US Corps 42 to 45

Battle Reports & After Action Reports (AAR's)

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Cerberus51
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by Cerberus51 »

The 43 campaign is definitely harder than 42 all the way through. There is perhaps less variety in the scenarios with three amphibious landings each followed by fighting off a counterattack but that is historical. Speaking of history, I read the Wikipedia account of Anzio and was impressed how the three scenarios played out broadly the same as the real fighting. Pretty good for a game that is relatively simple and not a detailed wargame.

I will be taking a couple of days off due to real life interfering but will be continuing with 44/45.

Compared to my previous playthrough at Colonel I have 30517pp going into 44/45 as against 30260 last time. Pretty good considering the amount of elite replacements I took during the last two scenarios. The main difference I have noticed at General is the AI using the extra prestige to buy units to defend objectives.

My core force consists of;

3 Ranger with HT
3 43 Engineer with HT
3 M4A3(76)W Shermans
1 PzIVH
1 Sherman Crab
2 Sdkfz 234
1 Jeep
6 M10 Hellcats
3 M7 105mm
3 M12 155mm
3 M15 AA
2 P-47D
1 B-25B
1 B-26
2 B-24

and SE units

1 Ranger with HT
3 P-47D

Most are 3 or even 4* and have a total of 38 heroes.
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by goose_2 »

Excellent work General.
I am pleased that you are seeing this as a capable battle at a more difficult level.
That is a strong army, and you have enough prestige to beat back the Hun.
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Cerberus51
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by Cerberus51 »

OMAHA BEACH

30517pp, 28 slots.

Awarded a SE P-51B. I would not buy a green fighter at this stage so this was the only way I was going to field a P-51. Upgraded it to a D. Also upgraded the 3 M7's to Calliopes as it is an excellent unit for support fire and will stop a lot of attacks. Full cost so expensive but I think they will pay for themselves.

Told Allies have air superiority so left out all the P-47's, could have deployed the SE's but with only 2 carriers for resupply this simplifies things. Unfortunately the ships are locked in place so no evacuating them to disband for prestige.

The key to breaching the clifftop defences is close support artillery to nullify attacks on US units (hence the Calliopes). I considered I had enough artillery to support three landing groups so ignored the SE zone. First task after getting ashore is to clear minefields so I overstrengthed the engineers and Sherman Crab to 12.

Landed first wave - maze of minefields. Received recon plane, proved quite useful. Noticed I had hit the soft cap, showing 96% by turn 3. Cleared minefields (engineers useful as they one shot str 15 minefields) and started attacks on German units with artillery in close support. Eliminated the western and central Atlantikwall guns and rolled up the defences. Suppression from naval bombardment is very helpful. The most challenging enemy position is the two nebelwerfers backed by an 88 in the centre as the nw's have range heroes and the attack frontage is only one hex.

Turn 6 received prestige for destroying command bunker near Colleville sur Mer. Turn 12/16 Triumph, 29126pp. Picked up 88 exp with my new P-51.

Verdict: it pays to be methodical here, move slowly with artillery in support. Fortunately much of the German artillery is only 7.5's and they have little armour so no real threat of a significant counterattack. A nice opening scenario to the campaign but again it looks easier with an imported core.
Attachments
(11.01.2017) Omaha Beach, Turn 12.pzrpl.zip
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wargovichr
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by wargovichr »

Spoiler:
Use the recon plane in two move fashion (spot, move away) to spot enemy. Bomb the hell out of 'em.
Note: the recon plane critical rest of war, **escort** after this battle, key to spot hidden kamikaze panzer attack staging areas before triggered.
Cerberus51
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by Cerberus51 »

wargovichr wrote:Spoiler:
Use the recon plane in two move fashion (spot, move away) to spot enemy. Bomb the hell out of 'em.
Note: the recon plane critical rest of war, **escort** after this battle, key to spot hidden kamikaze panzer attack staging areas before triggered.
Yes, I consider the recon plane more useful than a ground recon unit even though it has no attack ability.
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by wargovichr »

Spoiler continued:
Recon spotting (3 hexes) ineffective in spotting hidden triggered kamikaze panzer attack groups. They will be far enough behind line to NOT be spotted by your recon. Next turn Tiger II (5 hex move) and especially Panther and Jagdpanther (8 hex) cripple your late model Shermans, contributing to unsustainable prestige repair costs.
So. Two to three three-unit combat groups comprised of US tank destroyers (only) ALWAYS backed up by experienced self-propelled artillery. Buy NO Shermans at ALL ever! Use the escorted recon plane to spot (and scoot) panzer traps, which you aggressively bomb (weaken and destroy) before they get triggered!
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by Cerberus51 »

I know, I have played US Corps through previously and learned the hard lessons.

Shermans are for soft targets, not to go on point and face Tigers.
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by Cerberus51 »

POINTE DU HOC

31626pp, 28 slots.

Key is to save 2nd Rangers as that is required for any victory. So one battlegroup will go west supported by air and naval units. The rest will mop up the centre and east before second group goes west for airfield at 8,15 then south. Third group goes south down the eastern side of the map and will require air support as it faces most German armour (used the captured PzIVH here rather than a Sherman - still got mauled by a StugIII though).

Pointe du Hoc, suppressed Flak 88 with naval bombardment and destroyed with tac bomber allowing further airstrikes. 2nd Ranger never seriously in danger.

Luftwaffe consisted of one FW190A - took it down with my best two P-47's, damage -4 and -1 to my units. SE P-51D now 1*.

All was going well until I stupidly attacked the Marder on the airfield at 8,15 with my least experienced M18, got a rugged defence and -7 damage :oops: :oops: :x . Sending in an experienced M18 hit the Marder for -8, exactly what I should have done first. (That M18 replaced the one I lost at Anzio and is 1*, the other five are either 4* or within a few exp of that - makes a massive difference at this point).

Turn 10 received prestige for destroying all Atlantikwall guns and flak. Triumph on turn 16/16, 31718pp.

The B-25 given at Casablanca picked up a third hero, it has two A+1 and the A+3, I+2 it starts with. Nice! This is my first three hero unit of the campaign.

Verdict: not too hard with an experienced core. Once you realise the priority is 2nd Rangers and rescue them the Germans don't have that much to throw at you. The challenge is to have a plan to clear the map and get all the flags in time.
Attachments
(13.01.2017) Pointe du Hoc, Turn 16.pzrpl.zip
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Cerberus51
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by Cerberus51 »

CARENTAN

32968pp, 28 slots.

Enemy armoured groups come from the S and SW. Two deployment zones, E and NW. Three artillery each, 4 M18's in E, 2 and 2 Shermans in NW, split infantry and air almost equally.

Successfully mopped up German units for the first few turns and shot down the lone ME109G. Drove a Sherman into ambush by infantry unit, -5 damage. The key to attacking Carentan is close artillery support and, once the 2 AA units are destroyed, airpower. Turn 8 recon plane spotted southern Stug group near Montmartin-en-Graignes (29,25). M18's already in blocking position. Turn 9 Stugs from SW group appeared to reinforce Carentan. Turn 10 southern Stug group destroyed. Captured all flags.

Triumph on turn 13/16, 33142pp.

Verdict: a change of pace with armour to deal with and an urban area to capture. The German units in general and the Stugs in particular seemed quite passive, I expected to be attacked more.
Attachments
(14.01.2017) Carentan, Turn 13.pzrpl.zip
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Cerberus51
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by Cerberus51 »

COTENTIN

33142pp, 27 slots!!?? If there is one thing I find irritating it is to get fewer deployment slots than the previous scenario with no apparent reason.

This looks like a step up in difficulty. There are several groups of German units along the N and S edges on the map set to flank attack your units as you move west. Still bocage country so any advance gets strung out and it can be difficult to get units in position for attacks. A Tiger and a Panther are part of the reception committee and there are enough AA units to make air unit attacks on ground targets costly.

As most of the waiting German units are in the south I deployed 2/3 of my forces to this sector. Good recon from air units will be vital in spotting the enemy so they can be pre-emptively destroyed or at least are not a surprise.

Initial advances went well. Everything in the north went like clockwork with two small groups of enemy armoured units destroyed and all flags and the VH taken. Had to destroy a Jagdpanther as the only really dangerous opposition, technique was to use a strategic bomber, the AI resupplies rather than moving so next turn strat bomber suppresses and moves away allowing a tac bomber to attack before sending in an M18 for the kill. On this occasion the M18 took -3 damage which is a price worth paying (M18's are cheaper than Shermans, which is what the Jagdpanther would most likely have targeted, for replacements).

The air war also went well with the initial Bf109G shot down. Two further pairs of air units, a 109G and a FW190F each time, came in on turns 4 and 9. Each time the FW flew into a trap attacking a spotted ground unit protected by an unseen fighter one hex back. Setting these up is a very good habit.

The southern advance is more complicated. Kampfgruppe built around a Panther and a Tiger respectively wait south of the VH's. The Panther was dealt with by a combination of airpower and M18's. The Tiger attacked a M18 backed by a Calliope. The M18, a 4* unit, fired first as they usually do so did not take too much damage and a fresh M18 finished off the Tiger. Single Tigers/Panthers aren't a big problem, the difficulty is when they bring a friend and your unit receives multiple attacks. Eventually took both southern VH's and placed units on all five "A's" for a Triumph on turn 14/15, 32881pp.

Very pleased to get a range hero on a Calliope.

Verdict: Harder than the replay makes it look, even with some foreknowledge. My fairly cautious approach worked well here.
Attachments
(16.01.2017) Cotentin, Turn 14.pzrpl.zip
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Cerberus51
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by Cerberus51 »

CHERBOURG

34881pp, 29 slots.

Deployed in 3 groups, one in the west to go straight north, one split between the central deployment zones to go through Briquelec to Brix and one starting in the SE to go through Montebourg and Valognes. All three to converge on Cherbourg and clear the outer defences before the easternmost group heads for Barfleur while the rest complete the capture of Cherbourg. 21 turns looks more than enough.

The west coast German units initially fall back but eventually make a stand. Key is to eliminate the mobile AA so air units can be used against the Panther.

Allied warships appear but are best used to destroy the S-boats near Cherbourg then shell anything they can reach while staying out of range of the Cherbourg forts until US ground forces are in position.

On reaching Brix and destroying the hangers 3 V1's appear. They have to be moved into Brix to load onto trains to move to the SE deployment area. Received 500pp for doing this.

Sometimes it is easy to overlook things. This is my third playthrough of US Corps and only now have I noticed the artillery pieces in fortification hexes are named "Atlantikwall gun", so there is probably a prestige award for destroying them all. That meant a change of plan midway through as I had intended to bypass the cluster in the NE.

The Jagdpanther outside Cherbourg could have attacked a number of my units but chose an engineer in a bocage hex :!: The resulting damage it took meant a strat bomber/M18 combination were able to finish it. Apart from the two units I have mentioned the rest of the German armour is mostly obsolete types and little threat.

I could have finished with several turns to spare but held off occupying the Cherbourg VH to try and get all the Atlantikwall guns. You do indeed get a prestige award for destroying them all, I didn't note exactly how much but at least 500.

Triumph on turn 21/21, 35961pp.

Verdict: Even allowing that this is not a blind playthrough and that I understand how to use the US units this was pretty easy.

I am sticking to the historical path so Avranches next.
Attachments
(17.01.2017) Cherbourg, Turn 21.pzrpl.zip
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AMDonline
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by AMDonline »

am going through US corps right now and enjoying this AAR.

am way behind on prestige compared to yours : (
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by AMDonline »

just saw your replay on 'Gela counter-attack', you earned 3 new Attack+ heroes! i never get those.... all i get is spotting and initiative heroes, mostly spotting

i have ulcer pain now from seeing my artillery units full of +spotting heroes
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by Cerberus51 »

AMDonline wrote:am way behind on prestige compared to yours : (
On my previous playthrough at Colonel my prestige peaked at around 35000 going into St Vith. Expect to burn several thousand at St Vith and Bastogne. I finished that playthrough with about 5000 left although a lot went on fielding three M26's and max overstrengthening everything for Unthinkable. The cost of a 15 str M26 is insane, I only did it because I could.

Excluding heroes that are given with units my core units have 41 heroes, 19 attack, 11 defence, 3 spotting, 1 range, 1 initiative and 6 movement. The M18 I lost had 2 attack heroes :cry: .
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by Cerberus51 »

AVRANCHES

37461pp, 29 slots.

M4A3E2 now available so upgraded the PzIVH to boost its survival chances. Not sure whether to upgrade the three M4A3(76)'s so will leave them for now.

The opposition is a step up here - I counted around 20 German armoured units during this scenario, including the first Tiger II of the campaign. The Luftwaffe field a FW190D and a FW190G for the first time too. I couldn't spare the deployment slots to field any mobile AA but will need to do so soon if that's what my P-47's are facing. I was happily saying the previous scenarios weren't that hard with no significant German armour - be careful what you wish for! I decided to overstrength all my armour units to 11.

Started and destroyed all the front line 88's by turn 2. Received M4A1(76) with hero Lafayette G Pool, A+4 I+2, 100 exp, which I immediately upgraded to a M4A3E2 as it would be hit too hard otherwise. Luftwaffe came in and the 190D hit a P-47 with a mobile AA following up for -5 while the 190G hit a M12 155mm for -6.

Warning of elite German forces coming and a bunch of SE units appeared on the E side of the map including a Panther that hit a 76mm Sherman for -5. I had to commit air units to manage the situation and two mobile AA contributed to reducing both of my tac bombers to 4 str. As I need the damaged units for the rest of the scenario the replacement bill (I'm still using elites) is getting expensive. Turn 7 finished off all the attacking enemy units, turn 8 replacements/resupply and turn 9 pressed forward, not sure I would have enough time if there was any more heavy resistance.

Turn 12 closed in on the 2 VH's on the River See. The eastern one fell easily and I was able to push units across the river there. Avranches is tougher because of the Tiger which shrugged off several air attacks before charging a 76mm Sherman for -5 my unit, -1 the Tiger. I can't decide on the E2 upgrade for the 76 mm Shermans, it means they will inflict less damage on hard targets but will take less too. I am inclined to do it for the next scenario that has significant amounts of German heavy armour. Finishing off the Tiger took a B-24 and two M18's, M36's can't come soon enough.

Took Avranches for Triumph on turn 16/18, 34577pp.

Verdict: Definitely a challenge. A big step up for anyone on their first playthrough. Cost me a net 1135 prestige, including the two M4A3E2 upgrades, after the prestige for a Triumph.
Attachments
(19.01.2017) Avranches, Turn 16.pzrpl.zip
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Last edited by Cerberus51 on Fri Jan 20, 2017 8:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
AMDonline
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by AMDonline »

respect for not overstrenthing, i overstrength everything except for tanks.

after watching your gameplay in cherbourg, am now questioning the importance of '8 inch m1' artillery,
i have 5 of them and i thought everyone would get them since they are most powerful cannons for the Allies.
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Re: US Corps AAR

Post by Cerberus51 »

AMDonline wrote:respect for not overstrenthing, i overstrength everything except for tanks.

after watching your gameplay in cherbourg, am now questioning the importance of '8 inch m1' artillery,
i have 5 of them and i thought everyone would get them since they are most powerful cannons for the Allies.
After my very first playthrough foundered at Bastogne when I ran out of prestige I am fairly obsessive about hoarding prestige for what is to come, so I am not overstrengthing yet. I will overstrength my artillery once I start deploying AA to protect it. I overstrength my tanks/TD's to 11 when expecting heavy German armour because (if I understand correctly) the prestige costs of that point in the deployment screen and a replacement point up to str 10 on the battlefield are the same. So I am essentially preloading a replacement point against expected damage.

I regard the "always on" nature of SP artillery as critical for the US to keep damage down. As you will have seen I try to back up my units with SP artillery whenever they are likely to be attacked. The M12 155mm is slow but with 10 ammo doesn't need to reload often. Also it has a rate of fire of 9. The 8 inch can move faster but doesn't offer that immediate support while in transport, it only has 5 ammo so more dead turns resupplying and has a rof of only 7. Bigger isn't always better.

The Calliope is perhaps the best rocket artillery in the equipment file, SP with 10 ammo and the defence stats of a tank. I get fed up of German infantry chipping a couple of points a time off my TD's and a Calliope in support will stop an infantry attack dead.
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Re: US Corps 42 to 45

Post by Cerberus51 »

BRITTANY

36327pp, 30 slots.

The trick to getting the "special reward" is to leave a town flag hex alone (park a unit adjacent to prevent reinforcements) until the turn after you have dealt with the three garrisons.

Plan is for 3 groups, first group goes west along the coast to Brest, second group goes SW and takes Vannes then on to Lorient and then Brest, third group goes S to Nantes then Saint-Nazaire.

Back to facing mediocre German armour. A Jagdpanther (the only good unit they have) managed to hit an M18 for -7 damage but once it was destroyed the rest was straightforward. The only other significant damage taken was when I left an M18 too near an 88 near Saint-Nazaire without artillery close support and duly got hit for -6. Upside was that made the 88 easier to destroy and Saint-Nazaire was captured more quickly with air support then available.

Turn 13 saw the capture of Brest, the third of the three reward garrisons, and the map cleared. I left Lannion on the N coast unoccupied to avoid triggering a victory too early. Turn 14 awarded Panther G (starts with no experience so I will have to be careful with it) so then occupied Lannion for Triumph 14/16, 35649pp.

Verdict: Pretty easy as long as you are careful. The key US tactic is to always back up your leading units with the really strong SP artillery the US has available. However this is the last battle in France, the rest of the campaign takes place in Germany so stronger opposition can be expected.
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Re: US Corps 42 to 45

Post by Cerberus51 »

AACHEN

37728pp, 32 slots.

Briefing says this should be a piece of cake. Somehow I'm not so sure :?:

The M36 TD becomes available so I upgraded all six M18's at a cost of 122 prestige each. The M36 has less movement but better ground combat stats and more fuel so is better suited to taking on heavy panzers as this scenario will show. The replacement M18 I bought at Anzio Defence started this scenario with 294 exp - enough to be useful without needing to be too cautious with it. The rest of my TD's are all 4*.

There is a capturable in this scenario, a Panther D, in Haaren (27,5) on the far side of Aachen. There are panzers and jagdpanzers scattered across the map with a SE force in the southeast corner. With that in mind I planned three groups, one to sweep around the west and north of Aachen and a second to sweep south then east of the city, both groups with more armour and a third group to drive directly at Aachen. I overstrengthed all armoured units to 11 and, as I would be deploying AA units to cover them, made the investment to raise all artillery to str 12.

During the first couple of turns my fighters shot down two V1's before they could do any damage. Two Jpz IV/70's attacked a M4A3E2 inflicting 5 damage total but taking 4 and 2 respectively. That ability to take attacks was why I chose that upgrade for my less experienced tanks. Air recon picked up German SE panzers and infantry in half tracks in the southeast of the map. B-25 hit Tiger II for 3 damage and I set up a line of three M36's backed by artillery as a reception committee. Elsewhere a Ranger gained a third attack hero for a total of att+7! I have been quite fortunate with heroes.

The waiting M36's had a field day, the, now 7 str, SE Tiger II drove into one and took a further 5 damage before a tac bomber finished it off. I don't think a M18 would have been so successful. A couple of other SE units were destroyed after running into M36's. Found another Tiger II southeast of Aachen and destroyed it with repeated airstrikes and a M36.

On turn 8 a Jagdpanther ran into a M36 with artillery support and got hit for 9 damage. :D All seems good but taking out those types of German units when they don't obligingly run into ambush situations requires airpower, which requires clear weather. I only had 2 turns of rain in this scenario but winter is coming.

Turn 14 saw the capture of Haaren while closing in on the centre of Aachen. Got a nasty shock :shock: when a 30cm Nebelwerfer hit a Ranger for 5 damage. I got a little bit careless, perhaps too used to being the side inflicting damage - point taken that German units are dangerous. Turn 15 received Panther D. Checked the soft cap, which has never really come into play before now and it read 77%. The upgrades, overstrengthing and Panther D have really pushed me into where the soft cap is starting to bite. Triumph on 16/18, 35597pp.

Verdict: A step up from the Normandy scenarios, the German armour does have to be taken seriously here (although the Jpz IV/70 doesn't seem to be much better than the earlier model). The scenario requires having a clear plan and executing it. A blind attempt would be noticeably harder, knowing roughly what I am up against makes a big difference. A blind play would need more recon, possibly requiring deploying recon units in place of the combat units I could go with.
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(23.01.2017) Aachen, Turn 16.pzrpl.zip
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Re: US Corps 42 to 45

Post by Cerberus51 »

RUR

37523pp, 33 slots.

The A 26 tac bomber becomes available. It is a unit I have not used previously but I reckon I can afford to try it (the hard attack of 10 looks like it should be a good tankbuster) so upgraded the B-25 given at Casablanca for 537pp.

This scenario includes a capturable Me 262, as usual in an out of the way location. The number of German armoured units is quite substantial.

Turn 1 was raining so a fairly defensive move was taken. By turn 3 a major German attack had developed in the centre of the map. My recon plane was targeted and knocked down to 2 str. The AI should have finished it off but chose to attack the escorting P-51 instead :? :D . All three Luftwaffe units were shot down and no further German air units appeared. Two Panthers were also destroyed. On turn 6 I noticed the soft cap was at 77%, it seems to stay pretty much at that level now. Turn 8 destroyed Tiger after it moved onto a river crossing hex. The AI likes to occupy VH's even when they are defensively poor terrain and this can give relatively easy kills.

Turn 11 occupied the Rur dams (the 3 A hexes) and received 773 prestige (1000 multiplied by soft cap at 77%). Turn 12 occupied the airfield in the NE corner of the map and destroyed another Panther. My Panther G from Brittany is now over 2* and proving useful. Turn 13 received Me 262 for taking that airfield.

By turn 15 I controlled 4 bridges but wasn't sure I could get 2 more in the three turns remaining. An unfounded concern as it turned out. On turn 17 I occupied six of the seven VH's and was a bit surprised to get a victory. My mistake, I should have held off so as to get all the remaining flags on the last turn. Triumph 17/18, 36680pp.

Verdict: The scenarios are getting harder as the campaign nears the heartland of the Reich - just as it should.

An update on heroes. After Rur I have 45 core units with 56 heroes between them. Four came with particular units. Of the 52 earned 27 are attack, 12 defence, 6 movement, 3 spotting, 3 initiative and 1 range. I don't think I've ever had such a useful collection of heroes ever before in any campaign.

Sankt Vith next and after previous experience of this one I am a bit apprehensive about it. Incidentally, I received 1527 prestige for this Triumph, which looks like 2000 reduced by a soft cap of 76%. I hadn't realised the SC affects victory prestige as well as that awarded in a scenario. Still, I can't complain as I'd prefer to be able to afford the expensive units to begin with.
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(25.01.2017) Rur, Turn 17.pzrpl.zip
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