Attacking a reverse slope defense

[Björn Eriksson]

Is there anyone out there who has any tips on attacking a prepared reverse slope defense?

Everytime I run into one, my troops die in droves and due to the reverse slope hiding the enemy, I can't call in artillery or direct fire HE. Most competent defenders also have AT guns or tankhunter teams waiting for my tanks.

The best thing to do is probably to outflank the enemy and attack him from the rear or side, but that isn't always possible because of time or other bad circumstances.

[Tigrii]

Against a good reverse slope defense, the best thing to do is flank the hill/slope it's behind. For frontal assualts, try the following:

Get an HQ into cover on top of the hill and use it to spot mortars on your side onto the defenders.

Don't try to rush it, but establish a firebase on top of the hill with infantry and any available heavy weapons. Then apply pressure to the defense to force the enemy to commit armored reserves or lose the position. When this happens, attack the reserves with your armor, then dig out the defenders with HE from your victorious tanks. Problems are that your opponent, if he has any brains, will have heavy weapons zeroed in on the hilltop to blast your firebase. Also, the enemy might win the armor battle. I look forward to seeing those more qualified to myself comment.

[ February 20, 2003, 12:33 PM: Message edited by: Tigrii ]

[JasonC]

The right way to handle a prepared MLR on a reverse slope is to attack someplace else. It is a kill sack. Attacking straight into kill sacks is usually a bad idea.

The best solution is to find edges of the MLR, "heavy" or "block" portion of the far slope. Sometimes terrain analysis can do much of that for you. Sometimes it means sending scouts, and losing a couple. Then try to establish an infantry company on the crest line somewhere away from the MLR. Once they are there and alive, they can "escort" tanks up onto the ridgeline.

After that, attack along the ridge instead of across it, rolling up the defenders sited to cover the crest ahead of the heavy "block" position, from one side, instead.

The CM, the main problem with this proper approach is typically that bottomless pits anchor the reverse slope's flanks. Completely gamey, but those are the breaks. On a large enough map you can still accomplish something similar, though typically fighting a portion of the defenders on the far side. On a narrow map, even that doesn't help very much.

The other doctrinally correct method is to dump HE on the far side of the ridge, indirect, to force the nearest defenders to back off and allow a passage. That is hard in CM simply because shells are scarce and expensive, and indirect fire out of LOS is innaccurate. A fire plan can still deal with the problem if you see it at set-up, however. Shoots planned on turn 1 always come down accurate and on time, LOS or not.

Realistically, the HE dumping also provided concealment in the form of big clouds of dust. They don't in CM, but smoke is plentiful. That can help with the distant fire assets, like HMGs and guns on the next ridge farther back, and more or less isolate the front line infantry, for a minute or three.

Then come the ordinary "cresting drills". A half squad goes first, even into open ground. You do not want him to run or head way beyond the crest thinking he will make it to cover before he is shot at, if anyone wants to shoot at him. Instead, "move to contact" or "sneak" the last few meters to the crest, and halt there. Yes, even in open ground. If right on the crest, the distance to withdraw back to broken LOS and safety is tiny.

His purpose is to spot vehicles, bunkers, and wire on the far side. If he draws fire, you will get at least sound contacts on additional portions of the defense. If he isn't, fine. It helps if you do this a modest distance away from where you plan to cross - meaning, not right where you plan to cross.

Infantry meant to actually shoot back has to cross together. Bunching up tightly is a bad idea - area fire will get you. One spot of cover across the crest may look tempting, and there is nothing wrong with sending one platoon for it. But it is probably occupied, and if it isn't it is TRP-registered, mined, or both. Don't try to pack whole companies into such places.

You more or less have to deliver the actually crossing attempt as a broad front shove. Coming over one at a time invites piecemeal destruction at odds. Bunching up doesn't work for the reasons already given. You can't spread front to back without being out of LOS.

One thing you can do is smoke half the area, leaving half relatively free, with the idea of starting a firefight with only a portion of the defenders the moment everybody crests. Vehicles, once they do crest, must crest together and ready to fire (not "fast move" therefore). You take your lumps and shoot it out. If it isn't going well, retreat, rally for a few minutes, and try again - somewhere else along the ridge, or not.

It is relatively easy to accumulate your forces opposite the crossing attempt site, and to get everyone ready before giving the word. Rally is simple and should be total - clear the entire near side, rest everyone, etc. No rush.

Remember that the defenders go "blind" the minute you finish off the last defender over the crest, so that is the time you can reposition. They will get "sound contacts" over the ridge, nothing else. A vehicle moving tends to mask infantry sound contacts. Wait a few minutes so he doesn't know where you are presently, even if he did know where you were a minute ago.

There are a few other tricks, but those are the basics. Remember, the first thing I said is "it is a kill sack, go around". All the rest are for the times when for one reason or another, you can't.