Stalingrad Encirclement AI

[Aluminum Elite Master]

Playing this new Co-op AI Battle at Captain or above is ridiculous.

The Soviet AIs you play with are pretty bad at controlling the heavy mortars, so pretty much every attempt will see you start off by using your initial engie squad to crew both mortars. Which isn't so bad, in some ways, but you also are 1 player down compared to the Germans. Hence, you pretty quickly are going to be overwhelmed managing both guns along with your own units.

Then, you have Katyushas to use. And you better pick them, because I've played this battle probably 5 times now and not seen the Soviet AI partners use them at all. In fact, I don't know if I've seen the Soviet AI partners use the T-34 deployables much or at all, either.

The AI you get as partners are bad, and the Germans outnumber you, and by the end you probably have both 200mm mortars, two or more Katyushas, and a good number of anti-tank guns to micro. I'm all for challenge, and I don't pretend that I'm a phenomenal player, but the fact is that 4 German players sending Panzer 4's at you is a little rough given that you only have 2 allies and both of them are terrible.

Whoever's beaten this battle on Captain or up, I'm all ears.

[BigCupOfTea]

I have only been playing on General. I can manage to hold one point on my own and supplement one AI holding another but everytime they get tanks its just overwhelming. I have destroyed up to 8 panzer IVs but they just keep coming and eventually smash one of the AIs and then I get flanked. I am out of ideas

[Rubikon]

Totaly agree! It's insane.

[Trixt]

Very Hard mission. I did it yesterday ( captain) In coop with another player + an AI. I tried like five times with two AI and i got my ass kicked no matther what im trying.

Is this even possible with two AI on General ? Probably the hardest mission in the history of RTS.

[Bad_vader]

Its possible to do with AI only. I'ved already finished it on General with only AI. Having otherr players to help makes the AI fight harder so its your choice, if you think having other players would tip the scales in your favor or not. Personally I don't.

I don't recommend anyone going with an infantry based strategy especially in General difficulty, they always field HT mortars or the regular ones which leaves AT guns quite vulnerable, at times they also field flame HT which more or less own all infantry.

This is basically how I won in General Difficulty.
I used the Defensive tactics commander but I didn't use his abilities a lot only a few tank traps and mines. I'd suggest going with the Soviet reserve army so you can swap out the engies for cons with the conscript repair kit.

The initial stage is easy enough to hold off. A few mgs and you should be fine for awhile. I suggest you take out the right bridge just to lessen the arease where the Germans can enter. When their armor comes is when the real battle begins. Make no mistake you will be pushed back by the Germans when their armor starts rolling in, they'll certainly outnumbered your armor at the start and will continue to do so for awhile you'll also a lot of grounds maybe until just outside your base. At this point you should be doing primarily only 3 things:
1. Mass T34s, micro then and keep pulling them back when they're health is below 50%. Other than the T34 the only other unit you should be getting are engineers. 2-3 is usually enough.
2. Spam mines, because you'll be going with armor munis shouldn't be too much of a concern for you. You should start this before their armor arrives to help slow down the Germans later on when their armor comes.
3. Snipe thier armor. Stugs are of course easier to do this than P4 since you can just circle strafe to get the kill.

Once youve'd gotten 4 T34's you should be able to safely secure the middle point. Just remember to keep pulling back the injured T34s and keep the ones in full health in front. When you get your 6th T34 you can now start hitting at the right point with the 5th and 6th T34, just leave the left point alone your allies will push towards it on their own so you don't need to focus on it. Even when you already capture the mid and the right point DONT EVER STOP MASSING T34s you might get caught off guard and lose quite a few T34s to Stugs and P4s so having those extra T34s helps a lot.

When to get the Katyusha is up to you. If you think your holding fine for now and have the resources for 1 then by all means get 1.

You may not win with this strat on your first game but thats okay just keep refining your plan and make adjustments based on your play style until you win.

Personally this battle isn't that hard to do. I managed to beat it on my 3rd try I'd say the hardest battle is still Faceoff at Rostov, with only an AI for an ally its next to impossible to win against the Russians there.

[BigCupOfTea]

Bad_vader, nice post. Your tactics didnt work for me though :( but I did find another way :)

Basically, when you get 4 or 5 T34s (keep them safe and dont worry too much about the territory) - head to the eastern side of the AIs map with your 'posse' and flank the AIs base (East to West). Dont get destracted by anything that cant kill your tanks and just take out their vehicle production capability (4 factories). The AI will come back with their tanks and some will appear from the edge of the map so be aware!. As you get tank reinforcements, send them to the east of the map and wait until you get at least 2 or more T34s before sending them in to reinforce the (now battered) original posse of T34s. This should be enough to take out all of the AIs vehicle production capability and significantly dent their infantry production too.

The AI managed to clean my tanks out eventually but by the time they did, my AI had started to swamp their points and overun their positions. You should also have another bunch of T34s to come up and reinforce the victory points -I just held on at this point (rather than risk another assault) but a more aggressive player may enjoy finsihing their bases off! :) good luck.

P.S. I used the Urban Defense commander (the light AT guns are useful to plug holes when your T34s are off causing trouble (I always have one protecting the west flank of my base).

P.S.S. This was General difficulty