Grand Campaign East -Ultimate Difficulty - Chess Mode

[Delta66]

In this series of video I take a deep look at Panzer Corps Gold – Grand Campaign East, in Ultimate difficulty and Chess mode combat.

Foreword:
I strongly suggest you play the campaign several times on your own on lower difficulties before following this walk through. If you are new to the game, check my Tips for Beginners guide on Steam and at least discover each scenarios events and flow by yourself first. Some info here may spoil the fun of discovery.

To me the Grand Campaign East is the most interesting and challenging, and the more epic. It offers many choices for units upgrade paths and core building strategies.

Ultimate difficulty combines the three special difficulties of the base game. The combination of the three makes for a formidable challenge.
- Rommel, you earn only 50% prestige points.
- Manstein, each enemy units has +5 strength points.
- Guderian, each scenario last 5 less turns.

Chess Mode neutralize the RNG altogether. Most of the time I play with the RNG, but here, the main reason I choose Chess mode is because I find it is a great tool for study. You can reload as much as you want but you won’t get any better die rolls. If you want to have better result you must improve your tactics and strategies. It also makes it easier to compare one scenario playthrough to another.
It is somewhat easier than with the RNG, but certainly harder than RNG with reload. In practice you might take less damage if you are careful, but on the other hand you also tend to do less damage. Which is a problem in Ultimate with stronger enemy and less turn on the clock. Moreover using Chess mode I will set some extra challenge for me along the way.

So playing with un-modded Panzer Corps Gold edition, rules 1.20. With no cheat code.
The challenge is reload as much as you want and try to get the best result. I might reload poor heroes, but I won’t reload to get defender surprise when the AI attack.

Above all, I hope to show some good strategy and tactics. I think they should be solid in any lower difficulties. Yet I plan to reap all possible benefits from playing in Chess mode. For example if the combat prediction says zero loss for me, I might fire right away, whereas with the RNG I might add more suppression.

Please note that this thread is for CG East in Ultimate difficulty and Chess Mode, which is a big topic in itself. And not to discuss other campaigns, difficulties or modes. If you so desire that’s totally fine but please go make your own thread.

You are welcome to try it by yourself before looking at my playthrough.

This is my first ever video attempt, I hope to improve on some areas. and English is not my natural language

During the campaign I rename my units with the cumulative values of their heroes, using the following shortcuts:
- A for Attack
- D for Defense
- I for Initiative
- M for Movement
- R for Range
- S for Spotting range

- Here we go with 1939-1 Poznan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsccAPQGAMk

39-2 Danzig Corridor, things get more interesting as I can start to tailor my core to my play style
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W95JV_MvV0c

39-3 Lodz, this is a tough one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcBa0y-AGWE

39-4 Piatek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUIu09txMVg

39-5 Kampinsoka Forest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qix8zcMCEm0

39-6 Modlin, this one is really hard
https://youtu.be/mmHmntEsNcw

39-7 Warsaw South, first city fight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlnOMiipCEM

39-8 Spoils of War, first encounter with the Soviets
https://youtu.be/moE_FbUWCAw

39-9 Oslo
https://youtu.be/y02Xb_faTKs

39-10 Lillehammer
https://youtu.be/2ShK8pGejWA

39-11 Narvik
https://youtu.be/imvA1BRpIHw

*******************************************************
40-1 Eben Emael
https://youtu.be/I-AZfU5G9eM

40-2 Albert Canal
https://youtu.be/8RL--bCZUuA

40-3 The Hague
https://youtu.be/CZyiaShHiUI

40-4 Sedan, this one is challenging
https://youtu.be/X3gCqSi62Mg

40-5 Stonne, a straightforward attack
https://youtu.be/aTirVk4okQE

40-6 Wassigny, a wild fight
https://youtu.be/CDjTLtDxd38

40-7 Amiens
https://youtu.be/ciFgXCIGb6Y

40-8 Dunkirk, a tense short fight
https://youtu.be/JX85AgEzvg0

40-9 Reims
https://youtu.be/erYdzqU7KVI

40-10 Dijon
https://youtu.be/aPkB0TGf73M

40-11 Maginot Line, storming a fortified position
https://youtu.be/iVUrDFeylx8

***************************************************
41-1 Belgrade, this year start with an easy scenario
https://youtu.be/PewocCN2jPQ

41-2 Metaxas Line
https://youtu.be/JCzA-yn_KaM

41-3 Crete Airborne
https://youtu.be/df8EF_PBPfE

41-4 Minsk, entering the Soviet Union
https://youtu.be/2y4_D9j2sIA

41-5 Smolensk
https://youtu.be/5gSnwkLA_mU

41-6 Ostrov
https://youtu.be/87-csbfcJ38

41-7 Novgorod
https://youtu.be/l7j_GRs1Khw

41-8 Leningrad
https://youtu.be/I8OdVaxOGgk

41-9 Vyazma
https://youtu.be/LIoNLSQvAlM

41-10 Streets of Moscow
https://youtu.be/-d1Br3wxC7E

41-11 Demyansk Pocket
https://youtu.be/UvYIGjL0gJ8

*****************************************************
42-1 Vitebsk
https://youtu.be/FgZL4bdXS5k

42-2 Kharkov
https://youtu.be/kNfvB1DZxSg

42-3 Simferopol
https://youtu.be/wId8aEWOBy8

42-4 Sevastopol Assault
https://youtu.be/y42RGpA_Wlo

42-5 Voronezh
https://youtu.be/MvOE2GrmzKc

42-6 Novoanninsky
https://youtu.be/By8idEpmXns

42-7 Ilovlya
https://youtu.be/yxSy57F3w9g

42-8 Buzinovka Depot
https://youtu.be/bwOo5OpiAag

42-9 Storming Stalingrad
https://youtu.be/EaVGqv5s5aQ

42-10 Stalingrad Docks
https://youtu.be/9c_EG2dyoZg

42-11 Stalingrad Ruins
https://youtu.be/M48u03v2ACc

42-12 Kotelnikovo
https://youtu.be/4BuRVyIFMDk

*************************************************************

43-1 Kharkov
https://youtu.be/zSl1gnOwHA8

43-2 Belgorod
https://youtu.be/XMNIdWFRprA

43-3 Orel
https://youtu.be/2dSAG77jiVo

43-4 Yakovlevo
https://youtu.be/apV6EA-Tlc8

43-5 Oboyan
https://youtu.be/BkYXu4saZkw

43-6 Kursk Armoury South
https://youtu.be/RT5EVSTNPmM

43-7 Prohkorovka
https://youtu.be/DHfFBksiJX0

43-8 Dnipropetrovsk
https://youtu.be/aKzmG74tKlE

43-9 Kremenchug
https://youtu.be/zWWwR1F2qOA

43-10 Kiev
https://youtu.be/Bndt2Rt0VlA

******************************************************

44-1 Korsun Pocket
https://youtu.be/4EhrDTPfziU

44-2 Korsun Breakout
https://youtu.be/FdskdGI1hkM

44-3 Jassy-Kishinev
https://youtu.be/LE61Fkk2YZU

44-4 Poltava South
https://youtu.be/zUNESq6BKmE

44-5 Mogilev South
https://youtu.be/yaeRr6wYP1M

44-6 Babruysk South
https://youtu.be/NxPc2wZv7dU

44-7 Minsk south
https://youtu.be/YrKpU5cGjEg

44-8 Vilna South
https://youtu.be/0Q1tIW57OUQ

44-9 Warsaw Uprising South
https://youtu.be/aF7mP9PuDCE

44-10 Return to Kishinev
https://youtu.be/u0CEzdQ05wg

44-11 Budapest
https://youtu.be/KFrwrpRHmec

******************************************************

45-1 Goldap
https://youtu.be/4nD9ZEoXSM0

45-2 Pelleninkin
https://youtu.be/aGHyVzVE-3A

45-3 Parck
https://youtu.be/Xg8jfg8uPtM

45-4 Laptau
https://youtu.be/M6a6zkkeKGQ

45-5 Osterode
https://youtu.be/jFMjMXlIBUE

45-6 Poznan
https://youtu.be/hWwUmIpcNJg

45-7 Breslau
https://youtu.be/Pj3itFX9tEQ

45-8 Budapest
https://youtu.be/15kt4bHYRgw

45-9 Seelow Heights
https://youtu.be/KiFyg12PXgk

45-10 Berlin
https://youtu.be/01LZSCtsmi8

45-11 Berlin Redux
https://youtu.be/v2xdR0IlwT8

45-12 Epilogue
https://youtu.be/vsETORtuo84


***************************************************
Final game save:

Epilogue, Turn 10-GC East Ultimate Chess.zip

(98.19 KiB) Downloaded 24 times

[rubyjuno]

Panzer Corps Grand Campaign East Replay-Ultimate-Chess- Part I

- Here we go with 1939.1 Poznan

https://youtu.be/2dmL0Cl6RG0?si=5mBgh0Hbn9f-WJkT

Thanks for sharing.

[Locarnus]

Chess Mode neutralize the RNG altogether. Most of the time I play with the RNG, but here, the main reason I choose Chess mode is because I find it is a great tool for study. You can reload as much as you want but you won’t get any better die rolls. If you want to have better result you must improve your tactics and strategies. It also makes it easier to compare one scenario playthrough to another.
It is somewhat easier than with the RNG, but certainly harder than RNG with reload. In practice you might take less damage if you are careful, but on the other hand you also tend to do less damage. Which is a problem in Ultimate with stronger enemy and less turn on the clock. Moreover using Chess mode I will set some extra challenge for me along the way.

I agree with that.
RNG with many reloads is cherry picking, thus a strait buff to the player.
The main issue with chess mode is imho that some units can't damage other ones at all, instead of having a very small chance just below the 1 casualty threshold.

Personally I like some rng, but with "reform units" custom difficulty turned on.
Without reform units, a unit loss is a direct reload for most players, especially on longer campaigns.

Looking forward to seeing some milestones and especially the evolving core composition of your ultimate playthrough.

[Delta66]

The main issue with chess mode is imho that some units can't damage other ones at all, instead of having a very small chance just below the 1 casualty threshold.

Absolutely. This is even more painful in Ultimate, with 5 turns less (and stronger units).
Typical examples are early in the war few enemy have AA capability. So you can make ground attack "for free" with your fighters once you have destroyed the enemy air force. However in Chess mode you'll do 0 damage most of the time.
Another common tactic is to use strategic bombers to weaken heavy fort, like in the Modlin scenario. Here again you'll only scratch the bunker paint. And in 1939 your artillery will either do 0 or 1 damage not 4!
Moreover you'll pay full price for you mistakes, and won't escape with lucky dice roll.

This is the bad side of chess mode but it has also benefits. And also reloading in chess allowed me to find new more efficient tactics, that I wouldn't discover with the RNG.

I have previously played GC East in Manstein with the RNG, and was successful. And I also tend to use reform units too.
Indeed this is just the start of the campaign. And things get more interesting later

[faos333]

all the best in your campaign

[Delta66]

I just realized that the first video I uploaded was not in Chess Mode but with the RNG instead. hence some minor inconsistencies between the core units in my first two scenarios

I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience.
I uploaded the correct Poznan video in Chess mode.

Actually this is a case where I get a better result with the RNG than in Chess mode.

[Barsbay]

Can you please tell me how Ultimate is unlocked? I have unlocked Man/Gud/Rom but not sure how to unlock ultimate.

[Delta66]

https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30415