Question on bunkers

[Larry Reese]

Bunkers, particularly well sited ones, are very difficult to crack. Your enemy was made a mistake though, in overstacking in the bunker itself (over 12 SPs). That should have helped you some. I'm taking it you used a combination of direct fire and close assault in your attempts to take it, yes? With engineers and officers in particular included in the assaults, yes? In 5 turns, I'm not particularly surprised you could not take it.

There has been much discussion on this topic, but think the system works fine myself. These are not single bunkers (remember, we're talking 250 meter hexes here) and, if it is a pill box and is reinforced concrete, it is considered a hard target, like a tank. These are bunker/pill box complexes that are pretty tough nuts to crack; interlocking fields of fire, obstacles to getting in close, etc.... There are plenty of examples in WWII of bunkers holding out for days against assaults, etc.... My advice: unless you really need that hex (to move through, to stop LOS into your rear areas, it's a VP hex, etc...) bypass it. If you can't by pass, use rocket artillery and the heaviest tube artillery you have available (with the highest SP counts possible) to plaster it, then go in with engineers, infantry, and officers to make assaults. Be prepared for heavy casualties nonetheless. Also nice are using monster SP guns and heavy tanks (particularly IS-2, IS-3, IS(U)-152, etc..., in direct fire attacks on the bunker from one hex away. This can be quite effective at reducing them.

However, if you can, go around. Let the guys twiddle their thumbs and keep the place sufficiently invested that if they sally forth, you can bag them.

It also pays to realize sometimes too that older scenarios, when different assault rules made bunkers easier to bust, are not particularly balanced for the current rules and may be thrown off kilter by them.

Don't get disheartened.

LR