GC39-41, replays and analysis, field marshall

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hugh2711
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GC39-41, replays and analysis, field marshall

Post by hugh2711 »

GC39-41 Origional grand campaign; dice chess, field marshall. replays and analysis
Everyone has their own style for playing. I consider myself to be only an average player as you can see by the many mistakes in the replays. The human multiplayer matches are the real test of who is good however hopefully this strategy will get a newer player through the grand campaign with enough prestige and good units to comfortably weather the onslaught in the later east campaigns. My strategy is basically fourfold, its about a) mining prestige, b) farming heroes c) an agressive strong airforce and d) All SE unit are tanks.
I should also say that I would not play this on any other setting than dice chess. The dice chess setting allows for enough unpredictability to make it fresh and interesting each time whereas the 'normal' setting makes it ridiculous and nearly an annoying game of chance.I hope the replays work - let me know if they dont. Feel free to comment or ask questions.

1)Poznan: [DV]
strategy: use 4 empty core slots to buy: 1xbf109e, 1xP38, 1x10.5art, 1x sturmpanzer. Be agressive with fighters (and other air) and get enemy air units before they have a chance to repair and refuel (they start empty and low). Speed is essential to get to victory hexes (but not neccessarily take) with a protected (arty covered) unit before they can spawn. Use aux units both air and ground as diversions and cannon fodder.
Number of enemy units destroyed:8,2,0,4,1,5,2,1,0.total=23. prestige=1460.
comments: Should have delayed end a bit longer to do more strafing with fighters to build up exp on them. sacrificed weak rudel strength at two places as will replace for free as dont care about its experience level as it will be exchanged for super-rudel in minsk.
verdict: Origional unit computer selection for you is rubbish.
Attachments
(11.01.2018) Poznan, Turn 12.rar
(39.69 KiB) Downloaded 162 times
Last edited by hugh2711 on Thu Feb 15, 2018 8:31 am, edited 10 times in total.
hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis

Post by hugh2711 »

2) Danzig: [DV][free SE gerbirj...] Prestige=1830
Strategy: Dumping useless units: specifically AT, 2xP1A and repair everything else with green. 109's deployed to gain kills/exp attacking units on bridges, likewise stuka and Heinkel.
core activity: buy; pionere,heinkel, 2x10.5arty, sturmpanzer, cavalry. upgrading: upgraded 7.5 to 10.5. Prestige now= 450
deployed: 1xpionere, 2xsturmpanzer, 3x 10.5arty,1x infantry, 1x gebirj, 1x SE gebirj, 1x He111h2, 2x bf109e, 1x ju87b.
Number of Enemy units destroyed: 19,7,0,5,4,1,0,0,0,0. total=36
comments:Easy scenario. Plenty of time to take unessential secondary targets. The key to this one is to resist the temptation to rush across the river before you have destroyed the counterattack.
Attachments
e(12.01.2018) Danzig Corridor, Turn 14.rar
(41.92 KiB) Downloaded 141 times
Last edited by hugh2711 on Thu Jan 18, 2018 3:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis

Post by hugh2711 »

3) Lodz, [DV] Prestige=2020 [free SE gerbirjager also free hero gebirjager M+3 i+3]
strategy - one pionere plus new arty will go north and take 4 secondary towns at 3,13 & 7,8 & 4,4 & 12,8,
Tricky initial deployment to get nearby first victory hex. only 3 out of 5 of aux units need to survive. When it says 'survive' they can be at strength one!, so use them for cannon fodder, park them somewhere safe when they get too weak. Dont go too far north to avoid big clump of enemy units.
core activity: buy new 10.5cm. overstrength (to 11) 2x bf109,panzer, stuka, 2x 10.5art. Prestige now 1619
deployed: 1xpionere, 2xsturmpanzer, 4x10.5art, recon, P38, cavalry, 2xSEgerbirj, stuka, heinkel, 1xbf109
Enemy units destroyed: 18,5,0,4,4,1,0,0,0,0 tot=32
comments: easy scenario, had to prolong it a few turns to farm experience particularly for air units. free hero - oleh dir M+3 i+3 - is one of the best units in the grand campaign. I will keep it as gerbirjager as i+3 makes it really tough and the M+3 makes it irreplaceable, very cheap and mobile specially without extra transport. The last town at 12,8 spawned which it doesnt normally do, so it wasnt worth taking then.
Attachments
e(12.01.2018) Lodz, Turn 13.rar
(42.94 KiB) Downloaded 118 times
Last edited by hugh2711 on Mon Jan 29, 2018 1:06 pm, edited 4 times in total.
hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis

Post by hugh2711 »

4) Piatek, [DV] prestige at 2952
strategy: great scenario for gaining experience and prestige. Trick is to withdraw from most of river/bridge victory hexes but setup ambush points next to them then retake them on last turn. dont go much north of the river with core units. Put tough infantry in left corner city, that must be held always as strongest attack there. Get 2 new 88 to farm, use them as anti-tank to gain experience at 2 of the crossings. Farming at least one 88 is essential as in later campaigns you need at least one enhanced 88 for the scenarios where the enemy AA and fighter activity interdicts the protective patrols of your airforce. I dont normally get two 88's here, just one so this is an experiment for me. I will use auxiliary towed AT units as cannon fodder and diversions. The two SE gerbirj will be dumped as soon as SE tanks become available (from norway onwards) so I do not bother 'farming' (i.e. building up for experience /kills/heroes) on them at all, they are deliberately left in a quiet spot. I would rather use the bought units that i will keep. I happen to know there is a weak fighter attack about turn 6 and that in the second half the enemy attacks/pressure shift from east to west.
Core activity: I buy 2x 88mm, one with transport. overstrength 2xbf109 (12&11), stuka (12), P38 (11). prestige now=1828
deployed: (west to east): pionere, 2x bf109, stuka, M+3 i+3 (oleh), P38, 3x10.5art, recon, 88 (with transport), 3xsturmpanzer, 88 (without transport)
Enemy units destroyed:24,17,0,0,1,0,0,2,0,0. tot=44
comments: easy if victory hex traps backed up properly by arty. I lost 3 strength points in total out of my core units, sacrificed a couple of aux AT for a few extra points at the end.
Attachments
e(12.01.2018) Piatek, Turn 20.rar
(43.79 KiB) Downloaded 118 times
hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis

Post by hugh2711 »

This is a good place (after 4 scenarios) to take stock of my core unit exp/kills/losses. Heroes start at 100 kills in grand campaign. You should also download/have handy the."unit upgrade chart" (credit to the origional creater, I have no idea who) as it is extreemely useful in making decisions, sorry it is too big to attatch here. The other thing you need is a bookmark to the 'captured units thread' http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 21&t=39382 from the forum which you need because alot of the capturables are at obscure secondary targets which you dont know beforehand wether they are worth going for or not , it also has a list of the free heroes given in the GC.

1) pionere 132/120/0
2) czech panzer 172/98/1 N.B. deliberately the only panzer so far, I wouldnt have even bothered with this one if I could have done without it.
3) 2 x bf109e 200/76/0 & 225/88/0 At this stage I would deploy overstrengthed.
4) stuka (B) 225/174/0, would deploy overstrengthed. I would not bother farming more as later on in GC you get super-rudel and spoils of war freebie so you do not lack good tactical bombers
5) 4x 10.5cm art 213/28/0 &217/37/0 & 209/35/0 & 211/38/0
6) 2x gerbirjager 129/72/0 (oleh dir M+3 i+3) and 140/75/0
7) 1x inf 111/42/1
8 ) 3x sturmpanzer 124/39/0 & 36/25/0 & 184/35/0
9) 2x88mmAA (with transport 66/35/0 without= 65/30/0)
x) two SE gerbirjager (to be dumped), weak rudel (to be replaced in minsk)

Just because I have reached 225 max experience for this campaign does not mean I would farm another similar unit. I am only interested in heroes as they are what gives you the edge against the numerically superior hordes in the later campaigns. So I will wait to see what the first hero is before deciding to continue investing in the kills of a unit. I may get another sturmpanzer and 10.5art and at least one more bf109 this GC. I mix my towed/non arty as although sturmpanzers only have 4 movement and 4 ammo, sometimes you have to move and fire at the same time rather than just preposition (towed arty) the turn before. I would not bother farming more infantry untill paras and grenadiers are available as you get plenty of free, heroed infantry during the GC.
Last edited by hugh2711 on Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis

Post by hugh2711 »

5) K forest [DV]. Prestige at 3168
strategy: I am deploying the transportable 88 as there are a load of trains that can be backed into a corner and are an easy rack up its kill score.There are a few secondary targets that are easy pickings, you do have the time. The secret to this is to approach it like stalingrad; all infantry must be backed up by arty and you only attack forward if your target is seriously suppressed, unless you are oleh dir!. The thick forest hexes in this demonstrate the usefullness of keeping him as gerbirjager.) I still use cavalry as although they are not that strong, their 3 spotting and 5 movement are useful, but i dont farm them as they are a bit too weak by 43 so i dont repair with experienced replacements only free one unless I want to keep an experience star.
Deployment (north to south): pionere, M+3 i+3 (oleh), bf109e (at 2*), 1x88AA, P38 (11), 1xinfantry, 3x10.5art, cavalry. 2xSE gerbirj, 2x sturm, recon. given 2 aux cavalry.
Enemy units destroyed: 24,11,0,7,5,5,0,1,0,0. tot=53
comments: that total surprised me given i played that one the worst i have ever played for that scenario. I ignored my own strategy and rushed my p38 forward without support and took some losses. Also should have flanked around to the east/right and destroyed with (P38 or recon) that arty backing up the last victory hex before i went forward to the hex, but i forgot. Also usually it is straightforward to get a couple of those secondary towns/airport in the east but because i messed up the close terrain play i didnt get around to it.
Attachments
e(13.01.2018) Kampinsoka Forest, Turn 16.rar
(43.99 KiB) Downloaded 123 times
hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis

Post by hugh2711 »

6) Modlin. [MV] Prestige at 3891 [free hero P38 S+2 A+2 D+2]
Strategy:This is interesting because you have a choice, it is easy to achieve an MV at about turn 4 however to get a DV is very costly, for a DV you will take great losses as you have to destroy two heavy gun fortresses and an armoured train all next to each other but you have to do it over an impassable river on one side and a number of other forces dug in including AA , a river and rough terrain/thick forest on the other. Personally i dont think it is worth it, I think it costs you more in prestige to do it than you gain for the DV. I think it is more profitable to get the MV and then just losslessly rack up a few more kills. You can also make a nice little killing field at fort debe (12,19) that the AI returns a few units to. The most important thing about this scenario is the free hero 'albert k'. His high spotting can replace and is even better than a recon unit but as the latest/toughest tank model he is awesome and becomes the most deployed tank during the whole GC because he can see half a battlefield. Initial deployment is tricky because of the victory hex very near to deploy zone blocking your advance.
Deployment:Heinkel, stuka, 2xbf109, recon, P38, 3x10.5art, 3x sturm, pionere, M+3&i+3, cavalry, 2xSE gerbirjager, 1x88AA. I have deployed the main 88 as although there are no suitable air targets I will try to find it some kills as AT as i want it in the hero zone ASAP. Likewise with the 2xbf109e's.
Core activity: overstrengthening (10.5's@12, P38@12,bf109e's@12,He@12,stuka@12) etc Prestige = 3740
MV at turn 4 with Prestige=4190 and no losses at all.
Easy MV path:Enemy units destroyed: 11,6,0,3,2,1,2,0,0,0. total=25
Comments: Spent the rest of the turns getting a few extra secondary hexes, killing a few units and strafing/racking up stats for a few units. My only losses were a couple of points on a cavalry which I replaced with cheap green. If I had gone for the DV I would have got four hundred more points from place (six secondary plus one victory hexes) but I have yet to see a video or replay that does not involve really big losses on units. At turn 4 to end; albert k went from 35/3/0 to 111/39/0. bf109's from 225/101/0 to 225/120/0 and from 217/94/0 to 225/112/0. 88 from105/73/0 to 110/89/0. He from 225/14/0 to 225/22/0. I am expecting to get at least two heroes out of the heinkel during the whole GC.
Attachments
e(12.01.2018) Lodz, Turn 13.rar
(42.94 KiB) Downloaded 121 times
Last edited by hugh2711 on Mon Jan 29, 2018 12:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.
hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis

Post by hugh2711 »

7) Warsaw North: [DV] Prestige=4634 Captured 10.5art
Strategy: oleh, one sturmpanzer and a recon will take the string of cities on the right using his super movement (and one shot soft target killer) to do it very quickly so as to put the freebie artys gained into the urban sprawl contest quickly. This is the first example of using specific heroes for a specific unusual task. Some 109's will pre-emptively strike the airforce which starts and goes to pre-arranged coords, however there is AA there so I will take some losses but at least I keep the initiative rather than let them escape and take losses from when they attac ground units. A line of infantry backed by arty will coordinated attack from the north This takes a few turns to set up. Some aux units will attack strongpoints from the south. that will be slow and take losses, fodder. Some losses on the main infantry in the north are unavoidable in this scenario due to enemys arty in city.
Core activity: I Buy a new 109e. I overstrength recon (11), albert (11), 2x109 (12), Heinkel (12). Prestige now =4182
Deployment: M+3 i+3, 3xsturmpanzer, P38 (albert k), recon, 4x10.5art, 3x109, Heinkel, 1xgerbirjager, 1xinfantry, 2xSE gebirjager
Enemy units destroyed:29,7,0,2,7,6,4,3,1,0. Total=59
comments: straightforward and plenty of time, but not very exciting :-). It took two points off a 109 but because I have build up my air units to be very strong already each trained one only had to attack once to kill comletely without losses without messing around chasing them around the board for turns after - much more efficient. The free polish arty already has one star and will will be parked in reserves until it gets turned into a wurfrahmen later when they are avaiable since there is no upgrade path for it.
Attachments
e(13.01.2018) Warsaw North, Turn 20.rar
(48.84 KiB) Downloaded 112 times
Last edited by hugh2711 on Mon Jan 29, 2018 12:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis

Post by hugh2711 »

8 ) Spoils of war. [DV] Prestige=6683 [free hero BF110 A+1 i+6]
Two important things
A) It is important to do this scenario although you have a choice not to, as the freebie tactical bomber you get on turn two is already heroed with i+6 and A+1. The extra initiative makes it a really good fighter on its own. It is a great bomber as well. It will be one of your top deloyed/scoring units. If you dont want to take losses you can just get the free unit on turn 2 and just go for an MV.
B) The next scenario after this is the start of the three norway scenarios, from norway onwards you can obtain SE tanks. So if you want to be eligeable for an SE tank at the beginning of the next scenario you need to dump one of your SE infantry NOW. It is essential to have all your SE units as tanks as SE units DONT count towards the softcap and in the later campaigns a decent tank will be way over the nominal average softcap limit so the only way to be able to afford a good tank collection in your core is to have them all as SE units. In the later campaigns you cant get very far without a good tank collection.

Strategy: Do a tactical sacrifice of a recon to take the centre hex at the beginning (,I expect it to be destroyed). Although you lose that unit, you can take the centre, not lose it, and then you can then dominate most of the board. You can catch the counterattack while it is vulnerable travelling in the south. Sneak north round the river of the home enemy base and take the home victory hexes from behind but be careful because of the tanks there including heavy KV2. At that point it is likely you will take some losses. There is an initial air attack followed by another small one much later. The initial deployment is a bit tricky as it has to be precise to dominate the centre; in the second turn you need to be able to move an infantry to the hex vacated by the destroyed recon. Initially go for forward position NOT neccessarily taking your nearby hexes, when you have domination you can always easily at your leisure come back for them way behind the lines with a partially destroyed aux unit.
Core activity: I Disband one of the SE infantry. overstrength; M+3 i+3 (12), He (12), stuka (12),pionere (11), albert (11), P38 (12).Although I am liberal with the overstrength now (while the units are cheap!) when the softcap starts to bite I will cut back. You are given 5 aux units which as usual i will use as fodder.
Deployment: new recon, 2xP38, 88mm, oleh, pionere, gerbirj, 2x109 (10&10), 3xsturm, 2x105art, cavalry, stuka, Heinkel. I might be a bit arty light but I want to build up my heinkel so it will have to substitute.
Enemy units destroyed: 21,11,4,0,5,2,0,3,1,0. Total=47
comments: Most of mainboard cleared by turn 11. Took the home victory hex by above strategy, took it slowly to minimise losses, did some strafing and unnecessary unit elimination to use surplus turns. Because of rushing in first half I lost a cavalry and a recon at turns 3 and 7, normally I dont lose any core. The recon I expected to die earlier but wasted prestige restoring it. It would have been much easier if I had replaced those two and slowed down. Also careless in placing a 10.5, needlessly lost some prestige there.
Attachments
e(14.01.2018) Spoils of War, Turn 20.rar
(45.45 KiB) Downloaded 123 times
Last edited by hugh2711 on Mon Jan 29, 2018 1:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis

Post by hugh2711 »

Current core, (heroes) exp/kills/losses:
Heroes start at 100 kills in grand campaign, second hero 300 to 1000 kills
1) Pionere (A+2) 202/236/0, 1x infantry 175/105/1, 1x gerbirjager 206/179/1, oleh (M+3 i+3)225/236/0, .
2) 3xbf109e 225/164/2 & 225/138/0 & 143/38/0, stuka 225/282/0, Heinkel 225/31/0, bf110 (A+1 i+6) 150/39/0.
3) 1xP38, P38 Albert k (A+2 D+2 S+2), SE P3f, 1xrecon.
4) 4x10.5 towed (225/74/3 & 225/79/1 & 225/74/0 & 225/66/0) , 3x sturmpanzer 225/80/0 & 203/79/0 & 225/90/0.
5) 2x88mm AA 155/131/0 & 65/30/1,
x) weak rudel, SE gerbirjager, 1x captured 10.5.
Last edited by hugh2711 on Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis

Post by hugh2711 »

9) Oslo [DV] [free SE P3f yes i reloaded untill I got one instead of infantry!] Prestige = 8473
Strategy: Easy scenario once you know the tricks. West bank; Critial exact placing of two aux paras at forts, (see replay,) use them (as fodder) after landing to take out the forts while you land force further south. Then with small drive up road get to main victory hex. Use new para with a bit of air support to get further VH or use other inf to go further north to take other VH. East bank: oleh + sturm + inf + tank +art take victory hex, M+3(oleh) + sturm goes for distant secondary airfield then proceeds to farthest victory hex up north. Inf + tank + art take secondary's on road. one Bf109 provides protection for paras, Bf110 & stuka take out enemy support. Use provided aux cruisers as mobile arty. May need to prolong it to use up turns, strafing etc.
Core activity: Disband SE gerbirjager so that it is possible to get another SE tank in remaining two scenarios. Buy and farm at least one para, it is critical for many future scenarios. I am changing my 175/105/1 infantry to one as it has the same movement but better stats, and also buying a new one. Get a grenadier, you will get given some heroed ones later but in the meantime you need this one. Change S+2 (albert k) to a P3, the p4 series doesnt come along untill half way through 1940 after a load of france scenarios and the france scenarios have alot of tanks in them and the P4's are not tougher than the P3's right up untill P4ivg which comes halfway through 1942. It will remain a P3 untill it becomes a tiger but i will keep it up to date with the latest upgrade. prestige = 7758
Deployment: west group; oleh (12), sturm, para (11), P3f, 10.5art. ocean group; stuka (12), bf110 (11), Heinkel (12), bf109 (12), Para (in air), east group; A+2 (pionere), S+2 P3f (11), 2xsturm, grenadier, 10.5art (12), gerbirjager (12). Given 2x aux Para & aux bf110.
Enemy units destroyed:13,0,0,0,2,3,5,1,0,0. Total = 24
comments: straightforward. Bizarrely I now have a stuka with a kill stat of 296 but no hero, second hero starts at 300!. Didnt use one unit at all (gerbirjager), it woud have been better to not deploy it and break in a new fighter or anything instead.
Attachments
e(14.01.2018) Oslo, Turn 13.rar
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hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis

Post by hugh2711 »

10) Lillehammer [DV] [free SE P3f, yes this one was random, really!] Prestige = 9358.
Strategy: Again small map, again two groups, east and west bank. Air attack near beginning, once eliminated no more waves. Mostly rough/mountain terrain. Big concentration of units at end.
Core activity: I am buying another sturmpanzer, I would have preferred to get a stug but in this origional GC they are not available yet.
Deployment: Left bank group; M+3 (12), gerbirjager (12), 2xsturm, 2x10.5art, (12&10), SE P3f, 2x109 (12&11). Right bank group;A+2 (12),para(11), 2x10.5art (2x12), SE P3f, S+2 (11), Bf109 (12), Bf110(11)
Enemy units destroyed: 20,2,0,0,3,6,2,2,0,0. Total = 35
Comments: As usual I lost a few points needlessly by rushing forward my newbie SE P3 when I didnt need to, the irony being I had to spin out the end of the scenario to get in a few more kills. One important principle I use is; (as demonstrated in this one) I made sure to completely kill the enemy air units straight away and not let them return after repair. This will be more important in the next (1940) campaign as france has alot more airforce. While I accept that for the enemy to repair them takes up thier prestige I feel that the losses incurred on you when they return are outwighed by this hence I would go for a very agressive strategy against air units. For this reason I always keep my air units in top shape, latest model, always repair them with costly experienced replacements and usually overstrength them when deployed. This does however mean I sometimes deploy a larger airforce than some would.
Attachments
e(15.01.2018) Lillehammer, Turn 18.rar
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hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis

Post by hugh2711 »

11) Narvik [DV] Prestige = 10341
Strategy: This is a complex scenario. There are two areas of air attack, a complex sea battle and a well defended position. I would go for their airforce first otherwise they will inflict losses on the ground units. Then finish off most of the ships and then use your capital ships to support your ground attack. This scenario is a good opportunity to rack up alot of kills on your heinkel against the ships, I origionally chose the heinkel because it had the most attacking stats against ships when buying and when upgraded in a few years time it will have the most attacking stats of any strat bomber. When you do the ground attack there is a good opportunity to get alot of kills from spawned units on two killing fields, one a bridge. The two 12 strength 109's will take out the sea based fighter - a strong unit. The 109 at 11 and two new ones will take out the fighter and bomber at the centre by pre-emptively attacking them despite taking losses when its AA attacks next run. This will incur high losses on one (new ) unit. Since overstrengthening is not linear, it is cheaper to do this on new units than an experienced one. e.g. losing and repairing two points on a 12 strength unit is alot more expensive than on a 10 strength one. I am deploying weakened rudel to spot over the sea. I can only get away with this because I have an agressive air policy. This is not the only scenario where weakened rudel is useful - stalingrad docks is another, but it does require you to be very careful as in his weakended state he is easily stuffed and it is essential to keep him for exchange in minsk as he becomes the best unit in the GC.
Core activity: Buy two new 109's, repair SE P3f, overstrength para.
Deployment: north group; A+2 (12), 2x105art (12&12), sturm, SE P3f, gerbirjager. air group; 2x109 (12&12), heinkel (12), air recon, stuka(12), 3x109 (11&10&10). south group; 2x sturm, M+3 at(12), para(12), 10.5art (12), se P3F (to be added later).
Enemy units destroyed:19,1,1,2,3,6,0,2,0,1. Total = 35
Comments: I wasted some prestige repairing aux units, it seemed to be easier than I remembered. I had to prolong it at the end. The 'new' 109 that was reduced to three will be repaired with free green replacements next campaign scenario. All other air units with experienced. I dont mind doing it with that new one as its experience is so low it cant be diluted much!. This time the killing field on the bridge didnt happen but the other one at the head of the town was a good earner for a P3f stats.

N.B. about 12 posts from here I have put a save from the last turn as an attatchment in case anyone wants to download my gc39 end core. sorry couldnt do it here. it wont let you add attachments after the fact.
Attachments
(15.01.2018) Narvik, Turn 18.rar
(45.84 KiB) Downloaded 119 times
Last edited by hugh2711 on Fri Jan 26, 2018 10:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
hugh2711
Sergeant Major - SdKfz 234/2 8Rad
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Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 8:45 pm

Re: GC replays and analysis

Post by hugh2711 »

Prestige at the beginning of the next scenario = 10918 I woud actually expect the next campaign GC40 i.e.france to be the biggest earner and get significantly more prestige than this campaign.
Core at the beginning of next scenario including heroes:
pionere 219/311/1 A+2 At some point will get another because of their ignore entrenchment attribute.
Gerbirj oleh 225/338/0 Will keep as gerbirj.
Para 218/184/1, Para 67/44/0
grenadier 83/28/0
gerbirjager 225/240/2
2x88mAA 155/131/0 & 65/30/0 main and spare, will get mobile AA later.
P3f albert k 207/141/2 S+2 A+2 D+2 becomes the main recon for the rest of the GC!
2x SE P3f 128/44/3 & 53/14/0
recon 208/111/8
4x10.5 art 225/105/1 & 225/88/1 & 225/116/0 & 225/86/3
4x sturmpanzer 225/110/0 & 225/95/0 & 225/105/0 & 143/20/0
5x Bf109e (225/202/3 & 225/85/0 & 225/191/1 & 107/21/0 & 10/4/7) May not keep all of them as you get given some already heroed ones during the GC.
Bf110 203/58/0 A+1 i+6 a very useful unit, doubles as a fighter because of the high initiative
Heinkel 225/73/0
Stuka 225/337/0 A+3 Tasty :-)
captured polish (no upgrade) 10.5 art - will be converted to wurfrahmen when available
P38 225/171/5 unlikely to be used again unless converted to something else.
S+2 but Weakened rudel stuka, will exchanged at minsk.

Total enemy units destroyed = 404
In Comparison to nikivdd's GC39 revamp/redo (which is very good/enjoyable and I would recommend to anyone) in this GC39 campaign I think I have less prestige and less spread of experience and heroes. This is due to the fact that in this campaign you spend the first couple of scenarios dumping alot of the useless choices of units given you by the program. When you choose your own units you can start building up stats to make them tougher straight away. You are basically making your choices now, for the future scenarios not the current situation but doing it now while the scenarios are easy and hence you can build them up quickly. Also in the revamp version you get a nice heroed tank to start with which saves you alot of time and prestige. Additionally this older version uses more static AA whereas nikivdd's redo has more mobile AA which makes the air aspect more costly/difficult as they are more agressive, but if you persue the agressive exterminating air policy above, it can cope just as well. As I have an ALL tanks for SE units policy in iether version I would usually with my tanks go for destroying mobile AA first in a situation as I find they (mobile AA) will give bigger losses to me.
hugh2711
Sergeant Major - SdKfz 234/2 8Rad
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Re: GC replays and analysis, field marshall

Post by hugh2711 »

GC40 (old version) Dice Chess Field marshall level

1) Ebon-emael [DV] {Free SE P3f at beginning of scenario/Campaign]. Prestige = 10918
Strategy: An easy scenario once you know the trick. There are two forts, 4 strongpoints and an infantry unit in fortifications next to each other in the way between rivers but only one has ammo. Place two iether pioneres or paras in the two deployment spaces. I also deploy an airborne para. In turn one drop the two given airborne engineers. Attack the 15 strength one that has ammo and kill it with your two units and a bomber. Use a recon in the next deployment space nearest that bunch and use recon 2 stage movement to insinuate the recon in the middle of them. Attack the remaining with air units so that there are in total at least 3 atacking units iether over or next to every fort. This way MOST of them will not be able to resupply and will remain out of ammo so you can destroy them on turn 2 when you have brought up reinforcements (2 of them will be able to anyway but you will have weakend them). Then destroy them at your leisure. There is a VH to the extreeme south that has to approached stealthily so as to not let it spawn. There are also some infantry units in the way so bring your arty/mixed force down south. There is another VH with support units in the north but it is straightforward if you are coing from around the back and not head on through the strongpoints. While the primary and secondary hexes are suitable for infantry attack, the scenario is not the best for tanks as it is quite a small map and the enemy has no tanks but I want to use my tanks as I want to build up thier stats/kills/exp so I will deploy them anyway. With suitable arty support and carefullness they should not take losses, there are some secondary hexes that are easy to get to because of the small map. Once the initial air attack is over your fighters are redundant so use them for strafing.
Core activity: Bought a new Sdkf7/1 mobile AA, some overtrengthening. Although 15cm guns are available now I will not be upgrading my 10.5 cm ones as if you check this thread here; http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 63#p245092 and http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 21&t=26663 you will see from the nice easy to glance at bar graphs that the upgrade to 15cm is not much of a bargain however the change to 17cm is. So if I can I will hold off on the upgrade untill the 17cm's are available. This may however change with some of the french tanks, well see.
Deployment: para (air), recon (12), 3xSE P3f (11&10&10), 88 (11), 3xsturm, 10.5art (11),M+3 (12), gerb (12), He(12), 3x109 (12&12&11),A+3 stuka (12), 2xAUX recon, 2X aux pionere (air). prestige now = 10036
Enemy units destroyed:24,0,0,1,3,1,11,1,2,0. Total = 43
Comments: After the enemy air is destroyed I brought my 88 back round to the north strongpoints with an arty backup. You dont need to destroy these strongpoints at all for the scenario, I just wanted to rack up more kills for the 88. As AT is great against strongpoints as well as tanks so it ended up as: 197/181/0 for the scenario, well on my way to first hero. My new mobile AA did nothing after its debut. It is unfortunate that in the GC unlike some of the mods and history that it is not switcheable for use against ground units, so I cant manufacture kills for it. Hence it will gain experience and kills very slowly but it is neccessary as the air opposition grows stronger and you advance quickly forward with strike groups you need some AA that can both move over long distances and fire defensively/be a deterrent in the same turn.
Attachments
e(17.01.2018) Eben-Emael, Turn 15.rar
(44.76 KiB) Downloaded 118 times
Last edited by hugh2711 on Fri Jan 26, 2018 9:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
hugh2711
Sergeant Major - SdKfz 234/2 8Rad
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Re: GC replays and analysis, field marshall

Post by hugh2711 »

2) Albert canal [MV] Prestige = 12236
Strategy: A difficult scenario. An MV is easy but a DV hard and expensive. Mixed terrain, VH's on bridges,lots of counterattacks, waves of air attacks. The last VH is at the opposite end of the map to deployment and it is a big map so you are short for time if you dont like taking losses like me. Also the last VH is very well defended by the time you get there and will spawn so you will take significant losses if you try to take it. I would only go for a DV if it is going very well and I have lots of time left over. To counteract the numerous and tough airforce I will deploy ground AA and do pre-emptive attacks on some of thier airforce with mine if i can remember where they are!. The terrrain in the north is rougher so slow careful advancing with arty backing only. There are more tank counter attacks and clear terrain in the south so I would deploy more tanks south of the canal. There are alot of enemy units near the deployment hexes so careful placement is needed. There are alot of secondary hexes that can earn alot of prestige if you have the time and can mitigate deliberately going for an MV, however they are a bit out of the way.
Core activity: some overstrengthening.
Deployment:North group; 88 (11), S+2 P38 (12), A=2 pionere (12), Grenadier, M+3, 10.5art, 2xsturm, Free aux 2cm flak South group; 3xSE P3f (11&11&10), gebirj(12), para (12). Sdkfz 7/1, free aux 88, free aux 2cm flak, 3x109 (12&12&12), stuka (12), bk110 (12).
Enemy units destroyed: 36,6,2,3,3,3,0,3,4,2. Total = 62
Comments: As expected. It might be possible to get the far one with a para at the beginning before it gets reinforcement to the unit already there but you would need three turns of bad weather as there is nowhere to park unseen. Got an A+3 fighter, very useful.
Attachments
e(18.01.2018) Albert Canal, Turn 21.rar
(47.64 KiB) Downloaded 136 times
hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis, field marshall

Post by hugh2711 »

3) The Hague [ DV] Prestige = 14280
Strategy: This is a straightforward scenario. You have to save 4 aux para unit out of 8 given and of course that means they can be at strength one when they do survive!. That is quite easy, once you have reached them you can use them to fulfill the rest of the objectives so you have plenty of units. There is an active airforce with a couple of waves. Initially you have to move fast to take rotterdam but after that there is plenty of time to take secondary hexes and the rest of the VH's. There are a few ships on the coast so this is an opportunity to deploy your heinkel and rack up alot of easy kills for it.
Core activity: some overstrengthening, repairing (one point on the sturmpanzer). I dont tend to overstrength sturmpanzers unless for a special job because they are more expensive than the towed artilliary, quite near to the softcap benchmark of 400 which will concern me in the later campaigns. Also overstrenthening them is very expensive since overstrengthening is not linear. With a couple of experience points they are very good, good enough for all current tasks.
Deployment: I have deliberately NOT deployed my A+3 fighter and deployed three others instead to get them to their first hero. 3x109 (12&12&11), stuka (12) bf110 (12), Heinkel (12). Para (air-11), 4xstrumpanzer, 3x10.5art (12&12&12), 3xSE P3f (11&11&11), P3f (s+2 A+2 D+2 12), recon (12), pionere (A+2 12), M+3 (12), gebirjager (D+2 12), para (12), grenadier (11). 7xfree aux para, 1xfree aux 75mm art.
Enemy units destroyed:48,8,0,6,5,5,3,2,3,0. Total =80 plus a few ships/destroyers
comments: As expected. Also got a few surrenders. Spent some turns prolonging it and mopping up spawned units around the secondary hexes.
Attachments
er(20.01.2018) The Hague, Turn 17.rar
(48.99 KiB) Downloaded 129 times
hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis, field marshall

Post by hugh2711 »

Notice the number of enemy units destroyed going up. The rest of this campaign are the french scenarios. The french have some tough tanks so the three SE P3f's will be busy, without a star or two they would take losses.
current core heroes exp/kills/loss comments
heinkel 307/102/0 So now in first hero territory, ideally want an attack hero. rarely gets hit so I will keep at full strength.
stuka 303/433/0 A+3 Now in second hero territory, also ideally want more attack for hitting tanks.
bf110 299/158/1 A+1 i+6 always deployed as doubles as a fighter due to high initiative bonus
bf109 254/245/3 A+3 will farm the others now untill they get a hero.
3x109 275/179/0 & 150/43/0 & 254/258/3 should get medals on at least one of these next scenario or two.
bf109 10/4/7 Unlikely to use again due to free given pre-heroed units, will eventually disband for the prestige
2x88mm 203/187/0 & 65/30/1 ideally want a range+1 hero or secondly an Move+1.
Skdfz7/1 63/9/0 has a higher rate of fire than its mobile upgrade and its very cheap so will keep as is for rest of GC
grenadier 153/84/2
para 262/298/3 A+3 (with transport) and para 118/69/0 (without transport)
oleh 253/337/3 M+3 i+3 the hardcoded heroes count as the first hero so now in extra hero territory for this unit.
gebirj 253/337/3 D+2 ideally want an attack hero. pionere 245/404/2 A+2 ideally want a defence hero now as the campaigns become tougher.
4x10.5art 299/125/1 & 225/86/3 & 285/141/1 & 323/120/1 ideally you want range+1 heroes on towed arty or secondarily a move+1
4xsturmpanzer 281/122/1 & 234/54/0 & 294/155/0 & 303/141/0 ideally you also want range+1 heroes on these or secondarily a higher attack
1xP3f S+2 A+2 D+2 292/308/2 now eligeable for another hero.
3xSE P3f 145/42/0 & 228/123/4 & 198/82/0 ideally I would like a big defense hero first to stop you taking losses in the big tank battles.
recon 284/141/14, weakend rudel, polish 10.5cm art, czech P38a unlikely to use again, may convert to use its couple of stars.
hugh2711
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Re: GC replays and analysis, field marshall

Post by hugh2711 »

4) Sedan [DV] 16061 Captured tank
Strategy: take the three ports then ferry across then ferry tank force plus support across to take sedan from behind. I think it is cheaper to take the supporting arty from behind then the town than to go for only frontal assault on the town. In the southwest take the airfield then use use S+2 p38 to keep an eye on what is there. Use tactical bombers to destroy units on the rest of that bank. Make sure you get the capturable french tank. Then ferry them across to support the rest of the assault on the opposite bank. Before taking the town prepare your defence for a big counterattack which is triggered by taking the town. Also asap use the non-transpot para to go across to the northwest and take the unoccupied port town 'flize' a few hexes away from the furthest VH. then take the VH, there should just be a weak anti-tank in it. In this scenario you get a free pre-heroed bf109, the heroes are: A+2i+2 D+1 so it becomes one of your best but it needs exercise for stars/exp.
Core Activity: some (not much) repairing and strengthening.
Deployment: recon(120, 3xSE P3f (12&11&11), 3xsturm, 4x10.5art (12&12&12&13), 88(12), mobileAA, S+2 P3f (12), grenadier (12), para(12), M+3(12), geb(12) pionere(12), 2x109(12&12), bf110(12), stuka(13) Heinkel(13), Para (air-11).
Enemy Units destroyed: 18,6,2,8,7,3,2,2,2,1. Total = 51
Comments: I could have deployed more fighters instead of the AA but I wanted them to get experience. This is the problem with static AA, they rarely get used as AA more than once in a scenario as AA so it looks like a bit of a waste but there are some situations specially defensive scenarios in russia where you just cant leave a fighter hanging around. They just get experience slowly so you have to waste space training them. I got the sonua tank which is worth considerable prestige (302) but I will disband it now as although it is quite tough, once you get to russia it is pretty average and you have wasted all that experience training on something that has no upgrade path other than replacement. I am sure it would be very usefull if deloyed, but it is a technological dead-end. It is worth leaving a unit in the farthest of the three ports as at the end the AI since it coudnt go anywhere (because I had it boxed in) started spawning and trying to expand back into the taken territory. It seemed to be easier than I remember, i prolonged it a bit at the end.

You now have a choice of paths, 3 scenarios against iether the french or british. I am choosing the french path. It seems easier to me but that may just be because it is the path I am used to. As you might have noticed by now from the replays etc I am not the best player and will always go for the cheapest and easiest option!. I dont like close terrain and slow grind. Also i dont like using core units. My force is probably infantry light compared to other players. I dont know if I could get away with this on rommell.
By now some of your units are quite experienced so you might not want to overstrength them to the max as it is just too expensive. If you dont think they are ever going to get hit yes ok but to quote captainjack: " First overstrength is 10% of the unit cost, second is 15%, third 20%, fourth 25% and fifth 30%, so at 15 strength, not only have you double the cost on that unit (10 + 15+20+ 25 + 30 = 100%) but one hit costs you 30% of the base unit cost. Ouch! Sometimes you are better off running at 11 or 12 strength..." When the softcap starts to bite this is even more critical it is the overstrengthed cost that is used in the softcap calculations. This is also part of the reason I would like to keep my 10.cm art as long as possible. When you get really strong/high defence hard targets you will need harder hitting higher calibres.
Attachments
er(22.01.2018) Sedan, Turn 18.rar
(47.29 KiB) Downloaded 127 times
Last edited by hugh2711 on Mon Jan 29, 2018 1:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
hurly
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Re: GC replays and analysis, field marshall

Post by hurly »

you seem to be a very fast player and typer

a whole year of Battles written down in a couple of minutes :mrgreen: just kidding


seriously well done



I especially like the Thinking behind the Thinking so it's quite a new style of AAR ... very refreshing at least for me


One more thing I would ask/beg you to add if it is not too much of a workload

can you add screenshots of the Starting map ?

I find that really helpful in recognizing the scenario as (mostly later in Russia) I often do not have a really bond between scenario names and the actual map resp gameplay.
A screenshot of the map would be really handy for that.

Anyway good job keep up the good work
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