Pinned How can you know what happens in your map?

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    • How can you know what happens in your map?

      In this forum there are a lot of tutorials with methods of starting the game. I wouldn’t dream to try to antagonize them, so I decided to write some tips in a slightly different style: how can somebody “guess” what is happening in the messy first few days, even with insufficient information.

      The game has two wonderful features: a detailed newspaper and a very revealing map. These two tools can answer many questions about the way to start the game.


      1. How can I know that this country is inactive?

      Many players (especially novices) are at a mess when they try to define their strategy. They live in the constant fear that something will happen and they will be attacked from all sides. Don’t worry too much – if that happens and you are attacked from 3 sides in Day 1, you will lose for sure. Still, there are many cases where you KNOW you don’t need to be afraid of a certain neighbor, because he is inactive.

      During the first day of the game, read carefully the newspaper. After a player is assigned to a country, watch what he is building there. If half an hour passes without anything being built (specifically, some barracks) you have very good chances that the player is inactive.

      Then, after about 2 hours have a look at his cities. The map will reveal whether somebody is building infrastructure (it will show it with a question mark). If you don’t see any sign of this, you are almost 90% sure it is an inactive player (the other possibility is to be a really bad player). The final confirmation will come in Day 2: if you see him having built Industrial Lvl2 he is active (but not very experienced). If you see no sign of buildings by that time, you can already start thinking about when to invade there.


      2.How dangerous is my neighbor?

      So, the game starts and you notice that your neighbor is spamming Barracks everywhere. What can you deduce?

      The answer is that this player is wasting his resources. Also, there is the high probability that he will start spamming Militia. These players usually don’t develop at all their economy and end up in difficulty quite soon, but for the moment there is a (very small) danger of a massive attack. Get prepared: it is important to build some LT very soon (Infantry and especially Militia are bad against LT). Better not to waste resources in AT in this border (you will not need them, most probably).

      Now, in the other border you have an opponent who built only 4-5 Barracks in cities and he is already building Infrastructure there. What can we deduce?

      We can usually deduce that this player is quite dangerous, both in the short and in the long run. Check the possibility of a coalition, and prepare just in case defense there (some AT for a start, then arty and LT).


      3. Ah these stats of the players!

      Spend some time to check the stats of your opponents, both the immediate neighbors and the other players in the map. Many players only see the K/D ratio and the level, but there is much more than that. First of all, the Level is cumulative, so it is pointless without reference to the number of games played. Any player with Level below 30 and more than 10 games is a prime candidate to quit soon – especially if things don’t go well for him at the start. Avoid making a coalition with him.

      Check also whether the player is using Mobile or PC version (in the Diplomacy screen). The Mobile version is still quite “primitive”, so you can expect that a player who uses only Mobile will not be very good in battles (again, a good reason for avoiding a coalition). Finally, check the player’s Economic and Military index. In general, if you see that his Military index is way better than the Economic index, that shows a player who almost exclusively builds units and fights, neglecting his economy. Get ready for war, unless you have a reason to be allies.


      4. How can I know what he will do?

      Each county in the map has some advantages and some disadvantages. A good player will try to maximize his advantages and neutralize his disadvantages. Let’s see a few examples from the 22 Map.


      a. You are Libya and you notice that Egypt is both active and starting reasonably with his buildings. What will Egypt try to do next? Is he going after me?

      Unfortunately, the answer is probably a big YES. Egypt in this map has a glaring problem in Metal (only country with one metal only) which he must try to solve. The two “obvious” targets are either Turkey or Libya, with Libya been the favorite (closer and with easier terrain). So, yes get ready for defense.

      b. You are Poland and Germany is active. Should I be afraid?

      Again, the answer is in the map: Germany has only one oil, and the only nearby country with two oil provinces is Poland. Better be prepared.

      In all these cases, map is only giving an indication of the needs of the other player(s). Sometimes it can also be a means for negotiations. For example, you are Yugoslavia and you see a good player as Egypt: you can try to negotiate a deal, exchanging your surplus Metal for Goods (that you are missing).


      5. What kind of army does my opponent have?

      Again, the answer sometimes is in the map. Especially around Day 5-6 check to see what is happening with his airbases – if there is no airbase Lvl2, there are also no tactical bombers. If there is no airbase network, probably there is no air force. Same applies to Naval Bases: if there is no Naval Base in a city (with IC), then there are no submarines.


      6. The opponents are already attacking in all directions. Am I in danger?

      Maybe yes, maybe no. This is an opportunity - check carefully the newspaper, to try to estimate what kind of weapons they are using. If you notice them taking too much damage, it means they are not stacking their units properly. If they start losing units, you must start thinking about how to take their lands.

      If you see that two nearby (human) players engage into a conflict, this is a clear opportunity: they will both be weakened, their economy will be backwards, and most probably you can wait for the right opportunity to grab the spoils. You have two options: either to ally with the one that seems to be winning (and finish off the other), or to attack the winning side, at the moment of his greater weakness.
    • 7. Contact the other players

      After seeing who is active and who is not, try to contact the other players. DON’T ask them for a coalition at that point – it is too early and you still don’t know their intentions. You simply try to establish some kind of communication, perhaps setting some mutually acceptable goal (like “I will take this, and you will take this”). Remember that the last thing you want is an ally who will quit the game after a few days – but you also don’t want a war against human players in Day 1. There will be time for that later.


      8. Oops, a coalition of 3 players emerged near me. What should I do?

      (Where 3 is the maximum number of players in the coalition). This can either be terribly dangerous or a big opportunity. Many players (especially newer ones) simply create a coalition on geographical terms (let’s be ally with my neighbors, not to be afraid for an invasion). Still, this is a strategic war game, and you play to conquer – not to be restrained into your initial borders.

      The fact is that all coalitions pose a threat to the nearby countries, and usually they must in turn ally in order to defend against the common threat. Let’s see It through some examples

      I am Romania in the 22 map, I have expanded to Yugoslavia, and I see UK, Spain, and France forming a coalition. Then UK invades Germany while France attacks Italy. Am I in danger? The answer is yes, and pretty soon in fact – I am in their natural path of expansion. I need to form some alliance, with either Poland or some of the Russian countries. Especially with Poland we both know that we are next in line – we have a common enemy and we are natural allies at this point of the game.


      9. Careful when some player does something strange

      Try to put yourself in the shoes of the other player, and think what you would have done in his position. Compare this to what he is doing – if what he is doing is strange, be alarmed.

      Example: I am Romania in the 22 map and Germany, Finland and Sweden form a coalition. Ukraine is certainly inactive, but in Poland there is a decent player. Then Finland attacks Communist Russia (while Russian Empire also tries to grab some land from there, which is a mistake). What would you do as Poland?

      A three milliseconds glance at the map would give the answer: Poland is in GRAVE danger. When Finland conquers Communist Russia, Poland will be invaded on three sides and will be taken out. The natural reaction would be to ally with Romania and both to attack on Germany (to take out one of the coalition members, now that it is still possible). Instead, Poland is doing nothing like that, and in fact he also attacks Communist Russia, moving his divisions close to Finland and leaving (obviously) unprotected his North and West border. What is going on?

      There are, of course, a few possibilities here, but since Poland is a decent player be immediately in the lookout for a “hidden coalition member”. Poland is not afraid the (already full) coalition, so he has an agreement with them. He is simply hiding this fact, trying to lure the other players of the game into a trap (and you are the next victim). Don’t trust Poland whatever he says, and try to set some other alliance if possible!


      10. Special units

      In a few cases (like RR Guns and Battleships) you can see in the newspaper information about them been built – be on the lookout.

      It is equally important to check in the newspaper for buildings that might pose a threat. Airbase level 3 and nuclear reactor can mean one thing only. Also, Barracks Lvl2 in the capital around Day 8 mean that Commandos are coming from that direction.


      11. Where (and whom) to spy

      Obviously, the ideal would be to have spies everywhere and spy everybody – or, at least, to have allies with High Command to spy together. Unfortunately, at the start of the game cash are usually not enough for such luxuries. The previous advices DO NOT intend to replace spies – they try to limit the need for them at the crucial first days. Of course, after a few days it is highly advisable to use intelligence spies, to gather more information about your opponents.

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      Summary

      This, of course, is not a complete list – there are lots of other tips that one could add. It is just an attempt to give some strategic insight of the game, for the players who are just taking their first steps: they have started to grasp the mechanisms of battle and economy, and they now want to try to understand what is happening in the game.

      I hope it helps!

      The post was edited 1 time, last by atreas1 ().

      1. Sometimes when you see that their resource is low... Attack their resource production area and also send spies on economic sabotage.
      2. There are times when Russia is fighting Caucasus and you are Ukraine. Caucasus is a AI and whenever the AI wins any land. Ukraine should go and obtain it. It is not directly attacking Russia but it is kind of like taking whatever land another country takes
      3. Never "accidentally" attack anyone.(which i did)
      Criticism is the key to being proud but empathy is the key to being successful.
      Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost
      Ask not what your countrycan do for you, ask what you can do for your country. John F Kennedy
      Time is beyond our control, and the clock keeps ticking regardless of how we lead our lives. Priority management is the answer to maximizing the time we have. John C. Maxwell
    • Really really good - I learned a ton here! Can't underscore enough how helpful it is to look at profiles of other players. Couple of other things to look at:

      - Wins: See if they have won that map before. A player with multiple wins, especially solo-wins, should be taken seriously. A player with almost all solo-wins is also very unlikely to stay a member of a coalition
      - Troop casualties: Take a look at which troops have large casualty numbers, this will generally give you an idea of the types of troops that player builds regularly and thus, a decent guess at their strategy
    • What a great post atreas1! I am glad to see you say not to join a coalition strait away. I try hard to avoid joining a coalition a newby made on day 1 for no valid reason. Usually, enough nearby people are inactive or there are some good AI targets to keep you busy so you can keep early peace with everyone for the first 8 days or so. The longer time goes on, the greater advantage I will have vs their nascent coalition. I will not join a coalition without a reason and not without reasonable assurance that we can aid each other. Nothing is more humiliating than joining a coalition only to watch your member get destroyed while you helplessly watch the map. That means the attacker will afford you no respect. For those reasons, I wait until we have air network and airforces for quick aid, are close enough to support each other with ground troops, or are benefiting from cooperation against a common enemy.

      swlyon3 wrote:



      - Wins: See if they have won that map before. A player with multiple wins, especially solo-wins, should be taken seriously. A player with almost all solo-wins is also very unlikely to stay a member of a coalition
      Definitely something to consider, but be careful on this assumption. Prior to coalitions, it was the only way to end a map. You also received solo wins during team games that ended while you happened to be in first place. Wins often means that a person is good a mopping up and does not quit a map, hence he could be a good ally.