New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Battle Reports & After Action Reports (AAR's)

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kevini1000
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New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

Greetings,

I've played a bit and have a little experience now.

I'm going to start fresh with the Axis SCW campaign then head into 1939 and beyond.

The setting will of course be the Generalissimus difficulty level. I also want the achievements as well.

other notable settings.

100% combat randomness.

Custom Army.

The standard 3 undo's per turn. I've been very bad with mis clicks on this game.

Commander traits for SCW 1936-1939.

Panzer General (anything that lets me put more units on the map)
Master of Blitzkrieg (+1 movement for T-26 makes them great)
Auxiliary force (Italian Infantry are under your control) They won't kill something you prefer to capture.
Flexible command
Killer Team (must have)
Slow Modernization
Fear of Unknown
Force Dispersion.

Starting leaders Zero Slots, Entrenchment Killer and Aiming assistance.

starting force same as normal start.

but I added one 105mm Artillery due to zero slot guy.

Future Plans

I plan to nurture the Artillery force over time.

Once I'm able to field two 152mm Artillery then I will not use the AT guns anymore. I love artillery that can support against hard or soft targets.

I will mostly not use AA guns either. Fighters are much better.

I will eventually have about 4 recons.

In SCW I will eventually have 5 tanks.

Air Force

3-5 fighters as time goes on. Perhaps even a sixth.

1 recon.

3-4 Tac bombers

3 Strat bombers

Will slim down the Air force on Scenarios that have terrible weather.

Will give an update after the first scenario.
Panzer73
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by Panzer73 »

Aiming Assistance is one of the most underappreciated heroes. If you place the Aiming Assistance unit well, it can support 4-8 units per turn, raking in the experience.

It is the best way to level up the fighter force, especially the weak fighters at the beginning of SCW. I was able to get fighters from 0 experience to 1000+ in three scenarios.

Good luck.
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

Panzer73 wrote: Thu Jul 07, 2022 4:15 pm Aiming Assistance is one of the most underappreciated heroes. If you place the Aiming Assistance unit well, it can support 4-8 units per turn, raking in the experience.

It is the best way to level up the fighter force, especially the weak fighters at the beginning of SCW. I was able to get fighters from 0 experience to 1000+ in three scenarios.

Good luck.
I assigned the aiming Assistance leader to one the fighters got him to 891 exp.
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

Seville

Got one Recon to 1 star and got the one fighter to 891 exp. Thank you, Panzer73.

Ending Prestige 2182.

Captures/Caches

3 x BT-5
9 x T-26
14 x Bilbao recon
8 x 37mm 1930 AT
19 x 203mm 1931 Artillery
22 x 70mm Schneider M08 Artillery
19 x 20mm M33 AA

Note not a lot of prestige. Captures are essential to keep up early on. I'm being stingy with my prestige.

Harder to do captures with the options I'm using.
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

Antequera set up

New leader Gerhard Schmid Double move

I wonder if he will work with the recon plan. Otherwise, I'll put him with one of the tanks.

Starting prestige 2182.

Force pool changes

AA gun disbanded for 230 prestige.
upgraded two HS 123a's too HE 45's. Tactical bombers. I need the slots. The 45's only use 1 slot each.
Purchased one He 51 fighter.
Purchase 1 203mm M1931 Artillery overstrength with the zero slots leader now.
overstrength 10.5cm leFH18 reduced back to 10 strength.

Starting force

3 x Panzer 1A
2 x Sdkfz 221 Recon
2 x 3.7cm Pak 36 AT
4 x 10.5cm leFH18 Artillery
1 x 203mm M1931 Artillery with Sdkfz transport.
4 x He 51 fighters.
2 x He 45 tac Bombers.
1 x He Rayo Recon Plane.

Italians

1 x CTV Infantry with motorized transport.
3 x CTV Infantry no transport. (purchased)
1 x L3/33 tank
1 x 75mm 75/18 Artillery with horse transport. (purchased)

Reserve
1 x He 123A Tac Bomber.

Available prestige after purchases/upgrades 1136.

I might bring on additional Italian fighters or Infantry if needed.

The double move leader will most likely go with a tank or the recon.

The 3 Strategic bombers will help with surrenders/captures.

More to follow.
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

Antequera summary

Turn 3 reinforcements

2 x Italian CR 32 fighters.
1 x Italian CTV Infantry.

Turn 6

3 x Ju52 strategic bombers.

Ending prestige 2665

I said yes to the captured Spanish equipment. I like the UNL-35's

New leader: Helmut Hartman Leadership (+1 Initiative).

captures/cache/commendation

12 x BT-5
9 x T-26
35 x Trubia
14 x Bilbao
40 x UNL35
8 x 37mm M1930
28 x 20mm M33
29 x 203mm M1931
9 x 105mm Vickers M22
22 x 70mm Schneider M22
13 x 122mm M10/30
8 x 152mm M10/30
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

Merida

Force pool changes:
1 Sdkz 221 moved to reserves
1 3.7cm Pak 36 moved to reserves
1 Panzer 1A upgraded to Trubia
1 Sdkz 221 upgraded to UNL-35
Purchased 1 UNL-35
Purchased 1 7.5cm FK16nA (horse transport)
1 HS 123a upgraded to HE 45 (1 slot each)

Starting force pool
1 Trubia
2 Panzer 1A
2 UNL-35
1 3.7 Pak 36
4 x 10.5cm LeFH18
1 203mm M1931
1 7.5cm FK 16nA
4 He 51 fighters. Moved the aiming assistance leader to a different fighter and added the leadership leader.
3 He 45 Tactical Bombers
1 He 70 Rayo (close to one star)
3 JU 52 Strategic Bombers

Italians
Purchased 3 Italian Infantry (no transport), 3 Fighters and 1 75mm 75/27 artillery (horse transport).

Pluss all the normal starting Italians and Spanish for this scenario.

Prestige after changes 2014

I didn't feel like I had enough BT-5's or 122mm M10/30's to upgrade these safely.

I'm not keen on going with only 1 AT units but I'll split him and make do.

I might add another Italian Infantry. I could add another Italian fighter, but I feel I have enough.

I'll turn the Spanish off asap.

I need to focus on capturing the good artillery and tanks.

I might decide to cash in the Leadership leader later on for prestige, but I'll hold off until it's a must do.
Tassadar
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by Tassadar »

You could just drop two of the Ju 52 bombers to reserve in the next few scenarios. They do too little damage at this point to really count (once the Ju 86 appears this will change for the better and then they start becoming more useful), but one used as flying artillery usually has some work to do. I'd swap one of them for a recon plane that can help maximize your artillery and start investing in AA guns after all, since you will be seeing hordes of bombers in the sky in many missions.
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

Tassadar wrote: Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:15 pm You could just drop two of the Ju 52 bombers to reserve in the next few scenarios. They do too little damage at this point to really count (once the Ju 86 appears this will change for the better and then they start becoming more useful), but one used as flying artillery usually has some work to do. I'd swap one of them for a recon plane that can help maximize your artillery and start investing in AA guns after all, since you will be seeing hordes of bombers in the sky in many missions.
Hello,

Thank you for your comments.

I actually find the Ju 52's to be quite useful in fact. They help in facilitating in surrenders and captured equipment.

Prestige feels tight on the Generalissimus difficulty. Without trophies or perimeter control captures are more difficult.

I put the double move leader with the recon plane. This also helps pump up his experience faster as well.

I really want to run with one more ground recon as they are invaluable and needed for facilitating captures.

The aiming assistant leader has helped speed up the experience gain for the fighter force. I already have two fighters with one star of experience after just 3 scenarios. This is going to allow me to build a force of experienced fighters quickly.

I'm actually trying to experiment on not using AA for now as I will just have lots of fighters. Auxiliary force will allow me to bring on Italian fighters that are quite cheap. I can also use captured AA guns to field with the Italians if needed but they are pricey. I might purchase some AA units later on. They might be needed for one scenario in particular in the 1939 Axis operations. On second thoughts, an AA unit or two might not hurt as they will help the fighters tear up the enemy air force. Most likely I will use Italian AA until I have the core slots to bring on German AA. (Early Madrid 44 slots)

Much of this will depend on what leaders I get going forward. The leaders I've gotten so far have been very good.
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

Merida Summary

Reinforcements:

Turn 3 1 Italian Infantry no transport
Turn 9 1 Italian Fighter.

Ending prestige 4831

Badajoz was taken on the final turn completing all objectives.

The recon plane made it to one star along with the fighter with the aiming assistant leader.

The UNL-35 recon almost made it to one star.

New Leader Markus Neumann Resilient. I put him with the new UNL-35 recon.

Important Captures

I picked up a few 122mm M10/30 Artillery and a few T-26's

I did not get any more 152mm Artillery or BT-5's

I also picked up some other equipment including some more 20mm AA guns.

My starting prestige for Toledo is 5130. I'm starting to feel better about the prestige situation.
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

Toledo

I wanted to start by saying that I thought that Merida was quite challenging.

Starting prestige as mentioned before is 5130.

Prestige after upgrades and purchases 3306.

Force pool changes:
1 Panzer 1A upgraded to T-26 (I'm not in love with the 4 movement)
1 Panzer 1A upgraded to BT-5
1 3.7 cm Pak 36 moved to Reserves
1 7.5cm FK 16nA upgraded to 122mm M10/30 (I wasn't that excited about the 2 Range Artillery)
All of the JU-52 bombers have now been overstrength to 12. I forgot this last time.

OOB
1 x BT-5
1 x T-26
1 x Trubia
2 x UNL-35
4 x 10.5cm leFH 18
1 x 122mm M10/30
1 x 203mm M1931
4 x He 51 fighters
3 x He 45 Tactical Bombers
1 x He 70 Rayo Recon Plane
3 x Ju-52 Strategic Bombers

Italians
6 x Infantry (no transport)
1 x 37mm M1930 AT gun (horse transport)
2 x 105mm 105/28 Artillery (horse transport)
1 x 20mm M33 AA gun (horse transport)
3 x CR 32 fighters

Spanish (default scenario forces)

I might make one change. I'm still thinking about it.

I need to capture BT-5, T-26's and 152mm M10/30 especially.

Some additional UNL-35's and 122mm M10/30's would also be nice.

I'm wondering how difficult this map will be on Generalissimus difficulty.

The plan is to take everything and capture as much as possible.

It should be noted that I got by using the Spanish very little in Merida.

Hard to avoid using them with this Scenario.

This will take a few days as I'm working this week.
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

I made the change to the starting force that I was thinking about.

I put the two-star UNL-35 in the reserves and swapped it for the one-star Sdkfz 221 Recon.
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

Toledo Halfway (Turn 9 complete)

Toledo is relieved but the Republicans still strongly hold positions to the South.

The Italians are grinding toward Polan in the East.

Aranjuez and the northern part of the map have been taken.

Germans and Italians are approaching Algador from the west side of the Tagus River.

Yepes, Villas Equilla and the nearby airfield are secure.

The Nationalist are a big prestige drain in this scenario.

I earn the prestige and they eat it up. I'm keeping them on hold position as much as possible.

I want to keep swinging up behind Nam Broca.

The T-26 is just too slow.

More units now hitting the first star or closing in.
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

Toledo Halfway (Turn 9 complete)

Toledo is relieved but the Republicans still strongly hold positions to the South.

The Italians are grinding toward Polan in the East.

Aranjuez and the northern part of the map have been taken.

Germans and Italians are approaching Algador from the west side of the Tagus River.

Yepes, Villas Equilla and the nearby airfield are secure.

The Nationalist are a big prestige drain in this scenario.

I earn the prestige and they eat it up. I'm keeping them on hold position as much as possible.

I want to keep swinging up behind Nam Broca.

The T-26 is just too slow.

More units now hitting the first star or closing in.
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by DefiantXYX »

kevini1000 wrote: Thu Jul 07, 2022 12:12 am Greetings,
Auxiliary force (Italian Infantry are under your control) They won't kill something you prefer to capture.
How many aux slots do you have with this trait? I playing without that trait and got 15-20 slots for italian stuff. Most of the time I go with a fighter plane, tank and one infantry and imo thats more than enough. Since I am playing with limited stock I suicide my italian friends most of the time I could not buy more units anyways :)
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by WalterTFD »

In all honesty, I think Merida is the single biggest challenge in the game. You have low prestige, few heroes and all but useless units, and the secondary is genuinely tough to achieve. If you pulled that off on generalissimo I think that you will be able to truck through the rest without much trouble. Good luck!
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

DefiantXYX wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 9:31 am
kevini1000 wrote: Thu Jul 07, 2022 12:12 am Greetings,
Auxiliary force (Italian Infantry are under your control) They won't kill something you prefer to capture.
How many aux slots do you have with this trait? I playing without that trait and got 15-20 slots for italian stuff. Most of the time I go with a fighter plane, tank and one infantry and imo thats more than enough. Since I am playing with limited stock I suicide my italian friends most of the time I could not buy more units anyways :)
With Auxiliaries you get 32 slots in Merida and Toledo. You get 37 for Early Madrid.

As someone else put it that cost of the Italians is made up for what you don't loose with the Spanish.

The pricey stuff in Toledo scenario was the Italian Artillery, AA and AA gun.

Both Merida and Toledo were completed on the final turn each. Without the extra Italians I would have taken more casualties and gotten less captures.
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

WalterTFD wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 6:53 pm In all honesty, I think Merida is the single biggest challenge in the game. You have low prestige, few heroes and all but useless units, and the secondary is genuinely tough to achieve. If you pulled that off on generalissimo I think that you will be able to truck through the rest without much trouble. Good luck!
Thanks.

Very true. I knew going in the Merida would be very challenging.

Toledo is not as difficult, but it was tight schedule.

You will see on my Toledo summary that my core is gaining some experience now.
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

Toledo Summary

Ending Prestige 4102

Experience earned.

Trubia tank to 1 star
SDKFZ all most 2 stars
UNL-35 1500 exp
one 10.5cm Artillery to 1 star
two others very close to 1 star

Got the fighter with the aiming assistant leader to 1 start on the very last action of the scenario.
one other fighter is very close to 2 stars.

two tac bombers to 1 star and the 3rd very close.

The Rayo recon is very close to 2 stars.

one JU-52 bomber is 1 star and the other two are very close to 1 star.

I'm only going to a give short version of captured stock.

18 x BT-5 with another 11 in units
16 x T-26 with another 11 in units
24 Trubia with another 11 in units
21 x UNL-35 with another 22 in units
24 x 20mm M33 AA
14 x 203mm M1931 with 15 another in units
17 x 122mm M10/30 with another 10 in units
17 x 152mm M10/30 (now I can build one)

I said yes to the Verdeja tank

New leader Dirk Wolf resilient.

This does not seem like a very good ability. I plan to dismiss resilient leaders after the commendation prestige purchase for 2k prestige.

The final half of this scenario was much easier. Nationalist losses dropped as Republican artillery and tank/recons were eliminated.

This wasn't my first-time playing Toledo, but my first-time playing on this difficulty.

I had 6 German and 2 Italian artilleries plus 6 Italian Infantry and felt like I needed all of them.
kevini1000
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Re: New Total Campaign 1936-1945 on Generalissimus Difficulty Artillery Specialist

Post by kevini1000 »

Early Madrid Setup

starting prestige 4407

I upgraded the 1 star 10.5cm leFH18 artillery to the 152mm M10/30 Artillery with Sdkfz transport

I upgraded the He 70 Rayo recon with close to 2 stars to the He 45 tactical bomber

I upgraded my lowest experience He 45 tactical bomber to a Rayo recon plan and assigned the double move leader. This unit will gain experience faster.

I purchased a new UNL-35 recon and assigned the new resilience leader.

I purchased a new HE 51 fighter and assigned the aiming assistance leader to it. The goal will be to get this fight to 1 star in this scenario.

One fighter has been moved to the reserves

one 3.7cm Pak 36 moved from reserves

OOB:

Germans
1 x BT-5
1 xT-26
1 x Trubia
1 x Verdeja tank (turn 2 reinforcements)
2 x UNL-35
1 x Sdkfz 221
1 x 3.7cm Pak 36
3 x 10.5cm leFH18 Artillery
1 x 122mm M10/30
1 x 152mm M10/30
1 x 203mm M1931
4 x He 51 fighters
3 x He 45 tactical bombers
1 x He 70 Rayo Recon Plane
3 x JU-52

Reserves
1 x UNL-35 recon 2 stars
1 x 3.7cm Pak 36
1 x He 51 fighter 1/2 star

Italians (37 slots)

6 x Infantry (no transport)
1x L3/35 tank
1 x Lanzia IZM recon
2 x 47/32 M35 AT (horse)
2 x 100mm 100/17 Artillery
1 x 20mm M33 AA (horse)
3 x CR 32 fighters

This scenario is somewhat easier and straight forward.

Drive down the main highway with a mobile flanking force.

Capture as much stuff as possible.

Stop at river and gain experience.

The double move and aiming assistant leader are really helping with exp gain.

Hope I can get a leader other than resilience this time.

Prestige after upgrades and purchases. 2270

Should be ok and I will get more surrenders on this map.
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