DLC '45 West #16: Gates of Berlin

[VPaulus]

Please post here your comments about this scenario.

[Kamerer]

16) Gates of Berlin – beta 1

Level: Rommel, imported corps
Prestige: Begin: 7,075. End: 7,725. Net: +650.
Result: DV at 13/22
Replacements: a few regular to reinforce aux units.

Core Changes: Added a 2nd Maus for defensive scenario.

Problems:

• • Is Habermann’s scout car supposed to become an aux unit in your corps? It appeared there at the start of Dunkirk45.

General impressions/comments:

• • Nice eastern scenario. A nice reminder of the different playing styles required east vs. west. I have played this before so I knew to block and destroy their bridging units and end it quickly.
  • The V weapons were fun to use, though not really “decisive” in any way. It might be interesting if there were fewer but they packed a bigger punch? I used them on IS tanks to soften them; seemed about the only economical use. It also seems to me they should have an even bigger effect on soft targets, for example deploying them against soft vehicles yields no more damage than against a tank, on average.
  • Received SE Maus after Habermann evacuated.

[ThvN]

Gates of Berlin, beta2

Colonel, Imported Core, DV 9/22
Prestige before/after deployment: 17089/12493
Prestige on last turn/incl. victory bonus: 13481/16481

Notes:

Received SE Maus + hero after evac of Habermann (managed to get him off the board on turn 8 ).

I used the V2's mostly against the SU-122's. When the V1's spawned I had already won so I coudn't really use them.

The strongpoints sitting on the victory hexes cannot be reinforced, but the other ones can, very nice attention to detail. Reinforcing the regular strongpoints gave the Soviets a much harder time it seemed, so maybe this is a helpful tip for the people who hadn't noticed this so far.

I like the inclusion of mobile AAA for the Soviets, made the use of my airforce for more challenging, I had gotten a bit complacent during the earlier Western scenarios due to the lack of such units on the Allied side.


Impressions:

As a cruel joke, in the deployment fase OKH awarded me an SE Gebirgsjäger... (“It's dangerous to go alone! Take this!”)

But to compensate, the battle went terrific. I must have gotten lucky or something, the first time I managed a DV on turn 8, just as the big Soviet attack was starting. I had curiously decided to check out the neutral flags along the river on turn 5 and brought units into position to counter the crossings when I spotted the Bridge Engineers. With only three crossings for the Soviets it was over quickly, but I had placed Habermann on the exit this last turn, so I didn't get the nice things he promised.

I did another turn, and the Soviet airforce came crashing in to make this more costly than it should have been, but the shiny new SE Maus (the first Maus I've ever had in my core, BTW) will be worth it, hopefully. So a DV on turn 8 is possible on the Colonel level, some good luck and a max overstrenght core.

EDIT: in the deployment fase of the next scenario, Dunkirk45, I noticed Habermann's auxiliary recon car is part of my reserves?

[billmv44]

Beta 2. General level. Default core. Starting prestige 7005, ending 1010.

Ah, back to my old friend Ivan! Having played this before, I remembered the basics of the scenario. I was able to evacuate the general and received the V-1s and a very nice SE Maus. DV on 14 after much tough fighting. The key is to block the crossing sites and destroy the bridge units. That done, I was able to roll up the Reds from North to South. I used the V-weapons on the IS tanks. Those are very tough to kill.

One note, the V-2s really shouldn't be able to be intercepted by enemy fighters or take losses from AA fire. As I mentioned before, I think they should be able to hit anywhere on the map in one turn.