Any good bunker articles

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Hi,

I have a situation where bunkers ( 2-5-7 type) are on exposed level 3 hills. The terrain to the front is open ground so very dangerous to go head to head.

The first question is are there good articles on how to get into (i.e. kill the bunker units) and thereby control the bunker. The main silver bullets are DC and FT or FT AFV).

Actually I just thought of an idea but would be interested in others.

Prep:
preferably not from the units doing the attacks)
Fire smoke (+2 best using AFV sD (since it will disappear next PFPH) ,
+3 (
Normal prep type), takes more time
+2 infantry
- disappears same phase but gives enemy full DF fire

MPh:
Assault move killer stacks ( or good -2 leaders) into the smoke minimum of 30 FP and at least 2 ROF ( MMG)
Now the fancy bit. Next Prep the smoke will go and your units will be ready to "change the decor" of the bunker interior.

Question: Since broken units can stay in B indefinitely are they allowed to be entered or do they have to be literally "cleared".

Thanks and look forward to your replies ;;;
 

jrv

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SMOKE generally takes two turns to dissipate. If you prep-fire SMOKE into a hex in LOS and assault move in, you will have to survive that player turn, the next enemy player turn, then flip the SMOKE to dispersed and survive another player turn of yours and and another of your opponent's. By then your super kill stack is probably a tattered remnant and/or the game is over. Using death stars against pillboxes requires the luxury of time, which is generally in short supply on the (cardboard) battlefield.

I think close combat is probably the way most pillboxes are taken out. Certainly it's a common cause. CC has the advantage that if the pillbox control is part of the VC, the winning unit is in position to enter the pillbox to control it. Pillboxes are especially vulnerable in situations where ambush is possible. SMOKE applied to the pillbox is a great way to allow your units to get enough to enter CC. Using AP against pillboxes is another common way to neutralize them [B30.35]. Perhaps the best solution, when practicable, is to go around them.

FT & DC are dramatic but generally unavailable, and if they are available they difficult to employ due to the enemy being unreceptive and ornery. Note that the pillbox NCA TEM is the only TEM that applies to FT [B30.113], meaning that the FT has to be in the CA to attack with full effects. If you use (five-eighths inch) SMOKE to cover your units as they approach, it will also affect that FT attack. SMOKE works especially well when used with a DC. This does not mean that DCs and FTs attacks are useless, but they are frequently less powerful than you might think just looking at the raw FP.

All (even broken) enemy units have to be killed (again usually by CC) [B30.44] in order to enter the pillbox. Broken enemy units can remain inside a pillbox indefinitely even with friendly units outside.

JR
 
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Hi JR,

But one cannot enter such:

30.44 Infantry (even if berserk) may never enter a pillbox Location that contains enemy Infantry,
not even via Infantry OVR

I presume even if broken and such units just basically "sit there" until KIA ( by further fire).

Do I have that right ?

Also I read that units ? do not get ? benefits to fire INTO the bunker. Presumably the CA benefits being enough.
 

jrv

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That is correct. Broken units just sit there in their pillbox until they are killed or rally. The pillbox cannot be entered until they are dead. Even when there is an enemy unit in hex and they are being attacked in the CCPh, units inside a pillbox are not held in melee. That means there is some chance they will self-rally. Pillboxes are rally terrain, so that increases the chance. A GO leader would make it even better. Of course broken units are subject to a -2 CC DRM for being broken. The prospects of a broken unit in a pillbox are not good, but not entirely without hope.

You are correct that concealed units in pillboxes do not get the case K +2 TH DRM nor the halving of FP for IFT attacks. They do get the -2 ambush drm, so being concealed in a pillbox is not entirely without benefit.

Pillboxes are not all-powerful defensive positions. They have some pluses, e.g. high TEM (especially through the NCA), being hard to kill with OBA/HE and contents not dying for failure to rout, but also some minuses, e.g. decrease in benefits of concealment, vulnerability to AP and limited CA, especially lack of LOS to their own hex. A defense has to use their strengths and cover their weaknesses. The "obvious" way to use them is to face them out toward the enemy, but a more subtle way is to have two pillboxes face toward each other. That way the enemy has to move into the CA of one to attack the other, and if things go well they will be able to defend each other plus stop any enemy units that try to drive past. Wire/mines in the hex can be helpful, but will backfire on the defenders if the occupants need to leave the pillbox. You need to understand both the strengths and weaknesses of your forces. You must then make the most of the former while allowing your opponent the least opportunity to exploit the latter.

JR
 
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Schwerpunkt #2: (Bunker busting)

The Forward Observer Issue 2 [Coastal Fortress] (bunker building and bunker busting)

Banzai!!! Issue 2.3 (Pillbox Pointers), issue 15.2 (finer points of pillboxes)

Maple Leaf Route issue 2.1 (short guide to pillboxes)
 
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Hi,

After bit of searching that FO article was great. Thanks for that. If the rulebook was written in plain English there
would not be any requirement for third party analysis. I won't go into how MUCH BETTER the OBA rules could have been if
someone actually spent time reducing it to basics. It is like someone spent time doing the reverse for that, thus the need
for FLOWCHARTS Duhhh.

I WILL be looking for the other articles now... >>
 
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