Special heroes assessment

[Scrapulous]

One of the things I enjoy about the DLCs is earning special heroes (ones with multiple traits, sometimes traits that don't exist on normal heroes). I like the different ways they can be used and finding optimizations by pairing them with normal heroes, so I thought I'd write my thoughts down so that the rest of you can tell me what I'm missing and help me improve

Note: my list only includes the special heroes earned during a DLC, not the ones granted at the beginning of a DLC. I have no experience with the "catch-up" heroes and so can't comment on them.

Oleh Dir
Type: Infantry
+2 initiative
+2 speed
Famous (20 prestige/turn)
Precision Weapon (+20% accuracy)

Oleh is a fantastic infantry hero. There is no infantry in the game that doesn't want 2 more movement, and extra initiative and accuracy combine to make the unit deadly. Initiative isn't always great for infantry because close terrain tends to cap initiative very low, but there will be infantry battles in the open and you'll be happy for the bonus when they happen.

Here are ways I've used Oleh:

• Gebirgsjager in mountainous or hilly maps: a 5 move alpine unit is devastating; it's an amazing flanker and can hold or take a hill or a mountain like nothing else
• Fallschirmjager: turning a 3/4 move unit into a 5/6 move unit is amazing value when conducting airborne operations. You can break encirclements and establish supply much more easily when you have this kind of mobility.
• Cavalry: their weaknesses are: lower initiative than Grenadiers and airborne, weak air defence, and that they're stuck at 5 move when other inf get organic transports. Oleh solves the two most important of those. Horse movement type is amazing at getting through difficult terrain, and 7 move horse with high initiative is astoundingly versatile.

Pair with:

• Hit and Run: with Oleh, this hero becomes a No Retaliation hero against other infantry (except when terrain or weather cap initiative)
• Phased Movement: Oleh with Phased Movement on cavalry makes your recon units jealous: cavalry have the same spotting range as recon and your wheeled units will have difficult experiences in terrain that cavalry laughs at
• Ignores ZOC: this makes Oleh cavalry into good flankers and encirclers
• Overrun: Building up to Steamroller is easier when your infantry can get to the fight and Oleh's initiative and accuracy boosts make it easier for the unit to win a combat without taking damage

Helmut Wirnsberger
Type: Infantry
+3 initiative
+1 speed
Low Profile (enemies get -20% accuracy when attacking this unit)
Ignores ZOC

Wirnsberger comes in the 1941-E DLC and is a welcome addition. When I got him, I immediately put him on my cavalry and moved Oleh to my new Azul Infanterie. It drops the cavalry from move 7 to move 6, which hurts a bit, but even move on horse is most important, as a lot of terrain costs 2 for horse. This means that default (5 move) horse can move 2 hexes in such terrain, while Wirnsberger (6 move) and Oleh (7 move) horse can move 3 hexes in such terrain. In 3 and higher cost terrain, default horse can move 1 hex, while Wirnsberger and Oleh can move 2. So the difference between Wirnsberger and Oleh is not nearly as large as the difference between default horse and Wirnsberger horse.

Wirnsberger is good in many of the same ways Oleh is: he'll be good on mountain infantry or airborne, because they have reasons not to use organic transports. He'll also be good on any 3 move infantry, because he takes them to 4. I would much rather put Oleh on 2 move infantry, though - going from 2 to 4 is much better than 2 to 3, or 3 to 5, or 3 to 4.

The differences between them are that Oleh gives extra offensive power, while Wirnsberger gives defense and the intriguing freedom from ZOC. These make him an ideal cavalry hero in my opinion.

Pair with:

• Phased Movement: this goes well on Cavalry with Ignores ZOC for encirclements in tight spaces
• Hit and Run: same reasons as for Oleh Dir: in battles where initiative is a factor, Wirnsberger gives a huge boost to offense and defense
• Provocator (forces adjacent enemies to attack this unit instead of their target): Wirnsberger can take a hit, so if you're not using him as a durable mobile shock force or if you're in a defensive situation, he can be used to protect other units with a Provocator hero.

Albert Kerscher
Type: Tank, AT

+3 initiative
Famous (20 prestige/turn)
Tank Killer (+5 attack against tanks)
Aggressive Counterattack (+3 attack when defending)

I always wind up putting this guy on a tank, because it's the easiest way to bring him to as many fights as possible. In theory he would be great on towed AT, but the AI will never attack into a unit supported by this guy unless the unit also has Camouflage. Even with that setup, I think there's more impact on a tank or self-propelled AT, and between the two, I find that the tank needs Kerscher's boosts more than the AT (AT already have high initiative, already have high hard attack, and will usually only be attacked by infantry, where Aggressive Counterattack won't help much). In '41 I put him on a unit of captured T-34s.

Pair with:

• Camouflage if on towed AT: otherwise he'll never support.
• Hit and Run: high initiative goes well with this trait
• Provocator (adjacent enemies attack this unit instead of others): high initiative plus the counterattack bonus makes you want to be attacked on this unit: here's a way to force it

Elsa Kloss
Type: Artillery
+3 ammo
+1 range

Kloss represents quiet competence. Such simple bonuses, and so effective. There is no artillery unit in my core that does not wish Elsa was assigned to them. My AA units wish she could be assigned to them! My KV-2 unit dreams of Kloss (imagine the destruction! but it can't be done). She is amazingly versatile. +3 ammo is spectacular for units that provide support fire, because you will see situations where they run out. +1 range is wanted by any artillery in the game. Consider:
Close-support artillery like StuGs and BT-7As become more versatile, and can climb a hill and provide real ranged power
Rocket launchers can become peers to tube artillery and deliver pain to a wide front
A 20cm artillery unit becomes a complete artillery denial device: range 4 becomes 5; put it on a hill for a 6 hex radius of counter battery fire. Amazing.

I switch Kloss around depending on the scenario. I often use her as a training hero on my lowest experience artillery crew, paired with Camouflage and Double Support - the experience rolls in. Currently she commands a Wurfrahmen 40 unit that I got in 1940 from some industry connections; it supports my infantry and gets plenty of support fire opportunities and unit experience.

Pair with:

• Camouflage: Put that extra ammunition to use! Camouflaged support units are the ones that see use.
• Double Support: a gun with 5 ammo by default can only use this hero twice per turn. Kloss's +3 ammo adds one or two more double support uses per turn (depending on whether the gun fired on its turn)
• Counter Battery Fire: Kloss increases the area protected and enables more shots

Adolf Galland
Type: Fighter, Tactical Bomber
+2 initiative
+2 air attack
Legendary (50 prestige/turn)
Aiming Assistance (+10% accuracy to all adjacent friendly units)
Leadership (+1 initiative to all adjacent friendly units)

I can't ever find a reason to put him on a tactical bomber. Everything he does is something I want on a fighter. When there are intense air superiority battles, he makes my other fighters better. When I have air superiority, he makes my land forces better. And while a tac bomber only sometimes cares about initiative and air attack, those stats are central to a fighter's mission. He's very good at earning xp for his unit, because a unit with Aiming Assistance or Leadership traits gets xp from the fights it influences. I put him on my least experienced fighter wing, or my longest range fighter wing.

Pair with:

• Phased Movement: this lets Galland influence battles in multiple hot spots per turn
• Fast Rebase: this has the same benefit, and makes sure that Galland is where I need him, every turn
• Double Attack: I am a big fan of maximizing the value of your best heroes. Double Attack pairs well with all of these heroes, but I prioritize Galland because I hate not having air superiority

Heinrich Bar
Type: Fighter
+1 air attack
Famous (20 prestige/turn)
Double Attack

Bar is great: one of the best hero traits (Double Attack) with a small stat boost. I would put Bar on the highest-initiative German fighter you have, because the wing he's on will get chewed up badly from attacking twice every turn. An alternative is to pair him with heroes who help the air wing survive.

Pair with:

• No Retaliation: this eliminates the cost of Double Attack on a fighter and makes Bar a suitable hero for wings made of captured aircraft
• Adolf Galland: Galland's initiative boost helps make Bar's Double Attack less expensive, and Galland wants to be attacking more often. I normally would try to put each special hero on a separate unit to maximize the number of units that become exceptional performers, but this pairing is too good for me not to use. I have them in a Spitfire wing - it doesn't take many casualties and the unit is an amazing performer; I even bring it along on missions when I'm told to leave the airforce behind.

Hans-Ulrich Rudel
Type: Tactical Bomber
Legendary (50 prestige/turn)
Double Attack OR Double Move
Aggressive Counterattack OR Lightning Attack
Ignores Entrenchment OR Tank Killer

Rudel is harder to comment on because you get him from the factory and can choose what traits he has. To my mind the choices are obvious. A Double Attack hero is much better than a Double Move hero. A Lightning Attack hero is better than an Aggressive Counterattack hero. And I prefer Tank Killer on a tac bomber to Ignores Entrenchment: we get Rudel right before war with the Soviets, and what terrifies me about the Soviets is not their entrenchment, it's their armor. Besides, my strat bombers and artillery can handle entrenchment. I want Rudel to be a tank smasher, so he gets Double Attack, Lightning Attack, and Tank Killer. Soviet armor beware.

Given all that, I put him on my best hard attack Tac Bomber; that is currently an Il-2 that I found at the bottom of a pile of garbage in the back of a bombed-out train once. Crazy story. Remind me to tell you about it later.

Pair with:

• Phased Movement: if you worry that you chose wrong by taking Double Attack, this is the way to erase those feelings. Or a Double Move hero, I suppose. I have never found one of those. In any case, this lets you attack a single target twice and then move away to let another bomber finish it off.
• Crippling Blow: this is an absolutely ideal hero to work with Rudel. Double Attack + Tank Killer (both from Rudel) + Crippling Blow means Rudel can single-handedly destroy an entire tank unit in one turn by himself.
• Fast Rebase: this ability is strong and lets you choose any spot on the map within range of one of your airfields for Rudel to threaten

So: what did I miss? How do you use these heroes? Are there great pairings I haven't noticed? Is it insane to pair Galland and Bar?

[adiekmann]

One of the things I enjoy about the DLCs is earning special heroes (ones with multiple traits, sometimes traits that don't exist on normal heroes). I like the different ways they can be used and finding optimizations by pairing them with normal heroes, so I thought I'd write my thoughts down so that the rest of you can tell me what I'm missing and help me improve

Note: my list only includes the special heroes earned during a DLC, not the ones granted at the beginning of a DLC. I have no experience with the "catch-up" heroes and so can't comment on them.

Oleh Dir
Type: Infantry
+2 initiative
+2 speed
Famous (20 prestige/turn)
Precision Weapon (+20% accuracy)

Oleh is a fantastic infantry hero. There is no infantry in the game that doesn't want 2 more movement, and extra initiative and accuracy combine to make the unit deadly. Initiative isn't always great for infantry because close terrain tends to cap initiative very low, but there will be infantry battles in the open and you'll be happy for the bonus when they happen.

Here are ways I've used Oleh:

• Gebirgsjager in mountainous or hilly maps: a 5 move alpine unit is devastating; it's an amazing flanker and can hold or take a hill or a mountain like nothing else
• Fallschirmjager: turning a 3/4 move unit into a 5/6 move unit is amazing value when conducting airborne operations. You can break encirclements and establish supply much more easily when you have this kind of mobility.
• Cavalry: their weaknesses are: lower initiative than Grenadiers and airborne, weak air defence, and that they're stuck at 5 move when other inf get organic transports. Oleh solves the two most important of those. Horse movement type is amazing at getting through difficult terrain, and 7 move horse with high initiative is astoundingly versatile.

Pair with:

• Hit and Run: with Oleh, this hero becomes a No Retaliation hero against other infantry (except when terrain or weather cap initiative)
• Phased Movement: Oleh with Phased Movement on cavalry makes your recon units jealous: cavalry have the same spotting range as recon and your wheeled units will have difficult experiences in terrain that cavalry laughs at
• Ignores ZOC: this makes Oleh cavalry into good flankers and encirclers
• Overrun: Building up to Steamroller is easier when your infantry can get to the fight and Oleh's initiative and accuracy boosts make it easier for the unit to win a combat without taking damage

I always keep him on my Azul infantry. The Azul already features RF 1.5x and it's only weakness is initiative. Well, this hero solves that big time. I like to boost its offensive power, so I also like to give it Butcher if I have it. Likewise, Superior Maneuver (which I find of limited quality since accuracy is far more important in the game than initiative) also works well given its high movement. I also like to give him an Ignore Entrenchments hero. Lastly, like you, overrun --> steamroller turns him into an absolute Monster!

Helmut Wirnsberger
Type: Infantry
+3 initiative
+1 speed
Low Profile (enemies get -20% accuracy when attacking this unit)
Ignores ZOC

Wirnsberger comes in the 1941-E DLC and is a welcome addition. When I got him, I immediately put him on my cavalry and moved Oleh to my new Azul Infanterie. It drops the cavalry from move 7 to move 6, which hurts a bit, but even move on horse is most important, as a lot of terrain costs 2 for horse. This means that default (5 move) horse can move 2 hexes in such terrain, while Wirnsberger (6 move) and Oleh (7 move) horse can move 3 hexes in such terrain. In 3 and higher cost terrain, default horse can move 1 hex, while Wirnsberger and Oleh can move 2. So the difference between Wirnsberger and Oleh is not nearly as large as the difference between default horse and Wirnsberger horse.

Wirnsberger is good in many of the same ways Oleh is: he'll be good on mountain infantry or airborne, because they have reasons not to use organic transports. He'll also be good on any 3 move infantry, because he takes them to 4. I would much rather put Oleh on 2 move infantry, though - going from 2 to 4 is much better than 2 to 3, or 3 to 5, or 3 to 4.

The differences between them are that Oleh gives extra offensive power, while Wirnsberger gives defense and the intriguing freedom from ZOC. These make him an ideal cavalry hero in my opinion.

Pair with:

• Phased Movement: this goes well on Cavalry with Ignores ZOC for encirclements in tight spaces
• Hit and Run: same reasons as for Oleh Dir: in battles where initiative is a factor, Wirnsberger gives a huge boost to offense and defense
• Provocator (forces adjacent enemies to attack this unit instead of their target): Wirnsberger can take a hit, so if you're not using him as a durable mobile shock force or if you're in a defensive situation, he can be used to protect other units with a Provocator hero.

I add him to my second Azul infantry. By then my first one has already become an absolute wrecking ball beast of a unit, so I usually switch my Butcher and Overrun heroes over to him. Next, I wish to bring him up to speed as soon as possible so I add any learning experience heroes that I may have as well. By the end of the DLC, I have this second Azul/Wirnsberger unit at usually @2500 exp.

Albert Kerscher
Type: Tank, AT

+3 initiative
Famous (20 prestige/turn)
Tank Killer (+5 attack against tanks)
Aggressive Counterattack (+3 attack when defending)

I always wind up putting this guy on a tank, because it's the easiest way to bring him to as many fights as possible. In theory he would be great on towed AT, but the AI will never attack into a unit supported by this guy unless the unit also has Camouflage. Even with that setup, I think there's more impact on a tank or self-propelled AT, and between the two, I find that the tank needs Kerscher's boosts more than the AT (AT already have high initiative, already have high hard attack, and will usually only be attacked by infantry, where Aggressive Counterattack won't help much). In '41 I put him on a unit of captured T-34s.

Pair with:

• Camouflage if on towed AT: otherwise he'll never support.
• Hit and Run: high initiative goes well with this trait
• Provocator (adjacent enemies attack this unit instead of others): high initiative plus the counterattack bonus makes you want to be attacked on this unit: here's a way to force it

Like yours: Provocator and Hit and Run. Those are the first to come to mind and the rest of the hero(es) depend on what I have available and/or what I need on other units.

Elsa Kloss
Type: Artillery
+3 ammo
+1 range

Kloss represents quiet competence. Such simple bonuses, and so effective. There is no artillery unit in my core that does not wish Elsa was assigned to them. My AA units wish she could be assigned to them! My KV-2 unit dreams of Kloss (imagine the destruction! but it can't be done). She is amazingly versatile. +3 ammo is spectacular for units that provide support fire, because you will see situations where they run out. +1 range is wanted by any artillery in the game. Consider:
Close-support artillery like StuGs and BT-7As become more versatile, and can climb a hill and provide real ranged power
Rocket launchers can become peers to tube artillery and deliver pain to a wide front
A 20cm artillery unit becomes a complete artillery denial device: range 4 becomes 5; put it on a hill for a 6 hex radius of counter battery fire. Amazing.

I switch Kloss around depending on the scenario. I often use her as a training hero on my lowest experience artillery crew, paired with Camouflage and Double Support - the experience rolls in. Currently she commands a Wurfrahmen 40 unit that I got in 1940 from some industry connections; it supports my infantry and gets plenty of support fire opportunities and unit experience.

Pair with:

• Camouflage: Put that extra ammunition to use! Camouflaged support units are the ones that see use.
• Double Support: a gun with 5 ammo by default can only use this hero twice per turn. Kloss's +3 ammo adds one or two more double support uses per turn (depending on whether the gun fired on its turn)
• Counter Battery Fire: Kloss increases the area protected and enables more shots

Like Wirnsberger and Dir are pretty much permanently assigned to the Azul, she goes with the Land Stuka unit that you get at the same time (more or less). Tip: Do not upgrade one of your existing artillery guns to the Wurfrahmen 40! Buy it as a new addition. Why? With Elsa and Double Attack, she racks up the experience like crazy. By the end of 1940, she has more experience than all of my other artillery units, and that's without even using Lethal Attack (not necessary unless you're swimming in them). If I have it, I also like to put a Zero Slots hero with her so I can max OS the Wurfrahmen 40. Lastly, I sometimes give it a Field Repair hero since you are limited in replacements until 1941.

Adolf Galland
Type: Fighter, Tactical Bomber
+2 initiative
+2 air attack
Legendary (50 prestige/turn)
Aiming Assistance (+10% accuracy to all adjacent friendly units)
Leadership (+1 initiative to all adjacent friendly units)

I can't ever find a reason to put him on a tactical bomber. Everything he does is something I want on a fighter. When there are intense air superiority battles, he makes my other fighters better. When I have air superiority, he makes my land forces better. And while a tac bomber only sometimes cares about initiative and air attack, those stats are central to a fighter's mission. He's very good at earning xp for his unit, because a unit with Aiming Assistance or Leadership traits gets xp from the fights it influences. I put him on my least experienced fighter wing, or my longest range fighter wing.

Pair with:

• Phased Movement: this lets Galland influence battles in multiple hot spots per turn
• Fast Rebase: this has the same benefit, and makes sure that Galland is where I need him, every turn
• Double Attack: I am a big fan of maximizing the value of your best heroes. Double Attack pairs well with all of these heroes, but I prioritize Galland because I hate not having air superiority

Heinrich Bar
Type: Fighter
+1 air attack
Famous (20 prestige/turn)
Double Attack

Bar is great: one of the best hero traits (Double Attack) with a small stat boost. I would put Bar on the highest-initiative German fighter you have, because the wing he's on will get chewed up badly from attacking twice every turn. An alternative is to pair him with heroes who help the air wing survive.

Pair with:

• No Retaliation: this eliminates the cost of Double Attack on a fighter and makes Bar a suitable hero for wings made of captured aircraft
• Adolf Galland: Galland's initiative boost helps make Bar's Double Attack less expensive, and Galland wants to be attacking more often. I normally would try to put each special hero on a separate unit to maximize the number of units that become exceptional performers, but this pairing is too good for me not to use. I have them in a Spitfire wing - it doesn't take many casualties and the unit is an amazing performer; I even bring it along on missions when I'm told to leave the airforce behind.

For both Galland and Bär, my prefences very closely mirror yours. I put Bär and No Retaliation on my weakest fighter (exp-wise) to help it gain exp quickly.

Hans-Ulrich Rudel
Type: Tactical Bomber
Legendary (50 prestige/turn)
Double Attack OR Double Move
Aggressive Counterattack OR Lightning Attack
Ignores Entrenchment OR Tank Killer

Rudel is harder to comment on because you get him from the factory and can choose what traits he has. To my mind the choices are obvious. A Double Attack hero is much better than a Double Move hero. A Lightning Attack hero is better than an Aggressive Counterattack hero. And I prefer Tank Killer on a tac bomber to Ignores Entrenchment: we get Rudel right before war with the Soviets, and what terrifies me about the Soviets is not their entrenchment, it's their armor. Besides, my strat bombers and artillery can handle entrenchment. I want Rudel to be a tank smasher, so he gets Double Attack, Lightning Attack, and Tank Killer. Soviet armor beware.

Given all that, I put him on my best hard attack Tac Bomber; that is currently an Il-2 that I found at the bottom of a pile of garbage in the back of a bombed-out train once. Crazy story. Remind me to tell you about it later.

Pair with:

• Phased Movement: if you worry that you chose wrong by taking Double Attack, this is the way to erase those feelings. Or a Double Move hero, I suppose. I have never found one of those. In any case, this lets you attack a single target twice and then move away to let another bomber finish it off.
• Crippling Blow: this is an absolutely ideal hero to work with Rudel. Double Attack + Tank Killer (both from Rudel) + Crippling Blow means Rudel can single-handedly destroy an entire tank unit in one turn by himself.
• Fast Rebase: this ability is strong and lets you choose any spot on the map within range of one of your airfields for Rudel to threaten

With Rudel I totally agree with you choices, but I usually go with Entrenchment Killer rather than Tank Killer. Why? Especially in '42 and onwards, I expect some tough well dug in Soviet positions that can be tough nuts to crack with artillery AND AA support. A unit like Rudel can be key to putting that first critial crack into the defensive scheme that allows for the whole thing to fall apart. Take out the supporting ART or AA gun and now you're own INF and ART will have a much easier time. Or, take out the ART and same thing. I sometimes add a RF hero so he can take out anything with a single turn. If you add a Double Move hero to the already existing Double Attack (or visa versa), that makes for an especially versatile and deadly combo too. Now he can destroy 2 separate units in the same turn!

So: what did I miss? How do you use these heroes? Are there great pairings I haven't noticed? Is it insane to pair Galland and Bar?

[dalfrede]

Initiative isn't always great for infantry because close terrain tends to cap initiative very low,

Not true infantry does have its init capped by close terrain.
Otherwise tanks would still chew them up in close terrain if infantry didn't have the 'higher' init and thus shoot first,
second, and maybe third.

[Scrapulous]

Not true infantry does have its init capped by close terrain.
Otherwise tanks would still chew them up in close terrain if infantry didn't have the 'higher' init and thus shoot first,
second, and maybe third.

Interesting. I just tested, and it appears to be true that infantry initiative is not capped by terrain, which makes Dir and Wirnsberger better than I thought.

Do you happen to know if infantry are immune to the initiative caps that weather imposes?

[Vorskl]

Apparently, both Dir and Wi... were real snipers
https://www.stormfront.org/forum/t1093301/

In beta I 'lobbied' hard to include notable Soviet heroes in DLC 1941 to make player's life more interesting and tied to historic events. Such as a Cavalry general Dovator wrecking chaos in German rearguards west of Moscow; Or Soviet tank ace Katukov beating Guderian troops at Tula...How about Marina Raskova, the commander of 'Night Witches' - there are so many great and historically significant personalities... yet we got a "hero" Kalashnikov instead (nothing wrong about him as a person, but his impact occurred after the war). If developers follow such "pop history" avenue, then in DLC 1942 Leningrad scenarios we should meet a hero called Vladimir Putin (his father, who fought at so called Nevsky bridgehead in 1942)

[adiekmann]

Apparently, both Dir and Wi... were real snipers
https://www.stormfront.org/forum/t1093301/

In beta I 'lobbied' hard to include notable Soviet heroes in DLC 1941 to make player's life more interesting and tied to historic events. Such as a Cavalry general Dovator wrecking chaos in German rearguards west of Moscow; Or Soviet tank ace Katukov beating Guderian troops at Tula...How about Marina Raskova, the commander of 'Night Witches' - there are so many great and historically significant personalities... yet we got a "hero" Kalashnikov instead (nothing wrong about him as a person, but his impact occurred after the war). If developers follow such "pop history" avenue, then in DLC 1942 Leningrad scenarios we should meet a hero called Vladimir Putin (his father, who fought at so called Nevsky bridgehead in 1942)

I'm hoping to see some genuine, tough Soviet heroes in the upcoming DLCs too. Or perhaps they are saving them for a future Soviet Corps campaign?

[VirgilInTheSKY]

Personally I would prefer Ignores Entrenchment than Tank Killer on Rudel, since I have a feeling that Tank Killer appears more frequently than Ignores Entrenchment, and HA of Stuka is already quite high. It also have more usefulness when you are sieging, say, Moscow. With Ignores Entrenchment and Double Attack, he could take out those entrenched artillery pieces you have to push through layers after layers enemies to reach in one turn, while you could have your strategic bombers focus on enemy frontline infantry to clear your way.
Tactical Bombers would also want to have Vigiliant to improve surviveablilty since they are Low Attitude Attack, vulnerable to enemy fighters. Lightening Attack can help you avoid defensive fire, but not offensive ones. But since in AO 1941 there is not much soviet fighters to deal with due to your Blitzkrieg, maybe that was not much of an issue.

One "interesting" combo for me since I didn't get Vigiliant is Unyielding and Rapid Fire, as AI don't have AA Veteran to turn supression into kill. You can use this combo plus his own Double Attack to eliminate enemy AA without suffering any losses (usually, unless that was a small caliber one with Low Attitude Attack plus Rapid Fire) and clear your way for other bombers. Ignores Entrenchment also helps in such situations when AA is already entrenched to some degrees, i.e. that SU-6 behind Moscow on a mountain.

[Bee1976]

How about Marina Raskova, the commander of 'Night Witches' -

<3 Time for some Sabaton again :]

I agree to adiekmann i would like to see some of the most important soviet war heroes in soviets corps or a soviet corps campaign. But some "nemesis" cameos would be nice in this grand campaign.

[adiekmann]

How about Marina Raskova, the commander of 'Night Witches' -

<3 Time for some Sabaton again :]

I agree to adiekmann i would like to see some of the most important soviet war heroes in soviets corps or a soviet corps campaign. But some "nemesis" cameos would be nice in this grand campaign.

The first one that comes to mind is Sergeant Pavlov from Stalingrad. I can envisioned him as an inf unit with Ferocious and Tenacious Defense, Rapid Fire, Overwhelming Attack, No Surrender, and Prudent. That's quite a list, but some combination that would make him and those around him very difficult to remove.

The Stalingrad Battle in the next DLC SHOULD BE VERY difficult for the player like it was for the Germans in real life. Not "every single players should be able to win." If the campaign is following a historical path, then why should you be able to "win?" It should be nearly insurmountable for most players.

[Magni]

Kerscher becomes really nice on the Sturer Emil or Dicker Max once you hit Barbarossa and have to deal with all the KVs.

Personally, I found Ignores Entrenchment the better choice for Rudel. A high-vet Double Attack Stuka will already cripple or kill just about any tanks out in the open in my experience, so tank killer is really kinda overkill. Meanwhile, Ignores Entrenchment combined with Lightning Attack can turn him into one hell of an assassin against key units in defensive setups. Immediately getting rid of that entrenched, AA-covered 203mm gun that is holding back your artillery from supporting the attack can be a real game-changer.

[George_Parr]

The Stalingrad Battle in the next DLC SHOULD BE VERY difficult for the player like it was for the Germans in real life. Not "every single players should be able to win." If the campaign is following a historical path, then why should you be able to "win?" It should be nearly insurmountable for most players.

That wouldn't really work though, because you need to win for the campaign to proceed. You cannot have a situation where only a minority of players moves on.
Now, what you could probably do, is have a victory in which you don't take all of Stalingrad, with bonus goals being capturing it entirely. The encirclement would still happen afterwards, so regardless of whether you just reach the regular goals or take everything, you end up in a bad spot.

Or, alternatively, don't have the player actually fight at Stalingrad. That would be rather bold, but it allows for interesting alternatives. You could be involved in the move into the Causasus, and/or the attempt to break the encirclement at Stalingrad. Or you could be with Army Group Center, holding off the other large Soviet offensive.

[Scrapulous]

Kerscher becomes really nice on the Sturer Emil or Dicker Max once you hit Barbarossa and have to deal with all the KVs.

Personally, I found Ignores Entrenchment the better choice for Rudel. A high-vet Double Attack Stuka will already cripple or kill just about any tanks out in the open in my experience, so tank killer is really kinda overkill. Meanwhile, Ignores Entrenchment combined with Lightning Attack can turn him into one hell of an assassin against key units in defensive setups. Immediately getting rid of that entrenched, AA-covered 203mm gun that is holding back your artillery from supporting the attack can be a real game-changer.

I see the point. I think I might discount Ignores Entrenchment because I tend to deploy a lot of artillery and so it's usually easy enough for me to strip an AA gun's entrenchment - especially because they're usually parked on an airfield, where the max entrenchment is 3. I also have an abundance of Lightning Attack heroes to spread around. The thing I didn't mention (and maybe should have) when I wrote about pairing Rudel with a Crippling Blow hero is that I typically have a Phased Movement hero on there, too, so Rudel can deliver that Crippling Blow + Tank Smasher hit to two different enemy tank units. That only fully destroys outdated tanks, but against many current tanks it sets them up to be finished off with one of my own Steamroller tank units.

If I played with the Trench Slog general trait, I would probably have chosen Ignores Entrenchment for Rudel.

[adiekmann]

The Stalingrad Battle in the next DLC SHOULD BE VERY difficult for the player like it was for the Germans in real life. Not "every single players should be able to win." If the campaign is following a historical path, then why should you be able to "win?" It should be nearly insurmountable for most players.

That wouldn't really work though, because you need to win for the campaign to proceed. You cannot have a situation where only a minority of players moves on.
Now, what you could probably do, is have a victory in which you don't take all of Stalingrad, with bonus goals being capturing it entirely. The encirclement would still happen afterwards, so regardless of whether you just reach the regular goals or take everything, you end up in a bad spot.

Okay, my fault as I wasn't very clear. But what you wrote above is what I meant. Not winning meaning not every player is necessarily able to capture all of the victory hexes, or whatever the victory conditions may be. I did not mean they lose, so game over.

The other reason why I said that is so it softens the complaint that some have with the historical path of scenarios. Why is it that I keep crushing it and taking over the whole map but for some reason I am "losing" and retreating? Why not just make it so not everyone necessarily does, or is even expected to, capture/meet all of the victory objectives? It just won't have any game consequences and therefore fit the narrative better.

I can imagine all sorts of creative and interesting ways this can be handled in AO42. I just hope I am not disappointed. If the last two DLCs are any indication, I expect however to be impressed.

[Vorskl]

The Stalingrad Battle in the next DLC SHOULD BE VERY difficult for the player like it was for the Germans in real life. Not "every single players should be able to win." If the campaign is following a historical path, then why should you be able to "win?" It should be nearly insurmountable for most players.

That wouldn't really work though, because you need to win for the campaign to proceed. You cannot have a situation where only a minority of players moves on.
Now, what you could probably do, is have a victory in which you don't take all of Stalingrad, with bonus goals being capturing it entirely. The encirclement would still happen afterwards, so regardless of whether you just reach the regular goals or take everything, you end up in a bad spot.

Okay, my fault as I wasn't very clear. But what you wrote above is what I meant. Not winning meaning not every player is necessarily able to capture all of the victory hexes, or whatever the victory conditions may be. I did not mean they lose, so game over.

The other reason why I said that is so it softens the complaint that some have with the historical path of scenarios. Why is it that I keep crushing it and taking over the whole map but for some reason I am "losing" and retreating? Why not just make it so not everyone necessarily does, or is even expected to, capture/meet all of the victory objectives? It just won't have any game consequences and therefore fit the narrative better.

I can imagine all sorts of creative and interesting ways this can be handled in AO42. I just hope I am not disappointed. If the last two DLCs are any indication, I expect however to be impressed.

One of the ways to reconcile the problem is make Stalingrad an optional battle with a limited deployment and a very fancy prize, like another hot infantry hero. This way weak players will skip and forget, but Edmons will try to capture the objectives using only bridge pioneers What you explain in the de-briefing, is despite your personal victory, other commanders (looking at you, Romanian 'friends') were not so successful, hence the overall front has to retreat.
As for 1942 scenarios, o yeah, there are plenty of interesting events, locations and objectives. Let's hope we'll be heard

[Tassadar]

That wouldn't really work though, because you need to win for the campaign to proceed. You cannot have a situation where only a minority of players moves on.
Now, what you could probably do, is have a victory in which you don't take all of Stalingrad, with bonus goals being capturing it entirely. The encirclement would still happen afterwards, so regardless of whether you just reach the regular goals or take everything, you end up in a bad spot.

Okay, my fault as I wasn't very clear. But what you wrote above is what I meant. Not winning meaning not every player is necessarily able to capture all of the victory hexes, or whatever the victory conditions may be. I did not mean they lose, so game over.

The other reason why I said that is so it softens the complaint that some have with the historical path of scenarios. Why is it that I keep crushing it and taking over the whole map but for some reason I am "losing" and retreating? Why not just make it so not everyone necessarily does, or is even expected to, capture/meet all of the victory objectives? It just won't have any game consequences and therefore fit the narrative better.

I can imagine all sorts of creative and interesting ways this can be handled in AO42. I just hope I am not disappointed. If the last two DLCs are any indication, I expect however to be impressed.

One of the ways to reconcile the problem is make Stalingrad an optional battle with a limited deployment and a very fancy prize, like another hot infantry hero. This way weak players will skip and forget, but Edmons will try to capture the objectives using only bridge pioneers What you explain in the de-briefing, is despite your personal victory, other commanders (looking at you, Romanian 'friends') were not so successful, hence the overall front has to retreat.
As for 1942 scenarios, o yeah, there are plenty of interesting events, locations and objectives. Let's hope we'll be heard

I like the idea, but would suggest an even further option that was already used in Panzer Corps 1 - make it a two step/two scenario battle. Making the first one approach towards the city and setting up the initial siege, capturing a few districts as well and the second as the full siege itself that could be optional for that mentioned prize. It would still give some feel for the battle difficulty, but not be a obstacle impossible to cross in some cases.

[Kerensky]

Kloss represents quiet competence. Such simple bonuses, and so effective. There is no artillery unit in my core that does not wish Elsa was assigned to them. My AA units wish she could be assigned to them!

https://i.redd.it/8olv7kp9y9d01.jpg

Kerensky will remember that.

[Vorskl]

I like the idea, but would suggest an even further option that was already used in Panzer Corps 1 - make it a two step/two scenario battle. Making the first one approach towards the city and setting up the initial siege, capturing a few districts as well and the second as the full siege itself that could be optional for that mentioned prize. It would still give some feel for the battle difficulty, but not be a obstacle impossible to cross in some cases.

Stalingrad is an iconic battle so you MUST have it. It also offers various type of gameplay / scenarios that Kerensky can combine or make some optional:
- the classic city battle - offense, for the strongest players.
- northern outside front - two options: either defensive (repel Soviet attacks, WWI style) or slightly fictional - destroy soviet bridgeheads at Serafimovich and Kletskaya that cut into Romanian defense and from where Soviet forces started its attack
- southern outside front - a 'shopping' raid on Soviet lend-lease cargo trains and barges on Volga river, including (fictional) raid the port of Astrakhan.

These are scenarios of different difficulty, I'd personally make the city battle and the raid optional and with different 'prizes' (an Infantry superhero kind of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_K%C3%B6nig and crappy US 'secondhand' planes like Aircorbra and Churchill tanks)