Tactics? Aren't they breath mints?

[NucNut]

(Sorry for strange title  )

Anyway, i'd like to know whats the best combos/straergy for using early tanks in a T1 Game, as i always get pwned by the AI initially.

My sequence of events is as follows:

• Start researching the motor and armour upgrades
• Upgrade so both factories have two modules on them
• Design the following: Heavy MG Viper Tracks, Command Turret Viper Tracks, Light Cannon Viper Tracks and Repair turret Viper Tracks
• Form up using both commanders (each factory is pumping out units), so i have two groups of commander, 4 HMGs, 1 Lcannon and 1 repair, all told to retreat at heavy damage
• Once i've researched the Bug chassis, i replace all vipers with bug bodies
• Then research the Cyborg Mechanic and Combat engineer

I'm not sure if this is a good stratergy, as i place all my effort into the New Paradigm bodies, in order to make lots of units, but then the AI hits me after 15mins with a LOT of Medium, Light and Heavy tanks - and i can't survive w/out cheating and placing a lot of defence down.

Any advice?

[GiGaBaNE]

I prefer turtle tactics, i normaly make a few tanks for scouting, but the general key to surviving the start of the game is to find the choke points to your base and block them off with machinegun bunkers (the hardest to kill defence(excluding bunker busters)). Your research should primarily focus on money and research upgrades as the game is much easier when your richer and more advanced than your enemy.

Then just invest is getting and holding the various oil dereks on the map.

[NucNut]

Are the money upgrades the power generator upgrades?

Because they don't get in the equation until after a couple of research levels.

Anyway, when i cheat to do my research, i always go like mad for the auto-repair upgrade.

Also, when using tanks, do u use a mix of light, medium and heavy tanks with a variety of weapons? Or do you flood them with clones?

[themousemaster]

Against AI, it's all about the heavies.  Preferably with a commander.  Don't bother with anything on a light body (unless it is a cash-poor stage); rush yourself to HMG - Cobra - tracks tanks, make... oh, 6 of em, and get em to your opponent ASAP for a quick win.  Or, if you're like me, you can take down 2 of the 7 opposing bases, lock them down with bunkers, and then just let the cash flow in while you prepare the army from hell.


Against humans, there is sort of a rotating strategy; rusher beats expander, expander beats techer, techer beats turtler, turtler beats rusher.  (with expander vs turtler, and rusher vs techer, its usually a tight game).  Really, any unit can win, if you choose the type of unit your opponent is not prepared for.  So I won't comment about MC-viper-wheels vs minipod-cobra vs HMG-python, as wach is best against a different opponent set.

But yes, no matter what the strat or what the opponent, find and lockdown those chokepoints with bunkers, backed up by some sort of anti-flamer weapon (to stop early anti-bunker rushes ;p)

[Troman]

There are two major flaws in your tactics: Light Cannon is not worth the power and Viper body is too weak.
As themousemaster already said go for HMG and Cobra at the beginning. After a while, when AI will begin using heavier bodies you will have no choice but to switch to lancer, since HMG does little damage to heavier bodies.
One more thing: don't forget to get as many oil resources as you can get and defend. Power upgrades will significantly boost your income too.

[lav_coyote25]

just wait!  soon it will be all about the resources!  few and far between....  ;D.  lets see how the tictacs fare then...

[Rman Virgil]

----------

* Kwel Topic Title.

* As far as WZ Tactics.... must have written 200+ pages on the topic over the years.

* But I can break all of that down to one sentence -

* The day WZ GPMs allow me to do the equivalent of a "Queens Gambit" against an equally strong player & still have a good chance of winning the game... then that will be deeply satisfying &, also, cause for celebration - it would be a remarkable advancement in RTS gameing.

- RV

[NucNut]

Any comments on mobile arty and VTOLs? Or are they still hated with a passion?

Simple solution: NEXUS style angel missiles - they infect large clumps of units

Anyway, how's this for an idea: The Light Field gun (Howitzer turret, light cannon muzzel) - a light indirect fire weapon with a strength in between the light cannon and the medium cannon

I usually go right out researching VTOLs as soon as possible, i know it may be a bit dumb, but the VTOL Cannon Viper VTOL chews through the Early AIs like [your favourite metaphor here] .

Oh we4ll, feel free to post, its a slow day... *yawns*

[Rman Virgil]

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* The day WZ GPMs allow me to do the equivalent of a "Queens Gambit" against an equally strong player & still have a good chance of winning the game... then that will be deeply satisfying &, also, cause for celebration - it would be a remarkable advancement in RTS gameing.

- RV

------------->


* Slow day indeed.... So i'll provide half the answer.

* Not suprizingly it comes from RL Military.

* Specifically, the 21st Century Asymetric Doctrine.

* The other half of the answer is translating Asymetric Doctrine into Wz GPMs.

* Can it be done ?

* Yes it can.

* Do you have specifics ?

* You bet I do.

* Well ?

* All in good time. 

- RV

[Commander_Keyes]

About the mobile arty thing (are these Light, Medium, Heavy Cannons?), they are pretty useful, except I wouldnt care about the light cannon, since you'll get Medium Cannons soon enough. Heavy cannons do big damage and splash, though I for my part prefer the Hypervelocity Cannon.
The pinnacle of artillery crappiness is the Mini-Pod Artillery launcher. It's just fast-firing like 15 Mini-Pod rockets or so that do no damage anyway.
For the mortar series though, I made mainly positive results. Nothing to say about the Archangle's sheer power too.

[Rman Virgil]

----------->

* Really & truly , I'm not at all into bb monologs & I've already reported what bugs I've encountered in the WRP release so.... let me close the circle on this central topic before turning to a pure engagement in making new gameplay realities.

* There is a tonne of material on Asymmetric Warfare Doctrine on the web..... an excellent starting point, as with most topics, is Wikipedia & How Stuff Works: Try this out 1st

* WZ has been around since '99. It's GPMs were not intended by WZ Creators to be fossilized for eternity (if you were involved in the Official Patch releases you'd know that reality like the back of your hand.).

* 1ST of all, they've been flawed since day one. What is also obvious if you've played MP a fair amount is that their 8 year GPM status quo (with the noteable exception of v.1.12) is a highly predictable dead-end (predictable, narrow -scope, "tactics" become BOREING and boredom is anethema in any game construct, IMO).

* BUT, at one and the same time, they are also full of evolutionary promise - JUST as WZ Creators intended by DESIGN back in '97-'99.

.* We are all at liberty to choose our active focus - it is the cherished beauty of freedom, of perogative, of artistic expression, of joyful participation.

* The focus I chose is WZ's GPM evolution and I predict that remarkable strides will be made in reality as a result of embracing the doctrine of Asymetric WarFare in RTS gameplay.

* The only ? is who'll get there first with a successful, non-trivial, implementation.

* That it will happen - no ? 'bout that.

- Peace-out, RV

[NucNut]

One thig i'd like to see is the introduction of UAV vehicles into WZ.

I actually managed to do this a few years ago using the WZCK, it was basically a VTOL that was faster than a regular VTOL, had a sensor turret mounted on it (Remember the "VTOL Sotter" from 1.11?), and had horribly weak armour - a couple of early model T1 HMGs could shot it down.

But they were very cheap to produce.

I good idea could be bringing back this UAV design, but they cost a lot more power - EG: they cost the same as a Medium Cannon Cobra Tracks.

This would lead to interesting styles of gameplay on large MP maps - you use the UAV to locate your opponent, move in the MBTs to seal them in, start the MobArty firing, and us the UAV as post-strike assesment.

One more quick point: why not make the mini-pod rockets an AA vehicle? Would be a good link between flak cannon AA and SAM AA. You shoot a horrendous amount of innaccurate rockets into the air (Erratic-Direct flight style, 30% to hit) that do a light amount of splash damage.

Oh well.

[lav_coyote25]

"Sotter" ??? ???

oh right !!  you mean Spotter....  yeah that was a typo from the get go.... 

and the always wonderfull "turrent"  from the warzone 2100 tech tree.... never did like that one... so many people still call it that.... proper spelling for it is turret. ;D


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_turret

[RBL-4NiK8r]

OK dont have much time but for T1 your best bet is go for Twin MG Halftrack Vipers before you work on defense, and then make your first major change over to HMG Cobras and then to Bug Lancers Track on long range.

Its a lot better to use tanks to defend with at the early stage of the game when oil is hard to come by.

4nE

[psychopompos]

L1 cam there arent too many tactical options.
more simple unit groupings then much else
i use 3 CT's & 2 sensors to clear it
CT1 with cannons(heaviest possible)
CT2 with anti tank
CT3 with heavy mg + 3 or 4 mrl
i wouldnt bother with CT's untill they are at least cobra half-track CT

keep a few(8 of each) med cannon/hmg cobra half-tracks to intercept enemy until commanders arrive with your heavies.
youl see the use for this in the paradigm retaliation mission, the mission where you recover the heavy cannon also, as you can intercept & bottle neak the NP units before they retreat to their lz.

the sensors assign 10 mortars to one for anti-structure to sensor 1
and mrl to sensor 2 as close support for commanders.
use hover CT's to guard your flanks on C1 M12 with lancer & bunker busters assigned

L2cam with the proper long rarge arty & ripple rockets makes things more interesting
thats when i start using med body commanders/small groups/cybers to support arty units.

use canon to take/hold ground(take the hits), anti tank(dont have the same ability to take hits) to support them when enemy counter attack, while you bring in the mortars to kill defensive structures, while you keep pushing forward
keep a few cybers around your arties as close cover.