Strategy Thread

[Poliorcetes]

Granted, Direct support is the only way you have a chance for your on board arty to do anything. But you still need to lower your expectations on what WP arty will do for you. Nato arty kills things, WP arty is like your mother in law visiting - nothing dies but your morale drops and you get fatigued ;p
The exception is of course when they use gas, which can actually kill Nato IFV's and the occasional tank.
And low morale can force Nato to retreat, giving you time to regroup.

Poliorcetes

[Poliorcetes]

Ok I just found out the hard way that if you are on a minefield, and there is a traffic jam where your unit can't move, everytime they TRY to move it triggers a mine attack.

Poliorcetes

[Poliorcetes]

Important lesson with bridging. You need about 1 bridge for every 2-3 units. Anything less and you can get some terrible traffic jams unless your units are very far apart.

Poliorcetes

[Burthold]

It has been my experience that being too decisive yeilds defeat. Take it slow, do not expoit, and DO NOT assault objectives with force. A successful assualt, when I am playing, on the main objective (where all of the enemy usually are) halts the game when they are down to 20% and gives me a loss because I did not have the foresight to occupy the 10000m around me...before I assulted.

Take those armored companies and spread them around. Do not keep them in a focused decisive combat unit untill you have taken all of the "victory areas" surrounding you. Then regroup them back to their starting position and assult your objective. You won't have have the pleasure of seeing your enemy routed BUT at least you will not get a draw as you are 1 step away from what would be a total victory.

[Hammertime]

After a couple weeks of playing the game, I must say that I am extremely happy with my purchase of FPG. I can't wait to install the 103 patch! After reading this thread, I played "Soviet Punch" from both sides.

As NATO commander, result was a marginal victory. The overall strategy was to engage WP forces from as far as possible and keep them out of arms reach. Doctrine: Tanks keep 1500m away, Mech inf keep 1500m away.

1) Used mech. inf to scout along the north ridge down the valley. They didn't last long but enabled a few good air-strikes.
2) Called in air strikes at a maximum rate even if no units were spotted, setting the discretionary target area to "2". The pilots almost always found targets. Most air strikes yielded 2-4 kills each so I think this is what tipped the balance of power, as the WP had no air support and ineffective arty.
3) I bet on a WP frontal assault and sent 2/3 of armour along the ridge south of Westerbruck. This is exactly what the AI did and they paid the price for it. The Leopards were able to get in the first salvos and tear into the WP attack.
4) I ordered one company of tanks to dig in and guard the eastern side of the city in hexes with the longest LOS into the valley. They were mauled but they were able to hang on just long enough.
5) I left all arty on counter-battery expect for a couple rounds of mine-laying to slow down the WP.

The WP did not carry out many chemical attacks which enabled the Leopards to stay dug in. Also, the WP did not have any effective anti-air defense. Only 2 jets were shot down.

From the WP side, the result was a tactical victory. My strategy was to launch a 2 pronged attack, and get up-close and personal with the NATO forces. The Soviet Punch would come from the south immediately after a frontal feint from the east. Doctrine: Mech formations keep 0m away. HQ and SAMs keep 1000m away.

1) NATO EW levels were almost nil the entire game which told me that he likely wasn't moving. This was a big mistake because I had a lot of time to position my forces and even rest them for 2 turns before the final assault. NATO would have been better off if they patrolled their flanks and kept my forces off balance. Also, it would have increased their EW levels and perhaps caused me to worry about a flank attack or some sort of surprise.
2) I had the offboard arty gas Westerbruck each and every turn until the final assault, with 75% of the priority given to the southern and eastern regions of the city. Any hex with a hit were repeatedly bombarded. Several gas kills were scored, but no HE kills were ever scored.
3) I kept the SAMs, HW, and mortars within a few hexes of eachother and kept them no further than 2.5km from the mechanized companies.
4) I tried to keep my HQ moving the entire game, but after 5 turns it was being bombarded by NATO arty so much that it often wouldn't move. I was issuing an average of 15 orders per turn so perhaps I should have been more organized. 3 kills were scored on the HQ, but it didn't really seem to hamper my forces so NATO probably would have been better off laying some mines and launching chemical attacks.
5) one turn before the main assault I called in neutralizing fire (no gas) by all off board and on-board arty to prep to the assault. during the assault, I put my offboard arty onto direct support missions with my leading formations, and used the on-board arty for further neutralizing fire.

The NATO AI only called in 3 air strikes the entire game (one resulted in 2 jets shot down). Additionally, the only unit they moved out of the city was the artillary. So when my forces stormed Westerbruck from the East, South, and South-West, they were on top of almost all the NATO forces within 3 turns. Some of my larger formations didn't even get a chance to engage before the game was over. I finished with 79% of my forces while NATO was down below 20%.

Overall, I believe that was Poliocretes has said about the respective arty etc is quite useful. I would like to get more ideas on the doctrine settings for the various NATO forces and of course WP. In general, I seem to have more success when I have NATO stand off, and WP close as much as possible.