The Newbie Campaign! At some point you have to realize that you are not the best armchair general out there!

[AAntares]

Hi all,

I am willing to share my not so beautiful skills in PC2, the other AARs are played with the most difficult settings by veteran players, here quite the opposite

After to have played the tutorials and few puzzles, I want to start a campaign and write an AAR about it, if you are a newbie like me feel free to ask what you want, if you are an experienced player feel free to share your advices!

Poland 1939
Difficulty: Colonel (my first run)
Combat Randomness: 20% (almost a chess game)
Undo Mode: Movement Only, Unlimited (double left click is a nightmare for me, lot of misclicks especially with the air units selected)
Commander Trait Points: 0
All the rest checked but Shroud (I don't like it), Custom Army (fine the initial selection) and Ironman (only for the double left click issue, I will do my own Ironman anyway, no restart)
No Special Challenges

Scenario 1: Poland North
General Alexander von Antares
Strenght: Battle Academy (a fast learner, I hope) and Panzer General (I will try to follow a Panzer Division OOB)
Weakness: No Overstrenght, Green Army ((a little of RPG, a green General takes what he gets).
Points left: 1, some of the traits seem a bit too strong for my taste, I prefer to increase the difficult in this way.


Here the German OOB, ready to start
1st PD (-), 2nd PD (-) and I Fliegerkorps (-)
Using a different camo for each division.





Arghhh!!! It seems I am not able to attach file...after to have loaded it (or dragged) is there another thing that I have to do but submit? What am I doing wrong?
Edit: I'm using a free image hosting, not sure how many time this image will last.

[SineMora]

Good luck! TBH the subforum could probably use something like this, because the current ones do give an impression of being try-hards, and while we're looking to explore alternative ways to play the game rather than smashing our way through it (I'm one of those players) it might make the this subforum look elitist.

Your trait selection looks interesting (I happily went with Liberator and Killer Team the first time I played, a very powerful combination but rather predictable and not terribly satisfying). Battle Academy might be challenging with Green Army, as while your troops will gain experience faster you'll probably also lose a lot as you're limited to only 3 elite reinforcements per scenario, but we'll see how you adapt.

Can't help you with the attachments I'm afraid; I've only used the simple method of linking to screenshots from my Steam profile.

[AAntares]

Thanks SineMora, I hope it will be interesting to read.

Killer Team is tooo good, almost gamey

This night I will post my first turn.

[comradep]

Good luck AAntares.

I, too, welcome your AAR.

Coincidentally, the other AAR's are by players trying to accomplish roughly the same thing using different tactics/traits/equipment, so it will be good for other players to see a "normal" approach to the game in your AAR.

Edit: I just realized you're the author of the "Very tempted!" thread. Good to see you've taken the plunge and want to write about your experience even when new to the game/series. I hope you'll enjoy PC2.

[AAntares]

Thanks Comradep, the game is great and fun to play.

Let's start then!

[AAntares]

Turn 1 (PP 600)

I have 2 core slots available but I don't want to buy anything at the moment, I prefer to spent this slots for splitting the units.

Three of the four Panzer Rgts will push in the North trying to intercept the enemy reinforcements, one infantry Rgt and one artillery Bn will support the advance. The rest of my force will fight in the South.
Three enemy units has been badly mauled, maybe too much and there are not worth to force a surrender now.



Turn 2 (PP 800)

What a reckless move, my splitted 4th Panzer Rgt unit got ambushed and lost 4 strenght points! Sorry guys
Surely in the next turn it will be dead.

The previous three enemy units has been destroyed, moreover an enemy bomber has been shotdown. Trying to encircle a cavarly and an infantry unit in the next turn.



Turn 3 (PP 1024)

The enemy retake Chojnice (in the middle of the map) and made a concentrated attack against my poor and now depleted 4th Panzer Rgt, only 2 SP left!
It was a mistake although, two enemy units surrender, one destroyed and another one encircled.



Turn 4 (PP 1188)

No enemy attack, one unit destroyed and another one surrender.



Turn 5 (PP 1438)

Quiet turn, air units rebased to Bydgoszcz, ready to support my advance in the South.



Turn 6 (PP 1538)

I think to have discovered all enemy units on the map, artillery and armored ones have been my targets.
I am not paying any point to buy replacement for my units, I should be abble to finish the scenario without any reinforcements.



Turn 7 (PP 1692)

Heavy counterattacks by enemy units (I like that!), there was another two hidden units and the 3rd Panzer Rgt is well understreght too.
Another enemy unit surrender.



Turn 8 (PP 1908)

Chelmo is taken, one objective to finish the scenario. Three enemy infantry units and a depleted AT gun left.



Turn 9 (PP 2058)

Two units left but at full strenght. Also the Pioneer Bn is reduced by enemy attacks.



Turn 10 (PP 2158)

I made a mistake leaving my Pioneer close to an enemy unit, got assaulted and now they have only 3 SP left.
And a misclick meanwhile I was checking the map, 4 armored point lost!!



Turn 11 (PP 2328)

One city left, units marching for the final assault.



Turn 12 (PP 2428)

Encirclement underway.



Turn 13 (PP 2528)

Argh...I forgot to put a unit on the bridge and it escaped, another turn then because I want to take this unit before the end.



Turn 14 (PP 2829)

Victory! Unfortunately I forgot to take a screenshot before to review the map.
Nice scenario, several mistakes but it is all experience

[SineMora]

I see you learned some tough lessons. Yes, ambushes hurt, and engineers are very vulnerable in the open (and expensive with transports, so you really want to minimise losses to them). I'd recommend adding a Storch to your core next as the recon ability provided by it is unmatched, and knowing what's ahead is vital for planning your operations.

I like how you've personified your core with individual naming and camos. I might try something like that too (maybe I'll start caring more about the poor grunts then). Good luck with Bug River!

[comradep]

Good start.

As you realize that mistakes are mistakes, you're already more experience than you might think you are.

Good luck with scenario 2.

[AAntares]

Scenario 2: Bug River

Losses replacements: the three Elite repl. on my Panzer Rgts but 4th Rgt, they paid the rookie move of the previous battle
Very costly my poor pioneer unit, total 484 points.

2345 PP left and 34/45 core slots.

First all infantry units must have a transport! Then I want to build up a sort of Panzer Division OOB:
2 Pz Rgt, 2 PzG Rgt, 1 Pion Bn, 1 Art Rgt, 1 AT Bn, 1 AA Bn, 1 Recce Bn
I am pretty sure this is not the best combo but I like to do a little of RPG.
Purchase:
2x Grenadier w/Opel Blitz
1x 3.7 cm PaK 36 w/HT
1x 3.7 cm FlaK 37 w/HT
Brückenpioniere W/Opel Blitz
He 111H2
Upgrade:
All unit with HT when available, all tanks upgraded to Panzer 38(t)A

1st Panzer Division is full staff, 2nd Panzer Division gets an infantry unit.
Bridging unit by Panzer Corps as support for this scenario and we have our first strategic air unit.
Total: 2205, no core slots left.

Hero, I assigned him to 1./StG 1 (Stuka)



Deployment Phase, 2nd PD left, 1st PD in the centre

[comradep]

I also like the historical core approach.

I try to maintain a balanced force, but not a "normal" wartime unit structure.

Your approach brings back memories of the best user-made campaigns for PG2, where you were encouraged/forced to use a "historical" core.

[AAntares]

Thanks guys for your advices and for following this AAR even if it is not so useful for you

Unfortunately I already bought my stuff, Storch unit for the next battle!

Edit: if a MOD about historical OOB will be ever released no doubt that I will play it!

[charonjr]

Yeah, recon is king.

I also like the historic approach here.

[AAntares]

Turn 1 (PP 300)

This time the enemy units are more close and my bridging unit is in peril therefore I will wait before to use it on the river.
More cautious advance, I soften up the enemy vangards and discovered AA guns in the airfield. ART/AT and AA units in support.
The auxiliary units at Pulawy (SW) in defense mode.



Turn 2 (PP 460)

My defense at Pulawy paid very well, a Recce unit destroyed for no losses. initially it was ambushed and then made a suicidal attack against an AT gun (pretty bad behaviour by IA).
First mistake, unit on a bridge is in bad postions, enemy fighters shown up and my ART lost 4 SP, good news one A/C unit is almost gone.
Tanks and infantry units spotted.



Turn 3 (PP 620)

Wyszkow is in German hands, a couple of units surrender and another two destroyed. Bridging unit attacked and lost 5 SPs.



Turn 4 (PP 894)

Heavy Polish counterattacks along the frontline, no units with severe losses so far.
Enemy fighters shotdown. Warsaw, Siedlce and Bialystok under pressure.



Turn 5 (PP 1044)

Argh...I have been overconfident and got ambushed again, 5 Panzer SPs lost, obviously the regiment leader is not good enough
Siedlce captured, Polish force push again at Pulawy.



Turn 6 (PP 1374)

Warsaw encircled, air units rebased to Siedlce. I am trying to save the auxiliary units by enemy attacks (I know is not worth the effort but still...)



Turn 7 (PP 1640)

Warsaw and Bialystok fallen, one unit surrender.
The heroic Pulawy garrison still hold the position, German panzers in support.



Turn 8 (PP 2014)

Three cities left, several units in movement.



Turn 9 (PP 2164)

Pulawy garrison rescued, enemy tanks detroyed.



Turn 10 (PP 2324)

Four enemy units left, one encircled.



Turn 11 (PP 2484)

Polish cavarly surrender, flanking the other units.



Turn 12 (PP 2734)

Two cities left, Brest is almost encircled.



Turn 13 (PP 3000)

The last survivors, Brest garrison.



Turn 14 (PP 3260)

Victory! 4327 Final score.
Again several errors but a little better than before, AT and AA units are very situationals, not sure if they are worth to buy in a competitive game.

[AAntares]

Yeah, recon is king.

I also like the historic approach here.

Thanks!

Btw, I am not reading your AAR (oh well, any AAR) because I don't want to spoiler anything, I love when my units got ambushed
Maybe I can read the first scenario if the same...

[charonjr]

13/20 turns is good, prestige as well.

Yes, it is the same, Poland North.

And encirclements are Queen as you have seen

I havent used dedicated AT guns yet, the 15cm artillery defends against soft and hard targets, nice buy IMO. And I love AA guns, but I think they are only worth it when using the Anti-Air Veteran trait (damage to aircraft this way instead of just supression on aircraft) and once air superiority is achieved switch to AT mode .

[SineMora]

I see you took the game's hint about using a unit of bridge engineers (the single deployment hex next to the river was like a giant neon sign: BRIDGE ENGINEERS HERE).

The 15 cm artillery piece is a good choice for the backbone of your support in general given its range and versatility. Dedicated ATs have more value once you start facing larger concentrations of enemy armour, but not so much early in the game. Self-propelled ones are very cost effective later on, often offering superior initiative and hard attack compared to tanks while being significantly cheaper, but with poor soft attack. By then you'll also want to support your tanks defensively to avoid taking expensive losses.

AAs are considered weak by most players unless you have AA Veteran, although in France you could do worse than investing in an 8.8; it might be expensive, but it offers fair protection for your artillery and can be converted into a monstrous AT unit if the situation warrants it -- its hard attack makes your tanks look like toys.

I believe we all started with the same set of missions (Poland North / Bug River / Norway South), only going our separate ways in France (well, Belgium for me).

[AAntares]

ART: yes the 15cm guns are pretty good but I don't have these guns yet, 7.5cm and 10.5cm but they will be upgraded now.

AT: when the AT tanks will be available they should be more interesting.

AA: when switched to AT it would be nice to have the same AT support ability, but at the moment without any traits they are difficult to use.

I see you took the game's hint about using a unit of bridge engineers (the single deployment hex next to the river was like a giant neon sign: BRIDGE ENGINEERS HERE).

True! Maybe I have been to predicable

[Horseman]

A great AAR - good to see one that isn't an "elite" player trying to show how to do it supper optimised.

I also like to try and field a "historical" OOB - but to me its far more important to get the flavour right rather than an exact match.

And how you choose to do this is also important to make sure you still have a viable core force (remember its still a game)

Early Panzer Divisions (1-5?) formed pre Poland had:
2xPanzer Regiments,
1xMotorised Infantry Regiment.(The term Panzergrenadier was not used until IIRC 1942ish)
1xArtillery Regiment.
1x Motorbike Battalion.
1x Recon Battalion.
1x AT Battalion.
1x Pioneer Battalion.

Each of the Regiments was composed of two Battalions.

How you choose to represent this in game can vary - You could do every unit = 1 Battalion but later on that could leave you infantry heavy. Maybe 1 Regiment = 1 unit, still will end up infantry heavy and you'll have to choose how to represent the additional Battalions.

How I'm doing it is......
Str 10 units as standard = 1 Battalion
Str 15 units as standard = 1 Regiment
Exceptions - Pioneer/Engineer and para units are in Battalions (these were historically the "elite" infantry in practically every (if not every) army) For Pioneer/Engineer units this also explains lower ground defence. Just not enough of them to form a solid defensive position! I also merged the Recon&Motorbike battalions as 1 unit, mainly because I didn't want to use both! But justified as those particular units would not have been "full combat" formations so having them represented as weaker works for me.

So that would leave 4x tanks, 1x inf, 2x art, 1x recon, 1x AT and 1x Pioneer for my early division(s). If you wanted to represent all units as Battalions then you'd add an additional Infantry. This is scarily close to what the core is as default for Poland North and South! (A coincidence?)

When we go into 1940 and the invasion of the low Countries/France we see that the Divisions were slightly amended to either add an additional Battalion to the infantry Regiment or a whole extra Regiment of 2 Battalions.

Newly formed Divisions (there were 10 total at this point) Also varied. On average they had 1x Panzer Regiment (of 3 Battalions) or the previous 2 Regiments of 2 Battalions. They also had 1 or 2 Infantry Regiments of 2-3 Battalions each.

OOB's for this time also show Panzer Divisions' Artillery Regiments now have 3 Battalions (1xheavy 2xlight)

So that gives me 3-4x tanks, 1-2x inf, 3x art, 1x recon, 1x AT and 1x Pioneer (And if you were representing all units as Battalions that should be 3-4 inf)

Once you get to 1941 and Barbarossa, Panzer Divisions have changed slightly again....
They are now all only 1 regiment of Panzers (but 2-3 Battalions in a Regiment) 2 Regiments of Motorised Inf (2 Battalions per regiment)
So that gives me 2-3x tanks, 2x inf, 3x art, 1x recon, 1x AT and 1x Pioneer (And if you were representing all units as Battalions that should be 4 inf)

Things do change again slightly as the war progresses (on Paper eventually Panzer Divisions should have 1x PzIV Battalion and 1x Panther Battalions) but mainly things get a little muddy as Germany struggled to keep Divisions up to strength and mass reorganisation was not possible on the eastern front so Divisions really start to look different.

A Flak Battalion was added to Panzer Divisions at some point as well but I can't remember exactly when, they may have been there from the beginning!

Sorry about the wall of text (and if I'm teaching you how to suck eggs) But this is something I ran into way back when I wrote a PC1 AAR - in that I just did a blanket 1 unit=1 regiment but also took some liberties (so MY Panzer Divisions never lost the 2nd Panzer Regiment in 1940, they also had an additional Artillery Regiment as mine was the "elite spearhead Corps") The additional Battalions were mostly ignored as spread across other formations in support (I never used Recon, AA or AT in PC1 except for flavour here and there)

However you do it - remember you're trying to change history and not just repeat it. So if you want your Divisions to look slightly different just tweak them to fit, just keep the flavour so it feels like a Panzer Division!

[AAntares]

Hi Horseman, thanks for joying!

Great post, I am using a sort of historical approach but of course I have adapted it to the game and my preferences.
I know that for the term Panzergrenadier is too early but I don't want to rename the infantry units later (a lazy man!).

Unit size: according to the tactical puzzle where you have to rescue a Panzer Division, I guess each unit is a regiment. Anyhow I am using this method:

2x Panzer Regiments (1 unit each one)
2x Motorised Infantry Regiments (1 unit each one)
When available one will became a Panzegrenadier unit equipped with HT, IIRC only the Grossdeutchland was fully equipped with HT (no SS)
1x Artillery Regiment (1 unit)
1x Motorbike Battalion (skipped)
1x Recon Battalion (1 unit)
1x AT Battalion (1 unit)
1x Pioneer Battalion (1 unit)
1x Anti-Air Battalion (1 unit)

I think you are even more historical than me, congrats

[AAntares]

Scenario 3: Norway South

Losses replacements: again all the Elite repl. on my Panzer Rgts but 2th Rgt (and dismissed its commander )
Total 767 points (bridging unit included). Panzer and Pioneer units what cost me more.

3560 PP left and 45/46 core slots.

So, how the briefing suggested and looking at the map the Panzer Rgts are under refitting (clear hexes only along the costaline), I will keep the Recce unit although.
AT Bn is out too, if an enemy armor will show up I can handle with the AA-bombers units.
Bridging unit returns to the Panzer Corps reserve.

35/46 slots
Purchase:
1x Pioneer w/Opel Blitz (2nd Pz Div)
1x Gebirgsjäger (Panzer Corps support)
1x Fi 156 Storch (I Fliegkorps)

Upgrade:
2nd Art Rgt unit to 15 cm sFH 18
I.KG 55 to Ju 88A

Total: 780, one core slots left.

Hero, I assigned him to 2nd PzG Rgt (Grenadiers, with a better Initiative they became very dangerous in a close fighting)



Deployment Phase

North-West, 2nd Pz Div Pioneers and Grenadiers units will assault Bergen, two Destroyers and one Light Cruiser as support.



South-West, 1st Pz Div Pioneers and Grenadiers units will assault Stavanger, a Destroyer as support.



South-Est, the rest of the units will land among Kristiansand and Larvik, two Destroyers and one damaged Heavy Cruiser as support.



Finally, 1st PzG Rgt and 1st Art Rgt of the 1st Pz Div. will stay undeployed to reinforce the strongest beachhead, priority will be to take the supply hexes.