Soak Off Attacks.

[Champagne]

Those who are familiar with Avalon Hill board wargames will be familiar with the tactic of "pinning" an enemy group of units with a "Soak Off Attack" so that your Main Force may concentrate on the enemy group that you wish to hit the hardest.

In WBTS, I'd like to find a way to "pin" an enemy group in a region adjacent to the region that contains the enemy group that I wish to target for my main attack.

What is the best "Rule of Thumb" to use to help figure out the best size friendly "Pinning Force" to use in making that "Soak Off" or "Pinning Attack" ?

Should the Pinning Force/Soak Off Attack be at approximately 1 to 2 ratio? Just under 1 to 1 ratio?

Thanks.

[John Neal]

It depends on what's spotted. Attack three regions with unspotted troops & let the defender guess which is the faint.
Or, when everyone is spotted the defender can put the appropriate reinforcements in each.

The pinning is a good question. I was hoping to pull my Cav out of a battle. Was it that bridge over the Cumberland I needed to retreat over that prevented it? Or just combat odds? (Perhaps someone can direct me to the appropriate rule section?)

[JAMiAM]

ORIGINAL: John Neal
The pinning is a good question. I was hoping to pull my Cav out of a battle. Was it that bridge over the Cumberland I needed to retreat over that prevented it? Or just combat odds? (Perhaps someone can direct me to the appropriate rule section?)

If you want to pull any pinned force out, you need to leave at least as many of that type in the battle region. If you have a leader with 8 cavalry brigades under him, a single attacking cavalry brigade can pin the leader if he tries to move his whole force. However, you can drop off a couple of cavalry brigades, preferably with a unit commander (using CSC rules, this is easier), and then move the remaining 6 brigade force.

Likewise, if you find yourself being "pinned" by small division-sized infantry forces, then split one of your infantry corps down so that it can deal with the pinning force, allowing the rest to move to a more important spot.

[Treefrog]

Champagne,

I think my recollection of a "soak off" attack is a little different; an attack made at bad odds to honor the rule that you must attack every enemy unit with a zone of control occupied by your units. Soak off attacks were typically sacrificial.

"Pinning attacks" are typically made to prevent your adversary from moving his forces.

In any event, my perception is that in this game reaction forces (particularly reb reaction forces) are typically coming from the rear rather than moving laterally.

What you might find helpful is looking at the terrain closely. Sometimes, particularly in winter, the terrain between regions itself will prevent effective lateral movement.

You may also wish to ponder if the reacting force is reinforcing failure, especially if as defenders they will die retreating through a water barrier.

The old spotting rules were so effective that I had not considered the suggestion sending a single unspotted brigade to pin. Certainly worth looking into, although that move would intuitively seem to result in a high probability of a leader casualty (unless it is a leaderless militia/cavalry unit).


Good luck.

[John Neal]

ORIGINAL: JAMiAM

ORIGINAL: John Neal
The pinning is a good question. I was hoping to pull my Cav out of a battle. Was it that bridge over the Cumberland I needed to retreat over that prevented it? Or just combat odds? (Perhaps someone can direct me to the appropriate rule section?)

If you want to pull any pinned force out, you need to leave at least as many of that type in the battle region. If you have a leader with 8 cavalry brigades under him, a single attacking cavalry brigade can pin the leader if he tries to move his whole force. However, you can drop off a couple of cavalry brigades, preferably with a unit commander (using CSC rules, this is easier), and then move the remaining 6 brigade force.

Likewise, if you find yourself being "pinned" by small division-sized infantry forces, then split one of your infantry corps down so that it can deal with the pinning force, allowing the rest to move to a more important spot.

Oh! [&o]