GC Difficulty

[Forefall]

So I played the Wehrmacht or vanilla 39-45 campaign and now purchased the GC. I must say I'm pleased by the more sensible and interesting scenarios. However I'm unsure of the difficulty.

Currently I'm on Field Marshall and all my core units (except an AT gun I don't use) are max experience and I'm completing the Polish battles with 5-10 turns remaining. I have 3000 prestige banked after Warsaw and I feel I've even been a little sloppy.

However, I've also read multiple threads on the difficulty increase in the later years.

So my question is this: is the ease I'm experiencing on FM normal and I can anticipate a great increase in challenge in the scenarios to come? Or should I unlock and play on Rommel? Is the beginning supposed to be a breeze to prep you for later years?

I understand this is a subjective question, but I'm trying to avoid playing for many hours only to have to restart because it is too easy or too hard. Any advice would be appreciated. I also don't have the extra difficulties unlocked and I'm on iPad. Is there a way to set the difficulty on iPad or unlock the difficulties easily?

[kevini1000]

I can tell you that the later years 43 and on especially are very difficult and that this cushion of prestige that you have right now is nothing. It will vanish fast in 43.

[Molve]

The ability to switch difficulty level mid-campaign (the "advanced difficulty tab") is not implemented on iPad. Perhaps in a future patch!

[BiteNibbleChomp]

I must warn you that GC '43 East is Pure Evil! Earned 110k Prestige at the end of GC 42 and lost half of it by the end of Kiev 43. Don't know if I will ever return to the Eastern Front (don't want to lose the other 52k!)

- BNC

[shawkhan]

Well then, how would you term '44 and '45 if '43 is pure evil?

[Forefall]

My concern is not my prestige pool, but how every battle is a decisive victory with several turns to spare. I wanted to see if this is normal or I should be upping the difficulty. For people who have passed the GC on FM, was 39 and 40 a cake walk?

[Tarrak]

You don't notice much difference in difficulty between colonel, general and field marshal level in the early stages of the campaign especially in the Grand Campaign. The only difference between the colonel and the two other settings that may have any short term effect on the campaign is the AI playing on level 1 vs level 2 and AI prestige being set to 100% instead of 150%. The second is barely noticeable in the GC as the AI has marginal amount of prestige to buy units on it's own there and rely a lot more on scripted reinforcements. The first in theory should be but considering the early enemy units you face are so weak anyway the AI stays mostly very passive anyway. Field Marshal got additionally a reduction in player prestige gain from 100% to 50% compared to the other two difficulties but this due to the prestige cap in the campaigns which you troops reach easy early anyway is only noticeable in the long run as it allows you to use more green reinforcements and still maintain maximum experience on your units while saving some prestige and allows your new units to catch faster up on experience.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Well then, how would you term '44 and '45 if '43 is pure evil?

Haven't played them yet. They are probably the creators of the smaller evils in this world!

- BNC

[Uhu]

If these scenarios are easy for you, play them at least on Rommel - you can still set it back to Field Marshall in 1944. Hint: if you have few prestige to resuply you will advance with your units more carefully to avoid (high) casualties and you will not have many turns before scenario end...
I would also suggest that you download the Deducter's mod which makes the stats of the units more historical. ( viewtopic.php?f=147&t=40391 ) I'm playing it with an even more modified, hardened version of it.
Campaing gameplay will be really hard from Stalingrad on but if you collected enough prestige and developed your units carefully than they are winnable.

[captainjack]

I've played 43 East once on 1.21, and didn't do too badly for prestige but I had to make some modifications to my play practices to save on prestige with 1,21. .

With the introduction of 1.21, I have learnt to use a smaller airforce in most scenartios and use two 88s (in AK I recently had a mobile AA as well). I have just about finished France with two or three 109s, a JU88 and a 110, and occasionally the recon plane. The core airforce includes one each 109, 110 and Ju88.

Infantry generally get trucks, rather than halftracks to save on reinforcement cost, and I only overstrength by one point (arty usually 2 and strat bombers sometimes to maximum).

I have a one or two extra arty to help batter well entrenched troops into suppressions and the mix of atrty is greater than it was.

However, I certainly didn't have a great abundance and have recently restarted so I will be interested to see how I cope.

I do use the cheat code to refund prestige if I disband one transport and allocate teh same type to another unit at the same time.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Well, Found out that only the East Front is hard. West Front '44 is a lot easier.

- BNC

[shawkhan]

At least on the Western Front you don't have to deal with those nasty Russian KV-85s and ISIs, not to mention the nearly unstoppable Su-100s,Su-152s, etc.,etc.
Of course, playing on the Western Front you have to find a solution to the Allied Air Force that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I think this is a situation where AA comes into its own, especially to protect your artillery assets.
Overlord is one of my favorite scenarios in the game, a chance to actually push the Allies back into the sea!