The deadly trio map settings seem to be way to strong to star.

https://www.warzone.com/SinglePlayer?Level=1234663

There is video of this same map being stared but I don't see the same results when I play it. I see double to triple the armies shown in that video always. I also see the northern AI always defending with 25+ if I end the turn with a large stack in the last territory before busting its bonus.

I have to attack that border territory and leave only 1 to 3 armies and then dump a large stack on it next turn instead. Doesn't really mater in the end as the northern AI will have 50 to 100 stacks waiting in the wings in 2 turns to wipe you out anyway.

The other noticeable difference is in how low the enemy AI stack counts are in that video compared with what I see at the same turn and positions. At minimum they are double. By turn 11 I see massive stacks into the 170s on some occasions. I can beat the level but I see no path to a star by turn 22 under any circumstance other than the AI just not defending itself intentionally.

Lastly, the ally AI are way to stupid to be anything other than a hindrance. One is semi intelligent and the other is a absolute joke and always deploys in places totally unrealistic like dropping a 30 ten territories away from its front lines.

Ive noticed in alot of these map its just best to kill your ally AI as fast as you can rather than trying to even work around it. I would do that here but there just isn't enough time and armies to do it.

Any suggestions on the best route and starting positions to star?

Edited 3/16/2022 17:21:55

Hilarious. I just got 27 and didn't even play past turn 6. I figured out a way to get both my AI to wipe out everything without me doing crap. The bonus is it frags the enemy AI brain in the process.

The only problem is it takes 21 turns for the AI to get to the other side. Got to figure out how to reduce that with a different position and its a cruise to star.

Edit. Down to 26 but this time the AI failed to execute at turn 22 for star. Had no chance before so big step up. The path to victory is clear now.

Edited 3/17/2022 00:34:58

Down to 23.

Ally AI decided to not attack with strength on one of only 2 territories it had the option of attacking. Ally AI pulled back a 136 stack and deployed a 31 in its place instead of attacking with 136. Then went at those two 0 territories with the minimum attack, taking only one and costing the star. There is no excuse for that. Pretty lame. I would be embarrassed by it myself as it reflects negatively on the game and the coding skill of those involved. Its bad enough it pulled back the 136 stack but to then not fully utilize those 31 units against two 0 territories is beyond comprehension.

Edited 3/17/2022 05:20:14

Strategy worked for star.

For posterity:

Initial Selection
For this strategy initial territory selection is critical. You must own the Upper Right bonus. Your ally AI must own the Outer and Lower Right bonus. This will also work if you prefer to use the left side instead, just mirror these directions. If you fail to get the desired starting points, refreshing and starting again is faster than surrendering and starting over.

Strategy
The overall strategy is you must take the Inner Top and Upper Left bonus yourself, allow your Outer Ally AI to take the Inner Top Right bonus, and support the Lower Right AI using airlifts. You must take the Upper Left bonus by turn 22 using a flanking attack because your ally AI cannot reach it in time. Your flanking attack can fail two times and still star.


Turn 1: After initially taking the upper right bonus save all reinforcement cards until you deploy on turn 4. You should have 9 units on either UR1 or UR6 after the first turn.

Turn 2: Deploy all units (do not use reinforcements) to your 9 unit territory and take URF1. You have 4 moves to take the URF4 territory bordering the Inner Top Right bonus so use the leftover units from turn 1 to do so by moving them towards territory URF4 every move hereafter until you take it.

Turn 3: Deploy all units (except reinforcements) to URF1 and take URF3. Remember to continue to move leftover units towards URF4.

Turn 4: Deploy all units and play all reinforcement cards onto URF3 and take URF5. Remember to continue to move leftover units towards URF4. You now always play reinforcement cards when you get them.

Turn 5: Deploy all units to URF5 and take IT4. You should be capturing URF4 now. Hold URF4 from now on without advancing further.

Turn 6: You have now broken the northern AI bonus so to finish off taking the Inner Top bonus there are some things to be aware of. It still has up to 16 units to deploy. You want to always take IT3, IT5, IT7 this turn. The enemy AI is now sending 50 to 170 stacks towards you from the Upper Left bonus. You will be sending a IT5 stack to do a flanking attack through the Central bonus to take the Upper Left bonus so you must not fail to take IT5. You will be using IT3 and IT7 to knock out IT2, which could be a 40s stack.

Deploy all units to IT4. You should airlift at least 30 units from your IT4 stack to support your Lower Right ally, usually to the territory closest to the Inner Bottom bonus. That ally will be facing some 30 to 60s soon so resupply as needed hereafter. Airlift to a territory that will raise the unit count above a larger attacking stack so the enemy suicides and gets wiped out. Start taking the Inner Top bonus. I typically attack with 15 to IT5 and IT7 and everything else to IT3.

Turn 7: Spread out the deployment so IT5 has at least 15 units and IT3 40s. The rest to IT7. IT5 takes IT6. IT7 takes IT1. Usually a 0 territory but the AI may drop a 5 into it on occasion to stop you from taking the bonus. IT3 and whatever is left on IT7attacks IT2. One of the attacks usually fails, the other succeeds.

Turn 8: A 50s stack may hit ULF4 by by the end of turn 7. If there is no 50s stack then you know one may move there during this turn. You get first move so deploy everything you can to IT2. Sometimes you may have to airlift to support your Lower Right ally so send as many units as you can to take ULF4, make it your first attack and large enough to repel the enemy, hopefully larger than its stack so its nearly wiped out.

IT6 takes 3.

Turn 9: ULF4 is the inflection point of your campaign. If you succeed in moving forward from here that's great but normally this is when the 50s to 170s stacks show up on ULF2. If not, then they are just one move away so by the end if this turn you will have most likely had your forward momentum stopped for this route.

ULF4 is where you will deploy your Emergency Blockade card if you get into trouble this turn.

Deploy all you can to ULF4 and try to take ULF2 if your facing a 50s stack. If its an overpowering but manageable stack then try to blockade with just enough so that the blockade is slightly larger than the enemy unit total, accounting for its deployment, so it suicides and weakens itself. It will try to break the blockade next turn with whats left plus potentially a 50s it moved onto UL2 at the end of turn 8. If a larger than expected stack breaks through, repeat the same strategy on IT2 but counter attack as your last move. You lose the bonus for a turn but you can significantly weaken the enemy and retake the bonus next turn if your lucky.

If its the 170s stack then go big as in blockade using 40+ units as you will not be able to beat the 90+ stack that's left behind no matter what happens.

Send your territory 3 stack to C3. This is your flanking stack to take out whatever is hiding on the other side of your blockade if it holds and to take the Upper Left bonus.

Conclusion
As you move your flanking stack towards the Upper Left bonus, leave no armies behind in the Central bonus so your Outer Right ally can take control, if the enemy takes your leftovers that's even better because the Outer Right ally will get the Central bonus faster.

When your flanking stack reaches ITL5, you should try to take the Inner Top Left bonus, close the back door from the Central bonus, and continue your march towards the Upper Left bonus. You can only be stopped 2 times on your path to taking the Upper Left bonus and still star. Depending on the strength of your Outer Right ally and how far it has advanced determines whether you need to go onward for the Outer Left bonus or not. Keep in mind that there could be a 90 stack waiting by your blockade if it didn't break through and it may take two turns to defeat it.