US Corps 42 to 45

[Cerberus51]

Welcome to my first Panzer Corps AAR. I have previously played through US Corps at Colonel so have prior knowledge of what I will face. However this will be at General so a little bit tougher. There will be mention of what happens and what to look out for so if you are intending your own blind playthrough stop reading now. I hope to cover the entire US Corps but we will see how it goes. Comments welcome.

FORMATION

We begin by selecting our initial core. From west to east I chose

Infantry/truck
M3 GMC
Heavy weapons/half track
M5
Engineer/truck
105mm/truck
M4 Sherman
Infantry/truck

Advanced in 2 groups of tank on point flanked by infantry and artillery (M3 GMC in artillery mode) behind. Pretty easy as expected. Triumph on turn 8/10.

[Cerberus51]

ACHNACARRY

Starting prestige 1211.

Upgraded 105mm to Long Tom for 98pp. I will eventually upgrade this unit to a SP 155mm but the extra hitting power is worth an interim upgrade.
Upgraded M4 to M4A3 for 18pp.
Disbanded M5 to get 277pp and purchased M4A3 for 406pp.
Upgraded Heavy weapons to Engineer (Engineers and Rangers are the only US infantry units worth having. There are a LOT of minefields in this campaign).
Upgraded Engineers from truck to half track.

I am playing with the default soft cap and due to the high value of US units expect to run into the cap pretty quickly. There are opportunities to get "free" prestige, which I will mention. My first playthrough foundered at Bastogne in 44/45 when I ran out of prestige, my second was successful.

Deployed units and advanced, tanks/engineers/155mm in the north, infantry/M3 along the road. Picked up auxiliary 2pdr portee anti tank and ran it down the road to the edge of the forest with M3 artillery right behind and both infantry close. As I hoped a British Crusader attacked, resulting in damage to both but attacks in forest hexes by both infantry destroyed the Crusader on the next turn. As I advanced the British attacked with another wave of units. The AI seems more aggressive at General. My infantry fared well with artillery support and the remaining Crusader was no match for two M4A3's.

Mopped up the remaining enemy units and flags in the western part of the map and by turn 9 the British were reduced to a single paratrooper on the victory hex. Positioned both infantry units near Achnacarry and spent several turns bombarding the paras entrenchment levels down. A final assault by tank and engineers on turn 15 gained a Triumph (DV to those who have been playing the game longer than me).

I did not purchase any replacements during the scenario as I knew units are restored to full health for free at the end.

After taking the victory hex a message pops up saying that by moving 2 infantry onto marked hexes SW of Achnacarry they will be upgraded to Rangers. I had the units ready so got a free upgrade of two truck mounted infantry to half track mounted Rangers (one becomes a SE unit).

Now for the real war to start, but a decision to make! Casablanca or Oran?

[nikivdd]

I am so looking forward to this thread.
Perhaps you could post a replay of every mission?
At the end victory screen you can save a replay, then zip it and then post it as an attachment to each AAR. Replays are saved in \documents\my games\panzer corps\replay
Cheers, Nico.

[goose_2]

Welcome aboard Cereberus.

I look forward to reading your analysis as I helped beta test this.

[Cerberus51]

Thanks guys. Always good to know one has an audience. Zip file attached for this scenario replay - please let me know if I have done it right.

Forgot to mention I am using the chess dice setting.

CASABLANCA

Chose Casablanca, Oran is of similar difficulty and reward. Awarded a SE P-47D (I have to confess I reloaded until I got this, I don't normally do that but I'm looking ahead to 45 when my fighters will need every drop of experience to deal with the Wunderwaffen planes).

1588pp. Bought P-47D and B-25B (B-26 is more powerful but a bit too expensive right now).

Deployed one M4, engineer, ranger and M3 GMC in the north, everything else in the south. The southern deployment is problematic in that you can only get 5 units ashore before the French ships sail, so I lost the aux inf.

I knew where the Jean Bart was so made a kamikaze attack with the Swordfish which took the JB down to str 1. The Swordfish survived but I sacrificed it a few turns later to spot for my BB to destroy the JB.

Everything went like clockwork. Took Port Lyauty airfield on turn 3 and got a core B-25B with an Att+3, Ini+2 hero and an aux B-17F next turn. Destroyed the French units coming from inland and headed my northern group south.

The aux reinforcements from the SW got involved in a firefight and had to have regular replacements but that worked out well as the French units were easier to destroy in the open rather than entrenched in Casablanca. The AI is definitely more aggressive when you step up from colonel to general.

Got the captured artillery in Maaziz by sending a ranger to grab the inland flags.

It really helps to have naval bombardment available. I could have finished on turn 10 but held off for the 25pppt and took a Triumph on turn 12/12.

Verdict: a nice opening scenario, very easy if you know what you are doing.

On to Djebel Abiod!

[Cerberus51]

Early days but I think it might be helpful to explain my strategy for developing my core army. I'm using the standard equipment file which means some significant differences in what is available to the US compared to British or German forces.

In the air I am intending 5 or even 6 fighters depending on what SE units I get, 2 tac bombers and 2 strat bombers. US air units are expensive in 42 but powerful and don't need/get much in the way of upgrades. P-51 fighters come too late to get enough experience so for most of the war the P-47D is the only realistic choice. One of the big differences with the US air units is the lack of a fighter bomber option meaning I need to run with one fighter more than I would like. I have 2 B-25D's now and the option of upgrading them later. I would have liked a B-26 but it is significantly more expensive for what you get. For strat bombers it is either the B-24 for the duration of the war or B-17F now and upgrade to B-17G later. The B-17F has lower ammo so it will be a pair of B-24 Liberators for me.

On the ground I am working towards fielding 3 battlegroups, each able to draw on a ranger, an engineer, 2 tank destroyers, a Sherman, a SP 155mm artillery and a Calliope. For my first try at US Corps I went 2 Shermans for every tank destroyer and the cost of patching up Shermans targeted by german armour drained my prestige so I think one Sherman to 2 tank destroyers is the way to go. Interestingly I have found the AI targets tank destroyers with infantry rather than armour, even in open terrain. Possibility of artillery traps there! Shermans are quite good for killing infantry caught in open terrain. There are a maximum of 4 capturable and one given tanks to add to your core as well as the temporary additions. Generally I will be trying to acquire units early and rotate them so I have a pool of experienced units available in 44/45.

Finally SE units. The US only has rangers, paratroops and fighters available, no tanks. P-47B is a cheap upgrade to D. I rarely use paratroops and rangers are all round better so upgrade any paratrooper or disband and hope for something better.

[nikivdd]

US Corps does demand somewhat different tactics than when playing the Germans. Until late war, tanks are inferior to their German counterparts; that is one of the reasons i placed capturables in some of the scenarios.
Aside from the tanks, the US self-propelled artillery (more ammo than German ones) and (level) bombers are important assets to decimate the enemy and to win a scenario. Altough it might seem easy how the Allies defeated the Germans in movies, the reality was quite different and i tried to implement that in many of the scenarios.

[Cerberus51]

Yes, I did not fully recognise that the US has different strengths/weaknesses first time out. Setting aside any debate about historical accuracy it makes them a fresh challenge after playing British or German campaigns.

DJEBEL ABIOD

2125pp

Upgraded M3 GMC to M10 Wolverine in anticipation of PzIII's and IV's. Disbanded captured French artillery as no slot to deploy it and intending to move to self propelled from the next scenario.

I think the key here is not to let the French units stand and die but pull them back towards Djebel Abiod whilst rushing artillery support forward. That is why I stayed with a towed 155mm rather than upgrading to the slower M12. I managed to get one French infantry into the town (lost the other) with artillery support and a M4 alongside to create a kill zone in a river hex. Took heavy casualties on my engineer and ranger dealing with Fallschirm coming in SE of Djebel Abiod.

Southern group encountered Kraftrad infantry and PzIIF that were no match for my armour once the AA was taken out and I could use my airpower. I'm not sure about the PzIV that parks in front of Beja. If it had come forward with the other units the German attack might have been more of a threat. As it was one strike from a B-25 and my M10 just drove in and blew it away.

I was getting 25pppt but got impatient and took a Triumph on turn 9/12, finished with 2245pp.

The German units weren't particularly tough - but that will not last.

[Cerberus51]

TEBOURBA

2745pp, 11 deployment slots.

Upgraded towed 155mm to self propelled M12. Could have saved 340pp by disbanding and buying new but upgrading preserved 271 exp. Purchased another M12. Artillery is very important for the US.

Knowing what is to come I deployed everything in the South except an engineer and a P-47 there was no room for. Artillery and air contributed to taking out the screening Axis units on turn 1 and Medjez el Bab was captured on turn 4. In the centre the British advanced cautiously while the paratroops looped round to the west to reinforce them.

Formed a defensive line in front of Medjez and waited. Message that objectives changed, Triumph would require destroying all German attack force units. I knew this was coming and had all my units near Medjez rather than pressing an attack in the north. That made the scenario much easier than the designer intended.

In the following meatgrinder the key was to take out the mobile AA unit leaving the attackers exposed to US airpower. I had forgotten the late Luftwaffe second wave, a FW190 and a Stuka, but they did not inflict serious damage.

Triumph on turn 13/14.

On reflection I might have been too cautious with the British. If I had pushed them forward the attackers from the north would have had to engage them rather than join the main German group. I don't think it made any difference to the outcome though.

All in all an interesting scenario with the change in orders partway through. Real wars happen like that. However it becomes quite easy once you know.

Another choice for the next scenario. Which way to go?

[Cerberus51]

MORNING AIR

Awarded a SE P-47D - Yes! That is the 3 SE units available in the 42 campaign all given.

2999pp

Elite replacements (exp is precious), a nice shiny M10 and upgrading both engineers to 43's left me 2328pp.

Deployed and formed defensive position around Thelepte. Retreated aux Grant to join my army. Waited. T5 received evacuation order. Run? Hell no!

Began well with several enemy units destroyed. It was fairly easy to get surrenders at first as the Axis units pressed in. Knocked down the Luftwaffe fairly easily as they do like to ignore AA and defending fighters. All except that FW190 that is. It knocked my green P-47 down to 3 str and escaped. Unfortunately on T9 I left a M12 artillery exposed and it was duly knocked down to 4 str, meaning 220pp for elite replacements.

As the Axis numbers thinned I was able to start an advance around T16. An M4 spotted the FW 190 coming back for more so I threw all 3 P-47's at it and destroyed it for 6 damage between my units. Scratch the Luftwaffe I thought. Wrong! On T19 2 Me410's jumped an unescorted B-25 and I was lucky not to lose it. Shot them down and found the last Axis core unit, a Sahariana infantry, in Gafsa. Destroyed it and occupied the last victory hex on turn 20/20.

Got my first earned heroes, a movement +1 on an M4 and an attack +1 on a B-26. Nice.

Finished with 3038pp and evacuated the aux Grant to disband for prestige. Evacuating and disbanding aux units is quite an important source of prestige in US Corps. It is a bit of a dubious tactic though.

Verdict: getting harder. A progressive step up in difficulty (and risk of losing units). Those Me410's were a shock!

Kasserine or Sbiba? Frankly the Kasserine map scares me (I have previously deployed and surrendered to see what you are up against) so it is off to defend Sbiba.

[goose_2]

TEBOURBA



All in all an interesting scenario with the change in orders partway through. Real wars happen like that. However it becomes quite easy once you know.

Another choice for the next scenario. Which way to go?

Ah there is nothing quite like that first blind playthrough.

Enjoying the read.
?
Have you lost any core units? It looks like only one, but I might have missed the report of another.

Thanks this really is enjoyable to read.

[Cerberus51]

Ah there is nothing quite like that first blind playthrough.

Enjoying the read.
?
Have you lost any core units? It looks like only one, but I might have missed the report of another.

Thanks this really is enjoyable to read.

Yes, that first playthrough always has an extra edge to it.

I have lost several auxiliaries but thankfully no core units. I really hate losing core units. After this AAR I intend to pick up a GC I have on hold and go east but I'm not looking forward to the inevitable losses.

I have just finished Sbiba and will post it up tomorrow. Glad to hear you are enjoying reading my adventure.

[Cerberus51]

SBIBA

5538pp

Took elite replacements, disbanded aux Grant (gained 336pp), bought a M4A3, 2 x M10 Wolverine and a M12 artillery. 3670pp

Only 2 air units allowed so deployed both of my SE P-47D's to leave the maximum number of slots for ground units.

Turn 1 pulled all core units back north of the river and set up to defend the crossing points. You can blow the bridges but I think that is a bad idea. You need them for your own advance later and while the bridges are there the Germans will use them rather than fording the river anywhere, possibly on a broad front.

I tried to pull the surviving British units back in the east but the Germans pursued relentlessly, so relentlessly that a PzIV crossed the river and I had to detach a M10 to deal with it.

Received the captured Sdkfz 234 on turn 4. By turn 11 the German armour was gone and I could advance at the eastern crossing and roll up the remaining German units. Just in time to receive an order to take the Axis HQ and counter a large force of Italians coming up the map. At this point I thought I would run out of time to capture the HQ but pressed hard, rolled over the Italian units and took the HQ for a Triumph on turn 19/20 with my artillery down to only one or two ammo each.

Finished with 3515pp. I have been using elite replacements but am now worried that I won't save enough prestige for 44/45 so I will need to look at green replacements, particularly for units near the experience cap.

Verdict: Definitely getting more challenging. This scenario demonstrates the power of the US artillery and the need for both Shermans and tank destroyers in your core force to deal with soft and hard targets respectively. Valuable lessons for the future. 20 turns looks generous but if you struggle to destroy the German armour or are a bit slow dealing with the Italians it could get tight.

Now for El Guettar and the first Tiger of my campaign.

[Cerberus51]

EL GUETTAR

4715pp

Bought P-47D and B-24. Left with 2952pp after replacements.

Ended up having to restart this one as everything that could go wrong did. The weather djinn favoured the Germans with sandstorms every time I needed air support and the German armour went for the north of the range of hills where I had let my units get out of position instead of into the defences I had set up at El Guettar resulting in a lot of green painted scrap metal littering the desert. Recognising my limitations I started over.

Sent a small force with the supply trucks down the road to Gafsa whilst my main force swept south along the eastern side of the river mopping up the scattered Italian units. Set up the supply depots on turns 6 and 7 to be given three aux AT and a core Sherman Crab. Took El Guettar and set up proper defensive positions backed by artillery this time. Fortunately the Germans came in where I expected them. That Tiger was tough though. I hit it once with a strat bomber before the enemy AA made air attacks too risky. Everything else the Germans have can be handled but it took multiple attacks to grind the Tiger down.

After dealing with the German counterattack I had a decision to make, patch up my rather battered army and go for the last objective or sit and take the victory. Not wanting to spend prestige on further replacements and still shaken by my less than glorious performance at the first attempt I decided to sit out the last 10 turns and settle for the victory. Finished with 3609pp.

Verdict: this is getting serious. The Germans attack on a broad front and you have to solve the problem of a rampaging Tiger covered by multiple AA units. The most challenging scenario so far (I ducked Kasserine).

[Cerberus51]

After my less than stellar performance at El Guettar I granted myself 48 hours leave. Just long enough to get a beer in Casablanca.

HILLS

4909pp, 16 deployment slots. Bought another B-24 (the first one now has 225 exp after one scenario) and an engineer with half track. After taking replacements that left 3203pp.

I know there is a small Italian force in the NE corner of the map and German panzers come in from the east, also you are told there are no Axis air units but can only deploy three of your own planes. I brought both B-25's and the new B-24. Not liking the idea of a frontal assault on minefields and digging entrenched infantry out of hills I put 1/3 of my forces in the West and 2/3 in the East, intending to circle round the ends of the Italian positions and attack from the south.

Started well. The western group broke through the minefields (I only needed to destroy two in the entire scenario), destroyed a small force of Italian armour, and began to work towards the first objective. The eastern group destroyed the Italian force to the NE by turn 5 just as I got a warning 21st panzer division were coming.

I moved cautiously in the east not wanting to take a flank attack from the panzers. Obligingly they positioned themselves SE of the Hill 369 HQ objective where I could press them with a line of M10's backed by artillery. The USAAF took some damage from AA fire but by turn 13 the panzers were broken and the western and eastern objectives were secured. I then took the $ hex and received 250pp for it. I did think there might not be enough time to take the last objectives but the Axis were running out of units and I took a Triumph on turn 19/20.

No core losses, only the aux Sherman. My new engineer, even after taking green replacements, finished with 126 exp and new B-24 with 224 exp. Strat bombers certainly build experience quickly. Ended with 3566pp.

Verdict: apologies to nikivdd if I made this sound easy, it wasn't. My cautious approach meant I could take the panzers on at a time and with units of my choosing. On my first playthrough of US Corps I had attacked from the north in 3 groups and had to slog through the Italian defences as well as fight off the panzers. Not nice. As I had a much smarter strategy this time it all went rather better.

[Cerberus51]

ENFIDAVILLE

4566pp, 18 deployment slots, bought two more M10's so my armoured units now number 3 Shermans and 6 M10's. That is all I intend to buy, any further additions will be capturables. I will post a summary of my core at the end of the 42 campaign.

The briefing for the scenario says the Axis units intend to make the capture of Enfidaville as costly as possible. It is not wrong.

Deployed filling the NW, W and S deployment hexes with a 234 and Sherman Crab in the SE (just to take the SE airfield really - it looks inviting but is mined). Planned 2 axes of attack, one from the NW and one from the S.

Initially all went quite well. The Axis armour was dealt with without prohibitive losses, the green M10's performed well and my two groups linked up west of Enfidaville. The biggest blow was having a P-47 knocked down to 4 str by an unseen 88. Then the real battle started against the infantry in the urban hexes. My engineers took losses, requiring replacements, and even bombardment by artillery and B-24's didn't bring the attack predictions down to a reasonable level. Ideally I would have double hit one infantry unit each turn with air units but there were too many targets and not enough turns left so the bombers were spread thin. I was actually reduced to attacking infantry in fortification and urban hexes with tanks, and taking the inevitable damage, in order to destroy them in time for a Triumph on turn 12/12. By the end several units were damaged, a couple down to 1/2 strength - ouch! Finished with 3400pp.

Verdict: I don't think there is an easy way to do this, you simply have to get down and dirty with the Axis infantry. This is the first scenario where I seriously thought I might run out of time.

Closing in on the endgame in N Africa.

[Cerberus51]

MATEUR

5400pp, 19 slots. 4794pp left after bringing units up to strength. I am not overstrengthing units, apart from engineers if I expect minefields, my concern is to amass as much prestige as possible for the later battles of 44/45 to avoid the wheels coming off as happened at Bastogne in my first playthrough.

The briefing for Mateur advises three parallel attacks but the southernmost objective, Hill 609, is heavily defended against frontal attack so I decided to use a small force in the north to take Teskraia and swing south and join the bulk of my forces attacking Mateur, then a strong group would attack Hill 609 from the German rear.

Both groups made reasonable initial progress, then I noticed the designer being sneaky and a couple of infantry in half tracks trying to circle north of my central battlegroup to get to the US held victory hex . I managed to intercept one before it got far and then kill the other with a B-25 and a Sherman.

Teskraia fell fairly easily and with the German armour destroyed in the centre I closed in on Mateur, detaching some units south to attack the supply dumps. Actually make that the German armour *nearly* destroyed as a Marder came out of the fog of war and destroyed the auxiliary PzIIIN from El Guettar . Not as bad as losing a core unit but it was useful and now I won't have it for the last scenario of 42.

On turn 10 the supply dumps were destroyed for 230pp. I am still under the soft cap so far despite fielding the B-24's. A combination of artillery and airpower blasted my way onto Hill 609 for a Triumph on turn 15/16. 5549pp.

Verdict: Interesting. My strategy made Hill 609 easier than a frontal assault and the infantry units trying to infiltrate to grab the US victory hex was a timely reminder to take nothing for granted. The German forces nicely reflect their increasing shortage of equipment.

Now for the decisive play. Bizerte or Tunis?

[Cerberus51]

BIZERTE

I chose Bizerte rather than Tunis. I haven't played Tunis but it looks like there is more to capture and more opposition. I haven't got the capturable PzIV from Bizerte yet and would like to do so. I know it is in Metline, that is the only flag I did not capture last time through.

7749pp, 22 slots. After replacements and overstrengthing the Crab and a couple of engineers in anticipation of minefields I had 7282pp left.

Battlegroup in the north, smaller group in the south to take Mangeb Bourgiba (W of the lake) and the rest in the south to drive due east. I deployed all eight air units. The AI moves first and is pretty aggressive with local counterattacks throughout this scenario. A Grant came in and got ambushed by the aux recon. On turn 2 a fighter ambush caught the enemy Centauro and put a dent in it. The Axis air units weren't able to stand up to my P-47's and were eliminated over the next couple of turns. Initial advances went more or less as planned although the German artillery in the south caused some casualties and a mobile AA there harassed my air units. Took Mangeb, closed in on Bizerte and broke through in the south. The change in strategy from my previous run was to send the units from Mangeb round the southern shore of the lake to link up with the group coming down from Bizerte. I want that PzIV!

Bizerte was bruising but my units broke through after taking some damage. I spent more on replacements in this scenario than I liked. B-24's are powerful against ships and on turn 10 I received 250pp for sinking the transports. Took Metline on turn 13 and was duly given a captured PzIVF/2. Triumph on turn 14/16, finished with 7443pp.

Verdict: A good scenario to finish, the aggressive behaviour of the Axis units gives the feel of an enemy determined not to go down without a fight..

[Cerberus51]

Overall I found US Corps 42 interesting with a mix of different challenges in the various scenarios, everything from open terrain armoured warfare to breaking defensive infantry positions. Even knowing what happens and roughly what I am up against I enjoyed playing it again. The key factors to being successful are understanding the capabilities of the US units and the tactics they require and reading the maps properly to use a suitable strategy to get the right units in place at the right time. I always felt I wanted to be able to deploy just a couple more units - which meant it always felt a challenge.

I am going to continue with 43. On starting that I had an opportunity to compare my core with my previous playthrough on Colonel. I had 30 core units and 8811 prestige on Colonel compared to 28 core units and 8943 prestige on General. The cores were almost identical except this time I have a PzIV against three M15 AA last time. Given the step up in difficulty it is better than I expected and I feel I am on track so far.

My core consists of

1 Ranger
3 Engineers 43
3 M4A3
1 Sherman Crab
1 Sdkfz 234
1 PzIVF/2
6 M10
3 M12 155mm
2 P-47D
2 B-25B
2 B-24
1 SE Ranger
2 SE P-47D

Apart from the B-25 given at Casablanca which comes with a hero, 15 units have gained one hero each.

43 allows one more SE unit and has an experience cap of 425. My artillery and strat bombers are already at the previous cap of 375 and sixteen units are 3*.

[goose_2]

That is a solid army.

I am curious I always enjoyed more Rangers when I beta tested.

Why do you prefer Engineers?