General Winter

6L6 wrote:Hi n7axw, It seems to me that with confrounting a 700,000 strong army the best strategy would to stage hit and run attacks against the supplies. With that many troops to feed starvation will soon set in.

6L6 wrote:I would think that sharp attacks in the middle of the night to set fire to ammo and supply dumps then quickly back out with ambushes set to discourage pursuit and lot's of mines, use set piece battles to pin them in place when supplies run low. block supply routes but withdraw when overwhelming force is brought to bear would degrade CoGA armies to point of surrender.

Henry Brown wrote:

n7axw wrote:Hi Lyonheart,

My notion of things would be to hit the Harchongians and hit them hard before they have a chance to divide into more manageable sized armies. They are spread out along that canal like beads on a string which would make them vulnerable to flanking attacks. Their weakness is going to be lack of mobility for their infantry and poor logistics. Exploit that for all it's worth.

At the same time cut their supply line from behind by blowing the locks.

Don

You know, I hadn't really considered the notion of attacking the Harchongese army right away. I've been thinking more in terms of assuming a strong defensive position, digging in, and making the Harchongese army attack them. Perhaps with preparations in place for a counterattack in the even that a significant defensive victory is won.

My thinking has been influenced by the sheer size of the Harchongese army. Historically, it has been easier to defeat larger armies by defending, rather than by attacking. However, your notion of hit them hard and hit them early is intriguing. Right now there IS a fairly significant difference between the Harchonese army and the ICA in terms of weapons and combat power. I think the ICA could mount a successful offensive against a larger Harchongese force.

But I wonder if that is enough. From what I seem to remember, the Harchongese army has over 1 million men (though not enough rifles to equip all of them). So lets assume the ICA assembles a 100,000 man strike force. Let's further assume they execute a successful attack at 3 to 1 odds and they inflict a favorable casualty ratio on the portion of the Harchongese army they attack. That being said, they have only defeated 300,000 men. There are still over 700,000 men waiting.

But your point about logistics is spot on. If somehow the supply line behind the Harchonese army could be cut, then it would be a game changer.

kbus888 wrote:=2014/10/15=

I am NOT an expert on any kind of fighting, but it is my opinion that most fights are won by ATTACKING, and not by being DEFENSIVE.

Attacking while the enemy spread out while simply traveling to the battlefield and not really ready to fight seems a good idea to me.

When you are heavily outnumbered, it seems to me that guerrilla tactics are often very effective.

??Comments??

R
.

Henry Brown wrote:
You know, I hadn't really considered the notion of attacking the Harchongese army right away. I've been thinking more in terms of assuming a strong defensive position, digging in, and making the Harchongese army attack them. Perhaps with preparations in place for a counterattack in the even that a significant defensive victory is won.

My thinking has been influenced by the sheer size of the Harchongese army. Historically, it has been easier to defeat larger armies by defending, rather than by attacking. However, your notion of hit them hard and hit them early is intriguing. Right now there IS a fairly significant difference between the Harchonese army and the ICA in terms of weapons and combat power. I think the ICA could mount a successful offensive against a larger Harchongese force.

But I wonder if that is enough. From what I seem to remember, the Harchongese army has over 1 million men (though not enough rifles to equip all of them). So lets assume the ICA assembles a 100,000 man strike force. Let's further assume they execute a successful attack at 3 to 1 odds and they inflict a favorable casualty ratio on the portion of the Harchongese army they attack. That being said, they have only defeated 300,000 men. There are still over 700,000 men waiting.

But your point about logistics is spot on. If somehow the supply line behind the Harchonese army could be cut, then it would be a game changer.

n7axw wrote:
Just visualize how long the Harchongese flank must be along that canal. Heck, you could even divide your 100,000 man army into 4 sections each supplied with mortars hit it about four places. Their mobility is going to suck. There is no way on earth they could react and concentrate enough to prevent you from really raising havoc and chopping up their lines. Then, too, remember that only about 600,000 of that army are armed with rifles at all, and that mostly muzzle loaders. The rest are arbalasts, bows and stone slings, for pity sake.

Don

pokermind wrote:During WW II Ski troops were used by the Germans, Russians, and Finns to raid behind enemy lines. Cross country skiing allows troops to move rapidly in winter I wonder if we will see more winter war? Glacier Heartians and Herchongiese are used to the cold maybe very good at this on each side. There are lots of Herchongiese and the Glacier Heartians are experienced in Winter war.

Hmm who do you think General Winter will favor Charis and Sidermark, or the Army of God in Winter War?

Poker

DrakBibliophile wrote:I'd think that in war it's better to "act" than "react".

IE keep the enemy reacting to what you do rather than reacting to what the enemy does.

Mind you, in the type of warfare currently fought on Safehold, you can destroy the enemy's army by fighting to defend a position that the enemy has to take.

Note, I'm (at best) an arm-chair LT.

kbus888 wrote:=2014/10/15=

I am NOT an expert on any kind of fighting, but it is my opinion that most fights are won by ATTACKING, and not by being DEFENSIVE.

Attacking while the enemy spread out while simply traveling to the battlefield and not really ready to fight seems a good idea to me.

When you are heavily outnumbered, it seems to me that guerrilla tactics are often very effective.

??Comments??

R
.

{SNIP}

jgnfld wrote:

pokermind wrote:During WW II Ski troops were used by the Germans, Russians, and Finns to raid behind enemy lines. Cross country skiing allows troops to move rapidly in winter I wonder if we will see more winter war? Glacier Heartians and Herchongiese are used to the cold maybe very good at this on each side. There are lots of Herchongiese and the Glacier Heartians are experienced in Winter war.

Hmm who do you think General Winter will favor Charis and Sidermark, or the Army of God in Winter War?

Poker

I have seen no textev of X-country skis. I'm not even sure I remember snowshoes though in mountain passes you'd think that would be a neccesity.

SWM wrote:...
Snowshoes and I believe skis were used by the local partisans in Glacierheart.