Stalingrad awaits us, Waffenbruder.
We will snatch an epic victory for the Vaterland, or we will die trying.
This is a good moment to take our sweet time to review our force and honor the fallen properly.
First the stats.
Our war effort has been highly successful. We had stellar success in Polish campaign, taking great many potato.
Unfortunately, this didn't last for long, our glorious Blitzkrieg ground to a halt once we entered deeper into the Russian soil.
Kills went up, but potato harvest went poor. Fortunately, we were able to pick up steam.
Also, PG3 screwed someting up in the scoring. No way we did 83 kills two misions back. Oh well. It's funny with numbers sometimes.
Time to review our forces.
First, our
Panzer Korps, the armored fist of the Fuhrer.
Carius is our most experienced panzer kommander, with an impressive kill count.
It is only fitting that he shall ride the might Tiger to Stalingrad.
His second commendation is long overdue.
Garf is our second most senior Panzer leader, with kill count not far behind Carius.
All guts and no glory,
Garf gets the job done without fancy talk and boasting.
The Russians almost got to him during the "Second Wind" scenario, but he managed to return to our lines and kick some more Rotte Arsch, now in the improved PzIVF design.
Hellraiser used to ride the comandeered T34 tank, turning the tide of battle when we were in a crisis.
It's a major overlook that he hasn't receved a commendation for his valorous service, but we have not forgotten that.
He shall command our second Tiger to crush the communists.
Finally,
Derper
Eager to prove himself, the insane man with rape in his eye volunteered to ride the KV against the soviets.
This may have made the high command to shun him, meaning promotions and commendations generally went the other way,
but that doesn't stop derper.
Our Panzer divisions are ready and able. Some promotions will be headed their way as available, Derper needs some love in particular, cause he's not being used to the full extent.
Next comes our
Infantry corps.
Azira is our only remaining veteran infantry commander.
True to his aryan heritage, commands the fearless Fallshirmjaeger, striking deep behind enemy lines, bringing death to the Communists.
Our infantry division needs some serious loving. The loss of the pioneers was a blow, and we desperately need to compensate for the coming assault. Lots of streetfighting is expected, and we need that infantry support bad.
Unfortunately, we don't have capable infantry leaders to use at the moment.
Heavy Support and Anti-Tank
Vaarne is a recent addition to our force. He rides the StuG, in equal part lethal and MAJESTIC. He still seeks to prove himself, but noone questions his ability.
Cassidy does the dirty work. He often protects our flanks and rear from enemy marauders.
A thankless and inglorious job, but someone's got to do it.
He received the commendation from the Fuhrer for his ability to quickly entrench into a defensive position.
Many communists have fallen into his snare of heavily entrenched, camouflaged positions that appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
Serrated commands the 88, which is technically AA, but as you can see from the kill count,
it's not just the bombers he's been after.
Our supporting forces could use an additional AA at some point in the future. We have a suitable candidate for this opening, but no space at the moment, as we need more recon and infantry atm. I'm not too hot about expanding our AT regiments,
cause in PG3 they act like a bit more defensively oriented tanks, and we have plnty of tanks at the moment.
Recon Forces
Gondolin's been with us from the very beginning, starting out as a level 2 roookie.
Now, missions pass and he slowly racks up kills and experience, yet medals award him.
Recon is a thankless job that is both necessary and risky, as Gondolin knows first hand, seeing his comrades
being cornered and killed in the line of duty.
Yep, recon needs expansion. It also has the highest fatality rate in our Kampfgruppe.
Artillery Support
Anus was an able artillery commander since our Polish campaign, and together with Psychic formed the backbone of every assault. After some experimenting, it was decided that the 10,5cm Haubitze offers the best combat parameters for our task at hand.
Anus is certified expert support specialist, meaning he is even more effective at defending our main lince, firing at the advancing foes.
He also received a commendation for his ability to effecively manage his ammunition reserves. Efficiency worthy of a true German son.
His low kill count is deceptive, as he's proven himself invaluable in any assault of our kampfgruppe.
Psychic is essentially Anus' double. Despite having more kills, he's not received personal commendation yet,
long overdue in my opinion, as he is without doubt anus' equal.
Merk is a new face in our artillery force. The man loves to experiment with new stuff and is especially fond of
unguided missle fire. His old Nebelwerfer was hurt by the lack of range and mobility, so he'll be testing the experimental rocket mounts attached to a Sdkfz chassis in Stalingrad.
Our artillery could use some promotions, as anus and Psychic actually started the war at the same level, and we could use some higher level veteran orders. Unfortunately, the promotions are running dry at the moment. I'll use Merk to experiment with new Waffen, until we find the sweet g-spot. So far, anything else than the Haubitze proved suboptimal.
Luftwaffe
Heinz Katz is a highly competent fighters leader, screening our bombers, conducting scouting runs and winning air superiority since Poland. Sadly, he wasn't recognized with any medals yet.
The respectable kill count shows he's also a threat to various lightly armored ground units, yet enemy figthers are his prey of choice.
von Ulm has some catching up to do, as he joined our forces during the operation near the Crimea region.
His aptitute for air recon was noted, and so his apetite for enemy bombers.
Our fighters are shaping up nicely. Some equipment update would be welcome, though.
JoKa is the senior bomber leader, he wanted to ride a Panzer for the Fuhrer, but was forced to accept the honors of the stuka leader.
Well known and feared for the feriocity of hiss attacks (reflected in his commendation which converts supression hits into kills, making him lethal.
He's also renowned for rainign death regardless of weather.
Finally, JoKa boasts the second most impressive killcount in our force.
eklektyk
Not as famous and not as decorated,
Eklektyk is our second stuka leader. Equally fearsome, he still is to prove himeslf in bad-weather operations.
Somewhere in the future, I'll expand our bomber force by one pilot, but so far, it seems sufficient. The improved stukas have 4 attack orders available and are v.good vs enemy armor, meaning they perfectly suit our current operational needs.
An now,
Heroes of the Reich who have fallen in the line of duty, we salute you:
Recon leader
Bee, fallen in the line fo duty, spearheading the assault.
Anti-tank leader
Merkwurdig, fallen in the line fo duty, spearheading the assault.
Panzer Kommander
Vaarne, totally unrelated to the present AT leader. Fallen in the line of duty witholding a fierce russian counterattack.
Recon leader
Nex fallen in the line of duty by enemy bombardment while screening our offensive force.
Brave pioniere leader,
HooDoo wounded once then fallen in the line of duty during a brave assault.
Or has he...?
***
***
Stalingrad...
We leave the comfort of the steppes and embrace the Russian winter once more.
Winter, 1942.
The Amerikwans have entered the war, apparently. We're up for a treat, not just potato to be liberated, but bubble gum and jeanshosen.
Scratch that. The superior Lederhosen-clad master race just needs the potato.
Two promotions. We get little love from the Fuhrer for some reason. Seems like times are getting tougher.
As you can see, there are multiple objectives to be captured, most olf them are located conveniently, but there are lots of hiding spots in these ruins.
We're almost ready to begin, three slots are open. We will need recon support to sift through this rubble.
And infantry support, much needed in the close quarters of Stalingrad. This will be hard to come by, but I'll think of smething.