[Americans] Mortain Counterattack - Mission 13

Going to try and explain this sans pictures, but it works well.

The road leading north from your HQ branches off in two directions.

One leads offmap to the north, while the other leads to a backdoor entrance behind the Abbey. However, where both roads fork off from each other there is another area beteen the two roads taht appears to dead end just west of Northern Axis HQ. However, tanks and units can actually squeeze through the area and flank the northern HQ without ever having to hit or clear a single mine, thereby destroying one half of you opposition in the first 3 minutes.

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It's important to have left over units from mission 12. I had to re do mission 12 to pass 13. Try to keep a squad of rifles on near the hill and a vet sniper. The sniper is vital.

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Bloody hell, I just passed mission 12 by the skin of my teeth. Are you saying I've got to do that one all over again and have men left on the hill?

If its any help, i didnt have a single man left on the hill on expert, and I still managed to do it with circa 450 CPs.. Just built riflemen, and took out the north west axis base.. Rangers are awesome..

Its pretty easy once you get the knack.

Remember, you dont need to hold the hill on this level. You just need to hold 3 of the 4 points. The easiest way to do this is take out the base on the right (as has been noted).

You really need to finish the last level with a decent amount of troops. I can now finish that on expert more troops than the cap will allow. Either way, you need the howitzer to put fire down om the 3 88s to the north. Then send 2 snipers down to take out the survivng crews (take out the 88 and vp on the way). Para drop a new crew for the 2 nearest to the base, and shell it to buggery. No minefields to worry about. Send the snipers back up the hill. Take out the other 88. take that vp.

You should already have taken the vp at the church withoit me asking. Voila

This mission is highly dependent on how well you complete the preceding mission on this map.

I've been playing through the Normandy campaign after not playing it for more than year. I totally owned both Mortain maps this time around on Hard difficulty. I remember how hard they were the first time I played them. But, after playing the skirmish version of this maps a few times and knowing the weaknesses of the AI from my mod testing job for Warnstaff's AI Mod, these two missions were a virtual cake walk. The germans never got close to the top of the hill in either part. I had locked down the map so much in the first part, that it took little effort to win the second part. By the time I finished the second part, which I won 500-0 on VPs, I owned all but two sectors of the map and had done serious damage to both german bases.

I would post screenshots of how I locked down the map, but I can't post pics in this thread.

I wish you could save replays of campaign missions so that people could post examples of how to win them or to post them for people to review to help people point out what the player is doing wrong.

Normal level.
In last mission, some preparation should already been done, like build machine gun nests and triage centers on the hill, set more tank trap lines on the map near the hill so that enemy can attack from limited routes only. At beginning of this mission, some machine gun nests and tanks traps may be destroyed, so the first thing to do is to move my forces forward to the north of the church to make sure the tank trap lines there are created/prepared properly. Take the point in the church yard and build machine gun nests to protect it. Make sure these machine gun nests are protected by the L building so that they will not be attacked by enemy tank/AT fire. (Do not build nests here in last mission, they will be destroyed in the beginning of this mission.)

Tank trap lines at middle of NE board are not damaged. No need to worry tanks from there.

It is ok to build machine gun nest by the SE victory point in last mission(or at the beginning of this mission) to make sure enemy cannot take this point. Make sure they are as far away from the point as possible, otherwise they will be destroyed by enemy 88mm gun nearby. This 88mm gun should be destroyed by howitzer ASAP, otherwise it is impossible to take this point.

Set tank trap lines so that enemy tanks can attack the hill from NE only. Use howitzer to destroy enemy 88mm guns, although they are out of the range of the howitzer, they can still be destroyed by howitzer firing many times at the max range (The price is too high to send any other units to destroy these 88mm guns).

Use machine gun nests, 2-3 AT, mortar, artillery to attack enemy from NE side(the only way) of the hill.

Hope this is helpful.

Not sure if people still have problems with this mission but have just been through it again a couple of times after completing OF. The key to success and medal, as many posters are finding, is winning mission 12 'well'. Having control of much of the map around the hill and havings left-over defences and troops makes it possible. This said you are still stretched and resources are tight! Indeed some posts suggest lots and lots of MG nests! You may find that even though you have much of the map you do not have enough resource for that many. However, the last twice I have won 500 - 0.

As with the last mission do not be rushed and set everyone working at the end of the cut-scene. I usually send my 2 tanks (1st one clearing mines near emermy base) to the enemy base in the top corner (like the artillary tree for self-repair). In the past these tanks have destroyed this base but this time they struggled and I lost one and got one back to the Abbey. I think in the past I have used artie to clear AT guns.

I send one squad of reinforcements to the Abbey with engineers also from base who take the ammo point. I set Howie to work blowing the 88 crew in front of the hill supported by some leftover troops who are nearby who will man this gun once free (best not to destroy it as it can single handely defend the point near it when you take it (you may have to get some engies to it for repair, pehaps when they have taken the point!). 2 depleted HMG crews (a 1 and a 2) can control the road from the north and the field (1 facing the road and one the field) (88 will soon be Vet so will help out here too). I sent the M10 to the hill and spread others standing around (from last mission) into trenches covering approaches. Think I had 3 AT left so had 2 facing the left slope and one on the front slope (some armour does come this way but be prepared to turn gun in response to attack). M10 helps. The point to the right of the hill can be difficult as an 88 covers it, I want that 88 and I go get it later. I usually still have a squad and a MG nest behind the farmhouse for now I leave them there. ALL of this troop deployment can be achieved on 'pause'.

As in the last mission release pause and things you have set up start to happen. Pause often. There is no concrete way I can tell you how this mission will go as it depends on what you have to hand. The Howie does destroy the big guns in the top right (1 or 2 rounds maximum range). Much of the map gets over-run with tank buster and flame troops and various armor 'pausing' helps you deal with it (vet rifles with sticky bombs are great!). Off map artie and Howie shread troops and buckle armor. This is how i get the 88 to the right of the hill which with the help of a crew and some engineers keep the right point clear. In the Abbey I pick up a HMG and set it up behind a wall with the left over troops and get Engineers to build a MG in the lee of the building (do get some amour here if base not destroyed) but my left over sherman dealt with this. If you get the 4 points their score drops rapidly and it is soon over!

Found this mission quite frustrating, like many others, when I 1st played but now I am more experiences it is not so hard.

Not so bad if you did well in Mission 13.
First thing I did was set the Howie to maximum range and target the 88s. One salvo destroyed them all.
After beating off some attacks I sent my sniper over to take out the 88 guarding the eastern VP. As soon as they were down I sent an elite infantry squad to capture the VP and then occupy the house next to it. I also sent my Sherman to the curve in the road just behind the house in case any armor should show up. During all the time it was there it only encountered a puma and a Stug, the latter backing away after it reached 50% damage.
I then sent my sniper north to destroy the 88 guarding the VP there. I sent in my rangers to capture that VP but I had to send my sniper to destroy an 88 I had overlooked that was between the eastern and northern VPs guarding the northern VP. Once captured I withdrew them back to the hill. I left my camo'd sniper in some bushes just south of the VP where he beat off any attempts to recapture it. Some pumas and other armor would roll by but never close enough to where he was. After I had these points all I had to do was sit and wait. The AI wasn't as agressive as I expected trying to recapture those victory points. Instead they kept coming up the south side of the hill trying to take that VP and with my AT guns and M10 was able to beat back these attacks before they came close to hitting my base. A squad of engineers was always repairing the M10 and I had built triage centers close to the AT guns and infantry squads to keep them at full health.
Soon enough the Axis counter reached 0 and it was game over. I really have to to give a lot of credit to those who beat it on version 1.70 and below.I played with the latest version and it was not as hard as the earlier versions where panzers would spam all over the place and within less than 10mins the Germans had taken 3 VPs and the counter would drop to 0 in less than 5mins. I finished with 387 points.

Can't even beat this mission on easy. I DID do well on the previous mission. With the reinforcements I'm over the population limit by 78/75 but this mission is still impossible. Tanks and men come from every angle, at once. I lose in about 5 minutes.

Howitzer sucks, doesn't hit anything. It took 3 tries to defeat one 88.

I can send units to capture 2 of the 3 points but it's worthless. Germans recapture them in an instant. The tank destroyer can barely go toe to toe with other tanks and the 88s rip it to shreds. the Croc is worthless in this mission because of the major amounts of enemy armor and the 88s. The sherman is the only thing worth a damn and even so one sherman is not nearly enough to fight a constantly replenishing supply of tanks + 4-5 88s that I can't even see.

sailliak
Divide your teams to defend Vps and center. Engineers can repair tanks.
Use sniper(s) to kill 88s. Bring him behind them, so when he shots they need to turn. They usually dont manage to do that b4 he camoes again.

I wrote a small guide in the thread for the previous mission. Basically you just spawn camp them. There's 3 spawn points in the previous mission, but now it's only 2 and they are actual bases not just spawn points.

Make sure to have used barb wire and tank traps to cut off the route behind the small town (where you rescue the rangers) so they can't flank your HQ from there. Anything you built in this small town in the previous mission is gone so you just need to close the top gap again and forget about it. Now you can concentrate all defence on the two enemy bases. Do not defend the hill itself, it's pointless and dangerous. Defend with your infantry and use the 3 free tanks and a mortar on offence. Use the Howitzer to take out the 88 and the mines around it near the right enemy base so you can defend that side. You can use barb wire and tank traps to cut off that base's main exit from the previous mission so they are all forced to exit through a small gap right at the edge of the map. Defend there. Take over the 88 and use it to shell their troops and then their own base (use target ground). Make sure you have engineers with minesweepers.

Use pause a lot and do everything simultaneously. Use a Mortar to flank (from behind the trees) the other lone 88 (or artillery it), just take it over fast while your 3 free tanks (upgrade them) are moving fast to the top of the road. This was an enemy spawn point in the previous mission, but now it's free. Turn right and cut through the hedges along the edge of the map till you reach the 3 enemy 88s, I mean the patch of trees next to them that cover you. Follow your tank with a Mortar and a riflemen squad. After you cut the hedges move the tanks in the opposite direction and stay on the edge of the map. Keep going until you reach the enemy base. There's no mines from this approach so it's easy. Take it out from behind. Meanwhile your Mortar killed the crews of the 88s and your riflemen can take over 1 (or 2 if you're greedy). Use them to shell the enemy base with target ground. Even though there are trees in the way and you can't actually target enemies (right click them) you can still use attack ground and demolish the base. Most shots will pass through the trees. The Mortar helps too. If you attack this base from the entrance too watch out for the mines.

Basically you can destroy both bases fast and then run around to kill any remaining enemies this way and your defences can be concentrated in 2 places only. Easy money.

The key to winning the counterattack mission is to prepare the map in the first mission on this map. Go back and play the first mission and prepare the map with tank traps and barbed wire to funnel the germans into kill zones.

i just re-played the campaign on expert and was left with not much at the end of the previous mission. i struggeled at first due my leftover troops being all over the place but then it was all (figuratively speaking) uphill.
i used cheap engineers to take some mgs from the ground. 2 armored cars for rapid response and otherwise relied on rangers and the odd at-gun.
i strafed the 88s first and then stormed them with the rangers on fire up. people died but i got to crew two of them. then i went on to kill the base with the 88s.

i held the upper vp with a at gun as far back as possible to kill his vehicles. otherwise it was rangers again.

just remember to repair you armored cars, then you'll be fine. if youhave two with a bit of vet, you can even take on a single shreck squad if necessary.

if possible get a schreck or two with riflemen. together with BARs, it makes them REALLY strong vs everything. take care of those squads and they will serve you will in other missions - yes, you can keep the schrecks.

Finally managed it! Also somehow managed to finish the level with all 3 of my tanks still alive.

I think the sniper is vital, capture the abbey VP and fortify the area... the VP to the east can pretty much be kept with a vet sniper but you have to keep him alive.

I think this level and the previous level are slightly more difficult, in that there are heavier waves, although I still managed to finish the 1st map with a full pop, and the second with 500 points.

the trick to the 1st map is getting all the little 2 man teams to capture territory, before grabbing an HMG, and setting up on top of the hill, and using the 2rifle squads to man whats left over while reinforcing (a cheap way to get HMG squads). By the time the attack comes you should have 9 HMGs 4 ATs 2 rifles 1 ranger and 2 engineers. Supplement this by getting 2 snipers (vet if possible) and build another AT to defend your HQ. Retreat the Rangers and 1 Engineer to hel defend the HQ, and retake mortain before the time limit runs out

This map has been made easier by not nerfing your popincome once you reach your cap. You can use this to spam HMG nests all over the hill (with some aid centes to heal your men which can be built on the hill), and around the HQ.

BE aware that the main attacks come from the top, and the right sides, with a small force pushing down the track top right. Keep an eye out for the mortar squads and snipers. Make sure the ATs can manouver to cover more than one side, and that they have infantry cover in front of them. You should be able to reinforce your squads when the Axis beign to retreat with 30 seconds left.

This had to be the hardest mission I managed to complete and gain the medal. I must have done the earlier mission about 20 times just so I could have what I thought I needed to begin this one.
As it turns out, the Germans will attack constantly for a while and then they back off a bit so, you have to hang on. This is one of those 'whack a mole' missions where the pio's are running around cutting off your supply of muni and fuel. There's no shortage of enemy armor to deal with either.
Get a sniper and a MG into your HQ. They'll protect your base from infantry and keep the hill connected to your base. One or two AT guns are handy to keep the tanks at bay.
If you lose the Sherman and croc early dont be too distressed as they are not that handy. It's better to stick with infantry for the 1st half.
I chose the AB doctrine despite the weakness of the paratroopers,just to be able to drop AT when needed. Keep about 2 or 3 squads in the abbey with AT and mine everywhere when you can.
Once the Germans begin to slow down, start to use recon flights in the north (flying north to west to avoid getting your air support shot down and wasting resources) quickly followed by bombing runs to take out all the tanks and flak weapons which build up there. I think I must have used about 2500 muni and still didn't get all of them. There's a heap of infantry building up there too so to mix it up a bit and strafe the mortars hanging around.
Eventually you can drop AB in there and clean up the remaining troops. The rest is pretty easy. Get a few snipers to take out the 88's and it's done.
The trick was to hold out until it settles down.

The hardest mission so far and all you need are 3 snipers - here goes:

1. disregard all action and send your snipers to the 88 guarding the upper VP, kill it, choose airborne, parashoot a unit & take the 88 - once you have it, it kills instantly everything in its range as long as its not in the fog of war. now send a sniper to the VP as a spotter for the 88 and let the 88 kill whats around the VP, then send the sniper to capture it. leave the sniper as a spotter half way between the 88 and the VP - don't have to worry about this VP no more.

2. secure the right VP the same way just remember you need 2 snipers there - 1 to spot the VP, the other to spot for krauts coming from the north.

3. now you have 2 VP and the counter stops - your medal is secured.

4. be aware - once in a while the krauts will take these VP back - just wait till the 88 clears the area around then send the sniper to recapture it (don't forget to return him to his position afterwards).

5. with the upper 88 you can start shooting at the secondary 88's - its a bit out of range but finally you nail them. if not, use bombing runs (parashoot supplies and take ammo points around the map if you need - the one down left is easy). when the 88 die, send parashooters to take them and kill the base in the right upper corner where the stugs are coming from.

6. If you have a 4th sniper the 88's fall much easier - just send him camouflage and kill it's crews.

7. Now just parashoot and capture the remaining VP to complete the mission.

it takes a while and countless saves but it works.

This mission is easy

Put a tanktrap and barbwire sqaure around the left VP point area on the previous mission and place a bunker infront of the building the rangers were in for medal. That VP is completely safe now for the entire mission.

If you played previous mission well the Hill in the center should be completely protected with AT guns, bunkers , mortar and hmg's

All thats left is taking VP on the south side of the hill just keep dropping para's there and taking it. Jerry never defends the VP and its very easy to defend it.

No need to bother with the 3rd VP just sit back and relax.

U should finish 500-0 on expert with ease

Have they boosted the power of the enemy on this map with all the updates to this game?

I start off with 3 units on the hill and no defenses or bases on it.

I have two eng at HQ repairing from last mission

I have 2 units in Mortain for defense.

By the time I get my new units to HQ, I get hammered by over a Half dozen units from each West, North, and East. That's like 20 units total coming at me from all directions at once. Well, first froom the North, then a few seconds later from the west, then a few more seonds later from the East with no seeming chance to defend my base. Just too many units.

Should I tried to just abandon my HQ and let it destroy it, but then They come back as I try to repair it and I end up losing too much and unable to resupply my units.

Any new hints for this map?
-=Mark=-

You win this mission by preparing for it in the first part or first mission. If you are on the verge of losing the first mission when it ended, you will lose this mission. Win the first mission handily and prepare the map (with TTs, wire, and other defenses) in the first part and the second mission should be a cake walk.

Although game updates have effected the relative balance between units somewhat, this mission is still easily winnable if you follow the general guidance above (ie, replay the first mission until you win it a very decisive manner and then continue to part/mission 2).

It also depends on how lucky the Wehr off-map artillery is. Sometimes it blew all my units away, and sometimes it fails.

Yeah, I replayed the first map, built fortifications and easily won this map. I don't think I even lost a unit on this map I won it so decisively.

I do remember it put all my units in the center of the hill when starting the second map, and one of the buildings it the abbey was gone and a few fortifications lost to the north. but I made sure the abbey was heavily bordered off.

Finally managed it on expert with only a few units left from the previous mission.
As soon as the game begins, build two or three engineer squads and send them to the hill. Do not bother to protect Mortain as it's not important if you lose the headquarter and you need to protect three other areas (the hill and the 2 VPs). Send all reinforcements to the hill as quickly as possible because the enemy will start attacking early on. Use the first engineer squad to tank trap and barb wire the northern approach if it has been destroyed by artillery. With three tanks and infantry support you should be able to fend off the initial attacks. Once you' ve secured the hill re-built any buildings destroyed and build at least 3 Ats, 3 HMG and spam snipers (they 're deadly on this mission). Repair the tanks if necessary and send them to the western VP. The road to the western VP is virtually a minefield so proceed cautiously to clear the mines. The enemy defence on the western VP is meager, once you have defeated them leave 1 HMG one AT and one tank at this location, they should be sufficient to block any counterattacks. Use a sniper team (2 or three snipers) to clear any infantry on the eastern VP. Bring engineers with flamethrowers if the enemy has infantry inside buildings but don't bring any tanks because they're easy prey for the 88. For the rest of the mission move your forces back and forth between the hill and the eastern VP in order to hold out. If you' re doing well you may consider sending a sniper team to clear the other 88s and win the medal. Use an airstrike first to soften their defences.

win with 490-0(silver)(500 gold) on easy,because im still newbie here,igot alot guy from previous mission,chasing retreating panzer IV with ranger &rifle with panzershreck,idont know this mission is continued,in result massive retreat soilder.used massive survival sniper with critital hp,got the AT/AA Flak cannon,i sugest to use Air/Armor company.having a allied AT Hotwitzer(still wondering why they cannot shot anything like the Axis Cannon)with critical HP,used Mg Camp,AT& a few tank to def the points .Eliminate they base also useful,leaving a few bunker left in result they cannot capture any VP.