Soviet Campaign - Completely stuck on "Surrounded"

[Wildwolf45]

As the title, says, I am completely stuck on Surrounded in the Soviet campaign. I am playing on regular difficulty.

Usually I drop the two 45mm AT guns and take a T-34 with a good veteran crew (gunner is at 80). However, it often takes two-three shots from the T-34 to knock out a PzII or PzIII at ranges of 200m or less. The 45mm guns when I take them are even worse. Are all Germans tanks Tigers in this scenario?

Meanwhile, the German Death-Laser-Satellites, I mean, artillery, usually kills about half my infantry before they get to do anything. Amazingly, the AI seems to always know exactly where they are. One game I placed them near the town and then when the scenario started I had them run into the town itself. Sure enough, the artillery landed right on them, not the trenches.

Is the AI just rampantly cheating even on regular difficulty? Can a 76.2mm gun really not penetrate 30mm of zero degree sloped armor at 56 meters (yes this happened!)?

[PFMM]

Don't know wether it's cheating or not, but what happens is that the script for the mission will determine where your units are before dumping on them. One way to obviate this is to spread them out even more.

As to the T34, sounds more like your substandard Soviet rounds are shattering on impact.

[Fetchez la Vache]

Drop the T-34 at setup (reload far too long) and 45mm ATGs (pop guns) and go with the ZIS-2 ATG. It will go through PzII and PzIII like a hot knife. However position it carefully so you can knock off the Germans at as long a range as possible - not easy without a LOS tool.

A trick I use is to put the ATG near a trench and put a *spare* crew member with a decent Gunnery skill nearby - just in case your main gunner comes a cropper.

Might take a couple of goes but that should blunt the first attack. Your reinforcements should be able to handle the second wave okay.

[ May 08, 2007, 10:59 PM: Message edited by: Fetchez la Vache ]

[nonickch]

Is the AI just rampantly cheating even on regular difficulty? Can a 76.2mm gun really not penetrate 30mm of zero degree sloped armor at 56 meters (yes this happened!)? [/QB]

One thing I learned from these forums is that apparently the ballistics incorporated are above anything an outsider would expect (e.g: me).

From a thorough whoruming I pulled the past 3 days, I remember that general AP shells have a shattering problem at least in sub-100m ranges.

Apparently switching to HEAT (that may not be available) resolves any shattering problems and apparently they work like a charm in close range.

Oh, and hello guys.

I was saving my first post to go postal on the retarded threads about the LOS and the trees, but I'm too bored while waiting for the download to finish.

If you think that flak is a killer in this game, just post another thread arguing the graphic representation and tank visibilities followed by some nice admin abuse and see what eve-o forum experience means :cool:

[Wildwolf45]

Originally posted by Fetchez la Vache:

Drop the T-34 at setup (reload far too long) and 45mm ATGs (pop guns) and go with the ZIS-2 ATG. It will go through PzII and PzIII like a hot knife. However position it carefully so you can knock off the Germans at as long a range as possible - not easy without a LOS tool.

Actually tried that - twice. The first time I set it off to the right of that main road in some bushes, had it hold fire and not move. a PzIIF lurks into sight, so I tell it to fire and remove the hold fire command. It scores two hits at a range of about 200m, on the side, and one hitting inside the tracks.

You would think that that would at least panic the PzIIF, and most likely should have either destroyed it or gotten the crew to bail out. But no, instead the panzer lazily turns it gun towards the Zis2, fires a few rounds, and blam, my whole crew is dead.

*sigh* I want to like this game, I really do, but I keep getting hung up on how truly terrible some of the missions are.

[Fetchez la Vache]

Bummer, I usually found even a single hit from the ZIS-2 is enough to waste a PzII. Must have had a nasty horizontal angle perhaps?

It might need a few tries. I agree about the missions though - some of them are pretty dire, especially the Russian campaign I think. I hate the way your hand-picked troops are devastated at the start of the mission and you have to rely on second-rate reinforcements to swing the tide back in your favour. * double sigh*