Sandstorm let's play (replay style)

[Mojko]

Hi everyone!

I'm doing a let's play on Sandstorm, but instead of making videos on youtube I will be using game replays. Eventually, I will post a replay for each scenario in the Sandstorm campaign, I will be playing on middle difficulty.

To view a replay you just need to download it, unzip it and place it into the "Replays" folder. After that open the game replay from the game menu.

Enjoy!

Tobruk scenario notes:

- avoid buying Bersaglieri and Alpini because they are expensive and have no 42/43 versions which makes them obsolete later on
- buy trucks for your infantry
- don't bother defusing mines with engineers as it is too slow for this scenario, use Italian infantry for mine defuse (they are cheap to replace)
- don't deploy all available command points worth of units as you will run short of supplies
- don't deploy your planes too early as it takes few turns for the enemy planes to reach you, this saves you fuel initially
- don't bother clearing out enemy troops in the north as it is nothing of interest there anyway
- first time in OOB history I recommend use of strategic bombers as they act as a mobile artillery and Italian army doesn't have any decent planes until 43
- the rest is just basics: let the Italian infantry suffer most damage and protect you tanks, you should not need to replace a single point on any of your tanks during whole scenario


This scenario is quite easy but contains lot of traps that are not obvious . Especially, Panzer Korps players who systematically try to capture the whole map without doing any flanking will find this scenario very difficult.

[Mojko]

Halfaya pass added

scenario notes:

- ignore enemy scout cars, you don't have the time to chase them around
- MVP of this battle are:
-> one Italian infantry who snuck through enemy lines and captured 60 command points worth of supplies
-> one Italian light anti-tank gun which refused to die, held Halfaya pass until other Italian units could retreat, then snuck behind enemy lines and captured 30 command points worth of supplies while cutting enemy supplies at the same time

The British were undersupplied for most of the battle. There was a supply crippling supply event on axis side but it didn't matter much as I already owner much of British supply

Nice scenario, I like the campaign so far.

[msu7151]

Okay. I have played this scenario 3 times and every single time, I get slaughtered. How the heck can anybody win this thing? The Germans can't buy enough tanks and their infantry along with the Italians are almost worthless. Then, when you get to Tobruk, you face an ungodly amount of units, ships, bunkers, etc. Even if you started there, you still get killed. Please somebody enlighten me as to any possible winning scenario!!

[Mojko]

Okay. I have played this scenario 3 times and every single time, I get slaughtered. How the heck can anybody win this thing? The Germans can't buy enough tanks and their infantry along with the Italians are almost worthless. Then, when you get to Tobruk, you face an ungodly amount of units, ships, bunkers, etc. Even if you started there, you still get killed. Please somebody enlighten me as to any possible winning scenario!!

Watch my replay and see the notes I make for each scenario. That should help you get through this.

[cutydt02]

Oh sh*t !! I got nearly 5-6 béaglieri till map 4..... thats why i always run out of money. Should i restart ?

[Mojko]

Oh sh*t !! I got nearly 5-6 béaglieri till map 4..... thats why i always run out of money. Should i restart ?

You should definitely consider it. Bersaglieri costs 60, basic infantry costs 35. This is not just initial costs, repairing Bersaglieri is almost double the cost of basic infantry as well.

[kondi754]

Oh sh*t !! I got nearly 5-6 béaglieri till map 4..... thats why i always run out of money. Should i restart ?

You should definitely consider it. Bersaglieri costs 60, basic infantry costs 35. This is not just initial costs, repairing Bersaglieri is almost double the cost of basic infantry as well.

I got 2 units of Bersaglieri (or 1 Bers/1 Alpini) max at the end of the campaign, 6 units is too much.

[Mojko]

Operation Crusader added

- Scenario notes:

- avoid buying Italian tanks as they are inferior to German tanks and have no discount upgrades

Very nice scenario and finally there was one sandstorm. Does anyone know what the exact effect of a sandstorm is?

[Shards]

I did a video of Tobruk, and I DO take bersagliari!

https://youtu.be/IpqgrMnJVh8

Not taking Tobruk isn't a killer, you'll get another shot in Crusader (mission 3)

[Shards]

And I also slightly disagree on the Italian tanks, the middle of the three has fantastic mobility for flanking/recon.

Sandstorm halves movement and drastically reduces LoS

[CoolDTA]

- Scenario notes:

- avoid buying Italian tanks as they are inferior to German tanks and have no discount upgrades

The medium Carro Armatos (Fiat M13/40 -> 14/41 -> 15/42) should have discount upgrades just like they have in Panzer Corps. Well, maybe in the next patch.

[cutydt02]

- Scenario notes:

- avoid buying Italian tanks as they are inferior to German tanks and have no discount upgrades

The medium Carro Armatos (Fiat M13/40 -> 14/41 -> 15/42) should have discount upgrades just like they have in Panzer Corps. Well, maybe in the next patch.

I just take italian tanks because i did have too much rps and infs
But m14/41 is decent, its speed let me surround and weaken column or tough tanks easily
Just be sad that the bersaglieri impress me but cant pass 42 regular inf (
Anyone uses their bomber? Or just mc.202 to escort ?

[Mojko]

Sea convoy scenario added

Pretty interesting scenario

[13obo]

Well, figure I'll post my replays here as well.

Here goes 1st mission. Replay is on 5th difficulty, all objectives completes on turn 25, and after 1 restart when I reached Tobruk and realised it's not gonna work without proper AA (though I tried to play as if I didn't know the enemy positions). Definitely not an easy scenario as it's quite long and easy to make a mistake during one of those long turns.

Notes:

- Follow Mojko's advice about units to buy. Italian infantry is good and I always found space for an artillery, tank, recon, and fighter. German tanks, artillery and especially air rule though (at least for now).
- Don't overstretch, it's easy on this open map.
- Observation from Mojko's replay- he plays very aggressively and trying to cover as much terrain as possible often leading with his trucks, which I don't recommend doing (especially charging forward with the 250 RP artillery in the beginning).
- Observation from Shards' vid- man, was someone threatening you with a gun to the head to finish the mission ASAP? That was crazy quick!

[Mojko]

- Observation from Mojko's replay- he plays very aggressively and trying to cover as much terrain as possible often leading with his trucks, which I don't recommend doing (especially charging forward with the 250 RP artillery in the beginning).

It may look dumb, but thanks to that move I was able to complete the first objective on turn 1, which granted me extra resources and command points to deploy another tank. That's a big deal at the start. Since the artillery didn't even fire before taking damage I could use basic repair since no exp would be lost.

it's true that I often lead with trucks but mostly just Italian infantry. This is because the trucks are surprisingly sturdy (compared to Panzer Korps anyway). In Tobruk mission I was happy to give enemy tanks a target to attack which drawn them out so I was able to quickly neutralise them. This would give me confidence in my trust forward since there were no enemy whicles left to cut my supply.

Also, the trucks act as a retard magnet for enemy aircraft. I noticed that AI likes to bomb my infantry trucks instead of the ones that carry artillery. Overall, I think the best strategy is not to avoid damage, but giving the AI targets that are easy to repair.

Thanks for the replay, I'll give it a watch

[13obo]

The tanks and aircraft are scripted to attack (which you can figure because they attack you from the Fog of War and without them having scouted you), so they'd have attacked something anyway. And in my view there's also no need to rush to grab the first objective in 1st turn as you have plenty of turns at your disposal- your net RP is still the same.

But your tactic seems to work so whatever floats!

[conboy]

I had to play it two times on Level IV to get a win. My advice - remember and adhere to the primary objectives!

conboy

[13obo]

2nd mission- 5th difficulty, all objectives completed. Easier scenario but also easy to mess up.

Notes:

- Enemy has transport and moves fast- if you lose top left objective, you lose game so rush to protect it fast with tanks.
- One infantry is enough to support the right push along the coast of the british.

[Mojko]

Buq Buq scenario added.

Notes:

- very nice opportunity to make use of full encirclement tactic

[13obo]

3rd mission- 5th difficulty. All objectives completed. Wow, that was a LOT of british units.

Notes:

- the mobile italian AA/AT is great- bought 3! However, it is very squishy and should be used defensively or against tank at low efficiency- else your repair bill is gonna sky rocket. Had to restart once when I realised I was haemorrhaging RP due to repairs of these.
- destroying the british supply depot basically means game over as british supply drops to 30-40, which is only about 20-30% of what they need (efficiency gradually drops to that level and units become super slow). So if you can do it before the counter attack, then you won't have to face it.