The key to victory is not to lose troops. It sounds simple but it's not.


The basics:

• Don't engage in combat, this way you don't lose troops.
  
• Not losing troops means that you don't have to replace lost troops that costs time, resources and manpower.
  
• Instead you can train new troops which means your army will grow. In the meantime your fellow players will be engaged in combat and lose troops which means their army will be smaller.
  
• Because you don't have to replace troops you have more resources that you can invest in your economy
  

How not to lose troops:

• Use artillery and tactical or attack bombers. These troops can attack the enemy while not taking damage or in the case of bombers only a little damage.
  
• Artillery: artillery is weak on its own and vulnerable against almost any unit. 10 artillery have the best SBDE (State Based Damage Efficiency) They are best in a stack with 3 or 4 anti tank (AT) and anti air (AA°. This way when the artillery stack is attacked by other artillery or bombers the damage will be absorbed by all units. When you are attacking with your artillery put some tanks and infantry in front of them so they can't be attacked.
  
  Guide to artillery for 1.5
  
• Tactical and attack bombers bombers: bombers are one of the fastest and strongest units in the game when used correctly. Tactical bombers are a unit to use against unarmored units and attack bombers counter armored units. Put them in a stack of 10 for the best SBDE. Always put interceptors in the stack as well. The interceptors will absorb the damage so that your bombers live longer. The interceptors will also protect your bombers against an attack of other planes. Bombers by themselves are vulnerable against interceptor attacks. Always use the patrol function and not the attack function. When the planes stay in the zone of the red triangle they don't have to refuel so you can attack or defend faster. Planes that are refueling have only 25% health so it makes them very vulnerable against an attack.
  
  Air Combat for COW1.5v- Guide for dealing some (in)decent damage
  
• Never attack: most troops are stronger in defense then attack like infantry and anti tank for example. Let the enemy come to you. When under fire from artillery he will be forced to attack or pull back.
  
• Use the terrain to your advantage: militia is a strong in defense and gets 75% bonus in mountains, 50% in forests and cities, 25% in hills. They are stealth in cities and forests so perfect for ambushes. Anti Tank is also a stealth unit with an extra 50% damage output in forests and cities. Artillery gets a 50% bonus in hills and mountains. A commando is a stealth unit has a 50% extra damage output in mountains and forests and ignores the defensive bonus that the enemy gets in fortifications. Tanks have a 50% damage output on plains. Use the terrain to defend where your troops get a bonus and where the troops of your enemy preferably get a penalty.
  
• It is better to retreat to a terrain type where you will get a bonus and lose a province in the process then losing your army in a terrain that wasn't favorable to you.
  
• Forts are great but they are expensive, only build them if you are sure that the enemy will attack that location. They are a great lifesaver when you get attacked.
  

Economy:

To be able to sustain a big army you need to have a strong economy.

• Build industry in your cities and upgrade them to level 5 as fast as you can. They will increase you resource production with 100%. In other words full upgraded industry doubles your production.
  
• Build industry in rural provinces and upgrade them to level 3 as soon as you have the resources available to do so.
  
• To be able to build a large army you need manpower. You can get manpower by conquering new territory and by building recruitment centers. They are very cost effective and increase your manpower. Only build them in your rural core provinces where you have no resource production. Those provinces produce more manpower than other provinces and give the best return of investment.
  
• Core provinces produce 100% resources, new territory only gives 25% so it takes 4 times longer to get a return of investment. Always focus on your core provinces first
  

The trick is to force your enemy in the attack. Most players when being attacked the attack themselves instead of defending, if they don't you pound them with artillery so that they are forced to either pull back or attack. For me this works every single time.

Of course you can't avoid engaging in combat but I do it as little as possible. When i lock myself in target it will be under covering artillery fire and patrolling bombers.

As far for the bombers yes they are not ranged and they take little damage when escorted with interceptors. I just wanted to keep it simple an fit it in a sentence. You can't really say that they engage into combat as they don't lock themselves in target like other units do.

Most maps are over at day 40. At least i've never played a game longer then 40 days, even not on a 100 player map. That's why i don't invest in nuclear.

I said most maps, not all of them. I've never played a game that lasted longer then 40 days, mostly because i'm the one that's ending it alone or with my alliance mates. There are games that last longer and can drag on forever but that's because the left over players are "not really playing efficiently" to say it in polite terms. Or there's a big stand off and nobody wants to take the first move.

This is very important but underrated by many players: "how not to lose units". As every unit represents resources and time investment that can never recovered when lost. Unit management is as important as economical management.

It's not because you defend, that you let your enemy come to you. On the contrary, you take the initiative and you attack. But you attack with artillery and with planes. The enemy is forced to counter attack you and you will defend. If you are not in favourable terrain to defend in mêlée combat than you will retreat. When you engage in mêlée combat you will split off your protective troops in your artillery stack and put them in front of your artillery as a meat shield.

If you use your tactic you will always have to engage in mêlée combat and you will not have the luxury like me to chose your terrain because you need to follow your enemy to be able to engage with him. Your troops will become damaged, thus they will move slower, deal less damage in the next fight. All the time you will have to replace your damaged troops. If you have to replace units your army can't grow. If you play like me and don't lose units than your army will grow, you can cover more ground and fight more wars. My troops may be slower but the game play of my tactic is faster. As I don't have to waste resources on replacing units, I can use those resources to invest in industry and recruitment centres. This enables me to produce even more troops. I finish a 100 player world at war in a coalition of 5 players in 17-20 days depending on the doctrine.

Also when you compose stacks you need to put the slow units in one stack and the fast units in another stack.
Slow units are: infantry, AT, AA, artillery, rocket artillery.
Fast units: MT, Mot/Mech inf, SP AA, SP artillery, SP rocket artillery.
In the slow stack you should put an AC for scouting. In the fast stack you need to keep a mot inf as scout.
You keep some fast single units on the side to capture undefended provinces: LT, mot inf, mech inf, MT. Planes take care of single units or small stacks to pave the way for your fast units and your artillery stacks tag along to take down any stacks that are too big.

Slow units are: infantry, AT, AA, artillery, rocket artillery
Fast units: MT, Mot/Mech inf, SP AA, SP artillery, SP rocket artillery
In the slow stack you should put an AC for scouting. In the fast stack you need to keep a mot inf as scout.
You keep some fast single units on the side to capture undefended provinces: LT, mot inf, mech inf, MT. Planes take care of single units or small stacks to pave the way for your fast units and your artillery stacks tag along to take down any stacks that are too big.