So, in the last post, I examined one COA: assuming the French put an Infantry Unit in the town, was it worth opposing it with a Russian Infantry supported by two batteries of Guns? The answer was that the French Infantry would - just barely - be destroyed in four turns, with a badly damaged Russian Infantry taking the town on Turn 5. As the town is a good location to project Fire from, it seems like it might be a good Supporting Effort to the Main Effort - an attack against the hill.
However, the following field exercise showed that the main effort will be in battle not later than Turn 4, possibly Turn 3 if the French are aggressive. They will almost certainly need the Fire of the Artillery to support them as their attack will most likely be at 1:1 odds, and as the Russians will be on the move the French will get the first shot.
An important fact to remember about OHW - Units are 100% combat effective until "destroyed". Destroyed really means "combat ineffective and withdrawn from the battle". A OHW scenario is a short, sharp encounter, that doesn't have time for Units to rally, reform, and get stuck into the fight again.
From that analysis in the last post HERE, the best Russian COA is to keep the guns as far from the town as possible, and push all their Infantry over the ford led by the cavalry. If the French decide to use a Unit against the Artillery, it will probably not destroy them before being destroyed itself. But let's see how it works when the opposition gets a vote!
The below wargaming of the COA used the OHW rules with necessary additions to complete them from this list HERE. Dice were D5 average dice, with 2,3,3,4,4,5 on them. This minimizes the chance factor to emphasize planning in this training exercise.
End of Russian Turn 1. The Artillery inflict 5 Hits on the French, while their Cavalry lead the way followed by the Infantry crossing the ford. The French in the town take only 1 Hit [and that only because ALL fractions are rounded up!].
End of French Turn 1. They are moving rapidly - more rapidly than the Russians crossing the ford! They inflict 3 Hits on the Russians fighting the town [a losing proposition for the Russkies] and the Cavalry. Their Lights are setting to oppose the Artillery. They rallied off 2 Hits on the damaged Infantry in the center. They certainly are starting strong!
Turn 2. Russian Infantry continues crossing while their cavalry take a beating from most of the French army. Still, the Cavalry and Artillery battered one French Infantry into retreating. I almost think the Attacker needs one Unit to start across the ford, or perhaps one more unit?
Turn 3. The battered Russian Cavalry have swung far out onto the flank, distracting the opposing French Cavalry and making space for the oncoming Infantry. Still, the French have the central position, and the Russians are too spread out to concentrate their combat power.
Turn 4. Well, that was a surprise! The Russian Cavalry destroyed the French, after supporting Fire from the Infantry and Artillery softened them up. Still, the Cavalry and one Infantry are on the rocks, while the Infantry opposing the town have left the battle and the French Lights have put the hurt on one Artillery Unit.
Turn 5. Unsurprisingly, one of the Russian Infantry folds. The French begin to advance against the Artillery from the town. If they silence the Artillery, the Russian's attack will be over. The French choices: play conservatively and husband their damaged Infantry while trying to finish off the Russian Cavalry and one Artillery Battery, or advance?
French vote for the wrong COA, apparently...leaving the flank of their Infantry on the objective open to a cavalry charge. [Obviously, the French staff were taking pics instead of doing their job!]. I probably should've just ignored my carelessness, but I love the drama!
BANG! Ouch...
Bye-bye...
Turn 6. French compound their error by rolling poorly on the shot that had a 5/6 chance of destroying the Russian Cavalry. Another bad COA!
Turn 6. Well, we officially have an even chance here. The French have two Infantry by the objective, while the Russians have battered Cavalry, a good Infantry, and Artillery support - altho one battery is about to go. I thought the French fought WELL in the Napoleonic wars??
Turn 7. Russians go for broke and charge, destroying the French Infantry. They lose one battery. Overall, this still seems like it is favoring the French...
Turn 8. The last French Infantry holding the objective is destroyed by concentrated Artillery and Infantry Fire. Plus the Cavalry were looking for more vichyssoise.
Turn 9. French Lights show they are made of stern stuff - they turn around and whack the Cavalry with sniper-like efficiency. They needed a '5' and got a '5'!
Time to return to Moskow, Ivan.
Turn 10. The firepower is very similar, but the French Lights are still rolling hot! But they are in a crossfire. Meanwhile, the French try to wipe out the battery.
Turn 11. French lights decide they've done their share and head back to town - maybe the cafes are still open? Time for a little joi de vivre!
Turn 12. Russkies reposition themselves to finish off the French.
Turn 13. They see them off - maybe they'll join the Lights in town? Russians still have two turns to be on the hill, and have two Units left - albeit somewhat battered.
Analysis
Well, it looked like the French had things well in hand. They made two errors:
- exposing the flank of their Unit sitting on the objective, and,
- advancing out of the town against the Artillery.
They should have shifted the town Infantry to the center to hold the objective.
Russians made the most of their firepower and altho it was rarely decisive on its own, it certainly had an effect in the long term. With its 48" range, it can cover the table for 1.5 Hits a turn per battery, which destroys a unit in 10 Turns. In 15 Turns of continuous Fire, the two batteries are capable of destroying three units, theoretically. I think the move with the Lights was good, taking out one battery helped.
In terms of the original question, the Russians made the right choice to keep using the guns against the objective and not be distracted by the town.
Overall, the Russians put together the best plan with the forces at hand. They stayed focused on killing units and taking the objective. They capitalized on French errors, and the French got a bit overconfident and spread out too far. I'd say that there was some good dice on both sides, but in the end the Russians won a hard-fought and well deserved victory.
Conclusion
I hope that these posts have given the reader some food for thought. It is essential if one is to edge out the opposition in a tightly contested game - and most of the OHW scenarios are pretty close - to develop a plan, evaluate a couple of the COAs and choose the best ones. Here, the Russians would have struggled to expand their bridgehead and seize the objective if they had invested too heavily in seizing the town, despite the firepower advantage they had.
I really enjoy these analysis and tactical puzzle posts. My critique is one of rules' choice. Is OHW the proper tool to adjudicate these clashes? While OHW provides quick decisions and the included scenarios are superb, combat seems too one-sided to me. That is, one player may carry out move, shoot, and HtH for all of his units before the other player can respond.
ReplyDeleteHey Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteUnits in OHW can only Shoot OR Move [Move is when Charges Take Place].
His official Turn sequence is the old:
Move, Shoot, Hand to Hand, Eliminate Units
As it is impossible to destroy a Fresh Unit in less than three turns without some sort of attack bonus [Knights are D6+2 attacking] or tactical advantage [Hits on the Flank or Rear in HtH are doubled] you will always get to respond.
As it is Move OR Shoot, you move up your infantry and get shot first by opposing infantry. Artillery have plenty of Range and can soften you up on attack or defense.
So these rules - with a few additions for the sake of completeness - are perfect for stressing the scenario - the mission - over tactical minutia.
So the real issue is not having multiple Actions [e.g. Shoot-Shoot or Move-Shoot] or one Action [Move OR Shoot] but how much time the turn represents and how much damage can you do to a unit.
In OHW getting the first shot is a bit of an advantage. Charging and attacking first is a bit of an advantage. You can still lose the advantage by being out-rolled by your opponent, or being softened up with shooting, or out maneuvered and charged on a flank, etc. As the unit density on the table is pretty low, after each side loses a unit or two, one side is usually outflanked somewhere unless terrain is being used very skillfully.
With every Unit having 15 hits, and units inflicting d6 Hits in shooting or melee on average, you're inflicting 3.5 Hits/Turn on Average, so 4-5 Turns to destroy a Unit unless you manage to concentrate Fire or attack a flank.
Hope that helps.
I should add that NT makes skillful use of simple math: consistent advantages are usually an addition to the attack dice. Varied advantages like a flank attack are doubled and a Terrain advantage halves Hits against the defender.
ReplyDeleteSo you may charge a flank and roll a '1' which is doubled to '2' Hits. But you could have attacked a front and rolled a '6'. I use average dice when I want to minimize chance.