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Try to get units in position so that you can have a large number of units hit a spot and take it on a single turn, and plan a route into the objective. Often in PGF it is better to take a turn to maneuver and prepare for a battle than to rush into an attack before you're ready. There's a bit of gaminess when you try to find a way not to destroy a unit unless you can get yours to move up in its place, to avoid the endless cycle of knocking out units that get replaced right away. The problem with the Polish scenarios in particular is that your artillery and air power is really weak (or nonexistent). The arty may be best used to back up units that just moved into position. In Warsaw, you end up having a fair number of tanks with nearly no opposing AFVs. Use them for the first hit on entrenched positions. Most of the time they can handle the enemy artillery, and if it's not an AT gun, they should take almost no return damage. It may seem pointless since they probably won't inflict any damage either, but every hit reduces entrenchment and arty ammo. Fighter strikes also reduce entrenchment (though not ammo) and when possible hit units on a river, since even Bf109s can knock a few points off of them. It is still pretty hard; much harder than in the original game because the AI is a lot better at setting up defense. Realistically the opening battle (Poland) almost requires precise movements to have a chance at winning, given the terrain in the north. In Warsaw, having at least one Pioniere, or some good luck, is probably critical to get a good result (note that in my battle I had some luck on the northwest side, and the Pioniere on the other side).
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Aug 3, 2015 01:44
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I tried to mimic the strategy you used but the AI kept making more and more tanks, three every two-three turns, kept eating into my ammo and fuel so I couldn't even resupply them. Didn't help that I get seriously damaged from all the drat Rugged Defences that I kept getting, losing more than half the HP of a unit in a single battle sucks. So should i perhaps turn of some options to increase my chances?
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Aug 3, 2015 02:30
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Koorisch posted:So should i perhaps turn of some options to increase my chances? Wouldn't hurt to give it a shot at a lower difficulty before ramping it up again.
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Aug 3, 2015 03:32
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You can also try the stand-alone scenarios, since they give you better units early on. This is definitely true for Poland; for Warsaw it kind of depends on how well you do on the first mission. e: Also keep in mind that (at least in my experience) the AI setting for 'Hard' means 'more dynamic and reactive', while 'Easy' means 'more static and consistent'. In short missions the 'Easy' AI can present a tougher, more puzzle-like challenge. Kangra fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Aug 3, 2015 |
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Aug 3, 2015 05:14
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 The Low Countries have all capitulated and a good portion of the British army has retreated to their home island. Now that we have secured the north of France, we're ready to conquer the rest of the country.  We're most likely going to easily beat France, but if we don't do it with enough speed, attacking England is out for this year. France June 5, 1940 26 Turns  Objectives: (Amiens), Paris, Le Havre, Caen, Orleans, Montargis, Le Mans, Tours Major: 14 turns. Yes, this is kind of a ludicrous turn limit. Some have claimed this as a 'bug' but Sealion is a really unlikely outcome, so making it crazy tough is sensible.  This is a large map, and to win we must cover a lot of ground. The rivers don't present much of an obstacle to movement, given that there are many roads and alternate approaches which the French simply can't fully cover. I rather like this map, as it provides a fair number of routes to choose from for attacking. It is also very rich in secondary objectives, and there's a lot of prestige there for the taking. That also means there's a lot of locations that the French could throw in units to surprise us; we'll have to strike a balance between speed and caution as we make our way. OOB pre:Unit Name Unit Type [Transport] Exp Land Units 1.4th Bridge Eng Bridge Eng [SPW] * 2.5th Pioniere Inf Pioniere Inf[Opel] * 3.15th Pioniere Inf Pioniere Inf[Opel] *** 4.17th 39 Wehr Inf 39 Wehr Inf * 5.28th 39 Wehr Inf 39 Wehr Inf - 6.19th 40 LuftW FJ 40 LuftW FJ * 7.16th PSW 222/4r PSW 222/4r * 8.9th Pz IId Pz IId ** 9.13th Pz 38(t)A Pz 38(t)A ** 10.10th Pz IIIg Pz IIIg *** 11.11th Pz IIIg Pz IIIg *** 12.PotatoManJack Pz IIIg * 13.23rd Pz IVD Pz IVd * 14.26th Pz IVD Pz IVd - 15.8th PzJager Ib PzJager Ib * 16.24th StuGIIIb StuGIIIb - 17.Die kleinen Stichel 10.5 IefH [Opel] - 18.12th 15 sFH 18 15 sFH 18[Opel] - 19.18th 15 sFH 18 15 sFH 18[SPW] - 20.25th SdKfz 10/4 SdKfz 10/4 ** 21.22nd 8.8 FlaK 18 8.8 FlaK 18 - Air Units 1.6th Bf109e Bf109e *** 2.14th Bf109e Bf109e ** 3.20th Bf 110c Bf 110c * 4.ADAC Vogel Ju87b ** 5.21st Ju88A Ju88A * Aux (by qty) 1 Bf110c * 1 Do17z * 1 Ju88a - Starting Prestige: 1145 (1525 before upgrades) Except for a few planes, it appears the auxiliary has been left behind to pacify the Low Countries. We've got to fight this battle ourselves, but the core is looking pretty sizable at this point.  The core deploys in two main groups. Along the coast, some of our best units are assigned the task of capturing strategic ports and cities from Abbeville to Caen. A large force is set up in the center. They'll need to clear out the first line of French forces, protect the coastal advance, and eventually move on Paris.  The rest of the core is already southeast of the Somme and preparing to move quickly into the French rear. They'll push hard to make it to Tours, and grab a lot of extra prestige in the towns along the way. This group will be aided in their advance by a paradrop at Troyes.  This two-part deployment describes the plan of battle: two prongs that will advance with lightning speed along the west and the east sides of Paris. It is expected that by the time the two groups meet somewhere around Tours at the end of the month, the French capital will already have fallen. This is not an encircling action, it's just a strike along the weaker flanks while a secondary force takes its time with the tougher center. Axis Turn 1: June 5, 1940 Clear(dry)  The eastern advance gets underway with an attack on Reims that leaves its defense in a shambles.  On the other side, progress is made on the coast, while the center runs into stiff resistance but at least is across the Somme. Another Stuka is added to the core, and with a Stug IIIb on the east side the core is filled out. Allied Turn 1: June 5, 1940  The British planes fly straight throught flak and destroy the new Ju87 before it can even see battle. AD guns don't actually fire defensively against air units attacking air units, but they will get a shot at the fighters on the German turn. Axis Turn 2: June 6, 1940 Clear(dry)  The Allied planes have massed their attack in order to overwhelm our flak guns. We see that the French have managed to field their one decent fighter, the Dewoitine D.520. We still go after the British first, as they have better pilots.  The coast force makes a pretty good move on Dieppe, and in the center we blow past several enemy units.  Our artillery destroys the French artillery in the center before it can retreat. In the east, we move into Reims. Allied Turn 2: June 6, 1940  The big guns get hit back when the Allied planes strike while the French tanks break through on the ground.  At Dieppe, the Stug proves its worth by defending the SdKfz against an infantry attack. Axis Turn 3: June 7, 1940 Clear(dry)  Our strong flak guns make the British pay the price for staying too long over their target.  As more British forces surrender, Dieppe looks like it will be soon to fall.  The Bf110 tries to take out the Matildas before they can retreat, but they are unable to bust the heavily-armored tanks. Allied Turn 3: June 7, 1940  A small offshore naval force bombards our guns. Axis Turn 4: June 8, 1940 Clear(dry)  The paradrop at Troyes turned out to be a success; the road to the south is wide open.  Most of French territory from the center to the coast is clear north of the Seine. Allied Turn 4: June 8, 1940  The guns barely survive another offshore attack, but at least the naval forces are forced to retreat from our bombers. Close to Amiens, the artillery is blown up by an infantry and tank strike which threatens our middle. Axis Turn 5: June 9, 1940 Clear(dry)  ADAC Vogel scores the first one-shot kill of our campaign; a French infantry unit near Thierry.  The eastern prong of our attack is closing in on Montargis. Allied Turn 5: June 9, 1940  The British forces have been reduced to nearly nothing; they try to slow our advance on Calais (and also bring out an AT unit there later). Axis Turn 6: June 10 1940 Clear(dry)  We're doing a good job clearing out Picardy, and the units in the middle can start to move on Paris now. Allied Turn 6: June 10, 1940  Thierry is turning out to be a tough spot for the mop-up troops. Axis Turn 7: June 11, 1940 Clear(dry)  We capture Le Havre with our tanks. A combined attack forces the French to fall back from Rouen.  As some of the central group gets ready to march on Paris, our remaining troops make an all-out assault that causes a retreat at Thierry. ADAC Vogel returns to take care of any units that try to attack the town.  Montargis is captured; the FJ's get ready to make another drop. Allied Turn 7: June 11, 1940  We've been seeing some French tanks shifting around near Paris. One of them hits our lead infantry unit, knocking it to half strength. Axis Turn 8: June 12, 1940 Clear(dry)  French resistance in the east has been light, but as we reach Orleans, we find that all their guns seem to have dug in there.  Caen is similarly defended by a line of AT guns.  We have troops all around Paris now, more to get a good look at the defense than to try to fight them on all sides. Allied Turn 8: June 12, 1940  The 5th repel a French tank attack.  The French flak at Paris proves to be stronger than expected. Our replacement Stuka is shot down by focused fire. That's the second one I've lost this battle ... Axis Turn 9: June 13, 1940 Clear(dry)  The best we can do at Orleans is just chip away the defenses slowly.  Caen will be easier to crack as the units are less dug-in. Our tanks have an easier time penetrating the enemy lines. Allied Turn 9: June 13, 1940  The French AD guns continue to knock down our aircraft. Their tanks make the mistake of trying to attack the Panzerjagers, which are actually decent at holding them off. Axis Turn 10: June 14, 1940 Raining(dry) A small amount of rain starts to fall. Hopefully it is not enough to ruin our offensive.  Attacks on Paris begin to wear down the outer line of defense. The rain may actually prove useful to protect our planes from the flak.  The paratroops get ready to make their second jump. Far to the south, the scout cars are seizing control of some of the undefended French towns. Allied Turn 10: June 14, 1940  The French make a bad attack by sending AT guns against infantry. Either their commanders are incompetent or they're growing desperate. The battle seems to be going moderately well. Although the loss of those Stukas is a pretty hefty hit to our prestige. Voting for the next one-off was unanimously for the Middle East. 
Kangra fucked around with this message at 05:13 on Aug 15, 2015 |
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Aug 6, 2015 22:44
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It is clear at this point that we are not going to conclude the subjugation of France as quickly as our commanders would like. But we are not seeing any particular difficulty either. The fight for Paris is bitter but we can likely capture it within a week. The rest of the country is sure to surrender before the month is out.  The eastern prong of our attack was slowed down at Orleans, while we've been rolling down the coast with relative ease. We'll be heading down the Loire on both sides once Orleans is taken, since it is well defended and we need to get more forces there. Paris is sure to fall soon, and we can commit units there to the southern objectives if necessary, or just let them build up strength. Axis Turn 11: June 15, 1940 Overcast(dry)  Armor assaults at Caen clear the town; we'll be able to hold it as the guns that remain will be unable to conduct any sort of offensive.  The German infantry gets closer to capturing Paris. Allied Turn 11: June 15, 1940  There are no attacks, but the French do try to rearrange their defensive guns to oppose us. Axis Turn 12: June 16, 1940 Raining (muddy) The rain, however light, hasn't really stopped. The roads turn to mud.  The rain delays the attack on Paris, but we do work on the one remaining strongpoint.  French guns at Tours hold off an attack from our paratroops. Allied Turn 12: June 16, 1940  At Orleans, the AT guns take a shot at the Stugs. But they end up being blasted back by our heavier towed guns supporting them. Axis Turn 13: June 17, 1940  We open up Le Mans to air attack by eliminating the last of the anti-aircraft guns.  The forests and river at Orleans make it difficult to set up a solid attack. We may need to get more troops down here.  The defenders of Paris fight valiantly, but we are able to overwhelm them with numbers. The city is ours! Allied Turn 13; June 17, 1940  The French continue to push their towed guns into the face of our artillery, with predicatably poor results. Their own artillery shells our infantry at Orleans and Tours. Axis Turn 14: June 18, 1940 Clear (Dry)  We need to break Orleans, and to do this, we have to take out the air defenses first. Despite heavy losses, we make bombing raids. We're also able to destroy the unit of guns that kept trying to attack our Stug.  On the other side of the battle, we've removed all the tougher units at Caen, and have at least a good position in Tours. We'll have to contain the forces coming in from the south, but they do not look very strong. Allied Turn 14: June 18, 1940  French partisans from the south make their way to Le Mans. They'll be a minor annoyance. Axis Turn 15: June 19, 1940 Clear (Dry)  The engineers eventually take out the artillery at Orleans, and the city is nearly defenseless. Allied Turn 15: June 19, 1940  Bombing raids have destroyed several units at Le Mans; only the partisan fighters remain to put up whatever defense they can. Axis Turn 16: June 20, 1940 Clear(dry)  After days of fighting back and forth with our paratroops, the guns at Tours are finally driven off.  The feeble reinforcements heading from the south fall fairly quickly to our armor. Allied Turn 16: June 20, 1940  The French tanks are more effective against the Stugs, and do manage to reduce them to half strength. Axis Turn 17: June 21, 1940 Clear (Dry)  Le Mans is nearly in our hands, but Tours remains and does not look easy to take. Allied Turn 17: June 21, 1940  The paratroops may have pushed the guns back, but all it seemed to do was allow the French to bring out more guns. Axis Turn 18: June 22, 1940 Clear (Dry)  The remaining enemy forces around Le Mans can be cleaned up with air attacks.  All forces now can converge on Tours. The scout car to the south finally meets up with resistance near Chateauroux.  But in the rush to move south, we've forgotten to fully take control of Orleans! Allied Turn 18: June 22, 1940  There is an attack on the recon vehicles, but they shake it off. Axis Turn 19: June 23, 1940 Clear (Dry)  Orleans isn't lost yet; the Panzer IV should be able to handle the ramshackle defenses that the French set up overnight.  The Bridging engineers get the tanks across the Cher to hit one unit of guns before they finish them off. Allied Turn 19: June 23, 1940  The city is now surrounded, and the defenders have nowhere to move around. Axis Turn 20: June 24, 1940 Clear (Dry)  The French keep finding ways to obstruct our conquest of their country. But Orleans will surely be taken properly in a couple more days.  With the air defense taken out at Tours, we can bomb with impunity while we wait for the tanks to get across the river. Allied Turn 20: June 24, 1940  About the only real fighting is going on to the south.  At Tours, a few more units continue to pop up. Axis Turn 21: June 25, 1940 Overcast (Dry)  It takes all day to get rid of the new forces, but the 4th finally make a bridgehead into the city. Allied Turn 21: June 15, 1940  The French try to make some sort of defense along the Loire, but it will do little to help Tours. At Orleans, the guns remain defiantly in the city. Axis Turn 22: June 26, 1940 Overcast (Dry)  The battle for Tours is finally over.  We send the PanzerJaeger to go beat up on the units left behind at Caen. It's earning a nice bit of experience. Note that neither of those Allied units can capture objectives.  The Pioniere push their way into the city of Orleans, securing it for good. Allied Turn 23: June 27, 1940  The French nation is all but defeated. Just a few units remain to the south. Axis Turn 24: June 28, 1940  We spend a few days building up as much overstrength and experience as we can, and force the final surrender after marching into Tours. This result was much more disappointing than expected. I had no intentions of straining to get a Major Victory here, but hoped to at least milk it for prestige and experience. Thanks to losing all those expensive planes, however, it ended up reducing our prestige reserve by quite a bit. I keep saying, "We'll make it up later" but we're headed into some tough campaigning, and there's not much time for us to shape up. On the plus side, we actually did get a good amount of experience, especially for the vehicles. Result: Minor Victory Ending Prestige: 272 
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Aug 15, 2015 05:13
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 Time for another force review! 1940 saw the demise of Western Europe with a speed unmatched in any previous war. Although Britain is beyond our reach for now, we'll still have a chance for plenty of fighting in 1941.  The 4th became our first bridging unit. They haven't seen as much combat as the Pioniere, but nevertheless are still on their way to earning three stars.   With their superior equipment and training, the Pioniere are the most reliable of our infantry. Each combat only serves to give them more experience.   The regular infantry are still pretty good compared to that of the opposing nations we've fought. They're gaining experience and if they get stronger, will likely earn an upgrade this year.   A few of the lighter tanks have managed to stick around. This is partly due to a lower amount of available prestige, but also partly because they boast a few features that our other tanks don't: higher spotting range, making them better-armored scouts for off-road terrain. Both units are solid veterans and can survive a battle if need be.    The Panzer III is our main battle tank for now, and will likely remain so through this year. The 10th & 11th have been fighting from the war's start, and have an excellent level of experience now. Potatomanjack is coming on strong, though.   The Panzer IV is a good choice when the armor can or must fight infantry. Tanks don't do so well in city fighting, so they aren't gaining experience quite as quickly. There may be a question as to why I consider the Panzer III as better than the Panzer IV, since it would seem the Panzer IV has better attack values. The crucial difference is in the initiative: winning the initiative has a huge effect on suppressing the enemy's ability to hurt you, and most tanks have a fairly high initiative value. Thus the Panzer IV is more likely to get hit first and not get the shots off it needs. Against infantry in the open, they win initiative all the time. In that case, their better firepower is more than sufficient. It's interesting to consider this in contrast with history; I don't know much about the Panzers but I thought the IV was more often used in large armor vs. armor engagements. That could be just be later on in the war, when the newer models appear.  Our recon unit has been good for grabbing extra points, and survived the fight in France with a good deal more experience.  The 8th Panzerjaeger has picked its battles well, and is now up to three stars.   The Stugs are strong enough that they don't really need to care whether they're earning experience or not; they fit their role well.    The towed artillery similarly gain strength slowly. Die kleinen Stichel have been plinking away since Poland, and have more than a full star now. The 12th had to be reconstituted after heavy losses in France, and are back at the start in terms of experience.  The 25th SdKfz have had an incredible introduction to the war. They seem to have a preternatural ability to be just in the right place to find nearby enemy planes, and picking off weak ground units has given them stellar fighting ability. With their veterancy, they are almost able to make up for the shortcomings of their vehicles. Air Units   The Messerschmidts seem to be continually jockeying for the position of the top fighter in the war. The pilots in the 6th are ahead for now, but by year's end we expect both units to be filled with aces.  The Bf110c has played a quieter role, but with just shy of 3 stars, they can serve as scouts without much fear of being lost.   Even if ADAC Vogel has many skilled pilots, heavy losses among the Stukas has raised concerns about how long they can keep flying these old planes. Thankfully we expect to see newer models that should give them a better chance of survival.  The strategic bombers don't seem to be affected; they've not yet had to contend with any serious threat from the Allied fighters. Now, the new units that we can get at the start of 1941, by class: Infantry  No changes for the infantry. No real need for them yet. Tanks  The Panzer IIIh is the latest upgrade and makes a decent tank into a very good one. Bumps in initiative and defense help, and the improved attack values mean it can handle any target with aplomb. This is also one of the rare instances of a significantly improved model costing the exact same amount of prestige. Recon  Nothing new here. Anti-Tank  Towed guns continue to be added to the pool of available units, and we continue to not need them for an offensive army. Some mention should be made of the PaK38. While the 8.8 (converted flak gun) is unquestionably deadly to anything it touches, it's also pretty expensive, and actually worse at taking a hit then the other AT guns, making it particularly vulnerable to artillery. The Pak38 hits an excellent sweet spot of value - cheap enough that you aren't afraid to buy it, while strong enough that it doesn't feel like just a minor roadblock to the enemy. Artillery  Newer mobile artillery models continue to appear. While I'm not so impressed by the SiG Ib (powerful, but low ammo and mediocre armor), the latest thing in long-range warfare is the Nebelwerfer, and it's a lot more attractive. These are rocket artillery, and just devastating against the squishier units. They aren't wonderful, though: Ammo is still relatively low, and they only have a range of 2. For what you get they are on the expensive side. Anti-Aircraft  Nothing new here, but it seems we've had good luck with this unit so far, so no complaints. Air Defense  A mobile air defense unit is now on offer. Seeing as how they can't attack ground units, and are weaker than the towed units, they offer very little to a core that rarely needs protection from air attacks. We have Messerschmidts for that. Fighter  Speaking of which, there's a new model of the Bf109. I feel like I ought to be excited about this, since it really is better, but it just doesn't grab me. Combat ability has shifted from the offensive to defensive, making it more balanced overall. Despite a much-needed improvement in fuel capacity, it's an upgrade I'll skip.  Besides, it's hard to get excited about any modest design changes when the next great fighter has arrived. Fast, sleek, and boasting insane combat ability, the Focke-Wulf 190a is the plane that makes Allied pilots weep in their bunks. Tac Bomber  From the exciting to the utterly humdrum. The Bf110d is nearly identical to the 110c. All it does is trade some fuel capacity for ammo. Which is an improvement. I guess.  The promised good news for the bomber pilots is the Ju87d. This model importantly sports better armor and defensive guns, but is actually improved in almost every aspect. That's raised the price by a fair amount, but it'll be worth it. The Ju87r is a forgettable upgrade that only increases fuel capacity of the Ju87b. Level Bomber  While the other Dornier bomber, the Do 17z, is a fairly lackluster model, the 217e is a quality machine. It's slightly cheaper than the Ju88, but is just about as good in the air — fewer guns and more armor. The only drawback is that it's not effective against naval units, but where we're headed later this year, we don't expect to see many sea battles. And actually, about where we're headed... We got a choice after we took over France. Since this is a run for victory and we don't want to miss out on the invasion of Russia, the choice has already been made.  Next up for the core: The Balkans. See the one-off battles for where the alternate path leads, since we're almost doing a continuation of that path with the side missions.
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Aug 20, 2015 23:40
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Kangra posted:There may be a question as to why I consider the Panzer III as better than the Panzer IV, since it would seem the Panzer IV has better attack values. The crucial difference is in the initiative: winning the initiative has a huge effect on suppressing the enemy's ability to hurt you, and most tanks have a fairly high initiative value. Thus the Panzer IV is more likely to get hit first and not get the shots off it needs. The early Panzer III's had a higher penetrating gun and were actually designed to be the German counter to AFV's, whereas the Panzer IV was initially designed to be a infantry support tank. Thus the Panzer IV is slower, and has the 75mm howitzer as its early-variant armament. Later on, due to the invasion of the Soviet Union and the KV-1/T-34, it was found that the turret ring was big enough to accommodate a larger, more effective gun. The Panzer III, however, could not, and near the end of its career (with the Ausf. N) it even reverted back to an infantry support role with a 75mm Howitzer, the same gun used by the PzIV 4-5 years prior.
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Aug 21, 2015 01:33
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Just to clarify, the reason it was so important to get the bigger guns on the panzer IVs is because the T-34 and KV-1 were both significantly better armoured than the German tanks were equipped to deal with. The T-34 was well armoured and brilliantly designed with cleverly sloping armour surfaces, which transformed head-on shots into glancing blows. The KV-1 went with a stereotypically Russian engineering design of "just add more steel", and as a result its armour was quite thick and very, very difficult to penetrate under normal conditions. Germany therefore required anti-tank weaponry with a better muzzle velocity, so the infantry support tank became the anti-armour vehicle of choice (for all the reasons Jobbo_Fett so eloquently explained in his post above.)
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Aug 21, 2015 03:31
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I never considered the initiative aspect of it, but it was clear to me even as a kid playing the original in the 90s that the Panzer IV was not supposed to be the tank just yet, because the Panzer IIIs had better hard attack. The IV was great at hitting infantry, but you still wanted a few IIIs for smashing the harder stuff. Learning about history later in life did I realize that the dichotomy bore out: the short 75mm gun on the IVs was well-suited for anti-infantry combat, while the IIIs had a "long" 50mm gun.
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Aug 21, 2015 03:53
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The shock of the KV-1 and T-34 also led to the frankenstein 7.5cm Pak 97/38 and rushing out the 7.5cm Pak 40. The Pak 40 had great capabilities, though, and was one of the best anti-tank guns of the war but were getting a little ahead of ourselves.
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Aug 21, 2015 03:55
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Thanks for the info on the tanks. Useful to know about the IIIN, too, since it shows up in-game. We'll be spending a fair amount of time in 1941, and once any of the tanks get to 5 stars, nobody will have much that can handle them. Which makes me realize we aren't going to see much of the tank-fighting Panzer IV in our core (by the end we'll be all Panthers and maybe a Tiger), but the side missions will show it off. Middle East battle next. And then the Balkans ... which I never managed to get a major in before. I also forgot just how huge the Balkans battle is.
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Aug 26, 2015 05:05
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 The war spreads from Africa into the Near East and beyond (making this title work with either sense of "Middle East'). This battle is a continuation of the previous North Africa scenario. After the Germans won in Egypt, they seized control of the Suez Canal. Britain still holds Palestine, Transjordan, and (recent acquistion) Iraq. The Germans seek to move through these territories in order to drive them completely out of the Mediterranean, and threaten supply lines to the Soviet Union. Middle East September 1, 1941 26 Turns  Objectives: (German Camp), (Italian Camp), Jerusalem, Haifa, Bierut, Damascus, Anah, Baghdad I remain committed to spelling the cities as they appear in the game. Maybe pretend it's just a map misprint. Major: 20 turns.  While this map is moderately large, the terrain is fairly restrictive. The close-by regions have some open ground, but also a lot of rough land between the roads. As we look ahead, the roads are the only approach to the eastern cities and there are two rivers to cross, with points where the Allies (British, here) can block us. The vast desert spaces aren't of much use to us. we'd have too hard a time staying supplied for the entire distance, and cutting through a short distance won't gain us much time, as the terrain is even more rugged. OOB pre:Unit Name Unit Type [Transport] Exp Land Units 2 39 Wehr Inf [SPW 251] ** 2 39 Wehr Inf [SPW 250] * 2 40 Wehr HW [SPW 250] ** 1 40 LuftW FJ ** 1 IT Infantry [Fiat Truck] ** 2 IT Infantry [Fiat Truck] - 1 IT Bersglri [Fiat Truck] ** 1 Pz IId * 1 Pz IIf * 1 Pz IIIh ** 2 Pz IIIj ** 1 Pz IVd ** 1 PSW 222/4r * 1 PSW 231/6r * 1 IT AB-40 ** 2 Stug IIIb * 2 sIG Ib * 1 sIG Ib - 1 10.5 IefH [Opel] ** Air Units 2 Bf109e ** 1 Bf109f ** 1 FW190a ** 1 Re2000/F1 ** 1 Bf110c ** 1 Bf110d ** 1 Ju87B ** 1 Ju87D ** 1 Ju87R ** 1 Ju88a ** 1 IT BA65 ** 1 IT CA365 ** 1 IT P108 Bi ** Naval units 1 U-boat - 1 T-destroyer * 1 S-boat - 1 Battleship Bk * 1 Heavy Cruiser - 1 Light Cruiser ** Starting Prestige: 500 The now-expanded Afrika Korps is looking okay so far. They've gained some experience, and while there are none of the top infantry units, there are not all the basic grunts. Even the Italian troops are looking decent now. A few more good tanks would be nice, and for artillery we'll have to rely on the mobile sIG Ib. This shouldn't be as much of a problem, as the front line is likely to be pretty small. we can cycle units in and out (although the logistical problems that presents, especially in the desert, will mean we can't always move as fast as we'd like). Air support is excellent here, and we have a FW190a, a fighter that vastly outclasses anything the British have. We'll mainly want to protect our Stukas but avoid losing the fighters to flak. The Italians are doing a good job of supporting the fight as well. Not only have they committed their planes, but the Mediterranean fleet continues to keep the British at bay. As a bit of a challenge, I won't be adding much that's different in terms of units, and will not replace every unit lost.  The initial phase will make use of bombing raids to allow the troops to break out of the narrow gap north of the Sinai Peninsula. Once Jerusalem is taken, the units that took it will make their way across the Jordan River. Meanwhile, the rest of the force will stick to the roads and fight their way to the bridge. Once across, this main force will move through Damascus and then go on the long road to Baghdad. Back in Palestine, the Italians will be responsible for handling the coast up into Lebanon. Their navy ought to be sufficient to assist with that task, once the British fleet has been dealt with. Axis Turn 1: September 1, 1941 Clear(dry)  The naval battle opens with the sinking of a British destroyer. With luck, we'll be able to slip our U-boat in to hit their capital ships.  Reconnaissance reveals a pretty sizable British force to the east. If we move fast, we ought to be able to capture Palestine before they can reinforce it.  The Panzer IIIj's are able to consistently do some damage to the Matildas, and can fight well enough that the British have a hard time making any attacks on them.  We start the attack with an armored assault. Losses are heavy on the east side. Allied Turn 1: September 1, 1941  The British fleet trades off small ships and eliminates the S-boat.  The enemy tanks are utterly unafraid to attack, even though they know they cannot last very long in a fight with our tanks. Axis Turn 2: September 4, 1941 Clear(dry)  We knock out the enemy armor and immediately send in the infantry. Offshore bombardment helps to weaken the artillery and anti-air defenses. We have to get out of this desert traffic jam.  The ground troops need to be supported, and we force our way through the flak to do so. At sea, the U-boat nearly sinks an enemy cruiser. Allied Turn 2: September 4, 1941  Fighting is bloody for both sides. We have more troops ready to go behind the ones on the front line, though. The British do not. Axis Turn 3: September 7, 1941 Clear(dry)  The U-boat finds the British battlecruiser, but its torpedoes are ineffective.  We blast gaps in the enemy line, but can't break through past the AT guns holding the coast. In the distance, enemy fighters are spotted on their way to the battle. Allied Turn 3: September 7, 1941  A suprisingly large wave of enemy fighters and bombers comes to oppose us. One bomber is lost.  The British navy continues to go after our lighter ships, as their battlecruiser has no desire to face off with our battleship. Axis Turn 4: September 10, 1941 Clear(dry)  The southern part of Jerusalem is captured, but the main city holds on. The German units are forming a solid line now, and they spend a bit of time recovering.  A massive air battle occurs over Palestine. We only manage to knock out one squadron of Spitfires, but we have shot down a fair number of other planes. Allied Turn 4: September 10, 1941  The Italians take the most losses in the air, as the British find them to be easier targets. Their unescorted bombers continue to disrupt our ground forces. Axis Turn 5: September 13, 1941 Clear(dry)  The naval battle is now over, as the remnants of the British fleet can do nothing against us. We survive with our battleship intact, and moderate-to-heavy damage to the cruisers. Only the S-boat was lost.  One of the harder British planes to deal with is the Mosquito, a bomber that also makes for a really good fighter.  Now that Jerusalem is in our hands, we start crossing the river. We see that the British are holding a large armored force in Transjordan. We actually want to bypass them, but we'll likely be forced to engage at least a few tanks as we head north. Allied Turn 5: September 13, 1941  The British try to sink our subs, even if this is unlikely to help them in the battle. The subs slip under the waves and no damage is taken. Axis Turn 6: September 16, 1941 Clear(dry)  After another day of fighting in the skies and we've nearly eliminated all the remaining Allied planes. On the ground, we begin to cross the Jordan River and get our first units on the coast into the fight at Haifa. Allied Turn 6: September 16, 1941  The British tanks make no attacks. They simply put themselves in position to block our crossing. Axis Turn 7: September 19, 1941 Clear(dry)  Our tanks blow away the British armor and open the route to the north.  The German troops reduce the forces at Haifa. The port itself will be the responsibility of the Italians. Allied Turn 7: September 19, 1941  The infantry near Haifa move away to go after a SiG, but end up inflicting only a few casualties. Axis Turn 8: September 22, 1941 Clear(dry)  What is likely the last of the British bombers is finally shot down.  The Italian ground forces enter the fight at Haifa. The Germans are free to move all forces eastward. Allied Turn 8: September 22, 1941  The British tanks try to slow us down in Syria. Axis Turn 9: September 25, 1941 Clear(dry)  The infantry fight their way through the streets of Al Muffraq to capture it.  The problem with the Matildas is that even if they can't hurt us, we can really only knock them out by using our best tanks or bombers. Nothing else can scratch them.  With assistance from the air force and the navy, the Italians easily take control of Haifa. Allied Turn 9: September 25, 1941  The British guns at Damascus fire on our tanks, but they simply button up. The attack does no damage. Axis Turn 10: September 28, 1941 Clear(dry)  The German force is now almost fully massed for attacking Damascus from all sides. The Italians make their way up the coast into Lebanon. Allied Turn 10: September 28, 1941  The British tanks and AT guns manage to knock out the Italian scout car on the outskirts of Bierut. After a month of fighting, we've managed to take Palestine with relatively light losses. Now we've hit the next big block at Damascus. Hopefully by bypassing Transjordan entirely, we won't have to deal with attacks into our rear (or the supply lines once we move onward). 
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Aug 26, 2015 05:16
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The drive toward the Middle East continues! After a month of fighting, we've taken control of Palestine and more or less knocked the British out of the Eastern Mediterranean. Now we are looking to move onward.  The Germans are just about to wrap things up an Syria, and from there it's a straight shot east to Baghdad. Travel will be mostly along the roads, and since some units will be detached toward Anah, and some left to guard against British attacks from Transjordan, the traffic james should not crop up. The Italians will have the whole month to take care of Lebanon, and with their air force and navy to help, it ought to be no trouble. At this point we've eliminated all Allied air units, but may still have to deal with British flak guns, and it's going to be a bit tough to send air raids toward Iraq until we can capture an airfield out there. Axis Turn 11: October 1, 1941 Clear(dry)  We need to get some troops moving on the road toward Iraq. About half the force moves around Damascus.  A fair number of British forces remain in the Transjordan area, but we can pretty easily ignore them as long as we keep an eye on their movements. Allied Turn 11: October 1, 1941  A few tank attacks occur at Damascus and in Lebanon, but they are pretty ineffective. Axis Turn 12: October 4, 1941 Clear(dry)  We continue to push past Damascus, but are having trouble keeping our vehicles fueled. Recon planes get a glimpse of the defenders of Anah.  We do make an attempt to assault Damascus itself, but it ends in failure. Allied Turn 12: October 4, 1941  Fighting in Damascus continues to go poorly for our side. Axis Turn 13: October 7, 1941 Clear(dry)  With a concerted series of attacks all around the city, we finally take control of Damascus.  The Italians have been fighting for days, but the British seem to bring in fresh troops almost as soon as they are lost. An Italian tank is added to their force to change the balance of forces. Allied Turn 13: October 7, 1941  Italian soldiers can only hope their tanks get to the front line soon. They take losses as the British tanks keep coming. Axis Turn 14: October 10, 1941 Clear(dry)  We get a good look of the British defenses along the Euphrates. We can start fighting at Anah, but the troops are still slowed by fuel troubles.  The Italians build up their line at Bierut. Allied Turn 14: October 10, 1940  The Italian infantry takes heavy losses but their tanks anchor the line, and they hold position. Axis Turn 15: October 13, 1941 Clear(dry)  Air defenses at Anah are relatively weak, and we precede our attack with a series of intense bombing raids.  The Italians are barely hanging on to their position on the coast at Bierut. Their navy is helping them out by suppressing the enemy guns. Allied Turn 15: October 13, 1941  The British tanks make another strike at the Italians, but then inexplicably withdraw. Perhaps they too are running out of fight.  At Anah, the British infantry that was on the road tries to retreat toward the town. Axis Turn 16: October 16, 1941 Clear(dry)  Air raids help to break enemy resistance at An Nabk and also down on the coast.  We get into a good position at Anah, and also clear the road so that our rear troops can move eastward. Allied Turn 16: October 16, 1941  The British are no longer making attacks at Bierut, but they still bring in the Matildas for defending. Axis Turn 17: October 19, 1941 Clear (Dry)  We make a paradrop to that we'll have an airfield in southern Iraq from which we can bomb Baghdad. For now, the region appears undefended.  An intense tank attack cracks the front line at Anah. Once we bring in some infantry we should capture the city easily.  The first Italian assault on Bierut is repulsed. Allied Turn 17: October 19, 1941  Scouts spot increased activity back in Transjordan. So far there are no units that appear suited for attacking, however.  The British hit the Italian flank, but do not push very hard on it. Axis Turn 18: October 22, 1941 Clear (Dry)  After pushing back the defenders, we capture Anah. The AT guns at Hit continue to block our path.  The Italian navy shells Bierut all day, and the city is nearly reduced to rubble. Allied Turn 18: October 22, 1941  The British AT guns are unable to do much. They prepare for their own destruction. Axis Turn 19: October 25, 1941 Clear (Dry)  Down at Al Hillah, the paratroops seize the airfield. We clear the enemy forces west of the Euphrates, but will need more time to get troops across it.  Bierut is captured, and the Italians move their forces in. Their hold on the city is not particularly strong, but with luck they can hold off the Matildas. Allied Turn 19: October 25, 1941  The British send an armored car to block the bridge. Axis Turn 20: October 28, 1941 Clear (Dry)  We destroy the armored cars and take control of the bridges. Baghdad is looking like a tough city to take, and from the north there is a large group of tanks headed south. Allied Turn 20: October 28, 1941  The FW190 ends up getting shot down by Baghdad's air defenses. Axis Turn 21: October 31, 1941 Clear (Dry)  In heavy fighting we gain control over the airfield. While most of the British tanks are the mobile roadblocks that are Matilda I's, there is one decent model: an M3 'Stuart', the British version of an American tank. We add another Panzer III to our forces.  A Matilda is spotted moving north of Amman. Our Panzer II ought to be able to hold it unless a lot more come with it. Allied Turn 21: October 31, 1941  The M3 hits a unit of Panzer IV's and forces it down into the muddy ground at the river. When they bog down, the Matildas are able to finish them off. Axis Turn 22: November 3, 1941 Clear (Dry)  Our more heavily-gunned Panzer III's come in and destroy one unit of Matildas, plus the M3.  This lets some of our units make their way to Baghdad. As they rush to attack, the British stop them cold. Allied Turn 22: November 3, 1941  More tanks are spotted on the move near Jerusalem. It appears the British may be trying something.  The march of the Matildas continues, but they are too weak offensively to seriously disrupt our advance. Axis Turn 23: November 6, 1941 Clear (Dry)  The meager defenses along the Tigris collapse quickly at Baghdad, but we'll need to get troops across the river if we really want to assault the city proper.  The Matildas can still take a long time for our even our good Panzers to wear down.  Our scout car tries to cut enemy supply lines, but the flood of tanks continues.  Back on the Mediterranean coast, the Italians clear out a bit of space and capture an airfield.  The British have committed wholeheartedly to the Matilda flood strategy. Allied Turn 23: November 6, 1941  The Matildas chip away at our scout car in the north and infantry in the south.  The Panzer II has a tough time of it in Transjordan. Axis Turn 24: November 9, 1941 Clear (Dry)  Baghdad loses a few more units. We do get a few units over the river, and with luck we might be able to take it. Constant air raids continue, but we miss the Ju88. Thankfully, the Italians sent the P108 - an excellent strategic bomber - to assist.  The Italians clear out Lebanon, and are able to shift a few units towards the defense of Jerusalem. Allied Turn 24: November 9, 1941  One Matilda manages to score some very lucky hits on the scout cars. They survive, but will definitely not be able to cut off the enemy supply lines. Axis Turn 25: November 12, 1941 Clear (Dry)  The last of the guns is destroyed at Baghdad. Allied Turn 25: November 12, 1941  One attack is made out of Baghdad against our troops massing along the riverside.  The push out of Amman seems to have lost whatever momentum it had. Axis Turn 26: November 15, 1941 ** LAST TURN ** Clear (Dry)  Finally, concentrated bombing raids and shelling reduces the defenders of Baghdad to a mere token force.  Losses were heavy getting there, but we did finally make it, and managed to even out the lines to stop the onslaught of British armor. This is what often happens early in the war, and if we'd gone for Sealion, Matilda spam would be the order of the day. About the only way to avoid is to rush the objectives from just beyond view, or attempt to reduce the AI's prestige by strategic bombing. Matildas are really cheap walls, though, so it's hard to stop it from buying at least a few. Result: Minor Victory Ending Prestige: 1390 
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Aug 29, 2015 19:09
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Good work in the Middle East. Even with only minor victories in Norway and France, I expect that the Allies would be very sorely prrwssed by these developments. Axis forces on the border with Iran and the loss of the Suez Canal raises all sorts of unfortunate possibilities during Barbarossa. The historical Lend-Lease supply lines through Persia would be in great danger, and there'd be the unfortunate possibilities of the Axis gaining access to Iranian oil or even the opening of a southern front against the Caucasus and the rapid capture of Baku.
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Aug 29, 2015 22:39
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That Matilda spam is utterly ridiculous.
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Aug 30, 2015 01:04
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gradenko_2000 posted:That Matilda spam is utterly ridiculous. Yeah, that's one of the things I hate about PC, where the AI is capable and fixated on replacing units as fast and as much as possible, prestige be damned.
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Aug 30, 2015 01:27
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David Corbett posted:Axis forces on the border with Iran and the loss of the Suez Canal raises all sorts of unfortunate possibilities during Barbarossa. The historical Lend-Lease supply lines through Persia would be in great danger, and there'd be the unfortunate possibilities of the Axis gaining access to Iranian oil or even the opening of a southern front against the Caucasus and the rapid capture of Baku. That's actually the next battle if this were in the campaign. Though Middle East starts with Barbarossa in-progress (Oct. 1941). I think I'll try and describe the one-offs better in their potential timeline; mostly I want to use them to have a few historical battles when Germany is losing the war; as we go on they'll be further and further ahead of the winning campaign and more divergent from each other. It'll be an option for the next one-off; voting will be after the Balkans is finished (which will need at least three updates). Speaking of updates, I've put the links to updates that are past the first page to show the post only. If you don't want to wait for the big pages to load, you can read via those links. Jobbo_Fett posted:Yeah, that's one of the things I hate about PC, where the AI is capable and fixated on replacing units as fast and as much as possible, prestige be damned. It seems like it's a rule that makes for a more intelligent action (spending the prestige sooner yields a stronger defense), but less interesting gameplay. Especially when it seems to optimize for efficiency in purchases. The AI's tendency to flood from a side/minor objective is one reason I typically take a "moving front-line" approach, in which I grab all the objectives as I go. I think it makes slightly more sense for both sides of the battle. (Another thing I don't like about PC as much is that I find it harder to move on a broad front, but maybe it's just a matter of familiarity with the maps).
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Aug 30, 2015 21:52
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 The start of campaigning for this year begins with a move toward controlling even more of Europe.  We were all set to make the move to take over Greece when Yugoslavia succumbed to a coup and turned on us. As a result, we're forced to split our efforts and divert forces to fight both countries. We do at least have the support of our other allies. Italy is lending a lot of support, but Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania as well are helping us (the latter two have no forces present on this map, though). Balkans April 6, 1941 25 Turns  Objectives: (Rijeka), (Kula), (Trun), (Babyak), (Devin), (Tirana), Kutina, Belgrade, Banja Luka, Novigrad, Sarajevo, Kragujevac, Bar, Kukes, Thessaloniki, Larissa, Agrinion, Athens, Kalamai Major: 19 turns.  This map not only covers a large area, but I believe it has the most objectives of any map in the game, so it's one of the most dense. It also covers multiple countries, and in short, this battle feels huge. It's essentially a series of separate battles that sort of run into each other. As for the terrain: Most of the northern part of the map - from Bulgaria to Yugoslavia - consists of a fair number of hills and mountains, but it is also well-connected by roads. Maneuvering large forces will be relatively easy. Greece is a completely different story. The route to Athens must not only cross the Pinios River but runs through a very narrow space. The chokepoint to the Peloponnesus is similarly narrow. The good news is that we are longer fighting the war on land only. With air and naval power we ought to be able to support our attacks and force our way into control of the whole region. OOB pre:Unit Name Unit Type [Transport] Exp
Land Units
1.4th Bridge Eng Bridge Eng [SPW] **
2.5th Pioniere Inf Pioniere Inf[Opel] **
3.15th Pioniere Inf Pioniere Inf[Opel] ****
4.17th 39 Wehr Inf 39 Wehr Inf[SPW] **
5.28th 39 Wehr Inf 39 Wehr Inf -
6.19th 40 LuftW FJ 40 LuftW FJ *
7.16th PSW 222/4r PSW 222/4r ***
8.9th Pz IId Pz IId ***
9.13th Pz 38(t)A Pz 38(t)A ****
10.10th Pz IIIh Pz IIIh ****
11.11th Pz IIIg Pz IIIg ****
12.PotatoManJack Pz IIIg **
13.23rd Pz IVD Pz IVd **
14.26th Pz IVD Pz IVd **
15.8th PzJager Ib PzJager Ib ***
16.7th StugIIIb StuGIIIb -
17.24th StuGIIIb StuGIIIb -
18.Die kleinen Stichel 10.5 IefH[Opel] *
19.12th 15 sFH 18 15 sFH 18[Opel] -
20.18th 15 sFH 18 15 sFH 18[SPW] -
21.25th SdKfz 10/4 SdKfz 10/4 ****
22.22nd 8.8 FlaK 18 8.8 FlaK 18 -
Aux land units (by qty)
1 Pioniere Inf *
1 39 Wehr Inf *
1 39 Wehr Inf [Opel] *
1 40 Wehr HW **
7 IT Inf [Fiat] -
15 IT Inf -
4 IT Bersglri [Fiat] -
2 Bulgarian Inf [Opel] -
5 Bulgarian Inf -
2 Pz IIIj *
2 IT L6/40 -
1 IT L6/40 **
4 IT M13/40 -
2 IT M13/40 **
1 IT AB-40 -
1 sIG Ib **
1 10.5 IefH [Opel] **
4 IT 105mm Gun [Fiat] -
Air Units
1.6th Bf109e Bf109e ***
2.14th Bf109e Bf109e ****
3.20th Bf 110c Bf 110c **
4.ADAC Vogel Ju87b ***
5.27th Ju87b Ju87b *
6.21st Ju88A Ju88A ***
Aux (by qty)
4 IT Re2000/F1 -
4 IT BA65 -
1 IT CA309 -
1 IT P108 Bi -
Naval Units
1 U-boat ***
1 Z-destroyer *
1 T-destroyer *
1 Battleship DI -
1 Heavy Cruiser **
1 Heavy Cruiser -
1 Light Cruiser -
Starting Prestige: 1037 (1227 before upgrades) This time out it's clear that our core is only fighting part of the battle. There are large areas that will be handled solely by the auxiliary forces. In most places this means Italians. Most of their infantry is of middling quality, but there are quite a lot of them (even when you take out those that remain stationed in Italy itself). They also have some tanks and artillery, and a lot of planes too. The Italian navy has a good fleet available, and if we support them from the air, they ought to take control of the Adriatic. We have one more ally with forces in the battle, The Bulgarians have a small force of infantry. They really are not the best of troops, but at least they are participating. As for the German auxiliary, we are fortunate to get some Pioniere infantry and a few of the newest model of the Panzer III. The IIIj isn't being produced in enough quantities that we can requisition it for the core, so we'll want to keep those protected.  The primary task of our core is to take control of Greece by attacking it from the north. This is the largest and strongest deployment zone for us. This is the one spot we expect to see British units, especially armor, so we're sending our best tanks to lead the charge.  The other two groups are set up to make the move into Yugoslavia from the east. The center group has quality auxiliary infantry, so we put more of out tanks there. If they have an easy enough time of it, they may even be able to head south to support the main drive. The last group is a small but stronger set of units, who will be operating on their own but don't have too much to do up there. Note that the paratroops are forced into transport at the start, even thought we don't want them there. It's a minor annoyance; they simply lose a turn.  This is, as noted, really a series of battles that are all close to each other. It's going to be pretty involved. Fortunately we don't really have to coordinate much. We have enough troops that can be shifted around whereever they're needed, and the terrain will confine the enemy movements within each region. The main thrust of our core will head a bit west and then straight south into Greece. The Italians on the west and the Bulgarians on the east will mostly be there just to engage whatever Greek forces are present on our flanks. On the west side, we'll need to make sure to take control of the seas using our naval and air assets. Once this happens, the Italians will likely be able to use offshore artillery to support an offensive toward Agrinion. The plan of attack on Yugoslavia is that the Italians (and German auxiliary) will move from the northwest all the way to Sarajevo. Our core will handle some of the eastern objectives, and the most northern units will be sent where necessary, once Belgrade has been taken. Axis Turn 1: April 6, 1941 Clear(dry)  With supporting attacks from the tanks, the 5th push the enemy back and march up to the gates of Belgrade.  The first push westward toward Kragujevac isolates and eliminates many of the disorganized front-line troops.  Farther down the line, we continue to take advantage of the unprepared Yugoslavian positions and eliminate many more troops.  The forces heading south from Germany have an easy time capturing Karlovac.  Italian troops advance cautiously along the coast. Thanks to the new Panzer III's, the German forces continue to capture more Croatian territory. Infantry casualties are high, however.  The search planes of the Regia Aeronautica locate the British fleet and attack, with mild success.  The Italians in Albania probe the Greek lines for weaknesses. Allied Turn 1: April 6, 1941  The Allied fleet bombards the Italians as the Greeks make an effective ground assault. The Italians lose ground at the coast.  Yugoslavian scouts encounter the Italians in the north, and hit some of their trucks. Screenshot missed the combat result, but they did inflict damage.  AT guns push back the Bulgarian infantry back from the Greek border. Axis Turn 2: April 7, 1941 Clear(dry)  The Pioniere drive the Yugoslavian infantry out of Belgrade right into the face of our paratroops.  Italian bombers hit the scouts on the road, and with the route cleared, the Italians press on.  It does not take long for the infantry to clear out Kragujevac. The tanks mop up the rest of the Yugoslav forces here, and this central group can now continue westward.  Enemy resistance in the southeast remains light. The road toward Greece is opened up. (Also, a FW190 was added last turn and gets its first chance to fight by attacking infantry near Kekes.)  The Italian fleet advances as their planes continue to harrass the British ships.  On land, their troops scout enemy positions north of Albania.  The core adds a HW infantry unit in Babyak, while the Bulgarians try to find gaps in the enemy line. Allied Turn 2: April 7, 1941  British planes supporting the Greeks hit the Italians hard, while the Allied ships continue shelling from offshore.  Losses among the Italians are heavy, with British, Greek, and Yugoslav forces all getting in hits on them. Axis Turn 3: April 8, 1941 Clear(dry)  The fleet engages the enemy. Thanks to the effective spotters, they get the first shots in, and sink two cruisers with ease.  Initial assaults by the Italian infantry at Shkoder are ineffective. They are forced to pull back.  A large array of guns is spotted at Kutina. With Belgrade under control, we can send a few forces to open an attack on the other side.  The main force drives all the way to Debar. Meanwhile, the Italians probe the Allied line and discover British troops reinforcing the Greeks. Allied Turn 3: April 8, 1941  The Allies push back against the Italians, knocking out one unit of tanks. With support from their fleet, they even drive into Albania.  RAF planes strike the Italian bombers in Yugoslavia, while the troops on the ground are driven back from Shkoder. Axis Turn 4: April 9, 1941 Clear(dry)  A few units push deeper into the center of Yugoslavia. They only encounter light resistance.  The northern lines in Yugoslavia quickly form up from Kutina in the interior to Novograd on the coast.  The central force moving through Kukes will be able to mop up behind our advance force. The main group will move south immediately. Allied Turn 4: April 9, 1941  The Greeks push the Bulgarians off the fortified line, but they have also taken heavy casualties. Axis Turn 5: April 10 1941 Clear(dry)  The Italians press hard all day into Novograd, and gain ground while reducing the enemy forces.  The British fleet chose to ignore the advancing Italian naval forces in favor of shelling ground troops, and for this, they have been destroyed.  Our fighters show up to the fight and immediately knock out one unit of British Spitfires.  As our core troops cut off the roads from the rest of Greece to Kevalla, the Bulgarians gain back ground at the border.  Air strikes and artillery soften up Kukes and Debar before we take them with ground forces. Blitzkrieg has come to southern Yugoslavia. Allied Turn 5: April 10, 1941  The Italians have taken heavy losses in Greece. Finally they are able to make a strong defensive stand.  Attacks from the Yugoslavians result in only moderate casualties on both sides. Despite our rapid capture of the capital at Belgrade, Yugoslavia remains resolute. We have at least taken control of most of the former Serbia, and the main core force is now poised to strike into Greece. 
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Sep 3, 2015 23:02
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Good work in the Balkans. There's a lot to take care of, but from what I can see your units are performing admirably. Some of them are also getting extremely experienced. Is five stars the maximum?
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Sep 3, 2015 23:20
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Five stars is the max, although the XP stat can go up to 599. Only actual stars affect combat ability, though. In order to do well in the final battle, we'll need to be steamrollering our way into it. Almost every unit will need to be three stars or better if possible. I'm still surprised that the SdKfz is doing so well, although I have pretty much been feeding it weak units to kill off.
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Sep 4, 2015 17:52
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In the Spring of 1941, the battles for the Balkans continue.  In the first stage of the battle, we made advances in Yugoslavia. We've taken over most of Serbia, and now our forces are positioned just north of Greece and poised to attack. We're going to push directly south. The Italian Navy has done its job in the Adriatic, which should allow them to give us support. They'll also be supporting their own attacks; with the seas cleared they can land troops in Greece itself. Up in Yugoslavia, we've captured Belgrade but still have plenty of fighting to do. A line has formed from Novigrad on the coast inland to Kutina. We'll simply push forward and take the objectives; there isn't much worry of a counterattack. Axis Turn 6: April 11, 1941 Clear(dry)  The Italian Bersaglieri overconfidently assault Bar, and pay the price for it. While there are few enemy forces around, they are entrenched. It's going to take the Italians awhile to wear down the city.  Fighting at Novigrad continues to be fierce. The Italians send in more of their bombers.  Eventually a few German tanks are sent to support the attack, and they break the Yugoslav flank. Other units scout the rest of the country.  The same day, Kutina surrenders to our troops. The second line of Yugoslavian resistance has been broken.  With the Adriatic Sea cleared of enemy ships, the Italians send out troops from their home ports to land in Greece. Allied Turn 6: April 11, 1941  Some of the Italian troops lose their way in the mountains, and the Yugoslavians eliminate them.  At Bar, the Yugoslav forces continue the battle with the Bersaglieri. Axis Turn 7: April 12, 1941 Clear(dry)  Our forces in the north advance on Banja Luka. The detachment of infantry that had probed the town retreats, as the unexpected enemy troop levels are too high for them to handle on their own.  Our tanks have no problem handling the British Challenger tanks. Even the experienced enemy crews cannot survive our best Panzer III's.  The rest of our tanks move in and in one day, the best of the British troops in northern Greece are wiped out.  Scouts and spies have indicated that the Peloponnesian coast is undefended. The Italians believe that with naval support they can capture Patrai undefended and from there move on to Kalamai. Allied Turn 7: April 12, 1941  Again, the troops at Bar attack the Italian infantry while ignoring the tanks.  The remaining British troops do their worst, but have very little that can hurt our armored vehicles.  Allied AT guns prove fairly effective fighting infantry at Novigrad. Axis Turn 8: April 13, 1941 Clear(dry)  The Focke-Wulfs catch the Mosquitos returning from a mission. The British bombers are out of ammunition, and our fighters gain revenge for their earlier engagement.  Air raids weaken the AT guns at Thessaloniki, and the 5th show up to finish them off.  With the large main force we push over the Pinaros river.  As more and more Italian troops join the fight, the battle of Bar ends and the city's forces surrender.  The day goes very well for the Italians, as they are also victorious at Novigrad.  With those objectives out of the way, the battle for Yugoslavia will be decided in the center. Allied Turn 8: April 13, 1941  The Greek forces have a good deal more artillery than any side we've faced so far. The guns at Larissa open up and the 28th is lost.  A few attacks are made by Yugoslav forces, but for the most part they are ineffectual. Axis Turn 9: April 14, 1941 Clear(dry)  To support the attack into Greece, we plan to drop our paratroops to seize control of the narrow approach through Lavadnia before the Allies can reinforce it. The FW190's dog the Mosquito bombers all the way back to their base, and shoot the rest of them down.  In a particularly bloody one-day battle, the Pioniere eliminate a unit of Greek infantry at Thessaloniki.  Today the armor leads the charge across the river. They push back the first line of troops with ease, and the Bridging Engineers move in behind to make the crossing even easier.  Once the 4th Engineers seized control of the local bridges and built up some pontoons to get more troops across, they decided to go after the air defense guns in the city. While they met with much initial success, they realized that some of the soldiers abandoned the flak guns in order to cut off the path back to the river. The engineers, desperate to get back to friendly lines, continue the fight home all day. In the end, the entire enemy unit is destroyed, but the casualties for the German side have been far too high. Allied Turn 9: April 14, 1941  Yugoslav forces take out an auxiliary infantry unit, but their casualties are similarly heavy.  Fighting between the Greek and Italian forces remains intense, with another unit of Italian infantry nearly lost.  Unfortunately the Greeks are able to locate the positions of the 4th Engineers, and they direct the one remaining British cruiser to shell them. The unit is shattered. Axis Turn 10: April 15, 1941 (dry)  Larissa is captured after a brief fight. Both our core and the Italians spend most of the day recovering from the recent battles.  The main target of our attacks in Yugoslavia is the enemy artillery; if that is destroyed, the cities will fall soon after. Allied Turn 10: April 15, 1941  The last of the British air units spots our undefended artillery and destroys it.  The Greeks gather all the anti-tank guns they have at hand to try to break the Italian line of armor, but even then, they don't inflict many casualties. Axis Turn 11: April 16, 1941 Overcast(dry)  Once they move to attack, the Italian landing force meets with heavy resistance down at Kalamai. The paratroopers complete the first part of their mission flawlessly as they drive the Greeks out of Levadnia.  The SdKfz continues the trend of being in exactly the right place at the right time. As revenge for the loss of our artillery, they shot down every last Spitfire.  The rest of the main force follow up on the success of the paradrop and quickly seize control of the road to Athens.  The guns at Sarajevo are continually firing on our forces, but we press the attack regardless. Allied Turn 11: April 16, 1941  Despite being mostly cut off from the rest of Greece, the soldiers there charge the Bulgarians. Another unit of infantry is lost.  At Mostar, Yugoslavian forces cause the Italians to retreat.  The Greek artillery at Kalamai is deadly accurate. We've now made our way into the thick of it in Greece, and are finding them to be quite a formidable foe, especially for our weaker allies. Yugoslavia is still hanging on, but we are fairly sure of a victory there before too long. 
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Sep 10, 2015 06:42
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 Voting Time Even though we haven't quite finished up in the Balkans, I'm actually a little bit ahead in playing the core; I've just been away from home so haven't been able to post updates, and will be gone again soon. So I want to put the vote up now for the next one-off. We're now in a state where we really are continuing the mini-campaign in Africa, even if we're well out of Africa. Choices are: a. El Alamein The more historical route, which is where we'd end up if we hadn't succeeded in any of the earlier battles. Unlike the Allied version of this fight, this actually covers the whole series of battles starting in the Spring of 1942 with the German advance on Tobruk. It's a little bit like the first North Africa battle, but this time around we must take the whole of Egypt, and and both sides also have better tanks to play with. b. Caucasus This is a complete alt-history route; building on the success of the battles in the Middle East, the Germans have seized control of Iran. As forces move eastward into southern Russia in the Summer of 1942, the Afrika Korps must push north over the Caucasus Mountains to link up with them.
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Sep 10, 2015 06:57
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b. Caucasus, to continue with the previous scenario in the Middle East.
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Sep 10, 2015 07:11
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RZApublican posted:b. Caucasus
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Sep 10, 2015 07:15
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Let's be Bold and go into the Caucasus.
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Sep 10, 2015 15:17
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RZApublican posted:b. Caucasus
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Sep 11, 2015 02:14
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B. Caucasus
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Sep 11, 2015 02:33
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B. Caucasus
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Sep 11, 2015 18:00
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If we can finish early here, we have a chance to gain control over even more of the Mediterranean this Spring.  The remainder of the operation in Yugoslavia is merely a matter of keeping up the attacks on a few more cities. Down in Greece, the core will need to drive onward to Athens, and split off some forces to the east to handle the rest of the country. Axis Turn 12: April 17, 1941 Overcast(Dry)  One thing the Greeks have a notable lack of is anti-air defenses. Bombing raids commence at Athens and do not let up. The Italian navy also assists in reducing the Greek defenses.  The Panzer IV's rush to open the route to the Peloponnesus. They have difficulty negotiating the rough and narrow terrain, and their attack is stopped by the Greek infantry.  Since the Italian forces out of Albania have not really made any progress, we send troops west to open up the attack on Agrinion.  The Bulgarian troops that were fighting in Yugoslavia are ordered back to contain the Greeks at their border.  Back in the north, our tanks lead the attack into Banja Luka. The battle is over quickly.   After several days of regular barrages, the guns at Sarajevo have finally run out of ammunition. Yugoslavia will soon be back under Axis control. Allied Turn 12: April 17, 1941  At Athens, the enemy forces brace for our assault and try to dodge the bombs.  Yugoslavian troops manage to keep the Italians from gaining access to Sarajevo, but it is unlikely to matter since the German units will be sufficient to take the city. Axis Turn 13: April 18, 1941 Overcast(Dry)  The Italians achieve greater success with a renewed attack on Kalamai.  On the other side of Greece, their troops are running into trouble attacking Parga. Although the pressure they put on the north has allowed us to bring more forces to the south side of Agrinion (including a Nebelwerfer, replacing the 18th towed artillery).  The Italians finally gain the upper hand at Mostar, although the battle continues.  With the guns silenced at Sarajevo, we push our forces closer to the heart of the city. Allied Turn 13; April 18, 1941  The Greeks have managed to raise many more troops than the Bulgarians at Kevalla.  The Yugoslavians temporarily regain control of Banja Luka. Retaking the city should not pose that much difficulty, but the battle does inficlt casualties on the infantry. Axis Turn 14: April 19, 1941 Clear (Dry)  With all key objectives under our control, the battle in Yugoslavia is effectively over.  There are a lot of Greek troops remaining in Epirus. But our advance toward the key objectives remains unstoppable, as they have nearly no ability to fight our tanks.  The first priority of our attack on Athens is to reduce the guns surrounding it. Allied Turn 14: April 19, 1941  All enemy attacks focus on the infantry in their trucks, but it is only the shelling that causes any damage.  The Bulgarian line has collapsed. Our rear objectives are suddenly in danger from a Greek breakout. Axis Turn 15: April 20, 1941 Clear (Dry)  The Italians have eliminated the enemy guns at Kalamai. On the other side, we've managed to capture the port and airfield at Argos.  At Athens, losses among the infantry are high as the fighting moves from street to street in the ancient city. The Greek artillery is nearly finished off in the north as the Italians make progress at Parga, and the core grows closer to a direct assault on Agrinion. Allied Turn 15: April 20, 1941  The Bulgarians are being pushed back all the way to Devin.  A Greek attack on Argos ends in failure. But at Kalamai, a surprise attack from the north pushes the Italians all the way back to the coast. Axis Turn 16: April 20, 1941 Clear(dry)  The Italians gain control of the shoreline in Yugoslavia, and all resistance in the region is eliminated.  After the failure of the attack from the west at Kalamai, we are forced to make a push across the Peloponnesus. In Athens, the Pioniere occupy the city. A few British tanks remain, but they should not be a threat to us.  Bombing raids continue to weaken the fortifications at Agrinion. We'll need another day before we can make a successful attack. Allied Turn 16: April 20, 1941  The Greek infantry keep up their attack, but they are having a tougher time attacking as their forces spread out.  Back in their homeland, the Greeks do succeed in fending off the Italians once more.  While the tanks around Athens do not do much, it is the Greek infantry that make a last push into Athens, and they take over the city. The 5th is forced to withdraw from the battle. Axis Turn 17: April 21, 1941 Clear (Dry)  After a bloody day of fighting, we manage to drive the enemy troops out of both Athens and Kalamai.  Agrinion, too falls. Demanding the surrender of Greece is a mere formality at this point. Allied Turn 17: April 21, 1941  Even the push out of Kevalla has petered out, as the last attack of the Greeks is dashed against the defenses at Devin.  The British make one last try to hold on to Athens by sending in the Matildas. Axis Turn 18: April 22, 1941 Clear (Dry)  Although they are heavily-armored, the British tanks are ill-suited for city fighting. It takes a few more attacks to get into Athens, and Greece finally gives in. Result: Major Victory Ending Prestige: 1707 Finally a slight boost in prestige coming our way. This mission didn't need to end quite this early, and maybe we could have used the extra time to build up overstrength. However, there is a slight danger of losing objectives at Kevalla, and we'd have probably needed to risk units or spend on aux units to defend it properly. Voting has decided the next one-off battle to be Caucasus, which will come after the next core battle. 
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Sep 15, 2015 23:14
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I remember thinking it was a huge innovation in PG2 that you'd get extra prestige as though you'd waited until the last possible turn to trigger the victory you qualified for, as well as a pre-deployment phase where you can do overstrength and upgrades.
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Sep 16, 2015 00:40
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The lack of overstrengthening during pre-deployment was a glaring flaw in the original game. You can have years in between battles and the troops just sit around in that time. Adding the bonus prestige was a nice feature too. I always felt it simply should have scaled according to turns won by anyway.
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Sep 16, 2015 20:28
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 With much of the Mediterranean under our control, taking Crete will give us almost total command of the seas.  The successful strike into Greece has given us a chance to make a quick move on the island nation before the Allies can respond. Crete May 20, 1941 13 Turns  Objectives: (Movemvasia), Maleme, Canea, Suda, Retimo, Sfakia, Herakleion Major: 10 turns.  Similarly to Norway, this map presents us entirely with an invasion; we have no forces in position at the start. The map also omits local minor islands (and invents airbases for the Allies to start from) to focus on the main target. Crete is a long, thin island, with most of the target objectives on the north side. Rugged terrain away from the coast means that when we advance, it'll pretty much only be possible along the coast road. However, the plan of battle is also to make airdrops all around the island. With luck, we won't be forced to move just from one end to the other, since we don't have much time to act here. OOB pre:Unit Name Unit Type [Transport] Exp Land Units 1.4th 39 Wehr Inf 39 Wehr Inf [SPW] - 2.5th Pioniere Inf Pioniere Inf[Opel] ** 3.15th Pioniere Inf Pioniere Inf[Opel] ***** 4.17th 39 Wehr Inf 39 Wehr Inf[SPW] ** 5.48th 39 Wehr Inf 39 Wehr Inf - 6.75th Wehr HW Inf 40 Wehr HW * 7.19th 40 LuftW FJ 40 LuftW FJ ** 8.16th PSW 222/4r PSW 222/4r **** 9.9th Pz IId Pz IId *** 10.13th Pz 38(t)A Pz 38(t)A **** 11.10th Pz IIIh Pz IIIh ***** 12.11th Pz IIIg Pz IIIg ***** 13.PotatoManJack Pz IIIg *** 14.23rd Pz IVD Pz IVd *** 15.26th Pz IVD Pz IVd ** 16.8th PzJager Ib PzJager Ib *** 17.7th StugIIIb StuGIIIb - 18.24th StuGIIIb StuGIIIb - 19.Die kleinen Stichel 10.5 IefH[Opel] - 20.12th Nebelwerfer Nebelwerfer - 21.18th 15 sFH 18 15 sFH 18[SPW] - 22.25th SdKfz 10/4 SdKfz 10/4 ***** 23.22nd 8.8 FlaK 18 8.8 FlaK 18 [Opel] - Aux (by qty) 10 40 LuftW FJ ** Air Units 1.6th Bf109e Bf109e **** 2.14th Bf109e Bf109e **** 3.74th FW 190a FW 190a - 4.20th Bf 110c Bf 110c *** 5.ADAC Vogel Ju87d **** 6.27th Ju87b Ju87b ** 7.21st Ju88A Ju88A **** Aux (by qty) 1 FW 190a ** 1 Ju 87B ** 1 Ju 87R ** 1 Do 17z ** Naval Units 2 U-boat - 3 Z-destroyer - 1 T-destroyer - 1 S-boat - 2 S-boat * Starting Prestige: 2431 (2731 before upgrades) There isn't so much an auxiliary force to support us here as there is simply the first wave of the attack plus a few planes and ships to guard our landing. Of course those ships will be absolutely vital to the plan. They must protect us until we actually can land the whole core (which is now so large that it doesn't quite fit in the deployment area). Also somewhat amusing is that all the air transports are taken up by the auxiliary paratroops; our one actual paratroop unit won't be able to jump until after they land.  The slow speed of our sea transports means that we can't afford to waste time moving around with our units. We'll want to make sure some artillery gets off the boat early on, while the tanks also can start softening up the objectives. A few units are staying behind for now, and will only move if we can ensure that the Allied naval forces will not be able to get to them. They are unlikely to make a significant contribution to this battle.  We've designated four landing areas for this attack, and all of them are important. The allied air defenses are moderate to heavy over most of the objectives, so the landings shouldn't try to drop directly near the objectives (except for Sfakia). With the threat of British ships in the area, we need to get ashore as fast as possible. The naval landings will mostly be along the western end of the island. The hope is that air attacks can weaken the British naval presence enough that we can swing some forces toward the south, just in case they are needed at Sfakia. In Area 1, the paratroops will need to clear out whatever resistance there may be on the roads and outlying areas in preparation for the naval landings to come within the next few days. With this accomplished, some of these airborne soldiers may be scheduled for another drop down the island. Area 2 is right around Sfakia. The goal is to take the town unawares almost immediately after landing. If this looks like it will happen easily, some forces will move north to interrupt enemy movement on the roads. Landings in Areas 3 and 4 are intended to capture towns south and east of Herakleion in order to isolate it. They can then attack on their own, because the last airfield is probably a bit too far from the naval invasion for us to reach it with in force on our schedule. Axis Turn 1: May 20, 1941 Clear(dry)  We go hard after the enemy ships to keep them away from our invasion force.  Enemy submarines are spotted north of the island, but we cannot seem to find them once they dive.  We prepare for the airdrops in the middle of the island. Allied Turn 1: May 20, 1941  The British ships try to hunt down our transports, but we hold them off for now.  All over the island, the alarm is raised. They cannot believe the vast numbers of planes flying overhead. Air defense guns begin firing, and one of our auxiliary bombers is lost. Axis Turn 2: May 21, 1941 Clear(dry)  The landings go off with few problems. The surprise attack at Sfakia is a success; the town is unable to react. On the western end of the island, a few troops should be getting ashore soon.  In the center, resistance is eliminated at Moires. Allied Turn 2: May 21, 1941  While we've effectively eliminated the naval presence on the southwest side of the island, the British Navy comes from the east and threatens to hit our transports. Axis Turn 3: May 22, 1941 Clear(dry)  Sfakia is under our control, which allows us to send more troops north. Unfortunately, they cannot make any headway against the more entrenched positions there.  The operation to clear out the towns surrounding Herakleion works exactly as intended. We will soon be able to commence the attack on the town itself. Allied Turn 3: May 22, 1941  The first of the enemy planes finally shows up; a Mosquito fighter-bomber attacks over Sfakia.  Luckily for us, most of the British ships search farther to the north than where we are. Our destroyers clash, and it should be possible to get the land units ashore safely. Axis Turn 4: May 23, 1941 Clear(dry)  The 75th are gaining a reputation for swatting down Mosquitos.  As our tanks arrive, they immediately drive the British flak guns off the airfield, allowing the paratroopers to capture it. Allied Turn 4: May 23, 1941  The enemy ships decide to call off the hunt for sea transports, and instead shell our artillery from offshore.  Our airborne soldiers hold off the attack from the British. Axis Turn 5: May 24 1941 Clear(dry)  Maleme is captured. Allied flak on the road ahead is going to make it difficult to bring in air support.  The south side of the island is now securely in our hands. Allied Turn 5: May 24, 1941  After landing, some of the paratroops remained on the front lines. They are quickly fading as enemy guns and attacks wear them down. Axis Turn 6: May 25, 1941 Clear(dry)  Our troops begin to march on Herakleion. It may be defended more strongly than we thought.  We pull the paratroops back, and try to push our core troops forward. Allied Turn 6: May 25, 1941  More FJs are lost near Redimo. The British have placed a lot of guns on this island. The landings were executed almost perfectly, and no units were lost getting ashore at Crete. The start of the invasion has gone well. 
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Sep 23, 2015 18:20
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The battle for Crete continues. We've made it on the island, but with limited supplies and the possibility of reaction from the enemy, we don't have much time.  Greek and British resistance is stiff, but we are wearing them down. The main force just needs to keep pushing eastward along the island. It may be possible to land some forces along the southern edge and move them northward to support the attack on Herakleion. Also, as a note about the map: I had said the Allied airbases were invented to be on the map. They're actually labeled as being at Alexandria. It's just that the map makes that a lot closer than it would be in real life, to avoid making the map overlarge. Axis Turn 7: May 26, 1941 Clear(dry)  While Canea is exposed to multiple attacks and is wearing down quickly, the narrow approach to Suda makes for slow progress.  The paratroops arrive and are able to find the guns of the city apparently vulnerable to attack. But once they go in, the crews are in a much better position than expected, and the element of surprise has been lost. The initial assault on Herakleion is a failure. Allied Turn 7: May 26, 1941  Casualties are heavy at Retimo. Axis Turn 8: May 27, 1941 Clear(dry)  Intense fighting finally dislodges some of the guns at Herakleion. However, tanks are rapidly moving in from the east end of the island.  Airborne troops move into position near Suda. The British guns turn to counter the threat. It is just the opportunity our tanks needed. They strike quickly, and the guns are totally overrun.  Suda is in our hands. We are moving quite well from the western side of the island, but need to take control of the whole of it within the next five days. Allied Turn 8: May 27, 1941  The entire operation is thrown into peril as the British Matildas arrive to hit the ground troops at Herakleion. Axis Turn 9: May 28, 1941 Clear(dry)  Concentrated air attacks soften up Retimo before our ground forces arrive.  The paratroopers make one last attempt to breach Herakleion's defenses. All of the men in the charge are lost. Allied Turn 9: May 28, 1941  The brave men remaining outside Herakleion pull together and make a stand. The British tanks are finally stopped. Axis Turn 10: May 29, 1941 Clear (dry)  A second drop in the hills south of Herakleion promises to put more pressure on the town, but the success of the operation is in doubt if we cannot reach it with our other forces.  Potatomanjack is embarrassed in a fight with some Matildas, and withdraws from the battle.  The rest of our armored force pushes in right to the edge of Retimo. Allied Turn 10: May 29, 1941  The surrounded paratroops hold off more tank assaults. They cannot hold out for much longer. Axis Turn 11: May 30, 1941 Clear(dry)  Once the tanks arrive, Retimo surrenders after only a brief fight. We roll through the town, and gain complete control of the western half of Crete.  The British 6" guns feel confident that they can hold off more of our airborne infantry. But days of fighting has left them disorganized, and reports from the previous attacks revealed the weaknesses in their line. The 19th eliminate the guns and make their way toward the heart of the town. Allied Turn 11: May 30, 1941  The first wave of troops that landed around Herakleion is finally rounded up and captured by the enemy.  The 19th take heavy losses from the remaining artillery, and the troops in the city begin to reduce them. Another group that was preparing to land takes hits from flak guns. Axis Turn 12: May 31, 1941 Raining(Dry) The one hope we had was that we could rely on intensive air attacks to let us take Herakleion. The weather turns suddenly and the chance of that happening is gone.  Just as things are looking quite dark, the rest of our forces arrive and knock out two units of guns on the edges of Herakleion.  It may be too late to save the 19th, but they still do what they can to reduce the number of British soldiers remaining around the town. Allied Turn 12: May 31, 1941  In a brilliant last stand, the 19th FJ's dig in. It is a short day of fighting as the rain blows down. They repel the British engineers. No one else attacks them, and as the morning comes they realize they have survived. Axis Turn 13: June 1, 1941 Overcast(Dry)  Our guns have rolled into range, and begin firing as the day begins. A path to the city is opened up.  At just about the last moment for us, we have won the battle for Crete! Considering I've never played this as in a campaign (and only once before as a stand-alone), this ended up being a pretty good result. Though I think I chose the obviously wrong naval units to focus on -- it'd be a lot easier to clear the way to the north side of island and land there. The semi-cheating way to win would also be to spawn a bunch of aux tanks & guns right near Herakleion once the paratroops captured those towns. Next up is our next one-off, the fight through the Caucasus. Result: Major Victory Ending Prestige: 2286 
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Sep 28, 2015 00:03
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The British just love to spam their Matildas, don't they? Goodness.
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Sep 28, 2015 16:56
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Lynneth posted:The British just love to spam their Matildas, don't they? Goodness. "During the airborne invasion of Crete, the Allies lead by the British forces were able to deploy whole armies of Matilda tanks, thus preventing German paratroopers from taking control of the vital Mediterranean island." -And that, son, is how the Allies won World War 2.
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Sep 29, 2015 08:43
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 This hypothetical battle occurs a year after Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Despite failing to capture Moscow in 1941, the 1942 campaign has proceeded rather well. A big push in the south is close to reaching the Don river, and aims to capture Stalingrad soon after. The German push into North Africa led to huge gains, and the units that began in Libya are about to enter the Soviet states from the south. It is, as I've mentioned, the continuance of the Middle East battle. The capture of Iran has already occurred (presumably earlier in 1942) and the units there have now pushed all the way through the rugged terrain to the point that they have reached the Black Sea. Now the highest peaks of the Caucasus stand before them. Caucasus June 30, 1942 30 Turns  Major: 20 turns.  A big map, and one of the longest time scales (5 days per turn) make this one of the largest-scale battles in the game. I'm pretty sure it covers the longest period of time. It also feels like one of the 'roomiest' maps, as we can spread out in several directions if desired. That said, the rivers in the north dictate the potential routes, with Stalingrad holding the key connection between the Volga and the Don. South of there, it's mostly clear with some slightly hilly spots. Obviously in the far south we have the Caucasus mountains themselves. They are a significant obstacle, and just beyond them is the Terek River. (The Kuban and the marshy land to the west is something of a block, but there aren't any objectives there, so they are less important except as a possible route out of the mountains). The Black Sea also plays a minor role, as the German navy has finally steamed through the Bosporus to support the advance and engage the Soviet fleet here. Of note for this map is that the Kerch Strait is considered blocked to naval units, which also means that no ports can be used to repair the ships. OOB pre:Unit Name Unit Type [Transport] Exp Land Units 1 Pioniere [Opel] ** 8 39 Wehr Inf [SPW 251] ** 4 40 Wehr HW [SPW 251] ** 2 40 Wehr HW [SPW 250] ** 2 Hungarian Inf ** 3 Rumanian Inf ** 1 Pz IIIj - 1 Pz IIIj * 8 Pz IIIj ** 5 Pz IVd ** 1 PSW 232/8r * 3 8.8 FK 18 ATG [SPW 251] ** 2 Marder II ** 1 Marder IIIh ** 5 sIG II ** 2 10.5 IefH [Opel] ** 1 15 sfH [Opel] ** 1 SdkfZ 7/1 ** 1 SdkfZ 10/4 ** Air Units 3 Bf109f ** 1 Bf109g ** 3 FW190a ** 3 Ju87D ** 1 Ju87R ** 1 Me210c ** 1 He177a ** Naval units 1 Z-Destroyer - 1 T-destroyer - 1 Battleship Bk - 1 Battleship DI - 1 Heavy Cruiser * 1 Light Cruiser * Starting Prestige: 800 The Ex-Afrika Corps is looking only moderately strong here. They do have a number of solid tanks, although at this point the Soviet models easily outclass the Panzer III. Some of the latest mobile AT guns are around to keep the defense strong. The really disappointing aspect is the artillery. While the aux forces have several good towed guns, the core has to make do with the SiG II's and their limited ammunition. While all of these mobile units may have done well racing across the desert, here as they cross the mountains we can foresee problems. The self-imposed challenge for this battle: No new units in the south region (the initial "core"). Also, within this group only one ground unit per turn may receive reinforcements.  The good news about the situation is this: With all our prior success, we can afford to take our time here. We have the entire rest of the year to handle this region. Not that it will be easy. We want to make as much progress before the weather turns bad. Certainly we have to make it out of the Caucasus mountains. We also need to keep the Soviets on the back foot; were they to get organized, they might well have the units to stop us. Their tanks are nothing to sneeze at. The core will simply be pushing its way out of the mountains, destroying Soviet positions as it moves. This might allow them to throw a lot of roadblocks our way, but we're going to just have to grind it out. The northern group is going to concentrate on making a push as fast and as hard as it can toward Stalingrad. From there, it ought to be able to turn right and join up with the southern group around Elista. A smaller contingent will be responsible for capturing the key port of Rostov on the Don. This will protect the flank of our northern advance and prevent any Soviet units from heading farther south to defend in the mountains. Axis Turn 1: June 30, 1942 Clear(dry)  On a scouting mission, this FW190a is jumped by Soviet fighters. It simply turns the tables and nearly shoots them all down instead. None of the Soviet fighters present any sort of a threat; the only difficulty may be that they have so many of them.  Initial attacks in the north hoped to break past the Soviet troop positions to start to converge toward the center, but they hold out rather well against our tanks.  Most of the minor powers' troops are of middling quality, but the Rumanian infantry isn't all that worse than the German units, and on an even footing with most Soviet units.  In the south, we see that the PanzerIII has no desire to tangle with a KV-2 tank, at this point the strongest Soviet tank around. This is a predicted combat result, not an actual one.  Some enemy units are pushed back, but many are dug in. It is indeed slow going. Allied Turn 1: June 30, 1942  Whatever the quality of the Russian planes, an unescorted Stuka is still easy pickings.  Surface contacts are made and one of our destroyers is lost.  The biggest threat to our infantry isn't the tanks, it's the Soviet artillery. Their 15.2cm guns are at least as powerful as the best cannons we have, and they have quite a lot of them defending the front line. Axis Turn 2: July 5, 1942 Clear(dry)  Thanks to the warning from our Destroyers, we get the first shot on the enemy battleship.  The other Soviet tanks here are KV-1's, which are also hard to take down with our tanks. Our goal is to surround them using our AT assets to defend, and then wear them down with air attacks.  The northern group is doing a good job pushing forward.  Advancement is made along the coast as well. The T-28 tanks are easy for our tanks to deal with. Allied Turn 2: July 5, 1942  There is a KV-1 in the north which we'll have to take care of.  The tanks in the south attack. We lose one artillery unit. Soviet infantry ventures out of Tiblisi to go after German infantry, but it leaves the city vulnerable. Axis Turn 3: July 10, 1942 Clear(dry)  Tiblisi is captured, and the KV-2 has run out of ammo, allowing us to start attacking it directly.  We really don't have to worry about the fighters at all; our attacks now focus on eliminating the bombers instead.  The force getting ready to move on Stalingrad is nearly consolidated. Allied Turn 3: July 10, 1942  The Soviets pull back from Tiblisi. At Poti they are having a bit more success. Their ships tried to break through to support but are not lasting. Axis Turn 4: June 30, 1942 Clear(dry)  With the enemy planes out of the way in the north, we can use the bombers to clear the path for our forces.  Initial attacks are made at Rostov, but we have to pull back some of the tanks to get reinforcements. Allied Turn 4: June 30, 1942  The KV-1 tanks move west, and seem to be adopting our tactics: they push past our AT guns and attack the weaker units.  The troops at Voronezh think they can take advantage of the weaker Hungarian troops, but the Sig II is able to stop the attack. Axis Turn 5: June 30, 1942 Clear(dry)  We use our units in the rear area of the Soviets to eliminate their artillery. Once the Anti-air guns are down, we can work on the tanks.  The forces roll forward. A small pocket is left at Voroshilovgrad that we'll have to take care of with infantry. Allied Turn 5: June 30, 1942  Now the Soviet tanks are running into problems as they try to push into the mountains.  The Soviet engineers in Georgia had retreated into the countryside before we could hunt them down. They return to Tiblisi. Axis Turn 6: July 25, 1942 Clear(dry)  The battle reaches Kletskavka.  Air attacks start to work on the tanks.  The Pioniere clear out Poti. Allied Turn 6: July 25, 1942  The enemy tanks move into even more inconvenient positions.  Soviet artillery at Rostov hits the advancing infantry.  The Soviets in Georgia ambush a unit of tanks in the mountains and destroy them. Axis Turn 7: July 30, 1942 Clear(dry)  Attacks into Poti still have little effect on the enemy tanks.  Rostov is being worn down as the main thrust begins to spread out. Allied Turn 7: June 30, 1942  Air attacks continue to trouble the German tanks at Rostov.  Attempts to dislodge our units at Kletskavka are unsuccessful.  And then, even though we've been weakening them with air attacks, the Soviet tanks manage to break behind our lines and destroy the critical supply depot at Batumi. Oops. Although I planned to allow the one-off battles to play out as they happen, I feel like this one deserves a bit more. I'll probably give it another shot. Result: Loss!? Ending Prestige: 1707
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Oct 1, 2015 01:07
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Can I have the plucky little PzJg I, and have it named Stahl Jäger (Steel Hunter)? Been enjoying the this LP and the previous Allied General run.
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Oct 1, 2015 02:30
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Yeah, that was an inane bullshit AI finish. This scenario needs another go sometime in the future.
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Oct 1, 2015 08:34
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 It is time for the real war to begin. It is time to turn against Russia.  We're at the head of the push right into the heart of the Soviet Union. If we push hard, we can take Moscow by the end of the year. Barbarossa June 21, 1941 23 Turns  Objectives: (Warsaw), (Radom), (Suwalki), Baranovichi, Volkovysk, Vilna, Postavy, Minsk, Mogilev, Vitebsk, Smolensk Major: 18 turns.  The route for Army Group Center is long and straight. The Pripyat Marshes on the south provide a natural boundary for the route of attack, and any enemy forces to the north ought to be tied up dealing with the German army that's up there. Once we make our initial assault across the Bug, the terrain favors us. While there are wooded regions that will slow our tanks, the roads and cities have enough clear terrain around them that we can maintain a pretty good armored front. It is only at the far end of our projected advance, where the Dniepr and Dvina Rivers come closer to each other, that we might end up constrained for space. OOB pre:Unit Name Unit Type [Transport] Exp Land Units 1.4th Bridge Eng Bridge Eng [SPW] - 2.5th Pioniere Inf Pioniere Inf[Opel] ** 3.15th Pioniere Inf Pioniere Inf[Opel] ***** 4.17th Bridge Eng Bridge Eng [SPW] ** 5.48th 39 Wehr Inf 39 Wehr Inf - 6.75th Wehr HW Inf 40 Wehr HW * 7.19th 40 LuftW FJ 40 LuftW FJ *** 8.16th PSW 222/4r PSW 222/4r *** 9.9th Pz IId Pz IId **** 10.10th Pz IIIh Pz IIIh ***** 11.11th Pz IIIg Pz IIIg ***** 12.PotatoManJack Pz IIIg *** 13.13th Pz 38(t)A Pz 38(t)A **** 14.23rd Pz IVD Pz IVd *** 15.26th Pz IVD Pz IVd *** 16.Stahl Jäger PzJager Ib *** 17.7th StugIIIb StuGIIIb - 18.24th StuGIIIb StuGIIIb - 19.Die kleinen Stichel 10.5 IefH[Opel] - 20.12th Nebelwerfer Nebelwerfer - 21.18th 15 sFH 18 15 sFH 18[SPW] - 22.25th SdKfz 10/4 SdKfz 10/4 ***** 23.22nd 8.8 FlaK 18 8.8 FlaK 18 [Opel] - Aux (by qty) 2 39 Wehr Inf - Air Units 1.6th Bf109e Bf109e **** 2.14th Bf109e Bf109e ***** 3.74th FW 190a FW 190a * 4.20th Bf 110c Bf 110c **** 5.ADAC Vogel Ju87d **** 6.27th Ju87d Ju87d *** 7.21st Ju88A Ju88A ***** 8.3rd Do 217e Do 217e - Starting Prestige: 2431 (3263 before upgrades) We have no auxiliary force in this offensive, just some garrison troops in Poland. We are now an army of our own. We have the option to deploy anywhere along the rivers that we've used to partition Poland with the Russians. While the ground is largely open directly east of Warsaw, it's also the most obvious location to defend.  We are still going to attack there, because we know our troops are battle-tested and able to beat back whatever awaits us.  A larger group will make from Suwalki; despite the trickier terrain, we should be able to control the roads and still make progress.  The general plan is to make a roughly two-forked attack, but with a flexibility to allow forces to shift north or south on the assault path as required. The initial plan gives two tasks to the force from Suwalki : get across the Nieman River, and capture Volkovysk. This ought to pave the way for the Warsaw group to continue straight once they mop up the Soviet forces on the front lines which will be caught unable to retreat. Axis Turn 1: June 22, 1941 Clear(dry)  All night the 4th (finally equipped with bridging equipment once again) worked in secret on a set of pontoon bridges that enabled us to send our forces over the Bug. We catch some of the Soviet tanks by surprise, and guide our bombers to hit their artillery.  In the north, we blast through the Soviet lines, and seize Grodno. Allied Turn 1: June 22, 1941  Enemy aircraft swarm over the battlefield, but they only attempt air strikes in the few places where they are under no direct threat from our planes.  The Yak-1 is the best fighter plane the Soviets have right now, and it's still pretty poor compared to our own. Especially without good pilots. They can't stop us in the air other than by numbers.  Misled by our apparently weak efforts on the main road, they make a play to take Warsaw. But it ends poorly for them. Axis Turn 2: June 24, 1941 Clear(dry)  There are some decent tanks in the area near Brest, particularly the T-34. But our veteran tankers run circles around them; even the Pz 38t's are able to knock down their strength.  A scheduled airdrop near Vilna goes off a day late due to the enemy fighter presence. But we've already moved in force over the river, and the paratroops may not even be needed. Allied Turn 2: June 24, 1941  The Russians spot that we've left the Do217 unescorted. They send as many fighters as they can muster at it, and score a big kill.  An even worse loss hits us as the Soviet focus tank attacks on the 4th. They are gone, this time for good.  Reports of our advance in the north travel causes the enemy generals to respond. Troops from the rear area rush to the defense of Vilna. Axis Turn 3: June 26, 1941 Clear(dry)  Despite those setbacks, the plan is going well. Tanks make their first assault at Volkovysk and break the defenses at the perimeter of the city.  Back near Warsaw, we've mostly split up or significantly weakened the enemy forces. After a long absence from our core, the 3rd is recalled from garrison duty in Poland to rejoin us. Allied Turn 3: June 26, 1941  The only Soviet attacks are along the Bug River, but we manage to keep the losses even. Axis Turn 4: June 28, 1941 Clear(dry)  The Stugs are the ones that finally finish off the T-34 north of Brest.  The paratroops and tanks combine forces and assault Vilna. The attack goes well, but the enemy guns still remain to defend the majority of the city. Allied Turn 4: June 28, 1941  The Stug artillery may be armored, but it is unable to stand up to repeated shelling followed by a direct attack from the AT guns. Another good unit lost. Axis Turn 5: June 30 1941 Clear(dry)  With most of the bombers taken care of, our Focke-Wulf fighters get in some experience shooting down enemy fighters.  We push the enemy to the south and Brest is nearly captured. The first phase of the Warsaw Group's battle plan is nearly complete.  Not entirely, though, as there is still resistance at Bialstock.  At the same time, Volkovysk only needs some infantry to come and clear out the city. Allied Turn 5: June 30, 1941  While they can be deadly to ground units, Nebelwerfers are particularly weak to air attack. One of the few remaining Soviet bombers returns and nearly eliminates them. We've gained a lot of ground, and are pushing back the Soviets with ease. Unfortunately our success has come at a price; several good units have already been lost. 
Kangra fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Oct 13, 2015 |
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Oct 3, 2015 21:44
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