I have integrated the elite path into this guide. For players who wish to attempt the elite path, build all three ECs.
Early Game:Your goal at this stage is to get Guderian (Berlin) ASAP with minimum additional spendings.
For the first week, do not purchase any general if you haven't bought Guderian yet. Try as hard as you can without generals for the first 6 days and Sansonetti alone after you get him. You lose up to 2 medals per campaign imperfectly completed and there will be a one-time reward of 1000 medals after completing either WTO or NATO side, so one strategy is to complete a campaign with 1/2 star(s) in the first run, finish WTO 6 (easier than NATO 6), and come back to it later.
After your first week, if you still think it's impossible to get Guderian without getting a general:
If you are coming back from a later easytech game or a WC3 veteran, know how terrain skills work, and believe you only need a tiny steppingstone on your way to Guderian, get Crerar (San Francisco).
If you are a beginner to easytech games, get Govorov (Moscow). If Govorov is still not enough, add Vatutin (Moscow) to your team. Sansonetti-Govorov-Vatutin is definitely enough for Guderian.
Mid Game:Your goal at this stage is to complete the F2P triumvirate and get another artillery general.
If you got Guderian without Govorov, now it's time to get him. Then Patton (New York). The Guderian-Govorov-Patton triumvirate is indispensable for most players (Patton perhaps not so much for Manstein owners).
After those three, you need another artillery general. You have 2 choices here:
1. Get started on building an eye covered general (EC) with emphasis on artillery. He should have 3 stars in artillery and movement, level 3 Plain Fighting, level 2 Artillery Barrage and Explosives, and M General rank. You will need to build an artillery EC eventually. He is a better damage dealer and has the best endgame potential.
2. Get Bai.C.X (Nanking). He provides alright damage and exceptional speed at a pretty low price.
Late Game:Your goal at this stage is to complete your endgame squad.
An extensive endgame team consists of 9 generals, including 3 for tank, 3 for artillery, 1 for infantry, 1 for air, and 1 for navy. A compact one can narrow the size down to 7 by using hybrids for infantry and air.
For the third tank general, you have the following options:
1. A tank EC with 3 stars in tank and movement, level 3 Plain Fighting and Blitzkrieg, level 2 Tide of Iron and Explosives, and M General rank. He is a good allrounder with immense potential.
2. Rommel (Berlin), with top class survivability.
3. Vatutin, with great damage and the lowest price, but slower than his competitors.
If you previously bought Bai, you have to build an EC now. If not, you have the following options:
1. Another artillery EC. Build him the same way as the previous one.
2. Bai.
3. Konev (Moscow), with damage better than Bai and infantry hybrid capabilities. However, he might not be that good of a price performer.
For the infantry general, you have the following options:
1. Give your EC some infantry stars. This option is perhaps not the most ideal one if you have only built 1 EC.
2. Konev, only if you have already bought him.
3. Vasilevsky (Moscow), the best damage dealer among academy infantry generals.
You should only consider getting an air general if you find yourself in one of these two situations:
1. Sansonetti's performance does not satisfy you as an air general.
2. Your Sansonetti is busy on a battleship, and Patton's performance does not satisfy you as an air general.
If so, you have the following options:
1. Give your EC 5 stars in air force.
2. Goring (Berlin), with the highest rank, some infantry ability, and is not terribly slow.
3. Arnold (New York), with outstanding speed and high rank.
4. Halsey (New York), with the cheapest price and naval capabilities, but also the lowest rank.
End Game:You have completed your team, and you only have to upgrade it now.
For promotions, promote Govorov to M General and Guderian to Marshal.
For the remaining 2 skill slots of your artillery EC, consider these skills:
1. Ace Forces (Moscow), a survivability-boosting skill specialized for campaigns.
2. Street Fighting (Nanking), which increases damage to a ridiculously high level (as it stacks with Plain Fighting) when stationed in cities.
3. Supply (London), a survivability-boosting skill specialized for conquests.
4. Defense Tactics (Turin), a survivability-boosting skill with very low triggering chance but decent return once triggered. Choose it if and only if you strongly believe in your luck.
For the remaining skill slot of your tank EC, consider these skills:
1. Ace Forces.
2. Supply.
3. Defense Tactics.
You can also get generals that purely out of interest at this stage.
What to do if you bought IAPs:Any IAP pack should allow you to get Guderian without any other general.
Manstein: he can replace either Patton or an artillery EC to be the second tank or the second artillery. I'd recommend replacing the artillery EC because Patton is cheaper.
Zhukov: he can serve as the third artillery and infantry.
Eisenhower: he can serve as infantry, air, and perhaps as the third tank.
Hoth: he can serve as infantry and the third tank.
Marshall-Juliusz Pack: Marshall can serve as infantry, and Juliusz can serve as the third tank.
Balck-Nenonen Pack: Balck can serve as the third tank, and Nenonen can serve as the third infantry.
Feel free to comment, I'll edit it if necessary.
