Slitherine

Never Ending Game... GC 44 East Log Manstein diff

As I have mentioned before and I still believe “Panzer Corps is a never ending Game! Something with a potential to be replayed time after time, a never ending story”.

We continue with Panzer Corps GC 44 East sharing maps, tactics and screenshots from my recent playthrough.

Before we begin let’s see at the core units status at the start of 44.
Only 6 units have three heroes at the end of 1943.
In terms of experience at the start of 44:
Twenty six units have gained 5 stars exp, while at the same time quite a lot of units have reached 4 stars exp.
This is partly due to the Manstein level of difficulty +5 strength to enemy units, results in more kills and more surrenders.

Opening statement: 1944 advance in the opposite direction!

Starting campaign GC 44 East prestige: 76.457

Things have changed a lot from since summer 1943; the war is going in the opposite way and thus, we advance in the opposite direction! This means we are under constant pressure retreating towards the west, the once glorious Wehrmacht is definitely on the losing the path, the war is going to be lost.

In the midst of this we stand and fight and the first scenario Korsun Pocket is definitely a defensive map.
For those enjoying the defense is a great map. Also, for us in Manstein difficulty it will be fan too!

The playthrough is not blind, the Game Editor is used to find out about triggers, weather, enemy forces etc.

Also, lots of videos watched in You Tube from great players from which I have thankfully learned a lot tricks such as Soren Tjerry, Richard Martin, Robbie Plays Strategy games, Huckc, Lt Joker, Frontline, braccada and finally Goose, who is attempting an Ultimate walk through now

In case you want a replay file, please send me a message with your email.

GC 44 objectives of playthrough

As a general consideration, the player has to balance between the soft cup, the types of units to win the map and which units should earn more exp, heroes etc.
But in 1944 things are getting tougher and fewer units can be deployed usually per scenario.

So, the 44 campaign objectives are:
A] Gain more heroes; especially acquire a third hero for units close to it. Kill counts matters so to able to earn heroes. Since from 1001-2000 a unit can earn a 3rd hero. From 301-1000 can earn a second hero, while the first hero appears from 101 – 300.
B] Earn more experience, especially the newer core units. In that sense super heroes like Ole Dir already at 515 exp and three heroes, will be used only when absolutely necessary.
C} Develop the core units’ composition so survival is guaranteed till the end in 45.


Personally, I go for developing a core consisting of the following at the end of 45:
12 infantry plus two SE infantry, 7 tanks plus six SE tanks, 3 Anti/Tank, 4 Anti/Air, 12 artillery (plus two reserve Wurfrahmen),
7 fighter plus two SE in 45, 5 Tactical Bombers and 4 Strategic Bombers
This way I can have many deployment choices in every scenario in 44 and 45.

Keep in mind, that in Berlin 45 you can deploy 45 units and in Berlin Redux the final battle 50 units.
So, in 44 you should decide how many units of each type you should develop.

1] Korsun Pocket

Situation is tough Korsun threatens to be a second Stalingrad, unless we hold and then break out.
We do not fear them, even the dreaded heavy enemy armor units like IS 1, ISU 122, or KVs will teach them a lesson!
I suggest using a counter clockwise defense in this map.In other words use your units in counter clock style.
Look at the map below and see point 1 this is your first local attack, then switch to point 2, then 3 and finally defend in point 4.



Scenario info:
24 January 1944
Turns 20
The objective of the scenario is to escort at least four supply Junkers to Korsun airfields
DV prestige 1.000
Prestige per turn 0
First side SU
Weather probability at the opening turns to snow 10%, clouds 15%
AI experience: 200 (2 stars) with the exception of few units that are 300
Auxiliary units: a lot, but majority of them eliminated during the opening turns.

New core units offered in the scenario: In turn 3 an experienced core Tiger I hero Litzke and a Gebirgsjäger hero Hetzenauer come as reinforcements from the south at 1800.
Total units to deploy 33 plus the SE units

Enemy airforce amounts 13 units mostly coming from a south and west direction
5 units south west turn 1
5 units south 6 o’clock turn 1
4 units south east turn 12
4 units north west turn 14


Among the core units deployed:
5 infantry, plus two SE
6 Tiger I tanks, plus four SE
2 StuG
10 artillery pieces
Anti-air: 88 x2
5 fighters
3 Stukas and 1 HS 129
1 level bomber

In case of the ultimate settings, with a DV can be achieved by turn 15

For any questions, feel free to ask.
Thanks

faos333 wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 2:44 pm GC 44 objectives of playthrough

As a general consideration, the player has to balance between the soft cup, the types of units to win the map and which units should earn more exp, heroes etc.
But in 1944 things are getting tougher and fewer units can be deployed usually per scenario.

So, the 44 campaign objectives are:
A] Gain more heroes; especially acquire a third hero for units close to it. Kill counts matters so to able to earn heroes. Since from 1001-2000 a unit can earn a 3rd hero. From 301-1000 can earn a second hero, while the first hero appears from 101 – 300.
B] Earn more experience, especially the newer core units. In that sense super heroes like Ole Dir already at 515 exp and three heroes, will be used only when absolutely necessary.
C} Develop the core units’ composition so survival is guaranteed till the end in 45.


Personally, I go for developing a core consisting of the following at the end of 45:
12 infantry plus two SE infantry, 7 tanks plus six SE tanks, 3 Anti/Tank, 4 Anti/Air, 12 artillery (plus two reserve Wurfrahmen),
7 fighter plus two SE in 45, 5 Tactical Bombers and 4 Strategic Bombers
This way I can have many deployment choices in every scenario in 44 and 45.

Keep in mind, that in Berlin 45 you can deploy 45 units and in Berlin Redux the final battle 50 units.
So, in 44 you should decide how many units of each type you should develop.

Two SE fighters?
Are you playing with a different equipment file or did I miss something?

PeteMitchell wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 1:08 pm .......... Two SE fighters?
Are you playing with a different equipment file or did I miss something?

Two Me 109's they are offered towards the end in 45 by the game. I use the standard equipment file.

Are yes, OK... true...

For Korsun Pocket AAR I have also created a You Tube video replay.
It’s an experiment (not sure if it will be continued to all maps) in which I down size the battle video time so to be close to 30+ minutes duration, since it has no commentary and I believe it’s kind of repetitive to watch the whole battle, without voice comments

Instead, I created a shorter video that includes several new experiments:
* A music intro at the beginning to get in the mood
* Replay action so to view opponent moves
* Map zoom out at the beginning so to view the overall map situation
* In video animations zooming in and out at 12.53’’ at the battle against Lt. Shichskin a 3* strength 18, which is the most dangerous unit of the map
* Shout outs from the units involved in this action at 12.58’’
* On the minus side, the video is a bit off centered, next time I will try to fix this

SEE THE VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/WJxho-M3oQo

Hope you like it

Great! Absolutly stunning play for me... I finished today GC 1943 DLC and now i focus to DLC 1944 start. So your play will inspire me to improve defend.

It has been quite some time with no updates on this AAR, the 44 campaign it has been almost played and finished, but I devoted lots of time to making BE videos and at the same time busy work schedule, prohibited the AAR construction. Hopefully in September we will continue until we finish this 44 AAR.