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 The year of 1941 led us from the Mediterranean into the heart of Russia. We didn't quite eliminate the Soviets in one go, but with the experience our core has gained, it should be no problem to finish them off this year.  The return of the 3rd gave them a good opportunity to prove themselves. In the Battle of Moscow they made their way up past three stars of experience.  The 40th HW unit were brought in to fill out the ranks with something a bit more powerful than the base infantry. They'll likely get upgraded eventually, but they have made it to four stars just this year.  The paratroops are grounded for now, and will probably stay that way through 1942. Their ability to march a bit faster than the other high quality troops makes them good for breakthroughs into enemy positions.   The Pioniere are sitting at just around five stars each. With all this experience, they can be held back and used only when necessary to knock out an entrenched position.   Our Bridging Engineers are doing quite well. They've closing in on four stars, and they'll probably be seeing a lot of hard combat this year.   The two light tanks made it through this year. The Panzer II will finally get upgraded, but the Pz 38(t) will stick around in a recon role.   There are two old models of Panzer III in the ranks, but with maxed out experience, it almost doesn't matter what tank they're in. It'll be better if we can keep our best units on par with the Soviet armor, so they'll probably be the first to get upgraded when we get haevier models.   The Panzer IIIj is quite respectable, and will likely be fine through this year. Although as time goes on they may be moved from the front of the lines to a back-up role.   The Panzer IVd will stay in the role of infantry-fighting tank. We don't expect to see a better tank for that purpose until next year, and with as much experience as these guys have, they should survive until then.  In the expansive battlefields of the Soviet Union, the recon units are a bit more vulnerable if they try to strike out on their own. These cars are still good at scouting any enemy units trying to sneak up on our flank.   The Panzerjaegers are still stuck in their tiny little tin cans that aren't suitable for fighting off any tanks. By surviving this long, they've earned the right to upgrades, which are definitely coming.   The mobile armored artillery ended up being a favored target of the enemy. It's a struggle to keep even one unit active, and their crews have the highest loss percentage of any unit type.   All of the artillery has been on the losing end when going up against the powerful defensive guns of the enemy. We'll need to keep the crews in good condition, and will likely be improving the training for these units.  The 25th SdKfz suprised everyone by being the first to max out their experience. They'll need to remain quick to scoot away from ground combat, because the Russian armor can probably knock them out in one shot if they catch them.  The 88mm guns are unlikely to see many more enemy aircraft, but they're a good unit to keep around for deterrence. And just in case we make a mistake and the enemy slips through on the ground, they'll be well-suited to hold their position (as long as they stay clear of enemy artillery). Air Units  While the 109's are now relegated to an escort role as the FW 190 claims the top hunter-killer spot, these squadrons are still chock full of ace pilots. If there's a sufficient surplus of prestige, they might get an upgrade this year to longer-range models.    The Focke-Wulf simply outclasses everything the Allies have right now. These are our standard fighter now. Even though the Soviets beat us in numbers, that's just more targets to gain experience from.  The Bf110c doesn't have a great role anymore, except as reconnaissance. They are pretty low on the upgrade list, but with nearly max experience, they should make it through the year just fine.   The Stukas will be fine as long as they stick close to their escorts. They're as good as ever at smashing the ground forces.   The bomber crews are managing to keep themselves safe as well. But with the sheer number of enemy fighters, they'll need to be escorted now too. That's the current roster done. New units coming by the time of our next battle in 1942: Infantry  The only big change for the infantry was the introduction of a new transport (available for any soft target, but they're the units that use them the most.) Tanks  There is a new model of Panzer IV, and it promises to change everything about that tank. The IVF comes with a powerful new gun, and it's going to give us the edge against the heavy Soviet armor. It also gets a boost in armor, making it better than or equal to the Panzer IIIj in all aspects. Recon  Still nothing new here. Anti-Tank    Finally, we're seeing some decent mobile anti-tank units. The Stug IIIf direct-fire version is effectively the same as the artillery model, which makes it pretty decent but not a replacement for a tank. The Marder is actually a bit more powerful, but so thinly-armored it's not usable except as a very cheap stopgap. Artillery   The SiG II is much less terrible than the early models (in that it has power, speed, and good defense) but still has too little ammo to really be usable. There is a new towed gun. The only thing it adds is one more point of naval attack. It also has less ammo than the existing howitzers, but inexplicably costs more. No reason to every buy this one. Anti-Aircraft  There's actually a new unit in this category. The SdKfz 7/1 is big boost in offensive power, and even gives one extra point of intiative. It still has the same (lack of) armor, but putting this in the hands of our crack soldiers will make this a very efficient mop-up unit. Air Defense Nothing added, nothing needed. Fighter  The Bf109g is an updated fighter that doesn't compromise any of the abilities of the models we currently have. The big boost in range (and movement) makes it a fairly compelling upgrade, if it turns out we want it. Tac Bomber  There is a new Bf110 model that's also a strict improvement over the 110c. But it's starting to get up there in prestige cost, and we really don't require a jack-of-all-trades aircraft.  The Me210c is even more of that sort of thing. This makes for a plane that could be used in a scouting role, hit ground targets decently, and likely hold its own in an even matchup with Soviet fighters. But with a prestige cost of more than a FW190, it'd make such a juicy target that it would probably not be facing equal numbers of enemy planes very often. Level Bomber  The He177a is an excellent strategic bomber. It's not even that expensive, but it has very good armor and defensive machine guns. It also has even more naval attacking power than the Ju88. As for where we're going in 1942, we were offered another choice :  But there's no way we're not going to take on the Soviets again. Sevastopol is next.
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| ← # ? Jan 28, 2016 21:40 |
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