Desert War: Combat Tips

[bcgames]

Relief in Place...

Artillery is a killer--if you let it. Here are the rules:

"Damage received by a combat result affects Readiness first, and then Strength. As readiness declines, the proportion of damage taken from readiness also declines. For example, if readiness is 90%, then 90% of damage will be taken from Readiness and 10% from Strength. At 50%, the half damage is taken from Readiness and half from Strength." pg.104

Enemy artillery can eventually destroy a unit IF the artillery unit has sufficient attack strength--say 1:2 or more for starters...and you don't do anything about it. The higher the odds, the faster you get to critical mass. What to do? For starters, ask yourself these questions:

1. If I do nothing, will my current situation win-out over the enemy's current situation? If so, you're good. If not...
2. Can I attack and change the situation in my favor? If so...do it.
3. Can I withdraw out of range and change the situation in my favor? If so...do it.
4. If I have to hold my ground, how can I preserve my units?

If you have a reserve, and you have a unit that's getting pounded and is close to wavering--and it's critical to hold that position...why not consider a relief-in-place? Pull the tired unit(s) out and put in fresh ones. A way to do this is over a multi-turn evolution. If the hex in question is at max stacking limit, pull some of the tired units out and replace them with fresh ones. If stacking is less of a problem, move the fresh units in on the first turn (strengthen the hex), then pull-out the units that need a rest on the second turn.

Bottom-line: Higher readiness means fewer strength losses. Fewer strength losses means fewer units lost and less Victory Points awarded to the enemy. So get back out there and take care of those tired units...maintain a reserve and relief-in-place.

[bcgames]

Minefield Breaching...

Why aren't my combat engineers breaching that dang minefield? What to do? Got to click the breach button...

If you have a combat engineer adjacent to a minefield at the start of your planning phase, right click on the unit to pull-up its unit information panel. It will look like this:



Click on the green bridge icon. This will order the engineer to attempt to breach each minefield hexside it is adjacent to.

Essayons!

[bcgames]

You know you've got the job done when you see the breaching icon appear on the right side of your combat engineer unit counter and at the top of the unit side panel image.

[bcgames]

I've seen in recent PBEM play the act of OVER SUPPORTING a single combat. I'm talking about allocating three Air Assets and five Ground Assets to a single combat...with the net result of +3 shifts. Say WHAT! Hmmm...maybe too many assets thrown in to the same combat? What to do?

I offer a Rule of Thumb. Do NOT add more than two of anything to any combat cuz there is little or no pay-off found in each addition after two. Now go plow the ground and discover otherwise...

[bcgames]

ORIGINAL: bcgames

I've seen in recent PBEM play the act of OVER SUPPORTING a single combat. I'm talking about allocating three Air Assets and five Ground Assets to a single combat...with the net result of +3 shifts. Say WHAT! Hmmm...maybe too many assets thrown in to the same combat? What to do?

I offer a Rule of Thumb. Do NOT add more than two of anything to any combat cuz there is little or no pay-off found in each addition after two. Now go plow the ground and discover otherwise...

With patch 1.0.3 applied, Command Ground Assets now provide their full odds shifts regardless of the number committed to a single battle--so PILE 'EM ON if that answers your requirements. Air Assets still work the same way--they decrease in value added with each air unit.

[bcgames]

Still good ideas...

[bcgames]

ORIGINAL: bcgames

COMBAT TIPS

On Ground Operations.

• Use Combined Arms. Shock-neutral (shock=0) units can attack with tank units and not degrade their Shock modifier. If you attack using shock-capable units with leg infantry, then you will dilute your Shock and have reduced odds.

• Fight for intelligence. It’s not just the job of recce to get intel. Get infantry, artillery, and engineers into the process of fighting for intelligence. If you want intel—you need to go and get it with whatever means are available. Fight if you have to to get it.

• Maintain a Reserve. The last side to commit its reserve WINS! If there are two units left on a side – one of them is in reserve! If you commit your reserve--designate a new one--every time.

• Maintain Organizational Integrity. Don’t commit units from two different divisions to an attack against the same hex. Generally speaking, there is no benefit if you do; most often you will be punished with unfavorable odds shifts by combining the attacks or defenses of units from different HQs. If you must do it, use a Main Effort Ground Asset (if available) to overcome the disadvantages.

• Don’t Mix Corps and Division Artillery Attacks. You decrease the potential attack strengths of these units by combining them. They too fall under the organizational integrity rules. But...if the final numbers generate the odds that you need – do it.

• Keep HQs units out of range of enemy artillery. HQs units are easy to destroy if left exposed to the combined attacks of enemy artillery units and/or air assets. HQs units provide MANY easy victory points to the enemy. Their loss SEVERELY degrades the capabilities of their subordinate units. Protect your HQs units; move often – protect always.

• Anti-tank Are.... Always place your anti-tank units so they are in position to face the enemy’s tanks. AT units twiddling their thumbs in distant locations where their armor-negating capabilities can’t be used are wasted resources.

• Ambush Avoidance. Avoid use of road movement mode to enter enemy territory; ambushes can devastate an entire road column. Have security forward and don’t out-run it. On the other hand? Use road movement to run a corps around an open flank into the enemies rear...Fortune favors the bold.

On Air Operations.

• Fly 'em, Rest 'em. Don’t fly your Air Assets turn after turn without rest. Never fly more than 2/3 of your air assets unless the situation demands it, and/or you have a rest plan that supports it. 50% on and 50% off is the way to keep your air assets rested. If they are not rested you will find them absent when you need them the most.

• AA exists for a reason. Place your AA units so they protect those units in your main effort that are most vulnerable to air attack. While defending, identify where the enemy’s main attack is and protect those units facing it. HQs and artillery units behind the line that are supporting the main effort should be protected with the same vigor as those critical points on the front line.

• Counter-air is important. Supporting ground operations requires much more than just providing close air support to individual attacks and/or attacking individual enemy units on the battlefield. Air superiority helps insure unfettered ground unit movement, the resupply of fuel and ammo points, and sustainment of command and control ranges.

On Naval Operations.

• Threaten. The threat of naval bombardment can be just as useful as its actual employment. Once employed – that threat is gone.

• Destroy. If you find an enemy HQs within range of naval assets, attack! Throw in some air assets if available and artillery if in range. Strike the HQs – Kill it. This impacts the supply status of all its subordinate units.

On Logistics Operations

• Spend Supplies Wisely. Don’t be stingy with your supplies; Fuel and Ammo points that remain at the end of a scenario are unused combat potential.

• Manage Supplies. HQs consume Move+ and/or Combat+ supply points based on their most costly subordinate unit. The most costly units are armor, mechanized, or motorized units.

• Think Supplies. Supplies and the lines of communications along which they travel represent the combat power potential of ground units. Never start – nor end a turn – without checking the supply status of your units – and taking action to fix or mitigate any logistics issues.

• Offense vs Defense. Generally speaking, you will use more fuel than ammo. Burn off that “excess” ammo by providing Combat+ supply to organizations that have artillery units in position and ready to expend it. Corps artillery units with Combat+ supply are sledge-hammering destroyers of enemy units.

General

• Rest your units. After each third turn (3, 6, 9, 12, etc.) there is a “night” phase during which units recover readiness at double the normal rate; use this opportunity every time--unless you have a really good reason not to.

Got a Combat Tip? Share it below.

Attack, attack, attack! Defense is slow death for armored forces. Find the way to offensive action and the results will be in your favor.

[bcgames]

ORIGINAL: bcgames

COMBAT TIPS

On Ground Operations.

• Use Combined Arms. Shock-neutral (shock=0) units can attack with tank units and not degrade their Shock modifier. If you attack using shock-capable units with leg infantry, then you will dilute your Shock and have reduced odds.

• Fight for intelligence. It’s not just the job of recce to get intel. Get infantry, artillery, and engineers into the process of fighting for intelligence. If you want intel—you need to go and get it with whatever means are available. Fight if you have to to get it.

• Maintain a Reserve. The last side to commit its reserve WINS! If there are two units left on a side – one of them is in reserve! If you commit your reserve--designate a new one--every time.

• Maintain Organizational Integrity. Don’t commit units from two different divisions to an attack against the same hex. Generally speaking, there is no benefit if you do; most often you will be punished with unfavorable odds shifts by combining the attacks or defenses of units from different HQs. If you must do it, use a Main Effort Ground Asset (if available) to overcome the disadvantages.

• Don’t Mix Corps and Division Artillery Attacks. You decrease the potential attack strengths of these units by combining them. They too fall under the organizational integrity rules. But...if the final numbers generate the odds that you need – do it.

• Keep HQs units out of range of enemy artillery. HQs units are easy to destroy if left exposed to the combined attacks of enemy artillery units and/or air assets. HQs units provide MANY easy victory points to the enemy. Their loss SEVERELY degrades the capabilities of their subordinate units. Protect your HQs units; move often – protect always.

• Anti-tank Are.... Always place your anti-tank units so they are in position to face the enemy’s tanks. AT units twiddling their thumbs in distant locations where their armor-negating capabilities can’t be used are wasted resources.

• Ambush Avoidance. Avoid use of road movement mode to enter enemy territory; ambushes can devastate an entire road column. Have security forward and don’t out-run it. On the other hand? Use road movement to run a corps around an open flank into the enemies rear...Fortune favors the bold.

On Air Operations.

• Fly 'em, Rest 'em. Don’t fly your Air Assets turn after turn without rest. Never fly more than 2/3 of your air assets unless the situation demands it, and/or you have a rest plan that supports it. 50% on and 50% off is the way to keep your air assets rested. If they are not rested you will find them absent when you need them the most.

• AA exists for a reason. Place your AA units so they protect those units in your main effort that are most vulnerable to air attack. While defending, identify where the enemy’s main attack is and protect those units facing it. HQs and artillery units behind the line that are supporting the main effort should be protected with the same vigor as those critical points on the front line.

• Counter-air is important. Supporting ground operations requires much more than just providing close air support to individual attacks and/or attacking individual enemy units on the battlefield. Air superiority helps insure unfettered ground unit movement, the resupply of fuel and ammo points, and sustainment of command and control ranges.

On Naval Operations.

• Threaten. The threat of naval bombardment can be just as useful as its actual employment. Once employed – that threat is gone.

• Destroy. If you find an enemy HQs within range of naval assets, attack! Throw in some air assets if available and artillery if in range. Strike the HQs – Kill it. This impacts the supply status of all its subordinate units.

On Logistics Operations

• Spend Supplies Wisely. Don’t be stingy with your supplies; Fuel and Ammo points that remain at the end of a scenario are unused combat potential.

• Manage Supplies. HQs consume Move+ and/or Combat+ supply points based on their most costly subordinate unit. The most costly units are armor, mechanized, or motorized units.

• Think Supplies. Supplies and the lines of communications along which they travel represent the combat power potential of ground units. Never start – nor end a turn – without checking the supply status of your units – and taking action to fix or mitigate any logistics issues.

• Offense vs Defense. Generally speaking, you will use more fuel than ammo. Burn off that “excess” ammo by providing Combat+ supply to organizations that have artillery units in position and ready to expend it. Corps artillery units with Combat+ supply are sledge-hammering destroyers of enemy units.

General

• Rest your units. After each third turn (3, 6, 9, 12, etc.) there is a “night” phase during which units recover readiness at double the normal rate; use this opportunity every time--unless you have a really good reason not to.

* Attack, attack, attack!. Defense is slow death for armored forces. Find a way to offensive action and the results will be in your favor.

Got a Combat Tip? Share it below.

* Strike With a Fist!. Attacking piecemeal will be unsuccessful most of the time. Collect your forces for the Punch in the Face. Focus the efforts of land, sea and air at a single place in time. Punch as hard as hard as you can; punch with purpose.

[bcgames]

ORIGINAL: bcgames

COMBAT TIPS

On Ground Operations.

• Use Combined Arms. Shock-neutral (shock=0) units can attack with tank units and not degrade their Shock modifier. If you attack using shock-capable units with leg infantry, then you will dilute your Shock and have reduced odds.

• Fight for intelligence. It’s not just the job of recce to get intel. Get infantry, artillery, and engineers into the process of fighting for intelligence. If you want intel—you need to go and get it with whatever means are available. Fight if you have to to get it.

• Maintain a Reserve. The last side to commit its reserve WINS! If there are two units left on a side – one of them is in reserve! If you commit your reserve--designate a new one--every time.

• Maintain Organizational Integrity. Don’t commit units from two different divisions to an attack against the same hex. Generally speaking, there is no benefit if you do; most often you will be punished with unfavorable odds shifts by combining the attacks or defenses of units from different HQs. If you must do it, use a Main Effort Ground Asset (if available) to overcome the disadvantages.

• Don’t Mix Corps and Division Artillery Attacks. You decrease the potential attack strengths of these units by combining them. They too fall under the organizational integrity rules. But...if the final numbers generate the odds that you need – do it.

• Keep HQs units out of range of enemy artillery. HQs units are easy to destroy if left exposed to the combined attacks of enemy artillery units and/or air assets. HQs units provide MANY easy victory points to the enemy. Their loss SEVERELY degrades the capabilities of their subordinate units. Protect your HQs units; move often – protect always.

• Anti-tank Are.... Always place your anti-tank units so they are in position to face the enemy’s tanks. AT units twiddling their thumbs in distant locations where their armor-negating capabilities can’t be used are wasted resources.

• Ambush Avoidance. Avoid use of road movement mode to enter enemy territory; ambushes can devastate an entire road column. Have security forward and don’t out-run it. On the other hand? Use road movement to run a corps around an open flank into the enemies rear...Fortune favors the bold.

On Air Operations.

• Fly 'em, Rest 'em. Don’t fly your Air Assets turn after turn without rest. Never fly more than 2/3 of your air assets unless the situation demands it, and/or you have a rest plan that supports it. 50% on and 50% off is the way to keep your air assets rested. If they are not rested you will find them absent when you need them the most.

• AA exists for a reason. Place your AA units so they protect those units in your main effort that are most vulnerable to air attack. While defending, identify where the enemy’s main attack is and protect those units facing it. HQs and artillery units behind the line that are supporting the main effort should be protected with the same vigor as those critical points on the front line.

• Counter-air is important. Supporting ground operations requires much more than just providing close air support to individual attacks and/or attacking individual enemy units on the battlefield. Air superiority helps insure unfettered ground unit movement, the resupply of fuel and ammo points, and sustainment of command and control ranges.

On Naval Operations.

• Threaten. The threat of naval bombardment can be just as useful as its actual employment. Once employed – that threat is gone.

• Destroy. If you find an enemy HQs within range of naval assets, attack! Throw in some air assets if available and artillery if in range. Strike the HQs – Kill it. This impacts the supply status of all its subordinate units.

On Logistics Operations

• Spend Supplies Wisely. Don’t be stingy with your supplies; Fuel and Ammo points that remain at the end of a scenario are unused combat potential.

• Manage Supplies. HQs consume Move+ and/or Combat+ supply points based on their most costly subordinate unit. The most costly units are armor, mechanized, or motorized units.

• Think Supplies. Supplies and the lines of communications along which they travel represent the combat power potential of ground units. Never start – nor end a turn – without checking the supply status of your units – and taking action to fix or mitigate any logistics issues.

• Offense vs Defense. Generally speaking, you will use more fuel than ammo. Burn off that “excess” ammo by providing Combat+ supply to organizations that have artillery units in position and ready to expend it. Corps artillery units with Combat+ supply are sledge-hammering destroyers of enemy units.

General

• Rest your units. After each third turn (3, 6, 9, 12, etc.) there is a “night” phase during which units recover readiness at double the normal rate; use this opportunity every time--unless you have a really good reason not to.

* Attack, attack, attack!. Defense is slow death for armored forces. Find a way to offensive action and the results will be in your favor.

* Strike With a Fist!. Attacking piecemeal will be unsuccessful most of the time. Collect your forces for the Punch in the Face. Focus the efforts of land, sea and air at a single place in time. Punch as hard as hard as you can; punch with purpose.

* Grab 'em by The Belt. An enemy you outnumber should be very afraid about becoming adjacent to your superior forces. Why? Adjacency increases your ability to collect intelligence. The higher the intelligence level you have about an enemy hex, the greater the effectiveness of your artillery--especially if your artillery is supplied with Combat+:

Artillery Target’s Intel Level

Artillery (and Air and Naval) attack strengths can be reduced or increased based on the level of intelligence acquired about enemy units in the target hex (see Fog Of War). Attack factors of artillery units, and naval and air assets* being used to attack enemy unit(s) in a hex are modified as follows:

Column 1 Average Intel Artillery /Naval /Air Level of Hex
Column 2 Attack Factor Multiplier

0 No Fire
1 0.15
2 0.35
3 0.75
4 1.00
5 1.10

Round fractions down for the average intel in a hex; however, cannot be reduced below one. The AF of artillery and naval units supporting a friendly ground unit defense (Ground Support mission) equals AF x 1.00.

Got a Combat Tip? Share it below.

[bcgames]

The roll-up of Combat Tips will now be found in the initial post so folks can get to it faster.

[AP514]

Great tip on Mine Field breaching...I was not clicking the Breach box.

[bcgames]

On Artillery Movement. If artillery is moving, it isn't shooting. Figure out where your artillery needs to be to "get the job done", then move it there, park it and shoot, shoot, shoot. Ground Attack...Ground Support--whatever. Bottomline--moving your artillery will do nothing for you unless you are moving it to a location where it will make a difference by Brassing-up the Target.

[bcgames]

Anti-aircraft is.... Positioning antiaircraft units to protect high-value friendly units vulnerable to enemy air attacks is one thing...positioning antiaircraft units deliberately--to kill enemy air assets is another. A honey pot draws flies. How can you create one? Think about it.

[Okayrun3254]

ORIGINAL: bcgames

Anti-aircraft is.... Positioning antiaircraft units to protect high-value friendly units vulnerable to enemy air attacks is one thing...positioning antiaircraft units deliberately--to kill enemy air assets is another. A honey pot draws flies. How can you create one? Think about it.

Does AA only protect against Ground Attacks, and not Ground Support attacks?

How many AA points in a hex does it take to effectively disrupt a Air Attack?

[bcgames]

ORIGINAL: Okayrun3254

Does AA only protect against Ground Attacks, and not Ground Support attacks?

AA will attempt to protect ground units from any/all enemy air attacks.

ORIGINAL: Okayrun3254
How many AA points in a hex does it take to effectively disrupt a Air Attack?

Depends on the force ratio of AA/Counterair points vs the defense factor of the air asset.

[Okayrun3254]

ORIGINAL: bcgames

ORIGINAL: Okayrun3254

Does AA only protect against Ground Attacks, and not Ground Support attacks?

AA will attempt to protect ground units from any/all enemy air attacks.

ORIGINAL: Okayrun3254
How many AA points in a hex does it take to effectively disrupt a Air Attack?

Depends on the force ratio of AA/Counterair points vs the defense factor of the air asset.

I have been working around how AA works so I can understand, for example, what happened when my unit gets hit by a Stuka attack. I set up a Ground attack with a Stuka unit on a stack including a AA unit. I wanted to better understand how the AA CRT table works. It seems the attack showed 2:1 AA, with a 1 die roll, but was a full attack. I thought, based on the AA CRT it would be an aborted attack. The actual stack AA is about 8, and Stuka defense is 8, so it is really a 1:1, but the stack getting attacked was still concealed at a 2-3 level. See below.



I am starting to get it. A Stuka attack is powerful, but if used too much, the attack rating goes down from losses, and its effectiveness is compromised by lowered readiness.

[bcgames]

ORIGINAL: Okayrun3254

I have been working around how AA works so I can understand, for example, what happened when my unit gets hit by a Stuka attack. I set up a Ground attack with a Stuka unit on a stack including a AA unit. I wanted to better understand how the AA CRT table works. It seems the attack showed 2:1 AA, with a 1 die roll, but was a full attack. I thought, based on the AA CRT it would be an aborted attack...

Agree. St Ruth will need to weigh-in on this one.

ORIGINAL: Okayrun3254
...The actual stack AA is about 8, and Stuka defense is 8, so it is really a 1:1, but the stack getting attacked was still concealed at a 2-3 level. See below.

The right panel shows 14 AA vs Stuka DF of 7 thus 2:1. So if your stack had 8 AA points, there are six AA points that are unaccounted for. Did you have any counterair flying for the Brits? Was the stack adjacent to a friendly heavy antiaircraft unit?

ORIGINAL: Okayrun3254
I am starting to get it. A Stuka attack is powerful, but if used too much, the attack rating goes down from losses, and its effectiveness is compromised by lowered readiness.

Yes, the lower the readiness of an air asset--the higher the casualties it will suffer. Air assets should be rested whenever the opportunity presents itself.

[bcgames]

Grab 'em by The Belt (caveat emptor).

The Grab 'em by the Belt ploy is best rewarded when used by the inferior force; it can "lock-up" the options of the superior force.

But, the contrary position is this...if you are the superior force, why lock-up your options by going toe-to-toe, face-to-face, trench-to-trench adjacent to the enemy? Don't snuggle as you would in other games--keep the enemy at arms distance--till you are ready to go all-in.

What to do? Create a security zone with your reconnaissance units--perhaps reinforced with a couple armor/motorized/mech/and/or artillery units. Goal? Keep the enemy reconnaissance and main force probes at bay...maybe kill 'em in ambush if the opportunity presents itself. Maybe get your opponent to show his counterattack hand prematurely.

So, if you got the numbers? No hugging.

[Profender]

I think it would help if stacks where separated by type when you start the game. Instead of one big pile of everything.

[bcgames]

Units start the scenarios in their historical locations ready to play. Starting with stacks by type is a good option to select for those wishing to change things up dramatically. I don't know how easy it would be to code that capability.