Volturno Line
Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2019 5:02 pm
Any tips on breaking through the Volturno Line? It seems like my units just cannot break through or outflank the Germans. Man, Italy is rough
malkavian54 wrote:You can greatly simplify things by taking the bonus objectives on avalanche.
DanL wrote:I did not have much trouble with Volturno because I had taken the bonus objectives on the previous scenario. However, Cassino, the next scenario, forced me to stop and really learn how to take a fortified position in UoC2. Here´s a summary:
Let´s say you want to take a position held by a veteran defender fortified behind a river in a ruined city hex in rainy weather. To avoid taking brutal losses, you need to get to at least 4 on the combat results table. The defender is going to get three shifts for the ruin, two shifts for fortification, two shifts for the rain, two shifts for the river, and one shift for experience. For a total of ten shifts in the defenders favor. So, you just need to find 14 shifts somewhere.
In most situations, you can use armor shifts, but these are negated when attacking ruins.
In most situations, you can use artillery shifts, but these are negated when attacking ruins.
You can attack with an elite unit, giving you two shifts. So, 12 shifts left to find.
You can use a set piece attack by a unit with two engineers and an artillery. This will remove the defender´s fortification with only suppression losses to you. So, 10 shifts left to find.
You can attack from a different hex, to get around the river. So, 8 shifts left to find.
What´s left? Only one thing: attacker/defender ratio. You can get 9 shifts with a 27:1 ratio. German infantry have a defense value of 3 (I think). So, if the defender has even one unsuppressed step, you will be lucky to get a ratio of 2:1, much less 27:1. You must suppress every single defending step. Curiously enough, once you have done so, the strength of your own unit will not matter. 1/0 = infinity = 27:1. 60/0 = infinity = 27:1.
So, how do we fully suppress the defenders?
Well, first cut off the defenders´ supply. You don´t want him recovering from suppression every turn. In fact, after cutting his supply, you could just wait him out. Eventually, he will become fully suppressed, and then lose all his steps as stragglers. What´s that? You don´t have that kind of time? We will have to speed the process up.
If you have the resources, you could suppress him with air attacks.
In most situations, you can use suppressive fire, but since the ruin has negated your artillery, it will be ineffective.
Feint attacks suppress one enemy step, but they can´t be used across a river. You will need to get around the river before doing this.
And there you have it:
Set piece attack to remove the fortification.
Cut off supply.
Fully suppress using air attacks and feints.
Finish off with elite units who have somehow gotten across the river.
How hard can it be, really?
If the defender is in mountains instead of ruins, it is almost the same thing:
- The defender gets one less defensive shift.
- You don´t want to use armor for the final assault, since it loses two shifts when attacking into mountains.
If the defender is in a city instead of ruins, things change a little:
- The defender gets one less defensive shift.
- You don´t want to use armor for the final assault, since it loses two shifts when attacking into a city.
- You can use up to five artillery shifts for your eventual assault, which gives you some wiggle room in other areas.
- You can use suppressive fire for your suppression operation.
- You need to be judicious in your use of artillery and air power, because if you turn the city into a ruin, your life will get a lot harder.
Good luck!