Crossing rivers in Modern battles

Steelwhip · 10-29-2013, 05:07 AM,

Started playing Fulda Gap '85 with a buddy of mine. We are doing scenario #15_02s Aschaffenburg with me being WP forces. There is a river that cuts across most of the map with a huge bulk of my forces (I would say 2/3-3/4 of my forces and reinforcements) on this one side and the objectives on the other side. The river has only 3 bridges across it and all of them have been damaged.

I have no bridging engineers of my own so how am I supposed to get my armored forces across the river to push onto the objectives. I know I can get my Infantry across. but with 25 hexes separating the river and the final objective-there is no way infantry can make that advance unsupported without armor and out of range of artillery.

what am I missing here? How do get my armor across the river?. there are no shallows or fjords that I can see along the entire length of the river

And truthfully I need all the help I can get. My buddy is a Major in the army and was a battalion commander at one point. We were tempted to do Korea '85 but as he was stationed over there a few years back we figured we would go with a theater he didn't have a lot of experience with. And yes he does kick my ass in our games on a regular basis.

any help would be greatly appreciated
thanks in advance!

**Compass Rose** · 10-29-2013, 05:11 AM,

Tide1 · 10-29-2013, 05:16 AM,

(10-29-2013, 05:07 AM)Steelwhip Wrote: Started playing Fulda Gap '85 with a buddy of mine. We are doing scenario #15_02s Aschaffenburg with me being WP forces. There is a river that cuts across most of the map with a huge bulk of my forces (I would say 2/3-3/4 of my forces and reinforcements) on this one side and the objectives on the other side. The river has only 3 bridges across it and all of them have been damaged.

I have no bridging engineers of my own so how am I supposed to get my armored forces across the river to push onto the objectives. I know I can get my Infantry across. but with 25 hexes separating the river and the final objective-there is no way infantry can make that advance unsupported without armor and out of range of artillery.

what am I missing here? How do get my armor across the river?. there are no shallows or fjords that I can see along the entire length of the river

And truthfully I need all the help I can get. My buddy is a Major in the army and was a battalion commander at one point. We were tempted to do Korea '85 but as he was stationed over there a few years back we figured we would go with a theater he didn't have a lot of experience with. And yes he does kick my ass in our games on a regular basis.

any help would be greatly appreciated
thanks in advance!

You have one bridging unit. Good luck with that sir Whistle

Steelwhip · (This post was last modified: 10-29-2013, 05:32 AM by Steelwhip.)

thanks for the welcome Compass. I appreciate it! Big Grin

and a single bridging unit..well at least that's something. I went through my scheduled reinforcments and saw that I do get a couple more engineering units but didn't see that any were labeled bridging. Earliest engineer wont pop up till the next game day so that gives me some time to try and clear the opposite bank of NATO forces. well..time to see if I can pull off a successful cross river infantry assault then to open the other side a bit

appreciate the timely response!

**Compass Rose** · 10-29-2013, 05:38 AM,

(10-29-2013, 05:31 AM)Steelwhip Wrote: ...so that gives me some time to try and clear the opposite bank of NATO forces. well..time to see if I can pull off a successful cross river infantry assault then to open the other side a bit

If OddBall and his Shermans were able to pull it off, you can too! Propeller Hat

Tide1 · 10-29-2013, 05:43 AM,

(10-29-2013, 05:31 AM)Steelwhip Wrote: thanks for the welcome Compass. I appreciate it!

and a single bridging unit..well at least that's something. I went through my scheduled reinforcments and saw that I do get a couple more engineering units but didn't see that any were labeled bridging. Earliest engineer wont pop up till the next game day so that gives me some time to try and clear the opposite bank of NATO forces. well..time to see if I can pull off a successful cross river infantry assault then to open the other side a bit

appreciate the timely response!

That would be your best bet in my humble opinion. clearing a spot of nato units that is. That bridge unit is precious. You do have some fire power coming onto the map eventually and you do have twenty five turns to get through. Helmet Smile

Steelwhip · 10-29-2013, 07:58 AM,

(10-29-2013, 05:38 AM)Compass Rose Wrote: If OddBall and his Shermans were able to pull it off, you can too!

Pretty sure Oddball was a bit better at strategery than I am. And had better than Class C troop going against class A and B defenders. but I appreciate the vote of confidence!

now the question is should I sit back and blast away at the NATO defenders for now and wait till the bridging unit arrives or use my infantry and try and force a river crossing now and hope I can keep the far side clear till the bridging unit arrives.

Hmm...probley wont be able to get supplies across the river and knowing my buddy he will try and crush any crossing I make at this point...best to sit back and blast him for a while