Best campaign to start with - default or GC?

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aster
Corporal - 5 cm Pak 38
Corporal - 5 cm Pak 38
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Best campaign to start with - default or GC?

Post by aster »

Hey all,

Just got Panzer Corps this week. Been hankering for a good WWII game lately and it looks like this one will scratch that itch nicely! Bonus that it's for iPad (and by all appearances well-implemented on that platform) - I work all day at my desktop so it's great to relax on other devices.

I purchased Afrika Corps and the '39 and '40 Grand Campaign DLCs to begin with. Just finished the tutorial scenarios and am now trying to figure out where to start. I'd like to try just navigating the war from start to finish but obviously there are two choices here - are the GC DLCs considered superior to the default missions/campaign far as feature set, detail, fun? Or am I best served playing the default campaign at first? What are the main differences between the two sets? My impression is the default has branching scenario paths including some hypotheticals depending on your performance, but that the DLCs are a little more linear? Or am I mistaken there?
JimmyC
2nd Lieutenant - Panzer IVF/2
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Re: Best campaign to start with - default or GC?

Post by JimmyC »

I started with the default campaign and then graduated to the DLC. I am glad i did it that way, as the DLC seemed to be harder to me than the default. I have no experience with Africa Korps though...
Rockety
Corporal - 5 cm Pak 38
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Re: Best campaign to start with - default or GC?

Post by Rockety »

If you are new to the game, start with the default campaign or Afrika korps. It's a great way to understand game mechanics. The dlcs are considerbly harder after 1942 than the vanila campaign.
BiteNibbleChomp
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Re: Best campaign to start with - default or GC?

Post by BiteNibbleChomp »

I started with the GC, but found afterwards that it is better to play the vanilla first.

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aster
Corporal - 5 cm Pak 38
Corporal - 5 cm Pak 38
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Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 10:05 pm

Re: Best campaign to start with - default or GC?

Post by aster »

Thanks everyone, vanilla it is. Far as my other question, do both have branching campaigns and What If style scenarios, or just vanilla?

Also, another quick newbie question - While I understand this isn't currently an option, is there any dev path for enabling mods for the iPad PzC?
ksasaki
Senior Corporal - Ju 87G
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Re: Best campaign to start with - default or GC?

Post by ksasaki »

Welcome aster!

There are what if's similar to the old Panzer General. And yes, try vanilla before Afrika. Afrika korps the british start with better tanks and airforce than you!

As for Grand Campaign, I've never got past 42, but I guess you can start using some experimental bombers and fighters in 44 and 45. Definitely some what-ifs before that, like Streets of Moscow (not sure if the Axis actually reached the streets of moscow)

You should enjoy vanilla though, because once I started GC i haven't turned back. The thing about the vanilla is that you are always rushing against the clock, running helter skelter across the map, while in the GC you can do a more planned-careful advance. I prefer that, because I like to keep my elite units alive, not a suicide just to meet the major victory requirement on some southern French city.

All the grand campaign trees are here:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3302258

The base campaign tree is here: (couldn't find a better one)

viewtopic.php?t=27280
aster
Corporal - 5 cm Pak 38
Corporal - 5 cm Pak 38
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Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 10:05 pm

Re: Best campaign to start with - default or GC?

Post by aster »

Ah, that's very helpful ksasaki. I just skimmed those to preserve some of the intrigue (for now), but at a glance the differences appear to be:

In the vanilla campaign there's actually quite a bit of branching and it looks like more hypotheticals.

For the grand campaign, aside from some exceptions (looks like there's a Sealion option?) it seems a bit more linear. For example it seems that no matter how successfully you fight, the Red hordes will always push you back to Berlin. How is this framed in the campaign's narrative? Do victories only give you more prestige/better units to fight an ever-worsening strategic situation, and thus you're stuck with the whims of history no matter what? Or is there a way to diverge from the historical German defeat?
Tarrak
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Re: Best campaign to start with - default or GC?

Post by Tarrak »

As the battle in the GC have smaller scale then in the vanilla campaign the fact that you have to withdraw despite you scoring victory after victory is mostly explained by the fact that despite your heroic efforts at your part of the front your flanks are being overrun and you have to withdraw to avoid being encircled and destroyed.

In the GC there is no way to really diverge far from the historical way of the war. At the end you always get pushed back to defend. Only there at the very end of the campaign if you perform exceptionally well you get a chance to change history a tiny bit.
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