Africa Corps

[fuzedude]

I have every Panzer Corps expansion, but I have seen something I did not see before. During scenarios of Africa Corps I saw for the first time on the battlefield a dollar sign in a grey circle. I planted units unit on those dollar signs not knowing whether I should or not. Also, if an objective is to rescue a a prisoner, how do you know where he is and how do you save him. Why can't you guys put out a decent manual that explain this all? In these times of recession, I think that if people are so interested in Panzer Corps and pay for it, they deserve a manual that explains it all. I assume the next will be Pz Corps 44-45. Then what? What makes fun the Pz games is the armor, therefore the Pacific would be a bust.

[MrsWargamer]

Might want to do some reading their sparky, there was plenty of armour in the Pacific. The marines sure needed it. And while it was not easy to drive them around in the jungle, they mattered when you had them present. That, and while it was the closing act of the war, the Russian attack was still pretty spectacular all the same.

[fuzedude]

I am 66 and have been reading about WWII since then since a kid. I mean to say that the armor used in the Pacific are smaller, Shermans for sure and maybe Stuarts. In all the Combat Missions I have played (them all) I avoid Shermans except the Firefly. Between the jungle and under gunned US tanks, Combat Mission: Pacific would not be a seller.

[chief]

The Stuarts were used early in the return to the Pacific and were slightly better armored and gunned then the Japenese tanks. They were effective in Phillipines at first but alas a no replacement or maintenance parts in "42. The Shermans in 44/45 out matched the Japanese tanks but were easy targets for well hidden AT guns and mines.

[fuzedude]

Is there any reason why no one can answer my posting from 21 November? Can it be no one ever encountered the dollar sign in a grey circle on the battlefield?

[bebro]

There are a couple of those special hexes, some also show letters like "A" etc. They can have a special function within a scenario, like giving extra prestige, indicate places you need to reach etc. Usually the briefing for a specific scenario should explain what to do about them.

As for the Pacific, it could be lotsa fun with enhanced naval engine and dramatic air-naval battles. And as others have written, there was still armour fighting there too, even if the most advanced tanks served in the Euro theatre. Which also did not stop AK from having them in those hypothetical scenarios

[MrsWargamer]

Sherman smaller?

What the heck sort of comment is that?

Yeah it wasn't as smexy as a King Tiger or a JS II and the late war, just barely managed to arrive officially British Centurion was so much better a tank. But the thing is, it wasn't fighting those there in the Pacific. It was fighting Japanese armour, which was essentially speaking, better than Italian armour, but that is hardly a compliment.

It was not 'safe' to be in a Sherman in the Pacific, but likely provided better protection that a uniform shirt did. And in most cases, you see them torching the crap out of pillboxes, something I am fairly confident was a great deal vital to the fighting. Okinawa was no picnic nor was Iwo, and armour played a major role in a lot of other fights of less duration but equal savagery.

The usual main issue with designing games for the Pacific, was the terrain, not the units employed. How DO you design a game, for a battle on an island that wasn't wider than the range of rifle fire? How do you incorporate naval actions which are madantory and not at all secondary to the game. This is the same problem that usually confronts games focused on the non Africa portion of the fighting in the Med.

[Kamerer]

Is there any reason why no one can answer my posting from 21 November? Can it be no one ever encountered the dollar sign in a grey circle on the battlefield?

Given the context of your question, I think you are asking about the two so-marked hexes adjacent to remote towns on the Iraq map. There's no particular mention of them in the briefing because they have nothing to do with objectives for the scenario. But if you invest resources in capturing those towns, you will get an extra prestige point (pp) award. There are a few "bonuses" like this sprinkled occasionally in the game. They are there as a "bonus" for doing extra things and taking initiative - to spell them out would negate the nature of the surprise.

As to the "prisoner" - I think you mean the Syria scenario. The location and means of dealing with the prisoner are covered in the briefing. If you need to review that, the game now has a button on the UI sidebar, the furthest on the right of the four small horizontal ones, that will bring the briefing back up in the scenario (a nice addition in AK and the 1.10 patch). I think there is also a pop-up once the prisoner is liberated that helps you, too.

[Kreisler]

Having a great time with AK, but the leap from Sergeant level to Lieutenant level is considerable. Perhaps I just need more practice.

Also I thought the Macchi C205 Veltro did'nt reach operational units until 1943. Yet in AK it appears in 4/42? The Reggiane Sagitario didn't really make it into the war for Italy 'til the very end in 8/43 and only 50 or so were built. The Centauro was also very good and appeared in larger numbers. Not that I really mind, I love to have Italian units in my core force. If only they had built a decent tank!