How I learned to love the bomb.

[Dr. Strangelove]

this is my first attempt at describing what i might call a Defcon strategy. this is a guide assuming you can handle the basics of naval combat, scouting and strike coordination and timing.

this has worked quite well for me in low player games, and in larger games where alliances become more long term and you can focus your efforts into systematically destroying each region one by one with a buddy who wont betray you the first chance he gets. in my mind there are a few keys to losing the least. timing, coordination, deception and trust.

scout, have naval battles as you will. protect those subs and bombers, you need their nukes in good order at defcon 1.

scout the enemy radar stations, silos and airbases however you like. get at least 6 subs within striking range of as many stations as possible. the more the better, and exploit any holes in his defence network. when this is approaching completion, launch as many bombers as you can. use the now popular "offensive weave" tactic based on the famous Thatch Weave invented by Colonel John Thatch during the second world war. using this you can achieve a near simultanious lanuch of at least 24 nukes against targets of opportunity(thats just a full carrier compliment. youve got 20 more land based). add in the sub's payloads for a second axis of attack and added strain on the player, and his defence net. strike not at his population, but stab at the heart of his war machine. elimate as many radar stations, silos and airbases as possible. striking major citys in this first wave should not be neglected. however it should only be a seconday objective to disarming your opponents ability to fight.

with 24 carrier bombers and 20 land based bombers you can have 44 nukes in the air at once that dont show up on radar. you have 2 reloads for your 24 carrier bombers, and one for your 20 based on land. this means that one should be able to repeat a 20 or 30 bomber strike about 3 or even 4 times during a long game. such a large amount of bombers can quickly disarm and disable an ally before he even has a chance to respond. even a well planned and managed defence net will have a hard time shooting down 30 nukes when the come from an unexpected direction, spread along a fan, all at once.

do not, i repeat, do not use your silos. never reveal your silos and keep them in air defence mode to protect your radar stations, and everything else...

there are two situations where expending your silo inventory is acceptable

1:you region is about to become a radioactive parking lot due to sheer volume of incoming ordinance. say if 2 or 3 powers banded together and coordinated a joint strike. seen 80 nukes hit the EU and the USSR within 15 game minutes when Africa, Asia and North America took them on with a massed bomber strike from 5 different directions

2:the victory timer starts as your fellow powers ripple fire their silos at targets of opportunity. keep a strike wing of bombers in the air as the game nears this point. when your fellow gamers launch their silos you are presented with an amazing opportunity to finish disarming your enemies. once their defences are disabled or distroyed you can commence to clearing your intact silos of those dangerous nuclear devices. strike at any and all remaining population centers with waves of high yield warheads. add in any remaining strategic air command nukes you have left and hope nobody planned the same as you.

using this general tactic you might trail in points during the early to middle stages of defcon 1. but it allows you to skyrocket your score during the late stages of the game. going from 4rd place with 20 points to first place with over 300 is fairly easy to achieve when you strike against the near defenceless higher score players with large juicy healthy populations just after disabling their defences as they reveal their defenceless silos to everyone in the world.

in short, bombers are your friend, silos are purely defensive. until the end, then they become the ultimate tool of death. disable, disarm and destroy. hope i gave someone a few ideas

[Scythe of Death]

yep! a good one, my friend! you do have some fresh ideas.

the only thing that I disagree in...

a few keys to losing the least. timing, coordination, deception and trust.

... is "trust". Trust is a weakness, as the guys have said it already in their First Game . So don't rely on the chance that the enemy is not going to attack you, but on your own readiness to accept him.

Nevertheless, a good post

[Dr. Strangelove]

well what i meant by "trust" was temporary trust. nobody really trusts in DEFCON... its fear and deception that will keep that trust around long enough for it to be used as part of your grand plan. trust in your boys, trust in chance, trust in your plan. trust that your biggest rival will attack you the moment he thinks he can get away with it. the human spirit is a very important factor in DEFCON... just like in real life 10% wants everything to continue in relative peace and security while the other 90% is busy considering its chances if it were to try something.

in the world of DEFCON, much trust is a weakness. but equally so a total lack of trust is also a weakness. one must trust in their allies, but do not discount the potential for betrayal. trust where and when appropriate. do not trust blindly, but it can give you the freedom to really bring the thermonuclear smack down on a common enemy. just remember that the biggest enemy is not always on the opposing force.

trust is a weakness, but also a strength.

[Bomba]

I agree with your strat...in fact I came to it on my own accord. A few nights ago I got into a 4 person game....right away I allied with South America (I was East Asia) and Borth America and Russia allied up...my ally, who unfortunately was inexperienced, was instantly destroyed. He ended up leavin the game...so it was just me against two people. I had, so far, lost half my navy in my ally's defense, but it was still strong....my silos were of course un-used. Instantly these other player were gloating in their apparant victory. I told them it was not over yet...they didn't believe me. I slowed down the timer...knowing all too well that they had many nukes coming my way....I then fired everything I had at Russia...my silos had enough time to get to defense mode before North Americas nukes came in. Then, now my score was about 80 compares to North Americas 140 (he had destroyed south america). Russia's score was low...at about 50...they told me "good try but we still win"...but little did the amatuers know...I had all my nukes surrounding the "leaders" continent...North America...I let loose...and within 5 minutes of the end of the game I took his 140 down to about 110...and I of course took the win. I agree with you that silos should be for defense, and when necessary...they pose a great surprise to people who think they have won...when the only nukes you've fired came form bombers....the key to success is deception.....Later.


Bomba

[Dr. Strangelove]

indeed my friend, silos are your last weapon. something to finish off a weak opponent. or spit defiance at your hated enemy and steal a victory with your last breath. "from hell's heart i stab at thee!"

bombers are your catch all for offence. more bomber nukes than any other platform. more mobile and they have longer legs than your land based bombers or subs. ive actually been using the land bases as a refuel point before restaging back to the carrier groups. or towards a checkpoint for a strike. and use any bombers without a nuclear package for naval duty. sub patrols and the like. to this end i find it wise to use up the land based inventory before expending the reserve munitions stored within the carriers. this leaves you with a large mobile strike wing, and frees up a good 10 or 20 bombers for defence and protecting against suprises by submarine groups. it can be a really nasty surprise to surface and find out there are 3 bombers tracing lazy circles in the sky above. good coastal patrols can defeat even a large sub launch before too much ordinance flies. fighters are also quite adept at this, but their short legs and high speed means they are best left on the ground until a target is located. with ample radar coverage its quite possible to scramble fighters on intercept vectors before the enemy can even see the target. bombers with slower speeds and much greater range are the perfect patrol craft.

[DingerX]

A) Find out who your ally is disarming with his first bomber strike. Send in about a dozen bombers behind his to clean up on the cities. Hey, we're all friends here.

B) If you can keep your fighters to Defcon 1, coat them on likely vectors of approach at the start, hoping to catch an enemy bomber fleet.

C) If you fear your adversary's going to get decent fighter cover for his bombers, ask him to explain the relevance of the Thatch Weave to a DEFCON massed bomber formation. That should tie him up long enough that he woin't get escorts for those bombers.

[yop]

tip #1 stop worrying =)

[Dr. Strangelove]

love that third suggestion Dingerx. it can be very wise to destract from your opponents ice cold nerves of steel. taunt him, tease him, annoy him. make him so much on edge that he makes a mistake.

and its population (or lack thereof) that make the points (or lack thereof). so by all means, strike at the human heart of the nation your ally just disarmed.

also why i said that during that first strike cities are not to be ignored. they are merely a secondary objective. if you can nuke Cairo or Tokyo or Moscow and still hit your military objective. well, he who strikes first gets the most points. so hit those large targets as you disable the ability to fight. a second wave is just as effective when cairo has only 10 million left. hes still got 70 million in other towns. or leave him until later. sure you take the risk that someone else gets those kills... but there are other fish in the sea. if giving up on north america can net you the USSR and asia...

i think a timed 2 front, north / south, attack with all bombers would take care of a USSR/Asia alliance. get 50+ nukes flying and see how calm they can stay. panic enuses... throw some manual deception into the mix, tell asia that the ussr just asked you to help him nuke asia, and tell the ussr the same thing. try and get africa and the EU to launch too, preferably on eachother. once the nukes are flying heavy and thick its your chance to shine. strike and destroy your rivals. contrary to my previous advice about striking infrastructure first. in this type of confusing free for all its best to simply clean up those citys. saving your silos for a final 60 nuke salvo to clean up, and add insult to injury. it can be really disheartening to see a region with 70 million survivors hit yours with only 10 with a multiple tube launch.