Slitherine

I got the highest medals for everyone but the Americans. I think the stats to get them are relaxed but the american campaign is too short.

I finished Goldap this weekend.

It was surprisingly easy, but My units are pretty Boss right now, and I saved quite a few that I was able to deploy once there Sneaky Pete started to show up.

But I still lost my ISU-122.

I am worried.

My Uber Rudel is at 3400 kills, and based on the previous post by Rayrard I will have no chance of earning a 3rd Medal.

But on another guys rundown of his playthrough, milliedog, they achieved a Gold Version of the Iron Cross.

Was that the 3rd medal, and how many kills did it take.

Anxiously waiting...

I received the Ultimate medal of the Gold Knights Cross 3500 kills in the 2nd mission.

I am trying to accumulate 100 heroes just for fun, but I keep losing units including Josef Allerberger and one of my newly awarded mobile AA units in Pelleninken.

I am starting Day 6 in Parck and am currently at 91 heroes.

It will be a while before I can jump back on single player as most of my time now is being spent on busting through the Tournament Finale.

After this tournament I think I will try taking a little break from all of this multiplayer to get the Campaign finished, I don't know though it is hard stepping away for very long from multiplayer as it is, for me, the most exciting. I have met so many wonderful people playing this game and some great players.

I am hoping with these Slitherine sponsored tournaments that it will draw more and more players to this great aspect of this game.

My next goal is to get that elusive 5 stars of exp on an AA unit. I am at close to 370 right now so I am pretty confident it will be coming before Berlin.

Oh yeah I remembered as I was driving here that I also lost one of my KV-85's also in Pelleninken. That map was brutal for me, but only because I got cocky.

It has been a while since I have typed up an update on this one.
I am in Breslau at this point.
Poznan 45 was devestating for me and i am pretty sure I am going to not achieve the 100 heroes as I keep losing units.

I am trying to use cheap fodder in Breslau and it is working but at the same time I am at and staying at about 16k in prestige.

I feel these last few battles will bleed me dry.

We shall see.

I am so close to getting 5 stars experience with my BA 88 AA. 492 experience
So close...

I am going to try to finish Breslau before the end of the year and hopefully finish 1945 in January so i can get started with Afrika Korps.

Quick update on my progress.

Started Seelow Heights this morning and am still thankfully around 16k in prestige.

I have tried to be more strategic in my prestige usage as I had been too liberal with my usage as of late and I want to have enough for Berlin, Berlin Redux, and Epilogue.

Well there are now 3 scenarios in this Grand Campaign that I received a Marginal Victory. First being Oboyan in 1943, but the last 2 have both been in 1945. This year is brutal as it should be.

I am unsure how I will handle it on Manstein level next time, but I will try.

For now I am so eager to finish this playthrough I am finding it hard to jump on multiplayer.
I finally achieved my 5 star AA Steam Achievement and as of right now I have 98 heroes. I can almost taste that arbitrary 100 heroes personal achievement I have set.
Now to just avoid unnecessary key Core losses.

I have to thank again milliethedog and TSPC37730 for their suggestion of using Volkssturm to help round out my forces and be able to fill gaps. That along with using 10.5cm arty's has been vital to my survival and stymieing the enemy when they advance. It also pays off in the amount of prestige you can earn which is always a boon.

Ok,
I am about 10 days in Berlin and it is crazy.
My first time playing through this scenario and I am thinking if they have a 2nd Wave attack I am going to be doomed from getting a Decisive Victory, and if they have a 3rd wave it will be impossible.
I am starting to retake areas but I am worried that they have many units waiting in the wings.
I have lost Brandenburg Gate, Potsdam Station, and Reichstag as well as the Fuhrer Bunker so my defense was crap and something I would change when/if I play again.
I am poised to be able to seize those areas back, however and hope to be pushing back with my various artillery and Heavy units.
But that is just it I do not have a good green unit that can dice up their infantry. I am wishing that I would have been able to retain more of my experienced infantry units, but that is not the case.
I have been trying Flammpanzers again, and do you think that is the best idea to eliminate some of their infantry units if I can utilize artillery to suppress them or is there another green unit I can utilize because Volkssturm are worthless at the stage I am at which is the stage of trying to push back the enemy so I can retake territory.
Any suggestions?
I have around 10k in prestige left but am losing it rather quickly trying to keep my army alive and continuing to buy green units that are still getting destroyed.
I am hoping for a Decisive Victory, but since this is my first time playing I am afraid I may end up with a Marginal Victory and I will have to try again so I can get the Decisive Victory needed in order to play the last 2 Scenarios.
I look forward to your advise as I ponder my options in this amazing game.

ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!

I rage quit last night in round 18.
I played this scenario wrong my first go around.
I will try and get some time today to type out my day by day here of my first epic fail.

It was after round 18 where I saw another core unit die and 2 of my seasoned SE units die that I just could not take it anymore and am simply walking away with less than 400 prestige, it was going to be a struggle just to maintain a Marginal Victory.

So I will try and detail either today or sometime this week here and give my thoughts on my strategy for the 2nd playthrough.

The developers did it right making the last scenario the hardest of the campaign.

And to think there is supposed to be Berlin Redux and Epilogue afterwards.

This is indeed a tough scenario. If memory serves, the trick is to circle the wagons as quickly and tightly as possible, using the rivers as defensive perimeters, but without losing access to at least one airfield. Defensive fire from artillery and AA is vital.

robman wrote:This is indeed a tough scenario. If memory serves, the trick is to circle the wagons as quickly and tightly as possible, using the rivers as defensive perimeters, but without losing access to at least one airfield. Defensive fire from artillery and AA is vital.

Yeah I see that now but I tried a more spaced out defense and once that 2nd wave came on in full force I could not maintain.

In thinking about it I will detail my thoughts in detail on what my next defensive strategy will essentially be.

robman wrote:This is indeed a tough scenario. If memory serves, the trick is to circle the wagons as quickly and tightly as possible, using the rivers as defensive perimeters, but without losing access to at least one airfield. Defensive fire from artillery and AA is vital.

Yeah I see that now but I tried a more spaced out defense and once that 2nd wave came on in full force I could not maintain.

In thinking about it I will detail my thoughts in detail on what my next defensive strategy will essentially be.

Berlin Starting 24250 after replacements and overstrength 13079
Supposed to get 300 per round
I upgraded my Albert Kirscher to an SE Tiger 2.
Bought a bunch of Volkssturm and placed all units for a soft cap of 68%.

I tried spreading the army around and may be thinking about this wrong but trying something. Deployment starts in the west and spreads out from there.
Battlegroup around Berlin (10,14): 2 Volkssturm, +1 Movement King Tiger, siG38t(m), +3 Def Me-262, and Uber Rudel.
Battlegroup around Berlin Rail Station (10,7): Grenadier, +3 Def arty, green arty, SE Tiger 2, +3 Att King Tiger, Gerhard Barkhorn.
Battlegroup around Berlin Rail Station (13,15): 2 SE Tiger 2's, Bruno Sutkus, Freidrich Pein, Oleh Dir, Heinz Rondorf.
Battlegroup around Berlin (16,8): 3 King Tigers including Albert Kirscher, JagdTiger, 2 Volkssturm, Brumbar, BA88, +2 Att arty, green arty, BA siG38t(m), Otto Kittel, +1 Def +2 Att Tac Bomber.
Battlegroup around Berlin (24,20): 3 Tiger SE 2's, Movement Gerbisjager, Wilhelm Batz, +6 Att Tac Bomber, Eric Litzke, and 2 Volkssturms.
Battlegroup around Berlin (22,10): Pioniere, Volkssturm, +1 att +1 Def arty, green arty, 12cm AA, SE Maus, JagdPanther, green arty, another Volkssturm.
2 additional Volkssturm near (29,16)

Day 1 ai CA:
Enemy destroyed 16 aux inf units and 1 aux AT unit and like 21 city objectives were seized.
(One bonus item that occurred is that my +3 Def arty was utilized several times and in the process earned a +3 Att 2nd hero. Yes!!! (99 heroes)
Day 1 Sunny (68):
Destroyed IL-4, 5 SU-122's, Yak-3, La-5, Pe-2, 4 SU-76's, 3 Katyusha's, Conscript, T-34/85, BA-64, Engineers.
Retook Rail Station Berlin (10,7)
Disbanded 1 of my Volkssturm to place a Wespe near a river area surrounded with aux units in order to hopefully stymie their advance.
JagdTiger awarded Iron Cross 1st Class (400 kills)

Day 2 ai CA:
Enemy destroyed 3 aux inf and seized somewhere around 12 more objectives including 1 of my 3 airfields and a few other big hits including -4 for JagdTiger and -6 for Pioniere for -6 and a few other nicks but those were the biggies.
Day 2 Sunny (73)
Reseized lost airfield.
Destroyed 5 T-34/43's, SU-85, SU-76, 2 Katyusha's, 2 T-34/85's, Yak-3, 2 Conscript's, La-5, Engineers.
+2 att arty awarded +2 Def 2nd hero. (Yes 100 heroes! Success)
Awarded Erich Hartmann.
Bought some reg reps for various units.

Day 3 ai CA:
Enemy destroyed aux AA, 3 aux AT's, and 2 aux inf's, 3 Core Volkssturm's, siG 38t(m) and like 16 more cities were seized. (This is disgusting.)
Day 3 Sunny (84)
Retook Berlin (22,8)
Destroyed SU-76, 2 SMG units, Il-4, IL-2, Sturmovich, 2 T-34/43's, BA-64, IS-2, Engineer's, and 152mm arty.
Bought Regular Replacements forseveral units and 4 Elite Replacements for JagdTiger and brought out another Core Volkssturm and bought 2 Nebelwerfer's with trucks. (Soft Cap 52)

Day 4 ai CA: Enemy destroyed aux AA, aux inf, and 6 more cities have been seized. (This is just crazy)
Day 4 Sunny (54)
Seized Berlin (21,6)
Destroyed 2 T-34/85's, SU-85, 3 T-34/43's, IS-1, 3 Reg Inf's, 2 BA-64's, Engineer's, La-7, La-5, Il-2M3, IS-2, and SMG unit.
My 4th SE Tiger 2 and Heinz Rondorf were both awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords for 1900 kills.
Bought some reg replacements for various units and 3 Elite Replacements for Pioniere and 4 Elite replacements for Bruno Sutkus.

Day 5 ai CA:
Enemy destroyed 2 Volkssturm units and they seized 7 more objectives including 2 more airfields. (I only have 1 left.)
This is crazy I have so much coming at me.
Day 5 Sunny (54)
Reseized both airfields.
Destroyed IS-1, BA-64, IS-2, 2 Reg Inf's, IL-10, SMG unit, 2 T-34/85's, another IS-2, 2 T-34/43's, another T-34/85, and 2 Engineer's.
Bought Regular replacements for Various units, and 4 elite Replacements for my +2 Att/+2 Def arty, and brought out 1 More Volkssturm and KV-85. (Soft Cap 51)

Day 6 ai CA:

Enemy destroyed 1 Volkssturm, 1 aux inf, Wespe, and my last 4 star Pioniere. (98 heroes again)
They also seized 5 more objectives including 1 of my Airfield's. (This is just so horrible)
Day 6 Sunny (62)
Seized Berlin (11,15) and reseized my airfield again.
Destroyed Engineer's, 2 BA-64's, 2 SU-85's, Yak-3, IL-4, SU-76, 5 Conscript's, Reg Inf, T-34/85, and 2 Engineer's.
7th SE Tiger 2 awarded Iron Cross 1st Class for 400 kills.
Brought out KV-c, Panther and bought another Nebelwehrfer with truck. (Soft Cap 52)

Day 7 ai CA: Enemy destroyed Volkssturm and aux AA.
They have seized Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, and Potsdam Station and even pressuring the Fuhrer Bunker. (Not going well)
Day 7 Sunny (54)
Seized Berlin (14,8) and (19,5)
Destroyed IS-2, Conscript, Guards, IS-1, Katyusha, SU-76, 2 Engineer's, 2 T-34/43's, SMG unit, Reg Inf.
Albert Kirscher and 5th SE Tiger 2 were both awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords for 1900 kills.
Prototype Maus awarded +1 Att Hero. (99 heroes)
Bought FlammPanzer and 8 Elite Replacements for +3 att King Tiger, 4 elite Replacements for JagdPanther, and 3 Elite for Heinz Rondorf. (Soft Cap 44)

Day 8 ai CA:
Enemy destroyed my Panther and Nebelwerfer and seized 2 more city hexes. This is just crazy the way they are walking through me with those stinking infantry units, and I do not have enough experienced infantry units to give them pause.
Day 8 Sunny (56)
Seized Berlin (20,2) (18,17), (12,18)
Destroyed SMG unit, IS-2, Katyusha, 4 Conscript's, Reg Inf, and IS-1.
Bought reg replacements for a couple of units and 8 Elite for Bruno Sutkus as well as 3 Elite for Albert Kirscher. I also bought another FlammPanzer and a 10.5cm arty in a truck.
(Soft Cap 50)

Day 9 ai CA:
Enemy destroyed Fuhrer Bunker and a bunch of other attacks and seized an airfield again.
Day 9 Sunny (58)
I seized Berlin (13,19) (17,18), (18,20), (16,21), (14,21), and (12,22) No I am coming back, but so much to take over.
Destroyed Pe-2, 2 Reg Inf's, 2 Engineer's, 4 SMG unit's, Conscript, and an IL-2 Sturmovixh.
+3 Att Tiger 2 awarded +1 Initiative hero (100 heroes again)
Bought 2 Elite Replacements for Bruno Sutkus again.

Day 10 ai CA:
Enemy destroyed Flammpanzer and seized one more city and a bunch of other attacks.
Day 10 Sunny (61)
Seized Reichstag, and Berlin (16,23) (21,19) and Berlin Rail Station
Destroyed 2 Conscript's, Yak-9U, 6 Engineers, Reg Inf, IL-2M3, Guards, SMG.
+3 Att +1 Initiative King Tiger awarded Knights Cross 800 kills.
1st SE Tiger 2 awarded Golden Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds. 3500 kills (I was able to achieve the ultimate medal on a tank.)
Bought 1 Elite rep and 3 3 elite reps for SE Tiger 2's and 6 Elite for KV-85 and 4 elite for Bruno Sutkus.
Brought in BA-64 to give myself some recon.

Day 11 ai CA:
Enemy destroyed aux inf and hit a bunch of stuff including reducing my KV-1C to 2 Str left but feel like I am starting to push back and will start seizing lost ground.
Day 11 Sunny (60)
Seized Berlin (,20) (21,6) (22,8), (22,10), (10,14) (9,16), Brandenburg Gate, and Potsdam Station as well as took back airfield again.
Destroyed 2 SU-85's, 5 Reg Inf's, Katyusha, Engineers, Conscript.
+3 Att +3 Def King Tiger awarded Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. 1900 kills.
Bought 1 Overstrengthened unit for freidrich Pein and 2 Elite for KV-1C, and 1 Elite for +3 Att +1 Initiative King Tiger.

Day 12 ai CA:
Enemy retook Berlin (10,14) a few attacks and movement but nothing much .
Day 12 Sunny (61) I start getting cocky and it shows.
Seized Berlin (23,11) (9,18), (7,20), (12,5), (24,8) and Berlin Rail Station (7,18) as well as 2ndary Airfield.
Destroyed Engineers, La-7, La-5, IL-10, 37mm AA, 2 152mm arty, 5 Reg Inf's, 2 Conscripts, SMG.
Bought 3 elite for 1st SE tiger 2 and 4 Elite for Bruno Sutkus.

Day 13 ai CA: 2nd wave is coming out now as some of my forward units were hit by an IS-2 and a couple of ISU-122's, but no cities taken or any unit losses.
Day 13 Sunny (66)
Seized Berlin (24,14) (25,9) (25,15) (27,16)
Destroyed Guards, Yak-3, Conscript, SMG , Engineers.
Bought elite reps for various units and even overtsrengthened Oleh Dir and Movement Gerbisjager (Soft Cap now at 67 with 8969 in prestige.

Day 14 ai CA: Major attacks but limited in it's effect.
Day 14 Sunny (66)
Seized Berlin (29,16) (24,20) and (23,18)
Destroyed SU-85, 3 Engineer's, 2 SMG's, Yak-7, IL-2M3, IL-2Sturmovich, Conscript, 152mm arty, Guards, and ISU-122.
Bought more Elite Replacements for various units. (Soft Cap 58 prestige 8123)

Day 15 ai CA:
2nd wave coming on strong and several very painful attacks but no losses, yet.
Day 15 Sunny (62)
Seized Berlin (20,24) (31,17) and Berlin Rail Station (29,18)
Destroyed Katyusha, Guards, 2 SMG's, ISU-122, 2 Guards, and Conscript.
Bought more Elite Replacements for various units (Soft Cap 61 and 7540 in prestige.)

Day 16 ai CA:
Enemy pressing everywhere!!!!
They destroyed my BA-64, FlammPanzer, Volkssturm and retook 6 Objectives including the 2ndary airfield.
Day 16 ai CA:
Retook Berlin (21,6)
Destroyed Katyusha, KV-85, 2 ISU-122's, 2 Reg Inf.'s, SU-100, BA-64, 2 Guards, Yak-9U, IL-10.
Somua awarded Knights Cross for 800 Kills.
Bought 30cm Nebelwherfer, JagdTiger, and brought my +1 Spot KV-85.
(Soft Cap 53 and 6555 in prestige.)

Day 17 ai CA: Enemy destroyed aux inf, Nebelwherfer, and some other units killed just not able to keep track of all of it as well as a bunch of objectives seized. This is insane.
Day 17 Sunny (Soft Cap 64)
Reseized 2ndary airfield and berlin (26,22)
Destroyed SU-100, T-34/43, IL-4, 3 KV-85's, Katyusha, T-34/85, Guards, and SMG.
12.8cm AA awarded Iron Cross 2nd Class 100 kills.
Bought a bunch of Elite Replacements and brought in another couple of Strat Bombers. (Soft Cap 48 with 3932 prestige)

Day 18 ai CA:
GGGGGGAaaaaaaAAAAaRRRRggggGGGGhhhhHHHh!!
Saw way too many units destroyed including 2 of my SE units.
I am done just done this is where I rage quit.

I will save this scenario where this is at and maybe try to do one of those General Werner's Documentation's of my downfall, but only if there are interested readers.

Otherwise next post is going to be my thoughts on what will go in my Grand Campaign walkthrough which is hopefully my 2nd and successful strategy for Berlin.
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 45&t=65111

Ok here is my thoughts on trying this my 2nd time through.
Hold the part of the map with the airfield and use a Bridging unit to ferry units in and out that need to refuel and regroup and put fresh units in to hold that airfield.
2nd try to set up a defensive perimeter around the island that includes the Fuhrer Bunker and all of the famous landmarks, The Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, and Potsdam Station.
I will do this by using every arty and well placed AA unit I have along with strong tanks and anti tanks and infantry units.

Finally,
I will try and use 5 of my Super Units 2 SE Tiger 2's, jacked up as high as I can make them and my 3 best infantry maxed out.
Oleh Dir, Freidrich Pein, and my Movement Gerbisjager. I will use these to hold and maneuver in and out as best as possible those 2 other airfields.

I will wait until I have decimated that 2nd wave that starts coming on strong around Round 16.

I will save it around turn 15 and assess if I have to probe to get them to come on with that 2nd wave or if it is something that is automatically triggered based on the turn that it is in.

Hopefully by Round 20 I will have eliminated most of the remaining units and then I can use my remaining units to storm out and seize the remainder of the map with little to no trouble.

I am thinking it would be helpful to upgrade my Panther and KV-1C that I have been saving to FlammPanzer's as they have like 3 stars experience and once I destroy the 2nd wave I need to focus on eliminating entrenched soft units.

Any thoughts or advice?
Thanks for the assistance and interest in this great game.

What??? Not only but does Goose not get a DV, but he also actually throws in the towel?

I guess it really was Gotterdammerung...

Long-term lurker (and PC player) just got back into the game and I'm enjoying the write ups and your pain...

Berlin sounds horrific....

I haven't fully played the German GC yet so the write ups make very interesting reading, currently playing Soviet Corps and really enjoying that up to Rzhev Vyazma scenario (Jan 42) so far. One thing I am really liking about the Soviets is in the early war / scenarios they seem to enjoy a big advantage in tanks. I have a nice fleet of KV1 and 2's which currently wipe the floor with the German Panzer 38T's, II's III's and IV's. (A god send in the Moscow defence map)

The biggest problem I am having so far is the damn Luftwaffe the Me 109's and Stuka's / general German air superiority, which is hard to counter with Yaks etc.... Albeit I am now managing to bring in a couple of Hurricanes, which may start to even things up a bit.

What was the craziest was after I set up my units and started the first turn I wrote in my notes: I think I should pull back and defend around the river, but I decided to try balls out and try to attack when and where I could. I knew I was going to try again if I failed so I was willing to take even more risks than I normally do and it cost me and enraged me. Which in some strange way pleased me.

...and yes I take notes that is why it takes me a while to type up my notes.

Oh yeah and I will probably start with 2nd try Berlin tomorrow morning, so if you have any thoughts about my strategy that I posted previously let me know, because I always look forward to the thoughts of my experienced Generals.

I find the difference in our playing styles very interesting, I am much more a defend until the other side breaks then roll over whatever they have left player, probably the way to go here. I haven't played Berlin but I think you are right to use all your artillery and AA and try and get them to attack from river hexes, it is the only cost effective way to kill the Russian tanks.

I do not have time today to go through all the great Content that has been posted since my extended weekend at home but I intend to, tomorrow and hopefully can write up some of the great playthroughs I have been able to accomplish over this extended weekend.

Just a quick update:
I was able to complete Berlin on my 3rd playthrough. Yes it took 3 times to crack that nut. It will be a while before I attempt Berlin Redux or Epilogue as I saved right before I took the last 2 cities and allowed myself a Marginal Victory before I reloaded and took the 2 cities for a Decisive Victory. This gave me the Steam Achievement and pressure is relieved. I will beat it all the way, but I am more excited now with my other games I started.

These include:

Blind Playthrough Afrika Korps Italian Challenge on Rommel level.
1939 Campaign with the intention to go West on Guderian Level.
1939 Campaign with the intention to go East on Manstein level.

It has been a blast and something I am hoping to go into greater detail tomorrow as for now it is time to go home, and hopefully get some more time tomorrow to provide more detail.

Until then...Stay Lutheran My Friends.