Tutorial mission somewhat overwhelming?

[phantom67]

So after some deliberation, I decided to purchase PCO, but I'm currently playing the first tutorial mission (just the set battle) trying to follow the instructions in the Tutorial guide, aaaand, well, it seems really tough. Seriously, about 20 seconds into the battle one of my PzIIIs already lost a track, and less than 1:20 into the battle, 2 of them were already in flames. I can't even make it up to the MSR despite what the tutorial guide says.

Is it meant to be this difficult? Anyone else care to share some their experiences and maybe some tips? I'm still coming to grips with the game. I've noticed that sometimes, even in the Orders Phase (not the Reaction Phase) I can't give specific orders to subordinate units within their respective platoons, like If I have a line of tanks advancing, and one of them falls behind, when I tell them all to stop and order the one to move up, they all get the move order, which is a bit cumbersome. How do I give orders to individual units?

[junk2drive]

First, you can give the CO a Engage>Move order a short distance. All the platoon will show a blue move line that same short distance. Click the unit that has fallen behind. Give the same move order (I use the M key) and stretch the line to where you want it to go, then click the map.

Second, tutorial. Make sure you click the Easy button. By now you know where the ATGs are, to your right. Instead of using the Bound order, use the Engage>Move order toward the middle of the area where the ATGs are, just into the line of trees. After they reach the end of movement, in the next orders phase, give the Advance order toward the middle of the area between the ATGs about half the distance from the stop point to the ATGs. Let's see how that works and report back.
Also mount your troops in the halftracks and give them Advance orders to the same treeline. Advance is slower than Move so the halftracks should not bump into the tanks. Mainly you want to get out of the setup area before the Russian artillery starts falling.

[Erik Rutins]

Hi Phantom67,

The tutorial is probably a bit harder than we realized. We had too many experienced players testing it and I spologize for that.

First, make sure you are playing the Tutorial on "Easy". Second, don't get discouraged if you take a few losses, you can still win.

As far as giving orders, it's important to understand the concept behind the system. Each platoon has a base order, which you issue to the platoon HQ unit. Only when you change the base order do all the other units in the platoon change their orders. For example, if your platoon is on Defend orders and you tell the HQ to switch to Engage orders, all the other units will follow the HQ's change of orders. However, if the platoon is already on Engage orders and you tell the HQ to Engage -> Move, the others won't follow (unless you use the Shift key when issuing the order to make it an order for the whole platoon). You issue base orders through the HQ for each platoon, but you can adjust the sub-orders for each individual unit.

I recommend starting out in the tutorial that you move your Panzer Platoon on Bound orders towards the position of the Soviet AT guns to the right of the farm. They should be able to spot and destroy those AT guns. You can also drop some of your artillery on them if they give you trouble. The Soviets will try to target you with their 82mm mortars, so make sure your halftracks and infantry also move up. The safest place to send them is around to the left, also on Advance or Bound orders so that they have a change to spot and engage the enemy before driving into them.

Regards,

- Erik

[henri51]

I had the same problem when I first played the tutorial; I couldn't even reach the road before all my tanks were destroyed. Then someone suggested I use smoke on the right flank and move my tanks towards the 2 antitank guns. I won easily without taking any losses.Check out my description in the thread with a name like "Disaster on the Bootcamp".

So just keep trying, and remember to use smoke...

Henri

[phantom67]

Thanks for the replies guys. I tried again (for a fourth time lol) and this time I was a bit luckier. Was able to take the farm with only light casualties in one of my infantry squads. That being said, I should probably read the manual to figure out completely how the orders and more advanced concepts work.

Cheers anyway