Couple of quick questions

[Raven728]

Hi all, I'm an old PG veteran but relatively new to Panzer Corps. I just finished the tutorial campaign, and I have a couple of questions.

1. From a 'still learning the game' perspective, is it better to start with the main campaign, then move on to the DLC? I own the '39 and '40 campaigns, and I'm really looking forward to playing them, but I suspect I should cut my teeth on the main campaign first. I'm also highly motivated to play Afrika Korps, but one step at a time.

2. Fortifications - hate 'em. Is there a 'best' unit or strategy for neutralizing them? I know the manual says to use combined arms, but I haven't found a way to do this without losing a bunch of strength; not even Stukas are immune.

3. Occasionally during the AI movement phase, I'll see enemy units that suddenly appear on the map. I'm curious if the AI unit is able to requisition new units during the scenario, and that's what I'm seeing, or if these are units that are being moved out of the fog of war and into my units' view?

Thanks in advance, I'm looking forward to getting deeper into the game. Having played both PG I & II, I really like the look and feel of PC. I'm not a strategy expert by any means, but I appreciate how much work went into polishing this game into a gem.

[Kamerer]

Hello and welcome.

1) Starting with GCE (Grand Campaing East, the DLC's '39 to '45) is just fine. If fact I think it is better - the game advances more slowly and you'll have more time to learn game tactics. Also the time/turn limits are generally less strict in the GC's. AK is very fun with a look and feel all its own, with new terrain and weapons to learn.

2) Two to three hits with artillery will suppress it enough. Partial suppression will provide enough to avoid damage to a Stuka, then finish it with a tank or infantry. Engineers work best as they ignore unit entrenchment when attacking fortifications or entrenched infantry/other units. So general recipe is a) two artillery strikes, b) air strike, c) armor or infantry assault. Tip - scout if possible the hexes behind the fort/entrenched unit to see if it is backed by field artillery (fa) or a.a. artillery. Also, if you move a Stuka over a target, take your finger off the mouse a moment. This will let the unit spot before firing, If you see AAA or fa, just don't attack. Leave the unit in place but don't fire. Your unit in the subsequent turn will take much less damage from directed aaa/fa fire than from supporting fire from those sources during an attack.

As your units get stronger/experienced, you can get by with less artillery or air. Also you can employ mass attack - each additional unfired unit around a target will reduce potential losses.

3) Both. Mostly it is units moving out of the fog. Sometimes units will appear on the map in later turns and that is scripted into the scenario, but it is much less common.

[Kirby]

If by fortifications you mean the tile type, then use artillery (especially nebelwerfer), Pioneers or panzer II flamm to clear them out. If you mean bunkers and forts, then use paratroopers or pioneers, one arty hit is usually enough to prevent losses. For bunkers, anything mounted on a tiger or panther base works as well.

[wargovichr]

1) DLCs! Develop many core units and experience stars.
2) Patience. Watch your language. Recon first, destroy support units behind. Suppression, suppression, suppression with artillery, strat bomber. Pioniere infantry, biggest tank guns. 88AA also useful. Surround, multi-hex attack. Never Stuka first.
3) Yes, both. AI spawn and enemy moving into your two hex standard recon capability. You could use more recon -- ground recon or air -- see farther out.

[Raven728]

Great advice, thanks for the quick responses. I haven't had a chance to try using arty to soften up the forts (they were always busy elsewhere), but I was hoping that was the answer.

One other question I forgot in my original post: bridging units. Are the commonly used? I never bought one in the tutorial campaign, but in hindsight I wish I had, because of all the river crossing bottlenecks I ran into.

2) Patience. Watch your language.

It's like you were sitting next to me last night. Move recon...gun emplacement?..."oh s---!"

[robman]

(1) Forts: some units have the "fortkiller" trait, which makes them especially deadly against forts and strongpoints (the units, not the terrain type). Most of these are intuitive--engineers, pionieres, flamethrowing tanks, close support artillery with range of one--but, less intuitively, the class also includes paratroopers. I have found that paratroopers have a higher survival rate than pionieres, especially early in the war. The AI really loves to target pionieres, but takes a more laissez-faire attitude toward the paratroopers.

(2) Bridge engineers: I use them all of the time, sometimes two in one scenario. Get the fastest possible transport for them. In Allied Corps, you can even get bridgelaying tanks--they are slower but much tougher.

[Kirby]

offtopic: bridging units.

in Wehrmacht/vanilla i can rarely, if ever, justify using up a slot for a bridging unit. plenty of bridges (at least in vanilla)

[wargovichr]

Yeah, "bridge engineers" as if they have any beneficial powers other than bridging a river (should then be called bridging units) or defending a river hex better than other infantry.
Rarely useful in a scenario unless you want to conduct a "think outside the box" axis of attack across a river area. In that case I convert a WELL EXPERIENCED infantry unit for that battle only, then convert it back later to something useful. It seems a bought newbie bridger has a tough time surviving a battle. Most of the time, by the time your bridging unit is in place, your other mobile units have already attacked across the river anyway...
Maybe the Allied bridge engineers have better properties....

[robman]

My approach to bridging units is very different: I buy them green, reinforce them green, and generally try to keep them out of the fighting altogether. As opposed to Panzer General, where bridge engineers were (unrealistically) all-purpose über-units, in Panzer Corps they pack no offensive punch whatsoever, and even on the defensive get knocked down easily. I do not employ them in every scenario, but only when I foresee the need. If the need fails to materialize, I usually just keep them in the rear. That being said, I must say that my bridge-laying tank came in VERY handy at Salerno--it not only allowed me to shift reinforcements across the river, but also shored up my flank when the going got really tough, despite the fact that it was completely green. I fully expected it to be destroyed, but it still had 6 or 7 strength points left in the end--and in all that pounding it earned only four experience points!

[Raven728]

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that although I had seen the phrase 'reserve units' in the UI, I didn't realize until after my second post that I could have more units than I was allowed to set up with, keeping the extras in...wait for it...reserve. So maybe I'll keep my bridging unit for when it's needed.

From the beginner tutorial, I remember more than one occasion where there was a heavily defended city one hex away from a bridge and surrounded by a river. In those instances I ended up jamming one of my tank units on the bridge and slowly moving the others across the river hexes, or the long way around via a second bridge. I thought that maybe bridging units were the best method to avoid that kind of difficulty.