The Defcon Formation Collections

A review of the various fleet and silo formations along with countries and gamemodes in Defcon. This guide will teach you how to not lose in the first 3 minutes of DEFCON.

Introduction

Want to not lose in the first 3 minutes of DEFCON ? Waiting in a lobby wondering what to do ?

Defcon is a very unforgiving game where seconds can determine wins or losses. Sometimes the hardest part of the game may not be the nuking, timing or diplomacy but your asset set-up: silos, fleet, etc. This guide will hopefully contain all the information you will need to deploy a successful formation and not lose in the first 3 minutes of Defcon.

Its not 100% completed and checked, so expect a lot of mistakes. Feel free to point them out.

Index

Your first set-up -This part teaches you the basics of deploying
Solid Formations -Different formations of silos with pics
Country Specific Information -Specific information of every country in the game

Your first set-up

So you joined a game and started with a country. What do you do ?


Traffic here played a few rounds of AI defcon and played the turtorial so he knows how to *play* the game. He sets up his radar stations across his country, so that it covers his entire territory, adds the silos, airbases and is finished with his ground deployment. He then places his ships around his nation forming a barricade.

This may seem completely normal or a horrible, horrible strategy. Lets see why

Ground Unit Flaws

1. Notice how Traffic's silos are spread out, all alone on the coast of South America. This breaks No.1 of my rules. Protect your silos. Leaving a silo alone may seem sneaky or a excellent stratgy but its plainly an invite for attack. It would only take about 5 nukes to destroy a lone silo, which wastes you 10 nukes. So how do we solve this ? By grouping our silos. If we group our silos together it makes them harder to destroy as the combined defense of all 6 silos is enough to deter an attacker. Also grouping you silos make synching attacks much easier.

2. While Traffic's radar stations does cover the entire country it leaves them isolated and vunerable. Grouping radar stations closet to the silos keeps them secure but decreases the radar coverage of your country. So there's a payoff with radar placement, preferably place some close to the silos to extend your silos anti-air reach and some near your borders so that you can hopefully see your enemies ground units.

3. Airbases are like radar stations in a sense, the closer you keep them to your silos the safer they are but the range of their aircraft are reduced. They can also act as your fast reaction force to sub launches or backup for your main fleet. I like to keep my airbases near the coast of my country to maxamise their offensive capabilities.

Naval Unit Flaws

1. Traffic thought that having a fleet of 6 battleships would be incredible strong and offensive. True but it decreases flexability and effectivness. A fleet can only attack 1 enemy at a time and if more than 1 enemy attacks a fleet, you have to choose between threat A and threat B. This also decreases effectivness as 2 fleets of 3 battleships is much more efficient in destroying multiple threats. Depending on how you want to group our fleets I would reccomend having just 3 battleships in a fleet.

2. An even bigger no no is grouping 6 subs together. Sure its easier to manage them and the ability to launch 30 nukes from the sea is an awesome threat but the risk are too high. Most likely a anti-sub fleet will depth charge your fleet quickly destroying them all. Definantly not worth it. I would group subs into 2's for nuking and have lone subs patrolling the coast of your country. Subs aren't just for nuking, they can be used for spearheading an assault. As a general rule never have a sub group bigger than 4.

3. Aircraft carriers are different than battleships as they can attack multiple targets in a fleet. So even if you have a fleet of 6 you can attack 6 different targets. Still I prefer to group them no bigger than 4 giving me more carriers to deploy elsewhere.

The reviewed placement


As you can see this set-up corrects the previous one keeping in mind the reccomendations above. Do note that "Its your set-up" feel free to change or experiment with different fleet combinations or ground unit placements.

Quick Tips

1. Don't group your fleets any bigger than 5
2. Protect your ground assets
3. Group your silos
4. Try and hide your ground assets
5. You don't have to place your units in Defcon 5

Solid Formations

I gave these formations my own name but some of them "official names"


The flower formation (Feud Silo Set-up)

A very simple formation consisting of just 6 silos and 1 radar station. Extra units can be placed anywhere you want. I like this because it's very defensive and strong. I wouldn't reccomend using this offensively near a border.


The line formation

Title says all, its just a line of silos supported by radar and airbases. Use this only for 1v1 as its extremely easy to attack from the sides. An awesome benefit of using this formation is that the silos can attack multiple nukes with ease. Usefull for those mass spammings at the end of the game !


The Euro line formation

While being in the centre of a war is a bad thing, this formation maxamises the defense of Europe. As you can see there are 2 silo lines running across europe, notice how they are slanted. This gives the advantage to the silos because when nukes launch they have to travel in a curved direction. Allowing the silos the maximum amount of time to destroy the nukes. You can also reverse this formation so it works on countries below europe.


The diamond formation

Like the flower formation it has a centre radar and silos surrounding the centre. However it surrounds the centre radar like a diamond. I tried combining the best of Euro Line and the Flower Formation. I find this to be a weird hybrid of anti-air and early stage nuking. The top silo's can be used for nuking without majorly affecting the effectiveness of the formations anti-air.


The 3x2 formation (six pack)

A very common set-up in the world of Defcon neverless it is effective. Usually used to "play it safe" as sometimes using other set-ups can be horrible. Good set-up for N0obs :D.

The Uber, Awesome, Mega, Silos of Russia (game over)



Co-ordinating all those silos is one hell of a challenge

Other Formations

Because you can do so much more without silos.......


The relay (fighter chain)

Used to relay addition fighters or bombers from different airbases. As you can it is possible to move a fighter from the European front to my naval force. Usefull if you want to spam fighters at people.


The Fleet Line ( the-line-of-battle)

The Fleet Line are just battleships in 1 line and carriers behind the battleships, subs are optional. This gives the fleet line awesome firepower and an effective means of defense or offense. As the ships are grouped individualy it makes it easier to either spam fighters or bombers.

Country Information I

Your in the game lobby, what country should I chose ?

If Defcon was like chess then there would one major difference, the countries are not balanced, Each country has their own strenghts and weaknesses. Choosing a country will totally effect your stratagies, allinaces and set-up so its important you think carefully about which country you choose.

Note: All of these countries have been reviewed in standard settings (25 cities with 100 million population)

Africa

Africa is an interesting country, its surrounded by nearly all countries except russia, the cities are quite spread out and that there is not really a "safe place" to deploy your fleet.

The cities tend to congregate near the south and west coast except for Cairo which boats a population of 25+ million. A general strategy I see in Africa is to place your silos in a standard six-pack near the bottom (cape of good hope) and your radars/airbases surrounding them. With this you can protect the majority of your cities and have just 2 countries (Asia and South America) at a close nuking distance. I find this the safest and reliable of all the formations and set-ups I have used in Africa.

Placing your naval units is kind of like a mixed-bag, it allows you play agressive pushing for a massive naval domination or as a deterrant. Africa is a great country if you really want to influence other countries fleet positions. If you want to play agressive deploy your fleet near India or close to South America's coastline. If you want to play defensive position your fleet close to madagascar/ South Africa. However most likely any experienced player will ask/warn you to move your fleet away from his/her country.

"The Awkward Country"

Pros

-A good country if you want to be naval agressive
-Europe is above you, which can soak some of the nukes for you :)

Cons

-Completely surrounded, making it easy for you to get swamped by nukes or bombers
-Hard to deploy formations as its very easy to be scouted
-Cairo, that city can make or break games

Russia

Probably the easiest country to camp and rack up kills, however it can get hectic if Europe doesn't ally with you and when the nukes start flying.

Russia is a massive country with plenty of good locations to place your silos away from pesky fighters and nukes. The most northern part of Russia or on the northern island are the most common deployments for camping however If you wish to protect your cities use a six-pack on top of Moscow. An extremely common tactic is for Russia to alliance with Europe for the added benefit of 12 silos guarding a large majority of both nations population. It takes extremely good timing or large spamming to take out effectively 2 six-pack formations. One thing to note is that firing nukes from Asia to Europe is a bad strategy as your nukes will have to fly through 12 silos.

Russia is mainly known for its "easyness" because there effectively is only one small strip of coast line that you have to protect from enemy subs. The waters around that is easy defendable because there are only 2 ways to get into the arctic circle or "on top of the world". Either through Iceland/England or through the Bering Strait (the small gap between America and Russia). To Russia's advantage they can quickly block the 2 entries within Defcon 4-3. WIth such an easily defensible coastline russia can quickly position its subs to destroy large cities like Tokyo or the East Coast of America. However there is one weakness to Russian coastline in a sense, at the very top of the Indian Ocean or next to india subs have just enough range to reach a large number of cities below Moscow. Fortunatly this weakness can quickly be solved using blind nuking as the subs are in a very predictible position.

"The Easy Country"

Pros

-Great country to turtle
-Quick access to the north circle
-Very easy to defend naval wise
-Easy to attack Asian coastline or the west coast of America

Cons

-Cities are very close to Europe
-Easy for Europe to first strike you causing massive point loss

Europe

Europe, the most annoying country to play in 6 player Defcon. Stuck in between America, Africa and Russia with the densest city populations making your cities a very attractive first strike option.

Not much to say about city locations in Europe, they're all densly packed around the heartland (France) along with a few scatterings around the Russian border. The most effective strategy is to clump your silos on the edge of the Russian border and offer a peace or alliance with Russia giving you 12 silo protection however most of your population would be left undefended.

If you don't feel like the diplomat the Euro Line formation works well against nukes from Africa and America as the trajectory arcs nicely towards their LOF (line of fire) however there is very little to prevent a first strike from Russia decimating your country.

In regards to fleet it would be best if you observed Russia/Africa/American fleet deployment before you deploy yours to prevent crowding and maintaing cohesion. If Africa and America have deployed the majority of their fleet in the North Alantic, then deploy your fleet above England, If Russia is deploying in your territory deploy near Spain. However if both the North Alantic and Norwegian sea is crowded then your best bet is to deploy in the Norwegian sea next to Russia (to prevent escalation PM Russia saying that you mean no agressiveness). One of the worst mistakes to make is to deploy your fleet on top or very close to your enemies fleets.

A very nice strategy is to deploy your fleet in the Norwegian Sea then to move them up above Greenland, then "on top" of America. You can then effectively camp there (as few players place silos on top of Canada) until the time is right to deploy your bombers to strike them when there switching silos.

"The Malnourished Country"

Pros

-Can create a 12 silo defense if you ally with Russia

Cons

-Choked for space both land and sea
-Russian radar stations can effectively cover half of Europe
-Hard for subs to sneak off in diplomacy

Country Information II

North America

North America, a land of equal and limitless opportunities the same goes for DEFCON. North America is spoilt in choice in terms of attacking. Its proximity to Europe and Mexico allows you to make an early-game rush for points, around 20m + if you can successfully hit Mexico City along with some European capitals. While Cairo, the Chinese Coast and South American capitals (Sao Paulo, Santiago, Lima) provide you ample late-game points allowing you to comfortably secure your scoreboard dominance. This however is a 2 edged sword. The cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York (all 10m +) represent numerous points making America one of the most targetted continents.

Unfortunately to defend North America requires some large sacrifices; the sacrifice of the entire Western Coast of America. Why ? The sacrifice of around 22 million people is much more economical than the endangerment of 80 million clustered around New York, Chiago and Houston . It is better for the long run to pool defences on the Eastern Coast than on the Western Coast. Thus a common strategy is to place a 3x2 or flower formation on the Eastern Coast.

North American fleet deployment spoils you. You can place subs near the Mexican peninsula and grab a quick 30 points, rush them to the Chinese coast and try to first strike Toyko, Seoul or Hong Kong. The majority of your ships however will be stationed in the Alantic ocean for it is crucial to protect your West coast assets.

Pros

-Spoilt for tactics
-Able to first strike large population centres
-Large radar coverage

Cons

-Unable to defend both coasts securely
-Cities pose large threats (New York, Los Angeles, etc)

"The spoilt country"

South America

South America is the most isolated (and perhaps most secure) countries in DEFCON. Its location at the bottom of the map means that ICBM launches usually have to pass through North America or Africa, while its only 2 neighbors (Africa and North America) offer it seclusion that countries like Europe would wish for.

Its population density; widely scattered around the continent and adds another depth of security (excluding the Mexican peninsula). The only realistic strategy to maintain the high defence is a formation near Sao Paulo and Santiago with airbases deployed further down. The Mexican Peninsula unfortunately is too close to North America to represent any realistic chance of success. Fleet deployment also plays an important role for the defence of your silos, the primary deterrent for an attack on your southern position is a simple anti-sub fleet (carriers + subs). Those 3 factors can ward off many attackers. Like Africa, South American ships can be deployed likewise.

Pros

-Easily defendable
-Able to influence Norther American, African and European naval positioning

Cons

-Must sacrifice Mexican Peninsula
-Rather isolated from the action

"The isolated country"

Asia

Asia is the continent that suffers the most from SLBMs (Sub Launched Ballistic Missiles), the vast majority of its cities are within SLBM range therefore its geography determines its broad strategy: Defence. Unlike South America this defence is not found by "camping" around your silos waiting for the enemy to attack, Asia's defence is in actively eliminating the enemy. This may sound contradictory but tolerate with me. The threats posed to Asia are the African ships (their proximity to Asia allows for a sneaky co-ordinated first strike) or the North/South American subs (the only realistic chance of a missile impact on the Asian East Coast). Those 3 threats are enough to wreak havoc on the East Coast but once eliminated allows Asia to dominate the Pacific and in turn wreak havoc on North/South America.

Deployment is similar to conventional stratagies where India is sacrificed for the 80 million living on the Eastern Coast however it is highly reccomend to immediantly arm a silo incase of SLBM launches and send out frequent patrols into the Pacific.


Pros

-The star of India
-Able to wreak havoc with subs

Cons

-Every city is exposed from the coast
-Rather hard to defend the more players there are

"The coastal country"

[Enzo]

It's never too late to play defcon

[Ilik3turtles123]

DEFCON LIVES! *STOMP STOMP*

[Glorwyn]

Your welcome, and I hope I didn't come across rude or anything.

[Traffic Conez]

Ahh thanks for finding that typo out.

[Glorwyn]

TYPO! Last little bit on the guide, it says ever city.... not every city.

[LordMarte]

The game DEFCON is very beautiful. Your guide is very helpfull. If your country is South America, and you play againt Africa, try to place the silos in lower side of South America.
If you have a North American country, take a look of Alaska because the Russian submarines can destroy the north coast and then came near California.

[JChilders221]

I really like this, surprisingly helpful

[Timasaurus007]

Good detailed guide, great job TrafficConez.

[Jackolite]

Btw while im here...DEFCON keeps crashing on me when i try to connect to a server (be it dedicated: G6 servers for example, a recording, client server, my own, tutorial, not even the demonstration works). Already tried the forums here and on Introversion along with troubleshoot support but no luck. Any solutions?

[Jackolite]

Never spread silos, always place in 6's, as your silos can then cover eachother more effectively aswell as provide conenctrated AA defence in the area, just remember to provide radar coverage nearby to maximise your silos range.

You're probably thinking, but what about my cities? Face it, you were never going to save them all, you must concede that cities will be hit, and you must compromise of which region you will want to concentrate your defences. Just remember 3 general rules:

1) Group in 6's
2) Don't place too close to the border as the enemy may place radar there to catch you out
3) Try not to place on top of cities, as if a said city gets hit and your silos is right on top or too close, the silo recieves splash damage and counts as 1 of 3 hits to destroy the said silo.