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[Cthulhu]

I don't think we can use spies.  However, if the enemy starts a counteroffensive we'll have guerrillas in south korea harrying supply lines and the like, that's a map-specific asset meant to represent the historical situation. Our reconnaissance isn't great due to all the air superiority we have to deal with.  We do have one thing which is the motorcycle unit with the commandos, it has a better recon than the other units and of course really good speed.  I'll read through the manual to see if there's any good advice on reconnaissance options, then I'll finish turn 3 and maybe 4, see where that puts us.

Also worth noting the UN reconnaissance is basically nonexistent.  It's safe to assume that our troop movements behind the front lines are completely secret.

[Iituem]

Also worth noting the UN reconnaissance is basically nonexistent.  It's safe to assume that our troop movements behind the front lines are completely secret.

That is excellent news.  We can essentially redeploy as needed (from a predicting where we are viewpoint, anyway).

How many motorcycle commandos can we have in action?  If they're nimble enough, it should be possible to scout the enemy's forward positions with a blanket of motorcycle messengers.

[Cthulhu]

TURN 3 - PART 2

 

We've begun pushing south to secure the better defensive positions.  Three RK regiments are trapped in Puch'on and can be dealt with easily.  The rest of the RK forces south of Suwon will be harder to deal with, I don't have the movement allowance to fully encircle them and they'll almost definitely retreat on their turn so I'm going to hit them now and do what damage I can.

You'll notice a few other things on the unit chits, which I'll go over now.  The markings above the unit symbol indicate unit size.  XX is division and is only on the HQs to present they're division HQs.  III is regiment, the main unit size in this scenario.  II is battalion and I is company, you can divide regiments into battalions but I don't know if this scenario simulates down to the company level.  You can see I divided up one of our regiments into two battalions to better cover the road near Ch'ungju.

The other main thing to look at is the dots to the left and the colored square in the top right.  The dots represent unit loss tolerance.  We're mostly set to limit losses but if we're put on the defensive we'll go to ignore.  The colored box is unit readiness based on a mix of losses, supply, morale, etc.
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TURN 4

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We pushed them further back and captured Inch'on, destroying one of the enemy's supply routes.  Unit readiness is beginning to flag but we have fresh troops moving in.  The eastern forces will begin moving south while the worn-out front line troops will make one last push and then let the fresh divisions move in to relieve them.

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Moving around to encircle and cut off supply.  I'm pleasantly surprised by the lack of enemy forces in their back lines.  We'll see how long that lasts though, more US forces are arriving every turn.

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Here's the situation at the beginning of turn 5.  US troops are pouring into Pusan and RK troops are moving up the east coast.  We're going to need to start digging in, they're definitely gearing up for a counteroffensive.  Attacks at the end of turn 4 did relatively little, our troops are flagging and need time to recover.  The Taejon crossroads is occupied and it'll be difficult to capture it without being surrounded.

Not edit:  We only have one motorcycle unit and no new NKPA divisions are expected to arrive.

[Iituem]

Will surrounding and killing that eastern division make any difference/are we able to do that?

[EuchreJack]

Looks like you can surround and eliminate a HQ unit.  That has got to be a good thing.

[Cthulhu]

That's a good point.  I'm not entirely sure how HQs work with their divisions but they're usually bunched up with other kinds of support units as well like artillery, materiel we should be looking to destroy.  In Gary Grigsby games HQs supply attached support squads to in-combat divisions within range and a unit that can't trace a line of at most five hexes to its HQ will evaporate instantly when attacked.  You can take out the Russian Minsk line in one turn with basically zero casualties by driving tanks up on each side and scaring their HQs out of command range.

Okay, one thing is that HQ units provide a 50% supply bonus to nearby units.  Taking an unprotected HQ out will definitely improve our push.

Now, here's what I'm wondering for the next few turns.  Stopping my advance now is starting to feel like a bad decision.  We definitely have the advantage right now, the US is still in their shitty phase, we blew the bridge by Andong, and if we're spry we might be able to take Taejong as well.  Due to its placement behind a river, taking Taejong will completely wreck the enemy supply network and the forces currently the front lines will collapse. 

I'm beginning to think we should press our advantage, moving up our fresh divisions and using the worn-out ones to occupy enemy territory until they're ready to head back up. 

After that, pushing on Pusan may actually be a good idea as it'll divert troops to the east.  If we move our eastern divisions back to the coast and start making our way south we may be able to keep the defenders occupied for a while; with the bridges blown they'll take a longer time to get to the front once they stop fighting us on the coast.

It's just beginning to feel like a trap to dig in and slow our forward advance while the bulk of the US army is still trying to mobilize.  We give up the initiative and give the US time to build up to its eventual crushing strength. 

[Cthulhu]

TURN 5

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We extended a little bit to blow the bridge to Taejon.  The US front line is completely cut off from supply now.  I'm thinking now w eshould occupy Sangju with our eastern forces, as well as the Andong crossway, and dig in while we wait for our troops to resupply and the enemies to starve out.

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At the end of turn 5 the US has gone on the offensive to restore the supply line.  Our motorcycles and one infantry unit are stranded and will probably be destroyed, but we can dig them in and keep the road closed as long as possible.  As an added bonus, the combat around Taejon has caused the city to evacuate and refugees are further exacerbating the supply situation.

We may be able to envelop and destroy the eastern half of the army.  At the same time we're now in a position to starve them out.  Turns last a week in this scenario, so the enemy is already looking at a week with limited supply.  Taking up defensive positions now might give us the opportunity for a decisive attack later on.

[EuchreJack]

Looks to the freshness of your troops in deciding whether to destroy now or starve them for a turn.

[Cthulhu]

Yes, considering the state of our troops pushing further would be unnecessarily risky, anywhere into orange readiness starts to risk units evaporating in combat.

Now that we've successfully disrupted their supplies we've bought ourselves a window to recuperate and reorganize for the next assault.  If you didn't notice, I do things and then retroactively create my goals around the things I did.  I'm not very good at this game and I'm certain my eventual hilarious failure will be what makes the LP fun.

[Cthulhu]

TURN 6



Not much to say about this one.  We've fallen back where necessary to defensible positions and dug in for a counterattack.  Everyone's set to ignore losses to maximize the amount of time the enemy spends attacking.  The most ideal situation is that they attack us, waste their turn, and fail to recover their supply lines.  That seems unlikely though.  Right now our main goal is to cause as much attrition as possible while their supplies are cut.  meanwhile we're replenishing our own supplies and preparing for a counterattack in the next couple turns.

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It worked!  The enemy failed to dislodge our troops at the Taejon crossing and thus have failed to reform their supply lines.  I only have limited recon on the state of their front line but it appears to be flagging with low readiness and supply.  Meanwhile we have two fresh divisions moving in on the newly repaired rail line.  Turn 6 is the time to strike and push them all the way back to the perimeter.  Dear Leader is pleased.

EDIT:  Oh, forgot the bad news.  Enemy airpower is increasing.  Multiple raids conducted on Pyongyang have completely wiped out our air force, we literally have no planes and we can't expect any replacements until September.  Interdiction is going to become very nasty.

[Cthulhu]

TURN 7

 

With the US forces running on two weeks of no supplies we broke out of defensive formation and quickly wrapped around the main body of their fighting units.  Most of the stragglers on the outside of the pocket are recon, artillery, etc. that we can easily push back with minimal casualties.  Pusan is nearly in our grasp but the territory is getting rougher.  We're out of hte urban center and it'll be tough to keep our army in supply as we go down, especially with only one rail repair unit.  I prefer to move decisively but I think moving slowly south and chewing through the forces they send at us is our best option right now.

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Ohhhh boy.  The tides are shifting.  I didn't anticipate the sheer volume of dudes pouring in from Pusan.  They managed to wedge open my fledgling encirclement.  The 15th division (who had previously gone down the east coast with my commandos) has been mostly wiped out.  If we're not careful this could lead into a full retreat, well before the historical line.  The enemy has multiple opportunities to cut off and destroy parts of my army, if they play their cards right this could be decisive.

[MonkeyHead]

Leave a few forlorn hope units behind to distract the enemy and fall back NOW. Do not stand and fight and take high losses as the US troops increase in number. A fighting retreat is probably the single hardest thing to pull off, but if you could, you could stretch their supply lines to breaking point, as their tired units chase in advance only to meet your fresh reinforcements. If you can scorch the earth as you go, all the better. Fall back as far as you have to - if this brings the Chinese in, and levels the playing field in terms of numbers, so be it. The front line being closer to China would allow for them to land a nice early Hammer blow which you could exploit. For what it is worth, the line from Uijongbun to Kangnun looks rather good as a line of defence - a fairly straight river to use as some kind of stop line, some trees, and a lake in the middle to help prevent enemy force concentration into pushing a central breakthrough pocket, which you could also use to shorten our own lines and consolidate troop numbers.

[Iituem]

Agreed.  Scorch the earth, fighting retreat.  If they have to slog to reach us, we can have fresher troops to fight them.

[Cthulhu]

The biggest issue is disengagement penalties.  They have a chance to do attrition damage and lower our movement points when we leave.  There's a few ways to get around this but it's gonna be ugly no matter what.  That's okay.  Unless things go extremely badly we should still be able to win by victory points.  Like I said, if China doesn't intervene the game ends in something like 15 turns.

[EuchreJack]

The biggest issue is disengagement penalties.  They have a chance to do attrition damage and lower our movement points when we leave.  There's a few ways to get around this but it's gonna be ugly no matter what.  That's okay.  Unless things go extremely badly we should still be able to win by victory points.  Like I said, if China doesn't intervene the game ends in something like 15 turns.

In that case, I'd suggest you maintain the current line of defense with the troops already engaged, but set up a secondary defensive line with all other units.  Let the Americans suffer the extra attrition damage, I say!