Help with Panzer General strategy
JeffC 1474
I just got this game. Seems pretty fun so far. I'd like to get some more
info on basic strategy though. I have the strategy guide, but it only has
3 pages of the kind of info I'm looking for - "How to Conduct a Prepared
Assault", pp 125-127. Actually I guess I'm looking for more like tactics.
I don't know what units to buy, for example. I'm in campaign mode, and
with 2 tactical bombers I finally managed to get victory in Warsaw
scenario
in 12 moves. Some people have claimed how great pioneres are, but
I tried them and I only see slight difference when attacking a city. Now
I'm in Norway and I don't have the slightest idea how to conduct this
thing.
Same when I tried the France invasion scenario. It seems to complicated
to plan. Any ideas or pointers to other info? Thanks
Simon Appleton
There are some useful faqs/guides etc on http://www.wargamer.com and
on http://www.JointChiefsPub.com. The two scenarios you mention - France
and Norway - are perhaps the most fun to play (France is particularly
tough because a bug means you need a victory on turn 13 not turn 20+ to
get a major). A lot of the enjoyment from PG is finding a viable
strategy, so I'm reluctant to give away spoilers. However, here goes!
I think the most powerful units in the early war are stukas with fighter
cover, PzIVDs, 150mm arty and halftracked heavy infantry (engineers if
you can afford it). Organise combined arms task forces around these
elements: how many you need depends on the objectives (eg France needs 3:
east, centre and west). The first priority is getting air superiority.
Defenses are usually based around cities; the key here is to reduce their
entrenchments by artillery, fighters and stukas before sending in the
heavy infantry/engineers on foot (PzIVDs will also take cities if you're
in a real hurry). Try to be as fast as possible. In France, make sure you
nail their heavy tanks with stukas. In Norway, taking out the Allied
fleet is desirable; this can be done by concentrating all the German
flight on the Western edge of the map, evading allied contact until
you're all together. Then slowly edge East, leading with subs, then
destoyers, then capital ships. If you time it well, you can take out the
allied fleet one by one, without them even realising you're there. I tend
to place no troops in the Northern landing site; and to fight my way from
the south to the north.
With time, you'll find it becomes easy - the earliest battles are
hardest, as you're core quickly becomes far more experienced than the
enemy. If you get addicted, you may want to try Bill Haering's tougher
campaigns and even use an editor to limit your forces'
experience/prestige. These useful resources can be found on the website
mentioned.
Richard Arnesen
Simon Appleton <simon.a...@economics.ox.ac.uk> wrote:
: JeffC 1474 wrote:
: >
: > I just got this game. Seems pretty fun so far. I'd like to get some more
: > info on basic strategy though. I have the strategy guide, but it only has
: > 3 pages of the kind of info I'm looking for - "How to Conduct a Prepared
: > Assault", pp 125-127. Actually I guess I'm looking for more like tactics.
: > I don't know what units to buy, for example. I'm in campaign mode, and
: > with 2 tactical bombers I finally managed to get victory in Warsaw
: > scenario
: > in 12 moves. Some people have claimed how great pioneres are, but
: > I tried them and I only see slight difference when attacking a city. Now
: > I'm in Norway and I don't have the slightest idea how to conduct this
: > thing.
: > Same when I tried the France invasion scenario. It seems to complicated
: > to plan. Any ideas or pointers to other info? Thanks
Ewww we havent had PzG discussion in quite some time.
: There are some useful faqs/guides etc on http://www.wargamer.com and
: on http://www.JointChiefsPub.com. The two scenarios you mention - France
: and Norway - are perhaps the most fun to play (France is particularly
: tough because a bug means you need a victory on turn 13 not turn 20+ to
: get a major). A lot of the enjoyment from PG is finding a viable
: strategy, so I'm reluctant to give away spoilers. However, here goes!
Yes those two early on are real pains. Of course for a short while when
I first got the game I found the second Polish encounter to be interesting
as well.
: I think the most powerful units in the early war are stukas with fighter
: cover, PzIVDs, 150mm arty and halftracked heavy infantry (engineers if
: you can afford it). Organise combined arms task forces around these
: elements: how many you need depends on the objectives (eg France needs 3:
: east, centre and west). The first priority is getting air superiority.
: Defenses are usually based around cities; the key here is to reduce their
: entrenchments by artillery, fighters and stukas before sending in the
: heavy infantry/engineers on foot (PzIVDs will also take cities if you're
: in a real hurry). Try to be as fast as possible. In France, make sure you
: nail their heavy tanks with stukas. In Norway, taking out the Allied
: fleet is desirable; this can be done by concentrating all the German
: flight on the Western edge of the map, evading allied contact until
: you're all together. Then slowly edge East, leading with subs, then
: destoyers, then capital ships. If you time it well, you can take out the
: allied fleet one by one, without them even realising you're there. I tend
: to place no troops in the Northern landing site; and to fight my way from
: the south to the north.
In France I send three out as well: center, east, and west. The key
as he states in ANY of these scenarios is air superiority. Buy and
upgrade your fighters FIRST before anything else. Also be aggressive
with your fighters and hunt the enemy airforce out before he can get you.
Concentrate on Fighters first EVEN if the bombers are doing some damage,
once the fighters are gone you can easily make the prestige up with
shooting down defenseless bombers. As far as france goes the
key is speed. Make sure to take the Heavy tanks out in the center and leave
a small contingent to defend your northern hex. Also I tend to build
up a paratrooper or two up to land down south, take a city, and then build
a IVD or to. Since you are limited on troops you can send a regular
infantry from an airfield, the difference is he MUST land on
an airfield (you don't have to control it). Finally make sure
to push on once you weaken and enemy. Let your infantry and airforce
finish upsuch areas as Paris and the more northern objectives.
Norway is a REAL pain. Heck I figured out how to take Sealion40 before
I did a major in Norway. I tend to immediately move my navy North.
As you do so the Navy can shell enemy cities while in movement and aid
you assault. Also your Northern Fleet can knock out the enemny's
initial Northern fleet easily. The reason is because most of their
fleet is farther east and north. As soon as you knowck them out
though move to harbour or their bombers will take you. I land most,
if not all, of my tanks up north. Make sure you have at least 2 IVD's and
hit their Objective sites up north Fast before they gain the entrecnhment
bonuses. I also use my para's to strike in the center and try to either
take the central Objective with them or weaken their artillery support.
As far as the last objective I have a special technique for that that
I am not revealing.
: With time, you'll find it becomes easy - the earliest battles are
: hardest, as you're core quickly becomes far more experienced than the
: enemy. If you get addicted, you may want to try Bill Haering's tougher
: campaigns and even use an editor to limit your forces'
: experience/prestige. These useful resources can be found on the website
: mentioned.
Well most are easy. The toughest after that point may be the first time
you encounter London and of course the two end bears: Moscow and Washington.
--
########################################################
# Richard D. Arnesen Jr. # The opinions stated do #
# Senior Software Technician # not necessarily reflect#
# PSW Technologies # those of my employers #
# rdar...@bnr.ca ##########################
###############################
Tarquelne
>> I just got this game. Seems pretty fun so far. I'd like to get some more
>> info on basic strategy though.
Some people have claimed how great pioneres are, but
>> I tried them and I only see slight difference when attacking a city.
First of all, always keep economics/logistics: note that both Bridge Engineers and
Pionere infantrey are very expensive (288 vrs. 240 points.) and have the same
combat stats. The only difference (other than the points) is the BE's ability to
provide a quick way over rivers for other units. That ability is almost certianly
worth 48 points. (What is better, one more infantry unit, or making it to Paris on
time?) So: Don't bother buying Pionere infantry - just get the BEs.
BE and Pioneres are invaluable when attacking a heavily fortified infantry unit.
The ability to ignore entrenchment is powerful.
If the defending unit has no artilery support and the BE is significantly more
experienced than the defending unit then you can skip a lenghty seige.
Now
>> I'm in Norway and I don't have the slightest idea how to conduct this
>> thing.
Norway is pretty tough. In fact, taking into acount the fact that by the time you
reach the later more difficult scenarios you (the player) will be much more
experienced at the game, Norway may be the most difficult scenario in the game.
Don't feel frustrated - just keep pluging away at it.
>> Same when I tried the France invasion scenario. It seems to complicated
>> to plan.
The key to France is blitz blitz blitz! When I played France in my first long
campaign Paris was the last objective city to fall - I left just a few units to pick
at it and poured around it. Deep, quick penetration of enemy territory is
essential. Here's an artificial goal to help you blitz: try to keep your average
number of tank moves above 3 hexes/turn. (For example - on turn 6 you have
some tanks at least 18 hexes into enemy territory.
>I think the most powerful units in the early war are stukas with fighter
> cover, PzIVDs, 150mm arty and halftracked heavy infantry (engineers if
>you can afford it).
Right! 2 great uses for stukas is destroying tanks too tough for your tanks to
handle and helping breakup enemy strongpoints your front has already passed.
(a tac-bomber can return to a rear area and move back up again far quicker than
a tank.)
I wouldn't bother buying any artilery with attack strengths of less than 19/14 -
In PG anything less than 150mm doesn't seem worth it. (For one thing, 150mm
guns have a significant effect on armour.)
Organise combined arms task forces around these
>elements: how many you need depends on the objectives (eg France needs 3:
>east, centre and west).
You could also try one huge center group that splits three ways midway through
France, or 2 groups (east and west) that by pass Paris and later take it from
behind.
The first priority is getting air superiority.
Very important! A strong airforce is very, very helpful. I usually have 2 of the
best level bombers (great for attacking Allied ships) and about 1/2 dozen each
of stukas and the best fighter.
Try to be as fast as possible.
And then try to go a little faster. :)
In Norway, taking out the Allied
>fleet is desirable; this can be done by concentrating all the German
>flight on the Western edge of the map, evading allied contact until
>you're all together. Then slowly edge East, leading with subs, then
>destoyers, then capital ships.
That works well. Remember that if concentrate your efforts on taking out all
Allied Destroyers then your subs will be able to wreak havoc on the capital ships,
or if you concentrate on taking out the capital ships your own captial ships will
be pretty much immune to the remaining destroyers.
I tend
>to place no troops in the Northern landing site
Infantry will usually get pulverized by Allied bombers and ships. You can try
a couple of good tanks- take the airfield at Trondhiem and then hunker down
beside the city.
Tarquelne
Tarquelne <os...@apk.net>
I know how God can make a rock so big even He can't move it.
JeffC 1474
Thanks you guys with the tips - I'll try them. Actually I was a little
discouraged
about the Norway scenario - I'm glad to hear it's tough for an early one.
I'll try
those approaches and check out the info sights mentioned too.
About the navy - My ships seem to get attacked less when they're
clustered,
but my question is: they keep getting pulverized, but where are the ships
and
planes coming from? I don't see them in the spotting distance of my
planes
or ships, yet they are right next to my ships attacking and then out of
sight
by my turn. Doesn't it take 2 moves for the computer to move in, attack,
and
then move out? Thanks,
Jeff
Jeff Drummond
In article <19970107025...@ladder01.news.aol.com>, jeff...@aol.com (JeffC 1474) writes:
|> I just got this game. Seems pretty fun so far. I'd like to get some more
|> info on basic strategy though. I have the strategy guide, but it only has
|> 3 pages of the kind of info I'm looking for - "How to Conduct a Prepared
|> Assault", pp 125-127. Actually I guess I'm looking for more like tactics.
|> I don't know what units to buy, for example. I'm in campaign mode, and
|> with 2 tactical bombers I finally managed to get victory in Warsaw
|> scenario
|> in 12 moves.
The first time I did it, it was with massed artillery. But a better
technique for me turned out to be encirclement. If you can get some
units (esp. tanks) behind the enemy cities you can chew up his artillery
and--in later scenarios--his air defense units. Then it's a _lot_ easier
to mop up the rest with air and ground attacks.
|> Some people have claimed how great pioneres are, but
|> I tried them and I only see slight difference when attacking a city.
Well, Pioniers are good at drawing enemy attacks... :-) Eng. units are
probably a better buy in campaign mode, because in some scenarios you
have a lot of rivers to cross.
|> Now
|> I'm in Norway and I don't have the slightest idea how to conduct this
|> thing.
Norway is tough. What finally turned the corner for me was two things:
First, wiping out the Allied fleet. So instead of watching my infantry
get pummelled by Allied shore bombardment, I got to pummel some of the
Allied infantry instead. Second, a couple of parachute divisions north
of Trondheim seemed to work wonders for me.
|> Same when I tried the France invasion scenario. It seems to complicated
|> to plan. Any ideas or pointers to other info? Thanks
France _is_ complicated. The front is so wide and there are so many targets
that it's easy for your attacks to become diffused and stall out. I had to
work to keep my forces concentrated and moving. It forced me to be always
thinking about my _next_ objective (or next + n).
One tactic that worked well for me was (again) encirclement. I'd swing
my tanks around objective cities and go after the artillery, air defense
and armored units (in roughtly that order). Then my armor would go on to
the next objective while my other units mopped up.
Air superiority is a plus in most scenarios. That means that fighters
are a priority and in the first few turns you have to concentrate on
eliminating enemy fighters (and of course any unescorted bombers you happen
to find). Your bombers, meanwhile, may have to tag along with your fighters
and stick to targets of opportunity along the way. Once the enemy air
fleet has been eliminated, your Stukas can roam free.
-Jeff j...@cray.com Still need to get to Smolensk faster...
--
"For a soldier I listed, to grow great in fame. And be shot at for
sixpence a day." --Charles Dibdin, 1745-1814
Jonathan
In article <32D30D...@economics.ox.ac.uk>,
Simon Appleton <simon.a...@economics.ox.ac.uk> wrote:
>> I just got this game. Seems pretty fun so far. I'd like to get some more
>> info on basic strategy though. I have the strategy guide, but it only has
>> 3 pages of the kind of info I'm looking for - "How to Conduct a Prepared
>> Assault", pp 125-127. Actually I guess I'm looking for more like tactics.
>> I don't know what units to buy, for example. I'm in campaign mode, and
>> with 2 tactical bombers I finally managed to get victory in Warsaw
>> scenario
>> in 12 moves. Some people have claimed how great pioneres are, but
>> I tried them and I only see slight difference when attacking a city. Now
>> I'm in Norway and I don't have the slightest idea how to conduct this
>> thing.
My maxims for PG strategy are:
1) If in doubt about being ready for the assault, wait a turn and deploy
unless time is short enough to be willing to get beat to hell over.
2) Most of your combat will be assaults against prepared position,
sometimes with combined arms and sometimes in good depth. Aerial
reconnaissance is essential to determine the 'key unit' that is making the
position so tough. You need to find that key unit, the loss of which
would enable the position to be reduced, and go after that. Often it is
an air defense unit.
3) Pile up experience and begrudge losing it.
4) Combine resupply with overstrengthing units--efficient way to rearm.
5) Surround air units so that even if you don't completely kill them on
the first turn, they cannot escape.
6) Having shot a target up, be sure to eliminate it. Do not let it get
away.
7) In all scenarios involving an enemy fleet, you need to trash it to do
well (up through Crete, anyway, is how far my experience goes). Shoot at
people who can't shoot back.
8) Auxiliaries=cheap cannon fodder and flank guards.
9) Take objectives sooner rather than later to reduce enemy prestige
dumps.
10) When way ahead of schedule, spend the extra turns overstrengthing.
--
Jonathan
JJ Cooper
One possibly stupid question, when the Italians or other foreign
armies are my auxillaries, it's easy for me to know who they are. But
how can I tell which German units are auxillaries and which are core?
If emailing me directly, remove the asterisk added at the end to
thwart junk email.
Thanks
JJ
Robb McLeod
In article <32d6ed88...@news.mto.infi.net>,
jjco...@mto.infi.net* (JJ Cooper) wrote:
>One possibly stupid question, when the Italians or other foreign
>armies are my auxillaries, it's easy for me to know who they are. But
>how can I tell which German units are auxillaries and which are core?
They have white edging on their units numbers, rather than black. Italian
Aux. units are just good for giving Allied units experience until `43, BTW.
I guess you can use them for reducing entrenchment values, recon, and using
their Zone of Control too, but actually attempting to destroy an enemy unit is
impossible.
Robb McLeod
rmc...@uvic.ca
Richard Arnesen
JJ Cooper <jjco...@mto.infi.net*> wrote:
: One possibly stupid question, when the Italians or other foreign
: armies are my auxillaries, it's easy for me to know who they are. But
: how can I tell which German units are auxillaries and which are core?
Aux's have grey/white numbers, reg's have black nums.
: If emailing me directly, remove the asterisk added at the end to
: thwart junk email.
: Thanks
: JJ
--
Richard D. Arnesen Jr. "Bill Clinton's Promises have the
Senior Software Tech - PSW Tech lifespan of a Big Mac on AirForce
The opinions expressed are MINE One" - Rep. Susan Molinari
no else can have them Romans 6:23, 1Cor 4-8, John 3:16