Cavalry Commander

[captainjack]

Inspired by Panzerpimp, I had a go at Cavalry Commander.
The first post below is copied from the general Panzercorps thread

I have made it through Kiev in cavalry commander mode in Vanilla, playing at Colonel, AI level 2, reform units and dice chess.
I haven't played Vanilla campaign for years so it's an interesting challenge in its own right, although I definitely miss the greater depth of the DLCs.

So far, my little ponies have been very aggressive, taken a lot of casualties, but not that many units actually lost. I'm always using elite reinforcements for core units with at least 1*. Still struggling a bit with aux units - aircraft get disbanded and I award myself half prestige. Any units I can upgrade to cavalry or give horse transport to get converted in turn 1 or 2, otherwise kept as is but never moved more than a horse would. Recon and tanks aren't allowed to attack but can move around (to get in the way, surround, block) or take an empty city.

Equipment file modes - MG Zwilling (horse drawn cart, switches from weak AA to feeble artillery support), 75mm has 3 range (there is a 2 range 75mm SE infantry gun with 2 move for contrast). The SE one has +1 AD and AA compared with the standard one (yep, I got one of each). In mid 42 they get an upgrade to twin MG151. Awesome!
SE Cavalry has +1move, passive AD and recon move. Haven't got one yet.
SE artillery - horse drawn infantry guns (nope)
SE AT Czech 47mm with same attack stats as Panzerjager 1, but horse drawn.
Equipment file is mainly a tweak of what I usually use with some units blocked out - I got bored doing this, and just don't buy any motorised units.

The high movement makes for a more aggressive style than I'm used to but also allows badly damaged units to pull back and reinforce. It also improves chances of surrounding enemy units or of blocking areas to allow the artillery AA and AT to catch up. The zwilling carts are useful for protecting the towed guns and the 37mm AA is surprisingly useful for driving aircraft away - I even destroyed 7 aircraft solely with a 37 and two MG carts. Awesome!. Lost 13 infantry/cavalryunits and an aux recon, for 132 inf, 21 tanks, 3 recon, 30AT, 34art, 25AAm, 6 fighters and a tac bomber (I had an aux 37 which finished that off). Prestiget at end fo Kiev was 6370, even with full overstrength and only elite reinforcements. I think it would be near impossible with limited prestige and experience.

Best units: 4* 75mm gun, 3* 37mm AA. Favourite unit - got to be the zwilling carts

It's an interesting twist on conventional approaches, and while fighting tanks does get fun, I have managed to beat them without losing too much. The towed 37 with 2 move is surprisingly useful with a bit of planning and surrounding.

[captainjack]

Just completed Moscow 41 with MV on the last turn. Prestige 8679.
Inf 19/184; Tank 1/29, Recon 1/4; AT 0/38; Art 1/40; AA 0/27; F0/7; Tac 0/1
I had to resist temptation when facing a T34 on a river with a Panzer 3H but managed to stick to the principles of using tanks and recon only for blocking and for taking empty objectives only and not firing Snow wasn't too much of a problem as the horses don't run out of fuel (my little ponies appear to eat snow, mud and grass with equal relish).
Tanks at this stage aren't too difficult provided because I can swamp them and suppress with artillery,. It's surprising how useful horsedrawn guns are with move 4, but off road not much slows them down so they are often faster than trucks.
I've just headed to the Caucasus and I suspect I will not be going any further, although on the positive side I have upgraded the 37mm Pak to a 75, and my MG34 Zwilling carts have now been upgraded with twin MG151 from older Bf109's - watch out Soviet airforce! About half the troop are now 3*, I have a few 4* artillery and cavalry, and most of the rest are 2* except where they got reformed.

[PeteMitchell]

Cool, you have some screenshots, too maybe?

[captainjack]

Will see what I can do - I will try to capture the SE zwilling cart and SE cavalry unit before I get wiped off the next map.

[Panzerpimp]

Great and very interesting.
I will be looking forward to your progress in this unusual and challenging campaign.
Also your equipment file changes are nice, really like these ideas.
1942 was too hard for me and my horses; maybe I'll try again some time.
Good luck!

[Erasermarek]

We need Cavalry Commander achievment on steam I dont think its possible to fight with this horses in 1943+ Do you have some Cavalry43 moded unit?