US Corps 42 to 45

[Cerberus51]

SANKT VITH

38207pp, 34 slots.

AI goes first, several kampfgruppe attack in two waves (when you destroy one group another one attacks in the same section of front). I deployed in three groups setting up a position E of Sankt Vith with the others to the north and south. While a defence in Sankt Vith would be possible it would allow the enemy to isolate the northern and southern groups and giving up all the forward VH's would lose the game so not an option.

The weather was mostly cloudy, which is a mixed blessing. Your ground units can see the enemy coming but the opposition also have visibility and run into fewer ambushes, also it reduces the effectiveness of your bombers. By the end of turn 4 the Luftwaffe units were eliminated and fighting was heavy along the entire front. I was able to attack the incoming German units in the north and hold on in the centre but had to fall back in the south (where there is a significant force of SE units and a Jagdtiger) hoping to wear that attack down with ambushes and airpower.

By the end of turn 7 the first groups of attackers were largely destroyed. The remaining enemy groups then started to come in and on turn 11 a JpzIV/70 and a Jagdpanther combined to destroy a core M4A3E2 (the unit given at Avranches with an A+4 I+2 hero ).

On turn 12 came orders to withdraw my core army (this is the last scenario where you can evacuate aux units to disband for prestige - something I forgot to do ). I decided to go for the alternative of destroying all German core units. Rolled over the remaining enemy units, destroying the last one for a Triumph on turn 15/20, 34165pp.

Verdict: Quite a bloody struggle at times and I had to use around 4000 prestige on replacements during the scenario. Considering the amount of German armour I feel that wasn't bad. Always a shame to lose a core unit (my second of the campaign) but it was probably the one I could most afford to lose. This felt like the hardest scenario so far.

[goose_2]

Sankt Vith next and after previous experience of this one I am a bit apprehensive about it. Incidentally, I received 1527 prestige for this Triumph, which looks like 2000 reduced by a soft cap of 76%. I hadn't realised the SC affects victory prestige as well as that awarded in a scenario. Still, I can't complain as I'd prefer to be able to afford the expensive units to begin with.

I wondered this when I was playing the GC 45 as the win income was odd numbers.

Does soft cap effect victory prestige?

Not sure if anyone knows.

[Cerberus51]

BASTOGNE

37314pp, 25 slots.

Overstrengthed all armour to 11 and artillery to 12. That will make the soft cap bite harder but OS and replacements at this part of 44/45 is what I amassed all that prestige for.

The German forces attack Bastogne in succession, first some PzIV's and recon from the north then infantry from the south, next a force with SE panzers from the east and finally a mixed force from the west. My intention was to pull the US paratroops back into Bastogne as the outer fortification hexes are too long a perimeter to provide close artillery support everywhere. The aux armour around the city is not going to survive so I used it to eliminate the northern attack forces to enable some of the paras to get away from Bastogne. My core force advanced in the usual three groups but cautiously as spotting is limited by bad weather and there are quite a few enemy units scattered in the way. One tip - you can upgrade the AA unit in Bastogne to the more powerful and range 3 90mm for only 42 prestige.

Events unfolded much as anticipated and my core units approached Bastogne on turn 11, just in time to destroy the German western force as it advanced. I was quite fortunate as the weather cleared just at the right time for my air force. Took the last flag on turn 14 and Triumph on 15/15 with 32813pp. Yes, upgrades, OS and replacements cost a net 4500 prestige for this scenario. I always expected Sankt Vith and Bastogne to be costly in prestige.

Verdict: these last two scenarios are tough and if you haven't saved enough prestige to get through they can break your campaign.

[Cerberus51]

HOUFFALIZE

35448pp, 35 slots.

Split my force into two groups as advised but put both captured Panthers in the southern group as I anticipated more enemy armour in this area.

Turn 1 and my opening move was to fly the aux B-24 into a fighter trap. I usually move and click off bombers in order to see if there is a fighter waiting but didn't this time. That piece of carelessness reduced the Liberator to 4 str, however I was able to destroy several enemy units. The AI then attacked a P-47 escorting a Typhoon, hitting the P-47 with a Me163 for 6 damage and then a Me109K hit the Typhoon for 4 damage.

Turn 2 Hit the Me163 with a SP AA but didn't weaken it enough to get decent odds for my fighters so took out a Me410 instead. Destroyed more enemy armoured units and SP Art. Soft cap standing at 69% due to most of my units costing over 400 even before overstrength. The enemy then hit an engineer in a half track with artillery for 2 damage, followed by a V2 missile for another 7 and then attacked with a SE Infanterie 43. At only 1 str I thought I had lost that core unit but the supporting M12 155mm did enough and the engineer retreated rather than being destroyed.

Turn 3 destroyed Tiger II and other units. In the N, near Grand-Halleaux, 2 SE Panthers attacked and damaged aux units. During the following turns I thought I had dealt with all the German heavy armour. Wrong! Turn 11 and a Tiger II knocked my 3* M36 down from 11 to 3 Str near the NE objective. The M36 did inflict 5 damage in return. This was the replacement unit for the M18 I lost during Anzio, a loss I have been paying for with this unit taking more damage than my other, more experienced, TD's ever since.

Turn 9 and finally shot down the Me163. Turn 10 and an 8.8cm Pak and a Jagdpanther combined to reduce my core M4A3E2 to 1 str. That is the second time I have nearly lost a core unit in this scenario. Turn 11 and the soft cap is up to 92%. That shows the amount of damage my core units have taken. Turn 13/18 and Triumph, 32992pp.

Verdict: I wasn't as cautious as I usually am, which may have led to more damage to my units. The German units are spread across the map rather than in a few larger groups so the threat of attack by a powerful unit persists until late in the scenario. The challenge is to avoid losses or heavy damage and I was fortunate not to lose any core units - so not my finest performance.

[goose_2]

HOUFFALIZE

Turn 1 and my opening move was to fly the aux B-24 into a fighter trap. I usually move and click off bombers in order to see if there is a fighter waiting but didn't this time. That piece of carelessness reduced the Liberator to 4 str,.

Happens to the best of us mate,

[AMDonline]

move and click off to avoid an ambush doesn't work on air, only on ground units.

[Cerberus51]

move and click off to avoid an ambush doesn't work on air, only on ground units.

Not an ambush, I moved the unit next to the fighter then immediately clicked to attack a ground unit so the fighter opened fire to defend the ground unit. If I had clicked off the bomber rather than attacking the fighter would not have fired and would have become visible so I could have dealt with it before going back to the bomber.

[Cerberus51]

REMAGEN

36231pp, 35 slots.

New equipment available so upgraded my single M4A3E2 to the 76mm gun version for 253 prestige and my three M4A3's to M26's for an eye-watering 910 prestige each. The B-32 also becomes available but I do not consider it worth the cost and also simply don't like using the B-29 or B-32 as they were not deployed in Europe during WW2. The P-47N becomes available towards the end of this scenario when you would really benefit from using it at the start against the Wunderwaffe aircraft. Those upgrades plus replacements and OS left me with 31278 prestige. I have now firmly switched from accumulating prestige to spending it with only three scenarios to go.

I ended up restarting this three times due to losing a core unit on the first turn. On the first two tries the He162/Ta152 combined to shoot down a SE P-47D and the only way I found to not have this happen was to not use my air units on the first turn. On the first turn of the run through in the replay the Ar234 hit a M12 155mm for 5 damage despite defensive fire from a M15 AA. For the first time in the whole campaign I felt aggrieved with the scenario design as the Luftwaffe air units are unreasonably effective (having said that, I did destroy all 3 on the next turn as well as damage a couple of V1's).

Another issue with air units is that the AI tries to refuel missiles at airfields when this isn't possible - so three V1's ran out of fuel next to an airfield rather than attacking my units (that is why I was surprised to have a unit hit by a V2 in the previous scenario, the AI does not know how to use missiles - something to fix in PzC 2 perhaps?).

Soft cap at 51%. Took Bonn on turn 5 and prepared to use the bridging unit to cross the Rhine there to roll up the enemy units on the east bank. Turn 6 destroyed the Jagdtiger in the South. It took a B-24, Calliope, M12, M36 (took 5 damage), B-26 and M26 to do it though. Turn 10 took the last objective.

The Tiger II/Panther/SP Art group at the east edge of the map was a disappointment, just sitting there getting bombed. I presume it is scripted to attack when US units occupy the A hexes but I cleared the map before doing so. Triumph on turn 15/18, 29718pp, SC 59%.

Verdict: this was the first scenario that felt artificial. I entirely understand the designer's difficulty in providing the player with a challenge that the Allies did not face historically (most Luftwaffe jets never got airborne due to lack of fuel and I have read estimates that Germany had less than 50 heavy tanks operational by early 1945) but this scenario felt like the air and heavy armour units were just thrown in after the rest had been properly planned.

[Cerberus51]

TORGAU

31789pp, 35 slots.

Upgrade available so all 5 P-47D to N for 89 prestige each. Artillery and strat bombers OS 12, everything else to 11. Left with 29573pp, SC 38%.

I intend to try and reach Torgau in 12 turns for a Triumph but it will be tight and requires bypassing Leipzig so if things don't go well I may have to slow down, take less risks and settle for a victory.

Turn 1 attacked in N and S, destroyed several enemy units. A Go229 fighter hit a P-47 for -9.

Turn 2 rain - ! No chance to take down the initial Luftwaffe units. Took Kassel, destroyed almost all first line enemy units but a Gebirgs hit a M36 in Kassel for -6. Turn 3 took Gottingen in N.

Turn 4 spotted Tiger II/Panther/recon group and sent in bombers. E555, Ar234 and Go229 flew in next to my bomber group but no combat.

Turn 5 destroyed all three Luftwaffe units, destroyed Tiger II, Panther and 3 recons but found Jagdtiger near Erfurt and expected it to attack but it did not. The second Luftwaffe group appeared, Me110G and Do335 inflicted minor damage on ground units, He162 attacked recon plane but took 8 damage from covering P-47, recon plane -2.

Turn 6 destroyed all three Luftwaffe units, that should be the end of air opposition at least for now.

Turn 7 destroyed Jagdtiger (M36 took -4) and occupied Erfurt VH, nearby airfield and Nordhausen. SC 46%. Turn 8 received captured He 162 near Erfurt. Took Weimar. Destroyed Panther D in N. Not sure I can take Torgau in the time required at this point.

Turn 9 destroyed Jagdpanther and PzIVJ in the N. Tiger attacked my Panther G in the S. Turn 10 destroyed Tiger and PzIVJ. Began moving around north of Leipzig, staying out of range of K17 artillery within the defences, but Elefant attacked my lead Panther D for 6 damage.

Turn 11 destroyed Elefant and a PzIV in the Leipzig defences. Nothing between my northern group and Torgau now except the single infantry garrison in the city so decided to go for it and push units forward. I also moved a couple of infantry units mounted in half tracks forward S of Leipzig preparing to attack a strongpoint. A costly mistake as a Nashorn and a Stug IV moved out from the Leipzig defences and destroyed a Ranger (upgraded from the Alpini gained back in Sicily). I hate losing core units but decided not to replay this far in but to accept the loss.

Turn 12 destroyed Nashorn and Stug IV. Took Torgau for Triumph, 27139pp SC 49%.

Verdict: a fair challenge for the last scenario against German forces. Looking at the map afterwards I notice there is a Maus near Dresden. Never tackled one of those with US units so quite pleased to get the Triumph.

Not sure which way to go now. I have pulled off a Triumph in Operation Unthinkable previously and have the prestige and units to go for it. Wargames would be new to me but looks like a narrow map and a slugfest against a mass of Soviet armour.

[goose_2]

I would say save now and try Wargames to attaempt something new.
If it does not prove fruitful, go back and go the more familiar Unthinkable route.
Either way you made it farther then I did in my beta testing, just didn't have enough time to complete the whole map.

[Cerberus51]

I went for Unthinkable and finished it a few minutes ago, it has taken most of the day to complete. I will post up my summary and the replay file tomorrow.

[Cerberus51]

UNTHINKABLE

30842pp, 38 slots.

P-51H becomes available with initiative 14 (could have done with that against the Wunderwaffe) so upgraded my SE P-51D for 99 prestige.

The additional deployment slots mean I can deploy all but one unit, a 2* Sherman Crab which I would be able to upgrade and deploy if I lose a core unit.

Because I have so much prestige I chose to overstrength everything to the maximum which, with upgrades and replacements, left me with 17082 prestige and the soft cap at 20%. Not going to earn much prestige during this scenario then!

For the first two turns I concentrated on destroying enemy air units and their forward armour. Captured Dresden. Turn 3 captured Praha. IS2 tanks are tough, it took a strat bomber, both T-28's and a Tiger II to destroy one (IS3's require heavy suppression and tac bomber damage before they can be attacked). Began assault on Berlin, took Potsdam but lost aux M8 GMC. A SU100 drove into a M26 and was destroyed, ambushes like that happened several times (I do deliberately move up to just short of enemy spotting distance). Turn 4 initial enemy air units mostly destroyed. Used paratroops to guard VH's - I am going to garrison all the VH's as I am slightly concerned about stray Russian tanks slipping through, also I see no real use for paratroops on a map with so many enemy units.

Turn 5 destroyed KV-2 at Stettin and several other enemy tanks (river crossings are particularly fruitful as the AI is fond of moving onto them). Turn 6 cleared Berlin. IS3's attacking. Turn 7 destroyed two IS3's and other units. Turns 8/9/10 encountering more IS2's and a steady trickle of enemy air units.

Turn 11 Captured Poznan, that is 7 VH's and secures a victory at least. Getting local counterattacks most turns but nothing too serious. Turn 12 paused and resupplied my core units in the south as they were getting ahead of the aux units in the north.

Turn 13 began attack on Krakow. More Soviet air units. Turn 14 captured Krakow and Sandomerz. Plan is to defend the river crossings here against the Soviet reserves that are now coming. Six enemy air units appeared. Turn 15 shot down 5 enemy air units and destroyed some of the AA near Warsaw which could have fired on my fighters, also destroyed yet more Soviet armour (if you have noticed there are a lot of Soviet armoured units on this map so far, trust me there are plenty more still to come). More Soviet air units appeared, destroying the aux Me262. Soviet armoured units near Krakow and Sandomerz, looks like the Soviet armoured reserves are committed.

Turn 16 pressing Warsaw and have a flanking force circling to the north of the city. Destroyed most enemy air units. Turn 17/18 encircled Warsaw, advancing on Bialystock, engaged Soviet armour south of Radom moving towards Sandomerz. Turn 19 Large number of Soviet armoured units now to the east of Krakow but all they do is mill around, push one unit onto the bridge - where it is duly destroyed - and repeat. Counterattack near Bialystock destroyed aux M18. Turn 20 crossed river at Sandomerz, Soviet armour east of Krakow continues to impersonate a flock of sheep (a good thing too, there must be 15-20 of them).

Turn 21 approaching Brzesc, only a garrison infantry unit left to defend Bialystock and now advancing on Lvov. Turn 22 captured Bialystock. Turn 23 Brzesc proving tough, closing in on Lvov, the slaughter at the bridge near Krakow goes on.

Turn 24 captured Lvov. Turn 25 Brest fortress reduced to 1 str but holds out for another turn. Turn 26/30 captured Brzesc for Triumph, 11473 prestige left.

Verdict: A monster scenario, it took me around 8 hrs to complete, but a great end to a long campaign. I find most fantasy scenarios lacking somehow but this one is excellent and it has the feel of a "real" battle.

I will post a few stats and my thoughts on US Corps overall later.

[Cerberus51]

I finished with 44 core units, including 5 SE. During the three campaigns I lost 4 core units (2 tanks, 1 tank destroyer and 1 infantry). By the end my surviving units had accumulated 68 heroes. Over the three campaigns I picked up 10 captured units plus a further 2 awarded, the maximum possible on the campaign path I followed (if anyone wants to know where they are it is in the individual scenario reports).

Overall I rate these three campaigns as very good, certainly when played through as one continuous campaign. I did prefer the earlier scenarios in the 42 campaign where I think there is more scope for not doing the obvious. There are only a couple of things I would change if I could. Firstly I would have preferred to be given a P-51D early in 44/45 with a couple of stars experience and a hero (John C Meyer?) with initiative +2, rather than one of the captured fighters from Rur or Torgau. Mostly because I would have liked the P-51 to get more use. The second thing, and my only real complaint about any of the scenario design, is the initial Luftwaffe at Remagen. I can only see one way to not lose a core fighter - don't commit your air units on the first turn. If one of the Luftwaffe fighters started further to the east so you don't face both on turn 1 that would be enough.

Obviously this was not a blind playthrough but I did try some different approaches to previously, so there is replayability. My first playthrough halted at Bastogne when I ran out of prestige and I was critical at that time. This time around I still bought/upgraded the best units available and mostly used elite replacements at deployment and in scenario - so there is more than enough prestige possible, although it would be tighter on higher difficulties.

I have come across criticism of the US units in the equipment file and, while I am not entirely happy, particularly with the fighters, I would not say there was a major problem. Sure, Shermans can't stand up to the heavier German armoured units but they were never meant to. For most of WW2 the US relied on tank destroyers to deal with enemy armour and Shermans were designed for infantry support (there is a decent summary of the US doctrine on this and the background army politics in the Wikipedia article on the M26 tank). The equipment file reflects this quite well and the US units simply have to be used accordingly.

If you have enjoyed this AAR, and particularly if it contributes to your own playthrough of US Corps, then it has been worth the effort to write.

[goose_2]

I have enjoyed it and your overall assessment. Thanks for posting.

[nikivdd]

Thanks Cerberus for a most captivating playthrough.
I can say that creating US Corps was at times not an obvious or easy thing to do for someone with a full-time job. Despite some very tiring long days, it always felt good to create the campaign.

[goose_2]

Thanks Cerberus for a most captivating playthrough.
I can say that creating US Corps was at times not an obvious or easy thing to do for someone with a full-time job. Despite some very tiring long days, it always felt good to create the campaign.

Nico, what you created was a real gem of this game and something I felt honored to be able to participate in the beta testing.

You are a strong part of my Number 1 reason I love panzer Corps.

[Cerberus51]

I can say that creating US Corps was at times not an obvious or easy thing to do for someone with a full-time job. Despite some very tiring long days, it always felt good to create the campaign.

I have played Afrika and Allied Corps and some of the GC's. US Corps stands up very well in comparison. All credit to you for creating something good and with its own feel and identity.

[AMDonline]

whenever things got hard for me on this campaign i came here to read your AAR and watch the replays

i have finished this campaign now, got married and have kids all thanks to you Cerberus.

[Cerberus51]

I'm pleased you found it useful.

[turn4441]

Nice job on this playthrough, I like to compare my results after I've completed a scenario.

However, I'm curious if the ability to disband the fleet (USS Boise, USS Savannah, and 14th Carrier) at the beginning of the Gela Counter-attack, if you evacuated them during Gela, has been rectified or explained anywhere. Getting a prestige bump of 7,700 is incredible as it is equivalent to the total prestige you earn by winning DVs in the first 7-8 scenarios of each of the USC DLCs. As the prestige allotment is rather miserly in USC, 7700 seems entirely out of place and it seems this boost would make the subsequent scenarios much easier than intended.

It is also odd, given if you don't evacuate the Boise and Savannah during Gela, they will still be there during the counter-attack and, even more miraculous, are still there even if you do evacuate and then disband them. How do you get reimbursed for disbanding a ship that is still there? Strangest of all, if you do evacuate them and then don't disband them, you can deploy all 3 in the counter-attack scenario (although you can only deploy 1/turn as there is only 1 deployment hex) and then have 2 USS Boises and 2 USS Savannahs to help bombard the enemy. Do they go through a black hole and duplicate when they are evacuated?

As the briefing says that damaged transports can be evacuated, I assume this was intended to allow any of your units that my have been badly damaged while at sea, to move to the next scenario and the capital ships were accidently allowed to go with them. No matter what, I'm enjoying USC immensely.