Town Assault: Night, thick fog

[Der Kuenstler]

I'm starting a new PBEM where I'm assaulting a German held town through woods at night in thick fog and darkness. I don't have much night fighting experience. Other than "Don't try that you idiot!" - any other advice for me before I get started? I have all SMG and engineer squads, 8 LMG, 4 tank hunter teams, 4 flamthrower teams and three T-34 flame tanks. Visibility is almost nil.

[skshrews]

It's a huge advantage to be the attacker in such situations.

You can approach the town rapidly, with little concern of being spotted. Once in the town, limited visibility will allow you to cross streets that otherwise would be dangerous firelines during the day.

Whenever I play, one of the great difficulties of using any flamethrower is trying to close on the enemy with a limited range weapon. You won't have that concern here. You'll actually be able to use your flamethrower's.

SK

skshrews@yahoo.com

[junk2drive]

The down side:

Your troops may hit the ground when they hear shots fired.

Your troops may rotate and fire at their comrades.

I once watched the AI mortar his own troops. It was a great help.

EDIT Is this a QB? or can you give me the name of the battle? I have an opponent in mind, hehehe

[Der Kuenstler]

No it's a QB - what I'm afraid of is approaching all these buildings - I'm sure they'll all be set for ambush. He will see me before I see him because I'll be moving - and at very close range.

[Vixen]

I've noticed that night battles seem particularily bloody becuase the defenders open up at very close range.

[JasonC]

Throw HE rounds from the edge of LOS. Use the FTs, tank and foot, and the demo charges from the pioneers. You don't need LOS to the middle of the building, you want to cut it so fine a unit 4m deep inside can't see you yet. Then you "area fire" at the corner or edge. These are your "flash-bangs." The SMG gunners are the follow up force to wade in behind the bangs. Use the LMGs as "pickets".

Always use a formation with at least two lines in limited visibility conditions like this. The first is the shield and the second maneuvers safely behind them. Nobody can pass through the shield without being seen, so the second and any later waves can move about in any kind of terrain, even wide open, with complete confidence.

When you want to avoid a contact, use a formation that is only 2 files wide up front, with everyone else staying within their width. You get LOS distance, some amount less than twice LOS distance, LOS distance - net, 3-4 times LOS distance - as your "footprint" or overall width. If one of the leaders hits something and the other doesn't, you have found an edge or flank. If neither does, you have found a gap. Later parts only move through regions your LOS footprint hasn't passed through, when you are willing to risk a new contact.

When you want to hold an area on the other hand, you string out pickets less than twice the LOS distance apart from each other - half squads, LMGs, ATRs, THs, etc. Then have them move using "move to contact", or remain stationary. That means they won't keep going after the first enemy gets in LOS. Nobody gets past, a minimum force gives notice of everybody actually close enough for fighting.

When anyone is close enough for fighting, the idea is to move more guys into LOS of him than he can handle, without getting close to his friends. Which means you want just at the edge of LOS through a wide arc. You maneuver safely behind your "picket line" to do this.

Remember, he can't make you walk deeper into his position until you decide the time is ripe for it. So only his edge guys are going to see anything - the rest might as well be on the moon. If he tries to crowd up all on-line in one area, you let off a demo charge or FT blast or bring up a tank, and make him pay for "overstacking".

Pick your way through a route and then go through is with way too much stuff in column. Don't fight over the whole width of the map at once. You can get much better odds in just a few chosen spots where you have a tank, specialist infantry, etc. You should get into head games with the enemy commander, about when to step up another 20-40m and when to wait. Do not let him know where the big blow is coming. Develop a couple possible avenues and make one of them the real thing, picking it arbitrarily. The others nibble, pause, nibble, pause, pause, pause. The big one nibbles, pause, nibbles, then attacks all-out, hell for leather.

I hope this helps.

[Der Kuenstler]

Yes very much so - lots of ideas I hadn't thought about. I printed it off - thanks Jason & company...