KP Tutorial - Capturing Radvanovka

My "tutorial" so far has been far more lacking in specifics than I would have liked, so I am expanding on it with this next tutorial that is much smaller in scope. When you fire up the Korsun Pocket full campaign as Russians, make sure that "objective points" are toggled on (the I key) as well as city names (the N key) and you should see Radvanovka at hex 55,31. I neglected to talk about objective points in my prior tutorial, although they are quite self-explanatory. Basically, you get points for capturing objectives and holding objectives, and the number of points that you get depends on what turn the objective is captured or held on. Obviously, the attacker wants to capture objectives as early as possible, while the defender wants to hold them as long as possible. If you click-down on Radvanovka and mouse-over the Russian side symbol while the pop-up window is displayed (keep holding the mouse button), you will see details on how many points this objective is worth. If the Russians capture this point before turn two is over, they get 25 points.



You should be able to capture Radvanovka on turn one. The first order of business is to eliminate the strongpoint at 56,31. If you right click on this hex, you see that tactical shifts are awarded for attacking from the top-right and bottom-right of the hex, but none of the other sides, because of the minefields.



I split the 69th Gd Infantry between the two vulnerable edges and initiated a combat. If I add a single artillery unit to this attack (there is one nearby to the east), I can pad out the combat odds to 7-1 and almost certainly destroy the fortification. However, if you click near the bottom left of the screen where it says "overrun" in yellow, you will see that if the attackers outnumber the defenders 6-1, you will get an overrun attack on this attack--meaning that the attackers won't use up their action points. This is a very good thing as it allows for units to make multiple attacks in one turn, so try cancelling the attack (click exit) and move some more units in place to join the attack. When you have enough units, the combat display will clearly indicate that you are making an overrun attack. Also, with additional attackers, I now see that I am certain to destroy the stronghold with only 5-1 odds (there is a -1 shift) and the artillery isn't even necessary. I'll save the artillery for Radvanovka itself, and simply execute the attack that I already have.



You'll notice that having clicked the red "attack" button, the strongpoint remains in place! This is because the strongpoint has two steps, and you probably only did one step of damage to it (unless you wastefully added more units to the attack.) Fortunately, because the attack was an overrun attack, you can attack again with the same units to finish the job. This time I had 8-1 odds because now the defense value of the defending strongpoint is weakened.

Now Radvanovka is exposed. Right-clicking on it reveals its defenses in detail: the hex contains an infantry unit with defense power 8 and a picket fortification with defense power 5. In this case, the defender has at least 3 steps and is entrenched, so no overrun is possible. This means that we need to ensure there is enough offensive power to hit Radvanovka twice without being able to re-use any of the attackers, and also have some units bringing up the rear who are able to move in to actually ocupy the point. For the purposes of this tutorial, let's bring out the big guns--the 25th Gd Infantry in hex 58,33. You should be able to move all three units up next to Radvanovka. Hunt around for other particularly strong units that you can use to attack--you want the strongest possible to be able to drive the defenders away.



The general idea is to attack with only one unit at first to destroy the picket, and then use the remaining attackers to route the defending infantry. There is plenty of artillery at our disposal, so creating two such attacks should be no problem. Make sure the first attack is certain to destroy the picket, but don't use any more force than you need to--if you can save your strongest forces for the second attack, it will be easier to make the defending force retreat.

In spite of your best efforts, you will probably find that it takes a lucky die roll to drive the defender from Radvanovka on turn 1. I had to take a 50% chance to make it happen. If you manage to clear Radvanovka, try moving a unit in to defend it, or the enemy may re-occupy it next turn (however, to do so would be ill advised, since the Russians can probably surround Radvanovka on turn 2 with a concerted effort, and any forces still defending it would almost certainly be lost.) Making such a movement requires you to use the extended movement button--sacrificing a unit's attack action for the turn to get more movement points instead.

Capturing Radvanovka on turn 1 is possible if you aren't pulling any punches, however in a real game you wouldn't want to use any more forces for the task than are necessary; in fact, you are better off spending the whole of turn 1 clearing strongpoints and not worrying about Radvanovka specifically until turn 2. Think about how you can most effectively allocate your attackers and artillery to do as much damage in turn 1 as possible, and don't be afraid to take some risks--you may find that it's better to have two 66% chances to clear two different strongpoints than to have one 100% chance to clear one of them.

Korsun Pocket - Basic Tutorial

--Intro--

I intend for this to be the kind of tutorial that I would have liked to have I had when I first started playing Korsun Pocket. It's important to understand, however, that I am still learning how to play KP, and I still have a lot to learn. That having been said, this tutorial will assume that you don't need help figuring out how to move units or need to be told what "fog of war" means. This tutorial also assumes that you won't want to start off by reading up on what each and every button in the user interface is for, and that you'd rather just be given enough information to be able to beat the computer for starters.

A lot of the stuff I'm about to say is common sense, but I will also illustrate how to apply that common sense in-game as the tutorial progresses. Generally speaking, this tutorial covers the following bits of advice:
- examine the strength of your units
- read the terrain
- use artillery
- distribute your attack strength
- avoid being surrounded
- mind your supply situation

--Getting Right Into It--

This tutorial is going to be more effective if you can somehow read it and have the game open at the same time. That way you can try stuff out, etc. and see what I'm talking about. If you can, fire up the game right now and select the Korsun Pocket full scenerio. Set the Axis side to be played as the computer. For getting the general hang of the game, playing as the Russians is easier, since they are on the attack in this scenerio. You'll notice that there are two fronts where the Russians are advancing: one on the far east side of the map, and one on the far west side. The action on the west side does not begin for three turns, so for now direct your attention to the eastside of the map.

--UI Tips--

Let's begin with some user interface tips that I've found helpful. This is not a tutorial on the user interface; just a quick list of things that you might find handy.
- use the L key to deselect a unit
- use the Spacebar to toggle between selecting all units in the current hex and only one unit in the current hex
- use CTRL-P to generate a screenshot of the current map (the entire map--not just what is currently on-screen) in the game's install directory
- hold down the ALT key for a magnifying glass

--Unit Strength--

It's important to recognise that the units you get in Korsun Pocket differ drastically in strength. Some units will have exceptionally high attack power and you should use these to lead your assaults. Some units are merely mediocre or have better defense values than attack values, so use these as support for your attacks (to apply additional pressure) or to create defensive lines. Finally, some units will have low power values or are lacking in steps. It is often a waste of resources to use reinforcements to bolster your weaker units, but you will also lose points if you allow your enemy to destroy them, so use these units to bring up the flank, defend remote areas, or execute diversionary operations.

As a general rule of thumb, armored units (tanks) are best for attacking and infantry is best for defending, but so far as I know, the numbers don't lie, so keep an eye on the actual stats. If you have the Korsun Pocket scenerio loaded and are playing as the Russians, click through the various units you have and check out their offensive and defensive power levels. Below is a screenshot of the three regiments that make up the 25th Gd Infantry division.



Notice that all three regiments are at full strength (3 steps each) with attack power of 13 and defensive power of 15. These are good units to attack with.

Now look to the 20th and 29th Tank Corps to the west fo the 25th Gd Infantry. Notice how these units are missing steps and have much lower attack values. If you can boost them with reinforcements, they should be useful attackers, but I wouldn't push them too far in their current condition.

--Terrain--

The first thing to realise here is that the terrain type for a given hex may not be entirely obvious just from looking at it. This is because Korsun Pocket does not use a "palette" of hex tiles to construct the in-game maps; rather, the map is one large bitmap, thereby introducing some abiguity as to the terrain type of each hex in exchange for better artistic value. If you want to be sure of what you are doing, you must click on a hex to see what it's terrain type is. Keep that in mind.

Common sense applies here: urban terrain is the best place to defend from, forests and hilltops are also good positions to take, and open terrain is the worst. It's good to defend from across a river (this prevents your opponent from gaining a bonus CRT shift from having your unit attacked by multiple enemy units all at once), and rivers are major movement obstacles. Pay extra attention to rivers and bridges, because your tank units will not be able to cross rivers without a bridge, and also pay attention to your engineers since they can be used to repair bridges. Finally, you will want to be aware of minefields and strongpoints; these work to the defender's advantage by hindering the attacker's advance.

--Artillery--

Artillery is absolutely essential for mounting an effective offensive in Korsun Pocket--in fact, it is probably the single most important thing. Without artillery, breaking the enemy lines requires a heavy concentration of powerful units bearing down on one spot; with artillery support, fewer powerful units need to be dedicated, allowing for the enemy line to be broken in multiple places. The reason for this--speaking in terms of the game rules--is because artillery power is not measured in terms of simple "attack power," but rather in terms of combat shifts. So if an attack is proceeding at, say, 5-1 odds, and a +2 shift piece of heavy artillery is thrown into the mix, the odds column used in the CRT is 7-1. That is often far more effective than adding that many more units to the combat.

The first turn as Russians in the full KP scenerio is a good place to play around with the effects of artillery. Initiate an attack on a German strongpoint and see how adding more artillery to the attack improves your combat odds and the possible outcomes of the attack. It should become apparent how using artillery can be even more effective than adding other units to the attack.

--Distributed Strength--

One aspect of KP that wasn't immediately obvious to me at first was that several sufficently strong attacks can be far more effective than a single super-strong attack. For instance, if an enemy unit is surrounded and out of ammo, it will be far more effective to attack that unit two or three times with weaker attacks than to hit it all at once with everything you have. The difference could be as severe as eliminating the enemy unit in one turn versus taking three turns to completely wipe it out. Another place where this principle is important is in breaking down enemy fortifications, particularly during the first turn. As the Russians, the first turn is a simple story of "more progress = better"; it isn't until later that it is possible to get too far ahead of oneself (ie. getting your units cut off from supply.)

In order to better familiarize myself with this part of the game, I actually played through the first turn as the Russians several times without even bothering with turn 2, and I recommend that you do the same. Try to clear away as many German strongpoints as possible and see how far you can wedge your units into the German line. You should be able to make better progress by spreading your attack power around and making many smaller attacks rather than a few powerful ones.

--Keeping the Enemy In Front of You--

An aspect of KP that I learnt the hard way is how easy it is for units to get surrounded. This is more important for the Germans, on defense, but it also applies for the Russians. Basically, a unit that gets completely encircled by the enemy is almost always lost, and units trapped behind enemy lines are usually difficult to recover. To avoid this sort of thing from happening, form lines with your units rather than bunches. You might think that one super-strong bunch of defenders will hold an objective point longer than a spread-out line over three or four hexes, and you would often be right--a skillful opponent will break your defensive line forcing you to pull back and regroup. The difference is that the units in the line will tend to survive having held the enemy off for a turn or two, whereas the powerful bunched-up defenders will be surrounded and annihilated a few turns later. Even if your opponent loses 50 points by failing to capture the objective in time, you will probably have lost three or more times that amount in points alone, and you will have fewer forces left for defending objective points elsewhere.

I got my practice in building defensive lines through first playing as the Germans against a human opponent (I lost badly) and then switching sides to play as the attacker against the same opponent. My opponent was also playing KP for the first time, so when we switched, he made many of the same mistakes as I did--bunching up his units to create strong pockets of defense but thereby weakining his overall defenses in the long run. I don't know if there's a particularly good scenerio to see this aspect of play in action against the computer, but you're bound to see it consistently in general.

--Supply--

This area of the game is fairly sketchy for me. It's obvious enough that supply routes originate from supply points and follow roads, and that supply trucks also help distribute supply to units within a radius around them, but I am sometimes still surprised to find that one or more of my units has been cut-off. It's probably just that I keep forgetting to check on the effects of bad weather turns. In any case, the general idea here is to avoid moving your units into enemy lines without backup and, perferably, a supply truck in the vicinity. It is also of vital importance to not allow your enemy to destroy your supply trucks, as this will tend to make supplying your units that much more difficult in the future.

--More to Come--

I hope to post a lot more details and case-by-case sort of tutorial info in the coming posts. What I will probably do is play through the KP full scenerio as Russians and write quick posts about the more interesting developments that occur along with what decisions I'm making and why. I'll then move on to playing as the Germans and playing other scenerioes such as The Ardennes Offensive.

Battle for Moscow

Before I get started on Korsun Pocket, I'd like to point out a neat little wargame called Battle for Moscow that can be downloaded (in paper form--not as a computer game) and played for free:

http://grognard.com/bfm/

Battle for Moscow is a beginner-level game that introduces many of the core aspects of hex-based strategy wargames such as Korsun Pocket.

Introduction

I really enjoy strategy wargames and would like to someday have a sufficiently studied grasp of them to be able to effectively design my own. At the moment, I have a long way to go, which is where this blog fits in. My basic goal here is to document various experiences that I have in the learning process, not only so that somebody else might benefit from my notes, but also in the hopes of generating a bit of feedback. So if you are a grognard, or even just a wargammer with an opinion, don't hesitate to post some comments about my blog.

I have several wargames in mind that I intend to study up on, but at the top of the current list is SSG's "Decisive Battles of World War II: Korsun Pocket." Eventually I'd like to get around to "Battles in Normandy" of the same series, but presently time and money don't quite allow for it. In any case, I will start by roughly documenting what I understand about Korsun Pocket so far, and posting about further things that I learn as I learn them.