radio man in N44 alt scenario question

[Bacillus98]

Hello. I was wondering why the Americans in the volcanos alt scenario for Omaha cannot assault the radioman hex (one with a TRENCH icon instead of the dreaded pillboxes). I get the message "units cannot make move into defending hex". The units I try to use in the assault are not disrupted, and have a non-zero HARD and SOFT attack values. The German unit on the adjacent left hex to radioman can be assaulted, and this terrain is tougher, a bunker. Any ideas on why this message is occurring?

[Volcano Man]

Try destroying the AT ditch between that unit and your units. You have to use an Engineer unit to destroy the AT ditch.

[Bacillus98]

The problem I am having is my engineer unit is always disrupted, so I can never clear the AT ditch. I cannot move other engineer units to this hex, so I am baffled how one can even hope to succeed to historical levels on first day here.

[Liquid_Sky]

what happens is more and more engineers will land on the beach...sooner or later, your opponent will no longer be able to keep them disrupted, or one that he disrupts will rally at the beginning of your turn. And while he is concentrating on those engineers, your assault teams will be more or less okay. As well...you have to turn off Clearing Minefields fromt he engineer before you will be able to blow the ditches...

Omaha is not impossible, it is just very difficult. Use your armour/AT guns to blast the bunkers with fire to try and disrupt the occupents. Assualt with multiple battalions up to stacking limits to try and disrupt them even more. When they are completely disrupted, they will be toast.

You should see some progress on the noon turn, and by the late afternoon, you should own at least half the bunkers.

[Bacillus98]

Thanks for the post. Do you use the LCT's on turn 1 at all for firing? They have insanely high soft/hard values, 405 soft, 60 hard. I am not sure what exactly they represent, as the sound they make is very similar to Katusha rockets :) They pack quite a wallop. And they can be killed by artillery, which might hurt the VP amount for the allies.

[Dog Soldier]

I believe the Allies had rocket equipped LCT's on DDay. So you are right in assuming these were one shot rocket platforms designed to stun to the beach defenders, create shell holes for the assaulting infantry, and clear minefields by fire. The latter two effects are deemed too small at this level to be modeled.
Against the hard targets on the beach, BUNKERS and PILLBOXES, these should help disrupt the defenders rather than cause serious casualties. The rockets probably could not penetrate the concrete fortifications the Germans had constructed, but the proximity of so many blasts of explosives would blind and stun the defenders for a short time where they are curled up in a ball, screaming rather than manning their weapons.

(The screaming is not always terror, but a way to equalize the pressure so one's eardrums are not torn. At least that is what I have been told.)

Dog Soldier

[Volcano Man]

Right, as DS said, the main thing you want to use these for is to get a possible disruption. What you should do is search for the weakest link in the chain (both the fortified level and the terrain) and concentrate them against one hex. They will likely get knocked out and cost points, but a disruption might be useful to the landing force.

[Liquid_Sky]

I am kind of sitting on the fence with those rockets. IT seems that they very seldom cause a disruption. And even more occasionally cause a gun loss. But OTOH, they do get sunk by enemy defensive fire, and they are worth a few VP's each. But I suppose, every little bit helps when it comes to OMAHA.

[Barbarrossa]

I recently saw an old documentary amoungst many on Omagh. Eyewitnesseth said that all the rocket ships launched their rockets at least 300 yds out of range and no rockets actually hit the beach. In addition the 30 or so floating tanks were also launch far too far from the shore in rough seas and all sunk with terrible consequences for their crews except one which hit a mine. Many of the landing craft also had their men go ashore in water way over the heads and cleared straight off. Not an attractive look in view of the bravery of the others.

[Volcano Man]

Well, I think the "disruption" effect is probably useless too, especially considering that if you disrupt a German unit then it still won't be until several turns until they can be assaulted. The best thing to do with these units would be to either not use them or use them on the less protected hexes to cause casualties. From my experience, I think there is one or two very weak German hexes along Omaha beach where they can soften up an infantry unit and give it fatigue (to make it easier to disrupt later).