Hatten Advice

Craig Benn

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I'm going to be playing this as the Americans when my Red Factories CG ends. (Currently on Turn5 of 3rd date - reckon there will be a 4th but not a 5th date).

Looking forward to getting out of Stalingrad and I have to say it looks very good.

There doesn't seem to be too many AARs of this so wondering if any advice for playing the Yanks? I know my opponent has already played and won this twice as the Germans.

On a very quick analysis - on raw squad numbers the US start with an advantage of 5-10 squads depending on purchases but lower quality, start separated so can be defeated in detail, and Germans have better armour.

From that point on, each side can only buy a company a date, so total infantry purchases are going to be fairly even. Although the US gets bonuses on 3rd date and either date 4 or 5 effectively they have to be spent on toys not extra infantry.

There doesn't seem to be as big a shift from US defence to attack as say KG Peiper. It seems unlikely either side will annihilate the other - to shift to attack the US needs to husband armour to begin with so it has the numbers to swarm later. Maybe.

Thoughts?
 

jyoung

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I'm playing this now, for the first time, as the Germans (middle of day 1, very even so far). I'll be watching this thread closely...;)
 

JR Brackin

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I played the US and decided to fall back slowly conceding the easy victory areas to the Germans. I drew a line in the middle which allowed me to get my reinforcements to help hold that line (I did keep pressure on the RR Station hex and only lost it for two turns - the gravyard is a last day counter attack option - although keeping mortars on it is a good idea). It was a tense first day, but I conserved my force and took low casualties. Since the Germans have a high morale, wait for the PB or OG shots, this will make them wary. Also do not under estimate the TDs - on day one one of mine took out 3 Stugs that just kept driving into hi open sights.

The other is pay attention to when you think that he will take his Idle day - I was able to hit the same one which allowed for more reinforcements to be added. I liked the Bombardment and use of OBA helped a lot also.

My opponent conceded on Day 5 when he realized I had about double his armor and while we equal on the map in Infantry with more reinforcements coming he was in trouble of a counterattack.

One other item - until you are ready to counterattack allow the Germans to go first and control the clock - ending on T5 or at your option T6 is a nice advantage.
 

Vinnie

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Rememebr to HIP your onmap tank destroyers. I did not do this and he just simply swarmed tham with infantry.
The open area beyond the railway embankment is a killing ground for your mortars. They can set up quite far back and pound anything that appears there. These boys can eat halftracks so the only option of overrunning them is to send precious tanks to deal with them and they can be reached and overwhelmed by your reinforcements.
 

zgrose

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There doesn't seem to be as big a shift from US defence to attack as say KG Peiper. It seems unlikely either side will annihilate the other - to shift to attack the US needs to husband armour to begin with so it has the numbers to swarm later. Maybe.

Thoughts?
IMO, CG Day 1 is the German attack. CG Day 2+ is the American counter-attack.
 

jyoung

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The open area beyond the railway embankment is a killing ground for your mortars. They can set up quite far back and pound anything that appears there.
And there are so many of them, and they all have ROF 3 :( I had to devote some OBA to try to break up a giant cluster of mortar-wielding half-squads.
 

Craig Benn

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Hmmmm. Just noticed Mist on turns 1-2 of the first date and additional +1 LV hindrance on Turn1. That's annoying. Gives the bad guys a good start to get forward.

I was thinking on same lines about HIP tank destroyers and mortars at the back.

Thanks everyone.
 

Craig Benn

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I'm playing Operation Hubertus- the combined Red October CGII and Red Barricades CGII.

Although I gave up on the October side after Date1. Remaining action is on the Barricades map.
 

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Based on one playing of the CG: I think the Germans can annihilate the at start US forces or load up on their tanks and SPWs and drive to J17 before the US reinforcements arrive, but that it is very difficult to achieve both objectives. I had the on board US forces quite far forward and hardly any of them survived, but the front line at the end of the day was along the Rue de Wissembourg.

A general word of advice on this CG: watch the OBA: with the amended rules, it is much more reliable than in normal ASL. Something to plan your attack or defence around.
AK
 
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Doug Kirk

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The Americans should play ultra conservative. Conserve units at all costs. Give up space. If Americans can avoid large losses early, they will have overwhelming numbers in the late scenarios.
 

jyoung

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The Americans should play ultra conservative. Conserve units at all costs. Give up space. If Americans can avoid large losses early, they will have overwhelming numbers in the late scenarios.
My American opponents are taking a different view, losses are perfectly acceptable as long as they are one-for-one, will still end up with an advantage. Early days but so far I'd say it's working.
 

zgrose

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My American opponents are taking a different view, losses are perfectly acceptable as long as they are one-for-one, will still end up with an advantage. Early days but so far I'd say it's working.
I tend to agree, if you give up too much space for free, you’re going to need luck to keep the Germans from achieving their goals.

A proper German attack on CG1 probably won’t give you anywhere to fallback to anyway. They should be in your backfield and the reinforcements will push them away from the VCs.
 

Vinnie

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The germans do not have enough armour to defend all their halftracks. They have to rely on infantry to protect them. This enables the US player to pick off the occasional on at long range. Add to that the excessive amounts of smoke the US can produce and they can isolate parts of the battlefield to counter attack sections.
 

jyoung

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The open area beyond the railway embankment is a killing ground for your mortars. They can set up quite far back and pound anything that appears there. These boys can eat halftracks so the only option of overrunning them is to send precious tanks to deal with them and they can be reached and overwhelmed by your reinforcements.
The massed mortars are also a very significant threat against the other armor, an immobilization result is as good as a kill against a JgdPz IV or StuG III if they can't turn to confront the oncoming tidal wave of Shermans.
 

horseshoe

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I'm playing Operation Hubertus- the combined Red October CGII and Red Barricades CGII.

Although I gave up on the October side after Date1. Remaining action is on the Barricades map.
Funny you say you gave up on the October side. I was the Germans playing this and conceded the Barricades side. We called it a draw as it was fairly obvious i was not going to be able to beat the Russians in the factory complex but captured plenty more stone locations than required on the October map.

That's why ASL is such a great game.
 
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