Locarnus Addon 2025-08, for Battlefield Europe, Afrika Korps and Grand Campaign East

[thejf]

Thanks for the extensive response and the useful insights Locarnus. I have now activated Reform Units in '42 and will deal with any losses that way.
Surrender income has played a big role in getting my prestige levels up to where they are now. Especially in '40 I found there to be plenty of opportunities due to the relatively weak offensive power of the French tanks (due to ROF reduction).
Really like this feature, it gives a historical feel to the battles with both sides struggling to inflict significant damage but the Germans getting the better of it in the end due to their superior mobility.
I avoided the British path for this reason, their tanks hit a lot harder here.

Just wrapped up Kharkov '42, resulting in the following core. I'm playing only German units and without the named heroes. Have only done very limited class switches until now:

Class....Unit.............Transport..Hero..Kills...XP

5 SE units

SE Standard Infantry..................1D1I...818...334
SE Bruckenpioniere.......NAG 500..1M.....365...313
SE Kavallerie...........................1S......543...303
SE 4.7 Pak (f)..............UE/f...............176...307
SE SdKfz 10/4+.................................18.....74

Not much to say here, some nice heroes on the Standand Infantry and Kavallerie

7 Infantry

INF Grenadiere.............L3000.....1A1A...529...320
INF Pioniere.................L3000......1I......513...303
INF Wehrmacht '42.........L3000......3D.....511...326
INF Fallschirmjager '42.................1A.....482...325
INF Gebirgsjager '42.....................1S.....468...324
INF Jager '42..............................3D....386....332
INF Kradschutzen '42....................1S.....375....304

Due to the lower pacing my infantry is seeing a lot of action. Very useful DEF heroes and a nice spotting hero for the Kradschutzen.

8 Tanks

TK Pz 3 J2...............................3D.....569....318
TK Pz 4 F1+.............................1M.....310....259
TK Pz 4 F2...............................1A.....608....287
TK Pz 2 Flamm..........................2A.....483....314
TK Matilda 2 (e)........................1M.....288....313
TK T34-41 (r)............................3A.....310....266
TK B2 (f) Flamm........................2A.....405.....239
TK KV 1B (r).............................1A.....301.....246

Pretty good heroes overall. The Matilda will probably become a Tiger, the Pz 2 Flamm a Wespe. Not sure about the rest yet.

5 Anti-Tanks

TD Panzerjager 1B.......................1I....266.....315
TD Marder 3..............................1I.....358.....221
TD StuG 3F................................2A....651.....317
TD BuFla..................................1I.....364.....291
TD 7.62 FK 36 (r).......Henschel......1M....319.....315

Remarkable number of INI heroes. Nice 1M hero on the towed TD, not sure what to do with the rest yet going forward

2 Recons

REC SdKfz 232+............................1M....442.....313
REC SdKfz 222++...........................2D....366.....316

10 artillery

ART 15 sFH 18............SdKfz 7.........1M....264.....386
ART 17 K 18...............SdKfz 8................222.....327
ART 21 Nblwf 42..........Horse..................124.....371
ART 105mm mle 1913 (f).Opel Blitz....1A.....279.....399
ART 10.5 sK 18............SdKfz 7................221.....400
ART 10.5 leG 41.........Kettenkrad......1A....181.....387
ART 10.5 leFH 18M.....Henschel 33......1R....292.....402
ART StuG 3E.................................1S.....295....378
ART Bison 2.........................................251.....363
ART 10.5 leFH B2 (f)...............................23......152

Without the spamming kills are hard to come by for this class. Fortunately the heroes I got so far are OK.

4 AA

AA Flakpanzer 1...........................2D ....303.....328
AA SdKfz 7/2.......................................188.....302
AA SdKfz 7/1...............................1D.....463.....361
AA 8.8 Flak 36..............................3D....436.....318

Whole class is begging for a switch with all these DEF heroes. Hoping at some point to switch the 88 into a big TD

6 Fighters

FIG Bf 109 E-4 .............................3A......277.....334
FIG Bf 109 E-7..............................1A......330.....323
FIG Bf 109 F-2.......................................164.....293
FIG Bf 109 F-4..............................1A......237.....322
FIG Fw 190 A-1......................................127.....242
FIG Fw 190 A-3.......................................55......135

Due to not using the Italian fighters I'm left with a lot of Bf 109 versions. Not planning on buying any more aircraft

5 Tac bombers

TAC JU 87 B-2...............................1A......223.....326
TAC JU 87 D-1...............................2D......247.....345
TAC Bf 110 F-2..............................1D.......338.....361
TAC Bf 110 E-2...............................1S......318.....337
TAC JU 88 C-6...............................1A.......297.....375

The low kill count on the Stuka's is due to the Bf110 having nearly the same ground attack capability aside from their good air attack. Will probably only start using them again when the later D and G model come out. Pretty mediocre heroes.

3 Strat bombers

STR Do 217 E-2.........................................1......177
STR He 111 H-6.......................................102.....389
STR JU 88 A-4..........................................55......387

Decided to start training up a third strat bomber for use in '43

[Locarnus]

Thanks for the extensive response and the useful insights Locarnus. I have now activated Reform Units in '42 and will deal with any losses that way.
Surrender income has played a big role in getting my prestige levels up to where they are now. Especially in '40 I found there to be plenty of opportunities due to the relatively weak offensive power of the French tanks (due to ROF reduction).
Really like this feature, it gives a historical feel to the battles with both sides struggling to inflict significant damage but the Germans getting the better of it in the end due to their superior mobility.
I avoided the British path for this reason, their tanks hit a lot harder here.

Yep, while the french had some advanced technical aspects in their tank designs, they really struggled with the human factor. From 1 man turrets to communication and tactical doctrine.

Just wrapped up Kharkov '42, resulting in the following core. I'm playing only German units and without the named heroes. Have only done very limited class switches until now:

Class....Unit.............Transport..Hero..Kills...XP

5 SE units

SE Standard Infantry..................1D1I...818...334
SE Bruckenpioniere.......NAG 500..1M.....365...313
SE Kavallerie...........................1S......543...303
SE 4.7 Pak (f)..............UE/f...............176...307
SE SdKfz 10/4+.................................18.....74

Not much to say here, some nice heroes on the Standand Infantry and Kavallerie

I like how the Brückenpioniere see some action!

7 Infantry

INF Grenadiere.............L3000.....1A1A...529...320
INF Pioniere.................L3000......1I......513...303
INF Wehrmacht '42.........L3000......3D.....511...326
INF Fallschirmjager '42.................1A.....482...325
INF Gebirgsjager '42.....................1S.....468...324
INF Jager '42..............................3D....386....332
INF Kradschutzen '42....................1S.....375....304

Due to the lower pacing my infantry is seeing a lot of action. Very useful DEF heroes and a nice spotting hero for the Kradschutzen.

I recommend trying out a tracked transport that can fight a bit, on one of the units (SdKfz 250 or 251).
They make the unit a lot more expensive and for that reason I rarely used them in unmodded PzC, but imho they can be viable for an elite inf unit here in the Addon.
Goose_2 uses a SdKfz 250 for his Grenadiere (defense 2 hero), making them extremely mobile, especially in snow and mud.

8 Tanks

TK Pz 3 J2...............................3D.....569....318
TK Pz 4 F1+.............................1M.....310....259
TK Pz 4 F2...............................1A.....608....287
TK Pz 2 Flamm..........................2A.....483....314
TK Matilda 2 (e)........................1M.....288....313
TK T34-41 (r)............................3A.....310....266
TK B2 (f) Flamm........................2A.....405.....239
TK KV 1B (r).............................1A.....301.....246

Pretty good heroes overall. The Matilda will probably become a Tiger, the Pz 2 Flamm a Wespe. Not sure about the rest yet.

Very interesting that the tanks have less experience than the infantry!
Great random heroes here. Goose_2 also planned for the Matilda to become a Tiger, though this changed now. It is quite a while from the Matilda being good in 41 and the Tiger becoming available at the turn of 42 to 43. At least yours has a movement hero to keep up.

I would reserve one unit with movement hero for the Tiger P (last 42 east scenario) => Ferdinand (Kursk). While that whole expensive line is limited to normal strength 8 all the way to the end, even the 8 strength Ferdinand can carry a whole front section for nearly a year aganst enemy tanks (mid 43 to mid 44).

And overstrength is particularly effective on units that are have less than 10 normal strength.
Giving 2 overstrength to the early Tiger P r9s8 makes it 10 strength with 9 shots, effectively increasing its firepower by about 29%! Much more than 2 overstrength would bring for a normal unit (20%).
And the overstrength does not get invalidated in a few scenarios like with the normal Tiger, since that Tiger P line stays at 8 base strength even for the later Elefant.
Though a third overstrength point would be wasted on the early Tiger P due to the rate of fire of 9. Until the improved Tiger P+ and the Ferdinand gets the rate of fire back up to 10.

5 Anti-Tanks

TD Panzerjager 1B.......................1I....266.....315
TD Marder 3..............................1I.....358.....221
TD StuG 3F................................2A....651.....317
TD BuFla..................................1I.....364.....291
TD 7.62 FK 36 (r).......Henschel......1M....319.....315

Remarkable number of INI heroes. Nice 1M hero on the towed TD, not sure what to do with the rest yet going forward

Always like seeing the BuFla in action, ini hero is great!
Guille1434 provided so many graphics for lesser known units, thus allowing for a much better impression of the historical german army of that time, which had many such projects.
Unfortunately there is no good crossover from the BuFla to the big german cats or their TD variants (Tigers, Elefant, Jagdpanther). But the other 8.8 cm gun units pretty much all share an upgrade family in the AT class (8.8cm Flak versions, BuFla, Nashorn, big 8.8cm Pak). Though most of the long 8.8cm ones including Nashorn will only be available from Kursk onwards. A long time to wait for that upgrade option and at that point the Nashorn is very squishy anyway.

2 Recons

REC SdKfz 232+............................1M....442.....313
REC SdKfz 222++...........................2D....366.....316

10 artillery

ART 15 sFH 18............SdKfz 7.........1M....264.....386
ART 17 K 18...............SdKfz 8................222.....327
ART 21 Nblwf 42..........Horse..................124.....371
ART 105mm mle 1913 (f).Opel Blitz....1A.....279.....399
ART 10.5 sK 18............SdKfz 7................221.....400
ART 10.5 leG 41.........Kettenkrad......1A....181.....387
ART 10.5 leFH 18M.....Henschel 33......1R....292.....402
ART StuG 3E.................................1S.....295....378
ART Bison 2.........................................251.....363
ART 10.5 leFH B2 (f)...............................23......152

Without the spamming kills are hard to come by for this class. Fortunately the heroes I got so far are OK.

My condolences for that StuG 3E spotting hero .
Wurfrahmen 40 could be worth a thought for the city maps of 42 East, though the range limitation of the early Wurfrahmen makes it situational without range hero. And Soviet SMG inf now have spotting 2, so are less likely to attack if they see a Wurfrahmen ready for defensive fire.

4 AA

AA Flakpanzer 1...........................2D ....303.....328
AA SdKfz 7/2.......................................188.....302
AA SdKfz 7/1...............................1D.....463.....361
AA 8.8 Flak 36..............................3D....436.....318

Whole class is begging for a switch with all these DEF heroes. Hoping at some point to switch the 88 into a big TD

Yep, really unlucky with the heroes here.
Also not sure what best to make of them.

6 Fighters

FIG Bf 109 E-4 .............................3A......277.....334
FIG Bf 109 E-7..............................1A......330.....323
FIG Bf 109 F-2.......................................164.....293
FIG Bf 109 F-4..............................1A......237.....322
FIG Fw 190 A-1......................................127.....242
FIG Fw 190 A-3.......................................55......135

Due to not using the Italian fighters I'm left with a lot of Bf 109 versions. Not planning on buying any more aircraft

Hm, yep, thats a lot of Bf 109s.
I would consider transitioning one of them with already many kills and a hero to become a strat bomber instead, using the indirect route via the Fw 189.
If you decide to do the trade both ways and make strat into a fighter in return, I would go with a Fw 190, since the 1945 bonus SE hero fighters will also be in Bf 109s (I would make an exception for those 2 for the no named hero rule, because they join so late and are irreplaceable bonus SE units).

5 Tac bombers

TAC JU 87 B-2...............................1A......223.....326
TAC JU 87 D-1...............................2D......247.....345
TAC Bf 110 F-2..............................1D.......338.....361
TAC Bf 110 E-2...............................1S......318.....337
TAC JU 88 C-6...............................1A.......297.....375

The low kill count on the Stuka's is due to the Bf110 having nearly the same ground attack capability aside from their good air attack. Will probably only start using them again when the later D and G model come out. Pretty mediocre heroes.

Hm, the spotting hero on Bf 110 gives me an idea, I'll have to check that for the future .
I highly recommend upgrading one air unit to the Hs 129, preferably with attack hero!
Yeah, the first Hs 129 version is pretty mediocre, but it already shows the speciality. The only aircraft line with 11 rate of fire, and it is fully specialized for anti tank duty.
Once it is upgunned and the early problems are fixed in the second version (the scenario after Sevastopol), it becomes by far your most deadly anti tank aircraft until the Ju 87 can barely catch up for Kursk with its gun pods.

3 Strat bombers

STR Do 217 E-2.........................................1......177
STR He 111 H-6.......................................102.....389
STR JU 88 A-4..........................................55......387

Decided to start training up a third strat bomber for use in '43

Only real way to get kills with strats is to go after ships. I recommend a whole max overstrength Strat training session during Stalingrad Docks.

[Locarnus]

Goose_2 unit roster for 1943e1, with the 42 criteria colors.
The new 1943 bonus SE unit could become a Toldi recon tank.
I would not upgrade your KV-1C to the KV-1S. The latter has more movement, but sacrifices armor. Which is imho not worth it.

Might have missed some options or coloring, not sure due to time.




GC 1943e1 start core unit roster recommendations
9157 prestige, after elite replacements to full strength for all understrength units and selling excess captured units!

red marker for a) no heroes, b) <300 kills, c) <300 experience
blue marker for a) r1 or a3 or 2nd heroes, b) >=600 kills, c) >= 400 experience

UnitType .................. transport ... Hero ... SubscriberName ... KillCounter ... Experience with elite replacements


45 Ground units

8 non-hero bonus SE units
Std Kav 42 ........................ a3s1 ... Brodrick ............. 999 ... 306
Standard Inf 42 ..................... d1 ... PatrickLee .......... 706 ... 307
7.62 Pak 36(r) /RSO ................ i1 ... Dimitri ............... 469 ... 306
Marder I .............................. ?? ... PaulWilde ............ 291 ... 245
Semovente 47/32 ................. m1 ... Makorin .............. 832 ... 361
plus 3 non-hero bonus SE units for the current 43 and the later 44 &45 grand campaign years

6 Infantry
Pioniere 42 ............ L3000 ..... m1 ... Soljaism ............. 615 ... 264
Grenadiere 42 ........ Sd250/1 ... d2 ... RichardMartin ...... 665 ... 300
Jäger 42 ............................. d2 ... Artemis .............. 455 ... 261
Fallschirmjäger 42 ............... i1a2 ... Pullig ................. 758 ... 297
Kradschützen 42 .................... a1 ... PeteMitchell ......... 568 ... 301
Bersaglieri 42 ........................ a2 ... Kostia ................ 399 ... 225 ... ===> Sahariana?

1 Towed AT (plus any bonus SE towed AT guns)
7.5 Pak 40 /Sd 11 ................. m1 ... Gigiduru ............. 553 ... 309

2 Recon
Panzer II Luchs .................... d2 ... Goose ................. 611 ... 310 ... ===> Pz II Luchs +
SdKfz 233 r9 ..................... s1s1 ... DanielS ................ 615 ... 329

9 Tanks
Tiger P r9s8 ....................... m1 ... Gooseboy ............. 457 ... 319 ... ===> +2 os, to 10 strength (since rof 9 limit atm)?
Marder II /131 ...................... i1 ... Blast ................... 553 ... 299 ... ===> Bison II for training?
Marder III H ........................ m1 ... PanzerVorwärts ...... 612 ... 307
Panzer III M ......................... a2 ... NightPhoenix ......... 703 ... 341 ... ===> Flammpz III in 43e2
StuG III F/8 ........................ m1 ... DoktorG ............... 727 ... 337 ... ===> StuG III G
Panzer IV G+ ........................ s1 ... Rimski ................. 652 ... 256
Panzer IV G ......................... s1 ... Soren .................. 587 ... 235
Matilda II(e) ........................ a3 ... Singer ................. 464 ... 241 ... ===> Some arty for training?
T-34/43(r) r9 ....................... a3 ... 7Bowls ................ 582 ... 247
KV-1C(r) ............................. d2 ... Paramecium ......... 649 ... 264

8 Mobile Arty
StuIG 33B r8 ..................... a2a2 ... Locarnus .............. 522 ... 334
Bison II (SturmPz II) r7 ............ d1 ... Festival ............... 573 ... 367 ... ===> Lorraine GW r8, for the rof increase
StuG III E+ r11 ...................... r1 ... RayCaster ............. 519 ... 422
10.5 leFH auf B2(f) ............. a2m1 ... Pierre ................. 568 ... 368
Semovente 75/18 r11 ............. d2 ... RightSide ............. 452 ... 334
Wurfrahmen 40 r8 .................. r1 ... Dneos ................. 633 ... 423
SU-122(r) r8 .......................... ?? ... Kapl .................... 71 ... 228

7 Towed Arty
10.5cm leG 41 ....... Ketten ..... d2 ... Temis ................... 456 ... 404 ... ===> Tiger I candidate?
10.5cm Polish arty ... Blitz ....... a3 ... MichalGolaszewski ... 714 ... 425 ... ===> Tiger I candidate despite overstrength?
10.5cm leFH 18M .... Horse ..... m1 ... Raunosavolainen ..... 571 ... 425 ... ===> Tiger I candidate despite os?
10.5cm sK 18 r9 ...... Horse ..... a1 ... ForestLaw ............. 568 ... 391
15cm sFH r8 ........... Sd7 ........ r1 ... Raduku ................ 357 ... 375
21cm Mrs r5 ........... Sd8 ....... m1 ... Kei ..................... 612 ... 352
21cm NblWf 42 ........ Horse .... m1 ... ElBaron ................ 430 ... 368

4 Anti-Air
8.8cm Flak 36 ........ Sd7 ....... m1 ... Jemhadar .............. 647 ... 306
Cannone 90/53 ...... TP40 ....... a2 ... Zyavoo ................. 433 ... 266
Flakpanzer I r12 ................... m1 ... Reoguru ............... 394 ... 301
SdKfz 7/1 r13....................... a3 ... MalcolmRichardson ... 513 ... 315


15 Airforce

8 Single engine Fighters & Fighter Bomber
Bf 109 G-4 .......................... d3 ... vonThüringen ......... 394 ... 314
Bf 109 F-4 ........................... d3 ... CouchOffiziell ........ 408 ... 311
Fw 190 A-4 .......................... a2 ... MafujKhan ............ 321 ... 276 ... ===> Fw 190 F-2 in 43e2
Fw 190 A-3 .......................... d2 ... Alvarez ................ 263 ... 270 ... ===> Fw 190 A-5
Re.2002 .............................. a3 ... Noxush ................ 394 ... 338
MC.202 ............................... ?? ... BlackVulture ........... 249 ... 304 ... ===> MC.205 Veltro
+ 2x bonus SE hero fighters in 1945

2 Multi engine Fighter Bomber
Bf 110 F-2 ........................... d1 ... FighterAce ............ 585 ... 308 ... ===> Bf 110 G-2, better ground attack than Me 410
Ju 88 C-6+ ........................... i1 ... Slender1870 ........... 463 ... 329

2 Dedicated Tac Bomber
Hs 129 B-2 r11 ...................... a3 ... AratoBela .............. 651 ... 335
Ju 87 D-3 ............................ a1 ... cmbbfan ............... 634 ... 320

1 Tac/Strat Bomber
Ju 88 A-4 ............................ a1 ... AI181 ................... 408 ... 422

2 Dedicated Strat Bomber
Do 217 E-2 .......................... d1 ... Richard ................. 287 ... 423 ... ===> Do 217 K
He 111 H-16 ........................ a1 ... RMA901 ................. 373 ... 425

[Locarnus]

4 AA

AA Flakpanzer 1...........................2D ....303.....328
AA SdKfz 7/2.......................................188.....302
AA SdKfz 7/1...............................1D.....463.....361
AA 8.8 Flak 36..............................3D....436.....318

Whole class is begging for a switch with all these DEF heroes. Hoping at some point to switch the 88 into a big TD
Decided to start training up a third strat bomber for use in '43

I had an idea about the 8.8 Flak 36 with def3 hero.
The Nashorn (43e4 kursk scenario) will be a bridge between 8.8cm upgrade family (in AT mode) and Panzer IV upgrade family (in tank mode).
Thus you could make your current Panzer IV with movement hero into the 8.8cm Flak 41 or 8.8cm Pak 43 (long 8.8cm gun, available from 43e3 and 43e4 scenarios), while your current 8.8 Flak 36 with def hero can become eg a Panzer IV or stay as a Nashorn.

5 Tac bombers

TAC JU 87 B-2...............................1A......223.....326
TAC JU 87 D-1...............................2D......247.....345
TAC Bf 110 F-2..............................1D.......338.....361
TAC Bf 110 E-2...............................1S......318.....337
TAC JU 88 C-6...............................1A.......297.....375

The low kill count on the Stuka's is due to the Bf110 having nearly the same ground attack capability aside from their good air attack. Will probably only start using them again when the later D and G model come out. Pretty mediocre heroes.

I thought some more about the idea I had for 1s movement hero on Bf 110.
The night fighter variants of the Bf 110 (F-4, G-4, G-4+) are rarely picked at the moment, both for the grand campaign and Battlefield Europe. I could give them 3 instead of 2 spotting, to also represent the aerial recon use of the Bf 110, which does not really fit as separate unit within the game engine (especially for the grand campaign).
Perhaps doing the same for some of the Ju 88 night fighter versions.

[eskuche]

Thanks for the extensive response and the useful insights Locarnus. I have now activated Reform Units in '42 and will deal with any losses that way.
Surrender income has played a big role in getting my prestige levels up to where they are now. Especially in '40 I found there to be plenty of opportunities due to the relatively weak offensive power of the French tanks (due to ROF reduction).
Really like this feature, it gives a historical feel to the battles with both sides struggling to inflict significant damage but the Germans getting the better of it in the end due to their superior mobility.
I avoided the British path for this reason, their tanks hit a lot harder here.

Just wrapped up Kharkov '42, resulting in the following core. I'm playing only German units and without the named heroes. Have only done very limited class switches until now:

If you have prestige, I would heavily recommend some class swaps:
- 1-2 movement heroes onto some anti-air. Anti-air gets +2 attack per experience point; the heroes matter not as much, with the exception of attack, obviously, but frontline mobile AA can randomly get tagged by enemy mobile artillery, or even stationary artillery with high range. This is doubly bad because they will fire before enemy air, and if you are sufficiently suppressed your front line will take bomber damage.
- Spotting onto recon ASAP.
- Unfortunately you got no initiative heroes for air. In this case (and guessing you are playing without custom heroes), your air game will need to be almost entirely defensive, e.g., shoot key enemy fighters with two AA to clear up some bombers to attack, then do not attack. Aircraft are *extremely expensive* in this mod, especially with overstrength; I would almost recommend not overstrengthing ever, even level bombers possibly.
- Strat bombers do not need any heroes but do need experience and they train quickly.
- 3D could do fine on the mobile 8.8 bunker buster.

[thejf]

Wow, thanks guys for all the detailed responses! Now I'm feeling even more motivated to see this campaign through to the end

Yep, while the french had some advanced technical aspects in their tank designs, they really struggled with the human factor. From 1 man turrets to communication and tactical doctrine.

How one of the largest and most professional armies in the world could think that combining the roles of loader, gunner and commander could work is one of the great mysteries of WW2 to me.

I like how the Brückenpioniere see some action!

So far they have proven their value on regular frontline duty, but they are quickly becoming more and more vulnerable. Might switch them after Stalingrad.

I recommend trying out a tracked transport that can fight a bit, on one of the units (SdKfz 250 or 251).
They make the unit a lot more expensive and for that reason I rarely used them in unmodded PzC, but imho they can be viable for an elite inf unit here in the Addon.
Goose_2 uses a SdKfz 250 for his Grenadiere (defense 2 hero), making them extremely mobile, especially in snow and mud.

Good point, I automatically wrote off the halftracks as too expensive. Will consider them for my top infantry.

Very interesting that the tanks have less experience than the infantry!
Great random heroes here. Goose_2 also planned for the Matilda to become a Tiger, though this changed now. It is quite a while from the Matilda being good in 41 and the Tiger becoming available at the turn of 42 to 43. At least yours has a movement hero to keep up.

This is because for a while I did not elite replace minor losses on my tanks to save some prestige, which was probably not necessary. Definitely planning on grabbing the Tiger P to use it with the other heavies to screen the lighter AFV's.

Regarding the overstrenght considerations: what would be a good approach? I'm currently using a quite classical approach with all non-frontline units (Arty, AA and all air) at 12 strenght and strat bombers at maximum. Going higher feels too expensive, going lower makes it a lot harder to get rid of enemy air.

Always like seeing the BuFla in action, ini hero is great!

I've studied WW2 for a long time but never heard of this unit, so felt I had to use it. The INI hero is great but it's not enough to keep it safe anymore: in Kharkov a T34 attacked it head on despite it being at 7 strength and under artillery cover. Probably going with eskuche's idea to exchange it with my 88.

My condolences for that StuG 3E spotting hero .
Wurfrahmen 40 could be worth a thought for the city maps of 42 East, though the range limitation of the early Wurfrahmen makes it situational without range hero. And Soviet SMG inf now have spotting 2, so are less likely to attack if they see a Wurfrahmen ready for defensive fire.

I remember thinking at some point how lucky I was with so few spotting hero's. 5 minutes later this hero dropped. Must have angered the Panzer gods...
By now I also got a spotting hero on my Bison 2. Getting a Wurfrahmen for Stalingrad is an interesting idea. I'm always reluctant to use it due to it's vulnerability to air attack, but this is less of an issue in the city.

I highly recommend upgrading one air unit to the Hs 129, preferably with attack hero!
Yeah, the first Hs 129 version is pretty mediocre, but it already shows the speciality. The only aircraft line with 11 rate of fire, and it is fully specialized for anti tank duty.
Once it is upgunned and the early problems are fixed in the second version (the scenario after Sevastopol), it becomes by far your most deadly anti tank aircraft until the Ju 87 can barely catch up for Kursk with its gun pods.

Thanks for this, I wasn't impressed by the initial stats but this sounds convincing. Have switched the B-2 into this guy.

I thought some more about the idea I had for 1s movement hero on Bf 110.
The night fighter variants of the Bf 110 (F-4, G-4, G-4+) are rarely picked at the moment, both for the grand campaign and Battlefield Europe. I could give them 3 instead of 2 spotting, to also represent the aerial recon use of the Bf 110, which does not really fit as separate unit within the game engine (especially for the grand campaign).
Perhaps doing the same for some of the Ju 88 night fighter versions.

Very interesting idea! Can maybe also be applied to units known for their reconnaisance use, like the Mosquito?

If you have prestige, I would heavily recommend some class swaps:

This is the big question for me. All swaps mentioned look great but I'm unsure how much prestige I can afford to sink into them. No soft cap helps a lot but the repair bills in the later years will be huge, especially for someone who is not an expert. I'm currently at 34k prestige going into Sevastopol.

[goose_2]

Thanks for the extensive response and the useful insights Locarnus. I have now activated Reform Units in '42 and will deal with any losses that way.

I have been reading this feeling very jealous of the prestige and experience you have at this point in the game.


What difficulty are you playing besides the rule of 1 and no super heroed units application?

That is a momentous task, and am proud to see a fellow player attempt this, I am just wondering if you have the 25% exp and 25% prestige I am doing, if you are you are doing amazing!!!!

[goose_2]

Thanks for the extensive response and the useful insights Locarnus. I have now activated Reform Units in '42 and will deal with any losses that way.

I have been reading this feeling very jealous of the prestige and experience you have at this point in the game.


What difficulty are you playing besides the rule of 1 and no super heroed units application?

That is a momentous task, and am proud to see a fellow player attempt this, I am just wondering if you have the 25% exp and 25% prestige I am doing, if you are you are doing amazing!!!!

[Locarnus]

If you have prestige, I would heavily recommend some class swaps:
- 1-2 movement heroes onto some anti-air. Anti-air gets +2 attack per experience point; the heroes matter not as much, with the exception of attack, obviously, but frontline mobile AA can randomly get tagged by enemy mobile artillery, or even stationary artillery with high range. This is doubly bad because they will fire before enemy air, and if you are sufficiently suppressed your front line will take bomber damage.
[...]

I agree for the movement hero on towed AA, very useful for the big 8.8cm Flak units.
Flak units are overall much weaker against air targets than in normal PanzerCorps, in order to keep things somewhat balanced for Battlefield Europe (eg by lowering their rate of fire in case of the 8.8cm Flak in AA mode).

But nearly all of them can switch to ground attack mode, as they could in BE. Different to BE, the self propelled ones are in tank class with the Addon, which removes the AT class buff when attacked by tanks and recons, but also removes the nerf when fighting with enemy infantry. Thus making eg the SdKfz 7/1 a monster at shredding enemy inf units in open terrain.

Small correction on the +2 attack per experience, those boni have been standardized for most classes.
Giving generally 0.5 ini, 1 attack, 1 def per experience level (though no extra naval attack for ground units).

Only aircraft still have different boni, because I dread the work it would take to rebalance them again.
Fighters have +0.5 ini, +2 air attack, but only +0.5 soft, hard and naval attack.
Tac and Strat bombers have +0.5 ini, +1.5 air attack, but still +1 soft, hard and naval attack.
Not great, not terrible.

Good point, I automatically wrote off the halftracks as too expensive. Will consider them for my top infantry.

In his youtube broadcast yesterday, goose_2 mentioned that those armed halftracks are also a great way of earning experience. I think he mentioned that Soren and RichardMartin tested that with good results.

This is because for a while I did not elite replace minor losses on my tanks to save some prestige, which was probably not necessary. Definitely planning on grabbing the Tiger P to use it with the other heavies to screen the lighter AFV's.

Regarding the overstrenght considerations: what would be a good approach? I'm currently using a quite classical approach with all non-frontline units (Arty, AA and all air) at 12 strenght and strat bombers at maximum. Going higher feels too expensive, going lower makes it a lot harder to get rid of enemy air.

Imho overstrength works really well if your unit has higher ini than the enemy and so much attack over their defense that you can practically stop the enemy from counterfiring (which protects your expensive overstrength).


Eg some calculations, Soviet inf defends city hex, shows entrenchment level 4 (counts as +2 defense vs attacking inf):
.....................................................Guards 2 stars, 10 strength....SMG Inf 2 stars, 10 strength
Fallis 3 stars, no heroes, 10 strength..................(-2.4 vs -4.4).....................(-2.0 vs -3.5)
Fallis 3 stars, no heroes, 13 strength..................(-1.7 vs -5.7).....................(-1.6 vs -4.5)
Fallis 3 stars, +1 ini hero, 10 strength.................(-1.7 vs -4.4).....................(-1.6 vs -3.5)
Fallis 3 stars, +1 ini hero, 13 strength.................(-1.0 vs -5.7).....................(-1.2 vs -4.5)

Fallis 3 stars, +1 att hero, 10 strength.................(-2.1 vs -4.9).....................(-2.0 vs -4.0)
Fallis 3 stars, +1 att hero, 13 strength.................(-1.7 vs -6.4).....................(-1.6 vs -5.2)
Fallis 3 stars, +2 att hero, 10 strength.................(-2.1 vs -5.3).....................(-2.0 vs -4.4)
Fallis 3 stars, +2 att hero, 13 strength.................(-1.4 vs -6.9).....................(-1.2 vs -5.7)

Fallis 3 stars, +1 def hero, 10 strength.................(-2.2 vs -4.4).....................(-1.7 vs -3.5)
Fallis 3 stars, +1 def hero, 13 strength.................(-1.5 vs -5.7).....................(-1.4 vs -4.5)
Fallis 3 stars, +2 def hero, 10 strength.................(-1.8 vs -4.4).....................(-1.5 vs -3.5)
Fallis 3 stars, +2 def hero, 13 strength.................(-1.3 vs -5.7).....................(-1.2 vs -4.5)

Note that Fallis already have the ini advantage here.
The base models (not taking stars into account) have
Fallis...........4 ini.......5 soft attack.......4 close defense
Guards.........2 ini.......4 soft attack.......3 close defense
SMG Inf........1 ini.......5 soft attack.......5 close defense

So while defense heroes do not look great for the Fallis in the table above, the reverse could be true from the Soviet inf perspective. Here the 2 better close defense on the SMG Inf compared to the Guards makes quite the difference, while the 1 lower ini of the SMG Inf compared to the Guards seems to matter less.

Always like seeing the BuFla in action, ini hero is great!

I've studied WW2 for a long time but never heard of this unit, so felt I had to use it. The INI hero is great but it's not enough to keep it safe anymore: in Kharkov a T34 attacked it head on despite it being at 7 strength and under artillery cover. Probably going with eskuche's idea to exchange it with my 88.

As far as I remember, there were even 2 batches built. One on SdKFz 7, the other on SdKfz 8. But only a handful of vehicles each, being reflected in the 8 strength. The Marders are very similar, but much cheaper and without the strength restriction at that point.

I remember thinking at some point how lucky I was with so few spotting hero's. 5 minutes later this hero dropped. Must have angered the Panzer gods...
By now I also got a spotting hero on my Bison 2. Getting a Wurfrahmen for Stalingrad is an interesting idea. I'm always reluctant to use it due to it's vulnerability to air attack, but this is less of an issue in the city.

Spotting hero on Bison 2 would be a cheap upgrade to the recon Panzer 2 branch. Which practically takes over the development from the SdKfz 222 in late 1942 for the grand campaign.

Very interesting idea! Can maybe also be applied to units known for their reconnaisance use, like the Mosquito?

Good idea, I will do this.

If you have prestige, I would heavily recommend some class swaps:

This is the big question for me. All swaps mentioned look great but I'm unsure how much prestige I can afford to sink into them. No soft cap helps a lot but the repair bills in the later years will be huge, especially for someone who is not an expert. I'm currently at 34k prestige going into Sevastopol.

Due to the no-softcap and you only selectively using the expensive indirect upgrade paths (via Kübelwagen and such), imho you should be ok, even with some more spending.
Note that the softcap in 45 is usually at 20%, so without that softcap, you will get 5 times more prestige there.

Next update is planned for the coming Saturday.
Though it would be better if you start GC 43 again, doing your upgrades again and so on, after installing the update.
Since some 43 unit additions will otherwise get sorted at the end of the purchase screen, messing up the visual upgrade family separations.

[goose_2]

I will not start GC 43 until the update. Looking forward to it, and will hopefully have new news for Sunday broadcast and very exciting conclusion to Ruins

[thejf]

I have been reading this feeling very jealous of the prestige and experience you have at this point in the game.


What difficulty are you playing besides the rule of 1 and no super heroed units application?

That is a momentous task, and am proud to see a fellow player attempt this, I am just wondering if you have the 25% exp and 25% prestige I am doing, if you are you are doing amazing!!!!

Haha, if only I were that good. I'm far removed from the Napoleonic heights you're playing at. Nothing but respect for what you are taking on!
I'm playing FM Rommel (so 50% exp and 50% prestige) and have, in the earlier years, used reloads selectively to prevent serious losses (including a full restart mid mission in Streets of Moscow). However, as mentioned above, going forward I'm trying to go without reloading. So far in the first missions of '42 this worked out fine.

In his youtube broadcast yesterday, goose_2 mentioned that those armed halftracks are also a great way of earning experience. I think he mentioned that Soren and RichardMartin tested that with good results.

Interesting finding! Will keep track of the XP gain in halftrack mode.

Imho overstrength works really well if your unit has higher ini than the enemy and so much attack over their defense that you can practically stop the enemy from counterfiring (which protects your expensive overstrength).

Thanks for the detailed calculations, interesting to see the effect of attack and defense boosts in this.
I'm definetely going to use this both my land and air battles. With AA no longer able to significantly weaken enemy fighters (unless you get 2 good shots in) I find myself constantly looking for the best setup to swarm and destroy them for no losses.

Spotting hero on Bison 2 would be a cheap upgrade to the recon Panzer 2 branch. Which practically takes over the development from the SdKfz 222 in late 1942 for the grand campaign.

Excellent point, will send my +1M recon the other way to become a towed Arty

[eskuche]

Too lazy to quote, but some responses to some points.
1. Thanks for the updated experience bonuses chart. I will review the game file in detail. This does change some things (such as AA effectiveness).
2. I haven't looked at the halftracks specifically, but as some of you may know, experience given is dependent on the attack-defense differential. This is why tanks hitting infantry with, e.g., panzer IV having 14-16 SA vs. 8-9 GD, doesn't net much experience. This is also why leveling up experience with lower caliber guns (low attack, high ROF) is great, as is firing artillery on land mines, and other similar things. It's very artifical and gamey but necessitates thought in strategy. For example, from 1942 and onwards I will plan on converting my super fighter heroes into level bombers to get to ~450 exp. before converting back to fighters.
3. I still have not decided if my original AA plan is the best or the massive use of fighters against enemy fighters is. My only concern is that you will randomly lose hundreds of prestige if a mobile enemy AA shows up. In my prior deducter mod only run (which I stopped around mid-campaign), I had most of my fighters at 10 strength up until 1943.
4. I don't think soft cap and prestige gain quite work in the way mentioned above (5x prestige). One, I was usually running 50-70% cap, with losses during the map ensuring that I got full end-of-map prestige. Also, because we 1) have a much weaker core and 2) aircraft and artillery cost a more (estimate 20-50%?), our prestige drain will be a lot more as well. I'm still being extremely conservative (excepting class swaps, which are for the long long term planning) with my prestige. Doing some calculations, it's well worth skipping decisive victories on some maps to take the time to set up a few more surrenders. Currently on the French '40 branch and getting two full strength Char surrenders is about 600 prestige, much more than taking flag hexes for 25 or 100-200 extra for the decisive V.

[goose_2]

Goose_2 unit roster for 1943e1, with the 42 criteria colors.
The new 1943 bonus SE unit could become a Toldi recon tank.
I would not upgrade your KV-1C to the KV-1S. The latter has more movement, but sacrifices armor. Which is imho not worth it.

Might have missed some options or coloring, not sure due to time.




GC 1943e1 start core unit roster recommendations
9157 prestige, after elite replacements to full strength for all understrength units and selling excess captured units!

So, I have been doing some deep thinking on what Richard and I discussed about this playthrough.

He sees it as almost hopeless, and the prestige and exp difficulty being a large part of it.

He explained that the exp is accumulated and banked each and every point, so you are constantly building experience, but every time you reach a new point it zero's out.

That means that you may be at say 412.9888 in exp where you only see 412 on your unit, but you get a good roll on the next battle, and you earn say .88 in exp but because you are so close to the next point it calculates out to 413 and zeros out.

Having that discussion with him made me think there is something to what you are saying about using the 425 experienced artillery as my big dog tanks.

I am sticking with what I have but he discussed with me during broadcast and after on discord just typed out messages that he sees 43 as the more difficult of the campaigns. I am not sure I completely agree, but see the Kursk battles being something I need to possibly really go full boat on, as I want to go to the extra battle that is available. And I do not want those scenarios to break me.

So now my thinking is leaning hard into the idea that I attempt to get Rauno and Michel as close to 500 exp as I can before the Kursk battles and switch them up to some Big Dog units, and I may utilize different Tiger availabilities in order to utilize 2 Tiger's 2 Porsche model units. And trade out some weaker units to use as 10.5 artilleries to garner experience gaining opportunities.

I do not have it fully worked out in my mind, but just doing some deep thinking knowing the future holds pain , much pain in my future.

Let me know if you have any thoughts on this very complex calculations.

[eskuche]

Goose_2 unit roster for 1943e1, with the 42 criteria colors.
The new 1943 bonus SE unit could become a Toldi recon tank.
I would not upgrade your KV-1C to the KV-1S. The latter has more movement, but sacrifices armor. Which is imho not worth it.

Might have missed some options or coloring, not sure due to time.




GC 1943e1 start core unit roster recommendations
9157 prestige, after elite replacements to full strength for all understrength units and selling excess captured units!

So, I have been doing some deep thinking on what Richard and I discussed about this playthrough.

He sees it as almost hopeless, and the prestige and exp difficulty being a large part of it.

He explained that the exp is accumulated and banked each and every point, so you are constantly building experience, but every time you reach a new point it zero's out.

That means that you may be at say 412.9888 in exp where you only see 412 on your unit, but you get a good roll on the next battle, and you earn say .88 in exp but because you are so close to the next point it calculates out to 413 and zeros out.

Having that discussion with him made me think there is something to what you are saying about using the 425 experienced artillery as my big dog tanks.

I am sticking with what I have but he discussed with me during broadcast and after on discord just typed out messages that he sees 43 as the more difficult of the campaigns. I am not sure I completely agree, but see the Kursk battles being something I need to possibly really go full boat on, as I want to go to the extra battle that is available. And I do not want those scenarios to break me.

So now my thinking is leaning hard into the idea that I attempt to get Rauno and Michel as close to 500 exp as I can before the Kursk battles and switch them up to some Big Dog units, and I may utilize different Tiger availabilities in order to utilize 2 Tiger's 2 Porsche model units. And trade out some weaker units to use as 10.5 artilleries to garner experience gaining opportunities.

I do not have it fully worked out in my mind, but just doing some deep thinking knowing the future holds pain , much pain in my future.

Let me know if you have any thoughts on this very complex calculations.

This is the plan I have been doing so far in my playthrough in mid 1940 (though not on 25% prestige). I have 5 Do-17's maxed exp banked to convert to fighters in '43-45. I convert gift fighter heroes to Do-17s to max to prestige. Even though this costs ~1200 prestige to convert back and forth it's worth it in the long run in terms of 1. making risky attacks for XP and 2. repair. I have a few Bf-110's getting kills and experience the slow way. Bad heroes (defense) can get converted to level bombers as their final designation.

For ground, I have ~15 10.5 cm, GebGesch, 7.5 cm fK (horse transport saves on cost) at max stars. I've converted a few to AA as needed. I have a few frontline units that do the hard work and get their initial heroes but really still not exp cap. I will convert some attack/move heroes to artillery to reach the 375 cap in '41 before finalizing their lineage, while replacing them with the high XP units to get kills and heroes. New gift infantry and tank heroes will undergo the same to get them up to speed.

[goose_2]

My aa is doing rather well because the game calculates pretty generously when it comes to using it in its aa role esp if you get a lucky shot., but also thanks to the mod you can also use in ground attack role to get even more exercise. Most are at 3 stars, so I am happy with their overall growth.

It is mainly big dog tanks I am concerned with. Listening to Soren and understanding what is coming in future Soviet years, I need units that cause their overwhelming units pause before attacking and he talks about the necessity for 4 starred units.

My only 4 starred units are my arty's. so changing some of the most reliable at the start of Kursk, makes more and more sense to me.

As far as aircraft goes, my frustrations come from the lack of progress with my FW's they have been anemically weak for 2 years and really need to step up in their strengths before my airforce is left in the dust.

Crazily enough my best fighter that I keep in my sidepocket for know and only bring out on rare occasions is my unexpected ace in the hole: Ju 88 C-6+ ........................... i1 ... Slender1870 ........... 463 ... 329

[eskuche]

Can you let me know where this Soren discussion is? Interested to listen. And yes, my whole thought process is that I need stand-in's for my typical Tiger IIs when the hard years hit. It will probably be 3-4 +defense3-5 units converted to the strongest tanks and antitanks available. A (maybe) bigger problem is that if AT doesn't get as much bonus as it previously did, one will need more/better high caliber artillery and/or air superiority to deal with the inevitable red tide without bleeding out overstrength prestige.

[goose_2]

Can you let me know where this Soren discussion is? Interested to listen. And yes, my whole thought process is that I need stand-in's for my typical Tiger IIs when the hard years hit. It will probably be 3-4 +defense3-5 units converted to the strongest tanks and antitanks available. A (maybe) bigger problem is that if AT doesn't get as much bonus as it previously did, one will need more/better high caliber artillery and/or air superiority to deal with the inevitable red tide without bleeding out overstrength prestige.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WLWyKf ... 9&index=50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12Fe8-u ... 9&index=38

These 2 specifically, but all his videos are must watch prep before my battles

[goose_2]

except when I go a dif route, then my ultimate become must watch prep before battles

[Locarnus]

Thanks for the detailed calculations, interesting to see the effect of attack and defense boosts in this.
I'm definetely going to use this both my land and air battles. With AA no longer able to significantly weaken enemy fighters (unless you get 2 good shots in) I find myself constantly looking for the best setup to swarm and destroy them for no losses.

3. I still have not decided if my original AA plan is the best or the massive use of fighters against enemy fighters is. My only concern is that you will randomly lose hundreds of prestige if a mobile enemy AA shows up. In my prior deducter mod only run (which I stopped around mid-campaign), I had most of my fighters at 10 strength up until 1943.

Since I'm meddling a bit with the late war fighter balancing again in the coming patch, some thoughts on the air war.
a) Like on the ground, traps are very important. Especially if aux units can be used as bait for an indirect trap (where the enemy aircraft attacks a bait unit and your aircraft provides defensive/escort fire, instead of eg you positioning a fighter in an enemy aircraft path).

Many scenarios have both aux units and eg 3 air transports available, without actually needing those air transports for normal strategies. An air transported aux unit makes for great bait, since you can simply disembark it over an airport after taking some damage. And then load the next full strength aux unit, giving you a 10 strength bait air transport again without spending any prestige.

You can then very cheaply reinforce the first aux unit again, just make sure you do not lose the unit while air transported, or your "sustainable/regrowing" air transport is lost as well.
Even without aux units, a very cheap core infantry without ground transport would works as well when put into a scenario provided air transport.

b) Defensive/escort fire does not care about relative initiative or your escorting aircraft defense value. Only the air attack value of your escort fighter matters. And a Bf 110 heavy fighter will have the highest air attack values until the Fw 190 can catch up from mid 1943 onwards.

c) After a trap, AA could further diminish an enemy fighter. The big AA has the punch and range, the mobile AA has the mobility and rate of fire.

d) Then mass attack can be used to further reduce the likelihood of return fire, when your fighters engage.
5 ini is the max applicable difference between your ini and the enemy ini, every ini advantage beyond that does nothing.
Like with the Fallschirmjäger vs Soviet Inf example above, ini advantage only provides the opening, it still has to be exploited by your attack vs the enemy defense rating.

Most of the Bf 109 F & G versions have good ini, but underwhelming air attack (early Gs have defense instead of ini)
While the Fw 190 A fighters generally have underwhelming ini, but good air attack.
And the Bf 110 heavy fighters have even worse ini, but great air attack.
The Ju 88 very heavy fighters usually trade a bit of attack for much more range than the Bf 110 (important for BE).

e) Note that the odd experience levels provide an ini buff on top of attack and defense buffs! Getting those should be a priority. But since fighters still receive +2 attack per experience level, every level helps a lot.
With Bf 109 having an ini advantage most of the time, such an attack buff even helps reduce their own casualties by suppressing more of the enemy before they can fire back.

f) The 1945 bonus SE hero fighters also come with unupgradeable Bf 109s (a G-10+ and a K-4+).
I exclude those from the no super heroes house rule, because they are irreplaceable bonus SE units and they come so late that the hero stats can not even compensate for their lack of experience.
But with the rule of 1, the players normal Bf 109s will probably become something else later on anyway (eg Me 262 and similar).

g) The Fw 190 become more varied, having in-family transitions to bomber killers (eg Fw 190 A-8/R) and ground attackers (Fw 190 F & G).

4. I don't think soft cap and prestige gain quite work in the way mentioned above (5x prestige). One, I was usually running 50-70% cap, with losses during the map ensuring that I got full end-of-map prestige. Also, because we 1) have a much weaker core and 2) aircraft and artillery cost a more (estimate 20-50%?), our prestige drain will be a lot more as well. I'm still being extremely conservative (excepting class swaps, which are for the long long term planning) with my prestige. Doing some calculations, it's well worth skipping decisive victories on some maps to take the time to set up a few more surrenders. Currently on the French '40 branch and getting two full strength Char surrenders is about 600 prestige, much more than taking flag hexes for 25 or 100-200 extra for the decisive V.

Yep, sorry, the 5x was just regarding the assumed max soft cap of 20% on normal prestige "revenue" (including the already boosted surrenders, but excluding the sale of captured units).
Costs will be up a lot due to the reasons you wrote. Which is hard to to estimate, because so many factors changed.
Thus I'm very much looking forward to feedback form concluded grand campaigns!

I'm especially curious how some of those changes affect the way the grand campaign is played.
Eg no AI spam removes the need to count enemy core units and rush to the last enemy flags to prevent or control purchase spam.
Rule of 1 makes the core much more varied and the best units much more special.
And so on.

[Locarnus]

[...]
So now my thinking is leaning hard into the idea that I attempt to get Rauno and Michel as close to 500 exp as I can before the Kursk battles and switch them up to some Big Dog units, and I may utilize different Tiger availabilities in order to utilize 2 Tiger's 2 Porsche model units. And trade out some weaker units to use as 10.5 artilleries to garner experience gaining opportunities.

[...]
It is mainly big dog tanks I am concerned with. Listening to Soren and understanding what is coming in future Soviet years, I need units that cause their overwhelming units pause before attacking and he talks about the necessity for 4 starred units.

I'm not sure that the situation is dire, though I agree with the need for high experience, direct fire units.
Soren faces Manstein strength enemies, and those 15 instead of 10 base strength make the AI a lot bolder.
I like the idea of having two Tiger P based units around for GC 1943 from 43e4 Kursk onward (Ferdinand & uparmored Tiger P+), though it also means having two very expensive units stuck at 8 base strength in late 44 and 45.

Could look like this. The a3 hero could work well on Panther.
m1....Gooseboy....=>.42e12..Tiger P r9s8.....=>.43e03..Tiger P+ s8....=>.43e04..Ferdinand s8
d2.....Temis..................=>.43e01..Tiger I H r9s8........................=>.43e04..Tiger I E
m1....Raunosavolainen..........................................................=>.43e04..Tiger P+ s8
a3.....MichalGolaszewski........................................................=>.43e04..Panther D

As far as aircraft goes, my frustrations come from the lack of progress with my FW's they have been anemically weak for 2 years and really need to step up in their strengths before my airforce is left in the dust.

Crazily enough my best fighter that I keep in my sidepocket for know and only bring out on rare occasions is my unexpected ace in the hole: Ju 88 C-6+ ........................... i1 ... Slender1870 ........... 463 ... 329

Yep, several fighters competing for the limited available training options. The fighter bombers have it easier in that regard and the ini hero on the early Ju 88 strat bomber went from an rng insult to a lucky draw for the Ju 88 heavy fighter/fighter bomber conversion.
Fw 190s can in early 43 at least split into fighter and fighter bomber lines, which helped the Italian fighters to catch up.
And the important 3rd star is in reach as well.

Can you let me know where this Soren discussion is? Interested to listen. And yes, my whole thought process is that I need stand-in's for my typical Tiger IIs when the hard years hit. It will probably be 3-4 +defense3-5 units converted to the strongest tanks and antitanks available. A (maybe) bigger problem is that if AT doesn't get as much bonus as it previously did, one will need more/better high caliber artillery and/or air superiority to deal with the inevitable red tide without bleeding out overstrength prestige.

In addition to the links goose_2 provided, I also like to come back to this video, where Soren reviews his Manstein playthrough. The prestige diagram from minute 12 also features the datapoints from his even earlier Rommel playthrough. It is a great benchmark, while taking the photographic memory and precision Soren has over normal players into account.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFAmIXr ... P&index=91


About the lack of Tiger IIs and such (their first versions will also be limited to 8 strength), keep in mind that the units themselves have also been rebalanced.
Tiger II tanks are not as powerful as they were before, but Soviet tanks aren't either.
Most Soviet tanks have rate of fire issues, from the 2 man turret T-34s (those also have ini issues) to the big gun SU & ISU self propelled arties and finally the IS tanks (those also have ammo issues).

And while I did not change the deployment of the units in the scenarios themselves, I did feel compelled to exchange some of the unit IDs.
The KV-85 and IS-1 were historically pretty rare, while they are ubiquitous in the later grand campaign. So eg instead of the KV-85 the player will now encounter Soviet M4 (76) Shermans, which are considerably weaker vs ground targets, but carry that annoying .50 cal against air attacks.