Mission 7 - Operation Plunder | Allied | Campaign Sudden Strike 4 Guide

Mission objectives:

1. Destroy enemy forces in the forest and secure the passage for our armored forces
2. Eliminate the remaining German forces in the ruins
3. Go to the castle and eliminate all resistance points on your way
4. Capture the castle

The choice of doctrine depends on your play style. You start the mission with a squad of paratroopers and you must use them for the majority of the mission (the infantry doctrine can give you additional equipment and First Aid). Later, you will receive a rather big squad of tanks (Extended camouflage, from the support doctrine, is very useful here; the same goes for Improvised armor from the armored doctrine). The mission target - the castle's area - is well fortified and it is recommended to bombard it a lot (support doctrine is useful here). There are also a few places where using mines can be useful, they can make the mission much more easier.

Place your squad in vegetation and lure enemies to your location. Thanks to that you can shoot before the enemies can find your troops.

You start the mission with two infantry teams which should be combined into one big squad. Then, you can clear all the points on the map (1). You should start with the point in the north. Get closer to the end of the field and place your soldiers in a line, remember to keep the Medics in the back. Select 2-3 soldiers and move to the first point. There, you can find a group of infantry soldiers and two machine guns. Fight for a brief moment, throw a grenade and when the enemy shoots a red flare you must retreat to the rest of your units. Your soldiers will automatically shoot at the enemies that are coming out from the forest and crossing the road. Wait until you kill all soldiers. Now, you can neutralize the machine guns and, after that, you can go to the second and third point in the north where you can find only a few soldiers.

Gather your team near the forest in the south. You will clear this point in the same way as you did with the previous one. Enter the forest and place your men between the forest and an open field where the enemy soldiers are gathered. The situation will be similar. The enemy requests reinforcements and you can kill, one by one, the enemies that will come out from the other side of the forest. Wait a moment to be sure that you defeated all of them. Go to the next point and approach it from the left side. Besides the infantry there is also a howitzer which can be useful in the next stage. Another cannon is in the next point. After cleaning the last point you get reinforcements and the mission's borders will expand. You must secure the shore which is defended by a squad of about 15 soldiers, a howitzer, 88mm Flak cannon and another howitzer (2). The captured cannons can be used for neutralizing the infantry. The 88mm Flak cannon is the biggest threat. Use additional soldiers with rocket launchers to destroy them or you can throw smoke grenades and attack from a few directions.

Camouflaged tanks can be very effective. Panzer IV had no chances against a simultaneous salvo from a dozen of Allied units (3). On the east, there is a road between forests where you can find German reinforcements (4).

It is time to lead the main forces that are on the other shore (3). Engineer units must survive until they build a pontoon bridge. Right behind the vegetation there are two Panzer IV tanks. If you have the Extended camouflage you can deal with them easily, although if you don't have it you still can do it. Select all units and order them to hold fire. Take all your infantry units and order them to approach in a such way that the enemy tanks will be in your range. It would be best to have as many units aiming at their sides as possible. You can now point the target by yourself or you can select "Fire at will" command (your units will automatically select the best target). This pair of tanks can even be destroyed with one salvo. You have the access to heavy bombers and assault aircrafts. Use one bombarding on a location with powerful enemy reinforcements (4). It is the road in the bottom right corner, very near to the edge of the map. Besides that, in the forest on the right there are a few soldiers and howitzers but the reinforcements that you can soon get will defeat those units.

Enemy units weren't careful enough and they drove straight into swamp and the enemy Panther got stuck (water current symbol). This makes it an easy target for your soldiers. However, you should watch out which orders you give to your vehicles because they like to drive into bad places. Send a scout ahead (5) so the enemy won't surprise you with a counterattack.

In this part of the map your biggest enemy are swamps and mud represented by dark brown ground. Your vehicles can get stuck in such terrains. You can't save them in any way although their crew can still be evacuated or fire from cannon. There are swamps on the riverbank and your vehicles have a tendency to drive into those places. Order your troops to start moving down the main road. When you pass the forest you must stop your army and send scouts ahead (5). Use your artillery and bombard cannons, infantry and recon vehicles. You must send the scouts again and order the rest of your troops to be behind their back. The last position on this side of the map has a small group of infantry and a few tanks including Tiger II. However, the number of your troops should crush the power of German tanks. Now, you must send engineer vehicle to build a pontoon bridge.

Prepare a welcome party for unexpected enemy reinforcements (7). A small infantry squad, a few tanks and an element of surprise will ensure the success of this small operation. Leave the forces here and prepare them for another counterattack.

When you get on the next shore and join with airborne units you must take positions between the bridge and the ruins on the right. There are three anti-aircraft guns in the ruins, a few tanks and an infantry squad that consists of about 20 soldiers (6). Before you attack this area you should prepare for a counterattack that otherwise would surprise you (7). The counterattack comes from the upper left corner of the current border of the map. After destroying the last anti-aircraft cannon a squad of a few tanks and infantry soldiers will appear in this place. They will move towards crashed planes which are in the starting place of this mission. Their objective is to hit your forces in the back of the pontoon bridge. Placing mines is useless because the enemy will have riflemen. Assign 3-4 tanks, most of your infantry with anti-armor weapons and a few or a dozen of riflemen to this place. Place your scouts at the edge of the field and in the nearby forest and the rest of the group should be placed a little bit further into the field (camouflage and sandbags will be very useful here). Remember to place your tanks in different spots. Thanks to that at least one of them can shoot at enemy's weak point.

Move your infantry to the ruins with anti-aircraft cannons and have your tanks right behind them. The enemy also has his armored units there. The anti-aircraft guns can be destroyed with artillery if you are able to spot fire coming out of their cannons (the smaller picture).

Now, it is time to deal with the anti-aircraft guns (8). Place a few tanks to face the ruins and the rest should be facing north along with scouts that are in front of them. Send an observer into the ruins, he will point targets for your artillery. The enemy will send a few Panzer IV and Panther tanks. Start with eliminating the infantry which will allow you to deal with tanks without problems. You can destroy the guns by using artillery, even if you don't see their positions. When they shoot and are out of your range you can still see fire from their barrels. Order Priests to fire at those positions. After destroying all three guns the enemy will send additional forces near the ruins and in the place where you prepared your ambush.

Placing mines is very effective against tanks, especially if those tanks aren't supported by infantry (7). Bombers and assault aircrafts (8) can cause significant damage to stationary defense posts, tanks with sandbags or cannons. Finishing off those enemies is just a formality.

Your next task is to destroy the defenders that guard the road to the castle. There are two things that you should do before attacking. First: send heavy bombers to the left position and assault aircrafts to the right (8) (set the course of attack to be from north to south). Second: prepare an ambush for enemy reinforcements (7). The rally point is in the same place where the previous counterattack was, right above the road north from starting point, on the left edge of the map. A squad of heavy tanks will gather in this place. Place your units so they can face south, they should be in tall grass, order all units in this area to hold fire and wait for the enemies to start moving to their positions. Placing a lot of mines there will be very useful. When most of the vehicles is damaged by the mines you can order your troops to fire at will.

Shoot at all buildings that are on the island with the castle. Bombard the rest of the buildings and the square in the island in the center to eliminate anti-aircraft guns. Now, you can send your paratroopers and clear the rest of the buildings.

After a successful ambush you must head east and destroy a heavy cannon placed on the road. You can't capture it, even if you attack with only infantry (when the crew is eliminated the cannon will self-destruct). Another cannon is in the left position, right above the previously bombarded location. If your aim was accurate, there won't be any enemy armored units. Finish off the tanks attacked by the assault aircraft. Now, you must attack the castle (9). Infantry units are inside of all buildings and in the upper corners of the first island you can find two anti-aircraft guns. The third one is closer to the lower buildings on the same island. Destroy the guns by using Priests, assault aircrafts and bombers. Send at least two bombers at buildings on the second island. When you are sure that the terrain is rather free of enemies you can send your paratroopers on the first island and check out the area. When the last soldier in the castle is defeated you complete the mission. If you don't have paratroopers or planes you can use your artillery to destroy all buildings. After that you can go around the castle from the left (you defeated enemy reinforcements). The castle can only be entered from the back and only infantry can get there.