10-day Solo Speedrun | Ukraine in Clash of Nations

4 Sept 2023, 14:53

I am starting my first 10-day speedrun attempt, an idea inspired by @_Pyth0n_ in this thread: Solo Victory in 10 Days: Is It Possible?

The idea conceived by @_Pyth0n_ could be for any map - I have chosen Clash of Nations for a few reasons. Firstly, it has the fewest Victory Points requirements. Secondly, it’s full of new players, making it much easier to win with! Also, I hope that this thread and Python’s idea will inspire more people to attempt similar speedruns - and posting my results and reports on the 22 player map would be easiest for everyone to streamline the best strategy for that map, as it is probably the simplest and easiest permanent map.

Okay, so I chose Ukraine. Python thought Sweden might be a good choice due to its relatively abundant resources - we have yet to see how it compares to Ukraine. Personally, I chose Ukraine because of its proximity to so many Comintern nations. It has the Axis doctrine, so deals 25% more damage than Comintern. This is a huge advantage in the early game especially - I can choose to easily blitzkrieg two of Caucasus, Romania, Communist Russia, or Poland. Also, Ukraine is relatively central, giving it massive potential for a speedy expansion in every direction. However, this could also be a disadvantage - if three players surrounding me team up, I’ll have a hard time fighting them off whilst maintaining my momentum for the speedrun.

Note: I won’t be using any boosters or gold during this game. Perhaps I’ll regret it, but I want it to be fair if others try this!

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Okay, so onto the actual game I joined. In this original post I won’t make any screenshots, mostly because I’m on my phone and it’s just worse! I will report on everything though, and in future I hope to make reports using my laptop.

The game I joined seemed to have an average number of newbies in it, and pretty much zero players with my experience. The complete newbie accounts are: Algeria; Canada; Caucasus; Communist Russia; France; Germany; Finland; Romania; Libya; Morocco; Northern USA, Poland, Spain; Sweden; Yugoslavia. The highest account level is the Southern USA, level 89. He also has the only player k/d of over 1 - it’s 1.21. This is useful for me, as he is far away and so I can focus on all the newbie accounts to give me a boost earlygame. All in all, a good starting map for a speedrun for me!

To try to keep my popularity up in the early stages of the game, I have shared map to every AI country except Crimea and the Cossack Republic, and right of way to every human country except Poland, the Russian Empire, Communist Russia, Turkey, Romania, and Caucasus.

I start with the same units as everyone else - 18 infantry; 2 armoured cars; 3 anti-air; 1 interceptor. These are all level 1. My interceptor is very near to Caucasus, so I used it to scout out cities near me - Rostov has 1 anti-air and 1 infantry; Krasnodar has 1 armoured car and 1 infantry. All the rural provinces I scouted (Anapa; Yeysk; Belaya Glina; Salsk) have 1 infantry, and Yeysk also has an interceptor and airstrip.

I decided to invade Caucasus and Romania first. I could’ve gone for Crimea, but I decided it wasn’t worth the effort just for one city and a slight morale boost from the capital, especially when I’m trying to Blitzkrieg as fast as possible for as many resources as possible.

The Caucasian city Rostov produces rare materials, and is the closest piece of Caucasian land to Ukraine. Being the only land route to Caucasus, it provides a bottleneck - this means Caucasus can’t sneak attack me from any other side except the sea.

The Romanian city of Iasi is separated from Ukraine by just one forested rural province. It produces goods.

For both countries, I plan to move south once I’ve taken the city specified. In Romania, I’ll move from Iasi to Constanta (metal) via a goods province. In Caucasus, I’ll move from Rostov to Krasnodar (oil) via a goods province. For both countries, I allocated 9 infantry and 1 armoured car. My interceptor I am using to continue scouting Caucasus, and my 3 anti-air I have retreated to my capital of Kiev - they would just slow me down. I forced marched all of these armies (except the anti-air) for around 45 minutes to an hour. I have now (2.5 hours into the game) cancelled the first 7-8 forced marches to save on health - the back 2-3 units need to catch up faster.

I built one local industry in an oil-producing province: Dnepropetrovsk. Upon discussion with Python, I decided I wouldn’t build any industry in my cities for now - I’ll have to rely on expansion to do that for me. I anticipate early having little food, as of the 4 cities I plan to take before I go to sleep, none of them produce food, and I’m not going through any rural food provinces. Furthermore, I don’t have any core food-producing rural provinces.

As for the units I want to focus on? I want to keep it as narrow as possible, so I don’t have to spend extortionate amounts, especially considering I’m Axis. For speed, I’m researching light tanks, armoured cars, and motorised infantry. I will also research higher levels of infantry, and use the upgrade trick (if you know you know) to skip to level 3 infantry for the cost of level 2, hopefully for the majority of my starting 18 infantry. I will also build interceptors for air defence of my ground stacks - anti-air, even SP AA, would just slow me down. I won’t build any ordnance or secret - secret takes too long to research and build, and ordnance is incredibly slow. I’m betting on the hope that my light tanks and motorised infantry will be able to engage artillery in combat before they deal me too much damage! I was also thinking of building a few submarines. I am still undecided on this, as it would require building a naval base, which I think may just be a waste of my time. For now, I’ll ignore the naval tab and hope Turkey doesn’t go by sea to invade me.

I have build two tank plants, in Poltava and Kiev. I also built two barracks, in Voroshilovgrad and Odessa, and one aircraft factory in Kharkov. I build my barracks in the two cities closest to Caucasus and Romania, so I could research level 1 infantry immediately, and start producing it in these two cities. I build the tank plants more central because at first I will be producing armoured cars and light tanks, which are faster to reach the front line. The decision to make the aircraft factory in Kharkov was to save myself time and resources on an airstrip - level 1 interceptors in Kharkov are already in range of my only airstrip (which the game generated) in Mariupol. I will build further airstrips so my interceptors can reach every corner of my empire, but for now it’s easier to have them all concentrated near one country, especially when the Mariupol airstrip cost me nothing.

As I type this I am 2 hours and 40 minutes into the game. I have researched level 1 armoured car and infantry, and am producing them in my tank/barracks cities. I have also started building level 2 barracks in Voroshilovgrad and level 2 tank plant in Poltava - this is because it will give a very slight boost to the speed of the production (due to my morale being at 70%). Time will tell whether this was worth it or whether I should’ve saved it for something else! My two armoured cars have 1hr15 and 1hr30 left, and my two infantry have 1hr and 1hr15 left. I am researching motorised infantry (6 hours left) and light tanks (45 minutes left). Once light tanks are researched, I will first start producing them in my tank plant cities, then I will research interceptors. After that, there’ll be nothing left to research on day 1, and I can focus all my energy on planning my routes and logistics.

Research tab:

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Planned invasion of Caucasus:

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Planned invasion of Romania:

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Overview of Ukraine:

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Have a blessed day <3

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128 Replies

9 Sept 2023, 20:39

Carking the 6th wrote:
Probably beat you take out the coalition ASAP. The thing about them is that they have large countries, and that if you take say the core part of Germany, the rest will probably be empty and easy to take. It’s also best to take them out before their greater resource production catches up to you. You should be able to quickly wipe Germany and Italy out in one fell swoop, and then take Iberia after.

I agree, I was planning to take Germany as soon as I’d taken Russia, probably as soon after day 7 as possible. Germany’s core is very close to me, and I believe the main bulk of his army is far away close to Spain.

_Pyth0n_ wrote:
My advice: don't bother tryna conquer Turkey. In the map it seems they are inactive (are they?) and even if they aren't, the mountains and Black Sea are big hinderances to conquering fast. I would've suggested you skip invading Russia with your main force, blitz Germany and Italy with your main forces, told Finland to attack Russia, backstabbed them with a secondary force you either split from the main force (if you can spare them) or make new ones. Adding up all the VPs that is 230 VP, meaning you'd only need 80 VP, which you can prolly salvage from Finland in time (the math was done mentally, so it might be inaccurate lol).

Perhaps you’re right - I may not bother with Turkey. To be honest, at the moment it’s too late to skip Russia - I’m already halfway through the whole thing! Anyway, it’s a lot of plains and hills, so not too slow. Plus, I don’t actually have a huge force… I have 40 ish units, and I want to lose as little health as possible for each of the armies. The final nail in the coffin for that plan is Finland… I was definitely considering telling him to go after Russia - then I realised he’s been offline for about 24 hours, bombarding the same province with a single artillery. So, he’s unreliable. Otherwise, yeah, I’d pull a NATO and support him in a war with Germany.

As I may have said earlier, I don’t expect to achieve the 10 days in this run. It’s a good learning experience, though!

Have a blessed day <3

9 Sept 2023, 22:09

Small update: I am researching medium tanks. In looking at the newspaper, Germany has a few medium tanks, but his army is mostly made up of infantry, light tanks, and motorised infantry - like me. I could research attack bombers, but I think that would just burn through my goods, which I’ve always had a deficiency of. In contrast, I’ve got enough metal, oil, and rares to last me a lifetime. Plus, I have 36 hours until day 8, when I can research +1 level of infantry (lvl5), motorised infantry (lvl4), light tanks (lvl3), and interceptors (lvl4). So I’ve got excess tank materials, yet nothing to spend them on… so I did that. It’ll take me about 36 hours to research up to level 2, then I can research level 3 on day 8 as well. Hopefully my superior economy can handle this - I’m also building a level 3 tank plant in Lvov, as it’s slightly closer to Germany.

I know they’re slow, but they’re strong! I didn’t think I’d ever do medium tanks in this run, for the speed, but it turns out I am. I hope they’ll be worth it…

Have a blessed day <3

9 Sept 2023, 22:20

Welcome to the dark side, my Disciple. Your choice to embrace it and harness the power of the medium tank is a wise one. With time, you'll master this formidable weapon and become a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Embrace this new path, and together, we shall shape the fate of countless games! Hmhmhmhm, hahahahahah, MUAHAHAHAHA!!!

CarKing the 6th of the Abrahamic Caliphate

9 Sept 2023, 22:25

Carking the 6th wrote:
Welcome to the dark side, my Disciple. Your choice to embrace it and harness the power of the medium tank is a wise one. With time, you'll master this formidable weapon and become a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Embrace this new path, and together, we shall shape the fate of countless games! Hmhmhmhm, hahahahahah, MUAHAHAHAHA!!!

Ahaha maybe they're not COMPLETELY useless after all

Have a blessed day <3

10 Sept 2023, 20:27

nice

10 Sept 2023, 20:51 (edited)

Okay, so time for the report on day 7. Enjoy!

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Starting off, here is the leaderboard for day 7 day change. I was pretty happy with how it turned out - a Swedish city revolted to me too, which is always nice. The ‘Support Treaty’ coalition is just the UK, by the way.

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Germany has 4% research, and everyone else, including me, has 2%. I’m not really worried about that - it means Germany doesn’t know what he wants, and he’s spreading his resources out researching multiple things, which will also waste his resources during the actual research process.

The invasion of the Russian Empire went well - I’m now just cleaning everything up, there’s 3 or 4 rural provinces left in the north which I’m using 3 ACs to run around and clear up. Here is an overview of the whole map, in 3 screenshots:

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By the way, in case anyone was wondering what’s going on in the Americas? They’ve done nothing. All game. The Southern US is the only one online, but it looks like they’ve done nothing except perhaps build some industry? Pretty boring. Anyway…

As you can see, I’m doing well in the east, but I still need just under double my current VPs to win. For that, I have prepared 3 armies, which will soon all be stationed near the border of Germany.

Here is one of them - I just need one more motorised infantry to join the party before it’s ready. This stack will be my main attacking force, punching through Poznan and Kustrin to go straight to Berlin, and possibly then Hamburg, Duisburg, and Cologne, depending on how many units Germany has in his core provinces. He has told me that he and Italy are planning to attack Libya - hopefully this means not many armies are left in his core!

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As for the other forces, they will be made up of a mixture of ACs, LTs, and motorised infantry, similarly to my main attacking force. These two attacking forces will be stationed in Zalau, formerly north Romania, and in Tuzla, formerly central Yugoslavia. The force in Tuzla will try to take Italy’s northern core cities - however, I anticipate they will be slow due to the mountainous terrain. All my other attacking forces will be going through Germany. I will also have a defensive force set up in Debrecen (bordering Zalau) made up of nine level 4 infantry, and one AC.

As I have an abundance of resources, I have spent the last 7-8 hours building infrastructure to help my troops get across my empire as quickly as possibly. For now, they are primarily to assist armies in northern Russia get back to Germany quickly - but in future, I will use these roads to help armies travel quickly from France to Finland.

So far, I haven’t told Finland of my plan - he’s busy fighting Sweden (AI). My prediction is that they will wear each other down, and after I’ve taken Germany and Italy my units (which will almost certainly be depleted in health) will have an easier time of it in Finland and Sweden.

Talking of my economy, I am doing rather well. I even have enough goods to spam infrastructure! As well as this, my manpower production is just over 1,000 per hour, which won’t be perfect (it can never be perfect) but it’ll be just enough to suit my purposes - spamming medium tanks! My medium tanks are my insurance policy - if I’m extremely unlucky and don’t manage to take all of Germany and Italy with my main attacking force, I’ll have been spam producing medium tanks (level 2 after 13 hours from now) in 3 cities! You’re welcome Carking…

Everything else in my economy is fine, I’ve got between 600 and 900 per hour production.

As for research, I’ve got the same levels of everything as yesterday, except that I’ve also research MT level 1, and have 13hrs30mins of time left until I’ve research MT level 2. I considered slightly delaying my invasion of Germany so I could upgrade my infantry/MI and LTs/ACs - but I concluded it would waste too much time to research AND upgrade them.

Okay, what else… my provinces are going down in morale! Only my capital is keeping steady. I’m not too worried about it - I have a strong enough economy that I’ll remain resilient. Just look at the expansion penalty though

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Oh, also - I’m FINALLY being trade embargoed! I was expecting to have to do battle with feisty annoyed AI much earlier on than this - I guess giving RoW to all human players not bordering me as well as share map to all AI was helpful after all! I’m being embargoed by Libya, Denmark, Michigan, and Tunisia. A potent combo… okay I can’t kid myself - they’re harmless. Oh well! No excitement for me today.

Okay, so I guess that’s it - I’ll just screenshot all my armies (58 units). Here we are:

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I’m actually super excited for my war with Germany - I hope I won’t be disappointed!

Aaand that’s all for today. Hey, I really hope you enjoyed this! If I inspired just one person to make their own playthrough, I’ll be happy. Well - two people - someone already has! Looking at you @Cecil Rhodes.! That honestly made my day.

And - as always…. I HUGELY appreciate everyone’s input.

Have a blessed day <3

10 Sept 2023, 20:53

Where's the pictures for the day change?

10 Sept 2023, 21:03

Soviet onion republic wrote:
Where's the pictures for the day change?

I’m not sure what you mean… I just started taking the screenshots just now, and it’s about 9 hours into day 7. I have 15 hours left until day 8 (military reports!!)

Have a blessed day <3

10 Sept 2023, 21:09

I don't see the leaderboard,the newspaper,and the the invasion of Russian empire.

10 Sept 2023, 21:16

Soviet onion republic wrote:
I don't see the leaderboard,the newspaper,and the the invasion of Russian empire.

Oh no! Apologies, I could see it on my account but not when I logged out. I’ll fix that right now!!

Have a blessed day <3

10 Sept 2023, 21:19

thanks

10 Sept 2023, 21:28

Soviet onion republic wrote:
thanks

Can you see it now? I think it's all good, just want to check.

Have a blessed day <3

10 Sept 2023, 21:28

I can see it,and it looks good

10 Sept 2023, 21:39

I can see it as well.

CarKing the 6th of the Abrahamic Caliphate

11 Sept 2023, 21:26

Alright then, time for day 8 and the invasion of the German coalition! Enjoy!

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So, to start things off you can have a look at what I saw at the start of day 8 - the military reports! I was hyped for this, and pretty happy with the result, considering that I have more VPs than the entirety of Turkey, Germany, and Italy combined.

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Looking at these, I figured that I could take on Germany and Italy both at once, and even Finland as well, so long as I played my cards right and didn't lose too much manpower. Then, of course I had a look at VPs... Forum attachment

I had gained only 10 VPs since the last time! And, this was only because ANOTHER random Swedish province revolted to me...

However, this was because I had pretty much spent the last 24 hours building infrastructure, researching and producing medium tanks, and getting my units back from the Russian Empire. I still had time...

So, I commenced the invasion of Germany. All went well - I captured Berlin within 3-4 hours of the invasion, resulting in a devastating loss of morale for every province under German rule. Here is the full map around 10 hours into day 8:

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Oh - I forgot to mention! I managed to wangle shared map out of Finland. He was begging me for resources, so like a good ally I offered him 18,000 rare materials in return for share map. Thankfully, he accepted - he has pretty average units. He clearly has no idea what he's doing, which is good for me! I also managed to persuade him to help me invade Germany - so he sent some random infantry units on a sea journey to capture... two rural German provinces. Well, one of them is a core, so I suppose I can't complain...

A couple of hours after I invaded Germany, I got a message from the UK - he wanted me to stop attacking his 'ally'! Of all the ridiculous demands! So of course I demanded that he reveal the position of Germany's armies to me, in return for not being invaded later. He refused, on the grounds that he didn't have share map with Germany... No matter, I said! I told him if he helps me invade Germany, I'll let him come 2nd. He seemed to consider this - whilst he was considering, I offered him a RoW-SM trade. He took it, so for about 5 minutes before he realised what he'd done, I could see all his units. I wasn't worried - he had 3 naval bombers, one interceptor, and about 30 level 1 infantry. He also had a few battleships, which for some reason he was just forced marching absolutely everywhere.

Eventually, the UK declared war on me, and published this article:

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I'm not convinced that I'll meet a single one of his infantry before day 9. Well, best of luck to him. He stuck to his principles, and will die nobly. I'll try to avoid invading the British Isles, though - so much unnecessary time spent for 6 VPs. We'll have to see...

So, whilst my invasion of Germany and Italy was well underway, Greece had the cheek to declare war! Of course, I couldn't have this - I sent a small force of two ACs (level 3) and two MTs (level 2) to take the entirety of Greece. I'm slightly hoping that'll be enough - I'm not committing any more forces there. Also, in the same area, Italy managed to sneak 4 (level 1) infantry over the Adriatic Sea into Dubrovnik! I promptly diverted the 2 ACs to that area - they will still try to take some of Greece. Best of luck to you lil guys... There's a reason why my k/d dropped so much earlier I just don't care enough about the little units! They never get any of the credit, and always are sacrificed! I hope they survive...

Greece:

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Now for a short summary of the invasion of Northern Italy. I decided it wouldn't be worth it to go further south to take Rome and Naples - yes, I know it's his capital, but to be honest it doesn't make that much of a difference. Also, I don't want to run into too many of his armies - I managed to sneak a glimpse of a couple of level 1 heavy tanks. I can take on one or even two of those with my force in Italy - but they would slow me down immensely, and just grind down my HP. Hoping I won't meet any of them in my (hopefully short) visit to the Alps! Forum attachment

Core Germany: Forum attachment

As you can see, I'm doing well here. That heavy-class stack of 5 is just a couple of level 1 MTs with some low-level inf and AA - I'm sending 5 level 2 MTs stacked with one level 3 motorised infantry to deal with it.

Here are all my armies - I managed to produce quite a few units, and also upgrade almost all of them before I invaded Germany!

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The interceptors have actually been quite useful - I'm using them for scouting out provinces, and I also used them to take out a small stack of infantry and anti tank which might've been an annoyance for my MTs. However, I think in future playthroughs I will invest into attack bombers as soon as possible - noobs LOVE tanks! I'll keep producing ints as well, as usual - so I'll probably have even more of a deficiency of goods than in this game.

Casualty rates for myself vs Germany: (I would post for Italy, but I've just conquered provinces so far, not faced his armies - tryna avoid his HTs!)

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Oh, and of course, my economy! Same old same old, but MP is doing very well. Still not enough - never enough - but very well even so. Spamming those recruiting stations for the last day paid off Forum attachment

Aaaand that's my attachments limit! I really hope you enjoyed reading this - please post your own playthrough of the 10-day Speedrun challenge! And as always, please comment with what you think, and with any suggestions - I love seeing people's opinions of this

maybe give this post a like if you enjoyed

Have a blessed day <3

11 Sept 2023, 21:28

Uk has balls of steel

11 Sept 2023, 21:30

Soviet onion republic wrote:
Uk has balls of steel

ahaha so true, based af he is

Have a blessed day <3

11 Sept 2023, 21:30

MaKE sURe tO lIKe, SUbScrIbE, aNd HiT tHE beLl iCOn!

Why not do for Rome? Might as well send a sacrifice unit in the chance that you gain a city.

CarKing the 6th of the Abrahamic Caliphate

11 Sept 2023, 21:30

Carking the 6th wrote:
MaKE sURe tO lIKe, SUbScrIbE, aNd HiT tHE beLl iCOn!

Do not mock me! I put a lot of time into these...

Have a blessed day <3

11 Sept 2023, 21:31

great job

Glory to the Union!
Glory to the Red Army!
Glory to the Revolution!
Marshal of the Forum High Command

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