Challenge Mode - Allied Corps

[shmeek07]

Greetings from Canada!

I've started my own challenge mode that I wanted to bring the community. Here are the rules:

1) Core Units > cannot include or purchase any units from Tank, Fighter, Tactical Bomber or Strategic Bomber
2) Elite Units > if awarded a unit from the categories above, must disband immediately.
3) AT, Artillery and Recon > only towed or motorized units allowed; may not use tracked units from these categories

This forces the player to rely on Armored Cars, Infantry, Artillery and AA.

I decided to play Allied Corps (Colonel difficulty) campaign from the start. I have posted a quick AAR from my progress so far.

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Scenario 1 and 2 simple enough, no AAR.

Italian Offensive - Triumph
- Core > 3 British Inf/Truck, 3 x Rolls Royce AC, 2 x 2pdr/Truck, 3 x 25pdr/Truck, 1 x 40mm AA/Truck
- no losses, simply retreated while forcing enemy to surrender in droves thanks to artillery support.

Taranto Raid - Victory
- No changes to core, no air power so nothing to deploy
- Lost a carrier, and had no way to destroy the 4 Italian fighters. Sunk 4 of 6 battleships.

Sidi Barrani - Triumph
- No changes to core
- Italian armor caught a few of my AC's exposed, resulting in a need to retreat behind my infantry line. Italian air power inflicted some damage to my artillery, but once they lost control of their airfields, they withdrew.

Bardia - Triumph
- upgraded Infantry to Bren Carriers, upgraded 25 pdr to 6in guns, and 40mm AA to 40mm SPAA
- purchased 2 British Eng/Bren, purchased 2 wheeled AT
- took heavy casualties early on my recon and wheeled AT units from coastal batteries.
- lost an engineer unit due to a heavy counter attack supported by naval and coastal artillery.
- lost my second engineer during the assault on Bardia directly.
- awarded an Elite Commando/Bren

Beda Fomm - Triumph
- disbanded the wheeled AT due to poor performance
- setup a u shaped defensive line with artillery support, completly destroying the retreating italians.

Crete - Triumph
- upgraded Rolls Royce AC to Humber AC
- puchased 2 British Infantry, 2 Heavy Infantry, 1 Artillery and 1 Humber AC
- 1st lift of German paratroopers destroyed quickly by my infantry/artillery combo, with Humber finishing off stragglers
- 5th turn, german stukas and 109's rule the air, while the kriegsmarine sink one of my destroyers.
- the german paratroopers have taken very heavy losses, but they still come in waves. They have successfully landed armor on the northern peninsula, must hold the hills.
- with artillery support, the infantry make quick work of the panzers when they bogged down in the hilly terrain in the western island.
- after suffering near catastrophic losses, the germans call of the airborne invasion of crete

Crusader - Triumph
- core force > 5 x Brit Inf/Bren, 2 x Brit HW/Bren, 1 x Commando/Bren, 3 x Humber AC, 2 x 2pdr AT/Truck, 4 x 6in gun/Truck, 1 x 40mm SPAA
- purchased 1 extra Humber AC
- expecting a heavy german armored force near the coast. high command is concerned that without air support and tanks, we may face heavy losses. Artillery will be critical to subdue any german offensives, and to capture the outskirts of Tobruk.
-3 of 4 paratroop regiments made it to the western airfield target, one of them being shot down by two well placed AA units
- northern panzer regiment destroyed by Humber AC, artillery and 2pdr guns.
- Germans counterattack in the south, but are destroyed by the Australians garrison and my returning units from the north
- awarded an elite spitfire, disbanded

Cauldron - Triumph
- sold 40mmSPAA, purchased 3 x 3.7 AA/Truck
- Upgraded Humber AC to Daimler AC
- purchased 2 x Brit Paratroopers
- finally upgraded 2pdr AT to 6pdr AT
- german engineers tearing through the minefields in the west, while stukas and 110's hammer british positions hard
- first wave of panzers crushed against british AT guns in the east, while AC's and infantry finish off the survivors.
- british units push forward to the screen of 88's.
- in the west, british positions in jeopardy as minefields destroyed, and luftwaffe continues to relentlessly pound artillery and AT positions.
- despite overwhelming odds, the british infantry with AT and artillery support pushed steadily forward. Luftwaffe continued to harrass the ground assualt, taking heavy casualties from british AA

First Alamein - Victory
- no changes to core units, all units made overstrength where possible.
- goal is to hold El Alamein only due to the overwhelming german force approaching. artillery and AA being moved into positions to maximize front coverage, with a small force holding the hills to the southern flank.
- during the final German assault on Alamein, British casualties included 2xAT, 1xInf, 1 Commando

Second Alamein - Victory
- no changes to core units, all units made overstrength
- slow going through the mindfields to the south and along the coast.
- enemy artillery supported armored counter attacks in force
- lost 2 x inf, 1x eng, 1x AC, 1x6pdr
- granted another spitfire, disbanded
- purchased 2 x Engineer, made all units overstrength
- After clearing the minefields, British units took some losses from German counterattacks in the rear.
- final result, British hold 4 of 6 objectives, earning a Victory.

That's it for now, maybe you want to try this too?
It's definitely harder without Churchill's.

[Tarrak]

Sounds like interesting but quite painful way to play. Playing AC without Churchils may be quite an idea, as frankly they are a bit to strong but without any core tanks and planes this sounds a bit too masochistic for me.