Tricks and Tips

[Longasc]

Oh my! I think "Crete" should be somewhere in between the "airborne" and "naval" options of the 1941 DLC. Basically, the happy medium between EASY and HARD.
But it's a bit crying about spilled milk. We should have voiced our concerns at this time but we got convinced that people can chose between naval and airborne. But this would require prior knowledge of the scenario and I bet most go airborne.

We can try to prevent something like this for one of the 1943 DLC scenarios. Please feel free to add your thoughts about this particular scenario in the Beta Forum!

[RichardL58]

I don't like units that die. Recon die. they are ok in 1939, after that just too weak.

I have a total of 3 Recon and only lost one once, in the Wassigny scenario (the one that started in poland is still alive, with two heroes ).

If you play right with your recon, you can easy avoid losing them. Move them 2/3 of their move, spot the enemy, then withdraw behind your advancing panzers, or at least so they only can be attacked from one hex. I only use them in combat to finish of easy 1-3 strenght point targets. Recon units is invaluable in the Stalingrad scenarios to spot lurking SMG infantry.

[andy3]

Thanks for the tips. I love Panzer Corps.

[minius]

don't know if someone notice yet, I find that game (AI) engine sometimes waiting with attack until I get some victory hexes, so i don't ocupy this hexes yet, just put some infantry near, AI is somehow less agressive (but maybe its my imagination). I use that in panzer general, allied general and PGF.

next thing is sacrificing - I dont defend recon as they cheap so usualy they don't survive to end. I find that AI is happy when you loose 1-2 core units, so he don't bother you with killing core units any more, again just my impression

[RichardL58]

don't know if someone notice yet, I find that game (AI) engine sometimes waiting with attack until I get some victory hexes, so i don't ocupy this hexes yet, just put some infantry near, AI is somehow less agressive (but maybe its my imagination). I use that in panzer general, allied general and PGF.

In some scenarios it seems so, but In Russia i'll guess it also depends on crossing certain hidden advance lines to trigger the counterattacks.

I dont defend recon as they cheap so usualy they don't survive to end.

I don't agree here. I have a Recon with a +1 spotting and a +3 defence heros, this unit is priceless.

[minius]

statistically recon should be expandable. why? it's first in line, first for suprise, it's lightly armored...
I try to preserve units like recon or arty, but thats too much effort, in war there are casulties...
which units are on top list to defend in crisis for others?
for me is units with heroes
1. fighters
2.tanks
3.infantry

[Bonners]

Couple of questions rather than tips I guess, air power, especially now we're into the '43 DLC. What is the best strategy for using fighters and stukas? Here is what I've kind of developed.

For attacking the enemy airforce, even with 5 fighters and a couple of AA units (and using surround techniques where possible), I find it better to concentrate on getting as many hits on as many opposing aircraft as possible, rather than necessarily wiping out completely. Especially in the initial waves I dont have enough aircraft to wipe all their airforce out, so rather than concentrate my airpower on destroying a few of the Soviet aircraft I try and make sure I get hits in on all of them. My reasoning being that once they have suffered hits they tend to disappear for a couple of turns which enables me to have another go at them next time around as they no longer seem to arrive in such concentrated waves.

Up until now I've always concentrated on wiping out each air unit completely, but I've found that by doing that there is just too many aircraft and I end up with too many full strength Soviet aircraft buzzing around the next turn, far better to get attritional on them I reckon.

Right or wrong? Or would it be better to just concentrate on taking them out one by one in the early stages?

Related to this is Stukas. Have they had their day in the '43 scenarios? I'm contemplating converting them to fighter bombers, losing a bit of ground support, but meaning they are better able to defend themselves. I guess the alternative is to send each Stuka mission out with fighter support which isnt always possible, especially with the swarms of Soviet aircraft now around. I'd hate to get rid of my remaining Stukas as they've been around since 39/40, but I did feel sad watching one of the 14 strength, double heroed guys go down in a ball of flames after being ambushed by Soviet planes.

[Aloo]

For attacking the enemy airforce, even with 5 fighters and a couple of AA units (and using surround techniques where possible), I find it better to concentrate on getting as many hits on as many opposing aircraft as possible, rather than necessarily wiping out completely. Especially in the initial waves I dont have enough aircraft to wipe all their airforce out, so rather than concentrate my airpower on destroying a few of the Soviet aircraft I try and make sure I get hits in on all of them. My reasoning being that once they have suffered hits they tend to disappear for a couple of turns which enables me to have another go at them next time around as they no longer seem to arrive in such concentrated waves.

Up until now I've always concentrated on wiping out each air unit completely, but I've found that by doing that there is just too many aircraft and I end up with too many full strength Soviet aircraft buzzing around the next turn, far better to get attritional on them I reckon.

Right or wrong? Or would it be better to just concentrate on taking them out one by one in the early stages?

I do the same, and think its the right way since it works

Related to this is Stukas. Have they had their day in the '43 scenarios? I'm contemplating converting them to fighter bombers, losing a bit of ground support, but meaning they are better able to defend themselves. I guess the alternative is to send each Stuka mission out with fighter support which isnt always possible, especially with the swarms of Soviet aircraft now around. I'd hate to get rid of my remaining Stukas as they've been around since 39/40, but I did feel sad watching one of the 14 strength, double heroed guys go down in a ball of flames after being ambushed by Soviet planes.

I use 2 Me 410 - they have a higher HA than the best Stuka (at least for the first 3 scenarios),can double as a medium quality fighter to finish off weak fighters and take on full str bombers, plus they can defend themselves fairly well. I do use 1-2 Stukas but this is mostly due to problems with prestige - I cant afford 2 more Me410.

[Bonners]

Have to admit hadnt actually looked at the cost of upgrading yet, had to finish off last night just at the moment of horror when my full strength stuka got splattered. Even though I'm only playing on one of the easier levels I do still struggle for prestige, so they may have to stay put, but only be used when I have a spare fighter to escort them.

[Casaubon]

Same strategy here as I am playing all DLCs on field marshall, the days were I clearly dominated the airspace in earlier DLCs are over, even if I have 9 fighters in my core! Therefor I start slow, and try to weaken the enemy airforce as a whole rather then hunt down single squadrons in the beginning of a map. I got several highly mobile AA guns and they are great for defending artillery, if the soviet fighters want to strafe them, they allways lose some hitpoints. then I jump on them with my ME109Gs and finish them off with lower losses. I use my last ME109E for escorting missions (mostly paras on their way to some remote spot) and my single Focke Wolf fighter (can´t afford more) for attacking full strength soviet fighters.

[Mountaineer]

The game is all about priorities--this isn't PG . You have to prioritize your forces for the objectives. You can spare forces for other matters (such as taking more cities or destroying the rest of the AI ground and air forces) only once when you have achieved some level of force overmatch.

For air I protect my forces and use other to soften up the objectives or next area I am attacking towards. The close and deep fight. If the scenario has lots of water and the chance of ships then I bring good strategic bombers with anti ship capability, but I do not go hunt ships until they are a threat.

Fighters must protect bombers while enemy air is active. Only once you have superiority can you stop escorting the stukas. The 110/210/410 is another matter, they can take care of themselves until DLC 43 and later. I wish the air gave better recon as it flew across the map, but the recon is only a tertiary function.

Ground Recon cannot get too far ahead. They must recon and screen or guard your force and be preserved. They cannot go off and take objectives very far ahead like the old PG. And since the AI is more active, don't count on cities to be empty just because they were last time you played that scenario.

In the close fight you must prioritize the targets: AA, FA, AR (tanks), IN. Even taking the objectives and other units such as recon can be saved for later.
Use your FA to hit the AA. Then use a bomber to hit FA. If the battle is outside a city, hit the tanks next. If it is a city, hit the IN.
Now, if you have spare capacity, use additional bombers to finish off AA (it should be suppressed), finish off FA, then the tanks or IN. If you are hitting a city and the enemy is suppressed or has been bombed in some capacity, hit it with IN and mop up with tanks. If you have an armor clash on open terrain hold the IN back to guard the FA and AA while the tanks do the work.

This means you have a balanced force and you can do some task organization based on the sceanrio from your core force. You should have more on hand than allowed to be deployed but that is OK. You can use the strat bombers in big cities or when the sea is involved, more IN in big cities, mobile arty in fast moving scenarios like a raid, etc. You can always restart if you have the force mix wrong (nice option by the designers). Having a large balanced core and alternating units helps. By the end of '43 I have able to deploy: 6 tanks, 6 IN, 3 mobile and 3 self propelled (SP) FA, 3 SP AA, 1-2 88mm, 3 AT, 3 recon, 6 fighters, 6 bombers (mixed), and 1 strat bomber. I am rarely able to get most of them in the fight so you only overstrength the units you will use.

My probem with the AI is that it fights sort of dumb, rarely retreats, etc. Fighting smart usually wins when you have so many forces ahead of you. The AI has mass, so do not get strung out and take on more forces because your recon got too far ahead. Protect your bombers and mobile forces from surprise enemy air surges. That does not mean hovering over the ground units, use a spare AC and move ahead. Look for logical routes enemy air will come from and position along those routes. This is usually good at the beginning when your forces uncoil from the start/deployment locations. But as I stated, do not string out.

Speaking of deployment: I used to deploy FA forward so that I could fire from the very first turn. But if the AI gets the 1st move, then your FA is vulnerable. Watch those scenaiors, they are more frequent after '42 when the Soviets take more initiative. So deploy sometimes like it is a defense, you will not regret it. I often have more time than needed for the scenario, so take your time destroying the enemy properly.

Speaking of overstrength. I will do anything to keep my core forces experience. I wish you could strengthen your units 1 strength at a time, then you could mix some replacements with experienced replacements if you are really prestige starved. But, you can always disband units between scenarios, especially if they are captured equipment or even SE units that set your core out of balance. I doubt you need more than the 6 tanks but you could keep a 7th or 8th as a reserve and cash it in if you absolutely must.

[Mountaineer]

On paratroopers. In PG I used to have 3 and escort them forward to take an objective together with a 110. However, in PC they are not really strong enough nor can you often afford that many more units in your core or deploy them. However, they are great in the city and when hitting strongpoints. I would always have 1 paratrooper and use them to hold a key bridge or seize an airfield. As I stressed in the last post, you cannot stretch out too much or you will activate reserves and get destroyed. They are used for objectives I can drive up to within 2 turns. I use them to hold key terrain long enough for the tanks to arrive but I do not want my own version of Arnhem, so keep the mission close and obtainable. I also want them to be able to move on to another close objective or reboard aircraft in the airfield.

I think they need more AT capacity. The paratroopers and mech infantry are too weak against tanks.

[Yeepeep]

Great tips all around! Adding my few cents:

Strategic bombers are simply addictive. Typically I try to keep at least three of them on the field at all times. Quite often I use them to directly attack the AAs, without bothering for fighter cover. They are also perfectly suited to accompany the paratroopers (because of the prodigious fuel supply) and are crucial to take those far away airfields (w/o them I've noticed that the paras have little to no chance to be of any use, especially when the target is defended).

True, they are expensive but are robust enough to take a lot of punishment and are indispensable (especially in the beginning when the tacticals have to be constantly resupplied) for chasing the retreating units or simply harassing behind the enemy lines. Hell, I simply leave them on top of the AA until the damn thing is out of ammo. I never over strengthen them as in most of my campaigns they are the ones who suffer the most casualties. And they are too expensive to do so anyways. But when they are done, the rest is just mopping up the floor

As a bonus, when one of the naval missions come around, these flying fortresses wipe out the enemy fleet in a turn or two. My typical setup (for the Grand Campaign mod the core is 30 I think) runs something like (2-4 Infantry) + (2 Recons) + (4-6 Arties) + (6-8 Tanks) + (2-6 ATs) + (3-4 Fighters) + (4-6 Tactical) + (4-5 Strategic) + (1-2 88).

Usually going in two directions, recons first, tanks and air following, then 2-3 arties each behind the infantry. Recons do the zoom zoom and then fall behind to resupply, I try hard not to lose them. The tanks have always been a somewhat odd ball to me and I'm still not quite sure how to most effectively use them. Usually I park one or two right in front of the city while the rest circle behind. My general procedure is rather crude, basically just bombard the hell out of every hex while my sitting ducks soak up all the damage I also never got used to the tracked Arties but sometimes switch to the big rail guns. As the campaign progresses the infantry is gradually weeded out in heroic but suicidal missions in favor of ATs so at the end there's like 2 pioneers left. Of course all decent plans go to hell sooner rather than later but that's the general idea

[Wildthing]

DLC ´44 East
In the defense Missions in ´44 try to reorganize a strong defense line a.s.a.p an wait for the russian attacks. Watch out for mobile AA and save your airpower. Tac- and levelbombers are needed for suppressing the IS2 and ISU152 and finish of weakend units (prefer the best enemy units, not the "easy to kill" - rubbish). Never rush to any objective, move carefully and try to hold a closed frontline (Beware of fast tanks slipping trough your lines).
The goal is to keep your core intact, I think. A careful, flexible strategy will work: Defend your lines, check the main direction of russian interests, crush them carefully and after this force an attack on special targets (expensive units, airfields and try to block the rivers) is more effective than a major victory at all costs! A decicive victory is the goal for Berlin, IMO.
Greetings Wildthing

[Anthedon]

There was a thread a while back listing the campaign tree for all the DLCs, but I can't find it anymore. Maybe someone bookmarked it and can help me out?

[airbornemongo101]

Here

viewtopic.php?f=121&t=29298&start=40

I found it in the common questions sticky,which is here

viewtopic.php?f=121&t=27283

[ckraiderfan1]

recon units are cool they always end up getting wiped out I think they should be more like submarines retreat when attacked unless ambushed. they are fast moving armord recon they should be able to get out of trouble as fast as they got in to it I tend to use fighters to look ahead. they see better than recon any way and it frees up mor slots for my core units

[RichardL58]

recon units are cool they always end up getting wiped out

It depends on how you use them. I move my recon forward 2/3 of their movement, saving 1/3 for retreat, then I cover them with other units so they can't get attacked by more than one enemy (only lost one once in Arras in 40 DLC).

I now have three recon in my 43 core, all boosted with 14 pt strenght initially at start of a new scenario, one has +3 defence and +1 Spotting

Experienced recon with heroes are also very good at finishing of crippled enemys, and then retreat behind the lines afterward.

[Sourdust]

For risk-free recon, don't leave your aircraft just sitting around doing nothing on rainy or stormy days.

If they don't need to be refuelled or repaired, send them off on deep recon missions, especially areas like objective hexes that are likely to be defended by flak. You won't spot anything during the storm, but the stormy weather persists during the enemy's turn, so he can't use flak or interceptors against you. Then if the following turn is clear or cloudy, you'll get to spot the enemy at the beginning of the turn, while still being able to move your aircraft away before the enemy has any chance to shoot back. This is a great way of using aircraft for recon with no risk of losses, and without wasting a turn of combat for them either.

Note this only works on scenarios when the Germans go first on turn one. On scenarios where the Allies go first, the weather can change to clear at the end of your turn, and the enemy will get a chance to intercept and fire AA at your aircraft.

[ceandersen]

Complete Grand Campaign Tree.

You can add to this diagram the value received prestigious in every way?
For example, if you have a DV (decisive victory) in Piatek, as gain prestige? If I have an MV (Vitoria Marginal) in Piatek, as gain prestige?

Thus would be clearer the best route to take. Well we could, during the match, decide between which decide achieve goal versus the risk involved in the losses of the units.