Grand Campaign on Manstein (live streamed)

[braccada]

Difficulty is set to Manstein and we are trying to find the best strategy for each of the maps. I will explain some advanced tactics and my thougths about different strategic approaches. For explanations on basics and game mechanic I recommend watching my playthrough of the Wehrmacht campaign. Comments and Feedback appreciated!

Poznan
Ever wondered how to best achieve a decisive victory in Poznan? Here is how to do it and that approach should work for all difficulty levels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ_vLxA2kkM

[hugh2711]

nice trick with the rail transported aux p2, will try it when I get the time.

when is your next one?

[braccada]

Here is the next one

Crossing the Vistula River can be real pain. You run into a counter attack and the bridges are well guarded. Or are they? Actually the Polish seem to have forgotten about the rail bridge at Wloclawek. So in coordination with the Luftwaffe my troops swing to the south and approach Wloclawek while the Stukas clear the brigde. From there we can overwhelm the defenders and hit the prepared positions from the back.

https://youtu.be/xLAkSfwO7K8

[braccada]

High Command tells us to rush right into a counter attack reported by an armored scout group. The benefit would be to reach a rail line in the back of Lodz - to do what exactly? Nothing there but a lot of Polish units and unfavourable terrain. So why bother and not take the rail line towards the north? Almost no resistance in that direction and we can rail transport quickly through the forest. We will cross the Bzura from north to south, use the open terrain around Lodz and hit the prepared Polish defenses from the back.

https://youtu.be/OxgWFDZkz2I

[braccada]

Artillery is key for a relatively easy win in this epic defensive. The cornerstones of my defense are the cities in the east and west. I won't give up the position there and disencourage the Polish from attacking by massing artillery there. In the center a more flexible approach is adviseable. Tactical retreats will allow for traps and and giving up the center victory hexes will divert a lot of Polish units to the western target leading to surrender possibilites and Polish units blocking themselves.

https://youtu.be/n6ykY1GBe2w

[goose_2]

This is must watch stuff for anyone wanting to know how to do these matches at any difficulty level.
If you can do it on Manstein you can do it on any difficulty level.

I for one am really looking forward to his Modlin performance as well as his Spoils of War.

Modlin seems so crazy on Manstein but huckc was able to do it so I know it can be done...buddy just wait until you get to 45 West! BRUTAL!

But both huckc and I failed to get the Decisive on Spoils, so I look forward to see if Braccada can show us how it is done.

Keep up the great work buddy

[huckc]

But both huckc and I failed to get the Decisive on Spoils, so I look forward to see if Braccada can show us how it is done.

Haha yeah Spoils is the first scenario where I genuinely tried to get a DV but failed. I wouldn't be surprised if no has ever been able to do it on Manstein legitimately.

[braccada]

Well, the main goal is to get to spoils to get the hero We will see about the rest. For now I am more focused on Modlin. I have a plan, but no time to do any testing so far.

[TSPC37730]

Looking forward to the next episode!

[goose_2]

Looking forward to the next episode!

Not sure why he has not posted link to his Kampinoska Forest episode but it is posted on his website:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6og3AtX8lQ

[braccada]

This a very difficult map with a demanding time limit and one that requires you to clash with the enemy forces. No way to dance around the enemy this time. My advise is not to pressure the Polish forces too much and give them room for counterattacks. Letting them run into artillery traps is key. Your cavalery and tanks on forest hexes work best as bait. Other than that be flexible and shift your forces to create overwhelming concentrations. You want to destroy units, only doing damage is not good enough.

https://youtu.be/H6og3AtX8lQ

[TSPC37730]

Very patiently and well played. Six! Six artillery units. This is even more remarkable when you consider the limited number of slots available this early in the campaign. I have to wonder what the future will hold. Tanks in the later years won't be affected as much - if even at all - by defensive artillery. In the more near future - say in '40 & 41, when you'll have to advance over long distances in order to capture far away objectives, you'll be forced to move your artillery forward by truck. This could leave them vulnerable. The recon Rudel unit could help here - you not only want to avoid ambushes, but you'll also want to be out of striking range in many cases. Rudel could also be valuable as a fighter bait & trap, but then, air combat could end up being risky and costly. Very interested to see how you will play it out.

[braccada]

I have no idea yet. The Grand Campaign is completely fresh for me, so as the saying goes, I will have to cross that bridge, once I get there Generally I would say, that artillery is the most impactful unit in the game. Having one more (or less) usually is a huge difference.

[braccada]

The fortifications around Modlin can dish out a lot of damage, so going for a decisive victory is often not worth it. However the layout of the fortress has some weakenesses you can use to your advantage making the attack a huge net win in experience and prestige. Here is what I came up with:

Storming Modlin Fortress: https://youtu.be/qortsk-C1mA

The Luftwaffe is certainly involved, but don't expect it to do wonders against the fortress guns or the train. If nothing else it feels good to send the strategic bombers in Other than that the strategy is based on careful preparation and a quick dicisive burst attack in the end. It should be possible to still refine the approach. Options are Brückenpioniere and shifting all forces to the eastern side or bringing a decoy unit to attract fire of the big guns. A mobile AA unit ususally works best and can be sold or brought back to full strength with normal replacements later. All in all it is possible to get away with very minimal damage if lady luck favours you, but even without that, you will get out of this fight with very limited damage.

[braccada]

For Warsaw North it is best to use a multipronged attack in order to block all victory hexes in time. You definitely want to prevent the Polish from buying reinforcements and there will a lot of them, if you let it happen. So do not forget to take every single one of the surrounding villages. However in order to achieve fast progress on city maps it is best to go slow and steady. You want to give the Polish units space to rearrange and counter attack and keep yourself covered (in artillery protection) all the time. Other than that there are a lot of small optimizations that can help. Be aware of your ammo count, enemy entrenchment levels and sometimes the best way to deal with infantry in trenches is to run it out of ammo.

It is a hard and interesting fight, but finally Poland is under control.
https://youtu.be/lPwFND4l-M4

[goose_2]

Braccada does it again...now if he pulls off a Decisive on Spoils he will have achieved something huckc and I were unable to do...40 playthrough is going to get really tough on the 3 I am currently working through...Albert...Hague...and Sedan...

[braccada]

I can't promise anything. I have a plan and a first test showed a possibilty, that it could work. The Soviet numbers are insane on this map though and there are limits to what the German units can do at this point of time. Basically there are two inital Soviet pushes in the beginning (center and south). I intend to withdraw in the center and hold them back with a small token force. Almost everything gets shifted to the south to smash their offensive there and deal with the reinforcements they throw forward. Small force in the north traps the scout and swings back across the river to destroy the artillery.

In the end I managed to destroy the Soviets in the south and center and there is a final Soviet push exposing the defenses in the last target. So it could be possible to send in Oleh Dir to hope for luck and snipe Brest. Problem was the last Soviet push was directed at the north and I was not able to hold at the northern victory hex next to Brest. So much for the first test run.

Anyways I do not see a high chance for a decisive here. Offensive and defense have to be extremly well balanced, because otherwise your units get one-shotted all the time and actually taking Brest is too time consuming in the end. One bad role (or rain in the wrong moment) and a Soviet artilley or tank getting away is a already a significant speed bump. So any ideas are welcome

[hugh2711]

I am looking forward to it!

[braccada]

Finally after a short summer break we conclude Poland with a skirmish with the Soviet forces.

They have more stuff, better units, Manstein strength and a KV-2. So that is not a fair fight at all so I have to channel my inner Manstein mixed with a little Hannibal for this one The plan will be to form strong flanks and let them push into an empty center. A smaller group waits in the north, swings around and surrounds the units in the center while the southern group overwhelms the opposition there. Once the initial wave is dealt with, I try to exploit the gap between the following waves by aggressively moving forward. Or as Karelwolfpup put it in the comments: "A lot of accepting and rolling with the enemy punches, then turning the enemy's punch into an overarm throw and armlocking the enemy into submission. The second half is almost "the checklist" : find, flank, suppress, surround, suppress, surrender, rinse and repeat."

The real heroes of the fight however are the aux units used to lure and trap Soviet units over and over. Sadly I could not keep the Panzerjägers...

[braccada]

Don't underestimate Oslo on Manstein difficulty. Especially being able to keep the Blücher alive is not a given. So bring enough airforce to keep Oscarsburg in check. Regarding general strategy this map is made for Fallschirmjägers and I decided to build up some Fallschirmjäger units as part of my core. Speaking of Fallschirmjägers, my plan for Oslo is based on them. I will try to secure the first airfield east of Oscarsburg right away and then transfer my Fallschirmjägers to the north and take the northern objectives early. Other than that there is not much to say about this map. In the end it maybe is the easiest of them all.