How do you organise your core?

[jayman]

I'm relatively new to Panzercorps but I used to play the old PG games (had them all except PG3 & Fantasy General). I've searched the forum but there doesn't seem to be a thread on this subject.

So, how do players organise their core? Personally I use a 'semi-historical' approach of multiple Pz divisions organised like this:
3 light Pz (upgraded to medium later)
1 medium PZ (upgraded to heavy)
1 Inf
1 Grenadier
1 Pioneer
1 AT (mobile)
1 Artillery (mobile)
1 AA (mobile)

3 or 4 fighters, same stukas (or similar) and 2 or 3 heavy bombers

SE units I use as 'independant' units, and the same with 'friendlies' like the Italians and Slovaks (I'm playing GPTG mod). I don't use the allied units if there's no room for them in a scenario however.

Any captured units I upgrade to German and place in these Pz divs.

I find that this setup covers most eventualities so far, but I've only just got to the Russian scenarios in GPTG so I might need more tanks...

[MartyWard]

I played the first version of GTPG and loved it. Your core can get pretty big, which comes in handy when you are facing 200-300 Russian units, so you will need almost every type of unit. You will probably end up with a larger core than can be deployed so each battle will let you customize your deployed force as you see fit.
You will DEFINATELY need more tanks

[KeldorKatarn]

Depends really on the campaign. For the main campaign and AK I had 6 tanks + 2 Tank Destroyers. THat was enough, rest lots of artillery and about 5-6 infantry. some of them specialized like Pioneers or Bridge engineers. For the main campaign I recommend 6 fighters if you plan to survive the Western Allied Air force onslaught later on. It can be done with 4 but then you will have a hard time getting your bombers into action and spend more time on the defensive in the air.

[Nerdator]

In my current AK campaign, I have (by Palestine):

5x Inf (all-grenadier, I like to keep it simple. If a specialised unit, like bridge engineers in the Suez map, or mountaineers in Caucasus, is necessary, I simply upgrade one or more of them at the beginning of the scenario)
9x Tank (8x medium (PzIVG in my case), 1x Flammpanzer. Three of them SE)
1x Recon
6x Arty (4x SP, and two slots to experiment with, currently 2x Wurframen, absolutely brilliant)
6x Fighter (1 SE)
3x Tac Bomber (1x Stuka and 2x Bf110. I love fighter-bombers)
2x Strat Bomber

Seems to work on FM. Although I wouldn´t mind having more arty and fighters. I am seriously disappointed with SP AT guns (at least in AK): I think it´s much better to use the slot for a normal tank. I also dislike AA guns (never liked them in the PG series either): too inflexible for me, even with multipurpose 88s.

[KeldorKatarn]

in several scnarios pioneers can be very beneficial to clear out mine fields to break though (in Persia I recommand bypassing them altogether though)
As for Self Propelled AT I recommend the StuG III. Later on you can upgrade it to the StuG IV which is also 2 range artillery but keeps a good AT capability, and then of course the Jagdpanther. My StuG IIIs have served me very very well over the course of the campaign.

[Nerdator]

SP ATs are too weak, even with arty ability. I played AK through with two SP ATs, and in most missions they were whipping boys, mediocre against tanks and weak against infantry, making me wish that they were tanks instead. Like towed ATGs they are best at defense, but almost always you are on the offense, and tanks are simply better at it. (JgPanther appears only in the last scenario, so it's kind of irrelevant)

[jayman]

I'm coming to the conclusion myself that AA isn't much use as my fighters can intercept the enemy after only one turn. I agree with the post above about Stugs though. In GPTG they're very useful, although the Panzejager 1 is as useful as a wet paper bag (and couldn't fight it's way out of it!).

I haven't played AK yet, but I know the same core setup I use in Europe won't be suitable for there. More infantry?

[robman]

To answer the original question, "I add more of whatever I wish I had more of last time" and, "I add whatever it looks like I will need this time." In practice, this leads to a core with more units than I can deploy in most scenarios. I have also taken to fielding green infantry in the beginning of scenarios with rough terrain near the deployment zone, anticipating that one or more of them will be killed early on, then fielding more experienced units (sometimes infantry, sometimes something else) when they die. As for AK: (1) fighters cannot take the place of AA, at least not early on; and (2) keep those Italian SP artillery pieces--they are as tough as nails, cheap to reinforce, and gain experience very, very quickly.

[KeldorKatarn]

AA is very important. I kept one 8.8 cm and added another one later, later upgraded them to 12cm when I didn't need their AT capability anymore. At 13 overstrength they often one shot kill enemy fighters.

[jayman]

I've just discovered this in the Moscow41 scenario. Didn't use AA and got extra tanks. Soviet bombers spammed all over the place (well, not that much, but enough to be annoying!). Also changed my mobile arty to 21cm with halftracks. Sturmpanzers are just too slow for the distances in the Russian scenarios. Looks like a good combined-arms all round setup is what's needed.

[Zhivago]

I try to keep at least 25% of my core composed of infantry units--mostly grenadiers. I always upgrade the SE units to grenadiers. I usually have to pionere units, and at least one or two paras. I never use "plain" regular infantry. I don't use the cav units, or motorcycle units, but sometimes I will upgrade a grenadier to a bridge engineer later in the game where there are lots of rivers. To me, infantry are integral to any level of success in the game.

I also go heavy on artillery, especially the armored close-support stuff like the StugB or StuH 42, or best of all, the Brumbar, or captured Russian SU 122's. I try to limit fighters to 4 or 5 at most, and use 4 strategic bombers (two Stukas, two BF 110's until the ME 410 is available, then all four are upgraded to ME 410), and one strategic bomber. The rest of my cores are usually made up of tanks, with perhaps two or three anti-tank vehicles (I love the StuGIIIG, the Elephant, and the Jadgtiger). The only AA unit I ever use is the 88, and I usually only use it primarily in the early war years to knock out heavy armored units. It is not that effective (even overstrengthed) by 1943, so I usually trade it in. Mobile AA is a waste of a core slot, in my opinion.

[boredatwork]

Approximate composition of my GC corps between 1943 and the end of 1944, from the last play through.

All captured equipment is vendored immediately. Divisional groupings are permanent through out the campaign though Bde organisation within divisions doesn't usually last much past deployment. Recon and AT assets are often cross attached - reinforcing other divisions as required (giving the flank protecting division extra strength for example). The FJ Bde usually stays airborne until Stalingrad, at which point it becomes ground based permanently. (the ability to leave transport behind for a scenario without having to repurchase them later would be greatly appreciated!) In later scenarios it either combines with divisional AT assets to make a fourth division OR is parcelled out among the other divisions to reinforce their infantry strength, as required.



5th Division

9th PzBde
--- 9th PzBn (Panther)
--- 23rd PzBn (PzIV)
--- 5th PzGrBn (Grenadier 43)
--- 43rd PzArtBn (Wespe)

5th PzGr Bde
--- 25th PzBn (PzIV)
--- 36th PzGrBn (Wehr 43)
--- 37th PzGrBn (Wehr 43)
--- 44th ArtBn (10.5cm leFH)

71st PzRec (Puma)
21st JgPzBn (StuG)
74th FlkPz (SdKfz 7/1)
45th Art Bn (15.0cm sFH)

17th Division

8th PzBde
--- 8th PzBn (Panther)
--- 24th PzBn (PzIV)
--- 17th PzGrBn (Grenadier 43)
--- 41rd PzArtBn (Wespe)

17th PzGr Bde
--- 14th PzBn (PzIV)
--- 38th PzGrBn (Wehr 43)
--- 39th PzGrBn (Wehr 43)
--- 42th ArtBn (10.5cm leFH)

72nd PzRec (Puma)
14th JgPzBn (StuG)
73rd FlkPz (SdKfz 7/1)
40th Art Bn (Hummel)

2nd Division

27th PzBde
--- 27th PzBn (Panther)
--- 28th PzBn (PzIV)
--- 2nd PzGrBn (Grenadier 43)
--- 47th PzArtBn (Wespe)

2nd PzGr Bde
--- 29th PzBn (PzIV)
--- 30th PzGrBn (Wehr 43)
--- 31st PzGrBn (Wehr 43)
--- 48th ArtBn (10.5cm leFH)

32nd PzRec (Puma)
33rd JgPzBn (StuG)
75th FlkPz (SdKfz 7/1)
46th Art Bn (15.0cm sFH)



86th FJ Regiment
--- 86th FJ Bn
--- 87th FJ Bn
--- 88th FJ Bn
--- 22nd FJArt 10.5cm leFH

50th sArt Bde
--- 50th sArt (21cm Mrs)
--- 49th NW Bn (Wurf 42)
--- 23rd Sturm Bn (StuH42)

XXXth Flak Bde
--- (8.8cm Flak)
--- (8.8cm Flak)
--- (12.8cm Flak)

1st PzBn (Tiger)
3rd Pioneer Bn (Pioneer)
Bridging Eng Column

Air Force
1st JG
--- 3xFw190A
2nd JG
--- 3xBf109K
3rd ZG
--- 2xBf110->Me410->Fw190G
4th StG
--- 2xJu87d->Ju87G
5th SG
--- 2xBf110/Ju87->Hs129B

--- 1xJu88->He177

[ckraiderfan1]

all tank units are battalion size and infantry are regiment size with the exception of engineer they are bat size. A basic panzer division for me will consist of 2 Pz IV battalions 1 SP AT marder bat, one SPG Stug bat . 2 Pz grenadier regiments. ''one in a truck'' 1 engineer bat, 1 recon bat, 2 artillery bat. one rocket bat and AA if I have the prestige I also have corps level units that I can attach to any division like tigers or Nashhorns large caliber artillery units