Tips for "Storming Stalingrad"?

[catholicryanite]

Greetings,

After a decisive victory in "Voronezh", I am not far from playing that level. As of late, I have fifty-six units, most of them are over-strength and well-experienced. They were accumulating since the beginning of the '39 Scenario.

Now, I am tempted to deploy inexperienced infantry, artillery and SPAT, saving the more experienced ones for later. I thought it might make for interesting results. Should I go for it? If not, what do you guys recommend?

[Don't worry; I'll post my order of battle later...]

Signed,
-catholicryanite

[TSPC37730]

The Stalingrad scenarios are some of the more challenging scenarios when you first play them. Tanks have limited use & your plan to bring infantry & artillery is appropriate. I wouldn't, however, only bring your inexperienced units. Strategic bombers which strip ammo from their targets are also very helpful & are a must IMO. Flammpanzers are quite good, but, use them carefully as an attack by a tank or an AT gun can be devastating.

Units with spotting heroes have some value here too. A unit which stumbles into an ambush can be in serious trouble. Spotting hero units that can see 3 or more hexes out can help prevent this. Cautious advance is the order of the day.

This scenario will require you to use a much different play style & strategy than you may have used in the previous scenarios. Probably the closest one would have been the Moscow scenario - if you played it. This one is bigger & much worse. Took me more tries than I'd like to admit to master it. Good luck!

[captainjack]

TSPC37730 has given good advice, and the general idea of using more infantry and artillery sounds sensible.

The following tips have helped me make Stalingrad scenarios and other city ones a bit more manageable.

Because you may have to take a lot of attacks on front line units, keep an eye on their ammo. Even more important, make sure your artillery has enough ammo for defensive fire. Without defensive fire support, SMG infantry and lucky conscripts can be very damaging in close terrain. The 105mm can be better than heavier guns and nebelwerfers in defence because it has enough ammo to provide suppression fire on your attack and still provide defence against repeated attacks.

Another useful thing is to use move-hero infantry to help rotate units out of combat either your fast lead units pull back to resupply or move forward to replace units that have pulled back.

If you have range hero artillery you have some interesting choices - 4 range 150 or 170mm guns are useful to add weight to attacks, for counterbattery, for suppressing AA to allow air attacks and for picking off overstrength, but a 2 range Stug or 3 range nebelwerfer can also be very useful. If you have the prestige, it can be worthwhile shuffling unit types around to get the best out of your heroes. These decisions matter a bit more in a city scenario where almost everything is relying on close defence.

If you have an experienced SPAT with high defence or attack hero, it can be useful for quickly shifting enemy tanks from streets, or making an excellent blocking unit. Your spotting hero troops come in handy here.

And finally, check the briefing and view the map carefully before you deploy and from time to time during the battle. I never do this often enough but the more difficult it looks, the more important it is to focus on the true objectives.

[AMDonline]

you can catch soviet airplanes setting idly on top airfield, i think they only move if you're close to the top-right objective Hex
take them out in early turns and enjoy the rest of the map without any concern about the enemy air force

[captainjack]

If you are using AA, the snoozing Soviet planes provide some good target practice.

I have a suspicion that Nico's reworked DLCs will have given them hold (active) rather than hold(fire) so they will come for you when they spot you. That shouldn't be a problem for an AA unit, unless they call in help from a few bored T34s.

[loganfive]

In my first try at it on Colonel, I threw the kitchen sink at this scenario (everything overstrength to the max) and won a DV on Turn 19. I am about to try it again at Field Marshall, and I don't expect it to be too much more difficult.

I probably could have done it with fewer resources the first time, and added some prestige instead of a net loss of about 2000.

In terms of advice:

• Bring lots of infantry. You should have at least 10 *** or **** infantry units by now. If you don't have that many, you may have to make up the difference by upgrading one or two of your tank units to a Flammpanzer or Panzer IIIN, but they are extremely vulnerable on their own, so make sure you always have artillery behind them. Pionieres are generally the best infantry for this type of battle, but they too need artillery support for both attack and defence.
• Artillery is king here. You need about 10-12 units. If you don't have that many, just purchase some K17s or MRS21s, and you can always sell them off and get your prestige back at the end of the battle.
• As a number of people have pointed out, you can destroy the Soviet air force fairly early in the scenario, so you really don't need a lot of fighters or flak. Your bombers tend to get eaten up by the Soviet AA but are useful if used with caution.
• Keep a small contingent of your most mobile units around your airfield at the left of the map. There is a partisan attack coming from the West. Once you have destroyed those Soviet units (around Turn 10) you can move all your units into the main battle.
• Don't be dismissive of the Italian units. There is an SP gun, a switchable AA/AT unit, a recon unit and three Bersaglieri infantry units that are quite useful. Try to keep them alive. If you have a lot of prestige to burn and really want a DV, providing them with elite replacements is not a terrible idea. With a strong Italian core you can probably get that prestige back by capturing a few extra flag hexes.
• Go slow. It's a big map but you have 24 turns.
• Follow normal Panzer Corps (and Panzer General) best practices. Attack along the edges (the top and bottom strips) first, then straighten out your line. Park your infantry in the city hexes and your tanks on the clear hexes.
• The last Soviet counterattack is around Turn 19, and it's only about 5 tank units. Once you've survived that you can be a bit more aggressive over the last five turns.

[Elkarlo]

Add an infantry and an artillery unit to each Italian group. With that they can do some offensive actions. They also can absorb counter attacks. Don't let them die, as it's a big map to cover without your Italians.
Use your tanks in the alleys and open spaces. You can outflank and cut off Soviet groups. Also you can blast SMG in the open.

[hurly]

Bring along a lot of chocolate !

The Serotonin Boost might make this Endless struggle a little bit more wearable.

Still don't expect any Fun in this nor the other Stalingrad Theatre Scenarios.

Actually with the Start of 43 East Campaign the FUN Years are over anyway, even without boring City Sieges.
The Mass Tank Battles in the Open are Not the Problem though, its also not just the ever increasing Number of Russian Units, their Quality especially Infantry and Air Force increases a lot as well (Tanks and Anti Tank do as well, but the Tiger and later the Tiger 2 tip the scale of strength in your direction).

And you will Really Really Start to develop a huge aversion for AA. Just Thinking about the SPAAG pestilence gives me pimples.
(Which can be a Symptom of consuming too many chocolate as well )

Ah forgot to mention

If you are a First Time GC43 East and beyond General and started your Career via Panzer Korps TOR, Afrika Korps and the GC 39-42 (Aka as the Old School Route of Release)


Learn to Defend !!!!




And don't get fooled by your huge amount of prestige. No matter how much you have now, it will melt away quickly (especially when you get a little euphoric with the Kill Rate of your Tanks) So act responsible all the Time, even small losses will hurt a lot sooner or later.

[hugh2711]

The first thing to do is decide wether you want to go for an MV or a DV. If you go for an MV (,if carefull,) it can be done with negligeable losses and a very large boost to prestige (plus the usual experience gain). Replay here; viewtopic.php?f=145&t=82744
If you go for a DV it will mean big losses.
All infantry has to be backed up with LOTS of arty. Also;

"As per urban, the crucial tactic is; my tanks will only be going in the roads that grid the hexes, never the hexes themselves (unless they are WAY behind the lines and need to capture a town hex that has been cleared). At deployment there are two groups of enemy partisans behind the lines in rough terrain. I will focus on those first and then when they are destroyed release those units to support the main attack. There are some aux italian units which can be used as bait and to fill gaps in lines. The german infantry units will advance in lines backed up by artilliary. There are three planes in range of your first go that can be destroyed....
...
Comments: Difficult as expected. However with only minor repairs this MV was a gain of 7593 for that one scenario, the highest so far. Also the destroyed units count was the highest so far."