Combat tactics

A battle screen showing the selected tactics next to the commanding generals, separated by a chess piece icon (which when clicked shows all tactics). The attacker has chosen Unexpected Thrust, the defender Elastic Defense. The defender has Initiative, shown by the golden chevrons beneath its general.

Combat tactics provide damage, defense, movement speed, and combat width modifiers in land battles.

Tactics get re-selected every 12 hours from a weighted list of all available tactics. The side having Initiative gets an increased chance to counter their enemy's tactic. If a tactic gets countered, all its effects are disabled.

To determine initiative, the leading generals' skill levels are compared. The side with the highest recon value in one of their divisions (including reserves) gets a bonus of 5 skill levels for this comparison. The side with the higher effective skill level gets Initiative.

The side losing this comparison has to pick their tactic first. The side with initiative will pick their tactic after and if the counter-tactic is available its weight gets a bonus of 35% for every point of advantage in the skill comparison. Initiative does not explicitly decrease the probability of picking a tactic that is countered by the enemy's tactic.

Phases

Default

Name	Trigger	Weight	Countered by					Starts battle phase	Requires research
Attack	–	4	Counter-Attack	+5%	–	–	–	–	–
Assault	–	2, in urban terrain else 0.4 4, if has trait  Aggressive Assaulter and in urban terrain else 0.8	Counter-Attack	+25%	–	–	–	Close combat	–
Encirclement	Frontage filled Has reserves. At least 1 of the following: Skill advantage is over 0. Has trait  Panzer Leader. Has trait  Trickster.	4 8, if at least 1 of the following: Has trait  Panzer Expert. Has trait  Combined Arms Expert.	Tactical Withdrawal	+25%	+5%	+50%	–	–	–
Shock	–	4 8, if has trait  Aggressive Assaulter	Ambush	–	−25%	–	–	–	–
Breakthrough	At least 1 of the following: Hardness over 50%. Skill advantage is over 1.	4	Backhand Blow	+25%	−15%	–	+50%	–	Blitzkrieg  Combined Arms  Shock and Awe  Assault Breakthrough  Breakthrough Priority
Blitz	Hardness over 50%. Does not have the  Soviet focus: The Glory of the Red Army At least 1 of the following: Skill is over 2. Has trait  Panzer Leader. Skill advantage is over 1.	4 8, if at least 1 of the following: Has trait  Panzer Leader. Has trait  Combined Arms Expert.	Elastic Defense	+15%	−15%	–	+50%	–	Armored Spearhead  Mechanized Offensive  Mechanized Offensive  Mechanized Offensive  Armored Operations  Deep Operations
Masterful Blitz	Hardness over 50%. At least 1 of the following: Skill is over 2. Has trait  Panzer Leader. Skill advantage is over 1.	4 8, if at least 1 of the following: Has trait  Panzer Leader. Has trait  Combined Arms Expert.	Elastic Defense	+20%	−20%	+10%	+50%	–	Soviet focus: The Glory of the Red Army
Seize Bridge	Has combat modifier: River Crossing. At least 1 of the following: Skill is over 3. All of the following: Has trait  Offensive Doctrine. Skill is over 2.	2	–	+20%	−5%	−25%	+10%	Seize bridge	–
Mass Charge	Frontage is filled. Has reserves.	4	–	+10%	+10%	+50%	–	–	People's Army
Banzai Charge	Country is  Japan.	4	Overwhelming Fire	+25%	+10%	–	+10%	–	–
Infiltration Assault	–	4	–	+10%	−5%	–	–	–	Infantry Offensive
Well-Planned Attack	–	4	–	+15%	–	–	–	–	Grand Assault
Relentless Assault	–	4	–	+20%	+5%	–	+15%	–	Large Front Operations
Unexpected Thrust	–	4	–	+15%	–	–	+15%	–	Mobile Warfare
Suppressive Barrage	–	4	–	+10%	-20%	–	–	–	Superior Firepower
Defend	–	4	–	–	+5%	–	–	–	–
Counter-Attack	Skill advantage is over 0.	4 8, if has trait  Unyielding Defender.	–	–	+25%	–	–	–	–
Delay	–	4	Shock	−25%	−15%	–	−25%	–	Delay  Delay
Tactical Withdrawal	At least 1 of the following: Skill advantage is over 0. Has trait  Trickster.	4	–	−25%	−5%	−25%	–	Tactical withdrawal	Tactical Control  Advanced Firebases
Ambush	At least 1 of the following: Skill advantage is over 1. Skill is over 2. Has trait  Trickster.	4	Breakthrough	−25%	–	–	–	–	–
Elastic Defense	At least 1 of the following: Has trait  Defensive Doctrine. Skill is over 2.	4	–	−15%	+10%	–	−25%	–	Elastic Defense  Mobile Defense  Mechanized Offensive  Armored Operations  Operational Concentration
Backhand Blow	At least 1 of the following: Skill is over 4. All of the following: Has trait  Defensive Doctrine. Skill is over 3.	4	–	−20%	+25%	–	−30%	–	Backhand Blow  Continuous Offensive
Hold Bridge	Has combat modifier: River Crossing. At least 1 of the following: Skill is over 2. Has trait  Defensive Doctrine.	2	–	+20%	−5%	−25%	+10%	Hold bridge	–
Guerrilla Tactics	At least 1 of the following: Skill is over 2. Has trait  Trickster.	4	–	−70%	−60%	−50%	–	–	Guerrilla Warfare  Werwolf Guerrillas
Overwhelming Fire	–	2	–	−10%	+10%	–	–	–	Kampfgruppe  Overwhelming Firepower  Regimental Combat Teams  Assault Concentration  Vast Offensives

Close combat

Name	Trigger	Weight	Countered by					Starts battle phase	Requires research
Close Quarters Attack	–	4	–	+10%	+5%	–	–	–	–
Close Quarters Storm	–	2	–	+20%	+20%	–	–	–	–
Close Quarters Withdraw	–	1	–	−5%	−5%	–	–	Default	–
Close Quarters Defense	–	4	–	+5%	+10%	–	–	–	–
Close Quarters Local Strongpoint	–	2	–	−20%	–	–	–	–	–

Tactical withdrawal

Name	Trigger	Weight	Countered by					Starts battle phase	Requires research
Tactical Withdrawal Attack	–	4	–	−25%	−10%	−25%	–	–	–
Pursuit	–	4	–	−15%	−5%	−25%	–	–	–
Intercept	–	4	–	−5%	−10%	–	–	Default	–
Withdrawal	–	4	–	−30%	−5%	−25%	–	–	–
Evade	–	4	–	−40%	−10%	−25%	–	–	–

Seize bridge

Name	Trigger	Weight	Countered by					Starts battle phase	Requires research
Hold Bridge	–	4	–	+20%	–	−25%	–	–	–
Defend Bridge	Skill is over 4.	4	–	+20%	−10%	−25%	–	–	–
Assault Bridge	–	4	–	–	−5%	−25%	–	–	–
Reckless Assault	Skill is under 3.	4	–	+25%	−10%	−25%	–	–	–
Recapture Bridge	At least one of the following: Skill is over 2. Has trait  Trickster.	4	Defend Bridge	+10%	−5%	−25%	–	Hold bridge	–

Hold bridge

Name	Trigger	Weight	Countered by					Starts battle phase	Requires research
Attack	–	4	–	+10%	–	−25%	–	–	–
Rush Bridge	Skill is over 4.	4	–	+20%	–	−25%	–	–	–
Storm Bridge	–	2	Defend Bridge	+20%	+5%	−25%	–	Seize bridge	–
Hold Bridge	Skill is under 3.	2	–	+20%	−10%	−25%	–	–	–
Defend Bridge	At least one of the following: Skill is over 2. Has trait  Trickster.	2	–	+10%	+5%	−25%	–	–	–

Footnotes

Mechanics

Events and Decisions

Events • Decisions