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I'm running into a situation in my latest game where its 1942 and summer has arrived again.
So, naturally, I've been pocketing soviet troops again.

The problem I'm running into though is how to reduce a heavily fortified stack of, say, 3 infantry divisions in level 4 forts in bad terrain.

Even once they're cut off, I'm taking huge infantry casualties in my assaults; its not unusul for me to lose 2-3k infantry in a single assault which may not even shift the defenders out of their holes.

I've played with my old WIR "solution" of bombing the willies out of the target hex before I send in the infantry but, frankly, it doesn't seem to help yet.

What are other folks doing to force surrenders of these large, fortified stacks?

does this help... http://witewiki.com/index.php/Offensive_Techniques

If Ive missed something please add it

ORIGINAL: cookie monster

does this help... http://witewiki.com/index.php/Offensive_Techniques

If Ive missed something please add it

It certainly helps, the challenge I'm running into though is that, even after I cut off a defending stack and then hit it with what I think is a properly consistuted assault force (lots of pioneers and heavy artillery), I'm still taking massive casualties reducing pockets.

I had a spring pocket north of moscow in the woods where I cut off about twenty soviet rifle divisions in lvl 4 forts. They just sat there and I had to dig them out with infantry. By the time I was done AGN basically had no useful assault infantry left and that was the end of my northern offensive.

Does sitting back and letting them starve eventually reduce their cvs?
Prolonged bombing?
Some way to shell them w/o sending in the assault infantry?

I'm in no huge hurry to reduce a pocket in 1942; I'm happy to screen it and attrit it, but I can't seem to find a way to achieve meaningful attrition.

Level 4 forts in the woods will always hurt to attack, when I was making the Axis surrender on mass in my last game the surrender battles were very bloody

Dont know if starving works AI will fly supply missions, set some fighters nearby to night missions to have it all covered

You can bomb them to drive up casualties and fatigue

Dont know if the Axis can bombard only, as they have no on map artillery units,even if you could you would end up with a HELD result and a lost battle

I have not encountered this problem exactly -- playing against the AI, I cut off various cities (Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad ...all urban fort 4 or even 5). I just persevered. That's the point I guess.. you have to burn infantry to make headway. Against an out of supply Soviet stack with apparent defence CV of around 25-30, I would probably use 6 divisions, 3 each in a hex, with 2-3 pioneers and stugs if available. Sometimes the stack holds the first time; then hit it again. As soon as it retreats, the CV seems to go down.

Yep, 42 is a bear right now for the German. Was this beta 6 game?

It may be tough to arrange since you are dealing with cut off units, but with the Leningrad scenario, what I did was set it up to make 1 set of deliberate attacks with 6 units and move them out and put fresh units in for another deliberate attack. Casualties will still be heavy, but not as bad as if you try to continue the attack with the original stacks. Units that are fatigued, etc seem to take a lot more casualties to me. Doing a fresh set of units also means you are going against fatigued defenders as well.

Another technique I think I remember seeing someone doing was to launch a series of hasty attacks that although you will lose, the losses probably won't be too bad, but the effect is to drive up the defender's fatigue. After several of those, then the attacker moved in a couple of stacks of fresh troops and delivered the knock out shot against very tired troops. (Basically sounds like several jabs followed by the big upper cut to finish things off). I have not had a chance to test that specific technique, but I plan to.