River crossing battle tactics
 

Hello everyone,

First post here so be gentle.

After being a big fan of SPWW2 Ive found this modern version and have been getting into it for the last couple of months.

Im playing an underdog N Korea vs S Korea/US/USMC generated campaign and fancy simulating the road to Seoul(or the road to Pyongyang if I start losing battles). Ive won a couple so Im trying to simulate a River crossing battle over the Imjin river.

Does anyone have any cast iron tactics for these battles as its very different to crossing in the old SP?

I re-loaded the previous mission as my attempt ended up with getting blown out of the water and not being able to get my MBT's over due to getting the wrong craft's. :doh:

Any ideas appreciated, cheers. :up:

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

No hard & fast rules the higher the tech the harder they become due to accuracy, smoke your crossing lanes& bombard your landing zones. Post TI this still stops most infantry seeing the thing is whether to smoke straight off or at least get some idea where the defenders are by recieving fire before it comes down. I tend to try & locate as a TI equiped unit can rip through stuff on the water. If I was playing as the other side thats when I would want the Air Cav to locate threats on & capture the far bank. My view timing is everything coordinating it all, its so easy to muck it up & you probably need a fake crossing as well.
Post TI Russia seems the easiest flame rockets even obscure TI to a degree & can Air Cav or risk a Para Drop including BMDs plus virtualy everything can swim.
If cant wait for barges can try hovercraft to as fast but be careful they are massive targets cant really miss & they can only operate in open terrain.
This is a battle where tech advantage can make a big diffrence if the attacker has one.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

Well you could always play scenario #191 for a taste of what it is like at the receiving end (Commies already across the river and about to tangle with the Glosters, though).

Game Guide->Game Play Notes link, read if you have not already done so.

The section at the end, re "Strategy for taking out big AT guns" - which is basically about blowing a hole in the enemy line with a barrage.

Your barrage will be placed on the opposite bank at the point you will be making your main crossing. It will remain there as and until you have gained sufficient foothold with enough forces to start moving out of there. Maybe lifted a bit to avoid hitting own forces once they have gained an initial pocket.

Once you have enough forces, lift the barrage a step towards the target V-Hex cluster and start following it with your toys.

The problem for you is establishing that pocket in the first place!.

- The enemy is the US. You do not say which era you are trying to play in. If 1950s then no real problems, since smoke works. So does night. If 1980s onwards then increasingly many units on his side will have Thermal Sights (TI) and smoke is not very good for those. If choosing a point to cross in the TI era, then try to pick somewhere that LOS into is limited and that is approachable by areas out of LOS (40 hexes) from his possible deployment areas. In other words, barring any nicely placed hills, then you want a point where a wood or town comes right down to the river edge on your side as well as on his. Preferably with a road approach on your side, to move your barge carriers to the riverside to launch the floaty boaties they carry.

- You are attacking, so it can be assumed that you have picked your desired point on the map, time of day etc. So feel free to spin the map as often as you want to get one that looks 'right'. Feel free to screw visibility down as far as you like since a river assault is best done at night, even in the days of night vision gear - not all will have it on the OPFOR. Also feel free to turn the turn count up to a big number if you desire - river crossings take time. Say 60 moves?. Choosing a small map size means less time to get to the river, but less space to deploy your troops though. Also, if you do not think you have enough support points - then by all means spend some of your unused repair points as buy points. I usually have thousands of the things lying about in a LC.

- Against the AI, break through at one crossing point, about 10-15 hexes wide. Choose a point with access towards 2 nearby V-Hex clusters, if possible.

- Don't cross where the AI has placed dragons teeth. Or if so, be prepared for your engineers to take time to clear these, and expect some mines nearby too. Ditto with barbed wire perhaps. (Usually placed on the flanks, but not always). In that case, send over loads of boatloads of engineers!.

- Check the riverbank on your side with engineers before moving tanks or barge carriers. The enemy deployment zone can have a little bit on your side - so have mines and/or even troops in places on 'your' bank.

- Get infantry, especially engineers up to the crossing point (use APCS, esp those that can swim), and start them across under cover of the barrage in their rubber rafts. It is their job to establish the pocket on the far bank.

- Your other AFV etc need not rush to the crossing as yet. They need a ferry service to be set up by the barge carriers, and that will take time. Best to hide them nearby the intended crossing so the enemy does not spot them and start shelling - and splat your soft infantry and engineers in the zone, and more especially any loaded barge carriers going to the bank!. (If you were the USA and had thermal sight equipped tanks then it may be worthwhile moving up on the shoulders of the breakthrough zone to dominate the opposite bank. If your enemy does not have access to TI. They can fire through the smoke, and the HE dust of the barrages. But do not fire from within the engineer zone, as that nay attract enemy arty fires which may splat your soft stuff - esp loaded barge carriers).

- If you have a mainly vehicle force, without amphib capabilities, then the barge carrier is a key element to getting these across. Barge carriers are slow, soft heavy trucks that carry a pre-loaded barge. 'Drive' one into a river hex and a barge is launched. Barge carriers are extremely vulnerable things, so you do not want to have to pass through an HE bombardment with them. Expect casualties - buy more than you thought you would require!. Keep some back in deep reserve in case of a whoopsie. Empty barge carriers are meh - take to the rear if you need, or just to clear the approaches to the engineer crossing zone.

- Barge carriers are 2WD trucks, so really do not like swamp etc. Approach the riverbank at a point where it is clear terrain, or a road hex!. As said above - try to pick a point that has a road leading up to or reasonably close to as your crossing site, barge carriers are slowpokes.

- Once in the water, the barge is a regular barge that can have a vehicle loaded onto it (even from the next hex in their case). Load tank on, putter over to the now developing pocket the engineers and leg infantry are developing and 'drive' it into the far bank to unload. Remember not to unload into a swamp etc - could be sticky news for the AFV.

- Barges are rather vulnerable in the water - avoid HE zones, or getting fired at by even small tank or APC guns. Keep the smoke up (and fire some to the flank of the crossing if needed). You will soon find out if any TI equipped enemy can see your patch of river! - if detected, drop a severe stonk on the offending area with your loads and loads of arty you bought.

Repeat process till your pocket has enough toys to start off to the V-Hexes.

- Your opponent is the US and your main weapon to blow holes in his defence with is (mainly) off-map arty. Unfortunately the USA has good basic counter-battery scores in 1945, and it only gets better as the decades pass. So expect lots of batteries to go off the air, even if temporarily. (You did buy loads of them though!). Do not expect your arty to be that good at C/B fires (even if an experienced core battery) on any of his. On the plus side, any points the USA paid for arty, is less grunts on the riverbank.

- Your opponent is the USA. The USA has a good air strike score in 1945, and it gets better as the decades click by. Expect enemy air strikes. Cover the engineer zone with SPAA with radar if you can. Do not bunch too much on your side of the bank if you can avoid it - air strikes or arty will eventually arrive there.

- Consider making a feint far away from the intended crossing, to draw AI air strikes and/or some arty. Have these guys do their 'lookie here!' act as soon as you can. Charge up to the selected riverside area. Even if the AI does not respond with aimed fire, an observer may well have seen your guys trailing their blanket, so move up and down the river bank a bit, run away if fired at (and not dead yet). Do not use core troops for this job...

- If you can get amphibious vehicles, then do so. A PT-76 is not much cop, but it can swim. A popgun wrapped up in tinfoil on the far bank can be better value than an MBT stuck on your side, waiting for the barge carriers to start the cross-river ferry. A BTR-50 is not much normally, but it swims, as do early model BTR-60. Using those is better for getting an infantry force established on the far bank than paddling about in rubber dingy. And they can operate a ferry service for any leg grunts on your side of the river (don't waste them in combat till the time comes to move off from the pocket. They are tin ferry boats in the initial stage). The K61 Amphib can carry a fair few grunts or can move little mortars ATG, other arty over if needed. The GSP ferry is self-propelled, and can carry an MBT, available from 1969. Basically a barge carrier that is itself a barge, and a little armour. You can probably drop barge carriers post availability of these if not too costly (about double the cost?). Hovercraft in the 80s on is a really nice thing to shift grunts over with - but can have problems with close terrain on either bank (e.g. forests) so only use if there is a clear terrain approach to and exit from the river. But none of these items should be the first thing to cross - use rubber duck mounted grunts and/or engineers to do the initial far bank recce and find any mines or enemy defenders and deal with those. Otherwise an expensive fully laden APC can blunder into a catastrophe. But see the BTR rush tactic mentioned below - i.e. replace subtlety with quantity.

- If you have access to lots of BTRs then you can do a BTR horde rush, driving a mass of loaded APC right over the river and right up the bank and then debussing into the stonked zone. You should have enough at that point to deal with any enemy dug-in grunts, bunkers, tanks etc you find (stunned probably, in rout if lucky) in that small 10 or so hex by 1-2 deep on the far bank. Say 2 companies worth, at least with one following behind as a reserve. Quantity has a quality all of its own - Stalin. The possible casualties in establishing the bridgehead that way just may be worth the shorter time.
Remember to lift your own arty from the cleared zone now! :)!.

- Heliflopters. As NK, unless part of your core, you probably will have few of these, if any. Use to nip into the barrage zone on the far bank (but not too far!) to spot enemy stunned defenders, and possibly to drop scouts off on the far bank if it seems safe. Unfortunately your opponent is the USA and may have access to radar aimed AAA. So keep low, and use terrain masking from hills, trees or buildings to screen any AAA.

- Engineer tanks/vehicles. Probably less useful in the river crossing assault, because of the time required to get them over to the far bank?. They are armoured though. Perhaps not to be bought unless you have bought some GSP ferries. Still may be a better use of points to buy plenty of leg engineers and some BTR or K61s to ferry them over the river.

Once (if) you have enough force and blast through, meanwhile keep moving stuff over the bridgehead. AI may counter-attack on tripping a whole V-Hex cluster. So be prepared for that. But also be prepared to have to take another one to trip it. Maybe all 3.

Cheers
Andy

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

Some food for thought there. The fake crossing is interesting, I wouldnt have thought of that. Its something I would consider but does it work against the AI? In a PBEM game though I guess it would pay dividends.

The enemy does have a big tech adv, its 2010 and Ive just struggled but won against the South in a 2 visibility battle where they have more and better vision/TI. Ill try and locate first as well with my Hind gunships and Paras + Para FO, then leather them with my artillery and also a smoke screen, should N Korean 240mm MRL(rockets) work as good as these Russian flame rockets?

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

And especially so if the defender has a key one (TI) and the attacker does not - it can turn into a total and utter bloodbath for the attacker...

The AI is a static defender - so an attacker without TI can use terrain masking to some effect. But I really would not like to play vs a human defender with such a key advantage. He will manoeuvre to get good fields of view/fire where the AI will sit and twiddle his thumbs. Human defender will know if an area of the river bank is 'masked' - and pepper it with arty on principle too.

(Human v human with both having TI will likely lead to a sniping duel till the attacker can destroy enough defender TI units to dominate the crossing - or vice versa of course).

In fact - has anyone been insane enough to try a river crossing assault v a human opponent (with or without TI!)?

Andy

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

Quality that Andy, thanks. Ill print it off to refer to during the battle, Im going to doctor the mission to play the US as Ive had three battles with the South, meeting engagement then advances twice.

Ive got a couple of Hinds so Ill be dropping off my Paras as usual, Ill put them near the landing site, they take a bit of fire but I havent lost them yet in 3 battles and they've made a few kills before legging it off screen and have gone up to veteran, they should be good to recce if theres no Stingers or Patriots.

Ive been using VTT APC's rather then BTR's, they are also amphib. But Im a bit loathe to use them in the rush tactic as they are my core force and Ive put it on Harder level repair -10 to simulate the poor N Korean economy/lack of spares/tech for refits. Ive got a couple of PT-85's though and might get some more or PT-76's for support.

Ill try before I buy fitting my order of battle into the landing craft in generated battle. As I found out in the previous battle its all about TI and only my Para FO and one Pokpung ho have it. Ive been using the ground.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

A BTR co costs about 850 points with BTR60 (2010) and you really need 3, so probably only try the BTR rush if you have 3K points free after buying arty and some leg engineer platoons and a few leg only support grunt coys to do the initial assault with. (perhaps then a tactic for a battle generator game where you don't have core to coddle then?).

A plain Jane 'Type A' rifle coy is ~270 points in 2010. So 3 for 1 over the BTRS.

Your core mech in swimming APC - should follow on and the APC perhaps be used to ferry support leg grunts over. Otherwise the core mech troops should probably hold the salient, and only move out at the end.

Andy

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

Works better probably vs AI than a human if you let it see some units there is a good chance it will call arty in.

Pre TI it is just about possible to get over though not in a healthy state Post TI its pretty much a masacre the biggest trouble in both cases is getting your MBTs over. Forget it infantry needs to form the bridgehead any armour is staying on your side. Speed of barge carriers & ease of sticking them means he can predict the few points on the map you can use them, somehow if you avoid arty on the way you have to make it to the waters edge.
Go for a pure Infantry/Mech assault with at least 4 ATGMs per Co to take out vehicles on the other side & pray a lot.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

3K seems expensive for expendable units, the crossing which I got all wrong only gave me about 4K for support, which wouldnt leave me with much for heavy off map arty and landing craft. Im in work now so cant see the prices but would some Red Guard inf(cheaper then Rifle inf) on K61's(also being cheapish for landing craft) work well in the rush tactic, Im also thinking of using empty K61's as my fake crossing and maybe some Reserve inf as decoy fodder somewhere. The Red Guard have a morale bonus so should fight to the death and occupy OPFOR whilst I send my main force over down river and flank them.

Im thinking GSP Ferries each for my 10 tanks and barge carriers each as a back up. Patrol boats would be nice but I dont think the river will be in my deploy zone. Ill also get the ambhib inf special forces to send over, they have a Commando sniper with 40 vision/TI so should be good to recce around the landing sites.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

Wait till you get to modern times a good scout vehicle & passenger can cost you 300 points & may get caught out but can be worth every point.
Andys rush is I think based on BTRs capabilities as in fast both on land & in the water one of the reasons I said Russia is a good side to try a modern crossing with.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

Well - the BTR battalion would not be completely expendable - 3 companies allows for the rush, to take casualties (esp in the first 2 that will take and hold the pocket).
3rd company as I stated above - reserve following behind in case of problems. If it is not needed, then you have a spare formation to use.

The battered first BTR coy will likely have its infantry left as guardians of the initial salient. Any surviving BTR-60 of the company woud take up duties as passenger ferries for follow-on leg grunt formations.

2nd company would hopefully not be too battered - any depleted platoons could act as for Coy 1. Any whole ones could aid the exploitation (the APC maybe acting as ferries for a while).

And as I said in a later post - the BTR rush is probably something I would consider in a battle generator game. In other words, where you have a free pick of all your forces.

Yep. fast on land, so they get to the crossing site quickly. Fast on water as well, so they don't take too long to cross over. Some armour and armament, and some night vision (later models). And reasonably cheap. The PB model is quite dangerous to USA/UK with its 14.5 and IR searchlight in the M113/FV432 era (60s and 70s). Can also be stuffed with a few extra small RPG teams over and above the platoon troops, especially the open or flat-topped early models (114 or 112 lift capability).

The BTR50 is just too slow, and not well armed. Would be useful as a passenger ferry here once it got to the river if the early P model with 120 capacity - half a platoon.

Cheers
Andy

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

Ive got the mapped prepped, 60 turns and 5 visi. V hexes are centrally just across the river then on two hills overlooking a road. Yep Im going to have a go with the rush tactic, although scaled down a bit as I only have 1600 spt pts. 3 groups of 6 BTR60PB's with Red Guard. Ill also do a couple of fake crossings, one with Reserve inf and one with nothing in K61's. Also have air spt so Ill land some paras behind the lines to hunt arty and also my amphib with sniper with 40 vis/TI. Whatever is left on off map arty or Koksan SPA's.

Ill drop my core force down river after securing the crossing with my core Paras and Hinds. Hopefully the air para drop on turn 0 will reveal some AA to avoid.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

I would add that with North Korea you have an additional option for crossing rivers.
The GSP ferry you can buy in the Misc section from 1969 onwards.
It has the same land speed of a barge carrier, some armor (it is a bit of a necessary fudge but it means it have a chance against artillery) and can move both on land and on water (albeit a bit slower than a barge in water) without the need to be loaded and offloaded.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

Actually - that is the approach I had forgotten. If you can dominate the far bank with MBT-killing weaponry, then go for as flat a map as you can, and broad daylight (or pure night if you have a night fighting advantage, esp in TI). Plan on exterminating his exposed key weapons systems (AFV, ATGM and bunkers in the main) with your dominating direct fire weaponry.

Think Egypt v Israel in 1973 forex. Coalition v Iraq. Have a few T-62/M1/Challenger pre-placed (or in reserve) dominating the crossing zone when deployed. Buy loads of saggers, preplace or walk forwards to dominate. Once set up to your satisfaction, move some scout cars about to trigger firing, and then whack the revealed shooters with massed ATGM and/or MBT fires.

Don't fire barrages of arty then - it may obscure some LOS to the enemy MBT. Keep it in reserve for the crossing attempt post dealing with his shooters.

Once the key defending units are wrecked, then putter over the river to sweep up to your hearts content with the usual arty support to deal with any remaining infantry (but you will need less indirect arty with the direct fire dominance approach).

Should be good especially on a desert map with just a few little bumps of hills about.

Not for the totally underdog player though. NK could probably do it pre M1 Abrams, with a sagger barrage?. Not so much once those beasts are common. You need a reliable tank-killer ATGM and/or MBT that are at least evens to his.

Cheers
Andy

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

Yep Ive got 6 of these GSP ferries and 6 Barge carriers as back up. Its looking good though, Ive got my light tanks across and Im just sending over my Pokpung and Chonma ho's.

Its turn 40 of 60 and the battle has unfolded. I used a couple of fake crossings, one empty and one with cheap fodder infantry which got mauled by Javelins and arty. My scaled down BTR rush combined with Para air drop and Paras and Hinds was also a bit mauled. BTRs were blown out of the water by Javelins.

The Paras and Hinds did better and were able to get a foot hold. Strangely the enemy(US 2010) hasnt got any anti air so my Hinds had free reign, Ive took out all their 81 and 60mm mortars and no off map arty is coming down from them. Also got some amphib inf across and was able to expand the landing zone and move up towards the objectives meeting little resistance, before moving over the engineers and light inf, followed by core APC's. Hinds retreated from ground fire now.

Ive took out a lot of Javelins but there are still one or two around. Ive took the two objectives/groups of hexes near the river and was pushing onto the third inland but had a few tanks and apcs taken out by 1 Javelin. Running out of arty as well.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

[quote=Mobhack;752701]I use the Fagot ATGM, its handy and accurate but struggles to penetrate a K1 tank(similar to Abrams). Usually have to gang up on them with inf, button them and then bring a Chonma or Pokpung ho to finish it off. I was looking forward to the challenge of an Abrams but the US didnt use armor in this crossing battle.

Just finished. Marginal Victory, Im quite pleased with that. 6400 pts to 1600 US.

I was bogged down by a stiff counter by the two hex objective groups and wasnt able to move out. Lost a few APC's and light tanks and mixed infantry and was unable to support with my MBT's as there were too many Javelins about. Was able to pin the enemy down and with arty and SU-7 jets then able to sneak an APC onto the last hex group. After battle map showed I had the enemy bottled up and it finished 2 turns early.

Thanks for the tactics everyone, was able to use a combination of them to beat the AI.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

This is, I think, an interesting point that you inadvertently raise. The current 240mm rounds are available only in HE variety but I overlooked that an incendiary one is available according to Jane's, I will research it further.
It would certainly be a worthwhile addition to compensate for other north korean deficiencies especially as the P'okpoong-ho, one of the very few remaining high tech assets, will have to be toned down considerably.
You will probably have to fight in a way not much different from what the north koreans would fight, mainly with infantry, special forces and tons of artillery; armor would be used in a limited and careful way, as without TI and with insufficient armor and firepower tanks would become tracked coffins really fast.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

Would be nice to have the extra firepower, I checked after what Imp said, I think he means the Smerch MRL 300mm with 90 kill 12 warhead, I have a M1991 240mm 43/9 .

Would be a shame to lessen the Pokpung ho as its quite formidable but if its for realism then fair play.

Its the only tank that can take a hit and has decent vision. But its expensive and I have only got 4, having built up the force with the leftover repair points, I used Harder to simulate the lack of spares and NK economy. The Chonma Hos have a decent gun but get ripped apart with one shot from a K1 and the light tanks are only for ranged infantry fighting if there is no anti tank around.

Its been a good game, a bit of a challenge. Its all infantry like you say with the Light inf being my favourite all round unit. Basically I use plenty of arty, then light inf and just use rifle sections to hold ground and the Fagot ATGM. The snipers with 40 vision are useful and Im a big fan of the Koksan SPA. Tanks are just used to peep over the hill when the enemy is suppressed and have a crack at their armor. Using the Hinds and Paras to terrorise the enemy arty behind the lines.

Ive had 5 battles so far against US and SK, all marginal victories.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

I was refering to TOS-1s which are more infantry & light armour killers than the Smerch mentioned but fires block LOS if get enough going even for TI units.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

I had forgotten the possibility of using incendiary weapons as possible thermal blockers as a tactic - nice idea!.

Sufficient depth of fire hexes does work like smoke against these vision devices. (I forget if it is 3 hexes of large fires or 4?).

Enemy would have to go through the firewall, or at least into it to see through. This could be a warming experience!.

If you have these in MRL deliverable form then you can build up a patch of fire that the hi-tech adversary will find inconvenient. It may need a few doses to get the firewall deep enough to be reliable. Air napalm is more variable (you would need a lot of napalm planes, and they are subject to AAA - some air forces do have access to bombers with multiple FAE or napalm, but these get laid in a single strip - so 3 such runs would have to be done in parallel to make a useful firewall (?)).

Problem would be if the fire area has to be placed somewhere that you may want to eventually cross (esp if you will need to use dismounts there!).

So "Imp's firewall" is a limited usage tactic, but possibly useful in the right circumstances.

Cheers
Andy

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

A few years back, I designed a series of hypothetical scenarios of a Chinese vs SEATO/NATO comflict in Korea during 2020. My main purpose was to examine Sino military capability for the near future. I saved the ones that were fun and one of those was a night river crossing by Italian Lagunari Rangers and Tuscania Commandos.

Since it was for my own play, the scenario doesn't have a description but if you would like to try it, I'll shoot it to you.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

I have found it very effective with most terrain TI units tend to be back from the river bank so can deny them sight or change the anty by making them move. Difficult to guess LOS with fire & smoke so set yours up covering where he might move for & start piling everyone else in the water while hitting the far bank with conventional arty.
If you are lucky can hit infantry fairly near to the bank & deny LOS to places further back with the same volley, couple of strikes & your window has opened.
If you have them now is a good time to send in the planes as his armour might be on the move so easier to detect plus may give you some idea of which way to break out once you are over.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

That because the P'okpoong-ho was, at least to the public, an unknown quantity until few months ago; little was known except that the NKs supposedly had a new tank.
The RUMINT had it as a T-72 derivative, but some pictures of it have finally emerged: it appears nothing more than a Ch'onma-Ho with extra armor, some automotive changes and perhaps some limited FC update. Still it has no TI and gun still seems to be only a 115mm.
In the previous versions of the game there used to be several high tech toys such as T-80Us, BMP-3s, various assorted vehicles with TI etc. but these have been eliminated because the NKs never actually had them (it is only South Korea which does operate T-80Us), as far as one can be sure about anything when it comes to a place like that.
Infantry based units with TI have been left, under the reasoning that sort of stuff is cheaper to buy, easier to smuggle around and a thermal camera in the hands of SF/recon/FO is more likely to cause damage than inside some old tank which is going to die under cluster bombs or shot to pieces.
Of course one cannot be 100% sure but it is know they do some shopping for their SF equipment, IIRC a shipment of foreign made sniper rifles for their SFs was intercepted not a long time ago.
The north koreans have been emphasizing infantry, special forces and mobile artillery in an ever increasing manner in the last decades, because it is the best bang they can get out of their very few bucks. Nukes too, but that's outside the scope of the game.
I was also thinking that the NK SFs could use some improvements, but details on organization are sketchy and contradictory, though Bermudez is publishing some useful articles on a monthly basis.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

I read in a few different sources, wiki, globalsecurity.org on the net that it may have some systems from a T-90 as they may have got one as a gift and can try to reverse engineer some systems. I believe around 10 years ago a couple of companies here in Czech Rep and Slovakia were helping them get parts for their tanks and planes as they fly Albatros' which were built near Prague and Slovakia still services Soviet era tanks I believe. Someone should have a word with Kim so we can have some accurate info for our game.


The fire smoking out the enemy TI/Vision seems a good tactic and Im seeing it in action now as Im defending a town, but with arty and everything else at a premium for NK its a bit of afterthought. I need it more for defending from infantry and countering their arty then as a screen, it usually gets a bit desperate at the end of a battle defending the hexes and the arty is needed there.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

They may have purchased a T-90 but as far as reverse engineering...Just look at the size of the laser rangefinders they make. It might give them some ideas on things like armor arrays, layout and the odd subsystem here and there but they aren't going to be able to copy much; this especially as most of their R&D is focused elsewhere. They can't hope to match SK armor and things are only going to get worse as the K2 tanks start to roll out and the assembly lines and M48s begins to be phased out in the next future, and they probably realize that. Purchasing spares for old soviet era gears is something they are known to do. Occasionally they even buy whole weapon systems: they bought a dozen or two of BTR-80A from Russia, surplus MiG-21bis from Kazakhstan etc. But meaningful quantities of high tech stuff are simply outside the scope of their finances.

You can always use ammo resupply. In real life they are supposed to have a pretty generous ammunition allotment, up to 480 rounds per tube stored forward.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

The discussion of this particular NK tank is rather swerving away from the thread topic. If any more discussion is needed on the subject, I think you should best start a new thread on it (or use an existing Korean kit one?) over in the TO&E forum.

Cheers
Andy

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

Just remembered what is most likely a cheat but so tempting I have used if terrain allows. The big hovercraft Russia USA possibly others can just fit a barge carrier in them meaning quick transportation to near the river:)
If you have managed to clear out AT weaponry & the river is wide the hovers are then great at spotting units on the far bank just stick a squad in them & go for a look. Big target though so stay out of RPG range.

Re: River crossing battle tactics
 

I think the AI is in general quite good/ok if you consider the variety of situations it has to cope with.

Any chance that we see improvements in some areas (like the mentioned 'static' defense') in the future? Perhaps just make it more unpredictable - it doesn't have to be a master mind ;).