Strategy Guide?

[marvinfreeman]

Hello:

Is there are tutorial or strategy guide or walkthrough around someplace?

I just received the intro game packet from AP (which is a great idea), and I'm pretty excited.  I've read the rules and started trying to put units on the board and figure out how the game works in practice.  I realized that I could really benefit from a walkthrough of the the intro game or a strategy guide -- something that would help me understand basics like when I should be stacking units and how I should think about activating things, etc.  Is there such a thing?

Thanks.

The noob

[plloyd1010]

Not exactly. There are some example videos on Youtube. As I recall, they used Airborne and Afrika Korps, but the general information is there.

APL produced 2 quick study guides. Learn to Play Panzer Grenadier in 5 Minutes! (in color) and Learn to Play in Just Five Minutes! (grayscale and more text). Both are based on earlier versions of PG, but the general information is valid.

Don't hurry (usually), because you actually have time to do stuff. Don't dawdle, you should be using your time to do stuff.

[marvinfreeman]

Thanks! I'll give the study guides a try.

(I searched around on youtube and found only some reviews - not so favorable - and an unboxing.)

[nick.rusch]

Hi Marvin,

A fellow noob.  Just wanted to drop a line and say - Yeah, a tactics guide would really be nice!  Especially if you are playing solo and don't have an experienced grog to help you out.  As a new player having some idea of tactics would enable learning the real game that much faster, e.g. how to conduct an infantry assault against a dug in position, how to organize a combined arms attack, or the dos and don'ts for an anti-tank battery setup, etc.  Good gaming systems have the rules that create boundaries in which the simulation is played, but there is still latitude in player actions to either be very successful or totally destroyed by your opponent.  From everything I've read and my exceedingly limited experience it appears the PG system does just this.  So yeah, once you get a handle on the rules how do you become a proficient battlefield commander?  I've played a bit of ASL in the past.  The ASL system enables a tremendous amount of player latitude and options to really screw things up if you have no idea what you are doing.  Unfortunately for me the ASL rule density makes it almost impossible to be a casual player and remember all the rule nuances.  I guess we'll have to look at the dearth of written PG tactics as a challenge and figure them out as part of the greater PG system.  Perhaps we can share experiences here and start capturing those tactics that work and don't work - for the next noob 

Good gaming!

Nick

[Shad]

One small tip - grab some platoons and compare their fire values to your Direct Fire chart. Pay attention to what sorts of combinations can get you over the hump to the next column. Setting up for attack and realizing you're one factor short of a more deadly column is a common beginner mistake. Sometimes it just can't be helped, but at least in the early goings of a scenario you should be deploying with an eye towards not "wasting" any fire factors by totaling into the useless amounts between column cut-offs.

[plloyd1010]

Well Marvin & Nick, how does this work for you?

You should probably check the scenario page here, if you haven't already done so. near the bottom you will find 6 AARs. The scenario has 10 recorded plays, and at least 2 unrecorded ones.

Youtube can be problematic in its results. I was specifically thinking of an Afrika Korps video. Pieces out, doing this & that, shooting and an assault. I remember something similar done with Airborne.

I'll give you my somewhat rampling run-down. This scenario was probably chosen for the demo because it has a little bit of a lot of different aspects in the game.

Soviet position and setup:Everyone not in town, or in the woods, should start dug in. The objective is to keep one undemoralized combat step in the town.

1. There is just enough force for the town garrison (probably SMG & HMG). Put the highest morale leader there, hopefully he has a morale modifier too.
   
2. One INF and the ATR should be a reserve behind the town. They are to provide reiforcement for the town once the assault begins. The ATR might get a crack at the StuG III.
   
3. The other infantry should be deployed as a block (or 2) in front of the town. Their job is to buy a turn or 2 of delay.
   
4. The field gun and mortar should stack together either on the hill or in the woods. They will attempt to disrupt the German;s march and break-up fire teams.
   

German march and deployment: The German march can take 5 turns, but the infantry & engineer can make a quick march in 3 turns.

1. I would have the INFs & ENG quick march to engage the the soviet delaying positions. Bring a leader with a combat modifier. Also bring the StuG, but try to keep it out of LOS of, or 7 hexes away from, the Russian field gun.
   
2. Have the mortars deploy in the field, hopefully within 10 of a Russian bombardment unit. Priority targets are Russian 76.2mm, 82mm, units not in town, in that order.
   
3. When the field gun is spotted, use you airstrike to attempt to disable it. (Since this is a training scenario, I suugest allowing the airstrike to be redrawn, should it fail to arrive.)
   
4. When there is an open path to the town, try to assault with the ENG, one INF, and the StuG. This will need to be done from 2 adjacent hexes. Be sure the StuG is in the hex which activates first, the other by subordinate activation.
   
5. Give priority to the town fight, but disrupt/demoralize/kill the reserves if able.
   

This is a brittle scenario, meaning that it can be won or lost very suddenly. This is truer for the Germans than the Russians, but both sides need to use their options and watch their exposure carefully.

[marvinfreeman]

This is really helpful. nick, you said what I attempted to say much better. That's exactly the difficulty I was trying overcome.

Shad and plloyd, thanks! This is great stuff. I'll set up the game again and give the demo scenario another try. This time I won't feel as if I am completely at sea. And I hadn't noticed and never clicked on the AARs on the scenario pages. They look as if they will help.

[nick.rusch]

I second Marvin's comment, thank you for the tactical advice!  I picked up Eastern Front a few weeks ago and have been puttering around with some of those scenarios.  I also ordered a copy of the PG starter kit from AP a few weeks ago - just got notice they were shipping, that took a while...  Anyhow really having fun learning this system and how it models combat at the platoon level.  It's interesting to compare the differences between different WWII tactical systems.  I really like the PG system - fairly straight forward  and relatively short set of rules that seem to realistically capture movement, combined arms combat and C2.  The ability to have a few battalions face off on just a couple of boards and play quickly yet still be at the platoon/squadron level from the standpoint of tactics for combined arms is really cool in my book.  Try to have the same size units (battalions) with ASL and you'd have a table sized map with a few hundred counters on the board - difficult to manage.  Really looking forward to playing around with the system more.  The alternate rules for PG 4th Ed look interesting and will be looking at those a bit closer once I'm familiar with the standard set.

[wleonard1]

Several years back, Doug McNair did a detailed walkthrough / strategy guide in Daily Content on an Elsenborn ridge scenario.  Here's a link:
http://www.avalanchepress.com/elsenborn_tactics_1.php
Or, do a search on the AP web site for "St. Vith" and it should come up.

[nick.rusch]

Several years back, Doug McNair did a detailed walkthrough / strategy guide in Daily Content on an Elsenborn ridge scenario.  Here's a link:
http://www.avalanchepress.com/elsenborn_tactics_1.php
Or, do a search on the AP web site for "St. Vith" and it should come up.

Thank you, sir!  Will add this to my PG reading list.