Blind Playthrough Afrika Korps Rommel Italian Challenge

[goose_2]

Replay for Dash to the Wire


Can say so much for now

Your SM 79 Tac Bomber definitely has a bad Kharma as you seem to get bad or at best moderate Rolls almost all the Time.

On the other Hand your 2 Folgore Fighters are just the opposite of that and seem to be different Units than the one I got

And I have to admit I'm a bit jealous regarding the Piaggio
On almost the exact same Hex in the same Round I got attacked by the exact same Kittyhawk and was almost one-shot losing 7 strength while you lost just 2 strength

Don't wanna complain though the Game can be a bitch sometimes and you certainly got the short end on several other occasions during your Scenario.

One question though
You fought bravely near Tobruk with the Auxiliary Troops and did reasonably well, but the Scenario is called "Dash to the Wire" and not "Stay In the LIne of Fire"
Why did you not just step one Hex back with your frontline East and West of Tobruk and deal with anything coming out of Tobruk from a safe Place ?

Thanks for the feedback and detailed questions.

I did complete 2nd Offensive this weekend.

Let me first address your amazing plea to have me redo Dash to the Wire.
It wqas so eloquent it almost had me reconsidering it, but I can only play blind once and I am rather enjoying thr frustration and joy of each failure and success I have, besides I am so insane on this playthrough that I only have 1 save file for this campaign and cannot go back even if I wanted to.

My Tac Bomber keeps getting raped by the enemy, as I do not have enough fighters to cover it always.
My 2 Italian Fighters are beasts as 1 is 3 star with 2 +1 attack heroes, and the other is 2 star with 1 +1 att hero.

I did not want to leave my cities open for seizure from Tobruk, especially with the way they started raiding my area towards the 6th 7th round. I thought I had to at least hold the cities, I might reconsider my positioning the next time I play this.

Hope to get some time today to type up 2nd Offensive, but for now time to get some work done.

[goose_2]

Okay I have time,

2nd Offensive Starting 679 after replacements and my new purchase 14...14 Yikes!!!
Yeah it is tight, and I could use some more SE units, but man is this fun, it forces me to get creative and very strategic in my purchases and how and what I upgrade, or if I upgrade.
Purchased 2nd Sahariana.

I am concentrating on capturing cities as I exit down to El Aghiella maximizing the amount of prestige I get at the beginning of this scenario.

Bringing 3 10.5cm arty's, Panzerjager, 2 Sahariana's, 2 Fighter's, Tab Bomber, Strat Bomber, 2 Grenadier's, Italian Inf, Bersaglieri, SE Pz3H, Flammpanzer, M14/41.

Day 1 ai CA:
Crusader Mk. 1 and HW Inf hit Sahariana -7 me -6 them; Hurricane hit Flamm -3 me; destroyed aux inf. They seized Benghazi and a few other attacks.
Day 1 Sunny:
Retook Benghazi and seized Barce, Tengender, and Msus.
Destroyed British Inf, 2 25 pounder's, Hurricane, 2 Crusader Mk. 1's.
12th SE Pz3H awarded Iron Cross 1st Class.

Day 2 ai CA:
Barce was seized and they have moved up slowly.
Day 2 Sunny:
Seized Soluch and I have decided to try and hold Benghazi, based on what I think will be a good placement for a defensive position, I may be wrong, but I really do hate giving up ground.

Day 3 ai CA:
Enemy seized Tengender and they nicked my Panzerjager and arty in a truck. They also seized Mersa Brega.
Day 3 Sunny:
Destroyed Dingo and seized Agedabia.
3rd 105mm arty awarded Bronze Medal for Military Valour.

Day 4 ai CA:
Bomber nicked my Sahariana.
Day 4 Cloudy:
7 reg reps for Sahariana and 1 for the other one.
Destroyed Dingo, Hurricane, 25 Pounder.

Day 5 ai CA:
Only attack that did anything was a nick on my Sahariana and Panzerjager, they also seized Msus.
Day 5 Sunny:
Retook Msus.
Destroyed British Inf, Hurricane, 2 M3 Stuart's, and Cruiser Mk VI.

Their attack is weak but it is continual and spread and as such is causing me much frustration. I love it, as this makes the battle non-linear and unexpected and makes me really think about the placements of my units for possible needed defense.

Day 6 ai CA:
Bomber nicked my arty, SE Pz3H ambushed Crusader Mk1 -1 me -5 them; Sahariana hit by Crusader Mk. 1 -3 me -1 them; and my Panzerjager reduced to 4 str.
Day 6 Sunny
Pressuring Mersa Brega.
Destroyed M3 Stuart, 25 Pounder, Crusader Mk.1, Whitley, 7.2 inch arty.

Day 7 ai CA:
Hurricane hit Tac Bomber -7 me -1 them; British Inf hit Ital Inf. -3 them -2 me. They also seized El Aghiella.
Day 7 Cloudy.
Seized Mersa Brega.
Destroyed Hurricane, British HW Inf, British Inf.
Bought 4 reg reps for Panzerjager, 4 reg reps for Flamm, and 2 reg reps for Grenadier.

Day 8 ai CA:
Uh Oh- Here comes the pressure I was fearing on my hold on Benghazi, I was hoping to turn this around before this happened.
Arty and Bren Carrier hit my 10.5cm arty -6 me.
Day 8 Sunny:
Seized El Aghiella. (All right this is what I was waiting for, time to turn this around.)
Destroyed Bren Carrier, 25 Pounder, and British Inf.

Day 9 ai CA:
Crusader Mk. 1 and Matilda 2 hit Flamm -6 me -2 them.
Sahariana ambushed Crusader Mk1 -1 each and other Sahariana was hit by Crusader Mk.1 - 6 me.
Day 9 Cloudy:
I need to back out of Benghazi to attempt to hold in some kind of pocket before I can be relieved by force awarded around El Aghiella.
Destroyed Vickers Mk VI.
MG Bataillon 8 awarded Iron Cross 1st Class.
Bought 6 reg reps for SE Pz3H.

Day 10 ai CA:
Enemy seized Benghazi and airfield and they hit my MG Bataillon -2 me.
Sahariana hit -1 me and Bomber hit 10.5cm arty -2 me.
Day 10 Sunny:
Destroyed Blenheim and 2 Crusader Mk 1's.
Bought 6 reg reps for 10.5cm arty and 4 reg reps for Sahariana.

Day 11 ai CA:
British Inf hit Grenadier -4 them -1 me; 6 inch nicked my arty -1 me; Crusader MK1 hit Sahariana -2 me -1 them.
Day 11 Sunny:
Destroyed 2 Crusader Mk.1's, 6 inch arty, and Matilda 2.
27th Brescia awarded Silver Medal for Military Valour and was awarded a +1 Movement hero.

Day 12 ai CA: Nothing
Day 12 Sunny:
Seized Benghazi and it's airfield.
Destroyed British Inf and New Zealand Inf.
105mm Ital arty awarded with a +2 att hero.
Ariete M14/41 awarded Silver Medal for Military Valour.

Day 13 ai CA:
2 Pdr hit Panzerjager -4 each.
HeavyWeapons inf hit aux inf guarded by M40 -1 me and Inf hit Sahariana guarded by arty -1 each.
Day 13 Cloudy:
Retook Msus.
Destroyed British Heavy Weapons inf and 2 pdr AT.

Day 14 ai CA:
Engineers hit Sahariana guarded by arty -3 me -2 them.
Day 14 Sunny:
Seized Tangeder.
Destroyed New Zealand Inf.

Day 15 ai CA:
No attacks that did anyone any damage.
Day 15 Sunny:
Destroyed/Force Surrendered 10str. Matilda 2.
MG Bataillon 2 awarded Iron Cross 1st Class and awarded a +1 att 2nd hero to add to their first +1 att hero.

Day 16 ai CA:
Dingo hit aux inf. -2 me.
Day 16 Sunny:
Destroyed 6 inch arty and British Inf.

Day 17 ai CA:
Enemy reduced my +2 Att Arty reducing it to 4 str. along with a couple of other attacks on aux units.
Day 17 Cloudy:
Seized Mechili.
Destroyed New Zealand Inf., Engineer's, 2 pdr, and Crusader Mk.1.

Day 18 ai CA:
Nothing.
Day 18 Sunny:
Seized Apollonia.
Destroyed 25 Pounder and Dingo.

Day 19 ai CA:
Enemy came out of Bir Hacheim strong and destroyed an aux inf.
It scared me watching this group come out, I still have enough to easily take the rest of the main objectives, but I do not have enough punch to seize it all.
(I hope that does not mean I have lost more bonus units, let me know if I did.)
Day 19 Sunny:
Seized Barce.
Destroyed Dingo and Bishop.

Day 20 ai CA:
Enemy destroyed another aux inf.
Day 20 Cloudy:
Seized airfield next to Gazala.
Destroyed Vicker's MkV1.

Day 21 ai CA:
Enemy attacks aux units.
Day 21 Sunny:
Seized Tmimi.
Destroyed 2 Cruiser Mk.1's, Cruiser MkIV, and New Zealand Inf.

Day 22 ai CA:
All enemy attacks are against aux units.
Day 22 Sandstorm:
Seized Gazala and Derna.
Destroyed New Zealand Inf.

Decisive Victory with 344

Rough and fun scenario I love the pressure and the spread of units that needs to happen to hold lines all over the place. This was an extremely fun and well designed map.

Next Gazala Line where the goal is to capture and destroy a bunch of units.
There are upgrades available and 1094 available to play with.

Should be fun.

I have a question I would like your thoughts on.
Pz3H upgraded to Pz3J/1 worth it or is the greater gas more important than the 2 increase in attack, defense, and initiative?

Thoughts?

[hurly]

Well done Sir

Even though being a bit shorthanded by now, you did it


I don't think you will have missed any more Goodies as you took El Agheila in Time

The basic difference is the extra 3 Units awarded as Core Units with the Reinforcements
If you have these 3 you are fine in terms of Stuff to be found



5.Art (Mov+1) Self Propelled 75/18 Hero Mov +1



5.Art (Att +5) Self Propelled 75/18 Hero Att +5



5.Tac (Att +3) Breda Hero Att +3



All 3 equipped with a quite nice Hero already and Key Units for your Army from now on. I think you will love all 3 of them despite your real tough Luck with the SM 79 Tac Bomber so far

Keep in mind that the Breda Bomber is in Family with the SM 79 Tac Bomber and the Upgrade Cost of 111 PP is definitely worth it, although the Breda is not bad for its cost. But it is a very big Map coming up in Gazala and the additional Fuel alone is worth the Prize

So that's 111 Prestige gone already if you do it

Your Fighters seem to be your best Units by now and the Upgrade to the Veltro Fighter improves them in every aspect but Soft Attack (look here http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 67#p638867)
You have 2 Fighters so that's another 152 PP

Regarding your Question to Panzer III Tank Upgrades
I always upgrade them on any Campaign to the latest Version til the L,M,N Types come along.
So yes I would pony up the 56 PP, but if you are really tight in Prestige and it is the difference in doing other important Moves or not, you can wait with the upgrade

Gazala Line coming up for ya

One of the biggest, the longest (32 Turns) and certainly the hardest Scenario so far in the Campaign.
I have heard some people are really hating this Scenario, personally I think it's great, it just requires a lot of planning, a lot of discipline, a controlled Aggression Level and a real structured Attack.
Remember that you don't need a Decisive Victory on most Scenarios in Afrika Korps to advance and get Full Prestige awarded. This is one of the Few where a Decisive Victory is required or you will miss the Malta Scenario.

Not giving away any spoilers, but it might be a good idea to consult Google and look up Gazala Line as it is considered as Rommels masterpiece. Some historic research might be handy in your strategical planning. It's certainly possible to win the scenario not following Rommels tactics, but I would not recommend it as I think the Designers created the Map and its flow to be like Rommel.

Good Luck General goose-o-lini

[goose_2]

Hurly, as always I appreciate your wise council.

So the upgrade for the fighters and bomber seem like a no brainer, I am going to consider the Pz3 upgrades as such the drop in gas really makes the decision a tough one, but it will be a whole year of fighting before I can upgrade to a Tiger so...
The one that I am going back and forth on is upgrading my anti-tanks. Panzerjager is crap and my 5cm pak is crap, but upgrading to the STUG3F is expensive and ultimately limited in it's lifespan. Actually as I am typing this out I am thinking it is my only option.
I need better tank busting power and Stug's will do that, unless I am missing something.

I am wishing I had an SE Fighter to help me dominate the air battle, but I will try and make my 2 Italian Fighters go the distance. They have been quite awesome thus far.

I was awarded a +2 attack hero on one of my arty's. Should I consider upgrading him to one of those Self propelled jobs? That ROF is insane and something I like to see. Not sure I have enough money for that and replacements, as I want to retain experience where I can.

I do not think I need any new units, except maybe additional arty.

Any specific article that you would recommend me researching the Gazala Line?

Thanks again for your encouragement and excellent advice.

[hurly]

Hurly, as always I appreciate your wise council.

So the upgrade for the fighters and bomber seem like a no brainer, I am going to consider the Pz3 upgrades as such the drop in gas really makes the decision a tough one, but it will be a whole year of fighting before I can upgrade to a Tiger so...
The one that I am going back and forth on is upgrading my anti-tanks. Panzerjager is crap and my 5cm pak is crap, but upgrading to the STUG3F is expensive and ultimately limited in it's lifespan. Actually as I am typing this out I am thinking it is my only option.
I need better tank busting power and Stug's will do that, unless I am missing something.

I am wishing I had an SE Fighter to help me dominate the air battle, but I will try and make my 2 Italian Fighters go the distance. They have been quite awesome thus far.

I was awarded a +2 attack hero on one of my arty's. Should I consider upgrading him to one of those Self propelled jobs? That ROF is insane and something I like to see. Not sure I have enough money for that and replacements, as I want to retain experience where I can.

I do not think I need any new units, except maybe additional arty.

Any specific article that you would recommend me researching the Gazala Line?

Thanks again for your encouragement and excellent advice.

Hi no I have no specific link in English Language at Hand I can recommend.
I watched a Documentary in German Language called the "Der Wüstenfuchs" back in the Days when I played the Scenario. Came in handy as they elaborated on Rommel and his tactics. Also I borrowed a few Ideas from braccada and his excellent Video Playthrough. And of Course I played the Scenario before a few Times so I was pretty well prepared.

But as the Gazala Line even has its own Desktop Game I think there will be a few good links available in English, I just don't know which are really good. But it's not Rocket Science anyway. The Setup of your Starting Hexes pretty much tells you what to do, at least an experienced player like you will read it quickly.

Next Topic
I love the Self Propelled Italian Arty Units, and along the way I bought a few of them.
Yes they are worth every Prestige Point especially later in the Campaign, you can keep them as they are or upgrade them as well in Family later on.
I'm just not convinced that an out of Family Upgrade is worth it. The Italian towed Arty has its place as well and is as good or better (RoF) than the German counterpart. So i would recommend to keep the Towed Arty and if you have the Cash buy an additional Green SP Arty maybe 2 (must not be all at once)
The SP Arty levels up pretty fast so the Green Status is temporary at best. I don't think you will have Problems to get them to 5 Star Status pretty fast.
On the tempting Att +2 Hero
This will certainly help any Unit and it's really impossible to tell what the effect will come down to in the End.
Just so much as I have the Numbers at Hand from my AAR
On Run 1 the Att+5 Unit has exactly the Same Number of Kills as the Mov +1 Unit going into the Final 2 Stages of the Campaign
On Team Red the Att +5 Unit has about 50 more Kills than the Mov +1 Unit
The towed Arty which came in a few Scenarios before (and has Att + 1 or +2 Heroes racks up better or similar Kill Counts still. But it is really hard to tell how much the Effect of Suppression and better Mobility will contribute

Long Talk, short Sense
The Towed Arty has its Place and the SP Arty is definitely worth every Penny. Why not have both when the budget allows it, but I don't think the +2 Hero will make a huge difference to justify the Out of Family Upgrade


On the AT Gun upgrade
I missed that upgrade and waited way to long and in retrospect I am kicking myself I did not upgrade to the AT Stug III F when they become available. So if you can pony up the Funds do it, maybe for both AT Units the towed one and the Pz Jäger 1b. I was stuck with a pretty immobile Towed Gun way to long.
I'm not a big Fan of the Stug III AT Unit and in a Normal Campaign I prefer Regular Tanks. But Italian Challenge is also a matter of good Slot Management and here the Game gives you the Option to employ 2 Slots with pretty tough Customers vs Enemy Tanks. So I'm with you. Do it and Do it as soon as you have the Cash available

[Panzerpimp]

Gazala Line
I have heard some people are really hating this Scenario, personally I think it's great

Gazala...

Possibly the hardest scenario I saw in all Panzer Corps. There is also Mareth Line... Why so many lines?

Here's some authentic Afrika Korps music. Hope this helps:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6120QOlsfU

[Panzerpimp]

Any specific article that you would recommend me researching the Gazala Line?

Here's the site with general information and statistics. Maybe this can help somehow.

https://rommelsriposte.com/

Good luck, goose_2.

[hurly]

Quick Question

Where is the Captured Matilda ?

Benched ? or Missing in Action ?

Any reasons why it is not in here ? Lack of Mobility ?

Anyway Good Job here

Your 2 Italian Fighters seem to be on PED while the Tac Bomber just can't take a break. Maybe it's cursed. Can't wait to see how the New awarded One with the Attack +3 Hero will perform in the upcoming Battles. Maybe you are no Bomber General, but an Artillery General so the 2 SP Italian Arty Units will fit in fine

[goose_2]

Quick Question

Where is the Captured Matilda ?

Benched ? or Missing in Action ?

Any reasons why it is not in here ? Lack of Mobility ?

Anyway Good Job here

Your 2 Italian Fighters seem to be on PED while the Tac Bomber just can't take a break. Maybe it's cursed. Can't wait to see how the New awarded One with the Attack +3 Hero will perform in the upcoming Battles. Maybe you are no Bomber General, but an Artillery General so the 2 SP Italian Arty Units will fit in fine

Captured Matilda, seemed inappropriate for a fast moving retreat. If I played again I would probably utilize it's muscle.

I love me some arty, now I am using my lunch to try and capture the Gazala day by day.

[goose_2]

Ok, Thanks for the information and the advise it helped immensely in this massive battle.
After much thinking and research I completed the Gazala Line, it took most of my game time this past week.

Gazala Line
Prestige at start 1094 but after replacements and upgrades 3
Upgraded 5cm Pak and Panzerjager both to StuG3F's. This was extremely important and something I highly recommend as it made a huge difference in my tank destroying power.
I also upgraded my 2 Folgore's to Veltro's, this is cutting me extremely deep and I hope I do not regret this.

Bringing Italian Inf and Bersaglieri in the North to help with the assault around the are directly South of Gazala.
The rest of my army I am bringing as far South as I can place them to swing around Bir Hacheim and carry out a similar sweep around that Rommel did in his attack.
The only units I left behind are my green Bersaglieri in a truck and my green Ital Inf, Crusader, and Matilda 2 as I want speed and Power.

Day 1: Sunny
Nothing but moving forward and beginning assault on several fronts but nothing was destroyed, yet.
Day 1 ai CA:
AA nicks various units and arty attacks on various aux units but no unit losses.

Day 2 Sunny:
Destroyed 6 Pounder.
Day 2 ai CA:
All attacks against auxiliary units with no unit losses.

Day 3 Sunny:
All right here is where my attacks start taking effect.
Destroyed Minefield, 3rd SA Brigade Inf and 25 Pounder; 68th Hurricane; 150th Brigade 6 inch arty; 3rd Indian Motor Brigade.
Day 3 ai CA:
AA hit my SM.79 and left me with 7 Str. left and the rest of the attacks were against aux units , but no unit losses.

Day 4 Sunny:
Seized Fortification (22,26) and pressuring Bir Hacheim.
Destroyed Minefield, 10th P-40 Kittyhawk, 150th Brigade HW Inf, 3rd SA Brigade Group HW Inf.
14th MC.205 Veltro awarded Silver Medal for Military Valour.
Bought 6 regular replacements for aux 149mm arty; 2 for aux Inf; and 3 for aux Bersaglieri.
Day 4 ai CA:
Enemy Hurricane Mk2.c destroyed my aux Breda; Hurricane Mk.2D hit Flammpanzer -3 me; and then a whole bunch of additional auxiliary attacks, but no other units lost.

Day 5 Sunny:
Seized Desert Objective (17,14)
Destroyed Hurricane Mk.2C, 1st French Brigade 25 Pounder; 150th Brigade Inf and 25 Pounder; Minefield; 1st SA Brigade Group 6pdr; 4th Armoured Brigade Grant; 3rd Indian Mountain Brigade 25 Pounder.
Bought some reg reps for auxiliary units and 4 for Core SM.79.
Day 5 ai CA:
A whole bunch of attacks against aux units but again no unit losses along with 2 hits against my Sahariana leaving me with 2 str. That was close.

Day 6 Sunny:
Seized Bir Hacheim.
Destroyed Hurricane Mk2D; 4th Armoured Brigade Grant and CrusaderMk.2; 1st French Brigade 47mm AT.
PanzerJagerAbt.39 awarded Iron Cross 2nd Class.
Bought 3,2 and 7 for 2 different units regular replacements for various auxiliary units.
Day 6 ai CA:
Spitfire hit SM.79 -5 me -0 them; they also nicked my core Italian Inf, along with some really good attacks against entrenched auxiliary units But no unit losses.

Day 7 Sunny:
Seized Bir Beuid.
Destroyed 150th Brigade 40mm Bofors; 1st SA Brigade Group 7.2 Inch arty and HW Inf.
+3 Att Breda and 1st 149mm arty earned Bronze Medal for Military Valour.
Day 7 ai CA:
A bunch of attacks mostly versus auxiliary units and 1 core attack of a Blenheim hitting Sahariana -6 me -1 them.

Day 8 Sunny:
Seized Sidi Muftah and Bir El Gubi.
Destroyed 2 1st ATK Matilda 2's; British Inf; 29th Indian Brigade; and 1st French Brigade inf.
Bought 8 reg reps for aux Folgore.
Day 8 ai CA:
Panzer 3H Rgt. 5 hit by Kittyhawk -2 me; 2pdr hit StuG3F -1 me -3 them; the rest of the attacks were against auxiliary units.

Day 9 Sunny
Seized airfield near Bir El Gubi.
Awarded Captured Grant for seizing Bir Beudi.
Destroyed 3rd Indian 2 Pounder and 1st SA Brigade Inf.
Bought 6 reg reps for aux Folgore.
Day 9 ai CA:
Fighter -2 off my Pz3H Rgt 5; 22nd Armoured Brigade came out and hit my auxiliary units near Knight's Bridge. This was unexpected and deadly as my auxiliary units were not in entrenched areas, but none of them lost yet, but close. A bunch of other auxiliary attacks and Spitfire destroyed my auxiliary Pioniere.

Day 10 Sunny:
Seized Desert (16,19) and Acroma.
Destroyed 1st SA Brigade 40mm Bofors; 8th Spitfire; 29th Indian Brigade 25 Pounder; and I force surrendered a 5 str 6 Pounder.
Bought 2 reg rep for Flammpanzer; 2 for Pz3H; and 8 for aux inf.
Day 10 ai CA:
Here it is from the 22nd Armoured Brigade as they destroyed 1 of my aux units; They hit my Pz3H -1 me; 1st French Brigade hit my Grenadier Bataillon 8 - 3 them -1 me; a bunch of other aux units hit.

Day 11 Sunny:
Seized Desert (17,16) and pressuring Retma.
Destroyed 7th Motor Brigade Group 25 Pounder; 11th Blenheim; 32nd ATK Matilda 2; 2nd SA Brigade Group 25 Pounder; and 29th Indian Brigade Inf.
Stormo awarded Gold Medal for Military Valour.
Bought 4 and 6 reg reps for aux units and 8 replacements for Sahariana.
Day 11 ai CA:
Only attacks on aux units received messaged about protecting strategically important airfields and the airfield near Bir el Gubi became a Main Objective so I will be protecting that one as they said I would receive a reward.

Day 12 Sunny:
Seized Eluet et Tamar.
Destroyed 32nd ATK Matilda 2; 2nd SA Brigade Inf; 22nd Armoured Brigade Crusader Mk.2; 1st French Brigade Inf; 29th Indian Brigade 2 pounder; 3rd Indian Motor Brigade 40mm Bofors.
I.Abteilung Panzer Rgt 5 with +2 Att hero was awarded a 2nd +1 Def Hero
I.Abt.Artellierie Rgt. 75 awarded +3 def hero.
Day 12 ai CA:
1st Hurricane Mk.2C hit my SM.79 protected by aux Folgore -4 them -2 me and a couple attacks against aux units.

Day 13 Sunny:
Destroyed 1st Hurricane Mk.2C; 2nd SA Brigade 2 Pounder; and SAS in the air.
8 Reg Reps for aux Infantry.
Day 13 ai CA:
Auxiliary Folgore was destroyed. Nuts! At least it was not a core fighter.

Day 14 Sunny:
Seized Desert (19,20)
Destroyed 22nd Armoured Brigade Grant.
Bought 7 reg reps for SM.79.
Day 14 ai CA:
Oh No!!!!
I spoke too soon

Kittyhawk destroyed my 2nd Veltro Fighter. Nuts I lost my core Fighter!
At least not my Stormo.
An aux inf was also destroyed but who cares as I lost a Core fighter.

Day 15 Sunny:
Seized Desert (20,21)
Destroyed British HW Inf and 22nd Armoured Brigade Crusader Mk. 2.
Bought 7 reg reps for Bf-110F and 9 reps for aux inf.
Day 15 ai CA:
Enemy seized airfield (10,8) (I hope this does not mean I lost my reward?)
Enemy destroyed an auxiliary inf, and enemy reduced my Sahariana down to 4 str as well as MG Batailon 2 to 6 str.
(This is getting really rough.)

Day 16 Sunny:
Seized Bir el Harmat and swung around to seize Gambut airfields, and then retreated using the Sahariana.
Destroyed 70th British Inf; 70th Rolls Royce; and 1st P-40 Kittyhawk.
Bought 4 Reg Reps for Italian Inf.
Day 16 ai CA:
Enemy retook Gambut airfields and Bir Temrad. Crusader Mk 2 and Valentine 2 hit Flamm guarded by arty -4 each.

Day 17 Sunny:
Seized El Duda and Sidi Rezegh.
Destroyed 70th Crusader Mk.2 and Valentine 2; 29th British HW Inf; 69th Brigade Group 25 Pounder.
Based on the areas being taken by the enemy and the continued fighting ability of the enemy coming out of the woodwork, I bought a bunch of replacements. I mean a ton, which cut me deep into the pocketbook, but I need to finish this successfully, I could type them all up but that would get tedious.
Day 17 ai CA:
Enemy destroyed another auxiliary Fighter. (My airpower sucks!)
Enemy seized Desert (18,26) and AA hit SM.79 -5 me. (Man my air cannot cut a break.)

Day 18 Sunny:
Destroyed 70th Bishop; 17th Hanger; 2nd Armoured Brigade Grant; 69th Brigade Group 40mm Bofors.
Bought 7 reg reps for Sahariana; 4 for Gruppe Hecter Pioniere; and 5 Elite for Core Italian Inf. (love those Cheap units)
Day 18 ai CA:
Enemy Seized Desert (12,15) and (16,25)
M3 Stuart hit my MG Bataillon 2 and left me with 3 str left. Thank Goodness those Stuarts are weak. along with a few other attacks.

Day 19 Sunny:
Destroyed 2nd Armoured Brigade M3 Stuart; 69th Brigade Group HW Inf; and 41st M3 Stuart.
Bought 7 Regular Replacements for MG Bataillon 2 Grenadier's.
Day 19 ai CA:
Attacks against aux units and Crusader was ambushed by my StuG.

Day 20 Sunny:
Took Desert (16,25) and (12,15)
Destroyed 151st Brigade Group HW Inf; SAS Para's; and 46th Crusader Mk.2.
Bought 8 reg reps for aux inf.
Day 20 ai CA:
A few attacks against auxiliary units and a British Inf hit Sahariana -4 me -2 them.

Day 21 Sunny:
Seized Desert (18,26) and Belhamed.
Destroyed 52nd Grant and 21st British Inf.
12th SE Pz3H awarded +1 Spot 2nd hero.
Bought 3 reg reps for aux Inf.
Day 21 ai CA:
1 auxiliary attack and Kittyhawk hit Piaggio -4 them -3 me, for which my Piaggio was awarded Bronze Medal for Military Valour.

Day 22 Sunny:
Seized Bir Temrad.
Destroyed 12th and 14th Strongpoints.
Bought 5 for Schutzen Brigade.
Day 22 ai CA:
Auxiliary arty destroyed and one other attack.

Day 23 Sunny:
Seized airfield in Tobruk.
Destroyed 2nd Armoured Brigade Grant and 9th Strongpoint.
Bought 4, 8, and 2 reg reps for aux inf's, and 5 reps for Sahariana.
Day 23 ai CA:
Some further auxiliary attacks but no unit losses.

Day 24 Sunny:
Seized El Adem, Bir Lefa, and Knight's Bridge. even pressuring Tobruk.
Destroyed 57th Kittyhawk; 2 Pounder; 13th Strongpoint; and 201st Guards Brigade HW Inf.
Bought 4 reg reps for inf.
Day 24 ai CA:
Nuts!
Mosquito almost destroyed my Flamm bombing it down to 1 str. (I will be retreating him as far from the frontline as possible, so I can hopefully give it elite replacements before the next mission.)
There were a couple more attacks but I only dealt damage rather than take it.

Day 25 Sunny:
Destroyed 9th Indian Brigade group 25 pounder; 4th SA Brigade Group 25 Pounder; and 9th Indian Brigade Group Inf.
Day 25 ai CA:
Bomber nicked my arty and I saw movement of the enemy as they moved past an unguarded city. (looks like it was the units that were holding Retma.)

Day 26 Sunny:
Destroyed 201st Guards Brigade HW Inf; 9th Indian Brigade Group 2 Pounder; 4th SA Brigade Group 25 Pounder; and 7th QF 3 inch AA.
Day 26 ai CA:
Mosquito reduced my +2 att arty down to 5 str. (Man that guy is annoying)
6 Pounder reduced my M14/41 Ariete down to 3 Str and they seized Sidi Rezegh.

Day 27 Sunny:
Retook Sidi Rezegh.
Destroyed 7th Motor Brigade Group 6 Pounder and 4th SA Brigade Group Inf.
Day 27 ai CA:
Inf hit 4th M40 da 75/18 -3 them -1 me and 1 other aux attack.

Day 28 Sunny:
Seized Retma.
Destroyed Mosquito; 7th Motor rigade HW Inf; and 6th SA Brigade Group.
3rd 105mm arty awarded +2 Def Hero.
Rest of the enemies attacks were minimal and no more unit losses for me, so I will just be writing down the end of my moves.

Day 29through 32:
Destroyed SAS Para; 15th Vickers Mk 6; another Vickers Mk 6; 22nd Cruiser Mk4; and QF 6 Pounder; and 3rd BL 6 inch arty; and even 1st Destroyer.
Seized airfield next to Gazala; both Gambut airfields; Gazala and Tobruk on the last turn.
When I seized Tobruk I received a message about earning 4000 in prestige but was awarded 2000 because I am on Rommel difficulty.

Decisive Victory with 2510 in ending prestige.

Yes!!!

Man this was a huge battle that had me everywhere. The research did me good as well as the advice on what to upgrade. The key I think was upgrading those 2 AT's to StuG's. Thanks guys and I really appreciate the help Hurly has been giving me as well as the laugh I had seeing the graphic Panzerpimp put up. Believe it or not it all helped when planning this one out.

It feels good to have won that battle and now I can move onto Malta with 3360 in prestige.

So my questions are this:

I need an airforce.
It bothers me that I lost a core fighter because I got greedy and I have not received any additional SE units to bolster my airforce.

I feel that I should purchase 2 new ones to try and train up but am unsure if I will be able to do this in Malta as I am sure they have a lot of AA units and I may want to avoid bringing any airforce to begin with. Thoughts?

Do the Italian's ever get a mobile AA gun?

Knowing this next battle is a sea invasion battle, what would you recommend I bring or purchase for this next battle.
No Spoilers please, but friendly advice is very much appreciated as it helped a lot in my last battle.

Thanks and as always...Stay Lutheran My Friends.

[hurly]

Very impressive

You seized the 1st Northern Gazala Line Victory Hex by Turn 5 and Sidi Muftah (which was one of the last Victory Hexes for me btw) by Turn 9

Right through the Middle !!! Reminds me of this (cannot divide the video here so start @6.36 manually)


Anyway you seem to be a real wizard in sieging entrenched Fortifications. I'm definitely not good in this discipline so I'm anxious to see the Replay how you did that.

On the other hand you scrapped with the RAF til Turn 28 taking some heavy losses.
Although you had the Eastern Airfields at Gambut (@Turn 16), the Southern at El Gubi as well as weakly defended Tobruk Airfield (@Turn 23 and probably could be done earlier) under Control pretty early you did not go for the Airforce Knockout Punch and took away all airfields to stall these pesky Air Attacks missing out on Gazala (which I took first of all Victory Hexes with the 2 Aux Pioneer Units) and its Airfield


Very different approach than me, but it worked like a charm.

Well and now since it's not a spoiler for you anymore, but you most likely have not seen the effect as you took Tobruk on your last Turn.

Once you seize Tobruk all Forces entrenched at the Gazala Line (except the Sidi Muftah Garrison) pack it in and go into full retreat mode, unorganized and ripe for the Picking as they are in Panic Mode. Can be a minor problem though when too many of them run into your troops that went around them and you are not prepared, so timing is everything. I just can't tell you where exactly they are going to, as I picked them all off way before they reach the Eastern Shore.

Well so much for the annoying and seemingly forever lasting Siege of the Gazala Line

But don't worry, I did not see that pattern for a few Gazala Line fights also and I think to pick it up on a blindthrough is almost impossible and pure Luck. Just mentioning the Fact for a possible ReRun you will probably try on Manstein or Guderian sometime in the distant future.

The loss of your superperforming Italian Fighter is a real Bummer. Missing out on the SE Reward Fighter from Dash to the Wire as well.

So i'm right now at a bit of a loss what to do for Malta
First wanna mention that is does not matter at all for the Campaign if you win or lose that Scenario (not even in terms of Prestige awarded afaik) so probably an economic Approach is possible here. But you are not a General of compromises so I just assume you go for the Decisive Victory anyway.

I just post the Starting View Map for you as it is exactly what you can see from the start and contains no Spoilers


Your Army right now is so much different to mine and some Units perform so much different than mine (the Tac Bomber to the Negative the Fighters to the Positive) that I'm really unsure what to say.
Although your obvious magnificent skills in using Arty and Infantry elude me, so my advice can be counterproductive.

You have 1 experienced Fighter at Hand (I started 2 (Veltro + SE Bf 109 + the Mobile AA and a towed 90mm AA on Run 1 and all but the SE Fighter at 2 Overstrength, on the Team Red Campaign I was even more lucky as I got the Veltro with 2 Overstrength, the Reward SE Fighter with 3 Overstrength and really handy the Game awarded Team Red its first SE Unit a SE BF 109 G + the Mobile AA) and you get 2 Aux Italian RE Fighters.

I'm not sure (it is some time ago I played these) but I think the AI did not attack the experienced Fighters so I was pretty relaxed with them giving Air Cover and Cleanup Shots.

Not sure if your Veltro has the same Status for them, but I don't think any Green Unit will be spared from Air Attacks.

Also your Tac Bombers took a lot of losses during their Lifespan so I'm not sure how tough they are right now. (I went into the Scenario with two 2 Overstrength Tac Bombers and a 1 Overstrength Piaggio, resp on Team Red with a 4 Overstrength Tac Bomber (with 2 Heroes Att +1 Def +2) and a 4 Overstrength Piaggio as well as a 3 Overstrength Tac Bomber with a Att +3 Hero ) so probably in the Air our Starting Lineup is not comparable.

But this is a Scenario that can be done with different approaches anyway.

Unlike Gazala Line this is a short Scenario with 15 Turns and Time is a Major Factor. So don't mess with unnecessary targets key on the Victory Hexes and very important with your probable weaker Air Fleet on the Air Fields. There are 4 of them, 1 on the smaller Island as well as only 1 Victory Hex and 3 Airfields on the Bigger Island as well as the Rest of the Victory Hexes. With 15 Turns you may not have the Time to hop Islands once you are on firm ground, so a reasonable Split of the Army is important. Obviously there must be more troops available for the Southern Island. But don't underestimate the Northern Garrison as well. But Key on the Airport and then the Victory Hex there anything else is just Bonus. If you are not really sure you have enough Forces here you can hold back a few available Unit Slots for flexibility (Its almost impossible to unload all of them at once anyway)
Same Thing for the Main Island
Key for you is to get your Troops on Shore as safely and as fast as possible and focus on the 3 Airfields 1 is right in your main Landing Zone, another right behind it in the Mountains and well in Range for your troops quickly. The smaller Landing Zone in the South should do the Same Land them quickly but take care for their well being, ignore all Victory Hexes and focus on the Airfield to stall the RAF in the Air.

Still you have to micromanage a lot and always keep an eye on the Turn Clock.
Naval Action will be important also and should be the prime task for the early Air Action of your Luftwaffe

On New Units I would probably get 1 Fighter right now (not sure here, can be a suicide Thing if the whole RAF keys on it) and 1 towed 90mm AA Unit to set it up in the Center of the Main Island. It will chase away enemy Air Attacks and can serve as Ground Unit in front of Arty Support as well.
(Hey I'm thinking about an ALL GROUND UNITS Run of Soviet Corps so I'm biased here)

Just telling you what I would do, hope nothing I said spoils it for you. As I said right now with your different Army, different Fighting Skills I'm a bit confused what to tell you, but you will find a way to get it done as you did before. You beat Gazala Line which is ultimately more hard to accomplish and you did it so much differently than me, I'm anxiously looking forward what you come up with for Malta.



But always think about the Main Goal. It is not important except for bragging Rights to get a Decisive Victory here, so if it comes down to Decisive or Victory or manageable Losses, gather the Experience and Prestige available here and don't hurt your self too much.

Finally want to mention, you need only 2 more Decisive Victories for the Rest of the Campaign to Win it all. One to be exact as 1 Triumph is just needed to see the Cauacasus Scenario which is similar to Malta an optional One. And of course a Triumph in the Final Scenario British India to win the Campaign.


Regarding your Question if the Italians get a mobile AA unit ?

No

[captainjack]

Interesting discussion on the Italian SPArt. I like the mobility and armour but find 4 ammo is too low for a unit that should ideally be providing both defence and attack. As a result I normally convert the +1 move unit to towed 149mm for the extra range and ammo as the move hero lets it keep up with the infantry. The +5 attack hero unit sometimes ends up as a 149mm towed gun, though that's not such a clear choice because it is very good for beefing up the tanks.

However, when playing with such limited prestige keeping them in the original form looks a very smart move, even if you do end up spending a lot of time reloading.

[hurly]

So here is the Replay of the feared Scenario Gazala Line

I strongly recommend all of you to watch that as our seemingly nice and always gentle fellow goose leads a already shorthanded Army void of all SE Units and with a few key losses to his German Starting Roster Units right through the Thick of the Pack of the Gazala Line just with Air Support and some Italian Auxiliary Units. To top that Achievement he kills off almost anything on the Map sweeping around the South of the Gazala Line with his Core Troops even toying around with the Tommies, forcing quite a few surrenders, while holding back on taking the already empty Final Victory Hex in Tobruk.

And I wanna remind you this is BLIND PLAYTHROUGH

This man has finally proved to be a really tough Hombre in Action, we all should be very afraid

Still while being afraid I feel the need to compensate my fears with a little teasing

SIR with all due respect you remind me of this man


while I always said I wanna learn from you, this will probably be not so easy as my head is still spinning

Run just as fast as I can
To the middle of nowhere
To the middle of my frustrated fears
And I swear you're just like a pill
Instead of makin' me better,
You keep makin' me ill
You keep makin' me ill

[goose_2]

Hurly,
Your response had me cracking up.

I think you give me way too much credit. If I was to fight it again I would definitely concentrate on trying to take Tobruk much sooner, especially hearing what it is supposed to do to the enemy forces and that extra prestige would have been nice, but actually it forced me to hold back on spending money and now I have a bit of a cushion.
Thank God, because it can get awful tight mid battle without a little cushion.

Well normally I type these up at work and save home time for game time, but I want to get this down before I attempt Alam Halfa, and you all have given me such encouragement to type these up, which I really appreciate.

Now onto the next Mission Report:

Malta Rommel
Starting prestige 3360 and after replacements, new Purchase, upgrades, and some overstrengthening 1863

Overstrengthened both M40 da 75/18's and Breda to upgrade to an SM.79; and Italian Inf to upgrade him to an Alpini.
I purchased a new Veltro.
Took everything except Reg Italian Inf and Bersaglieri in a truck and Crusader.

Day 1 Cloudy
Destroyed 3 Destroyers.
Day 1 ai CA:
So many attacks I cannot write them all down, but no unit losses except for the aux Fallschimjager was shot down. Received a message about a Large Navy presence.
Uh Oh!

Day 2 Cloudy
Destroyed Destroyer, 2 Light Cruiser's, Submarine, and shot down 36th and 3rd Hurricane wings.
Day 2 ai CA:
A bunch more enemy attacks but no losses. (Now received word about stopping the retreating Convoy.) I hope that isn't hard to find.

Day 3 Cloudy
Seized Bugibba.
Destroyed 2 Vicker's Mk 6's, Hurricane, and 2 British Inf's.
+3 Att Carlo Buscaglia awarded Silver medal for Military Valour.
Ariete M14/41 awarded +1 Att 2nd Hero to add to his first +1 Att hero.
Day 3 ai CA:
Arty and Dingo hit 27th Brescia (Alpini) -3 each and because of it I was awarded a +3 Att hero.
A few other attacks which eliminated my aux Gerbisjager and reduced my 27th Brescia (Bersaglieri) down to 3 Str.

Day 4 Sunny
Destroyed Heavy Cruiser, British Inf, 25 Pounder, Spitfire, 2 Destroyer's, Battleship, and Engineer.
18th Piaggio was awarded a +1 Att hero; II.Abteilung Flammpanzer awarded +3 Att 2nd hero on top of his Initiative 1st hero ; Abt 605 StuG 3F awarded +3 Def hero . (Great round for heroes)
Day 4 ai CA:
Again a bunch of attacks but no losses.

Day 5 Sunny
Seized Airfield (10,3)
Destroyed Light Cruiser, 6 inch arty, 2 pdr, Dingo, Paratroopers, Strongpoint, Destroyer, Light Cruiser, Heavy Cruiser, Fort, and a 25 Pounder.
27th Brescia awarded Silver Medal for Military Valour. Grant was awarded Iron Cross 2nd Class.
Bought 5 Elite for Bersaglieri.
1st 149mm arty was awarded +2 Att hero.
Day 5 ai CA:
Just a few attacks with the luckiest being a Spitfire that ran into one of my Tac Bombers, which prevented them from attacking me.

Day 6 Cloudy
Seized airfield (29,16) and Mellieka.
Destroyed Matilda 2, Spitfire, and 20mm AA.
Yay! I was awarded a bonus fighter (Spitfire ) and extra prestige for sinking the enemy convoy.
Because of this I bought 5 elite replacements for my Flammpanzer.
Day 6 ai CA:
Engineer attacked Sahariana -2 them and for that I was awarded Bronze Medal for Military Valour. (Maybe these guys are going to become major players in this war?)

Day 7 Cloudy
Seized Valletta and Mgarr.
Destroyed 3 Engineer's, and Paratroopers.
Bought 3 Elite for PzRgt 5 3H; and 2 elite for Alpini; and 1 elite for SE Pz3H.
Day 7 ai CA:
Fort hit Aircraft Carrier.

Day 8 Sunny
Destroyed 40mm Bofors, and 2 British HW Inf's.
13th SM.79 awarded Silver Medal for Military Valour and was awarded with a +1 Def Hero.
Day 8 ai CA:
2 Spitfire's hit my SM.79 guarded by an aux Fighter but left me with 4 Str.
Para hit Alpini -3 them -2 me.

Day 9 Sunny
Seized Airfield next to Zebbug.
Destroyed 2 Spitfire's, 2 British Inf's, British HW inf, and 20mm AA.
1.Abteilung Pzr Regt.5 Pz3Hawarded Knight's Cross as well as my Flammpanzer.
Bought 4 Elite for Alpini, 2 Reg Replacements for Sahariana, and 2 reg for aux Inf.
Day 9 ai CA:
Para's hit Alpini -4 me and 6 Pdr hit StuG3F -3 them.

Day 10 Sunny
Seized Victoria and Zebbug.
Destroyed Paratroope, Engineer, and British HW Inf.
+1 Movement Bersagleiri awarded +1 Spot Hero.
Bought 7 Elite Replacements for +3 Att Alpini.
Day 10 ai CA:
A whole lot of nothing as everything missed me.

Day 11 Cloudy
Destroyed 25 pounder and 2 British HW Inf's.
Day 11 ai CA:
Engineer seized Zebbug and HW Inf hit Sahariana -4 me and they seized Cirhewwa and Naxxar.

Day 12 Sunny
Retook Zebbug and seized Xaghra and Sigglewi.
Destroyed Paratrooper's, British HW Inf, 20mm AA, and Engineer.
Abt.39 StuG3F awarded +3 Def hero.
Day 12 ai CA:
HW Inf hit Stug3F -1 me -2 them; Arty and 2pdr hit Grenadier -3 me -2 them; and Paratrooper stopped dead by my arty.

Day 13 Sunny
Seized Rabat.
Destroyed 25 Pounder and British Para's.
9th Saharianna awarded Bronze Medal for Military Valour.
Bought 2 elite reps for MG Bataillon 8 and 1 for StuG3F.
Day 13 ai CA:
Arty nicked my arty and AA reduced Piaggio to 1 Str. Yikes.

Day 14 Sunny
Seized airfield (24,20)
Destroyed 7.2 inch arty and 2pdr.
Day 14 ai CA: Nothing.

Day 15 Cloudy
Seized Zejtun.
Destroyed 2 Paratrooper's, 18th Fort, British HW Inf, 6 inch arty, and 3 Inch AA.
Panzerjager Abt.39 awarded Iron Cross 1st Class.

Decisive Victory finishing with 2329 in prestige.

Nice little side mission that I almost didn't get a Decisive Victory but was able to secure all necessary objectives.
I hope I did not miss anything as there was only one other city that I was unable to secure and no other ships that I could see.

Next Alam Halfa which will probably be attempted this weekend. It looks vaguely similar to the Gazala Line, just not as big, Thank God, so I will try something similar.

3379 to play with.
This should be fun.

Thanks again for all of the great encouragement.

Time for some sleep.

[hurly]

here pretty much in sync with the AAR

the Replay for Malta

have not watched it yet, but as it is a Decisive Victory, so I can say

this goose is far from ending his African Career soon

as he mastered the dreaded 32 Turn Grind in the Desert as well as the Time Challenge in the Short 16 Turn Malta Landing Operation

[goose_2]

Alam Halfa
Starting prestige 3379 after replacements, a little Overstrengthening, and upgrades 1779.
Upgraded StuG3F’s to F/8’s. (Should have done that last mission.)
Bringing everything except Green Ital Inf and Bersaglieri in Truck.
In the Northern section around Sidi Abd el Rahmm bringing SE Pz3H, 2 10.5 arty’s with Defensive heroes, and StuG 3F/8.
In the North I am planning on digging in and holding all objectives against their expected assault.
I plan on doing a similar strategy that I did on the Gazala Line as it did very well then and as such I placed the rest of the force South. The layout seems similar just less space and less time. Thank God!

Day 1: Sunny
Destroyed 4th light Bde M3 Stuart and a Minefield.
Panzerjager Abt. 605 awarded Knight’s Cross.
Day 1 ai CA:
Sahariana hit by M3 Stuart -3 me and Australian Bde hit SE Pz3H -1 me -2 them.


Day 2: Sunny
It looks like I can push forward towards El Alamein, I was not expecting that.
Destroyed 7th Motor Bde, minefield, 25 Pounder and 4th Light Bde M3 Stuart.
Matilda awarded Iron Cross 2nd Class.
Day 2 ai CA:
Rough Round!
2 Hurricanes eliminated my aux Fighter. Grant, Crusader Mk 3 and British Inf hit 132nd Ariete M14/41 which brought me down to 3 Str. Bomber and Grant hit Flammpanzer which brought him down to 5 Str.


Day 3: Sunny
Destroyed 26th Australian Bde, 2 Minefield’s, 7th Motor Bde 25 Pounder, 4th Grant, 23rd Bde Crusader Mk. 3 and another Grant.
2 reg reps for 12th SE Pz3H and 1 reg rep for Sahariana.
Day 3 ai CA:
Blenheim bombed +5 Att M40 -4 me; 23rd Bde Crusader Mk3 hit Pz3H -4 me -8 them; 132nd Brigade HW Inf hit Matilda 2 -2 me -1 them.


Day 4: Sunny
Destroyed 23rd Bde Crusader Mk3, 20th Australian Bde, 7th Motor Bde HW Inf, 50th Hurricane and 50th Blenheim.
Grant awarded a +3 Defensive hero . Stormo awarded +1 Att 3rd hero making all heroes he received add up to +3 Att, a little disappointing but it does not matter as I still love him.
4th M40 +5 att awarded Bronze Medal for Military Valour.
Bought 7 Elite Replacements for 132nd Ariete (M14/41) and 5 Elite for Flammpanzer, and 2 Elite for Pz3H.
Expensive Round.
Day 4 ai CA:
22nd Bde destroyed my aux Recon; 9th NZ Bde hit Pz3H -1 each, and an aux attack.


Day 5: Sunny
Pressuring El Alamein.
Destroyed 24th Australian Bde, 6 Inch arty, 132nd Bde HW inf, and had a huge pain but finally eliminated 22nd Bde Crusader Mk3.
Bought 4 Elite Replacements of Matilda 2 and 1 Reg Rep for +5 Att M40.
Day 5 ai CA:
Enemy destroyed aux SM.79. 1st Hurricane Mk.2C hit SE Pz3H -2 me; and a few more attacks against aux units.


Day6: Sunny
Destroyed 1st Hurricane Mk.1, 2 22nd Bde Grant’s, LRDG Sqa Dingo; 9th NZ Brigade, and 3rd SA Brigade.
+3 Att Alpini awarded with a +1 Movement 2nd hero.
I.Abt/ Artillerie Rgt. 75 awarded Iron Cross 1st Class.
Bought 4 reg reps for Sahariana and for aux Fallschimjager and 7 for another; and 1 reg rep for SE Pz3H.
Day 6 ai CA:
Enemy eliminated aux inf.

Day 7: Sunny
The Regia Aeronautica sent reinforcements. 3 Aux Fighter groups. YAY!!
Seized El Alamein.
Destroyed 1st Hurricane Mk.2C, 3rd AA Battery, and 6th NZ Inf.
MG Bataillon 8 awarded +1 Spot 2nd hero.
Bought 2 Reg Reps for aux Fallcschimjager
Day 7 ai CA:
SE Pz3H nicked by arty and 1 other attack that did no damage.

Day 8: Sunny
Seized Airfield (28,21).
Destroyed 7.2inch arty, 42nd QF 6 Pounder, 1st AA Battery, and 5th NZ Bde.
3rd 105mm 105/28 awarded Silver Medal for Military Valour.
Bought 2 Elite Replacements for Stormo.
Day 8 ai CA:
The enemies air force came out and nicked at some of my units.


Day 9: Sunny
Destroyed 50th Hurricane and even 50th Hurricane Mk2C, 21st QF 25 Pounder, 8th Bde Crusader Mk3.
Bought 2 Reg Reps for Sahariana and 6 reg reps for aux Ital Inf.
Day 9 ai CA:
Oh Nuts!
Crusader Mk. 3 hit Sahariana -9 me. Got too close.
Hurricane hit Flammpanzer -2 me; AA hit aux Fighter -2 me; 6pdr hit SE Pz3H and left me with 1 str left.
Rough Round, but at least I did not lose these 2 units.


Day 10: Sunny
Seized Point 87.
Destroyed 2 5th Indian Division Inf’s, 1st Hurricane Mk1 and Mk2C, 8th Bde Grant, 35th QF 6 Pdr, 8th Bde Crusader Mk3, and 151st Brigade Engineer.
Day 10 ai CA:
AA hit my Spitfire -7 me and AA hit my aux Folgore -4 me. Yikes!
HW Inf hit Matilda 2 guarded by an arty -3 them; arty nicked me ; and aux inf attacked.


Day 11: Sandstorm
Seized Juprelle.
Destroyed Mobile Radar, 1st SA Brigade, 5th Indian Division.
Bought 7 reg reps for aux inf and 9 Elite Rep for Se Pz3H.
I.Abteilung Panzer Rgt. 5 Flampanzer awarded 3rd hero +1 Def.
Day 11 ai CA:
Enemy destroyed aux Fallschimjager and another aux attack.


Day 12: Sunny
Destroyed 131st Brigade Brit Inf, 5.5 inch arty, 7.2 inch arty, and 29th QF 6 Pounder.
Bought 5 reg reps for aux inf; 3 Elite for Flammpanzer, and 8 Elite for Spitfire. (Very Costly)
Day 12 ai CA:
My Grant was attacked and brought down to 6 str and is out of ammo.
Bomber hit Flamm -4 me.
Bomber hit arty -5 me.
Shoot!
Spitfire brought down my other Veltro down to 1 Str.
And a few other aux attacks.
(Extremely Rough Round)

Day 13: Sunny
Seized all of Alam El Halfa.
Destroyed 19th QF 6 Pounder, 2nd SA Brigade, 2nd AA Battery 3 inch AA, 47th Spitfire Mk 9, USAAF B-25B Mitchell, and 133rd Brigade HW Inf. I even destroyed 44th Division HQ HW Inf and 4th AA Battery and 3.7 inch AA battery.
Panzerjager Abt.39 awarded a +1 Def 2nd hero bringing him up to +3 Def.
Bought 4 regular Reps for Grant.
Day 13 ai CA:
Grant hit aux Recon -2 each and AA hit +3 Att Carlo E. Buscaglia -2 me.

Day 14: Sunny
Seized Aurstrip (20,12).
Destroyed 12th Grant Mk1, 5th AA Battery, 40mm Bofors, 7.2 Inch Arty, USAAF B-25B Mitchell.
3rd 105mm arty awarded +1 def hero on top of their +2 def Hero Matilda 2 awarded +1 Def Hero.
Spitfire awarded Iron Cross 2nd Class.
Day 14 ai CA:
Enemy shot down 2 of my aux Fighters. (Man it is rough in the air. I need to take last airfield so I can incapacitate them.)


Day 15: Sunny
Seized RAF Base (30,10). Ok Now I should not have to face further Air attacks. Thank God!
Destroyed QF 6 Pounder and 1st Hurricane Mk.2C.
Day 15 ai CA:
3 attacks with the worst being on my 1st SE Pz3H reducing him back down to 1 str. Yikes!


Day 16: Sunny
Destroyed 1st Crusader Mk. 3, Engineers, 1st Hurricane Mk. 1.
Day 16 ai CA:
8th Churchill Mk 2 hit unsuccessfully my Pz3H, and AA hit Piaggio -2 me.


Day 17: Sunny
Destroyed 8th Churchill Mk. 2 and 7th QF AA Battery.
Day 17 ai CA: Nothing left


Day 18: Sunny
Seized El Imayid.
Destroyed 9th British Inf and Whitley.


Finished with a Decisive Victory with only 1271 remaining in prestige.
This was a tough but very doable battle, it just had an incredibly scary and powerful air force that makes me wish I had a much stronger Air Force.
I am happy that I did not lose any of those core units, as 2 air craft and my SE Pz3H came close twice.
(Maybe I should upgrade those Pz3H’s, but I wanted to wait until I could make them Tiger’s.
Starting Suez Canal with 2521 to play with.
Capture all Objectives and eliminate the Royal Navy.
Yay! My Piaggio should be getting heroes this battle.

Oh boy the M41M is an option to buy! Should I?

I am excited to see Night Phoenix is playing in this fun sandbox and I hope to continue the next mission this weekend.
Struggling hard in The Hague on Manstein.

[hurly]

Oh boy the M41M is an option to buy! Should I?

This is a controversial question

I can't handle this thing to good and effective results so I'm certainly biased against it.

On the other hand I would like to see (and learn) if this Unit can be effective and worth its cost (especially the Cost of Reinforcements in a scenario )

Putting all emotions aside

For the next scenario Suez Canal you have to cross 2 Rivers for a Triumph and while there are several Tanks of all Kinds in the British Lineup I think this is mainly an Arty and Air Force Scenario and maybe you can force a Surrender or 2 early on, so a 20 HA Attack AT Gun is probably not the one you would like for the decisive Retreat Blow.

Then for the Long Run Planning (you have 11 Scenarios left)
You have no further upgrade Option for this Unit and there will be several Scenarios where the Enemy Air Force is a considerable Threat, especially for your still German Air Unit depleted Army (Though that can change quickly if you get a few SE Fighters awarded)
So is such a weak Armored Unit especially vs Air Attacks a viable option ?
And can it stand up against the much better Allied Tanks after '43 ?

I'm not convinced !

But that's just me and I'm not an Anti Tank Dude anyway. But always picking up new or different ideas so also very curious to see what happens.

But I want you to win so my advice is you can never go wrong with the Self Propelled Italian Arty and (even though you may not like to hear it) with the SM79 Tac Bomber for about the same Prize
The 88 Clone AA gun is also always a good choice, especially with some Time to pick up Experience and an "extra" Piaggio or 2 is never a bad option as well.

Also keep in Mind you are in September 1942 now. Infantry needs a '43 Facelift soon. And you know the Timeline for German Units so I won't have to tell you there are several quite expensive, new and shiny Upgrades available for your Captured Stuff and the Remaining German Units as well. Not even mentioning the "hypothetic" SE Units the Game might award you sooner or later.

So a little Cushion in Prestige is not a bad Idea either.

[goose_2]

Thanks for your thoughts on what to do with my limited prestige.

I am afraid I will be running out very quickly and limited on what I can and will be able to upgrade.

I think I will stay with Pz3H as upgrading to higher level does not give that much improvement.
I think my 2 StuG3F/8's are enough Anti-tank protection.

I do not have any SE Fighter's.
I have 3 good core Fighter's but I need more air protection.
I am reluctant to buy AA because it is such a static defender, and I need aggressive equipment.
Man, I wish I hadn't lost that mobile AA.

I think I will be buying another Fighter to help me in the air.

[Rayrard]

You mention getting an order to destroy the supply dumps but don't mention whether you did so?

Congratulations on getting the Crusader, I missed it on my first playthrough.

Destroying the hangers gets you some nice shiny toys (that would have been useful in the battles to come).

You get a German tank and a StuGB in the far west to help with Tobruk if you destroy the hangars.

I have hacked into Tobruk before (although I could not eliminate the western trenches and forts) and got nothing for my effort. I mass the artillery on the right and suppress the crap out of the forts and whittle them down. The strong infantry when it comes out can be surrounded and force surrendered. The Matilda in Tobruk can be lured out and killed if it gets in a city hex. You can't use air because of that powerful AA and the stupid fighters retreat to Tobruk when weakened so keep coming back to the AA protection.

[goose_2]

Army In Afrika Korps before Suez Canal

Hurly has asked for a breakdown of all my equipment and their stats at this point in the game.
Well after divvying out just replacements and not all elite I have 1591 in prestige left to spend before I start Suez Canal so I am unsure what to buy or if to upgrade anything, but first my army going into the Suez:

6 infantry
Normally I would see this as extremely light, but a light infantry does you well in Afrika Corps, at least so far.
2 Grenadier's w half tracks: 1 with 3 stars and a +1 Initiative +1 Spotting hero and 1 with 2 Stars and 2 heroes for +2 Att total
2 Bersaglieri 1 with 2 stars and +1 Movement +1 Spotting, the other with 1 star and 0 heroes
1 Regular inf with 0 stars (I may sell him, but have him still from like the 2nd scenario)
1 Alpini 2 Stars and a +3 Att hero and +1 Movement
4 of my infantry I have grown to love and am pleased with where they are; at this point in the game.

7 tanks
Pz3H 3 Stars +2 Att +1 Def
Crusader with 1 Star
Grant 2 Stars and +3 Def
Flamm 3 Stars +3 Att +1 Def and + Initiative
Matilda 2 2 stars and +1 Def
M14/41 3 Stars 2 heroes add up to +2 Att total
SE Pz3H +1 Def +1 Spot
(I keep thinking I will upgrade the Pz3H's to something with a little more attack and defensive capability like a 3L or 3N but I just keep waiting to be able to upgrade to Tiger's and eventually Tiger 2's but unsure if it will get that far.)

2 Recons
2 Sahariana's 1 with 0 stars 1 with 1 star no heroes. (These are really helpful and versatile units, I am glad I have them)

2 Anti-tanks
2 StuG3F/8's both with 3 stars and both with 2 heroes totaling +4 Def.
(These guys are beasts, and exactly what they are meant to be tank killers.)

6 artillery
1 German 10.5cm arty with 3 stars and +3 Def
2 Italian 10.5cm artys 1 with 3 stars and 2 Heroes totaling +3 Def and the other with 2 stars and a +2 Att hero.
1 149mm arty with 3 stars and +2 Att
2 M40 da 75/18 with 3 stars and 1 with +5 Att and the other with +1 Movement
(I am considering upgrading my 10.5 German gun to the 17cm arty with truck transport as I hear it is the best, the other's I think I will keep as is for now.)

3 Fighters
1 Spitfire with almost 3 stars
1 Veltro with 2 Stars
Stormo with almost 4 stars exp and 3 Heroes totaling +3 Att. (I have really been hosed with +1 heroes, but I am ok with this as my Stormo has not let me down, I was scared when I almost lost him last battle, and this is partly why I want to buy another Fighter.)

2 Tac Bombers
2 SM.79's 1 with 1 star and a +1 Def hero the other with 3 stars and a +3 Att hero.

1 Strat Bomber
Piaggio 3 stars and a +1 Att hero


I am thinking I will buy another Fighter and Italian AA and leave behind 4 units (Ital Inf, 1 star Bersaglieri, Crusader, and 0 star Sahariana)

Please share your thoughts on my thinking for purchases, and whether or not to upgrade those units I spelled out above.

Thanks, you guys are the best.