The Tedium of Assualts

[zaarin7]

I'm always up for play over Skype. It would have to be a smaller scenario due to lack of room. I'd like to give some of these rules a try.

[J6A]

I think the "tedium" comes from the game scale. We're talking platoons here, not squads, and a 15 minute period and a relatively big hex. It did take time to clear those out, assuming morale doesn't break, especially with closely matched forces. Heck, Stalingrad was lots and lots of that. I'm saying this mostly in jest, and you could always find an assault hex and then break it down to an ASL game. You might well find that, on a similar scale (i.e., 2 platoons vs. 2 platoons) that the elapsed time in ASL (although it has a variable time scale) might be very similar. However, the individual squads you maneuver in ASL are abstracted in PG.

I agree the maneuver scenarios are more interesting, and I accept that the assault scenarios are what they are.

[Matt W]

There actually seems to be a lot more going on in a planned assault. There is the run up to the assault as bombardment and direct fire result in some degradation of the defenders, then the initial assault itself and, assuming that the assault is something more deliberate, the management of reserves, fresh troops, recoveries and the introduction of more specialized weaponry.

There is only tedium when you simply don't have the forces/time/or firepower to move things along when attacking. A passive defense often gets what it deserves. I have played scenarios where the defender has few, if any options, and/or the attacker no time to be deliberate. Far more often, however, there is time and force to be creative.

Some suggestions:

On the attack, consider the gains to be made from extensive direct fire preparation, don't start the assault until you are comfortable that you have the advantage. You may want to isolate the force being assaulted first to ensure that they cannot be reinforced during the assault. On the defense, can your force counterattack to advantage, especially in those moments when the attackers are disrupted and demoralized themselves (these situations happen far more frequently in 4th edition)?

Nevertheless, no matter how careful you are, how well prepared the assault and how terribly worn down the opponent is, they can still roll a "2" on the 3 column and ruin your day. To me, that is when the story can be very interesting. Frustrating, of course, but interesting...