First Impressions of Panzer Corps 2: Elite – All American

[bayonetbrant]

First Impressions of Panzer Corps 2: Elite – All American

A pinch more detail than its spiritual predecessor Panzer General 2 but not enough to get it into Grognards Only / black diamond territory. This is more blue+ ski slope difficulty. “Comfort Food” for wargamers.

https://wp.me/pae4WL-fiM

[armedevil]

Nice writeup, but no mention of the supply-hex in the lightly defended village next to the dirt airfield.
This is the top priority. It even yields no less than 5.000 prestige points. And then you can replace your losses.

The five 20-strength German tanks are monstrous, without naval bombardments you stand little chance...

[biohazard15]

Here's my impressions, then.

1. First Blood
- I know that we're supposed to play with 82nd, but... Rangers exist. And in PC2, US Rangers are simply a better US Airborne that cost a dime more. So first thing I did (and you should too) is upgrade all your 10 guys to Rangers. Guess we play PC2: 1st Ranger Batallion now, LOL
- A nice surprise in aircraft tab: in this campaign, you can buy USN airplanes. Namely Corsair, Dauntless and Helldiver. BUY THEM. They're great. You may want to buy A-36 instead of Helldiver or Dauntless, but Corsair is the best fighter you can get at the start. Also, don't bother with strats, pretty much all airfields in this campaign are dirt ones.
- Undeploy the "support forces" in form of 3 scouts and 2 artys, and deploy them later when you secure the supply hex. They have no ammo or fuel and will surrender when under fire.
- As for the mission itself: somewhat frantic, but fun. After you capture the LZ, you'll need to fly your troops around the map in order to capture triangulation points and kill the OP German tanks. You'll have to kill the last one by yourself, though - Helldiver really helped me here.

2. To The Rescue
- To the rescue of WHOM? There are no friendly units on the map!
- The "secret depot" has no AA cover and can simply be bombed out of existence. Or shot with .50cal bullets, which is exactly what I did with a Corsair.
- Some German tanks decided that they want to be Gebirgsjagers and went straight through the mountains on the northern border instead of using roads. Might be a bug.
- DO NOT FORGET TO BUY TRUCKS FOR YOUR INFANTRY. (I forgot.)
- Overall, nothing too hard - clear the skies with your Corsairs, keep your guys in the hills, and you're golden.

3. Mission Boston
- BEWARE OF DORA over Saint Mere Eglise.
- Going for Montebourg first is a very good idea, indeed.
- BEWARE OF DORA over Saint Mere Eglise.
- There are two flaks in the western part of Valognes, you'll probably want to kill these first.
- BEWARE OF DORA over Saint Mere Eglise.
- Did you heed my warnings about Dora? I hope you did. Capture the airfield to NE first, put some fighters there and use them for escorting your C-47s.
- Overall, not too hard (although harder than previous one). Beware of air threat, and kill that pesky Dora ASAP.

4. Unrelinquishing
- Funny mission.
- Basically, you have to cross a big swamp while fighting a mix of new and old stuff. Most stuff comes at you, so don't rush and try to kill them while they're in the swamp.
- Really nothing to add here - just move to the west and kill everything.

5. Grave
- Previous mission was a holiday trip, LOL. Grave, indeed.
- DO NOT deploy your guys in C-47s. Luftwaffe WILL shoot them down. Deploy them with trucks in the western hexes and pray to survive while pushing towards the LZ airfields. Market Garden was indeed a hell.
- Concentrate on bridges first. Leave one hex, and then go for the SS division (which camps around Groesbeek - guess mentioning it as a possible LZ was trolling). These guys are no pushovers - they have about the same XP as you (or even more), a mild OS and some heroes, so be careful.
- This was the most difficult mission in the whole campaign.

6. A Bridge Too Far
- If you played Warsaw from AO39, you know what to do. Tip: both Rangers and Airborne have Bunker Killer.
- Crossing the river sounds interesting... and unnecessary, since you can just storm the city instead. You actually HAVE to storm it in order to secure the elite objective.
- Use Rudel wannabes you've got from elite objectives in previous missions to kill the SS tanks.
- Do-335? Dicker Max? Really?

7. No Matter The Cost
- You show us the fearsome Kampfgruppe Peiper, and then it just... stays in place? WAT?
- This mission is kinda stupid, TBH.
- Slowly go towards the goal along the highway. MIND YOUR FLANKS - there's a lot of Germans off the road, waiting to ambush you.
- Be careful when you cross the river - Germans love to wait and trap you on the bridge.
- Nothing hard here if you're careful.

8. Payback
- Just a cleanup mission.
- Be sure to check the fighter tab in the store - you've got 20 P-80s and 20 F-82s! Neat!
- These will be useful BTW - there are a good number of Luftwaffe airplanes. They might be weakened, but there are many of them.
- SS have Loewes now? WAT?

9. Round Up
- Don't relax yet - it won't be a steamroll mission.
- Enjoy Brits' stupid AI. You can help them of course, but why would you disturb the natural selection?
- Go where you're told to go, kill stuff along the way. There will be a lot of wunderwaffe, especially aircraft, so keep these P-80s in the air and have some AA. BTW, you get a refill for P-80s and F-82s.
- You can divert to the clearing in the center (where 21th army is) to find some easy-to-kill armor, but there's really no point in this.
- Be careful when approaching Ludwigslust - they have a Maus, a mildly OSed Go-229 and some other late-war stuff.


In the end, I give this campaign a 7.5\10. Definitely not something brilliant, but overall it's okayish.

[armedevil]

@biohazard15, nice overview!

This DLC did achieve what it (probably) meant to: let you appreciate the awesome power of infantry when there is lots of close terrain. Infantry (yes, the Rangers are a bit better) is nearly untouchable in cities, hills, forests etc. And especially with those cheap ultra-fast Dodge transports (that also add +3 soft +1 hard attack).

German armor are mere bystanders when you advance your infantry past them and cut their supplies. No matter how OP they are.

Capture some cheap Flakvierlinge when you can, they're devastating against most of the enemy air force (but delicate). 1 core slot so 12 strength. Or the 2-slot (so only 11-strength) US alternative that is very versatile. Two AA + 2 good fighters takes care of the enemy. And the reconnaissance planes are super-useful and quite sturdy.

There are many traits that meaningfully add to your offensive power. The many infantry units make Infantry General a standout. 33% more infantry!

For who likes to boldly advance while also carefully considering possible nasty surprises this is a nice DLC. The enemy likes to attack, so be prepared. Scenarios are nicely thought out but slightly artificial. And the play is always: use as much infantry as you can, with some air. And a few really strong units to deal with the (suppressed) German mega-armor. A lot of it is 'no surrender' so these you need to really destroy sadly.

However, the DLC is (too) liberal with prestige, experience and heroes (also German heroes). The narrative items add some flavor and are appreciated.