Hill 1209

[Rocco]

I've been trying to thrash through Hill 1209 scenario. I've read that it's the toughest of the campaign, and have struggled until I identified a safe(ish) axis of advance.

I'm a bit concerned that a hard scenario is even harder since the changes to artillery spotting and FOs were made. One FO per target is a tough ask. I find myself wishing I had a few Javelins to through about!

[Cuirassier]

Is this the second scenario in the campaign? I just started the terrain analysis for this one myself.

Spoilers................. (maybe)

The terrain at first glance definitely looks difficult, as there are a number of peaks/ridges that can hit your lead elements while staying outside of los. So far I've ruled out an advance up the right most bowl area, as it can be hit by enfilading fire from both peaks, which cannot be readily seen by overwatch.

The gulley on the centre left looks like a promising approach, but also screams trap for anyone exiting its protective defilade.

The far left is mostly open terrain, which permits some good overwatch los, but also allows you to get hit by the whole enemy defense, with little cover to set up overwatch or a base of fire for the infantry.

In order to deal with F/O problem, I have considered using turn 1 fireplans, but this of course limits flexibility. At least the scenario has quite a bit of time on the clock to probe and shoot. And those 155mm guns pretty well kill anything they hit that isn't in great cover. My initial supposition is that success will largely be dependent on anticipating where the major enemy concentrations and firelanes will be, and hitting the with arty before advancing.

[Rocco]

What I'm really saying is the scenario has plenty of artillery available, but there is a real shortage of units able to call for fire. the dynamics have changed with the most recent software update since the scenario was written. Does it need rebalancing?