The key to victory is not to lose troops. It sounds simple but it's not.
The basics:
Air Combat for COW1.5v- Guide for dealing some (in)decent damage
To be able to sustain a big army you need to have a strong economy.
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We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight on the hills, We shall never surrender! that is the key to victory!
All jokes aside, good guide BM.
Since its a long post it is no wonder your use of words made for some oversights as it is written now.
Tactical bombers are not ranged troops. They use direct attack.They can actually sustain a lot of damage if they are attacking a group with AA and/or SP AA. You know this.BMfox wrote:
How not to lose troops:
- Use ranged troops: artillery and tactical bombers. These troops can attack the enemy while not taking damage or in the case of bombers only a little damage.
I doubt this will win you every game. Combined with your earlier post I would say: attack with ranged units if pssible, not with direct attacks.BMfox wrote:
- 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.
Excluding direct attacks from your options gives you very few ways to attack someone. Sometimes it is actually best to do both. Use artillery to bomb a province and lock that city's units into place with moto inf/ mech inf. For example, this prevents gold repairs.
Or a good mixed stack of fast units, LT, mech inf and moto inf can be sent on a destructive course through an enemy's country while you take your time dealing with fortified positions. The economical damage done this way is more of an advantage than the troops you might safe. And it goes faster. Taking out one or two crucial production centers can tip the tide of battle. Especially if you and your opponent are quite evenly matched.
You also know this.
Economy
Make sure you have the biggest one. This way you can afford to use troops by using direct attacking units (as described above). And you will be able to build more troops faster. Recovery rate is very important. Pretty sure you also know this.
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.
Or just nuke them on day 48 
That's what the americans did and that won them the war without them sustaining hundreds of casualties from invading japanese homelands
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.
BMfox wrote:
Most maps are over at day 40
Well... 
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.
Cold war but CoW editionBMfox wrote:
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.
Letting the enemy come to you isn't always a good idea. It really depends on your strategy. I personally like to spam light tanks and rely heavily on aircraft. It's a high-risk, high-reward strategy.
If you use offensive units like these, it's best to always attack and force your enemy back. In fact, I'd even argue that attacking is better since huge maps and games like 100p are really competitive sometimes and a huge factor of winning is not only skill, but whoever has more land has a bigger economy and that is a huge advantage on your own. Waiting for your enemy to attack as you sit in your provinces is not always good.
I feel like artillery is really good, but has many drawbacks and isn't for everyone. They generally slow down your invasion (yes even with SP arty) because you have to get your arty there and sit until your done bombing them out. Plus, you need alot of them to do reasonable amounts of damage/to make breakthroughs so I feel like planes are far surperior since they can move extremely fast and can provide intel from a reasonable range.
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.Skypier wrote:
Letting the enemy come to you isn't always a good idea. It really depends on your strategy. I personally like to spam light tanks and rely heavily on aircraft. It's a high-risk, high-reward strategy.If you use offensive units like these, it's best to always attack and force your enemy back. In fact, I'd even argue that attacking is better since huge maps and games like 100p are really competitive sometimes and a huge factor of winning is not only skill, but whoever has more land has a bigger economy and that is a huge advantage on your own. Waiting for your enemy to attack as you sit in your provinces is not always good.
I feel like artillery is really good, but has many drawbacks and isn't for everyone. They generally slow down your invasion (yes even with SP arty) because you have to get your arty there and sit until your done bombing them out. Plus, you need alot of them to do reasonable amounts of damage/to make breakthroughs so I feel like planes are far surperior since they can move extremely fast and can provide intel from a reasonable range.
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.
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