DLC 42 West 03 - Hardelot

[Kerensky]

Things to be aware of:
Coastal attack and inland attack are RANDOMLY generated. Sometimes they hit north, sometimes they hit south. It's up to you to plan ahead and react once you detect enemy forces.

[billmv44]

General level. Starting prestige 2387 ending 1376.

Got the DV, but it was a challenge racing here and there to counter the British raiders. I formed a few battle groups and spread them around the map since I had no idea where they would strike first. I must say that the presence of enemy tanks in the raider forces has taken me by surprise. Fortunately all of my SE units are tanks so I have the forces to deal with them. Since the map is so big, I left behind my Ju-88. It would have come in handy to smash up the landing ships. In the 42 East DLC I don't think I lost a unit, in this DLC I've lost 3 already. Probably a combination of the improved AI and the tougher British.

[Razz1]

General
Still not enough prestige to fill up all my units. Left a Pz3 behind and never used it.
Lost Krad to ambush.
Lost my land artillery on first turn with +4 attack
Did not expect the Allies to be in the middle of the map.
MV


Maybe make the installations a little stronger by increase entrenchment or experience.

Still getting the same bug. A black flash will appear when fighting sometimes. Like a dark black cloud. Appears on opposite side of unit that fires. Happens when attacking or defending.

Can happen when AI attacks or human.

Last time it was with the MkIV cruiser

Schultz hero is not showing up.

[Kamerer]

Hardelot – beta 1

Level: FM
Prestige - Begin: 3,250. End; 3,600. Net: +350.
Result: MV 16/16
Replacements: None used.

Core changes:

• · Disbanded conscript units ( x 2)
  · Disbanded T34/41s ( x 2)
  · Purchased one Pz.IV/F2

Problems: None found.

General impressions/comments:

• · Nice scenario – fun and well-scripted. Instructions, intelligence updates, etc. were well-worded, clear, and effective.
  · Could not defend the hangar at Beussent, 22,34 despite having two strong tank units right there, and a fallschirmjager ready to jump in.
  · Surprised to see no air cover at all; it seems the RAF would send something to harass a little bit? It’s just a few miles away.

So far, I am really enjoying this change of playing small-unit response scenarios. It is a fresh change of pace from past scenarios.

[nikivdd]

Hardelot Col diff

No purchases, no upgrades.

A nice cat and mouse scenario. Some of the allied units fell into an ambush at the first round, making it a lot easier. All installations were protected and i used a few units do move elsewhere if needed. With so much open terrain, the tanks had an easy task. I managed to protect all facilities, and the enemy had no opportunity to attack any of them. A rather large map with so few units to command is always a challenge but fun nonetheless. I deployed both my fighters for i expected some allied air activity but to my big surprise there was none at all...forgot them perhaps? The allied units could use a few more strength points, to make them last longer and give a higher rate of succes. I have several 14 str tanks and you can imagine what that does to a 10 str inf unit...

DV, 602PP, 1 recon lost.

[zappel]

Beta1 - Colonel:
A lot of terrain and a lot of deploy hex but only a few units to deploy.
Had massive contact with a previously rare unit "LRDG Inf/Chevy-WB", in AK I remember only one unit in the Gazala (?). Five of these units are a plague because they are quick and can attack units which normally would be in safe distance. A nice opponent only the attack-sequence of the Chevy looks funny, muzzle flash in the middle of the vehicle and no weapon to realise.
Like in Bayonne I first not recognise the core recon units, I have to take a closer look. Received three additional core units and has to disband some of them to gain prestige. Started GC42/43W with 3000+ prestige and consumed almost the complete prestige.
Final wave was announced in turn 8 and appeared in turn 12. It will be a great practice if the AI will attack randomly.

[deadtorius]

I only played this with the imported core.

This is an interesting one as you jump about trying to react to the allies. Unfortunately it was not until after half way through the scenario that I realized this one has an unheard of ammount of embarkation points, 5 train and 5 air Better than that the Gigant can carry anything you want, tanks, infantry, guns. Downside is you embark move then next turn disembark and are stuck so you can move from top to bottom of map fairly quickly but might be just as fast if you drove there. Not enough prestige to over strengthen units but I did manage to upgrade the conscript unit (one died since I thought they were auxillaries and who cares if they die) to regular infantry. Conscripts are about the equivalent of Italian infantry in PZC Afrika Corps, totally useless. Upgrading them makes them at least usable. You also gain 3 new recon units in this one, 2 of them are captured units (nice feature by the way, same goes to the T-34's last game) one Russian one French. I found the French one better for dealing with Brit MK VI tanks, but still lost one of the recon units.

A fun scenario darting about looking for that next attack then descending on it before they can destroy some target. The hangar in the middle of the map was their first target, had 4 or 5 units surround it and almost kill it before I destroyed them. Discovered that if you put artillery beside the terrain piece that they have to kill, it will fire defensively.That was a nice surprise to discover.
Ended with MV but still little or no prestige gain.

[zappel]

One of the new core recon-units is a Panzer IIL one and a half year before it is available to purchase. Is this wanted?

[Blathergut]

squeeked a marginal...general level, no imported core, very little prestige to start (350ish)

-seems weird having Brit tanks pop up...could they be captured French or German stuff maybe?...when the attacks came at opposite ends it seemed impossible to save all of the installations...

-didn't really enjoy the scenario...not sure why...didn't feel like a raid (too much Brit armour maybe)...

[Razz1]

General
Original core
start 1162 prestige
DV 16/16
end 505 prestige

[Chris10]

It may probably for gameplay reasons but its hard to imagine british commandos landing with bigger amount of tanks...heck even in Normandie 1944 they could land only a few Shermans in hte landings while a lot of these tanks were sinking with their landing crafts in the rough see...simply to heavy
landing tanks is nothing you could do in a commando raid which starts as secret operation

Maybe replace with some other material...AT guns and arty support...this is an acceptable challenge even for german armor

[deducter]

3. Hardelot

The Panzer II Luchs that shows up is highly inconsistent with the equipment file: this recon unit is supposed to be introduced in late 1943, not early 1942.

I’m concerned about the number of core units that show up as reinforcements. It becomes the most significant source of prestige for the player. I guess there’s a certain logic to it, after all, if you preserve these extra units you should be rewarded with more prestige. Still, I’d prefer some of these units to be AUX instead of core.

Conscripts are uber. I used a single conscript to tie down a Churchill II, simply by reinforcing after each attack.

I thought this was a pretty easy scenario. The Canadian infantry that can switch between a Chevy Recon and infantry are an interesting foe to fight, although too often the AI just attacks blindly, opening up its infantry to counterattacks by my tanks. Interesting to note there are no AI air units on this map.

DV 16/16.

[monkspider]

Hardelot
Marginal Victory 16/16

A very clever scenario, especially with the attacks being randomized! That really adds a lot. I was almost able to get the decisive victory but the Brits destroyed one of the objectives with their last wave of commandos. I really like the reinforcements you get, they are more than you can use but it gives the campaign a bit of replay value, being able to try a different core composition next time.

[ThvN]

Lieutenant, played several times. 2xMV, 2xDV, prestige hovering around 2000-2500.

The randomness of the later attack waves is nice, the Allied tanks a bit on the heavy side for the stock core, I'm glad I switched to lieutenant. Racing all over the map is quite challenging, the extra transports are extremely useful. The first playthrough I outsmarted myself by picking a Fallschirmjager in the hopes I could quickly redeploy it, but there were no Ju52's available, and it had to start on the ground just like the rest. So it was actually more useful to pick an infantry unit with land transport instead, as it remained mobile after being dropped off by the Me323's, and there are plenty of those. It is very hard (nice) to choose a good balanced force, and the extra recon units are very welcome. Kradschutzen were disappointing in combat, but their spotting was helpful.

I am not completely sure, but when fighting against the last Allied attack wave, I had less trouble in the south than with the one in the north, could have been down to luck however.

On a side note, I notice several posts about the Panzer II 'Luchs', and although its appearance is odd, it was in development from 1939 on, and prototype testing, according to three sources I've checked, is given variously as 'mid 1942', 'from april 1942' and 'march-september 1942'. Production started in september 1943, first combat use was reported as 25 october 1943. There were a lot of different vehicles trialled, and there is lots of vagueness in dates and types, so I just assume that this is some kind of early trial unit. I was half expecting an obsolete German unit (6-wheeler or something like that), so it was a strange but pleasant surprise.

[billmv44]

Beta 2, FM level. Starting prestige 1619, ending 1384.

Got the DV again. I only took 4 damage on one installation. I guessed right on the second wave and had my forces blocking the landing hexes. Then my Do-217 sank the transports. Once the landing hexes were blocked, the AI didn't try to reposition his units. If the transports were spread out, I wouldn't have been able to block all available landing hexes. As it was, they just waited there to be sunk. Not very challenging.

[monkspider]

Beta 2
General level
Ending prestige 2300
Marginal Victory

Ah, still not able to get the decisive victory! I chose wrong on where I expected the second wave to come and paid the price. It seems that the advice in the scenario briefing about saving some units in reserve to deploy really isn't very good advice since you can't deploy them close enough to be able to react to an enemy raiding party I have found. Perhaps I just had bad luck though, still an impressive scenario for the revolutionary randomness element.

[Kamerer]

Hardelot – beta 2, stock core

Field Marshal, DV 16/16
Begin pp: 1,800. End: 2,125. Net: +325

Core changes:

• Disbanded conscripts.
  Disbanded T34’s (x2), replaced with Pz.IV/F2 (x1)
  Received an SE Pz.III/J. Disbanded for prestige (a Pz.IV or infantry I would have kept).

Problems:

• Ba64 at Frencq (17,32) is not on map during deployment, is at start of turn 1. Ditto Panhard at Nesles. Would help when deploying to know this.

New Observations: None.

Suggestions: None. Seems good!

[ThvN]

Beta 2, stock core

Colonel, DV 16/16
Prestige start/end: 485/232 (meaning I had 982 for Dieppe)

I had 2126 prestige during deployment, but a lot of reinforcing to do. Upgraded SE PzIV to F/2, Bf110D to F, and the Nebelwerfer. As an experiment I did not deploy my Nebelwerfer, I feared it would be to vulnerable, short-ranged and slow. As I knew where the first attack would come from I did better than in the first beta.
The random attacks then hit the Northern coast and South inland. I did not want to gamble, so I raced and spread my forces towards both possible attack locations each time the warnings came, to see if I could manage it, and this is doable if you use all available transports for the heavier/slower units and use the roads for the trucks, Kradschutzen and scout cars.
Even with spreading out my forces like this I managed a DV, mostly because I was able to keep the AI from landing in the North because I had filled the coastal hexes with units arriving by train. (BTW is it quite weird to move a train all across the map, and then have the Bf110 which left from the same location arrive two turns later)

Oh, and I really cannot resist thanking you for changing the 'this is why we can't have nice things' Luchs to the Panzer IIF, it might be worse in combat than the Luchs, but it costs considerably more. So it might be a less shiny toy, the 'prestige-challenged' among us will surely appreciate the 63 extra prestige when disbanding it.

A small observation: I had to transport my Fallschirmjager with an Me323, as there were no Ju52's available. Doesn't affect gameplay but I'm not sure if this is intentional. Since Fallschirmjager were made part of the stock core in beta2, I was expecting a Ju52.

[deadtorius]

Start of scenario disbanded conscripts and T-34's, needed the prestige. Ended up short by 3 units from the max to deploy. Forgot to move the Panhard on turn 1 and it got killed
Other than that I kept part of my forces up north and down south, paid off as the second landing and final force were all coming at me from down South. Managed to tie up the infantry and tanks in the swamps south of the radar, killed all tanks before they had a chance to engage ground forces, mostly from air power, Me 110 and Me 109f.
Found the second assault wave off the south coast by flying over it with ME 109, damaged a lot of ships with air power, artillery and tank. Also managed to block some landing hexes with my troops so the Canadians had to move to a new hex to try and disembark.
Ended with 2 turns to spare, but still very short on prestige.
Probably my favorite scenario in this DLC so far.

[Razz1]

Beta 2
General
Stock core
2388 prestige reinforce all and upgrade armor to PZIVF
lost paratroop with hero
DV