Gregor_SSG
Posts: 681
Joined: 3/6/2003
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: olivetomato
So....I've been playing the Saipan scenario a couple of times now and the thing is, I can't seem to do any better than a draw.
Someone said that the key to this scenario is to keep attacking the Japanese defenders, so that is what I am doing to my hearts content but it just seems like I am unable to get the job done sufficiently.
I guess now I have to describe what is going wrong well.....I don't really know 
I 'think' the problem lies in supply but I haven't a clue as to what I have to change. It is just that whenever I use the 'battle odds' button, I oftentimes get really good odds (5:1 and up) only to find that the units that have to do the job, are out of supply and stay out of supply for one or two turns afterwards.
It is my understanding that as long as you position your HQ in a central hex, you're good as long as supplylines can be traced, or is this too black and white??
Furthermore, I am not sure how important it is that units are within their 'command radius'. I sorta 'throw' my units on the beach and don't really pay attention to any coherency after that (not that, say: 2/4 is on the extreme south of the invasion area and 1/4 is in the extreme north, but over the course of the game they might venture several hexes away from each other) Also....I leave my HQ pretty much where it landed.
Last, the backup invasion. It seems not possible to use the initial invasion area for the 'backup' invasion? So what I do now is land my troops on the blue beach and try to race accross the island so that I can attack the Axis in the back....It seems to work fine but even here I end up having this 'low ammo' problem. 
I am not sure if I have given enough info for the interested reader to figure out what I am doing wrong but suggestions or hints are more than welcome because even though it seems I have hit a brick wall when it comes to learning progress, this is a really addictive game!
Thanks for reading through my ramblings.
Cheers,
Erik
Erik,
The key to victory lies in attacking the Japanese forces *in a coordinated fashion* rather than just attacking whenever enough units are adjacent to some arbitrary Japanese defender. What we have done in Battlefront is to introduce constraints that force the player to behave in a more realistic fashion. This is one of the real strengths, though somewhat under-appreciated, of the system.
This means that you must think in terms of major offensive actions, rather than continuous assault. Lets start with a hypothetical assault first. Ideally, your units should all have full attack supply, so they can continue the attack after the first turn. They are within Command Radius of their HQ so that they get their attack and movement bonuses. Their artillery units also have full attack supply. Artillery helps to soften up entrenched defenders but it does most of its killing when the defenders have been flushed out of their trenches and are much more vulnerable. You need as many artillery units as possible ready to pounce and help turn a push into a breakthrough.
Obviously, it will be very hard to reach an ideal condition, but you need to get as close as possible, which inevitably means choosing not to attack all the time so you can accumulate attack supply for a coordinated assault.
Now to my personal plan for Saipan, which is conveniently divided into northern and southern beachheads. The job of the northern forces is to grab just enough territory. You would like two units, one infantry battalion and one company sized unit in each vulnerable hex to protect against banzai attacks. I tend to only grab 6 hexes on my initial landings. Make sure that you move keep the landing hex completely clear for units in future turns.
The southern beachhead forces can't move far after landing, but you must focus all your efforts on getting hex (4,24) as soon as possible. All supply for your southern forces will be coming though this hex, and your guys won't be doing anything much without that hex in your control.
Once ashore, my main attacks are in the south, aiming to get the supply hex noted above and then peel off all defenders from the coast until the two beachheads can link up. Attacks from the north are all aimed at supporting this objective, and are not aimed at making any great strides inland. The terrain in the north is not very good, and the southern objectives are much more important.
Once linked up, the terrain in the south is still much better for offensive action, so that's where my attacks are concentrated.
Despite its small size, this can be a tricky scenario. The US can limited by supplies and space, and most of your efforts in the early turns are devoted to wrestling with these problems.
If you have more questions, please ask them.
Gregor
_____________________________
|
Printable Version
HELP! can't seem to win - 
I made it past Tsutsuran when the attack bogged down. I would hit F6 to see attack strength but most of the units had none!! I realise now after reading this I was probably out of attack supply. The units were in supply if I hit "s" hotkey though, which confuses me. 
I took most of the island but lost the game. 
Still, a great game for a second try (MG was first, but I didnt finish) I'm playing as Brits in Gazala now, turn 3. 
It's awesome.
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread