World Conqueror 4 World Records!

Going for a full rundown with screenshots and narrative for this one as I am now under 30 turns for 1939. I can’t figure out how to put pictures in the spots I want, so I will post them in order in a second reply instead.

1939 Soviet Union
27 Turns; 197,134 points

Full technology upgrades
Generals used:
- Manstein
- Konev
- Patton
- Rokossovsky
- Guderian
- Dönitz
- Zhukov
- Rommel

I believe I can improve upon this by at least a few turns. I held back generals much longer than I needed to and would likely have finished faster had I used them more liberally. I got virtually no benefit from Zhukov or Rommel and not much from Dönitz. Still, I believe this was a much more efficient conquest than I’ve managed before. My tech never got very high, so I did not have the benefit of building missile silos or advanced factories or airports. I’m coming around to saving an open general slot for an air general late in the game to help clean up. It won’t help in an area that is spread out, but it will speed things up if you can take a city in a dense area where one airport can reach a bunch of other cities. It will also help with missile attacks, which have a long reach when fully upgraded. On to the conquest...

I started with a plan to defend in the east as the Japanese begin with an army at your doorstep. Your biggest weakness as the Soviets is the lack of advanced units pavailable in the east. You have no more than a level one factory or city with which to build units. The Japanese immediately go for the level one city to the east of Changchun, where you have a supply depot. I move tanks and infantry from starting cities south and east of Moscow towards the east to help and collect all infantry from the Kamchatka area towards the defense of the cities on the border with Japan.

In Europe, there are two main areas of action early on, in the north near Leningrad where the Germans will quickly push into Northern Poland and threaten your border cities and in the South near Stalingrad, where Romania has two tank generals and help from Hungary, Bulgaria and eventually Italy and Germany. I immediately move Rokossovsky (starting version) towards Leningrad along with available tanks and artillery. In the South, Govorov, Konev and Chuikov must combine for early defense and try to push back. Concentrating your forces is helpful.

In Turn 2, I start hitting Northern Romania with my starting artillery generals. I also build a tech institute in Moscow to jumpstart technology so I can build a stacked heavy tank for my top tank general ASAP.

Turn 2 in the east, I think it critical to sacrifice a general slot for a triple stacked light tank, both to defend against the initial Japanese onslaught and to push forward and take Changchun and Shenyang. This will give you access to a level two factory where you can build a stacked medium tank and use another general to finish off the Japanese in the Korean Peninsula and begin to invade the mainland. If you are fast enough, the Chinese will be able to defend or retake all of their starting cities. You can see in Turn 2 that the Japanese are already besieging my nearest city. I use Patton, with an eye towards saving my better tank generals for when I have stronger units to put them in. I’m not sure this was the ideal choice, as I did not need to be so conservative with my general slots when going for speed. I may have progressed more quickly using two generals early in the east.

In Turn 3, I take my first Romanian city and fall back in Turn 4 to defend Kiev from Model. I’ve saved enough to buy a stacked heavy tank for Manstein, which I do in Turn 4.

In the East, I’ve used Patton and some support to put pressure on Changchun on Turn 4, but I quickly must pull back to defend against a second wave Japanese Attack including support from the mainland. I spend the next few turns defending my coast and the Japanese second wave.

In Turn 5, I build a stacked rocket artillery for Konev in Moscow and rush Manstein to support Rokossovsky in Northern Poland where the Germans are attacking hard. I wasted some time picking at Helsinki. I did not have the firepower to take it with starting generals and would have been better served supporting Rokossovsky with those units.

In Southern Europe, by Turn 6 I’ve shifted my artillery towards Bucharest but have run into tough opposition including Graziani moving in from Italy, so I pull back into a defensive line.

Turn 6 in the east, I am heavily engaged against attacks from the beach and over land from Shenyang and Changchun. This continues on Turn 7.

By Turn 8, Manstein has beaten the Germans back in Northern Poland, retaking the one city they captured. My starting version of Rokossovsky has pulled back to Leningrad to heal, and Konev is quickly moving up to help Manstein clear the way to Berlin.

In the East, I take Changchun in Turn 8. This prompts the Japanese to pull back their attacks to attempt to retake it. Taking the initiative took pressure off of defending and also captured a level two factory.

I build a stacked medium tank for my upgraded version of Rokossovsky on Turn 9 as Patton and his light tank will need support. I will eventually pull Patton back to the shoreline where the Japanese are still trying to land units from the mainland while Rokossovsky pushes forward.

I had intended to build a stacked heavy tank for Guderian several turns earlier so he could head towards Southern Europe, but I did not have the resources until Turn 10. I build it in Moscow and spend a few turns racing him south. In the East, Rokossovsky has taken Shenyang in one turn.

Turn 11, Konev annihilates Helsinki’s defenses, and I drop a paratrooper to defeat Finland. Manstein is now bombarding Berlin. I’ve taken Krakow after the Germans captured it on their turn, but they are now pushing towards it with a stacked heavy tank and a medium tank with a general. I must defend for a couple of turns until Guderian can reach the front. I also have a couple of zoomed out shots here to show the larger picture.

Turn 12, I shift Manstein over to clean up the defense of Krakow. Leeb has come out to defend Berlin and landed a Rumor hit on Manstein. He poked the bear, though and will soon pay.

Rokossovsky takes Pyongyang on Turn 12 while Patton defends the beach. The massed Japanese cruisers and destroyers in the Yellow Sea focus on bombarding Pyongyang and eventually Seoul after I take it, so I put stacked units there to soak up damage.

Manstein one-shots Leeb on Turn 13, and Konev helps him to clear Berlin for a paratrooper on Turn 14. German Manstein also gets one-shot by his alter ego after he moves back from attacking Amsterdam too late to help in the defense of Berlin.

On Turn 15, Guderian has arrived in Southern Europe to confront Graziani and the last of Germany’s artillery generals. Konev and Manstein take Amsterdam and Hamburg. I build an airport in the east to take a poorly defended Sapporo on the Japanese mainland, and Patton and some other light tanks embark for the Japanese mainland.

Turn 16 in Central Europe, Manstein and Konev have taken Cologne. Franco is dead meat and falls victim to a one-shot from Manstein. While Guderian takes out Graziani and captures Prague, starting versions of Govorov and Konev take Bucharest with support from medium tanks, defeating Romania. Back in the east, Rokossovsky has taken Seoul.

Paris is retaken by Manstein on Turn 17, along with a couple of undefended coastal cities the British Navy has worn down, allowing paradrops.

Guderian takes Vienna and Bucharest on Turn 18, eliminating Hungary in the process. I’ve built some mechanized units to try to push south from Sapporo, but a coastal artillery blocks the way. I land Patton south of the coastal artillery right next to the nearest city.

On Turn 19, I take a port in the Yellow Sea and built a stacked cruiser for Dönitz to hold the port and clear the Japanese cruisers and destroyers, with help from Rokossovsky in his tank on the shore. I build a stacked rocket artillery for Zhukov in Paris on Turn 19, and Guderian pushes all the way to Rome and Milan, which he clears, but they cannot be taken until the next turn because I have no resources for paradrops.

Turn 20, Zhukov and Manstein have taken Lyon and Bordeaux, defeating Germany. Manstein moves south to a spot between Marseille, Barcelona and Toulouse, using Assault to bombard all three in one turn, opening Marseille and Toulouse to paradrops. Guderian takes Rome and a paratrooper takes Milan.

Turn 21, Manstein captures Barcelona, Guderian takes Naples, and I build a stacked heavy tank for Rome in Rome. He will get no real use as there is little resistance left in Africa, where I intended to use him to spearhead an invasion. Meanwhile, Patton takes Tokyo, where strategic bombing will be used to quickly defeat Japan.

Turn 22, Govorov and strategic bombers take Sophia, eliminating Bulgaria. Patton leads air strikes to take remaining Japanese cities, leaving only a couple of ports.

Turn 23, bombers destroy Japanese ships in port, which are then taken, defeating Japan. On the same turn, strafing and paradrops are used to begin a quick takeover of Thailand. Strategic bombers and air drops from Rome also begin a short and swift campaign in Africa, where Spanish and Italian cities are barely defended and susceptible to air attack.

Thailand is defeated on Turn 24 via air attack. I also drop numerous paratroopers as close as possible to Mogadishu, the only enemy city in Africa I cannot reach by air because Egypt, Britain and France control all cities in air range.

Turn 25, air raids take the remaining Spanish cities, along with all Italian cities other than Mogadishu, which I have under siege on Turn 26 and finally capture on Turn 27, completing the conquest in 27 turns.