How to assault an enemy unit?

[Indigo121]

I'm new to this game, I'm playing against the AI, and what I'm seeing so far is that defending units always shoot first, and what happens often is this scenario:

I know there is an enemy unit in some hex, but I don't have LOS to it. So I move the unit towards it (one hex at a time, if that makes a difference?) but the moment I get into LOS the enemy shoots my unit, often inflicting heavy damage and making it retreat.

I can use smoke but that just postpones the moment I need to get into the LOS, and I can't shoot with Z blind fire because, again, I don't have a LOS. I can use artillery but that takes forever and is usually ineffective.

It feels like there is some ultra punishing ambush mechanic in every engagement in the game. Surely in a battlefield units communicate and the attacking unit can know there is an enemy there if the HQ sees it?

Maybe I should disable Op fire in the options? Is that relevant? I don't want to lose realism, but it's getting frustrating. Even if my infantry unit gets inside a building from the safe side, I still get hammered. Is there a way to maybe edit or tone down the ambush mechanics?

Thanks

[Aeraaa]

Welcome, hope you find the game as amazing as I do.

Opposing fire gives the defender the same advantage that it gives him IRL: notably, he gets to shoot first.

That is why you need numbers in order to defeat a defender. One on one and he gets the advantage, but two to one (or even better, 3 to 1 or more) and you basically guarantee that somebody will get a shot off. You also have to remember to use the numerical advantage every single time. Dont just move a unit and constantly try to rally it and fire, triggering OP fire after OP fire on the same target. Move one unit, have it engaged, then another one, then another one etc. Then fire, each time with a different unit. This can be done by just two units i.e. move unit 1, move unit 2, fire with unit 1, fire with unit 2, etc. By doung this, you make sure defender switches target every time, negating "zeroing" effects and dispersing damage (soy you dont have just one unit getting casualties and breaking).

Alternatively (and especially if you have heavy weapons like MGs, AGLs, direct firing artillery or tanks), you use an overwatch element and a maneuver element. Maneuver element moves, triggers fire, detects the enemy and at this point, overwatch fire suppresses him, causes losses, and enables maneuver element to close in and assault.

If you have artillery, bombard any position you think it has enemy troops occupying it. The idea is not to destroy him, but suppress him, reducing the number of shots he gets, reducing accuracy and morale. Then, maneuver elements can do the same as above.

The above work more in infantry assaulting infantry scenario. In a tank vs. infantry scenario, try to stay outside of portable AT range and engage at stand off range. Infantry helps in being the scouts for the tanks.

For tank vs. tank scenario, your options are limited in numbers and overwatch/maneuver. In the second case, the overwatch may be AT weaponry like dismounted ATGMs which are hard to detect, or other tanks. In tanks assaulting ATGMs, rely ojn artillery reducing ATGM effectiveness. In certain cases, you may rely on armor thickness absorbing hits, but it is a risky scenario, since side shots are a thing.

A very brief summary of how to deal with the defender OP fire problem. If there's another scenario I did not remember tell me and I'll write what you need to do.

Hope that helps!

[DRG]

Use MMG or HMG to suppress the troops in the area you want to advance into, Use smoke to isolate that section of the battlefield from enemy support fire. Try to spread your MG fire to as many enemy units as present themselves. You want to pin as many as you can so if you have 4 targets spread the fire out.

Having four enemies pinned is better than one in rout and three unscathed. Get as much fire suppression in as you can before moving your troops forward. That is what artillery is for. This is a combined arms game.......combine your firepower. Just trying to assault an enemy that can shoot back will give you a WW1 outcome.

[Mobhack]

And if you have no LOS to the enemy hex, but you do to the hex beside him - fire z fire on that adjacent hex with weapons that have a blast circle extending into the surrounding hex. 75mm+ guns, HMG sections, autocannon etc. The blast effect will extend into his location when you pound the adjacent hex to him, random impacts may drift onto his hex, and so on.

But if you know/suspect he is there and you need to go through/past him, then plot arty as you approach and then give it sufficient time (2 or more turns fire) to walk over his position before you go in.

Artillery may take 2 turns to arrive - so what if you will take 4 or 5 to get there. Predict where you want to go ahead of time and where you suspect he is, Arty does not need LOS. Artillery is effective over time (its not an insta-kill usually). Use it as a barrage to advance behind and pick up stunned enemy units.

Once Arty has arrived, use the adjust fire button and you can shift the barrage 2 hexes for 0.3 delay. Don't bother pressing the HE button before shifting - that adds .1 delay you dont want.

[Indigo121]

Thank you all for the advice! More questions please:

1) How do I know which units have direct firing artillery? I've only seen one mortar inf have that.

2) I'm currently playing with art spotting turned off, so everyone can spot. Does that mean I'm getting poorer artillery results, or slower? I've read posts about spotting bonuses but didn't quite get what it implies here. How do I ensure best artillery results?
I assume mortars are faster than howitzers but do less damage, is that how it goes?

3) I notice air attackers follow enemy movements and don't necessarily hit the plotted position, and even often attack completely different enemies?

Thanks

[Aeraaa]

1) All artillery can fire directly (that I know of, at least). You simply attack a visible target like any other unit (left click, or T+cycle with N or P+F). You have to be in range obviously, some mortars may not be in range of a visible target.

I strongly advice using mortars in direct fire when engaging dug in infantry, especially 81mm and below. Not only you fire at the target in the same turn (as opposed to 1-2 turns after the current one), but mortars are much more effective in causing casualties that way, while with the indirect fire option, you will suppress the target but rarely cause any damage (heavier artillery can cause casualties even in indirect fire mode).

2) AFAIK that option means that every single unit can act as spotter (never played with it off, so maybe I'm wrong). Now, every unit has an infantry, an armor and an artillery rating. Each one of them represents how good they are at managing the respective combat arm. Regarding artillery, higher artillery values mean they call fires faster, more accurately (more chance to deal damage) and with less dispersion. So, a unit with low artillery values might take +4 turns to call a mortar strike, while a unit with high ones may take 2 turns to do the same thing. Observed fire is always more accurate than unobserved fire so if you have an observer you usually want to have observed fire. There are exceptions to the rule of course (f.e. the spotter has really low artillery values and the fire mission will take a long time to arrive). Even then, the trick is to use a good spotter to call a fast fire mission, have the round fall, then adjust with the worse observer.

3) Aircraft have to detect the target to fire at him. So when an aircraft comes, it conducts a search at the point you called it. It may hit the target you wanted, but there are cases it spots another unit and fires at it (if you are unlucky or are in close combat with the enemy, you may experience some really nasty friendly fire). Sometimes the aircraft does not spot anything, at which case it conducts a fly by the battlefield. Perfect opportunity for the enemy to shoot your aircraft down.

Also, remember to plot the route in and the route out, it may be very important in what target your aircraft sees (plus it helps in surviving AA fire).

[sigeena]

I think the basics are easier to learn and master from WW2 since the weapons are not as accurate or as devastating usually.

If you are trying to move towards an enemy, never try to do it unsupported. That means it's got a friendly unit to its side, it's command element slightly behind him, support weapons further away to its flank or rear.

The idea is once your initial unit gets contacted, you can use the support weapons to pin the enemy, use your rally with the command element nearby to improve chances to rally, then use the friendly unit nearby to shoot the enemy at close range or advance closer.

There are 4 status usually to take note of.

Ready- means the unit has maximum amount of opfires( usually 6), and maximum awareness, probably everyone is spotting.

Pinned- means the unit has halved or lesser opfires, some are cowering and some are spotting.

Retreating - means the unit is no longer opfiring and getting ready to bug out, probably no one is spotting.

Rout- as it says.

So you should try to have the enemy unit suppressed to retreating status before advancing closer units. It's not a must, it just keeps casualties lower.

[Imp]

Your FOOs (forward observers) & spotting vehicles are the best units for calling in artillery followed by your HQ unit. It depends on the nation & timeframe but these units have faster call times. If they have line of sight they are also more accurate, they can also adjust fire with less penalty.
These are your go to guys for artillery hence for ease buy them first or last to make finding them easy.

If you have FOOS or dedicated vehicles just use them. If you only have HQ plot fire with them & if you really want to go to the effort see if a unit with LOS can adjust it better.

Planes take a bit of getting used to try not to overfly your troops or plot near them as they may mistake them as the enemy. I would learn the basics before playing with planes.