Elite Replacements

[Cake_Stealer]

When should I be using elite replacements, currently I use them when my core units are damaged on the field but it's very costly.

[Panzermeyer]

You should use replacements before a battle starts in the placement turn. In a battle you should only use replacemnts to avoid loosing a unit. As well, you can "sell" units which you sometimes receive in a battle and which are not useful. Example: you can receive several russian tanks and you will have so many of them, that you can change them for prestige and use this prestige to replace or upgrade your old core units. (Talking about the Grand Campaign 39 - 45)

[Cake_Stealer]

Originally posted by Panzermeyer:

You should use replacements before a battle starts in the placement turn. In a battle you should only use replacemnts to avoid loosing a unit. As well, you can "sell" units which you sometimes receive in a battle and which are not useful. Example: you can receive several russian tanks and you will have so many of them, that you can change them for prestige and use this prestige to replace or upgrade your old core units. (Talking about the Grand Campaign 39 - 45)

Do I use elite replacements or normal replacements when I'm avoiding a unit loss? And would you recommend the grand campaign or the normal campaign. (I'm currently on France for the normal campaign but I'm getting my ass handed to me.)

[Evan]

Personally I use elite replacements only to keep a unit above 100 experience because I only ever overstrength to 11 except mabye my artillery or a unit that i dont expect to take losses.

Regarding the Grand Campaigns I would probably do the standard Campaign first because It will let you see all the units whereas You wont see Panthers/Tigers etc for many many play hours if you start at GC39-->

Also keep upgrade options in mind when purchasing units and try not to pay full price to change a unit unless you really have to.

Finally... I usually "DIsband" any captured units because they cant be upgraded. Unless its something really cool.

PS: Obviously only ever overstrength in the deployment screen.

[Cake_Stealer]

Originally posted by Evan:

Personally I use elite replacements only to keep a unit above 100 experience because I only ever overstrength to 11 except mabye my artillery or a unit that i dont expect to take losses.

Regarding the Grand Campaigns I would probably do the standard Campaign first because It will let you see all the units whereas You wont see Panthers/Tigers etc for many many play hours if you start at GC39-->

Also keep upgrade options in mind when purchasing units and try not to pay full price to change a unit unless you really have to.

Finally... I usually "DIsband" any captured units because they cant be upgraded. Unless its something really cool.

PS: Obviously only ever overstrength in the deployment screen.

Do you use elite replacements to heal units in the field, or just in the deploy screen? And what are some upgradeable units I should be aiming for?

[cerberusiv]

I do use elite replacements during battles. To some extent it depends on difficulty level (I generally play at field marshal), higher difficulties tend to lead to more damage to your units. I always use elite replacements between battles. I don't overstrength most units as it gets expensive and that extra point or two seems to be lost to artillery or airstrikes almost immediately. The exception to this is air units. I overstrength my air units that have special heroes to the maximum. OK, sometimes you can be hit by flak but generally overstrength air units deal more damage and receive less. So I regard that as a worthwhile investment.

I am quite ruthless in disbanding all captured equipment at the next deployment screen. I don't always do so if it is a good unit and there are only a handful of scenarios to go in a campaign (eg, you can get a Sherman Firefly in the last but one scenario in the Afrika Korps campaign on the India ending).

As for units worth upgrading in the German inventory there is no best path for panzers. Go with the cheap family upgrades where you can. PzII are useless and will die quickly. You are stuck with a mix of PzIII and IV from 40 to 43 (and they struggle from 42 against the T34/43). From 43 you need to look to Panthers and Tigers. You are unlikely to be able to afford these for all your panzer units. King Tigers are very good but ruinously expensive. I would start upgrading my PzIII's to Panthers in 1943 as they will no longer cut it as they are. The PzIV will last into 44 if upgraded to H or J standard. Again, special awarded heroes get the best because they can make the best use of it - so they go to Tigers in 43.

In the air the Me109 starts to fall away in 1943 and even when the K version turns up it has good initiative but lacks firepower. Awarded hero units get Fw190 as soon as it is available. It can be upgraded to the D version (and possibly the Ta 152?). Tactical bombers are clear up to 43. Run a mix of Me110's and Ju87's. The 110's get a family upgrade to the 410 which is useable to the end of the war. The Ju87 becomes increasingly difficult to keep alive as your enemies start getting better equipment and throwing fighters at everything you have in the air. They can (expensively) be upgraded to Fw190 jabo's (F and G) but keeping even those alive can be demanding.

It depends on who you are fighting. Allied upgrade paths tend to be simpler as they usually have fewer unit types to choose from.

[cerberusiv]

A couple of further points about units and upgrades. Artillery has both an attack value and a rate of fire. I've never really got my head around this but basically the standard German 15cm towed artillery has hard and soft attack values and a rate of fire of 100%. The K17 has higher attack values but a lower rate of fire, so it does not get as many "shots" per attack. The 21cm piece has even higher attack values and an even lower rate of fire. As I say, I do not fully understand this but my rule of thumb is if I intend to primarily use artillery against targets with lower defence (infantry, artillery) I go for the higher rate of fire to do more damage. If it is primarily against high defence targets (tanks, fortifications) then I go for attack value to get more hits to begin with.

Finally, in the screen between battles always upgrade first and overstrength second. It does not matter for family upgrades (eg PzIIIG to J) but with non family units (eg PzIII to Panther) the unit is reduced to strength 10 and any overstrength points are lost. Do bring units up to strength 10 before upgrading as it will cost more to do it afterwards (assuming the upgrade unit costs more). If you are going to disband a unit bring it up to 10 with ordinary replacements first as that gets you more prestige back.

I rarely take unit losses and am pretty good at maximising the prestige I get during battles and the above approach has worked for the campaigns I have played up to now. However I am doing my first serious attempt at the Russian campaigns in the GC. I reached Stalingrad Docks in 42 with decisive victories in every battle to that point. Losses have been 2 Sdkfz 231 8 rad recon units, and one infantry (a recently awarded hero unfortunately). Stalingrad Docks was hard! I am about to attempt Escape from Stalingrad. I have around 75 units plus the maximum 5 SE, so I will be able to replace any future losses with experienced units (anything with less than 3 stars is as good as dead from 44 onwards) and disband some if I run short of prestige. I also have around 33,000 prestige saved up. Against that I am getting close to having to make a lot of expensive upgrade choices. Will I have enough? We shall see.

[Cake_Stealer]

Ah, thank you that clears quite a few things up. Do you have any advice to get decisive victories? My current strategy is attack evenly across the map and slowly advance through the cities, but this doesn't seem to be working anymore and hasn't resulted in any Decisive victories. Is it better to throw everything at one point and move from main objective, to main objective?

[cerberusiv]

Originally posted by Lord Petyr Baelish:

Ah, thank you that clears quite a few things up. Do you have any advice to get decisive victories? My current strategy is attack evenly across the map and slowly advance through the cities, but this doesn't seem to be working anymore and hasn't resulted in any Decisive victories. Is it better to throw everything at one point and move from main objective, to main objective?

I can't really say for the standard campaign as I've never played it. From what little I have picked up that campaign has to be played blitzkrieg style rather than steady. Form battlegroups with a balanced group of units and drive for the objectives. Speed is usually important to enable you to seize objectives before the enemy gets to activate units or given enough prestige to purchase and is essential in this campaign.

For the DLC campaigns stop at deployment and take a good look at the map. Identify the marked objectives and check how many you need for a minor victory and how many for a decisive. Assess where you can deploy units. Again, deploy one, two or three balanced battlegroups with an idea of the path they will take across the map to capture those objectives. Scout the flanks as they advance. If you spot a group of enemy units just sitting there it is usually a good idea to attack them before they become active (usually when your units reach a particular location or a preset turn is reached). They are usually easier to deal with before they start moving. This tactic also avoids the nasty surprise of a powerful enemy force appearing in areas you thought clear.

Save every few turns (I save every 5 plus at points in between).

Eventually I generally find I work with 3 battlegroups of 7-10 units plus an air component of about the same size. Earlier scenarios may only need one or two battlegroups.

Don't worry if it seems hard at first. If you check out the Slitherine forums you will come across accounts of the experts storming across the map on Manstein difficulty (enemy units start 15 strong). I have been playing this type of game for over 20 years and am nowhere near that.

Above all, enjoy!

[Cake_Stealer]

Thank you for the help, have a nice day :)

[Evan]

This isnt particularly helpful but what I do in almost every map is Build and deploy my forces in two "formations". I divide my forces in two and make sure each has inf/Arm/art etc. Then I generally choose the most effecient path that takes in the objectives and converge at the end... I guess like a pincer move. Works for most maps for me.