To whoever did mission design for US '42

[simcc]

@dustek,

I don't think it's ridiculous like you mention. The thing is we use to play with German toys and they are really good so to counter it seems abit difficult at first. It's tigers that dominate tank battle not Sherman's so playing US is abit tough if you go tank heavy army. While playing soviet corps it don't seems that hard to fight tigers because soviets did build strong tanks to counter Panzers while US seems to rely on air power and underestimated the Panzers which ultimately result in huge numbers of Sherman's dead.

Back to the game, I find the scenarioes are nice and challenging and I still manage to get triumph at every scenario playing at FM level but at the cost of I didn't capture all flags on the first run. US strenght is airpower and artillery so you must use that to your advantage. Also worth mentioning is the Rangers. So don't rush head on into tigers with Sherman's no matter what experience your unit have it will die.

I find the most successful tank hunt is 2x Rangers + 2x hellcats. First Rangers must move ahead to take points and do not stop in open area, always stop in close area, hellcats must be not in front lines as they can't take hits. So use their mobility to hide behind but rush out to hit tigers or Panzers when they are spotted. Always plan and hit where the tigers will retreat into a close area so your Rangers can finish them off. Also if you use strategic bombers it helps a lot by softening the tigers. US strategic bombers are just too good and if there is no jets in the sky they are pretty much safe in every way. I even use them to suppress 88s AA and take minimal damage.

If you play like Germans army style most probably you get trash by Germans hardware so play US style, it's call US corps for a reason hahaha

[kverdon]

I played through US Corps again and though I enjoyed most of it, was very frustrated again in the 1945 time frame. It is completely absurd that your Air units get shredded to pieces by vastly superior Luftwaffe Air Units. This and you are left with your best unit being P-47d. I do realize that the main problem with US Corps in this time period is that it is based upon Allied Corps and Allied Corps relied upon the British Comet to give parity in this time frame and this unit is not available in US Corps. Either there should be a mod that enables the Comet for US use or the P-80 should be included in the DLC to give parity. You wind up spending a huge chunck of your prestige trying to repair your Air Force and given the historical context, this is just wrong.

[BJGeary]

I agree with kverdon. And it shouldn't require modders to try to fix a major flaw in the DLC. Slitherine should fix it.

[lhughes]

My two cents is I think the campaign designer is doing a great job. I got whacked by the scenario cited at the start of the thread. But then came back and found a much better defense that was coherent. Everytime I get complacent in the campaign I get nicely whacked! Which is just right. So thanks for you careful job. I also like the switches and shifts you make in the dynamics of the campaign. Interesting "narrative." Do you work for Slitherine or is this all impressive volunteer work? If I may ask.
I also like the tight prestige. Soviet Corps was too generous with prestige. I just maxed out the super tanks. Here I have to think (though I liked Soviet Corps otherwise).
However I have only played 42 Campaign (just gave up BTW I try to do Iron Man mode. Will have to try again another day. Beaten about 2/3rds through). So can't speak to late war.
Kudos,
Luke

[Sourdust]

I think the scenario design for US Corps is outstanding.

Prestige is tight, as it should be - too much prestige takes all of the suspense and feeling of consequences out of the game, so it should feel tight throughout.

On individual scenarios, I don't think any of them are too hard. Gela counterattack and the Salerno and Anzio landings are tough, but this is how it should be. I think they give a good feel for the desperate touch-and-go battles that occurred in real life at these battles. The awkward setup options for Gela are a positive, they mean it is not possible to set up an ideal defence from the outside and ensure that you will feel heavy pressure in the initial stages of the battle! Well done.

Brittany felt too easy, but then again given how low my prestige was by this point I wasn't complaining.

The bulge battles were a blast. St Vith was so much fun, I loved setting up all sorts of ambushes for the advancing german super-tanks. Managed a triumph on the first playthough without having to retreat. Similarly, Bastogne was a desperate shuffle in response to successive waves of German attacks.

I went for Operation Unthinkable in the end. Pretty much ran out of prestige around turn 10, and felt like quitting, but I persevered and somehow managed to pull off a triumph anyway. My forces took terrible losses... but a few key bottlenecks along the banks of the Vistula allowed me to attrit the massive Soviet forces eventually.

On equipment, I don't mind having to face German jet aircraft in the final scenarios. Even if it's ahistorical, it keeps things interesting. A game where the Germans have no airpower from Normandy on would have been a bit boring. However, I do think the US air forces could have been given a brush-up, including some adjustments to values (P-51 is too weak throughout), some additional models throughout the campaign, and an (expensive) P-80 in the last 2-3 scenarios. Also, the P-47N should get a serious ground attack boost around mid-1944. The airframe didn't change, but ordinance sure did. With rockets, the P-47 became the US equivalent of the British Typhoons/Tempests: a very effective low-altitude attack plane, especially since there were so few German planes to shoot at.

In general I feel the US forces didn't get the attention on equipment that they deserve...

Finally, as I've said over at Steam, the scenario briefings are just terrible. Full of grammar, usage and spelling errors. Really sloppy, it's clear there hasn't been even a basic edit by a native English speaker. Slitherine, I'm offering to rewrite these myself in proper English - please PM if you're interested.

Regards
Sourdust

[nikivdd]

Finally, as I've said over at Steam, the scenario briefings are just terrible. Full of grammar, usage and spelling errors. Really sloppy, it's clear there hasn't been even a basic edit by a native English speaker. Slitherine, I'm offering to rewrite these myself in proper English - please PM if you're interested.

Regards
Sourdust

The modding section is a good place to share these briefings in proper English.