Tactical Problem #3, Assault of Hill 102, received submissions
from Mike Kroona, Detlev Simons, John Keyser, Joe Linder and Alfredo
Lorente. The solutions were unanimous is recommending a strike
at the northern end of Hill 102 (hey, just like in real life!)
There were some differences in pacing and tactics though, so first
a few overall comments on the problem.
The Marines have to clear out a small force of dug-in North Koreans
who are in reverse slope positions, have not been spotted, and
have 6 AT guns deployed to guard the one road traversing their
position. This poses numerous problems for the Marines. Because
the North Korean units begin hidden (SF rules 1.3a), artillery
cannot be used to soften up the NK defenses until NK units have
been revealed (cf. 1.3b). Thus no preparatory bombardments are
allowed. The Marines will have to move to close range, fix the
NK positions, then call in supporting arms. Only one NK occupied
hex is in a possible LOS of the Marines: hex 7.14 can be seen
from Hill 125 hex 12.12. This is a good starting place for some
MG sections and probably the 61mm mortars and the FAC.
The Marines have a very limited avenue of approach. To the north
is the boundary with 9 RCT which limits any large flanking maneuvers.
To the south is the scenario boundary. Tanks are road-bound since
they cannot enter rice paddies and cannot enter any hexes with
2 or more contours in them. This eliminates all non-road hexes.
Tanks will be vulnerable to AT overwatch fires while moving, so
they should probably wait until all AT guns are eliminated before
they try to engage the NKs.
The Marines do have some advantanges. They have decent air support,
which can be extremely accurate when using the FAC. They have
enough artillery ammo for 8 fast fire missions, which should cause
a lot of damage if they can be brought to bear. And they have
more manpower on this flank. The NK guns will be vulnerable to
AT rolls both from marine infantry and the AT section (which gets
a +1 to AT rolls for the 3.5" bazookas).
Of the plans submitted, Joe Linder’s did the best job of presenting
a good solution to the problem. It demonstrates that a solution
does not have to be very long to encapsulate the main points.
The other solutions had many excellent points, so check them out
below. Congratulations Joe, and let’s see some more excellent
submissions for problem #4!