Korean War: Counter-Attack, scenario #29: East of Taegu

An interesting scenario where a stronger South Korean Infantry force with a few heavy weapons and Bazooka Teams must stop the North Korean from breaking through their lines. The North Koreans have a weaker Infantry force but are very heavy in armor to off-set this.

The ROK forces setup in kind of a stone wall across the line, covering every hex dug-in, with the Bazooka Teams close to the road and the 75mm Pack Howitzer supporting from a hill top. But the South Koreans also have to cover the whole map, as the NKPA could also come on either or both flanks of the road, which stretches the ROK lines a bit. The North Koreans entered the map on the east side in three locations with the main bunch of armor-infantry mix up the center road and some flanking infantry on both flanks and a BA-64 armored car.

After North Korean hit the South Koreans stone wall, I thought no way was I going to break through but over time holes began to form with stacks of NKPA T34/85 tanks shooting point-blank adjacent to dug-in ROK Infantry. Not being too wise, the Bazooka Teams attack the NKPA armor unsupported and were the first units to die without achieving a result to boot. The North Korean Infantry paid a heavy price on either flank but the Infantry supported in the center by their armor and the cover of heavy woods, by the road had more success. After a very stubborn fight, and a nice hole opened by the road, where two units of T34/85s rolled a two on the dice against dug-in ROK infantry and even with the dug-in modifier they still suffered a 2X or two steps loss of ROK units. Once the hole expanded even larger, the T34/85s rolled through, one even with tank riding Infantry, the NKPA armor car followed as well. I quit after turn 12, after 12 steps of NKPA units had exited the west edge of the map, with another reduced step of armor waiting to exit as well. I think like eight steps of T34/85s, two steps of Infantry and a leader and two steps of Ba-64 exited the map but a ton of NKPA Infantry was left behind in bad shape but still a NKPA victory.

Two things I needed to do or try differently as the ROK player; maybe instead of one long defensive line, a defensive in depth, in layers. Also, I should have risk leaving my dug-in positions and assaulted the NKPA armor. Sure, they would have paid the price but it would have slowed the armor down and maybe winning the game. I could clearly see this scenario being played many ways and won by either side. Fun stuff!

This was a fun scenario, although I have to admit some of the tactics were a bit gamey, IMO. Basically, a T34/85 led force has to break through the South Korean lines and exit 8 steps to win. The tanks have 8/6 morale, all of the infantry is a mere 7/6. And they are facing 8/6 South Koreans. However, the ROK troops have little in the way of AT firepower. A couple of bazookas (1 of each size) and a 75mm Pack Howitzer.

My plan was to send one infantry force down the flank to draw off South Korean troops and to push the tanks through or around the town in the middle. As the South Koreans, I had to spread out my defense not knowing where the North Koreans were going. Of course, as I saw where the thrusts were going, I adjusted things.

The NorKs have a problem here. The tanks are fast and powerful, however there are so many slope hexes that going off road will really slow them down. Heck, staying on road isn't all that quick. However, they did start to make progress against the ROK and were starting to move around the flanks. Unfortunately for them, I poorly positioned the BA-64 and it was assaulted to death with a snake eyes (more on this in a minute). That's 2 steps that probably should have been a "gimme" for North Korea. The North Koreans tried to blast combined tank/infantry forces through the middle, and then I remembered they don't have armor efficiency, so they weren't getting that column shift. Also, the dice loved the ROK in this one. It would be "Okay, North Koreans on the 18 columns, South Koreans on the 13 column. North Korea rolls a 6, South Korea rolls an 11." The assaults which should have been in the North's favor kept stalling.

As for the gamey portion, as North Korean forces infiltrated down the flanks, I kept sending South Koreans to physically stand in a line between them and the edge of the board. Not strong stacks, but stopping for an assault would put the North Koreans off their timetable, and would be in the South Korean favor from a morale standpoint. So the battle took on a chase quality, as the NorKs kept trying to work around the flank. They were hurt by lousy initiative. The North Koreans start with a 5, the South Koreans with a 3, yet the North Koreans won only 1/2 the initiative rolls in the scenario, and only 1 important one.

On turn 12, an assault demoralized the only T34/85s near the edge (2 steps had exited earlier), and the rest of the North Korean force was in shambles. The North Koreans got 4 steps off, and then conceded. One other big factor here was that the North Korean Kommissar was shot early and unable to rally demoralized troops, which meant that guys who became demoralized tended to stay that way.

Overall, a good scenario that would probably play very well opposed. Bad luck really hampered the North in this one, and I can easily see it going their way.