PzB Kursk 0705_01 SS Attack

[ComradeP]

But none of the bunker lines, not even the initial one, is truly strongly held in the scenario. Focussing everything on a limited number of bunkers is the way to breach a line, but I was talking about situations where that isn't possible.

You indeed broke through the last AT ditch line several turns earlier than I did in my game against Gregor, I waited on the arrival of the StuGs and Tigers at the front before assaulting the first hill. However, this also indicates that it took you numerous turns to take a single strongly held bunker hex, which was my point.

I disagree that the casualty rate is of secondary importance to the need to the need to capture objectives. With unfixed artillery, you wouldn't have won, your losses were too high for that. Whether or not the Soviet artillery was Fixed wasn't much of a factor in my game with Gregor aside for some mortar units that were not likely to make it out due to all the obstacles and mines.

Loss management and keeping track of the VP worth of what you lose is essential in longer scenarios.

The limited mobility of the Soviets, and the Fixed nature of their artillery gives the Germans a lot of points if they break through early. A quality losses are quite costly, particularly gun and vehicle losses.

What you called a feint also didn't serve much of a purpose for the same reason: all my units were Fixed, they couldn't have reinforced the center if you didn't attack them. Your attack on the eastern part of the line actually allowed me to move units towards the center and north which would otherwise not have been possible, as well as giving me a by Soviet standards favourable casualty ratio.

I'm a conservative attacker until a breakthrough is made and I try to maximize the effectiveness of my infantry. My German infantry losses in Kursk are thus usually significantly lower than those of the Soviets.

As another example of a bunker clearing operation, albeit for a single line reinforced with tanks, my Nechaevka tournament result looked like this: