Updated version with the new knowledge tree
I've met a lot of players, lower and higher levels who are struggling with the different components of the game from the start. I wrote a quickstarter that will help you to play as efficient as possible the first eight days of the game to give you a head start:
With the new knowledge tree resource management will be very important. Chose your spendings wisely depending on your resource production and the terrain you are in. If you are low on oil and you are playing with a country like Turky with a lot of mountains and little flat grounds where tanks get a 50% bonus, you can amagine that going for armor branch would not be wise.
1) The first thing you do when the game starts is buy all the goods, grain, oil, steel you can on the market. They are cheap now and you will need them. Also buy the rare resources cheaper than 10 a unit.
2) Knowledge tree: knowledge is really important in this game because it gives your troops more strength. In the infantry branch start with researching infantry this will unlock all the other infantry branch units. When you are done with infantry go for artillery.
I prefer not invest in militia because they cost a lot of manpower, have a high daily upkeep and low offensive strength.
In the armor branch research armored car as this will unlock all armor branch units. Don't produce or invest in armored cars because they are weak, go for tanks. With the new knowledge tree you have the possibility not to waste any resources and knowledge on Light Tanks but to go straigt for Medium Tanks. If you opt for this you will easily beat players that produce light tanks. They are much more powerful then LT compared to the cost to produce a Medium Tank
3) Construction:
- Start with building barracks in every Core territory that has an industrial complex. They will provide a 10% increase in manpower production and 25% increase in unit production speed.
- When you are on a coastline or on an Island ships will be important to protect yourself against an invasion. Building a naval base takes only 15 minutes and gives you the opportunity to produce some ships early on.
- When the barracks and or naval bases are finished build infrastructure where you have industrial complexes, you need them to produce artillery and tanks.
- If you can spare the resources then build also infrastructure in provinces that produce resources that you lack. It is highly recommended to build infrastructure early on in double resource icon provinces as those have a double production. Remember: Infrastructure level 3 produces 50% more in that province.
- Don't build industrial complexes because they are expensive, update them! The higher the level of an industrial complex the faster your troops train. An industrial complex level 5 also gives you 50% extra resource production. Sometime you don't have an industrial complex in a oil, rare or steel province and as these are resources that you will need a lot in this game it can be smart to build one industrial complex there and upgrade to level 5 because they are expensive to build but cheap to update. (you will not always be able to spend as many goods as is described here. Building infra in ALL your resource provinces when you start might not be in your best interest. Building all the infra might mean that you will not be able to build units, do research or upgrade your IC later on.)
4) Troops: don't train infantry as you start already with enough of them and you don't want to have a problem with food consumption a bit later in the game. Try to diversify your army so build first 5 artillery, 5 artillery in one stack are extremely powerfull. They shoot enemy troops from a distance without taking damage themselves. Protect your artillery well and they will serve you the entire game.
Artillery is weak against air attack and other units so it is wise to train 5 Anti Air afterwards and put them in the stack with the artillery.
Next you train 5 Anti Tank (this is perfect to attack armored vehicles and as defensive unit against light tanks). As many players love to produce tanks even though they lack the oil and don't have a favourable terain, the AT will protect you perfectly against them.
You now have your start units, a stack with 5 arty and 5 AA, 5 AT as protection against tanks. Now the time has come to build some tanks of your own: you either build 5 Light Tanks if your steel production permits it or you produce 2 Medium tanks. To produce two medium tanks you will need two infrastructure level 2 where you have an industrial complex. Favorably you build an infrastructure level 2 in a city where you have an industrial complex that produces resources that you need a lot as the infrastructure boosts the economy in that province.
The unit build depends on your enemy, though as a standard it is decent, there is no sure way to be safe the further you are away of the start of a map.
5) Attack AI: on day 2 you can attack AI (computer players) make two groups of 3 infantry and one armored vehicle and attack. You have now 8 units in attack, the other units you use to defend your cities and important resource provinces. Know that with each country you are in war with your moral drops with 5% up to a maximum of 25% if at war with more than 5 players.
6) Attack players: on day 4 you will have 5 artillery, 5 AA, 5 AT and a couple of tanks. You are now ready to attack a player. if he hasn't done the exact same thing like you, he will overrun.
!!!Before you attack a player click on the "I" in the diplomacy menu to see the level and the stats of that player. If he is a good player you might want him as an ally rather then an enemy!!!
When you want to play aggressive you can attack a player on day one. Just make sure that you take out his cities before he has trained his first infantries. Know that all the industrial complexes will be severely damaged when they are not level 2 yet.
Knowledge is power and spies are no luxury item. Read the newspaper to see who is in war with who. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. If two players are in war and you see in the newspaper that they both are taking huge losses you might want to invade when the fight is almost over and take everything for grasps.
7) On day 2 you have to upgrade the infantry knowledge straight away, this gives you an advantage over players who didn't research them yet. If you have a coastline research submarines, they are perfect to attack embarked troops at sea and to protect your coastal provinces. Research fighters they are perfect to protect your ground units against tactical bomber attacks. Research tactical bombers, a stack of 5 of them together with fighter planes as protection will be a huge difference in battles against troops that have not anti air cannons to protect them. Try saving your rare resources during the next days because on day 8 new knowledge is open to research and existing knowledge can be updated.
8 ) Day 4 is crucial, your industrial complexes and infrastructure should be level 2 by now so you can build medium tanks and tank destroyers and also the secret branch is open for research. Now you should be upping your barracks to level 2 to build motorized infantry. Your airbases should be level two too by now and you should have tactical bombers trained in the past 8 days. Now is the time where you chose your strategy. If you want to focus on an air force update your interceptors and bombers first. Do you prefer armor units then update the light tanks, research medium tanks. Never go for only one branch but diversify a bit.
9) Day 8 unlocks more armor units. SP artillery is a strong and fast unit, SP anti air give good cover against air units when in a stack. Mechanized infantry is one of the fastest and strongest units in the game. Mech Infa is available on day 4 but due to its high building requirement of barracks level 3 rather on day 8 to be produced.
Little Racoon wrote:
For tank people - remember that there are units that counters tanks and airforce, so while you try to be strong in tanks (suggest medium because heavy tanks are defensive and medium tanks offer good balance between speed and firepower) you need to research things like AA (if you want to be really fast, research SPAA), AT, SP arti for speedy bombardment, etc. Oh yes, and AT counters TD, so you need some infantry to counter AT. Mainly research armor branch plus inf and AT plus other stuff.For plane people - please remember AA counters planes (obviously) so prepare ground troops to wipe out the AA. Also, prepare some fast troops to exploit the gaps by the planes, and that's why people use tanks with planes. Research interceptors, tacs, naval bombers, other stuff.
For slow-and-steady people - put arti and AA behind the main stack of AT, inf, AA, etc. This basically counters almost everything. Research mainly the infantry branch.
For navy people - subs are the perfect coastal counter, so focus on that. Since many non-naval focus people will still research subs, research destroyers as second priority. Cruisers are the sea AA, and battleships are the strongest but most expensive. Research naval branch with priority of sub, destroyers.
The secret branch is the best branch with the nukes, paras, railguns, etc. Always leave a little space for secret research. Suggest short term for railguns, commandos, and long term research atomic bombs and rockets for nuke rockets.
I have tried to write a simple guide but still advanced enough to stand your ground against more experienced players. I have met quite a few level 40 players who didn't have the knowledge and efficiency of this guide and who would lose against a beginning player that masters what I wrote. When you follow this guide you will have a balanced army and a strong economy that will serve you well trough out the game.
Recommended links:
- How to build a strong economy: https://forum.callofwar.com/index.php?thread/23292-resource-production/
- What to do on day 8 and 16 that are important knowledge and tactical moments: https://forum.callofwar.com/index.php?thread/26458-the-overloaded-days-%E2%80%93-8-and-16/
- How to use planes: https://forum.callofwar.com/index.php?thread/10124-air-combat-guide-for-dealing-some-in-decent-damage/
- How to use artillery: https://forum.callofwar.com/index.php?thread/26427-guide-to-artillery/
- How to use and defend against armored units: https://forum.callofwar.com/index.php?thread/26427-guide-to-artillery/
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Yes for sure the guide is basic and doesn't cover the plurality of the game but that was never the aim. My guide is basic so that any beginner can understand it and has the basics of the game. If I add more, it will become too much for certain players. There is information for those who want to find it.
As for the extra IC, it's open for discussion. But the upgrading of IC is included in the guide.
I find the guide really useful for people that are new.BMfox wrote:
Yes for sure the guide is basic and doesn't cover the plurality of the game but that was never the aim. My guide is basic so that any beginner can understand it and has the basics of the game. If I add more, it will become too much for certain players. There is information for those who want to find it.As for the extra IC, it's open for discussion. But the upgrading of IC is included in the guide.
With enough time, anybody can counter any army.
Pretty much the only unit that can't be countered is rockets, and even those are dangerous to use.
Why would they be dangerous to be used?General Nightman wrote:
With enough time, anybody can counter any army.Pretty much the only unit that can't be countered is rockets, and even those are dangerous to use.
Because they are very slow and vulnerable, both on their airfield and (especially) when being transported.
Exactly.K.Rokossovski wrote:
Because they are very slow and vulnerable, both on their airfield and (especially) when being transported.
That is a good guide. I have some input below. Apologies if it has already been covered elsewhere.
A couple of things to be considered may be the importance of upgrading Industrial complex's to their maximum level (or as close as you can) by day 8. This, combined with a barracks will greatly increase the speed as witch units are produced as well as increasing output by 50%.
If you can build ports in provinces with IC's then do so. They only take 15 minutes and give a small resource boost. Something to keep in mind is that ports and barracks use resources (oil and food respectively) and there is an option to disable them if you are running low. This can come in really handy later in the game when both resources are at a premium.
As an initial naval unit I would recommend destroyers over Subs if you are looking to defend. They are more expensive but in a one-on-one with a sub the DD will always win.
Airfields and air research should never be overlooked. even a force of 5 interceptors can blunt an attack from a lone Armored car speeding its way to your core.
Infantry and Militia are better at defending than attacking. If you are going to attack a good rule of thumb is make sure that you have a two-to-one advantage. (three-to-two advantage will work but the casualties will be high).
Balance your forces. There is no exact art to this but look at the statistics of your units. Should you send those tanks through a mountain range? Should militia (a very slow unit) pair up with Armored cars? if having 23 infantry in a single stack a good idea?
Understanding the information in the image below and putting it to good use will make you a very dangerous opponent.
How do you guys put the picture, i cannot do that. For some reasons it says that a error has occurred...Ifanwhen wrote:
That is a good guide. I have some input below. Apologies if it has already been covered elsewhere.A couple of things to be considered may be the importance of upgrading Industrial complex's to their maximum level (or as close as you can) by day 8. This, combined with a barracks will greatly increase the speed as witch units are produced as well as increasing output by 50%.
If you can build ports in provinces with IC's then do so. They only take 15 minutes and give a small resource boost. Something to keep in mind is that ports and barracks use resources (oil and food respectively) and there is an option to disable them if you are running low. This can come in really handy later in the game when both resources are at a premium.
As an initial naval unit I would recommend destroyers over Subs if you are looking to defend. They are more expensive but in a one-on-one with a sub the DD will always win.
Airfields and air research should never be overlooked. even a force of 5 interceptors can blunt an attack from a lone Armored car speeding its way to your core.
Infantry and Militia are better at defending than attacking. If you are going to attack a good rule of thumb is make sure that you have a two-to-one advantage. (three-to-two advantage will work but the casualties will be high).
Balance your forces. There is no exact art to this but look at the statistics of your units. Should you send those tanks through a mountain range? Should militia (a very slow unit) pair up with Armored cars? if having 23 infantry in a single stack a good idea?
Understanding the information in the image below and putting it to good use will make you a very dangerous opponent.
It would not allow me to upload as a .bmp image (it came up wit "unkown error") so I converted it to a .png. I hope that helpsRYANWEN wrote:
How do you guys put the picture, i cannot do that. For some reasons it says that a error has occurred...Ifanwhen wrote:
That is a good guide. I have some input below. Apologies if it has already been covered elsewhere.A couple of things to be considered may be the importance of upgrading Industrial complex's to their maximum level (or as close as you can) by day 8. This, combined with a barracks will greatly increase the speed as witch units are produced as well as increasing output by 50%.
If you can build ports in provinces with IC's then do so. They only take 15 minutes and give a small resource boost. Something to keep in mind is that ports and barracks use resources (oil and food respectively) and there is an option to disable them if you are running low. This can come in really handy later in the game when both resources are at a premium.
As an initial naval unit I would recommend destroyers over Subs if you are looking to defend. They are more expensive but in a one-on-one with a sub the DD will always win.
Airfields and air research should never be overlooked. even a force of 5 interceptors can blunt an attack from a lone Armored car speeding its way to your core.
Infantry and Militia are better at defending than attacking. If you are going to attack a good rule of thumb is make sure that you have a two-to-one advantage. (three-to-two advantage will work but the casualties will be high).
Balance your forces. There is no exact art to this but look at the statistics of your units. Should you send those tanks through a mountain range? Should militia (a very slow unit) pair up with Armored cars? if having 23 infantry in a single stack a good idea?
Understanding the information in the image below and putting it to good use will make you a very dangerous opponent.
1 - True. The guide is just a start. Success in CoW generally requires the ability to adjust to each situation.Edepedable wrote:
1 - the unit build depends on your enemy, though as a standard it is decent, there is no sure way to be safe the farther you are away of the start of a map.2 - you will not always be able to spend as many goods as is described here. Building infra in ALL your resource provinces when you start might not be in your best interest. Building all the infra might mean that you will not be able to build units, do research or upgrade your IC later on.
3 - building 1 additional new IC in a core province is a well known starting strategy. Doing this with 1 IC can be of great benefit. Ruling this out all together seems a little short sighted.
2 - On most maps, must operate under a budget. Economic development, troop production and research all compete for limited resources. Sometimes must delay one thing to have the resources for something else. Making these decisions is part of the skill of the game.
3. See #2. As much as I want another IC1 in the core in the first 8 days, it just seems to take too much away from everything else.
3 is something I nearly always do. Only exception I can think of are historical maps where resources are either super tight or you start with a country that has plenty of IC. It never seems to take away to much from other things to me. Maybe its because I usually push back building most level 2 airports. Some players build those in the first 8 days but I consider tacbombers to be usable only after level 2. I also never build rrg, so that gives me a bit more resources to I guess.Nooberium wrote:
1 - True. The guide is just a start. Success in CoW generally requires the ability to adjust to each situation.2 - On most maps, must operate under a budget. Economic development, troop production and research all compete for limited resources. Sometimes must delay one thing to have the resources for something else. Making these decisions is part of the skill of the game.
3. See #2. As much as I want another IC1 in the core in the first 8 days, it just seems to take too much away from everything else.
Of course, this depends hugely on the map. IC does two things: allows production of units and gives 10% more resources. If you happen to be able to capture a functional IC from a nearby AI (by simply delaying the attack by 1 day) you have the unit production there and you can build 4-5 Infra in the cores instead (much more resources).
As usual, there is no rule that covers everything.
I usually wait to attack AI nations until day 2-4, so that I am sure that the AI has built a level 2 or level 3 IC.
Sometimes, early game, I hire one intel spy to go around and see what level buildings people have before I attack. Saves me tons of resources.
Also, with those resources I would have used to repair that complex, I can build an extra industrial complex in one of my resource provinces. Gives a slight edge to my army production.
You are better of just checking the papers. No need to hire spies, if an IC finishes in a city, cities start with IC, you know its level 2.General Nightman wrote:
I usually wait to attack AI nations until day 2-4, so that I am sure that the AI has built a level 2 or level 3 IC.Sometimes, early game, I hire one intel spy to go around and see what level buildings people have before I attack. Saves me tons of resources.
Also, with those resources I would have used to repair that complex, I can build an extra industrial complex in one of my resource provinces. Gives a slight edge to my army production.
The guide has been updated with all the received feedback. Thank you all!
I may be a bit late with this recommendation ... But I wish somebody had reminded me in my first game that I could buy resources with cash ... I spent a ton of gold winning that long solo victory in the tutorial map, not been aware that I could buy resources with my extra cash! ... 
We all have to learn sometime.
one more thing to add:
All maps, all nations, all situation requires a bit adjusted starting steps!
I have updated the thread regarding the latest knowledge, research update.
I think some more thorough change is needed. With the new research update, it is extremely questionable if it is a good idea to build 5 AT at the start, since the infra Lvl1 time and the research time for arty and LT are much smaller.
Although AT is the best defensive weapon against LT at the start of the game, one can argue that arty and LT are much more versatile.
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