[updated 15 July 2023]
Theater of War Mission Pack: The Southern Fronts
Mission: General Mud
Same map as “No Retreat, No Surrender,” but you won’t be able to field Panthers, Elefants and Tigers as CPU-Germany did in that previous mission. And somehow the CPU-Russia youโre facing now isnโt limited to KV-1s and T-34/76s as you were when playing as Russia before. It now also has multiple T-34/85s, and even gets a couple of ISU-152s. Also, the first Russian tanks often start showing up, in groups, after only about seven minutes.
Left base
“Standard Defense:” Use an HMG, bunker-HMG, command/medic bunker, two Paks, a pio squad, and a mortar halftrack to hold the left VP and adjacent radio point. Use an HMG, pio squad, mortar halftrack, and at least three Paks to hold the central VP (place your units in/near the building at the SW corner of that intersection). Paks have priority once you have an HMG covering each of these three points; the order you bring them in should be: left VP, central VP, central VP, left VP, central VP. It is usually pretty easy to win this way, though also a bit boring.
“Grens Gone Wild:” An alternative is to bring in 4-5 grens (or assault grens) at the start, using them to cap most of the map. Then, around the 5-minute mark, start bringing in Paks to cover the left and center VP areas, and use your pio squad to make bunker-HMGs. Defend the left and center VPs with Paks and bunker-HMGs, while your grens/assgrens run around capping points and distracting “Ivan.” Of course you can supplement this strategy with mortar halftracks, Pumas (as an alternative to Paks), command Panzer IVs, or whatever you like; but the mission probably won’t last much more than 20 minutes.
“Grens then Tanks:” Bring in five grens, then a Pak. The grens should try to cap all points on the left and center of the map, from your base up to the Russian base. One gren, with LMG, should sit in the building to the left of the center VP. The Pak goes next to that building, facing east. Use your pios to lay mines at the eastern approaches to the center VP. Tech for tanks as soon as you have enough fuel, bring in three StuGs, and put them at the center VP. The Russians might hit that center VP before you can get all three StuGs out, but even with one StuG and a Pak, and some well placed mines, you should be able to stall their advance. Bring in more armor as fuel and pop points permit. You might also want to build a command/medical bunker behind your defense line at that center VP. Usually, if you hold the points above the left VP, the CPU-Russians won’t attack that VP until they can get past the center VP, which you shouldn’t permit them to do. Always at least keep that center VP in play.
Middle base
You can play the same three strategies, since these are focused on the same VPs (left and center).
Right base
This is much more of a challenge, since the Russian tank onslaught hits the right VP first, as early as 6 minutes into the match. You’ll have to be ready for 2-3 KV-1s and 1-2 T-34s in that initial wave, plus absurdly overpowered Russian infantry. Also, the Russian armor (CPU-Russia detects most of your activities on the map, on Hard level) will avoid your mines. On the other hand, you can use Russian mine-avoidance to your advantage, by planting mines, before that first attack, on all approaches to the right VP. This will have the effect of diverting some Russian armor towards the center VP area, which will make it easier for you to defend the right VP against that first wave. Easier but not easy. You’ll need to have an HMG and at least a couple of Paks in place at the right VP (use your pios as forward spotters), plus an HMG or bunker-HMG covering the nearby radio point (which allows you to bring in units from the east edge of the map). A command/medic bunker just behind your defense line also will be very useful. Your starting panzerwerfer should fire its load at pinned Russian infantry during the initial tank assault, then drive toward/past Russian armor to distract it while your Paks fire away. Usually if you can survive that initial KV-1/T-34 assault wave, and bring in another Pak or two, you can quickly kill the ISU-52 (plus guards rifle infantry squads) that hits soon after. If you succeed in holding the right VP continuously against near-constant Russian attacks, then the pressure will be off your CPU-allies, and they should hold their VPs, so that you end up winning before 15 minutes (though on occasion you will have to send some units to assist at the center/left VPs in the last few minutes of the match).
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