Using the Initiative

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[WriterX]

This is a personal problem I am going through not onlz in EiR but a lot of other games. Sometimes when I manage to smash aside an enemy I cannot seize the initiative, very often still sitting in my previous position, when the logical action to perform is advancing. When I do advance, it is very slow and steady, as I appear to always have the paranoia of hidden units or a powerful reinforcement force coming my way, which would catch my vanguard off-guard and slaughter it, or the essence of my force in the open without the possibility of cover.

Does anybody else have this problem, or how do you cope with the possible fear of running into ambush?

[panzerman]

bikes and stormtroopers

but yeah just use a scouting unit  and listen to see if u can hear any armour etc coming and move up...

[Mysthalin]

I simply attack further, assuming that if I managed to kill their stuff once, I can manage it again.

[CommanderHolt]

Well, for me I try to keep contact with the enemy as long as they permit me to do so, moving up my infantry as theirs fall back. I keep doing that until the risk seems to outweigh the reward or I run into an improvise trap by an HMG that pins me but you always have to accept these risks in RTS games.

As long as you have no problem with the idea of advancing by itself and just the fear of ambushes and such, then keep multiple Bikes or Jeeps (their cheap after all) in your company so you can always light your path forward.

[Tymathee]

for one u can't be so scared to lose your units that you lose them without doing any damage. I've more than one advanced a squad into a known ambush just so i can:
1. find out where it is
2. divert attention
3. attack it head on to prove i'm a bad ass! lol

the thing is, if you're so scared of losing your units that you lose the game, then you've already lost. If u lose 'em, make sure they take something of equal or greater value with them.

ie me rushing 2 zook rangers into 2 lmg grens to nade 'em hoping the nades take 'em out b4 my rangers all die works most of the time but sometimes i fail epically but those are the risks you take.

[Uunderfire]

This is a personal problem I am going through not onlz in EiR but a lot of other games. Sometimes when I manage to smash aside an enemy I cannot seize the initiative, very often still sitting in my previous position, when the logical action to perform is advancing. When I do advance, it is very slow and steady, as I appear to always have the paranoia of hidden units or a powerful reinforcement force coming my way, which would catch my vanguard off-guard and slaughter it, or the essence of my force in the open without the possibility of cover.

Does anybody else have this problem, or how do you cope with the possible fear of running into ambush?

Ah I remember when I was younger, I was used to play Age of Mythology, I was feared when I played against AI and when I was sending my troops in the fog of war.

[#Freek]

I remember that game too...

me and my bro would play a coop game on a map with small islands next to a big free-for-all one against impossibly hard (for us) computers..

We would build up our armies on our home islands then land them on the mainland, fortify, and then promptly die as the hordes descended upon us... terrifying.

[Uunderfire]

I remember that game too...

me and my bro would play a coop game on a map with small islands next to a big free-for-all one against impossibly hard (for us) computers..

We would build up our armies on our home islands then land them on the mainland, fortify, and then promptly die as the hordes descended upon us... terrifying.

Yes, this game was really awesome.

[skaffa]

Watch replays of the games you played, then you can see how many units the enemy has and where they are located.
Ingame you might have thought there were still many units in front of you, while in the replay you notice that it wasnt the case.

If you are scared to get crushed when you move up you should always sent a scout up front.

Sent a bike forwards while moving the rest of your troops up, or a weak volkssquad/riflesquad. Keep a weak cheap unit in front of your main force so you can see whats coming and when its coming before it is too late.
Move your tanks and infantry behind your scout, behind them you move your support weapons, like MG's, mortars and ATGs.
When you notice you are walking into the enemy you can sacrifice your cheap scout, micro your tanks and infantry back, and your support weapons should still be out of danger in the rear.

You need to know when you can move up and when you should not.
This is learned by playing the game a lot.
In vCoH you move up when the enemy is retreating to spawn, in EIR you move up when you just won a battle. Its basically the same but in vcoh they run back and in EIR they die. Winning a battle/fight means the enemy has to call in new units, which takes time, depending on how much he lost. The reinforce timer and the road they have to travel to make it to the front lines. This is when you have time to move up and make your move.

When you destroyed a lot of his troops, which are probably all he has on the field, you can move up with our entire army cause you know he just lost everything. If you only killed 1 tank or 1 infantry squad, be carefull not to mass move up, there are still other units to deal with so mass moving in is not good. In this situation you have the advantage so you can push up slowly.

In the end after playing a lot of games it will just go autopilot and you wont even have to think about when to move up or defend.

[Masacree]

Its okay to sacrifice material to continue holding the initiative if you gain position or a significant amount of territory, or disrupt your enemy enough to regain the material.

[sgMisten]

If it's a 2v2 for instance, if you just witnessed:

2 ATGs get wiped out,
2 MGs get wiped out,
4 squads of infantry get wiped out,
2-3 tanks get destroyed:

And your team's forces are relatively intact, PUSH. cap 1-2 sectors forward, take out rear arty units or exposed support weapons.

Then, STOP pushing with your mobile units and set up a defensive line of MGs and ATGs to get ready for the counter-attack.

If the enemy doesn't take huge losses, then probe cautiously.

[Lai]

You just have weak instincts, WriterX. If you see weakness, you need to put it in.

[CrazyWR]

Writer, watch the replay of the game I played against you earlier today.  That's a good example of maintaining the initiative.

[fallensoldier7]

What I do is I put my infantry forward and advance them to the next island of green cover.  That way if I run into a tank, the green cover should prevent me from being gibbed, and if I run into an MG, the green cover will keep me from getting suppressed or pinned.  Other ways to gain more LoS without putting yourself in danger are by using buildings or other units with larger sight ranges (bikes, jeeps, the AB sniper).