This Tactics Talk is a spin off from my ongoing The Costly Clipper series of AARs. One of my counterattacks, launched by a fresh infantry regiment, slipped though enemy lines under the cover of darkness and has discovered resting HHQs as well as a division base! I am going to breakdown the significance of these discoveries and explore their potential impact on the battlefield.
(Quick Note: Throughout this post there will be reference to page numbers which refer to the Game Manual which can be found on the CO2 Discord)
The German 104 Regt is successfully attacking the enemy's rear area.
Importance of Intelligence
It is important to pay attention to your Intel Filter (p 45) settings. The game defaults to All which is every reported enemy unit, regardless of the report's age. I exclusively use two settings: Current (last 5 minutes) or Resent (last hour). This is especially important for planning since you can identify concentrations of enemy forces. Additionally, you can look up details on spotted units to assess the age and reliability of the spotting. In the case of the example above, the enemy HQ reports are Good to Excellent.
Defining a Breakthrough
Looking at the map at 0000 hours on Day 3 of operations we can see that the Allies are occupying Prummern and actively crossing the Wurm River from the south. The Forming Up Point (FUP) (p 82-85) for these attacks appear to come from the Hunshoven area, based on the presence of enemy HQs.
The Germans have bypassed Prummern and are disrupting the rear area.
According to U.S. Army Field Manual (FM) 3-90 Tactics, a breakthrough is defined as" a rupturing of the enemy's forward defense that occurs as a result of an attack." Our counterattack has inadvertently bypassed 84 Inf Div units and assaulted the division's rear area. Assaulted HQs may be forced to retreat or be routed. The HQs will be unable to effectively process orders, subordinate units will become disorganized, and operations will slow (pg 129).
Exploitation
Continuing with using FM 3-90 as our tactical dictionary, "An exploitation is a type of offensive operation following a successful attack to disorganize the enemy in depth." Identifying opportunities means nothing is you can't action on them. I need to ensure that I close with and destroy any and all targets of opportunity. The HQs can and will be replaced eventually so I need to make sure that other units in the area of operation are posed to also conduct offensive operations to keep overall attack momentum high.
However, one irreplaceable (assumed) unit is the Base since the game reads them as nodes for supply (pg 112). The enemy has one in route recovery and I hope to destroy it before sunup.
A major Allied supply depot is on the verge of breaking.
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