TF Gallagher-some help with tactics?

[Doug Beman]

Howdy.

I'm not new to wargaming, but most of what I've played is set in WW2 era.

I've run through Gallagher6d a few times, and the best I've been able to do is whittle the OPFOR down to about 17 T80s and 67 BMPs. After that I just don't have any troops left.

I suspect that my initial deployment is more often than not flawed. I also lose my cohesion after the OPFOR reveals itself in full.

What I'd like to be able to do is eliminate the OPFOR first wave/scouting group with as little exposure of my troops as possible, and force the main body to go blindly into a killbox.

Anybody have suggestions that could help me out?

DjB

[Guest MajorH]

Explained one way ...

Try not to get into a direct fire battle with OPFOR until after you have attrited him heavily with your artillery. Set the engagement range of your units to zero so that they will quietly observe the approaching enemy instead of shooting at him and hit him just with arty for as long as you can. When you can't wait any longer then hit his leading units with ambushes that only last a volley or two. Then immediately fall your people back to a new position and do it all over again. Weaken him with arty ... then ambush him with short, violent spurts of direct fire ... then fall back. Repeat and repeat.

Explained another way ...

Different enemy capabilities require different tactics. When OPFOR is equipped with thermals and improved warheads, a defending US force can not generally survive a static nose to nose slug fest, therefore it should use a mobile defense rather than a static defense. Defenders should generally avoid the use of direct fire for as long as arty can significantly attrit the attacker. Exceptions to withholding direct fire include (1) the elimination of the enemy's advance recon units, (2) enemy units that that can be annihilated with one volley and that are isolated by terrain features so that they are momentarily out of sight of following/supporting units, and (3) long range nuisance sniping by rapidly displacing, heavy ATGMs. Defenders must satisfy themselves with the damage that can be done by direct fire with one or two surprise volleys (preferably one) and then immediately move/fall back, under cover, to a new firing position.

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Best regards, Major H

majorh1@aol.com

[Brad Sallows]

To amplify on artillery: although TacOps does not let you bring down unobserved fire with much predictability, it does allow you to correct the point of aim beyond what is possible in real life. Thus the secret is to position some forces such that most of OPFOR's approaches into your deployment area are under observation, and attrit them (with artillery) while they are in march columns. This can be achieved by splitting your M3's into single-vehicle units. Either position some on the east edge of the deployment area and immediately move them eastward to increase your security zone (observation), or allow yourself to ignore deployment limits for the M3's and their infantry teams and position them east of the deployment area from the outset. Deploy dismounted infantry teams to one side of the potential approaches in rough ground or woods, and the vehicles likewise but only in woods. You should be able to set engagement ranges down to 100 or even 0 for the dismounts and use them as lay-back patrols; the M3's will eventually have to fall back since OPFOR will be able to spot them from a few hundred meters away. Position a couple of TRPs on each approach. Between the TRPs and your recce screen, you should be able to bring ICM right on top of some of those stacked BMP companies before they disperse, or even better get a battalion-sized grouping under the footprint of a MLRS fire mission. (For a more realistic challenge once you get the hang of estimating how much ground OPFOR will cover before your fire missions arrive, don't allow yourself to correct the point of aim when a mission has less than 60 seconds before arrival, and don't allow yourself to correct the point of aim of MLRS at all once it is requested.) Until then, you should find that a mission with 10-15 seconds left to arrival can be adjusted just on the leading edge of an enemy unit in order to hit it dead center. Even if you fail to get many kills, OPFOR will scatter out of march columns; this can also happen as OPFOR approaches an area in which you have been adjusting TRPs, so even the threat of artillery is useful - once the march columns scatter, the units tend to approach your main defense area in smaller (platoon-sized) groupings which are easier to nail in a single volley. Eventually, OPFOR will find and destroy your recce screen; deploying them off rather than right on the main approaches helps delay this inevitability.

As a rule, I have learned to never try to get more than one ambush volley out of a position. Also, don't try to sneak into a new fire position with light armour (even in woods) at anything under about 2000-2500 meters, or you are likely to be spotted and nailed; fall back and try to maintain maximum engagement ranges with ATGMs.

Use reverse slopes always. This does not literally mean that you always defend on the back side of a downward elevation change, but means conceptually that you deploy so that the enemy can not physically see you until he is within direct fire range of your weapons; it also includes deploying to one side of an OPFOR approach so that the flank you position toward the enemy's approach is covered from enemy view. This is effective when you manage to get OPFOR to scatter as noted above; ideally, small groups of enemy will trickle into your kill zones each turn to be blown away in a single volley (hard to achieve in practice), while the OPFOR covering forces further back are unable to physically see to engage you. Position your platoon HQ teams in forward slope positions (ie. where they can see the enemy coming at long range once OPFOR passes your recce screen) so that OPFOR can't surprise you in your MDA. Position a few tanks and/or M2's outside your main battle positions where they can nail the OPFOR recce screen (those 2-3 vehicle combat recce patrols that precede the main columns) well forward of your MDA - actually, the M3's are excellent for this once the infantry teams have been positioned as lay-back patrols. If you add aviation to the OPFOR orbat, make sure these forward elements are under your anti-air bubble. If you add aviation to your orbat, use it to assist in destroying the company-sized forward security elements between the combat recce patrols and the main body; then, retire it to your rear area to pick off enemy vehicles that make it through your MDA (aviation will have difficulty surviving the main defensive battle owing to the density of OPFOR SAMs).

The sparsity of TacOps terrain makes it difficult to truly employ mobile defense in the face of ATGMs, especially if the OPFOR tanks also have ATGM capability. However, try to deploy in battle positions from which you have a covered (unobserved) route of escape to the next (fall-back) position. Infantry will often have no choice but to fight to the death if they have no vehicles to hand on which to escape; vehicles have a decent chance of being able to move to a new position. When playing the computer opponent, bear in mind the OPFOR artillery will arrive immediately on a position on the next turn after it is revealed (eg. fires something) if you didn't manage to kill off all the enemy that can see it.