The Panzer Count series

[malfuriouspete]

first off, thanks to the guys at blowtorchscenarios for making such fun battles!

Got me a question for the battle, Strachwitz at Kursk and possible spoilers for those who haven't played it yet.

I am getting comletely pounded by the soviet guns. Besides the briefing which goes on about gun sounds coming from hill 254.5 which I set up a few of my TRPs on, I have no idea what to do with the other TRPs or how to attack guns from a far. I guess this is the historical point that the Russian plan was for the guns to knock out 2-3 german tanks before they were themselves knocked out but I'm definately gonna run outta tanks in this scenario!!

First time I played this through I suffered a major defeat, only had my tigers left and a few panthers.. and only made it to the middle of the map while suffering very high casulties.

Any advice about how to tackle this scenario?

[Der Alte Fritz]

I was one of the original play testers on this.

The point of the scenario is that only the Tiger has the armour to survive the volume of fire (even at long distance) that the Russian side can put down. You have a nice dip on the far side of the river and should be able to quickly move your vulnerable Panthers and PzIII/IV into it. It is then down to your Tigers to advance, spot the guns and knock them out. As you begin to win the fire fight and id the gun positions, you can move your vulnerable tanks into hull down positions to engage the guns with the Panther pointing the right way to bring their frontal armour into play. But the Tigers have to keep moving so that you stand a chance of getting to the village on time so it is a fine balance. And watch out, even though it is the Ai, there are some guns that can even take down your Tigers.

Put your TRPs on likely Russian positions - try to think like a defender and where you would place guns and try to cover dead ground where guns might lurk with limited LOS.

Good luck.

[dieseltaylor]

I have just downloaded the Kalach batttle in the series. Coo what a professional approach those guys have. I don't think I have ever seen a briefing and map as good anywhere else. It does look fairly serious to play so I will look later in the week before deciding whether to play a human at WeBoB or the AI. Just have 4 pesky battles to complete first.

[Heinrich505]

I have never been disappointed by any of the scenarios from the Blowtorch team. They are crafted extremely well, and give you quite a historical feel for what you have been reading in books all these years. Having read a lot on the east front subject, I found myself playing out engagements I'd read about, and was now reliving them in 3D, with tank guns going off and explosions everywhere.

One of my better AARs resides on The Proving Grounds after playing one of Major Dr. Bäke's battles. It played out almost like it read from the historical accounts, with the HQ unit representing Major Bäke, at one point in the battle, hunting Soviet tanks between houses on foot with panzerfausts and grenade bundles. The tension was palpabable. I just wish that GeorgeMC had moved that one over to The Scenario Depot II.

If you just rachet up the CEB (+2 or +3), the AI does some amazing things. I had an ambush all set up in the fog, as Soviet T-34s were trundling up the main road in town. All they had to do was push past the edge of a building, and I'd have the first shot, at approximately 20 meters (yes, everything was close, due to the fog). Instead, the lead Russian tank swerved off the road, drove between two houses, and hit me from the flank. As I accidentally had another tank nearby that had a line of sight to this maneuver, I only lost one tank, and the clever Russian tanker also blew up.

I can't say enough about how much work GeorgeMC and Schmavis put into their scenarios. They are so well done.

Heinrich505

[George MC]

Hi Guys

He! Cheers for the kudos. I've beem out of the loop for a while due to RL stuff with work. Think the other have covered the detail about Strachwitz at Kursk.

Re the Bake series we still plan to finish it. It's currently on hold but I'm hoping we'll clear it all for the late Autumn/early winter. FWIW the Bake scenarios that are finished are available for download from our website. A lot of the kudos though must go to both DAF and Heinrich505 who have been a huge help in playtesting and sorting out some of the AI glitches in the scenarios. Charlie is the other half of Blowtorch - he is the one who does the main graft with research and what have you. Seriously so

Cheers fur noo

George

ps the Strachwitz at Kursk action was a very tough one for the Count and his men.

[Vark]

George, in the battle mentioned, how do you simulate the camouflaged hull down T-34's? I find the visibility of AFV's and pillboxes frustrating, I do hope CM2 will allow such items to be difficult to spot, during attack and assault scenarios.

[George MC]

George, in the battle mentioned, how do you simulate the camouflaged hull down T-34's? I find the visibility of AFV's and pillboxes frustrating, I do hope CM2 will allow such items to be difficult to spot, during attack and assault scenarios.

I tend to put em in reverse slope key holed positions - take yer point about CMX1 but doing the above does mean they can be nasty surprises.

Reading a lot of accounts reverse slope fighting positions was something the Russians used a great deal.

[Vark]

Thanks for the answer George, thought it was something like that, talking of the AI I'm designing a scenario based on the old SP Kursk MO, (lots of kit which is shot up on the first turn) and the battle for survival begins!. I would like a motorised German infantry company to be ambushed by a motley group of Russians, but when playing the Russians the trucks sit there, even with an objective flag/ exit route. Any suggestions?

[Der Alte Fritz]

It depends on who you set as the attacker, experience level of the troops, fantaticism and some intrinsic qualitiesof the troops themselves.

I would put the Germans at assault, veterans (lorries included) 25% fanatics and see what happens.

cheers

[Vark]

Thanks, they are regular at the moment so will bump them up, I really wish CM had waypoints, as in SP, for the AI. Since I've been reading about George's Strachwitz operations I decided to download the first Dubno scenario, I opened the Zip file sent the contents to the scenario folder and then got ready to play. Nada, nothing, the folder was there but it did not appear on the scenario/operations screen, I can open the scenario editor and look at the map etc but not play the damn thing! I have looked at the old posts in vain, my game is the 1.03 version so whats up?

[George MC]

Thanks, they are regular at the moment so will bump them up, I really wish CM had waypoints, as in SP, for the AI. Since I've been reading about George's Strachwitz operations I decided to download the first Dubno scenario, I opened the Zip file sent the contents to the scenario folder and then got ready to play. Nada, nothing, the folder was there but it did not appear on the scenario/operations screen, I can open the scenario editor and look at the map etc but not play the damn thing! I have looked at the old posts in vain, my game is the 1.03 version so whats up?

I see DAF answered your first question - pretty much nail on the head. You can also play about with flags etc to use em to craete a sort of breadcrumb trail - mind and chnage thes etting to either meeting engagement/assault/attack etc for the AI to actually move.

Re above - Dubno is an operation therefore you'll need to open the operations section in the game - you'll find the scenario in the menu list there. Hope this helps.

Cheers fur noo

George

[Vark]

I cobbled together a solution with Dubno, opening the file, copying and pasting into the scenario folder, in the C drive. It worked, wow I really am looking forward to playing on such a beautiful map. It's interesting that because of the bizzare unit options for AFV's (platoons only) Strachwitz, as an independent, has no command abilities. Still, hats off to you, god know how many hours it took with the map, now its time for "Panzer, marsch!"

Still no long with the wretched trucks, I like your bread crumb trail though.

[Der Alte Fritz]

Have you set the map sides correctly?

[Der Alte Fritz]

Have you set the map sides correctly?

Also - be careful at Dubno!

[Vark]

Yes, Dubno, I get the feeling that I have my head in a set of steel jaws, if I ram it precisely down hard, I will choke the beast, dawdle or deviate and I will have to get used to breathing through my neck!! I spent 10 mins just looking at the map, so many folds, rises and places to be ambushed, I doubt my recce units will last long!

The mapsides question intrigues me DAF, the Germans are moving from their starting area to the opposite edge, have I missed the beedin' obvious (would not be the first time).