Source: http://www.cheatcc.com/psx/sg/panzer_general.txt
Compiled by Werner Archan

This readme file contains:

(1) Scenario Notes for each Scenario.
(2) Designers' Notes.
(3) General Strategic and Tactical Notes.
(4) Campaign Notes.


SCENARIO NOTES


The discussion of scenarios appears in the order they appear in
the scenario screen.  After the name of each scenario is the
number of turns in the scenario, the minimum objectives required
for an Axis victory, and some playing tips from playtesters (use
them at your own risk!).  For each scenario, the Allied victory
conditions are simply to prevent the Axis from achieving theirs.

There are scenarios to suit a variety of historical interests
or tactical tastes.  We suggest you try the tutorial first to
gain familiarity with the game system, then try other scenarios.
If you want a stiff siege, try Sevastopol.  For the classic
encirclement battle, refight Kiev.  If mobile steppe tank
warfare is your interest, play Kharkov.  Play Kursk for a mass
armor assault, Budapest for a head-on slugging match, Crete for
heavy airborne action, Crete, Norway, Sealion or North Africa
for a naval battle, El Alamein or Torch for a duel in the
desert, Anvil, Anzio or Norway for mountain warfare, D-Day for a
major amphibious operation, Cobra for a fight against hopeless
odds, and the Low Countries or Barbarossa for the classic
blitzkriegs of the war.

1. POLAND--10 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  See the Tutorial.

ALLIES:  The Polish tanks are your strongest units.  The TK3 is
good against soft targets such as infantry and artillery while
the 7TP is strong against hard targets and is formidable against
the weaker German tank units.  Use your tanks to stall the Axis
advance at the Warta River as long as possible, and note that
flank attacks on the Germans from Posen south can often divert
enemy strength.  Sometimes you can even hold Kalisz, but it is
likely to be costly and risky.

2. WARSAW--20 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  First, seize control of the air with a fighter.  Once
you control the skies, your air force can bomb and strafe the
Allies with impunity.  Second, you have air transport
available--use it.  Third, consider raising a pioniere or
bridging engineer unit, if you can afford it, to let you cross
the Vistula at will and help storming fortifications.  Finally,
keep pressing forward at all of your objectives--don't wait
until Warsaw falls to go after the other objectives.

ALLIES:  You have the advantage of being on the defense with
powerful fortifications to protect you.  Unfortunately, your air
force is outclassed and your artillery is outranged.  Keep your
artillery behind the lines where it is protected from direct
attack and can offer defensive fire support for defensive
positions held by infantry or antitank guns or spoil an attack
by bombarding the enemy moving adjacent to your units.  
Garrison the objectives strongly.  Keep armored reserves for
counterattacks, bearing in mind the discussion about Polish
armor for the Poland scenario.  Use your air force
defensively--you can shoot up the enemy bombers but are
outmatched by their fighters.  Your bombers are as good as the
German bombers, but you will need to escort a bomber with a
fighter.

3. NORWAY--25 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  This is a big jump up in difficulty from Warsaw since it
includes a lot of rugged terrain land, air and naval elements,
each important to victory.  Your southern landing group should
concentrate on securing the Oslo region while a small detachment
takes Stavanger and then springboards up the coast, city by
city, with naval help.  These initial successes will gain you
two important airfields.   Press on up the Lagen River valley
through Lillehammer to Trondheim to link up with the northern
landing group.  Sending a force by the overland route up the
Glomma Valley is slow (they will need at least half-tracks)
but, in combination with paradrops further north, can divert
Allied forces from the defense of Trondheim and perhaps gain a
base of attack from which you can attack Namsos from the east.

The fate of the northern group depends a great deal on the
outcome of the naval battle.  Infantry and unarmored artillery
cannot long survive heavy shore bombardment, so an attack on
Trondheim will be limited until the Axis fleet can consolidate
off Bergen and then draw off Allied seapower.  Sometimes the
Axis can even win the naval war and provide shore bombardment
support along the coast, but while the issue is in doubt the
northern force can capture Molde and nearby cities while waiting
for reinforcements from the southern landing group.

The air war is extremely important--you start with a slight
edge which you have to turn into air superiority.  The Norwegian
air force is easy prey, but the British fighters are as good as
yours and will be serious trouble for you if you let them gain
an edge on you in experience.  In particular, don't let them
learn their trade by target practice on unescorted Axis bombers
and air transports.  You may consider requisitioning a level
bomber with a good naval attack rating to help the German Navy
in the Norwegian Sea.  The navy has a tough job, especially
until the northern and southern task forces can unite to face
the Allied fleet that steams to the defense of Trondheim.  The
first thing to remember, however, is to screen your troop
transports from Allied naval attack if you want them to survive
to fight on Norwegian soil.  Your U-boats, particularly if
supported by destroyers, can pose a serious threat to the rear
of the Allied fleet.

ALLIES:  You can win this one if you can successfully block and
delay the Axis advance at a few key chokepoints.  You may be
able to stop the Axis on the beaches in the north, but in the
Oslo region you need to sell yourself dearly     Entrenched
troops in Hamar and Elverum that can hang on when driven out
into the nearby mountains can tie down a large number of Germans
for some time.  The constricted Lagen River valley around
Lillehammer is another good defensive position, particularly if
you can hold your own in the air and get your bombers through
against enemy units floundering in the river hexes.  The next
defensive position you can fall back to is Trondheim itself, and
this is the strongest--your likeliest chance of winning is by
holding it permanently.  If Trondheim falls, you can still force
the Axis to a slow pace as they move up on Namsos.  Steinkjer
can prove to be a thorn in the enemy's side.

Air power should be concentrated in the Trondheim-Namsos area
and backed up by good air defenses to keep the Axis bombers at
bay.  This may mean that Axis paratroops can slip past you, so
be sure to place at least a Norwegian unit as a garrison in each
important city to prevent a threat from springing up in your
rear.  Keep your air units, especially the precious British
fighters, alive and try to gain an experience edge on the
Luftwaffe.

Your fleet is initially superior in the Norwegian Sea until the
rest of the German Navy arrives from the southern coast.  You
should always try to catch unwary Axis transports at sea and
sink them, but you will probably wind up fighting their escorts.
Then you face the choice of trying to defeat and pursue the
Axis fleet or staying close inshore and supporting your ground
forces in the Trondheim area.  Make sure to screen your capital
ships with your escorts, since a U-boat can cause a lot of
damage if it penetrates your defenses.

4. LOW COUNTRIES--30 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  The heart of blitzkrieg is punching through the enemy
line and striking deep beyond it, with second-echelon forces
following behind to mop up.  Lead with recon and tank units
followed by half-track mounted infantry and artillery that are
better able to withstand enemy shooting than truck-mounted
troops.  An important advantage of striking deep is that the
enemy will have to reinforce his rear areas rather than
strengthen his forward positions, and you won't give him time to
entrench very strongly.  You may also get the chance to smash
vulnerable support units and surprise enemy antitank guns or
other units while they are mounted on trucks.  

You have a number of lines of advance to choose from.  At least
a small battlegroup should advance through Luxembourg to Sedan
and ultimately past Maubeuge towards Abbeville, while a large
one must advance from south of Liege to Namur.  Then you may
thrust toward Maubeuge or Brussels, divide and attack both, or
strike in between them directly on Lille and rely on mop-up
forces to secure these two objective cities.  A third line of
advance is from Maastricht towards Brussels, sometimes
continuing towards Lille and merging with the central thrust and
sometimes striking a northerly course to Ostend.  Combined arms
tactics will be necessary to counter the strongly entrenched
Allies and their strong heavy tanks.  Bypass enemy pillboxes and
forts if possible--they can't move so can't do any harm once you
move on.

Seize air superiority and keep it.  Your Stukas will need to be
free to support your ground troops against tough entrenchments
and enemy armor, while your fighters and level bombers should
hone their skills against soft targets once the Allied air force
is eliminated.

ALLIES:   The first goal is to slow the enemy down.
Unfortunately, there is little you can do to stop the German
onslaught in the defensively favorable Ardennes.  Liege is also
ultimately doomed, but at Sedan , Namur, and generally along the
line of the Meuse you can at least delay the crossing for a few
turns while building your defenses.  Meanwhile, your
combined-arms garrisons can dig in at Maubeuge, Brussels and
Lille, with a final defensive position using the favorable
terrain around Calais.  Garrison your rear area cities and
airfields with infantry against enemy paratroops or
air-transportable forces, and don't waste your armor forces in
piecemeal and head-on resistance to the Germans.  Group them at
least in pairs and keep them alive to divert the enemy forces
from attacks on your cities and to counterattack when the enemy
makes a mistake.  Your heavy tanks are better than the Axis
armor.

You can make the most of an inferior air force by using your
fighter force cautiously to pick off exposed enemy bombers
rather than facing the Axis head-on.  Air defense units will be
valuable in making the Germans pay a price for bombing your
cities, and in weakening the enemy air units to facilitate your
fighter attacks.  Keeping an air force as a threat in being will
also encourage the enemy to use fighters to escort bombers
rather than allowing them to attack separately or go after your
bomber missions.  Your bombers could also be held back and sent
out together with the fighters in a mass wave that will stretch
the German fighter force.  

5. FRANCE--26 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  Let's do the "blitzkrieg" again.  Break through the
French defense line at one or more points and keep moving.
Using 3 battlegroups is a natural organization for this battle:
one driving down the coast to Le Havre and Caen, then southeast
to Le Mans, a large battlegroup fighting through to Paris and
then splitting to attack Le Mans via Chartres and Tours via
Orleans, and a third battlegroup pushing to Montargis and taking
Reims and Troyes en route.  An alternate plan is to breakthrough
in force on the Ham-Reims front through Thierry while pinning
along the rest of the front.  After driving to Paris behind the
French troops to the north, the force splits into 3 battlegroups
heading to Caen and Le Havre on the coast, to Le Mans and Tours
via Chartres, and to Orleans and Montargis.

Whatever route you take, speed is essential and you should
apply the blitzkrieg lessons learned in the Low Countries: keep
pushing forward, control the air, and watch out for those French
heavy tanks!

ALLIES:  If you are lucky, the Germans will attack all along
the line and slowly force you back.  It is more likely, though,
that some will get past you and you will have to retreat to get
into action again.  Paris is the key to your defense--the
fortifications, woods and river all contribute to its defensive
strength.  Tours and Le Mans are not as good, but you should
build up their defenses as your final chances to stop the Axis
juggernaut.  If the Axis forces break through the front, try to
get your army on the Somme back to help defend Paris.  Use your
excellent heavy tanks in groups to counterattack and disrupt the
Axis advance--concentrate on soft targets rather than wasting
effort on the German armor.  Your air force is heavily
outnumbered--try to take out the Axis bombers and consider
spending prestige on ground troops and air defenses for your key
strongholds rather than on new aircraft.

6, 38 & 11.. SEALION 40, PLUS & 43--15 turns; Axis: take all
objectives.

AXIS:  In all the Sealion scenarios, naval action is relatively
peripheral compared with airpower, which is essential to ensure
adequate close air support on the ground and ensure that your
paratroops get through to and take their objectives via the air.
Your naval forces can help with some bombardment early on,
after which their main task is to engage the Allied fleet and
keep it from interfering with the land battles, particularly
around London.  Your U-boats can wreak havoc on the Allied
capital ships if the Allied escorts can be cleared away.

Your time is limited, so you should attempt to seize all your
objectives concurrently rather than in sequence.  The least
diversion could be fatal.  Once you have secured a beachhead,
divide your forces into 4 battlegroups.  The first battlegroup,
landing in the east, is to take Canterbury and then assist with
artillery in the attack on London from the east, but its main
thrust actually passes by London across the Thames and heads
toward Norwich, supported by the nearby naval task force.  A
bridging unit can be quite useful.  The second  battlegroup will
assault London from the south, and is weighted towards artillery
and infantry units but will include some tanks to help deal with
Allied armor.

The third and fourth battlegroups are smaller and advance on
Birmingham and Bristol respectively, although initially they
advance jointly on Winchester, Newbury and Oxford before
splitting.  The third battlegroup can be aided by advance
airborne landings near Birmingham, or the parachute forces can
be used to seize Peterborough or Harwich and then Norwich, in
which case the first battlegroup encircles London from the north
rather than continuing north to Norwich.

Sealion Plus is easier because the presence of the Italian
fleet speeds the destruction of the Allied navy, while in
Sealion 43 the Allies are much better prepared and the fight
will be tougher.

ALLIES:  While it is best to catch the Axis ground troops in
their transports with your air or naval forces or force them to
surrender on the beaches, this is a risky strategy and it is
likely that they will obtain secure footholds from Dover to
Portsmouth regardless of your efforts.  Concentrate any early
attacks on artillery, pionieres and engineers--the most
essential troops for the Axis attack on London.  Your overall
strategy will be to use the enormous fortress of London and its
garrison to block their direct advance, while using additional
forces to keep them from slipping around it.  Holding onto
London till turn 12 isn't worth much if the Germans are already
in the Midlands.  Your strongest defense line once the Axis have
secured a lodgment on English soil will run from London along
the Thames to Newby and Winchester.  While you hold the enemy
advance on this line for several turns, you will be able to dig
in blocking forces and garrisons to defend the approaches to
Bristol and, especially, Birmingham.  Don't forget the air
defenses!

Your air force is relatively good, and in 1943 the American air
force can play a significant role if it survives long enough to
catch up in experience.  Contest Axis air superiority whenever
feasible, but early on try to pick off or hunt down the
troublesome Axis paratroops to keep your rear areas secure..

Since the key battles will be inland, the Axis navy will play a
small part.  Your navy can initially either try to win naval
superiority or instead concentrate on supporting your defense
line with shore bombardment.  The choice involves a tradeoff and
either option can pay off.

7. NORTH AFRICA--23 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  Blitzkrieg is again the watchword--thrust forward not
only along the coast but across the desert by the trails headed
to Mechili and Bir Hacheim.  Start softening up Tobruk as early
as you can, but don't let it delay you long since you need to
keep pushing your forward elements east and face the choice of
slogging through the defended coastal area or marching across
the desert.  It's a long way to Mersa Matruh.   You can use the
Italians to scout ahead, but they lack the equipment to assault
the strong British positions and work best mopping up bypassed
enemy units.  

Pay attention to logistics in the desert--once you run out of
ammo and fuel, it will take a lot of time to come back up to par
and you don't have much time to spare. Enemy airpower can pound
you as you struggle across the desert, so use your air force to
help get your troops into attack positions but keep them busy
bombing and strafing while doing so.  Your fleet, aided by air
power, can beat the Brits and help with shore bombardment later
in the battle when you will need it most as your struggle out of
the desert to confront heavily entrenched defenses.

ALLIES:   A good combination of stiff defense and mobile
defense will keep the Axis moving forward in very short steps
along the coast.  If you force the Allies to a crawl along the
coast, they will have to risk the desert, where skillful use of
your level bomber force can stop them by destroying the ammo and
fuel of key units.  Armored counterattacks from the coast into
the desert will also make it hard for the Axis to press forward
while their flanks are vulnerable.

Preserve your air force, building up as much experience as
possible,  and let the air defense units carry a lot of the
weight..  The Axis will need airpower most late in the battle,
and it is crucial that you still have at least some fighter
strength left at that time to counter theirs.    Your naval
forces should defend your land forces from interference by the
Axis fleet.  Again, saving some reserves for the late stages of
the battle could prove useful.

8. MIDDLE EAST--26 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  This is a race--airpower plays a big role in
reconnaissance, softening up obstacles and in ensuring your
parachute and air-transportable forces can get deep into the
enemy's rear area.  The biggest risk is always running into
enemy air defenses and then getting jumped by their fighters.
You've been warned!  Furthermore, don't waste your SIGs' ammo,
since they are slow to reload.  Keep them near the forefront of
the advance and use them when you really need a strong artillery
strike against a city.

Your initial organization should start with two battlegroups.
While the navy and air force win the battle in the
Mediterranean, the smaller battlegroup will storm through Haifa
up to Beirut.  The stronger battlegroup strikes through
Jerusalem and Damascus and then heads on to Baghdad for the
final battle.  Since the desert routes are narrow and it is hard
to fully deploy, quality counts for more than quantity in this
spearhead.  You may want to spare some troops to advance
directly east across the desert to link up with your paratroops
and perhaps pick up a city on the way.  Try to secure an
airfield in Iraq as early as you can so you can base your air
force there.

ALLIES:    The Baghdad position is your ultimate stronghold and
well-protected  by the Tigris River and flanking deserts--the
rest of the Allied army is only there to make sure the Axis get
to Baghdad without the 4 to 7 turns they will need to deploy and
take it.  So don't rush your entrenched troops forward towards
the enemy--dig in and make them dig you out to get past,
fortifying Damascus, Anah and Baghdad for multiple lines of
defense once the Axis take Jerusalem.  Defense in depth is a
sound strategy in this scenario, coupled with counterattacks if
the Axis overextend themselves.  For example, if they bypass
your cities without adequately screening them, surprise
counterattacks to retake lost cities could be successful and
divert a large number of Axis troops.

You may want to ensure at least part of your air force survives
until the enemy is moving on Baghdad, when his planes will have
to fly back a long way to refuel and you may be able to gain
local superiority.  The disadvantage is that the Axis air force
will have gained significantly more experience than yours while
fighting its way across the Middle East.  Because the Axis needs
airfields, make sure yours are guarded against airborne attacks.

9. EL ALAMEIN--26 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  It's a long, long way to Cairo.  Press Tobruk while
stretching the front to Bir Hacheim in order to force a
breakthrough.  Send tracked vehicles south of the escarpment
across the desert as well as advancing along the coast.  Drop
detachments off at enemy centers of resistance to keep them from
being reinforced but keep the spearheads moving.  Once you break
through the defile at El Alamein, send your main forces to Cairo
down both main roads and a small battlegroup east to take
Alexandria.  

Using your air force to protect your ground troops is vital in
the desert--especially when they are mounted in trucks.  Taking
airfields for your air force should be a high priority.

ALLIES:  Delay at Bir Hacheim and Tobruk as long as you can,
then retreat step by step, making the Axis pay for each step.
Make your stand between the Qattara Depression and El
Alamein--make sure to have infantry and antitank units start
digging in early on so they will be ready when the Axis
spearheads arrive.  Use your air force to pound the enemy in the
desert, particularly if they try to circle around the El Alamein
position to the south.

10.  CAUCASUS--30 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  Air power is key--use fighters to cut down the enemy air
force and tactical bombers to weaken enemy armor in their
defensive positions.  The battle is divided into northern and
southern theaters.  Although the terrain is more open in the
north, it is in the south that you must make the greatest
advances, and taking too long to punch through the mountains can
cost you the chance of decisive victory.

In the south, send one battlegroup past Tbilisi directly on
Grozny and another battlegroup up the road to Mozdok to take
Grozny in the rear. After linking up at Grozny, the Caucasus
army group can strike through Blagdernoe and Elista to link up
with the northern army group at Stalingrad, taking other cities
such as Ilinka, Kotelnikovo, and Jutovo en route.  

The northern army group is divided into two battlegroups by the
Donets River. The battlegroup north of the Donets should drive
on Stalingrad between the Donets and Don Rivers, while the
southern battlegroup storms Rostov on the coast and then turns
east to Stalingrad.

ALLIES:  Air defense, artillery and tanks are your defensive
mainstays in this scenario.   Conserve your air force for the
long haul--working with the help of air defense units, you may
be able to pick off damaged Axis bombers.  Overall strategy
differs between the north and the south.  In the open plains of
the northern theater, use your cities as defensive bastions that
bleed the enemy dry as they advance.  In the south, your best
defensive position is in the Caucasus mountains, and you will
need to devote enough reinforcements to the southern forces to
ensure that the Germans don't force you back into open country.

11. SEALION (43)--see 6. SEALION(40).

12. TORCH--24 turns; Axis: hold Tunis + 2 objectives.

AXIS:  The Vichy French in North Africa have surrendered to the
Allies and both sides are racing to pick up the pieces.  The
Americans are mostly inexperienced, but they have good equipment
and outnumber you, especially in the air.  Due to air
inferiority, you must coordinate your air units carefully and
use them selectively when it counts.

The obvious strategy is to use detachments to delay the
Americans while you take up a  defensive position on the east
bank of the Medjerda River with air defense and artillery
support.  Your armored forces can concentrate further south
around Gafsa to strike west and then north through the valleys
east of Biskra.  Time correctly, this force can hit the Allied
support units in the flank, cause serious damage and derail the
Allied offensive along the Medjerda.

ALLIES:  With the advantages of air and naval superiority, you
can afford straightforward hammering against the Axis defenses
to blood your troops and eventually drive the Axis into the sea.
Note that the Afrika Korps units are veterans, however, and
that the Tigers they field here are extremely tough.

13. HUSKY--21 turns; Axis: hold 2 objectives.

AXIS: The Allies are ashore in Sicily and Italy is next.
Husky--the invasion of Sicily and Italy by the Allies--is the
first of the Western fight or flight battles: this means that
your main option is whether to fight to hold your initial
position or fall back to a more defensible location.  This
series of battles is about holding on grimly against an enemy
that, at least in quantity if not in quality, has an advantage
on land, sea and air.  In Husky, the flight option is to pull
back to Italy and try to set up a tough defensive line,
preferably based on the inland cities out of the reach of naval
bombardment such as Foggia and Totenza with infantry and
antitank units entrenched and heavily bolstered by air defense
units and artillery.  

The fight option is to hold in both Sicily and Italy (hard to
do) or defend one and give up the other--pulling out of Sicily
is the usual choice.  Instead of fleeing from enemy landings,
you try to drive them into the sea and keep hammering them with
your limited but concentrated strength.

Either way, you need to counter the overwhelming Allied air
threat and you need to get more heavy tanks to help pick off
weak Allied units.

ALLIES: This scenario is an exercise in overwhelming the enemy
by multiple amphibious invasions.  Although your troops are less
experienced, in all other respects you have advantages that you
can turn into victory objectives taken.  You can land anywhere
you please on the Sicilian and Italian coasts and support your
forces with air and naval bombardment.  But don't delay in
Sicily before getting serious about conquering Italy, and don't
ignore the Axis air force.  

14. ANZIO--14 turns; Axis: hold Rome plus 2 objectives.

AXIS: Although still at an overall disadvantage, at Anzio,
south of Rome, you can strike back at the Allies by driving
their landing forces back into the  sea.  Since the Allied
battleships will soon open fire, attack immediately while you
can.  Except perhaps at Lanciano, nowhere else on the Gustav
Line, from Formia to Lanciano, can you attack.  

Guard Rome and Pescara carefully--with Anzio taken, you may be
able to hold off the Allied onslaught.  Consider placing
garrisons in rear area cities to deal with infiltrators or
paratroops.  Use  your air power sparingly so you will have it
available as a threat to the Allied bombers.

ALLIES:  Use your combination of strength and mobility to press
the enemy and push through gaps.  Using naval power, you can
unhinge the line at Formia and roll it up to Cassino, then march
on Rome.  Meanwhile, your battleships keep the Axis at bay in
the Anzio area.

15. D-DAY (OVERLORD)--15 Turns; Axis: Hold 2 Objectives.

AXIS: This is the second Western fight or flight scenario--you
must defend three French cities for fifteen turns, while trying
to keep your units alive.  Your good quality reserves are well
behind the line, subject to Allied air attack as they move up
toward the coast.  It is unlikely that you can stop the enemy on
the beaches or drive him back into the sea--a better chance of
winning may be to concentrate heavy combined arms defenses
around the victory objectives you are supposed to defend, or at
least 2 of the 3.  Note that you can disband bypassed
fortifications to allow you to build new units.

ALLIES:  Air, land and sea, your overwhelming might has
descended on the Norman coast.  Avoid any serious mistakes, and
you should easily win the battle.

16. ANVIL--23 turns; Axis: hold 2 objectives.

AXIS:  Heavy losses are to be expected as your forces are put
to the test, so save prestige for replacements.  Rugged terrain
and experienced units are your only assets and hope of staying
alive against the Franco-American onslaught, and your safest
strategic goal is a marginal victory based on holding Grenoble
and St. Vallier at the end of the battle.  Don't let your units
stand and die on the coast--get them into successive defense
lines based on the cities and rivers in the hills and mountains.
Holding on to airfields early on, however, will help you by
forcing the Allied air units to return to their distant bases to
refuel.

ALLIES:  A lot of tough terrain and a few tough Germans await
you in southern France.   Although the ground is ideal for
defense, recon and ground attacks by your air force will help
neutralize this defensive advantage. Securing an airfield on the
mainland is a high priority to avoid having to fly south to
refuel.  

There are really only two main routes north: one east of the
Rhone and another through Sisteron, where a number of routes
from the coast converge.  The mountainous trails further east
can be easily blocked and will support an advance on only a
one-unit frontage.  Move quickly, because Grenoble and St.
Vallier are each tough defensive positions to be cracked.

17. ARDENNES (THE BULGE)--32 turns; Axis: take all objectives
but Brussels.

AXIS:  Bad weather is a key factor but a mixed blessing in this
famous battle.  It freezes rivers and protects you from Allied
airpower, but your key spearhead units will consume fuel at a
disturbingly high rate.  The terrain is rugged but has numerous
roads, an interesting challenge for both sides.  You need to
strike quickly before Allied reinforcements can intervene, so
force breakthroughs and let the rear-echelon units mop up
isolated enemy left behind you as you advance.  

The easiest route in the north is through Malmedy and Spa, but
this leaves a dangerously large Allied force on your northern
flank.  The main battlegroup must fight through and take Liege
before it can be reinforced, then sweep down upon Namur from the
north before linking up with the southern battlegroup and
continuing around the Dyle River through Nivelles to Brussels.
The southern battlegroup must take Bastogne ("Nuts!" and
Rochefort before joining up for the final push from Namur.

ALLIES:  Bad weather, bad terrain and good defensive tactics
will fatally slow the German advance through the Ardennes and
allow reinforcements to swing the tide of battle.  Smashing Axis
airpower early on is a priority so you can attack their ground
units on the march with impunity.  

Delay the enemy at Bastogne and in the northern towns as much
as possible, while using your remaining front line troops to
harass the flank and rear of the advancing Germans.  This may
give you the time you need to prepare an appropriate reception
for the enemy at Liege and Rochefort.

18. COBRA--25 turns; Axis: hold 3 objectives.

AXIS:  The Allies need to break out and race across France to
their objectives, while you need to stop or delay them despite
serious inferiority across the board.  An overall offensive must
be ruled out--your only good attacks will be against unwary
mounted infantry, artillery and the like as they spread out in
their advance across France.  Even holding the line won't work
for long.  A better course is to pull back to fortify and
entrench in your objectives as strongly as you can and trade
space for what little time the Allies will let you have, but
don't expose your moving troops to Allied air attack while
mounted up if you can help it.  Good luck!

ALLIES: Despite your superior strength, you can't ignore the
time factor.  You need to explode across France in several
directions to take all the vicotry objectives you need.  One
battlegroup moves south to storm Nantes, another crosses the
Seine and moves to Amiens, while the third strikes southeast to
Paris and Orleans.  Your first wave should ignore isolated Axis
infantry not directly in their path and leave these for the
second-line units to mop up.  

19. MARKET-GARDEN--16 turns; Axis: take Arnhem.

AXIS:  As Arnhem is the most important objective on the map,
smashing the Allied defensive perimeter there is your number one
priority.  Try to close in on Oosterbeek quickly to keep the
Allies from raising new units there and drive the paratroopers
out of Arnhem.  

You need to pick an overall defense line, preferably all
securely behind a river--it is unlikely that you will be able to
drive the Allies around Nijmegen back across the Meuse, but the
Waal is a practical defense line and the Rhine serves in the
last resort.  Your forces in the west need to slow the Allied
advance sufficiently for you to consolidate the Arnhem area and
relieve your garrison in Nijmegen.  The small force at Gembert
is likely to be engulfed if it directly challenges the enemy,
but it may be able to worry the enemy's flank and draw off some
of his forces.  Alternatively, it could move back quickly to
help in the attack on the Allies around Nijmegen.  Your
battlegroup at Nijmegen needs armor to help defeat the
paratroops and artillery, so raising a unit in the area may be
necessary.

Your small airforce must be nimble enough to avoid getting
wiped out--air defense units are the key to deflecting some of
that Allied airpower from vulnerable targets, but be aware that
the Allied aircraft are increasingly resistant to damage.

ALLIES:  With airpower and reinforcements of armor, antitank
guns, artillery and luck, you may be able to hold the
Arnhem-Oosterbeek perimeter and permanently tie up the Germans
on the east bank of the Rhine.  Taking and holding Nijmegen is
easier because the force balance is more favorable, but you will
need the main army to come up quickly to fully secure the
Nijmegen area and push on to Arnhem.  Don't let too much ground
strength be diverted against weakly-defended secondary
objectives.  Your massive air force should be able to take care
of any particularly strong resistance in the western part of the
battlefield.

20. BERLIN WEST--13 turns; Axis: hold Berlin & 5 other
objectives.

AXIS:  To hold 5 objectives and Berlin at the battle's end you
will need to make a stand at the Rhine while the forces near
Berlin move up as reinforcements.  You will need strong
artillery, air and air defense cover to counter the Allied
onslaught, using your armor for local counterattacks to cripple
the vulnerable enemy infantry the Allies will need to dig you
out of your defenses.

Although a defensive strategy with purely local
counterattacks can win the battle, you may also try strategic
counter-offensives to keep the Allies off balance and win
valuable time.  Your heavy tanks remain powerful units if
adequately protected from air attack--armored thrusts south from
Holland and across the Rhine near Karlsruhe and Stuttgart when
the enemy weakens his forces in those areas can draw off enemy
forces from the crucial central sector of the Rhine for several
turns.  You may even be able to wreak havoc among the artillery
in the enemy rear areas or seize an objective.

21. BALKANS--25 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  You have numerous allied Italian and Bulgarian units
available to you, but your Germans will still have to do the
toughest fighting.  Yugoslavian resistance will be crushed by an
advance into Yugoslavia from all sides, but, unless you switch
forces towards Greece as early as practicable and make the
necessary air and naval support available, you could find
yourself unable to secure Greece by your deadline.  To avoid
this, the German troops in the eastern battlegroups should shift
towards Greece as early as possible, letting your Bulgarian
troops mop up resistance further north.  You may even initially
only screen Kragujevac to allow the troops nearby to head
directly for the ultimately decisive theater.

ALLIES:  Heavily reinforce all objective cities     You have
serious air inferiority and need to take care of your air force
if you want planes available when you need them to defend
Greece.  

To the extent you have the strength to score "kills," pick on
the Italians, especially early on at the Albanian front, and the
Bulgarians when they arrive at your fortifications near
Thessaloniki.  Use your Matilda IIs and air defense units wisely,
and note that Yugoslav infantry are inexpensive and very useful for
harassing Axis rear areas so long as they survive.  

22. CRETE--13 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  Your first priority is to get the paratroops safely
landed on the island and to screen your naval transports from
hostile warships.  Although sometimes the Axis fleet can win the
naval battle, particularly if air power is diverted to help it,
it is more likely that the result will be a draw or the fleet
will sacrifice itself to get the ground troops ashore on Crete.
Although spreading out the landings is desirable, it may not be
practical or safe if the Allied naval threat is severe.  The
paratroops will usually land and attack isolated cities in
groups supported by air power while the regular army lands and
fights its way east from the west end of the island.  Speed is
important.

ALLIES:  Sinking naval transport is your first priority, and
you second is to sink the Axis fleet so it is you rather than
they who can provide shore bombardment.  Build up your air force
to keep the German air units occupied and prevent them from
influencing the land battle.  When the Axis troops land, see if
you can hit them effectively on the beaches, but don't sacrifice
high entrenchment levels for this purpsoe.

23. BARBAROSSA--23 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  This is a race to Smolensk and little time can be
wasted.  Focus on speed and rely on quality.  Once across the
Bug and Narew Rivers, move full speed east.  The northern
battlegroup can quickly take Grodno and the airfield, but should
push on east rather than turning south to help against
Volkovysk.  It should drive forward to Vilna and then Postavy
before joining with the southern battlegroup to thrust to
Smolensk.

The southern battlegroup is large and it has more work to do.
The front-line Soviet units need to be gotten rid of, but keep
in mind the need to push forward rather than chasing after
crippled enemy units.  The first big battle should be at
Volkovysk and include Soviet armor reinforcements--some of their
tanks are powerful, and should be weakened by air strikes before
you venture to attack them with your armor.  After taking
Volkovysk, the southern battlegroup wil push on to Minsk,
letting rear-echelon units clean up around Baranovichi.  The
attack on Minsk should not delay the continuing march on
Smolensk, which will develop into a joint attack by both
battlegroups between the Dvina and Dniepr Rivers.

ALLIES:  Don't try to hold at the initial lines for long--
fall back to the bad terrain west of Vilna in the north and west
of Volkovysk in the south.  Save your mobile units by pulling them
back to the Vilna-Lide-Baranovichi line while fortifying Minsk and
Smolensk.  Letting your KV-2 dig in between the Dvina and the
Dniepr is a good idea, particularly if it is supported with more
of a defense line.

Because of the nature of the terrain, you will often have the
chance to infiltrate units behind German lines, or to launch
limited counterattacks from peripheral cities such as Pinsk.
Cavalry is useful in this role.  Your air force is outclassed
but may be able to overcome the Germans by massing against
single air units.  Your well-armored heavy tanks can by
themselves block or slow the enemy advance for a turn or two, so
use them for that purpose but pull them out before they are
destroyed.

24. KIEV--28 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  Fortunately, you will be able to achieve decisive air
superiority in this battle.  So soften up the Soviets around
Kiev with airpower, secure Zhitomir and Boguslav with garrisons,
and put pressure on the Red Army massed around Kiev.  Update
your older equipment in preparation for a tough fight around
Kiev.  Your northern force (on the left-hand side of this map)
should split into  two battlegroups, one attacking through
Konotop to Rumnyr and then fanning out to take Lokhvitsa,
Mirgorod and  Priluki while the other moves through Gorodnya to
cross the Seym River at Chernigov and take Kiev in the rear.  
Your forces in the south (on the right of the map) should tie
down the Soviets facing them and gain what ground they can.  The
decisive final battle of this encirclement will be, as it was
historically, around Kiev.

ALLIES:  Your forces are widely spread out--while you need
to garrison the important cities, you will need to concentrate
your better combat units at decisive points to contest the Axis
assault.  The Seym River line near Konotop and near Chernigov is
a solid defensive position if adequately supported with armor,
and you should be able to delay the Axis for some time.  In the
Kiev area, you could use the strength of your massive army to
entrench or launch a counteroffensive against the Germans
nearby.  

The Axis troops are more experienced than yours--giving
your troops some experience before the Axis close in from all
sides is a good idea.  Your air force, unfortunately, is
outmatched and you will need to rely on air defenses to provide
protection from Axis bombing and strafing.

25, 27, 31, & 35. MOSCOW 1941, 1942, 1943 & Early
Moscow(41)--22, 23, 21, & 24 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  These scenarios differ in terms of the extent of the
Soviet defenses and Axis deployments, but the objectives remain
consistent.  You want to break through enemy defense lines
quickly and us these corridors to push forward to your
objectives.  One approach divides the Axis forces into 5
battlegroups: (1) in the north, either pushing toward Nelidova
or screening off this sector and passing south of the forests to
reinforce the attack on Rzhev and then Mozhaysk; (2) forces
around Smolensk which clear out the area between the rivers
before taking Rzhev and Mozhaysk, supporting the attack on
Vyazma, and attacking Moscow from the west; (3) troops deployed
north of Roslavl which advance through Vyazma and Obninsk to
attack Moscow from the south and southwest, perhaps even moving
troops to take Moscow in the rear; (4) units south of Roslavl,
which take Kirov and then Kaluga, then proceeding to support the
attack on Tula to the south, Obninsk to the north, or Moscow to
the northeast; and (5) the southern battlegroup, which drives
east toward Tula and usually will not have the time to
participate in action near Moscow.

ALLIES:   Most of your units entrenched in fortifications or
rugged terrain should stay there--don't move heavily entrenched
units without good cause.  Retreat only as a result of combat,
at which time the unit should move to safety and obtain
replacements.  Artillery and air defense units at objective
cities will make the Axis assault more cautiously and gain time,
while patrolling armor should be used to challenge attempts to
encircle or bring up infantry to storm Soviet-held cities. Try
to make the Axis disperse their spearheads to attack your
defenses and respond to your counterstrokes.  Conserve at least
part of your air force to contest the skies over Moscow and hope
for bad weather.

26. SEVASTOPOL--17 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  Airpower is key in order to hit the Soviet artillery,
which otherwise will inflict heavy losses on your infantry as it
attacks city and fortification hexes.  

The way to deal with fortified lines is to force a single
breach several hexes wide, pass your forces through, and force
the enemy to retreat or come out to fight you.  To shorten your
front and capture a vital objective, taking Bartenevka must be
your first objective.  It can be done quickly with relatively
few units.  Crossing the fortified lines and the Alma River is
the next goal, which could be most safely done on a broad front
between Inkerman and Novyi Shuli.  Once that is done, the
armored forces can swing south around Sevastopol past Nikoaevka,
destroying Soviet units in the open ground, while the infantry
(especially the pionieres) and artillery begin the city fight
for Sevastopol on as broad a front as possible in order to speed
the victory.

ALLIES:  While losing Bartenovka is inevitable if the Axis
really want to take it, otherwise you must yield no ground.
Stop the enemy in the river hexes and attack them while they are
there with heavy armor.  Except for units entrenching in
Sevastopol's victory hexes and adjacent hexes, mobilize your
rear area troops to come forward and defend the front lines.

27. MOSCOW(42)--see 25. MOSCOW(41).

28. STALINGRAD--31 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  Your strategy will be three pincers converging on
Stalingrad.  The first battlegroup, north of the Donets, can
capture Rossosh and Voronezh and then drive along the Don to
Stalingrad.  The second battlegroup, immediately south of the
Donets, should attack toward Millerovo and then Stalingrad,
while the third battlegroup, consisting of the more southerly
units, should converge on Rostov and then storm up the Don to
Stalingrad.  Air superiority, as always, is important to protect
your own forces and soften up Soviet entrenchments.

ALLIES:  Make the Axis pay for the ground they take by focusing
on garrisoning your cities with strong defenses, including
artillery and air defenses and tanks posted nearby to
counterattack vulnerable enemy units.

29. KHARKOV--22 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  This is a highly fluid battle in its early stages as
your counteroffensive gains as much ground as possible before
the Soviets can consolidate.  You need to hurry to recapture
Kharkov and especially Belgorod from the enemy.  Strategic plans
can differ.  According to one plan, the westernmost battlegroup
advances on the axis Pereshchepino-Krasnograd-Lyubotin and
ultimately attacks Kharkov from the west and northwest, the
battlegroup at Pavlograd and that at Krasnoarmeyskoye converge
on Krasnopavlovka and then drive up to Kharkov from the south,
the fourth battlegroup moves through Izyum to attack Kharkov
from the southeast, and the fifth battlegroup drives through
Kupyansk to Belgorod, which may already have been secured by
parachutists taking advantage of bad weather to escape detection
by Soviet aircraft..

ALLIES: Your great winter offensive overextended itself and now
you are paying the price.  You cannot hold your advanced
positions, but a precipitate retreat lets the Axis roll forward
too freely.  Concentrate in defensible positions near
Pereshchepino and Krasnopavlovka.  Izyum and Kharkov itself are
good defensive positions.  Use your heavy tanks aggressively in
the battle.

30. KURSK--20 turns; Axis: hold one objective.

AXIS:  Your bombers will play a key role in the attack towards
Kursk so preserve their strength and knock out enemy fighters to
help gian air superiority early on.  Your northern battlegroup
will break through the strong Soviet defenses between Novosil
and Kromry and then have free scope to continue on to
Maloarkhangelsk and ultimately attack Kursk from the north.  At
the same time, the southern battlegroup will break through the
defenses around Prokhorovka on its way to Kursk and Lgov from
the south.

Artillery and air bombardment will be necessary to dislodge the
stubborn Russians from their entrenchments, so keep your
supporting units close by.  You need to capture your objectives
with reasonable speed to preempt a Soviet counterattack, and
near the city of Rylsk you need to be sure that no Allied
counterattack develops.  Reinforce this city and knock out as
much of the Soviet artillery in that sector as you can.

ALLIES:  Back up your heavily entrenched line with as much
artillery as possible, screened by other units from both ground
and air attacks. Artillery can cripple advancing infantry
intending to attack your defense works.  Play your air force
carefully, and use air defense units to provide ground forces,
especially artillery, with protection.

Your goal is to hold while the Axis batter themselves against
your fortifications.  With luck you can hold Prokhorovka in the
south, but you are likely to lose ground in the more open
northern sector before reinforcements arrive in strength..

31. MOSCOW(43)--see 25. MOSCOW(41).

32. BYELORUSSIA--23 turns; Axis:  hold Warsaw.

AXIS:  This is familiar ground: Barbarossa in reverse.  You
start with decent entrenchments and should make the most of them
before falling back behind the Dniepr-Dvina river line to a new
defensive position.  Airpower is once again important, and with
skill and luck, your superior aircraft will enable you to win
air superiority against the enemy fighters and destroy their
bomber force.  

Begin by bringing the small armored group at Minsk forward to
Borisov to help keep the partisans at bay.  The front line is
precarious.  Mogilev will hold out for some time, but VItebsk is
doomed--the main question is whether to stand and fight or fall
back.   While a forward "stand or die" defense would let you
hold on to those prestigious cities for a while, the "big step
back" strategy in due course can also pay off by relieving the
pressure on your line and forcing the Soviets to either separate
their armor from their infantry and support units or to bring
them forward in vulnerable trucks susceptible to air, artillery
and armored attack.  Spend what time you have entrenching
defenders in Minsk and other rear-area cities.  If you get
driven back too quickly, Warsaw is a strong defensive position
where you can consolidate for a last stand.

ALLIES:  Mogilev will be tricky to take by a frontal assault,
but elsewhere you can push the Axis hard.  Storm Vitebsk and try
to drive the Axis center and left wing into the river.  Use your
partisans to take Borisov if possible, otherwise keep them in
the woods but position them where they can interfere with Axis
movement between the woods.  

Once you force a gap, remember the lessons of blitzkrieg you
learned from the Germans the hard way--when a gap opens, push
forward relentlessly and bypass isolated points of resistance.  
One northern and one southern thrust is a standard plan.  You
will need to use trucks to move quickly enough forward, but be
aware of the risks involved--in particular, watch out for the
Tigers and Panthers prowling the Byelorussian countryside.  

33. BUDAPEST--20 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  This is set up as a head-on fight, but you can turn it
into an encirclement battle if you can turn the Allied line at
the city of Slofok on Lake Balaton.  Open a corridor past the
Soviet left wing and do an end-run to the city of Simontornya.
From there, your strike force can sent a detachment to take
Dunafoldvar and Solt which will then push west along the far
bank of the Danube while the bulk of this battlegroup cuts
behind the Soviet line to attack towards Rackeve.  When the
Soviets leave their entrenchments to mass to defend Aba, they
lose their defensive advantage and you can close in on them from
both sides for a crushing victory.  The downside of this
strategy is that the flanking force can become bogged down or
the forces left behind might not be sufficinet to hold the line.

ALLIES:  Start by putting a garrison in Slofok and concentrate
on taking the city of Tatabanya first.  Since the German left
wing is weak, this should happen quickly and open a gap in the
line through which the Allies can push troops headed for Zirc
and Gyor.  The added prestige you earn from these successes may
be enough to add additional strength before turning back north
to attack the Germans near Szekesfehervar.  

Your heavy tanks remain a strong point you should plan around.
Unfortunately, your air force is not so good, but LA-7's and Yak
9's can counter the enemy's bombers and thus force him to escort
his bombers.

34. BERLIN EAST--13 turns; Axis: hold Berlin & 5 other
objectives.

AXIS:  You need to hold Berlin and 5 other objectives, but
Berlin is crucial so keep the Soviets on the other side of the
Oder as long as you can.  Counterattacks through gaps in the Red
lines toward the rear objectives can draw off enemy forces (and
you may get lucky and take objectives).

ALLIES:  You have superior strength but limited time.  The
Germans are spread fairly thin except around Berlin, so you can
make good time seizing the other objectives.  But don't let so
many units chase after other objectives that you wind up
attacking Berlin too late, and make sure the Germans don't slip
past your lines to seize objectives in your rear areas.  

35. BERLIN--13 turns; Axis: hold Berlin.

AXIS:  Berlin is crucial.  You will have to defend firmly
against the Soviets in the east, but in the west you have enough
space for an elastic defense--trade space for time.  There are
many defensive obstacles on the road to Berlin, so use
successive strongpoints to slow the advance of the western
Allies while conserving your strength so it will last through
the battle.  Remember that bad weather gives you more freedom of
movement because Allied airpower is ineffective.

ALLIES:  With superior forces consisting of veteran troops on
both fronts, you should press the Germans relentlessly and drive
on Berlin.  Rear-echelon units can mop up isolated German
defenders not already pulverized by airpower, and your air
superiority will ensure that even small detachments can capture
secondary objectives.

36. WASHINGTON--22 turns; Axis: take all objectives.

AXIS:  This is the final battle--you will need to use everything
you have to storm Washington and win decisively.  Your
paratroops and air force should carry the attack behind enemy
lines, seizing ill-defended cities and airfields and attacking
vulnerable support units.  Your veterans have more experience
than the enemy troops, although the Allies are numerically
strong.

You may want to advance on Washington using a 4-pronged attack.
The westernmost landing group lands near and captures Port
Tobacco, then moves to Potomac Heights and divides into two
groups: one crosses the Potomac River to capture South Arlington
and then strike Washington from the southwest while the other
follows the east bank of the Potomac to Anacostia to join the
attack on Washington from the southeast.  The landing group at
Lexington Park takes that city and then thrusts up the main road
through Brandywine to attack Washington from the east.  The
forces moving up the Potomac may be able to help this
battlegroup advance by turning the flank of the defenses at
Brandywine.  The last landing group steams up Chesapeake Bay to
a landing site near West River or Annapolis and drive west
towards a position northeast of Washington from which they can
attack the city directly or encircle it.

Whatever your plan, Washington is a big city and make sure to
allocate enough time for your troops to arrive there and fight
their way through it, hex by hex.

ALLIES:  If you can gain air superiority, you can slow the
Germans enough to save the capital.  Protect your British
aircraft since you can't build   any more.  In the air, knocking
out the enemy paratroops can save you a lot of headaches when
they drop behind your lines.  Your land strategy should be
defense in depth--move units not defending towns or cities south
to make defensive stands at Brandywine, Port Tobacco and Owings.
If you can slow the Germans enough, they will not have the time
to push their panzers down Pennsylvania Avenue.

37. EARLY MOSCOW--24 turns; see 25. MOSCOW 41.

38. SEALION PLUS--see 6. SEALION(40).


END OF SCENARIO LIST

----------------------------------------------------------------

  DESIGNERS' NOTES

PANZER GENERAL was conceived as a easy-to-play but
challenging-to-master tactical/operational wargame in which the
player, taking the role of a general, leads an increasingly
experienced combined arms force all the way through World War 2
in Europe.  

We wanted a realistic feel without burdening the player: if the
player did something that made sense historically, it would work
in the game, but the player wouldn't have to handle a lot
mechanically.  This meant a highly intuitive and user-friendly
interface with all the complexity handled by the computer.

World War 2 saw the rapid evolution of military technology, and
this was an important reality to model in the game.  Hundreds of
different types of equipment are represented, and players have
the ability to replace unit equipment with (presumably more
advanced) alternative equipment.  Upgrading unit equipment is an
important part of the campaign game.

Different types of units and equipment had very different
tactical roles, and this is represented by using a common system
of unit values but dividing units into various types with
different capabilities according to their historical usage and
effectiveness.  For example, anti-tank guns look very much like
tanks with a lower ground defense value, but the rule that tanks
will almost always get to shoot first if an anti-tank gun
attacks them rather than vice versa helps encourage (but does
not require) their use defensively as was the case historically.
Because of this limitation, they cost much less for an
equivalent main gun.

Combined arms coordination was central to World War 2 tactics,
and we represented it by giving each unit a turn in which it can
move and shoot, with the tactical subtlety lying in the sequence
and of attacks involved in a particular local engagement.
Entrenchment levels are a key concept in the game: units able to
dig into a prepared position are tougher to root out.  The
concept of "rugged defense" represents ambush or the ability to
open fire with surprise at close range, conditions which favor
the defender and can devastate an attacker.  Rugged defense
really helps infantry, particularly well-entrenched infantry.  

Repeated attacks on such a unit, however, will disrupt an
entrenched unit, force it out of good tactical positions and
give the attacker intelligence useful for further attacks.  In
the game, the way to attack a strongly entrenched unit is with a
combination of aerial and artillery preparatory bombardment,
followed by ground attacks by one or more units.  Entrenching
takes time unless a unit begins a scenario entrenched.  Some
units can take more advantage of ground and therefore can
entrench more quickly than others in the game.  Moving units
have a zero entrenchment level, but gain the base entrenchment
level of the particular terrain they end in when they stop.


GENERAL STRATEGIC AND TACTICAL NOTES

REQUISITIONING UNITS FROM HQ

The prestige cost of units only roughly correlates with their
effectiveness, so examine combat values closely before calling
HQ to send you new or replacement equipment.  

Some of these values can easily be overlooked.  Maximum fuel
capacity and especially maximum ammo capacity need to be
carefully examined, and are more of a constraint if the unit is
advancing than if stationary on defense--remember that a unit
can easily use up several rounds of ammo in a turn if repeatedly
attacked (or if providing defensive fire in support of adjacent
units that are being attacked).

Close defense is another statistic that you can regret you
overlooked if the unit runs into infantry in the woods and city
hexes common on most battlefields, because you defend using your
close defense rather than ground defense value.

Also be sure to check the Unit Equipment Tables to see what
kind of enemy equipment you are likely to come up against.
Start by comparing your attack values and defense values against
each other to see who has more destructive potential in a fair
fight.  Then compare initiative values to see who's more likely
to shoot first, bearing in mind that unit experience can count
for as much as 3 initiative levels.  Experience tends to be very
important in fighter combat, where initiative values don't
differ much and where attack values are high relative to defense
values--the better pilot often gets in a devastating first shot.
It is less important in early-war tank warfare, where attack
values tend to be relatively lower compared with defense values.

TERRAIN

Careful attention to terrain is well worth it.  Rivers are
probably the most significant obstacle and make excellent
positions to defend behind.  Bridging units are very helpful in
terrain with many rivers but few roads or bridges.  Cities,
besides being victory objectives and prestigious to capture and
hold, are the next most significant obstacle because of the
strength they offer the defense--important advantages in cities,
swamps and mountains are that the effect of the opposing
equipments' initiative difference is minimized (because of the
close range combat involved) and entrenchment and experience
levels become key.  Cities, woods and mountains also allow
defending and attacking infantry to shoot against the close
defense number of the enemy unit as mentioned above (except that
infantry attacking against infantry who succeed in putting up a
rugged defense shoot at the defender's ground defense value).

Entrenchment levels are a feature of units, not terrain, but
affect combat much as terrain does--they make a devastating
rugged defense more likely.  Entrenchment levels can be reduced
by attacking or bombarding a ground unit.

WEATHER

Bad weather generally helps the defender and helps the side
with air inferiority because of the inability of air units to
attack and their reduced scouting ability during bad weather.
Interludes of bad weather are good times to resupply and rebuild
units or make them overstrength while waiting for the weather to
clear.

DON'T LET YOUR UNITS DIE

Don't let your units fight until destroyed--if you can pull
them out with even 1 strength point left, they can be rebuilt
more cheaply per strength point than buying a new unit (even if
using elite replacements) and get to keep their experience as a
bonus.  This represents the importance of veteran cadres to the
performance of new recruits.  

The importance of preserving units has many tactical
implications.  One is to ensure that units which risk heavy
losses shoot before moving so they can retreat to safety if
grievously weakened.  The corollary of this principle is, of
course, to mercilessly wipe out crippled enemy units to keep the
enemy from rebuilding them.  

COMBINED ARMS

There are many aspects to combined arms tactics, but this is
the most important: Armor is the king of open ground and
infantry is the king of restricted terrain.  If you consistently
violate this rule, you'll be lucky to end the war as a Panzer
Private.  

As in the childhood game of scissors-paper-stone, every World
War 2 troop type had a relative advantage over some other types
and a relative disadvantage compared with others.  Tanks can
roll over infantry in the open but be stopped dead by them in
bad terrain or entrenchments.  Artillery can slaughter infantry
but be slaughtered by tanks.  Anti-tank guns can defend well
against attacking armor but fare poorly against infantry.  Air
defense and anti-air units are poor against ground units but a
major threat to aircraft, which avoid them but can freely strike
anything else moving on the ground (except later in the war,
when other ground unit acquire their own organic air attack
values and can shoot back).  

Combined arms tactics involve using a variety of unit types in
close cooperation, each attacking the enemy where it has an
advantage and being screened by the other arms where it has a
disadvantage.  On the advance in open ground, for example, tanks
and tank destroyers would lead, with self-propelled artillery
and air defense units and infantry mounted in half-tracks or
trucks "tucked in" behind them where the enemy cannot attack
them without first forcing the armor out of the way.  Recon
units might be in or immediately behind the front line to use
their superior spotting range to scout ahead.

Although an army consisting solely of tanks might be able to
win a battle (at least, a defensive battle), it is likely to
lose badly to a balanced force of equal size.  Both in the
overall army and in the battlegroups assigned to spearhead
particular attacks or defend particular sectors, the subtle
skill of using combined arms is one of the most important
talents of the Panzer General.  There are many aspects to
combined arms, as you will learn as you play, but a
stereotypical example follows.

Attack on a Prepared Position:   To avoid ambushes and wasting
time by sending troops to inappropriate locations, you begin by
scouting to uncover enemy positions.  This can involve sending
aircraft along a path crossing over the terrain you are
interested in or pushing a recon unit to the limit of what is
currently visible (or one hex short of that, if you want to be
careful).   Absent either of these, you use a unit somewhat to
the rear of your front line whose full move would take it ahead
of your line but to a hex that is still visible.  When it
arrives there, it spots additional hexes and further units from
the rear can leapfrog forward, increasing the spotted area.

Suppose the enemy is spotted, heavily entrenched in a victory
objective city directly ahead of you, with artillery positioned
behind the city and infantry or armor to either side.  You
decide you can't successfully bypass it and turn back to take it
later.  Your priorities are to eliminate the supporting
artillery, clear away the nearby enemy units, and weaken the
unit defending the city.   A typical sequence of events could be:

- fighter attacks city to weaken entrenchments

- tac bomber attacks artillery to inflict losses--getting rid of
the enemy artillery is key to preventing heavy losses to your
infantry

- tank attacks enemy tank/tank destroyer or tank attacks
infantry on other side of city (don't attack with infantry
yet since strong surviving enemy artillery will chew it up)

- artillery moves into range of city and deploys

- first wave infantry moves adjacent to city in front of
friendly artillery

- enemy turn--can't resupply, build, or successfully attack even
your infantry because of your artillery support; can't attack
your infantry with air power since your fighter will intercept;
his artillery will try to harass you, though.  

- your turn: fighter over city attacks and moves to adjacent hex,

- if enemy tank or infantry on flanks gone, armor or tank
destroyer passes forward to attack enemy artillery while tactical
bomber moves over city to attack it

- friendly arty bombards city

- first assault wave attacks city, retires away if the enemy
survives (pionieres and engineers are more likely to win
immediately since they ignore enemy entrenchments and
prevent an enemy rugged defense)

- second wave moves adjacent to city, attacks and probably wins

- fresh troops from the rear occupy city.


Make sure you pay attention to the estimated combat results
displayed for you by your staff on the bottom of your screen as
you plot your attacks, although actual combat results will vary.
The only important variable the estimate leaves out is the risk
of facing a rugged defense.

THE OFFENSIVE

To win a major victory, you must not only win--you must win
early.  In the campaign game, the difference between a major and
minor victory is important to your future.  Usually, a major
victory is won by taking your objectives especially early.  If
you take them too late--usually about 2/3 of the way through
offensive battles--the best you can do is a marginal victory.
On defense, how many objectives you hold at the end of the
battle is the key.  Tenacity and endurance count.  Avoiding
friendly losses and inflicting losses on the enemy don't count
for determining victory and defeat, although, particularly in
the campaign game, both of these goals help you improve your
core army and thereby help in future battles.  Since only
victory objectives count, you must avoid being led astray by
diversions.

Part of staying focused on objectives is making and
implementing a plan and keeping your forces organized
accordingly.  Check the strategic map to see where victory
objectives are and the best routes to them, preferably routes
that pass by a number of them.  Paths that threaten multiple
objectives are preferable because the enemy must build and
deploy units to defend them all, thus leaving the target you
wish to strike weaker before your blow.

The tutorial speaks in terms of battlegroups because thinking
in terms of battlegroups tasked with driving to specific
objectives is one good way of keeping on track and avoiding
time-wasting distractions.  To win in PANZER GENERAL, time is
the one thing you cannot afford to waste.  Offensives tend to
become dissipated and diffuse over the entire enemy front rather
than just the critical sector.  Units tend to wander across the
battlefield in the pursuit of temporary and often irrelevant
tactical advantages such as picking off weakened units.  The
result is that a decisive victory can become a minor victory or
a loss.

Attacking on a broad front is an unwise dissipation of strength
except in fluid "pursuit" battles such as Kharkov where you are
chasing or racing past the enemy to your objectives.  Single,
narrow spearheads are too limiting, but a single, broad
spearhead is an effective way to punch through strong defense
lines into more favorable ground beyond, while multiple
spearheads work well in intermediate situations with
widely-spread objectives.  Lines of advance threatening multiple
objectives force the enemy to disperse to protect them all,
weakening him everywhere, while converging on an objective from
several directions lets you direct the most combat strength
against it.

Force balance is essential on the offensive because of the
varied nature of the terrain and enemy forces.  Any force that
will attack woods or towns needs infantry..... If you have air
inferiority, consider an AA unit or two and self-propelled air
defense units to provide some deterrent to and protection
against enemy aircraft.  This works best if you have at least a
small fighter force to pick off weakened enemy aircraft after
they attack.

THE DEFENSIVE

On defense, build multiple lines of defense--get ATGs and
infantry, which entrench more quickly, focusing wherever possible
on defending river lines and putting infantry in cities, mountains
and forests. Artillery sited behind towns to provide defensive support
is especially useful.

       Active defense is the strongest form of defense--it was a very
effective practice to launch local counter-attacks immediately
to neutralize any enemy penetrations and before the enemy could
settle into a captured position.

Combined arms on the defense is the converse of combined arms
on the offensive--an ideal defensive position consists of
infantry in bad terrain immediately supported to the rear by
artillery and air defense units, with armored and infantry
reserves to counterattack breakthroughs in open and close
terrain, respectively, and, ideally, fighters to shoot down
enemy tactical bombers and tactical bombers to weaken enemy
artillery and the attacking units they support.  If you can keep
the fighters in the air over your lines, they can intercept
attacks on adjacent ground or bomber units (unless first
attacked by the enemy themselves).  

You will usually have air inferiority, at least initially, when
on defense.  Sometimes your skill can turn the tables, but more
often you will be swamped by enemy airpower and must take
recourse to air-defense units.

One thing to note, particularly important on defense, is that
units that cannot retreat surrender instead--if a unit is
particularly likely to be beaten, try to leave room for it to
fall back.  The disadvantage of this, of course, is that it
makes it harder to put artillery and air defense units in direct
support of the unit.

THE AIR WAR

The air war is a subsidiary but critical part of the war.  Air
units cannot take or hold terrain--only land units can do
that--but they can prove a major help or hindrance depending on
whose units are flying overhead.  The ideal is air supremacy
(such as the Allies enjoyed in the Gulf War in 1990), which
means unopposed control of the air, but your minimum goal
(unless seriously inferior in the air) is air superiority, which
means that you generally have the advantage in the air and can
range freely over enemy lines to launch ground attacks.  If you
achieve air supremacy, keep your air units constantly busy
launching attacks on ground units to increase their experience
levels.  With air supremacy, your soft targets are also safe
from air attack and your air force can provide valuable
reconaissance of the enemy's dispositions while he cannot see
yours.

With air inferiority, your soft targets, especially trucks,
artillery, and pioniere or engineer units, get hammered. Your
fighter and anti-air units should concentrate on enemy bombers,
since the fighters can do only minimal damage to your ground
units.  Your air defenses can provide some shelter from enemy
attack for your air units.  

Fighter/bomber coordination was a major doctrinal issue on both
sides during the war in Europe. notably in the aerial Battle of
Britain in 1940 and the air war against Germany from 1943 on:
should the fighters be tied to close escort of the bombers or
range free to hunt down enemy fighters before they can approach?
From the aerial defender's point of view, should his
interceptors target the attacking bombers or the escorting
fighters?  to attack escorted bombers, first attack the fighters
to weaken or destroy them. If successful, this reduces the effect of,
or prevents intercepting attacks on the bombers.  
Air defense units work the same way--though they are best attacked
by ground units, good tactical bombers and pilots can take them
out or severely weaken them from the air.  Sometimes the
attacker escapes without loss by shooting first to devastating
effect, but considerable losses to the attacker are more
typical.  When coordinating air units, remember that different
aircraft move at different speeds--don't leave your bombers
accidentally unescorted because the fighters have moved too far.
It's usually helpful to move the slowest units first if they
can safely do so.

Strategic bombers can inflict prestige losses on the enemy by
bombing victory objectives, destroy airfields, bomb other
enemy-held cities into neutral status (i.e., "neutralize" them
so the enemy can't build there or gain prestige from holding
them), or bomb units, destroying strength, ammo and fuel and
suppressing them for the entire turn.  Veteran and crack
strategic bomber crews are very effective.  Note also that
"heavy" and "medium" level bombers are inherently more effective
than "light" level bombers, but that the relative difference
narrows considerably with experience.  Level bombers all have
the same hard and soft attack values, so the real combat
difference is revealed by other values, including their air
attack and air defense values.  Bombers with high naval attack
values can also be extremely useful against ships.  

THE NAVAL WAR

Most scenarios don't include naval warfare, but naval units
play an important role in almost all the scenarios in which they
appear.   They are expendable, and should be used to defeat the
enemy navy and then support the ground forces with bombardment,
or at least prevent the enemy fleet from bombarding your forces.
Note that bombardment is much more effective against soft
targets than hard targets.

In naval battles, keep the scissors-paper-stone interaction of
deatroyers, subs and capital ships in mind.  Since capital ships
can't fight back against subs, an escort screen is essential
against this threat.  

QUALITY: EXPERIENCE

In addition to getting a chance of shooting first, experienced
units lose fewer casualties and inflict more casualties than
would otherwise be the case.  Units gain experience by fighting
and gain the most by destroying enemy with better experience or
equipment or at least forcing them to retreat.  Building up
units to overstrength status is very popular with some
playtesters because their combination of numbers and quality can
smash some enemy units with a single attack.  Building up to
overstrength takes time, however, and artillery and air
bombardment against you have the annoying effect of cutting
these units back down to size.


   CAMPAIGN NOTES

FORCE BALANCE

Playtesters have found that a range of approaches work, but
there are a number of consistent factors.   The largest parts of
core groups tend to be tanks, infantry, and aircraft.  Tank
strength is typically from 25-50% of the core group, generally
increasing over the war.  Infantry strength is typically from
20-30% and slowly declining on a battlefield where only veteran
infantry can effectively defend themselves.  Some players use
paratroops, others don't.  The proportion of engineers and
pionieres (who are very costly in terms of prestige) to other
infantry also varies widely.  

Air strength varies the most of the "big three" types of
forces, from a couple of fighters up to over 30%, with the "big
wing" proponents using one or two level bombers and the rest
split in varying proportions between fighters and tactical
bombers.  Some players prefer the greater ground attack ability
of dedicated tactical bombers while others prefer the added
anti-air capabilities of fighter bombers, particularly when
facing strong enemy air opposition.  Aircraft first become
available in Warsaw (although the first fighter-bomber is not
available until Norway).

Some players' core groups include up to 10% each of artillery
and anti-tank units, while others use none or rely on auxiliary
forces.  Self-propelled artillery is more useful on the advance,
but towed artillery, if entrenched and protected against air and
ground attack, suffices on the defense or for slow-moving
attacks such as those through mountainous or other unfavorable
terrain.  Artillery, like pionieres and engineers, are magnets
for enemy air attacks--so use of these troop types necessitates
a strong air force or air defense.  Few playtesters used more
than a single anti-aircraft unit or more than a few air-defense
units in their core groups for the 1939 campaign, largely
because they are not necessary if you control the air as the
Axis tend to do in the early war.  Air defense units are also
often available as auxiliaries. Even players de-emphasizing airpower
found a small fighter force useful for picking off isolated enemy
bombers, forcing the enemy to escort his bombers, and for reconaissance
The main alternative to air reconaissance (other than turning
"Hidden Units" off) is Recon units.  Players who use them usually use
no more than one per spearhead for scouting purposes.  Late in the war,
they have to be used more carefully in the face of increasingly powerful
enemy units.

Though the force percentages can vary significantly, each
approach strikes a particular combined arms balance between the
types of units the player uses together to achieve victory on
the battlefield.  Some choices limit others--for example, an
army with a powerful air force will have little need for air
defense and can afford to deploy a lot of expensive artillery
and engineers, which, however, are no more than vulnerable
targets if the enemy rules the skies.  Auxiliary units available
to you will often help deal with key gaps in your force mix for
particular scenarios--e.g., air defense in the Low Countries,
naval, air and paratroop units in Norway and Crete, and
pillboxes for D-Day (hope your career takes a more successful
track!).

AUXILIARIES VS. CORE UNITS

There is a tension in the campaign game between getting
experience for your units and letting the auxiliaries take the
bulk of the punishment.  Use only auxiliaries for scouting into
unexplored territory (because of the risk of ambush), and for
those occasional sacrificial attacks needed to soften up a tough
enemy target.   Topping them off with elite replacements is
rarely worth it.  Remember that HQ will provide you with elite
replacements for your core units once the battle is over, so in
the late stages it is a good idea to build up full-strength
units to over-strength while leaving crippled ones for HQ to top
off.

You are not penalized for losing auxiliary units (though the
enemy does gain prestige for killing them).  One implication of
the enemy's ability to gain prestige from destroying your units
is that it is better to disband a unit in a hopeless position
than leave it alive for the enemy to destroy for the prestige on
their turn.  Another implication is that it is ok to use up as
many auxiliary units as necessary to win your battles.  Let your
core units be "glory hounds," finishing off units already
weakened by the auxiliaries and gaining the prestige.  You'll
need all the prestige and experience gain your units can get.

UPGRADING AND ELITE REPLACEMENTS

Players' styles differ significantly on when to spend prestige
to upgrade a unit's equipment and when to give it elite rather
than regular replacements.  These are important decisions, and
there is a trade-off between the two and between these and
raising new units because you rarely have enough prestige to do
everything you want.  

UPGRADING:  The upgrade issue is rather easier--you can't
afford to allow your technology to become obsolete, but you
can't afford to upgrade every time new technology becomes
available.  Some units never upgrade--pioniere and engineer
units never get any better than their initial values.  Infantry
is typically upgraded in type once in 1943, although some
players change the type of infantry as necessary or wait until
Wehrmacht infantry gain experience before upgrading them to
paratroops, pionieres or engineers.  Infantry, particularly the
slower-moving heavy weapons, pioniere, and engineer units, also
get half-tracks or at least trucks as soon as possible.
Aircraft are typically upgraded one to three times the course of
the war, sometimes more, while tanks can easily be upgraded
three to five times (many players will be surprised by how
feeble the German tanks that won the early blitzkriegs really
were--they won through superior skill, as must you as a Panzer
General).  

Naturally, experienced units receive the best equipment--they
can use it most effectively and it increases their
survivability.  As you play, you will probably develop a
preferred upgrade path that fits your force balance and tactics.
Sometimes you will have parallel upgrade paths: before the
development of the all-purpose Panther and Tiger, German tanks
tend to fall into the anti-armor (Pz III) and anti-infantry (Pz
IV) categories, each with a separate natural upgrade path.  You
may also wish to experiment with different alternative
approaches to force structure.  

ELITE REPLACEMENTS:  This is where player preferences seem to
vary widely.  One playtester who emphasized armor and minimized
air power won by largely ignoring attrition from enemy air
power, but his units often had to fight at strengths of  as
little as 5.   If harassed by constant air attack, building
units overstrength is not worth the time.  In contrast, most
players felt strongly about the value of overstrength units and
their ability to overwhelm their opponents in combat or take
heavy losses and remain effective.  Units can be made
overstrength only if highly experienced, so these players made
using prestige for elite replacements a priority (sometimes even
making selected auxiliary units overstrength).  These players
differed, however, on their priorities.  Some players placed a
high priority on enhancing their artillery because it can stay
overstrength for a long time and preserve its destructiveness
through the war, while others neglected their artillery, using
its therefore less effective firepower mainly to weaken
entrenchment levels or shoot at vulnerable soft targets. Some
cultivated their strategic bomber force, while others neglected
it.  Some used paratroops as expendable units while others used
veteran paratroops to secure objectives deep within enemy lines.
Some put priority on enhancing front-line tank and fighter
units, while others would rely on constant combat to bring these
units back up to snuff and put first priority on building up
second-line units less able to gain constantly in experience
through combat (e.g., artillery tend to be particularly slow to
improve).      

1939 CAMPAIGN

Your two goals from the start are, first, to win, second, to
win quickly, and, third, to minimize your losses, particularly
avoiding destruction of core units, and maximize the experience
gained by your core units.  Your army starts as an infantry
force with mostly weak tanks.  Priorities in the Polish
scenarios are (1) gaining as much experience as possible for
your units, (2) upgrading and adding tanks, and (3) building a
small air force that can gain experience in air combat and
ground attacks in the Battle of Warsaw before proceeding to the
more deadly aerial combat awaiting it over Norway and western
Europe.  

You must try to score major successes quickly early on to have
a chance of invading England in 1940 and ending the war on the
western front.  If you fail to do so, you will have further
chances to win the war against England if you triumph in the
deserts of Africa, or you may choose to fight on the very
different eastern front against the Soviets.  When choosing
which front to fight on, bear in mind that the Soviets have
numerous but less powerful aircraft and infantry but tougher
armor, meaning, in particular, that the challenge in the air
will be somewhat less serious in the east than in the west.  The
difference between these two fronts may affect how you choose to
structure and develop your core army group of units.

1941 WEST

Careful planning and large fuel and ammo capacity are helpful
in the desert, where supply is seriously reduced except along
the coast, roads,  trails and in cities.  Since the best routes
to your objectives tend to be narrow ones, lead off with strong,
experienced armor.  Due to the open nature of desert warfare and
the difficulty of obtaining supplies for ground units, air power
becomes more important.  

1943 WEST

You start on the defensive in excellent defensive
terrain--Italy.  Throwing the enemy back into the sea is great
if it works--otherwise, sound defensive tactics and trading
space for time will be necessary.  Air defense units and
anti-tank guns will be of more value than in other campaigns, a
small, crack fighter force will help your air defenses punish
the allied air units, and detachments of Tigers or Panthers will
be able to launch sharp counter-attacks against exposed enemy
units.  Artillery is useful on defense, but needs protection.

1941 & 1943 EAST

If you are good and fast, your blitzkrieg can knock out the
Soviets in two scenarios (Smolensk and Moscow in '41; Kharkov
and Moscow in '43).  If not, it could be a long war against
increasingly experienced and powerful Red Army forces.  To deal
with the formidable enemy armor, use only elite replacements for
your armor units and use tactical bombing to weaken the enemy
armor to help your attacks.  This makes air superiority
important; fortunately, the Russians, at least in 1941, are not
that good and you can keep an edge.  If you are ultimately
forced onto the defensive, the dreaded 88 ATG, heavy weapons
infantry, and supporting artillery will make the Russians pay
for every city they capture.


Rulebook Errata - In some cases unit values may be different than stated
in the rulebook. We went to print before these numbers could be adjusted.

Global change - Ground units' (with the exception of some heavy artillery)
Naval attack factors have been in most cases reduced to 1.  

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