UN-OFFICIAL STRATEGY GUIDE FOR STEEL PANTHERS 
VERSION 1.0
	Compatible with STEEL PANTHER version 1.1

Hi there I just couldn't help sending to you guys my favorite tips and 
hints about SP , this game is too good and I just want to share the 
little I've learn in the hope your comments will help me improve my 
gameplay.Moreover the lack of good reference book make this 
kind of post usefull ( at least I hope so). Let' call it the Un-Official 
Strategy Book ! As a bonus this UOSG is written in an extremely 
academic language with perfect spelling so it will be an exellent 
occasion for you tough colonials or noble sons of Wellington to 
learn something really new : the pure french continental english 
<g>.Here is a first draft of the UOSG , the complete version may be 
ordered for only 12 $ via registration to forum SWREG (cserve 
registration # 8597) see below. Complete version 1.1 will be 
delivered via cserve e-mail immediately after your registration 

ULTRA FAST DELIVERY ! NO NEED TO WAIT FOR SNAIL MAIL ! 
FREE SHIPMENT AND HANDLING COSTS ! HALF THE PRICE OF 
A STANDARD OFFICIAL STRATEGY BOOK . HINTS AND TIPS 
MADE BY PLAYERS FOR PLAYERS.

Here are just a small parts of the tips included in SP UOSG (those 
tips have been updated in version 1.1) :

 1. About 88 AT and german defense .

At start your most potent weapon is the 88 AT buy one section of 
those ( they are cheap you can buy more but it is just not fun and 
historical to have more than a couple of those in your batallion we 
are not playing DOOM II here !) .
88 AT are very accurate , they can punch a hole in any kind of 
enemy units , but they are very vulnerable . Use them only for long 
distance kills when visibility is good . in scenario where the enemy 
have heavy artillery move them the turn after they fire . It is the priority 
target of aircrafts and artillery , have them stay more than 15 hexes 
away from enemy units. Ammunition is scarce so use it carefully . 

In defense scenarios , when they are not spotted yet , set their 
opportunity fire to one hexe . Otherwise they will be spotted too early 
and the enemy will fire everything  available at them and will not 
engage the bulk of his units before your spotted 88 AT are 
destroyed ( well at least if the player is a competant human , the AI is 
more straightforward) . You should deliver a decisive blow when 
your 88 open fire during your turn using their 6 shot . A well trained 88 
should normally kill any unit in 3 shots at 20/30 hex range , so 
normally 4 (maybe more) of the most heavy enemy tanks should be 
burning wrecks after your first "broadside" . Have your battalion 
leader  (in A0 unit) less than 5 hexes away from your 88 section 
leader (the "0" unit ) , it helps greatly pass the morale check during 
fire and...successfull morale check improve *a lot* the accuracy for 
consecutive shots at the same target Do not forget to move some 
cheap big truck or cavalry to draw the enemy opportunity fire 
*before* you fire your 88 AT otherwise they may be suppressed / 
destroyed by the return fire . After this you may want to move your 88 
AT away from enemy spotting range to lay another ambush before 
massed direct fire from enemy start pounding your vulnerable crew 
next turn...Your opponent will just see 4 of his best units burning 
without any explanation for that , not good for the enemy major's 
morale ! I strongly recommand not to place those AT on top of the 
hills , sure they have a beautifull view and enjoy the landscape but it 
is the first place where the 152 mm preparatory (ie just before first 
turn ) shell from your human opponent will land . If you play against 
the AI hill tops are just great so different opponents , different tactics 
...
If you like to follow the books , you may want to lay a carefull ambush 
near the objective with a first line of infantry/engineers with range set 
to 1 and some AT with their range set to the distance to infantry plus 
one . The idea behind this is to have the enemy tank bump into the 
infantry and every AT and infantry fire at the same time. Sure you will 
kill the first recon unit but it is a cheap price for him to pay in order to 
spot your complete defense system , and your opponent will 
engage your AT immediately with all his firepower (since he his the 
attacker he his supposed to have more than you and you will 
loose).If you really want to play the infantry ambush I suggest you 
cover the area with smoke (or use reverse slope) in order to avoid 
concentration of fire from the attacker and take his incoming units 
piece meal preferably with your enginners (I suggest to stiffen your 
grunts with some armor adjacent to kill instantly any unit foolish 
enough to enter that fog and avoid any retaliation from incoming unit) 
. Works great with the computer , haven't tried it yet with a human 
opponent but it should embarass him because he will not even be 
able to spot for artillery because of the smoke .

In offense 88 AT must be used to kill from a distance the heavy 
enemy armor detected by your recon units . Be carefull to leave 
them outside retaliation range ( 15 hexes minimum),  do not forget to 
move them the turn after they have fired (here will come the enemy 
artillery) and... move them with AA units because they are the 
preferred target for aircrafts.I know , I know, 88 AT were originally AA 
weapons but ... they still need some AA to protect them !

2-About setting infantry trap against armor:

0 range is usefull for nothing , if you want to trap tank set your range 
to 1 since close combat occurs at 1 hex distance not 0. Maybe 0 
range can be usefull if you want a sniper to stay unspotted in a tree 
hex (I 'm not so sure it works). Use engineers preferably because 
they can blow off almost any tanks with flamethrowers and satchel 
charges.Preferably use your infantry in reverse slope condition in 
order to avoid enemy concentration of fire once they are 
detected.See below.

3-About stopping heavy russian armor .and the reverse slope trap

Try those 88 AT , set their range to 1 (to avoid them being detected 
early with opportunity fire ) and fire massively all of them at long 
range when your enemy have commited the bulk of their forces (if 
visibility is good).Of course after they fired wyou may want to change 
their range .Do not forget to have all your leader within command 
range(5 hexes) to improve the accuracy of successive shots. If 
visibility is bad try the reverse slope trap (just set all you units 
massed behind a hill or forest in the path of the enemy) in order to 
avoid enemy
concentration of fire . Have your tanks behind your engineers and 
destroy the incoming forces piece meal (thanks to your 
concentration of fire) , it can be usefull also to back them up with 
some 88 AT (to punch big holes into those KV easier) in the rear 
area but not too far
since visibility is bad. Just be sure the enemy has fired all his 
opportunity fire before firing your AT : just move or fire (alternately to 
avoid enemy accuracy increase) a couple of expendable or well 
armored unit . After a while repelling any kind of armor attack will be 
second nature !
I've found the reverse slope works also pretty well against the 
german too, he cannot use his long ranged 88 and his superior 
accuracy , he must fight your T34 in close combat at a disaventage.

PS: You can also use smoke in front of your units in order to create 
the artificial "reverse slope" , it is even better because the enemy 
doesn't benefit from beeing on top of the hill (I think there is a bonus 
for that) .



4 Searching for a way out of the Mines! 

 Yes those are really a pain in my ... too ! I think mine are the most 
potent weapon of a defending AI.
I had very few scenarii with them . I used some cavalry to detect the
minefield and advance quite fast , one cavalry will not always detect 
the
minefield but 4 of them stand a good chance to have some losses in 
a 
dense minefield area (I have them followed them closely by some 
_support_ expendable Stugs just in case they get really unlucky to 
pass theminefield without losses!) , once the mined area is detected 
I dismountmy engineers from my tanks and try to find a way out of it , 
its seems you do not have to wait till the engineer clear the minefield 
completely, sometime the engineer can make a path , for the 
mechanized units . It seem also once the engineers are in the hex 
you can move trough the hex safely , it seemed to work but I just 
tested it once so I'm not sure 100% . Once you have crossed the 
dangerous area , just repeat the process with advancing cavalry. 
The funny thing is that enemy artillery do not take long to fall on your 
dismounted engineers so you better find the path quickly ...

	Maybe there is another way to avoid minefield ,
attacking enemy objective from the rear after a large enciclement (I 
haven't tried this one yet !) . According to the latest info I got from 
other players , the minefields are always in your path whatever it is !

5- Best reconaissance

	For me the best reconaissance unit is the cavalry , they are 
not fully destroyed when they bump into enemy position (unlike 
armored carriers or light tanks),you can use them again after 
rallying, they are cheap, and they spot much better than vehicles 
since they are infantry so why not buying a platoon of them as 
support unit ?

6-Spending enemy opportunity fire f

	Move alternately 2 expendable or heavily armored units , 
the enemy will switch target and loose all cumulated accuracy 
bonus . When the target stop firing move some armored killer 
adjacent preferably in his rear .Take care if you want to dispatch him 
with infantry since the bad guy may still have some machine gun left 
and your precious engineers may be pinned before shooting , move 
some cavalry within range in order to spend his MG opportunity fire . 
Be carefull this adjacent aproach can be dangerous if you suspect 
some enemy concentration around the target .

	If you face an enemy concentration let him move toward 
your position and use the reverse slope trap to defeat him 
piecemeal.


7-Fighting "invisible" armies (ie Japanese or Finns)

	For those who are upset by invisible Japs , I think I've found 
a miracle cure ... screen your precious core with some unexpensive 
(support) snipers , they will die detecting the incoming japs and you 
will crush them before they can crush you . Of course I understand it 
is very un-american to sacrifice precious human lives just for 
detection ( I would expect this from Russians or Japanese ) but c'est 
la guerre SP way <g> I haven't experimented it (not played the 
american side yet) so can anyone confirm if it works ? This 
technique worked not so bad when I played the russians against the 
invisible finish army ...

here is another interresting tip from Craig Boulton:

Pascal, I found another way as well. Put your core units behind the 
objective area, hopefully in cover. Buy a lot of fast armored cars and
put them there too. When you see victory flags change color you 
charge
over the hill with the armored cars. Most of them will get whacked, but
so what, they are only support. Once the japs have used up all there
shots, you go in with core units and rack up the kills. If you have
movement points left, hide the core units again. Repeat until all japs
are dead.

8-About attacks and smoke.

First you have to decide if you have "long distance" 
supremacy.Long distance supremacy is the ability to have enough 
long distance gunnery to inflict a decisive blow to your enemy 
without much risks for retaliation . This is the case if you are the 
german with enough 88 AT (I consider using more than 2 of them is 
"cheating" ) or enough Panthers or Tigers . Usually the german can 
be expected to have long distance supremacy.

If you have long distance supremacy do not use smoke , If you do 
not have long distance supremacy buy a lot of cheap mortars to lay 
smoke lavishly along your avenue of approach and go straight for 
the objective (use some 152 mm to soften them before) with your 
troops massed and covered with smoke.Remember smoke is the 
most potent weapon if you are outclassed by enemy gunnery.

If you have long distance supremacy almost everything will work ... 
make some concentrated attack since the enemy will probably use 
smoke (unless it is the dumb AI).

Always recon before moving precious units , I like to have some 
expendable support cavalry spearheading the attack , then some 
support stugs or heavy close support tanks mounted by support 
engineers and then my precious core , if you can keep your force 
concentrated nothing can stop you exept mines , maybe also 
enemy artillery can disrupt a little too ... Have some air support 
attack along your path of advance during preparatory phase to take 
out some potent long distance killers and/or use smoke for cover if 
you do not have long distance supremacy.

9-Do not forget AA 

The enemy aircraft will always bomb your most important assets , 
protect them with specialised AA units.

10-Command control

Try to have your units within 5 hexes range of the platoon/section 
leader (the "0" unit) and the platoon leader within 5 hexes range of 
the battalion leader (A0 unit) . Your suppression will be removed 
more easily and your firing accuracy will improve greatly with 
consecutive shots. Always try to rally before firing since suppression 
is very bad for accuracy.

11-Off board artillery

Everything less than 150 mm is just good for laying smoke . 
Corollary :buy cheap mortars for smoke, buy nothing but 150 mm for 
OBA.

12-Experience and morale.

Morale , experience and leaders ability are extremely important 
factors in SP. Very often a veteran outguned unit will kill or rout an 
inexperienced enemy thanks to superior accuracy and rate of fire 
.The more you kill enemy units the fastest your experience 
grows.The unit credited for the kill is the unit who destroyed the 
vehicle or killed the last infantryman . Alway have your support units 
supress the enemy and leave the kill for your core units in order to 
gain more experience , use every opportunity to finish enemy 
units.Exeption (bug?) if you kill a unit with area fire (targeting the hex 
rather than the unit , this happen when you use flamethrowers for 
instance...) you won't be credited for the killl .
This version 1.0 of the SP UOSG . This text file is freeware . For more 
conprehensive information you may want to look for SP UOSG 
version 1.1...

GREAT NEWS : SP UOSG VERSION 1.1 RELEASED !!!(see below)

Yes you too can get version 1.1 of the Un Official Strategy Guide and 
be unbeatable wether you fight the AI with your green russian troops 
or a pesky human !

Version 1.1 is a considerable improvement of version 1.0 , I even 
hesitated to release it considering I may have to face some of you in 
pbem and I just hate loosing a game . Finally the French Ministry of 
Defence agreed to release this classified information for export . It is 
not Freeware (like version 1.0 was) it is Shareware see explanation 
below and it cost as little as 12 dollars.You can order it right now ! 
Just follow instructions in section B , you will get it within 24 hours via 
e-mail. Snail mail is too slow , cost a lot and it's too hard to wait for 
such a nice stuff like SP UOSG version 1.1!

In order to help you decide if it's worth your hard earned bucks here 
is a summary of what you can get and how to order it :

A)-Summary of the Un-Official Strategy Guide:

1-About 88 AT and german defense
2-About setting infantry trap against armor
3-About stopping Heavy russian armor and the reverse slope trap
4-Searching for a way out of the mines
5-Best reconaissance
6-Spending enemy opportunity fire
7-Fighting invisible armies
8-About attacks and smoke
9-Do not forget AA
10-Command control
11-Off Board artillery
12-Experience and morale
13-What does influence shooting accuracy
14-Firing from hill tops
15-About combined arms:
	15-1 Armor
	15-2 Recon units
	15-3 Good ol''infantry
	15-4 Planes
	15-5 Off board artillery
	15-6 Mortars
	15-7 AA units
	15-8 AT guns
	15-9 Infantry guns
	15-10 Half track , armored carriers etc...
	15-11 Snipers

16- About the wise management of your fire
17- About a very nasty trick of mine ...
18- About carefull movement
19- How to have infantry squads/crews surrender faster
20- No mercy kill them all
21- If you can't kill them , frighten them .
22- Think twice about your retreat path
23- About the use of extreme stacking
24- Gaming against the ultimate predator : human beeing.
	24-1-Be optimistic
	24-2-Be a nasty coward
	24-3-Be lazy
	24-4-Be exentric
	24-5-Be coherent
	24-6-Be objective minded
	24-7-Be stuborn
	24-8-Be agressive
	24-9-Be human

B-How to order and register for complete UOSG version 1.1

Registering is very easy and payment of the 12 $ fee will be made 
directly and immediately via your ccserve account jut go to SWREG 
and follow instructions:

Once in SWREG forum select  "register shareware", then select 
"proceed",you will be prompted for your geographic region,just 
answer.Then select registration ID , type "8597" (this is my software 
registration number). Then select "display  selected file" , you will 
have a small explanation about my guide . Select "Register", then 
type your adress and answer to questions , when prompted always 
select Register , never choose "Cancel" unless you want to change 
your mind.
I will be immediately informed about your e-mail adress by 
compuserve (you do not have to type it) and I will send you the 
SPUOSG file during my next online session . Within 24 hours it will be 
in your e-mail box . Important : I do not deliver via snail mail (that is 
why you can save on handling and shipment fee ). YOU WILL NOT 
RECEIVE A DISKETTE BUT A FILE SEND DIRECTLY TO YOUR 
E-MAIL ADRESS.

This file is shareware . The money will not go to any charity 
organization . By registering and paying the 12 $ fee you help me 
finance a part of my next trip to US with wifey , the final result is to be 
in a better position to negociate my computer gaming hours with her 
. Thanks in advance for helping me achieve such a noble and 
humanitarian objective.

Pascal Ode ( Compuserve e-mail:100257,1375 )

Le clos du chateau,
4 allée du chateau
38240 Meylan
France
