Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (Full Version)

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catweasel -> Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/1/2019 8:56:40 AM)

While I'm waiting for some more patches, I'm bascially playing the first few maps over and over again... which feels a bit like doing the Kobayashi Maru exercise when it comes to Sbiba Ridge: My company is blown to pieces sooner or later!

- AT guns are not very effective: if I place them rear, they are spotted and taken out by mortar sooner or later without having a round fired. If I place them up front, I managed to fire some rounds before being taken out, usually again, by mortar. Where do you place them?

- Placing units behind rocks on the ridge comes close to a suicide mission, they are destroyed or routed after a few minutes.

- I usually fast move teams into the buildings left and right of the map, where they last longer. In most cases the soldier having the armour piercing weapon is knocked out, so the squad justs sits it out when a tank approaches, but in some cases they are quite effective against infantry approaching.

- then the walls on the meadows seem to be a rather good spot for a defensive line, too. So is the small shack with walls close to the road on the right side.

- off-board artillery and mortar seems to be most effective in the early stages of the encounter. Strafe run by AC usually doesn't result in any enemy casulties.

- In any case, at some point I am out of any armour piercing capability and just wait until time runs out, to repeat the same thing in the next round... while most of my men are broken and moved to the rear of the map. Company HQ present there can't rally them, hmm.

How do you succeed in this operation?



nikolascc -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/1/2019 3:44:43 PM)

I too would like to know how to beat the third map in the Tunisia campaign. The one with all the sand dunes is just impossible for my friend and I.



wodin -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/1/2019 5:17:20 PM)

I agree.

I played through the Cobra operation and it was a cakewalk compared to that map.

quote:

ORIGINAL: nikolascc

I too would like to know how to beat the third map in the Tunisia campaign. The one with all the sand dunes is just impossible for my friend and I.




SteveMcClaire -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/1/2019 5:52:33 PM)

My suggestions:

The Germans have a big firepower advantage so don't engage in a shoot out. Put most of your units on the back side of the hills and ridges, so they can shoot at German units that come over the crest but can't be fired at by the rest of the enemy units down in the valley. Put only a few units forward on Ambush to spot the Germans without giving away their position. A unit or two in The Farm area, to shoot into the flanks and rear of Germans going up the ridge, can be helpful too. Place AT guns and MGs to the rear on the hills by the observation post. Put the AT guns on Ambush so they start camouflaged and won't fire until you're ready. You may also want to contest the Meftah victory location on the west side of the map as you can fight there without being blasted by tanks down in the valley.

Try to separate the German infantry from the tanks using your artillery and mortar fire (you may want to take a 60mm mortar or two to help out with this.) Engage the German tanks with your AT guns only after they've gone ahead without infantry support. It's best if you can have two AT guns (and perhaps a rifle grenadier or two) focused on one tank.

There's not much you can do about the German mortar -- trying to destroy it is usually not worth the artillery and mortar ammo it would take. You can try giving the mortar other units to shoot at (like having BAR or MG teams open fire early from a spot German tanks can't hit) so it has less ammo to shoot at your AT guns once they open fire.



wodin -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/1/2019 6:08:54 PM)

Steve when you're attacking keeping units on backside of hills and ridges kind of puts you on defense not attack...



justflank -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/1/2019 6:34:05 PM)

When defending you need to not expose yourself straight off the bat you need to sit back let the enemy come to you, find killing areas and get your guns interlocking.

Keep some reserve troops a well positioned gun can cause hell on troops



Bagpipe -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/1/2019 6:49:33 PM)

Yep, all AT guns on ambush at OP, 1 platoon over to left of the valley at the house on ambush to report position of enemy advance.
Rest of men at OP and just to rear of middle objective on the hilltop.

It's actually fairly simple when you play it correctly. Try to keep an AT team on ambush near middle, incase a german tank charges your OP they can then take it from behind.

Really great scenario



SteveMcClaire -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/2/2019 5:53:14 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: wodin
Steve when you're attacking keeping units on backside of hills and ridges kind of puts you on defense not attack...


Yes, my response was to the original poster.

Sbiba Counter-Attack is difficult by design -- you've chosen to take an infantry force and attack an armored force. My suggestion there is to take your time and take what you can get. Probe forward to find out where the panzers are. Select a spot where the Germans do not have a tank and attack there. Set up your AT weapons to fire at the German vehicles if they come to support the infantry you're attacking.

You can even play Sbiba Counter-Attack defensively. Set up to defend, hit Begin, and wait for the Germans to attack you or offer a cease fire. If the Germans attack you and you inflict enough losses you can go over to the offensive and take more of the map.






wodin -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/4/2019 11:13:31 AM)

Just keep defending. Try take first two objectives. After two or three tries the Germans are shattered so you can either go finish the map and take last objective, or just keep doing what you have been. Trouble with taking the map is you are given a choice to either attack (which I've found is suicide) or carry on defending which means you have to do it all again as suddenly you have given back all the ground you have taken so far. So taking that in maybe it's best never to finish that first map, just take the first two objectives then sit their until end of operations if that's possible.



WillKnott -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/6/2019 4:03:51 PM)

The difficulty in Sbiba is the armor. The AT capability is bad for the US. I doubt a skilled human player would ever lose, but the AI is not skilled :). I found the AI always attacks Meftah first and never the farm. Once in a while he will drive a tank or halftrack all the way to the top of the hill. I pick many rifle squads on this map and just a few BAR as the rifle grenades are your best hope unfortunately. I will make a tank hunter team from my hq unit or another rifle. I get the 37mm at gus, which are all but useless, but now and then they can take out something. Mortars, while not able to kill tanks, can take out guns and halftracks. Morts can also "track" a tank, which is good, it will remove it from the enemy's force pool.

I put a rifle team at the farm, but they always just get to watch the battle. All the action is Meftah. I put a rifle and at team in first building, an hq and another rifle in second. I put a 37mm behind the wall on ambush. Other rifles go on top in the VL cirucle. Morts in the village just behind the hill. Infantry sits in ambush. In a reverse slope defense or in the buildings. At guns. one in ambush at meftah, one on the peak just behind vl, another goes at the farm in defilade but facing the hill for the long shots if they try to go up. another gun can go down the long valley as the only gun to fire at the starting positions, it will eventually die, just like all the rest but it can get some shots in to cause damage before they get it.

The goal is to attrition out his vehicles and guns. AI Tanks love to go right up to building and give the infantry inside a few chances to kill a tank up close. I doubt a human would be so bold. It takes a couple battles. first battle, I try to spot his mortars that eat up at guns..i get them with morts and arty if i can, but dont wast it all on them. halftracks and armored cars go first. if u have ammo left try to track the tanks with morts. Infantry in Meftah do the rest. Keep rifles nearby in reserve, if the first teams die. run reserves back in. AI tanks are like moth to flame on the meftah VL. They will keep coming back till they win it. its the key.

On a good day, I can take out the halfs and armor cars and my rifles and at guns nab a tank or so. usually first battle is full time. infantry vs infantry to attrit men, but the focus is always damaging tanks any way possible for force pool to lose. 2nd battles usually easer cuz u face less halfs, cars and guns and can focus on tracking tanks. Expect to lose a lot of at guns but keep most on defilade and try to get them high quality shots vs armor.

I seriously doubt 2 skilled players would ever end up in us victory, german armor is way to overpowering. ---- I do wonder where us armor is? at least on recruit some at halfies or a grant or two so human vs human could have some interesting battles. You do get halfracks on the attack but I have never gotten a tank in Tunisa even on Recruit, just more halfies.

On the attack first battle is the same. track/kill armor, his tanks like to roll right up on vl's so thats where rifles and guns go. tracks sit back and pound inf and tanks that charge in. on a good day, infantry up close usually in pairs can mess up a tank, but you have to keep one of the 3 vls as a star at all times or your screwed, the 2 min timer kicks in and you willl be pushed back.

its all doable vs AI, human doubtful.



CGGrognard -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/6/2019 9:21:43 PM)

On this map, it's about whittling down the enemy armor using Mortar and Artillery strikes, not so much with the Air Strike since it's usually just MG fire. It's all a defense battle until the enemy armor is reduced or eliminated. Only then do I consider any offensive actions. All my units are placed on ambush mode and only firing when they encounter the enemy or I think there's a good chance to take a unit out. Those on the Sbiba Ridge VL are particularly vulnerable, so keep them on ambush mode at all times.

My typical force pool for this map are two platoons, a couple of tank hunter teams, two 30 Cals, two mortar teams and two AT guns. One rifle squad and tank hunter team are positioned in one of the building at Meftah. Another rifle squad and tank hunter team is placed just over the crest of the Sbiba Ridge VL. The other squads of this platoon along with a 30 Cal are setup to provide cover fire for the tank hunter teams and rifle squads. As noted, the enemy will definitely make an attempt to take Meftah with infantry and armor support. Usually, I can manage to take out an armor vehicle or two there.

As for the other platoon, they are placed along the wall of the farm and in the nearby buildings. As mentioned, they usually don't have much to do but watch the battle, but occasionally enemy armor will attempt to take that VL. So, be prepared and have a rifle team there as defense. Also, I use this platoon to suppress any enemy infantry that may be advancing just ahead of armor. This brings me to the mortar teams and AT guns.

The AT guns are placed on ambush on the ridge near the observation post VL. I usually place a mortar team on defend near each AT gun. This gives some protection from enemy mortar fire for the AT guns by my mortar teams responding by providing suppression fire. It works sometimes, but I will admit, the mortar teams may take a beating. But the important tactic to remember with AT guns, is to keep them on ambush until your mortar and artillery strikes happen. The enemy armor is buttoned down and trying to ride out the artillery strikes, whereas your AT guns can target the enemy without much response from the enemy. I suggest using both AT guns to target one armor unit at a time to confuse the enemy. The mortar teams and 30 Cals can be used to suppress any enemy half tracks.

With my settings on 20 minutes, I battle on this map for two or three times before the enemy is whittled down to retreat off the map. Your results will vary, but I hope this helps those who may find this map a challenge. This map is the marathon, not the race.



JoonasTo -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/7/2019 10:33:03 AM)

In multiplayer this map depends 100% on how the us artillery strikes hit. If they score tank hits the German player is screwed. Can confirm got crushed. [:D]

The AT capabilities of the US force alone are not enough against a competent player. So your aim here should be to wear down the enemy and inflict attrition. Don’t pick a disadvantageous fight, just retreat to next map if it looks bad. If you managed to take out multiple tanks and all your AT guns are not dead, you might want to try again if you get your fire support for the next time.

Btw. There are some really tricky fields of fire on the map if you position your units right that make life hell for the attacker too. Planning crossfire along those paths to block the advance of the enemy is time consuming but definitely worth it.

PS. Can’t kill what you cannot see. So blocking enemy scouts from seeing your AT guns will keep them safe for a long time as well. He can fire blind somewhere but if you’re firing targeted shots that’s suicide.



Markowicz -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/9/2019 7:30:55 PM)

Check out my Sbiba Operation on YouTube. Just search for: OpFor - Close Combat: The Bloody First. It might help you with ideas for strategies. I also have an ongoing playlist of CCTBF videos that everybody uploaded.

[image]local://upfiles/68495/5FB740F75D1F41E3BA1A31A26A0ACD94.jpg[/image]



Saturnian -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/18/2019 8:16:28 AM)

I'm playing against the AI and found it is much easier if you let the enemy come to you. Then you can outmaneuver them and wear them down after a couple of battles. Mortars are effective here. I have a small observer unit use my intuition to target the mortars just in front of the Germans so that the round lands just as they are reaching the target.

This is more of an attrition map, so you need to be patient and wear the enemy down. Make some gains in the beginning and when the time is right, distract the enemy and then flank them with a small reserve unit. It is a big map so they can defend everywhere and the dunes can block their line of sight.

Then you can flank them and they'll start to panic.



Markowicz -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/22/2019 8:03:40 PM)

When I played this game is the Germans I remember telling myself the Americans have no choice but to come out Balls To The Walls and attack so I'm going to try to test this theory tonight when I get home.



Markowicz -> RE: Tactics for Sbiba Ridge? (11/23/2019 12:37:36 AM)

Well, I fought to a stalemate and took 3 victory locations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuHPKPmnPYU



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