Favorite Doctorine

Comrade genz wrote:

Not that spam...

no spam

i didnt mean that!!

Little Racoon wrote:

Actually, since everyone has their opinions on their favorite doctrines, I'll try to give a very brief overview of each doctrine's strengths and weaknesses here as I've played all doctrines at least once:

Axis: preferred units - MT, motor inf, dive bombers, submarines, rockets(?). Generally performs best in smaller maps where their concentration of troops can be maximized to punch through enemy lines, although is more difficult to win in 100p or other large maps.

Allies: preferred units - tac bombers, destroyers, sp arti/aa, heavy armor in general. Is all-round good and performs very well in late-game, but as someone mentioned above, manpower is an issue. Would recommend using faster units to compensate for the speed debuff, or tankier units to protect the slow advancing.

Comintern: preferred units - HT, cruisers, rocket arti (both types work), infantry (must for early game). Fast production means it is extremely powerful for large maps late game, when you have lots of resources to spare from your vast lands. Would fight best against Allies since their reduced production speed somewhat allows them to spam about same amount of troops as Allies with their reduced production cost while increased HP for HT allows them to pretty much dominate the land front. lack of buff in airforce is a problem, but not a big one.

Pan-asia: preferred units - LT/AC, battleship/carrier, interceptor, naval bomber. The perfect doctrine to take out islands or as an island nation. Is pretty terrible for inland wars due to the lower HP and lesser buffs for land units, but superior in island settings. Exploit the speed as best as you can by either outmaneuvering or escaping enemies. Also, speed makes it the most fun as a doctrine.

Doctrine play count (ones I rmb

Axis - 3 (I think Finland, Italy, and Yemen)

Allies - 1 (South US)

Comintern - 3? (Caucasus, Yugoslavia? and Russian Empire)

Pan-asia - 2 (Philippines and Japan)

One of the challenges of building doctrine-specific units is the resource cost. This forces you in certain directions that are not obvious right away.

Let's assume you're going to maximize your advantage. You want to build a LOT of your special units, and researching them to high levels.

What happens next?

Axis: Motorized Infantry is a no-brainer. Axis MotInf are amazing, possibly the best land unit in the game. MotInf uses a lot of food, plus goods and oil. What goes with MotInf? Medium Tanks, they solve the MotInf weakness against armor, and they can move reasonably well. Forget the foot soldiers and regular artillery, they are too slow, neutralizing your mobility. You're paying for mobility, building MT + MotInf for your army, using up a lot of oil. Can you afford an air force? Maybe a little, but your army has a lot of killing power, so you don't really need a lot of bombers. Can you afford a navy? Maybe just submarines for defense. Oil is going to be a struggle all game.

Allies: Painfully slow. Forget foot units, they will never be where you need them. Allied SP Artillery are good, and they are fast, pretty much forcing your hand in that direction. But they use up a lot of goods. What do you pair them with? Tank Destroyers, Mechanized Infantry, both reasonably fast. Using up more of your goods. Forget about your juicy Tactical Bombers, you're out of goods. You know what works, though? SP Rocket Artillery. Finally, some use for all the "rare" materials. A mix of SP Artillery + SP Rocket Artillery is deadly. You don't need an air force, except Interceptors to neutralize enemy air. What about navy? You'll be low on oil because your army is motorized. Oil is going to be a struggle all game.

Comintern: You have to take advantage of your regular Infantry, Artillery and Anti Tank guns, juicing the research and building as many as you can. This is going to eat up a ton of food and goods. The good news is, you'll have oil and rares to spare. SP Rocket Artillery is a good complement, using more rares than anything else, and giving you a doctrine bonus. You can afford an air force, but it won't be anything special. Same for your navy. The cruiser bonus is a joke. Sure, your HP is high, but the damage output sucks. You should never get into a gun battle with cruisers. They exist to protect your fleet against air attack, not duke it out with enemy Battleships. Food and goods are going to be in high demand.

Pan Asian: Again, just like Comintern, your "early" units have an advantage: Infantry, Artillery, Armored Cars, Light Tanks. This army lets you overwhelm your opponents early on, seeing them before they see you, moving quickly into position, then using defensive terrain to your advantage. The added speed makes using foot units more practical. That leaves a lot of oil for your air force and navy. Your excellent Interceptors will keep enemy air forces at bay. Your Battleships will rule the seas, supported by your excellent Naval Bombers and Interceptors. Overall, this doctrine allows for the most balanced resource consumption.

What are your unit+resource balancing strategies for different doctrines?