Game of attrition

[arpella72]

***ACHTUNG!, COULD BE A BIT SPOILER****

I recently finish playing Day of Attrition scenario and though I was quiet reluctant to play it at first(it's a sooo big scenario!) i finally got a lot of fun playing it.I was near to quit at the beginning because you spend a big deal of time just moving troops forward basically by foot and with a bunch of old trucks in a difficult and rugged terrain.I decided to go for the bridges,the crossroads anf Hofen but not for Monschau at first.I end up with a minor defeat and I was very close to take Hofen just before I ran out of time.

How did you get in this mission?,which strategies did you use?

[nik mond]

no spoilers below, yet:

I can provide a few details that may help with this huge scenario. Sounds like you did pretty good, just timed out, and didn't quite take Hofen but got a minor defeat. 3 Hours may seem like alot of time. And it can be, as long as you don't take it too slow in the beginning when marching forward. Decide on a route to take, and send a quick scout team, section, or car etc and recon the path to determine if is it clear of patrols, or minimal resistance, or heavy resistance? While carrying on forward at a quick march with the main body.

Might be a minor spoiler ahead (although most of this is stated or hinted in the game notes and briefing)

The player commands an entire VG Regiment once they all arrive in a relatively short order. So, should this force be committed towards a broad front, or a narrow front? I will answer (IMHO) this with another question: Is it better to attack an objective with a battalion or a whole regiment? You have some light artillery. Probably best to concentrate that with a heavy barrage to suppress the enemy while your troops are heavily engaged to keep them moving across no man's land.

Caveats

Stg44, love em hate em. Keep an eye out on how your squads are expending ammunition. There is a supply section with some 7.92k showing up, but there is not enough Kurz ammo for everyone. At least the VG does deploy with a full loadout. I say keep the pressure on. Move forward. And have those behind the pinned forces assaulting forward in short jumps. Maximize use of the HMG sections at long range to cover the advance, micro those tripod mounted mg42s onto anything that is spotted.

Those Howitzers! Its no secret. The green US battalion out there is going to have artillery. Recognize the spotting rounds. Have your forces spread out, bounding and using cover. The artillery is not infinite, but be prepared for it and try to lessen your casualties or you could lose an entire company before a rifle is fired. Eventually the enemy runs out of ammunition too, and they break under pressure.

One Sound Strategy (this might be a spoiler below but, there are other strategies)

Winning is objective point based mostly. So heading for a cluster of objectives, whether in the South or the North with a concentrated force seems like a good idea. Then once this is achieved swing 90 degrees and take remainder objectives. That path you take will be "L" shaped. Watch the clock so figure a time schedule of what should be achieved by when, in typical Colonel fashion. Keep your reinforcing battalion on the heals of your starting force, and eventually over stepping them.

[Publius]

I just finished the scenario as the Germans and suffered a major defeat.  I went for the middle bridges.  But I lost 15 platoon leaders before getting out of the woods, mostly to artillery fire.  One of the US units in Monschau set up in the church tower claimed 70 casualties alone.  I was able to capture the middle bridges and nothing else before I effectively ran out of gas.  The scenario petered out with a half hour remaining.  

I generally pull a unit back once the platoon leader goes down, and the vast majority of my platoon leader casualties were freakish, where they were lost but the rest of the command unit was okay.  The scenario is too long to play again, but I would be curious to see how it would end up with fewer platoon leader casualties.