One request--play with all the realism factors on! Please--this is how the game is meant to be played. BUNKER BUSTING! "How _do_ I pry those guys out of there?" The old tried and proven solution was to bombard these hexes continuously until the defender's fatigue was raised to 15 (one point added per turn per day turn, 2 per night). This worked, because no matter what the odds on the barrage, the fatigue continued to rack up on the defender. This is no longer the case: 1. Unless the odds are 1.0 or greater, defenders do not incur fatigue from artillery bombardment alone. 2. Artillery inflicts fatigue at 2 points per turn if bombarding. Using up artillery in small, piecemeal attacks will result in their fatiguing to the point of being useless for any real work. New Solution: a. Channel supply and unit attachment to one or two headquarters which will spearhead the attack. Make sure they've got all the armor and, most importantly, engineer units possible. b. Start wearing down the defenders through attacks combining armor shifts, engineer shifts and artillery strength. c. Make sure you've got fresh units available so that you can rotate them in and do not attack for more than 1 night turn, unless you absolutely must. The odds are that the defender is not going to have the same freedom to move in fresh units. d. If you can, put your assault forces in Attack Supply. This will also help morale shifts. THE HUNT FOR HEADQUARTERS! One of the oldest and most reliable tricks was to "cherry pick," or go after enemy HQs, whose loss affects all attached units. This could be done by either penetrating and going for them with ground units, or by barraging with either artillery, planes or naval gunfire. While not perfect, we've tried to make this tactic more difficult to pull off. 1. Barrage attacks against HQs alone in a hex now resolve as interdiction. 2. AI-controlled HQs are now more aware of their surroundings and will act more decisively to protect themselves. 3. With the new Combat system, and the existing limitation on losses to HQs, most HQs should be able to withstand attacks for several turns, even if unable to retreat away. ARTILLERY, ARTILLERY, ARTILLERY! Another old trick for getting through enemy lines was to subject them to a continuous artillery barrage (see BUNKERS, above). Not only would the defenders fatigue, they'd incur about 5% casualties a turn. A couple of days of this, and you'd be facing swiss cheese. 1. In conjunction w/the fatigue changes, losses due to bombardments with odds less than 1.0 have been _sharply_ attenuated. 2. General, continuous barrages will soon result in artillery units incapable of hurting the enemy. 3. General, continous barrages will also cause huge supply consumption. Using supply is a lot like raiding your piggy bank. If you don't keep a reserve, you won't be able to put the HQs you need in Attack or General supply. New Solution: a. As for BUNKERS, pick your spots, supply levels, and attachments with an eye towards maximizing odds shifts. b. Use artillery in conjunction with ground assault. If you've got heavy arty or Naval gunfire, capable of high-odds bombardment, use them to prep a tough position. c. Avoid using artillery at night, and then, only in conjunction with an important ground assault. It's just not worth the 4 pts of fatigue anymore. d. As an FYI, (with the exception of HQs), all artillery attacks within 2 hexes of a friendly unit will resolve as a barrage, no matter what the odds. Barrage attacks outside of this range will resolve as a barrage if the odds are higher than 1.0, interdiction otherwise. ALL-DAY, ALL-NIGHT BOOM-BOOM! (Offensive Strategy) This tactic (generally used in conjunction with EVERYBODY UP FRONT) emphasizes continous assaults until the enemy is worn down, or eliminated. This led to fantastic, across-the-line offensives that would last all day and all night for days. The theory was that, while you were taking losses and racking up fatigue, so was he. Several changes will directly affect the success of this tactic. 1. Attacking ground units assaulting, or probing with artillery/air support now accrue 3 points of fatigue. This is on top of any night action penalties. Probes cause 2 fatigue points. Defenders undergoing a probe, add no fatigue, and 1 point if assaulted. 2. The point at which units are considered, "eliminated," and removed from the game has been lowered. In most cases, it should take an extra turn (depending on odds, supply, etc.) to eliminate units. 3. The overall combat system has gotten far less bloody. However, within this context, attackers will take more casualties than previously. Attacking will be clearly more expensive than defending. New Solution: a. Pick one or more areas in the line to assault, and then proceed as suggested above. b. Particularly when playing the British or Americans, try to minimize casualties by achieving the maximum odds shifts w/armor/engineers. Use artillery in the same way. In general, the higher the odds, the lower the overall casualties. c. If you need to conduct a general offensive (say to take Cherbourg from the beachhead in UB), maintain fresh reserves to avoid having the offensive bog down due to loss of effectiveness in active units. d. Although it's always been a good tactic to amass supply so that attacking divisions are in general or better, it's going to be that much more imperative now. Getting an extra odds shifts by being in Attack supply will help reduce some of the new "sting" from being on the offensive. EVERYBODY UP FRONT! (Assault Tactics) With the previous low penalties for attacking, it was often an excellent strategy to put as many units as possible up front, in the line. For attackers, this assured the maximum odds, for defenders, the converse. This led to the rather odd conclusion that maintaining reserves on a tactical level was a waste of time. Hopefully, this will no longer be the case. New Solution: a. While having everyone in the vicinity in on an attack _will_ increase the odds, it will also result in a lot of fatigued attackers if this is done for more than a turn or two. (Each pt. of Disruption or Fatigue reduces effective combat factors by 3.3%). b. Instead of fatiguing everyone out at once, work the attack in shifts. If it's a particularly difficult position, make sure you've got a fresh battalion or two to carry on the attack. c. Since odds shifts are your most powerful weapon, protect your armor and engineer assets. Armor is very brittle, particularly the companies. Two or three assaults without rest or replacement, and they will be gone. d. Use combined arms. Attacking with a stack of armor companies invites counterattacks on your most important assets. Make sure you've got some infantry in the same hex to protect them. e. _REST_ troops if they reach fatigue or disruption levels higher than 7, and do not attack at night unless you've got a particularly inviting target. f. Think before attacking. Do I really need to rack up the fatigue and try to kill this guy, or would my units be employed more usefully somewhere else? Do I need to risk losing VPs in an attack, or can I mask him off with a defensive screen? EVERYONE IN THE REAR WILL BE SHOT! (Defensive Tactics) As noted above, this was the converse of the usual assault tactics, with the only units behind the line being HQs and artillery. You can still operate in this fashion, but the new rules offer some unique opportunities for defenders (and a lot more fun than just shuttling units in the line). 1. Replacement points have been lowered for the British in MG--they are no longer unlimited. 2. Each Replacement point now replaces 1 point of defense and attack strength. If a unit has lost 4 points of defense/attack through combat, he's going to have to take 4 replacement points to get back up to full strength. 3. On-Call fire works much better and units under attack will now request up to 10 factors of artillery support. They may get considerably more, depending on the units available. 4. In UB or GJS, if a human, ALLIED player allows the staff assistant to use ships, he will put some of them in On-Call mode. If the AI is ALLIED, he will use some of them in On-Call. 5. FYI--rocket artillery cannot go on On-Call, nor plot FPF. 6. FYI--Artillery in On-Call may be able to fire more than once per turn, depending on the timing of the attacks. New Solution: a. Defenders should now have incentive to keep fresh troops behind the lines. As an example, a unit which has attacked during three day turns will have something like 9 fatigue and 9 disruption, reducing his effectiveness by about 60% (apart from combat losses). His artillery will be in the same shape. He's planning to rest tonight and resume the offensive tomorrow. Solution: Hit him with your fresh reserve on the first night turn. This will be even more effective if you've got some artillery and armor shifts to add in. Even if you don't win the attack, he's behind, instead of ahead on the fatigue column and has taken more losses. If there aren't reserves in the vicinity, he's going to have to rest tomorrow or risk huge losses. b. Always try to maintain a force-in-being (we've helped you out here). c. Use On-Call fire when you're on the defensive. It's mahvelous. There's nothing like watching a full strength PzGr battalion attack your weak airborne battalion, only to have 10 or 20 pts of FPF added before resolution. The Germans may attack within range of your ships, but not for long. d. Nebelwerfers and Katyushas (Rocket artillery) present another opportunity. Since they can't FPF, use them to hit likely attackers adjacent to your units, and get greater than 1.0 odds. Since they're adjacent to your units, you're guaranteed a barrage resolution. A good "stonk" before the attack will fatigue them and cause about 5% casualties (or more). Assaulting afterwards will only add more casualties and fatigue. e. Don't waste artillery on behind-the-lines barrages or HQ attacks. It wastes supply (and since you're defending, odds are you've got none to spare), and your most important resource. f. Since losses are virtually non-replaceable now, do everything possible (digging in, anti-tank units) to maximize the attacker's casualties. Make every loss of yours count (We've helped you here too). g. With armor shifts being so important to the attacker, don't waste those anti-tank/flak units. Make sure they've got infantry in the same hex. h. Make an attacker pay for resting highly fatigued troops close to you.