AAR: Tank Tracks to Pusan

[wulfir]

Originally Posted by SaS TrooP

What were the ROK losses for comparison?

The AI side tends to lose more of course, in the last scenario much of the infantry force. The deployment was also done by the AI so no turn 98 defenders. I did not have time and strength to attempt to go after artillery. There were still sizable ROK infantry clusters that had not been defeated when the game ended.

Originally Posted by SaS TrooP

What was the final value of those four remaining objectives at the end?

All values were cranked up to max, 250 points Victory Hexes - but the timed objectives value was also turned up to max, IIRC it's 30. It started ticking at about turn 30 (of 90).

My force, being mostly leg infantry did not have great mobility on this max size map - not enough troops to garrison the VHs properly and those weak defences could be pushed off the VHs by stronger counterattacking AI, it would then take time to march up enough troops to take them back and all the while points kept ticking in for the AI side.

Me holding VHs did not generate points for my side, but prevented it from going to the AI.

Like Mobhack pointed out earlier, it probably works better when set to low points.

[wulfir]

The Battle at Dongducheon

June 25, 1950

The vanguard of the NKPA 3rd Division approached the village of DONGDUCHEON late on the first day of the war. The vanguard was made up of the reinforced 7th Infantry Regiment which up until this time had made good progress barreling down the river roads on both sides of the Sin-Chon river behind the T-34 tanks of the attached 1st Battalion, 107th Tank Regiment.

This regiment had been given a crucial role in the invasion, leading the attack down the Uijeongbu corridor, the traditional invasion route down the Korean peninsula. The regiment had been reinforced, not only with attached tanks but also boosted additional infantry and engineer assets, heavy caliber artillery from the recently acquired Soviet guns and overhead ground attack aircraft had been detailed to add to the weight of this particular attack. The officers of the regiment were all experienced veterans of the war in China. They were handpicked for this mission.

They had jumped off in the morning and brushed aside weak ROK defences and with ease moved through the villages along the river. However upon approaching the settlement of SONGBONGAM-DONG just before DONGDUCHEON the regiment received scattered enemy artillery and air recon was ordered to scout out the area in front. The Il-2 recon planes drew little anti-aircraft fire but reported back seeing enemy movement on the ground, including a concentration of enemy tanks, estimated to be of at least brigade strength.

It was previously believed the South Koreans had no tanks at all.

Extremely alarming.

The Air Force got ordered to attack the enemy tank consecrations ahead of the 7the Regiment which was carried out with some success, while knocking out a few enemy tanks it did not disperse the resistance.

Trusting the quality of the tankers and their T-34s of the supporting first battalion, NKPA 107th Armoured Regiment the North Korean commander committed his forces to the attack.

It went bad almost from the get go.

The NKPA infantry attacked with vigour but took heavy losses and got separated from the tanks who on their own penetrated into DONGDUCHEON where they dueled with ROK light tanks and both inflicting and taking losses. The T-34s main gun AP ammo ran out and the battalion was forced to disengage and reload.

Upon returning to battle the T-34s with infantry managed to penetrate as far as the first bridge of DONGDUCHEON but was then subject to a spirited tank counterattack by large ROK forces attacking from three sides.

The South Korean counterattack shattered much of the 7th Regiment and restored the ROK main line of resistance.

NKPA advance through the important Uijeongbu corridor was stopped cold.

[wulfir]

I used Venhola for the map but only made small villages. Today the area is heavily urbanized and it seems to include one or more US Army bases.

Again I set up the Victory Hexes as timed objectives, max points.

Also let the AI pick and deploy the defenders (the ROK forces) because I wanted a surprise. Did assume that the M24s light tanks would be fairly easy meat for the T-34s, and their probably wouldn’t be too many of them anyway...

Turns out that the T-34s are vulnerable at close range and while they can knock out M24s at range with the 85mm’s the crews would often miss and thus quickly burning through the stocks of AP ammo.

I also assumed that attacking on a narrow front would lead to me being able to face only a portion of the enemy defenders and quickly break through. It did however also mean that the AI would concentrate the bulk of the artillery against the narrow front. Felt like the 105mm guns were always firing, wrecking havoc with infantry trying to advance. Or AT-gun positions set up to stop the M24 avalanche.

I totally underestimated the AI.



Limit of the NKPA advance.

[wulfir]

ROK counterattack - straight into the concentration of NKPA infantry!

While a toll is taken on the AI tanks many North Korean infantry squads have no AT-weapon and tend to have previously had losses, close assaults with hand-grenades often fail...

Most of the AT-guns are silenced by tank and artillery fire...




...not much ammo left, few AT-guns still in action and the next wave apears.

It's time to break off and try and save what can be saved.

One thing I feel is missing is a decent APC. A battlefield taxi that can get infantry forward with some level of speed and protection but the North Koreans don't seem to have had any in 1950.

I'm going to fight a few battles with a North Korean force set in the Chinese Civil War to build up experience etc before being thrown in battle against the ROK...

[wulfir]

Set up a campaign in Sept 1948 with a North Korean mostly infantry core, but with some AT-guns and four SU-76 assault guns vs Taiwan.

First battle, slightly edited generated map (max size), timed objectives, large supporting Commie China Aux force with all types of AT-guns, mostly 57mm and 76mm but also two 100mm (as a test) and lots of infantry. Also included some older Jap tanks with 57mm guns. No air, limited artillery.

AI controls purchase and deployment of the Nationalist troops...

The map has decent road network with some vegetation but little in the way of difficult terrain, lots of open areas.

89 turns.

I attack all over the map and try to spare the North Korean core. Bump into strong defences in places but manage to have recon elements slip through and capture some rear VHs which trigger an AI counterattack.

AI infantry and tanks hit hard, retaking most objectives. The Commie front holds but advancing is out of the question.

AI artillery is less punishing when not being able to concentrate one one sector.

Nationalist M24 light tanks can be taken out at range but the Nationalist Sherman Easy 8 tanks are monsters - Commie 57mm and 76mm need to be pretty close to stand a chance. Two 100mm guns can't cover the whole map...

Again I get a kick in the teeth by the AI. Not as bad as the previous game but advancing with largely infantry forces against strong tank formations sure does not seem like a winning concept. By turn 50 the battle is mostly a sort of stalemate - the Commies are a spent force and points keep ticking in for the AI...

The Chinese rifle squads are 12 men strong and can take more of a beating than the North Korean equivalent - the Chinese however don't have any decent AT weapon and quickly get in trouble against armour.

The old ex Jap tanks should not duel with the Shermans either...