Allied: Tunisia

[uran21]

Please post here your comments about this scenario.

[Kamerer]

15) Tunisia – beta 1

Level: Field Marshal
Prestige: Begin: 5,350 (after repair). End: 5,900. Net: +550.
Result: DV 13/17
Replacement policy: Deployed air and tanks at 13, arty, infantry at 12.

Core Changes:

• Received: None
  Disbanded: None
  Purchased: 1x 7.2” field artillery
  Upgraded: Rest of infantry to ’43 type.

Problems:

• • I did not realize until the next scenario I could have bought US equipment in this one (went back and checked the saved game). Would have been a good place to start fresh units. Hopefully some notices next beta, a work in progress.
  • On the turn screen, there's a missing article or phrasing with "all axis army..." or such.

General impressions/comments:

• • A familiar map from AK so it went easily for me.
  • This scenario felt more historically accurate with weaker forces than the slug fest from AK. So while familiar, different enough to be interesting.
  • Might be neat if you feel like more work, add a twist to recreate the “Palm Sunday Massacre” over cape Bon. Re: the Ultra intelligence of Ju 52 fleet, give the player intel ahead of time about time, place and let them intercept. This would also make a kind of neat parallel to the air mission in the AK Tunisia Bridgehead scenario.

[nikivdd]

Colonel level.

Upgrades: none
Purchases: 155mm GMC, M4A3, B-26C, Rangers
Third SE unit received: yet another Spitfire IX
Overstrengthed units according to their number of stars

It felt like a blitzkrieg mission but then from an allied point of view. The tactical bombers once again make a huge difference and it enables the "weaker" player's tanks to finish off their axis counterparts. I destroyed the only Tiger I in two turns. Unfortunately again no capturable equipment. The biggest surprise was the captured american tankdestroyer coming out of the blue...it nearly finished off one of my shermans. An overall rather enjoyable scenario of which i tought it would be a really tough mission but that wasn't the case at all. I was convinced there would be a last heavy fight near Menzel Temime but there were only two recons there...

The victory message speaks of Tigers but there was only one

Flags are lacking in the towns of Tunis, Hammam Lif and Korba.

Losses: core M4A3, DV 12/17, 5064PP

[LostAgain]

Playing FM. Another easy scenario EXCEPT for that damn Tiger. I find I vastly prefer having Tigers to fighting them! This scenario consists of simply wandering about unitl you run into a bit of weak interferance and then killing it. I think you guys went in too much for historical accuracy here, the Axis forces definitely need some beefing up! On another note, upon gaining my DV I received another aircraft (P 40B), my fourth. As I've been saving my games I've made a point of going back to see what I COULD have received, and on trying repeatedly either a Spitfire or the P 40 almost always come up. After 35 tries an SAS finally popped up, so that even though I LOVE receiving SE aircraft I'd like to suggest that perhaps the SE bonuses are skewed a little too much towards aircraft...?

[Razz1]

General
start 8495 after repair 3422
end 2970
Triumph
16/17

Kind of strange a captured Wolverine tank when the Americans have not been at war.

Also noticed that the MKVI is a worse tank than the MKV. I know there is an alternative HA SA value, but I do not think it is enough difference.
At this stage of the game a player want HA vale. So why go backwards? Perhaps add +1 initiative.

Lost two Heroes on my M3 Stuart tank. Ja, your right. The Tiger came out of hiding and killed it.
Lost a couple of other core units, but they were new.

German 38 FLAK never fired.

Bought USA units; 2 Rangers and 1 HW infantry M34A3 tank. British units; Wellington Strategic bomber, Deacon, 17lbr AT

[Razz1]

Umm... this is weird.

I had to go back to a saved game because I forgot to save at the beginning of the next map which is Sicily. I forgot to deploy my planes.

I loaded the auto save and it was turn . That is okay but it was past the deployment phase.

So I loaded the Auto save for Axis. It brought me back to this map. I clicked on end turn and nothing happened the AI tried to move but it couldn't.
All the units were already destroyed. The map should have moved to the next turn and given me a victory.

However after 3 minutes, nothing happened. I had to click end turn then the scenario ended.
I thought this was a little confusing. It may stump some people. Even though there were no units to move, I think the AI should have ended the turn and given me a victory. I should not have had to click end turn for the AI's movement.

[Tarrak]

Scenario: Tunisia
Difficulty: general
Outcome: Triumph on turn 15/17
Starting Prestige: 9801
End Prestige: 5040, 5040 after victory reward
Core: 2 x Engineer 43, 1 x HW infantry 43, 1 x SE Rangers, 6 x Churchil Mk.IV, 2 x M10 Wolverine, 1 x Chevy-WB recon, 2 x 7.2 inch guns, 2 x M7 priest, 2 x M12 GMC, 1 x Hurricane Mk.IIC, 1 x Spitfire Mk. IX, 1 x SE Spitfire Mk. IX, 1 x P-47D Thunderbolt, 1 x Beaufighter Mk.IF, 2 x Wellington Mk.X

Bought at deployment phase: 1 x Chevy-WB, 2 x M10 Wolverine, 2 x M12 GMC, 1 x P-47D Thunderbolt, 1 x Wellington MK.X

Deployed my troops in three battlegroups and started to systematically clean the map. The captured Wolverine coming from the fog of war kind of surprised me but wasn't to much of a problem. The Tiger didn't pose as much threat as i was afraid as well. It attacked my Churchill Mk.IV but only did 4 damage and then got bombed into oblivion by my Wellingtons. The missions overall is very easy. No core unit losses, not even auxiliary losses. Could have won by turn 12 but i managed to miss a German PaK and had to spend a few turns to find it.

I noticed there is no prestige reward for winning this scenario. Neither for Triumph nor for Victory. Is is intended to be that way or is it a bug?

[Longasc]

Tunisia

Level: General
Start Prestige: 6644
End Prestige: 2586
Result: Triumph, 12/17
Bought/Upgraded/Losses: Bought American troops, most importantly two B17. Disbanded the Lancaster. LOST a Recon and a M10 Wolverine to, funnily, a German Wolverine and a strong Marder. The 155mm M12 self-propelled artillery of the Americans is a pure winner.

If you are interested: http://www.filedropper.com/actunisia
My savegame at the start of this scenario.


This scenario is quite easy but strong German units have the potential to kill a few core units. That sums it up.
Americans get finally introduced in this scenario, bringing their great self-propelled Howitzers, Infantry and the P-47 Fighter.

-> It's a bit boring combat-wise and it's wiping the floor with the Germans. Nevertheless those inflict often fatal losses and huge strength point losses.
Hmm... dunno what to do about that without making the scenario going from easy to too hard.

Most fun is playing around with the new toys/units. I feel this is what this scenario is about, the German fortifications are lacking too much for an interesting battle. Maybe give them an edge and some more middle quality units besides the surprise Tiger.

!!!! Edit: The 2586 at the end of this scenario carry over without any bonus to Sicily. Is this intended?

[billmv44]

Beta 2. General. Starting prestige 10965, ending 4450. Triumph on 16.

This was not too much of a challenge, except for that 15 strength Tiger. I had to pound him with air strikes and absorb major losses to kill him. That's how it was in the war, so nothing unexpected there except the 15 strength. That was a bit of a shock. I experimented with encircling units to get them to surrender. It seems to be a bit of an art. You don't want to pound them down too far with arty and air strikes because they will simply melt away. The American equipment is very nice. I doubt if I'll add any new UK units.

[Kamerer]

Sicily – beta 2

Level: Rommel
Begin pp: 1,075. End pp: 1,400. Net +325.
Result: Triumph 14/17

Core Changes:

• Received: None.
  Disbanded: 1x 7.2” field piece.
  Purchased:
  • 2x 155mm Long Toms w/White half-tracks.
    3x 155mm GMCs.
    2x Ranger infantry
    1x Liberator bomber
  Upgraded: None.

Problems:

• • Grammar/w-c issue still on turn screen: “Axis armies” or perhaps “Axis units.”
  • Towns taken with FF infantry do not spot afterwards.
  • Air base I took with FF infantry would not refuel my aircraft.

General Impressions/Comments:

• • Scenario works well. Other than flag issues it’s good.

[produit]

Triumph 9/17, Beta 2, FM, Chess mode, ending prestige 2548.

I bought some US units (M4A3, 1 M10, 3 M12GMC, 2 Rangers and 1 B24. During that scenario, I nearly lost 4 units. The new US armored (M10-M4A3) without experience in front of enemy tanks !! Likewise, it is the end for the Crusader tanks. They burn like wood in front of German Armor. I was lucky (read some comments before starting the map) to approach Tunis only with Churchill tanks and I thus survived the Tiger attack. I had to attack it for multiple turns with my bombers to kill it. You cannot destroy such a beast without air power. This map is close to a killer map for fragile units. Hopefully, enemy air power is nearly absent.

[billmv44]

Beta 2. General. Starting prestige 9072, ending 678. Playing the American path. Triumph on 17/17.

As in Beta 1 from the British side, that 15 strength Tiger is very hard to kill. I was pleasantly surprised to see it attack in a different direction than the previous time I played it. I took fairly heavy casualties (as evidenced by the dramatic reduction in prestige. I upgraded my B-25s to B-26s and added 2 M-10s (lost 1) and 2 M4A3s. I gained a P47D SE fighter.

The AI did play a decent game. The counter attacks were well timed and they hit the right units. The balance seems about right to me for this scenario.

[Tarrak]

Compared to Beta 1 i think the amount of axis planes was increased. They are now troubling without being overwhelming which seems like a good balance to me.

Buffing the Tiger to 15 strength tho is an idea i totally dislike. It pack now insane punch and can easily one shot most of the British units short of a Churchill. At same time it's nearly impervious to attacks. Even a 14 strength strategic bomber can only deal 2 damage on it average. Artillery can't dent it at all and barely apply any suppression. So the Tiger virtually rampages through the players core for around 5 rounds dealing heavy damage and it's up to pure luck how many units it manage to totally destroy. If a Tiger at 10 strength doesn't invoke enough fear and pose enough challenge rather add two at around 8 strength then one at 15.

[Longasc]

5528 at end, Triumph in turn 13/17 - this time with my AMERICAN core from Kasserine!

The strength 15 Tiger gets surrounded, bombed and shot by artillery till it's out of ammo.
BUT it killed 9 STR of a 1 Star Churchill IV, ugh!

I lost a recon unit. There is still relatively little resistance in this scenario and it's based on axis anti-tank units that can WTFpwn your units due to equipment and experience.

How much Prestige you have in this scenario doesn't depend so much on the scenario itself but on your performance before. My Americans carried over significantly more prestige than my British troops.

The Tiger works out, be it 10 or 15 strength. But I see this can become a point of debate, as it has one-shot potential. I see this scenario as a breather before Sicily with the potential chance to lose core units.

Edit: May 13th 1943: World War II: German Afrika Korps and Italian troops in North Africa surrender to Allied forces. <- talk about timing.

[Longasc]

Special notice, almost forgot this:

"Free French" captured cities become "dark" on their own, i.e. have no spotting range of 2 like all other cities.

[monkspider]

'Woah, good historical note Longsac.

Tunisia
Beta 2
General level
Ending prestige 6555

The American doughboys have entered the fray! I was awarded some SE Rangers to help complement my new American forces. I started building an American armored division to complement my British forces, buying 2x Shermans, a P-47, a Marauder, and an M-7 artillery. The green American troops generally gave a good account of themselves but my British troops did the heavy lifting. The 15 strength Tiger was a literally jaw dropping moment. Luckily it decided to take on my Churchill instead of one of my other tanks, which it would have made short work of. The Churchill held it's own until my air units could weaken it. The Western Allies'' air power is very formidable. The Tiger was actually finished by my anti-tank gun in the end though. The M-10 Wolverine was also a very unpleasant surprise, nearly killing off one of my Shermans completely. Overall, a great scenario with a lot of surprises that does justice to the Afrika Korps last stand.

[uran21]

Thanks to all for the feedback so far. I do not find this scenario to be hard nor it was intended to be. After it is Sicily and those that enter the game at Torch with inexperienced American army will reach it rather soon, also a lot of new slots is open for purchase.

Grammar error for victory conditions was fixed and Free French units added to the list of Allied nations for the scenario not to cause any issues after capturing supply hexes. Now regarding the Tiger. In first iteration of tests it was 15 strength one but I found it too strong so it was toned down to 10. This caused more impressions about captured Wolverine in Beta 1 so I buffed it again. For Beta 3 I will try a compromise with 12 strength Tiger without experience. Would like it to be only one.

Edit: May 13th 1943: World War II: German Afrika Korps and Italian troops in North Africa surrender to Allied forces. <- talk about timing.

lol!

[okiemcguire]

14) Tunisia - beta 2

Level: Colonel
Prestige Begin: 7087 End/Vict: 190/5497
Results: Triumph 15/17

Started building an american core with 2 x M4A3, 3 X Wolverines, 2 X 155mm M12, 1 HW Inf. The American core traveled from the West to NE and the British Traveled from the South and East to the North. The British first encountered the Tiger and it nearly destroyed 1 of my Churchill IV. Then it did something incredibly stupid, it moved in to the nearby city hex. There it was depleted to 1 strength point by a British HW Inf. Destroyed by Wolverine.

Fairly easy scenario... lost the American HW inf in a early engagement. My Daimler raced up the East border capturing vacant hexes. I flanked the Tunisia armor from the East by 3 Churchill IV, Priest, and the Daimler. West of Tunisia and across the river was handled by the American force.

[butcher5012]

Colonel
Prestige 4804 / 5199
REsults: victory

This map was pretty fun - I got to buy some american units finally - for sure I went with american airpower and two M4A3s (because of late war tanks I hope they live long enough for Pershings or etc). As most said the Tiger was the biggest obsticle, not really! I had taken the airfield to the south of the map, and placed my 17lb gun on it, then moved a Churchill tank through the mountains without knowing the Tiger was there (an SE Tiger no less), I had two artillery pieces and HW 43 infantry on the the airfield side of the mountain. The tiger jumped to attack my churchill, Using my Attack aircrafts I hit the tiger for three turns while alternating my tank with my anti tank gun. the Tiger eventually went down with ease - if there was ANY airpower for the axis, things would of been more interesting (or not since I had two Spit 9s and a p47C now). The airpower barely was able to scratch the tiger, but I brought it down without losing any units.

One problem I did encounter - if the Free French units capture an airfield, you cannot use it to resupply aircrafts - where as if an American unit captures an AF you can use it to resupply and rearm.

Short Edit: I found this scenario far easier then previous ones, the Tiger is the only thing you have to deal with, with no german airpower the scenario is rather easy on colonel. Any new troops bought can easily rank up assuming they dont play around the Tiger.

I'd like to see at least two stukas and Two 109 units, if not italian units, just to spice it up a bit.

[sgocart6298]

This is minor but don't know if you want to add (the)?

The last sentence:

"...And we know now that they are armed with (the) latest and best German armor. Tigers ahead!"