GCACW Tactics: Tricks of the Trade
It sure seems like I spent a lot of time in 2008 and 2009 planning my next move in the GCACW PBEM tournament, and I thought it might be useful to document some of the techniques I used frequently. I may not be the best GCACW player to be passing along winning techniques, so you may want to take this all with a grain of salt, but I have played a while, had some successes, and have seen a lot of great methods used against me. So, I thought I’d pass along 10 tactics and other techniques that I used in the PBEM tournament. I’ve included some examples from those tournament scenarios. The broader strategies to employ are very dependent on the scenario being played and cannot be addressed here, but I certainly found myself using a lot of the same tactics and techniques. Presumably these techniques will be transferable to the GCACW series as it heads west in Battle Above the Clouds (BAC), since the same system, with enhancements, will be used. In any event, these are some of the techniques I’ve learned to use for the GCACW “classics.”
1. Flank attack to cause retreat losses
That I might start with flank attacks is no surprise. Without the benefits of the positive modifiers from gaining a flank, as we as all know, frontal assaults can be very costly. And call me a perfectionist, but I don’t want to just get a flank attack, I want to get the “right kind” of flank attack, namely, one that forces the enemy unit to suffer losses on retreat. Since this technique is integral to my play, I will spend the most time on it.
I tend to use my flank attacks by units on their way to take objective hexes, that is, typically when I am the aggressor in the scenario. The trick, of course, is that you cannot put yourself out of position with a flank attack. Thus, units in a defensive position cannot necessarily just go out and look for flank attacks, while the aggressor just marches right through the defender’s old hex and right toward an objective.
So, if I’m in a position to be the aggressor, I want to attack and get flanks. And I want to attack units from the optimal direction, forcing the enemy unit to retreat in the direction that generates one or more retreat losses. I do this because retreat losses are equivalent to manpower losses in generating VPs (victory points). (To force a retreat, the result on the combat chart must be at least a +2 in your favor; that is the attacker’s die roll must exceed the defenders by 2, after all the modifiers including the key flank modifier of up to +4.) Often it is easier to generate a retreat loss on the enemy unit than it is a manpower loss. Thus, it is critical to become very familiar with the “retreat chart,” and which kinds of retreats cause retreat losses. In general, the presence of roads or friendly units to retreat across reduces or eliminates retreat losses, as does retreating further away from the attacker. In many cases, though, the retreat path allowed by the retreat chart leaves the defender no real choice to avoid losses. I always want to know my opponent’s options for retreating before I attack so I can choose the optimal direction to attack from.
If my opponent has stacked more than one unit in a hex, and they are not all that powerful, that encourages me even more to go for attack and retreat losses. (The rule is that each unit takes retreat losses separately, so the losses can add up quickly.) You may attack and just get a retreat result without even inflicting any combat losses, but voila, if there are 2 defending units and they each take a combat loss on retreat, that is a big loss for the defender. For the Rebs in many of the scenarios later in the war, they suffer more VP losses from combat/retreat losses than does the USA, so for the USA, the gain in inflicting losses is even greater.
Not only can I sometimes force a manpower loss in retreat, but maybe I can even push the unit behind my lines where it can be mopped up in further combat without going much out of my way. The VP gain can be substantial. If the defending unit started the action at F0 (fatigue 0), after being forced to retreat it is up to F3 and has only one movement action left that turn to evade me; if it is all the way to F4 after retreat, it is a sitting duck and I may be able to go after it and rout it in detail.
I love to use what I call the “wolf pack” technique as much as possible, with a multiple-unit corps out looking for a solitary enemy unit within range to surround and attack all in one move. In McDowell (SIV), Jackson can potentially activate a whole slew of units, up to 6, which makes for an extremely powerful operational force, perhaps even completely surrounding an enemy unit in one move and causing the nasty 3-manpower loss for retreating through an enemy unit. In Sedgwick to the Rescue (SLB), Jackson can use substitutes to break his divisions into multiple smaller brigades, which enables lots of surrounding opportunities.
Those moves that generate big retreat losses can often be game-changers. The opportunities are out there. Twice in the tournament I completely surrounded units and forced them to retreat through my units. Once I had a 5-hex surround, generating a nasty retreat loss.