GC43 Core musings

[PanzerTum]

There is not a lot that hasn't been said already on almost every subject in this game.

The start of the 1943 Campaign is a decision moment for both strategy and resulting upgrades.
In this excellent thread started by Goose a lot of thoughts going into the core composition can be found.

https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewto ... s+ultimate

My thoughts sofar based on Tatsinskaya and 10 turns of Kharkov 43.

Infantry:
Gravitating towards a grenadier heavy infantry force. 43 gebirgsjaeger seem vulnerable and pioniere always take more damage than expected.
Main infantry 4 3-move grenadiers, 3 gebirgsjaeger, 2 Pioniere (Oleh Dir is one of them) and 2 fallschirmjaegers.
I also have 3 kradschutzen but they haven't been used anymore in the 2nd half of 1942.
Infantry backed by artillery is not sufficient anymore for the frontline, it has to be armour backed by artillery.

Artillery:
I have the feeling that my light artillery is overrepresented at the moment. The 10,5 & 21cm nebelwerfer hardly suppress the soviet armour anymore. So maybe I need more heavy calibers eventhough the ROF is worse.
At the moment I have 3 10,5 arty, 3 17cm, 3 3-range 21cm nebelwerfer, 2 StuH 42 and 1 Su122. Unfortunately I lost my last sturmpanzer in Tatsinskaya.
I doubted the upgrade of the StuG IIIB to StuH 42 but after I tried one I was convinced of this highly flexible unit.

Tanks
The cream of the crop lately have been my highly experienced 2 KV1b's. i also have a KV1c which is starting to climb the experience ladder. They were the king of the battlefield in '42.
Kharkov will see 2 or 3 tiger 1's in the SE force. Still debating If I should take a green Tiger 1 since even as a green unit they can hold their own and start building experience.
The Flamm panzers are nice but I see them as infantry units really. In armour heavy scenarios they may not get fielded.

Antitank
Three StuG IIIG at the moment, one fairly unexperienced. Maybe i should post it as a bridge guarding unit in Kharkov 43.

Anti-air
3 88 units, 2 SpAA 7/1 and 1 SpAA 7/2. No move heroes alas sofar.
Mobility in frozen condition is pretty dreadful but other than that they hold their own and are proving their value more and more.

Fighters.
6 FW 190. i decided to also upgrade Kittel to a FW190 although you have to be careful how you attack and where you position the fighter. Nowotna on a BF109G is on the back benches.

Tac Bombers
Here i am wondering if it is wise to continue using them. It will be more and more difficult to prevent significant damage as time goes on. In Tatsinskaya I only used Rudel and did not feel I was missing anything.
I have 3 experienced Ju87D's and three experienced BF110G including Lent.

Three level bombers at the moment, still a bit doubtful to deploy them fully overstrengthed since they cost so much.

Kharkov will be a battle with lots of armour, probably 5 fighters, 5 or 6 infantry, 10 or 11 artillery.

We will see what Kharkov 43 brings..

[rubyjuno]

Interesting thoughts. I'm on GC43 Olkhovatka, back after taking an extended break from the GC to try a few mods. All my SE units are Tigers, I also have a couple of Panthers and 2 Stug IIIGs. My arty is mainly 17cm, plus a couple of Nebelwerfers and Hummels (handy for mobility). I have some range and movement heroes in there. I realise it won't last, but up to now I've still been able to use my air force to dominate the skies, keeping an eye out for enemy AA. The strategic bombers are invaluable for suppression, and my tactical bombers are powerful enough to be useful as long as my fighters (all FW190s) are around for back up. Enemy air units do still appear from the FOW unexpectedly, so it pays to keep things tight. I also have 2 88s and 2 mobile AA. My infantry units are a mix - I like the Pionieres for mines/assaults, but as you say, they and the Gebirgsjaegers seem to take a lot of damage. I don't over strength any units. I took a break because it was becoming a bit of a slog - apart from the objectives, the AI has quite a few well defended towns and units in the countryside. The terrain is often hilly and woody, making progress slow. But I decided I needed to get back to it... after all it's a great game.

[LevV]

i play on Rommel now, and with limited prestige i try not to do excess upgrades. for that matter i dont use any captured equipment. also i still have 3 SE pz 3-4 in Olkhovatka and i plan to keep them to later upgrade them straight to tiger 2, even though they are already of limited use. i try to do more with tigers and elephants, keep stugs and 3-4 for a safer missions or ambushes. i just upgraded one of two pz1's to panther as an example.
i also suggest over-strengthening artillery and AA to the max, that should save more in the long run i guess. i also overstrength powerful units which are supposed to do max one hit kills. of course it isnt blind play for me, so i have at least general idea of most maps.
for offensive on fortified victory points i like to use over strengthened pioneers, they are saving time in my view. other infantry units are used mostly for screening purposes, trying to keep them cheap to minimize repair costs. this will have to change when the scenarios will become defensive ones.

[PanzerTum]

i play on Rommel now, and with limited prestige i try not to do excess upgrades. for that matter i dont use any captured equipment.

Why wouldn't you use captured equipment? Upgrading to Panthers and Tigers is at full cost I think, so why not upgrade an experienced KV instead of a PzIII that is not so useful anymore and difficult to keep alive to boot.
I am starting Belgorod with 2 4 star KV1B and 2 2 start KV1C. They are very reliable and take less damage than German panzers III and IV.
Also the 2 SU-122 mobile artillery units are a welcome addition to my forces.

[LevV]

Why wouldn't you use captured equipment? Upgrading to Panthers and Tigers is at full cost I think, so why not upgrade an experienced KV instead of a PzIII that is not so useful anymore and difficult to keep alive to boot.
I am starting Belgorod with 2 4 star KV1B and 2 2 start KV1C. They are very reliable and take less damage than German panzers III and IV.

i mostly use only SE tanks up until 1943 + 2 unique heroes. even if i used more non-SE tanks in my core they would be more experienced than KV by the time Tiger arrives. KV, especially C type can certainly save some nerves but in the long run i think it is useless to bother dealing with it. may be my mind would change if game allowed to upgrade from KV1A to KV1B to KV1C (same with t34, which for a strange reason is never given to axis in 43 version)...otherwise i am lazy to hex edit save games to get that, i did that before and it wasnt a big game changer anyway.

[rubyjuno]

i also suggest over-strengthening artillery and AA to the max, that should save more in the long run i guess. i also overstrength powerful units which are supposed to do max one hit kills.

I see your point, but I tend to avoid over strengthening units because by GC1943 it starts to affect the soft cap. I tried over strengthening just my 6 towed artillery and 3 towed AA and it took the soft cap down to 80%. Add to that the actual cost of over strengthening and prestige takes quite a hit. I suppose it's a balancing act as to how much prestige is saved/gained by having stronger units against the cost in prestige and soft cap reduction. I don't have the answer...

[Kawaleria]

Hello,

i played this campaign at Manstein level twice. its really important to manage prestige wise and dont exaggerate with overstrenght. I think its a good idea not to overstrenght units with defensive heroes. more economic way to give it to those with attack heroes. Overall prestige sum starts to evaporate since mid 1944 and then its getting nasty

regarding army composition. I realise its very important to have 3 Stukas with +3 or even +5 attack heroes. these units play strategic role, you can either bomb a dangerous tank or an artillery Su 152 ISU 152 etc lowering their exp before direct engagement. Also they are relativly cheap even at 14 str.

Anti air units with range heroes are key also. you simply cant take russians out of the sky using only planes. Sometimes I field only 1-2 strikers during '44 scenarios. saving prestige. and 4-5 anti air units.

I am a big fan of anti tank units. as war progress these have more significant role. each exp poing gives extra +2 hard attack. With introduction of Stug IIIG they are better then tanks only to be beaten by Tiger II in '45. Jagdtiger is excellent. You can also upgrade to Stug IV the best german artillery to supress heavy russian tanks.

Another factor level bombers with attack heroes are also decisive. Since they get the hero they very fast gain exp and kills to achive a second hero.

1944 and 1945 scenarios are easier then in previous years but lack of prestige make '44 hard.