ORIGINAL: jetjockey
Ground combat at 82,34 (near Lanchow)
Japanese Shock attack......
Followed by...
Ground combat at 82,34 (near Lanchow)
Allied Shock attack.....
If these are normal attacks, you are not getting your tail kick in China, you are committing suicide. China is not like Poland that can be blitzkrieged in a weeks time. China is a slow methodical advance. The Japanese soldiers are much better than the Chinese, you just need to wear the Chinese down over time.
First off, NEVER shock attack unless you know that the opponent is "cracking". If you have to cross a river where a shock attack will be triggered, cross with your whole assault force at once. DO NOT do a "piece-meal" crossing. If you can, maneuver your soldiers around to enter the base from a non-river hex. If you have enough units, try to surround the base and cut off his supply route, but ALWAYS protect your flanks. Remember, the Chinese have a lot more units than you and a smart opponent will be trying to maneuver around YOUR units to cut off your supplies. PROTECT YOUR FLANKS.
When you initially get into the same hex as your opponent, and you don't know what his strength is, do a bombardment attack. This will give you a rough idea what his AV is. Once the you know his strength, you can decide whether to attack him or bring in more troops. In China, the Japanese can often win even though the Chinese may have more troops. You will need to consider their troops strength and what type of terrain you are fighting in before you attack.
Once you decide to attack, do a deliberate attack and remember what your AV is going into the attack. Also, if you suspect a tough fight, assign the target base as the objective so you will get prep credit, if you haven't already. It is never too late to assign an objective. If the battle lasts many days or months, you might be at 100% prepped before the battle is over even though you only assigned the objective once the battle began.
During the combat replay, find your opponents strongest units and keep an eye on them. If they drop only about 20 points during the attack, you are not making much headway and probably need more soldiers. If they drop 30 or more points, they are starting to "crack".
After the attack, look at your own units. If the fatigue and/or disruption is getting to be up into the 20's or 30's, rest the units. This may take days, or it may take weeks. Rest them until ALL Inf units drop below 20... preferably 10. You can attack with fatigue/disruption above 20, but expect to take higher losses. Also, while resting, watch your total AV value in the hex. It should slowly increase over the resting period.
During the resting period, pay attention to whether your opponent brings in reinforcements or not.
Once you have rested and the AV value is comparable to your initial attack AV value, you are ready to attack again. If you think your opponent has brought in reinforcements and are unsure of his strength, bombard again to see what you are up against. If you are comfortable attacking, then do another deliberate attack. Again, watching his stronger units to see if they drop another 30+ points.
As long as his larger units are dropping in AV value, keep doing deliberate attacks while resting in between attacks until the base switches to your possession, or until the game stops switching your units to "defend" after every attack. When that happens, you are on the verge of being able to switch to shock attacks, but you might want to do a couple more deliberate attacks first. Whatever you do, do not shock attack with fatigue or disruption over 20 unless you want to take high losses.
Anyway, this is my method for ground attack and it seems to serve me well.....good luck.
"When I said I would run, I meant 'away' ". - Orange
