movement tips

[TheVen]

I'm looking for input from other players on what formations, frontage, depth, etc. used when putting an attack in across a bridge. Specifically, take Nijmegan for example, if you have a full regiment you want to have attack from the South across one of the two bridges heading North, would you leave the default settings or force a short frontage and alot of depth to get across faster?

[Grouchy]

Prefer to give orders at Bn level. More flexible and options that way.

When traveling through chokepoints like bridges I use max ROF, max aggression and fast movement. Formation and frontage really depends on the terrain north and south of the river and the current intel/opposition. But generally I want to have those bridges behind me as quickly as possible so that my troops have more favourable terrain to deploy and to manouvre.

[Custer1961]

Hi TheVen,
I think your post goes right to the heart of the game. As the player, we control how and where movement occurs. I bought and read the Strategy Gudie, but I am like you and still unsure of the best use of frontage and rates of movement. It would be great if someone could go over or show where the info is concerning exactly what movement choices do in the game. For me, this is the first time firepower is out of my control and movement is how the commander determines victory.

[Arjuna]

TheVen,

Great question.

First off, here is a tip for learning how the game actually does things.

1. Create a small test map in the MapMaker. Make it completely blank except for a major river running east west and a highway running up from the south that stops just short of the southern river bank and another one from the far bank running north. Add in a Highway bridge, connecting the two crossings. Test that the crossing works in the ScenMaker - see the MapMaker manual for details ( don't worry it's easy [:)] ).

2. Create a small test scenario in the ScenMaker. Start with the Template but use your test map instead ( again see the ScenMaker manual for details and it's is easy as hitting a button and selecting the desired map file from a list ). Don't include any forces on the map. Create a reinforcement for each side - say a single coy for the defenders and a Bde fro the attackers. Set their start time to the scenario start. Set their locations to wherever you want them to appear by dragging them onto the map. Give each side a Secure objective - for the defenders make sure it is where you want them to defend. For the attackers, set it to the same location as the defending side. Save your scenario. That's done and it's so easy. [:)]

3. Run the Test Scenario in the Game and choose to be the attacking side. Now give your orders, say using the defaults and note what formation they choose. To do so, wait until the attack orders you give have been processed and the attack sub tasks have been created - eg, Move to FUP, Reorg at FUP and Assault. Now click on the attacking Bn HQ and you will see its task icons displayed. The Assault icon will usually be directly under the Attack order icon you created. Just click it once to cycle to it. It will be grey in colour. It's task details will be displayed in the side bar - see the example on page 88 of the manual. Note the formation type.

4. Re-run the Test scenario changing the orders parameters and see what a difference it makes.

Now having said all that the answer to your question like all things in the military is "it depends" [;)]. Factors which affect movement are the terrain, formation, visibility, force fatigue and cohesion. In an assault the units will NOT be moving in road column unless you set the formation to road column. So they will not be able to get any road movement benefit. Hence they will move at whatever effect the underlying terrain dictates - see the TEC on pages 109-110. A unit moving in formation must also wait on other units in the formation before it can move. This tends to slow it down. But it also provides mutual support and in an attack that counts heaps in my book. Remember the first principle of war is Concentration ( or Mass as the US Army refer to it ). Now when a formation is forced to cross a narrow defile like a bridge individual unit paths must channel through the defile/across the bridge. This, combined with the normal having to wait on the others before we can move, tends to further slow the force down as it makes its way across the bridge. This can also lead to an amassing or concentration of friendly troops in the defile, which makes it particularly vulnerable to enemy arty and direct fire.

The choices essentially narrow down to either assaulting in road column or some other formation type ( eg line/successive line/echelon/arrowhead ). Attacking in road column means that if there is no effective enemy fire on the far side of the bridge, then yes the assaulting force will cross the bridge more quickly and thus minimise its vulnerability at the defile. However, ususally, there will be effective enemy fire on the far side ( after all why are you attacking? ). In which case a unit/force in road column will only be able to direct 20% of its firepower forward - see the Formation Effects table on page 115. Now if you have a company of King Tigers in the lead then maybe their 20% firepower will be good enough. But for most situation 20% will probably be insufficient to win the firefight and result in the column being stopped dead in its tracks and actually increasing vulnerability at the defile.

On the other hand an attack in successive lines would see 60% firepower up front and seems like a good compromise for getting through the defile quickly while still having pretty effective firepower.

[TheVen]

Wow, thanks for all that advice... I think I'll try coy or bn level orders to cross the bridges and experiment with different formations. But I could leave the rest of the bde on the near bank of the river to provide covering fire, at least I assume if they were sitting there in defend mode and facing the enemy they would provide some decent fire. Also a heavy dose of arty to help out. Once the individual units are across I can reattach them. I'll try this out a bit and see if it gets too crazy. If so, I may just have to settle on a formation that has the best trade-offs. Thanks for the responses!