Modern Campaigns - Tactics and Strategies!

[Kool Kat]

Gents:
 
It’s time for some Modern Campaigns tactics and strategies!
 
Here’s what I have learned since purchasing my first MC title – Fulda Gap ’85 back in Sep 2016.
 
These tactics and strategies are in no order. Feel free to comment and add your own to this thread!  
 
 
(1.) Guard against vertical envelopment. Objectives behind the lines, critical terrain features (Road junctions, bridges), units in T-mode, and valuable support units (HQ, artillery) must be defended against enemy helo troop insertion. Position flak units on top or adjacent to these valuable targets. Defend these hexes with dug in troops (if available). Have your artillery dig in immediately on reaching support positions. Remember, artillery can dig in AND fire on same turn – provided you issue a dig in command BEFORE you initiate bombardment.
 
(2.) Move or die. The modern battlefield is lethal. If something can find you, it can generally kill you. Therefore, units need to stay mobile. Warsaw Pact armor companies and mechanized battalions need to use their speed and off road capability to quickly advance to contact and be ready to exploit any breakthroughs with rapid maneuver. The trick is to remain intact and combat effective moving into attack positions. Use covered terrain to your advantage and try to come out of T-mode before coming adjacent to enemy units to minimize losses. Use recon air assets and scout helos to range ahead of your columns, looking for enemy ambushes and defense positions. Be ready to attack revealed enemy units with artillery or airstrikes.
 
(3.) Air interdiction. It’s a fact of life on the modern battlefield. If you travel in T-mode, be prepared that a certain percentage of your units will suffer losses from AI-controlled air interdiction.  Usually the losses can be shrugged off, but every hit grinds down your units a little at a time.
 
(4.) Air power. Effective management of air assets can go a long way in maintaining momentum and keeping the enemy off balance. 1.) Recon. Use recon to scout ahead of important offensive thrusts and search out suspected enemy HQ and artillery positions. Most Warsaw Pact artillery has relatively short range (e.g. 7 - 9 hexes). Count back from where enemy bombardments fall and send a recon asset to a hex behind enemy lines that provides good visibility into covered terrain - especially town and forest roadways. Artillery likes to hide in these hexes.  Also, recon primary road networks for suspected enemy reinforcements traveling in T-mode to the front lines. Always fun to watch enemy armor and mech infantry units traveling in column formations get brewed up by a well-directed air strike. 2. Air strikes. As stated earlier, allow recon air assets to vector in the strike bombers to revealed  enemy HQ, artillery, and T-mode traveling units. Be prepared for 1 or more air strikes per turn to be driven off by Surface to Air Missiles (SAMs) or enemy aircraft. Can be annoying, but a fact of life in modern air warfare. Always try to keep 1-2 air strikes on call while you execute the movement phase of your turn. You never know what your offensive movement may reveal. In a recent MC game, as my WP armor raced along a primary roadway, it bumped into a couple of NATO towed and SPA artillery units blocking the path. I did not have enough action points to either attack or assault the enemy stack and it was out of range of my artillery. Called in an air strike and watched 6 towed guns get destroyed.  It’s a target rich environment. 
 
(5.) Helicopters. Love them or hate them, helos are a fixture of the modern battlefield. It’s easy to see why there is a love / hate relationship with these rotor -wing aircraft. Of all the modern warfare units, helos are subject to the most bizarre and unrealistic tactics ever devised by the human mind. I’ve seen players fly attack helos deep into enemy-held territory where they use these flying gun platforms to range far and wide for the entire game, shooting up enemy ground units with a seemingly endless supply of missiles. Or using the attack helos to block enemy retreats like a combat unit blessed with extra long movement. Thankfully, the designers set  (starting with Danube Front ‘85) the Blocking Helicopter Elimination Optional Rule as a default one and introduced the Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FAARP) HQ with a short range to discourage these unrealistic practices. Players can still choose to employ their attack helos in an unrealistic manner, but they will be penalized in game for such practices. 1. Scout helos. Use them to range ahead of your columns, looking for enemy ambushes and defense positions. Be ready to attack revealed enemy units with artillery or airstrikes. Use them to have eyes on suspected enemy advance routes and as airborne warning for enemy units attempting to slip through your defense lines. Don’t allow them to be engaged by enemy air or ground units as these units are thin-skinned and can’t take a lot of punishment. Scout helos should standoff 2 or more hexes from enemy units. Keep forest hexes and other blocking / movement limiting  terrain between your scout helo and enemy ground units to discourage them from closing the distance and engaging you with flak. 2. Attack helos. Stand off 2 hexes when engaging enemy ground units to minimize flak. All ground units have a flak capacity - even artillery. Best to stay out of enemy flak range when possible. Be sure to review attack factors. Most attack helos have good hard target attack factors - most effective against armor, but there are some units that have a more efficient soft attack factor. Plan accordingly. Use attack helos to ambush enemy ground units and to keep eyes on likely enemy avenues of advance. Attack helos are best employed as surgical strike instruments against specific targets of opportunity and to help blunt enemy attacks by picking off lead vehicular formations with Disperse and vehicular destruction results. Stay close to your FAARP HQ’s and always land - get out of movement mode near your FAARP (usually within 3 hexes) to refuel and rearm when low on fuel /ammo. 3. Helo airborne troops. In many ways, your helo troops are your most valuable airborne asset, but for some reason, players don’t always think so. The helo troops allow players to correct a lot of tactical wrongs. For example, forgot to guard a valuable VP hex with regular ground pounders? Fly in a helo airborne battalion. The enemy is putting a lot of pressure on a point in your defense lines, fly in the helo troops to shore up your defense. Need to guard a bridge or hold a vital road junction until the friendly cavalry arrives? It’s a job for the helo guys. Helo airborne troops are also very useful as offensive weapons. Strike deep into enemy territory against targets such as HQ’s, artillery parks and unguarded VP hexes. They are also effective at blocking enemy retreats (when deployed as ground troops). But, your helo airborne troops are somewhat fragile and will suffer horrible casualties when going against enemy armor companies and infantry battalions. It’s never cowardice to fly away to fight another day. There are never enough of these helo airborne troops in scenarios and if used optimally, these units will suffer significant casualties. But, if their use can carry the day for your forces, then their sacrifices will be worth it.   
 
(6.) Keep HQ’s mobile. Due to random AI detection of enemy HQ radio transmissions, it’s best to keep HQ’s mobile and moving into new positions every few turns - especially high value Divisional and Army HQ’s. Always stack flak units with HQ’s and never leave HQ’s in T-mode at the end of their turn movement. T-mode leaves HQ’s vulnerable to artillery bombardment and airstrikes plus reduces their effective command radius. Keep HQ’s in covered terrain (Forests, towns, cities, etc.) to provide some defense protection. Reminder, HQ’s cannot dig in and don’t generate a zone of control so don’t use them as front line units. However, some HQ’s have large numbers of personnel (100+) and can be used as secondary defense units, provided another combat unit digs in first to construct trenches for the defending HQ unit. Always keep parent HQ units within command and control (C&C) range of their formation combat units to maximize supply and readiness status of the units under their command. 
 
(7.) Getting all wet. The Warsaw Pact has many recon and mech infantry battalions that are amphibious. Being able to swim across major rivers without the need to cross at a bridge opens up numerous offensive possibilities. Amphibious units can outflank enemy river defenses and make surprise thrusts behind enemy lines by making unobserved river crossings. However, these units are very vulnerable while crossing rivers since they must be in T-mode for 2 turns. Therefore, do NOT attempt a forced river crossing against entrenched enemy defenders with amphibious units! As a newbie MC player in my first PBeM game, “Next Stop Aschaffenburg” (Fulda Gap ’85), I attempted a forced river crossing with 5 Warsaw Pact mech infantry battalions against an entrenched NATO defending force and promptly lost 1,600 troops within a 2-hour game turn!
 
(8.) What shell to use? Selecting the correct artillery ordnance can make or break your tactical plans. 1.) Regular artillery ordnance. Very effective against soft targets like infantry and effective against hard targets like armor. Modern artillery bombardments are so lethal that you can’t go wrong by turning your gun tubes against any available enemy target. 2.) Mine-laying ordnance. Always nice to artillery deliver a 1 strength mine along suspected enemy advance routes, bridges, chock points (e.g. Road networks that pass through forest hexes), road junctions and even in VP hexes – especially if these VPs are either unreachable by your forces or you want to leave a “nasty gift” for advancing enemy units after your forces vacate the hex. 3. Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Now, we get into the really “nasty” artillery ordnance! The use of WMD’s is a double-edged sword and once you open this Pandora’s Box, battlefield conditions can spiral out of control – especially given that NATO response to Warsaw Pact use of chemical weapons is the release and use of tactical nuclear devices! Therefore think long and hard before using WMD! However, WMD usage may be justifiable if your Warsaw Pact forces are experiencing significant setbacks, offensive stalls due to stubborn NATO defenders, or you have suffered enormous and irreplaceable losses in men and equipment and the victory counter is dipping dangerously into an enemy Minor or Major Victory. 3a. Persistent chemicals. These WMD will disperse entire enemy stacks and leave the affected units vulnerable to artillery, air strikes and direct fire combat results. Good for “busting up” enemy stacks and reinvigorating stalled offensive drives. Also can be used in defensive operations to “bust up” advancing enemy stacks to blunt enemy attacks and to be deployed in chock points (similar to mine-laying ordnance). Also, once deployed, persistent chemicals remain for the duration of the game, affecting both enemy and friendly units that enter these hexes. Over time, units in chemical impact hexes will become undispersed – reflecting troops donning chemical retardant suits and vehicular filtration systems dispersing some of the toxic gases. Be careful that when you deploy persistent chemicals, you do not create a second breastwork / defense line for the enemy! In one MC game, my Warsaw Pact opponent was advancing to secure a city VP hex. He deployed persistent chemicals against my defending NATO forces. I simply moved back one hex into prepared entrenched positions secure knowing if he advanced into the chemical impact hexes, his units would suffer Disperses and be vulnerable to attack. 3b. Non-persistent chemicals. Same usage as persistent chemicals; however, the chemical impact hexes will disperse over time allowing unhindered movement of both enemy and friendly units into these hexes. 3c. Tactical nuclear devices. The “grand daddy” of “nasty” WMD and slippage into the unthinkable – joint annihilation. The effects of a tactical nuclear impact hex are devastating – enormous men and equipment losses, stack Disperses and a radioactive contaminated hex for the remaining of the game. When to use? Maybe when all else fails? 

More MC Tactics and Strategies!

• Bypass and flank enemy positions. The threat of being surrounded / isolated will cause the enemy to abandon positions.
  

• Moving units in Travel (T)-mode. You should NOT move stacks of units in T-mode! 
  
  The probability of air interdiction in a hex is based on the following:  
  • Number of units in T-mode moving into hex.
    
  • Modified by any terrain.
    
  • Probability is halved at dawn and dusk.
    

• Engineers. Keep these units near your offensive axis to clear mines and obstacles.
  

• HQ's. Don't stack other units (except AA) with HQ's. These units may be detected each turn (radio interceptions) and then can be targeted by enemy airstrikes and/or artillery.
  

• Heavy armor (M1's and Leopard II's). When this armor is entrenched in urban / forest hexes, it is nearly impossible (short of using WMD) to extract or destroy. Enemy must bypass and flank.
  

• Entrenching. I believe entrenching has a nearly 100% success rate per turn. This reflects armor and mech infantry units having specialized mechanized entrenching equipment that travels with the units. I believe non-mech infantry does it the "old fashioned way" and uses a manual entrenching shovel - one per man!
  

   

• Mech Infantry: WP fields several carrier models. The BMP-2 are the most lethal. These carriers have a hard attack range of 2 and can knock out armor effectively. Also, all WP mech infantry are amphibious and can cross major rivers without using bridges.
  

• Quality versus Quantity. NATO has Morale A and B units that have superior attack range and sometimes thermal imaging sights (TIS). In night combat, a non-TIS units that fires on a unit that has TIS, the fire value is halved. When a unit that has TIS fires at a non-TIS unit, the fire value is doubled.  WP has Morale C units and LOTs of troops per unit. WP armor units usually have 20-25 tanks and WP mech infantry units have 500 men!