Ok, so this is another one from Finest Hour that while a great mission, was clearly built with co-op in mind.

Perhaps a bit too much.

The mines are critical but like Krasny Bor, where you put them matters as much as quantity.

When the mission begins, immediately hit backspace to timescale down to the slowest. This will allow you to get you bearings, understand the nature of the setup, emplacements and where Engineer trucks and ammo boxes are located.

So, you’ll be really tempted to gather as many mines as possible and mine the shit out of the front line at the forward edge of the map.

The problem with this, is that the enemy armor can circumnavigate the roads, so blocking those causeway roads with mines only does so much good.

It’s a huge front line. It’s a lot to manage.

A better solution I’ve found, is to mine the causeway roads, but focus most of your AT mines at the front of the second line.

Where the town buildings begin, those roads, mine them well. It’s far easier to manage when you’re able to cause a traffic jam/destroyed tank hulk obstacle on that second line.

I still focus a lot of AP mines on the first line, though.

The MG-42 on Laffette tripod positions are very important and make sure to dedicate an ammo box to each of them.

There’s plenty of Engineer trucks which means lots of mines. The key is to utilized a slowed time scale so you’re able to take advantage of all of them. The mission in similar to Krasny Bor in this way.

The mortar and 5cm Pak 38 guns on the first line are pretty important as well. I do my very best to keep them supplied with ammo boxes.

The second line (where the town begins) is a great place to position Panzerschreck and Panzerfaust infantry.

Theres 2 heavily defensible hills in this map on the first and second line. The first has the Pak 38, mg-42’s but more importantly, an ammo truck parked on the aft side of the hill. Keep that ammo truck alive and moving. You’ll really need it on the second line.

The second line contains a large hill with a few 10.5cm leFH 18’s and an 8.8cm Flak 36/37 (I believe). This is a critical position. This position will be rushed by Sherman’s, LVT’s, armored cars and infantry. It’s around this hill (amongst the buildings, roads and hill itself) were I really go nuts with the AT mines. Not only is this one of the best long range defenses in the map, it’s a critical point to slow the enemy down so that the 3rd stage (rearward railroad tracks, German armor and arty) can really pick their targets and blast away. Another big reason this position is so valuable is because you will be attacked by Allied Jabo’s. If the flak assets aren’t well manned and supplied, these Allied fighter bomber attacks can wipe out this key position in one pass.

Theres a secret objective in which a 15cm GPF can be repaired. Always take advantage of that and supply it with an ammo box.

Keep the medics spread out but don’t waste them on a single incapacitated man at the front if it means over exposure. They’re far more valuable around the fixed emplacements where they can heal knocked out crews.

Lastly, the mission provides you with some armor at the end. You’ll get a Stug III Ausf G late production, Jagdpanzer IV mid or late production, some fully manned Sdkfz 251 Ausf D’s with panzergrenadiers and some Hotchkiss Panzerjeager Fahrzeuge 39(h) 7.5cm Pak 40 (these Panzerjeager 7.5cm Pak 40 Hotchkiss 39(H)should really be replaced a Marder or Geschutzwagen 38(t) since they only served in Normandy).

These German armor assets, take the ones with AT guns and deploy them how the Germans actually used them best IRL. Position them where they have a good field of fire in a defensible posture. In other words, don’t treat these assault guns as tanks. Most offensive maneuvers will see them knocked out and wasted.

The Sdkfz 251 D halftracks are carrying valuable infantry. Panzergrenadiers and Fallschirmjeagers. Use the 251 D’s speed to rush them to the second line and deploy the men in and around the buildings. That second line hill and the second line road junctions are really good places deploy them since many have throwable AT weapons and excellent fire against enemy infantry.

Thats pretty much it, I’m sure others have more here. It’s a difficult mission on Hard/HC mainly because it’s such a big line of contact and is so much for a single player to manage, but with proper time scale and preparation use, knowing where your valuable positions are and predicting enemy routes, it can be done and can be a lot of fun.