Slitherine

Should I change the Grenadiers into Pionieres?
Thanks for any opinions.

Regardless of the theatre of war, I always have both Grenadiers and Pionieres, a few Pionieres for mines or when a city needs to be taken quickly, and Grenadiers as they're generally the best infantry. Of course, a move hero is always handy to help with the lower move. Not really an answer to your question, but I've played Afrika Korps twice and don't remember doing any different as I always have more Pionieres anyway. It's been a while, but maybe AK has more minefields?

AK has more mines

I thought it might have... in that case, more Pionieres would definitely be helpful, even new ones if you don't want to convert your Grenadiers. I really enjoyed AK, good variety.

I did go with the Pioneers. I have another question. A M+1 is useful in the Grand Campaign for Pioneers and Grenadiers, but Will that work on a desert hex to give them a 3 hex ground movement?
Thanks.

Good question, I'd forgotten about that. It's probably 10 years since I last played AK so I can't remember to be sure. Hopefully someone else can help on this one.

rubyjuno wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2026 6:39 am Good question, I'd forgotten about that. It's probably 10 years since I last played AK so I can't remember to be sure. Hopefully someone else can help on this one.

I usually have mix of Pioneers and Grenadiers.

I'm currently banging my head against the wall on Gazala going for Italian Victory. Despite taking Bar Hachem and killing all the reserve British armor, the allies won't retreat off the defensive line. I've lost 3 in a row on this. Invariably I end up out of prestige and bleeding out to allied air power as time expires.

Well, I can't offer a great deal of help as it's many years since I played AK. But I used to write a short note against each scenario when I played it, and against Gazala I wrote, "Best scenario (in AK) so far, strategy needed thought, lost on first attempt." So I also lost at first and had to rethink it, so I guess that's what you need to do?

Sorry that's not a lot of help

All good, I'll pretend I'm still in the Course of Action Analysis step of MDMP and try again. Despite the losses, it is a fun scenario.

Edit: Now on my 4th attempt. Have yet to trigger the allied retreat. I keep ending up at around turn 18 with a collection of 2 and 3 strength units and only 500 prestige left.

The way to get them to retreat is to go East after taking Bir Hakeim. Get the airfield and then circle back to take Tobruk. As you start capturing that area, most times the British units will start to retreat. I don't start attacking with the Italians until late scenario. The exception is Gazala City. I use an R+1 artillery to help the Auxiliary units take it. There's a great AAR on page 1 called Afkika Corps- Italian Challenge on Rommel. It covers every scenario. I hope that this helps.

The AAR and the tips are helpful. Finally eeked out a Marginal Victory. Not sure if I have enough force/prestige left to continue on but that will be a problem for another day. Thanks.

Another tip, I go very artillery heavy in every Campaign that I play. IMO that really helps.

Unfortunately, I've had to abandon the campaign. Despite several attempts I end up out of prestige and bled out by the allied airpower in Alma Halfa. I can see why so few have the Italian Victory Steam achievement. It's pretty hard.

dantu wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2026 2:19 pm Unfortunately, I've had to abandon the campaign.

That's a shame. Afrika Korps is probably my favourite DLC, and the first I played after the core campaign that comes with the game. I played it first on Colonel as I was just learning, and enjoyed it so much that I played it again on Field Marshal. I like it because it offers different challenges. Oh well, good luck in what you try next.

I also play on Colonel. IMO you want to get fighters as your SE units. When a different type appears reload, until you get one. Another way is to use the All EQP cheat and buy one. Then use the Prestige cheat to refund the cost. You end up at the same place without all the reloading.

I did a fresh restart and it was going much better until Alma Halfa. I managed to get all decisive victories and take Malta. I find on Halfa i have to be very careful because the British tanks are such a threat to destroy even full strength units, but when I focus on force protection I simply run out of time. Frustrating for 4 3-star units to attack the Crocodile in the same turn and do zero damage to it. Maybe I'm just the king of unlucky rolls but it seems like they hit like hammers and my units hit like pillows.

Fun fact: a 12-strength, 2-star 6 Pounder AT gun will one shot an 8 strength, 348 experience Pioneer unit in half tracks even if it has to cross a canal to attack, not just once, but every single time. I replayed the allied turn 20 times and it happened every time. Someday I'll learn to start saving the game every turn but for today I'll be starting the scenario over.

Wow! I play dice chess and check the combat prediction, or if not possible in the case of enemy attacks I estimate potential losses during their turn, so I've usually got a decent idea of what damage I might take. There is still room for the odd nasty surprise though!