Slitherine

Scenario 4 '43: Palermo

This one I was worried about, being the showstopper.

Need to take Palermo in the northwest of the map with only 13 of the normal 18 turns. When I played this map last time on Manstein I had a ton of trouble, and that was with more experienced units, more prestige for overstrength, and five more turns.

My plan was a center-thrust along the two middle roads leading to Palermo, the shortest distance by a large margin. The initial resistance was easily overcome, however there was a lot of Italian armor in the middle that dealt some heavy blows and slowed me down a lot.

Fortunately on turn 8 I arrive at the outskirts of Palermo feeling pretty good about things, sieging the city shortly after then finally seizing the all important victory hex with 0 turns to spare.

Plan of attack:


Result:
Turn 13 MV
Lots of casualties but no core units lost. Surprisingly few air losses despite the considerable enemy air force on this map.

Scenario 5 '43: San Fratello

The focus for this map was on the main objective, San Fratello in the south. Defending it were some very strong units, some on fortification hexes, backed by artillery. The key here being hugging them and not allowing room for maneuvering to attack my more vulnerable targets.

I feel sort of bad forgoing the flanking naval landings for the northernly flags, but I needed to conserve prestige which I'm hemorrhaging right now.

Result:
Turn 10 MV

Scenario 6 '43: Messina

The primary purpose for this map is clearing mines, needing 10 hexes of them destroyed for a marginal victory.

Bought an Engineer infantry unit, which always clears them in one hit despite the amount (15 in this case), to work on the ones in the north and using my Sherman crab in the south.

I neglected to keep count, and probably had 10 exactly as I was greeted with a victory after the final turn. I was more focused on the dangerous armor facing me.

Result:
Turn 9 MV

huckc wrote:Scenario 6 '43: Messina

Placeholder.

Result:
Turn 9 MV

Uh oh the breakdown is getting shorter, it must be getting harder.

goose_2 wrote:

huckc wrote:Scenario 6 '43: Messina

Placeholder.

Result:
Turn 9 MV

Uh oh the breakdown is getting shorter, it must be getting harder.

Haha for those more boring actually, this one however is kicking my ass...

Scenario 7 '43: Salerno Landing (first try)

Can only capture and hold three objectives out of the four needed so far. Infantry is too weak to hold Salerno so focusing on the ones in open land to the south and east.

Result:
Not yet!
For the next try I'm going to try to capture the two most remote objectives with paratroopers. They'd be almost completely unopposed.

.....

Scenario 7 '43: Salerno Landing (second try)

The major change in tactics for this try was buying two airborne 43 units to help get the last two remote objectives needed to win.

Landings went very smoothly, about half my force landing in the first wave and quickly secured the beachhead while trapping the very strong Panzer IV in the nearby town of Capaccio Scalo. I opted to wait for the Rangers to swing by to attack it for the optimal damage to loss ratio of such a strong unit.

All my forces, save a hellcat and sherman landed south of the river Flume Tanagro, and would remain there defending this bridgehead. The two units mentioned north were there just due to limited beach real estate south and quickly joined their comrades.

From there it was a matter of holding the line and clearing out as many of the counter-attackers as possible to make it easier to capture the major pain point town of Castelcivita in the remote southeast corner. I was able to goad the 17 strength panzer grenadiers away from the town to make it possible for my rookie airborne unit to have a chance. The paratroopers slipped into town on turn 10 out of 11, then were quickly replaced by my much stronger Rangers. The enemy really wanted the town back but my Rangers were (barely) able to hold.

The other key airborne unit waiting in the way off north was able to slip into the last victory hex needed, the remote town of Montecorvino, on the final turn completely unopposed.

Result:
Turn 11 MV
No core losses.
The next scenario, Salerno counter-attack will be much more difficult, perhaps even impossible.

.....

Scenario 7 '43: Salerno Landing (third try, more optimal)

Third time's the charm. Wanted to do it again for less costly losses. Major change in tactics was forgoing the airborne units in favor of sneaking ground units around the edge of the map and taking one of the remote objectives. Also bought another very useful B-17F.

Result:
Turn 11 MV
No core losses, very few casualties.

Scenario 8 '43: Salerno Counter-attack

This battle was utterly insane and easily the hardest so far. The sheer strength of enemy armor and fighters was completely overwhelming. The enemy air force consisting of five elite fighters and four tactical bombers including: (3) BF-109s, (2) FW-190s, and a diverse assortment of four tactical bombers including the new FW-190G.

A lot of restarts but finally determined the optimal flow was to form a bridgehead to defend the southernmost objective Agropoli which has the most favorable terrain of full river cover, while two flanking task forces sneak around the western and eastern portions of the map to capture five other objectives required to be held. Needed a lot of units for the eastern task force, which made it difficult to not get spotted by the numerous enemy recon units passing by.

Turn 1 the enemy has the initiative and destroys the aux units in the east. When I'm up to act I destroy three enemy aircraft, including two BF-109s, and begin moving south to the Agropoli bridgehead and to the east and west flanking staging positions. Took some considerable air losses here, more than I normally accept, but needed to chip away at their air force at any opportunity.

Turns 2 thru 5 were mainly focusing on hightailing it south as well as clearing up the eastern flanking staging area and getting in good position there.

Turn 6 the enemy reaches the southern river covering Agropoli in force, but soon realized there were in a bad spot as my two top hellcats were waiting for them across the river backed by strong artillery and AA units.

Turns 7-8 were mostly duking it out in the air, trying to destroy the remainder of the enemy air force while nearing losing a thunderbolt at 1 health.

Turn 9 the eastern task force begins their move north, destroying an unfortunate panzer grenadier in their wake. All this time the western task force was sitting fine in their staging area, they only needed to act on the last few turns.

Turns 10-14 were primarily the eastern task force defending their newly capture objective Serre from infantry counter-attacks, while moving half its force north to capture Calabritto.

Final turn 15, the enemy nearly defeats my Rangers defending Serre, but fortunately held strong. I'm up to act as the final action, with only two objectives held out of the six needed. I then destroy the infantry defending one of them, Calabritto in the north to take that one, while slipping into four others in the northeast and central portions of the map for seven total.

Plan of attack (north):


Plan of attack (south):


Result:
Turn 15 MV, seven objectives held
No core units lossed, heavy air casualties
Failed to capture the Panzer IV in the northernmost town

......

Scenario 8 '43: Salerno Counter-attack (retry to get the capturable Panzer IV)

Played almost exactly like the first try, however focused on getting the capturable in the northeast corner town prior to getting the objective nearby, Calabritto.

Result:
Turn 15 MV, seven objectives held
No core units lossed, light casualties
Gained a capturable Panzer IVH and Audie Murphy infantry

Sliding into Salerno on the last turn, last act


North:


South:

Scenario 9 '43: Naples

This battle was relatively forgiving, especially compared to the last one however I still needed to move extremely efficiently in order to capture the four objectives needed to win by turn 15.

The focus was on all objectives but the one in the Northeast that I knew was guarded by extremely strong units, for a total of four: Naples (west), Avellino (east), Castel Volturno, and Capua. The last two on the infamous Volturno river in the north.

Turn 1 was heavily optimized to destroy as many units as possible while receiving as little damage as possible in the enemy's reply, in order to pave the way for an efficient rest of map. I attacked everything within my reach, save the Panther and panzer grenadiers guarding the towns, while hitting the panther with my B-25 to soften him up strength wise for the next turn. A total of five enemy units were destroyed this first turn.

I also sent one aux airborne up Mount Vesuvius to capture the jeep and the other to finish off the AA unit.

Turn 2 I clean up most of the rest of the initial screen of defenders while sieging the two panzergrenadiers guarding two of these first few towns. The panther went down from my top hellcat but not without a lot of help from air and artillery. When the enemy was up to act they charged me with a lot of Italian armor waiting in the middle of the map, some very good some not so good.

Turn 3 I get to work on this armor and by turn 4 destroy all of it.

Turns 5-6 I work my way up the map taking Nola in the center and begin my preparations for sieging Naples in the west. In the meantime I have a contingent working its way up the eastern valley of the map and sieging the objective town of Avellino, lead by none other than Audie Murphy

Turns 7-12 were just extremely sloppy but I wind up taking Naples and Avellino, I sort of needed to get that out of my system after the super tight white-knuckle tactics of the last scenario.

Turns 13-15 were making my way up north to the river Volturno and taking the relatively lightly defended objectives of Castel Volturno and Capua. Volturno line was on the other side of the river and already extremely well entrenched. A bit of flavor for what's to come should I choose that branch.

Result:
Turn 15 MV, four objectives captured
No core units lossed, but heavy casualties
Gained a captured Willy's Jeep

huckc wrote:Scenario 9 '43: Naples

This battle was relatively forgiving, especially compared to the last one however I still needed to move extremely efficiently in order to capture the four objectives needed to win by turn 15.

The focus was on all objectives but the one in the Northeast that I knew was guarded by extremely strong units, for a total of four: Naples (west), Avellino (east), Castel Volturno, and Capua. The last two on the infamous Volturno river in the north.

Turn 1 was heavily optimized to destroy as many units as possible while receiving as little damage as possible in the enemy's reply, in order to pave the way for an efficient rest of map. I attacked everything within my reach, save the Panther and panzer grenadiers guarding the towns, while hitting the panther with my B-25 to soften him up strength wise for the next turn. A total of five enemy units were destroyed this first turn.

I also sent one aux airborne up Mount Vesuvius to capture the jeep and the other to finish off the AA unit.

Turn 2 I clean up most of the rest of the initial screen of defenders while sieging the two panzergrenadiers guarding two of these first few towns. The panther went down from my top hellcat but not without a lot of help from air and artillery. When the enemy was up to act they charged me with a lot of Italian armor waiting in the middle of the map, some very good some not so good.

Turn 3 I get to work on this armor and by turn 4 destroy all of it.

Turns 5-6 I work my way up the map taking Nola in the center and begin my preparations for sieging Naples in the west. In the meantime I have a contingent working its way up the eastern valley of the map and sieging the objective town of Avellino, lead by none other than Audie Murphy

Turns 7-12 were just extremely sloppy but I wind up taking Naples and Avellino, I sort of needed to get that out of my system after the super tight white-knuckle tactics of the last scenario.

Turns 13-15 were making my way up north to the river Volturno and taking the relatively lightly defended objectives of Castel Volturno and Capua. Volturno line was on the other side of the river and already extremely well entrenched. A bit of flavor for what's to come should I choose that branch.

Result:
Turn 15 MV, four objectives captured
No core units lossed, but heavy casualties
Gained a captured Willy's Jeep

It is truly amazing that you have made it as far as you have made it on this insane level.

Could you post what your army looks like with number of stars and heroes and how much prestige you have at this point?

Have you ever thought of doing a German Grand Campaign at this insane level?

goose_2 wrote:
It is truly amazing that you have made it as far as you have made it on this insane level.

Could you post what your army looks like with number of stars and heroes and how much prestige you have at this point?

Have you ever thought of doing a German Grand Campaign at this insane level?

Good idea! I'll do a core breakdown after the next scenario going into the '43 finale.

Scenario 10 '43: Anzio Landing

The key to this scenario is landing the right units, at the right time, in the right places. Even if it means taking a few hits in the landing boats as you're faced with an immediate counter-attack by about 10 quality enemy infantry units so time is of the utmost essence. Space is also extremely cramped so you can't just unload your entire army.

Turn 1 I move my landing boats up for disembarking next turn. Four units to the west of Anzio and six to the east, with my best two rangers right next to the city. The enemy replies with three tactical bombers, fortunately I was ready for them and induced two of them with some thunderbolts with the other not firing a shot, deciding to just throw in the towel and readying their parachutes for ejecting next turn while wondering if they'll be shipped to the USA or Canada after landing

Turn 2 I land these ten units and move the next wave to the shore for disembarking next turn. I also hit the 155mm artillery with one B-17 and the other hitting the panzergrenadiers guarding Anzio. The primary purpose of the latter was to ammo dump this infantry and finish off their ammo with destroyer attacks which are treated as direct melee.

Turn 3 I attacked the panzer grenadiers guarding Anzio with my rangers who were able to easily defeat them since they had no ammo at that point. They then were able to waltz into Anzio for one of the two objectives needed. The other being Nettuno, the port city, nearby which also fell to the other Rangers in this first wave and was secured quickly

Turns 4-11 were mainly a matter of holding the line around Anzio and Nettuno, while bracing for a wave of enemy aircraft on turn five.

On the second to final turn I also destroy a supply train with vehicles which spawned a unique Panzer IVF and IVH that will serve as groupies for the remainder of '43. I waited until the last turn to capture these as they'll be surrounded and destroyed otherwise.

Result:
Turn 11 MV, Anzio and Nettuno held
No core losses, few casualties
Gained a Panzer IVF and IVH groupie

Scenario 11 '43: Anzio Defense

Same map as before but with many more German units on the attack, including very strong armored ones. I didn't have the strength to stand my ground, despite the fortification hexes provided and the "The Factory" , so I made a line of defense around Anzio and Nettuno similar to my tactics last map.

Turn 1 I only deployed six units around Anzio which was the maximum amount available, with the intention of deploying the rest of my defensive line in the following few turns.

The only forward units I deployed were my M15A1 AA units ironically enough, this was to take out any fighters and use their high mobility to make it back to the wire without getting got.

Turn 7 the enemy finally reaches my line of defense, the key for me being not to destroy any weaker units in the front so that the Panthers and Tigers don't fill in their place. I arrayed my line in a V-formation so that almost all my units have two artillery units backing them.

Turn 10 is happy fun time, as I'm last to act and can do anything without worrying about follow-up enemy actions. So I use this opportunity to get as many kills as possible to gain experience and heroes if I'm lucky (I wasn't).

Result:
Turn 10 MV, Anzio and Nettuno held
No core losses, few casualties

Going into the final scenario of '43, Anzio Breakout, here's my core after upgrades:

Tanks:
(5) M4A3 Sherman 76mm (just upgraded) (2-3 stars)
(1) Sherman Crab (0 star)
(1) Panzer IVH capturable (1 star)

Anti-tank:
(4) M18 Hellcat (2-3 stars)

Recon:
(1) Willy's Jeep (1 star)
(2) M8 Greyhound (0 stars)

Infantry:
(4) Rangers (1-2 stars)
(1) Engineers 43 (0 star)
(2) Airborne 43 (0 stars)
(1) Bridge Engineers (0 star)

Artillery:
(6) M12 155mm GMC artillery (3-4 stars)

Anti-aircraft:
(3) M15A1 GMC (1-2 stars)
(1) 90mm M1A1 (0 star)

Fighters:
(4) SE P47-D thunderbolts (2-3 stars)

Tac bombers:
(1) B-25H (3 star)

Strat bombers:
(2) B-17G (2, 4 star)

Prestige:
1061 (after replacements and overstrength)

Soft Cap:
~80% on turn 1

Notable Heroes (historical/scripted):
Audie Murphy, Rangers: A+2, D+3, I+3, S+1
Bomber Ace, B-25H: A+3, I+2

Notable Heroes (random, +2 or better):
Paul Ward, M4A3 Sherman: A+2
Paul Wood, M4A3 Sherman: A+2
Jeff Collins, M18 Hellcat: D+2
David Young, P-47D: A+2
Richard Parker, P-47D: D+2
Richard Collins: P-47D: D+2
Kenneth Carter, Rangers: D+3
Kenneth Moore, M4A3 Sherman: A+3

That is just amazing how much you have been able to build up at this level.

Have you tried the Grand Campaign at this level?

goose_2 wrote:That is just amazing how much you have been able to build up at this level.

Have you tried the Grand Campaign at this level?

Can't say that I've had. I'd put GC East as impossible to make it to Epilogue due to having to get DVs in the Berlin scenarios. GC West might be possible but only on the branch that goes to the Elbe.

I might do it for Afrika Korps, as that's the one I've been meaning to play for the first time. People seem to really like it too.

huckc wrote:

goose_2 wrote:That is just amazing how much you have been able to build up at this level.

Have you tried the Grand Campaign at this level?

Can't say that I've had. I'd put GC East as impossible to make it to Epilogue due to having to get DVs in the Berlin scenarios. GC West might be possible but only on the branch that goes to the Elbe.

I might do it for Afrika Korps, as that's the one I've been meaning to play for the first time. People seem to really like it too.

Afrika Korps was a blast, strategic and difficult without being too difficult. Good fun

Scenario finale '43: Anzio Breakout

This one was a real barn burner, harder than I expected. One of the most complicated tactical battles so far. A lot of ebb and flow.

I'm given one airborne transport slot, so my plan was to use that to capture Rome in the northwest corner of the map. The other primary goal for me was to capture the objectives of Campoleone and Cisterna, as well as the good capturable German recon unit, a Sdkfz 234/2 8r, that I recall is from taking one of the central towns: Ganzano or Albano.

Turn 1 I'm first to act and try to destroy as many enemy units as possible and get into a good position for the slugfest to come. Four enemy units were destroyed and three badly mauled.

The enemy replies with a Panther that nearly destroys a hellcat and two tactical bombers and a fighter that weren't able to to any major damage. They did do a considerable amount of damage to my air force with their two AA units.

Turn 2 is round two of the slug fest, I destroy the Panther and the three aircraft in the first wave. Also nearly destroy a Italian P26/40 tank on a bridge. It would then get elite reinforcement back to 15 strength, money being no object

Turn 3 I begin to get the upper hand, destroying almost all of last of the good enemy tanks. Only a single Italian P26 tank remains, however there also a couple anti-tank armored units around Cisterna but the Shermans hugging them make them moot.

Turn 4 I take Cisterna in the east by destroying the Fallschirmjagers defending it, while still having numerous enemy units around Campoleone to take care of before I can capture it.

This turn you're also warned of some rocket powered enemy aircraft incoming, which I really like the notice. I hide away all my aircraft in order for my AA units to hit them first when they show up next turn.

Turn 5 the two ME163s show up as scheduled, I get one down to 5 health using my four AA units, leaving the other at 15.

Turns 6-9 I continue working on the enemy units around Campoleone and those still hanging around Cisterna. Also destroying both the ME163s using AA then finishing them off with a P47-D thunderbolt.

Turn 10 I finally take Campoleone and move my way up to the central towns for the capturable recon unit.

Turn 12 the capturable Sdkfz 234/2 8r shows up thankfully just in time.

I also slide my airborne unit into Rome unopposed.


Turn 13 not much happens, don't want to push further a field due to some powerful armored units that I knew from past experience were waiting. I do take the town of Velletri for some prestige.

Result:
Turn 13 MV, captured Rome, Cisterna, and Campoleone
Lots of casualties but no core units lost. I could've sat back and just got Rome but I feel the experience and the capturable was well worth it, was also a very fun and challenging duking it out in the middle there.

On to `44-45!

huckc wrote:Scenario 8 '43: Salerno Counter-attack

This battle was utterly insane and easily the hardest so far. The sheer strength of enemy armor and fighters was completely overwhelming. The enemy air force consisting of five elite fighters and four tactical bombers including: (3) BF-109s, (2) FW-190s, and a diverse assortment of four tactical bombers including the new FW-190G.

A lot of restarts but finally determined the optimal flow was to form a bridgehead to defend the southernmost objective Agropoli which has the most favorable terrain of full river cover, while two flanking task forces sneak around the western and eastern portions of the map to capture five other objectives required to be held. Needed a lot of units for the eastern task force, which made it difficult to not get spotted by the numerous enemy recon units passing by.

Turn 1 the enemy has the initiative and destroys the aux units in the east. When I'm up to act I destroy three enemy aircraft, including two BF-109s, and begin moving south to the Agropoli bridgehead and to the east and west flanking staging positions. Took some considerable air losses here, more than I normally accept, but needed to chip away at their air force at any opportunity.

Turns 2 thru 5 were mainly focusing on hightailing it south as well as clearing up the eastern flanking staging area and getting in good position there.

Turn 6 the enemy reaches the southern river covering Agropoli in force, but soon realized there were in a bad spot as my two top hellcats were waiting for them across the river backed by strong artillery and AA units.

I just got wrecked on this battle, whoa

Turns 7-8 were mostly duking it out in the air, trying to destroy the remainder of the enemy air force while nearing losing a thunderbolt at 1 health.

Turn 9 the eastern task force begins their move north, destroying an unfortunate panzer grenadier in their wake. All this time the western task force was sitting fine in their staging area, they only needed to act on the last few turns.

Turns 10-14 were primarily the eastern task force defending their newly capture objective Serre from infantry counter-attacks, while moving half its force north to capture Calabritto.

Final turn 15, the enemy nearly defeats my Rangers defending Serre, but fortunately held strong. I'm up to act as the final action, with only two objectives held out of the six needed. I then destroy the infantry defending one of them, Calabritto in the north to take that one, while slipping into four others in the northeast and central portions of the map for seven total.

Result:
Turn 15 MV, seven objectives held
No core units lossed, heavy air casualties
Failed to capture the Panzer IV in the northernmost town

......

Scenario 8 '43: Salerno Counter-attack (retry to get the capturable Panzer IV)

Played almost exactly like the first try, however focused on getting the capturable in the northeast corner town prior to getting the objective nearby, Calabritto.

Result:
Turn 15 MV, seven objectives held
No core units lossed, light casualties
Gained a capturable Panzer IVH and Audie Murphy infantry

This is tough, lost all my units

demyansk wrote:

huckc wrote:Scenario 8 '43: Salerno Counter-attack

This battle was utterly insane and easily the hardest so far. The sheer strength of enemy armor and fighters was completely overwhelming. The enemy air force consisting of five elite fighters and four tactical bombers including: (3) BF-109s, (2) FW-190s, and a diverse assortment of four tactical bombers including the new FW-190G.

A lot of restarts but finally determined the optimal flow was to form a bridgehead to defend the southernmost objective Agropoli which has the most favorable terrain of full river cover, while two flanking task forces sneak around the western and eastern portions of the map to capture five other objectives required to be held. Needed a lot of units for the eastern task force, which made it difficult to not get spotted by the numerous enemy recon units passing by.

Turn 1 the enemy has the initiative and destroys the aux units in the east. When I'm up to act I destroy three enemy aircraft, including two BF-109s, and begin moving south to the Agropoli bridgehead and to the east and west flanking staging positions. Took some considerable air losses here, more than I normally accept, but needed to chip away at their air force at any opportunity.

Turns 2 thru 5 were mainly focusing on hightailing it south as well as clearing up the eastern flanking staging area and getting in good position there.

Turn 6 the enemy reaches the southern river covering Agropoli in force, but soon realized there were in a bad spot as my two top hellcats were waiting for them across the river backed by strong artillery and AA units.

I just got wrecked on this battle, whoa

Turns 7-8 were mostly duking it out in the air, trying to destroy the remainder of the enemy air force while nearing losing a thunderbolt at 1 health.

Turn 9 the eastern task force begins their move north, destroying an unfortunate panzer grenadier in their wake. All this time the western task force was sitting fine in their staging area, they only needed to act on the last few turns.

Turns 10-14 were primarily the eastern task force defending their newly capture objective Serre from infantry counter-attacks, while moving half its force north to capture Calabritto.

Final turn 15, the enemy nearly defeats my Rangers defending Serre, but fortunately held strong. I'm up to act as the final action, with only two objectives held out of the six needed. I then destroy the infantry defending one of them, Calabritto in the north to take that one, while slipping into four others in the northeast and central portions of the map for seven total.

Result:
Turn 15 MV, seven objectives held
No core units lossed, heavy air casualties
Failed to capture the Panzer IV in the northernmost town

......

Scenario 8 '43: Salerno Counter-attack (retry to get the capturable Panzer IV)

Played almost exactly like the first try, however focused on getting the capturable in the northeast corner town prior to getting the objective nearby, Calabritto.

Result:
Turn 15 MV, seven objectives held
No core units lossed, light casualties
Gained a capturable Panzer IVH and Audie Murphy infantry

This is tough, lost all my units

At what level were you playing?

Hi Goose,

I was playing at the middle level, I started the last dlc now and used the units from the computer since I had about 4-5 units left

huckc you said: "Can't say that I've had. I'd put GC East as impossible to make it to Epilogue due to having to get DVs in the Berlin scenarios."

I used to think that however I changed my mind, berlin and redux are surprisingly easier than they first look providing you have enough decent tanks and set up the usual killing fields etc. see this thread
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 21&t=76173
The last time I did it redux took 8 turns when you know the tricks.

hugh2711 wrote:huckc you said: "Can't say that I've had. I'd put GC East as impossible to make it to Epilogue due to having to get DVs in the Berlin scenarios."

I used to think that however I changed my mind, berlin and redux are surprisingly easier than they first look providing you have enough decent tanks and set up the usual killing fields etc. see this thread
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 21&t=76173
The last time I did it redux took 8 turns when you know the tricks.

On Manstein though? At this difficulty you probably won't have much to spend on over-strength either.