Conquest Difficulty
I’m pretty much routed and defeated on every advance in a standard AI campaign. I am finding German armour very very hard to deal with as the US.
They can often destroy my entire advance at the first objective! I survive by retreating to farm some funds and ammo points and research. I manage to hold a succesful defence and exploit the armour we defeated to capture and use or sell, and slightly advance my research. but my gains are diminishing every defence as armour remains a challenge. I don’t have anything to deal with German armour effectively, and I am left with a few ideas.
Did I play it too safe in the early game to generate research points and am I too far behind? I only just managed to move past the M3 Lee and research the M4 Early DV. I often am up against a single tight grouping of Panzer III & IV. I’ve had some very succesful and economic defences by doing the usual things, using recon to identify approach, siting choke points, hiding AT, and my defence planning is good with engagement areas and mutual support - my first line usually breaks after 1000 points in attempts to defeat armour blobs to exploit.
My main ability to deal with these tanks seem to be most organically effective with the 57mm Gun M1 AT (Late), but it’s often destroyed very easily. I have not unlocked bazookas (probably related to point 1 having learnt the AI will release units based on the day and I’ve been stuck in a delay battle strategically with limited gains due to the inability to advance an offence)
Is my struggle simply a skill issue with planning and micro…and in this case, can anyone recommend some good learning material?
My composition must be lacking. I usually use 2 45 Div squads, 2 ATs in call in 1, more AT guns and infantry in call in 2, Captured panzer III with more AT in call in 3. I can recognise a lack of artillery but I have found it mostly ineffective and it gets compromised easily drawing the tanks in anyway…and my M3s never stand a chance in support or supported by infantry in the advance.
I’ve managed to breakthrough the high cost of the Lee M3 at least and research the M4 Early before I put down the game tonight. Do I push for the hellcat and keep playing or is the lesson here: skill issue, go back to easy and play around to generate some new tactics? I can easily defeat a standard AI in regular skirmish; for what it’s worth; before armour becomes a problem. So I thought I might have been ready for the challenge!
Enjoying the game, as frustrating as it is.