Some minor parts of this FAQ is written by me. My work was only to assemble various material by various people and correct or make minor modifications to materials submitted to me or found in web. I have included credits of authors of different materials that have submitted to me or found in web to not offend them in any way.
Priit Kшшr (pkaar@online.ee)
Credits
Notes: Some of material is from Raymond Schroder's PG2 FAQ 1.3.
Most of the Information on Leaders was developed by William Van Fleet.
"Your Core" section mostly by William Van Fleet.
Scenario strategies and other misc sections by John Heidle
Other scenario strategies by: Yuan Liu, Jeff Vitous, Bas Van Zetten
Some bugs info and "What is different in Panzer General II?" section by Christopher Lipski
What is different in Panzer General II?
Aircraft: With the smaller scale you do not need to worry about running out of gas.
Their spotting has been changed to the beginning and end of their turn only
(presumably, they dive to attack).
Artillery: Artillery has a greater range and that range is included in defensive fire.
You no longer have to be touching the artillery to gain its defense. Multiple
artillery may be used defensively.
Bridges: You can use pioniere units to blow bridges. With a right click and a left
click for confirmation, the bridge is blown up and the graphic is replaced on the map
with that of a wrecked bridge. The terrain is now considered a river hex.
Core Units: You are limited only by prestige, not by scenario, on the number of core
units you may have (to a max. of 89).
Entrenchment: The entrenchment of a unit is not brought down to 0. They now gain the
base defense of the terrain, even if attacked multiple times.
Graphics: The maps are rendered paintings and the units are scanned pictures of
miniatures.
Leaders: On any turn in which a unit gains a level, there is a small chance of you
gaining a leader for that unit. Leaders allow the unit to have special abilities, such
as increased spotting or movement. These are explained in the Readme.txt .
Level bombers: In Panzer General a level bomber was very handy. It caused a suppression
of the unit for the entire turn and reduced its supply. Level bombers are out, but the
extended suppression has been given to tac bombers.
Line of sight: A unit firing into woods or other restricting terrain has its direct
fire range reduced to one.
Movement: You may move and fire all units in any order. You can move a unit forward,
then select another unit and move and fire that one before going back to fire the
original unit.
Multiplayer: Up to four players via LAN, TCP, or ClubSSI; two players via hotseat or
e-mail.
Prototypes: In campaign play, if you get a brilliant victory you have a chance of being
awarded a prototype unit. This unit is available up to six months before it would be
regularly introduced.
Recon: Recon units are much more useful and absolutely necessary now. In PG, I never had
a core recon, preferring to buy a more powerful core unit. Recon was relegated to aircraft
or auxiliaries. Aircraft are much less handy at recon and recon units now have phased
movement. They may move forward a bit to spot and then move back. They may move, stop, and
move again with a penalty of -1 movement point per stop.
Scale: The scale is smaller with the units defined as battalions and with a hex equal to
about 1 mile. You are a corps commander.
Tanks: Tanks are a very powerful unit. Since the scale is smaller, some tanks and anti-tank
units have a range of 2. If a tank is much more powerful then another ground unit adjacent
to it, there is a chance of an overrun attack. A strength 12 panzer IV, for example, may
overrun an adjacent strength 4 infantry, destroying it outright. This unit may then attack
again this turn, even possibly gaining other overrun attacks on other weakened units.
Terrain: Some rivers are too fast and deep to ford, so there are impassable river terrain
hexes.
Transport: Units that are mounted in transport will automatically dismount at the end of
your opponents turn. So if you forget about a unit (gasp) they at least won't be sitting
around in trucks. In addition: Units with organic transport will automatically mount up in
that transport when the distance is greater then they can move without transport. The
cursor will change to show a truck and warn you of this fact. Towed artillery units must be
mounted to move. No more "walking" up of flak and artillery.
Victories: There are four possible outcomes to a scenario: Brilliant victory, Victory,
Tactical Victory and Loss. They are dependent upon the number of turns you take your
objectives.
What is the scale of the game?
The geographical scale appears to vary from 1.0km to 2.0km per hex, depending on the scenario being played. The majority of scenarios average about 1.5km per hex.
Although the game's designers claim that the units represent battalions, this does not always appear to be accurate. Rather, the scenarios appear more in scale with the historical battles if the units are considered to be regiments/brigades, with the exception of reconnaissance units (and perhaps some anti-aircraft units), which would remain battalions.
According to the unit designations, units appear in battalion as well as regiment sizes (or as battalions and brigades for Great Britain and the Commonwealth, a British brigade being roughly equivalent to a regiment in other armies). In most cases, regiments are used, with the addition of battalions that were directly subordinate to division HQ, such as divisional engineer battalions.
Are there patches for Panzer General II?
Yes there is, downloadable at SSI's webpage (www.ssionline.com). Latest patch is 1.02.
Are there any editors for Panzer General II?
Yes there is. Following editors are available for downloading from Raymond Schroder's Panzer General Zerstorer website at: http://www.Geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arena/5096/.
Panzer General II Editor. A unit attribute and savegame editor. By Erik Tan.
SHP File Editor. SHP file editor and converting program. Archive also contains utilities for extracting and repacking SHP files from panzer.dat file. By Fred Chlanda.
Turn Requirements Editor. Editor for changing scenario requirements on how many turns are required to get brilliant victory, regular victory or tactical victory. By Alex Kinner.
Where can I find scenarios for Panzer General II?
Are there any bugs in the game?
Yes, here are known bugs: (first of many, mostly small bugs)
1. The Vanishing Transport Bug: Anytime a unit that does not possess organic transport (i.e. infantry and towed artillery, anti-tank or air defense) receives a leader with the Recon Movement ability, the game will immediately treat the unit as having no transport at all for the rest of the scenario/campaign. If the unit is infantry, it will only be able to use its leg movement ability. If the unit is towed artillery, anti-tank or air defense, you will not be able to thereafter move the unit at all. Upgrading the unit to provide it with new or different transport will not solve the problem. The only known workaround to this bug at present is to upgrade the unit to a type with organic transport between scenarios (i.e. upgrade towed artillery, anti-tank or air defense units to self-propelled units of the same class-sorry, but you're stuck if this happens to an infantry unit since there are no infantry units with organic transport in the game to you can upgrade to). SSI is currently working on a fix for this bug in an upcoming patch.
1. The Paratrooper Bug: Do not use paratroopers to capture victory hexes! Anytime one of your paratroopers moves onto a victory hex the game thereafter treats the hex as an ordinary one that cannot be captured by either side, and you do not get credit for capturing it initially with the paratrooper unit. You will thus lose any scenario in which this happens. SSI is also working on a fix for this bug.
1. The "Cowardly Lion" Bug: Occasionally, irrespective of weather conditions or supply level a unit will not be allowed to attack in a turn (for no apparent rhyme or reason). This bug applies to all types of units, but apparently auto-corrects because the unit will be able to move and attack normally in the next turn. The bug has been reported to SSI. I haven't been able to confirm this particular bug. Ray
1. The Amphibious Invasion-Unlimited Movement Bug: Although units are not supposed to be able to move on the turn that they land on a beach, nevertheless if an armored unit overruns an adjacent enemy unit the armored unit will suddenly receive unlimited movement points (subject, of course, to enemy zones of control) that turn. This bug has also been reported to SSI.
1. Campaign Prestige error - the prestige dialer on the campaign screen effects the players prestige & not the computer's as indicated by the icon. I believe ver 1.01 corrected this by displaying "player's prestige" note at the top of the screen. Ray
1. Purchase/Upgrade error - if the maximum number of units has already been purchased before a new battle begins, no further upgrades are possible until at least 1 unit is deleted from the players list of core units. (That's 75 units)
1. Rugged Defense - appears to function incorrectly (or not at all) when Armor units attack a city hex, but works correctly (or too well) against Infantry attacks.
1. AI Aircraft Purchases - the AI purchases aircraft even after it no longer controls any airfield.
1. AI Ground Unit Purchases - new computer units are produced in cities even when entirely surrounded by the players units and/or zones of control. To make matters worse, the human player is not allowed to react to these new threats until after the AI attacks & inflicts loses.
1. Leader assignments - two players have reported that when an air and ground unit (both with leaders) are stacked, that the leaders "swapped" units. One player reported that the wrong attribute was displayed (a tank leader with marksman). I believe ver 1.01 also cleared up this problem. Ray
1. Spotted Hexes Unmarked - there is no indication of whether or not any specific hex has been spotted. This forces players to memorize/recall or "count hexes" every turn to avoid AI ambushes.
1. Onward to Berlin Campaign - the T34/41 is "free", has zero prestige cost Version 1.01 fixed this. Ray
1. Save Game - occasionally after selecting Save Game, the game will not return to the game, but exit the program entirely. It has also been reported to return to the HQ/Review screen or the Load Game screen.
1. The AI will continue to repair its aircraft at airfields the human player captured.
1. Naval Attack Factors for Infantry units are inconsistent: All German and US are "1's", however all British Infantry (except Commandos) and USSR Guard units (and a few others) have "0" Naval Attack capability.
1. 15 Nbwf 41 has a Ground Defense of "7" while all other towed artillery are "2's".
1. Me-109F is not available for purchase by the Germans (but is for the Finns).
1. Devastating Fire - a unit with DF can fire twice even though it has only 1 ammo left.
1. City Prestige/Take Back - after a unit has liberated a city, if the "take-back" move button is selected, the player will be docked 40 prestige points (normally correct). However, if the player has modified the prestige level (to 50 or 300 for example), the game still deducts 40 prestige points (instead of 20 or 120 as per the example). Finally, if the player reduces his prestige into negative numbers, the prestige will "roll-over" to 65,535 points.
Interface Limitation Items:
1. Limited Aircraft Deployment Hexes - scenario deployment for aircraft becomes tedious when players are limited to deploying only to an airfield. Once the initial aircraft are deployed, the player must then stop, fly them off and then repeatedly redeploy additional aircraft.
1. Preselected Units - at the start of each turn it is too easy to unintentionally move/fly the defaulted (preselected) unit into an ambush or have its turn prematurely ended if the player accidentally clicks on the map. Request that units not be preselected by default.
1. Field HQ screen: does not return to the unit (or general area of the list) which was being reviewed after Inspecting Units etc. (i.e.; the player must scroll to the last viewed location each time the screen is redisplayed).
Upgrade screen: the unit designation is not displayed (only unit type) which can prevent the player from selecting and upgrading the correct unit if 2 or more units are similar. The player must exit to Field HQ screen and locate/inspect each unit separately (to check leaders and unit experience), then return to the Upgrade screen, scroll to the "memorized" unit and finally perform the upgrade.
Sometimes I won't be able to attack with an aircraft unit. When I fly over an enemy unit the projected combat results crosshair won't even appear.
Check the weather. Except air units with All Weather Combat Leaders, air units may not attack enemy units when the weather conditions are snow or rain.
Why can't I attack with ground units sometimes? Are they affected by weather conditions, too?
Ground units may still attack during inclement weather, though at reduced effectiveness. Check the unit's ammunition supply-if it's down to zero the unit cannot attack, and will defend at half strength.
Should I use recon units?
Yes!. In PG1 recon units were useless. Now in PG2 recon units are great in taking unguarded cities, mopping up crippled units and in reconnaisance. You can move several times recon units in one turn and great distances.
I'm trying to take objective and all my troops are getting chewed up pretty badly, what now?
Use artillery to soften up enemy artillery and air defense units and suppressing them. Now move in some tactical bombers. After suppressing and crippling enemy units, and lowering entrenchment. Attack with infantry (engineers, sturmpioneres) and tanks, move fresh unit in.
Deploying units
How do I deploy my units at the beginning of a scenario?
In the deployment screen, left click on the unit you wish to deploy and then left click again on the deployment hex you want the unit to start in. Deployment hexes are a shade darker than normal hexes (and sometimes it's hard to tell them apart).
Can I view the deployment hexes from the strategic map?
Yes, but it's very difficult at times to see.
I've run out of deployment hexes, but I still have units left to deploy. Now what?
Once you've moved one or more units out of an initial deployment hex, you can then click on the "Deploy Units" button (downward arcing arrow). This will bring up the deployment screen again and you can now place your remaining units in the vacated deployment hexes. Note: you can only deploy further units around supply point hexes (green and gold bordered hexes), not jump-off hexes. This also holds true for deployment of any new units you may purchase during the scenario. Thus, it's a pretty wise idea to save your game from the upgrade screen just prior to deploying your forces in case you make a mistake.
Can I initially deploy my air units forward with my front line troops?
No. Air units may only be deployed at airfields.
What if while still deploying my units I later decide that I shouldn't have deployed a particular unit in a particular hex? Do I have to redeploy all my units again?
No. Simply left click on the unit you want to remove from the hex. The hex will vacate, and the unit will appear at the bottom of the list of your units for redeployment elsewhere.
I get frustrated when my air units can't attack due to weather. How do I turn it off?
Hit the Alt+ W keys. Hit the Alt's keys if you want to turn off the supply rules.
Why can't I replay a turn or scenario like it says in the manual?
Although a "VCR" button was left in the interface, for reasons unknown SSI decided not to implement this feature in the final shipping version of the game.
How do I get a prototype unit?
After winning a brilliant victory in a scenario there is about a 10% chance that you will be awarded a prototype unit just prior to the commencement of the next scenario as a reward for your victory.
Upgrading units
How do I upgrade units between scenarios?
The manual is a bit confusing on this. On the unit screen click on the icon for the unit you wish to upgrade, and then click on the upgrade button (2 stars). This takes you to the upgrade screen. First click on the icon for the unit you wish to upgrade, then click on the icon of the unit you wish to upgrade to on the left, and then click on the little book button beneath the new equipment icons.
During upgrading can I change a unit from one type to another?
No. Units may only be upgraded with equipment of the same type.
I've noticed a few anomalies when upgrading equipment-like upgrading from a Bf109 to an Me109 still costs prestige points even though the aircraft have exactly the same stats. What gives?
SSI's design team did indeed make a few errors with equipment statistics. You can download an excellent revised (historically correct) equipment roster authored by Ray Schroder from his website (The Panzer General Zerstorer) at: http://www.Geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arena/5096/ . look for the ULTIMATE PzGen II equipment file.
Also note that Steve Strayer has produced the best Pacific General Equipment files available and the Ray Schroder has an Ultimate Panzer General equipment file for the original DOS Panzer General available for downloading at their sites.
Does it matter which I do first, upgrade or overstrenghten a unit ?
Yes, this is especially important since you have less overall prestige in PzGen II. Always UPGRADE FIRST, then overstrenghten the unit. If you reverse this order you'll waste valuable prestige points. The following example was submitted by Chris Hennessy:
To over strength a unit costs 8.3% of the unit base cost for each strength point.
I tested out the sequence of upgrading and overstrengthening and found the following result (number in bracket is strength)
Upgrade Pz IVD(13) to Pz IVF1(13) = 139 Overstrength Pz IVF1(13) to Pz IVF1(15) = 48 Total = 187
Overstrength Pz IVD(13) to Pz IVD(15) = 44 Upgrade Pz IVD(15) to Pz IVF1(15) = 195 Total = 239
Defference is 239 - 187 = 52
Therefore it is 28% cheaper in this case to upgrade before overstrengthening. Quite a lot cheaper to upgrade first.
Leaders
How do I get leaders for my units?
Each time a unit gains a level of experience, there is a small chance that the unit will be awarded with a leader. This percentage chance appears to decrease as your core army accumulates more leaders-ranging from a high of about 10% to a low of about 2%.
Is there a cap to the number of leaders my core army can have?
Yes. It appears that you can have a maximum of 15 leaders in your core force.
What are the different kinds of leaders?
Each leader will be assigned one automatic ability, depending on the unit type, and one random ability. The automatically assigned abilities are:
Air Defense (Mechanized Veteran): The air defense unit will be allowed to both move and fire in the same turn.
Anti-Tank (Tank Killer): The anti-tank unit will no longer suffer an initiative penalty when initiating combat.
Artillery (Marksman): The unit's attack range is increased by one hex.
Fighter (Skilled Interceptor): The unit can intercept multiple enemy aircraft in the defensive phase.
Infantry (Tenacious Defense): The unit's ground defense factor is increased by 4.
Reconnaissance (Elite Recon Veteran): The unit's spotting range is increased by two hexes.
Tactical Bomber (Skilled Assault): The unit cannot be surprised ("out of the sun") in combat.
Tank (Aggressive Maneuver): The unit's movement factor is increased by 1.
The random abilities are:
Aggressive Attack: Each of the unit's attack factors is increased by 2.
Aggressive Maneuver: The unit's movement factor is increased by 1.
All Weather Combat (awarded only to air units): The unit may attack normally during inclement weather conditions.
Alpine Training: When moving the unit treats forest and mountain hexes as clear terrain.
Battlefield Intelligence: The unit cannot be surprised in combat.
Bridging: When moving the unit treats passable river hexes as rough terrain.
Combat Support: The unit provides both Resilience and Skilled Ground Attack abilities to all adjoining units during combat phases. Will aid inflicting losses and save from loses by 2 to 3 points each battle.
Determined Defense: Each of the unit's defense factors is increased by 2.
Devastating Fire: The unit may attack twice in a turn.
Ferocious Defense: The unit's entrenchment cannot be ignored by enemy pioneers or engineers.
Fire Discipline: The unit will expend only one-half of an ammunition point each time it attacks.
First Strike: The unit will fire first against an enemy unit if it wins the initiative in a combat round.
Forest Camouflage: If in a forest hex the unit cannot be spotted by enemy units unless they move adjacent to it.
Infiltration Tactics: The unit ignores enemy unit entrenchment when calculating combat results.
Influence: Allows the unit to upgrade to better equipment at reduced prestige point cost.
Liberator: You receive double the normal number of prestige points for all objective and victory hexes captured by the unit.
Overwatch: The unit will fire at any enemy unit that moves within its range. The enemy unit is automatically surprised, allowing your unit to fire first and at the enemy's close assault, rather than its ground defense, factor. Note: a unit with an Overwatch leader will only fire at the first enemy unit that comes within range, not any subsequent enemy units.
Overwhelming Attack: When attacking the unit will have an indeterminate number of the suppression points it would otherwise inflict converted to kills.
Reconnaissance Movement: The unit is permitted phased movement, just like reconnaissance units.
Resilience: The unit will suffer 1 to 3 fewer step casualties than normal units when attacked.
Shock Tactics: Any suppression which the unit inflicts on an enemy unit will last the entire player's turn, not just the specific combat round.
Skilled Ground Attack: The unit will inflict 1 to 3 more step casualties than normal units when attacking.
Skilled Reconnaissance: The unit's spotting range is increased by one hex.
Street Fighter: The unit ignores an enemy unit's city entrenchment when calculating combat results.
Superior Maneuver: The unit may ignore enemy units' zones of control.
Can multiple leaders of the same type be awarded to different core units? For example, could I have both an aircraft and a tank unit with Devastating Fire leaders, or two tank units with Overwatch leaders, etc.?
Yes.
Are all types of units eligible to receive any of the random abilities?
No. All Weather Combat leaders are awarded only to aircraft units. In addition, air defense, artillery and air units are ineligible to receive Liberator leaders since those units cannot capture cities or objectives. Similarly, air units cannot receive Alpine Training, Bridging or Forest Camouflage leaders as none of these leaders would add any benefit to air units. It also appears that artillery and air units may not receive Overwatch leaders.
Leaders and Units Notes and Comments
Following is a ranking of the various automatic and random leaders based upon extensive experimentation with different leader-unit combinations. The rankings range from Outstanding (****), to Good (***), to Fair (**) to Why Bother (*).
Outstanding
Devastating Fire: Probably the best all around leader capability as it allows the unit to attack twice in the same turn, and every unit in the game is eligible to get this leader. Tanks, artillery and all types of air units especially benefit from this leader.
Overwatch: This leader is a near must for stopping enemy counterattacks. Antitank units (particularly later model Elefants, JagdPanthers and JagdTigers with their two-hex range) with this leader are particularly awesome to confront.
Liberator: Because unlike its predecessor, Panzer General II is stingy with prestige points, having a Liberator unit or two is invaluable for building up/overstrengthening your core force.
Combat Support: Having one of these units adjacent to (or over, if an air unit has this leader) either units in your front line or your artillery almost guarantees success in a given attack, as well as coming in handy in surviving enemy counterattacks.
First Strike: This ability quickly evens the odds against superior enemy armored or air units.
Good
Mechanized Veteran: If you're an adherent of the "All Air Defense" philosophy (see "Your Core Force" below), you'll want at least one or two of your air defense units to have this leader. Thankfully, it's an automatic, not random, ability for air defense units.
Tank Killer: This leader allows your antitank units to take an offensive role, as opposed to acting primarily as defensive backstops.
Marksman: Probably the best automically assigned leader, this ability gives the German 17 K18's an amazing six-hex range.
Elite Recon Veteran: A recon unit with this automatically assigned leader coupled with the Skilled Reconaissance leader can spot for miles and miles and miles and miles . . . .
All Weather Combat: This ability is especially valuable for tactical bombers as they can be utilized as flying artillery regardless of weather conditions.
Infiltration Tactics: This leader turns the unit into the equivalent of a sturmpionere.
Overwhelming Attack: This ability can spell the difference between reducing and completely eliminating an enemy unit.
Reconaissance Movement: Any unit with this leader can move, attack and move again, just like a recon unit.
Skilled Ground Attack: Like Overwhelming Attack leaders, this leader can mean the difference between simply hurting an enemy unit and blowing it away completely.
Superior Maneuver: This is a terrific ability for tanks and recon units to use in penetrating enemy lines to get at those pesky enemy artillery units.
Fair
Skilled Interceptor: This might rate as Good or even Outstanding if it weren't for the AI's tendency to only send one fighter at a time to attack your tactical bombers.
Tenacious Defense: This leader would be rated Outstanding if the game included defensive scenarios. But as the scenarios all place you on the offensive, this ability doesn't have great value.
Aggressive Attack: Occasionally this ability will mean the difference between a fair and a great combat result.
Bridging: This ability might rate as Good if more than one or two scenarios in the campaigns had a number of river barriers with few bridges.
Determined Defense: Like Tenacious Defense, this leader would be wonderful but for the lack of defensive scenarios in the campaigns.
Ferocious Defense: See comments for Tenacious and Determined Defense leaders.
Fire Discipline: This ability is useful only for those artillery and tactical bomber units with severely limited ammunition supplies.
Influence: This is helpful only for those units that require beaucoup de prestige points to upgrade, such as fighter aircraft units.
Resilience: See comments for Tenacious and Determined Defense leaders.
Shock Tactics: This ability can be helpful on occasion, but provides nothing more than what your artillery and tactical bombers do already.
Street Fighter: This leader is similar to the Infiltration Tactics leader, but is limited in use to attacks on enemy units in city hexes.
Why Bother
Skilled Assault: Only the second coming of Ambrose Burnside would send his tactical bombers out into unexplored territory, so any competent commander would find this ability useless.
Aggressive Maneuver: Rarely will that one extra movement factor make any difference in a scenario.
Alpine Training: Has anyone ever played a scenario where a unit's ability to quickly move through forests and mountains made a lick of difference?
Battlefield Intelligence: Like Skilled Assault leaders, only a grossly incompetent commander would ever allow his units to be surprised, so this leader is rarely, if ever, useful.
Forest Camouflage: Since you are always on the offensive, why would you care if enemy units can't spot you in a forest?
Skilled Reconaissance: Except for recon units, this ability is practically useless.
Following is a list of the most effective unit/leader combinations in the author's humble opinion:
Air Defense: Aggressive Attack. An overstrength AD unit can take out just about any aircraft with one shot with those two extra attack points.
Anti-Tank: Overwatch. An overstrength AT unit (particularly one with a two-hex range) out in front will kill anything that moves near it, and stops nasty enemy counterattacks like a middle linebacker stuffing a run.
Artillery: Devastating Fire. A German 17 K18 with this ability can destroy any unit in one turn from six hexes away (remember, it automatically gets Marksman, too).
Fighter: Devastating Fire. A close second goes to First Strike since it sure helps Me109's deal with Spitfires, or any Russian fighter with any German fighters, without getting completely chewed up.
Infantry: Close Support. No question about it.
Recon: Liberator. With its innate recon movement, an armored car unit can capture more than one city in a turn, and with Liberator your prestige (and thus the size and quality of your core units) will grow and grow and grow. A close second goes to Skilled Reconnaissance since when combined with the automatic Elite Recon Veteran ability your recon unit can spot an amazing 7 hexes.
Dive Bomber (TB): Devastating Fire.
Tank: Devastating Fire.
Core Forces
Your Core Force
Your decision as to the type of core force you will have during a campaign will dramatically affect your approach to each campaign scenario. There are four major philosophies as to the appropriate composition of core forces which the author has dubbed "Big Air Force" versus "Big Air Defense," and "Quality" versus "Quantity." Each of these core force strategies has its benefits and disadvantages, and there is no single "right" strategy to choose. Rather, you should build your core force to suit your particular style of play. Following are descriptions of the differing philosophies and their primary advantages and disadvantages.
Big Air Force
Proponents of this strategy (including the author) advocate purchasing one or more air units in every scenario and building a rather sizeable airforce. Typically, by the conclusion of the Blitzkrieg campaign (Oak Ridge) the player will have upwards of twenty aircraft units with tactical bombers outnumbering fighters by a ratio of about 1.5:1.
Advantages: From a practical/gameplay point of view, a large force of tactical bombers will give the player the equivalent of numerous artillery with a sixteen hex range. And the damage a 15-strength Stuka or A-20 can inflict (particularly one with the Devastating Fire leader) is truly awesome to behold. Furthermore, aircraft can build up experience points far more quickly than artillery units given their ability to strike anything within a sixteen-hex radius. Finally, aircraft make wonderful scouts.
From the historical standpoint, Guderian envisioned tactical bombers as an integral part of blitzkrieg tactics as they would constitute the panzer forces' "flying artillery" given the inability of artillery units to keep up with the fast moving panzer regiments. And he was right, for in fact, the vast majority of German artillery thoughout WWII was horse-drawn. So a large tactical bomber force (accompanied, of course, by escorting fighters) is consistent with history.
Disadvantages: Most significantly, aircraft units cannot attack at all in inclement weather (rain or snow), and attack at only one-half their combat factors in overcast conditions (unless the air unit has a leader with the All Weather Combat ability). In addition, aircraft are subject to being chewed up by enemy air defense units (which the British, in particular, have in abundance) and enemy fighters (which can be obviated simply by accompanying your tactical bombers with fighter escorts until the player has achieved air superiority by wiping out all enemy fighters). Finally, air units cannot provide close support during the enemy's turn as artillery units can.
Big Air Defense
The adherents of this philosophy purchase only a few fighters or tactical bombers, and a large number (at least six to eight) air defense units. Artillery units are substituted for the more expensive tactical bomber units.
Advantages: Air defense units are much cheaper to purchase prestige point-wise than aircraft units. And unlike aircraft, artillery units are never hampered by weather conditions. Plus, artillery units which have not moved in the previous player turn can provide close support for friendly units which are attacked during the enemy's turn.
Disadvantages: Unless an air defense unit has the automatic Mechanized Veteran leader, it must wait/hope for an enemy air unit to fly within its two or three-hex range to inflict damage. Furthermore, artillery units may not move, then fire in the same turn unlike tactical bombers. Finally, at best artillery units have a six-hex range (and then only if it's a German 17 K18 with the automatic Marksman leader) as opposed to aircraft units' sixteen-hex radius.
Quality
Proponents of the Quality core force strategy will spend the majority of their prestige points between scenarios in a campaign to overstrengthen their core units to their maximum overstrength potential, and purchase only two or three new core units. Generally, by the conclusion of the Blitzkrieg campaign a Quality enthusiast will have a core force consisting of about 40 to 45 units, all of which are overstrengthened as much as possible.
Advantages: Overstrengthened units inflict far more damage, and take less punishment, than regular units. And smaller, high quality (i.e., overstength) core forces comport with Guderian's historical concept of a compact, quality armored force as the decisive factor in blitzkrieg campaigns.
Disadvantages: Overstrengthening tank and aircraft units is very expensive. In some campaign scenarios, even a high-quality small force can be overwhelmed by the enemy's sheer force of numbers.
Quantity
Members of the Quantity core force camp will typically spend the majority of their prestige points toward the purchase of new core units, rather than overstrengthening existing core forces. By the Oak Ridge scenario of theBlitzkrieg campaign, a Quantity adherent will have a core force of about 60 to 70 units.
Advantages: More units give you more options, and more firepower with which to tackle the opposing force. Moreover, it costs nothing to rebuild units to their 10 regular strength since the game automatically rebuilds surviving units to their regular strength in between scenarios.
Disadvantages: Regular strength and inexperienced units will not inflict casualties on enemy units nearly to the same degree as overstrength units, and they will take greater casualties when attacked.
Whatever core force strategy you adopt, it is imperative that you make that decision prior to the commencement of the first scenario in a campaign and stick with it, as (at least in the author's experience) mixed core force strategies inevitably lead to a more difficult task in winning the progressive scenarios.
The Whens and Whys of Upgrading Units
Upgrading units at the appropriate time during a campaign is essential to overall victory, as you can't expect to defeat Pershings with Pz Is. But just when to upgrade your units is an important, albeit subtle, facet of Panzer General II.
Of course, you are going to be tempted to upgrade your units every time a new variant of the particular unit is introduced. DO NOT give in to that temptation, for many variants merely add a point or two to attack, defense or initiative values, and are not worth the prestige point cost of upgrading. Instead, when deciding whether to upgrade consider the following:
(1) How technologically superior is the force I'm up against?
(2) Is an upgrade worth the prestige points that I would have otherwise spent on overstrengthening the unit or purchasing another core unit?
As an illustration of the first question, if you're going up against British Spitfires then it's obviously worth the prestige points to upgrade your BF109s to the latest Messerschmidt model fighter. But if you're facing Russian Yaks, then your BF109s will do just fine. And as to the second consideration, if an upgrade costing a couple hundred prestige points only gains your unit an extra point in attack or defense factors, wouldn't the prestige points be better spent in overstrengthening the unit or buying another one?
In the author's view, prestige points should not be spent on upgrading units unless and until the upgrade will increase the unit's attack and/or defense and/or initiative factors by at least two points. As a concrete illustration, in the Blitzkrieg campaign you shouldn't upgrade your Me109s until the FW190s become available, nor should you upgrade the FW190as until the Me262s come along. Stick with the PzIVds until Tigers are available (and upgrade them to Panther Gs at your first opportunity since they have higher attack factors and cost nothing to upgrade).
Another point to consider is just how you intend to utilize the particular unit. This is especially important in upgrading air units. For example, the early JU87D has a greater attack factor against soft targets (e.g. infantry and artillery), but a lesser attack factor against armored targets than either the later model JU87G or HS-129. It's usually a good idea to have a mix of both JU87Ds and either JU87Gs or HS-129s so that you won't be caught short in trying to soften up enemy infantry and artillery.
Historic core in Blitzkrieg campaign (John Heidle)
One of the fun things in Panzer General 2 and the original series isexperimenting with different core mixes. Though PG2 is not that historical, I sometimes like to try playing as close to history as possible. A problem with trying historical setups is what size the units are in PG2. I prefer to understand PG2 panzer, infantry, and artillery units as regiments, with recon, AT, & AD as battalions. I used Guderian's _Panzer Leader_ OB charts to model a 1940 Pz div:
Regiments Battalions
Panzer 2 4
Infantry 1 4
[engineer, motorcycle, & two motorized infantry battalions]
Arty 1 3 ( one heavy )
Recon 1
Anti-tank 1
AD / AA 1
I defined a 1940 Panzer division as two tank, one infantry, one arty, one recon, and one AD units. I defined a motorized division as three inf, one arty, one AD, and one PzJgd Anti-tank units. The German panzer and motorized divisions were more complex than this, but for game purposes and due to prestige limitations, this was the best historical approximation that I could devise. The variant I decided to experiment with was Hitler's decision to double the number of Panzer divisions with the 1941 invasion of Russia. Hitler simply ordered that one of the two panzer regiments in a panzer division be stripped, forming another "panzer division" around the stripped panzer regiment. I also wanted to use what I consider to be historical elements such as using 105 arty in trucks, rather than upgrading all arty to tracked 150s. I started with these six Panzers: 2A 2D 35T 38T 3E 4C.
PG2 core units Inf Pz Arty Recon AT AD
three Panzer Divisions 3 6 3 3 3
three Motorized Divisions 9 3 3 3
Korps/Army 2
TOTAL 12 6 8 3 3 6 (total = 38)
This core then became six 1941 style Panzer divisions, each with one tank, two infantry, one 105 arty in a truck, one 6/2 AD, and either a recon or an anti-tank PzJgd. Only one of the infantry (bridge) is in a halftrack. Besides the original pioniere, the other infantry were eight regular Wehr and two stormtroopers. There were 3 halftracks and 17 trucks for the 20 units needing transports units (arty and infantry). also added two Korps Arty (tracked 150). My air was "normal": four bombers and four fighters at end of Malta, with a fifth of each added for Russia, upgrading to all Ju87D and FW190 by the start of Klin. I was able to get almost all Brillant Victories except for the deliberate victory in Dunkerque and in the two Tobruks with this core (score=267).
If I played this again, I would change from 6 AD to 3, adding one 88 AD instead (the historic AD battalions had a mix of smaller ADs and 88s).
BATTALION variation: I next played another Blitzkrieg campaign by defining all PG2 units as battalions, keeping the mix described in Guderian's OB charts (div=14 bn). For this variation, I built up a "two division core", adding one corps sIG arty and one 88 AD (30 ground units). I had 7 arty (sIG, two tracked 150s and four 105s in trucks), eight infantry (bridge in a halftrack, paratrooper, other 6 in trucks {pioniere, stormtrooper, four regular}). I had these Panzers initially: 1A 1B 2A 2D 35T 38T 4C 3E, later upgrading to four 3h and four IVd for Russia. Core air = 5 fighters & 5 bombers. Results: all BV except for Dunkerque and first Tobruk, score = 287
So it is possible to win a Panzer General II Blitzkrieg campaign with an "historic core", rather than relying on a few pioneers and lots of tanks. Depending upon how one defines regiments or battalions, either way a fairly historically accurate core can win the Blitzkrieg campaign.
Suggestions of core composition
In early stage of Blitzkrieg campaign PzIII tanks are great for anti-tank and PzIV for anti-infantry. So half of your tanks should be PzIII's and PzIV's.
Infantry and tanks ratio should be 2 tanks to 1 infantry, and so with fighters / tactical bombers.
Naming units
Should I name my units and how?
Some players don't and some do. Each player can develop own system for naming. One system is to organize forces in korps, divisions, regiments and battalions/abteilungs.
Korps, divisions, regiments and battalions/abteilungs naming (Priit Kшшr)
Naming convention is 12/23/34 [5]. Where 12 is 12th battalion/abteilung, 23 is 23rd regiment, 34 is 34th division and 5 is 5th korps. Example an 1st engineer battalion that is attached to 34th division and not under regiment command, should be named as 1/-/34. Tank, Infantry and Self. Prop. AT regiments are named as, 1/34, where 1 is 1st regiment and 34 is 34th division. Some times tank and infantry regiments can be splitted in their battalions/abteilungs as strength 5 units. Example an 1st tank regiment consisting of two batlalions/abteilungs, 21st and 7th. Named as 21/1/34 and 7/1/34. Korps consisting of two divisions, 1st tank regiment of 34th division under 5th armored korps should named as 1/34 [5].
Naming units and campaign spreadsheets (John Heidle)
Some people use divisional and korps numbers to keep track of their units. I instead use a Campaign Spreadsheet and I name my units in the order in which I buy them, so I know that the lower numbers have been around more and usually have more experience. I also add the model/type info. If a unit gets a
leader, I add a brief abbreviated description to the name too. Examples:
1 Pz 2 A 2 Pz 2 D 3 Pz 35 t 4 Pz 3 e 5 Pz 38 t(A) 6 Pz IV C
When I upgrade the unit, I rename it, but keep the original sequential number:
3 Pz 3 h ( having upgraded the 35 t to a 3 h )
For infantry and artillery, I add the transport type too:
1 ARTY 105 truck 4 ARTY 150 ht ( half-track)
2 Inf truck 4 Inf Bridge HT
Leaders would be named with their ability squeezed:
When I lose units like recon, I keep the same number if I rebuy them,
but I add something to the number:
1r Recon ( replacement )
1.3 Recon ( lost the recon and it's replacement in a current campaign ).
Summary:
I do NOT use divisional names. I print out a spreadsheet like grid for each campaign so that I keep track of how many units I have. I aim for certain targets like 4 Panzer divisions ( 8 tanks and 4 infantry ). So I keep my force balanced that way rather than having a lot of confusing numbers for the unit names which do not help me to play the game.
Renaming units is one thing you can customize in the General series. I did the same thing for the original Panzer, Allied, and Pacific. Do what YOU want to do with the names. If it makes sense to you, do it.
My spreadsheet like grid for each PG2 campaign has these columns:
Scenario Leader Total Inf Tank Arty Recon AT AD Fighter Bomber G/A
Each scenario gets two lines. On the first I note what I added (or lost) during the scenario. I then add it on the second line to a running total that I keep so that I know how many units of what type that I have. I use smaller fonts to fit everything on one line (G/A = Ground/Air mix). Ex.:
Scenario Leader Total Inf Tank Arty Recon AT AD Fighter Bomber G/A
Sedan 1 10 3 1 4 1 1 10
1 33 6 6 7 3 1 4 3 3 23/10
I print this in smaller type so it fits on one line. On the back side of the sheet I add more detailed information about the scenarios in that campaign, including model info like whether I bought a Pz 3E or a Pz 4D. I also keep track of how much prestige I have. I prefer to keep track of my units this way rather than trying to use division numbers to keep things together. Too often the jump-off deployment hexes do not allow you to sensibly keep divisions together, so I use this naming convention and a Campaign Spreadsheet to keep me organized.
Using reassign command in campaigns (John Heidle)
The REASSIGN command can only be used in campaigns. You can purchase an unit in one scenario and reassign it before you deploy for the next scenario.When you reassign a unit, you get the complete cost of the unit back. So long as the temporary unit is not killed in the scenario, you get back the entire purchase cost in the next scenario as long as you remember to reassign that unit BEFORE you deploy for the next scenario.
You can also immediately reassign any prototype that you get when you are on the all units screen that allows you to upgrade or overstrengthen units. For example, you might get a prototype 5cm AT with a halftrack. Before you deploy any units, you can decide that you don't want it and sell it for the prestige by using the Reassign command.
One use of the Reassign function in a campaign is to garrison cities. Either I am buying new core which I leave behind to guard objectives (ex.=Lillehamer), or you can later on buy units such as a cheap Pz1. Then Reassign the Pz1 when on the "all units" screen before you upgrade or buy new units . I use this frequently when I am not buying any more new core units. I also rename these units TEMP so that they jump out at me and I know what units I will reassign. You get back your entire purchase costs for the unit, so it's an easy way to garrison cities without costing you ANY prestige.
Think of Reassign as rent a unit, with the option to buy it if you like it. This also allows you to experiment with different kinds of units to see if you want to keep them in your core. Try them for a scenario, then reassign them if you don't want to keep them.
You can reassign the original core units. In the Russian campaign, you have a lot of infantry and just one arty, so you might reassign some infantry to buy an arty. In the 1939 Blitzkrieg campaign, you start out with two infantry, one 105 arty, one recon car, and one Panzer 2A. These units will gain a little experience in Spain, but it is cheaper to reassign them (and lose that experience) than to upgrade them. For example, if you upgrade the recon (moves 6) car to a recon tank (moves 8), that costs 108 points. But if you reassign the recon car you get 120 points (full cost), and it only costs 168 to buy the better recon, so for a net cost of 48 points rather than 108, you have a better recon unit. Other core units from Spain have these reassign values: 105 arty = 288 Pioniere = 276 Pz 2A = 108.
Campaign trees
bv - brilliant victory
v - regular victory
tv - tactical victory
l - lost
Blitzkrieg campaign
Battle Results Next Battle Madrid Offensive All Results Ciechanow Ciechanow bv,v Suomussalmi tv,l Sedan Suomussalmi bv,v,tv Lillehammer l Sedan Lillehammer bv,v Sedan tv Thermopylae
A lose means the End of Game ( on this & all following losses)
Battle Results Next Battle Sedan bv,v Race to Dunkirk tv Thermopylae Race to Dunkirk bv Windsor v Pursuit to Tobruk tv Thermopylae Pursuit to Tobruk bv,v Tobruk tv Kishinev Tobruk bv,v Malta tv Kishinev Malta bv,v Kishinev tv Novgorod Kishinev All victories Novgorod Novgorod bv,v Volokolamsk tv LOSES CAMPAIGN! (*) Volokolamsk bv,v Klin Tv Winter Storm (Stalingrad...new campaign) Klin bv,v Windsor (or USA if no British) Tv Winter Storm (Stalingrad.new campaign)
(*) - loses campaign only in the original version of the game, patch 1.01 corrects this game error. Special thanks to Christopher Lipski for verifying this problem. Ray
Hope this helps... I was one of those who thought SSI had completely separated the two German scenarios, but that isn't true. You can continue with your original core units into the Defend the Reich Campaign. Ray
Scenario specific strategies and suggestions in campaign mode
Blitzkrieg campaign
Madrid
Strategy 1: Jeff Vitous (jvitous@spamthis.wwa.com)
Buy a Stuka. Bomb the Spanish tank. Take all of the unoccupied cities and
buy an extra artillery. Use artillery, Stuka, and infantry to take lower
objective (use care, you will not be buying any more infantry).
Ciechanow
Strategy 1: Jeff Vitous (jvitous@spamthis.wwa.com)
Buy a fighter (the Polish airplane will be a pest if you don't kill it).
3-prong attack, from the west, north, and northeast. Apply pressure equally
to northern most objectives first, then when they both fall, move rapidly to
the southern objective.
Suomussalmi
Strategy 1: Jeff Vitous (jvitous@spamthis.wwa.com)
Use aircraft to abet recon. Again, try and apply pressure to all three objectives at once (it keeps the CP from creating a defense in depth around any of the objectives). Artillery is very important in this scenario.
Strategy 2: Bas Van Zetten
This can be a pretty tough one, certainly when you're dependent on your Luftwaffe for
serious damage. As it will be snowing for the majority of the turns, the Luftwaffe will
be useless. Of course you could turn the weather off...
In order to capture Piispajarvi, the northern city, you will need 2 infantry units, a
tank and maybe an artillery piece. Do not rush it, the defenders are dug in, but you have
plenty of time.
In this scenario it is essential to capture Suomussalmi as quickly as possible, because
this city is a well defended obstacle on your route to Raate, East of Suomussalmi. Set up
your artillery as close to Suomussalmi as possible, together with a recon unit. The recon
unit will make some enemy artillery visible, these will be your primary targets. Use the
Finnish additional troops to attack the city from the North. Some of the Finnish troops
will have to cross the bridge in order to do so. Some tanks, infantry and artillery should
go south-east, cross the river and attack from the south. You will encounter strong
resistance there, so be careful and sent in some strong units, preferably defended by some
artillery. While you do this you keep bombing the enemy with the artillery placed West of
the city. This way you encircle the city and it will soon be yours.
After Suomussalmi is yours, rush the majority of your troops to Raate. Leave one infantry
unit in Suomussalmi to guard it. At Raate some strong units are waiting for you. You may
even see a KV-1 ('39) there, and these tanks are tough, probably better than anything you
have got. At Raate a city siege will follow, so you will need a combined battlegroup
consisting of tanks, infantry and artillery. You may try to lure some units out of the
city, by placing a unit near them. Sometimes this will work, and you'll see units leaving
the city and their dug-in positions (this is a flaw in the AI). With artillery softening
up the enemy, finish the job with Pioniere and tanks and victory is yours!
Lillehammer
Strategy 1: Priit Kшшr (pkaar@online.ee)
Speed is essential to get an Brilliant Victory in this scenario. Forces should be organized in two groups. Western and Eastern groups. Western group will take Gajevik then nearby airfield and on route to Lillehammer, takes Biri and Vigrom. Eastern group takes Hamar and then quickly advances towards Lillehammer, and takes airfield followed by Lillehammer itself. Western group forces of 1 tank, 1-2 infantry, 1 artillery and 1 recon. Eastern group forces of 2-3 tanks, 1-2 infantry, 1-2 artillery and 1 recon. Bridging unit will greatly speed up crossing river at Hamar. Luftwaffe should consist 1-2 fighters and 1 Ju-87 Stuka. Generally there will be bad weather mostly, so Ju-87 Stuka is optional, or without any planes.
Strategy 2: Jeff Vitous (jvitous@spamthis.wwa.com)
Artillery and Stukas are important once again. Divide force in 2, one up
each side. Use recon unit to take Lillehammer itself, you don't need to
clear all of the enemy units surrounding the city.
Strategy 3: Yuan Liu (yuanliu@att.com)
Split my force into 2 equal groups to go along the two shores. Mostly just use the standard sequence of "scout->bombard->close attack->overrun". This is the first time the allies has a non-negliable air force, a spitfire, and my tac bomber are not experienced enough, so I actually needed my fighter to guard my bombers.
Strategy 4: Bas Van Zetten
This scenario isn't particularly difficult, but you've got to know the 'trick' in order to
get a brilliant victory. The initial deployment of the army is essential in this scenario.
The following approach was used by me and worked every time:
On the left side of the valley you'll need 2 infantry, 1 tank (preferable an anti infantry
tank, so a PzKpfw IVC/D for example), 1/2 artillery and a recon unit. If you follow my
general tactic, deploy a AD unit here also. With this battle group you have to take the
airfield located north up the road. You will encounter some dug-in infantry, covered by
artillery. Use the recon unit to make these units visible, bomb them with your arty and
finish the job with strong infantry, preferably Pioniere. This will probably take a few
turns, but there's no hurry: the only goal for your battlegroup is the airfield.
The rest of your army is set up on the right side of the valley. If you follow my general
tactic, you'll have some arty left. Set them up in the most northern deployment hexes,
next to a recon unit. The recon unit will make the forces around Hamar visible, and you
can use your arty on them from turn 1 or 2. It's essential to take Hamar in the first 2 to
3 turns, this can be done with the combined effort of the arty, some anti-infantry tanks
(PzKpfw IV C/D) and strong infantry (Pioniere). If you have taken Hamar, leave a unit
there to protect this city. The rest of the units go north, following the path. The
northern airfield isn't heavily guarded, so this will not be a problem. Set up some arty
along the rim of the area near the airfield, so you can bomb units around Lillehammer with
them. When softened up enough attack with your infantry and tanks. Although you will not
encounter a lot of enemy air activity, you can protect your units with mobile AD,
if you have no Luftwaffe.
Thermopylae
Sedan
Strategy 1: Priit Kшшr (pkaar@online.ee)
Two groups. Smaller group will take Sedan. Larger group, crosses river meuse at Me'ziers, advances to Signy-'l-Abbaye and splits in two, first half takes Liart, second half advances towards Rethel quickly and takes it. Smaller group of 2-3 infantry, 1 artillery and 1 recon. Larger group of, 4-6 tanks, 2 artillery, 1-2 recon and 1-2 infantry.
Strategy 2: John Heidle (Heidle@nstaff.sunyerie.edu)
Whether in a typical Blitzkrieg campaign or as a scenario, your strategy in Sedan remains roughly the same. Play the scenario first if you are having trouble get a BV in Sedan in a campaign.
There are four main things to do to BV in Sedan:
(1) Bust thru in Sedan in two turns. It can be done in one in a campaign with good deployment and some luck. Move up a recon to pinpoint targets. Batter the forts with multiple attacks and they will fall.
(2) Send some units towards the two objectives in the North (Liart and Signy L'Abbaye). My strategy is to use a bridge unit to cross near Boulzicourt (northwest of Sedan). Avoid trying to send units thru the woods south of Flize. Instead use a recon to move among those empty towns like Vendresse for the prestige. Also send a recon to the North to take the empty towns and to provide reconnaissance near the two objectives. Buy some recon even if you normally don't use them a lot because they pay for themselves by taking all the empty towns.
(3) Clear out the southern towns (except for Vouziers on the southern map edge). There will be lots of counterattacking French units in this area. Set up a blocking force at LeChesne near the Aisne canal (one infantry and one arty can hold it). By taking all the empty towns, you have enough prestige to buy units to garrison the objectives in the east. In a campaign, any new core units can be used in this area to counter the French counter-attack. 1. Advance on Rethel, the objective in the South. There will be some tanks and Panhard recon around there, so advancing units in trucks could be difficult. Weather also often turns bad in the later turns, so airpower might not be available.
HISTORICAL NOTES: this is where Guderian's 19 Panzer korps broke thru. His 1, 2, & 10 Panzer divisions along with Gross Deutschland infantry regiment (GD) took Sedan on May 13. They pushed west and cleared out everything south of Sedan, then moved along the Aisne canal and river to take Rethel before moving to the sea to trap the Allied armies in Belgium. Follow up motorized infantry divisions from a different korps were used as the blocking force in the south, releasing Guderian's korps to move towards the sea. In the North, however, Reinhardt's 41th Panzer korps (not Guderian's) crossed the Meuse near Montherme and took Signy L'Abbaye.
Strategy 3: Bas Van Zetten
The approach i used and which worked several times is as follows : Take Sedan in the first
turn. This can be done by a your airforce, artillery and Pioniere (to blow up the
strongpoints). Then go down the road along the villages Bulson, Chemery, Malmy, Tannay,
Le Chesne to the airfield, which is not guarded. Sent your troops up the road to a point
where there is a 3 or 4 road junction. From here sent a small army to Signy-l'Abbaye and
Liart. Most of your troops should go to the south to Rethel. If you can take the airport
near Rethel with some Fallschirm jaeger (this airfield is also not guarded). The tanks you
will encounter (B1-bis) can be difficult for your tanks but they can be blown away by
airstrikes. The french will sent lots of reinforcements from the south to defend Rethel,
but with the combined use of artillery, bombers and strong infantry you should be able to
get a brilliant victory...
Race to Dunkirk
Strategy 1: Jeff Vitous (jvitous@spamthis.wwa.com)
Unless you want to do Windsor/40, tank this one. Otherwise, lots of air and
artillery (sensing a theme?) are helpful. You will eventually break out
north, central or south. Use the breakout to surround enemy defenses, while
still penetrating toward remote objectives. Stukas, artillery, and pionere
units are helpful in taking out the pill boxes enroute to Dunkirk itself.
Strategy 2: Yuan Liu (yuanliu@att.com)
I use the auxiliaries at the bottom-right to take the
upper-right objective, leave the aux. in the top-left in defensive
positions, and split my core into 3 groups. The first 2, consisting of
all the towed artis, infantries (all pionieres) and some tanks, spread
across the front line. The third, consisting only of tanks and one
self-propelled arti (sIG?), starts from the left deployment area. The
first 2, goes along the two sides of the central mountain to take the 2
middle objectives, clearing away all the ally troops along the way.
Meanwhile the 3rd group races towards the middle, by-passing all the
towns and fortifications. When the 3rd meets up with the other groups,
they combined to push north towards Dunkirk. Since the ally usually has
some anti-air at Dunkirk, I prefer to use my bomber to help the
upper-right objective, and use most of my arti on Dunkirk. I bought 2
ADs to guard the artis in the first 2 groups, but in hindsight, my
fighters are probably enough.
Windsor '40
Strategy 1: Yuan Liu (yuanliu@att.com)
This and the 2 American scenarios are the only ones that
absolutely needs ADs, and lots of them. This is also the only one that
I had to do over more than once to get a BV. Two groups: one takes the
2 frontline towns on the right, and then push for the 2 London
objectives. The other group goes to the left. After taking the two
towns along the left bank of the river, leave a small force to guard the
flank, and the rest of the group goes farther left to take the leftmost
two objectives. These and the two London objectives must be taken
quickly, otherwise they will be re-inforced. The rest of the objectives
are straight forward.
The British air force can be a hairy problem. So you may have to spend
the first couple of turns setting traps for them with your arti's as
bait. I bought 4 ADs just for this scenario.
Also, the British has very good ADs, so be sure to scout ahead before
you send in the bombers.
Strategy 2: Bas Van Zetten
When you have a Luftwaffe, this will be a serious test. You'll
encounter Spitfire planes which will have no trouble dealing with your Messerschmidt
fighters. Add to this the damage the British bombers will inflict, seriously tough tanks
(Matilda II), a lot of AD units and enormous amounts of British prestige and you've all
the ingredients for a pretty tough scenario.
Best thing to do is to buy some mobile AD, if you haven't already got these. I think you'll
find the British airforce too powerfull for your Luftwaffe alone, you'll need the AD units.
If you're playing without Luftwaffe, you'll probably go to Windsor in 1943.
After buying AD, start your concentrated attack on one of the bridges in order to get to
the middle section of the map. A few units could go to the victory hexes in the West.
Protect these units, preferably including an artillery piece, with mobile AD. Do not go
for the all-out attack yet, because the British got a supply hex here (Sandhurst) and
you'll probably need more troops to capture it. Once the other troops are on the middle of
the map, sent some units to the London hexes, including infantry, artillery and tanks.
Early in the scenario, London isn't that difficult to capture, using concentrated attacks
with artillery, tanks and infantry.
The most important objective next to London is Slough, which is a supply hex. Surround and
capture it asap. Some of your troops can work their way West to Maidenhead, if possible
followed by troops from the London area, once that city is captured.
Next on your list: Windsor. Aided by artillery attacks this city isn't too difficult. Cross
the bridge and directly go to the supply hex in the middle- West of the map. Again:
surround the supply hex and capture it asap. Then sent units North (Maidenhead) and South
(Sandhurst/Camberley). At Sandhurst you already have some troops fighting, now go for the
kill and finish the job. You'll need most troops here, so sent only a few North. In the
South first go after Sandhurst, as it is a supply hex. You need to surround it asap,
otherwise the British keep sending out Matilda II tanks, *severely* frustrating your
efforts.
At Maidenhead (in the North), your troops are already attacking from the East, and now they
are supported by the units coming from the South. This will be easy compared to
Sandhurst/Camberley.
Pursuit to Tobruk
Tobruk
Strategy 1: Jeff Vitous (jvitous@spamthis.wwa.com)
Pursuit to Tobruk and Tobruk scenarios are excessively easy. Take control of the skies, your biggest
problem is mobility in the desert (start heading toward the farthest objectives from turn 1. Your aircraft will catch up).
Malta
Strategy 1: Jeff Vitous (jvitous@spamthis.wwa.com)
Use Stukas and shore bombardment to disable enemy artillery, then run amok
with your armor. Send fleet to the NW to engage British fleet. When you
run out of things for your Stukas to bomb, send them north to sink ships.
You may need several turns to get to the final objective...there is a narrow
bottleneck that must be cleared.
Kishinev
Strategy 1: Yuan Liu (yuanliu@att.com)
My core concentrate on taking Kishiniv, while the Romanians
takes the other objective, and guard the flanks. A small contingency of
the core goes over the mountain to come behind Kishiniv, while the main
group just push south, taking the airfield along the way.
Novgorod
Strategy 1: John Heidle (Heidle@nstaff.sunyerie.edu)
My advice for Panzer General 2: Battle of Novgorod ( in a campaign ).This advice does not apply to the standalone scenario which in my opinion is very difficult to win as the Germans due primarily to the odd deployments such as two 88 ATs in the south with no supporting arty.
Everyone has a very hard time their first time in Novgorod.
I got only a tactical victory the first time while losing seven core units. The 2nd and subsequent times, however, I am winning easy brillant victories. Play the scenario first for a few turns to see how the Russians are deployed. They have an incredible amount of artillery up very close, while their AD are in the back near their objectives in the north and at airfields. There is also a strength 13 leader T34 which will cause a lot of problems if your Stukas can not pick it off.
My strategy depends heavily upon a good deployment. There are 4 "jump off" deployment hexes:
North 4
Center (Starya Russia) 3
near the Center 6
in South 9
In the three center hexes, put your two best arty in the north and center hexes. In the south hex of the three, put a PzIIIh tank or a recon that has leader ability. That hex is within range of two arty, so be careful what goes there. If you have a recon with a leader, put it there because it spots six hexes instead of four.
Near the center, put a few more arty, an AD, and more tanks. You don't need infantry up near Starya Russia the first few turns. They can arrive later from the normal deployment hexes. Move the arty up and "bait them with an AD just out of spotting range. A Russian fighter will be in that area on the first turn. so suck it into attacking your AD protected arty.
In the North, put four weak units. Their role is to move north thru the swamps, then south along the eastern map edge. They do not fight until they arrive near the Russian airport that's not far from the two east/center Russian objectives. I used a 6/2 AD, a PzJgr, and two inf in trucks for this.
In the nine deployment hexes in the South, put a bridge infantry (buy one if you don't have it). Add to that one other infantry, one recon, two tanks, 3 arty. That's eight units out of nine. My ninth is a 6/2 AD to protect the bridge and arty. Their role is to cross the river and take the two objectives in the South. Kill the arty first, create a place to move across the river with a bridge, provide bomber support, and the two objectives can be taken fairly easily if you take your time.
Turns 1 - 4 ::
Turn one: move your recons around in the center and south to see where the enemy arty are. You have to kill them in the first few turns before you start attacking. Send most of your Stukas to the South to attack arty.
Then start eliminating any other arty that your recon or air can spot. Start to bring up your arty and other units in the center. Start moving forward your arty in one or two hex steps. Do not move any units further than three hexes away from an arty so that supporting fire is always available (four hexes if it's a marksman with a leader, range - 1 is the formula for arty support). Hopefully at some point in the first four turns, you can find and start attacking the @13 T34. If it moves around, guess where it will go (it moves seven hexes) with your fighters, spot it, then move in the bombers. When you start denting it, keep three air around it so that it can not rebuild back to @13.
Starting around turn five, start to move over the road/causeway towards the two center objectives. You can position your arty so that one can hit either of the two closest objectives (center and southeast). Always leave a retreat hex for your best tank(s) when they advance along the causeway. By carefully moving up your arty, with recon spotting, you can do this quite easily. I moved up my two tracked 150 and two 105 arty in trucks ( no self propelled arty ) today when I played Novgorod in my latest campaign.
AIR: there are only a few airfields, so upgrade your bombers before you upgrade your fighters. Me109e are still fine as you usually face only two Russian fighters. If it rains, move your air around two hexes apart for recon. Reconaissance, bombers, and arty are the key to winning. Coordinate them while moving up slowly and you can win easily.
I'm sure you won't need this specific advice the next time you play Novgorod. Having some idea about this scenario by playing it once will improve your play the next time. Good luck. Bye.
Strategy 2: Bas Van Zetten
I tried this approach which worked a few times. It will depend on the units you have
though. I massed heavy artillery (3 pieces with range 4) on the forest line near Belebzika
(Southern city), and added some tanks , infantry and (important!) a recon unit. The recon
unit will make some Russian arty and infantry visible and you can bomb them from the start.
Also they protect your units there, so attacks on your tanks will be punished by massive
artillery fire, dealing about 7-8 damage to the average Russian infantry unit. Slowly make
your way to Belebzika and Poddor'ye (supported if neccessary by Stuka's). The rest of the
units i placed as follows : main tanks, some arty (if any left) strong infantry (pioniere,
stosstruppen) and some AD near Staraya Russa. Along the forest line i put some lesser tanks
and infantry.
The Stuka's will be neccessary in the assault on the Russian troops on the bridges near
Staraya Russa first though. The Russians got some nasty tanks there (KV1 and T34) which
will probably be better than your tanks. And they are overstrengted too! You can get by
this problem by overstrengting all your tanks (i had about 3-4 PzKfw IVD with strength 15)
and with some help of your Stuka's. Support the tanks with some arty, if you have some
left. If you have the Russian tanks down to 4-5 and they are ready to be killed you'll see
them retreating, then *always* make sure you follow them and best kill them with whatever
unit you got, or they will be back *full strenght* (so 13-14). After killing the main
Soviet tanks your Stuka's will be needed in eliminating the enormous amount of artillery
the Soviets placed along the forestline (deadly for infantry). After some time you'll be
able to advance your troops placed there to the East to mop up left over arty and infantry
and then go South to help the troops there take Belebzika and Poddor'ye.
After dealing with the main Russian tanks i sent the most units East to Parfino and Pola.
A small section goes south for Ramishero and Zaluch'je. Also take the airfield near Pola,
which will be handy when you need your bombers further south for the assault on Ramishero
and Zaluch'je.
Key units in this scenario (imho) : recon, for detecting the deadly arty, overstrengted
heavy tanks (to deal with the T34 and KV1 which are better than the IIIG/H or IVD) and
Stuka's (support for attacks on Russian tanks and for destroying arty). It's crucial to
complete an attack, so always have some backup you can use for the final assault, in order
to kill the enemy. Also try to surround the Russian supply cities asap, or they will be
sending in reinforcements faster than you can kill'em....
Volokolamsk
Strategy 1: Yuan Liu (yuanliu@att.com)
Volokolamsk is the toughest objective in this scenario.
So I attack it from both north and south, while two small groups along
the top and the bottom to get the two farthest objectives. Should be no
problem.
Klin
Strategy 1: Yuan Liu (yuanliu@att.com)
The only real difficulty presented by this scenario is the
weather. If you're unlucky, you'll get 2 non-snowing turns in the first
9 (B.V.). So I bought 3 arti's just for doing this scenario. All that
snow also means that fuel comsumption is a concern. So I divided my
core into 3 approximately equal groups: The main group goes down the
center to take the middle objective and towards the bottom two, one
group goes to the right, guarding the left flank of the main group and
to take the 3 objectives on the right, and one smaller group goes down
from the lefthand side, guarding the right flank, taking the bottom left
objective and finally help the main group on the 2 last objectives. Bad
weather can actually make this a close one.
Another interesting thing about this scenario is that if you get BV or
just a victory, you go to Savanah, and if you tank it deliberately by
taking a tactical, you will go through the Defending the Reich campaign
instead.
Windsor '43
Strategy 1: Bas Van Zetten
Follow the same tactic as in my Windsor '40 strategy. This time it will be easier, because you'll
have experienced AD units, strong tanks (probably Tigers) and lots of artillery units (when
playing without Luftwaffe). The Tigers can destroy anything on the battlefield, and when
supported by artillery and strong infantry, you'll have no trouble here.
Savannah
Strategy 1: John Heidle (Heidle@nstaff.sunyerie.edu)
UPGRADES: I upgrade my least experienced tanks to Tigers in Windsor 43. For Savannah I upgrade my most experienced tanks to Panther G or maybe a few slow moving King Tigers (Tiger 2).
OverStrengthen (OS) fighters first so that they survive. Then overstrenghten minimally the best two tanks, best recon, and best arty.
DEPLOYMENT: Land OS units (two tanks, recon, and arty) in the four adjacent hexes in the north. North to south that's tank-tank-recon-arty. The recon spots for the arty, the arty protects everyone. The two tanks may be able to kill the infantry and artillery there on turn one. Protect these units with fighters on the
adjacent sea hexes on turn one. Land next best two tanks in other two single slots in the North.
Do NOT land in the south as you have a 50-50 chance of losing those units. There is American artillery and recon to the North of those deployment hexes while planes will fly into this area right away. The rest of your deploying units deploy at sea to slowly build up in the North.
You can also deliberately NOT deploy all units. You can leave a mix of units undeployed and, when you take Savannah, they can be landed in the port and start attacking that turn. Instant reinforcements! Do NOT deploy at least one arty and one AD plus some of your weaker units for this purpose.
Your biggest challenge here is first the very good fighters, then the M26 tanks. Best bet is to put your bombers in front of your fighters whenever possible. Hope that the Mustangs get damaged, then trap them. With some AD support, your FW190s will kill them though you will sustain a lot of damage. On turn one you have to decide what you want your bombers to do. They can either go after the AD near the group of four landing hexes, substaining considerable damage, or they can go after the ships until the ground forces
kill the AD there.
Strategy 2: Yuan Liu (yuanliu@att.com)
Savanah is actually the tougher of the 2 American scenarios. First of
all, going directly from Klin to Savanah means that I need to upgrade my
'41 vintage equipments to '44 ('45?) ones, all in one step. This
requires a LOT of prestiges. As a result, I had to dismiss all my less
experienced units. Even so, I can only afford to upgrade to 2 tigers
and 5 Panzer G's, plus 4 long range arti's and 2 fw190d. The second
thing that makes this one tough is that the Americans have air
superiority. This on top of the fact that there's no initial
beachheads, AND the German navy doesn't show up until the second turn.
All of this add up to one thing: more initial losses than all the
previous scenarios. I lost half of my artis and half of my air force in
the first 2 turns. However, spending all those prestige in upgrading
the tanks paid off. My tanks were able to gang up on the Americans and
destroyed their first line of defense. After that my fighters managed
to destroy the American bombers before they themselves were almost
destroyed, and after taking the first couple of objectives, I had enough
prestiges to buy some ADs. After that, it was smooth sailing.
Oak Ridge
Strategy 1: Yuan Liu (yuanliu@att.com)
Pretty straight forward. The prestige from Savanah allowed
me to upgrade my only remaining fighter to me-262, bought another one,
and a couple of ADs. This takes care of the only American advantage.
One of my tigers made a personal record in this scenario: in one turn,
it overran 4 american units and almost destroyed a fifth one.
Defending the reich campaign
Operation winterstorm
Strategy 1: Bas Van Zetten
Defending the Reich is supposed to be the most difficult of the campaigns, but if you do
OK in the first scenario "Winterstorm" you also might find this campaign not that hard.
Your general goal (besides the victory hexes...) is keeping the core casualties to a
minimum. When you do not achieve this goal, the whole campaign might prove too difficult.
First you need to expand your core forces. It's best to buy the following units :
3 tanks, for example 2 PzKpfw IVG and a PzKpfw IVF2.
a bridging unit.
The bridging unit will help your troops cross the river running East of the German owned
victory hex on the left-middle of the map. Position your bridging unit there together with
the tanks. From here, your main attack on the Russian victory hexes will start.
You should use the Rumanian troops in the North-West and South-West of the map for delaying
tactics. Aided by the artillery, keep the enemy busy and pinned. Do not send the Rumanian
troops to the front lines, they do not have the needed fighting power. For defensive
actions though they'll do just fine.
The Rumanian troops just below Bolshaya Donschinka (BD) should start mopping up some enemy
units North of them. Send the German units present in BD to their aid. As a result the
Russians will take BD now, but you'll have plenty of time to recapture it. As the Russians
take BD you'll immediately have an idea of what you're up against in stead of finding out
the hard way (you do not have recon here).
Your main attack should consist of the German forces under your command, and should start
(as already mentioned) from the German owned victory hex. From here go straight East in the
direction of Blinovskiy (no victory hex).
From here sent some troops South, in order to help out capturing BD, one tank will be
sufficient. Attack Kletskaya from the North and West, using the advantage of your range-2
tanks. After capturing BD you might sent some troops North East to Kletskaya, in order to
help out/speed up the process.
At the same time of starting the attack on Kletskaya, you should order some troops
North-East to Serafimov, the last victory hex. Two tanks, 2 infantry and some artillery
will prove sufficient.
If you managed to minimize core losses (preferably 0), you'll own a good basic core force
needed for the next scenario's.
Essentials:
* Do not buy any Luftwaffe, it's too expensive and you will not need it.
* Use the Rumanian troops for delaying tactics only. You may be forced to sacrifice some
of these (additional) troops.
* Be patient in BD. Use the Germans present there first to help mopping up South, leaving
BD unprotected. Later attack BD with the assembled German and Rumanian troops, if
neccessary reinforced from the North by some troops from your main attack force.
* Absolutely minimize core losses. You'll need all your troops in the following scenario's.
* Sell the plane you own, by the start of the next scenario. You'll need the prestige for
upgrading purposes. In the Defending the Reich you will not be able to build up a strong
Luftwaffe, so your one and only plane is practically useless and must be sold.
Operation nordwind
Strategy 1: Bas Van Zetten
Well here's (finally!) a tough one again, certainly if you're going for a brilliant victory
(who isn't...). Operation Nordwind can be difficult because :
* The number of victory hexes you are supposed to take is high (9).
* The terrain is totally unsuited for your Panzers (snowy, forests, lots of rivers).
* The tight timelimit for a BV.
This will require some coordination and the right forces. To start with the latter: I think
you will need 3 recon units, as there are going to be 3 'kampfgruppen'. Two or three mobile
AD units, and some fast tanks. Although the King Tiger is naturally the most powerfull tank
on the battlefield, it's wise to include some Panther Ausf. G tanks. Maybe 'upgrade' some
Tigers to Panthers, or buy some during the battle (if you do the last, the new Panthers
have to start from the supply point, kind of negating the movement bonus of the Panther...).
For a BV speed is absolutely essential, so i do recommend a tank mix consistung of Tigers,
King Tigers and Panthers.
Besides the tank-mix, make sure your infantry is strong (minimum Stosstruppen) and has
transportation in the form of halftracks. This way they can keep up with the Panzers,
mobile AD and artillery. Stosstruppen at the right place at the right time will prove to
be the difference between failure and glory... If you have prestige left, overstrength all
your units.
The next step: deployment. I think you should go for a main attack just North of Lembach.
Place most artillery here, next to strong tanks. This will be group A. All the infantry
should be deployed in the forests North of Lembach. As the battle progresses they travel
South joining Kampfgruppen or guarding cities you conquered. It's not wise to leave cities
unguarded, you may be unpleasantly surprised, as some left over American infantry unit
recaptures the city and you have no troops nearby...On the other hand : the infantry is
needed in the Blitz, so you have some choices to make.
In the deployment hexes near Niederbrom-les-Bain (North West of map) place some artillery,
AD and 2 or 3 tanks (group B). Remaining tanks should be placed in the hexes near
Wissembourg (group C, North East of the map).
You have some auxilary forces: weak infantry, but well protected by arty. Use them to delay,
or weaken the enemy by artillery bombardments. The auxilary forces near Niederbrom-Les-Bain
can be used to create a choke point near Bitche (yes that's the name of the place...). In
order to do so, provide support by your core forces present there in the first turn, let
the auxilary forces retreat towards Bitche and build up a defense here. They will hold long
enough to keep the Americans there busy.
Group A, the main attack force goes straight South, to capture Lembach, then to Haguenau.
When you reach this city split up the forces. Some should go West to help group B if
neccesary at Ingwiller and go for Saverne. Saverne can be tough, i think you will need an
artillery piece (maybe present in group B), a tank and infantry from group A. How many
troops of group A should go West is dependend on the performance of group B. The rest of
group A will go further South to Strassbourgh.
Group B, coming from Bitche should go for Niederbrom-les Bain, Ingwiller and Saverne. They
will encounter enemy tanks coming from small roads leading West. If you have spare tanks,
and suspect enemies nearby, block these roads, so that your remaining forces can travel
South faster and undisturbed.
Group C must go for Wissembourg, Soultz-sous-Forets and Niederroedern. Make good use of the
auxilary artillery provided here (you will need no core arty). This group has the easiest
task.
Essentials:
* A good tank mix, fast (Panther G) and mega powerfull (King Tiger).
* Make sure your infantry is mobile (halftracks). Strong and mobile infantry can really
tip the balance in your favour.
* Have recon in each battlegroup, to avoid those nasty surprises.
* Coordinate the attacks, and have at least 3 complete battlegroups with clear goals for
each group.
* Watch your fuel. Those Panzers use enormous amounts of fuel, real gas-guzzlers. It's
frustrating to see your troops grinding to a halt, just before Strassbourgh while a BV was
within your grasp.
* This is an obvious one, but still : Use the roads! Travel is faster, and in the end, fuel
consumption is less.
Invasion salerno
Strategy 1: Bas Van Zetten
First it's upgrade time. I upgraded most my infantry to Stosstruppen, the remaining
prestige was used to overstrength the Tiger tanks. I got a mobile AD unit as a prototype,
so the total number of AD units is 2. I think you should have at least 2 AD units by now,
so maybe it's time to buy them.
The scenario isn't that difficult, the key to succes is in the deployment phase. The number
of turns you have in order to get a BV is a little low, but that's the only difficult part
for this battle.
Deploy most of your tanks and artillery North of Persano, in the South end of the map. Also
place a recon unit here. The remaining infantry and artillery should be deployed near the 3
victory hexes Nocera, Maiori and Salerno. Both groups should receive a AD unit.
The trick is to divide the battlefield by a strong ("Schwerpunkt"! :-) attack West-bound by
the main forces North of Persano. With the aid of powerful artillery pieces and Tigers both
beachheads and Tobacco Factory hexes can be yours in only a few turns. Once you reached the
coast line (and divided the battlefield) sent some troops North to Salerno and some South
to capture Persano, Altavilla and Paestrum.
Meanwhile your troops deployed North of Salerno should perform sustained attacks on the 3
victory hexes there (Nocera, Maiori and Salerno). Aided with the artillery present here,
you may be able to capture some of the victory cities. But do not rush it, your goal should
be to weaken them, so that when the map is divided and reinforcement come from the South,
the reinforcements can finish the job in a few turns.
Because you already have some troops fighting North of Salerno, after reaching the coast,
most troops should go for the Southern cities. For the Northern cities 2 heavy tanks, some
infantry and maybe an artillery piece will be sufficient. You will get quite some prestige
if you move quickly, so you can expand your core at the same time.
Essentials:
* Deploy your forces wisely.
* Devide and conquer. This will severely limit the Allied possibilties on this map.
* If deployed as described above, do not rush things at Nocera/Maiori/Salerno. Sustained
attacks, weakening the enemy should be sufficient.
* Watch out for Allied artillery fire. Your infantry is particularly vulnerable. Use the
recon unit(s) aggressively.
* Protect infantry and artillery from air attacks by placing mobile AD nearby. Move the AD
and artillery along with the front lines.
Drive to the sea
Strategy 1: Bas Van Zetten
Although you will only have 6 turns for a briljant victory, it can be done, because the
scenario is surprisingly easy, when the right tactic is used. First it's time to upgrade
again, the King Tiger is available ! You should get a few of these, use the rest of your
prestige to overstrength all your units. Two mobile AD units will suffice for this
scenario.
Again succes will depend on the initial deployment of the units. As speed is essential,
deploy all your tanks as close to the beach heads (Sword, Juno and Gold) as possible. East
of Sword deploy some strong infantry units. The artillery and AD units should be deployed
just South of Caen, while the remaining units (probably infantry) will be placed on your
supply hex in the South.
Move the Tigers and King Tigers to the 3 beaches, divided evenly. Act aggressively, and
use the auxilary artillery and infantry to take one or two victory hexes in the first turn.
Pegasus Bridge should be taken by your forces deployed East of it, after which they can
help out at Sword beach.
The artillery and AD should be moved to the beaches as soon as possible. Keep the artillery
protected at all times, although the AI airforce will probably not attack this far inland.
If you have "17 K18" artillery pieces, make maximum use of the range (5).
The Tigers and King Tigers can destroy anything you encounter on the battlefield with
amazing ease, so make good use of that megapower!
The infantry deployed at the Southern supply hex can stay there, they will not be able to
reach the beaches in time, so keep them there.
Essentials:
* Again, correct deployment is essential.
* Have some overstrength Tigers and King Tigers ready, near the beaches.
* Act aggressively, you can afford it!
* If you act quickly, you'll earn a lot of prestige, use it for a King Tiger and some AD.
Keep the rest for upgrade/overstrength purposes in the following scenarios.
Zitadelle
Strategy 1: Bas Van Zetten
At the start of this scenario you should sell your one and only fighter plane, and do some
upgrading. I upgraded my tanks (5) to Tigers, the arty (3) to "17 K18" and bought a mobile
AD unit, a 7/1. One mobile AD will prove sufficient for this scenario, besides that you will
have an non-core additional fighter at your disposal. The Russian airforce in this scenario
has 1 nasty bomber, which you should go after once it's spotted and unprotected by fighters.
Key in this scenario will be the first strike. Strike hard and you will have the basis for
success. Place the Tigers at the front lines, backed by your arty. Place a recon unit close
by, it will make several strong Russian infantry and artillery pieces visible.
You will have lots of regular infantry (strength 5), these are perfect for defending
Belograd, the city that is in German hands at the start of the scenario. Use the artillery
(non-core) for this purpose also.
Belograd will be attacked repeatedly by strong infantry and tanks, but if you have the
artillery for support your infantry will hold. Keep the non-core PzKpfw IV (2) ready at
Belograd for emergencies. You will probably use these tanks in a defending role. Take
maximum advantage of the range (2) of these tanks.
The main attack should be towards Yakoulevo (no victory hex) in the North West. In turn 1
you should deliver a crushing first strike in order to get a good start. Use the powerful
"17 K18" arty and your Tigers to eliminate the infantry and artillery in the fields ahead
of you. Take good advantage of the range (5) of your arty. Work your way to Yakoulevo, do
not go for the road/rail bridges East of Yakoulevo/North of Belograd. At Yakoulevo you will
have easy access to the North/East part of the map, while the bridges will prove to be
choke points.
Once you are at Yakoulevo, split up your troops. Sent most of them to Yasnaya Polyana and
Prokhorovka. Here heavy tanks, artillery and strong infantry are needed. I also included
the mobile AD unit in this battle group. First on your path is Yasnaya Polyana. Bomb it
with the arty, and use the Tigers to eliminate the nearby Russian tanks. It's best to
concentrate the arty fire on the Russian infantry, and weaken it so much that it can be
overrun by your tanks. Do not get pinned here, instead while you are still fighting at
Yasnaya, swing around this city and go for Prokhorovka right away with some strong tanks.
These two fronts will keep the Russians divided, which suits your goals perfect.
Prokhorovka is a supply hex, so if possible surround it, in order to stop Russian
reinforcements from entering the battlefield.
For the remaining Western city (Novoselovka) 2-3 tanks, some infantry and a artillery piece
will be sufficient.
Essentials:
* The first strike is crucial.
* Destroy the Russian bomber a.s.a.p.
* Do not go for the bridges.
* Defend Belograd with the auxilary infantry, artillery and tanks.
* While still fighting at Yasnaya go immediatly to Prokhorovka, which is a supply hex. This
way you create two fronts, divide the Russian efforts and stop reinforcements.
* When you have the choice do not waste arty on tanks, instead drop those shells on
infantry, turning them into 'overrun-fodder' for your tanks.
Operation konrad
Strategy 1: Bas Van Zetten
The last scenario of "Defending the Reich" ! It should not be too difficult though, as by
now you should have a large and powerfull core force. To give you an idea, here is my army
at the start of this battle :
5 Tigers
3 Panthers G
3 King Tigers
1 JagdPanther
3 17K18 artillery
1 PSW 231 recon
1 250/1 recon
1 234/1 recon
1 38(t) FlakPanzer
2 SdKfz 7/1 mobile AD
8 Stosstruppen
In order to overstrength all units you might want to reassign a unit or two. This is
important, because a King Tiger at strength 15 will annihilate anything you may encounter
(maybe they are a little bit too powerfull ?). It's possible to destroy a Russian T34/85 in
a single attack.
Split up the forces in to groups, one group will go after Sarbogard (deploy them South,
about 4 tanks, some infantry, recon and a mobile AD unit), the other group (deploy them
near Szekesfehervar), the main task force, will go for Szekesfehervar, Baracska and Budafok
(huh, now that's a strange name...). All the artillery is placed in the main group. At the
start of the scenario scan the area in front of both groups with your recon, this will
prove to be essential in this scenario. Some Russian infantry and artillery will become
visible.
The main group can bomb them right from the start, taking good advantage of the range of
the 17K18 arty (5). You might be able to take Szekesfehervar in turn 1. Leave an infantry
unit here to guard it. Your tanks and artillery should travel East, destroying whatever
stands in their way. This will be mainly T34-85, no match for a King Tiger in good
condition. It may be neccesary sometimes to detour a little to get those T34's out of the
way. Make sure they do not go West for Szekesfehervar or Berhida. Your Panthers are more
vulnerable to the T34-85, so watch out.
The area just North East of Szekesfehervar will have more Russian artillery and infantry,
just bomb them with your superior ranged "17 K18". Do not let them slow you down, just keep
heading East. Once near Baracska, you'll have to cross a bridge in order to get to Budafok.
This may develop into a choke point, that's why your main attack force has all the
powerfull arty. Protect it well when travelling, surrounding it by tanks and infantry and
covered by AD. The damage done by 3 of these BIG guns, added to the damage done by the
tanks, will blow all opposition here away, so you'll be able to cross quickly.
This is essential for a brilliant victory, do not let the Russians block you here. Once
over the bridge, use your recon to scout the area, which will reveal some (3-4) artillery
pieces.
Again use the superior range of the "17 K18" to deal with these, and when weakened just
sent in the heavy metal. After the Red arty is buried, drop those shells on the infantry
present and soon the city is yours.
Meanwhile the smaller group South must start with an attack the Southern most Russian
infantry unit. Once this unit is destroyed, your tanks will have access to the artillery
placed there. Needless to say that the Russian arty is easily destroyed when attacked by
one of your Panzers. This Southern group must now go straight for Sarbogard, where you will
encounter some T-34/85's, but when you have 2 King Tigers in this group it will be no
problem.
The auxilary forces in the North West should travel South, they can be used to defend
Szekesfehervar, once conquered. The auxilary troops in the North East of the map...well
they are doomed actually. No matter what you do (wait for the attack or attack yourself)
the opposings forces (lots of arillery, powerfull infantry) will be too much for them.
Maybe if you have a strong Luftwaffe (seems unlikely in "Defending The Reich") you can
help them out.
At the start of the scenario you own Berhida, leave an infantry unit and maybe a tank here
to guard it.
Essentials:
* Two Kampfgruppen with specific goals. All artillery in the main group (North).
* Overstrength King Tigers for dealing with the T34-85.
* Guard Berhida and Szekesfehervar with infantry.
* Destroy tanks you'll spot on your way East, but do not let them slow you down too much.
* Cross the bridge near Baracska quickly, do not give the Russians an opportunity to create