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Controlling your units.
Coordinating your units is an art.
Use the phase lines on your map to control movement of your units.
By using the phase lines you can keep units “in line” and not
let them get to far ahead. If
one of your units prematurely initiates an attack other units may not be
in position to support it. You
also have coordinating points available in the graphics editor.
I haven’t used them much, but I believe you can use them to mark
points on a route, mark attack positions or resupply areas, etc.
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Establish an attack position before you make
contact with the enemy. Simply
draw another phase line that puts your units far enough from the enemy so
you aren't engaged by his ground forces, basically you want a position
where you won't be harassed. This
attack position is where you organize for combat, position units, resupply,
plan artillery positions to support the attack, using your UAVs get
another look at the defense, etc.
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Targeting priorities.
High Value Targets or HVTs are targets the enemy commander needs to
accomplish his mission. For example, through your analysis of the enemy you may
determine that his artillery units are critical to his success; he has a
lot of them, and feels that without them he will fail.
This is a HVT, attack and destroys it, and you are halfway there.
So, plan your targets accordingly and commit the right resources to
defeat it.
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Define unit boundaries. Unit boundaries help
maintain the cohesiveness of your units by keeping together.
For example you don’t want to mix units from the 1st
ID (M) with units from 1st AD.
Likewise you want to keep your brigades within their own boundaries
as well. Remember this is not
a rule, in some cases you may want to “stack” your brigades one after
the other. You decide, the
bottom line is you must be able to manage your units, and the area they
are operating in.
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Maneuver units must be coordinated in their attack
and maneuver. You don't want
to send them in piecemeal, like General Franks (VII Corps Commander during
the Persian Gulf War) said you want to hit them with a fist.
Don't tickle the defender with one unit at a time; crush him with
your whole body. Maneuver means getting your units into a position of
advantage usually in the rear or flank of the enemy.
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Artillery must be in position to support the
attack. That's why I advocate
attaching your direct support or DS artillery units to your maneuver
brigades or battalions. DS
units are Field Artillery units that “belong” to a division.
Each division has a Division Artillery or DIVARTY that consist of
four battalions, three DS battalions, and one General Support or GS
battalion. The DS battalions
provide direct support to the three maneuver (infantry or armor) brigades
within the division; by attaching the DS battalions directly to the
brigades they are able to provide more responsive fires to the supported
unit. The DIVARTY GS BN
usually MLRS will shoot SEAD or Counter-Fire (CF) missions for the
division. In addition to
DIVARTY units you may also be assigned Corps Artillery or CARTY units.
These units are GS units and can augment the fires of the DIVARTY
units. They will normally
shoot CF and SEAD missions, but can shoot in interdiction mode, except for
MLRS. In real life MLRS would
not normally shoot interdiction fires.
But this is a game so you can do what you like.
I can tell you that MLRS is most effective against ARTY (CF) or ADA
(SEAD).
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Conduct a thorough recon.
Remember recon is continuous, it never stops.
The moment you lose "sight" of the enemy something bad
will happen. That's why
maintaining some kind of contact is so important.
Using your recon units, and in some cases maneuver units, to
establish a security screen to prevent the enemy from getting his recon
units "eyes" on you. This
is known as counter-recon. If
you can, try to destroy these units, but don't become decisively engaged
until you are ready.
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NAIs or Named Areas of Interest are used to confirm
or deny enemy presence or actions. You
could place your NAIs around the objective, or you could place them in key
terrain. What is key terrain? Key
terrain would be any piece of ground that could offer the enemy some kind
of advantage. For example the
NTC map has a number of mountain passes, if the enemy were holding one of
those passes it would be a nice thing to know.
Roads or main avenues of approach (usually in restrictive terrain)
are also key areas to watch. A
great place for an NAI is a bridge, or some other “chokepoint.” |
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TAIs or Target Area of Interest is where you plan
to kill the enemy. TAIs offer
a combat bonus to air strikes, ARTY, and helos, so you definitely want to
plan them carefully. In the
offense your TAIs are usually around your objective, but they can be
placed along key areas of your route.
You always want to use your helos in conjunction with TAIs.
If you are going to commit a huge combat multiplier like your atk
helos then you must maximize their effectiveness.
You do this by engaging targets within TAIs.
Remember you can reposition your TAIs, but they won't become
effective until the next turn.
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Units must be re-supplied before they go into
combat. That's why you must
pause to re-supply prior to initiating contact.
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ADA units must be "networked" to cover a
majority of the force, or you may assign them to critical units.
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Attack Helos must also be synchronized with the
force to deliver their blow at the right moment.
For example on the approach march prior to contact you might send
your atk helos in for a raid taking out critical points in the defense.
Remember don't make your atk helos flying targets by not assigning
them a target type. Assign
target types at the beginning of the game just in case you forget during
the heat of the battle.
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Close Air Support or CAS should also be coordinated
with the attack. Use them in
conjunction with atk helos and artillery.
If your air sorties are limited choose only the most critical
targets.
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UAVs. Your UAVs are an invaluable asset, use them
to "trace" the main defensive belt, and use them deep to
identify critical targets such as combat service support or CSS, and unit
HQs. Use a zigzag pattern
working towards you to get the best coverage.
You will lose your UAVs at some point in the game; it's just a fact
of life.
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