Human wave and overstacking

[rporrini]

Playing Guards Counterattack (yes I am at THIS newbie level!) I started a Human wave with all the russian 6-2-8s in the first turn.

To let you figure the form of the wave think to a "L" laying on the left side. Three 3-squads on the first line and one 3-squads on the second line behind the rightmost 3-squads.

The first wave step went well. Just a couple squads went broken in the same hex.

During the second step the human wave followed the same direction and the wave 2nd line went in the same hex the two broken squads were. This was the catastrophe. Shooting at -4 DRM german had easy way for my quick defeat.

Now I noted to myself not to start a Human wave so shaped. But the question is:

Could I have avoided this? Does the rules allow a Human wave squad to move in a different direction so to avoid overstacking?

Thank you for listening.

Raffaele

 

[alanp]

First, a caveat: I'm using 1st Ed. rules. With that said, you DO have freedom to move to either(of up to 3 different)forward hexes--as defined by 25.2311--OR a side hex IF occupied by a German. Otherwise, over-stacking isn't a valid reason to not move into a forward hex. One other thing you may want to consider--and not just for HW moves--is that subsequent first fire isn't allowed at targets further away than the nearest target. So, you MAY have been able to move in such a way that the guys in the '2nd tier' couldn't have been targeted because the Germans had closer enemies. Then again, it may have been different Germans doing the -4 shot you mentioned so you couldn't have gotten around this.

Human Waves are handy in overwhelming out-numbered defenders, raising your morale and gaining more MFs but it's not a guarantee of success(!)

Regards,
Alan