Using support units at corps level

[Flor1976]

At start off the game I use the push back method for support units , setting support level for high command to 9 and for the rest level 0 , so all support units move auto to OKH ( pioneers need manually transfer)

I give every corps 2 normal arty and 1 heavy , 1 pioneer, 1 rocket arty and 1 mix AA at the start off turn 2 and lock the HQ and leave them there

Also on turn 2 , I manually transfer all the Rumanian support units from Romanian high command , army s , corps to army group Anton and set this to lock , from turn 3 distribute them to Romanian corps

I don t give more then 6 support units , because the corps commander will only use a max off 6 in battle

The siege arty and flame panzers are only used when needed
Stugs and SP arty I attach to motorized units when needed

Later when it’s time to dig in , I also give them 2 construction units

But is this a good idea ?

[jasonbroomer]

I tend to do something similar with most 'active' corps getting 2 artillery.

I tend to use my good generals to lead attacks, so I give these guys 4-5 artillery battalions. However, only the best generals get a resident pioneer. Pioneers are stored at OKH until they are needed to storm forts or cross contested major rivers.

I've found that Corps HQs only allocate 'resident' SUs to a battle when they haven't moved. I surprised myself recently when I found out that even if a division has 3 SUs attached to it, Corps HQ can still allocate pioneers etc to the battle. This is useful to know when you are attacking fixed positions.

I've never actually tested what to optimum number of artillery SUs to hold is. The above is just what I think a sensible distribution might be. I'd welcome other opinions.

(Care needs to be made when allocating Rom artillery units to a HQ. Only a limited number of SUs are ever deployed and you don't want Rom artillery being deployed while German artillery sits idle)

[Skritshell]

I tend to dedicate su's to the job they will have to do. In general I keep a lot in reserve, and only use them on axis that will require a lot of fortress busting, and will be well supplied. For this reason I usually load the corps of 4th panzer full minimum 6 arty su's as against a compitent opponest the road to leningrad will be a slog. Crimea is also a good place for fully loaded corps, if ur oponent chooses to make a lvl3 fort line 5 tiles deep. Armies like 6th and 17th are usually low on supply, and will be using 1st panzer to outflank any strong points. For this reason you can usually skip giving them arty in 41, unless u run into a heavily fortified line you need to crack. In the center it is more up in the air, if you have the supply and need to make a hole assign a full load of arty su's the turn before to your fortress busting corps. Construction is usually left in reserve until mud, as you will be moving out of any fort and the values will be dubious. Once you reach a line you wish to hold assign them liberally to both the corps and the army as they will both roll to biuld. AA is opponent dependent if the vvs sits in reserve so does the aa, if it comes out to play, so does the aa.

[PeteJC]

At the very start of the Campaign as Axis I manually spread out the German SUs as follows


Each motorized and panzer division gets a flak unit.
Infantry corps - 3 artillery, 1 non-motorized Engineer, 1 mixed flak, 1 light flak 1 construction.
Motorized corps - 1-2 stugs, 1-2 panzerjager, 4 artillery, 2 werfer, 1-2 motorized engineer, 1 construction, 3 various flak

Army and army group HQs get the remaining construction. OKH gets the siege SUs.

I do this basically to evenly distribute enough to all the corps. No great logic behind it. As the game progresses, I redistribute as needed and I check each turn to see what SUs are below 50% TOE and send them back to OKH then back to Reserves. The motorized corps are overloaded but what I hope is that the AI will not wear out any one SU when assigning and pick the "freshest" one. Whether it does that or not I cannot say.

Going forward I will probably leave all construction under OKH and most likely will send back 3/4 of them to Reserve to be used later for the winter line. It is debatable whether it is worth the AP to assign construction units to depot cities to speed up repair. I think in some cases like Riga, Odessa or other very important depots it is worth it. Otherwise they may be best left in Reserves until it is time to start digging the winter line.