Deep Battle Fungwu vs Desert

Fungwu

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This is my fourth time playing the excellent hypothetical scenario Deep battle.

In brief, it pits the armies of red and blue against each other in a campaign using 1930s era equipment. Each country is separated by enemy minor countries along its borders. The minor countries consist of several cities and capital cities garrisoned by small fortified units. The minor countries are important because the cities lie along the only lines of supply and also capturing them gives a boost in equipment.

The idea is to take over the enemy minor countries along your border, aid your allied minor countries along the enemy border, and defeat the enemy army while doing so. Each army mobilizes more troops over time, so the battle escalates.

Additionally there are several beaches along the coast that can be equipped with supply points with a TO and used to land troops behind enemy lines.

In this game I am red. To make my battle plan I first do an analysis of the terrain. My focus turns to an area in the NE part of the map. On two sides are sea areas, all along the border is a series of lakes and rivers. Across the river and to the north is the blue border. Here is one of only two rail lines crossing from blue territory into the middle of the map. The other rail line is much further north. The area in question is occupied mainly by the country of white, which is allied to me. The terrain here has perked my interest for several reasons.

First, with all the rivers and lakes this is an easy area to defend against attack.

Second, using this area as a jumping off point I can launch an attack on the biggest supply line for blue forces. In a certain spot lakes and flooded marshes create a bottle neck where blue's rail line passes through an area only 3 hexes wide. If I can capture this, I can fortify this small frontage and seal off the main part of the map from blue supply and reinforcement.

Third, from the area within the lakes I can launch counterattacks against the flanks of blue forces marching toward my own border, possibly cutting them off and encircling them. My counterattacks will benefit from the lakes and rivers covering their flanks against counter counter attacks.

Fourth, to reach the area in question my line of march passes along a rail line, so I can ensure good supply and reinforcements to my troops.

Fifth, my line of march passes through two enemy objectives, the capitals of green and grey. In this case I can capture some important cities while fulfilling my larger strategic objectives.

Sixth, the main beaches available for sea landings are located just west of my line of advance. This is dangerous in one way because blue could cut my supply lines, but I think it is an advantage because I will be able to fortify the beaches before he can make a major landing.

Seventh, by advancing my forces I can protect white capital from capture by blue.

So, I have picked a spot to send my main force that is easy to defend, has a well defined and defensible supply line, and provides several opportunities to counter attack enemy advances, whether by land or sea, to threaten enemy supply lines, and ultimately carry the advance into the enemy home land.

On the right side of the map is another tactical objective for me, brown capital, located in a mountain range. I will send some minor forces here to capture the city, and then use the mountains to my advantage and anchor the defense on my right flank.

In the middle area is the biggest threat from the enemy. It is a relatively open area leading to my border. My plan here is to advance a little bit and capture a few minor cities that lie across my border and then switch to the defense. If the enemy attacks, my forces in the lake area to the east can counterattack into the enemy rear area and break up his attack. Additionally my border is quite closer than the enemy border here so I can send reinforcements in faster than he can if a situation develops. Additionally my forces have the option of falling all the way back to my own border which is more defensible, although this would complicate things alot for me.

I hope my diagram here is self explanatory.
 

Fungwu

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Turn 1: the only action this turn was when the blue navy steamed down the coast and attacked the red navy in port. My fleet had two battleships damaged and lost combat effectiveness until they are repaired. Before the blue ships could escape, I ordered my two bomber units to the coast and sunk or damaged all of blue's battleships and cruisers in several rounds of airstrikes.

I got together my forces to fulfill my strategic plans.

Attacking brown capital on the right flank and then defending it are 12 divisions including 6 mountain divisions. I have assigned them one unit of artillery to complete their mission.

Attacking two minor towns in the center are 4 divisions. Since most of them are reserve divisions I will immediately send reinforcements from either the group headed to brown, or from freshly mobilized troops that I am expecting on turn 5.

Conducting my main operation are 14 divisions including 3 armored, two motorized cav and 1 motorized inf. Assisting them is 1 motorized and 2 horse artillery, engineer assets an armored recon unit as well as several foot inf and a horse cav division.

They will capture grey and green capital and proceed to reinforce the friendly white capital. The reserve inf divs in the group will capture two minor cities to the NE of the line of advance.

Finally I have 5 res inf by the coast, they will take a few minor towns and then ship across the sea to garrison several beaches.
 

Fungwu

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My main ground forces marched further into enemy territory along their planned axis. The lead units are calvary and they act to clear the roads for my main body and cut supplies to the garrisons of various minor cities.

I sent one of my two bomber wings to the capital of teal. Their mission is to interdict blue forces as they march up the road.

I sent my other bomber wing and my fleet up the coast to engage blue's fleet which resulted in an somewhat inconclusive engagement.

Seeing an opportunity to cause some mischief, I loaded a brigade of my saltiest reservists onto some fishing trawlers and landed them behind the main column of blue troops and cut their rail line.

On one hand sacrificing thousands of men to briefly spit in the eye of the enemy is not my proudest moment as a general. On the other hand, given the combat effectiveness of reserve units, this raid is probably the most they will ever accomplish.
 

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Not much action this turn, my columns continued to advance, capturing one minor town and cutting off several others. The running naval battle between my planes and our two fleets continued. Blue bombarded some of my planes on a coastal airfield, and in turn my ships and planes damaged all the blue capital ships again, hopefully sinking them. My brave reservists who shipped in to cut blue's rail lines were all captured and our currently on a death march to a blue forced labor camp, however the rail line they cut remains cut this turn so blue supply levels have suffered just a bit.
 

Fungwu

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The pictures here show our respective advances in the central area of the map.

On the right my troops have already captured one minor city and have surrounded and are preparing to capture two more. The method of attack is for one infantry division to assault minimizing their losses with support from heavy artillery. Once the defenders are knocked out of their fortifications then the assault becomes more aggressive until they surrender. This keeps losses for the attacking troops quite low.

As per my plans my troops will be able to rest and set up a defensive front after these attacks are complete.

Blue forces are advancing in a few places, surrounding a few minor cities and bypassing one in the west to enter the territory of white. One mistake here I think was to bypass one city that is directly in Blue's line of communication to their home territory. Without capturing this city they can't complete their rail lines. Additionally after my amphibious attack last turn Blue did not garrison the ports along their rail line, so I landed an additional brigade of reservists to make sure the rail lines are not repaired this turn.

In the other picture you can see my main column's line of advance. I have captured gray capital and am proceeding on to green capital. The latter is my last obstacle on the way to the friendly white capital. Around here the two opposing forces should have their first major battle.
 

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This turn my naval armada was able to eliminate their blue counterparts, hopefully for good. My forces on the right side of the map have completed their objectives and captured the two cities they had previously surrounded.

Far to their north is blue's main armored force of 5 tank and armored car divisions and 2 cav divisions with a unit of motor artillery.

This powerful force suffers from a few things. They have no clear line of supply, and although they are advancing down a rail line, no rail repair units are connecting them to it, nor do they have a mobile supply unit. Currently they must be around 35% supplied and they have not yet attacked the defenders of Teal capital, which will doubtlessly drain them down further. Additionally they are over 30 hexes from my nearest forces so they will not be in the battle any time soon. This situation should allow me to concentrate on blue's weaker forces first, then I can attack his armored troops who appear to have no hope of entering the battle in a timely fashion or in a well supplied condition.

On the other side of the map the main battle is taking shape. My main column has 3 tank, 3 cavalry 8 infantry and 3 reserve divisions, supporting them are 3 artillery units, 2 rail repair units, and an engineering and bridging group. My units are on the whole in great shape. I have managed to dislodge the defenders of green capital, the last obstacle between me and blue forces. Identified blue forces in the area include 10 divisions and 2 arty units, although the real number is doubtlessly higher.

My rail line is proceeding apace, and this turn I was able to rail in 3 fresh infantry divisions and next turn I will be able to bring 2 more to the front. Blue's supply lines in the area are getting worse by the turn as his forces leave more garrisons in their rear. My reserve brigade that was shipped in last turn has been dislodged, but blue's rail line still ends at his original border.

I feel that blue has entered a 'zone of death' here. His troops can't be easily reinforced or resupplied because he has not cleared out the garrisons behind him yet. The many lakes and rivers in this region hem in his forces and make it more difficult to retreat, and finally he has fewer weaker divisions facing off against my most powerful units. I think I should be able to destroy, or force the retreat of all his forces in this area.

You can see the contrast here, Blue's most powerful units are way off in the desert with no supplies or hope of entering the battle any time soon, and my most powerful units have good supply, are getting reinforced, and are ready to launch a powerful attack against a relatively isolated portion of his army.

In conjunction with my attack I will move up some of my units on the right to the river line that extends east of Black capital and rest them there. This move will should pin his forces in the middle between my attack force on the left, and my infantry and cavalry coming from the right. The first phase of my attack will dislodge blue forces South of the river that runs through Black capital. If this succeeds I will try to follow up by crossing the river and reaching the lake that is west of Orange capital. This will separate Blue's main body of troops and any supplies or reinforcements they might receive. Then I will be able to attack from the West and south east and hopefully bring the campaign to a successful conclusion. around Black capital.
 

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Turn 6: Not much happened this turn, as both sides continued to advance. The only thing worth mentioning was a regiment of my cavalry deployed in the center which surrendered to a division of blue armored cars after a short pursuit.
 

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The main battle in the western portion of the map has begun. Blue had the opportunity to put his divisions in a relatively strong defensive position on the eastern side of white capital. Instead blue divisions crossed the river running through white capital and put themselves in a very vulnerable position.

Seeing an opportunity I launched my forces into an aggressive attack. My first move was to send a tank division around the northern end of his forces and attack a ferry unit forcing it to retreat. This move isolated 2 blue divisions on the wrong side of the river. I followed up this move with another infantry and tank divisions and in my attack routed both blue units, cutting their supplies and setting them up to be eliminated next turn.

The southern edge of blue deployment was 3 infantry divisions marching together and without defensive preparations. I attacked these with a tank and motorized division forcing them to retreat into the last blue unit in the area, an entrenched division and headquarters.

My next move will be to bring up my foot divisions and artillery and carry the attack across the river to destroy or rout the entire blue deployment in the area.

A little bit to the east, two cavalry divisions met, and mine was successful in its attack, forcing its blue counterpart to retreat. In this area a blue HQ and infantry division is engaged with a garrison from the nation of white. I have moved a foot infantry and additional cavalry division here with hopes of encircling and defeating the remaining blue division here.

You can see my earlier comment about this area being a 'zone of death' for blue playing out. The features of importance being the rivers and lakes and also the numerous fortified garrisons from the nation of white. The garrisons are pinning down and breaking up the coherence of the blue units and the rivers and lakes are giving me terrain features that I can pin blue units against as I attack them. While this area would be difficult to attack against a fortified defense, blue's offensive deployment has worked decisively against him.

I have provided an overall map of our respective deployments and my intelligence estimates for the opposing forces. On the whole my plan to concentrate my forces against a more dispersed and weak part of the blue army is playing out well. Not shown in the picture, I have taken one cavalry division and two artillery units away from my forces defending the mountains to the east and have prepared to send them by rail as reinforcement to my main attack in the west. Blue's most powerful concentration of forces is still in the desert area around Teal capital to the north east, and thus unable to affect the battle thus far.
 
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Fungwu

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This turn blue reinforced their shaky position by sending in 4 regiments of artillery and a cavalry division. I used my ferry engineers to cross the river behind blue's infantry with tanks and calvary. Chasing his artillery around my units ended up surrounding 4 blue infantry divisions and 3 artillery regiments in one hex. After a few rounds of combat my troops had forced this group to surrender, along with 2 other divisions in a different pocket, and also blue's group of ferry engineers. A fourth artillery regiment was under hot pursuit by a division of red tanks.

With the destruction of a significant blue force the way is open for me to carry my attack to the north east. To make this attack successful I have sent a further 3 divisions to the end of my railhead and will reinforce my attack group next turn as well.

Blue has about 4 identified regular divisions and at least 4 reserve divisions in the area, but I think these will be outmatched. Additional blue reinforcements are on the way from their capital and will arrive in not less than 2 turns I think.

Blue's forces on the other side of the map will be able to attack my own starting next turn. However I have managed to establish a strong looking fortified position in the mountains and I feel confident I will be able to meet the attack here.
 

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Turn 9: most of my forces have stopped to refuel. I captured a fourth artillery regiment that was left on the front line after last turn. Blue destroyed a bridge east of white capital with an air attack, but I've got a ferry set up and my engineers are trying to build a new one.

Blue reinforcements will probably arrive before my tanks are ready to move again, I'm going to try and advance with my infantry reserves next turn and gain a more favorable position. My rail line is about 6 hexes from being linked up to the frontline, should be done in 3 turns or less.
 

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Turn 10: My troops continue to rest as reinforcements are brought up on both sides.
 

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Turn 11: Another quiet turn as I await supplies and reinforcements.
 
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Fungwu

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Turn 12: Several blue divisions have been seen moving about. My thought is that they will advance along the blue arrows marked in the picture.

My choices are to reinforce these areas to withstand an attack, or to attack myself in such a way that the blue attack will have to be called off.

The second option seems better under the circumstances. I have one group of tanks and motorized troops that should be able to move next turn. I have a second that appeared at my capital this turn. I was able to rail half the group, about 3 divs, to the front this turn. The second half will join them next turn as my offensive begins along the axis of the red arrow.

I have 6 aviation units, 4 bombers and 2 fighters. 1 bomber wing is on interdiction at brown capital to help shore up the defenses on the right flank should blue advance next turn. One wing of fighters are with them as cover. The rest of my aviation is around white capital to support my attack.

I have 1 artillery unit at brown capital to assist the defense, 2 units in reserve, and 8 at the front.

I have 3 tank units at the front, and one in reserve.

Almost all my attacking power is concentrated already. I think the chances for success are therefore good. My first goal will be to reach the river to my north, the next phase will be to reach the lake further north. This will cut blue's rail communications to the rest of his forces, and should put me in a good position to defeat the main portion of the blue army. In terms of my flanks, I have stripped them down pretty low in terms of units, so it is important that I keep the initiative before blue can concentrate his forces for his own attack.
 

L`zard

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Just for kicks, where can this scenario be DL'ed, anyway?

I've looked around and am not finding it....

:clown:
 

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Detecting a strong body of blue mechanized troops in my intended line of advance it was decided to make the first series of attacks against a weaker concentration of blue troops to the east.

Assaults were carried out by infantry backed by artillery and tanks. Aircraft made tactical strikes against enemy artillery to suppress it during operations. One strategic airstrike was made to destroy a blue railroad bridge.

In conjunction with the attack a calvary division swept in from behind on the southern flank and armored car units drove through a small gap in the lines.

The result of the attacks are the destruction of 3 blue divisions and a corps level HQ. 3 more divisions, another HQ and an artillery brigade are now encircled.
 

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Red forces push up through the gap made last turn and meet a new blue line of resistance which is immediately attacked with some armor and motorized divisions.

Blue is making his own moves to attack in the east, so the tension is mounting to see whose attack will be more decisive.
 

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Turn 15:

This is what makes this scenario interesting. Each side has equal forces, and how you choose to deploy them has a big effect. By maximizing everything for my attack I had to be thin someplace else and now blue has launched a big attack.

His first move encircled 3 divisions 2 hqs and a cav regiment. He hasn't even launched the second wing of his attack yet, and that contains 5 armored divisions and some motorized artillery.

I decided to run away as fast as I could before the other half of my eastern defenses were surrounded. If you recall, I mentioned in my first post that this spot was the most dangerous for me. My backup strategy is to retreat to my border, which has a very narrow frontage because of lakes and rivers. I also have fixed border forts backed up by artillery forts. Additionally my reinforcements appear at my capital, which is 1 or 2 turns march from the border defenses.

One concern here is that enemy pursuit could easily catch my retreating column and destroy it. That would not be ideal.

In the next three turns I'm slated to get 6 infantry divisions and 6 motorized divisions including a tank division and an artillery brigade. Blue's reinforcements won't make it to this battle, but the blue force is large already with two tank divisions, several lighter armored car divisions, and perhaps a dozen infantry and cavalry divisions. His artillery is around 3 or 4 brigades.

My units in the area already are 12 odds and ends divisions, which won't be enough against his tanks. I also have 3 artillery brigades and 2 infantry and artillery forts. It should be close. One uncertain factor is ice. I am depending on some lakes to reduce frontage to about 4 hexes. But winter is already here. My Christmas present might be blue tanks driving around my defenders. He is player 1 so he can move before I could change my lines.

So, I will have to defend a good depth, or else be encircled before I have a chance to fight back.

He could halt his troops and do something else, possibly double back to black capital, or head west to strategically encircle my troops. I think these other possibilities are much less dangerous for me.

On the other side my attack is crunching through blue lines pretty well. This turn 6 more divisions were defeated and two new divisions joined the attack. A blue counterattack defeated one of my units, but the follow up broke the blue line in two spots.

The operations here pitted my tank divisions against weaker blue infantry formations. I was able to launch a pretty good airfield attack in the beginning of the turn to knock out blue's aviation and then I used my own to suppress the artillery as I attacked through the lines with tanks.

A lucky hit against a blue railroad bridge last turn has interrupted his reinforcements one turn, but there are a lot of them. I am vulnerable to a counterattack here and I will need to hurry. My main goal is to follow and and finish off the 6 divisions I threw back this turn. Then I want to defeat 5 blue armored can and tank divisions that are fortified on the western end of his line. Right now I am in position to sweep behind them and it is a question if his reinforcements can get there in time.

If blue reinforcements do reach the battle the next choice is whether I attack them or not. If I do my troops will be exposed to an attack in the rear from the blue force penetrating my own lines. On the other hand if my forces from the capital can stymie the blue attack, and my own attack can hurl itself through the blue reinforcements I can defeat the entire blue army.

So its a question of how much I want to risk and how much I want to gain. My plan will be to draw him in as much as I can on the right, and attack as much as possible on the left.

In any case, it ain't going to be over be Xhristmas...
 

shunwick

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Just for kicks, where can this scenario be DL'ed, anyway?

I've looked around and am not finding it....

:clown:
Kurt,

You already have this. It was released with the patch before last. It is nice to see an AAR with Deep Battle 1930 and I agree with Fungwu - it is a interesting scenario.

Best wishes,
Steve
 

L`zard

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Really? (blush) Well, that's the last place I'd have looked, LOL!

:hush::censored:



(Actually, old son, I don't seem to have it anymore......gotta copy?)
 
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Fungwu

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Blue asked for a ceasefire until winter is over. With supply down to a max of 8 and an average of 1 in the field, I was happy to agree. Open fire is on turn 27, current turn is 17.

At the end of my offensive my troops are now in possession of the river bend I had my eyes on from turn 1. Blue forces managed to push my troops on the east back to the border however. So I guess I sacrificed one piece of territory for another, when the battle resumes we'll see if I made the right analysis.
 
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