I tried to resist, but I couldn't...I played the 1.9 Stalingrad save...
Conditions: dice chess (with cheat), Rommel difficulty (with prestige cheat, prestige incomes always made half)
Result: DV on turn 98
Replay file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9j75d15ie784s ... pzrpl?dl=0
Experiences:
- I think, it is much harder...as 1.7. I did play last time 1.7, where even with the Kursk save I could make a DV (but that was very hard!). So, yes, the much more Red Air is a serious treat, while the doubled city bombing penalty is also a strong factor to handle with. Still, I could manage, that I only a few times could not shot down the bombers over the objective cities.
- Enemy unit capture is a very-very important goal, as I always struggled with the prestige. Even, when I captured all oil wells.
- England is a real hard obstacle to invade, because, when you are ready to do it - destroyed the two strongpoints south of London to str 1 - there are already full of enemy forces the area. Plus, the British-US airforce is absolute devastating! :O Even, my 2 star fighters were butchered - I lost two of them, and while it was a nice gift to get some new ones for free, they were with low xp, so I could only save way use them.
- Oh, and of course, the invasion of England was only possible, that I transferred most of my German, hero-fighters from the East front - where therefore only the weaker minor axis (including the Italian ones, transferred from the Mediterranean) could hold the front, which was quite not really enough. Plus I had to send the rest of the German wings to Tunis/Malta, Caucasus and one even to Tobruk. So...
- The new setup at El-Alamein do not let to build up a trap, where Rommel's forces can eliminate the attacking Tommies, while collecting a lot of prestige, as it was possible in 1.7. Now, Rommel has only the option to run...but which part of the army should be sacrificed to save the rest? And how fast should be the enemy let to advance, that they do not arrive to strong to Tunis...? Hard questions, hard decisions. At the and, I could only solve this issue, that I fled my forces to the desert east of El-Aghila, waited the main armoured forces to pass and than advanced to Tobruk, quickly captured it, hold the lines against some strong British armor, took also Benghazi and than advanced further with my small army (PzIII, Mot. Inf. + later an air transported German inf, the two remaining Italian arty and the 88mm AA) back to El-Alamein. Therefore this force could only take Cairo, with the help of the, in the meantime arriving Italian navy and bombers.
- The Tunis campaign was about the biggest challenge. While, help of the intact and in the region deployed Italian navy, I could transfer all my units, what I wanted, still the attacking force was very strong. Many times, only luck helped to avoid the catastrophe/breakthrough. I made also a mistake, that I did not have enough focus, how fast the British from East can arrive, so there were a few turns, where I was really worried, until I could transport and move there a Panther and a StuG.
- I made also the mistake to not taken seriously the Norwegian invasion threat, while moving the Tirpitz away (she was needed in the setup-softening of the England invasion
) - probably it had been enough, if I send her back around turn 50, when her help was done to take out several key British defending unit at London (arty, AA). The Norwegian invasion was not a total catastrophe: I sent there and additional Alpini, the Tirpitz and a Light and Heavy cruiser. I had luck, that the British landed the Churchill tank on an island.
Still, it took heavily needed resources away and I think, it was a factor, while the England-invasion was also a real big challenge.
- At Sealion I made also some light mistakes, so I made the invasion also very late, I could take on of the London objective hex at turn 72 - exactly in the last turn to avoid D-Day. Because the shore was full of the preparing Anglo-American troops, I had to let the strongpoints on str 1 and only take them fully out, when I could right than move ashore with my two Panthers.
- On the East, it was hard, but I could save some important units from Stalingrad: the PzIII, the Marder, the Brückenpioniere and the rocket arty. The onslaught was brutal, but I could handle it. It was very-very important, that I could take the Soviet oil wells as fast as possible and later the British ones too. Without that income (and the free move of the Battleships), on Rommel, I surely couldn't have replace the losses and make the needed upgrades.
- The rest was almost routine: move the Finns to Arhangelsk, take Leningrad, take Moscow, take Gorky, take Kubyshev, while in the middle at Voronezh have a strong defense and in the south, first defend, later defend and even later advance to Stalingrad.
- The two remaining Soviet objectives, Vologda is realitve easy, because you can encircle it from the west and from the south with a few units and take it. Astrakhan is a harder one, because it is so damn far!
The best method is to use the not needed forces from Grozny and Baku - while guarding them, because, the Soviets send some armored units! - and send them timely to take the city.
- I think, since 1.8 it is no more possible to make a DV from Kursk save, but a MV is possible.
I did not try to replay, but the files worked, when I tested a game.
.
). This will nicely simulate the difficulties that the submarine crews had to face in the shallow waters of the North Sea or near the coasts. (And yes, I did play a lot with Aces of the Deep and Silent Hunter III 