Bad outcomes. Am I doing something wrong?

[TheJay13]

So I surround an enemy to the best of my ability, attack with favorable terrain, and I am still barely doing any damage to some units. This is getting very frustrating And it slows my progress to a crawl at times. I really am trying to get better at this game but I feel that no matter what I do I am never able to inflict large amounts of damage without getting a lucky roll. Please Help. Thanks.

[ThvN]

Hello TheJay13, welcome to the forum! Are there any 'typical' units that give you the most trouble? Do you play PzC on PC or iPad, because the PC has the combat log (press 'Ctrl+L' before or just 'L' after combat). Studying that might give you some clues what went wrong.

[TheJay13]

I seem to have trouble against anti tank units and AA units as it sees that even when I attack them with an infantry unit they only take one or two hits. I have issues in general with taking many units out especially if they are entrenched. It seems like it takes seven turns just to capture one mildly we'll defended city but I have seen people on you tube decimate enemy defenses in just a few turns. I apologize if I am not being specific enough but I can't really think of any unit in particular that I am always having issues with, it feels like all of them are the same.

I would appreciate any tactical advise on approaching a defended position.

[MartyWard]

If you are attacking a position with artillery behind it, the first thing you want to do is try to supress the defensive artillery. Either get you own artillery in range an bombard it or use a Strategic bomber. Stratigic bombers can stand up to most flakunits so don't be afraid to use them if AA is present if needed. If the artillery number turns Red then you have supressed a lot of it. Hover over the unit and look at the unit window so you can see how many point are supressed and won't fire at you. Then you want to bombard your target and try to ssupress as many points as possible. The fewer points that fire back the fewer losses you take. Also check how many entrenchments are left. If you attack a target that ends up totally supressed and it has no more entrenchments it will retreat if possible. Otherwise it will surrender of there is nowhere to retreat. Early in the game this is the best approach as you units aren't strong enough to just blow units away in 1-2 attacks. Every attack removes an entrenchment so sometimes even an attack with a fighter will be enough to make sure the unit retreats. Units will retreat in the direction opposite of the attack so if you can try to make the retreat go into a clear hex if it is a soft target and into another woods/rough if it is armour. If you can retreat soft target into the clear you can make a follow up attack with an armour unit and hopefull wipe it out as it won't be entrenched.

Some other things I found useful are try to attack armour that are in woods or rough with your infantry. You will generally make out well. Also if I have a choice between attacking an artillery or another unit I go for the artillery, I find it works out better down the road. Attack infantry in clear with armour, attack AT with infantry, gain air superiority as soon as possible to let you bombers loose and always try to supress before you attack and things will be easier.

[TheJay13]

Thank you for the advice. I will try to implement those tactics as often as possible. I think my main problem was that my early game units have so little xp and are very weak so they aren't as effective as I thought they would be and I was trying to use them like more advanced units and expecting them to be more powerful.

[MartyWard]

Thank you for the advice. I will try to implement those tactics as often as possible. I think my main problem was that my early game units have so little xp and are very weak so they aren't as effective as I thought they would be and I was trying to use them like more advanced units and expecting them to be more powerful.

Yes in 39-40 your units aren't nearly as powerful as in the late game. I forget that all the time too.

[TheJay13]

Ya it seems that the very early panzer might as we'll be blitz trucks with some plywood nailed to the side lol

[Egge]

I think you need more support units, i.e. artillery and air units.
First use artillery to suppress the enemy air defense. Then send in your airfore to attack the enemy artillery. Then use your tanks to destroy the enemy artillery. Only then you can think about attacking the enemy infantry or anti-tank gun. But only after you have reduced their entrenchement value and suppressed them.

Don't *ever* attack well entrenched units that are protected by artillery. Destroy the artillery first and suppress the enemy. Otherwise you will suffer horrible losses.
Don't use tanks to attack AT-guns or infantry in cities. That's what your infantry is for.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Don't *ever* attack well entrenched units that are protected by artillery. Destroy the artillery first and suppress the enemy. Otherwise you will suffer horrible losses.
Don't use tanks to attack AT-guns or infantry in cities. That's what your infantry is for.

Attack with tanks if you are willing to sacrifice some strength, but never else.
I personally am very much like Patton in terms of strategy, just ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!! and don't worry if it costs 10k prestige to win. I don't think many others like my approach though (or at least think it is worthwhile doing)!

- BNC

[captainjack]

Infantry are surprisingly effective in 1939 and 1940 - there's a good chance you might do better with more than you already have. I'd suggest Gebirgsjagers over normal infantry for the slightly better soft attack - this may cost you a bit of prestige in 1943 when infantry upgrades become available, but that's a long way ahead. You don't need trucks for gebirgsjagers - they only add about 1 move in most terrain and trucks hinder mountain movement so they can actually slow you down. Actually you might decide you like the trucks - there are many pages of discussion on the different merits of walking, trucks and halftracks - see what works for you.

Artillery - the 10.5cm gun is very good - I'm still using one or two in 1943. The self propelled gun looks attractive but it only has 4 ammo, compared with 8 for the 10.5cm, so you will spend much more time resupplying instead of firing. Lots of artillery is generally a good thing - I like to have 3 or 4 from the start of 1939. While there's mixed views on the need for trucks for infantry, you definitely need transport for guns (try Bite Nibble Chomp's WW1 mod if you like your artillery moving at 1 per turn for ever - you will learn to plan where you'll need them in 12 turns time, which is actually a good skill to have!).

I don't get too enthusiastic about buying tanks early on - most early tanks weren't very good in real life, and they aren't that good in the game. If playing the DLC campaign expansions you have a good possibility of capturing enemy units and getting the occasional special award unit. Many of the captured tanks are way better than anything available in 1939 and 1940 - some of my French ones stayed in service until the end of 1942. I don't think you can capture units in the main game, or get special awards so you will need to go shopping in that.

Also there are limits to experience. It will say on the first campaign screen what the limit is - I think it's 225 in 1939 and goes up with each campaign year. If you get a lot of units to the limit, bring in a new one every now and then so that the new one can earn experience - don't bring in too many at once or it gets a bit embarrassing. Later on you when you start having bad days and need replacements or need some experienced specialist troops (paratroops or pioneers) or real anti tank units become available you will be very happy that you have a reserve of 2 and 3* units that can be upgraded.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Infantry are surprisingly effective in 1939 and 1940 - there's a good chance you might do better with more than you already have. I'd suggest Gebirgsjagers over normal infantry for the slightly better soft attack - this may cost you a bit of prestige in 1943 when infantry upgrades become available, but that's a long way ahead. You don't need trucks for gebirgsjagers - they only add about 1 move in most terrain and trucks hinder mountain movement so they can actually slow you down. Actually you might decide you like the trucks - there are many pages of discussion on the different merits of walking, trucks and halftracks - see what works for you.

Artillery - the 10.5cm gun is very good - I'm still using one or two in 1943. The self propelled gun looks attractive but it only has 4 ammo, compared with 8 for the 10.5cm, so you will spend much more time resupplying instead of firing. Lots of artillery is generally a good thing - I like to have 3 or 4 from the start of 1939. While there's mixed views on the need for trucks for infantry, you definitely need transport for guns (try Bite Nibble Chomp's WW1 mod if you like your artillery moving at 1 per turn for ever - you will learn to plan where you'll need them in 12 turns time, which is actually a good skill to have!).

I don't get too enthusiastic about buying tanks early on - most early tanks weren't very good in real life, and they aren't that good in the game. If playing the DLC campaign expansions you have a good possibility of capturing enemy units and getting the occasional special award unit. Many of the captured tanks are way better than anything available in 1939 and 1940 - some of my French ones stayed in service until the end of 1942. I don't think you can capture units in the main game, or get special awards so you will need to go shopping in that.

Also there are limits to experience. It will say on the first campaign screen what the limit is - I think it's 225 in 1939 and goes up with each campaign year. If you get a lot of units to the limit, bring in a new one every now and then so that the new one can earn experience - don't bring in too many at once or it gets a bit embarrassing. Later on you when you start having bad days and need replacements or need some experienced specialist troops (paratroops or pioneers) or real anti tank units become available you will be very happy that you have a reserve of 2 and 3* units that can be upgraded.

I just checked the XP limits-

GC '39 -> 225
GC '40 -> 325
GC '41 -> 375
GC '42e-> 425
GC '43e-> 525
GC '44e-> 599
GC '45e-> 599
West DLCs -> ???

Also, about my mod, only the base campaign "Kaiserschlacht" has this. The new Grand Campaign '14 is a big improvement for the units. But yes, it is interesting to play like that. (I prefer most self propelled artillery over towed, save Nebelwerfers, but ultimately it comes down to the player here)

- BNC

[TheJay13]

I have been seeing far better results now that I have been focusing on suppressing/forcing units to surrender and only attacking when I have a good advantage. Combined unit tactics are very effective in this game as I am quickly discovering and I am now getting far more successful assaults especially when concerning entrenched positions. Thank you for all the help.