Status Check for GC

[hugh2711]

demyansk is an easy scenario which is very useful for racking up kills/farming heroes/getting surrender prestige.
There is a bottlenecked killing field in the south and to a lesser extent in the north that they rush into to be slaughtered.
The small size and predictable flight patterns make it good for farming static AA as well as fighters. Lots of traps can be set.
There is an AAR in the AAR section

[AnalogGamer]

The pocket is a cakewalk so far, as advertised. I brought EVERY artillery piece I own, and a lot of infantry. The only armor I brought were my three SE PzIIIs and the pair of captured KVs, A pair of fighters, a pair of stukas and a Bf110. Both 88s and the 7/1.

It is a slaughter so far. The enemy runs up and stops without attacking, as everything is backed up by artillery. The AA has wreaked havoc.

It is like sitting in a lawn chair and plinking cans with a BB gun.

[AnalogGamer]

The pocket, and the '41 campaign, is done. Marginal in the Pocket, but was able to nab the captured T34. Unless there is a scripted way to stop the eternal waves, I can not see a DV happening. I waited until turn 18 to step out, and got slapped back. I roamed the West just fine, but the East was a horror show. Move forward a hex, and eat six enemy units.

I was able to re-learn my defensive system of "Rotate and Replenish" though. The conveyor belt of death. Everyone moves down the line one hex, with one edge unit going back and the other edge coming forward. Tanks would run up on an infantry unit, and the next turn I would rotate an 88 into their faces. My best hero of the battle was earned that way. An 88 got a +3 Attack. It is now god-like. A Fallshirm earned a +2 Attack and a KV earned a +2 Defense, to round out the top three earned.

Got an SE PzIVF to start the '42 East Campaign. Just over 30k Prestige after repairs but before purchases. 63 Units plus 5 SE. Can deploy 33. The pile just keeps growing with the gift units and captured ones. It may be just upgrades for a while. Can't think of a single thing I need MORE of, just BETTER.

The 21cm earning the range hero had me thinking of another unit for that commander... but the cost of replacement, and the effectiveness of a 4-range 21, changed my mind. The counter-battery KING. He only fires at AA and artillery, unless a heavy tank is threatening.

I am officially OVER looking at a white screen. Not to mention the brand new motorcycle unit that has never seen action, due to snow every battle since purchase.

[goose_2]

The pocket, and the '41 campaign, is done. Marginal in the Pocket, but was able to nab the captured T34. Unless there is a scripted way to stop the eternal waves, I can not see a DV happening. I waited until turn 18 to step out, and got slapped back. I roamed the West just fine, but the East was a horror show. Move forward a hex, and eat six enemy units.

I was able to re-learn my defensive system of "Rotate and Replenish" though. The conveyor belt of death. Everyone moves down the line one hex, with one edge unit going back and the other edge coming forward. Tanks would run up on an infantry unit, and the next turn I would rotate an 88 into their faces. My best hero of the battle was earned that way. An 88 got a +3 Attack. It is now god-like. A Fallshirm earned a +2 Attack and a KV earned a +2 Defense, to round out the top three earned.

Got an SE PzIVF to start the '42 East Campaign. Just over 30k Prestige after repairs but before purchases. 63 Units plus 5 SE. Can deploy 33. The pile just keeps growing with the gift units and captured ones. It may be just upgrades for a while. Can't think of a single thing I need MORE of, just BETTER.

The 21cm earning the range hero had me thinking of another unit for that commander... but the cost of replacement, and the effectiveness of a 4-range 21, changed my mind. The counter-battery KING. He only fires at AA and artillery, unless a heavy tank is threatening.

I am officially OVER looking at a white screen. Not to mention the brand new motorcycle unit that has never seen action, due to snow every battle since purchase.

I'm surprised you only were able to get a MV in Demyansk...I did my first time, but it was because I didn't leave the Bridge Units on the airfields...but I was able to get Decisive Victory...

Using the constant and relentless slow push of your units backed by arty should have made a Decisive Victory certain on this map, but it makes replay so much fun...

Any arty with +1 Move or +1 Range should be made Nebelwerfers they are beasts and super super effective at building up to multiple heroes...

Any inf that have been awarded +1 Spotting should be converted to Kradschutzen.

Keep playing around with 88's trying for +1 Movement and arty's going for the best 1st heroes...21cm arty's are no good imho because of their weak rof...

Thanks for the update and have fun in 41

[AnalogGamer]

I was surprised about the Marginal myself, since I fulfilled the objectives. No one got NEAR any of my airfields, and I got 5 planes in and deployed. I figured it was a glitch, since I got the SE unit right out of the gate in '42. Maybe the planes all had to be at 10, or actually stay in the airfields or something.

I thought it gave me the marginal because I didn't go get the enemy VL. I was a tad busy fighting off the waves of berserkers to go advancing too far.

The biggest error was keeping two infantry and a 170 sitting on the Western side for many turns, seeing no one. When I broke out into the West, I should have thrown support back East instead of going on walkabout. The Southern edge heading East was chock full of nasty things, and that was where I sent a column. I did the back-and-forth there for a few cycles. The column running north of that lake ran into the situation that I had the enemy under for a while. Squeezed into a tight geographical space. Every enemy died in a storm of fire, but many got away at least once, and there was just no end to them.

1942 will be approached with more humility. And better units.

[goose_2]

I was surprised about the Marginal myself, since I fulfilled the objectives. No one got NEAR any of my airfields, and I got 5 planes in and deployed. I figured it was a glitch, since I got the SE unit right out of the gate in '42. Maybe the planes all had to be at 10, or actually stay in the airfields or something.

They had to stay in the airfields

[AnalogGamer]

Well that sucks. I dropped them all at the closest airfield and immediately deployed them into battle on the Western edge. They were quite useful in mopping up AA and artillery. "Keep Control of" means the flag is mine, and never changed hands, in my book. I am quite the aggressive barbarian as well. Gimme kills and ground, or I'm doing it wrong. LOL

Replay value = 100% then. That is where I will start over to take the campaign to '42/'43 West.

[AnalogGamer]

By the view count this thread has, I suppose you should get a comprehensive status check for the beginning of the '42 East Campaign. The last few battles of '41 were hard and bloody, and taught me lessons in caution and humility that will be needed later.

Starting off in Vitebsk with 63 core and 5 SE units. Lost my SE PzIV due to stupidity and not saving, but got a PzIII next go-round. Some of my heroes may make the more experienced wince, but hey, I make 'em work situationally. I did and will continue to reload a turn when an arty gets a spotting hero or some such nonsense, so there is nothing stupid. "Autosave Axis" is better for me than "Disband".

Current OOB - All units have Hanomags except Fallschirm and Mountain troops - still at 100% soft cap

Inf - 15 units

2x Wehr Both with +1 INIT
3x Gren 1 is SE with +1 DEF +1 MOV, 1 other has +2 ATK +3 INIT
3x Fallschirm 1 with +1 MOV, 1 with +2 ATK
2x Mtn 1 with +1 DEF, 1 with +1 ATK
3x Pioneer 1 with +1 DEF and 1 with +3 INIT, +3 MOV, +1 DEF
1x Bridge with +1 DEF
1x Krads

Armor - 17 units

5x PzIII J/1 4x SE +1 INIT, ATK, DEF and SPOT divided amonst them.
4x PzIV F/2 1 with +1 ATK, 1 with +1 DEF, 1 with +2 ATK,DEF,SPOT, 1 with +1 ATK, DEF, MOV, SPOT and +2 INIT
1x Flamm with +1 DEF
1x Char B with +1 INIT
2x Matilda II
1x T34/40 with +1 INIT
1x T34/41
2x KV-1b 1 with +2 DEF

Recon - 2 units

2x 232 8Rad **edit** - 1 w/+2 ATK

A/T - 4 units

2x Marder 1A 1 with +1 DEF and 1 with +3 DEF
2x StuGIIIF

Artillery - 10 units (the only area I want to buy more)

4x 17cm 3 with +1 ATK
1x 21cm with +1 RNG (much more immersive for me, counter-battery limited use one hex back from the reaction line. future railgun)
1x StuGIIIB with +1 RNG
2x Sturmpanzer 1 with +1 ATK
2x Wurfrahmen

Anti-Aircraft - 3 units

2x 88mm 1 with +3 ATK
1x 7/2

Air - 17 units

7x Me 109F 1 w/+3 ATK, 2 w/+1 SPOT, 1 w/+2 ATK, 1 w/+2 DEF, 1 w/+2 ATK/INIT and +1 DEF, 1 w/+3 ATK and +2 DEF/INIT
3x Ju87D 1 w/+3 ATK, 1 w/+1 MOV, Uber-Rudel w/+9 ATK/DEF and +1 MOV
4x Bf110 1 w/+1 INIT, 1 w/+1 DEF, 1 w/+1 MOV, 1 w/+2 ATK and +6 INIT
2x He111
1x Do217e


More 88s and more artillery coming soon to a core near you.

[AnalogGamer]

OK, need advice.

How does one know when the Soviets get to go first? This affects my initial setup in various rather important ways. Had to re-deploy and start over after pressing start the first time.

[Elkarlo]

OK, need advice.

How does one know when the Soviets get to go first? This affects my initial setup in various rather important ways. Had to re-deploy and start over after pressing start the first time.

If it's a defensive battle you go last, or so it seems. If you're on the attack you move first.

[AnalogGamer]

Ah, I think I see now. If the briefing mentions soviets attacking or me defending, I should expect to go last.

On to Kharkov with a DV in 14 turns from Vitebsk. Nabbed another captured T34/41. I am piling on the tanks.

[hugh2711]

AnalogGamer; In my AAR thread I always in the top line say if the enemy goes first.

[AnalogGamer]

Thanks for the help! I am purposely avoiding AARs for the GC. I waited a long time to buy the GC and want to make my virgin run more-or-less Blind. Getting general assistance is welcome. Making sense of the briefing quirks is part of the learning process. The information is there, I just have to be aware of it. Reloading a turn due to blatant ignorance or a bad hero is fine with me. Reloading because I was stupid and lost a unit doesn't happen.

Vitebsk sorta pissed me off. The darn battle ended as soon as I got the fourth unit South. If I had known that I would have held it up for a few turns of killing and taking.

EDIT - Full Disclosure - I am not above looking at a "strategic view" snapshot for a few seconds with "fog of war" cheat enabled before deployment. If I am unsure as to what the briefing really meant, I will look at both air and ground units in the strat view screen, then turn FOW back on and deploy. No minute examination of unit types, etc. Just a general recon pass.

[turn4441]

Not to mention the 500 more prestige you could have earned (100 per turn for 5 more turns). Kharkov gives 200/turn and then you won't get any per turn prestige until the Stalingrad scenarios (50/turn in Storming/Docks/Ruins) and Tatsinskaya (150/turn). I assume this isn't a spoiler as the values are available at the beginning of each scenario anyway.

[AnalogGamer]

Kharkov went down with complete destruction of all enemy units, and capture of all flags, by turn 11. Booyah!

Another T34/41 in the bag as well. Blooding the new 105 with an infantry unit and the Krads, sweeping along North then down found the T34.

The Soviet air force is nastier all the time. Already bought a third 88. I do not like bringing as many fighters as bombers. The Soviet AA assets are plentiful and hurty.

Overall... between my play style, upgrades, new units and replacements, my Prestige hovers between 30-32K.

EDIT - Went back to my last turn at Kharkov and kept the last VL as a pet for the rest of the battle to collect maximum prestige. Now at 34k.


Also - Is it better to disband my new T34/41 or spend the 400+ prestige to take it to a much better PzIVG? I have a T34/40 and three /41s. The /40 has 3 stars and +1 INIT, so is upgrade-bound. The newer ones seem to be crowding the field. My Matildas have better usefulness defensively.

[goose_2]

Kharkov went down with complete destruction of all enemy units, and capture of all flags, by turn 11. Booyah!

Another T34/41 in the bag as well. Blooding the new 105 with an infantry unit and the Krads, sweeping along North then down found the T34.

The Soviet air force is nastier all the time. Already bought a third 88. I do not like bringing as many fighters as bombers. The Soviet AA assets are plentiful and hurty.

Overall... between my play style, upgrades, new units and replacements, my Prestige hovers between 30-32K.

EDIT - Went back to my last turn at Kharkov and kept the last VL as a pet for the rest of the battle to collect maximum prestige. Now at 34k.


Also - Is it better to disband my new T34/41 or spend the 400+ prestige to take it to a much better PzIVG? I have a T34/40 and three /41s. The /40 has 3 stars and +1 INIT, so is upgrade-bound. The newer ones seem to be crowding the field. My Matildas have better usefulness defensively.

Sell your useless tanks, ones with limited experience and just not worth the effort to train...

[captainjack]

As soon as you capture any KV1s your Matildas and Char B1 become effectively obsolete. Best sell them off unless they have a good hero.
The T34/40 is not a lot of use - weak gun, low ammo and low fuel. The 34/41 can be handy for the speed, fuel and initiative, especially as a group of three, but will become increasingly outdated once you start facing T34/43. Maybe keep them going until you get a hero - 3D or 3A (and maybe 2A/2D) could justify an upgrade, but otherwise sell them.
Having said that, it can still be useful keeping a couple of 3* tanks in reserve as you never know when you need to replace a loss and a 3* T34/41 will be cheaper and much more effective than a newly bought green Tiger. In most defensive scenarios, placing a fast tank on a deployment hex won't be much of an inconvenience compared with purchasing next to a city.

[AnalogGamer]

Thanks for the advice folks. I sold the '41s and upgraded the '40, since it had 3 stars and a INIT hero.

The Matildas and the Char are being held for cannon fodder in '44 or so. Tripwire units that activate artillery and AA while they evaporate. I can feel those battles coming already.

[TSPC37730]

Kharkov went down with complete destruction of all enemy units, and capture of all flags, by turn 11. Booyah!

Another T34/41 in the bag as well. Blooding the new 105 with an infantry unit and the Krads, sweeping along North then down found the T34.

The Soviet air force is nastier all the time. Already bought a third 88. I do not like bringing as many fighters as bombers. The Soviet AA assets are plentiful and hurty.

Overall... between my play style, upgrades, new units and replacements, my Prestige hovers between 30-32K.

EDIT - Went back to my last turn at Kharkov and kept the last VL as a pet for the rest of the battle to collect maximum prestige. Now at 34k.


Also - Is it better to disband my new T34/41 or spend the 400+ prestige to take it to a much better PzIVG? I have a T34/40 and three /41s. The /40 has 3 stars and +1 INIT, so is upgrade-bound. The newer ones seem to be crowding the field. My Matildas have better usefulness defensively.

IMO, you should probably upgrade you tanks twice. The ones from '39 should be upgraded to Pz III's or Pz IV's in '40. You can upgrade within the families until you get to '43. At that point, you should upgrade them to Panthers or Tigers. For tanks with movement heroes, I like to hold off on upgrading them until the Tiger II's are available.

As you capture T34's, KV & other tanks in '40 - '42, you should hold on to them, and occasionally deploy a few to gain some experience & hopefully a first hero. The game will be very tank heavy in '44, so, having some extra developed units will help. Once you hit the '43 upgrade point, you can switch over the ones with decent heroes & sell the rest to help cover the cost. I would, however, not upgrade until '43 in order to avoid the cost of upgrading twice.

[AnalogGamer]

After the nonsense that both my PzIIIs, and the captured T34s have given me, I was ready to wash my hands of at least one, and I have four SE PzIIIs. The T34s are dust. PzIVG is non-historically(imho) strong at this point, so the '40 with the hero went there. The captured '41s fed my 88 and 105 habit, as well as paying for the conversion mentioned earlier. My KVs are going nowhere. I love them both. 11-strength, +3 DEF KV-1 is a brick. I stand by my plan to use the Matildas and Char as early-battle, late-war cannon fodder. If I am going to get Cores zapped, they will be free ones that got experience early and easy, then waited for their chance to make that sacrifice. Two Matildas and a Char will not break my softcap.

One of my Wurfies got a Range hero! Enemy towed artillery just melts.