Red Tide (A107)
(c) 1997, Wayward Publications
|
|
This is a very tough scenario for the Russians, They seem to have every disadvantage while the Germans enjoy every possible one. The Russians must do one of two things, get units off the opposite board edge or control buildings. Regardless of the one they choose, they first must cross the road. If they do this, they will be strong enough to get either one of the victory conditions.
The map offers little assistance for the Russian hordes. It seems to be a big funnel driving the units to the Russian right. Clearly half the exit area is prohibitive by the woods, One road leading off the edge is very easily defended. On the right, the Russians have to get past the initial positions of the German-held and wall enclosed farm. A task not easily done.
The Germans have several advantages. They have the elite troops, leadership, support weapons and open terrain. An important setup consideration is place the Germans out of LOS initially. If not the Russians would be will served blasting those units he can see on turn 1. Conversely, by making the Russians move into attack position, the Germans will get the first two shots, DFPh and the following PFPh. They Russians will be looking at a weak AFPh, probably some broken units and disrupted fire groups, all of which reduce their return fire. Setting up slightly dispersed night be wise. The Russian left is unlikely for an assault. There is little, cover and the wide open areas require few Germans to properly defend it. The center is most easily defended, on both sides of the street. The buildings and walls offer natural defenses. Also, in the center, they can protect either side as well as easily moving around to meet the battle. Some consider the dual victory conditions a weakness for the Germans. It might be so if they were actually different conditions. The Russians need to go through the center of the village anyway. In all, the Germans have an easy setup: out of LOS and logical placement of the machine guns.
The Russians have all the other problems. Most importantly, the they must consider the low morale of their troops. Conscripts are all but worthless. They ELR to a disrupted, non-moving pile of goo. Not only will they *not* rout back (usually leaving them in awkward positions) but you might be tempted to get a valuable leader to them for rallying. Resist that temptation. Leaders are always needed elsewhere. Besides, the unit broke because of incoming fire in the first place. Chances are that same fire will still be present and this time shooting at your leader; certainly a broken leader does the Russians no good. At the least, the disrupted units are out of the battle. At most, they will be captured For example, a simple MC will make them disrupt on a 9. A 2MC, actually a common occurrence for the attacker during many suicide attacks, will see them disrupt on a 7; a whooping 56% of the time. Do not expect the first line troops to fare better. They will ELR down to conscripts in two or three attacks. Hardly the kind of performance an attacker needs to take buildings. The troops will not sustain combat and what little combat they see it must therefore be brief and decisive.
Also, carefully consider using a Commissar. I could not force myself to get one. While the advantages include a one higher morale for those lucky few units actually stacked with one, the disadvantage is causality reduction of they do not rally. With low morale units and especially conscripts, the Commissar will cause more damage than the Germans ever will. For instance, rallying a conscript will need an eight, while not an unreasonable number, it still represents a 75% initial success rate. Conversely, you will lose 25% of the squads just during rallying. A conscript half squad is even lower, with a seven. If I am to lose units, I want the Germans to fire at me. I feel causalities, any causalities, during rallying to just aid the Germans. In addition, units routing off the front line really have two RPhs anyway since they will be marginally effective during the German turn. It is not until the subsequent Russian turn are they needed to be GO again so they may move back to the front. It is only if they are not be routed off front line is a rallying during the next RPh to be important. Besides, with DM off the unit, conscripts will need a seven, eight with a good leader.
After Commissars, the next question is Human Wave. I do not see this as a wave situation. If you do one, the first turn will be the only opportunity. Even so, it will take a full third of the force and most likely it will used against one of two buildings. Since the closed terrain will favor the Russians and those positions may be taken conventionally. However, if the Germans do not adequately protect themselves with overlaying fields of fire, this might be the time to rush a position with minimal DF. Do not count on it.
The Russian tanks present little problem to use since they represent little help anyway. They enter the board but really have one movement option - right up the road. the wooded terrain coupled with platoon movement effectively prohibits them from leaving the road. Even if they do not bog, they will not have the time to even make up to the front, much less be committed in any meaningful way to the battle. Their weak armor also makes them susceptible to MG attacks. The ATG is the least of their problems. In fact, if the Germans play it right, the ATG will never even make an appearance. Therefore the AFVs have to play an infantry support role and stay very close, inside the infantry net of protection. The idea is to keep them close to the infantry so the Germans will have to decided to fire MG at the AFV or supporting units, that way ensuring a better return fire situation. With 45Ls, a 4 CMG and vulnerable armor, do not count on them blasting anything. If the AFVs stray too far out, they will be picked off. Also, remain BU once in combat. A recall is the easiest way of losing an AFV. Keep in mind, the tanks, then, have a choke point at the cross roads. The infantry should spend the first two turns clearing a position for the tanks to arrive. With tanks support, the offense should start in earnest.
So how then, do the Russians attack? Initially, it should be very slowly and precise. As mentioned before, if any Germans setup in LOS, by all means attack those in the first PFPh. If he gives you any shots, they will be the best of the game. Those will one of the few situations you can plan the attack and be guaranteed of getting since there is no chance of his DF breaking units. If no units are in LOS, take advantage of the movement options and rush through the open. Advance, however, into the actual position you want for you DFPh. In other words, Advance up the hill or next to the wall. Form fire groups for best odds, this is one of the times you will want fewer but higher FP attacks. The Russians will only get one or two good attacks on Germans and they need to count. Remember, attacking concealed Germans in stone building is tough. Do not spread yourself out too thinly. I choose two attack areas with the middle getting most of the units and the Russian right (the hills) being the other attack site. Too few units committed in an area will certainly fail but each attack zone can only support a limited number of units. For instance, committing all the units in the middle will quickly deplete locations to move. Do not stack units on the front. That only increases the already high German FP. Besides, with the limited number of leaders, the Russians should not stack for FG, use adjacent locations.
The strategy is to merely break through the initial German line. The Germans have an impressive number of advantages but have a shallow line of defense. The Russians can spend more than half the game going just crossing the road. Once across, each Germans position should be isolated enough that the Russians get the maneuvering room they need. With more units, the Russians can outflank strong positions and threaten German rout concerns. Obviously, the trick is to cross the road.
As always, I encourage discussion. If you agree or disagree, feel free to write me.