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[Prokonsul Piotrus]

Originally Posted by Montecruz

Excelentos. Cant wait to see that WT when its done.

Done, at least, with the walk through. I'll probably finish the strategy guide when I feel like playing BI again...

Google Docs link to the walkthrough

[_r.u.s.s.]

great, thanks

do you want me to put it on the main site?

[Prokonsul Piotrus]

Originally Posted by _r.u.s.s.

great, thanks

do you want me to put it on the main site?

Sure, now that I have updated the unit overview, it is done Enjoy!

[Wicky]

thanks, great guide

[_r.u.s.s.]

Originally Posted by Prokonsul Piotrus

Sure, now that I have updated the unit overview, it is done Enjoy!

sorry that it took so long, i just found it in my to-do list uploaded now (you are listed as a contributor, of course, so it will appear on your site profile too)

[age_like_wine]

Put this game aside for quite some time... may pick it up again though. Can't just leave it unfinished!

From reading the comment here that some stages are more challenging in "difficult" versus "expert", I tried playing in difficult a bit to find out what the differences are. Since the AI in BI2 does not cheat, sometimes more realistic simulations of battlefield rules like in Expert hurts the AI more than it hurts you.

The differences (that I've found so far ):
- Terrain concealment rules: Mountains block radar very well in Expert. Infantry units on a mountain is almost as detection proof as behind an Elixir. I think there is a degree of this in other terrain types too, but much less so.

- Unit occlusion rules: a unit blocks the unit behind it in Expert more than in Difficult. Having a Troll on a mountain will often block the unit behind the mountain as well, even to a radar tank.

- Crowd impediment rules: in Difficult, if you have a clear path of movement, but there is an enemy unit standing right beside this path, you can still move through. In Expert, you cannot. This works both in and against your favour. So if there is a troll unit right in front of a base you want to capture, and you see it (both the troll and the base), you still need an extra turn to capture the base because you must first move beside the troll. Sometimes this rule appears to be broken, but I think that it's actually because the scout bike has so much movement that it sometimes goes around the impediment instead.

- Vision advantage: if you "see" an enemy unit and the area surrounding it more clearly that it "sees" you, you will get an advantage in an otherwise equal skirmish. I'm not exactly sure about the mechanics of this, but I can reliably get a slightly favourable outcome by maximizing all the occlusion and jamming that I can get, while painting enemy units with radars.

- Ballistics: in Expert, the effect of ballistics changes geometrically to experience instead of linearly. This is closer to reality, as accuracy is really important in any kind of shooting regardless of the power of the warhead (anything less than nuclear). In Expert, a level 1 quasar and skull, or even pulsar or archimedes, has nearly no chance of inflicting ANY damage on any unit other than infantry. I have often failed to inflict one damage on a half-strength technotrax with a full-health pulsar level 1 unit. So basically, you cannot rely on artillery early in a battle, or in any fast push (because having to move them means that they will not level up as fast).

- Landing costs fuel: a subtle and insidious rule, but very true to life. It takes quite a bit of fuel to land an aircraft. If an aircraft is right next to its base, and there are 3 bars or fewer of red left, it will not go in even with the most favourable weather, and will die.

[Wicky]

I'm not sure whether expert or difficult is harder to beat. Granted, the AI gets the same amount of realism as you do, but as human player you can adapt better.

Originally Posted by Wicky

I'm not sure whether expert or difficult is harder to beat. Granted, the AI gets the same amount of realism as you do, but as human player you can adapt better.

Any stages when you play defense is generally easier on Expert than in Difficult, because the enemy has fewer chances to level up their heavy artillery to the point where the geometric growth starts to have an effect. The best example is Anturox ("The Attack"). On Expert, concealment and ballistic rules are so realistic and powerful that despite having 1 artillery for every 5 the enemy has, you have nearly no risk of losing if you set up a tight defense with adequate radar cover and do not be tempted to leeroy into the enemy's territory. Once you have the UX-2 missiles, it becomes a slaughter. I managed to win that stage despite actually leeroyed into the enemy on turn 18 and nearly got all of my tanks killed...

The only obvious rule that I have deduced is that the faction that is defending, but has terrain advantage (difficult terrain between him and the attackers) is the most powerful in Expert.

That's why to me the most difficult stage by far on Expert is Woringa, which I won by a combination of luck and unorthodox strategy. Second most difficult was Britigi. And third was Hasenol.

The easiest two are Anturox (you are the defender, and you have terrain on your side! The enemy stood no chance.) and Dronnox (attack across flat ground, and you have the capability to make jammer tanks!)

Playing Bronnox (the "Brit is suicidal" mission) now. I confirmed that the terrain concealment on Expert applies not only for mountains and hills, but also for other type of terrain, though to a lesser degree. I can't believe that I am opening up the fog of war so quickly on this completely flat stage! Since I am trained in other stages never to rely on seeing anything, and always maximize vision/radar coverage, this stage (at least the first two turns) feels really easy. I'll update on my progress during the weekends

By the way, one thing that I probably do differently from most other players is that I rarely use the buggy for its actual offensive capability. I use it strictly as a recon vehicle too. Stretching your precious recon capabilities is key...