Slitherine

- This campaign is played at Field Marshal difficulty with all rules enabled.
- I didn't continue with my 1939 campaign core but started the 1940 Grand Campaign.

I will add a report for every scenario I played.
The report format will change slightly; I will also watch for odd tiles and text errors after the battle (view battlefield) and check the location in Google Maps plus occasionally read about the battle. The same for the text of the briefing and debriefing.


Eben-Emael: Decisive Victory turn 11 of 15

No losses, bought 1 Bf 109E, 1 Ju 87B, 1 Ju 88A. Upgraded the Panzer I to Panzer IV and the Pioniere got a half-track.

This is a wonderful scenario! Maybe one of the best Panzer Corps scenarios.
It portrays the surprise attack very well and is also very deep. You can bang your head against the defenses from the East if you want, or you can break through and attack them from the rear. That's what I did. Eben-Emael itself is very interesting. I was unlucky and my paratrooper dropped in the swamps. You can also exploit the low ammo supply of the fortress. How about attacking with a fighter after the first ground attack just to deplete it of ammo, so that your Pioniere take no damage at all.

Maastricht was still difficult to take, the AA gun near Liege was also a nuisance. I even got attacked by two bombers. The objectives are clear, it is more difficult than Poland. An experienced 1939 campaign core army might have it easier. I noticed a surprising amount of Infantry near Margraten in the final turns, I used them as practice targets.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/684/ebenemael.jpg/

I am not sure about the Prestige for this scenario. If you start the campaign with this scenario it is about right, maybe even a little too much. I hope and assume it is significantly lower for a 1939 core army? Maybe Horseman can comment on this.


Text errors
Briefing:
Fallschirmjager -> Fallschirmjäger
Maastrict -> Maastricht
Map: Hex 13,4 Maastrict -> Maastricht



Albert Canal: Decisive Victory turn 19 of 21

Initial Prestige: 1496 -> End Prestige: 878
Bought a Bf 109E and replaced losses -> 801 Prestige
Disbanded both paratroopers: They could only be deployed in the air. I could have bought them a truck but decided to replace them with a Grenadier in a truck or halftrack and a Sturmpanzer I.
Upgraded the 105mm artillery to 155mm -> 408 Prestige
Losses during this scenario: Panzer IV (to a British cruiser and French armored car)

A wonderful scenario! Quite challenging early on. I was outnumbered and had to turtle with artillery and tanks between Hoeselt, Dries and Sint-Truiden. There were even lots of bombers but only few fighters escorting them. The AI also built tons of bombers and sent them after my artillery an especially the Sturmpanzer. I had to use my 8.8 Flak to shoot tanks, infantry and everything else. It wasn't always efficient but it was needed – I felt I didn't have enough units to cover the whole front. The bridge victory hexes were the doom of the defenders – I often used this against the attacker. I killed them on the bridge and took it with a recon unit that moved out after re-capturing. Worked nicely.

I really like this scenario. The enemy tanks were also a threat, resulting in the loss of a Panzer IV. The Belgian Infantry has a good ground defense, they are not easy to kill.

After roughly turn 10 the attackers were dealt with and I went fort he decisive victory. Which was not easy, many rivers and a good position for defense. I found it too easy to conquer Brussels! It was barely defended and provided me with a lot of Prestige. I had to use standard reinforcements during this scenario as I took heavy casualties and could not afford elite replacements for all units. Good! I still wonder if Brussels should not be defended better or have less flags for Prestige.

I already like the 1940 campaign a lot more than the 1939 campaign!
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/845/albertc.jpg/

Text errors
Briefing: OK
Map:
9,9 Heist-op-den-berg -> Heist-op-den-Berg
15,2 Diest -> Dries
18,18 Sint-Truiden -> could not be found on the map, maybe this city got renamed after WW2.

(Sidenote: The game switched to windowed mode when loading several times by now.)

The Hague: DV turn 14 of 18

Starting Prestige: 1378 -> End Prestige 176
I upgraded my recon unit to a 8rad, the Pz38t to a PzIIIF and bought a third Stuka.
After that the scenario started with 750 Prestige.

Text errors:
19,26 Dordecht -> Dordrecht
Victory Conditions screen: auxiliaru units -> auxiliary


A very nice scenario! I like the idea to race to rescue the paratroopers. Plus it isn't easy, tanks and lots of Infantry (the Netherlands are the true Eastern Front!) made things difficult. In turn 9 I had rain for one turn only, a strong counter-attack hit me in the rear while I was advancing towards The Hague. Thankfully it stopped raining! Nevertheless I lost paratroopers and my units were often in danger due to prolonged engagements. I had to spend lots of Prestige on reinforcements. Valkenburg AFB could not be saved. The Ju88 sank three destroyers.

I think this scenario is quite fine as it is!
Minor complaint: the dutch air defense was extremely ineffective and spread out. But okay, the total air supremacy of the Luftwaffe is historically accurate.
Thumbs up, I really like the interesting objectives and victory conditions of the Westfeldzug so far.

Still... I think this is the first scenario where Prestige was quite tight in the end. Maybe a little more and less Prestige in previous scenarios and especially the 1939 Poland/Norway Grand Campaign.

From now on DLC Beta 2!

Sedan: DV 12/18

Start Prestige: 776
End Prestige: 642
Losses: 1 Panzer IVD, 1 Panzer IIIF SE

Bought a Panzer IVD. Unfortunately the loss was an experienced veteran IVD. Replaced the lost unit with a PzIIIF - more ground defense. I expect my tanks to face even more armor in future!

This scenario is pretty nice! I ignored Charleville - everyone who doesn't probably will regret it. I noticed that 4 Hotchkiss tanks are there when viewing the battlefield. Suggestion: Any chance to make them active a little earlier? They never moved.

The enemy counter-attack with several heavy tanks is hard, but it doesn't last long. Stukas will take care of that! The Panzerjäger IB you might still have is great for cracking bunkers and tanks.
I didn't find Sedan hard to take at all. Using the ferries can be advantageous but remember that disembarking costs you basically a turn. I lost my units near Wadelincourt and the Ferry Dock south of Sedan. Not related to ferrying them over, I wanted to take the two undefended cities quickly and got surprised by an armored counterattack.

Prestige was well balanced, I could replace my losses. Seems this scenario was nerfed.

My only complaint is that the Hotchkiss tanks did not drive South or East even after several objectives were under attack or taken already.
The same inactivity has befallen the airfield at 2,12. There were a fighter and a bomber that didn't move while I was attacking them with 3 BF109 and 1 Me110 for one turn. Then the bomber suddenly moved after a turn without any action. Strange behaviour!


A good scenario, mainly to be remembered because of a strong counter attack right after I took Sedan. Not as cool as the Hague though!



Map / Text Errors:

Pussmange -> Pussemange
Charleville-Mezieres is okay, but is Charleville-Mézières not possible?

Poix-Terron - Donchery - Sedan: The distance between these cities is vastly different on a real world map. Seems as if Poix-Terron had to be squeezed on the map. Donchery is much closer to Sedan in reality and Poix-Terron much more west.


Now dear reader, please tell me: Which path do you consider harder, more rewarding or in general more worth of testing?

Maubeuge/British
or
Stonne/French

Stonne and the French didn't get changed much in the new update.
Maubeuge and the British did get a pretty big update, especially Arras.

Other comment on French path seems that it is tough, but well put together, so more input on new British is welcome.

Maubeuge: DV 16 / 18

Start Prestige: 2642
End Prestige: 596

I bought a Sturmpanzer I and repaired my units, leaving me with 1836 at the start of the scenario.

Special observations: I was almost done at 13 / 18 when suddenly a lone Belgian Infantry appeared besides Mons!
I had to send the whole airforce, the 8rad Recon, 3 tanks and artillery south just to stop it and a slew of Belgian Infantry.
This was probably an anomaly of my scenario and not the norm, it just shows what happens if you ignore enemy positions in your rear.

The fun of this scenario are the enemy tanks - and the British HW infantry in cities and forests.
The HW infantry in the forest on the way to Cambrai and the Cruiser tanks below Lille almost killed 3 units - I got twice away with 1-2 STR.
This scenario introduces a new quality of enemy material. The BEF are roughly your equals in terms of equipment.
I liked the strong Flak at Lille. One shot down 7 STR points of a BF 109 and I really feared the fighter would get killed completely.

(Sidenote: Cruiser I gets 3 Close Defense while Cruiser IV gets 1 only while only gaining 1 ground defense? The removal of the extra front machine guns is said to have improved the front armor. My issue is if +1 movement and +1 ground armor are really an improvement over -2 close defense. Infantry killed the Cruiser in the forest easily.)


Suggestions:
1.) Some extra defenses for Cambrai and or Douai.
2.) Less Prestige. While I ended with 592 only I used Elite replacements extensively as I felt I had more than enough Prestige.

Text errors: Zero!
La Louviere could become La Louvière but that's it.

Edit: Got a lot of Cross of Irons and one Hero. Guess people mention that always because of the change to hero acquisition rate in the more detailed Grand Campaigns. So here we go. I didn't deem it necessary to report that so far.

Arras: DV 23 / 24

Start Prestige: 1596 (+1000, had 596 at the end of Maubeuge)
End Prestige: 177

I started with 1037 Prestige after extensive & expensive repairs.
Maybe I had used elite replacements too often in the last battle, as I would suffer from lack of Prestige during the last third of this scenario.

Some Aux units got lost, no core unit. But it was often close and heavy losses cost tons of Prestige.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/9382/arras.jpg
Arras after turn 23. Note that this was a last ditch effort to take Arras in time.


Where to start. I really like this scenario but think while I got by far too much Prestige in Maubeuge this time it was not enough.
I dipped to zero several times and only a busy recon unit could capture Prestige in the rear of Arras. Without that things could have ended in a Minor Victory.

The best feature of this scenario is the huge front. North, Center, South. This requires some planning and shuffling of units.
I bet the enemy tanks attack straight East from Arras. Well, the first wave came in the North. I counter attacked timidly in the South.
When the North was done an attack in the Center occurred.
Then in the South. Then I advanced in the South and suddenly 5 Cruisers and Matilda appeared to face my lone Panzer III, a 8.8 Flak, Artillery, a Pak and a PanzerJäger IB. There was also a lot of Infantry following the tanks. This counter attack at the end was the worst. Barely could reinforce the many losses, ran out of Prestige.
The enemy airforce also shot Stukas from 10 to 3 two times, and there were never enough Stukas do deal with all the tanks. The Hurricane was a bitch, and the bombers dangerous and I had only 3 BF109 and 1 Me110 to take care of the mess.

A very interesting scenario. I love it that it gives you a choice to counter-attack or just stay defensive.
Maybe it was my wait for the attack, fend it off, attack... and get driven back again strategic failure that cost me so much Prestige.

There were very nice defensive positions, like the lake near Moevres. I could also use the 8.8 sometimes to wtfpwn tanks, very nice. Felt a bit like Rommel himself!

Verdict: Very nice and enjoyable scenario that is a rare and well done mix of offense and defense. Big thumbs up! A very fluid battle.
This scenario should stay this way, I just think it should give a lot more Prestige while Maubeuge should give less.
But maybe some other reports are needed. Maybe it was just my strategy that squandered Prestige.
I really was down to 0, 2 Prestige in the last third of the scenario.


The Grammar & Spelling Nazi:
Ervilers -> Ervillers
Lambres-lez-Douai -> Lambres-Lez-Douai
Toumai -> Tournai

Calais: DV 15/19

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/8408/calais.jpg

Start Prestige: 1077 (+900)
End Prestige: 297

After repairs 500 Prestige at the start of the scenario.

Special features of this scenario:
- Extremely bad weather, it's raining and cloudy a lot. There is even a chance to turn muddy!
- Thick Forest in the South
- A Spitfire!

No units lost, but I had to reinforce a lot.

I had again Prestige issues and had to use regular reinforcements a lot. My Luftwaffe is at 2-3 stars while especially my tanks are taking losses and are roughly between 1 and 2 stars experience. My Infantry also took losses and lost XP due to lack of Prestige for elite reinforcements.


- My strategy was to go North and only attack Marquise for a DV as the situation allowed as I was still weakened from Arras.
- Even then I advanced at the skirts of the forest I tried to avoid like the black plague and got considerably delayed near Guines and Les Attacques.
- Without Stukas due to bad weather the tanks were hard to kill, I got often lucky and could kill them with Infantry in forest or hill terrain.
- The Spitfire was not a serious threat, but kept me busy: 3 Me109 and 1 Me110 shot it down to 1 strength and it did not find it and forgot about it - it was still there when the scenario ended. The Hurricane and bombers were not nearly as hard to deal with.

Verdict: A good/very good scenario, liked the weather as it makes one rely less on airpower. The thick forest is also a nice feature.
My Prestige issues are probably not to blame on this scenario but are the dire legacy of the heavy losses in the Arras scenario.


Text errors:
Map: Walten -> Watten


I got the choice to either
a.) drive on towards Dunkirk (fictional scenario, what if the Germans would have attacked Dunkirk in full force)
b.) await orders (which apparently leads to the Reims scenario)

What would you suggest for testing purposes? Anyone else besides Kerensky having an opinion on that?

Dunkirk: DV 7 / 16 (very surprising end of the scenario)

Start Prestige: 1397 (+1100)
End Prestige: 447

After repairs I started playing with 1140 Prestige.
I bought and lost no units.


This is the optional and fictional "what if the Germans had attacked Dunkirk" scenario that deals with the well known and highly controversial "stop" order given to the Wehrmacht.

This scenario is very special in terms of victory conditions: You have to destroy 17 destroyers, evacuation transports or trains. Minor victory for destroying at least 9. Victory hexes give extra Prestige but are this time not the major objectives!
There are also special reinforcements: After a few turns a German naval force of Schnellboote and additional level bombers will appear.
Both Do17z and Schnellboote come with extra fuel or ammo: e.g. the Do17zs have additional fuel, the Schnellboote 10 of 2 extra ammo.
The British get fighter support, apparently 1-2 Spitfires spawn in the ocean hexes, channel side, either timed or triggered.
Also very nice is that after you destroy Grand Fort Philippe that you get a powerful 20 STR Fort artillery. (what would happen if the hex where it spawns is occupied?)

This scenario is well done, but it ended suddenly. I would have played otherwise if I would have guessed that or counted sunken transports.
-> Panzer Corps is in dire need of UI improvements like showing captured objectives and victory conditions. This scenario really cries for a counter how many transports have been sunken already.

Funnily this scenario rather cries for a STOP order! Let the Luftwaffe bomb the ships, they don't move away. This is a bit funny given the premise of the scenario NOT to stop before Dunkirk.

The Spitfires are dangerous and annoying opponents, but they could be dealt with. If you attack with ground forces as well they will take losses against the heavily entrechend British forces that cost you a lot of Prestige. The low range of German fighters again proves to be their Achilles heel as the bombers usually operate without fighter cover. Thankfully the Spitfire only appear one by one and not in a Big Wing (tm).

I also observed that the costly reinforcements for Panzer units forced me to use very often standard reinforcements. Despite fighting very hard the losses were always high, so while the airforce gains 3+ stars easily my tanks and infantry fell to around 1 star. Might be better if one starts in Poland and preserves Prestige. The thing I want to point out the Panzers are pressed much much harder than in the default campaign and take more losses. Maybe I am still suffering from Arras and will recover in the final French scenarios.


Suggestions: The objectives basically turn the land battle into a sideshow.
Make some 4-6 TRAINS necessary objectives for a decisive victory and move them deeper into the defenses around Dunkirk.
Weaker British defences would be nice to compensate. Dunkirk should become a victory hex if they can't be removed completely. No reason or need to provide extra Prestige IMO.

All in all very nice, I liked this a lot more than the premise of the Polish border dispute.


The Spelling & Grammar Nazi report:
Briefing:
Evacuation units -> evacuation units
Map:
Vieteren -> Vleteren
Fort Mardyck -> Fort-Mardyck (don't ask me why it is "Fort-Name" but that's the official name)

How much prestige did you have after buying those core units for Eben-Emael?

When bringing your core units from the '39 you get 1000 for a DV (too high IMO) and even when using bad tactics on Field Marshal I gained about 1150 prestige after repairs in this scenario overall.

CharonJr

I didn't record the Prestige at the end of Eben-Emael.
But as I entered the number I had at the start of Albert Canal (1496) it seems I got +1000 as well.
I see no reason why starting in 1940 should give less or more Prestige than if you carried over your 1939 core.

As I wrote I did not continue the 1939 campaign but started the 1940 campaign from scratch.
I find Eben-Emael very nice and balanced if you start it in 1940. But just take a look at Horseman and yourself, bringing over a well organized core from 1939 gives quite an advantage.

I am not sure if the too much Prestige thing after Eben-Emael cannot rather be blamed on Narvik or the Poland campaign. You see how much Prestige my 1940 core had after "The Hague". It wasn't pretty, only Arras and Reims were more draining.


Sidenote: SE unit milking for Prestige (disband the third unit every time you get it; and if you are nasty reload till you get one every scenario) is, like IMO everything in a single player game, up to the player to decide. But it will SKEW the reported Prestige numbers somewhat depending on how much people use it.

(P.S. charonjr this is not related to you, just a general thought I had while replying to a thread about SE units in the main forum)

Good point - we should probably not award any prestige for disbanding a SE unit as you didnt pay for them.

Longasc wrote:- This campaign is played at Field Marshal difficulty with all rules enabled.

18,18 Sint-Truiden -> could not be found on the map, maybe this city got renamed after WW2.

The city's name is still Sint-Truiden (Saint-Trond in french)

Just found it, nikivdd.

I didn't see it but Google Maps found the name. I think names have been given according to the country they are in.
E.g. Nuremberg is Nürnberg, the German name for this city. Sint-Truiden is Belgian and therefore used and not Saint Trond.
Even if the scenario plays in France, the French cities are named French and the Belgian ones, well, Belgian.

Makes sense to me.

Reims: DV 20 / 20
This scenario almost broke my fighting spirit! http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/4503/reims.jpg

Start Prestige: 1697 (+1250)
End Prestige: 246

918 after elite reinforcement repairs I regret in hindsight
744 after I bought a Ju87B

Losses: Most around turn 7.
Panzer IIIF, SE Infantry, Pioniere.

I had only one turn bad weather, so I guess I was lucky despite negative forecasts. It was cloudy sometimes.
Around turn 7 my units had to defend the city/bridge objectives of the Aisne river. I have no idea what I could have done with the Bridge Engineer aux unit as I was under heavy attack:

- Char B1, 12-13 strength and lots of other Tanks, Infantry and the worst: Cavalry. Was Cavalry really THAT good in WW2?!
- Strong French airforce. Only one fighter was BF109 quality level, but so many bombers and fighters! They bombed my tanks

I think I could have done things differently but I did not expect such a huge counter-attack. I had to repair so often that I had a hard time to balance elite vs normal reinforcements, the experience of my tank units is between 0 and 2.


(doh I must have used forum code chars by accident, many lines got lost)


I captured a Char B1 by taking the city of Suippes. Nice! But it won't transfer and being available in turn 20/20 it had no impact on the scenario anymore.
I almost gave up on a DV but noticed that the Flak and Pak defending the final objective were very weak units stat wise. Nevertheless they hit me hard.
This was a 2nd Arras. Despite the warning I was in a victory over France mood after Dunkirk and confident that my Stukas would bomb the attacking tanks. Did not work out as intended.


Reims Briefing:
-> remove second "once again"
-> to breech -> to break
Map:
Fere-en-Tardenos -> Fère-en-Tardenois
Suppes -> Suippes
Bazancourt -> Bezancourt
Brane -> Braine
Corbeny -> Corbenay (both exist but ours near Brane is Corbenay)
Sighny-lAbbaye -> Signy-l'Abbaye
Chateau Porcien -> Chateau-Porcien
Neufchatel -> Neufchâtel-sur-Aisne (this is something a native speaker should check, I think Neufchatel is okay, too)

I removed one of the 'once again' but I'm pretty sure I meant to say breech. It means 'to penetrate'.

Although apparently I spelt it wrong. The word I was looking for is 'breach'

After Reims I can only say that I am glad that the Grand Campaigns are more historical and I won't have to attempt "Sealion"... I am scared by the French already.

And the worst is yet to come! Africa, Russia and the Americans... the French already made me tremble in fear!

Just noticed that the captured Char B1 becomes part of the core force!
So nice!

*drools*

(+ someone paint a German Balkenkreuz over this French bullseye! )

Dijon: 16/18 DV
Start Prestige: 1246
End Prestige: 808

After repairs I had 856 Prestige
Bought a Wehr Inf with a truck: 679 at the start of the scenario
Losses: Two extremely unlucky losses. I lost a 5 STR Panzer IV to a 12 STR DS 506 fighter in open terrain.
The second loss was a Panzer III or IV to a 25mm Flak, 7 got destroyed unexpectedly.
Shit happens.
I forgot to upgrade my Ju87D to Ju87R. I bought a Ju88A mid scenario to replace my lost tank.
I captured another Char B1 near Moulins, very nice.


Very weak french airforce, while there was resistance it was bearable. Without the unlucky losses I would have recovered a lot more Prestige.
I quite liked this scenario. For some it might be too easy though. Could be somewhat harder but was a welcome chance to recover after Arras and Reims.
Suggestion: Paint captured Char B1 in the "Feldgrau" of the Wehrmacht and replace the French insignia with a Balkenkreuz.

NO TEXT ERRORS!

Maginot Line: DV 14/15

Start Prestige: 1508
End Prestige: 816

After repairs and buying Pioniere+truck I was down to 791 Prestige to start with.
Losses: Panzer IIIF SE to Panhard armored car, Aux Pioniere to one of the monster forts, my recon unit due to pure stupidity (could not resist attacking an artillery placed between two fortifications)

By turn 9 I had totally eliminated the center around Metz. I need some time for the remaining fortifications left and right. An armored counter attack from the east surprised me somewhat, though the Panhard car and two cavalries were much more dangerous. I think this counter attack needs to happen earlier to be effective. The captured Char B1 were very effective due to their strong ground defense and also packed a punch. Panzer III/IV could not have done this.

The scenario ended before I could capture the last flag, Saverne, in the East. This again cries for a better display of the objectives/victory conditions already achieved ingame. I didn't really like counting hexes and wondering which would count to the 24 needed for a decisive victory.

What I really liked were the strong enemy forts and the overall feel of the Maginot line. Attacking it from one side would have been very difficult indeed.


Text errors:
Debriefing:
The Great War -> the Great War (it's in the sentence, not at the beginning)
Map:
Saarbrucken -> Saarbrücken



Campaign summary:
Great campaign, wonderful scenarios. I don't know if the latest version of the 1939 campaign can compare, but this was much more enjoyable than the 1939 Campaign, some scenarios were outstanding. I also think the Prestige problems I had especially in Arras and Reims only require minor tweaks as I think someone carrying over core units from 1939 will have enough Prestige for that.

I will now focus on text errors and check the 1939 GC for that again. Some native speakers should check the briefings and debriefings. Even if they are not important to you, for some they are and people in doubt about a game often judge it by its state of "polish" and text errors are easy to correct, so please take a look.

Post-Beta / Release version.

1940 is quite a lot easier with an imported 1939 core. Let's see how this will turn out!