Tips on GC42/43 West

[LandMarine47]

Dies anyone have any tips on this? I went into Dieppe with high expectations, only to be decimated and take some very heavy losses, at the price of a DV. How does one go about replacing these losses, with so few prestige? I only have about 600 and my core is heavily damaged. Any suggestions?

[BiteNibbleChomp]

I attempted this a while ago - and Dieppe screwed me (I had only 1/2 my core and 500pp left) The best strategy is to ignore all the unit classes that arent' going to be really helpful, such as anti-air (you can use fighters for this and as bombers [eg. Me110]) If you design your core in a way that 4 main branches are very powerful (Inf, Tanks, Artillery and Fighters), with roughly equal amounts of units, the enemy won't be able to knock any out.

The missing classes:

Recon - Most of the scenarios (if not all) in '42 and '43 are defensive, so there is no need to look ahead. If you want a recon report on the enemy, use your Luftwaffe.

AT - A PzIVF/2's (or later) gun is better than all AT's except for the 8.8, so use those instead (maybe keep an 8.8 around though)

AA - Fighters instead, all AA is too weak for any use, and no mobile enough either

Tac Bombers - Until you have 20+ core slots, there just won't be space in your core for Tac, considering the large fighter escort needed. The Allied AF is too powerful for just 3 fighters.

Str Bombers - Unless you have a really experienced one from '41, there is no use for these at all. '42 is too late to start training one, and they do too little damage before about 2 stars.

- BNC

[captainjack]

I used to have trouble with Dieppe until I realised that I kept finishing early. Now I'm a bit slower and more methodical and it seems to be easier. Lots of infantry, some artillery (towed arty with +1 move is handy) and you should be OK. You don't need that many tanks as most of the terrain is close and there's not that much armour. The best way to sort out the Churchills is to try to force a surrender, and get Rudel to destroy any that get into the open.

Last few times, I upgraded the reserve units near the outer edge of town to standard infantry for the extra defence (the reserves have GD 2 if I remember right). They survived much better and I reckon it was worth it. You can also get more prestige by allowing victory hexes to be captured- only where it's not bad for your position - so you can get the prestige for (re)capturing them.

The 88 moved close to the radar tower, which my fighter sat on until the FW's arrived - you get +1 ini to aircraft if close enough so it's worth protecting from air attack. Also, be very selective about what you attack - some of the spitfires are very nasty, but even a 109 should be able to destroy the hurricanes with ease.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

No 8,8 PaK 43/41s? (I'm using those quite well in the east - only way I have found to beat an IS-1)

- BNC

[fliegenderstaub]

Dieppe isn't that difficult as it seems. But the preparations start during deployment of your forces at St. Nazaire. Choosing the right composition of your core will ease up things in the later scenarios a lot. I usually play on "General" with an imported core. You usually have lots of prestige while importing, so you can upgrade and overstrength (don't forget that) your units.

My starting core the last time I played GC 42/43:

1 Pz III J/1 (special hero Albert Kerscher)
1 Pz IV F2 (special hero Heinz Rondorf)
1 Pz III J/1 SE
1 StuG IIIF
3 Grenadiere SE
2 Gebirgsjäger (special heroes Oleh Dir and Helmut Wirnsberger) I use Gebirgsjäger because of the Italy Scenarios later on.
2 Wurfrahmen
1 Me 109 F (special hero Heinrich Bär)
1 Me 110 F (special hero hans Ulrich Rudel) Rudel can fly unescorted this way. Later you upgrade him to Me 410 and/or FW 190 G.

The special heroes ease your progress. Playing without them is much more a challenge (believe me, I tried it).

During Bayonne you get 2 T 34/41 and 2 Recruit Infantry. I usually keep them. I use them in Dieppe f.e.. They can be upgraded later (enough prestige provided). I usually buy two StuG IIIB here, which I upgrade to StuH42 later (I love this).

Hardelot provides you with additional 3 different recon units. They are rather useless, so they can be sold, when you are in need of prestige. The Kradschützen unit can be kept or sold later.

During Dieppe you get lots of Reinforcements. 1 KW IB, 1 KW IC (keep them!), 1 Marder H (I keep it for AT units are quite useful later in the GC West; Stug III G can be upgraded to Stug IV (a bit weaker fighting power, but artillery mode with a range of 2) for zero prestige; Elefant, Jagdpanther und Jagdtiger follow later); 2 FW 190 A, 2 7,5 cm Pak (keep for later upgrade or sell them). Furthermore you get a Curchill IV (I keep using it) in the west and a Crusader I (in case you capture the airfield in the northeast).

In Dieppe you may upgrade your PZ IIIs (if you have any) to version N (rather useful in city fights). You have enough time. No need to hurry. Backup your advance in the city by artillery. Beware of the allied air force. The Churchills are the most difficult enemys, especially the unit with strength 13.

I would have liked to attach a replay from my last Dieppe encounter, but it didn't work - "pzrpl not allowed".

[iceFlame]

You can also get more prestige by allowing victory hexes to be captured- only where it's not bad for your position - so you can get the prestige for (re)capturing them.

Not sure high command would approve, but I suppose you gotta do what you gotta do.

[antoniocapo]

Tips on netting prestige for Dieppe:

1. You dont have to win the scenario. Its only 200p for DV, 100p for MV and 200p for a Loss. But anyways it isnt too hard to win it if you go slow.
2. Retreat all forces and wait out the allies south of the city (retreat all the auxiliaries too). Let them take all the towns and objectives. Then methodically start your counteroffensive from the left-south. retaking all the towns and objectives for extra prestige. You wont have gotten any prestige if you held the town/objective(s) and probably would have taken horrendous losses too. Also you avoid the naval bombardment.
3. However you can start a local counteroffensive immediately on your left flank and sink the tranpsorts there or destroy the few units that manage to land.
4. I used 2 Strat Bombers to sink all the Churchills i could, and especially that one that has the Allied Commander in. But you would need a big experienced fighter force for escort.
5. Churchills are best to supress, surround and surrender. Netting some more juicy prestige to boot.
6. Back up everything with artillery and watch the Allies either stall or commit suicide.

The key is keeping your core as close to intact as possible, which coincidentally makes it easier to retake the city. Trying to hold to everything actually makes it harder to win.

[LandMarine47]

My strategy for this was hang to form a defensive line on the western side of town and watch the Allies get murdered crossing that river. Then with my KVs I attack!

[endur]

Below is my Dieppe AAR. The key I think is realizing that this is a city battle, so infantry is important to holding the city.

Don't send tanks into attacks on city blocks, but you can use tanks defensively to control city parks, clear streets, etc.



HQ has allocated a large number of additional units to support my forces, including 2 squadrons of Fw190A fighters (better than my own squadrons of Bf109F fighters), two companies of KV1B tanks, 2 7.5cm anti-tanks guns, and

The battle to the west of the city is won relatively quickly. The fighting to the east of the city is the next to be resolved. The fighting on the east side of the city takes the longest to resolve.

In the initial stages of the fight, I keep the tanks out of the city while using infantry and artillery in street fighting. As the battle continues and there are no more forces outside the city for my panzers to face, I start moving companies of panzers into the city to control the city parks and other wide streets.

The allied forces eventually surrender.

OOC: Decisive victory, 1 green Gebirsjager battalion lost during the battle.
Difficulty setting: custom (colonel, with ai 2 and reform units)
5 Inf: 1 Pioniere with halftrack, 1 Gebirasjager with halftrack, 2 Gebirasjager on foot, 1 Kradschutzen
8 tanks: 2 PzIVGs, 4 SE PzIVGs, 2 KV1B (PzIVs have 3 stars)
3 anti-tank: 2 7.5cm anti-tank guns, 1 Marder IIIH
5 artillery: Wurfrahmen 40, StuG IIIB, Sturm, 21cm Mrs, 21cm Nebelwerfer
2 fighters: 2 Bf 109F, 2 Fw 190A (1 Bf 109f with 4 stars, 1 with 3 stars, 2 Fw190A with 1 star)
2 tactical bombers: 2 Bf 110F (four stars)

KVs, Marder IIIH, and 7.5 cm anti-tank guns are disbanded for prestige after this scenario