[updated 5 August 2023]
Theater of War Mission Pack: Case Blue
Mission: Kharkov Pursuit
“Kharkov Pursuit” has a reputation for being unwinnable on General (Hard), and it features the usual, frustrating German early/mid-game inferiority. But because German 1942 tanks are better than their 1941 versions, the mission is still winnable—at least most of the time.
Basically you bring in about five HMGs and put them in buildings covering from the upper fuel point to the middle VP area and buildings near the lower VP. Use your pios to cap points, fuel flow being a higher priority than VPs at first. After you have your HMGs, tech up and bring in a Pak and a 251–just NW of the middle VP is a good, central location. You should be able to capture at least one Russian ZiS-3 as well in the first 7-10 minutes. Reinforce squads as needed with the 251. Use your HMGs’ armor-piercing rounds to fend off attacks from T-70s and M5s, and bring in the Pak to help as quickly as you can, but try to use it at longer range because the Russian vehicles will decrew it quickly at close range. Tech for tanks and bring in a StuG (StuG-III-G). Once you have the StuG (should be ~12-13 mins) you can start to deal with the Russian vehicle swarm (often including KV-8s by this time). Keep bringing in StuGs till you have a total of three, and maybe add a mortar halftrack and a flamer-251. Now methodically establish map control. When your pop-cap is reached, spam bunker-HMGs. Toward the end—usually by about 25 minutes in—you should be able to attack the Russian base pretty easily, but usually at that stage the Russian score will be near zero anyway.
The usual AI cheats apply, including blinding of your crews to easy targets; nerfing of your StuGs and buffing of Russian tanks; instant materialization of Russian units at the edge of the fog of war wherever they can take some advantage (e.g., when one of your HMG crews repositions and is thus momentarily vulnerable); and “legal” materialization of partisan units from empty buildings behind your lines. But CPU-Russia (made in the image of its creators, the devs) is generally not smart enough to transform its stupendous advantages into victory against an experienced player.
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