Am I screwed?

[goose_2]

I, too am really enjoying reading this progress.
It is really making me want to play Stalingrad Docks.

Just too busy beta testing and playing Multiplayer.

May is going to be playtime for me...

[ptje63]

I haven't overstrengthed anything yet

Starting end 41 I overstrength infantry and fighters with 11.
Stuka as high as possible.
Starting 1943 infantry 12, tanks 11, fighters 11 and arty 12.

[TSPC37730]

It is really making me want to play Stalingrad Docks.

Bring your Flammpanzers.

You'll also need artillery & units with spotting heroes to avoid unpleasant surprises. You'll certainly get the feel for how things will be going in the previous scenario. You'll also want to bring a strategic bomber or two to sink the river barges that will be trying to cross. This is a scenario where they'll have a good chance of earning a hero.

[NotOneStepBack]

Got a DV at Voronezh on the last turn, minimal losses. 32.6k prestige after elite replacements.

Novoanninsky '42

Reserve:
4x Grenadiers
4x Paratroopers
2x Alpine
1x Pioneer
1x Bridging
10x PZIV G
5x SE PZ IV G
1x Captured KV1-B
2x StuG IIIF/8
7x 15 cm Arty
1x StuG IIIB
3x 88 AA/AT
5x BF 109G
1x BF 110G
3x H177A

Almost back to where I started when i did the restart, and in a MUCH better situation come '43

[dks]

Progress...

Start of Dijon 1940 (17.7k Prestige)

Units in reserve:
3x Grenadier (one is +1 attack, one +1 defense, one is +1 initiative)
4x paratroopers (one is +4 movement, +3 initiative, amazing unit)
1x alpine infantry with +1 defense hero
1x pioneer
6x PZIV D (two are +1 def, one is +1 init, one is +2 attack +2 def +2 spotting, one is +1 spotting)
1x captured Matilda
1x captured Char
1x captured Somua
1x SE PZ IVD with +1 init hero
2x recon
1x pak 3.7
1x panzerjager
6x 15cm artillery (+2 attack on one, +1 defense on one, +1 range on one)
3x 8.8 AT/AA, one has a +1 spotting
3x BF109E one with +2 attack +2 initiative and +1 def
1x BF110D with +1 attack and +6 initiative
3x JU88A

after my start over after spoils of war,

Dijon deploy: 22398 p after max overstrength!

wanted to see what I could do with everything maxed. worked!

I got carried away at Calais when I pushed hard for the last objective to get to Dunkirk. I failed. 1 or 2 more turns I would have got the decisive. that cost me to make up for damaged units. should have stayed with my strategy. up till then I lost very few points to my units.

my strategy now is only go for the decisive if...if...if...it will gain me more prestige than I lose if I press forward in the battle.

reserves:

5x Inf/trucks at 13 strength assorted heroes mostly defense

4x Pz IVD's at or very close to 13 strength attack and defense heroes

3x SE Pz IIIF's all at or very close to 11 strength. these I haven't made up my mind to stay in class and upgrade from there. the Pz IVD's I almost lost one a few times in last battles even with arty back up.

1x 232 8Rad at 12 strength with a +2 defense hero. this guy is all over the map grabbing cities when he can and running like crazy.

5x 10.5 arty/trucks all at 13 strength with range, attack and defense heroes.
1x captured Polish 10.5 arty/truck at 13 strength no hero yet. staying with the 10.5's and maxing them is giving them great kills.

1x 8.8 cm Flak 36/HTrack at 11 strength

6x BF 109E's at 13 strength. only one is at 241 exp the free one. I got tired of having 2 fighter Luftwaffe and the fighters now have attack heroes at +3 and +1's only one got a defense hero. they can act as a bomber on tanks now especially if the enemy tank is suppressed in the red. the fighters saved me a lot of prestige cost due to damaged ground units. I believe when upping to the F' series I will not lose my overstrength.

got my stuka up to a 12 strength with +2 attack

haven't been able to use any strategic bombers after Narvik. I think I used the free BF 110C once after the spoils of war. upgraded it to a D. of course Rudel is still at the bar.

going to purchase some green infantry, 1 more 88 and use my captured tanks at Maginot Line and the up coming 1941 Belgrade-Crete scns.

will see if I overstrength after Minsk to keep the prestige up. also will most likely up to the towed 150 arty. as I mentioned, I had to scramble to save a couple of Pz IVD's with the 10.5 arty back up.

the normal combat random still drives me crazy but at least I'm getting used to it now on FM v1.25

[ptje63]

going to purchase some green infantry, 1 more 88 and use my captured tanks at Maginot Line and the up coming 1941 Belgrade-Crete scns.

Wouldnt waste money on new infantry, you will get more bonus inf along the way with plenty of heroes+experience...

[TSPC37730]

going to purchase some green infantry, 1 more 88 and use my captured tanks at Maginot Line and the up coming 1941 Belgrade-Crete scns.

Wouldnt waste money on new infantry, you will get more bonus inf along the way with plenty of heroes+experience...

I'd agree with this if it wasn't for the Stalingrad scenarios. And Moscow. The same applies for artillery. IMO you'll need a number of extra units which you can either deploy or leave behind in order to tailor your force to the particular scenario you're playing. The same deployed unit mix - no matter what it is - just won't do well through the entire campaign.

[Lagg3]

Wouldnt waste money on new infantry, you will get more bonus inf along the way with plenty of heroes+experience...

Five units doesn't sound enough in 1940, most likely he had lost some along the way. One or two extra would do.
What i do not understand is the number of fighters - never had more than three before FW 190 is available. Furthermore - fighters being used to finish off damaged units frequently carry losses on their own. Overstrengthening is expensive, and it doesn't really make the difference whether a unit has is 10 or twelve strength.
IMHO, having one level bomber is a must, even if no ships is present. Capturing Brest is a messy business, and without the Fortress suppressed / out of ammo, it can be really annoying, siege arty notwithstanding. KV-5 is way friendlier without ammo too. Generally, a Do-17 is very agile "artillery" that can deliver suppression where you need it, fast.
P.S. having more tanks is always right. Moar, moar nice shiny tanks, my precious
P.P.S. Russian mud does funny things to mobility of wheeled units

[dks]

going to purchase some green infantry, 1 more 88 and use my captured tanks at Maginot Line and the up coming 1941 Belgrade-Crete scns.

Wouldnt waste money on new infantry, you will get more bonus inf along the way with plenty of heroes+experience...

I'd agree with this if it wasn't for the Stalingrad scenarios. And Moscow. The same applies for artillery. IMO you'll need a number of extras units which you can either deploy or leave behind in order to tailor your force to the particular scenario you're playing. The same deployed unit mix - no matter what it is - just won't do well through the entire campaign.

exactly what I was thinking. I kept the limited infantry to get the kill ratio up and try to get at least 5 very experienced units. it worked. I upgraded one to a Grenadier at Maginot that achieved a second hero at Dijon. this one has defense +3 and movement +1.

the other 4 infantry are at almost 500 kills with one Gebirgsjager at over 500 kills.

now I can concentrate on building experience on green infantry units that I can overstrength if....if....if....I can keep adding to my prestige count. the extra cost keeping my infantry in trucks really isn't that much prestige for the gain they get in kills...worth it in my experience with them so far.

used the captured French tanks at Maginot.

going to add green SP arty also to build experience.

Stalingrad is what's been on my mind since I started the v1.25 rules.

I had no problem with the classic v1.14 version rules. actually was boring playing v1.14 rules at FM and stopped playing the game at Stalingrad until recently reading NOSB's thread here.

I got the decisive at Maginot. purchased for the battle, 1x green Werh Inf with almost 1 star. 1x green Grenadier with almost 1 star.

upgraded all my arty to 15 cm sFH 18's at Maginot. the +1 range of one, made taking Metz much easier. that gun at 13 strength is a killer.

at deploy Belgrade: I have 24664 p after maxing all units to overstrength.

was given a free SE Pz IVD for the deploy.....yahoooooooooo!

now trying to decide if I want Pz III class upgrade with the other 3 SE tanks I have or the Pz IV class....hmmmmm...

I am concerned about the prestige soft cap. I don't understand how it works at all. I need a prestige soft cap for dummies explain to find.

well have to make some decisions.........

[dks]

Wouldnt waste money on new infantry, you will get more bonus inf along the way with plenty of heroes+experience...

Five units doesn't sound enough in 1940, most likely he had lost some along the way. One or two extra would do.
What i do not understand is the number of fighters - never had more than three before FW 190 is available. Furthermore - fighters being used to finish off damaged units frequently carry losses on their own. Overstrengthening is expensive, and it doesn't really make the difference whether a unit has is 10 or twelve strength.
IMHO, having one level bomber is a must, even if no ships is present. Capturing Brest is a messy business, and without the Fortress suppressed / out of ammo, it can be really annoying, siege arty notwithstanding. KV-5 is way friendlier without ammo too. Generally, a Do-17 is very agile "artillery" that can deliver suppression where you need it, fast.
P.S. having more tanks is always right. Moar, moar nice shiny tanks, my precious
P.P.S. Russian mud does funny things to mobility of wheeled units

Fighters: I use the fighters to attack suppressed (red) ground units. especially if the AI is trying to rebuild suppressed units that get away from my attacks. the v1.25 rules with normal combat random is and can take a lot of hits to kill enemy units some times. always I am keeping an eye on what the AI is spawning when it comes to AA units.

I have 6 fighters due to the frustration of air attacks on my ground units. have lost very little hits on my ground units now. sometimes none due to enemy air attacks. for me it saves prestige. with the v1.25 rules and normal combat random, the enemy air attacks would inflict heavy damage on my ground units and the experience set at 50% when playing FM makes it slow going to get experience when a unit is down on strength. again, not having the enemy inflicting casualties by air saves me prestige.

Strategic Bombers: I have 2x He 111H2's at almost 13 strength. used them in Norway and Maginot. would like to use them more but need the slots to build my ground units experience.

[ptje63]

Stalingrad is what's been on my mind since I started the v1.25 rules.

I had no problem with the classic v1.14 version rules. actually was boring playing v1.14 rules at FM and stopped playing the game at Stalingrad until recently reading NOSB's thread here.

I am concerned about the prestige soft cap. I don't understand how it works at all. I need a prestige soft cap for dummies explain to find.

well have to make some decisions.........

I have the same experience and dont know why this is, perhaps because I also play 1.14 rules and FM, but have reduced experience and prestige setting to FM though (both at 25%).
AI settings both on 175%.
Must admit I am waiting for the russians to get really dangerous, and Im already in June 1944...
If properly defensive/attacking deployed my 4-5 star units are simply unbeatable... Even the occasional 5 star Stalin 2 is not a match yet...
So far none of my armoured units have ever been damaged by 2 or 3 points.

The AI simply places all of its units in front of mine. And does nothing. Its arty occasionally finds my arty and hits it for 1, 2 or 3 points, no more.
Time enough for me to either take more defensive position or rearm in the next turn.

If in front of a non-crossable river, I simply place one Tiger (I or II) before the bridge+ arty - the AI EVERYTIME places a unit in front of me on the bridge itself, even if damaged 7 of (for instance) 12 point, it surrenders because it has nowhere to go. Then in the next turn it wants to cross the river and bumps into my (unmoved) Tiger because the AI has forgotten it was there and loses the units due to an ambush .
After 6 or 7 turns about all AI's units have been killed that way and its safe to cross the river, only 2 infantry and 3 artys left to kill in an easy sweep.

Problem is I dont want to go back so many scenarios and start with new settings having come this far - have started in 1935 (MOD) I guess about a year ago...

As long as I:
-can close the gaps in my defense,
-am not tempted to attack a russian unit that has just 1,2, or 3 points left but too far away from my defensive lines,
-maintain air cover,
-do not overextend my lines in a desperate attempt to get that DV
until now it becomes, indeed, boring.

Have used cheat code to reduce my prestige from 36000 to 6000 and see what happens next.
Perhaps the MOD SS-units are too strong for these settings as well, although all they do is perhaps a +1 ammo and +1 initiative, no dramatic improvements like +4 etc.

Perhaps I have become overconfident, in that case I know I have the risk I will be laughed at Sigh... We'll see...
But will let you know if it changes or not... no matter what

[dks]

Stalingrad is what's been on my mind since I started the v1.25 rules.

I had no problem with the classic v1.14 version rules. actually was boring playing v1.14 rules at FM and stopped playing the game at Stalingrad until recently reading NOSB's thread here.

I am concerned about the prestige soft cap. I don't understand how it works at all. I need a prestige soft cap for dummies explain to find.

well have to make some decisions.........

I have the same experience and dont know why this is, perhaps because I also play 1.14 rules and FM, but have reduced experience and prestige setting to FM though (both at 25%).
AI settings both on 175%.
Must admit I am waiting for the russians to get really dangerous, and Im already in June 1944...
If properly defensive/attacking deployed my 4-5 star units are simply unbeatable... Even the occasional 5 star Stalin 2 is not a match yet...
So far none of my armoured units have ever been damaged by 2 or 3 points.

The AI simply places all of its units in front of mine. And does nothing. Its arty occasionally finds my arty and hits it for 1, 2 or 3 points, no more.
Time enough for me to either take more defensive position or rearm in the next turn.

If in front of a non-crossable river, I simply place one Tiger (I or II) before the bridge+ arty - the AI EVERYTIME places a unit in front of me on the bridge itself, even if damaged 7 of (for instance) 12 point, it surrenders because it has nowhere to go. Then in the next turn it wants to cross the river and bumps into my (unmoved) Tiger because the AI has forgotten it was there and loses the units due to an ambush .
After 6 or 7 turns about all AI's units have been killed that way and its safe to cross the river, only 2 infantry and 3 artys left to kill in an easy sweep.

Problem is I dont want to go back so many scenarios and start with new settings having come this far - have started in 1935 (MOD) I guess about a year ago...

As long as I:
-can close the gaps in my defense,
-am not tempted to attack a russian unit that has just 1,2, or 3 points left but too far away from my defensive lines,
-maintain air cover,
-do not overextend my lines in a desperate attempt to get that DV
until now it becomes, indeed, boring.

Have used cheat code to reduce my prestige from 36000 to 6000 and see what happens next.
Perhaps the MOD SS-units are too strong for these settings as well, although all they do is perhaps a +1 ammo and +1 initiative, no dramatic improvements like +4 etc.

Perhaps I have become overconfident, in that case I know I have the risk I will be laughed at Sigh... We'll see...
But will let you know if it changes or not... no matter what

overconfident: you just named me at Crete! oh man...I was lazy and almost lost the 13 strength captured Polish arty I upgraded to a 15 cm sFH 18. was reduced to a 5 strength real quick by the New Zealand Inf. that mistake will cost me 224 prestige just to bring it back to it's original strength also almost lost a Char B1(f) by those New Zealand Inf. it was reduced to a 4 strength that I got up to a 1 star earlier I don't think I want to be lazy again

v1.25 at FM: for me this setting of rules has made me think playing the game differently strategy wise due to that prestige soft cap coming up and player experience being at 50%. I can't bull doze my way thru a scenario anymore and make up for the losses it gets. the normal combat random makes trusting the predicted results of a battle very risky for taking chances....ohhhhh this made me have fits at times. I know going into Minsk is not going to be that cake walk it was before.

at Minsk41: have 29033 p before I do any rebuilds, upgrades or new purchases.

from Belgrade thru Crete I added new units: 2x Sturmpanzer I's ( I forgot about the Wurfrahmen 40 and would have waited and not purchased the Sturmpanzer I ) anyways they are at 1 star each.

1x 8.8 cm FlaK 36/htrack

2x StuG IIIB's at 1 star each almost 2 stars. these units are great! never used them before and attacking with them as a pair worked great at Metaxes Line and Crete.
will see how they do at Minsk41.

trying to formulate a strategy at Minsk41 map. always got the decisive before but I do not want to burn up prestige if that's what it takes.

MV says I must take Minsk....hmmmm

[dks]

I'm at Zhitomir deploy: 33213 p before upgrades etc.

I think the prestige soft cap is trying to start. unless my math is wrong, I keep getting 49 points on some minor objective wins. did a test at Smolensk41 start a few times to check and if I place all my fighters at 13 strength on the map with other units at 13 when I take the city Knyahinin (2,13) with my recon, I would get 49 points.

use only 3 fighters at start turn on map with other ground units at 13 and all, I would get 50 points same city. no big problem only 1 point....but....it tells me I have to start thinking of green units and or not build my units back to 13 strength. I think I'm getting the idea of how the prestige soft cap works. more points of my total strength units placed on map determines how much per objective I get. ((((wished I could find some numbers on this of the break points and so on but can't find it)))).

actually the prestige soft cap in v1.25 is good for me. it makes me think harder and that makes the game worth MORE money to me and replay I can see is coming after my attempt of facing the BEAR!

that Gerbirgsjager we get at Lodz is at kills/losses 730/19 now! has 2 heroes it got a +1 attack added to the ini +3 mov +3. I have almost upgraded this to a Grenadier at every deploy but have used the movement for great gains.

my towed arty being 17 cm K 18 with half tracks are paying off. that Polish free one has a +1 range added to it at Smolensk41. that gives me 2 arty with +1 range.

used 3 fighters again. no strategic bombers to let me use my 88's. worked great using one of them to hold back the counter attacks at Mogilev. the other at Smolensk break in.

my favorites are the StuG IIIB's. these can open up areas real fast to exploit. again use them in pairs. wished I would gave purchased 4 instead of the 2 Sturmpanzer I's. they work well but the StuG IIIB's would have been better.

that Pz IIC I upgraded right away to a Pz IIIH. the Pz IIIH's seem to hold up better than the Pz IVF's. got a Pz IVF 2 hero with a +2 att and a +1 mov. can't wait to see this one as a heavy tank unit latter.

back to see if I purchase some more green infantry for Zhitomir........

[NotOneStepBack]

Still fighting through Ilovlya, trying for a DV as I never got to play the Depot scenario last time.

[NotOneStepBack]

Got the DV, but I gotta say, I hate that scenario more than the Stalingrad ones. At least I know how to handle those, Ilovlya is a constant nightmare of enemy armor and air. 33k prestige to start the Depot scenario....never been here before so don't know what to expect.

[Lagg3]

that Pz IIC I upgraded right away to a Pz IIIH. the Pz IIIH's seem to hold up better than the Pz IVF's..

Always thought that upgrading to 4-series is much better in long run. Not that long from Zhitomir, actually. Pz-III N/L are generally better than contemporary IVs against enemy armor, but third series are dead end.

[captainjack]

I agree that the Panzer 3 is a bit of a dead end. You could retire your Panzer 2 when it gets to 3* and wait until Tigers or Panthers are available, or convert it to a Panzer 4 .

However, the Flammpanzer 2 should become available shortly after you get the special Panzer 2. They can be tricky to keep alive, but if you use them like pioneers - suppress first to compensate for the low initiative - the 140% Rate of Fire and decent close defence makes them great for destroying trucks and for clearing soft targets in cover. Remember that they still need defensive artillery in close terrain, and you might want to train up some mobile AA to keep it company as the AI aircraft love flammpanzers.

No matter what you choose, Rondorf is one of those special heroes with an extra point on most (or all) hero attributes, so he will be useful in anything, especially if you get something like A3 or D3 as your next hero.

[robman]

Got the DV, but I gotta say, I hate that scenario more than the Stalingrad ones. At least I know how to handle those, Ilovlya is a constant nightmare of enemy armor and air. 33k prestige to start the Depot scenario....never been here before so don't know what to expect.

"Raid" is the operative word. Grab as many of the depots (the round thingies) as you can, leave them once you have grabbed them, and settle for a MV.

[dks]

I agree that the Panzer 3 is a bit of a dead end. You could retire your Panzer 2 when it gets to 3* and wait until Tigers or Panthers are available, or convert it to a Panzer 4 .

However, the Flammpanzer 2 should become available shortly after you get the special Panzer 2. They can be tricky to keep alive, but if you use them like pioneers - suppress first to compensate for the low initiative - the 140% Rate of Fire and decent close defence makes them great for destroying trucks and for clearing soft targets in cover. Remember that they still need defensive artillery in close terrain, and you might want to train up some mobile AA to keep it company as the AI aircraft love flammpanzers.

No matter what you choose, Rondorf is one of those special heroes with an extra point on most (or all) hero attributes, so he will be useful in anything, especially if you get something like A3 or D3 as your next hero.

at Zhurivka deploy 35885 p before rebuilds etc.

Zhitomir: achieved the DV but couldn't remember much of this scenario.

wanted one more 8Rad recon. decided to leave 1 fighter behind for the slot when I had the itch telling me 4 fighters. should have followed the itch. even with my 88's it took a couple of turns before I could kill off the Soviet air power with 3 fighters.

I fielded no Pz IVF's except the 1 SE I was given. it is at 2 stars now but when attacking it will lose strength points. now the Pz IIIH's all can move into clear terrain to be safe and attack infantry and Soviet tanks. I can leave them with no arty back up so long as they are in clear terrain. I can't do that with my SE Pz IVF. it always must have arty back up or the T-34's especially the KV's love to attack the Pz IVF's. the Soviet air also loves to attack the Pz IVF's. this happened to me when I couldn't cover my front with 3 fighters.

yes the dead end is coming but for the moment I have fewer damage loss to my Pz IIIH's. I'm pushing hard with them is to get kills and heroes. the SE Pz IIIH's are on their way to 3 stars now with one picking up a ini hero. for me I would have chose the Pz III path if I had to do it again. baby them to get a hero until they could be H series then push hard with them. hoping for those good heroes to make them heavy tanks later.

mobile AA: these I'm really wanting to try. I used them for bait at Minsk41. found out the AI loves them. will try to kill them almost always first. so many choices and so many few slots lol.

there is several things I would have chose differently with my equipment.

arty: now that I have used the StuG IIIB, I would have waited on any 10.5's-15's that had a defense hero to upgrade to the StuG IIIB.

I'm still struggling getting my 88's experience up. these I should have purchased as soon as possible in Poland. have 1 at 217 exp k/l's 151/11 maybe might get a hero soon?

more infantry would have been an asset....but....there are only so many slots and experience decisions have to be made. my 2 green inf I purchased at Maginot are now at 2 stars and I field them always.

captured equipment: this is a hard one. what to keep and what to sell.

I used the French tanks at Crete but I should have used maybe a new purchase for the slots or better continued with an experienced Pz IIIH. the Matilda same thing.

now when it comes to a green captured tank.....the Soviets have some goodies. fielded the T34/40 and of course the KV-1B(r) at Zhitomir keeping in mind the prestige soft cap at deploy. the T-34 got air zapped along with the KV. T-34 lost 1/2 it's strength and the KV only 2 points. the speed of the T-34 helped take Dytyatky quickly and the KV stopped any and all counter attacks at Ivankiv....both paid for themselves.

well now its Zhurivka. trying to shake my cob webs upstairs and remember what the Soviet air power was and can't. oh well here we go again.......

[NotOneStepBack]

DV at the Depot, got every flag...was fairly easy though US tanks are weak compared to German PZ IV's.


Now....sigh...Stalingrad...