7th Panzer 97 battle long campaign AAR

[ComradeP]

OK, the third battle included the first big scare: 3 KV-1 M39's. When I saw that I got some Panzer IVD's for the mission, my wargaming instinct told me that this mission would include either T-34's or KV-1's, as it would not be logical to give me Panzer IVD's for dealing with BT's or T-26's. Of course, by winter I probably won't get reinforcements, so things will get interesting.

To my surprise (after checking penetration values in the unit information screen) it seems that even the Panzer IIB can penetrate the T-34's armour at the side at really close range, which will be quite useful I think. The Panzer 38(t)E's APCR shells are also quite good.

Even though I suggested not giving wound badge medals for thrown/disabled tracks, without those I wouldn't be able to get all the badges/medals, so thus far it's nice. 4 out of my 12 tanks have a wound badge now.

Legendary victory, no casualties. 2 tanks with track damage on one side, both were recovered. There was a 30 turn timer on the scenario.



The objective I needed to capture was on a hill. I placed my tanks in a flanking position, which means that as they move up the hill, they're not visible from the Soviet positions near the flag. Soviet defensive positions face east, I'll be coming from the west.



Turn 9. My tanks move into position. The Panzer IVD's were tasked with protecting the left flank, as I was afraid there would be something there (which turned out to be true as you can see in the next screenshot...), the two HQ Panzer 38(t)E's discovered a BA-10M, which stunned one of my tanks before it was destroyed by the tank it had stunned. My other tanks were tasked with wheeling towards the flag to attack Soviet positions from behind. The Panzer IIB's were kept in reserve until I knew there were either no AT guns in the area or that all of them were destroyed. Up until this point, all we had bumped into were 3 Rifle squads that were promptly gunned down.



3 KV-1 M39's were discovered on turn 10 and they were surprised. Two were burning before the Soviets could lift a finger, after which I moved my Panzer IVD's back to attack from another angle as I didn't want to start a duel with the third KV-1. I approached from a slightly different angle, resulting in the destruction of the final KV-1 on turn 13. My Panzer IVD's had only 3 out of 20 HEAT rounds left by that point. There was a 45mm AT gun in a flanking position, which was abandoned by its crew after some HE fire.



Turn 20. My core tanks are at the flag in an overwatch position, the Panzer IVD's are moving up along the map edge. Two BT-5's coming from map edge near the flag and a BT-7M on the other side of the map (near the concentration of Soviets you see in the next screenshot) were destroyed. The next few turns involved the obligatory turkey shoot of large numbers of Rifle units.



Turn 30. I have no idea what that large concentration of Soviets is doing on the other side of the map, as there's no objective there, but perhaps they're reinforcements or the AI was scared that I would flank it.

Kills, awards and medals in the campaign thus far:

Core:

1/1/2-6 PzG /1 Close Combat Bar (Bronze) and War Merit Cross 2nd Class.
/2 Infantry Assault Badge (Bronze).
/3: nothing.

Transports: /1 Veteran Driver
/2 Veteran Driver.
/3 nothing.

1/1-37 Aufklaerung/1: Veteran Driver
/2: Wound Badge (Black)

HQ 3/2-25 Panzer Regiment/1: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, killed 8 Rifle squads, 3 50mm mortar teams, 3 Maxim crews, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 1 BT-7, 2 BA-10M's, 1 DShK 39 crew and 1 BT-5.
/2: Wound Badge (Black), killed 11 Rifle squads, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 1 Maxim crew, 1 50mm mortar team, 1 AT Rifle squad, 1 BA-10M, 2 BT-7's and 1 BT-5.

2/3/2-25 Panzer Regiment/1: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, killed 6 Rifle squads, 1 45mm AT gun crew and 1 50mm mortar crew.
/2: Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 12 Rifle squads, 3 T-26 M39's, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 2 Maxim crews, 1 BT-7, 1 45mm AT gun crew and 1 AT Rifle squad.
/3: Wound Badge (Black) and Veteran Driver, killed 5 Rifle squads, 1 Maxim crew, 1 BT-7, 2 45mm AT gun crews and 1 BT-7M.
/4: War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Wound Badge (Black), killed 1 T-26 M39, 6 Rifle squads, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 2 BT-7's, 2 Maxim crews, 1 AT Rifle squad and 2 45mm AT gun crews.
/5: Wound Badge (Black), Iron Cross 2nd Class and Panzer Assault Badge (Silver), killed 2 Rifle squads, 1 BA-6, 1 AT Rifle squad and 1 Maxim crew.

1/3/2-25 Panzer Regiment /1: Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 3 Rifle squads and 1 50mm mortar crew.
/2: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, killed 5 Rifle squads and 1 50mm mortar crew.
/3: killed 5 Rifle squad and 1 Maxim crew.
/4: War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Veteran Driver, killed 5 Rifle squads, 2 Sniper teams.
/5: Iron Cross 2nd Class and Veteran Driver, killed 5 Rifle squads and 1 Sniper team.

Non-core (kills in this scenario):

2/1/2-25 Panzer Regiment/1: Veteran Driver, killed 1 KV-1 M39.
/2: Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 1 Rifle squad, 1 45mm AT gun crew and 1 50mm mortar crew.
/3: Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 3 Rifle squads and 1 KV-1 M39.
/4: Killed 2 Rifle squads and 1 KV-1 M39.

[Erik Rutins]

Good for you that those Panzer IVDs were available in the same battle that the KV-1s showed up! [8D]

The first encounter with Soviet Heavy Tanks, even Green early war models, is always a bit hairy. Figuring out their weak spots and how to outmaneuver them to either avoid them and win the scenario through other means or take them out with close range flank or rear shots (harder with a KV than a T-34) is a real challenge.

Congratulations on the victory. I wonder how long you will be able to maintain your string of flawless victories?

Regards,

- Erik

[Enigma6584]

ORIGINAL: Mad Russian

"Bloody Triangle" is really good book. I have talked with the author about PCO scenarios and had him help us with research for the Contact at Lipki scenario.

Good Hunting.

MR

Very cool. Will have to check that scenario out. While currently reading the book, I kept thinking about how so many small battles in the text would make great scenarios.

[Mad Russian]

The battles for Lipki aren't in his book. I contacted him about Lipki because one of the units in that battle was in his book and thought maybe he did some research on it. He had.

Nice guy.

I HIGHLY recommend "Bloody Triangle: The Defeat of Soviet Armor in the Ukrain, June 1941." by Victor Kamenir. It sells for around $20 on Amazon.

Good Hunting.

MR

[ComradeP]

Figuring out their weak spots and how to outmaneuver them to either avoid them and win the scenario through other means or take them out with close range flank or rear shots (harder with a KV than a T-34) is a real challenge.

I'm primarily concerned about the lack of smoke ammunition for most of my units, which I'll need to outflank the Soviets in open maps. If this battle had been fought on a map like in the first two battles, there would've been very little I could do about the KV-1's aside from praying the Panzer IVD's would get lucky at medium to long range.

Congratulations on the victory. I wonder how long you will be able to maintain your string of flawless victories?

I'm hoping to keep winning with legendary victories for at least a while. Like I said in the first post, I'm a perfectionist and to me every battle is a puzzle that I want to solve. If a battle can be won convincingly, I'll try to do so.

It might not be historical to fight the war (mostly) without losses, but it's challenging to try and I enjoy being challenged. My primary concerns for late war scenarios are Soviet AT guns, not tanks, but as I'll presumably be fighting plenty of defensive battles after mid-1943, I'll face less Soviet AT guns.

[ComradeP]

FNG has started a 1st Panzer 96 long campaign AAR that fans of a more "historical" war (with core losses) might appreciate more than my "play every battle as if it's a puzzle" AAR.

His tactics will also probably be a bit different as he has a better core (tanks with 50mm or 75mm guns, although 11 tanks total instead of 12) to start with, although he will probably also face tougher resistance. For example: I have yet to encounter a 76.2mm AT gun, whilst he encountered one in his first battle.

It seems that, as a general rule of thumb, if you get significant support of some kind, it will mean the battle will be more difficult than normal. Of course, the late 1941 battles will probably feature less reinforcements or none at all.

Battle 4 was easier than I had expected based on the briefing, primarily because I could see the on-map Soviet tanks at the start, so those were all gone by turn 4. Another legendary victory without losses, in this case primarily because the Soviets didn't have anything that could realistically touch my Panzer 38(t)E's at medium range.

All battles seem to follow the same order of events thus far: find and eliminate the enemy's mobile elements/find and eliminate the enemy AT guns and then massacre the enemy infantry which is essentially powerless against tanks. Even later in the war, I don't expect that to change much as the Soviets lagged behind in developing ranged infantry held AT weapons. In 1944, an attack at close range with tanks on German infantry would be met with a hail of Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck fire, but all the Soviets would have would be RPG-43's and RPG-6's to throw with and perhaps a Lend-Lease Bazooka if they're lucky. It's quite a big difference.

According to the briefing, I should try to achieve victory before turn 22. I believe the battle ended at turn 19.

It seems I forgot to take a screenshot of the setup phase.

All my tanks were concentrated on the road in the western part of the map. There was a large dried up riverbed or gully on the eastern part of the map that I would have had to move through, and attacking through that would have heavily favoured the Soviets, so I decided to flank their positions. The briefing mentioned minefields being present, and it seemed likely to me that those would probably be concentrated in the eastern part of the map. There were 6 T-26 M33's in a field north of my starting position, as well as a BA-10M.



I ordered my tanks to simply advance in the direction of the enemy, figuring that the chance that the T-26's would get a penetrating hit was minimal, and the chance that my tanks would be able to score hits whilst moving was still good. In the screenshots, my spearhead is moving towards the wrecked T-26's.

You can see the objectives I need to capture in the background as well as the large dried up riverbed or gully I mentioned.

My Panzer 38(t)E's were ordered to move to the woods you can see on the left, whilst my Panzer IIB's were ordered to remove the Soviet infantry hiding in the woods in the direction of the perspective the screenshot was taken from (a bit to the left of the camera).



The screenshot's probably a bit unclear, but you might be able to see the Panzer IIB's on the left and the Panzer 38(t)E's moving towards the second objective on the right. I ended up turning the two HQ tanks around to guard the first flag as there were Rifle units north of it that were trying to recapture it.

Aside from the T-26's, the only AT weapon on the map was a single AT gun at the third flag. The end game review also included a BT-5, but that wasn't on the map when the battle ended, perhaps it was a reinforcement unit.



The end battle screen, looking from the third flag towards the other side of the map where my PanzerIIB's are.

Kills, awards and medals in the campaign thus far:

Core:

1/1/2-6 PzG /1 Close Combat Bar (Bronze) and War Merit Cross 2nd Class.
/2 Infantry Assault Badge (Bronze), Close Combat Bar (Bronze).
/3: nothing.

Transports: /1 Veteran Driver
/2 Veteran Driver.
/3 nothing.

1/1-37 Aufklaerung/1: Veteran Driver
/2: Wound Badge (Black)

HQ 3/2-25 Panzer Regiment/1: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, War Merit Cross 1st Class and Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 10 Rifle squads, 3 50mm mortar teams, 3 Maxim crews, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 1 BT-7, 2 BA-10M's, 1 DShK 39 crew and 1 BT-5.
/2: Wound Badge (Black), killed 12 Rifle squads, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 1 Maxim crew, 1 50mm mortar team, 1 AT Rifle squad, 1 BA-10M, 2 BT-7's and 1 BT-5.

2/3/2-25 Panzer Regiment/1: War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Veteran Driver, killed 6 Rifle squads, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 1 50mm mortar crew and 2 T-26 M33's.
/2: Iron Cross 2nd Class and War Merit Cross 2nd Class, killed 13 Rifle squads, 3 T-26 M39's, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 2 Maxim crews, 1 BT-7, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 1 AT Rifle squad, 1 BA-10M and 2 T-26 M33's.
/3: Wound Badge (Black), Veteran Driver and Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 6 Rifle squads, 2 Maxim crews, 1 BT-7, 2 45mm AT gun crews, 1 BT-7M and 1 DShK crew.
/4: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Wound Badge (Black), Iron Cross 2nd Class and Panzer Assault Badge (Silver), killed 1 T-26 M39, 9 Rifle squads, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 2 BT-7's, 2 Maxim crews, 1 AT Rifle squad, 3 45mm AT gun crews, 1 T-26 M33 and 2 DShK crews.
/5: Wound Badge (Black), Iron Cross 2nd Class and Panzer Assault Badge (Silver), killed 7 Rifle squads, 1 BA-6, 1 AT Rifle squad and 3 Maxim crews.

1/3/2-25 Panzer Regiment /1: Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 10 Rifle squads and 1 50mm mortar crew.
/2: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, killed 6 Rifle squads and 1 50mm mortar crew.
/3: Iron Cross 2nd Class and War Merit Cross 2nd Class, killed 8 Rifle squad and 1 Maxim crew.
/4: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Veteran Driver and Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 7 Rifle squads, 2 Sniper teams.
/5: Iron Cross 2nd Class, Veteran Driver and War Merit Cross 2nd Class, killed 8 Rifle squads and 1 Sniper team.

-

Battle 5 includes reinforcements of Panzer IVD's and the Luftwaffe seems to have been to that part of the Soviet Union before as there are 2 T-34 wrecks on the map. I am told to expect "very heavy resistance", so I'm going to make a cautious guess that I'll need those HEAT rounds on the Panzer IVD's again.

[Erik Rutins]

The blitzkrieg rolls on! Great job again. Could you tell us what date you are up to in the campaign so far? With the long campaign, time moves forward fairly slowly but it would be good to get a sense of when each battle is happening.

While those 50mm Panzer IIIs the 1st Panzer Division has are nice, one thing you have to love about the 38tE is the better frontal armor that lets it worry less about a lucky shot from a T-26 or BT.

Regards,

- Erik

[ComradeP]

Ah, yes, forgot to mention the dates.

The first 2 battles were in June, the 5th battle is 20-something of July.

While those 50mm Panzer IIIs the 1st Panzer Division has are nice, one thing you have to love about the 38tE is the better frontal armor that lets it worry less about a lucky shot from a T-26 or BT.

That's also why I'm very grateful that you gave the player Panzer38(t)E's and not the early production variant, as that would've made the game quite a bit more difficult. Now, although the gun isn't great, the armour can indeed be relied upon to stop 45mm gun hits.

The Panzer IVE's 1st Panzer gets do have good armour for 1941 standards, though. My non-core Panzer IVD's are fragile, but pack a punch. The Panzer IIB's are just...well, they're quite good against infantry as they have an amazing ROF, but they can't take hits from any credible gun.

[junk2drive]

Don't underestimate the T26s with a 45mm gun. I played the tutorial MP as Soviets and took out all the PZIIIs with my T26 39s.

[ComradeP]

Don't underestimate the T26s with a 45mm gun. I played the tutorial MP as Soviets and took out all the PZIIIs with my T26 39s.

The Panzer IIIH's in the tutorial are green, and the veteran T-26's need a side hit to take them out, as they generally can't hope to penetrate the frontal armour. Sure, my tanks can also have their side armour penetrated (in fact, in the first screenshot of the battle, you might note that the side armour of one of my tanks was indeed penetrated, but the hit did no damage). As long as you don't get flanked, the Panzer 38(t)E frontal armour's good enough against 1930's tanks.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP
That's also why I'm very grateful that you gave the player Panzer38(t)E's and not the early production variant, as that would've made the game quite a bit more difficult. Now, although the gun isn't great, the armour can indeed be relied upon to stop 45mm gun hits.

The Panzer IVE's 1st Panzer gets do have good armour for 1941 standards, though. My non-core Panzer IVD's are fragile, but pack a punch. The Panzer IIB's are just...well, they're quite good against infantry as they have an amazing ROF, but they can't take hits from any credible gun.

That does sum it up. Those 38tEs will have to last you until May of 1942, when the 7th Panzer was withdrawn for rest and refit (and you'll finally get some Panzer IIILs when you return in 1943). The second upgrade in 1944 will give you Panzer IVGs, but you have to get through some tough battles including those in the Kursk area and being encircled near Tarnopol in the Spring of 1944. It's a very tough campaign and there will no doubt be times where it looks impossible to continue, but if you can survive it you will really have mastered Panzer tactics in Panzer Command. [8D]

Regards,

- Erik

[ComradeP]

I had to replay parts of the fifth battle, my plan worked but the Soviets got lucky with their 76mm infantry gun (which was in a building) and with some artillery strikes which destroyed some vehicles, so I had to play parts of the battle over again, keeping in mind that to me every battle is a puzzle.

If there's absolutely no way to win without casualties, I'll accept it, but if proper planning can get you a victory without losses, I'll try to find that plan. For me, the main challenge remains placing myself in a situation where my forces won't take losses. As I said before: saving and loading won't really help if your plan is bad, so you should focus on improving the plan rather than saving and loading and hoping things will go differently.

Somehow, the setup phase screenshot got lost again, maybe I pressed F7 or another button by accident.

I was tasked with securing a village by taking two flags on a slope. The map featured a small stream in the (from the perspective of the first screenshot) eastern part of the map and woods and two hills in the rest of the map, aside from the village.

As usual, and as the setup allowed for it, I decided to flank the Soviet positions, figuring that whatever would be on the hills on the other side of the village would not be able to see me through the trees, which turned out to be correct.

I've indicated the path my tanks took from the staging area on the screenshot.



The tanks withdrew from the treeline in the central part of the map, as there's a 76mm infantry gun in a house nearby, and it's capable of knocking out my Panzer IVD's at that range. At this point, I've only killed some infantry in the woods at the lower part of the screenshot and two BA-3's.



My tanks move towards the village. The 76mm infantry gun was in the lone house right of the center of the screenshot.

The main surprise of the map was a KV-2 M41, which was promptly "destroyed" by an APCR shot from a Panzer 38(t)E. Clicking on the tank showed that it was abandoned, but the game considers both abandoned and actually destroyed tanks to be "destroyed". I guess the crew couldn't take the pressure from being hit by a large volley of APCR shells.



The end of the battle, Soviet casualties were higher than normal as it took me a while to get to the last flag and the Soviet infantry tried to recapture the first one, with predictable results.

I got some odd graphical glitch that removed the ground texture (it became white) but loading a saved game fixed the problem.

3 tanks suffered from track damage on one side, all were recovered. MG's can cause track damage, something to keep in mind.

My first Panzer Ace has appeared.

Core:

1/1/2-6 PzG /1 Close Combat Bar (Bronze), War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Infantry Assault Badge (Bronze).
/2 Infantry Assault Badge (Bronze), Close Combat Bar (Bronze).
/3: nothing.

Transports: /1 Veteran Driver.
/2 Veteran Driver.
/3 nothing.

1/1-37 Aufklaerung (now elite)/1: Veteran Driver
/2: Wound Badge (Black) and War Merit Cross 2nd Class, killed 1 Maxim crew and 1 Rifle squad.

HQ 3/2-25 Panzer Regiment/1: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, War Merit Cross 1st Class, Iron Cross 2nd Class and Wound Badge (Black), killed 17 Rifle squads, 3 50mm mortar teams, 6 Maxim crews, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 2 BT-7's, 2 BA-10M's, 1 DShK 39 crew, 1 BT-5 and 1 T-26S M39.
/2: Wound Badge (Black), Wound Badge (Silver) and Panzer Ace, killed 16 Rifle squads, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 2 Maxim crews, 1 50mm mortar team, 1 AT Rifle squad, 1 BA-10M, 2 BT-7's, 1 BT-5, 1 122mm gun, 2 45mm AT guns and 1 Flamethrower squad.

2/3/2-25 Panzer Regiment/1: War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Veteran Driver, killed 11 Rifle squads, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 1 50mm mortar crew and 2 T-26 M33's.
/2: Iron Cross 2nd Class, War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Iron Cross 1st Class and War Merit Cross 1st Class, killed 18 Rifle squads, 3 T-26 M39's, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 4 Maxim crews, 1 BT-7, 1 45mm AT gun crew, 1 AT Rifle squad, 1 BA-10M, 2 T-26 M33's and 2 DShK 39 crews.
/3: Wound Badge (Black), Veteran Driver and Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 14 Rifle squads, 3 Maxim crews, 1 BT-7, 2 45mm AT gun crews, 1 BT-7M, 2 DShK crews, 1 BA-3, 1 KV-2 M41, and 1 AT Rifle squad.
/4: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Wound Badge (Black), Iron Cross 2nd Class, Panzer Assault Badge (Silver) and Wound Badge (Silver), killed 1 T-26 M39, 11 Rifle squads, 1 76mm infantry gun crew, 2 BT-7's, 3 Maxim crews, 1 AT Rifle squad, 3 45mm AT gun crews, 1 T-26 M33, 4 DShK crews and 1 BT-7M.
/5: Wound Badge (Black), Iron Cross 2nd Class, Panzer Assault Badge (Silver) and Iron Cross 1st Class, killed 16 Rifle squads, 1 BA-6, 1 AT Rifle squad, 4 Maxim crews, 1 BA-3 and 1 BT-7M.

1/3/2-25 Panzer Regiment /1: Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 11 Rifle squads and 1 50mm mortar crew.
/2: War Merit Cross 2nd Class and Veteran Driver, killed 6 Rifle squads and 1 50mm mortar crew.
/3: Iron Cross 2nd Class and War Merit Cross 2nd Class, killed 8 Rifle squad and 1 Maxim crew.
/4: War Merit Cross 2nd Class, Veteran Driver and Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 7 Rifle squads, 2 Sniper teams.
/5: Iron Cross 2nd Class, Veteran Driver and War Merit Cross 2nd Class, killed 9 Rifle squads, 1 Sniper team and 1 50mm mortar squad.

Non-core:

2/1/2-25 Panzer Regiment: /1 Killed 1 BT-7.
/2: Killed 2 Maxim crews.
/3: Killed 1 Rifle squad.
/4: Killed 1 Rifle squad and 1 50mm mortar crew.

The next battle briefing again mentioned very heavy resistance, and a 76.2mm F-22 was visible in the setup phase, as well as a Matilda tank (seems a bit early for Lend-Lease tanks, but ah well). The next battle takes place on the 27th of July.

[junk2drive]

I have had that white terrain on occasion. It seems to be GPU related. Alt + Tab and back may clear it up. Turning off shadows on an offending map stops it for me. Not all maps cause me this problem.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP
The main surprise of the map was a KV-2 M41, which was promptly "destroyed" by a APCR shot from a Panzer 38(t)E. Clicking on the tank showed that it was abandoned, but the game considers both abandoned and actually destroyed tanks to be "destroyed". I guess the crew couldn't take the pressure from being hit by a large volley of APCR shells.

The fact that most Soviet units are Green at this point in the war certainly helped you there, along with what was most likely a critical hit. Those KV-2s are fearsome.

I got some odd graphical glitch that removed the ground texture (it became white) but loading a saved game fixed the problem.

I've seen this too. It seems very random, very rare, usually only happens if you play multiple scenarios in one session and we we have not been able to pin down the exact cause to date. Save, exit the game and reload will always fix it in my experience.

My first Panzer Ace has appeared.

Congratulations!

/3: Wound Badge (Black), Veteran Driver and Iron Cross 2nd Class, killed 14 Rifle squads, 3 Maxim crews, 1 BT-7, 2 45mm AT gun crews, 1 BT-7M, 2 DShK crews and 1 BA-3, 1 KV-2 M41, 1 AT Rifle squad.

That's definitely not something many Panzer 38tE crews can put on their list of enemy units destroyed.

The next battle briefing again mentioned very heavy resistance, and a 76.2mm F-22 was visible in the setup phase, as well as a Matilda tank (seems a bit early for Lend-Lease tanks, but ah well). The next battle takes place on the 27th of July.

Indeed. Hm, probably a typo in the date range for the Matilda, we'll check it out.

Regards,

- Erik

[ComradeP]

The fact that most Soviet units are Green at this point in the war certainly helped you there, along with what was most likely a critical hit. Those KV-2s are fearsome.

I planned on having the Panzer IVD's open fire on the KV-2 in the orders phase after the one where it was "destroyed", but it was a pleasant surprise to see it being knocked out.

I have had that white terrain on occasion. It seems to be GPU related.

I got it when I zoomed out in the corner of the map, it was as if the map was suddenly out of bounds. Oddly, at a closer zoom level, the ground suddenly reappeared. As only the actual ground texture was missing and not the textures on top of it, it looked like it had snowed. My first reaction was: "what's this, a snow storm in July"?

[ComradeP]

It might take some time before the AAR of the next battle is posted, as it's proving to be a difficult one.

At the times when my core doesn't take losses from the opening Soviet artillery barrage, I take losses from either the Matilda's or through a unit giving itself different orders, the latest example being one of my tanks overriding an order to area fire at the position an AT gun that pops in and out of sight in order to attack some infantry some 150 meters away. The tank was then destroyed as punishment for the crew's stupidity, requiring another restart. My support for the battle consists of 2 Stuka's, but those are mainly bombing some Rifle squads and can't seem to be able to find the 3 stationary Matilda's on top of a hill, even though they're at best in brush terrain and not in real cover.

It's extremely difficult to outflank a stationary group of tanks at the edge of the map. The Matilda's hits do bounce often, but I can't get close enough for penetrating shots.

[Enigma6584]

ComradeP,
 
Your AAR is an absolute joy to read!  The prose is spectacular, superbly detailed for the grognards.  The operational screenshots give one a great sense of how the battlefield is developing, along with your positions and movements.  But...I beg you,  [&o]please include screenshots down on the ground, down and dirty with the troops.  I want to see the equipment close up.[:)]

[ComradeP]

I'll include more close up shots, I also feel like my screenshots might be a bit too technical and "distanced". From now on, I'll include a screenshot that clearly marks the position of enemy equipment, just in case it isn't clear from the other screenshots.

A screenshot of the battle I'm trying to win currently, with circles around prominent enemy units as follows:

Pink+black circle: 1 45mm AT gun.
Yellow circle: 1 T-26 M33.
Blue circle: 3 Matilda MK II's.
Red circle: 1 BA-6, 1 BA-10, 1 BA-10M.
Green circle: 1 76.2mm F-22.

The F-22 and the BA's are all in sight and are destroyed on turn 1. The F-22 isn't facing my setup position, so it spends part of the first orders phase turning around, which gives my units some time to engage it. The BA's are facing my setup position but they're outnumbered and their hits generally bounce.

The Matilda's are the main problem, they're sitting on their hill until I capture both flags, after which they'll attack. Their position on the hill makes it difficult to get close as they can see me approaching them. The closest I can get from those woods to their right is about 175 meters before they start firing, enough to give my APCR a penetration rating of 7, but I need 8 for any non-turret hit. Thus far, most firefights with them went like: I start firing, they start firing. Shots bounce and I run out of APCR ammo, they destroy one of my tanks, I restart.

[Erik Rutins]

It's going to be very hard beating those Matildas without losing a single Panzer 38tE. Getting them to counterattack is definitely your best bet. Can you take one of those objectives without your armor and keep it in a position to flank their counterattack? While their moving, their visibility is almost entirely forwards.

Regards,

- Erik

[ComradeP]

Can you take one of those objectives without your armor and keep it in a position to flank their counterattack? While their moving, their visibility is almost entirely forwards.

This is where the extremely slow speed of the Matilda's is a disadvantage to me instead of them, as I have a 27 turn "time limit", so I could capture the objectives and wait in ambush, but it's going to take them a long time to drive down that hill. The hill is crawling with Rifle squads, so the AI can always spot my forces if I try to flank the Matilda's on the hill.

Their position at the edge of the map and my lack of smoke ammunition means I can't really outflank them. If it were a meeting engagement, I could move around them and attack them from more than one direction, but as they're mostly stationary I can't do that here.

If I had the time to set up an elaborate trap, it could work, but the time limit is a problem. Capturing the objectives gets me to barely 50% in points. Making the random campaign objectives worth more, as some suggested, would help as now they're worth something like 100 points combined, sometimes less.

By the way, how does the 45 sighting points mechanic of aircraft work, do they scan the entire battlefield with 45 sighting points? It seems as if they take a quick look from their entry position and bomb something, as I have yet to see them bomb anything else than mobs of Rifle squads near their entry point, or perhaps a gun if it's close. I haven't seen either Stuka 1 or Stuka 2 try to hit the Matilda's, even though those should have priority according to the manual and they are (I believe) not in cover.

Also, for the first patch, you could possibly check on the likeliness of infantry firing at unbuttoned tanks, because currently those Rifle units are rather reluctant to fire at my exposed tank commander, even though they could easily kill him. I can generally have my tanks drive around with the crew unbuttoned, as only MG's or infantry at 50 meters or so will fire at it. It's one of the reasons why I don't really need to use the recon vehicles. Of course, most enemy infantry squads quickly become suppressed or pinned, but I haven't had anyone hit my exposed tank commanders in any battles thus far.