Panzers, Panzers, Panzers!
[It’s Thursday, backdate this to one of those days before Christmas, like the weekend.]
Take your mind back to that weekend I was at the LAN party instead of updating this. Earlier that weekend, I had wasted my time playing the same five levels of the same video game over, and over, and over again. That game? Panzer General II. Specifically, the “Blitzkrieg” Campaign. Here I will present my thoughts on each of these five levels.
Madrid: Unless you are relatively new to this game, you should not get anything less than a brilliant victory in this scenario. Buy a dive bomber right off the bat, and use that armored car they give you to snatch up any minor objectives that are out of the way. Artillary and armor are your friends.
Poland: This is a mildly difficult map, but I was able to get a Brilliant Victory on it every single time. Make sure as much artillary and armor as possible starts on the right side of the river, so you don’t get jammed up. Before the scenario, buy some fighters for air support. But make sure you buy the Bf-109s. They are identical to the Me-109s, but cost less. Also stock up on PzIV tanks (2 or 3). I was given a StugIII for the BV in the last mission, keep it. For infantry, I like SS.
Suosalmi: This is, by far, more difficult than the preceeding two scenarios. The Finnish auxilaries you get aren’t worth a damn, most especially the airplane. Two tanks and two green infantry should be enough to take the north objective. In the south, you have a Finn anti-tank gun where you should be putting artillary, so move it to the back. Watch out, because the Russians have a habbit of sneaking some armor around your southern flank and making a drive for your Major Objective (the Airfield). Keep your planes the hell away from the last objective, there’s an AA gun. Also, keep an eye on the weather; snow can really screw up your air-related plans. I may have only done better than Victory on this scenario once, and I’ve lost on occasion.
Norway: This is actually quite easy, the only difficulties being the lack of auxillary troops and the tempramental weather. Two tanks, an artillary (which you’ll have to requesition), that damned armored car (if you didn’t kill it off at Suosalmi), and a couple infantry for the east half of the map should serve you well, provided you back them up with at least one of your 109s. When you capture your first objective, leave a semi-strong infantry unit there to guard it, as the British player will attack it with an infantry in the latter phases of the scenario. Poor unit placement and not thinking ahead usualy screws me out of the Brilliant Victory every time, but only by a turn or so.
Sedan: The invasion of France! Contrary to what all the Francophobes will tell you, victory is anything but certain here. If only they would just “drop their rifles” and surrender. Instead, they put up an increadilby tenacious defense, and it is a testament to the German Blitzkreig operational doctrine that it was able to prevail. I am unable to beat this scenario. Anyway, after maxing out my Prestige to load up on tanks and troops, I deploy them thus: The northern deployment zone is where all of the armor goes, as well as any infantry that won’t fit into the southern zone. The southern zone should have your most experienced and decorated infantry right up against the river, with all of your artillary and aircraft in support. Blast the pillboxes with artillary, and cross the river. Your armor will take care of the pillboxes in their zone, hook around, and split up. Half will go west with that infantry and take the two objectives there. The rest will proceed south, where they will encounter some stiff resistance and near-constant artillary bombardment. After capturing Sedan proper in the opening stages of the scenario, buy some more tanks. Also, keep one or two infantry in and around Sedan, because the French will sneak some men in to take it if you aren’t careful. They do this alot, so blow your prestige as soon as you get it.
Do NOT make these mistakes that I always do, and you should be fine: engaging French armor 1 on 1, letting your dive-bomber get caught in the open by French fighters, letting your fighters get caught in the open by French fighters, completely forgetting about the southern objective and the force you sent to capture it, leaving Sedan undefended, leaving Sedan over-defended, that sort of stuff.
In conclusion, bravo SSI for making such a fun-yet-challenging game.
