The Problem with Railroad Guns

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    • The Problem with Railroad Guns

      I was playing as Spain the other day on a 1939 map, and when using a railroad gun, I realized something: They suck. They really suck. The railroad gun was one of the most destructive implements of the war! The only good aspect of it in CoW is that it has a really long range... which is useless if it can't do a lot of damage. I mean, come on, 3 damage? Level 5 artillery is cheaper, faster, and even more effective against... really everything except navy. So what is the obvious solution? Easy. Double the power of the railroad gun. I almost never use railroad guns for the sheer fact that they don't really damage anything. You have to at least stack 3 before you can get anywhere with it. It balances out: it's already incredibly slow, and can't really fend for itself in direct combat. I mean, look at the commandos: I use them all the time because they're OPAF. I use rockets all the time because you can use them to do some real damage. Nuclear Bombers are awesome. Railroad guns are just disappointing. Anyway, I've said my piece. What do you think?
    • I have always figured that SP artillery are a better investment than railroad guns.

      Railroad guns are really only effective in specific situations, and in those cases they work well.


      I agree that being able to research an upgraded railroad gun that would do additional damage would be nice.
      War is a game that is played with a smile. If you can't smile, grin. If you can't grin keep out of the way til you can. - Winston Churchill



      VorlonFCW
      Retired from Bytro staff as of November 30, 2020.

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    • Rail guns serve a niche purpose. it is good to have them researched in case you need them.
      1) Defending a coastline. I've actually used them quite effectively against stronger forces in Spain to fend off attacks on Spain's long coastline. Also used it effectively against stronger opponents to defend Columbia's coastline. They can attack battleships or convoys that venture too close to your coastline. The enemy (number 3 and 4 players in the game) couldn't land any forces in either case despite repeated attempts. My biggest problem as Columbia was after realizing that their invasion attempts were getting them anywhere, they switched to building a lot of tac bombers to pound be with. Of course, I had to build a lot of AA to counter that. I used a combination of naval, rail guns and air to pick off the attempted landings. They didn't successful disembark in my provinces during the game. This was a timed event of 40 days. I managed to survive. The enemy was able to land units elsewhere in South America.
      2) Enemy rail guns: Sometimes you need them to counter enemy rail guns. If the enemy has well defended rail guns with AA, they can pound you from a distance if you don't have any rail guns to counter with.
      3) Against Fortifications: If fortifications have art/SP art, rail guns with AA and possibly other units can pound away at them from a safe distance.
      4) In most situations, I prefer art, SP AA, and planes. If the enemy has AA, patrolling planes may not be a good option, especially if in fortifications.
      5) RAIL GUNS DEFENDING FROM A FORT: If you can fire rail guns from a fortified province center, they can be quite effective especially if the enemy has to go through a stack to get to them.
      6) CROSSFIRE: If you have rail guns that can fire from multiple locations at approaching enemies, it can be quite effective. If they approach you retreat the rail gun with AA towards a fortified province center. Multiple AA in a fortified province can be deadly.
    • I have never built a singe railroad gun. They cost about what 3 SP arty cost in both metal and manpower and do not get an open field bonus. So power wise they become somewhat obsolete when you can build SP arty.
      However I could see myself use them in certain situations. When defending territory where your enemy has to walk a long way through mountains for example they can be great.

      I also think that most people use RRG wrong. It is a defensive weapon, not an assault weapon. The number of times I have had an enemy attack me with railroad guns leading the assault is ridiculous. Especially if you are the one going through mountains to get to your enemy. Its just a bad idea. They are extra slow and get a -25% power reduction. Also a lot of players tend to have them 'keep firing'. Then their firing arc tells me where they are. They are much better used to sneakily fire upon enemy units, fortifications or whatever. Give them a fire command and send them on the move for an hour, tada, enemy can see their firing arc only during a fraction of time per hour.

      The other main reason I never built them is because of all the support they need and then of course rockets. Even if rockets get close they do more damage then a rocket costs. So the only time I am to use RRG is when I face an enemy that is passing through mountains to get to me and has low metal and/or rare production so he will likely not produce rockets. Never happened yet.

      So what do we need?! Break apart the rocket! Turn it into a building/morale destroying rocket only and a unit damaging rocket artillery unit
    • RRG are indeed a specific unit for a specific purpose. Defensively, they're useful. Facing an island nation that has high level arty, SPA, and RRG plus a few ships around is a royal pain. In massive land masses, RRG are not that useful as they can be overrun by faster units.
      Eminem2891
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    • Lawrence Czl wrote:

      Since they have a range of 150 km, Rail guns can hit battleships and other sea units without taking damage. If an enemy has a naval force off your coast, the rail gun can damage them without taking damage.
      That is true, however damage is still quite minimal since ships have a large amount of HP. In this instance I still prefer a swarm of SP arty. A lot of provinces near the sea are plains anyway. So with a greater number of SP arty (1 RRG equals 3 SP arty, cost wise) I offer good damage on ships and on top of that a good first response for any disembarking troops. As an added bonus I can also decide to send them somewhere else acros the map and they will be there within a reasonable amount of time.
    • Lots of people say that RRG could be used against ships. In practice, this simply isn't viable. Sure, they may outrange all ship units, but if you check their stats, they only do 2 damage to ship units. In comparison, they do 3 against buildings and 3.5 against armor and infantry. This makes it difficult to take down large stacks of ships. The only way to do a lot of damage with RRG is if you have a lot of them, and the ships in question stand still for a long time.
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    • iDragons wrote:

      Lots of people say that RRG could be used against ships. In practice, this simply isn't viable.
      The preferred "ship" to use RRG's against for me is convoys approaching to disembark without any other support. If they did too much more damage to capital ships they would destroy convoys in one hit, so there is a balancing point there.
      War is a game that is played with a smile. If you can't smile, grin. If you can't grin keep out of the way til you can. - Winston Churchill



      VorlonFCW
      Retired from Bytro staff as of November 30, 2020.

      >>> Click Here to submit a bug report or support ticket <<<
    • VorlonFCW wrote:

      The preferred "ship" to use RRG's against for me is convoys approaching to disembark without any other support. If they did too much more damage to capital ships they would destroy convoys in one hit, so there is a balancing point there.
      Maybe there should be something in the game that stops damage from spreading to more than 1 navy unit?

      RRG's could have as much as 20 power (fictional number) versing ships but if they can only damage 1 unit at a time, even if there are multiple units in a single flotilla there would not be a problem. RRG's damage versus ships would be increased but they would not take out more than 1 escort ship at a time.
    • However, in specialised situations, RRGs are really good. When my alliance had an internal game, it was RRGs that broke the stalemate and eventually win the game for my team. I agree that RRGs in usual situations are quite useless, however, in prolonged stalemates, they prove to be extremely useful and might just turn the tides in one's favor.
      "As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable." Albert Einstein

      "Giving up is not an option in war, for it proves one's incapability and incompetence as a leader." - Me (Little Racoon)