Vierville In the early hours, on the morning of June 6th, three Divisions of Allied Paratroopers were dropped behind the Atlantic wall, into occupied France. Against impossible odds; surrounded, outmanned and outgunned, the Paratroopers of the Allied forces did their jobs; disrupting enemy forces and bringing occupied France closer to liberation.
Date: June 6th, 1944. Location: Outside of Vierville, France. Unit Commanded: Fox Company
Commander Abilities Airborne Infantry* The ability to summon Airborne Infantry on this map is pivotal, and only fitting. You have no commander points, only the ability to summon Airborne Infantry. As well, you don’t need to have a line of sight to the area where you are summoning the Airborne Infantry. However, trying to drop Airborne Infantry on the map, in any of the areas that have Anti-Aircraft, will only result in the loss of six men, as well as 375 Manpower, which in Vierville, is a small fortune.
* For further information on Airborne Infantry, see Statistics block (Awaiting Link)
Primary Objectives Secure the Road This is your purpose for being here—to secure the road linking Vierville and Omaha beach together. If the 1058th Grenadier Division is allowed to travel to the landing sites at Omaha, the entire landing is placed in jeopardy. This is done by Capturing and holding the three points that are on, or directly adjacent to the main roadway.
Destroy the 5 Anti-Aircraft Guns It is the job of the Paratroopers who have already landed to destroy the five Anti-Aircraft guns outside of Vierville, allowing more Paratroopers to land. Moving on each one, in whichever order best benefits you is suggested; try and use the Pak 38s, Satchel Charges, Mortars, and Paratroopers, in force.
Secondary Objectives Kill the Officer There is an Officer by the Weapons Depot on the east side of the map, where the Munitions Point is, and it’s been suggested you could raid that area for weapons. There is a German officer down there, who should be removed so you can successfully capture—at least one—of the Pak38 Anti-Tank guns.
Secure Munitions Point Secure the Munitions Point behind the first Anti-Tank gun. By placing an Observation Post on the point, you’ll be able to access Grenades and Satchel Charges more regularly.
Medal Objective Parachutists Badge Destroy Road Patrols Destroy any of the Road Patrols that come down the road, in the early stage of the level, just after you’ve aided Baker Company from the farmhouse. They come with two Motorcycles, a Truck, and two Halftracks. Use Recoilless Rifles, Mines, and the Pak38(s) to take them out. Do this, and you’ll be rewarded with the Parachutists Badge!
Overview Vierville is located in Normandy France, west of the Utah Landing site on D-Day. The road through Vierville leads directly to Carentan, and into the rest of France.
The mission starts you off with a meager supply of Paratroopers, armed with only their default M1A1 Carbines. And to top it off, there are only four men in one squad, and three men in another. The others are either dead or missing.
Immediately you’re told to capture or destroy the Anti-Aircraft guns, and secure the highway leading to the Utah landing beach. This road is invaluable to the landings; if the Germans can get begin supplying the beaches with a reinforced garrison the entire operation becomes jeopardised.
There are many ways to liberate the Anti-Aircraft guns, and to secure the road. I personally prefer to create a force of upgraded paratroopers, consisting of about three squads and use them to capture Anti-Aircraft guns and valuable points. You use the other squad, or squads and drop them just outside of the Anti-Aircraft gun radius. Attack with the larger group of squads first, and then bring in the second squad to envelope your enemy, and to confuse his units. Ideally, the smaller group should be able to throw Satchel charges and Grenades at the Aircraft gun and trenches, respectfully.
Also, I believe that it is an imperative task that the Anti-Aircraft guns are destroyed, your enemy’s opposition is removed and all of the maps Munitions Points are captured, before you capture all of the Road Sectors.
Once you’ve defeated the convoys that come down the road, heading towards the beaches, you’ll have completed the mission and be one step closer to ending this conflict.
Phase 1: We’re Not Lost, Soldier—We’re In Normandy
Your forces number at seven men. You have two squads of Paratroopers, one with only three men and one with only four men. The other squad members are gone, possibly dead, possibly missing. The point is that your first reaction to this level should be to reinforce your paratroopers. They’re no good if they’re outnumbered, and outgunned, and surrounded!
You will want to take your time, too. Just let them reinforce. I know it can be boring, but it definitely saves you time later on. Also, you should know that if both squads die, you will be reinforced with additional Paratrooper units. However, they will have only three men each, meaning you have to wait even longer to reinforce the both of them. In the unlikely event that you should be pushed back multiple times, your forces will simply wait. The Germans never chase after you and they never leave the trenches, or pass the sandbags leading into the swamp-like-area.
Your best bet is simply to flank them from both sides in a sort of ‘Pincer’ move. You move in from the far right, and from the far left. Your enemy becomes flanked, and will ultimately retreat or die fighting, being too confused about who to shoot at, and being caught in multiple fields of fire. Don’t forget to use grenades to flush them out too. Nothing works quite so well as a grenade, in any situation, but especially if your enemy is in a trench.
Before you attack the Anti-Aircraft gun, you also want to ponder on how many Grenades you’re willing to use in the coming assault. You have (on the Expert difficulty) 125 Munitions, which is the equivalent of a Recoilless Rifle for one of your squads, or five grenades, or one Satchel and two grenades. I personally, suggest you use one grenade, on destroying the Anti-Aircraft gun squad when they dismount the Anti-Aircraft gun. A single grenade will destroy all four of them, and save you time (normally, they have a fair share of hit points, at least enough to force you into working a little harder to destroy the Anti-Aircraft gun).
It should also be noted that there are only seven Grenadiers in the trench, not including the four members of the Flak 38. So, if you are interested in expediency and are willing to put some extra time in micromanaging your units, it’s very possible that with grenades and Satchel Charges, you could eliminate your enemy’s forces without reinforcing your men, considering you would have the high ground, grenades, and an equal amount of men each.
However, in the event your forces should be destroyed and/or you retreat back to your edge of the map, then you will be faced with the extra annoyance of having to reinforce your now greatly understaffed squads. But all-in-all this is still a feasible option; I know the first time I played it, I was sure the Anti-Aircraft gun would just pick off my guys, so I didn’t want to waste the Man Power reinforcing guys that would never make it to the Earth alive. But really, the Anti-Aircraft Gun doesn’t do anything to you, as long as you stay out of it’s radius (see above for radius).
When you finish off all of the Grenadiers in the trench network, you should also be aware that the Anti-Aircraft gun will simply explode. However, if you want to speed things up and have it explode taking the crew with it in a hail of explosions, you can just toss a grenade into the pile of Munitions beside the Anti-Aircraft gun, and watch it explode, taking the crew with it. But still, you don’t have to waste grenades on it, it will just explode itself when the crew is taken out and then you can be on your merry way. Unless, your men man it before the Flak 38 crew is destroyed, then it will remain alive, and you can also ungarrison your men from it.
Once you’ve captured your first Anti-Aircraft Gun, you have to make sure that you capture the Munitions Point just beyond the trench.
This Munitions Point isn’t hard to capture, it’s just as easy as it looks. Just walk up to it, capture, and then secure it. By securing it with an Observation Post you gain access to more Munitions, allowing you to use grenades, Satchel Charges and Mines more often, as well as being able to upgrade more squads to have Recoilless Rifles faster.
It is important to remember to capture every conceivable point, throughout the map too, as it will greatly enhance your ability to fight your entrenched German enemy.
Phase Two: A Farmhouse and Road Patrols
Part A: The Farmhouse
Beyond the Munitions Point a squad from Baker Company has holed up in a farmhouse and has been surrounded by a fair sized force of German Grenadiers. With a Heavy Machine Gun and seventeen (approximation) Grenadiers carrying the standard Khar 98 Rifles, and a Light MG42 (See screenshot below), Baker Company is in some serious trouble.
As soon as you’ve completed the cinematic, and know that Baker Company is pinned down, you will be able to drop units of Paratroopers behind enemy lines to reinforce Baker Company. Now, note that you can actually drop your units anywhere on the map. However, in certain areas they will get gunned down by the Anti-Aircraft Guns, and will result in a substantial loss of Manpower, and life. So, keeping this in mind, the areas in red on the screenshot have highlighted the best locations to drop your first batch of Airborne Infantry. It helps save Baker Company, as well as giving you a complete envelopment of your enemy surrounding him and destroying him.
When you are approaching the Farmhouse to help Baker Company, you should be aware of the different possible ways of arriving. You have several tactical options, as highlighted by the screenshot above, and the yellow streaks. On the one hand, you can move up through the center, along the dirt road, sending both of your squads into cover behind the walls directly opposite of the farmhouse. Or, you can vary your strategy, attacking from two points; heading up the right flank and attacking your enemy from the side, covering behind the low stone wall there, as well as sending a squad up the main road to attack at your enemy. And finally, you can just send both squads up the right flank, and attack your enemy from there.
I personally, do not recommend moving up the central road, or at least, not all of your forces. I enjoy two-pronged attacks, so I almost always move one squad up the center and one squad on the right. However, by moving both of your squads up the center, the MG42 will deploy, suppressing your forces, and forcing them to use Fire Up! to escape. It makes the most sense to move two squads up the right flank, or one up the center and the right, in my opinion. When coupled with the threat of an Airborne drop behind the grenadiers, you give yourself the option of creating a deadly firing zone that could effectively trap your enemy and finish him off.
When you’re dealing with the forces, I figure that dropping that Airborne squad near the farmhouse, and throwing a Satchel Charge into the thick of things, definitely reduces your enemy’s forces at a quick pace, especially taking out that MG 42 early.
The one thing that could cause you a helluva lota trauma is the Light MG42. That is an incredible weapon here. It will decimate your forces if it is not kept in check. I’m not recommending you concentrate entirely on it, but the sooner it is gone, the better. It can cause far too much havoc with your forces, and if you kill the wielder and pick it up, you gain its awesomeness.
The Heavy MG42 has never been an overly horrible problem for me, because of the reasons mentioned above, as soon as you’ve dropped an Airborne squad behind your enemy’s lines, a Satchel Charge into the fray quickly finishes off most of your enemy’s forces, and you just have to mop up.
Once you’ve successfully destroyed the opposition, you should immediately reinforce your men. But don’t just let them sit around. Capture the Munitions Post closest to the Farmhouse, and build an Observation Post on it, as fast as possible.
As well, your population total will now be at about 22 men. So, if you have enough population room, and resources, to call in another Airborne squad or two, you should definitely do it. However, don’t call it in until all of your men have reinforced, and Baker Company’s squad has come out of the farmhouse. If you do, you’ll have mixed up squads of Paratroopers, some with only a few men, and one (maybe two) with a full squad. Ultimately, it is the same number of men; however, your Airborne are far more effective in groups then as individuals.
You’ll have to move quickly, too. After you’ve finished with the Germans here, you’ll have to intercept a series of road patrols; if you’re successful, you earn the Parachutist’s Badge!
Phase B: Road Patrols
The Road Patrols begin somewhat immediately following your in-field briefing and the rescuing of Baker Company. The first Motorcycle escort comes near immediately after the end of the briefing. It makes the most sense—once your forces are successfully reinforced, of course—to simply move two squads of Paratroopers (preferably both with five or six men and the LMG42) and attack the Supply depot in the bottom right of the map, where the Captain awaits, with a Bunker and two Pak 38s. The Pak 38s can take you a long way in this level, especially in destroying the Road Patrols.
With your two squads of paratroopers you should attack-move into the trench, leading to the Bunker, and maul the enemy garrison there. A squad of Stormtroopers and Grenadiers (the order changes) will come out and harass your forces some, but if you brought the Light MG42, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Make sure to use the second squad, without the Light MG42, to take command of one of the Pak 38s, and quickly send it up to wherever you’ve decided to ambush the Road Patrols. In order to kill the officer, the LMG42 will eventually kill off the officer. The bunker itself is impervious to Satchel Charges, and so, cannot be destroyed.
Also, you shouldn’t be worried about just hitting the retreat button and falling back, as soon as the Pak 38 is secure. You can always come back later and finish off the Officer and anyone who is left. If you can’t handle the enemy forces, just quickly move in; get the Pak; and run, tail set firmly between your legs, home.
When it comes to actually destroying the German Road Patrols you should make quick work of them, with the set-up below.
Now, with this set-up, you should be able to quickly annihilate your enemy’s patrols. The only problem that I have yet to perfectly correct, is with the infantry that drop out of the destroyed Halftracks. I think that it makes the most sense to simply place the paratroopers around the intersection, covering from behind the bushes on the left of the road, and other Airborne from the yard, hiding behind fences, cars, and the road itself.
Mines are optional, I find that they can help, but I would place them further up the road than the game suggests, intercepting the earlier motorcycles and halftracks. Obviously, the motorcycles seem to destroy your mines, so if you are going to place mines, it makes the most sense to build the mines at fair distances apart. I like to have one mine, and then outside of it’s range, another, to take care of the first few motorcycles. And then, you have three or four mines together to take out a halftrack or truck.
Whether or not you use mines you should always make damn certain to take over the dropped Panzershrecks, in the crater just north of the Farmhouse. They save you Munitions, and they definitely make life easier for you. As well, they allow you to use more Mines, Grenades, and Satchel Charges, by saving your Munitions that could easily be used on other things.
Phase 3: Anti-Aircraft Guns, and Strategic Points
After you’ve successfully eliminated the Road Patrols, and you’ve moved on to bigger and better things, you’re left with the Anti-Aircraft guns in the region. All of the Anti-Aircraft guns are guarded by German units, and they are mostly well dug-in and defended, however, the left side of the map (western portions) seems to be especially well defended.
I believe that there is no right order to destroy the Anti-Aircraft guns in, and so I cannot really tell you the best way to go. So, instead, I’ll try and give a good look at what each Anti-Aircraft gun entails, and how much work will be put into destroying each one.
But for a simple look at the Anti-Aircraft guns, I think that the easiest way to destroy each of them is to send your Pak 38 to destroy them, while support it with your Paratroopers. This works best, because it remains out of range for the Grenadiers, and Heavy Machine Gun teams. It does, admittedly take a little longer to do, but it is also so much more user-friendly, allowing your units to survive and their ranks to remain. All they have to worry about is defending the Pak 38, and clearing out the area so the Pak 38 can move in.
If you should lose your Pak 38 or want to take another route to destroying them, I recommend that you use Fire Up! in co-ordination with your units attacking from several different positions, in order to effectively flank and destroy the Anti-Aircraft guns. As well, you should know that sending in a group of Airborne behind enemy lines can be a very effective strategy and can greatly increase your chances of successfully defeating your enemy, confusing him, and allowing you to gain the upper hand in combat.
Your population rises as you kill off each Anti-Aircraft gun. It goes: 22 (base population), 24 (first AA Gun), 26 (second AA Gun), 28 (third AA Gun), 30 (fourth AA Gun).
While capturing and destroying the Anti-Aircraft guns, you should make sure to capture the Strategic points that are on the road. This is part of your objective, and as soon as you’ve completely captured the Road points, you’ll be able to meet the enemy convoy head on, and hopefully destroy it.
Another thing you should concentrate while you’re moving throughout the rest of them map, is to capture the Munitions Points. Capture and build an Observation Post on every single one that you can find. This will greatly increase your flow of Munitions, and thereby giving you an unbelievable upper hand when your final objective comes through.
Keeping that last objective in mind, you should make sure that you don’t capture all of the Road Points on the map. I personally recommend that you leave the center one uncaptured, so that you can have as much time as you want to prepare defences against the German Convoy.
Anti-Aircraft Gun 1
The first Anti-Aircraft gun is located in the direct west of the map. It is strengthened by two Grenadier squads, and two Heavy Machine Gun teams wielding MG42s. As well, the Flak crew itself can be pretty menacing. Only slightly north of the Anti-Aircraft gun, is a team of stranded Paratroopers that can be rescued by selecting them. By the time you select them and retreat them (because retreating is the best option) there probably won’t be many left, four left at my best, zero at my worst.
The easiest way to take this gun out is to avoid sending in Paratroopers, because they will get mauled to death by those Heavy Machine Gun teams. Just use the Pak 38 to destroy them from afar, and then send in your Airborne to drop a Satchel Charge on the Anti-Aircraft gun, and bingo! It’s down and out.
Anti-Aircraft Gun 2
This Anti-Aircraft Gun is lightly defended, compared to the first. It has only two squads of Grenadiers directly around it. However, to its south and west, there are two sandbag walls, each of which will eventually house a Heavy Machine Gun Team. As well, in the north, directly above the Anti-Aircraft gun there are two more squads of Grenadiers awaiting to finish off anyone coming towards the Anti-Aircraft gun. You also have a squad on the edge of the map, seen in the screenshot. Select them, throw a Satchel onto the Anti-Aircraft gun and you will be one step closer to your victory.
I personally don’t use the Pak 38 here, because I fear that the HMG squads will catch me off-guard and catch my Pak 38 in a crossfire, killing my squad.
The one thing you should know about this Anti-Aircraft gun, too, is that the men in the trench should be killed off with Grenades as soon as you can, or else they can cause some real trouble; though the Satchel Charge on the Anti-Aircraft gun will undoubtedly knock some of them off, too.
Anti-Aircraft Gun 3
The third Anti-Aircraft gun is lightly defended on its own. However, the garrison of Anti-Aircraft four, which is just above this, is equally capable of defending this as it is its own Anti-Aircraft gun. The easiest way to destroy this Anti-Aircraft gun would be with Mortars found either near the highest blue Munitions Point in the Mini-map of the screenshot above, or in the top left corner of the map.
Mortars do the job nicely, especially in groups of two to three Mortars. However, this is a real drain on your manpower resources. But it does make sense if you want to use Mortars, and then send the Mortars off to die, reinforcing yourself with some more Airborne Drops. Or you could just keep the Mortars for the last Anti-Aircraft gun, too.
However you destroy this gun, you should know that the above garrison will move (sooner or later) to try and defend this Anti-Aircraft gun, especially if Mortars or your guys hit one of the upper garrison’s defenders.
Anti-Aircraft Gun 4
This is the last Anti-Aircraft gun on the map. It is secured to the max. It has three Grenadier squads immediately defending it, plus at least another five on the opposite side of the road and in the surrounding area ready to aid it (one Grenadier squad carries a LMG 42 too), if it should be attacked. As well, it has a Mortar Team and a Heavy Machine Gun team, both of which will destroy you if you try and attack it from the front.
Try and move in behind, and from the sides, staying out of the range of the MG42 team. The easiest way to get to this Aircraft gun is to destroy the third Anti-Aircraft gun first, and then move up to the northwest most corner of the map, and then capture the Strategic Point directly behind this Anti-Aircraft gun. In doing so, you’ll gain yourself a Sniper, and you’ll also have the perfect positioning to launch your attack on the enemy.
You can either choose to use Satchel Charges on the Bunkers, or to try and preserve them for when it comes your turn to defend this roadway. Either way, you should try and flush out the Grenadiers hiding in them quickly, or they can be a real pain.
With the Anti-Aircraft guns gone, you are now forced to capture the remaining Strategic Points on the road, which will initiate the final aspect of the level, wherein you’re given several minutes to develop a capable defensive force and to hold off the German convoy.
However, the easiest thing you can do, is to have captured all of the Munitions points throughout the map, and built an Observation Post on top of them. You’ll have a substantial amount of Munitions, and if you leave one of the Strategic points uncaptured, you’ll be able to build mine after mine on the roadway. This is the most effective strategy, by far.
Phase 4: German Convoy
The last phase of this level is to defeat the German Convoy headed towards the landing sites at Utah. You have to destroy this shipment of men and materials, in order to make the landings go smoothly, and in order to continue to disrupt enemy forces.
The success of the invasion hangs on this little sliver of road, and your ability to control it. The simplest way to control it, is to give yourself more time to defend it. And the way to do this, is to forgo the capture of one of the Strategic road points. As long as that point remains uncaptured, your enemy will not be able to attack. As soon as that point is captured, you will have nearly two minutes to position your men, place mines, and defences, and hope for the best.
I personally prefer to capture all of the Munitions points across the map, and lay many, many mines. In doing so, your enemy has no where to go. And when I say many mines, I mean laying down an average of five three times across the road, as many times as you can. Also, when mining the road, don’t forget to mine the sides of the road. As the wreckage builds up, and your enemy is forced to find the alternative routes around the carcasses of halftracks and trucks, they will veer off the side of the road some. They don’t go all the way off, but they do go off some, and having mines there, neutralizes them.
The best location to ambush your enemy is around the location of the fourth Anti-Aircraft gun. Use the bunkers, the road, the fences and the little craters left from your recent attack to surprise your enemy and finish him off. You can also use the Anti-aircraft gun for destroying your enemy’s infantry forces, and they do have some effect against vehicles as well.
The rest of it depends on your abilities. Make sure to not use Grenades and Satchel charges as long as you have some mines around. Chances are your forces will detonate about 15% – 25% of all the mines you lay, but this can be reduced by not throwing Grenades and Satchel Charges into heavily mined areas.
Make sure too, you have a Pak 38, because it will make this scenario go along so much quicker and with such ease. The Pak 38 will effectively destroy any of the convoy that manages to get past your minefields o’ doom.
With this, you have completed Vierville. Congratulations.
Vierville
In the early hours, on the morning of June 6th, three Divisions of Allied Paratroopers were dropped behind the Atlantic wall, into occupied France. Against impossible odds; surrounded, outmanned and outgunned, the Paratroopers of the Allied forces did their jobs; disrupting enemy forces and bringing occupied France closer to liberation.
Date: June 6th, 1944.
Location: Outside of Vierville, France.
Unit Commanded: Fox Company
Commander Abilities
Airborne Infantry*
The ability to summon Airborne Infantry on this map is pivotal, and only fitting. You have no commander points, only the ability to summon Airborne Infantry. As well, you don’t need to have a line of sight to the area where you are summoning the Airborne Infantry. However, trying to drop Airborne Infantry on the map, in any of the areas that have Anti-Aircraft, will only result in the loss of six men, as well as 375 Manpower, which in Vierville, is a small fortune.
* For further information on Airborne Infantry, see Statistics block (Awaiting Link)
Primary Objectives
Secure the Road
This is your purpose for being here—to secure the road linking Vierville and Omaha beach together. If the 1058th Grenadier Division is allowed to travel to the landing sites at Omaha, the entire landing is placed in jeopardy. This is done by Capturing and holding the three points that are on, or directly adjacent to the main roadway.
Destroy the 5 Anti-Aircraft Guns
It is the job of the Paratroopers who have already landed to destroy the five Anti-Aircraft guns outside of Vierville, allowing more Paratroopers to land. Moving on each one, in whichever order best benefits you is suggested; try and use the Pak 38s, Satchel Charges, Mortars, and Paratroopers, in force.
Secondary Objectives
Kill the Officer
There is an Officer by the Weapons Depot on the east side of the map, where the Munitions Point is, and it’s been suggested you could raid that area for weapons. There is a German officer down there, who should be removed so you can successfully capture—at least one—of the Pak38 Anti-Tank guns.
Secure Munitions Point
Secure the Munitions Point behind the first Anti-Tank gun. By placing an Observation Post on the point, you’ll be able to access Grenades and Satchel Charges more regularly.
Medal Objective
Parachutists Badge
Destroy Road Patrols
Destroy any of the Road Patrols that come down the road, in the early stage of the level, just after you’ve aided Baker Company from the farmhouse. They come with two Motorcycles, a Truck, and two Halftracks. Use Recoilless Rifles, Mines, and the Pak38(s) to take them out. Do this, and you’ll be rewarded with the Parachutists Badge!
Overview
Vierville is located in Normandy France, west of the Utah Landing site on D-Day. The road through Vierville leads directly to Carentan, and into the rest of France.
The mission starts you off with a meager supply of Paratroopers, armed with only their default M1A1 Carbines. And to top it off, there are only four men in one squad, and three men in another. The others are either dead or missing.
Immediately you’re told to capture or destroy the Anti-Aircraft guns, and secure the highway leading to the Utah landing beach. This road is invaluable to the landings; if the Germans can get begin supplying the beaches with a reinforced garrison the entire operation becomes jeopardised.
There are many ways to liberate the Anti-Aircraft guns, and to secure the road. I personally prefer to create a force of upgraded paratroopers, consisting of about three squads and use them to capture Anti-Aircraft guns and valuable points. You use the other squad, or squads and drop them just outside of the Anti-Aircraft gun radius. Attack with the larger group of squads first, and then bring in the second squad to envelope your enemy, and to confuse his units. Ideally, the smaller group should be able to throw Satchel charges and Grenades at the Aircraft gun and trenches, respectfully.
Also, I believe that it is an imperative task that the Anti-Aircraft guns are destroyed, your enemy’s opposition is removed and all of the maps Munitions Points are captured, before you capture all of the Road Sectors.
Once you’ve defeated the convoys that come down the road, heading towards the beaches, you’ll have completed the mission and be one step closer to ending this conflict.
Phase 1: We’re Not Lost, Soldier—We’re In Normandy
Your forces number at seven men. You have two squads of Paratroopers, one with only three men and one with only four men. The other squad members are gone, possibly dead, possibly missing. The point is that your first reaction to this level should be to reinforce your paratroopers. They’re no good if they’re outnumbered, and outgunned, and surrounded!
You will want to take your time, too. Just let them reinforce. I know it can be boring, but it definitely saves you time later on. Also, you should know that if both squads die, you will be reinforced with additional Paratrooper units. However, they will have only three men each, meaning you have to wait even longer to reinforce the both of them. In the unlikely event that you should be pushed back multiple times, your forces will simply wait. The Germans never chase after you and they never leave the trenches, or pass the sandbags leading into the swamp-like-area.
Your best bet is simply to flank them from both sides in a sort of ‘Pincer’ move. You move in from the far right, and from the far left. Your enemy becomes flanked, and will ultimately retreat or die fighting, being too confused about who to shoot at, and being caught in multiple fields of fire. Don’t forget to use grenades to flush them out too. Nothing works quite so well as a grenade, in any situation, but especially if your enemy is in a trench.
Before you attack the Anti-Aircraft gun, you also want to ponder on how many Grenades you’re willing to use in the coming assault. You have (on the Expert difficulty) 125 Munitions, which is the equivalent of a Recoilless Rifle for one of your squads, or five grenades, or one Satchel and two grenades. I personally, suggest you use one grenade, on destroying the Anti-Aircraft gun squad when they dismount the Anti-Aircraft gun. A single grenade will destroy all four of them, and save you time (normally, they have a fair share of hit points, at least enough to force you into working a little harder to destroy the Anti-Aircraft gun).
It should also be noted that there are only seven Grenadiers in the trench, not including the four members of the Flak 38. So, if you are interested in expediency and are willing to put some extra time in micromanaging your units, it’s very possible that with grenades and Satchel Charges, you could eliminate your enemy’s forces without reinforcing your men, considering you would have the high ground, grenades, and an equal amount of men each.
However, in the event your forces should be destroyed and/or you retreat back to your edge of the map, then you will be faced with the extra annoyance of having to reinforce your now greatly understaffed squads. But all-in-all this is still a feasible option; I know the first time I played it, I was sure the Anti-Aircraft gun would just pick off my guys, so I didn’t want to waste the Man Power reinforcing guys that would never make it to the Earth alive. But really, the Anti-Aircraft Gun doesn’t do anything to you, as long as you stay out of it’s radius (see above for radius).
When you finish off all of the Grenadiers in the trench network, you should also be aware that the Anti-Aircraft gun will simply explode. However, if you want to speed things up and have it explode taking the crew with it in a hail of explosions, you can just toss a grenade into the pile of Munitions beside the Anti-Aircraft gun, and watch it explode, taking the crew with it. But still, you don’t have to waste grenades on it, it will just explode itself when the crew is taken out and then you can be on your merry way. Unless, your men man it before the Flak 38 crew is destroyed, then it will remain alive, and you can also ungarrison your men from it.
Once you’ve captured your first Anti-Aircraft Gun, you have to make sure that you capture the Munitions Point just beyond the trench.
This Munitions Point isn’t hard to capture, it’s just as easy as it looks. Just walk up to it, capture, and then secure it. By securing it with an Observation Post you gain access to more Munitions, allowing you to use grenades, Satchel Charges and Mines more often, as well as being able to upgrade more squads to have Recoilless Rifles faster.
It is important to remember to capture every conceivable point, throughout the map too, as it will greatly enhance your ability to fight your entrenched German enemy.
Phase Two: A Farmhouse and Road Patrols
Part A: The Farmhouse
Beyond the Munitions Point a squad from Baker Company has holed up in a farmhouse and has been surrounded by a fair sized force of German Grenadiers. With a Heavy Machine Gun and seventeen (approximation) Grenadiers carrying the standard Khar 98 Rifles, and a Light MG42 (See screenshot below), Baker Company is in some serious trouble.
As soon as you’ve completed the cinematic, and know that Baker Company is pinned down, you will be able to drop units of Paratroopers behind enemy lines to reinforce Baker Company. Now, note that you can actually drop your units anywhere on the map. However, in certain areas they will get gunned down by the Anti-Aircraft Guns, and will result in a substantial loss of Manpower, and life. So, keeping this in mind, the areas in red on the screenshot have highlighted the best locations to drop your first batch of Airborne Infantry. It helps save Baker Company, as well as giving you a complete envelopment of your enemy surrounding him and destroying him.
When you are approaching the Farmhouse to help Baker Company, you should be aware of the different possible ways of arriving. You have several tactical options, as highlighted by the screenshot above, and the yellow streaks. On the one hand, you can move up through the center, along the dirt road, sending both of your squads into cover behind the walls directly opposite of the farmhouse. Or, you can vary your strategy, attacking from two points; heading up the right flank and attacking your enemy from the side, covering behind the low stone wall there, as well as sending a squad up the main road to attack at your enemy. And finally, you can just send both squads up the right flank, and attack your enemy from there.
I personally, do not recommend moving up the central road, or at least, not all of your forces. I enjoy two-pronged attacks, so I almost always move one squad up the center and one squad on the right. However, by moving both of your squads up the center, the MG42 will deploy, suppressing your forces, and forcing them to use Fire Up! to escape. It makes the most sense to move two squads up the right flank, or one up the center and the right, in my opinion. When coupled with the threat of an Airborne drop behind the grenadiers, you give yourself the option of creating a deadly firing zone that could effectively trap your enemy and finish him off.
When you’re dealing with the forces, I figure that dropping that Airborne squad near the farmhouse, and throwing a Satchel Charge into the thick of things, definitely reduces your enemy’s forces at a quick pace, especially taking out that MG 42 early.
The one thing that could cause you a helluva lota trauma is the Light MG42. That is an incredible weapon here. It will decimate your forces if it is not kept in check. I’m not recommending you concentrate entirely on it, but the sooner it is gone, the better. It can cause far too much havoc with your forces, and if you kill the wielder and pick it up, you gain its awesomeness.
The Heavy MG42 has never been an overly horrible problem for me, because of the reasons mentioned above, as soon as you’ve dropped an Airborne squad behind your enemy’s lines, a Satchel Charge into the fray quickly finishes off most of your enemy’s forces, and you just have to mop up.
Once you’ve successfully destroyed the opposition, you should immediately reinforce your men. But don’t just let them sit around. Capture the Munitions Post closest to the Farmhouse, and build an Observation Post on it, as fast as possible.
As well, your population total will now be at about 22 men. So, if you have enough population room, and resources, to call in another Airborne squad or two, you should definitely do it. However, don’t call it in until all of your men have reinforced, and Baker Company’s squad has come out of the farmhouse. If you do, you’ll have mixed up squads of Paratroopers, some with only a few men, and one (maybe two) with a full squad. Ultimately, it is the same number of men; however, your Airborne are far more effective in groups then as individuals.
You’ll have to move quickly, too. After you’ve finished with the Germans here, you’ll have to intercept a series of road patrols; if you’re successful, you earn the Parachutist’s Badge!
Phase B: Road Patrols
The Road Patrols begin somewhat immediately following your in-field briefing and the rescuing of Baker Company. The first Motorcycle escort comes near immediately after the end of the briefing. It makes the most sense—once your forces are successfully reinforced, of course—to simply move two squads of Paratroopers (preferably both with five or six men and the LMG42) and attack the Supply depot in the bottom right of the map, where the Captain awaits, with a Bunker and two Pak 38s. The Pak 38s can take you a long way in this level, especially in destroying the Road Patrols.
With your two squads of paratroopers you should attack-move into the trench, leading to the Bunker, and maul the enemy garrison there. A squad of Stormtroopers and Grenadiers (the order changes) will come out and harass your forces some, but if you brought the Light MG42, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Make sure to use the second squad, without the Light MG42, to take command of one of the Pak 38s, and quickly send it up to wherever you’ve decided to ambush the Road Patrols. In order to kill the officer, the LMG42 will eventually kill off the officer. The bunker itself is impervious to Satchel Charges, and so, cannot be destroyed.
Also, you shouldn’t be worried about just hitting the retreat button and falling back, as soon as the Pak 38 is secure. You can always come back later and finish off the Officer and anyone who is left. If you can’t handle the enemy forces, just quickly move in; get the Pak; and run, tail set firmly between your legs, home.
When it comes to actually destroying the German Road Patrols you should make quick work of them, with the set-up below.
(Idea inspired and originally pioneered by Zlaz)
Now, with this set-up, you should be able to quickly annihilate your enemy’s patrols. The only problem that I have yet to perfectly correct, is with the infantry that drop out of the destroyed Halftracks. I think that it makes the most sense to simply place the paratroopers around the intersection, covering from behind the bushes on the left of the road, and other Airborne from the yard, hiding behind fences, cars, and the road itself.
Mines are optional, I find that they can help, but I would place them further up the road than the game suggests, intercepting the earlier motorcycles and halftracks. Obviously, the motorcycles seem to destroy your mines, so if you are going to place mines, it makes the most sense to build the mines at fair distances apart. I like to have one mine, and then outside of it’s range, another, to take care of the first few motorcycles. And then, you have three or four mines together to take out a halftrack or truck.
Whether or not you use mines you should always make damn certain to take over the dropped Panzershrecks, in the crater just north of the Farmhouse. They save you Munitions, and they definitely make life easier for you. As well, they allow you to use more Mines, Grenades, and Satchel Charges, by saving your Munitions that could easily be used on other things.
Phase 3: Anti-Aircraft Guns, and Strategic Points
After you’ve successfully eliminated the Road Patrols, and you’ve moved on to bigger and better things, you’re left with the Anti-Aircraft guns in the region. All of the Anti-Aircraft guns are guarded by German units, and they are mostly well dug-in and defended, however, the left side of the map (western portions) seems to be especially well defended.
I believe that there is no right order to destroy the Anti-Aircraft guns in, and so I cannot really tell you the best way to go. So, instead, I’ll try and give a good look at what each Anti-Aircraft gun entails, and how much work will be put into destroying each one.
But for a simple look at the Anti-Aircraft guns, I think that the easiest way to destroy each of them is to send your Pak 38 to destroy them, while support it with your Paratroopers. This works best, because it remains out of range for the Grenadiers, and Heavy Machine Gun teams. It does, admittedly take a little longer to do, but it is also so much more user-friendly, allowing your units to survive and their ranks to remain. All they have to worry about is defending the Pak 38, and clearing out the area so the Pak 38 can move in.
If you should lose your Pak 38 or want to take another route to destroying them, I recommend that you use Fire Up! in co-ordination with your units attacking from several different positions, in order to effectively flank and destroy the Anti-Aircraft guns. As well, you should know that sending in a group of Airborne behind enemy lines can be a very effective strategy and can greatly increase your chances of successfully defeating your enemy, confusing him, and allowing you to gain the upper hand in combat.
Your population rises as you kill off each Anti-Aircraft gun. It goes: 22 (base population), 24 (first AA Gun), 26 (second AA Gun), 28 (third AA Gun), 30 (fourth AA Gun).
While capturing and destroying the Anti-Aircraft guns, you should make sure to capture the Strategic points that are on the road. This is part of your objective, and as soon as you’ve completely captured the Road points, you’ll be able to meet the enemy convoy head on, and hopefully destroy it.
Another thing you should concentrate while you’re moving throughout the rest of them map, is to capture the Munitions Points. Capture and build an Observation Post on every single one that you can find. This will greatly increase your flow of Munitions, and thereby giving you an unbelievable upper hand when your final objective comes through.
Keeping that last objective in mind, you should make sure that you don’t capture all of the Road Points on the map. I personally recommend that you leave the center one uncaptured, so that you can have as much time as you want to prepare defences against the German Convoy.
Anti-Aircraft Gun 1
The first Anti-Aircraft gun is located in the direct west of the map. It is strengthened by two Grenadier squads, and two Heavy Machine Gun teams wielding MG42s. As well, the Flak crew itself can be pretty menacing. Only slightly north of the Anti-Aircraft gun, is a team of stranded Paratroopers that can be rescued by selecting them. By the time you select them and retreat them (because retreating is the best option) there probably won’t be many left, four left at my best, zero at my worst.
The easiest way to take this gun out is to avoid sending in Paratroopers, because they will get mauled to death by those Heavy Machine Gun teams. Just use the Pak 38 to destroy them from afar, and then send in your Airborne to drop a Satchel Charge on the Anti-Aircraft gun, and bingo! It’s down and out.
Anti-Aircraft Gun 2
This Anti-Aircraft Gun is lightly defended, compared to the first. It has only two squads of Grenadiers directly around it. However, to its south and west, there are two sandbag walls, each of which will eventually house a Heavy Machine Gun Team. As well, in the north, directly above the Anti-Aircraft gun there are two more squads of Grenadiers awaiting to finish off anyone coming towards the Anti-Aircraft gun. You also have a squad on the edge of the map, seen in the screenshot. Select them, throw a Satchel onto the Anti-Aircraft gun and you will be one step closer to your victory.
I personally don’t use the Pak 38 here, because I fear that the HMG squads will catch me off-guard and catch my Pak 38 in a crossfire, killing my squad.
The one thing you should know about this Anti-Aircraft gun, too, is that the men in the trench should be killed off with Grenades as soon as you can, or else they can cause some real trouble; though the Satchel Charge on the Anti-Aircraft gun will undoubtedly knock some of them off, too.
Anti-Aircraft Gun 3
The third Anti-Aircraft gun is lightly defended on its own. However, the garrison of Anti-Aircraft four, which is just above this, is equally capable of defending this as it is its own Anti-Aircraft gun. The easiest way to destroy this Anti-Aircraft gun would be with Mortars found either near the highest blue Munitions Point in the Mini-map of the screenshot above, or in the top left corner of the map.
Mortars do the job nicely, especially in groups of two to three Mortars. However, this is a real drain on your manpower resources. But it does make sense if you want to use Mortars, and then send the Mortars off to die, reinforcing yourself with some more Airborne Drops. Or you could just keep the Mortars for the last Anti-Aircraft gun, too.
However you destroy this gun, you should know that the above garrison will move (sooner or later) to try and defend this Anti-Aircraft gun, especially if Mortars or your guys hit one of the upper garrison’s defenders.
Anti-Aircraft Gun 4
This is the last Anti-Aircraft gun on the map. It is secured to the max. It has three Grenadier squads immediately defending it, plus at least another five on the opposite side of the road and in the surrounding area ready to aid it (one Grenadier squad carries a LMG 42 too), if it should be attacked. As well, it has a Mortar Team and a Heavy Machine Gun team, both of which will destroy you if you try and attack it from the front.
Try and move in behind, and from the sides, staying out of the range of the MG42 team. The easiest way to get to this Aircraft gun is to destroy the third Anti-Aircraft gun first, and then move up to the northwest most corner of the map, and then capture the Strategic Point directly behind this Anti-Aircraft gun. In doing so, you’ll gain yourself a Sniper, and you’ll also have the perfect positioning to launch your attack on the enemy.
You can either choose to use Satchel Charges on the Bunkers, or to try and preserve them for when it comes your turn to defend this roadway. Either way, you should try and flush out the Grenadiers hiding in them quickly, or they can be a real pain.
With the Anti-Aircraft guns gone, you are now forced to capture the remaining Strategic Points on the road, which will initiate the final aspect of the level, wherein you’re given several minutes to develop a capable defensive force and to hold off the German convoy.
However, the easiest thing you can do, is to have captured all of the Munitions points throughout the map, and built an Observation Post on top of them. You’ll have a substantial amount of Munitions, and if you leave one of the Strategic points uncaptured, you’ll be able to build mine after mine on the roadway. This is the most effective strategy, by far.
Phase 4: German Convoy
The last phase of this level is to defeat the German Convoy headed towards the landing sites at Utah. You have to destroy this shipment of men and materials, in order to make the landings go smoothly, and in order to continue to disrupt enemy forces.
The success of the invasion hangs on this little sliver of road, and your ability to control it. The simplest way to control it, is to give yourself more time to defend it. And the way to do this, is to forgo the capture of one of the Strategic road points. As long as that point remains uncaptured, your enemy will not be able to attack. As soon as that point is captured, you will have nearly two minutes to position your men, place mines, and defences, and hope for the best.
I personally prefer to capture all of the Munitions points across the map, and lay many, many mines. In doing so, your enemy has no where to go. And when I say many mines, I mean laying down an average of five three times across the road, as many times as you can. Also, when mining the road, don’t forget to mine the sides of the road. As the wreckage builds up, and your enemy is forced to find the alternative routes around the carcasses of halftracks and trucks, they will veer off the side of the road some. They don’t go all the way off, but they do go off some, and having mines there, neutralizes them.
The best location to ambush your enemy is around the location of the fourth Anti-Aircraft gun. Use the bunkers, the road, the fences and the little craters left from your recent attack to surprise your enemy and finish him off. You can also use the Anti-aircraft gun for destroying your enemy’s infantry forces, and they do have some effect against vehicles as well.
The rest of it depends on your abilities. Make sure to not use Grenades and Satchel charges as long as you have some mines around. Chances are your forces will detonate about 15% – 25% of all the mines you lay, but this can be reduced by not throwing Grenades and Satchel Charges into heavily mined areas.
Make sure too, you have a Pak 38, because it will make this scenario go along so much quicker and with such ease. The Pak 38 will effectively destroy any of the convoy that manages to get past your minefields o’ doom.
With this, you have completed Vierville. Congratulations.
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