DLC 43 - beta 2: Kremenchug

[charonjr]

FM - pre-build non-optimised (still 7 Tiger/Panther) core - chess mode - no previous experience with this map

After reinforcements, upgrading the 3 Panther D to A and selling the captured T34/41 I start with 3.1k prestige.

I will play that one safe at first and hide behind the bridges/Dnieper till I see where the main Soviet assault is coming from and I hopefully have dealt with the amphibious attack - currently it looks like I have been wrong on both counts

With hardly any Soviet attacks till the end of turn 3 I decided to go on the offensive myself.

Nice counterattacks at turn 7, had to fall back a little bit in the NW and the left center in order to form a better defensive position.

My position in the middle around Ozera is far from ideal, if some more tanks come rushing into the area around Yerystivka I might get into real trouble here. In my desire to make up for the time I wasted waiting behind the Dniepr I got too aggressive and overconcentrated my forces in order to kill a lot of units fast instead of grinding the Soviets down slowly.

Using AT here to block the AI from landing additional troops. Without those blockers things might haven gotten ugly in the long run, but using the ATs like this does feel kinda cheesy - any idea if actively blocking is intended and if the AI is able to deal with it in the long run?

By the end of turn 8 the center is even more open, there are no reserves and it looks like the next wave of landing craft might be incoming.

[deducter]

I experimented a bit with chess mode, and I have to say that makes the game a LOT easier. Being able to plan perfectly your attacks and to know exactly how many casualties you will take is very, very significant advantage for an expert player like yourself.

I honestly doubt you'd be having as easy of a time if you didn't play with chess mode.

[charonjr]

I agree with you about the chess mode being easier due to its predictabilty, but on the other hands it provides very comparable results. So it seems to me to be the right setup for a beta.

Being able to perfectly allocate the units is making a large difference.

For normal play I will return to regular FM, maybe give Manstein another shot, but from what I have seen so far I dare to say that I will lose a lot of prestige there (which will not really be an issue for a while ).

Depending on the changes for the next beta I will give it a shot with the normal RNG again. But would still prefer an option to limit the RNG to +/-3, but that has been discussed before.

[charonjr]

At turn 10 the danger in the middle is over and after retreating another hex in the NW the Soviets seem to have run out of steam there as well. No new landing craft for now, but I will keep 2 Panzer in place just in case.

Lt. Prihodtzev was a tough nut to crack, did cost my Panther 5STR in the end and as always (ok, just often) when things start to get ugly the weather turns at least cloudy. Nice mix of tanks for this counterattack, had to withdraw and repair some units and perfect timing with the next wave of aircraft getting triggered, too (turn 13, likely not triggered actually, but just the normal timed wave - surely fit in perfectly).

With my extreme right flank wide open the Soviet forces mainly just rushed past my weakened units towards the south, if more of them had stayed and attacked the repair bill would have been much higher.

The next wave of aircraft at turn 15 was evil, with my aircraft in hot pursuit one of my stronger Ju 87D was unprotected and went from STR12 down to 2.

At the end of turn 17 the only enemy unit left was a 4STR bomber, I left it alive to get another turn (not sure if leaving 1 flag open would hav been enough), I will need all the prestige I can get I think, the last 4-5 turns took roughly the same toll than the previous 12.

Rain during the last turn, but with 4 AAA units in the area and the bomber not having moved it went down easily. The flag I left open spawned 7 BT-5s which went down without causing a single point of damage.

DV 18/18 - 5.7k prestige, but I expect another 3k repair bill here. 3k actually fit perfectly, 4750 prestige after elite reinforcements.

42 units with heroes now, a gain of 3 (still only 1 unit with 2 heroes - the Panther with 712 kills in the lead for kills, too, but my core has a fair number of 500+ kill units now).

[Kerensky]

That sounds like a much better hero count AND prestige numbers, if you ask me.
BETA 2 changes looking good!

[charonjr]

Yes, pre-build cores now have a chance without going for full Tiger/Panther - at least up to FM light (the chess mode is like a 10%+ force multiplier).

[charonjr]

Also do not forget that not everybody will go out of his way to milk every last kill/point of prestige from each scenario as I tend to do.

IMO first first guaranteed hero should appear at 200 kills and the 2nd one around 600/700. Otherwise the gap between pre-build and imported cores will still be fairly big.

[Zhivago]

I just finished playing this scenario for the first time. All of my units were at full overstrength following the previous scenario. Having not played this scenario before, I defaulted to my aggressive attack strategy and quickly burst across the river with my tigers, panthers, and mobile arty, with infantry bring up the rear. I also deployed a recon car, a captured Soviet KV 1C, four infantry units, and a mobile stg33 arty piece to the shoreline in anticipation of the Soviet amphibious assault. By the time the Russian counter-attack began around turn 6, I was already well across the river in all places and was able to easily repel and destroy all attacking Russian units within a few turns.

The Russian amphibious assault turned out not to be much of a concern. I was able to block almost all of the landing points along the shore most of the time, while my units there took pot-shots at the landing craft. I also used my three FW190's and four ME410's to intermittently strafe the landing craft. I think maybe five battered Russian units actually landed on the beach, but were quickly wiped out.

By turn 13 I had captured every Russian hex on the map, and destroyed every Russian unit, with the exception of air units that the AI kept generating from off the map. There was nothing left to do the last five or six turns except hit the end turn button. I would suggest a feature (for all scenarios) that if all Russian hexes are captured, the scenario ends to prevent this from happening.

[Longasc]

http://s7.directupload.net/images/120223/ohtc22we.jpg

5446 Start Prestige, 1898 End Prestige.
Lost a StuH42 - discovered the IS-2 after a bold move over the river. Just when Guards and heavy tanks counterattacked. A Recon unit and a Me410 got shot down, too.
Prestige was very okay, had no problem to recuperate losses. I could have had much more Prestige but tried to preserve 3 Star FW190 and BF109s the XP.

A VERY cool scenario. A late bloomer, it gets better the longer you play it.

At first I thought it's piss easy and boring. I just placed units along the shore and the Soviet Marines (actually poor Conscripts) could only land in the river near Kremenchug were they were easily dealt with.

But the shore is long and tied up 2 Tigers, a Panther and a Nebelwerfer. I would do this differently next time and use cheaper units as "blocks". I think this is the entire point of the assault, a diversion. Very bloody for the poor NPCs involved but effective.
Therefore I got hard pressed by Russians trying to traverse the river elsewhere. At turn 14 I broke through at Kremenchug and the nearby smaller villager, but had to retreat behind the river quickly when really strong heavy armor and Guards Infantry showed up.

The Russian Airforce never gave in but wasn't as annoying as in previous scenarios. I liked that.

One of the most exciting defensive scenarios I ever played in Panzer Corps!
- I know I am harping on this again, but Dnipropetrovsk could be a little more like that. Easier as breather, sure, but it isn't nearly 1/10 as cool as this scenario.

[billmv44]

General Imported 1942 Core (from Beta test). Ending prestige 5535. This scenario started slowly. I rushed across the river with my tanks and was able to smash the artillery. The Russian attack came a turn too late to save any of them. I continued attacking and was able to take all cities except one (the AI spammed too many units there for me to take). The stronger enemy tanks are becoming troublesome, but my units are all over strength now (many 15s). I used captured KV85s, a Stug and a recon to block the amphibious assault. My He-177 sank transport after transport. I would suggest starting the Soviet armored attack a turn or two sooner. That would make it a bit more challenging. I really never felt threatened in this scenario.