Which favorite GC scenarios would you like to see in Axis Operations?

[econ21]

One thing I really liked about the GC was the variety of scenarios - it stopped it getting stale. But there were some which stood out. I know not everyone will agree, but there are some of my favorites that I would like to see again in Axis Operations:

1. City fights: the Stalingrad scenarios were perhaps the high point of the series for me, fittingly given their significance in the war. The drive to Stalingrad was a blast - sweeping into the city, then getting bogged down in tough block by block fights. I really like the zoomed in "lane" design of streets - rows of hexes of clear terrain for tanks, with blocks of urban terrain for infantry. This came to the fore in the second Stalingrad scenario, which also had the fun air action over the river. The "lane" design made Panzer Corps feel almost like Squad Leader, rather than Panzer General, but in my opinion, worked really well. The more common representation of cities - say, Stalingrad in the PzC2 main campaign - as mainly a solid mass of urban terrain - is more realistic but isn't quite as fun, with the tanks just hanging back, not playing much of a role. (It's debatable, but I'd argue that tanks can be very effective in city fights - if well supported).

2. Air-sea-land fights: scenarios like Norway or Crete, where you have navies and paratroops are a blast. Sort of the opposite to city fights, I think these work best "zoomed out" - so you can choose to land your forces in completely different places (e.g. north or south Norway) and there is space for fun navy vs navy fights (where spotting is key). Part of the point about air and sea landings is that it gives the attackers a lot of flexibility about where to strike, so it is good if this is retained for the player. There probably can't be many of these - for the Axis, historically, I guess it was JUST Norway and Crete. Crete might be worth rethinking - perhaps making it so that only paratroops and air-transportable light support can be deployed on the island, with heavier stuff coming by sea.With upgrading units being so easy in PzC2 (you get the prestige refunded?), it might be reasonable to expect the player to convert their infantry core temporarily into paras, as having auxiliaries do all get all the glory might be a little unsatisfying.

3. Grand encirclements and large scale battles: I loved the Kiev scenario in PzC2 (in the original PG, Kiev and Norway were probably my favorites). I thought the Kiev encirclement suffered in the GC from being broken up into three scenarios; while each scenario had decent gameplay, I lost the "big picture" . While there were several Kursk scenarios in the GC, I am glad Prokhorovka was captured in all its glory as a single scenario - not quite an encirclement, but great fun working with a three pronged attack. I know the GC tended to break up actions and be smaller scale than the original campaign, but personally, I think is good to keep the scale "fuzzy" and represent some big battles in their entirety, while using smaller scale for others. Another good example of a large scale battle is the Kharkov scenario where the Russians are storming the central city, with your armies coming from the flanks to encircle them. A fun element in these kinds of scenarios is balancing the strength of different parts of your line during setup - having enough in the centre to hold, while having enough power on the flanks to counter-attack.

4. Defensive fights: personally, I love turtling, so really liked the Winter East Front scenarios where you have to defend airfields or a rail line in a pocket.

5. Working with auxiliaries: I really like battles where you fight alongside auxiliaries, in part because these typically don't have top tier equipment and so you must make do with 75mm guns, obsolete tanks, infantry heavy forces etc. Scenarios where you have to "rescue" your allies are fun - like the Dutch scenario with the paras trapped at the airfields and Orel, which is both a defensive fight (guarding the northern city) and a rescue mission (shuttling reinforcements to help the Italians in the south).

What GC scenarios are other players most like to see represented in Axis Operations?

[Retributarr]

Hitler's Quest For "Oil:"... "The Caucasus!":
https://www.joelhayward.org/Hitlers-Quest-Finished.pdf

Brief Description/Maybe... not-so-brief?: I'm quite sure that when the operation began to strike towards the 'Caucasus' [Case-Blue]: In order to attempt to take control of the 'Oil-Fields' in the 'Caucasus'... as in reality ... the present dire situation was that the German-Army only had a 3-Month supply of Oil-Reserves... for 'Full-Scale-Attack-Operations!'... along the entire Russian front for all-three 'Army-Groups'.

More research on or as to how long it would take to repair and make the 'Oil-Fields' operational is another 'Unknown?'... as well as to how this "oil"... would then be either processed directly at the 'Oil-Field'/'Oil-Fields'???... or somehow be transported back to Germany for processing is also... an 'Unknown' at this time!.

If this Operation was successful... despite the concerns of realizing actual useable Oil product production... there are still extenuating issues of protecting the facilities from 'Russian-Assault'.

Finally!... if a successful effort in all of its aspects was finally actually concluded... then the War-In-Russia... would now take on a 'Significant-Change-In-Direction'... the Russians would now only be able to function at perhaps 30-40% 'Combat-Effectiveness'... [My best Guess or Recollection] ... from this point onwards... Victory in Russia would now almost be certain!.

Note: [This aspect of the War... could also be an alternative course of action to complete the invasion and conquest of Russia]

-------------------- Notes from the Web-Site: ------------------------------------
Hitler's Quest for Oil: the Impact of Economic
Considerations on Military Strategy, 1941-42
JOEL HAYWARD

Reality: "On 1 June 1942, four weeks to the day before the summer
campaign began, Hitler told the assembled senior officers of Army Group
South that 'If I do not get the oil of Maikop and Grozny then I must end
this war'".

When asked by his Allied captors in 1945 to what extent German military
strategy had been influenced at various stages by economic considerations,
Albert Speer, Hitler's outstanding Armaments Minister, replied that in
the case of Operation BARBAROSSA the need for oil was certainly a
prime motive.' Indeed, even during the initial discussions of his plan to
invade the Soviet Union, Hitler stressed the absolute necessity of seizing
key oilfields, particularly those in the Caucasus region, which accounted
for around 90 per cent of all oil produced in the Soviet Union. For example,
during a war conference at the Berghof on 31 July 1940, Hitler revealed to
high-ranking commanders his intention to shatter Russia 'to its roots with
one blow'2 After achieving the 'destruction of Russian manpower', he
explained, the German Army must drive on towards the Baku oilfield, by
far the richest of those in the Caucasus and one of the most productive in
the world.

Despite Hitler's optimism, the 1941 campaign - which opened along a
2,000 km front and involved 148 combat divisions - failed to shatter
Russia 'to its roots with one blow'. Consequently, it failed to bring the
huge oil region of the Caucasus under German control. After reverses in
the winter of 1941/42, it was no longer possible for the Wehrmacht to
undertake wide-ranging offensives along the entire front, by then over
2,500 km in length. The summer campaign of 1942, although still immense,
was necessarily less ambitious. It opened along a front of around 725 km,
and involved 68 German and 25 allied combat divisions. Soviet oil
remained a major attraction for Hitler. The offensive's objectives were to
destroy the main Russian forces between the Donets and the Don river,
capture the crossings into the mountainous Caucasus region and then
deliver the rich oilfields into German hands. The perceived importance of
these oilfields to the German economy, and hence the war effort, cannot
be overstated. .3

On 1 June 1942, four weeks to the day before the summer
campaign began, Hitler told the assembled senior officers of Army Group
South that 'If I do not get the oil of Maikop and Grozny then I must end
this war'

[Kerensky]

It's surprising to hear people remember such minute details as dense city maps being structured like 'blocks' with roads running between them like city streets. But here we are.

[dalfrede]

It's surprising to hear people remember such minute details as dense city maps being structured like 'blocks' with roads running between them like city streets. But here we are.

Actually that detail is easy to remember:
Big City, what do I do with my tanks?
Wait! there are clear lane to drive them.
Yes I can use them!