Lake Balaton - what's the trick?

[markmarz]

Tried several times now and I can't come close to a victory.

How to put down those endless tanks? Tried Jagdtiger and 88s and Tiger tanks and Elefants and bombers. But they keep coming!! And they're so tough!

Starting with about 10500 prestige but it's not enough to buy as many tanks and anti-tank units that I guess it would take to overwhelm the Soviets. Unless I'm not buying the right equipment. What would that be?

Just a hint would help a lot.

Thanks
Mark M.

[Horst]

As general tip against enemy hordes: always try to force the enemy assaulting units to surrender by suppressing artillery and/or strategic bomber attacks if they come in too large numbers and can’t retreat anymore. The more and heavier artillery you have, the better. Even a fluffy recon unit can cause a heavy tank unit to surrender if it is more or less fully suppressed. The gained prestige by surrender is ridiculous late in the war and helps to feed your hungry heavy tanks.
Build a large wagon fort or U-formation with your units if you lack a chokepoint. Put your units with the highest ground defense, especially with defense-heroes, to the front, so they can’t be suppressed so well. If your front-line defenders become too weak then try to replace them with fresh ones from your rear area.
Try to decimate the enemy artillery at first, so it won’t help making your units surrender or destroy your artillery. Strategic bombers are excellent for incapacitating enemy artillery as their attack also reduce the ammo amount.

[markmarz]

Thanks Horst! This is just the sort of answer I was looking for. You don't give away the store but instead offer all sorts of valuable knowledge!

Appreciated!

[MartyWard]

Also go slow. Take them one a few at a time.

[captainjack]

Put your units with the highest ground defense, especially with defense-heroes, to the front

Also, be prepared to pull your units back to repair or resupply where possible as you only get partial resupply in contact with enemy. The suppressed reserves also don't improve your resistance to surrender thereby wasting the prestige used in reinforcement.

A slow fighting withdrawal to more favourable ground (or just to buy time) can also be worth a go.

[proline]

How to put down those endless tanks? Tried Jagdtiger and 88s and Tiger tanks and Elefants and bombers. But they keep coming!! And they're so tough!

Starting with about 10500 prestige but it's not enough to buy as many tanks and anti-tank units that I guess it would take to overwhelm the Soviets.

1) I may have highlighted the key word. You really don't want to buy anything late in the war. Even a super-unit like the Tiger 2 will take damage if it has zero XP, and considering how expensive that monster is the damage will add up to $$$. Generally, you want to have all your units bought by 1941 or so, then upgrade them thereafter. That means that early on when the unit cap is low, you won't be using all your units every scenario. Rotate them through, get them all some XP. A 3 star jagdPanther with a hero kills much more cost-effectively than a fresh one!

2) Anti-tank units are really good in PC, and are the best way to kill a tank. They are especially the best way to kill mech anti-tank. The highest damage output in the game is the jagdPanther defending against a tank once you factor in the anti-tank bonus. The deal nearly the damage of a Tiger 2 at far less cost. The downside is they don't have the defense of a Tiger 2 or jagdTiger. So make your anti-tank units with defense heroes into these.

3) JagdTigers have the best defense in the game, but are a little weaker at dealing damage and are slow. Use these to block chokes in remote areas when on defense as they require minimal support. When in battle, I usually send the jagdTigers against the high damage output antitank units because they don't take much damage so they are cost-effective, I send the jagdPanthers against the recon/obsolete tanks where their high damage output shines (jagdPanthers demolish T-34s of all vintages taking very little damage), and I send Tiger tanks against the soft targets.

4) In this scenario it is best to keep your army together and fight as a ball- you will be more likely to be able to finish off damaged enemies if you have your whole army nearby rather than watch them escape and repair. You will have less surface area for the AI to attack on the ground. Units in the center of your ball can be easily protected by fighters who are safely out of range of AA. So resist the temptation to form 2 groups the way the deployment hexes suggest at put all your units at the top. Fight your way to Budapest ASAP, then move down.

Hope some of this helps! I'm sure there are other strategies out there that work just as well...

[markmarz]

Very helpful indeed!

This is great stuff, thanks everyone!!

[Zleepyhead]

I have one thing to add...buy some cheap towed anti-tank guns and randomly place them up front to slow the hordes down. They will be quickly destroyed but it will buy you time to better organize your forces. As they get picked off, you can deploy your fresh experienced core units.

It is definitely not an easy scenario. Bagration was similar but at least you had a river in that scenario you could use for a defensive line.