Help on tactics in large (attack) QBs needed!

[Bog]

Today I did a 1500 point British attack QB (I consider that large), me as Brits, AI as Germans. The tactics I used were dismal, consisting of sending 1 or 2 platoons charging frontally at the German foxholes, which usually resulted in them getting attrited along the way by hidden infantry guns, and finally dying at the hands of the German defenders once they reached their positions.

I believe my problem is that I get bored with having to issue orders to each seperate squad/team, and so I just do these charges because the orders are easy to give (Group select everyone in the squad, move fast to the foxholes).

I need to know some tactics that work in these large attacks, and won't bore me to tears.

[chrisl]

Originally posted by Bog:

I believe my problem is that I get bored with having to issue orders to each seperate squad/team, and so I just do these charges because the orders are easy to give (Group select everyone in the squad, move fast to the foxholes).

That's not even all that large. On the approaches, when you're maneuvering large groups out of LOS of the enemy, you might be able to do group moves safely, but once you get in close, you really need to plot every single unit's orders.

If you keep them organized by platoon, and think about the battle more at the platoon/company level, the troops will naturally be grouped by firefight or "sub-battle". Then you just go around from one firefight to the next, and give orders platoon by platoon, and squad by squad.

If you have a flanking maneuver planned, or a group that's going a long way and there's lots of reasonable spots with cover, you can plot several turns worth of movement at once, leaving waypoints in or near cover.

Just be glad you don't have 1500 pieces of 1/4" square cardboard stacked 6-8 pieces high on several square feet of hex map, and a cat...

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"If you can taste the difference between caviar on a cracker and ketchup on a Kit-Kat while blindfolded, you have not had enough aquavit to be ready for lutefisk." (stolen from some web page about lutefisk)

[jasoncawley@ameritech.net]

Point and platoon formation, and a few tricks.

Put one full squad 60-100 yards ahead of the rest of its platoon. Put the rest of the platoon behind it, squad-HQ-squad, with the HQ trailing but only a smidgen, like 10 yards back. About 20 yards between them side to side, to the whole rear group is 40-50 yards across. Any slower weappns (MGs, zooks, etc) that are attached, trail behind the platoon group about 40 yards.

Use group select, leaving out the weapons if the move if over open ground, including them if it is all in cover. All in cover, use "move", and just travel in formation.

Crossing open groung toa new piece of cover, group the forward platoon. Then pick the *point* squad, and give it a "run" order to the *near* side of the next item of cover. Next pick the weapons and give them a "move" command to "on station" behind the main platoon line, or the nearest cover behind them.

Why this order? You won't have to adjust speeds. You put the point into the part of cover the rest of the platoon can *see*, and thus protect by fire, from their positions farther back. The weapons can stop in cover, both to protect the small and variable items (zooks, FOs, flame) and to give the MGs are spot to support from at range. The bulk of the platoon should be close enough to *either* press into the cover, ahead or turning a flanl, *or* support by fire, even from open ground, to help suppress a defender. The defenders will mostly be blowing up the point squad as the closest target, so it doesn't matter too much if you are briefly in open ground.

Now, once you have entered a piece of cover with the point and found there is nobody there, do the next move slightly differently. This time, selected the platoon, and put their waypoint on the forward edge of the same spot of cover the point is in. One group select, this will advance the point out into the open beyond the cover. But he will generally move out with a little delay, and soon after anybody starts shooting at him your platoon will be in view to reply. (if he panics, so he runs back and rejoins the platoon. Shoot this one out, then pick a new point squad for the next time).

The you alternate. Point in cover looking around, with platoon "in the air" behind. Point "in the air" in the next open patch, but with platoon in cover behind. Walk you way to your objective.

When you make contact, it may be the point will shoot it out at point-blank with a single squad or MG team he ran into. Let him stay, shooting. Cover him with fire from the rest, and send up another squad at a run to help and get a numbers edge if you can cross easily enough. You will overrun thin enemies this way without much thought being required.

When the point runs into a whole platoon, they will blow him up, and he will either rout or die. Give him a "withdraw-run" order for immediate execution, back to the rest of the platoon. Then drop arty on the full platoon position you just identified, while shooting with your own platoon to help on them down. (A tank is an adequate substitute, and better if they are in buildings). Once they are cowering (on the ground, prone), cancel the arty and rush them while they are still pinned. Leave MGs (or tanks) to continue firing at them to keep them pinned when you rush.

These modifications will not take you many more mouse clicks. But applied as a formula without much in the way of imagination, they will run over more enemy defense set ups than you might imagine possible for so simple a scheme.

Why does it work? Forward units draw fire. Units not being fired on at all, fire much better themselves because they are not suppressed. Spread enemies are vunerable to being pinned by ranged fire and rushed. Concentrated enemies are vunerable to HE, and once broken by HE become vunerable to group rushes.

Try it. It is not hard once it has been explained.