(no subject)
Mission 21: Case Blau: Mozdok
Difficulty: Normal
This mission isn't too different from Rostov. You must capture a town, then hold it from counterattack. The only difference here is the town is blocked by a river and you must cross a bridge (or build one) to get there.
First thing first, deploy your artillery and such. You may want to actually set up some defenses (trenches with 88mm guns behind them) in case there might be an attack at some time... Now examine the map.
There is a strong stone bridge to the south. It looks nice, but there are a fair amount of AT guns, tanks, and infantry in front of it. Beyond that further south is a railway bridge. That has even more guys in between you and it so it is not worth considering. You should also notice that in the left side of the map is a small village with a place you can build a river. A perfect 'back door' entrance, if you will. I recommend you choose to try to cross the stone bridge.
Why?
The small village doesn't have a lot of troops, true, but this location is a trap. First of all, the Soviets have some rocket trucks here that will bombard you once you cross the bridge. Even if you know their location and bombard them with artillery, if you miss them you are done for. Second of all, there is a strong armor group here that will attack you, and you probably won't be able to fight them all at once just after crossing the bridge. There's just too much defense. It's a trap. And the railway bridge is too far, so that defaults to the stone bridge.
First you will need to clear a path past all of the defenses here. You should know the drill of advancing, stopping when you see a trench, and then blasting behind it with artillery by now. Stukas might be effective here, AA Guns are strong everywhere else. The Soviets also have long range artillery, but you can counter it fairly easily. Your long range artillery can blast anywhere on the map! When you've cleared a path to the bridge, set up some defenses with trenches and 88mm guns. At least one 88mm gun must be deployed here.
How to cross the bridge? Like any good bridge, it is mined to hell. Also there will be some AT guns pointed at it. Try this: advance a little more than halfway across the bridge with a tank, stop, and then bring in an engineering truck to clear mines. If done right, it will clear the path and let you move on. The Soviets will probably call out their ground attack planes now. Make a retreat and let your 88mm guns take them out.
You'll see trenches eventually in the town and should bomb them. Eventually you'll be able to get a tank across the bridge. Bring more, then infantry. You can now proceed to the left or down. I suggest down, because there's more room to maneuver and less surprises. The only thing that might surprise you here are some mortars.
There are several buildings full of infantry here. If you want more safety taking them out, try the old trick of bringing up 88mm guns, calling out a recon plane, then destroying the fighters with 88mm guns until you've destroyed them all. There are some random AA guns throughout the city, but they can be found pretty easily.
As you start clearing the town, it's also good to be extra prepared and use your engineer trucks to start making some trenches, laying mines, etc. Note that the town does not have a supply depot! Your trucks must run all the way across the bridge to get back to the depot. (This is another reason not to build a bridge, too far a journey and sometimes the trucks will run over the other bridge anyway, in which case you need to clear those defenders out regardless.) There are some tanks hidden around the tiny houses in the top of the city, and you will eventually meet that tank group and rocket truck group, but this is not quite as hard to clear as the Rostov mission.
Once you get the objective clear message, you have about four minutes to prepare for the counter attack. Build trenches facing down (close, but not too close, to the river) and facing to the left on the edge of town. Putting two AT guns facing down just in front of the church on the left of town is a very good way to keep tanks from coming in. Another area tanks will attack from is the railway station. This is not an easily defensible section of the town. You should either back up and try to surprise them down the narrow streets, or lay out a lot of mines and artillery blast anything that you can see through this area. A lot of good tanks (including KV-1 tanks) will come through here.
The first wave will start. Follow standard defense procedures (adequate resupply and tank repair) and you should be fine. The second wave is when Soviet tanks will appear on the other side of the bridge, trying to cut you off and take your depot! THIS is why you should have a collection of trenches, non-core tanks, and 88mm guns here! If you have taken precautions, you won't need to worry. If you haven't, prepare to lose your artillery!
More and more tanks and infantry will attack. It is varied, both in direction and whether the bulk will be tanks or infantry. The easiest to defend sections are along the edges of the river. Near the church, warehouses, and railway station house is more complicated. Do not spare using those AT guns you get as reinforcements. Keep your supply lines open and the ammunition up, and eventually you will wear out all waves of the attack and finish this map!
Air force is very difficult to use effectively here because of the short amount of planes you receive, the strength of the Soviet Air Force, and the various strong AA guns scattered throughout the map. But if you take care, wear the Soviets down with your own 88mm guns, and keep your Air Force from 'wandering' too much, you can get some use out of it. Just don't attack too strong areas you don't have to and prepare for the counter attacks and the map is easily won.
Next: Stalingrad! Luckily you are only attacking, not preparing a winter defense...
Difficulty: Normal
This mission isn't too different from Rostov. You must capture a town, then hold it from counterattack. The only difference here is the town is blocked by a river and you must cross a bridge (or build one) to get there.
First thing first, deploy your artillery and such. You may want to actually set up some defenses (trenches with 88mm guns behind them) in case there might be an attack at some time... Now examine the map.
There is a strong stone bridge to the south. It looks nice, but there are a fair amount of AT guns, tanks, and infantry in front of it. Beyond that further south is a railway bridge. That has even more guys in between you and it so it is not worth considering. You should also notice that in the left side of the map is a small village with a place you can build a river. A perfect 'back door' entrance, if you will. I recommend you choose to try to cross the stone bridge.
Why?
The small village doesn't have a lot of troops, true, but this location is a trap. First of all, the Soviets have some rocket trucks here that will bombard you once you cross the bridge. Even if you know their location and bombard them with artillery, if you miss them you are done for. Second of all, there is a strong armor group here that will attack you, and you probably won't be able to fight them all at once just after crossing the bridge. There's just too much defense. It's a trap. And the railway bridge is too far, so that defaults to the stone bridge.
First you will need to clear a path past all of the defenses here. You should know the drill of advancing, stopping when you see a trench, and then blasting behind it with artillery by now. Stukas might be effective here, AA Guns are strong everywhere else. The Soviets also have long range artillery, but you can counter it fairly easily. Your long range artillery can blast anywhere on the map! When you've cleared a path to the bridge, set up some defenses with trenches and 88mm guns. At least one 88mm gun must be deployed here.
How to cross the bridge? Like any good bridge, it is mined to hell. Also there will be some AT guns pointed at it. Try this: advance a little more than halfway across the bridge with a tank, stop, and then bring in an engineering truck to clear mines. If done right, it will clear the path and let you move on. The Soviets will probably call out their ground attack planes now. Make a retreat and let your 88mm guns take them out.
You'll see trenches eventually in the town and should bomb them. Eventually you'll be able to get a tank across the bridge. Bring more, then infantry. You can now proceed to the left or down. I suggest down, because there's more room to maneuver and less surprises. The only thing that might surprise you here are some mortars.
There are several buildings full of infantry here. If you want more safety taking them out, try the old trick of bringing up 88mm guns, calling out a recon plane, then destroying the fighters with 88mm guns until you've destroyed them all. There are some random AA guns throughout the city, but they can be found pretty easily.
As you start clearing the town, it's also good to be extra prepared and use your engineer trucks to start making some trenches, laying mines, etc. Note that the town does not have a supply depot! Your trucks must run all the way across the bridge to get back to the depot. (This is another reason not to build a bridge, too far a journey and sometimes the trucks will run over the other bridge anyway, in which case you need to clear those defenders out regardless.) There are some tanks hidden around the tiny houses in the top of the city, and you will eventually meet that tank group and rocket truck group, but this is not quite as hard to clear as the Rostov mission.
Once you get the objective clear message, you have about four minutes to prepare for the counter attack. Build trenches facing down (close, but not too close, to the river) and facing to the left on the edge of town. Putting two AT guns facing down just in front of the church on the left of town is a very good way to keep tanks from coming in. Another area tanks will attack from is the railway station. This is not an easily defensible section of the town. You should either back up and try to surprise them down the narrow streets, or lay out a lot of mines and artillery blast anything that you can see through this area. A lot of good tanks (including KV-1 tanks) will come through here.
The first wave will start. Follow standard defense procedures (adequate resupply and tank repair) and you should be fine. The second wave is when Soviet tanks will appear on the other side of the bridge, trying to cut you off and take your depot! THIS is why you should have a collection of trenches, non-core tanks, and 88mm guns here! If you have taken precautions, you won't need to worry. If you haven't, prepare to lose your artillery!
More and more tanks and infantry will attack. It is varied, both in direction and whether the bulk will be tanks or infantry. The easiest to defend sections are along the edges of the river. Near the church, warehouses, and railway station house is more complicated. Do not spare using those AT guns you get as reinforcements. Keep your supply lines open and the ammunition up, and eventually you will wear out all waves of the attack and finish this map!
Air force is very difficult to use effectively here because of the short amount of planes you receive, the strength of the Soviet Air Force, and the various strong AA guns scattered throughout the map. But if you take care, wear the Soviets down with your own 88mm guns, and keep your Air Force from 'wandering' too much, you can get some use out of it. Just don't attack too strong areas you don't have to and prepare for the counter attacks and the map is easily won.
Next: Stalingrad! Luckily you are only attacking, not preparing a winter defense...