New Zealand

Regional powers

Background

New Zealand is little country with weak armed forces but playing with it will be fun and challenging - as it has some advantages too.

  • Advantages
    • Lots of powerful allies
    • OK tech teams and a few are very good
    • Isolationism: AI never attacks New Zealand
  • But there is lots of disadvantages
    • Low IC and only one tech slot
    • Low manpower
    • Weak army: land units have only ½ strength...
      • Navy have only few transport ships, no cruisers or battleships
      • No air force
    • Dove lobby: low manpower growth

Before World War

The first thing you need to do is building infantry. One infantry costs 4.82 IC so set production slider to 4 or 4.82 but then you must leave reinforcing your first divisions. Try upgrade obsolete divisions and reinforce old divisions... In politics New Zealand have one good thing, it is social democrat . Move Democracy slider to Authoritarian to make your goverment Left-Wing radical or Dove lobby slider to Hawk lobby. Do not research or build tanks.

[ ]{#Research_&_Production} Research & Production

Research and product

Don't

  • Cavalry , it is not useful in island-to-island campaigns
  • Battleships (it will be take too long to build any battleships, if you don't use no time limit -mod =])
  • And really don't waste your low IC on tanks, which are also weak attacking islands

And if you have time, try to research some basic doctrines, New Zealands best tech teams are doctrine-teams...

Regarding planes I won't comment. When I played with New Zealand I didn't build any planes, but on the other hand I didn't conquered very many provinces...

At war

For New Zealand the main strategy is conquering Japanese islands. You need transports, or you are prisoner in your home islands. Marines will be good for operations like this and if you play well, you can start amphibious assault on the Japanese main Islands, where you really will need good infantry and luck too..

  • Alternatively* What I like to do with NZ, (I didn't write the above piece) is disband my CAV at the start, as they arent worth reinforcing, then spam INF and transport them to Africa where they can get XP stopping the Italians, as generally, the British AI doesn't fight too hard in Africa. Then take your troops into Italy itself, where the IC jackpot is. Try and get the RN to destroy the Italian navy first, or go gamey and splash out for a NAV squadron or two and bomb them. Then landing troops in Anzio for example is a piece of cake. I generally tend to ignore Japan, as they have plenty of trouble from the USA and Britain, and the gains to be made are quite small. Then, once the IC rolls in, build some tanks with the extra tech slots you'll have, or branch out into wherever you feel. Buying planes from Britain doesnt hurt, but you have to reinforce them. I used ground attack quite a bit, but have heard this has been nerfed in Arma 1.2 so thats a blow. Good luck, NZ is quite hard to play, but fun if you get it right.

(just finished a game as NZ, annexed Germany and the rest of Europe, AAR on forums :D