Afrika korps is unbeatable without save scumming (AI cheating)

[Der_Adler]

I completed vanila game mostly without troubles but Afrika campaign is really frustrating. I play on Colonel and can't even imagine, what is going on on higher difficulty levels.
The start was really easy, but in "Dash to the wire" DV cost me severe casualities. And what did I get after that? 500 prestige points! That was not enough even for replenishment! Okaay, I could replay "Dash to the wire" more carfully, knowing about allied attack from Tobruk (f*cking zerg rush from besieged city) and all the other stuff and save more troops, but it's neither interesting nor fair. Fair... lol
Now I've got a lot of things to tell about game fairness!
Maybe I would have taken less casualties if F*CKING RAF DIDN'T ALWAYS APPEAR FROM NOWERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCENARIO! My ass has just exploded after 4 (FOUR!) spitfire squadrons came from nowhere and massacred half of my air elite with lucky shots like -10. GO TO HELL!
Did anybody from dev team test it? I'm sure they did not. Some missions are easy and some are pure hell. I like the idea of dynamic targets and rapid change of conditions but this turn of the tide shouldn't be like punch in a face when you play on colonel diffulty. I faced AI cheating almost in every mission starting from "Dash to the Wire", but the latest "present" — 4 exp fighter squadrons spawn in the middle of the map and attack on the same turn — there is no way to handle that whithout save scumming or loosing all the precious air units (new unexp units are useless against Spitfires, so if I lose my air now, I will lose the whole campaign). Could you just say on the previous turn smth like "Beware! Enemy fighters are coming!"? No?
I played a lot of strategies and wargames and can't remember sh*t like this. Maybe just undying hordes of Ottomans in EU4 can compare. It really hurts cause I like the game — it brings me back to the past when I spent hours playing Panzer General and Allied General.

[cerberusiv]

I've played Afrika Korps on Colonel and didn't find it that hard. Yes, some scenarios are harder than others but that is true of virtually every campaign.

I suspect the key difference is that I play with the chess dice setting on, which smooths out the extreme lucky shots the AI always seems to make. If you don't already use that setting I would strongly recommend you try it.

[cuqeen]

AI actions are different when you play again. That's the good point.
Dice rolls don't favor AI. That's a myth. You get as many "lucky" rolls as the AI. I never recommend trying chess mode.
I never noticed that PzC AI cheats. Just many scenarios have many enemies from many directions. That's a good thing i think. And i think developers tested the missions to make the human gamer have some challenge. You are a human, better than the computer. If you like to watch some pretty computer sprites moving around the map and feel like a Supreme General while drinking your whiskey-brandy-vodka-etc. that's not what PzC offers. And even Rommel lost the war.

[cerberusiv]

Originally posted by cuqeen:

Dice rolls don't favor AI. That's a myth. You get as many "lucky" rolls as the AI. I never recommend trying chess mode.
I never noticed that PzC AI cheats.

I deliberately said "seems to make" because I know perfectly well that the dice rolls don't favour the AI in the longer term.

There are three dice settings. I would not play with chess mode (where you simply get the predicted combat result) as there should be a random element. Dice chess still gives random results but not the extreme results possible with the normal setting. That makes it much less likely that the AI will get an extreme result leading to you losing a core unit. The AI gets units in the next scenario whereas you are nursing your core units through the campaign and a loss can be a major blow. That is why I do recommend dice chess.

The AI doesn't cheat but it does get a lot of reinforcements to make up for being an AI. Often those reinforcements are linked to who occupies a particular hex on a specified turn. Advance quickly enough and the reinforcements never appear.

[Der_Adler]

My post was not about cheating while rolling the dice. It's about completely unpredictable reinforcements and unforgiving damage system. I start the mission, destroy enemy air forces, gain control over 2/3 of the map. My aviation is naturally spreading over a map, cause there is no any evidence of incoming disaster. Then suddenly 4 enemy squadrons appear and attack on the same turn. They kill both fighter and a bomber ignoring AA-gun. This is insane. There was nothing like that in PzG, AG, PzG 3d and in original Wermacht campaign.

My suggestions:
1) There must be a notice about enemy reinforcements or they should not appear and attack on the same turn.
2) Ok, let them be unpredictable like diarrhea. But they should not be so deadly then! Air battles are too bloody and unforgiving. I can play more attentive on the ground: hide weak and damaged units, cover them with artillery or even flee. But aviation is extremely vulnerable. I've got bombers covered with fighters and AA guns — I did everything I could BUT got rekt anyway.

[cerberusiv]

Extreme damage was why I mentioned dice chess as it reduces that.

In war surprises happen.

The AI almost invariably falls for fighter traps - a bomber it can see covered by one or two fighters it can't. A few of those will quickly cut the RAF down to size.

You don't say what fighters you had but once the RAF have Spitfire IX's only FW190's are good enough, the Italians and older 109's are dead meat.

The tactics and approach required for the DLC campaigns are different to the wehrmacht campaign. Afrika Korps is relatively easy.

It ain't broke so.....

[huckc]

+1 on chess rules

The extra variance hurts you much more than it helps I've found. A single rugged defense by some infantry in open terrain can effectively kill your 5 star core tank.