(c) 1995, Strategic Simulations, Inc. A Mindscape Company
Windows 95 Users
During your turn, if you minimize the mainplay window, then restore the window, the 'finish AI now' option will be available from the 'game' heading on the menu bar. If you select 'finish AI now' the game will crash. This option should only be used when the AI is moving. (see the 'Additions' section below for a description of this feature).
Windows 3.1 Users
1. When starting the game for the first time, a dialog box will appear asking you to 'Please enter your name'. Left clicking with your mouse anywhere on the dialog box will allow you to enter a name.
2. If after 4 to 5 hours Allied General seems to become sluggish to play, save and restart the game.
3. If you experience problems running any of the videos in Allied General you may need to update your Video For Windows Media Player. Version 1.1 of Microsoft's Video For Windows is included on the Allied General CD in the VFW subdirectory. Run the SETUP.EXE to update.
This Readme File Contains:
(1) Additions.
(2) Clarifications and Corrections.
(3) The Campaigns.
(4) Campaign Notes.
(5) General Strategic and Tactical Notes.
(6) Designers' Notes.
(1). Additions.
New Mouse Feature
To move quickly around the mainplay window, hold down the Ctrl key and left click the mouse. The mainplay window will center on the cursor.
Dossiers
The dossier is an encrypted, password-protected log of your victories and defeats. Each dossier that you create will contain a count of wins and losses for each type of play (campaign, scenario, and email), and a list of individual records for each scenario. You must assign a dossier to a game prior to the start of the game; once a game is started, no other dossier can be used for that particular game. When something is recorded in a dossier, it can't be removed or overwritten. For example, if you play the first scenario
in a campaign three times and use the same dossier all three times, each of those results will be listed in the dossier.
Each entry in the dossier will list the result of the scenario (victory or defeat), the amount of prestige at the end of the scenario, and the number of turns it took to complete the scenario. If, during gameplay, you wish to examine the current dossier, choose the Active Dossiers option in the File menu. If, during gameplay, you wish to review any dossier file, choose the Review Dossier option in the File menu. Each dossier is created either for the Axis or the Allied side; an Allied General cannot be used for the Axis side, and vice versa. You can have as many dossier files as you want, but each side can have only one dossier active at any time. For campaign play, only the Allied side can have an active dossier.
You can use a dossier for as many campaigns and scenarios as you want; there is no limit to the number of entries that a dossier can hold. Every dossier is protected by a password, which you set at the time of creation. To assign a dossier, you need to provide the password. You do not need to know the password for the dossier in order to review it.
The contents of the dossier are encrypted; you may view a dossier only within Allied General. The computer player cannot have an active dossier. Dossier assignments can be made only before the start of a campaign or scenario; once the campaign or scenario has been started, you may only examine dossiers.
For e-mail play, each player can have a dossier active. The Allied player that initializes the email game sets up his dossier via the usual steps; the Axis player gets the opportunity to assign a dossier when he receives the first turn from the Allied player.
The Buttons in The Dossier Window
OK - Accept the current setup.
Cancel - Cancel any changes made in this window.
Review - Allows you to view a dossier without assigning it. You do not need to know the password for the dossier in order to view it.
New - Create a blank dossier.
Assign - Assign an existing dossier to the Axis or Allied side (if the assignment is available).
Clear - relieve the current Axis or Allied General from command.
The Regions - The upper region displays the names of the active Axis and Allied generals. You can view the dossier for the active generals by double-clicking on the respective region.
'Vacant': there is no currently active dossier, but a dossier can be assigned there, unless the other 'player' is the AI.
'Unavailable': no dossier may be assigned to that side currently. For example, the Axis dossier becomes unavailable during campaign play.
Finish AI Now
This command is in the Game Menu, and will finish the AI's turn without displaying the combat and movement. Use this command if you don't want to wait for the AI to finish its turn.
Pause/Resume
You can pause the game during the AI turn; the AI will resume its turn when you select Resume. Both of these commands can be found in the Game menu.
Bingo Fuel
The BINGO fuel feature indicates destination hexes which are safe (in terms of fuel consumption), and those which are a one-way trip for the selected air unit. When you select an air unit, certain hexes on the map can turn red. If you move the unit to one of the red hexes, that unit will be out of range of any currently owned airport on the next turn. The plane might not fall out of the sky on the next turn, but it will not have enough fuel to get to any of your current airports. Notice that in the Torch scenario, when you select one of the Allied aircraft, all hexes surrounding the aircraft are red because you do not own any airports at the beginning of the scenario. (It's probably a good idea to capture one as quickly as possible.)
Org Table
The Org Table provides the following information:
- The version number of Allied General
- The name of the registered user.
- The names of the commanders for the active dossiers for the Axis and the Allies (see 'Dossier' above).
- The total time elapsed: DAYS: HOURS: MINUTES: SECONDS.
- Overall Clock: How long you've spent playing Allied General since you pulled it out of the box.
- Current Sortie: The time elapsed since you launched the game.
- Current Campaign: The time elapsed on the currently active campaign.
- Current Scenario: The time elapsed on the currently active scenario.
- Your win/loss record for Campaign and Scenario play; email games count toward your scenario record.
- The Reset button will reset the clocks, the win/loss counters, and the commanding officer.
(2). Clarifications and Corrections.
Clarifications
History Feature
To take advantage of the History feature, you must turn on History logging before you begin a scenario or campaign. You cannot turn on History once you have begun a scenario or campaign. If Allied General encounters any problems with the history file, it will silently turn off history recording. Do not move the history file to a different location on your hard drive while Allied General is recording to the file. Allied General cannot record to a history file if that history file is being used by another application. Make sure you have adequate disk space on your hard drive. If you continue to use the same history file it will become progressively larger.
File Search Path For Dossier And History Files
The location of dossier and history files related to a saved game are stored as part of the saved game. If these files cannot be found in the stored location, Allied General will then check the following locations:
- The same directory as the saved game.
- The directory that the Allied General program is in.
If Allied General cannot find a particular file in any of these places, it will ask you to locate the file. Allied General will then update the record of the file's location when the next save game file is created.
Campaign Play
Campaigns are playable only from the Allied side.
AI Selection
The Preferences window offers the user two AI settings; 'Easy' and 'Hard.' This is rather misleading since the differences in the AI behavior is more subtle than that. The (default) 'Easy' AI (the green computer icon) setting tends to stand and slug it out, while the 'Hard' AI (the red computer icon) is more likely to fall back and take replacements. This instinct for self-preservation can make a given scenario harder or easier based on the tactical circumstances. Ironically, we have found that the 'Easy' AI can be a lot tougher than the 'Hard' AI in certain situations.
Corrections
Campaign Game
Deployment Window
Do not close the deployment window until you have deployed ALL of your core units. If you do not deploy at least one core unit before closing the deployment window, you will be unable to deploy ANY core units until the following scenario.
Email
Comments In Email Play
Email comments have to be entered before the user moves his last unit. Email comments cannot be entered after the last unit is moved.
Combat Animations In Email Play
Both parties engaging in Email battles should be sure to turn Combat Animations off.
Name Unit In Email Play
The Name Unit feature does not function in Email play.
Rulebook Corrections
On page 2 of the rulebook, Russia, not North Africa, is the currently selected campaign.
On page 8 of the rulebook, Unit Information Window; the information window now includes unit class, core or auxiliary status of unit, and experience total.
On page 8 of the rulebook, Strategic Map; The strategic map now shows Russian units as red stars
On pages 16 and 17 of the rulebook; The Show Casualties, Show Intelligence and Show History windows are available on the Windows menu, not the Game menu.
On page 19 of the rulebook, Western Europe Campaign, the "Note:" sentence is incorrect; the British may not purchase American core units, and the Americans may not purchase British core units.
On page 23 of the rulebook, paragraph one, line (exclusive of heading) 4, the word "movement" should be replaced by the word "fuel".
On page 27 of the rulebook, paragraph four should be replaced by;
"A unit may move and attack, or attack then move, with the exception of artillery and air defense units, which cannot attack after moving."
On page 33 of the rulebook, paragraph three, line four, the word "purchased," should be replaced by the words "placed there".
On page 36 of the rulebook, paragraph three, the second sentence should be replaced by;
"Click to continue."
On page 36 of the rulebook, paragraph eight, player two chooses his password before watching player one's turn.
3. The Campaigns.
Don't be discouraged if you do not win the first time you play a scenario. There is a definite learning curve to Allied General -- if you haven't played before, you will be trying to both win the battle and get the 'feel' of the game system. Be patient and give yourself some time to learn the game system; then you can concentrate on a winning strategy. Allied General, as Panzer General before it, has a strong puzzle element in that you must 'solve' the scenarios. Read all the tactical notes in this readme file and in the manual, and try to apply them. With time you will gain confidence and skill.
If you realize you have made an irretrievable blunder early in a scenario, start again. (Save often!). There is no shame in a Minor Victory, but if you want to achieve a Major Victory, you will usually have to replay a scenario more than once. There is a 'basic formula' for play that has stood up through Panzer General and Allied General, and can be used as a guideline for the user, though there are some exceptions:
1. First play - get the 'feel' of the scenario.
2. Second play - either achieve or come close to, a Minor Victory.
3. Third play - either achieve, or come close to, a Major Victory.
Note that this will vary according to the difficulty level of the scenario; sometimes getting a Minor Victory can be almost as difficult as achieving a Major Victory. Make a habit of loading your current campaign game as an individual scenario and read the text in the Narrative window carefully. Although we do not usually spell out what it takes to get a Major Victory, we will give you one important piece of advice - move quickly and decisively towards your victory objectives.
Each of the following campaigns has the number of scenarios it contains listed, but remember that your own successes or failures dictate where you will fight - you will not go to every possible scenario in a campaign. When you finish a campaign, try playing any scenarios you missed as stand alone battles, or go back to your campaign saves (it's always good to keep them) and see where a different victory result (or even a loss) sends you.
North Africa Campaign (8 Scenarios, 21 Scenarios if playing the extended campaign)
We recommend this campaign as the best place to start for the novice or the casual user. Even if you are an accomplished Panzer General veteran, North Africa is a great tune-up for the larger, more challenging Western Europe and Russian Campaigns, and if you do well, you are set to play the extended campaign that carries the war to Europe.
If you do triumph in North Africa, and don't want to 'extend' your campaign, simply choose 'No' when asked if you want to continue. Novices should play Sidi Barrani (in campaign mode) until they feel comfortable with the game mechanics and have achieved a victory. Please remember to save often. Once Sidi Barrani has been mastered, it's on to El Agheila, which is a bit more of a challenge to the beginner. If El Agheila is still a little too much for you to absorb, return to Sidi Barrani and play to a Decisive Victory before you move on in the campaign.
The extended campaign allows the winner of the North Africa campaign to continue on with his command (Core units) into the Western Europe campaign, starting with the Mareth Line battle. Though you will have more experienced troops to start the campaign, the prestige you earned in the North Africa Campaign will NOT be transferred with you.
Western Europe Campaign (14 Scenarios)
This is really two campaigns. As the American, 'Operation Torch' will be your first battlefield test. As the British Commander you will start at the Mareth Line, attempting to defeat 'Jerry' and his Italian allies. Though many of the scenarios are shared, the 'feel' of the campaign will vary depending on what nationality you choose. When choosing, it is important to note that the U.S. player can only purchase U.S. Core units, and the British player only British Core units, though Auxiliary units (units available only in the current scenario) of either nationality may be purchased if a city of the correct nationality is available. Besides the Core unit restriction, another variable is the respective nation's unit types. Though there are many similarities, there are critical differences.
The U.S. forces have a wealth of powerful air unit types, each class (Fighter, Tactical Bomber, and Level Bomber) being well represented. Air Defense and Antiaircraft units are plentiful for the U.S. player, while the British player has to make do with a few basic types. The British have an excellent mix of armored units, especially later in the war, and many of them are more powerful than their U.S. counterparts.
Three of the scenarios in the campaign can be played only by an American General; Torch, Kasserine, and Moselle. The Meuse scenario is British only.
In most Western Europe Campaign scenarios a Major Victory will require you to capture all victory objectives by a certain turn; As an example, the Torch scenario is 10 turns long, and if you capture all victory objectives by turn 7, you will achieve a Major Victory. If you take all the victory objectives by the end of the battle, on turn 10, you will have achieved a Minor Victory.
We will leave it to you to discover the other Major Victory turn counts. The important thing to remember is that, with the exceptions listed below, capturing all the victory objectives by the last turn of a scenario will achieve a Minor Victory.
- A Minor Victory is achieved in Kasserine by holding all but one victory objective by the last turn in the scenario.
- A Minor Victory is achieved in Meuse by capturing every victory objective except The Hague, Utrecht, Rotterdam, and Middleburg.
Russia Campaign (17 Scenarios)
This campaign should only be undertaken by very experienced players. Early in the war you will face either a constant struggle for survival, or the frustration of Stavka's (the Soviet High Command, dominated by Stalin) overly ambitious offensive goals until late 1942 or early 1943. Even after the war turns in your favor, you will be challenged by the vast tracts you will have to cover against tough German resistance.
Careful planning is imperative because of the combination of large battlefields and low turn counts. At times the enemy will seem less of a concern than the distance to your next victory objective.
Before you begin any battle, locate the best routes to your objectives, formulate a plan, and stick to it. If you become distracted, you will be defeated. Having the necessary force to win isn't enough; losing a battle because you didn't get to an objective in time is very frustrating.
In many battles you will note that the Wehrmacht seem to have as many combat units as you do, and many of them will be superior to yours. (We are not postulating that the German Army was as large as the Red Army, simply trying to reflect the Wehrmacht's tactical flexibility and ability to quickly form ad hoc
formations called 'Kampfgruppe' that worked well together).
To beat the enemy you will need to become adept at hitting each of their armored units with multiple blows to weaken, then finish, them off. Soviet armored units should not be expected to handle enemy panzer units one on one until later in the war, when your Core tank units have accumulated experience. (In Allied General, like Panzer General before it, the abilities of individual tanks are not as important as the tactical doctrine and training of those units -- remember, a tank unit is not just one tank, it is many tanks and supporting formations.)
In most battles you will have plenty of artillery; use it to pound opposing infantry formations before you assault them with your infantry.
Until late 1942 (When 'Guards' infantry and cavalry become available) your infantry will not measure up, and will have to be heavily supported by other arms to succeed. Another complication for the infantry arm is the unavailability of half-tracks. The trucks that carry your motorized units are much more vulnerable than armored half-tracks. Careful use of any available roadnet is required by motorized units, especially in inclement weather.
The Luftwaffe will be hard to match at first and will probably have to be dealt with by copious use of Air Defense (AD) units until late in the war. Your air units are not as well trained and supported as the Luftwaffe, and you will need to have a minimum fighter air superiority of 2 to 3 to 1 plus supporting Air Defense to wrest control of the skies away from the enemy.
If you can control the air, your Il ('Ilyushin') series of Tactical Bombers can do heavy damage. The Il-2M3 Sturmovik, the model you will use for most of the war, can take a pounding and survive, but will be
destroyed without proper Fighter and/or Air Defense support.
In spite of all this, (maybe because of it) The Russian Campaign is a lot of fun to play, and has a 'feel' completely different from the other campaigns. See you in Berlin, 'Tovarisch!'
(4). Campaign Notes.
Force Balance
Playtesters have found that a range of approaches works, but there are a number of consistent factors. The largest parts of Core groups tend to be tanks, infantry, and aircraft. Tank strength is typically from 25-50% of the Core group, generally increasing over the war. Infantry strength is typically from 20-30% and slowly declining on a battlefield where only veteran infantry can effectively defend themselves. Some players use paratroops; others don't. The proportion of engineers and pionieres (who are very costly in terms of prestige) to other infantry also varies widely.
Air strength varies the most of the "big three" types of forces, from a couple of fighters up to over 30%, with the "big wing" proponents using one or two level bombers and the rest split in varying proportions between fighters and tactical bombers. Some players prefer the greater ground attack ability of dedicated tactical bombers while others prefer the added anti-air capabilities of fighter bombers, particularly when
facing strong enemy air opposition.
Some players' Core groups include up to 10% each of artillery and anti-tank units, while others use none or rely on Auxiliary forces. Self-propelled artillery is more useful on the advance, but towed artillery, if entrenched and protected against air and ground attack, suffices on the defense or for slow-moving
attacks such as those through mountainous or other unfavorable terrain.
Artillery, like engineers and pionieres, are magnets for enemy air attacks -- so use of these troop types necessitates a strong air force or air defense. Even players de-emphasizing airpower found a small fighter force useful for picking off isolated enemy bombers, forcing the enemy to escort his bombers, and for reconnaissance.
The main alternative to air reconnaissance (other than turning "Hidden Units" off) is Recon class units. Players who use them usually use no more than one per spearhead for scouting purposes. Late in the war, they have to be used more carefully in the face of increasingly powerful enemy units.
Though the force percentages can vary significantly, each approach strikes a particular combined arms balance between the types of units the player uses together to achieve victory on the battlefield. Some choices limit others -- for example, an army with a powerful air force will have little need for air defense and can afford to deploy a lot of expensive artillery and engineers, which, however, are no more than vulnerable targets if the enemy rules the skies. Auxiliary units available to you will often help deal with key gaps in your force mix for particular scenarios.
Core Versus Auxiliary Units
There is a tension in the campaign game between getting experience for your units and letting the auxiliaries take the bulk of the punishment. Use only auxiliaries for scouting into unexplored territory (because of the risk of ambush), and for those occasional sacrificial attacks needed to soften up a tough
enemy target.
Using elite replacements for auxiliaries is rarely worth it. Remember that elite replacements will be provided to your Core units once a battle is over.
You are not penalized for losing Auxiliary units (though the enemy does gain prestige for killing them).
Core units take special handling. At the start of a campaign, Core units have little or no experience. As your original Core group becomes more powerful, you will still have newly acquired Core units to develop as a campaign progresses.
It is important to initiate low risk combats with your Core units as frequently as possible while still keeping your overall battle plan intact. More powerful Core units can be given more difficult tasks, but it is best to let new Core units engage in 'mopping up' of units already weakened by auxiliaries. Avoid placing even powerful Core units in high risk tactical situations if possible.
Upgrading And Elite Replacements
Players' styles differ significantly on when to spend prestige to upgrade a unit's equipment and when to give it elite rather than regular replacements. These are important decisions, and there is a trade-off between the two and between these and raising new units because you rarely have enough prestige to do everything you want.
Upgrading: The upgrade issue is easier -- you can't afford to allow your technology to become obsolete, but you can't afford to upgrade every time new technology becomes available. Some units never upgrade -- engineer and pioniere units never get any better than their initial values. Most infantry, particularly the slower-moving heavy weapons and engineer units, needs transport to be effective offensively.
Aircraft are typically upgraded one to three times during the course of the war, sometimes more, while tanks can easily be upgraded three to five times. Naturally, experienced units receive the best equipment -- they can use it most effectively and it increases their survivability.
As you play, you will probably develop a preferred upgrade path that fits your force balance and tactics. You may also wish to experiment with alternative approaches to force structure.
(5). General Strategic And Tactical Notes.
Prestige Costs
The prestige cost of units only roughly correlates with their effectiveness, so examine combat values closely before purchasing or upgrading equipment. Remember that an expensive purchase or upgrade has to be balanced against the need for enough prestige to afford elite replacements for you Core units during a tough battle.
Maximum fuel capacity and especially maximum ammo capacity need to be carefully examined. This is even more of a constraint if the unit is advancing than if stationary on defense. Remember that a unit can easily use up several rounds of ammo in a turn if repeatedly attacked (or if providing defensive fire in support of adjacent units that are being attacked).
Close defense is another statistic that you can regret you overlooked if the unit runs into infantry in the woods and city hexes common on most battlefields, because you defend using your close defense rather than ground defense value. Make sure to check enemy unit types and strength.
Start by comparing your attack values and defense values against each other to see who has more destructive potential in a fair fight. Then compare initiative values to see who is more likely to initiate combat first, bearing in mind that unit experience can count for as much as 3 initiative levels.
Experience tends to be very important in fighter combat, where initiative values don't differ much and where attack values are high relative to defense values -- the better pilot often gets in a devastating first shot. It is less important in early-war tank warfare, where attack values tend to be relatively lower compared with defense values.
Terrain
Careful attention to terrain is well worth it. Rivers are probably the most significant obstacle and make excellent positions to defend behind. Bridging units are very helpful in terrain with many rivers but few roads or bridges. Cities, besides being victory objectives and prestigious to capture and hold, are the next most significant obstacle because of the strength they offer the defense -- important advantages in cities, swamps and mountains are that the effect of the opposing equipments' initiative difference is minimized (because of the close range combat involved) and entrenchment and experience levels become key.
Cities, woods and mountains also allow defending and attacking infantry to shoot against the close defense number of the enemy unit as mentioned above (except that infantry attacking against infantry who succeed in putting up a rugged defense shoot at the defender's ground defense value).
Entrenchment levels are a feature of units, not terrain, but affect combat much as terrain does -- they make a devastating rugged defense more likely. Entrenchment levels can be reduced by attacking or bombarding a ground unit.
Weather
Bad weather generally helps the defender and helps the side with air inferiority because of the inability of air units to attack and their reduced scouting ability during bad weather. Interludes of bad weather are good times to resupply and rebuild units or make them overstrength while waiting for the weather to clear.
Replacements
Don't let your units fight until destroyed -- if you can pull them out with even 1 strength point left, they can be rebuilt more cheaply per strength point than buying a new unit (even if using elite replacements) and get to keep their experience as a bonus. This represents the importance of veteran cadres to the performance of new recruits.
The importance of preserving units has many tactical implications. One is to ensure that units which risk heavy losses shoot before moving so they can retreat to safety if grievously weakened. The corollary of this principle is, of course, to mercilessly wipe out crippled enemy units to keep the enemy from rebuilding them.
Combined Arms
There are many aspects to combined arms tactics, but this is the most important: Armor is the king of open ground and infantry is the king of restricted terrain. If you consistently violate this rule, your career as an 'Allied General' will be short and disastrous. Every unit class has its advantages and disadvantages compared to other classes.
Tanks can roll over infantry in the open but be stopped dead by them in bad terrain or entrenchments. Artillery can slaughter infantry but be slaughtered by tanks. Anti-tank guns can defend well against attacking armor but fare poorly against infantry. Air defense and anti-air units are poor against ground units but a Major threat to aircraft, which avoid them but can freely strike anything else moving on the ground.
Combined arms tactics involve using a variety of unit types in close cooperation, each attacking the enemy where it has an advantage and being screened by the other arms where it has a disadvantage. On the advance in open ground, for example, tanks and tank destroyers would lead, with self-propelled artillery
and air defense units and infantry mounted in half-tracks or trucks "tucked in" behind them where the enemy cannot attack them without first forcing the armor out of the way. Recon units might be in or immediately behind the front line to use their superior spotting range to scout ahead.
Although an army consisting solely of tanks might be able to win a battle (at least, a defensive battle), it is likely to lose badly to a balanced force of equal size. Both in the overall army and in the battlegroups assigned to spearhead particular attacks or defend particular sectors, the subtle skill of using combined arms is one of the most important talents of the Allied General. There are many aspects to combined arms, as you will learn as you play, but a stereotypical example follows.
Attack On A Prepared Position:
To avoid ambushes and wasting time by sending troops to inappropriate locations, you begin by scouting to uncover enemy positions. This can involve sending aircraft along a path crossing over the terrain you are
interested in or pushing a recon unit to the limit of what is currently visible (or one hex short of that, if you want to be careful). Absent either of these, you use a unit somewhat to the rear of your front line whose full move would take it ahead of your line but to a hex that is still visible. When it arrives there, it spots additional hexes and units from the rear can leapfrog forward, increasing the spotted area.
Suppose the enemy is spotted, heavily entrenched in a victory objective city directly ahead of you, with artillery positioned behind the city and infantry or armor to either side. You decide you can't successfully bypass it and turn back to take it later. Your priorities are to eliminate the supporting artillery, clear away the nearby enemy units, and weaken the unit defending the city.
A typical sequence of events could be:
a. Fighter attacks city to weaken entrenchments.
b. Tac bomber attacks artillery to inflict losses -- getting rid of the enemy artillery is key to preventing heavy losses to your infantry.
c. Tank attacks enemy tank/tank destroyer or tank attacks infantry on other side of city (don't attack with infantry yet since strong surviving enemy artillery will chew it up).
d. Artillery moves into range of city and deploys.
e. First wave infantry moves adjacent to city in front of friendly artillery.
f. Enemy turn -- can't resupply, build, or successfully attack even your infantry because of your artillery support; can't attack your infantry with air power since your fighter will intercept; his artillery will try to harass you, though.
g. Your turn: fighter over city attacks and moves to adjacent hex.
h. If enemy tank or infantry on flanks gone, armor or tank destroyer passes forward to attack enemy artillery while tactical bomber moves over city to attack it.
i. Friendly artillery bombards city.
j. First assault wave attacks city, retires away if the enemy survives (bridging engineers, engineers, and pionieres are more likely to win immediately since they ignore enemy entrenchments and prevent an enemy rugged defense).
k. Second wave moves adjacent to city, attacks and probably wins
l. Fresh troops from the rear occupy city.
Make sure you pay attention to the estimated combat results displayed on the top center of the mainplay window as you plot your attacks, although actual combat results will vary. The only important variable the estimate leaves out is the risk of facing a rugged defense.
Offensive Tactics
How many objectives you hold at the end of the battle is the key. Tenacity and endurance count. Avoiding
friendly losses and inflicting losses on the enemy don't count for determining victory and defeat, although, particularly in the campaign game, both of these goals help you improve your Core army and thereby help in future battles. Since only victory objectives count, you must avoid being led astray by diversions.
Part of staying focused on objectives is making and implementing a plan and keeping your forces organized accordingly.
Check the strategic map to see where victory objectives are and the best routes to them, preferably routes that pass by a number of them. Paths that threaten multiple objectives are preferable because the enemy must build and deploy units to defend them all, thus leaving the target you wish to strike weaker before your blow.
Thinking in terms of battlegroups tasked with driving to specific objectives is one good way of keeping on track and avoiding time-wasting distractions. To win in Allied General, time is the one thing you cannot afford to waste. Offensives tend to become dissipated; they diffuse over the entire enemy front rather than just the critical sector. Units tend to wander across the battlefield in the pursuit of temporary and often irrelevant tactical advantages such as picking off weakened units.
The result is that a Major Victory can become a Minor Victory or a loss. Attacking on a broad front is an unwise dissipation of strength except in fluid "pursuit" battles such as Moselle or Ploesti where you are chasing or racing past the enemy to your objectives. Single, narrow spearheads are too limiting, but a single, broad spearhead is an effective way to punch through strong defense lines into more favorable ground beyond, while multiple spearheads work well in intermediate situations with widely spread objectives. Lines of advance threatening multiple objectives force the enemy to disperse to protect them all, weakening him everywhere, while converging on an objective from several directions lets you direct the most combat strength against it.
Force balance is essential on the offensive because of the varied nature of the terrain and enemy forces. Any force that will attack woods or towns needs infantry..... If you have air inferiority, consider an AA unit or two and self-propelled or motorized air defense units to provide some deterrent to and protection against enemy aircraft. This works best if you have at least a small fighter force to pick off weakened enemy aircraft after they attack.
Defensive Tactics
When you find yourself on the receiving end of a determined attack, familiarize yourself with your adversary's victory objectives and devise a plan to deny him those objectives. Build multiple lines of defense -- get antitank guns and infantry, which entrench more quickly, focusing wherever possible on defending river lines and putting infantry in cities, mountains and forests. Artillery sited behind towns to provide defensive support is especially useful.
Active defense is the strongest form of defense -- it can be a very effective practice to launch local counter-attacks immediately to neutralize any enemy penetrations and before the enemy can settle into a captured position.
Combined arms on the defense is the converse of combined arms on the offensive - an ideal defensive position consists of infantry in bad terrain immediately supported to the rear by artillery and air defense units, with armored and infantry reserves to counterattack breakthroughs in open and close terrain, respectively, and, ideally, fighters to shoot down enemy tactical bombers and tactical bombers to weaken enemy artillery and the attacking units they support. If you can keep yourfighters in the air, they can intercept attacks on adjacent ground or bomber units (unless first attacked by the enemy themselves). If your adversary has air superiority, take recourse to air-defense units.
One thing to note, particularly important on defense, is that units that cannot retreat surrender instead -- if a unit is particularly likely to be beaten, try to leave room for it to fall back. The disadvantage of this, of course, is that it makes it harder to put artillery and air defense units in direct support of the unit.
The Air War
The air war is a subsidiary but critical part of the war. Air units cannot take or hold terrain -- only land units can do that -- but they can prove a major help or hindrance depending on whose units are flying overhead. The ideal is air supremacy which means unopposed control of the air, but your minimum goal (unless seriously inferior in the air) is air superiority, which means that you generally have the advantage in the air and can range freely over enemy lines to launch ground attacks.
If you achieve air supremacy, keep your air units constantly busy launching attacks on ground units to increase their experience levels. With air supremacy, your soft targets are also safe from air attack and your air force can provide valuable reconnaissance of the enemy's dispositions while he cannot see yours.
With air inferiority, your soft targets, especially trucks, artillery, and pioniere or engineer units, get hammered. Your fighter and anti-air units should concentrate on enemy bombers, since the fighters can do only minimal damage to your ground units. Your air defenses can provide some shelter from enemy attack for your air units.
Fighter/bomber coordination was a major doctrinal issue on both sides during the war in Europe. Should the fighters be tied to close escort of the bombers or range free to hunt down enemy fighters before they can approach? From the aerial defender's point of view, should his interceptors target the attacking bombers or the escorting fighters?
To attack escorted bombers, first attack the fighters to weaken or destroy them. If successful, this reduces the effect of, or prevents intercepting attacks on the bombers. Air defense units work the same way -- though they are best attacked by ground units, good tactical bombers and pilots can take them out or severely weaken them from the air. Sometimes the attacker escapes without loss by shooting first to devastating effect, but considerable losses to the attacker are more typical.
When coordinating air units, remember to keep your tactical and level bombers adjacent to friendly fighters unless you have complete control of the air.
Strategic bombers can inflict prestige losses on the enemy by bombing victory objectives, destroy airfields, bomb other enemy-held cities into neutral status (i.e., 'neutralize' them so the enemy can't build there or gain prestige from holding them), or bomb units, destroying strength, ammo and fuel and suppressing them for the entire turn.
Highly experienced strategic bomber crews are very effective. Note also that "heavy" and "medium" level bombers are inherently more effective than "light" level bombers, but that the relative difference narrows considerably with experience. Level bombers all have the same hard and soft attack values, so the real combat difference is revealed by other values, including their air attack and air defense values. Bombers with high naval attack values can also be extremely useful against ships.
The Naval War
Most scenarios don't include naval warfare, but naval units can play an important role in almost all the scenarios in which they appear. They are expendable, and should be used to defeat the enemy navy and then support the ground forces with bombardment, or at least prevent the enemy fleet from bombarding your forces. Note that bombardment is much more effective against soft targets than hard targets. In naval battles, since capital ships can't fight back against subs, an escort screen is essential against this threat.
Experience
In addition to getting a chance of shooting first, experienced units lose fewer casualties and inflict more casualties than would otherwise be the case. Units gain experience by fighting and gain the most by destroying enemy with better experience or equipment or at least forcing them to retreat.
Building upunits to overstrength status is a combination of numbers and quality can smash some enemy units with a single attack. Building up to overstrength takes time, however, and artillery and air bombardment against you have the annoying effect of cutting these units back down to size.
(6). Designers Notes
Allied General was conceived as an easy-to-play but challenging-to-master tactical/operational wargame in which the player, taking the role of a general, leads an increasingly experienced combined arms force through a linked series of battles making up a complete campaign.
Be forewarned; Each campaign has a distinctively different "feel" and level of difficulty. We wanted a realistic feel without burdening the player: if the player did something that made sense historically, it would work in the game, but the player wouldn't have to handle a lot mechanically.
Combined arms coordination is represented by giving each unit a turn in which it can move and shoot, with the tactical subtlety lying in the sequence and of attacks involved in a particular local engagement. Entrenchment levels are a key concept in the game: units able to dig into a prepared position are tougher to root out. The concept of "rugged defense" represents ambush or the ability to open fire with surprise at close range, conditions which favor the defender and can devastate an attacker. Rugged defense really helps infantry, particularly well entrenched infantry.
Repeated attacks on such a unit, however, will disrupt an entrenched unit, force it out of good tactical positions and give the attacker intelligence useful for further attacks.
In the game, the way to attack a strongly entrenched unit is with a combination of aerial and artillery preparatory bombardment, followed by ground attacks by one or more units. Entrenching takes time unless a unit begins a scenario entrenched. Some units can take more advantage of ground and therefore can entrench more quickly than others in the game. Moving units have a zero entrenchment level, but gain the base entrenchment level of the particular terrain they end in when they stop.
