Share your tips and tricks here......

[Ritterkreuz]

Rename your units after their special capabilities, e.g. I had a Tiger 1#SS where SS stands for Spotting+1, Spotting+1.
When you upgrade the Unit, PC seems to only replace the oldname by the new name nor touching your addons, so I Panzer IVF2#ss would upgrade into a Tiger 1#ss.

It helps me a lot during set-up to have special capabilities at the right places.

[DrkCon]

Rename your units after their special capabilities, e.g. I had a Tiger 1#SS where SS stands for Spotting+1, Spotting+1.
When you upgrade the Unit, PC seems to only replace the oldname by the new name nor touching your addons, so I Panzer IVF2#ss would upgrade into a Tiger 1#ss.

It helps me a lot during set-up to have special capabilities at the right places.

Heh, I do this too. Seems I have an army of the best spotters in the world. sigh. (Tho I use 1st Tank (S1) as its name .. or S2 or.. whatever)

[WhiteRook]

Though I am sure most here would dissagree with this tactic, I like to send in a 3-star HE 111 or Doriner a turn or two before I can assault them with a ground unit. I have noticed that a good experianced start bomber can take the punishment and not only keeps the AAA unit supressed but I score kills quite a lot also.

The side effect of this? Since the AAA unit is suffering supression it can not "hard-hit" my Stucka's and ME110's nailing stuff around it's area allowing me to rush up to the city/fortified hex and blast the beans out of the supporting Arty, AAA, etc. Many times this has allowed me to take a hard/victory point with little loss. I truly do not mind loseing a unit or two of the strat elite force, its points well spent for the results.

[El_Condoro]

This is a bit techie and not about PzC only but it can be used to redirect the default PzC folders to another location. I use it to direct PzC to the folders I have set up for the game in Dropbox. *** Make a backup of any files and folders beforehand ***

http://slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31867

Thanks to Tarrak for this one.

[El_Condoro]

In PG2 it was possible to move a recon and refuel/ammo it if it had movement left over. I have missed this feature in PzC but it is actually still there:

Move the recon so that it has some movement left over (the resupply button will not be available)
Move the recon the rest of its move (the button will still not be available)
Undo the last move - the button is available and the recon can be resupplied.

Not sure if this is a bug but if it is I vote that it be classed a feature.

[ivanov]

That sounds like a bug but thank's for the info! I was missing this feature too.

[Loamshire]

Disbanding a unit that’s on your roster but not yet deployed can be useful (just press D). Doing so gives you back the credit you paid for it – even if it is at strength 1 you get the credit back as if it were strength 10. Even if you didn’t pay for it, as in its an SE extra unit, you get full credit for what it was worth at strength 10. This can be very useful when you are hard pressed for getting the latest equipment and don’t quite have enough prestige to get it – simply disband a slightly earlier model which is at an impaired strength or even two of them and hay presto you can now get the latest equipment at full strength. Obviously disbanding the least experienced first is best.

Dont necessarily field all your units just because you've got them, if they are low strength they are of little use on the battlefield but on the roster you can cash them to help you get full strength units. Also if you have units at the end of a battle which have less than one star experience and they are significantly at lower strength dont reinforce them - disband them and you can do a straight swap for a unit at strength 10 without spending anything.

[Aloo]

... Also if you have units at the end of a battle which have less than one star experience and they are significantly at lower strength dont reinforce them - disband them and you can do a straight swap for a unit at strength 10 without spending anything.

That is not the best solution since green replacements dont cost anything in deployment phase. You can have a bit exp and get back to 10str for free, so selling the unit and getting one with no exp isnt the best way to go, unless you want to change the unit into something else.

[7bua]

Hi there, i've been playing PzC extensively over past month, and now reach Osterode in GC 45. I want to share some of my experience:

- The easiest and most effective and most boring way to play is opt for a team of full overstrength KingTigers A victory hex defend by 6 KingTigers, a Wirbelwind and a Me 262 is simply stay untouched eating enemy , regardless of terrain. 4-6 groups like these steamroll through the campaign, as i did since the middle of GC 44.

- Flak is very useless later on, i have spent huge amount of prestigate on keeping them fullstrength ( aka useful ), they are very soft and often being targeted first by enemy Artilleries ( same like me ), not to mention they provide nothing on the move and i had to babysit them all time . So armored AA is a must and Wirbelwind is the only choice, protection on the move, need alot less babysitting. The main role of AA is to prevent enemy aircraft from attacking your unit, not to kill them.

- Same with arty. Towed unit is not much use and need a lot of babysitting, and non armored arties like StrurmPanzer I, Wespe, Hummel see no use in late GC. Yes, they're powerful in suppress soft target but no much against heavy armors, and for a group of 3-4 Arties, i need an AA , a fighter, at least 2 tanks to protect their flanks. The best arty unit is your captured Soviet ISU 122. They have adequate armor to stand against infantry , recon , air ( somewhat ) and they have long range and as powerful as StrurmPanzer/Hummels. StuG and StuH is again useless, their armors though thicker than ISU 122, cannot allow them to charged at front lines. And later i wouldnt bother using arty at all in some defense maps. Arty must be fully overstrengthened and babysit to be effective .

- Tactical Bomber is worthless, especially Stuka. Yes, they are very powerful early, they makes early scenarios pass quickly, but later they have little chance to be useful. And the Biggest drawback is they rob alot of XP from your other core units. They kill quickly and gain XP quickly and quickly reach XP cap, while your other units follow them watching.

- In contrast, Strategic Bomber is very useful. They level up very quick, and do not killsteal others. And they're flying arty, suppress every soft target and disable armours by destroying their fuel and ammo. In early GC, i have to rely on strategic bomber to deal with enemy armors. They make quick work of ship and strong concentration. When you approach a strong concentration ( victory hex ) , fire your long range arty at their AA first, then one more strat bomber come to disable this AA completely, and your strat bomber armanda fly in and disable the entire stronghold. Dont forget to escort them with fighter. Strategic Bomber must be fully overstrengthened and babysit to be effective. A 15 strength He 177 simply disable any armored unit in one hit ( -90% ammo and fuel ).

- Fighters, they are essential and best to use defensively. Their first role is to protect soft target like arty and mounted unit. Second is to escort Bomber. In the map with alot of enemy air, simply leave the bombers at home, together with the aid of AA unit, you can go hunt down enemy aircraft. They are first unit to get overstrength, and do not use them for scouting or finishing off the near dead. Many times i use them to finish off, i run into enemy AA, i killed 1-2 and lost 3-5 overstrengthed

- Infantry, though i'm very fond of Paratroop, i cannot make full use of them: they're very weak agains armors, i have no fighter to escort them flying, and they're not as good as pioneer in clearing entrenched. In the end, i use pioneer for offense and grenadier for defense. And in some map i use no infantry at all, though i have 2 SE inf full heroes full stars, coz when i deploy them, i have to spare unit to take of them or they just go through the map staying on truck.

- Anti-tank : i find no way to level them up in GC , though i use alot elefants when i play the main campaign first time.

- And tank, best all around, with KingTiger, no need other units: no inf, no arty ... And Panther is near useless. I figured it out when i play the main campaign first time. And later i tried to make use of them but in the end i must upgrade them again into KingTiger. AI will not attack KingTiger and few unit will attack Tiger. And like Flak above, i have to spend alot of prestigate on keeping Panther useful

- About general strategy, after many attempt to play in different ways, the best is still defensive, cautious approach. Blitzkrieg, and run into enemy counter-offensive. There is no weak spot in PzC to exploit Blitzkrieg And yes, simply let the AI do Blitzkrieg, and we counter-offensive. Play defensively and the more you invest, the more you save. My core team ( as of Osterode , GC 45 ) now consist of more than 60 units: 29 tanks not counting unused late captured, few 4* , the rest 5*, 11 tiger and 18 kingtigers ( sure i can easily upgrade all to Kingtiger but then it would be very boring ); 7 inf 5* , interchange between Pioneer and Grenadier depend on map; 6 Me 262 5* ; 6 He 177 5* ; 6 Hummels 5* change into various StuG and StuH, 3 ISU 122 2 5* 1 4* ; 5 captured AAs, all change into Wirbelwind. And all except Tiger get max overstrength. Yes, expensive on invest but ultra effective and lost very little. 15 strength KingTiger single hit kill most of Soviet target. Close terrain ? Just charge with Tiger , why wasting time with arty I always use elite reinforce except some very first maps, to save XP and spread XP all over the units. When my unit nearly reach it's XP cap, i leave it at home. I captured and use all my Soviet tank + Arty + 2 Char B1 until mid 1944. And the result is






Excuse me for long post PzC is really addictive. I play it more than 12 hours, finish 2-4 maps a day and continuosly in more than a month. Maybe now is time to relax a bit

[Venge]

Amazing information!
Thanks to all who shared their tactics/ideas. Incredibly useful for us new players.

[Mooseman]

I'm just starting the '44 East DLC, and here's some things that I've learned along the way (some lessons were learned the hard way - at the expense of my core)...

I just wrapped up Kiev43, and I was truly amazed at how a few Grenadier units can hold a city and wipe out Russian heavy armor in large whacks. I retreated to the back of the city and let the Russians come into the front part of the city, and strategically placed my 2 elite 15 strength SE Grenadiers in those back city hexes. They were able to take out 10 strength IS-1 units in one blow, without even needing softening by artillery. This allowed me to swing my heavy armor down south and around and hit them on the flank. It was a most satisfying rout, especially since I'd been taking a beating on several of the previous scenarios..

Several of my air units have gotten extra spotting abilities, and they are invaluable for scouting around far reaches of the board looking for where the counter attacks are going to come from. The designers seem to like hiding large amounts of armor in the corners of the map - and knowing where those are and when they are on the move is invaluable. The Me 410a tactical bombers have +2 spotting inherent, and adding +1 through a hero makes them a very capable scout. Enemy fighters leave them alone (I wish I could say the same for the Russian AA - which seems to be everywhere), and they can be pressed into hitting targets when needed. On the other hand, my ground recon units are like the wimpy kid getting beat up for his lunch money -- the life expectancy for those units hasn't been very long for me.

I've been having fun with using a very varied group of equipment that I've captured along the way - those KV tanks are great for putting along the front lines soaking up damage while my Panthers and P4's provide most of the striking power.

I usually spend a lot of time studying the terrain and seeing where I can use that to my advantage. There have been some scenarios where the onslaught of Russian units seems to be overwhelming, but when you come up with a good tactical strategy and carry it out successfully - it's a pretty sweet feeling

[Badaze]

Greetings;
I've been playing the new DLC Afrika Corp. I've have a question for the community. What is the best way or unit to clear mines?

[Tarrak]

Greetings;
I've been playing the new DLC Afrika Corp. I've have a question for the community. What is the best way or unit to clear mines?

The best unit to clear minefields are pioneers. They always automatically destroy the minefield totally while taking 1 damage. Another infantry units and artillery gets a bonus when damaging minefields so they usually inflict around 3 to 5 damage to it while taking one damage in case of the infantry. All other units deal and take one damage point from minefields.

[Bonners]

Greetings;
I've been playing the new DLC Afrika Corp. I've have a question for the community. What is the best way or unit to clear mines?

Limited experience so far, but I've found the best to use are pioneer units. Apart from that I use any other top quality infantry as next best or artillery and aircraft as they dont take losses like infantry.

[Badaze]

Excellent. Thank you. Will try it out.

[danhanegan]

In Afrika Korps most of the campaign will be fought in the desert, and the move table for desert is coded so that foot troops use 50% of their move per hex. This means that in desert, all infantry will move 2 hexes whether their move rating is 2 or 3. Thus in Afrika Korps you want to concentrate on grenadiers for their better combat ratings and pioneers for their combat engineering abilities, wehrmacht get no meaningful movement advantage and are thus worthless. There also aren't a lot of mountain hexes so the mountain troops aren't useful either. Paratroops can be handy in some scenarios. The Italian bersaglieri and alpini suffer from the above limitations, they just aren't as much use as grenadiers/pioneers. And don't even think of keeping base Italian infantry, which defines "utter crap".

[BubbaK]

I treat mine as an Army, with Corps I rename them in groups, I have 6 corps right now. I use infantry, atrillery and armor, with air support for each crop group. I have one reserve corp for special function recon, anti-tank and anti-air support and flank cover. Recon uncovers along with some air, artillery softens up and takes away the ruff defence, infantry attacks first if tanks are than need they can attack or exploit the attack deaper with the infantry than following and finishing. My air is use for clearing the skys and attacking the hard targets of tanks, artillery and anti-air defences. My 5th corp get all of my bonus units and is my hard hitter. Remember Napoleon. Fight like Rommel and Patton