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Maknassy:
Bought another Ranger and a M20 recon before the start. So my army now look like this (all Inf. and towed
units are in trucks):

Tanks
2x M4A3 (prototypes, one with Sup. Man.)
2x M4A1 (one with Aggr. Man.)

Anti-Tank
2x M10 (mobile)
1x 17 Pdr Mk.I (British)

Artillery (all mobile)
1x Priest (British)
1x M7 105mm M2
2x T19 HMC

Recon
2x M8
1x M20

AD
3x M15A1 MGMC (mobile, one with Dev. fire)
1x 120mm M1

Inf.
2x Engineer (British)
2x Ranger
3x Mountain

Bomber
1x B-26B

Put one tank, recon, AD and AT plus some inf and my bomber down in the south, the rest came in in the NW.
Was expecting more resistance in the north and less in the south, explaining why I went for mostly inf in the
south, but boy was I wrong. After a good start here where I quickly killed off two axis artys my forces grinded
to a halt. Had problems killing off the enemy AT units which stalled me several turns, and when axis
replacements started coming I had some problems. Fortunately I got some reinforcements as well, which
helped me turn the battle and take the VH. Never got very far beyond the VH, so couldn't help my other
troops in the east.

My main force quickly drove through a long mountain pass (without any enemy in sight) and hit the first
germans in the dead center of the map. Only a couple of inf and one good AT here (backed up by some
bombers though), so no match for my army. Took the road south, and ran into some more artys and tanks
behind a small river. Did a major error here as I forgot he had a range 2 tank. So he drove up and calmly killed
one of my brave T19 artys. Took my revenge the turn after, killing his remaining tanks and taking the
central VH. Quickly on to the next VH just SE of this one, he had a Tiger tank here, but when he attacked he
got suppressed by some mobile artys and didn't kill anything. On my turn I hit him again with the artys and a
bomber followed by my 17 Pdr AT. Bye, bye Tiger. Killed his entrenched inf in the city and advanced towards
the last VH. Almost got one of my tanks killed by a 8.8cm AT here. He had very few units here though, so it
didn't take me long to finish off the last axis despite several italian fighters that suddenly showed up. A BV,
even got some turns left. No new prototype though, but I got several leaders during the scenario.

On to Fondouk...

Fondouk Gap
Bought a new T19 HMC arty to replace the one I had lost. So my core army now look like this (all Inf. and
towed units are in trucks): 

[#] = experience lvl, * = leader

2x M4A3 TK [3*, 4*] (Prototypes, Superior Man. / Aggr. attack)
2x M4A1 TK [4, 5*] (Aggr. Man.)

2x M10 AT [3, 4*] (Recon mov.)
1x 17 Pdr Mk.I AT [0] (British)

1x Priest ART [ (British)
1x M7 105mm M2 ART [1]
2x T19 HMC ART [3, 0]

2x M8 RCN [3, 1]
1x M20 RCN [ 0]

3x M15A1 MGMC AD [4*, 2,0] (Dev. fire)
1x 120mm M1 AD [2*] (bridging, should probably downgrade this to a mobile unit)

2x Engineer INF [2,0] (British)
2x Ranger INF [3,0]
3x Mountain INF [2, 0,0]

1x B-26B TB [2]

You deploy all your units in the SW corner of the map, so some of the VH are really far away. Checked the
surrounding area with my recons and noticed several 5 cm AT guns. Hit them with some arty, aux. fighters
and finally ran them over. Weird thing happened here though, there were some minefields in hexes (4,24) and
(7,24) that disappeared after my first turn? Is this intentional? 

(Steve: no, it's a mistake that has been corrected in version 1.1)

                                                                                                            Met some stiff opposition right away as there
were several 8.8cm AT guns covered by artys and AD deployed on the southern plain. Took several turns to
take them out. Got some British reinforcements in the northern part of the map early on, followed by some
french units in the center the turn after I think. I drove all of them towards the two northern VH (the eastern
one in the middle of a mountain range) along with my recons, an AD and some Inf. (hindsight, you should
probably send a least one tank and an AT north too). I quickly took the central VH in the north, but then I ran
into some stiff opposition. My measly British Valentines had big problems taking out the Germans, so I got to a
total halt here. In the south, I bombed his mountain arty and then I quickly killed the rest of the Axis troops
and took the southernmost VH. Had far to many troops here that were really needed in the north. The river
was impassable this far east, but set up my Artys along it and managed to fire at the VH across the river.
Took it some turns later with an engineer. I noticed that there were a hidden German VH along the edge of
the map south of the river. A couple of StuG III suddenly showed up here some turns after I had taken the
VH, but they were quickly disposed of. In the north I was having major problems advancing, but finally I got
the two french artys into position and slowly started to advance across the mountain. When troops from the
south finally started to show up (long way to drive) it got somewhat easier. Had victory in the grasp of my
hand when suddenly 5 or 6 axis planes appeared (at least 4 Stukas and some fighters). Alas, I had too few AD
units here, and when more axis troops showed up in the north I was having problems again. Good defense on
the northern plain and sacrificing almost all my aux. units got me the final VH two turns after BV. Phew. No core
losses and no prototype obviously. Got several new leaders though. Gained a total of 665 prestige (so I
now have 675) in this scenario, quite ok I guess.

Next stop Mateur.

Mateur
Bought a British Mosquito VI bomber for 564 prestige (111 prestige left). Good defensive values on it and
cheaper than the US ones. Lasse, why is the US units more expensive than the British ones, even when
inferior (e.g. the engineers)?

[#] = experience lvl, * = leader

2x M4A3 TK [4*, 5*] (Prototypes, Superior man. / Aggr. attack)
2x M4A1 TK [5*, 5*] (Aggr. man. / Influence (yeah, right))

2x M10 AT [4*, 5*] (Combat support / Recon mov.)
1x 17 Pdr Mk.I AT [1] (British)

1x Priest ART [1] (British)
1x M7 105mm M2 ART [2]
2x T19 HMC ART [3, 0 ]

2x M8 RCN [4*, 1] (Shock tactics)
1x M20 RCN [0 ]

3x M15A1 MGMC AD [5*, 2, 1] (Dev. fire)
1x 120mm M1 AD [2*] (bridging, should probably downgrade this to a mobile unit)

2x Engineer INF [3*, 1] (British, Infiltration tactics (is it of any use here?))
2x Ranger INF [3, 1]
3x Mountain INF [2, 1, 0 ]

1x B-26B TB [4]
1x Mosquito VI [0 ]

Ok, heavily entrenched Germans on a mountain again (upper half of the map), been there, done that Quite
fun scenario actually though. Started with almost getting one of my recons killed by an AT bunker, but after
that I quickly killed his southernmost 8.8 cm AT unit and sent some units (one tank, recon, engineer and AD)
around the mountain (should probably have sent more). In the north three french aux units were having some
problems with a Marder (Yes, I hate them), but my Mosquito bombed him and that kept him busy until I could
get a tank across the river and take him out. In the center it was just sit and wait while my artys lowered his
entrenchment values. I killed off some minefields and bunkers (AT and normal) here as well. Slow advance, but
he only had one arty, so no major problems. I was reluctant advancing as I was expecting a counterattack all
the time, but it never came (Just shows that you can't trust Steve). After a couple of turns the units I sent
around the mountain finally arrived behind the eastern VH. Quickly killed his Radar bunker, but he had some
good units around the VH here (among other things a 8.8cm AT gun entrenched to 25!). I finally got past the
bunkers and minefields in the center, killed his arty and some tanks, and the rest of the Axis troops joined
them soon thereafter while I got the two VH. Drove my artys within range of the remaining two and hammered
away. This combined with my engineer took the eastern VH, while the northern fell the turn afterwards. Only a
Victory though, missed BV by two turns again. Had I known that there wouldn't be any huge counterattack as
usual I could probably have managed a BV, but then, it's always easier the second time around. Very few (or
at least fewer than usual) enemy artys and air units in this scenario which made it easier. Didn't lose any core
units (but several Inf. were VERY close to getting killed) and got some new leaders again. I got 580 prestige in
this scenario so I now have 691 prestige. Btw. if someone is actually reading this and intend to play the
campaign, here's a hint, buy several mountain units as soon as they are available, they're really invaluable in
this campaign. This scenario went really quick in Real Time (tm), even though I missed the BV, weird.

On to Bizerte.

Bizerte
Bought another British Mosquito VI bomber for 564 prestige (127 prestige left). This late in the campaign it's
hardly worth bying new units as they are too inexperienced to make a difference anyway and since it's usually
hard getting them into action (too crowded). Overstrengthened my Combat Support M10 and my Dev. Fire
M15A1 MGMC to 12 both of them, (the points on the AD were rather pointless in this scenario as you'll
notice). I now got 13 prestige left.

[#] = experience lvl, * = leader

2x M4A3 TK [5*, 5*] (Prototypes, Superior man. / Aggr. attack)
2x M4A1 TK [5*, 5*] (Aggr. man. / Influence (yeah, right))

2x M10 AT [5*, 5*] (Combat support / Recon mov.)
1x 17 Pdr Mk.I AT [2] (British)

1x Priest ART [3] (British)
1x M7 105mm M2 ART [3]
2x T19 HMC ART [4, 0 ]

2x M8 RCN [4*, 1] (Shock tactics)
1x M20 RCN [1]

3x M15A1 MGMC AD [5*, 2, 1] (Dev. fire)
1x 120mm M1 AD [2*] (bridging, real useful here)

2x Engineer INF [4*, 1] (British, Infiltration tactics)
2x Ranger INF [4, 1]
3x Mountain INF [2, 1, 1]

1x B-26B TB [5*] (Determined defense)
2x Mosquito VI [1, 0 ]

Very short scenario here, BV is only 5 turns, so I knew I had to be quick. The Germans were very
concentrated (at least VH wise) to the NE part of the map, so my guess was that there would be lots of AD
and artys backing up some heavily entrenched infantry units in the cities. Wasn't really expecting any
counterattack in this scenario (which proved true), so I had most of my artys up at the front at the start.
Deployed one tank, arty, AD and an engineer in the north. Some slower units in the center (mostly artys and
tanks) and the rest way back west. You got lots of 5 strength aux air units in this scenario, so just hit
everything in sight with them. Had a task force of a couple of infantry units, all three recons, an arty and two
tanks drive east of the mountain range towards the two easternmost VH. Some Italians on a hilltop in the
center quickly got bombed away and I hit the German defenses head on. In the north I quickly gained way
past some bunkers and minefields (arty, bombers and engineers make a good combo here). In the center it
was a bit tougher, as he had a BIG arty and some AD covering the infantry here. Softened him up with some
arty first then hit him with everything I had, as my northern force hit his AD defense from the rear I just
bombed away the rest. In the east it went rather well. He only had some infantry and AD here (plus some AT
guns on the northern plain which I mostly ignored), no artys at all. Softened him up with some arty, tanks and
recons, and then hit him with my engineer. Barely managed to grab the the second VH on turn 5 though.
In the north it was really hard getting your troops into position (crowded), but extreme luck gave me the
victory here. He had a good AD in the last VH, surrounded by his one arty, two infantry units and a lake/sea.
Just south of it there were another good AD, so hard to hit him with bombers. I managed to get my 12
strength M10 into positin and along with two recons (and some kamikaze fighters) I killed the southern AD.
His big arty (and only) was out of ammo, so I hit the AD on the airfield with a ranger to soften it up, and then
killed it with an engineer. Got a tank and a M10 to kill one of the infantry units and the arty (overrun). Then I
hit the remaining AD with my two artys up here. This is where my luck comes in. Remember this is turn 5, last
turn for a BV. I got two hits on it with both artys (expectations were 1), hit it with my bomber who has
Determined defense (otherwise it would have been killed probably) and managed to get another hit on him. Hit
him with the tank who's in the hex beside it (overran the arty here) and kill it off. Can't move into the hex
though with it as it wasn't another overrun. But as you remember I have a tank with Superior maneuver which
manages to drive onto the hex despite surrounding enemy units. Yeah, another BV! Without luck and the right
combination of leaders I actually think it's nearly impossible to get a BV in this scenario. I don't know if I could
even do it myself again? Didn't get any new prototype, but got a whooping 1480 prestige points so I now
have 1493. Btw, there weren't a single enemy air unit in sight in this scenario, so you really don't need to
overstrength your AD units as I did.

On towards Italy and Gela (and last scenario in the campaign).

Gela
Since this is the last scenario in the campaign, I decided to concentrate on air superiority, so I bought three
British Beaufighter IF bombers for 492 prestige each. I now have 17 prestige left. Used 13 of them to
overstrengthen my M20 Recon to 11.

My current core army:

[#] = experience lvl, * = leader

2x M4A3 TK [5*, 5*] (Prototypes, Superior man. / Aggr. attack)
2x M4A1 TK [5*, 5*] (Aggr. man. / Influence (yeah, right))

2x M10 AT [5*, 5*] (Combat support / Recon mov.)
1x 17 Pdr Mk.I AT [2] (British)

1x Priest ART [3] (British)
1x M7 105mm M2 ART [3]
2x T19 HMC ART [4, 0 ] 

2x M8 RCN [5*, 1] (Shock tactics)
1x M20 RCN [1]

3x M15A1 MGMC AD [5*, 2, 1] (Dev. fire)
1x 120mm M1 AD [2*] (bridging, real useful here)

2x Engineer INF [5*, 1] (British, Infiltration tactics)
2x Ranger INF [5*, 1] (Liberator, never got to use it though)
3x Mountain INF [3, 1, 1]

1x B-26B TB [5*] (Determined defense)
2x Mosquito VI TB [1, 0 ] 
3x Beaufighter IF TB [0, 0, 0 ] 

First of all, I must say that this scenario was rather an anticlimax of an otherwise great campaign IMHO. It
was an amphibious landing scenario, not my cup of tea usually, but made even worse by the fact that due to
the movement of landing crafts in the BP e-file it took forever to get to the shore. Moving 50+ units two
hexes forwards five times is not my idea of fun, sorry Steve. Cool though that they could sail up the river (and
quickly too oddly enough). Why would it be quicker to sail against the current on a river compared to the open
sea? Anyway, when they finally got ashore, most Italian defenders had already been blown away by my
bombers (not many of them either, the Italians that is). There were 5 VH, 2 in the east and 3 in the middle of
the map, so I sent most units towards the center (you have lots of aux. units in this scenario). In the east I
quickly took the VH at the coast, used my arty, bombers and an engineer to bust the blocking bunkers and
advanced towards the VH at the airfield. There were two artys on a mountain here, but without any AD, there
were a snack for my killers from above. Didn't take many turns to get to the airfield and finally I could rearm all
my bombers and fighters. 

In the center it wasn't much harder. Easily took the VH at the coast, killed off the bunkers that blocked the
river/streams and advanced/sailed towards the VH in the middle. Only one bunker here which quickly fell as
well. At this point I thought there had to be some error in the scenario as there were no opposition
whatsoever. As I drove up towards what I thought was the final VH, a new one suddenly appeared in the
western part of the map. Weird, but probably intentional to keep you on your toes. Had a large force down at
the coast in the center of the map that I hadn't bothered to advance, so I quickly overran the few Italians
that were blocking my way and took the last VH. Note, the turn before I did this, there were suddenly a HUGE
German counterattack in the center and the east. I easily held the VH though (but had they got there a turn
earlier I would have been in serious trouble in the center, perhaps an idea Steve? ). Anyway, I took the
last VH and got a BV with several turns to go. A job well done I must say.

Here is the dossier at the end


Campaign comments: Awesome campaign Steve! I don’t think I have enjoyed playing a campaign this much
since the first times I played the original Blitzkrieg campaign. Great praise from me indeed. Most scenarios
were very well balanced, you always felt you had to fight hard to win, but at least a win was always possible.
Some scenarios could perhaps need a bit of retooling, but nothing major (except the final scenario perhaps).
So to all of you who haven’t played it yet, what are you waiting for, a great experience awaits you.

E-file comments: Lasse, you know I have been very much against high price e-files, calling them a lot of
different names and such, but I must admit that I really enjoyed playing this campaign with it. To me it felt
really well thought out and quite balanced. You were right that having higher prices and more prestige to work
with gives you a lot of options (sometimes hard ones). Should I buy two ATs or should I go for the tank and
so on. I still think that the ultra high prices for the best equipment could be lowered somewhat, but with the
new 2000/2000 limit you can lower the prices as time goes by and the equipment become more common (or
less uncommon perhaps). So Lasse thanks for believing in what you did and that you didn’t listen to me calling
you a Horse-cart general. 

/Paul 

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