Allied: Cobra

[uran21]

Please post here your comments about this scenario.

[omegabet]

Suggest 3x tank counterattack from [1,34] after capturing Fougeres
Suggest 1-2 light AA behind Domfront [21,25]
Caen tank line at [26,12] way too passive, suggest AI reaction after passing [24,14]
Suggest mobile AA at [33,3] near Liseux
Suggest light tank at [33,21] near Argentan; as counter for Alencon
As for train roads, suggest 1 train station between Flers [22,19] and Alencon [34,28]

For the contrast, suggest to add 1 more turn

[Kamerer]

20) Cobra – beta 1

Level: Field Marshal
Prestige: Begin: 175 (after repair/purchases). End: 700. Net: +525.
Result: Triumph at 18/18
Strength policy: Deployed all at 13

Core Changes:

• Received: None
  Disbanded:
  • 1x US bridge engineer infantry
    1x British Engineer infantry
  Purchased: 1x UK 17pdr AT and transport
  Upgraded:
  • 1x Churchill to Challenger
    1x Spitfire to Meteor
    1x SE Spitfire to SE Meteor

Problems:

• • None noted.

General impressions/comments:

• • I think the briefing needs an extra sentence. “We expect the defenders to be static and you should not hesitate to bypass enemy units.” When you look at the deployment, it appears suicide to just leave the armor and infantry units on the western edge of the battlespace facing only thin holding forces, and advance south and east. I took a few turns to get confident they wouldn’t move and then barely got them to the last Southeast objective in time.
  • I upgraded two spitfires to Meteors, which was a poor investment as I should have upgraded my last two Churchills to Challengers instead. Any other allied armor aside from a Firefly is substantially outclassed in this scenario.
  • Axis air defenses, like in the D-day scenario, really neutralized air power in critical points. It seems a little too strong given the nature of the forces at this point.
  • It would be neat to stage the big strategic bombing assault they used here. Have 10 or so B-17s and Liberators bomb the bocage all along the western front. Then leave. It would also serve the purpose of softening the static units a bit; it just seems wrong they are all full strength and experienced.

[nikivdd]

Colonel level.
Upgrades:none
Purchases:none

If i knew that the german units would be so static, i wouldn't have wasted units on defending the player held VH. There are once again many AA units, and several top notch german tanks. My first encounter with a Tiger II nearly costed me two units. Beside the german panzers in the north, the advance in the south holds no surprises and i moved from one VH to the other accompanied by some flying artillery. Overall how this mission is scripted, this is just a walk in the park if you compare it to the original PG Cobra mission.

Losses:none, DV 15/18, 649PP

[Kamerer]

11) Cobra – beta 2

Level: Rommel
Begin pp: 175. End pp: 325. Net +125.
Result: Triumph 18/18

Core Changes:

• Received: SE Meteor
  Disbanded: SE Meteor
  Purchased: None.
  Upgraded:
  • 2x Spitfire to Mk.XIV
    3x Churchill to Challenger

Problems: None noted.

General Impressions/Comments:

• • I disbanded the Meteor to get my tanks all to latest models. I will try to upgrade another a/c to Meteor next scenario. The major tank purchases should be done now, maybe a Jackson TD if slots allow.
  • While this scenario works well, I think it “looks” very wrong. I would add auxiliaries to ring the heavy Axis armor formations. Use static HW infantry and static artillery (no transports on any of them). Just a very few at each choke-point to get the idea across. That way they cannot be mobilized to fight the battle for you. But the force ratio will look right, and the battle line not look so sketchy and confuse players.
  • As to the actual operational aspect, it works as the mobile forces close on Falaise about the time the British/Caen wing take/advance past Argentan. I went slowly and methodically to minimize casualties and it worked well in that regard.
  • Heroes: very odd. I still have virtually none on any artillery. A Firefly I added two Scenarios ago got an a+3. I have so many A+3 awards it is weird - two on infantry, three or four on tanks, five (no kidding) on aircraft. Something was changed?

[Rudankort]

Heroes: very odd. I still have virtually none on any artillery. A Firefly I added two Scenarios ago got an a+3. I have so many A+3 awards it is weird - two on infantry, three or four on tanks, five (no kidding) on aircraft. Something was changed?

I did not change hero rules, except limiting INI heroes to +1 bonus (as was mentioned in the 1.20 rule changes thread). The only idea I have is, maybe artillery is getting heroes more slowly now, when units get increased defense bonus from entrenchment. Maybe allied artillery is not as good as german overall, and that's the reason too. It might not be that bad btw, because artillery heroes are not well-known in WW2 (though I'm sure there were some), and artillery does not really need heroes to perform well and be useful.

About +3A, maybe you just got lucky. What about +1/+2 attack heroes, how many are there? Which attack bonus is more common in your core?

[Kamerer]

Heroes: very odd. I still have virtually none on any artillery. A Firefly I added two Scenarios ago got an a+3. I have so many A+3 awards it is weird - two on infantry, three or four on tanks, five (no kidding) on aircraft. Something was changed?

I did not change hero rules, except limiting INI heroes to +1 bonus (as was mentioned in the 1.20 rule changes thread). The only idea I have is, maybe artillery is getting heroes more slowly now, when units get increased defense bonus from entrenchment. Maybe allied artillery is not as good as german overall, and that's the reason too. It might not be that bad btw, because artillery heroes are not well-known in WW2 (though I'm sure there were some), and artillery does not really need heroes to perform well and be useful.

About +3A, maybe you just got lucky. What about +1/+2 attack heroes, how many are there? Which attack bonus is more common in your core?

I have more +3 attack heroes than 1 or 2 combined. It is the weirdest thing. On beta 1, I had several move and range heroes on arty, just lots of them. I agree attack and defense are not so interesting, but those are very, very useful. Just some very extreme swings between beta 1 and beta 2, very odd. Oh, I did not realize ini was now limited to only +1. Darn, loved those +2 and +3 ini!

[Rudankort]

I have more +3 attack heroes than 1 or 2 combined. It is the weirdest thing. On beta 1, I had several move and range heroes on arty, just lots of them. I agree attack and defense are not so interesting, but those are very, very useful. Just some very extreme swings between beta 1 and beta 2, very odd. Oh, I did not realize ini was now limited to only +1. Darn, loved those +2 and +3 ini!

This is an interesting result, because the chance to get a +3 hero is only 1/7. +2 is 2/7 and +1 is 4/7. Since I did not touch this part at all between beta 1 and beta 2, this is probably an extreme case of luck. What are other people's experiences with this? Anyone else getting too many +3 heroes?

[omegabet]

I have more +3 attack heroes than 1 or 2 combined. It is the weirdest thing. On beta 1, I had several move and range heroes on arty, just lots of them. I agree attack and defense are not so interesting, but those are very, very useful. Just some very extreme swings between beta 1 and beta 2, very odd. Oh, I did not realize ini was now limited to only +1. Darn, loved those +2 and +3 ini!

This is an interesting result, because the chance to get a +3 hero is only 1/7. +2 is 2/7 and +1 is 4/7. Since I did not touch this part at all between beta 1 and beta 2, this is probably an extreme case of luck. What are other people's experiences with this? Anyone else getting too many +3 heroes?

Nope. From subjective point of view, got more attack and move heroes since beta1.

[Tarrak]

This is an interesting result, because the chance to get a +3 hero is only 1/7. +2 is 2/7 and +1 is 4/7. Since I did not touch this part at all between beta 1 and beta 2, this is probably an extreme case of luck. What are other people's experiences with this? Anyone else getting too many +3 heroes?

I counted the amount of heroes i got up to the start of the Medninine scenario in Both beta 1 and Beta 2. Here is the list. A note tho i have a lot more heroes in beta 2 as i am losing less units obviously knowing more about the scenarios:

Beta1 :

• Defense: 5 x +1, 1 x +2. 3 x +3
• Spotting: 1 x +1
• Attack: 4 x +1, 2 x +2
• Movement: 3 x +1
• Initiative: 1 x +1

Beta1 :

• Defense: 9 x +1, 1 x +2. 2 x +3
• Spotting: 3 x +1
• Attack: 7 x +1, 2 x +3
• Movement: 2 x +1
• Initiative: none

Not a single range hero in any of the betas. Not sure if there is any other hero type not listed in but if yes then i haven't got any of that kind as well in both betas.

[Rudankort]

Not a single range hero in any of the betas. Not sure if there is any other hero type not listed in but if yes then i haven't got any of that kind as well in both betas.

Thanks for posting this statistics. Judging by it, +3 heroes are not more common than they should be.

Range heroes are artillery-only. If artillery earns heroes slowly in this campaign, then no wonder no such heroes were granted.

[produit]

Beta2, FM, Chess mode, Triumph 15/18 (could have finished at turn 14), Ending prestige 563.

I finished, having captured all cities or airfields, but letting some enemy units in the bocage (4 enemy infantry). From what I saw, I was sure that the enemy would counter-attack, but it was not the case. They seldom even move one hex. Moreover, the fact that the enemy gets no reinforcement makes it vulnerable to multiple ... fighter attacks... A well entrenched unit in a city (e.g. Alençon), 5 turns of air attack and in the end, you gain the city without "fighting".

The Tiger II tank and others tanks in the North east were difficult to kill. I am happy to have my two Strat bomber to reduce ammo of huge units and kill them afterward when they don't have ammo anymore... Aux units are really needed on this map as cannon fooder.

The Lysander plane is really nice for detection of enemy units and air defenses...

I was also surprised that there was no enemy air attacks...

[Kamerer]

Not a single range hero in any of the betas. Not sure if there is any other hero type not listed in but if yes then i haven't got any of that kind as well in both betas.

Thanks for posting this statistics. Judging by it, +3 heroes are not more common than they should be.

Range heroes are artillery-only. If artillery earns heroes slowly in this campaign, then no wonder no such heroes were granted.

Ok, well my beta2 play of Allied Corps goes down in PC history as the most improbable a +3 string in history! Actually I thought it was 1/6 (1-3 die roll equals +1, 4,5 =+2, and 6 = +3). What is the 1/7 ( 1 chance in 7) function from?

[Tarrak]

Scenario: Cobra (Beta 2)
Difficulty: general
Outcome: Triumph on turn 17/18
Starting Prestige: 7671
End Prestige: 332, 4720 after victory reward
Core: 2 x Engineer 43, 2 x HW infantry 43, 1 x SE SAS, 6 x Churchill Mk.IV, 1 x Sherman Firefly, 1 x Crocodile, 2 x M18 Hellcat, 3 x 7.2 inch guns, 2 x M7 priest, 2 x M12 GMC, 2 x SE Meteor, 2 x P-47D Thunderbolt, 1 x Beaufighter Mk.IF, 1 x Wellington Mk.X, 1 x Mosquito Mk.VIS2, 1 x B17G Flying Fortress

Got an SE Meteor at the begin of this scenario. I upgraded my SE Spitfire Mk.XIV to SE Meteor. Bought one Sherman Firefly to replace losses from previous scenario.

As i wasn't sure what the German units hidden in the bocages are up to i left small garrisons in most victory hexes. Turns out they behave and don't try anything "silly" so i could have taken this troops with me.

Deployed around third of my troops at Avranches and destroyed the German armor standing there in the open. After this i moved south/east to take all the victory hexes. After the initial battle the defense there was marginal. I could have deployed less troops there and bolster my other battle group. I still managed to lose a Hellcat here tho but that's entirely due to my own stupidity.

The rest of my troops was deployed around Bayeux and Cean. After eliminating enemy forces around Bayeux i moved most of my troops over the Orne and pushed south. Fighting here was slow and bloody. The enemy armor is quite strong, the infantry even in open field got quite high entrenchments values and there is plenty of AA preventing me from effective use of my air power. I was able to move forward but very slowly and i was taking quite some losses. The Tiger II is a really tough and mean beast. I lost a Hellcat here, a Sherman Firefly got away with one strength point left and my Churchills needed lots of replacements to stay in combat. I just managed to take Falaise and approach Argentan while my other battle group, despite having to cover like 6 times as much ground, already arrived there.

Overall due to the fact that most of the German troops on the map are passive the mission wasn't to hard but it was certainly costly prestige wise. Tho i may have overdone the overstrengthing a bit to much as well. With the new system in Beta 2 it gets really prohibitive to keep overstrengthing your fighting units beyond 13. The reward for winning the scenario is quite low as well. Lets see how i fare in the next mission.

[Rudankort]

Ok, well my beta2 play of Allied Corps goes down in PC history as the most improbable a +3 string in history! Actually I thought it was 1/6 (1-3 die roll equals +1, 4,5 =+2, and 6 = +3). What is the 1/7 ( 1 chance in 7) function from?

Well 1/7 is not very different from 1/6. Existing formula means that each additional +1 point is 2 times less probable than the previous one. So, 4/7 for +1, 2/7 for +2, 1/7 for +3. In a board game I would choose your suggestion.

[okiemcguire]

19) Cobra - Beta 3

Prestige Begin: 5657 End/Vict: 369/5025
Results: Triump 14/18

Core: 2 SE Rangers, 2 HW Inf, 6 Churchill IV, 1 Crocodile, 2 M4A3(76)W, 1 Daimler, 2 Hellcats, 2 M7 Priest, 2 BL 7.2 inch, 2 155mm M12 GMC
Air Forces: 2 SE Spitfire IX, 1 Tempest V, 2 Mosquito VI S2, 1 Lancaster, 1 B-24 Liberator, 1 B-29

OS All deployed units by 2-3. Puchased B-29.

I had started this game the first time with a Calliope artillery. And got soundly caught by surprise by the armor force. First I can report that the Calliope firing graphics are there and the Rangers have movement audio.

Restarted the game and deployed my troops differently in order to have my best Churchills, Hellcat, and M4A3(76)W to meet the armor. A smaller force worked on the southern end and head east. Much better results but lost 1 of my Hellcats. Almost lost 1 of my mosquitos but was able to withdraw.

I noted the difficulty level at the end of the scenario. Can you change it there for the next scenario?

On to Market Garden...

[Rudankort]

I noted the difficulty level at the end of the scenario. Can you change it there for the next scenario?

Yep.

[monkspider]

Cobra
General Level
Loss (!)

I seemed to take the wrong approach to this scenario, needless to say. I did the rather foolish thing of trying to clear the German troops rather than trying to encircle them. I ended up falling just short of a marginal victory. I will probably just endscn this one so I can proceed in the scenario. There does seem to be a pretty insane amount of German armor.

[Razz1]

I found a bug: Hex 10,11

I placed a tank there and it can not move.

[Flaygor]

Beta 3, Colonel, triumph 17/18. Still ended up with hardly any prestige.

First, I have not noticed any problems with hero allocation, seems normal to me.

It would be nice to have more of a counter-attack/fighting withdrawal type of thing triggered, although the King Tiger did come at me, also because while entrenched it took ages to wear down the infantry in some parts which became a bit boring once you realised they were not going to move much. But I found this a nice change of scenario type and created a unique feel.

Being able to change difficulty between scenarios is a welcome addition and will get put to good use before I attempt to cross the Rhine! From what I've read I will probably choose Sergeant!

Still feel like too much prestige is bleeding for this level of play which makes Colonel feel like FM, in other words hard work. I play at Colonel for fun and would like it to stay that way. If I want to stress out I play higher. So I'm not a fan of the really tight prestige rules. However, if you can tone it down for a scenario with the new option, you could perhaps recover some prestige in this way.