Matrix Games Forums

well here is the first post in this section,

hope it helps some and doesn't count as cheating by others,

only a heads up and my personal views on the game / battles i've been in so far.

i'm no where near a general or perfect leader by any stretch of the imagination but do have a knack of finding out tips that over time save you battle damage which in turn saves you resources.

main long campaign played,

each battle is different depending on how you play it, ie setup and resources given so can have different endings, but keep playing the same ones will in the end give you an idea of a better plan / strategy to get a better outcome. quicker is not always best, depending on you're starting level / settings etc, weather,supply,FOW etc..

the main point of any battle is to win, but and it's a big but! trying to do it firstly in the time, secondly with the least amount of casualties / resources spent.

only upgrade when you need to, be careful what you spend on, be aware that it's sometime cheaper to buy new better units than upgrade from more experienced ones.

infantry can manage quite well for a while on foot but sometimes need that bit more speed so upgrade the odd unit with horses, trucks and half tracks if you are feeling very flush, something that tbh you may never be, later on in the game.

air power is great but the cost is very high, some people like to play with more of less quality units of mixed kind than have top end air units that not only cost a lot in the start but always cost a lot to keep updated and fully supplied / undamaged / upgraded etc

for me it's a balance between mixed infantry, artillery, tank and flak units, with engineers and air units when given / needed.

as it's my first try with the game as it's a new purchase for me, i have all the help i can have on,

each mission has a set win / lose, amount of time and resources info before you play, it gives the you chance to upgrade, repair or replace before you start most battles, but not all, so a bit of planning is needed, a pen and paper is great fr this.

i write down the battle name, day needed for a win and starting resources etc, then see what the enemies have and i plan what i need to defeat them, no need to use air power if you only have a few slots and they haven't got any or many air units, cost is high and for me i'll always go for a few cheaper flak batteries than air power to counter any day.

as i have all the help on, i see all, have unlimited supply, neither is really a cheat as it also states that the enemy also gets the same advantage, so FOW etc same as other 2 is a triple edged sword unless you know how to use it and counter it.

if a battle has a set objective, which all have, find a way to do it, spending as little time doing anything that doesn't get that done first, don't go trying to clear every battle map of every enemy unit unless you have to, as it wastes your resources, don't also do the mission before the time, as you won't get the full points / resources either to spend later, if it says 10 days to do it in, spend 10 days if you can, plan on it as then you will have more to spend later on, with the helps on you gain more each mission if you let the days count down, i play to have a perfect batter each time, with no unit total losses.

so i end the battle with max resources and very few repairs needed, so less resources to spend so have more to upgrade or save for later, you will need them. trust me....

a one on one attack is of little use no matter what the odds are unless time is of the essence, better to plan and have more units working together like in the real battle, a multi unit approach is the way to victory, one of more infantry with artillery support and tank where possible will give you s win win battle every time, its not always possible but best to plan for as many as you can, with some units being better or as good in defense just being left at the side of enemy units before your next turn without attacking it hoping that they get attacked when the enemy turn starts, i the odd's aren't in my favor i always defend or repair a unit, only attacking when the odd's are well in my favor.

as your units go from one battle to another, for me it's best to keep a core unit well supplied/upgraded and always use the Terrain to your advantage where possible in attack and especially defense and use the experience gained to add attached support units to your core units that will help in how you use that unit, for me this is the best advice and tactic there is, a good experienced unit with lets say infantry with some MG support to its core in certain battles would help a one on one against other infantry but be next to useless against tanks where it would have been better to have added more men to the core unit etc, this is when you need to read the manual more for, as this sort of level of planning is key to making a unit from average to more useful in certain battles and improves the unit for latter use without the costly need to upgrade too much sometimes...

as you can see i'm writing / typing this on the fly so it's mixed atm but i will edit it and add and emend it as i'm going along.

hope it helps some, this is a really good game and very easy to play, learning is great but also it can be a challenge later on, i want to win for Germany but know its a long campaign and history is not on my side

amendment 2

well just played mission 18,

army group north, 27th July 1942

operation "Hagen"

well abandon all hope it might as well be called.

by now my force is total infantry, no air power for my northern army group and no tanks left, only 6 pieces of artillery left and 2 flak, all fully healed with 3/4 and the odd one with 5 stars.

but been wiped out 3 times now, so have sold the lot and bought a mixed tiger and stug and artillery army with the 6000 resources i have amassed so far and by selling my army with 6 flax units to help out against the overwhelming air power of the enemy.

this is the hardest battle so far by miles, will have to re play this a few more times to see how it's possible to even survive tbh, not even thinking of winning this one, will study it and post my findings

happy gaming and wish me luck

Good Luck zak!

Rick

thanks, just went back to an older save and now have 7352 resources to use and build and better army, but have tried this a few times now but keep getting slaughtered

need to try a few different tactics as my mixed army approach doesn't work on this battle, ie avoid bunkers and troops that don't need fighting for the win and only going for the main targets etc, ah well certainly got my moneys worth out of this game, spent 30 hours plus on this one battle alone so far

well tigers are next to useless in this battle, have now gone onto a few different types to see if this makes any difference, so far not, 40 hours spent so far with not even a got close, total slaughter so far.

have defeated air power in first 2 rounds, then 8 flak batteries just protect the rear of my troops / army, artillery softens all all before it but takes for ever to get anywhere no matter how it's transported as you need to protect it well and it you leave it in any sort of transport mode it get attacked straight away.

like their air power their tanks are hard as nails and i just try and keep them entertained from a distance tbh.

the map makes it hard to coordinate any combined assault same as you never have the strenght in any given area as the enemy has, first battle to be like this as well, so the tide has definitely turned in the war for not only me but Germany that i'm playing.

can't see how i'm going to fight and win this battle tbh, so think i made the wrong turn somewhere in the past battles and may need to start off again, as the choices i've made have ended up me being here maybe to early / late etc, got far too many easy victories before this and may have made me too overconfident etc and with the wrong army choices used, didn't have any total unit loss before this battle either, now getting a total army whitewash.

will carry on and try some more stuff before i re start the main campaign again.

this has been as hard a fight as i've ever had in any game i've ever played so far, AI just spot, feels like i'm playing with someone else as it fights like i would do and beats me doing it

finally done it, my god that was hard, changed to just about every type of setup possible, my tip for the ending is

###### ### ######### #########

in other words keep trying everything

a mixed setup with plenty of arty and some of those tanks at 600, can't remember the name, Tigers aren't up to it and are too easy to kill, anti tank is a waste, plenty of anti air is needed, went also with little infantry either.

sold every unit and bought all new to final do last mission, upgrading what i had cost way too much for little gain

Congrats. Bear in mind that if it were too easy, you would have stopped playing before now!

Thanks
rick

had all the help on while i played while learning the game and missions, now doing it the hard way and replaying it with none on m8

When I upgrade units I focus on trying to minimize damage and lessen repair costs. When I get near the Campaign end I never have enough repair points, it's a struggle to keep units at a 10 strength. I use my 1st infantry upgrade for enhancing attack, the Axis is almost constantly on the offensive and my second is the MG to lessen combat losses vs. infantry units. Armor gets the attack upgrade 1st, then my second pick is the choice that lessens repair costs. Artillery always gets the extra ammo choice, the longer you can keep them in action the better. When you look at changing weapon systems, you should pick a line stick with it. Panzer III stays that upgrade line etc.

I've recently started playing this great game again. I've had an almost complete change of opinion about my above post. Any unit that uses fuel I now add supply companies for the extra fuel because fuel costs so much, especially in the late Campaign. Concerning infantry, I now add an extra battalion to start instead of adding to the attack stats. That way the unit stays more balanced for later on when they have to defend. Fighters I still enhance their attack stats. They are rarely attacked by Russian fighters.

I always give extra battalions to auxiliary units, it is a free reinforcement. Infantry could have different types, like attackers and defenders; depending on where they fight. Even in 1941 there are sectors where you defend, like sector Narva in Luga mission. I always try to get extra artillery units if there are free slots. The 105 mm howitzers have shorter range so I try to use a combination of rocket artillery and 150 mm howitzers and later 170 mm; they are the perfect counter-battery guns. Recon units are very nasty when they have a chance to finish an almost killed enemy unit and move back behind the lines once the job is done. I try to get three fighter regiments per army group instead of one brigade; they take out the enemy planes and then provide battlefield intel or do some limited bombing. Maybe the Bf 110 could be useful in this role? StuG regiments are very popular, replacing towed AT guns and moving together with tanks. The new rocket artillery on halftracks has been very useful so far and may even help in the grand campaign. Combat engineers are also useful in some situations like breaking a fortified line or attacking bunkers.

I have tried "attacker-defender" infantry that gets specialized attack and specialized defense; so it has attack +1 and defense +1: Looks like waste of two attachments but maybe that is the way for line infantry? After all, even if we are on the offensive, there are many local counter-attacks where the enemy attacks with one or two divisions.

Cavalry is another forgotten but promising type of units. With the future belonging to mechanized forces cavalry can still be a part of tank armies. If there is another chance to patch up this game it would be interesting to have cavalry available in the small Op Barbarossa campaign. It is a ''historical-fictional'' campaign of Panzer General II type where you have one force and move it from one front to another.

When you use fighter regiments instead of brigades how does that effect certain times in the Campaign where you have limited slots for air units? Are you skipping bombers? I usually use two fighter brigades and two bomber brigades.
Thanks for your thoughrs.

Looks like we use different tactics for air force, it would be interesting to look at your tactics and maybe borrow some good ideas.

3 fighter regiments can attack an enemy fighter brigade and make it run for its life at the end of the turn because it will be out of ammo; then I can catch the enemy fighter next turn and take it out unless weather conditions do not allow air combat. Attacking the enemy airfields may work on turn 1 if the enemy planes are there; bomber units do the recon so I know where the enemy planes are.

If I have limited slots I would rather miss some other unit but have my fighters deployed because air superiority gives battlefield intel and fighters can bomb weakened enemy units if they have got all enemy planes and have nothing else to do. If there are very few slots like in Crimea this does not work. Kishinev is another example, a fighter brigade and a small Romanian fighter force against a Soviet fighter regiment and bomber regiment.

With two fighter brigades you would be more on the defensive side protecting the bombers unless you use some creative tactics for fighters like placing them in places where you expect the enemy to fly. Then you can catch them in ambush. This is very advanced tactics and I have not learned it yet but sometimes I catch an enemy plane in this trap.

It is possible to ''kind of stack'' two bomber units on one target if you place a bomber above the target and not bomb it. Then you can bomb it twice next turn. Bomber 1 bombs and flies away, then bomber 2 arrives and bombs.

When attacking a fortified city or a strong infantry unit it is better to weaken it with artillery first and then call bombers.

The attachments for planes are unclear so far. It would be good to have a specialized tank killer unit - a Stuka? - and some units with better vision.

Planes as well as tanks are big resource eaters and it is hard to replace losses.