Allied Corps - British only at FM then at Eisenhower

[Cerberus51]

SECOND ALAMEIN

13642pp.

Allocated a SE Spitfire IX. Yay! That gives me the minimum four fighters I think I will need with 2 more SE units possible (hopefully I will get another fighter for one of them).

Upgraded 6 Churchill Mk II to Mk IV @ 147pp each.

I intend to break through along the coast road then send one group to capture Ghazal before my armoured units sweep down the map destroying the Axis armour and reserves while the aux infantry and tanks backed by my towed artillery reduce the infantry defending the VH's south of the breakthrough point. I have left out both engineers (since I have 2 aux Scorpions to clear minefields) and the more experienced Mosquito.

23 October 1942 Moved units towards breakthrough point. Used a Scorpion to clear a minefield.

24 Oct Scorpions cleared 2 minefields.

25 Oct Scorpions cleared 2 minefields. Now have a clear path to start attack.

26 Oct Destroyed 15cm FH18 and SE infantry. AA damaged Mosquito and Spitfire.

27 Oct Destroyed StugIIIB, 88 and SE grenadier. Lost an aux infantry that was forced to surrender.

28 Oct Destroyed M14/41, Sdkfz 7/2 and 10.5 FH18. 3rd Tank gained D+3 hero (first unit to get 3 heroes. D+5 on top of the Churchill's high GD will make it almost invulnerable to any panzer available at this point in the campaign).

29 Oct Shot down SE Bf109F, destroyed M14/41. Initial breakthrough completed and ready to start clearing the map.

30 Oct Destroyed 149mm artillery, 5cm Pak and PzIIF.

31 Oct Shot down SE Bf109F. Destroyed SE PzIVF2 and 88.

1 Nov Shot down SE Bf109F. Destroyed grenadier.

2 Nov Destroyed PzIIIH.

3 Nov Forced surrender of It 105mm and destroyed K17. That eliminates the artillery support for the Axis infantry defending the main group of VHs. Destroyed infantry in Ghazal and occupied that VH. Cleared that area destroying Marder III, 10.5 FH18, infantry and grenadier.

4 Nov Fighting from western edge of the map right across to the minefields. Destroyed Bersaglieri, It inf, Sig 33, AB41, SE PzIIIJ and L40 47mm AT. Forced surrender of Sdkfz 7/1 (that was the last enemy AA unit). Lost aux Valentine. The aux tanks are almost a liability but they do attract attacks away from my core forces.

5 Nov Destroyed Marder III and PzIIIH.

6 Nov Destroyed It inf, Pioniere, PzIIIH, Sig 33, M40 75mm and Sdkfz 232.

7 Nov Destroyed grenadier on VH (9,11) and occupied the hex.

8 Nov Destroyed It 105mm, M14/41 and L6/40. Destroyed Bersaglieri on VH (12,10) and occupied the hex.

9 Nov Destroyed 2 Fallschirm and M40 75mm. Drove Bersaglieri off VH (11,17) and destroyed them but did not have a unit able to move onto the VH. 14th Tank I+1.

10 Nov Destroyed one It inf and forced surrender of a second. Destroyed M14/41. Occupied last VH.

Triumph on 19/22, 11949pp.

Soft cap just starting to take effect. The number of turns available seems rather generous.

What strikes me as I write this up is the difficulty of creating scenarios where the AI really challenges a human player, without resorting to sheer numbers. I crushed the AI forces here fairly easily yet in his Afrika Korps AAR goose_2, with a weaker army than I faced here, is on his way to India. Scenario design isn't easy.

[Cerberus51]

MEDENINE

17349pp.

Upgraded both engineers to 43's @ 22pp each. Purchased second Lancaster and a third Daimler AC. I will be alternating the two Lancasters for the next few scenarios to build exp. OS both 7.2" to 12 and first Lanc to 11.

The way I expect this scenario to play out is an initial German attack towards the deployment area which needs to be eliminated quickly to allow most of my units to go through the Tebega gap and flank the Axis forces. I will leave a small force to break through at the coastal end of the Mareth Line, near Zarat.

6 Mar 1943 Axis move first. Destroyed PzIIIJ, PzIIIN, Sdkfz232 and Sdkfz222.

7 Mar Shot down Bf109F and SM79. Destroyed Sdkfz222 and PzIVF.

8 Mar Veltro attacked SE Spitfire (my least experienced), -4 each. Shot down Veltro and 5 str Ju87D. Destroyed PzIIIL and Marder III. Sending 2 Commandos, 5 Churchills, 2 M7 and experienced Daimler AC as flanking force. Churchill, 43 engineer, new Daimler AC and both 7.2" to attack near Zarat with aux Scorpion.

9 Mar Destroyed PzIVF2 (that eliminates all units in the initial German attack).

10-15 Mar Moving flanking force into position. Breakthrough force cleared approach to Mareth Line at Zarat, destroying Alpini and strongpoint.

16 Mar Began attack near Zarat. Flanking force destroyed 2 Sahariana. 18th Tank D+1.

17 Mar Flanking force destroyed M14/41, 12th Tank S+1. Destroyed strongpoint near Zarat.

18 Mar Flanking force destroyed M14/41 and M40 AT. Shot down Saetta near Zarat.

19 Mar LRDG reduced to 1 str by Kradschutzen and M41 90mm. 15th Tactical M+1. Destroyed M41 90mm (they are very much a one shot unit - because that's how long they last). Destroyed 75mm SP art and AB41, occupied El Hamma.

20 Mar Destroyed M43 105mm near Gabes and occupied both airfields (now I can transfer the rest of my air units to the Gabes area, until now I could only use Mosquitos in the northern part of the map as Spitfires lacked the range). Destroyed It inf near Zarat.

21 Mar Shot down Re2000. Axis withdrawal now underway. Flanking force units pretty much in position to block.

22 Mar 7th Tank A+2. Destroyed 2x 17cm K18 and 75mm AA, all in transports.

23 Mar Destroyed PzIIIH and Sig 33, forced surrender of Bersaglieri near Gabes. Occupied Gabes after destroying the garrison. Destroyed 75mm AA in Mareth and occupied the town.

24 Mar Shot down Folgore, 19th Fighter A+1. Forced surrender of Bersaglieri, destroyed Fallschirm and grenadier near Gabes.

25 Mar Destroyed PzIVF and German infantry.

Triumph, 16006pp.

On my previous playthrough I had a hard time blocking the withdrawing Axis units after sending 4 tanks in the flanking attack. This time I sent 5 and found it much easier and actually destroyed all the withdrawing units.

[Cerberus51]

TUNISIA

21979pp.

US units now become available but I have chosen to play using only British - adding US artillery, tank destroyers, Rangers and aircraft into the mix would make this campaign even easier than it is. Purchased 3 more Churchill IV's @ 527pp ea. Deployed in three nearly equal groups - North (N), Centre (C) and South (S). The only significant difference is that N does not have a 7.2" artillery.

20 April 1943 C destroyed It inf, N destroyed Marder and 5cm Pak, S destroyed 47mm AT and It inf. SE Ju87D attacked N M7 for 4 dam. SE Bf110D attacked C Churchill but took 6 damage from covering Spitfire.

21 Apr Shot down the Ju87D and Bf110D. C destroyed Bersaglieri and 105mm art and Free French aux destroyed It inf. Ju87R hit S Daimler AC for 4 dam.

22 Apr Shot down Ju87R. S destroyed 149mm art and 20mm AA. C destroyed PzIVE and It inf. N destroyed 43 W inf and 3.7 Pak. 13th Commando D+2. Mosquito destroyed 75mm art in S sector. FF destroyed It inf.

23 Apr C destroyed 75mm AA. S destroyed Sahariana and AB41. N destroyed PzIIIJ. 88 on airfield at (16,10) hit Mosquito for 3 damage.

24 Apr N destroyed Sdkfz233. FF destroyed 2cm Flak. M10 attacked N Churchill for 2 damage each.

25 Apr N destroyed M10. S destroyed M14/41. C destroyed Marder II. S group new Churchill attacked by SE Tiger I then by SE PzIVG for a total of 5 damage (this is why Churchills are worth the cost - any other British tank would probably not have survived that attack, certainly not a green unit).

26 Apr C damaged enemy units but no kills. 17th Tank D+2. S destroyed SE PzIVG. N destroyed 88.

27 Apr S destroyed L40 47mm. C destroyed Sdkfz 7/1. N destroyed pioniere. 6 str Tiger I hit 10 str 3* Churchill for -1 each. 2* M41M hit new Churchill for 6 damage (M41M -3).

28 Apr C hit M41M with 7.2" then 3* Churchill destroyed it. C also destroyed Nebelwerfer and FF destroyed 43 Fallschirm. S destroyed SE Tiger 1.

29 April N destroyed Sdkfz232 and FF destroyed 43 W inf. C destroyed Sdkfz 7/2. 16th Commando M+1. N destroyed Flakvierling.

30 Apr S destroyed Sdkfz232 and 43 Gebirgs. C destroyed 43 Pioniere.

1 May S destroyed Sdkfz233 and occupied the last enemy held airfield. C destroyed 43 Fallschirm and completed occupation of Tunis. N destroyed Bruckenpioniere and occupied Bizerte. SC at 98%.

2 May FF destroyed Grenadier.

Triumph on turn 13/17, 19484pp.

The Churchill tank has such a high ground defence that it is a bit OP. It is expensive but I feel it pays for itself by taking less damage. Although it is slow it compensates for that by being out of action taking replacements far less often.

To make Allied Corps more of a challenge you really need to limit how many Churchills you use. However I hate losing core units so much I can't bring myself to use the other British tanks.

[Cerberus51]

CORE ARMY - 1943

The campaign moving to Europe seems a good point to post the composition of my core army after upgrades for Sicily. Units are listed in the order they were acquired.

Unit name - Equipment - Heroes - Experience

1st Recon - Daimler AC - D+1, A+1 - 301
2nd Recon - Daimler AC - D+3, D+1 - 315
3rd Tank - Churchill Mk IV - D+2, I+1, D+3 - 335
4th Infantry - 43 Engineers/Bren - I+1 - 249
5th Infantry - 43 Engineers/Bren - D+1, D+1 - 254
6th Artillery - 7.2"/Matador - A+1 - 334
7th Tank - Churchill Mk IV - A+2, I+1, A+2 - 323
8th Artillery - 7.2"/Matador - M+1 - 327
9th Fighter - Spitfire Mk IX - A+1, D+3 - 292
10th Fighter - Spitfire Mk IX - D+1, D+1 - 279
11th Tactical - Mosquito Mk VI S1 - M+1, D+2 - 328
12th Tank - Churchill Mk IV - A+1, D+3, S+1 - 307
13th Commando - SE Commando/Bren - I+1, D+2 - 233
14th Tank - Churchill Mk IV - D+2, I+1, - 273
15th Tactical - Mosquito Mk VI S1 - D+1, M+1 - 318
16th Commando - SE Commando/Bren - M+1, - 172
17th Tank - Churchill Mk IV - A+2, D+2, - 257
18th Tank - Churchill Mk IV - D+1, D+1, - 246
19th Fighter - Spitfire Mk IX - A+1, - 179
20th Bomber - Lancaster Mk III - 231
21st Artillery - M7 Priest - 282
22nd Artillery - M7 Priest - 305
23rd Artillery - M7 Priest - 274
24th Fighter - SE Spitfire Mk IX - 124
25th Bomber - Lancaster Mk III - 132
26th Recon - Daimler AC - 60
27th Tank - Churchill Mk IV - 97
28th Tank - Churchill Mk IV - 50
29th Tank - Churchill Mk IV - 80
30th Fighter - SE Spitfire Mk IX - 0

There are relatively few further upgrades to come for most of these units. In fact there are no further upgrades for the recon, artillery, infantry or strat bombers and only a minor family upgrade for the tac bombers.

Tanks and fighters are where the prestige will be spent. The first six tanks will get 2 major upgrades, first to Sherman Firefly, then to Comet. The three newer tanks will get a family upgrade to Churchill Mk VII and possibly the Comet upgrade.

Fighters are more complicated. The Tempest is a major upgrade but has much more fuel than the Spitfires. Then the Spitfire Mk XIV is a family upgrade for the IX. I will probably do a combination of these before upgrading everything to Meteors.

Beyond that I do not plan to add many more core units. There is still one SE unit to come although it will not have much time to gain experience. I am thinking of trying the 5.5" artillery, Crocodile and Churchill AVRE. I have tried some of these previously without becoming convinced they are useful. Otherwise it is generally clear which are the units to go for if you can afford them.

[Cerberus51]

SICILY

25239pp

Awarded US SE Airborne. As I am playing British units only I reloaded until I received a SE Spitfire Mk II, which I upgraded to a Mk IX. I also upgraded both Mosquito Mk IV to Mk VI S1 for 41pp each and both Lancasters to Mk III for 24pp each.

To be quite honest I lost concentration part way through this one and played poorly from a fairly early stage. My notes are a bit of a mess so, rather than the turn by turn I have been doing, I am going to describe what I intended and how it worked out.

The first couple of turns are taken up getting your units ashore. Due to the low fuel capacity of the Spitfires capturing an airfield is a priority. My plan was for one group, with the aux paras, to advance up the east coast and eventually take Messina. A second group, with the Canadian aux infantry would advance on the centre of the island from the south east and the third group would move west along the south coast and then engage the German panzer force in the centre of the island from the south. This panzer group is led by a 2* Tiger I, a different proposition to the inexperienced Tiger encountered in Tunisia.

After eliminating the panzers in the centre the second group would head north then east along the north coast to join the first group to take Messina. The third group would go west along the south coast round to Trapani and then on to attack Palermo from the west. The US airborne would take an airfield on the way to Trapani and then join third group. Third group would also be supported by a light and a heavy cruiser while the rest of the naval units operate off the east coast.

The strategy worked well, my mistakes were tactical resulting in unnecessary damage to units and the loss of the newer SE Commando to an attack by two Fallschirmjager on turn 7.

The Italian Navy appears periodically from the Straits of Messina, first with two submarines - destroyed on turn 6, then with light cruisers and finally a battleship. Spotting for my own ranged ships put destroyers within range of the forts resulting in the loss of one and heavy damage to the other three. The light cruisers are easily sunk as your battleship outranges them. I had to bring in a Lancaster to deal with the Italian battleship.

There was not much of an air threat. A couple of Italian fighters and a couple of Bf109's turn up singly and can be aggressively shot down as you have more than enough prestige for replacements.

The ports of Trapani, both Palermo hexes and Messina are worth extra prestige.

On a positive note I forced a surrender of the Tiger, my three newer Churchills all have their first star and the Lancasters are two and three star respectively. I also gained an A+1 hero on an engineer and a spotting hero on a M7 artillery .

Finished with a Triumph on turn 26/27, 26179pp, SC at 97%.

[Cerberus51]

SALERNO

32939pp

Awarded SE Spitfire Mk IX. Purchased Engineer 43/Bren Ca and 5.5" artillery/Bren Ca. No upgrades. Was able to deploy everything but the two 7.2" and a Spitfire.

The battlefield splits into three sectors, the south near Albanella with the Serra VH inland, the centre/NE with Battipaglia east of Salerno and on to the Volturno crossing at the Benevento VH and the NW, landing west of Salerno, taking Naples and then on to the Volturno crossing at the Capua VH.

The south was the toughest as the German units attack in at least two waves. It was here that I made two mistakes, firstly running my tanks too low on ammo and then pulling an out of ammo Churchill back too far leaving the 5.5" exposed to a SE PzIVH. I thought it would survive but nearly didn't taking 9 damage. An expensive mistake at 301pp for elite replacements. Eventually, with half my air units committed here, the German units were worn down and eliminated.

The centre/NE was initially fairly straightforward to take Battipaglia and Salerno but I then had to reposition my units here to meet panzers led by a Tiger coming from the NE. (I have been highlighting where the Tigers are encountered as they are almost the only German armour that can successfully attack even a relatively inexperienced Churchill). Again air power was the key, repeated attacks by a Lancaster ran the Tiger down to one ammo and then repeated attacks by ground units destroyed it. Once the panzers were gone there was nothing left apart from the infantry in Capua itself.

Landing the NW group is the hardest of the three to avoid units being attacked while still in naval transports. Once that was done and the immediate area cleared and Salerno captured some of the tanks from this group had to be diverted across to help the centre group deal with the advancing panzers. Naples is best attacked by circling inland to take out the artillery and AA first allowing air units to be used. The VH at Capua was only defended by an infantry although a Sdkfz 233 was also present and did damage a M7.

The cruisers initially supported the southern group then moved to bombard Salerno and finally support the Naples attack.

The Luftwaffe did not make much of an appearance, a He111 on turn 6 and a Do217 on turn 9 were dealt with.

Triumph on turn 16/20, 30701pp.

I was curious to see how the 5.5" artillery performed compared to the 7.2". It was difficult to say which is more effective (the 5.5" has a higher rate of fire, the 7.2" higher attack values). The main difference seems to be that the 7.2" only comes with a truck transport where the 5.5" has a choice of truck or Bren Carrier. The Bren Carrier is not so fast on roads but is better cross country - so the choice between the two is really down to the extent of the road network on a particular map.


On to.....?

[Cerberus51]

CASSINO BREAKTHROUGH

39701pp

Big upgrades for this one.

6 Churchill IV to Sherman Firefly 609pp
3 Churchill IV to VII 13pp
3 Spitfire IX to Tempest V 594pp
2 Mosquito VI S1 to S2 23pp

Overstrength - everything with enough experience to 11, both 7.2" and both Lancasters to 13.

32358pp remaining.

Deployed everything except 2 recons. Split 1/3 in the south, 2/3 in the Liri Valley. Intention is to break through at Cassino, destroy the units in the von Senger line and take the northern river crossing VH last. Clean sweep in the south.

12 May 1944 Everything unfolded as planned but the fighting was tough. In the south things went well, there is nothing on the German side that can stand up to the British tanks, and the map was cleared in this area. The auxiliary French Colonial Mtn units were able to clear the area between the two main fronts. The air war consisted of one FW190A which hit a SE Spitfire for 6 damage but took 4 damage in doing so and was immediately shot down by a Tempest.

Cassino and Montecassino are both defended by a 13str 5* Fallschirm backed up by three artillery units which are covered by two 88's. Even with two 7.2" and two M7 artillery and strat bombing it wasn't until turn 7 that Montecassino was taken, costing three aux infantry destroyed in the process.

Breaking the von Senger line was only slightly easier as the German armour is decent quality, heavily entrenched and covered by a couple of mobile AA. The real killer is the Elefant defending the last VH to the north. After a double strat bomber hit it took a Churchill VII, 2 damage, a Firefly, 7 damage, and a second Firefly, 6 damage to reduce it to str 6 and run it out of ammunition before fresh units finished it off next turn. With hindsight I was too impatient and should have taken more time and let airpower wear it down rather than throwing units at it.

Triumph, turn 17/22, 30109pp.

Although the Italian scenarios are harder than North Africa I am thinking I should have played at a higher difficulty. Having come this far I will complete the campaign at Field Marshal and think about it.

[Cerberus51]

D-DAY

36327pp, 18 turns.

Awarded SE P-51 so reloaded until received a SE Spitfire VB. Upgraded all four SE Spitfires to Mk XIV (family upgrade). Purchased Crocodile and AVRE to try them. Overstrength towed artillery and strat bombers to 12 and 13. Deployed everything except 3 recons.

Soft cap started at 56%. Landed mostly tanks in the initial landings and cleared the area inland from the beaches quickly. The airborne units took a hammering though, I eventually lost 2 British paratroops and 3 US airborne (all aux).

Moved inland in the west and took Carentan and then sent most of the units in this area to St Lo. After taking St Lo headed for Cherbourg. Strong forts around the objective but they were fairly easy for a Firefly after suppression from naval bombardment. Heavy naval bombardment is key here to suppress the defending infantry and eliminate their entrenchment.

In the east aux infantry and tanks backed by towed artillery pushed up to Caen while 2/3 of my core tanks crossed Pegasus bridge to sweep east of Caen, engage the German armour lurking in the SE corner of the map and then eliminate the AA and artillery behind Caen. After heavy fighting in which I thought I might lose a core tank several times this was accomplished and Caen captured by turn 14.

Triumph on 16/18, 30894pp. Soft cap finished at 73%.

The Crocodile and AVRE struggled a bit, really due to lack of experience (both the units themselves and mine in how to use them). The 5.5" artillery is effective and probably the best towed artillery the British have although there is really little to choose between the 5.5", 6" and 7.2" guns.

The British tanks are rather counterintuitive. I find the most effective tactic is to lead with the Churchill VII (my least experienced units) because even SE Panthers weren't doing much damage to them during this scenario. The more experienced Fireflys can then be used to kill the panzers without taking too much damage.

[Cerberus51]

COBRA

38163pp, 20 turns.

Meteor III available so upgraded all 7 fighters for 668pp each - 4676pp total. Left out Crocodile, AVRE and one Meteor.

The Challenger tank is also available but I don't feel it offers anything over the Firefly. In particular it only has 4 ammo so needs to be supplied more often.

The scenario starts with 5 objectives to retain and 5 to capture. Deployed 1/3 in the West near Avranches and Coutances expecting to abandon Avranches but capture Fougeres to the south and defend Coutances. After wearing the enemy down the intention is to retake Avranches and the southern VH, Mayenne.

The centre is difficult as I don't have enough infantry and artillery to stop an attack here without taking too much from elsewhere so the expectation is to lose St Lo.

The main effort comes in the east starting near Caen where 2/3 of my units are deployed. Much of the German armour is concentrated in this area and has to be destroyed before the three VH's down the eastern side of the map can be secured. Once the enemy armour has been eliminated some units can be transferred to deal with German advances in the centre and retake St Lo.

The German tanks are good quality (there are 9 Panthers, a Tiger II and several PzIVH's across the map. I ended up destroying all but one PzIVH). The Luftwaffe also put in an appearance with 2 FW190A, 2 Bf109K, a Ju87, a FW190F and finally a FW190G appearing, mostly one at a time. It was important to take them out as soon as they appeared to prevent a Luftwaffe force building up but losses in combat meant I had to take expensive replacements.

Airpower was critical, initially in the east, then the centre and west. The battle around St Lo was difficult and I lost some units, mostly aux but also my least experienced core Engineer. Eventually I took all the VH's for a Triumph on turn 18/20, 28223pp.

Losing a core infantry unit was frustrating as there is simply no point in buying a green infantry at this stage, it just won't cut it. I am hoping the Crocodile proves effective to make up for my lack of infantry. On the plus side I finally realised my movement hero 7.2" artillery had acquired a second movement hero so it can move 3 hexes without mounting into transport. Awesome!

[Cerberus51]

MARKET GARDEN

33382pp, 16 turns.

No upgrades. OS towed artillery and strat bombers to max.

The main trick is to get one or two pieces of artillery up to Arnhem to back up the paratroops and prevent them being worn down by the successive attacking units. Deployed everything except one recon unit.

17 September 1944 By turn 3 core units were crossing the Wilhelmina Canal north of Eindhoven and the airborne units were all on the ground with all objectives taken.

Turn 5 commenced attack on the largest German force situated on the western edge of the map. Turn 8 eliminated that force.

Turn 10 & 11 German attacks developing. Shot down FW190A. Turn 12 Shot down second FW190A.

Turn 13 All attacks eliminated except for units east of Nijmegen and the units that attack Arnhem during the last 2 turns.

Turn 15 Nijmegen attack eliminated. Turn 16 Attack on Arnhem stalled. Triumph 32916pp, SC 80%

The Crocodile proved very effective at destroying soft targets, particularly damaged or suppressed infantry and also resistant to attacks from German tanks. I am sufficiently impressed to consider buying a second one.

[Cerberus51]

I have decided to take the historical path for the last three scenarios so next up is -

BATTLE OF THE BULGE

40112pp, 18 turns.

The Comet tank becomes available. Expensive at 795pp each and will push me even further over the soft cap so I am only upgrading the 6 Fireflys at this stage and retaining the 3 Churchill VII. The other issue with the Comet is its low fuel capacity which is a particular handicap for this scenario. I have also decided I like the Crocodile - so much that I bought a second one.

Left out the AVRE and a Meteor and deployed in three groups. First group starts in the west near Dinant, takes Rochefort and then moves east to capture Manhay. Second group starts in the SW near Neufchateau, takes St Hubert, the east to Houffalize then on to St Vith. Third group starts in the south, relieves Bastogne, takes Witz then the airfield at Prum.

26 December 1944 By turn 3 Bastogne has been relieved with all three defenders surviving and the German armoured units near Rochefort and St Hubert eliminated.

Turn 4 Rochefort captured and Luftwaffe eliminated.

Turn 9 All initial objectives taken and advancing on Manhay, St Vith and Prum airfield. Movement is slow due to high fuel consumption and reduced movement in the frozen conditions.

Turn 13 captured St Vith and Prum airfield.

Tuen 14 captured Manhay.

Triumph on turn 14/18, 31119pp, SC 59%.

The principle enemy units left were 3 SE Panthers, only one of which had come into action. The initial German armour caused some damage but was not that big a problem. The main issue is the time it takes to reach objectives allowing for refuelling which means getting started towards St Vith and Prum airfield in particular quite early on.

[Cerberus51]

CROSSING THE RHINE

24 turns, 36717pp.

No British unit upgrades available. OS'd engineers (for minefields), towed artillery, Crocodile, strat bombers to max, all other artillery to +1. Deployed all but 2 recon.

23 Mar 1945 Turn 1 rain so positioned air units to attack next turn.

Turn 2 received Tortoise to reinforce northern group. Deliberately taking out strongpoints rather than leaving them in order to deny the enemy spotting.

Turn 7 SC 28%, 5 flags neutralised.

Turn 11 German units push east from Dusseldorf. Had anticipated this and easily dealt with - the lead 7 str Panther drove into a Comet and was destroyed.

Turn 15 7 flags neutralised.

Turn 17 Aiming to clear flak from Dortmund to allow strat bombers to neutralise enough flags before taking last VH's.

Turn 21 neutralised 10 flags and occupied last VH's.

Turn 22 Seems I miscounted how many flags had been neutralised but fortunately the scenario does not end when you take the last VH if you have not neutralised enough flags. Neutralised a couple more flags.

Triumph on turn 22/24, 34111pp.

[Cerberus51]

ADVANCE TO THE ELBE

18 turns, 38429pp.

Decided to upgrade 3 Churchill VII to Comet. Bought Halifax Mk III strat bomber. Deployed everything except AVRE and 3 recons. All deployed units at max OS. 28088pp and SC at 20%.

9 April 1945 Turn 1 destroyed most German front line units.

Turn 3 7 str Jagdpanther ran into Comet and was destroyed in ambush . Bf109K tried to attack another Comet and was reduced to 2 str by fighter trap. Bf109K shot down on turn 4.

Turn 6 8 str He162 shot down for no loss by D+4 Meteor. Used turn 7 to resupply most units, shot down 5 str Ar234.

Turn 8 and the main obstacle of the scenario, Halle airfield is occupied by a 10 str 3* Maus covered by a 0 exp 15 str Ta152H with a Flak 36 behind Halle.

Turn 9 Shot down Ta152 for no loss, destroyed Flak 36 and strat bombed Maus. Also shot down 7 str Bf109K. Maus hit 13 str Comet for 6 damage but took 2. FW190G appeared and damaged M7 Priest.

Turn 10 Shot down FW190G. Bombed Maus with Halifax then Lancaster reducing it to one ammo. Used 7 str Comet (2 damage) to draw last shot from Maus rather than take damage on an OS unit.

Turn 11 Took replacements for Comet. Continued to attack Maus and forced a surrender at 1 str. Captured last airfield S of Leipzig.

Turn 15 Cleared map and captured last objective.

Triumph on 15/18, 26528pp, SC still at 20% (good thing it doesn't go any lower than that ).

Got Steam achievement Great Field Marshal for first campaign completed at that difficulty.

[Cerberus51]

CORE ARMY - 1945

Final core composition at end of Advance to the Elbe.

Unit name Equipment Heroes Experience

1st Recon Daimler AC D+1, A+1 320
2nd Recon Daimler AC D+3, D+1 335
3rd Tank Comet D+2, I+1, D+3 407
4th Infantry 43 Engineers/Bren I+1, A+1, D+1 323
5th Infantry 43 Engineers/Bren D+1, D+1, D+1 323
6th Artillery 7.2"/Matador A+1, D+2 409
7th Tank Comet A+2, I+1, A+2 392
8th Artillery 7.2"/Matador M+1, M+1 410
9th Fighter Meteor A+1, D+3 328
10th Fighter Meteor D+1, D+1, D+2 323
11th Tactical Mosquito Mk VI S1 M+1, D+2, A+2 425
12th Tank Comet A+1, D+3, S+1 362
13th Commando SE Commando/Bren I+1, D+2, A+1 326
14th Tank Comet D+2, I+1, M+1 369
15th Tactical Mosquito Mk VI S1 D+1, M+1, A+1 413
16th Commando SE Commando/Bren M+1, destroyed
17th Tank Comet A+2, D+2, A+1 340
18th Tank Comet D+1, D+1, S+1 342
19th Fighter Meteor A+1, 280
20th Bomber Lancaster Mk III D+1 466
21st Artillery M7 Priest S+1, M+1 422
22nd Artillery M7 Priest D+1 429
23rd Artillery M7 Priest D+2, A+1 425
24th Fighter SE Meteor I+1 266
25th Bomber Lancaster Mk III I+1 434
26th Recon Daimler AC 212
27th Tank Comet A+1, D+3 287
28th Tank Comet A+1 261
29th Tank Comet D+1, D+2 308
30th Fighter SE Meteor 223
31st Fighter SE Meteor 234
32nd Infantry Engineer/Bren S+1 destroyed
33rd Artillery 5.5"/Bren 335
34th Fighter SE Meteor 191
35th Tank Crocodile I+1, D+1 240
36th AVRE Churchill AVRE 210
37th Tank Crocodile D+2 184
38th Tank Tortoise M+1 230
39th Bomber Halifax Mk III 185

I feel I did pretty well overall for heroes. Most notable was the 7.2" artillery with 2 Move heroes (how rare is that?) but the Meteor with three Defence heroes for +4 proved my best fighter and usually able to take out any opposition with little or no damage to itself. Low points were the usual, spotting on an artillery and movement on both tac bombers but especially initiative on a Lancaster.

The experience figures partly reflect my playstyle, bomb and shell it as much as possible before sending in ground troops. Of the 10 units to amass over 400 exp only one was a tank, the others were all artillery and bombers.

The 185 exp for the Halifax from only the last scenario highlights how quickly strat bombers build exp and that even quite late in a campaign they can be a useful purchase. The Crocodiles proved very useful, making up for my small number of infantry units, although they are relatively expensive. They are not as fragile as the PzII Flamm either. The AVRE was rather less useful (or maybe I just can't figure out how to use range 1 artillery) and I don't plan on buying one in future.

[Cerberus51]

I feel rather dissatisfied with my experience of Allied Corps, even at Field Marshal it is simply too easy and prestige is overgenerous. I have given it some thought and am going to try exactly the same campaign at a higher difficulty.

I considered Montgomery (-50% prestige) but apart from the second scenario I don't think prestige would be tight enough to make the campaign any harder. Patton (-5 turns) would be a bit more challenging in that the time pressure would probably result in victories rather than triumphs in a number of the scenarios, but not that much more of a challenge to complete the campaign. I am therefore going to play at Eisenhower difficulty (enemy units +5 str).

To be quite honest I am not sure I will be able to do this. In some scenarios I am already thinking of settling for only a victory, rather than gambling on getting a triumph. Having played the first four scenarios at this difficulty I am 1500 prestige down on where I was at Field Marshall due to taking many more replacements. I am going to have to break the habit of taking elite replacements and accept some loss of experience from taking ordinary replacements.

I also expect I may have to have more than one attempt at some scenarios. If I do I will put this in my writeup. Prestige will, I think, be more of an issue as I expect to have to use rather more overstrength at this level.

Welcome to what I hope will be an interesting experience (rather than a fiasco ).

[Cerberus51]

BORDER RAIDS

200pp. All the Italian units, including the supply dump, are +5 str. I decided to make sure of all the trucks and ignore the supply depot. The Italian armoured car is now strong enough to cause significant damage meaning I actually had to take replacements during the scenario. Triumph 10/12, 105pp.

[Cerberus51]

FORT CAPUZZO

705pp. Bought 2 infantry and a 25pdr. 22pp after replacements. This went quite well. Normally I would clear the map but to take the VH in the SE in time I had to bypass one infantry unit and drive the one on the VH into retreat. Triumph, 17/18, 448pp.

[Cerberus51]

BATTLE OF GIRBA

1848pp. Upgraded Vickers tank to Cruiser Mk 1, bought Cruiser Mk I and 25pdr. 982pp after replacements. No particular problem but the stronger Italian units are more aggressive than my previous playthrough. Triumph, 16/18, 718pp.

[Cerberus51]

ITALIAN OFFENSIVE

1118pp. Purchased Hurricane Mk 1. 577pp after replacements. This was rather harder. The light cruiser was an early loss so the Italian light cruiser constantly bombarded my units and there was basically nothing I could do about it. In the air CR42's and BA65's are normally easy kills even for Hurricanes but at 13 str they take repeated attacks to shoot down. The ongoing damage from air and naval attacks again forced more replacements than previously and prestige took a hit despite forcing a good number of surrenders. Triumph, 19/20, 554pp.

Initial thoughts about this difficulty are that I will have to manage prestige carefully (something I never contemplated for this campaign), I will need to overstrength units much sooner than I would like and I may need to consider some AA units (and possibly fewer fighters). Also recon units are going to be attacked regularly - fortunately both my recons have acquired D+2 heroes already.

[Cerberus51]

TARANTO RAID

904pp. After replacements and one point of overstrength for both Hurricanes 662pp.

I had 2 attempts at this one. The battleships and defending CR42's are 15 str so it takes a minimum of 3 Swordfish strikes to sink a battleship and attacking a CR42 with both Hurricanes won't usually down it. By rotating Swordfish over the 2 carriers and heavy use of regular replacements for them I managed to sink 4 battleships and damage the other 2 for a victory with 350pp left. I will salute anyone who can get a triumph in this scenario at this difficulty.

In the interest of conserving prestige I played a second time (attached replay file), concentrating on attacking the 2 battleships not covered by AA. Both were sunk, one CR42 shot down after it was damaged by an escorting Hurricane and 2 Swordfish lost. Victory, 12/12, 565pp.

I'm not really surprised to have to settle for a victory. I expect several scenarios to either simply be too difficult or that the prestige cost of losses will make pushing for a triumph too costly.