Tactics Primer, Input wanted

SPWaW is a tactical squad-level World War II game on single platoon or up to an entire battalion through Europe and the Pacific (1939 to 1945).

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Larry Holt
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Tactics Primer, Input wanted

Post by Larry Holt »

I am working on an updated tactics primer for SPWAW, something like Pascal Ode did for the original SP. I intend to cover tactics in three levels of depth:
1)Basic tactics up to battalion level.
2)Basic tactics adapted to the game while trying not "game" it to much. (While the game is a good simulation of real life, it has its limitations so tactics must be adapted to those limitations.
3)Tactics adapted to specific time, armies and equipment.

I will address the basic "weapon systems": infantry, armor, artillery/air plus the more complex "battle field systems" maneuver, intelligence (weather, enemy and terrain), artillery, engineering (creating and clearing obstacles), recon and air defense.

I will focus on the principles of war of mass and maneuver as I think others can be included in these (e.g. security is simply conserving mass by employing a limited force to insure that you are not surprised and therefore retaining the ability to maneuver)

While I have a strong bias for US tactics (being a former US soldier), I will try and keep things generic enough to cover all forces in the game.

My question to all out there is what areas do you think are the most difficult or confusing to do? E.G use of obstacles, terrain analysis, integration of all units into combined arms (& when combined arms is not such a good idea), etc.

What other areas do you think should be covered?

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Post by Wild Bill »

Larry retired from the US Army and has a stellar background in the military.

I am certainly looking forward to seeing this work, Larry. We'll be more than happy to post these on the Raider sites as well as the Matrix Journal if you will allow us this privilege.

Drop me a note if you are ineterested in our doing this.

Wild Bill


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Post by Arralen »

Originally posted by Larry Holt:
My question to all out there is what areas do you think are the most difficult or confusing to do? E.G use of obstacles, terrain analysis, integration of all units into combined arms (& when combined arms is not such a good idea), etc.
What other areas do you think should be covered?
- Using Arty or A/C or both .. or none - and how to defend from it.

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Post by lnp4668 »

Are you planning the strategy guide against computer or human opponent? Against the computer, it is pretty straight forward, but against human, you may wants to cover tactics against infiltration/airborne troops, etc.
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Post by Larry Holt »

Originally posted by lnp4668:
Are you planning the strategy guide against computer or human opponent? Against the computer, it is pretty straight forward, but against human, you may wants to cover tactics against infiltration/airborne troops, etc.
This will cover well grounded tactics so it will be applicable to human opponents. I think of the AI as just a very poor human player. In the early stages of WWII, the Soviets often fought about as well as the AIP does in SPWAW. They repeatedly drove into kill zones because that is what the plan called for, etc.

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Post by Kluckenbill »

Thanks for you efforts, this should be really helpful in getting some of my non-SPWAW playing friends up to speed more quickly (it may help me too.)


I'm not sure if these accurately comes under the heading of tactics, but there are a lot of tricky things that have to be done to play the game well.

For example:

Properly using artillery and Aircraft(mentioned elsewhere)


Managing your Orders to effectively use Command and Control

Setting and changing objectives, another C&C related issue.

Paratroopers, Gliders, Special Ops, etc. It takes some experience to use these guys properly.

The whole area of using and attacking Forts and Mines.



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Post by hhsohn »

I'd like to see some tactical decisions one should make when dealing with Partisan/airborn. I had to deal with them on separate occasions, and I got myself a headache trying to decide whether to clear them out or just staying on defensive posture, whether to bring in reinforcements, pull troops out of the front line, continue with the attack, put them on hold... aye...
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Post by Daniel Oskar »

Great idea! Along with the previously mentioned Airborne/Glider units, how about something on the utilization of special forces?
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Post by Flashfyre »

I would say the most important lesson to "teach" is the use of combined arms to achieve mission objectives.
This is something I had to learn the hard way, and am still learning. When to advance armor to support an attack; integrating engineers, infantry, MGs, and light artillery during attacks; the use of overwatch when advancing; proper use of recon elements; best use of artillery/air support; siting of units for maximum fire effect when defending; maintaining unit cohesion during combat (keep platoons together, keep HQ units within command range, advance at the slowest unit pace); accurate and effective fire against targets; assign priorities correctly (armor fires at armor, then guns, then infantry); and many more.

Combined Arms Wins Wars; piecemeal attacks only fill body bags.

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Post by Randy »

Larry, I think this is a good idea. Some of my ideas would include the use of tank-infantry teams, use of a base of fire with the maneuver element, the proper role of recon elements (not to fight, just to observe). Another good idea would be the use of smoke in a river crossing. I hope this helps.
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Post by Don Doom »

Yes the proper use of combined arm's, to be used with one to two batalions of artillary or large amount of artillary. Proper use/placment of smoke for assults or river crossings.

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Post by Fabs »

What would be really useful is something that would also cover fighting in close terrain (urban, woods or Bocage), both from the attacker and the defender's perspective.


To be really useful, it should go into how best to combine armor (tanks and APCs), infantry (squads, half squads, MGs) and artillery (AT, mortars and Off-board) in both roles to achieve the best results, giving more than one set of solutions as options.


Also, for those of us who like to design scenarios, some advice on how to set up good AI defence schemes, how to build in re-inforcements and the timing and direction of counter-attacks would be really helpful.

This shold cover, among other things, what density of forces is appropriate to defend a certain frontage in different situations, what depth is adviseable etc.

I would love to help, but I'm afraid that in these matters I can only be a student, rather than a teacher.



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Post by Larry Holt »

OK, here is an outline of some of what I want to put in. Obviously I can not post all the text and images here (even this is way long) but it give and idea of what subjects and depth I want to cover this in. I want to provide three levels of depth. Broad brush introduction to tactics for the uninitiated, SPWAW specific implemtation of general tactics and detailed battle drills for specific situations (e.g. clearing mines)

What do you think of this as an outline for a primer?

Glossary:
AI: Artificial Intelligence, computer routines to make decisions. There is AI built into both the AIP and human sides of a battle. E.G. while the human may elect to take or pass on opportunity fire shots, which units will be offered to make the shots is determined by AI.
AIP: Artificial Intelligence Player, the computer player that can be played against in solitary battles.
[more cut out]

Introduction:
SPWAW is a fine simulation of armored combat and also an enjoyable game. The game player must be aware of SPWAW's limitations as a simulation of real life and also the tradeoffs implicit in a simulation. Some tactics that work in real life will not work in the game and vice versa. One can meticulously fight each unit and battle paying close attention to every detail and increase the chances of "winning" but how much fun is that? Remember this while using this guide. Employ these tactics or your own but above all, have fun.
[more cut out]
Unfortunately war is so complex that any rules that are general enough to cover all situations are too vague to be of much specific use. Additionally, what "principles" discover through research often depends upon what history you look at and how you look at it. I believe that this list of nine principles can be reduced to four: mass, objective, simplicity and unity of command. The first two call for massing most forces on the most important objectives and less forces on objectives of lessor importance. I believe that this is the most fundamental basis of war. The last two are important because human beings, with human limitations fight war. Plans that are too complex will not be executed as expected and multiple commanders lead to multiple, conflicting orders that can not be carried out. Keeping this in mind, here is my comment on the nine principles of war.
[more cut out]
· Objective. What do you want to accomplish? In SPWAW terms this usually is occupying victory hexes, killing enemy units and possibly avoiding the loss of friendly units or gaining experience points. Certain scenarios or human built campaigns may have additional specific objectives. At the start of the battle be sure you know what you need to do to win and monitor your progress throughout. It is easy to get bogged down chasing routed enemy around the battlefield only to realize that there are not enough turns to capture the necessary victory conditions. See the section on METT-T for further consideration about determining the objective. Life is about choices and real life and SPWAW tactics embodies this. No objective can be taken without the risk of losing. You will have to decide where to take risks and where to play it safe. This principle takes on increased importance when playing with Command and Control on. Since you can not readily change the objective that the force is moving to, it pays to take some time and have a well thought out plan instead of reacting willy nilly to every distraction that comes up on the battlefield.
· Offense: Ultimately, one wins by attacking but this does not mean attack blindly and without securing the grounds for a successful offense. In game terms the enemy may be so badly attritted that he surrenders before an attack is needed so this principle needs to be applied in the game taking into its limitations as a simulation of combat and war. In the WWI era, French generals believed in the power of the offense under all conditions and at all time. They believed in it so much that they sent tens of thousands of soldiers to their death simply to conduct an offense. A better tactic might be that of US Confederate General Robert Lee who believed in maneuvering offensively and fighting defensively. There are advantages to attacking in that you can choose the location and time to attack while the defender has to defend across the board. However, given that the attacker will have to move to the victory hexes sooner or later, this limits the choices he has and makes this less of an advantage in the game. "A sucking chest wound is natures way of telling you to slow down." is a truism that has been often mentioned as a rule of war. Read the sections on specific tactics (Principles of the Offense and Principles of the Defense as well as SPWAW Standard Tactical Missions) to learn how to conduct a successful offense and how to counter one.
· Mass: Mass means combat power or fire power. In game terms this is very quantified as each unit has a known attack strength. Historically attackers with a 3:1 combat power advantage over defenders have a 50% chance of success according to the US Army Command and Staff College. Concentrate enough mass/combat power to overcome the defense. With weak units this often means clustering them close together so that they can combine their firepower in sufficient strength to defeat the enemy. If a battle is balanced, there should be enough mass on either side to accomplish that sides' objectives. If one side is weak, obstacles can slow the stronger side down or the weaker side can withdraw behind terrain or smoke to avoid being attacked by a stronger force. In this manner terrain is traded for time. If this delay is executed properly the game time should run out before the weaker force is defeated. When an attacking force is faced with a defense, the attacker must calculate how many causalities the defender can inflict prior to being defeated. If the defender can inflict too many causalities, then the attacker should either:
§ gain more attacking power (e.g. call for reinforcements)
§ attack on a narrower front so that less of the defending combat power can be brought to bear on the attacking force
§ attrit the defender (e.g. use artillery or long range fires that can not be responded to).
For example, if veteran or elite German 75mm ATGs can destroy one Soviet T34 per turn at 10 to 15 hexes and two per turn closer than that and the Soviets have to close to within five hexes to get accurate shots to inflict killing hits and if the Soviets start out 20 hexes away (three turns to close to the German position) then: each German ATG will probably kill three Soviet tanks. So if the Germans have ten guns, the Soviets could lose about 30 tanks. If this is acceptable OK then. If it these projected losses are too high then use smoke to blind some of the guns, add more tanks or suppress the guns with artillery.
· Economy of Force: Don't waste force (combat power/fire power) on tasks that do not contribute to the overall success of the mission. If there are several tasks that need to be done (e.g. take several victory hexes, destroy enemy mobile reserves, kill off all remaining enemy units to gain experience points) consider prioritizing them then apply more combat power to the more important tasks than to the less important tasks or postpone some of them. E.G. in an advance battle (enemy is delaying) if there are four sets of victory hexes the enemy will probably have some mobile (armor) reserve to counterattack once you capture an objective. If you break up your force into four equal elements, the enemy probably will defeat each element separately (known as defeat in detail) . Instead, operate as one large, main force and three lighter forces. Advance the lighter forces, one per objective, until the make contact with enemy forces defending the objectives (or have the objective under observation if no forces are encountered). Have the main element attack and take one objective then move on to the next one. Meanwhile the lighter elements observe enemy forces so you are aware if any move away from the objectives to counterattack the main force.
· Maneuver: Move forces across the map in a manner to position them to attack the enemy from a position of advantage. If your force has good long range fire power (e.g. German 88's) then move through open areas. If not (e.g. Japanese infantry heavy forces or Soviet SMG infantry) then move through jungle/wooded areas. See the sections on Principles of the Offense and Principles of the Defense below.
· Unity of Command: Just as there should be one mission and one main objective, there must be one commander orchestrating all forces to achieve them. In a game where only one player is on a side this principle has little value. In multiple player battles it is important that each player be operating as part of a whole. If each player operates as he wants to without regard to his allies, there is danger that the enemy will attack the players one at a time and defeat each in detail.
· Security: Know where the enemy is and what he can do to you. The flip side of this is to keep him from finding out the same things about your force. A screen of light, mobile recon units is generally the best way to accomplish this. The screen will find the enemy before he finds you. See the sections on Reconnaissance and Intelligence below.
· Simplicity: What can go wrong will go wrong. A simple plan with fewer things happening has fewer things to go wrong. In multiplayer games a person may misunderstand a complex plan thus the truism: KISS Keep It Simple Stupid. For those in the British empire KILL applies: Keep It Lucid Limey. Even in a game with one player per side there are advantages to simplicity. While the one person may completely understand his own plan, equipment can break down, troops can rout, etc.
[more cut out]
Tactics and the equipment and people employed are tightly intertwined. Tactics evolve to take advantage of the capabilities of equipment and people while equipment is developed and people trained in new ways to take advantage of new tactics. Remember this as equipment and armies evolve over time. Be prepared to change the tactics used to take advantage of or counter new equipment or changing troop abilities.

Principles of the Offense[more cut out]attack of fortifications, forms of the offense
Principles of the Defense[more cut out]use of fortifications, fixed and mobile defense,

Considering the wide array of weapons and equipment available to armies and attempting to determine the best tactics for each can be overwhelming. To simplify this task, and because no one weapon is used alone, tactics are usually broken down into general areas. Current US doctrine discusses six "Battlefield Operating Systems" that are relevant to SPWAW and they will be used to group the weapons in the game. (NBC is also a BOS but not relevant to SPWAW).
Maneuver (combined arms, overwatch,
Artillery/Air
Reconnaissance
Engineering
Intelligence
Air Defense

Tactical Planning: METT-T Mission, Enemy, Troops available, Terrain and Time available.
These are the areas that need to be considered when developing a tactical plan
[more cut out]
In campaigns an implicit mission is to preserve the experience of your force. This means not taking causalities or removing crews and weak units from harms way to preserve them for the next battle. In stand alone battles, there is no need for this and losses can be tolerated as long as the force, as a whole, retains enough combat power to accomplish its objective.

Battle Drills

FM 5-33 Terrain Analysis is available as a PDF document

SPWAW Standard Tactical Missions:
Advance
Delay
Attack
Defend

Reserves
Reinforcements

Special Tactical Situations:
Operations under limited visibility
Operations in Urban terrain
River Crossings
Employment of Airborne, Special Forces and Infiltration
Obstacles

Employment of unit types (tanks, TDs, ATGs, infantry, MGs {use long range fires agains advancing infantry, withdraw when they get close of the MG will take casualities, it has strong fire power but is brittle}, etc.)

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Post by Randy »

Larry, your list is quite comprehensive (you could probably publish this). I liked the way you covered the Principals of War. The only thing I would add under special tactical situations (being a former Marine)
would be the conducting of an amphibious landing (unless you would consider this more
strategic/operational). This is great info.
I hope this helps.
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Larry Holt
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Post by Larry Holt »

Originally posted by Randy:
...The only thing I would add under special tactical situations (being a former Marine) would be the conducting of an amphibious landing (unless you would consider this more strategic/operational). This is great info. I hope this helps.
Semper Fi
Randy
It helps. I had not considered amphib ops I need to include it too.


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Post by Larry Wagner »

Larry,
Outstanding Idea abouta primer! This is just what I need.

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Post by Larry Holt »

I am continuing to work this into a HTML document for posting as WB has so kindly offered to do for me.

This is a call for your input on SPWAW specific, minor tactics. I have a handle on bunker busting, river crossings, maneuver, mine clearing, overwatch, and all the usual generic tactics but the game is so vast and deep that there is much I've never tried. If anyone has some good tactics for specific situations or specific units, please contribute them and I'll add them in if into this type of document. For example, a new player may not realize that the British 25 lbr (do I have that right?) does not have a HE round early in the war. Therefore it is prefered to attack it with soft units from beyond rifle range as which it can not fire back against as opposed to armored units that it can devistate. Putting mines on the objective is an old SP dirty trick but still valid (unless gentleman's rules are in effect against it).

I'm looking for tactics against the AI and humans. I'm not looking for legal ways to "cheat" such as moving a unit to recon then if nothing is found, hit the undo key and look in a different direction, etc.

Many heads are better than mine and in the community spirit of SPWAW and Matrix, this is your opportunity to be heard.

Thanks

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