Core force for DLCs

[Schneides42]

I am curious as to how others structure their core forces for the DLCs. At the end of the 1939 DLC playing at Field Marshal my 20 core comprises

6 Infantry:
2 Infantry (with SdKfz 251/1)
1 Jager (with with SdKfz 251/1)
2 SE Jager (with with SdKfz 251/1)
1 Kavallerie

3 Panzers
1 Pnz 38(t)A
2 Pnz IIIF (just upgraded from Pnz IB)

1 PdKfz 232 8Rad recon (again just upgraded from the SdKfz 222)

5 Artillery
3 10.5cm leFH 18
1 Sturmpanzer
1 Captured 105 wz.29

AA-AT
1 8.8cm Flak

4 Air units:
1 Bf 109E
1 Ju 87B
1 Bf 110C
1 He 111H2

I tend not to use paratroops or mobile anti-tank except for those as axillary units provided in scenarios.

I tend to upgrade this core through 1940 and expand this to add fighters and tactical bombers when the core is expanded in later stages. I also try to get panzers as the extra SE units in 1940 and 1941 (along with the captured tanks).

Cheers

Craig

[Tarrak]

This sounds pretty much like the setup i used myself with the exception that i prefer a mixture of Grenadiers and Wehrmacht Inf/Gebirgsjäger and tend to not use cavalry. I personally would like to get one more recon vehicle a well as i like to see whats coming at me but with the small size of the core in DLC39 it really is tricky to fit them in.

[Longasc]

6 Infantry:
2x Wehrmacht
2x SE Grenadier
1x Pionier
1x Gebirgsjäger
- all Opel

2 Tanks:
2x Panzer IIIF (this is going to increase a lot in 1940)

4 Artillery:
1x 10,5cm
3x Sturmpanzer I


Strong Airforce:
2x BF109E
(I only got one more by the end of 1942, but by now I suggest training 4 BF109 early on and forgetting about the BF110. It's imperative to train lots of ace fighter pilots for the end of 1942. I wonder if they could stem the tide in 1943.)
3x Stuka
1x BF110 (got a 2nd one in 1941)
2x Ju88

[billmv44]

Force Structure at the end of the 1941 DLC

Infantry:
2 - Grenader
1 - Gebirgsjager
3 - Pioniere
1 - SE Infanterie
1 - SE Grenader
All halftrack, except Gebirgsjager which has no transport.

Armor:
3 - Pz III/J1
4 - Pz IVF
2 - SE Pz III/J1
1 - KV - 1A (captured unit)

Recon:
1 - Sdkfz 232 8 Rad

Artillery:
5 - 15cm SfH 18 (halftrack)
2 - Wurfrahamen

AA/AT:
2 - 8.8cm FlaK 36

Air Force:
3 - BF 109F
2 - Ju 87D
2 - BF 110F

In reserve, not deployed:
Armor:
1 - KV - 1B (captured unit)

Air Force:
1 - Do 217E

[Kerensky]

For the start of DLC 1942 my core (from DLC 1939) looks like...

Infantry:
Pioniere x 3

Armor:
Panzer III x1
SE Panzer IV x4
Char B x1
Matilda II x1
T-34/41 x1
KV-1B x2

Anti-tank:
Marder IID x2
StuG IIIF x2

Artillery:
15cm x3
17cm x1
Wurfrahmen x2
StuG IIIB x1

AD:
8.8cm x1

Air Force:
Bf-109E x4
Stuka D x4
Bf 110F x1
Ju 88x1
He 111x1

In DLC 1939 I typically only have 2 or 3 tanks, and then in DLC 1940 and DLC 1941 my armor corps really gets an explosion in growth.

I'll probably trim a few units down from that list once DLC 1942 goes live (trade off the old captured tanks, pick up extra infantry for Stalingrad coming up)

I don't like the 109F at all though, all those improved stats don't impress me with the trade off for reduced firepower.

I'm constantly buying and losing recon units, so they get a lot of use, but don't hold a steady place in my core. Of all the classes of units, recon have the second highest loss rate, with infantry being the first naturally, heh.

Oh and 4201 prestige.

[RichardL58]

My core force at Narvik:

7 Infantry:

2 Gebirgsjäger (one on foot and SE on SPW)
1 Pionier/SPW
2 Grenadier/SPW
2 Regular inf with Opel

3 Artillery:

1 Sturmpanzer
1 10,5/Opel
1 Captured polish art

2 Tanks:

1 Pz IIIF
1 Pz 38T

Recon:

1 Psw222

Anti-tank:

1 Pz I Jagd

AA:

1 88 with SPW

Air:

2 Me 109
1 Stuka
1 Me 110
1 Ju 88

I Guess it's time to buy some more panzers in 1940

[ivanov]

I have created a two "division" strong panzer corps for the 1941 campaign:)


Each of my "divisions" consists of:

-3 panzer units ( that I like to see as batalions )

-2 motorized infantry units ( regiments )

-1 pioneer unit ( should be a batalion really )

-1 recon unit

-1 anti air unit


The 4 artillery units and the 88 flak unit, I decided to keep at the corps level and assign them to each division, depending on the task.

As to the air assets, I disbanded the Me-110 unit and purchased another Me-109, in order to provide a protection for both of my Stukas.

Having two versatile divisions, that are well balanced in terms of the tank/ infantry ratio, allows me to focus my advance if necessary on the two, completely independent schwerpunkten.

[ivanov]

NOTE:

In my core right now, there are no AT units present. I have lost my Panzerjager 1 unit and didn't buy it back. But I will need to purchase some decent AT units for each of my divisions before the Barbarossa starts.

As to my panzer regiments they consist of two Panzer IVE batalions ( for the general purposes ) and one Panzer III H batalion ( for the anti tank role ).

[RichardL58]

The Eben Emael scenario went rather smoothly (playing on general btw). So my reorganized core force at the start of scen 2/1940 looks like this:

I have now organized (and renamed) my units into divisions

1st Panzer Division:
1 Pz III
1 Pz IV
1 Pionier/SPW
1 Pz Grenadier/SPW
1 Sturmpanzer
1 Psw 222

2nd Panzergrenadier Division:
2 Regular infantry/Opel
1 Pz I Jagd
1 10,5 art/Opel

3rd Panzer Division:
1 Pz III (SE)
1 Pz IV
1 Pionier/SPW
1 Pz Grenadier/SPW (SE)
1 15,5 art/SPW
(Recon unit will be bought when allowed)

Korpstruppen:
1 Gebirgsjäger on foot *)
1 88 Flak/SPW
(A bridge engineer unit will be bought when allowed)

Luftwaffe:
2 Me109
1 Me110 **)
1 Stuka
1 Ju88

*) I often use this one to hold important backward objectives or flank positions, allowing the spearheads to advance.

**) I'm keeping the 110 because it's combined ground striking abilities and, when needed, finishing of crippled enemy air units, freeing up the 109:s for protection and escort duties ...and I like their well filled fuel tanks.

[DrkCon]

For the start of DLC 1942 my core (from DLC 1939) looks like...

I don't like the 109F at all though, all those improved stats don't impress me with the trade off for reduced firepower.

I'm constantly buying and losing recon units, so they get a lot of use, but don't hold a steady place in my core. Of all the classes of units, recon have the second highest loss rate, with infantry being the first naturally, heh.

Ditto. I leave my airforce with 109Es and skip F's altogether. I lose recon once every other map it seems.

[RichardL58]

I lose recon once every other map it seems.

The recon units is the ones i constantly reinforce to maximum 12-13 ...I like those guys to stay with their experience.

And I don't think saving those units i so hard, because you can allways move them again if you don't move them too far ...the trouble is to not get to excited with far off objectives with recon

[deducter]

I have now organized (and renamed) my units into divisions

Heh, I like the organization of the panzer divisions. Maybe on a subsequent play through, I might adopt something like your proposal.

[RichardL58]

I have now organized (and renamed) my units into divisions

Heh, I like the organization of the panzer divisions. Maybe on a subsequent play through, I might adopt something like your proposal.

Well I use it basicly to know which unit to place in which deployment spot ...and then I try to have them joined (as divisions ) and move them to accomplished the separate tasks. But I also form temporary "kampfgruppes" with mixed units if needed.

[brettz123]

For the start of DLC 1942 my core (from DLC 1939) looks like...

I don't like the 109F at all though, all those improved stats don't impress me with the trade off for reduced firepower.

I'm constantly buying and losing recon units, so they get a lot of use, but don't hold a steady place in my core. Of all the classes of units, recon have the second highest loss rate, with infantry being the first naturally, heh.

Ditto. I leave my airforce with 109Es and skip F's altogether. I lose recon once every other map it seems.

I would consider that a serious mistake as the F has a much higher initiative which means you take less damage. This saves you a lot of prestige. Attack value is a little less but you end up with a much better outcome with the F over the E plus a lot more fuel.

[charonjr]

My current core force at Zhitomir '41 (trying to catch up here with the release of '42 getting closer) consists of:

6 Infantrie:
1 Wehrmacht
1 Para
1 Mtn
2 Pioniere
1 Brückenpioniere

10 Panzer (14 including 2 captured Char B1s and another 2 Mathilda IIs which see no use):
4 Panzer IVF
4 Panzer IIIH (all SE)
1 T-34/40
1 KV-1B

1 recon:
1 SdKfz 232 8Rad

1 AT:
1 Panzerjäger IB

7 Artillerie:
3 17cm K 18
2 Sturmpanzer I
2 Wurfrahmen 40

1 AAA/AT:
1 8,8cm Flak 36

11 Planes:
3 Bf109F (IMO the added fuel/range and initiative do make up for the lower airattack)
4 Ju 87B (here I prefer the higher softattack and let my 4 PzIII and the 8,8 deal with Soviet armor, but when I start to see tons of tanks I might switch at least some of them)
1 Bf110D (decent fighter/bomber when I have no idea how many enemy planes I will face)
3 Do217E (mainly for ships, but I usually take 1-2 to every scenario as long ranged suppressors)

Usually I take all my artillery, the 8,8cm and all the tanks for each scenario and switch between Wehrmacht/Brückenpioniere, the AT and 1-2 fighters or heavy bombers.

When better SP ATs become available I think I will get another 1-2 and most likely I will get myself 1-2 StuGs as well.

I still sit on about 20k prestige at the moment, so basically I am just waiting for new gear to become available

CharonJr

[brettz123]

My core forces at the end of my first play through of the 41 DLC (on field marshall) was:

Infantry
1 Mountain (halftrack)
3 Pioniere (halftrack)
2 SE Grenadiers (halftrack)

Tanks
5 Panzer IV f (one is the captured Somua I upgraded)
2 Char B1
2 SE Panzer III J/1
2 T-34/40
2 T-34/41
1 KV-1A
2 KV-1B

Recon
2 sdkfz 222 8 rads

Artillery
6 15cm sFH 18
2 Wurfrahmen 40
1 captured 105mm wz.29 (probably will never upgrade this guy as he seems to work fairly well as is)

Airplanes
7 BF-109F
4 JU-87D
2 BF-110D
2 HE-111H2

[charonjr]

You guys are still using 15cm artillery rather than the heavier versions due to the better rate of fire I assume. Is there really a noticable difference (never did the math to compare them)?

[brettz123]

You guys are still using 15cm artillery rather than the heavier versions due to the better rate of fire I assume. Is there really a noticable difference (never did the math to compare them)?

I have found that two shots from the 15cm leads to a fairly similar result so I save the prestige and have more rounds. I find the extra round to be useful though at what point you draw that line is pretty much a matter of taste.

[Tima]

Infantry:

3 Grenadier
2 Pioniere
2 Fallshirmjager
1 Kavallerie

Panzer:

3 Panzer III
3 Panzer IV
1 Captured Char B1

Recon:

1 SdkFz 222

AT:

1 Panzerjager 1B

Artillery:

2 15cm sFH 18

Anti Air:

1 8.8 cm Flak 36
1 SdKFz 7/1

Airforce:

2 BF 109
2 Stuka
1 BF 110
1 He 111 H2[/url][/b]

[BloodCat]

I'm conquering Maginot Line in DLC '40, and my force is divided into 3 more or less independent KG's, which can stack together when necessary:

1 Recon (SdKfz 232 8Rad)
2 Tanks (Panzer IVD)
3 Infantry (1 Pioniere, 1 Grenadier, 1 SE Grenadier)
1 Arty (Sturmpanzer I)

Airforce:
3 Ju-87R
3 Bf-109E

UPD Maginot Line taken, and in the beginning of DLC GC '40 I just got a forth SE unit! Thought my Corps was limited to three.