Strategy tips for GC43?

[Skacee]

Does anyone have tips how to play as Germans in 43 GC scenario?

[karonagames]

Against the AI? What difficulty?

[Skacee]

Recently AI, normal. Thank you!

[Zovs]

Don't use Reserves and attack everything on the line on turn 1.

[:D]  sorry I am joking [:D] 

If you do what I suggest on turn 1 then a good Soviet player should have most of your mobile units in a pocket by turn 3. Or turn 2 if he is good.

[Klydon]

You have the option to go on the offensive in the Kursk area as the Germans did historically, but I recommend against it. The Germans managed to rebuild their tank force over the winter and its actually in pretty good shape.

I would look to pull back and shorten my lines up as much as possible to not only make them stronger, but also try to get some more reserves together. I would also retreat the guys in the southern bridgehead back to the Crimea and then into the AGS area. No need to hold there and its just wasting your troops.

After that, you can try your hand at mobile defense. Try to time a Russian attack or let the Russians attack and get strung out a bit from their fortifications and then hit them hard on a counter attack and try to bleed them as much as possible while minimizing your own casualties. You are basically on the strategic defense, but not necessarily the tactical defense as long as you have your good strong panzer forces.

[Gandalf]

I remember the old SPI version of Kursk that had a variant attacking the Salient head on. It would be interesting to be able to alter the original setup and try that variant with WITE.

[karonagames]

I have tried every variant of a Citadel attack that I can think of, but everything I do against the normal AI gets smashed up in massive counter attacks, so I have gone for the "conserve my armour" option and call off of the attack and redeploy the armour for defensive operarations. It is possible to create a reserve line of Panzer divisions split into regiments that pull double duty by digging entrenchments and spoiling soviet attacks with reserve activations.

I pull out of the Orel Salient when playing PBEM but the AI can be slow in getting its act together in this Area. The AI will put together a very aggressive "avalanche attack" that nearly broke through my reserve line, but if I tell you where the hammer will fall it will spoil your fun.

As you get deeper into the campaign, it is important to maintain line cohesion with your infantry divisions with your panzers in reserve and positioned so their zocs will slow down any breakthroughs.

Eventually attrition will wear down your front line strength, and you should look at ways to manage your manpower by disbanding unneeded LW HQs and construction units.

The 1943 campaign is a hell of a lot of fun against a human (check out Flavio's AAR), against normal AI the SU will advance about half as quickly as a human and on challenging about 65%-75%.

edit: Your panzer reserve should look for every chance to punch back at minor breaks in your infantry front line. Against the AI you can risk leaving panzers in the front line, against a human you have to hit and run.

[Pford]

I fired up the 43 scenario and, for the first time, took the Soviets. Watched the NFL on TV while the Germans played out turn 1. Much to my chagrin, on sitting down for the turn, I find the krauts had pulled back into a shortened defence line west of Bryansk. Sure, very rational, but where's the glory? Woosies...

[karonagames]

Unfortunately the victory conditions for an Axis decisive victory are totally unachievable, so you have to play for better than a draw. Keeping the soviets out of Berlin by the end of the game would be a glorious achievement.

[Skacee]

Against human as the Germans will be definitely a lot of fun and chalenge for sure. Why am I asking - recently I am playing turn 46 (may 44). I managed planned Kursk offensive and destroyed whole Voronezskyi front - I had to wait with attack, because it was too difficult to penetrate lines and the counterattacks were too heavy. And AI smashed GE lines through centre and got too much far to come back out of pocket - it cost AI cca 80 units. After it  I did no widthrawals, keeping all lines as they were. Just using flexible defense on the south with PZ divs. Effective.

For summer I am trying strategy of creating bigger pockets by panzers and wearing down soviets through substantial losses there. It is getting difficult while atrittion is also affecting GE units.  It is May 44 and soviets have 5.5 mil, 6500 ASF, 11000 planes against GE (without allies) 2,8 mil, 3300 ASF, 2500 planes. When the soviets will stop? Also noticed that experience of panzers div is going down. Just wandering  how long I will be able to keep this strategy, because the tempo of Russian reinforcements is very high and many GE infantry divisions in hot areas are just around 2-3000. Also Leningrad area - is there any chance?

[karonagames]

Unfortunately the difference in manpower levels means that attrition will wear the Axis down, and they have to resort to disbanding unneeded units and merging units, to keep the infantry divisions at any sort of combat strength. The SU will keep growing and will probably be at 6.5 million by 1945.

In my tests I found that the "breaking point" for the front came when GE rifle squad strength dropped below 16000. The longer you can keep rifle squad strength above that, the longer you can hold out. If the front does shatter, it is not a pretty sight.

I have not seen what the AI does in the Leningrad area, but if she gets Minsk then I think you have to think about pulling back from Leningrad to avoid the historical debacle that happened there.

Against the AI you can be more pro-active and create mini pockets, that might reduce his strength somewhat, but if you are ahead of the historical front lines now, I think you will be able to hold out until the end of the game.

[barkman44]

That was what Manstein wanted to do instead of pinching it off.

ORIGINAL: Gandalf

I remember the old SPI version of Kursk that had a variant attacking the Salient head on. It would be interesting to be able to alter the original setup and try that variant with WITE.