How to stay alive: A guide for those unskilled in Wargame: Airland Battle

These are some tips on how to keep yourself from getting overwhelmed during your first games.

Intro

The worst thing that I have had to do in Wargame: Airland Battle is fight to stay alive against a far superior foe. Airland Battle is a punishing game to try and learn on the fly. You will constantly find yourself on the losing side and unable to fight back properly. So here are a few tips on how to keep yourself from getting massacred.

Tip #1: Don't panic

Panic will kill you if you allow it to happen, so don't.
Keep calm even when under duress, and you will stand a much larger chance than if you were to fight like a madman.

Even though I was defeated, the Challenger 1s turned out to be a life saver. Keeping calm and making sound tactical descisions is very important.

Tip #2: Especially tough units

Simply put, some units are tougher to kill than others.
Fighting in a shootout can be dangerous, so always try to use tough units. These are usually composed of heavy tanks with insane armour, or large blocks of Infantry.


Here are a number of notoriously tough units:

1: Challenger 1

These are my favorite tough vehicles in the game, and will soak up tons of firepower. Missiles, rockets and artillery shells won't kill them, and they've also got a very good cannon, letting them dish out death easily.






2: T80U

T80Us are more well armoured than Challenger 1s, making them ideal heavy tanks for the Pact forces. These will take tons of damage and not show a scratch, killing enemies with ease with their mighty cannons and ATGMs.





3: Leopard 2

No matter what version of Leopard 2 you use, when you use them you are guranteed high survivability. One of the best tanks in the game, they will send most anything to it's grave before getting destroyed.





4: Chimera

Most Canadian equipment is outdated and generally junk, but the Canadians got something right when they built the Chimera. It's front armour matches that of the T80U, and it is possibly the best defensive vehicle in the game.

Tip #3: Offensive units

For an effective defense, you will require some elite offensive troops.

Sometimes you will need to push back. It's a hard truth for stubborn defenders, but you do need to keep the initiative. Make sure you have full control over the battlefield and you will be fine.

1: Attack Helicopters
These will kill things very quickly, and are powerful at long and medium range. With ATGMs and autocannons they are great multi-role gunships. However, be aware that AA missiles and autocannons will shred you if you let them see your expensive helicopters. Be careful.





2: Elite Infantry
Spetsnaz and Delta Force are two great examples of this type of infantry. These are multi-role, highly offensive infantry with superior equipment and training. Use them stealthily in forests and buildings to take down infantry in sudden ambushes.





3: Aircraft
Aircraft equiped with napalm, ATGMs or bombs will be of much use to an attacking force. Nighthawks are great at this, as their bombs will kill almost anything. Cluster munitions are always a good choice, and HE bombs are not to be overlooked either.

Tip #4: Helpful Support Units

There are three unit types that you will always require: Aircraft, Anti-Air, and Artillery.

Now this statement is mostly true, but there is one adjustment that must be made: You cannot truly fight without at least two of these types of units.

There. That means that you can possibly build a succesful deck without any Aircraft, but you will compensate using AA or AAA and Artillery.

This is because that these three types of units each have a distinct role. Aircraft are used as either ground attack or interceptors. Artillery is used as a blunt sledgehammer to either shield your units from harm using smoke, or smash your opponents units asunder. AA is used to destroy aircraft and the occasional unamrmoured vehicle passing by. (Infantry too.)

Now, this being said you can probably make a deck for multiplayer games using one or none of these support units, however this is only if you are certain that your ally is balancing this out.

Some great support units will be updated soon.

Tactics: Tips and tricks that will keep you alive

1. Use cover to your advantage. Keeping your infantry within woods or buildings will significantly increase your survivability. An effective way to keep your expensive logistics command units alive is to hide them in a forest, and when the enemy breaks through, back them out of the side opposite to the direction the enemy is attacking from.

2. Use roads carefully. Stay off the roads in enemy territory, or you will soon find yourself in an ambush. Roads are useful early game to get your command in place quickly, but late-game they becom redundant except for retreat.

3. Don't spam units. Charging forwards with 40 T-34/85s may seem intimidating, but is in fact a huge waste of points. They will be killed long before they can truly fight back. Having nine bomber jets fly in and all get chewed up by AA won't work either, so keep your deck balanced.

4. Don't attack blindly. Recon the area first, establish a plan of attack that could work, then attack. Charging blindly into an area will end with your troops facing a similar end as to that of the Light Brigade. Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred...

5. AA is your friend. Anti-Air guns and missiles are very helpful. Killing or stunning aircraft is very important in a succesful defense. Radar is also very helpful in achieving this.

6. Balancing your deck is important. There needs to be balance to your deck, otherwise you will die to a deck that counters yours exactly. Start off with all-round units, like infantry in good transports, and then use the more elite units when you need to.

All in all...

Overall, smart tactics and good equipment will let you claim victory, even when the odds are stacked against you. Strategy plays just as much of a role as good equipment, so ensure that you practice with a force before using it all-out.

Happy hunting.

Credit for guide image:

http://kremlin.ru/dyn_images/img151384.jpg

[Noobslayer]

@tacoshy : So glad to see that some people still find this guide useful. A new, updated version will be put out (eventually) for Wargame: Red Dragon. Hopefully I'll be able to add in some new and interesting articles of information there.

[tacoshy]

with a few exeptions still UP TO DATE.

As a new player I would recommend not to play with aircrafts and artillery at all and focus heavily on your air defense. You can play great without arty and aircraft which also will allow you do focus more on your ground units, micro manage them and keeping them alive. Also since this is a multiplayer game you mostly have a more experienced player that know how to use arty/aircrafts and can ssist you if needed.

[BlackHoleCZ]

Dont forget, aa guns are very intertesting

[Blackbeard]

I usually just spawn few CV's and capture a zone which can provide a new spawn point, and then place like 2-3 big tanks and a few aa and tows and defend until the enemy gives up and then ill make a counter attack.

[Ivy King]

Yeah i know i did read it, my only comment was on the tough stuff everything else is fine, you trying to argue about something we agree on? lol

[Noobslayer]

See Tactics: Tips and Tricks for the balance section. As for starting out with tough units, I agree, one will die quickly. I will add this under Tactics.

[Ivy King]

If the player is new to the game waht exactly will they do with this reaction time? by which point the more experianced player has seen their strategy and will wipe them out. Im not suggesting you go soley counter units but no matter how tough these units are they cant withstand an attack for long, its just dumb, you need balance otherwise you will get wrecked by any player who has an understanding of how to play they game. it also allows opisition to be more flexible as you would spend all your money on a few expenive units loosing you the game form the start. For the record dont panic is the very best advice to a new player

[Noobslayer]

Solely spawning counter units will not work, as there are not enough counter units to fully make up for a significant lack that a new player's army would have. Having something that can withstand enemy counter units simply keeps you alive longer, buying time to react.

[Ivy King]

Spawning just expensive units is not a good tactic, this guide does nothing but tell you how to die expensivly, you are better to spawn counter type units if you are new to the game, tows, AA etc

[Unorignallyoriginal]

Anyways what i meant to say was Include a section on Abrams tanks as you can 32 m1s with good armor values 24 m11ps slightly better and 6 m1a1s with excellent gyros and accuracy and the same amount of armor as 1 m11p in total that 62 tough tanks