The
key is combined
arms. The players of FIVE STARS series game and
PANZER GENERAL 2 will need some time to understand the new tricks
of modern warfare. Lots of new units must be put together for building
an invincible army. AND, for the first time, the player is the
real general because now you must build the right army! Yes, in
most PBEM and single scenarios you start with few units and a lot
of prestige... the victory lies in your own hands because you must
build an army which will gain ground and air supremacy for reaching
the victory. So, in these conditions, it's hard to do a step by
step winning strategy... but some general hint and strategies -
yes.
GROUND
STRATEGIES - Your main weapons remain the armour units. The overrun option is
the key word... always try to break enemy lines by a heavy tank offensive,
opponent arty fire is quite ineffective so, with little damage you
can do a quite fair and clear job. Pay attention at ATG's and some
INF units - they can hurt your boys badly! Most tank units can be bought
with additional support - antitank, airdefense and helicopter are the
best choices. But, only the tanks cannot bring the victory. Leaving
armour unit without support means a death signature for them... always
back up with AD and Arty units. The long range of both types help a
lot but pay attention because an Arty unit can shot in defensive way
only one time per turn... having multiple arty units in back-up is
a solution if you have enough money for that... The same thing is applicable
to Air Defense units. In People's General air war is crucial and air
units can do the heaviest damage reported to all " general " games.
If in Panzer General 1& 2 it was possible to win without having
such units, here they are more than useful! Better said, your life
depends on them... having 5-6 AD units is recommended in scenarios
where air superiority belongs to enemy; adding some infantry units
with Air Defense role is more than useful. ATG's now are clearly defensive
units... it's not longer possible to plan an assault based on heavy
ATG's, but building a strong defence is quite possible - better said
- recommended if you are in defence. Recon units have same capabilities
as in Panzer 2 and their role is unchanged... having some of them is
recommended.
Infantry
units remain the main core of your army. Lot's of them are
at your disposal and the choice is completely yours for choosing... my favourite
are the ones with AD capabilities.
AIR STRATEGIES - You can buy only helicopter units! Quite a lot in my opinion, and this is due to their non-prohibitive cost. Adding
reason and combat support capabilities is necessary. Your units
can do a lot of damage and weaken enemy lines only if there is
no AD cover because the copters are extremely vulnerable; same thing against enemy fighters...
And here lies the real beauty of the game - the management of air
combat missions. My favourite are " Wild Weasel" and "Air
Strike " because you can open in this way the path for helicopters
by annihilating enemy AD cover or clearing the sky of opponent's
copters. In campaign mode you can buy air supremacy points - extremely
recommended in my opinion if you run for brilliant victories.
-Wild
Weasel (5
points) Used to attack enemy Air Defenses.
-Recon (2 points) Used to gain
recon in a specific location.
-Air
Strike (10
points) Used to attack ground or helicopter units.
If used to
attack helicopter units, enemy ADA won't engage.
-Defensive
Air Support (6 points) Positioned over friendly units greatly increases their capabilities
during your enemies turn. Defensive air support lasts as long as ammo last
for the air unit (note: all air units have 4 ammo). Can
also be used to chase enemy helicopters away.
-Airlift (4 points) Lets you airlift
units from one friendly airfield to another friendly airfield as long as no
known enemy ADA screen or umbrella one of your airfields.
-Air-mobile (4 points) Allows
units to move via helicopters as long as enemy ADA doesn't keep them grounded.
-----------------------
Trigger
Hexes
-----------------------
Certain city
hexes in a scenario will give a special award to the player who takes them.
Trigger hexes can give you more prestige, more air mission points, more experience
for the unit taking the city, or award a leader to the unit that takes the
city. Because experience and leaders are only given to the unit that actually
activates the trigger hex, it’s a good idea to take cities with units
that don't already have leaders assigned to them.
Prototype
Units:
Prototype Units
are sometimes awarded in between scenario and as a result of activating a trigger
hex (see below). Prototype units don't ever count against your troop cap (the
maximum amount of troops you may have in any given scenario) and will
never gain levels of experience like other troops.
Recon +1
to spotting range, -1 to unit profile.
Combat
Engineer +2
to close attack and defense value. Also entrenches faster
than normal.
Air
Defense +2 to helicopter, air attack and to air defense.
Bridging Gives unit
ability to cross river hexes as rough terrain. Also, allows unit to attack
after entering a river hex.
Helicopter +1 to spotting, +2 to hard
attack value.
Anti-tank +4 hard attack.
Combat
Support +3
to Ammo and reinforcements aren't reduced during play and are replaced to maximum
over strength value.
Forward
Observer Gives
artillery and defensive air support a +4 when attacking and supporting against
enemies adjacent to this unit.
Special
Munitions For Artillery only. +2 to soft and hard attack.
Class
Leader Abilities:
-------------------------------
Aggressive
Manoeuvre:
Tank unit class ability. Gives +1 to movement
range.
Enhanced Radar: Air Defense class ability. Gives +1 to weapon range.
Force Recon: Recon unit class ability. Gives
+1 to spotting range.
Multiple
Fire Support:
Artillery unit class ability. Unit may continue to support and counter-battery
as long as it has ammo to do so.
Stealth
Pilot: Helicopter
unit class ability. Movement range not reduced due to low air superiority levels.
Tank Killer: Anti-tank unit class
ability. Number of shots is not halved when unit fires beyond range 1.
Terrain
Expert:
Recon unit class ability. Gives +4 to Close attack and defense values.
Random Abilities:
------------------------------
Aggressive
Attack:
Available to all. Gives +2 to attack and defense
when initiating attack.
Aggressive
Manoeuvre:
Available to all. +1 movement (cumulative with tank class leader bonus)
All Weather
Combat: Only for helicopters. Number of shots is not halved in storm turns.
Ambusher: Only infantry. If
unit attacks in a close assault, then enemy gets no artillery support fire.
Blitzer: Not for tanks, ADA, or Arty. Grants the
tank class overrun ability.
Bridging: Not for helicopters. Treat
river and streams as rough terrain for movement.
Camouflage
Expert:
Available to all units. -2 profile.
Defender: Helicopters only. If
unit is adjacent to both attacker and defender, then unit can provide support
fire (like artillery).
Determined
Defense:
Available to all. Get +2 to attack and defense when defending.
Devastating
Fire:
Available to all. May shoot twice per turn.
Ferocious
Defender:
For infantry, anti-tank, and ADA. Always gets entrenchment bonus no matter what specials and leaders
the enemy has.
Fire
Discipline:
Available to all. Use ½ shot each time in combat.
First
Strike: Not
available to ADA or Arty. Attacks before enemy unless enemy
has same leader. Support fire, etc. still fires first.
Ground
Taker: Not
available to air, ADA, and Arty. Does 50% more suppression
(which helps cause retreat).
Infiltrator: Not for ADA, light infantry, or Arty. Ignores
ZOC’s.
Influence: Not available in scenario
play. Available to all units. Units can overstrength
for free.
Liberator: (Not for helicopters)
x2 prestige for capturing towns.
Marksman: Helicopters only. Gives
+4 to attack value when attacking.
Motivator: Available to all. Adds
unit's experience level to all adjacent units. If unit is a ground unit,
it supports ground units only. If unit is air unit, it supports air units only.
Overwatch: Tanks only. Shoots at enemy units entering its Zone of Control.
Overwhelming
Attack:
Not available to helicopters or ADA. Unit has slightly better chance of causing kills.
Rangers: Only available to
infantry. Forest, Rough, Hill, Mountain, and Jungle are treated as clear terrain for
movement.
Recon
Movement:
Not available to recon or helicopters. Gives unit the recon class segmented movement power.
Resilience: Available to all. Unit
takes slightly less kills.
The Rock: Not available to helicopters, ADA, or Arty. Unit will not retreat.
Sharpshooter: Not for helicopters, ADA, Artillery, or anti tank units. Shots are not
halved at long range.
Shock
Tactics: Available
to all. Does long term suppression. Suppression lasts all
turn.
Shoot
and Scoot:
Only for artillery. Enemy does not get counter battery fire at this unit.
Sixth
Sense: Not
available to ADA or Arty. Unit can't
be ambushed.
Skilled
Recon: Available
to all units. +1 spotting (cumulative with the recon class leader bonus)
Skirmisher: Not for artillery
or ADA units. Before attack, the number of the opponents shots is reduced by two, but never put below 1.
Smart
Gambler: Available
to all units. Combat losses for attacker will never be more than displayed
and casualties listed will at least be what was displayed
prior to combat (except for hidden supporting units like artillery)
Street
Fighter:
Not for helicopters, ADA, or Artillery. Ignores entrenchment and
terrain bonus of target in town or port. Automatically follows up in
city or port hex if enemy retreats out.
Tunnel
Rats: Only
for infantry units. Ignores entrenchments and entrenches at a faster rate than normal.
Quartermaster: Available to all units. Always
may take replacements up to base
strength. |
