Panzer Corps 2 All Commendations, Caches, and Collectables Guide

For those Panzer Corps 2 players who want to know when and what you can buy with Commendation Points, what goodies can be found in hidden caches, and some other special units and events that pop up, I decided to take it upon myself to find and note these things down and share them with you all, along with some commentary on them.

A) Any commentary on the various units and other rewards are simply my personal opinion. Feel free to bring up your own experiences and opinions on these things, cause I very well could have missed something.
B) I haven’t played much with Retrograde, so most of my opinions assume you are playing without it. Similarly, I love me some Trophies of War, so I had to actively make sure I compared units more to the standard German units and not my arsenal of captured equipment.Anyway, let’s get on with what you’re all here for:

Seville
Cache
The first mission of the Spanish Civil War is the location of our first hidden cache. If you can manage to run a ship loaded with one of your Spanish army of Africa units east, you can have them land at Gibraltar, where they find a set of 10 203mm M1931 artillery.
The 203mm is the biggest, baddest artillery piece you’ll find during the Spanish Civil War. Unfortunately, you can only acquire it here and in the only other cache you can find during this Campaign, so keep it safe or you’ll quickly lose it.Anyequera
Events
I doubt I anyone doesn’t know that capturing the Airfield at 13,15 spawns a trio of Ju52 bombers, so I’ll just cut to the commentary.
The Ju52s are pretty much mandatory to pull off one of the Bonus Objectives on this map, but after that their only real use is the fact that they are the only Strategic Bombers you’ll have available for a while, especially if you’re running Retrograde.

Cache
Remember that other cache of the Spanish Civil War I mentioned? If you send a unit up along the top of the map to a Village at coordinates 20,4 you’ll find said cache. This one contains another 10 203mm M1931s, as well as 10 122mm M10/30 artillery pieces as well.
The 122mm is another good artillery unit compared to your current German guns. However, the only way you’ll be able to get replacements if it takes damage is to capture more from the Republicans.

Merida
Events
And now we arrive at our first chance to spend those commendations you’ve been racking up (You have been completing those Bonus Objectives right?)! At the start of the mission, you have the opportunity to spend 3 Commendations for some captured equipment: 35 Trubia tanks and 35 UNL-35 recon units.
The Trubia is a nifty little tank that is superior to your Panzer IAs. However, pretty much every other tank you’ll encounter or buy during the Civil War are better, even the Panzer IBs. Still a useful unit during the early game, especially with Retrograde.
The UNL is in a similar boat, in that it’s better than your German recon units, but not as good as the enemy AACs and BAs. On the other hand, you don’t get better German recon units besides the starting one, so the UNL can remain useful the entire campaign.

Early Madrid
Events
At the start of this mission, if you spend a mere 2 Commendations, then on turn 2 you get one of, in my opinion, the best Commendation Rewards in both the Spanish Civil War and 1939 Campaigns: the Verdeja 2 tank Gift Unit.
Frankly, the Verdeja 2 is the bastard love child of the mobility of a BT-5 and the firepower of a T-26. Hands down the best tank in this Campaign, and remains competitive against the various German, French, Polish, and Russian tanks you run into throughout 1939. I expect it to continue to serve well though the defeat of France, although I’m less certain of it’s chances against the T-34s and KV-1s that are bound to show up once we get to Russia…

Brunete
Events
The start of this mission brings another opportunity to buy some captured enemy equipment. The 3 Commendations you spend this time earn you some better rewards that the last stash you bought, giving you 25 T-26 tanks and 25 I-16 fighters.
The T-26 is one of the best tanks the Republicans have alongside the BT-5, and now you can have your own to replace your lackluster Panzers. It’s even historically accurate, considering the Nationalists prized them enough that they put out a bounty to be rewarded to anyone who managed to capture a T-26 in working condition.
The I-16s are more of mixed bag. The are better that you initial biplane Fighters, but unless you are playing Retrograde you should have HE 112s by now, which are roughly on par at minimum and don’t have limited numbers.

Zaragoza/Gijon
Events
Regardless of which path you took, at the start of either of these mission you are given a choice: Pay 50% of your current amount of Prestige and receive 12 Commendations, or don’t. Honestly, I have a hard time coming up with a reason not to invest in these Prestige sinks, especially this one considering a certain high cost Commendation Reward coming up.

Teruel
Event
An opportunity for another Gift Unit arrives at the start of the mission. 3 Commendations nets you a Panzer 2A on Turn 2.
The Panzer IIA is kinda lackluster compared to the other Gift Unit you get during this campaign, but it’s cheap and better than your Panzer Is. If you are playing the Trophies of War game and have a few T-26s and/or Bt-5s though, you can probably skip this one.

Ebro
Events
At the start of this infamous mission, we arrive at the primary argument for taking that Prestige Sink back in Zaragoza or Gijon. For a whopping 10 Commendations, you get your first Super Hero: Adolf Galland.
Galland provides a significant boost to whichever Fighter or Tactical Bomber he is assigned to. +2 to Initiative and +2 Air Attack make give him an edge against enemy aircraft, while Aiming Assistance and Leadership provide support for nearby units. And of course, as a Legendary Hero he generates Prestige for you just by existing. As much as I love the Verdeja, if you are only going to aquire 1 Commendation Reward during the Spanish Civil War, it should probably be this guy.

Madrid 39
Events
To wrap up the Spanish Civil War, the start of this mission gives you the opportunity to resupply many of the captured equipment you may of acquired through previous Commendation rewards. For 3 Commendations you get 30 T-26s. 30 Trubias, 30 UNL-35s, and 30 I-16s.

Czechoslovakia
Events
Starting things off, we have several things happening this mission.
Firstly, at the start you receive 5 Commendations for free. All you have to do is make sure you don’t fully kill any enemies, or you lose all 5.Secondly, if you are NOT importing a Core Force from the Spanish Civil War, you start this Campaign with 6 Heroes, 5 of which are random. The 6th is a guy named Siegfried von Bonde.
Von Bonde is an interesting Hero. He’s better than the standard Heroes you get every mission, but not quite as good as the ones you can buy with Commendations like Galland. His Artillery Support and AT Support abilities allow you to turn any Unit into a makeshift Anti-Tank, although how good it performs depends on which unit you assign him to.

Finally, on turn 2, regardless of whether you imported a Core Force or not, you receive a Gift Unit in the form of Spanish volunteers, the Azul-Infantrie.
Your Spanish friends are a fine addition to your army. Their defensive stats are matched only by your Grenadiers, while their more average offensive stats are boosted by the Rapid Fire 1.5x trait they possess. They also have nifty hats.

Sarreguemines
Events
You remember those 5 Commendations you get at the start of this Campaign? I hope you didn’t lose them, because at the start of this mission you get the option to spend 5 Commendations for a new Super Hero: Albert Kerscher.
Kerscher is a Tank/Anti Tank specialist, and his +3 Initiative, Tank Killer, and Aggressive Counterattack make him a terror to enemy tanks. He’s also Famous, so more Prestige just for exisiting. If you happen to have von Bonde, pairing the them together is a potent combo.

Cache
At a flag placed in some rough terrain at 27,20 you’ll find the first cache of 1939: 5 Char B1 tanks.
The Char B1 is one of the 2 tanks competing for the title of best French Tank (We’ll get to it’s competitor later.). Even your new Panzer 38(t)s only beat this titan in speed. The Char B boasts high defensive stats, although it’s speed isn’t the greatest. However, unless you are playing the capture game, with only 5 Char Bs you can’t field any of these lumbering behemoths…yet.

Warndt
Cache
In the part of the city of St. Avold closest to the river, you’ll find another cache: another set of 5 Char B1s! Now you can actually field a unit of them!

Orenthal
Cache
If you lay siege Orenthal and manage to claim the Airfield, you’ll be rewarded with 7 more Char B1s (Noticing a pattern yet?).

Forbach
Cache
I hope you like the Char B1, because by taking Forbach itself you receive another 5 (For better or worse, this is the last one.).

Saarbrucken
Events
We get 2 Events this mission. At the start, you get the option to spend 6 Commendations for a familiar face from Panzer Corps 1: Oleh Dir.
Dir is an Infantry Hero, providing a very useful +2 Movement boost to the often slower Infantry. He also gives +2 Initiative and Precision Weapon, pakcing a stronger punch. And of course, like the other Super Heroes, he’s a Famous guy.

For another 6 Commendations on Turn 2, you can purchase a new Gift Unit that arrives on Turn 3: a Somua S35.
The Somua S35 is the Char B1s competitor for best French tank I mentioned earlier. While it has less defense than the Char B1, it’s still a flat upgrade in pretty much every way to your Panzer 38(t)s.

Bzura
Cache
We have 2 caches to plunder on this map at the villages at 33,36 and 40,32, both of which contain 7 7TPdws and 7 SP wz. 29s each.
Both the 7TPdw and the SP wz. 29s main selling point compared to your German counterparts is their Rapid Fire 1.5x trait. This somewhat makes up the difference for their weaker stats, but with these caches being the only place to get them (outside of captures), they probably aren’t worth it. Which is a shame considering these are the the last caches of 1939.

Modlin/Lvov
Events
Whichever route you pick, at the start of the mission you receive a new Gift Unit for free, and Armored Train.
The Armored Train is an artillery unit with great mobility, but heavily limited by the fact that it can only move via rail. It’s free though, so just make sure to check the map before deploying it.

Brest/Wlodawa
Events
Time for the 1939 Prestige Sink. At the start of either mission you can pay 75% of your prestige for 14 Commendations. Much like with the Prestige Sink during the Spanish Civil War, you can expect a reason for this massive amount of resources soon.

Warsaw
Events
I told you it would be soon. At the start of the mission, you are given the opportunity to spend 8 commendations to investigate rumors of a Russian prototype plane. If you spend these Commendations, you will get a report that they found only garbage (18 PZL P.11c and 19 I-15 fighters as well as 17 PZL P.37B Los bombers) EVERY TIME. The important thing is that if you do spend those points, when turn 5 rolls around you are given the choice to spend 4 more Commendations to continue the search. If you spend that, then on Turn 9 you’ll receive a report informing you of success, and you receive a Gift Unit of an Il-2 Sturmovik.
The P.11cs, I-15s, and P.37Bs are all inferior to your German planes, even with Retrograde. The are, indeed, garbage.
The Il-2, on the other hand, is a different story. People like me who enjoy the Bf110s versatility will love this plane, which is as good in a dogfight as the Bf110 while having bombing capabilities only slightly worse that your Ju87s. Even if you don’t bother ever using it to fight another plane, it’s still basically a Ju87 that isn;t as much of a sitting duck. You pretty much have to take the Prestige Sink if you want this though. 12 Commendations is a very hefty price tag if you just try to save your Commendations from missions, and runs the risk of missing out on other important rewards, namely Kerscher and Dir.

Denmark
Events
We’re ending 1939 with a bang. If you pay 5 Commendations at the start of this mission, you receive 35 KV-2s.
The KV-2 is just a monster of a tank at this point, and unfortunately has the Slot requirements to prove it. It’s a shame you only get it for one scenario of 1939, even moreso considering Denmark really doesn’t have much of anything that can really compete with it.