but small enough to be easy to maintain and replaced.

      2.1.a. Infantry
      The infantry is the bread and butter of a turtle strategy that will form the backbone of any army, in a defense strategy their importance are more pronounced, their easy to train, easy to deploy, easy to maintain, generally their flexibility gives the infantry unparalleled battlefield advantage especially when defending cities where most armor units get reduced effect.

      The militia is a very controversial unit, there quick to produce and have bonus on most terrain but by effectiveness the militia pales in comparison to infantry, serving as a stopgap unit the militia is best employed to replaced infantry defending and send those infantry where there most needed. This does not mean there useless, the militia can be surprisingly powerful when paired with other units, they're terrain boost can support other units and their low cost can easily fill empty posts. But remember that the militia is purely situational and must be used delicately.

      Motor and mech infantry have a more different role than infantry, their more powerful but they are best employed as an emergency reserved to quickly reinforce a defense that will break, their speed and power is also important under the "cloak and dagger" tactic (explained later).

      2.1.b. Armor
      Tanks are a great unit, with flat stats on both offense and defense they too can serve multiple roles. The importance or armor on the defense is their toughness, able to absorb damage and give some back, but with there usefulness the armor have a much more limiting role in the defense than on the offense.

      Armored cars are primarily a stopgap unit to counter early infantry in the late game although their speed is quite impressive there use is more profound than conventional armor, cars can serve as buffers but must be replaced by tanks later. (More under CaD)

      Tanks either light, med, or heavy, have general roles, light tanks are used in a special tactic I would like to call the cloak and the dagger that will be explained later, med tanks are the primary tank of the army, their armor and firepower make them balance in any occasion, med tanks as a defense unit can potentially and single handedly turn an invasion but must be used sparingly and be held in reserved, the heavy tank is a rare unit even on the late game in a defense strategy there use are "infantry tanks" supporting the infantry in the advance particularly under the juggernauts tactic.

      2.1.c. Field guns and its uses
      Field guns such as the artillery, anti-tank, and AA are the gears of a defense strategy, you will more likely build more guns than you build tanks. Field guns are used to amplify the firepower and defense value of infantry accompany them in defending the province, with a complement of anti-tank a defense line can repel a large tank force and a complement of AA can fend off bombers. For a defense strategy to work one must always have field guns along with infantry.

      2.1.d. Naval fleet
      The navy have 2 forms of usage in a defense strategy: prevention and domination.
      Prevention is to prevent an enemy invasion occurring from the sea into your territory, this can be achieved by using subs to hunt down convoys and cruisers as your primary battleship along with destroyers, the battleship in the context of prevention can work but due to resource constraints the cruiser is the most preferred choice.

      Domination is a different defensive use for the navy, like its name domination is total control of the sea, this can only be used when you have the ability to create a large naval fleet, to pull this off the enemy must fear going in the water. There are multiple ways to achieve this, due to the difficulty of this move it is better to find ways to do this without straining or rather breaking your entire strategy.

      2.1.e. Air superiority
      The Air Force can support both the army and navy in many ways, in a defense strategy they must only do one. That is to destroy the opposing Air Force, the Air Force on the defense must destroy enemy bombers that are trying break your defense interceptors will be your countries guardian angels from above to keep forts from breaking from bombing raids, imagine the battle for Britain, there are also other uses of the Air Force that will be explained later.

      2.2. Country improvements
      the defense strategy first must have a base where to defend key locations in the country, this is to further assist them in defense and hinder enemy progresses stopping the in their tracks even.
      Forts are the hallmarks of defense they increase the defense of value of your stations units and generally ruins an attackers day, they are quite cost effective to build when defending the capital or resource province is concerned, and can even dissuade a potential invader. place them in advantageous terrain increase levels and station infantry and guns and the province will not fall in a long time.
      another improvement are infrastructure, not only does they increase economic output the speed buff can provide defense forces a means to quickly reinforce a failing point in the wall, sea bases also act in this accord by cutting disembarking times.
      "Victory needs no explenation, defeat allows none"
      -imperium thought of the day

      The post was edited 2 times, last by V1nd1cat0r ().

    • 3. Defense Economy
      Turtling is very expensive, from building forts all the way to your army defensive strategy will need resources and capital and lot of them. There are many quite obvious ways to get resources either produce them your own or expand your territory to get more, this is where the offensive capability will take play, when expanding it must be viable and does not attract too much attention to yourself, always take resource province (what kind of resource will be talked next) that you need and plot a course towards it at the same time be able to hold it from opposition.

      It's quite temping to expand, it's also a neat way to victory taking high value province and ready yourself, but personally expansion must be planed before action and in defensive strategy where your strongpoint is your defense it must be made with discretion.

      Another way is to become self-sufficient one of my favorite methods of economic expansion, this is where you overdevelope your core while taking little non-core and light improvements on them. If anyone played RP games with me you will always notice at day 6-7 I'm #1 in the largest economy, even bigger than those that conquers province. Do note that self-sufficiency have a point of maximum and when that point is reach will start to fall behind so taking province can also help your economy. This coupled with defensive strategy will give defense players an economic advantage in the first 8-10 days but will fall behind later.

      3.1 Resource priority
      Self-sufficiency and light expansion can provide resources but it must be strategic resources that can open up new avenues of options and so carefully managing your resource is key to defensive strategy. Grain is an important resource that maintains the entire army always make sure this stay green and have a large stockpile. Steel is needed for fort building although not such a priority other than building forts,armor, and guns it will usually be easy to stockpile,it can be used to fetch a good sum in the market. Oil is second important to sustain a mech force, in defensive strategy tanks and the likes will mostly comprise your primary offensive power threat oil like your treat grain. Cash is by far the most important resource in defensive economy, forts and further economic development will drain your capital, i myself find it hard to maintain my defense due to the lack of funds. Always find ways to obtain funding for defense will need a lot of cash to operate.

      3.2 Tech Path
      There are many paths to take to improve your units, unlock units, and still get ahead even under the defense. First and foremost get arty,AA and anti-tank early at least their level 1, they can handle most attacks quite well early and upgrade them is seems viable like expecting an invasion and such. Always upgrade infantry many will rush med tanks and tanks in general, but always remember there are more infantry then tanks and on the defense a force of infantry and anti-tank will laugh at any tank attack. Get interceptors and upgrade them only if the enemy have scouts especially bombers. For navy getting Dest and subs are great for scouting the coast but try to get a cruiser and upgrade it only if needed. For tanks try and rush med tanks, this can give an attack spike, enemies won't see it coming if you plan on going aggresive behind a seemingly permanent defensive stance. Secrets are research on your own discreation it will mostly be personal preference.
      "Victory needs no explenation, defeat allows none"
      -imperium thought of the day

      The post was edited 1 time, last by V1nd1cat0r ().

    • Turtling is an interesting strategy but it's unlikely to bring you victory, you need to expand to gain more resources but do it wisely. Dont over expand and stretch your army.

      Forum Gang Divine Entity :00000156:

      Taking over the Forum 1 post at a time.
    • Well Elio, if you think expanding and getting resource is important in turtling is important it contradicts to don't expand and stretch your army much, you clearly haven't see me do it. Hehehe you will be surprised.
      "Victory needs no explenation, defeat allows none"
      -imperium thought of the day
    • balance in deed is important, but when it comes to turtling any point is a possible advantage to the attacker, to simplify balance needs to take a different form then just conventional balance mix of units. say if we build a balance force of units such as tanks,infantry, and guns quite likely tanks and some infantry are for offensive action while guns and infantry for defense, now we are Spain and we attack France and won the war with some losses.

      this is where the military aspect of turtling is important, whether you have a balance force or not, we cannot expand further to challenge say Italy or Germany and still have some units to fully defend and consolidate our gains. a defensive mindset warrants early expansion for resource and an advantageous position but must reach a point where conservation prevail more than ambition.

      one side being heavy can cause a lot of problems i experience that myself trying to build a sizable navy once and boy did it stagnate the growth of other branch of the army, but the scales are determined not of context or guidelines no, the scales tip based on needs and the strategy it demanded. there is no such thing as "balance" per say only the right people for the right job. everyone can consent to that.
      "Victory needs no explenation, defeat allows none"
      -imperium thought of the day
    • Well we shall see how well this strategy works! I'm in a game where I am Italy and I 've conquered France, all of North Africa, The Middle East, and Yugoslavia. Russia steamrolled Germany and is right up against me. America has taken most of Spain and is almost to the Pyrenees.

      I was planning an invasion of England, BUT they have a Navy posted in the English channel that will chew up anything I send at it. Not so good for me... America and Russia are on the same team.

      So I am hunkering down. Decided I can no longer expand without risking massive armies hitting me in weak under protected flanks. Needless to say I've been building lot's of forts, guns, and interceptors lately
    • This is more of a brush than actually explaining turtling, I simply explain how I do turtling and experimented various methods and techniques to implement into various other strategies and tactics. But admittedly all these(not even finish yet) are theoretical, I experiment it from time to time sometimes situational some works some don't, so I made plans weight the scales and do it again, and again, and again. Until it conclude in a desirable result, but it never end there

      although from the start I don't generally talk about turtling as a measure of winning, but a measure to defend and defend alone. We're not exactly or at least not to me how to win with turtling just how much it can work.
      "Victory needs no explenation, defeat allows none"
      -imperium thought of the day
    • @ Czar, while I agree with you on most points, I do disagree strongly regarding AA and AT. They are perhaps the cheapest units in the game resourcewise (looking at grand picture how resources are balanced) and if you notice your enemy focusing on airforce/tanks (like 99% of people do), it often can be prudent to build the exact counter for that. AT in attacks can be perfectly fine for example (in cities especially if there are a lot of tank defenders). Since they are cheap and exchange roughly 1 on 1 with Lights, you have the advantage.

      Bottom line is, I try to adapt to what I see happening in (future) opponents armies. Does he go all tank? I match with AT. All airforce? I match with mainly fighters and AA. The hardest opponents are the ones with mixed armies, there is no way to counter that, aside having 1 extreme focus in research and exploit it - but thats hard because research is obviously slow.

      Oh, and rockets, everyone loves to use them, and hates to see them flying toward you. In my view Rockets are vastly overpowered in this game - hence I usually ensure its one of the first things to research. They won me quite a few games.
    • Yeah, but like Czar said the objective is to win, if it's not going to that direction it's a waste of time. If the enemy have a large army of tanks, then use bombers and tanks, and use AT if needed.

      Just by hearing this the "sword" is a better than a "shield" and what's much better is to abandon the "shield" and press on. Just to win which is the main goal, anything straying from that goal is a waste.

      sorry Czar I agree with all your points, but I'm not competitive enough to win all my games, but it's true the main goal is to "win" but is it better to test and explore other even illogical strategies? Winning is nothing if you do it the same way over and over again.

      It's like life, what's the point of living if your not "living" it? Winning the game is alright but playing the game is a win enough.
      "Victory needs no explenation, defeat allows none"
      -imperium thought of the day