6th Army Campaign

[ernieschwitz]

Due to some re-coding, of some of the scenarios in the 6th Army Campaign, I had to restart my own test campaign so I could find out if it was balanced. So I figured, perhaps people would want to have a look at some of it.

Here is my 2nd turn of the 2nd Scenario (Where I try and take Dunkirk, before the Brits have evacuated too many troops). First a look at a zoomed out view of the Scenario map.

[ernieschwitz]

And here is the deployment, at a little closer view.



Now don't expect me to post every single turn. This is more of a showcase of the Campaign, than anything else.

[ernieschwitz]

The British have been thrown into the sea. It's May 28th 1940. So I made it with 3 turns to spare. Not bad.

I did lose some more planes than I wanted to, but those can be bought back, so I am not too concerned. Here is a picture of how the Battlefield looked when I was done, and ready to play the card, allowing me to collect the 130 PPs I get as a reward.

[ernieschwitz]

My fastest troops: The Panzer Divisions (I have 2) and Mobile Infantry Divisions (I have two as well) helped me immensely in this scenario. They broke through in the top and bottom part of the map, and caused major headaches for the flanks, and in the end caused encirclements, that the AI had a hard time coping with.

Here are the losses from the scenario.

[ernieschwitz]

I believe I have lost around 60 Bf 109Es. I might will need to get some more, to replace those losses. I have made a system to make purchasing units and reinforcements as easy as possible, not to mention realistic. Below you'll see part of this system.

The cards each represent a verband (Squadrons). I get 6x of the Bf 109Es I want per time I play the card. As there are 5 planes in each subformation, that will make it 30 planes each time I play the card. So I need to play it twice. That is 26 PPs.

[ernieschwitz]

This purchasing is done in a separate scenario, that is loaded after the battle you fought is over. Basically a small map, where you can move units around freely. There is no movement cost.

There are of course cards for all manner of stuff, and when the TO&E changes because you've gotten new tech, the cards will reflect that. You can also read on the card what you actually get, as seen in the above example.

Four categories of purchasing is possible. Non-formations (basically reinforcements of a Subformation type, ie, Infantry). Low level formations is the next cateogory (Regiments). The third one is High level formations (Divisions) and the fourth one, shown above, is the Air formations. But be careful of not buying too many formations, when the campaign in France ends, you will also need to have PPs for research, not to mention supplies for upgrades.

Here is a look at the Non-Formations you can buy.

[ernieschwitz]

Some units go completely unmolested through a battle. They may have gotten hits to their readiness, but have otherwise been untouched by enemy forces. Neither of the two units below have received any casualties, despite having fought. So this is how a standard regiment for the Germans look like 1940. Note the different numbers on the unit counter. These are a function of their experience, and the more experienced a unit, the better it will fight.

Also for those non-ATG viewers out there: The maximum number of subformations in a unit is 8. Here only 6 are used. It does set a limit on what you can represent, so no heavy and light mortars for instance. Instead they are grouped together, and a composite combat strength derived.

[Twotribes]

Damn Ernie I have never lost 60 fighters what were you doing? LOL

[ernieschwitz]

I think I might be rushing things. I lost at least 25 during the first scenario (Belgium) and another 35 during this one. I might be driving a bit too hard.

[Twotribes]

The key is the first couple turns use both air units together that cripples the enemy fighter force if it responds

[ernieschwitz]

Next scenario. Enveloping Paris. I have 11 turns to complete it. The red flags on the River Seine are the goal, capturing all three will give me victory.

[ernieschwitz]

The initial deployment. The astute among you will notice that things coming in seemingly at random, which is not exactly true. However explaining it might be a bit long winded. So I'll refrain from it. The result in any case is that the first turn is spent contemplating which direction each Corps goes. I'll admit this is bad, but there is no way to change it in the editor.

Maybe in a future version of ATG this could changed, though I am not exactly sure how.

[ernieschwitz]

Here is the plan:

My Grey HQ (IV Corps) will attack the bridge between Amiens and Perrone. From there it will exploit and move southward, in the center part of the map.

My Pink HQ (XVI Corps) will move quickly to seize Ham, there it will try and break out, towards Noyon. It may have to wait for the Infantry to catch up though.

The rest of the Corps' will move towards the river, and try and cross it and beat down opposition as they can.

[ernieschwitz]

As can be seen in the picture below, I have moved the units to their planned areas. The breakthrough at the road between Amiens and Peronne was easier to achieve than expected. Roye was reached (or almost) this turn. I also moved the 6th Army HQ to Albert from Bapaume. It is just more centrally located there.

[ernieschwitz]

The scenario is now nearing the middle stage. Troops have reached Compiegne, and taken it, thanks to some bridging done by engineers. At the Western part of the map, the forward elements of the IV Corps have reached Clermont. Already at this point my non-mobile units are having trouble keeping up with the thrusts made by the Panzers and Motorized units.

Here is a look at the Eastern part of the map, where I am about to clobber a Tirailleurs Sénégalais regiment. Notice how the unit here has it's own color. This is because they are not Frenchmen.

[ernieschwitz]

While not being Frenchmen, in the game sense, they are however worthwhile enemies, fighting at least as good as the ordinary French units. Here is a look at the Subformation type, Infantry I. I've put on the Prefix CN, to make it easier to know they are colonial troops.

I've really tried to use only the correct images for each Subformation, to give a maximum amount of feel to the campaign.

[ernieschwitz]

Paris has been enveloped, the mission is a success, with 3 turns to spare. Losses were lighter than in previous scenarios. I consider this one to be the easiest one of them. Opposition is more scattered, and the enemy air force is not as strong as the two other scenarios (To the Sea and Against the Belgians).

There was almost a traffic jam, on the way down south, but I sorted it out. Here is a screenshot of the flags that have been captured (the crossings) and my mop up of the remaining forces.

[ernieschwitz]

In each combat scenario there is a card, to claim victory. When you play it in the third combat scenario, a new scenario is loaded that is one that allows Rest, Refit and Research. Your forces are presented to you, and you can research and upgrade (with the supplies you've built during the other scenarios).

Before researching I have 427 PP, and about 15000 supplies. After researching everything (except specialists) to level II, I have 212 PPs to buy new formations. I can also research ahead, and get even better stuff. The level to researches lets you upgrade to 1941 equipment. Level III 1942 equipment, and.. last but not least Level IV equipment is 1943.

Researches that are not your "year" are more expensive, than those that are. This also means that researches get cheaper each time you get to the "Research Scenario". You only get this one chance to research, before the next campaign. You can upgrade at any time that you have enough supplies. There never seems to be enough for everything.

Below is a screenshot of the research types that can be researched by the Axis (6th Army). The Allies (Russians) can also research, and have their own, as well as own formation types to buy. Of course you will never see them, unless you play human vs. human... Hot seat is probably best.

[ernieschwitz]

I want to use the 212 PPs to get more Mobile units. I know that winning these scenarios (which all need to be done within a certain timespan) require speed. I also know that the many Pz Is and Pz IIs I have probably won't cut it in the long run.

Panzer Regiments are expensive: 117 PPs

Motorized Regiments less so: 81 PPs, but they don't really solve the problem of getting more tanks. Also I noticed I have lost quite a few Armored Cars. So I might need some of those.

I could also go for 2 regiments of tanks (39 PPs each). That would leave me some PPs for buying tank reinforcements (21 PPs for 11 tanks), or maybe I could go for SP Guns (15 PPs 8 SP Guns, 4 AT type, 4 Assault type). Maybe a mixture.

If I go the regiments road, there will be more PPs left for other stuff. I did lose a lot of AT Guns, and some Infantry Guns. Also I could use some more infantry replacements. I think I will skip buying some Half tracks, they are not a good bargain I think, though they do protect infantry.

I have lost few bombers and divebombers, which is good in one sense. I don't have to replace them. Bad in the sense I will need to have to use more supplies to upgrade them. I lost no artillery, so that is also good.

In the end though, I think I'll go with the Regiments plan. Maybe buy a division of infantry (33 PP) to make my last HQ have 4 divisions as well.

Lots of dreams. Let's see what I can afford.

[ernieschwitz]

After a good long think, I made the following Regiments. 3x Panzer Regiments, 1x Light Regiment.

They were made by buying 2 Panzer Regiments, and 2 Panzer Reinforcements (Non-Formations). These were combined with the existing 2 Panzer Regiments and the forces for the Light Regiment were made from various light vehicles (Panzer Is and Panzer IIs, plus a few Pz IIIs to give them some sort of anti-tank capability.

Here is how they look below.