Slitherine

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So obviously, it's you and me...... :)

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ORIGINAL: joe6778

I've posted here before. I've been playing the PG series and now PzC for a very long time. I received a lot of
tips here to better my game.

I managed to beat the PzC vanilla campaign and for a very long time now I've been working my way through the
DLC Grand Campaign.

I started on Lieutenant and worked up to Colonel for West 42/43 and East 43 campaigns. That's where I stall.

I have followed past advice and suggestions from a few websites devoted to these games. I have come to the
conclusion that if you say you're winning the DLC Grand Campaign on the highest difficulty settings then you must
be lying.

It has nothing to do with better tactics- it's just sheer numbers-the allied AI just sends wave upon wave of units against the Axis and
no matter how experienced my units are or how good their quality, or how much prestige I have, I can't get
past the overwhelming number of units they throw at you in order to capture the objectives. By the time I wear down
the allies, the scenario is over and I'm a few objectives short.

Game after game has ended the same way no matter what I do. This is beyond a challenge- it's an exercise in futility.

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ORIGINAL: joe6778

Thanks for the advice.

1. I do this regularly.
2. I don't use elite reinforcements during battle unless I want to keep units over 100 exp
3. I do have 1 or 2 88s. They're effective, but you can only use them against one air/tank at a time. Doesn't help when swarms of enemy are attacking.
4. I do this regularly.
5. I always upgrade to halftracks.
6. I do this regularly.
7. Good advice, except then the para units are stranded unless an airfield is nearby.
8. I do this regularly.
9. I do this regularly.
10. ?

Again, the problem is swarms of enemy units- not strategy or tactics.

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ORIGINAL: joe6778

Thanks for the advice.

Do you replace losses during battles, or if units are depleted do you just retreat them to a safe location?

I'm always afraid that if I don't take nearby cities, units will spawn from there and hit me from behind.

Don't I need to hold objective hexes?

I specifically aimed for a MV at Kharkov '43 because I saw how impossible a DV was for me there. A loss at Syracuse in the '42/'43 West campaign ended the campaign for me.

I have actually made it to '44 East once, but I gave up because it became a chore trying to hold off never ending waves of Soviets. I believe the game would work better if there were a series of relatively small battles- not Kursk or Stalingrad. If they want to use large battles like that, then if you win the battle it should alter the course of the campaign. All wins do is give you prestige, but the war ends the same- Germany ultimately loses.

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ORIGINAL: joe6778

Do you ever own the skies in this game? It seems that the enemy has endless numbers of aircraft, too.

I'm pretty good with upgrading, but unless you can build lots of Panthers/Tigers- it's going to be difficult to beat the Russian tanks. Tigers in '43 cost over 1200 prestige each.

I do space out upgrades.

I don't agree that the air war is secondary in the East. Are you playing vanilla PzC or DLC Grand Campaign? The Russians usually have 24+ aircraft each scenario.

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ORIGINAL: joe6778

How is air superiority achieved? I don't think the number of allied aircraft ever diminishes regardless of how many I destroy through the campaign.

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ORIGINAL: joe6778

Hmmm...I'm missing something then, because I do wipe out as many fighters as possible. I weaken them with my overstrength FW190s and finish them off with overstrength ME109Gs or FBs. I then destroy all their bombers, but by the next scenario, they're all back.

I usually have about 8-10 fighters, mostly FW190s, a couple of ME109Gs, plus 2 Stuka tank busters, 2 strat bombers, and an ME110G.

If actions I took in one scenario, like wiping out their air units, carried over into following scenarios, then I would like the game better. I reached East '44, and I don't see that happening.

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ORIGINAL: joe6778

Sorry- I don't see this happening in my own experience. Six fighters??? I have over that and I do exactly what you suggest. After destroying their first wave of air units, the second and third waves come.

These tactics works in the DLC Grand Campaigns '39-'42, but starting in '43 I get my clock cleaned.

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ORIGINAL: joe6778

The air war is only a part of my problem with this game- the sheer number of enemy units is staggering. Artillery and air units protecting other units only get one shot. After that, my units are attacked three and sometimes more times until they're crippled or destroyed. I'll be thinking that after destroying so many of the enemy that I'm making a dent in their force, and then I check the map (after surrendering) and there are still many more units surrounding objectives.

Like I said, I'm doing all of the things that have been suggested here, but I'm getting killed (and frustrated) on Colonel and can't believe people have won on higher difficulties.