[20 August 2023]
The St. Vith defense-against-attack-waves mission “At the Crossroads” is a good one for Dog Co.—because of their superior artillery and cheaper HMGs and AT guns—although any of your companies should be able to manage it. The object is to erect hasty defenses and hold three VPs against five increasingly powerful attacks by German infantry and armor. The Germans have no artillery or air power. A meter at the top of the UI tells you how many German units are still left. The gold medal condition is simply to keep the Germans from capping any of your points, which should be easy to achieve if you prepare your defenses properly.
The first attack is a probing attack by one or two infantry squads at each point; the next concentrates on one or two points and includes at least a couple of infantry squads at each point; the third includes infantry plus a single vehicle (scout car or Puma) at each point; the last ones include Pumas and StuGs at level 1-2, and stronger armor at higher difficulty levels (up to a King Tiger at level 5). Note that when you use TTs to block German vehicles from approaching the Railyard point, they will redirect to attack the Church point.
Your strategy is pretty straightforward: Get at least two HMGs (e.g., one ordinary HMG plus one firing-point-HMG) in place at each of the three VPs, then make sure you have 2-3 AT guns at the Crossroads and Church VPs, and also lay some wire and tank traps (TTs) at the Railyard and Church to limit the armor onslaught (blocking it entirely in the case of the Railyard). The following images show more or less what you should aim for.
Other notes
Use the pause button a lot at the start so you don’t waste mission time. The success of this strategy depends heavily on efficient preparation—for example, you don’t want to be mauled by German armor at the Railyard position because the TTs weren’t laid in time.
Don’t build too many FPs—you need the manpower points to get enough AT guns out (preferably three at the Church, three at the Crossroads).
German squads (1-2) sometimes sneak down the right side of the map and flank your Crossroads defenses from the S/SE. Be ready to turn an HMG or your Lt. unit on them when that happens.
Sometimes you start with a mortar team. Use this only at the Crossroads—at the other points it would damage/destroy your TTs.
Mid-game, two German jammer scout cars will show up and block your recon/radio. Use a spare RE squad, the Lieutenant, or even a Major with his recon capability, to spot these scout cars, and AT-artillery to kill them.
You can always switch to AP/incendiary HMG rounds for more effective killing of German infantry, and you can use Dog’s powerful artillery to wipe bunched/pinned infantry, or AT-artillery against any armored vehicles that are overwhelming your AT gun crews.
Typically you can expect to advance by 40-60 veterancy points in this mission, with no more than a handful of casualties.
This strategy is designed for levels 1-3. It still works pretty well for difficulty levels 4 and 5, but you should avoid such levels if you want to keep casualties down.
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