OCS KOREA: Solo Test (August 2005)

OCS KOREA: Solo Test (August 2005) by John W. Kisner I've begun playing a solo Korea to test various new rules. OCS 3.2 changes worth noting: 1) New Flak and PZ (including PZ/Interdiction). 2) Arty Support. Units outside range of artillery it could be spotter for are -1 AR. 3) A couple of small changes to TEC. Open now costs Truck 1.5 MP, Low Hills costs Tracks 1.5 MP, and Hills costs Leg 1.5 MP. This will make it harder to scoot around blocking positions and throw supply cross-country. This is an unofficial House Rule. 4) A single division never counts as more than 3 REs for barrage density. First loss off a division always halves attack strength. Defense strength is halved when steps are reduced to 1/2 or less. TURN 1 NOTES - No Flight Turn Arty support rule hurts the UN quite a bit, since none of the front-line units is in arty support range. I did put the arty in Seoul in Reserve Mode, so it was able to buck up the reduced division at Uijongbu. Comm dice were pretty cold, so they still lost a 4 AR regiment attacking Tongduch'on. ROK lost four breakdown regts. During Exploit, a tank battalion moved adjacent to Seoul. UN built a hog in Seoul's bridge hex. Pretty typical, all in all. There is just one ROK arty unit in the game initially. US arty arrives fairly quickly, so the UN might still be OK with this option. Time will tell. hexes). 5th XX is swinging toward central portion of map, leaving just an independent regt to guard the eastern coast. Two ROK regts killed at cost of one NK infantry step. UN decides to leave 6 steps in Seoul, packing the two remaining hexes. ROK 1st XX has two regts left, and these have pulled out to vicinity of Anyang. TF Smith has landed at Inch'on. In center, we pulled back to Wonju. TURN 3 NOTES (1 July) - Flight Turn UN wins initiative and takes the turn, giving Seoul another turn of trace supply to Inch'on. 1st XX pulls back to the airfield at P'yongt'ack. TF Smith takes up a position in suburban Seoul. Not much other movement of note. One US fighter-bombers is interdicting in center near Hoengsong, the other is ready to fly Reaction. Comm player physically surrounds the 2 enemy-held hexes of Seoul, and puts two divisions in Reserve Mode. Attack is launched against SE corner of city, after barrage kills a step. Hex is taken with a 6:1(+3) attack, killing the two remaining units. No attacks in center or during Exploit. Note that even at a very low activity level, we burn 1T more than the 2.5 SPs rolled for reinforcements. Three ROK steps were killed at cost of one AR4 regt. TURN 2 NOTES - Flight Turn Comm wins initiative and takes it. It was tempting to pass for potential double-turn, but we want to surround Seoul ASAP. Turn didn't go quite as well as hoped. Most of 105th XX moved into Suwon during Exploit, but supply path to Seoul is still open via Inch'on. Comm did take NE corner of Seoul, but defender retreated with option. HQ is adjacent to Han River, ready to create a bridge near Kimpo. In center, we rolled well on attack near Hongch'on, but could not use Exploit result (because attacked from 3 End of Turn 3

RULES COMMENTARY NK launched an air barrage against SE hex of Seoul. Roll was a '10', which misses on new Flak Table. Almost all the air units in KOREA will require boxcars to take a loss from Flak; this is going to help the UN a bit over the long haul. The TEC change is something I've thought about for quite awhile, but never tried. Essentially, each mobility type has its last 1 MP terrain changed to 1.5 MP to make it harder to ooze around flanks. Fractions are never the ideal, since counting is slightly more difficult, but I like the change so far. It helps the UN at this stage; might hurt them on the drive north, however. Division changes have not been a big factor, but on Turn 3 the Comm Player did spin off some breakdowns so it will start coming into play soon. Previous rule allowed the 4-step divisions to peel off a "free" regt; now the temptation will be to spin off as many regts as possible (if they aren't kept at full strength). This change favors UN, since ROK division-sized units rarely attack anyway. Arty Support changed tactics slightly. ROK arty unit was left in Seoul; normally it rails out toward Pusan since it never fires anyway. The 105th XX has no attached arty unit, so its raids are without support. Tends to be a wash at this stage, since there is so little UN arty. Comm player might be tempted to fuel an arty unit now and then to keep up with spearheads, to give his attacks an AR edge. This rule would seem to favor the NK drive toward Pusan for most of July. There has been quite a bit of negative chatter concerning the proposed arty support option. I'm not sure where I stand at this point. The rule isn't hard to implement in KOREA, but I concede it may be in larger/denser games. It does achieve its goal of making arty units more important, and I still think this is a worthy objective. There is a "fiddle factor" introduced as the players try to extend his arty umbrella over as many of their units as possible. Again, it's not a big deal in KOREA, but might be in HUBES or GB2. In my opinion, the sharpest criticism of the proposed arty support option is that all of a sudden we're checking outside the combat stacks for support. It does seem like a potential playability concern. TURN 4 NOTES - Flight Turn UN wins and takes initiative. A reduced SK division is left as a roadblock at Wonju in center; main stand will be at Chungju. We're still clinging to final Seoul hex. Interdiction over Seoul and Wonju. Comm finally get some replacements, and bring back an AR4 regt. A 5T barrage misses Seoul, so we do not attack this turn. Wonju is captured, and with Exploit result part of 12th XX pushes on toward Chungju. 1 ROK step is destroyed with no Comm losses. TURN 5 NOTES - Flight Turn End of Turn 4 Comm wins initiative and passes turn. ROK is concentrating in central Korea. US 24th XX is being deployed at Taejon. Big event in Comm Reaction: 105th Tank XX is released from reserve and overruns an ROK regt at Chonan. Tanks will have fuel during the Comm turn. Tanks go back in Reserve Mode so I can make penetration during Exploit. This time barrage on Seoul DG's the stack, and we clear it in one grand attack. Three enemy steps destroyed, including the HQ. Over half the NKPA is now looting the city. In central Korea, Chungju is now surrounded on 5 sides but was not attacked. During Exploit, 105th XX went off on its Great Raid, swinging SW along RR to port of Kumsan and from there veering straight toward Pusan. It ends the turn at Anui, about 70 miles west of Pusan.

TURN 6 NOTES - Flight Turn Comm wins initiative and goes first. Interdiction really slows movement out of Seoul, but strong forces are redeploying toward both Taejon and Chungju. An SP is railed all the way to Chonju, fueling the 105th XX which enters Reserve Mode (the division is in Trace supply from same railhead). In Exploit Phase, the division will swing back north and cut the RR to Taejon at Yongdong, putting the US 24th XX in a pickle. In center, Chungju is taken in a single attack after barrage killed a step. NKPA is down to less than 1 SP in center, with 3 SPs along double-track RR. We're doing well, but already running on vapors. UN decides to try and hold Taejon for a bit. One regt of 24th XX is gassed up and sent to recapture Kumsan and repair RR line toward Taejon. The unit takes up a blocking position in Mujo. One regt and the divarty (in Reserve) are all we have in Taejon, so we're hoping for a double-turn. A reinforcing regt of the 24th is landed at Kumsan, along with 2T. In center, ROK 1st XX is holding at Mun'gyong, with 6th XX in Reserve backing them up. We really need better Variable Reinforcement rolls, but the weather's been great! Note that it was tempting to send the NK 105th to shut down Pusan and Masan, but the raid would not have been sustainable. It would have been interesting to see the UN scramble to open supply trace, but I'm too much of a coward. The new rule in 3.2 that takes away the ZOC of attack-capable units marked Out Of Supply also affected my decision. RULES COMMENTARY Not much new to report. UN is getting pounded, but I can't say the arty support rule is really to blame. I'm just getting too many stacks surrounded and killed quickly. There is a fairly consistent 1 AR penalty against the UN, though, which is bound to make a difference now and then. Next turn is 15 July. The US CV will be a welcome addition, giving the US enough air to do some air barrage missions. Beginning of Turn 7 TURN 7 NOTES (15 July) - No-Flight Turn UN wins and takes initiative. Weather was bound to turn bad eventually, but it's always painful in July. The UN was tempted to pass initiative, but I felt Taejon was too vulnerable. Also tempted to send a regt of the 24th XX to Ch'onan, to block the main highway, but decided there was too high a chance it would be cleared out via overrun and wasted. (Arty support rule was a factor in this decision -- unit's AR would have been reduced to 1.) Ended up packing the entire 24th XX in Taejon, with arty and one regt in Reserve Mode. In center, we were able to put the ROK 1st & 6th divisions in Reserve, blocking the road south from Chungju but out of overrun range. These units will back out of harm's way during Reaction Phase. By the way, we're getting tired of "missing" on our Variable Reinforcement rolls. Comm forces advance rapidly down the main highway from Seoul. Spearheads are ten miles from Taejon, and bulk of 1st Corps is within 25 miles. 105th XX was cut from trace supply. Rather than waste a move with it, we decided to eat off the map with some supply trucked into vicinity. Kind of a waste of 2T, but we like the blocking position and placed the division in Reserve. No attacks this turn, so most of the 2 SP reinforcement helps us build for the next (shoestring) offensive.

TURN 8 NOTES - Flight Turn Comm wins initiative and passes. With sufficient supply, we could have really hammered UN at both Taejon and in center -- but there isn't sufficient supply. Letting UN go first lets them set up interdiction, which is a shame, but if we had gone first they would have been able to use the planes twice. 24th XX moved via Reserve/Exploitation Phase to the hills north of Kumch'on. This allows arty to support ROK in area (ROK 1st XX to north and 7th XX at Kumch'on in a hog). ROK 6th XX has moved north toward Yongju. Should be an interesting Reaction Phase during Comm turn, with five ready UN bombers. Another quiet Comm player turn. The ROK line between Kumch'on and Yongju has been seriously compromised by our forward movements. An attack at Hamch'ang was aborted when airstrike did a loss + DG to one of the attacking hexes, but we'll drop the hammer next time. Taejon was occupied, but it was slow-going due to interdiction. NK 4th XX is extending our right flank, and has reached Chonju. TURN 9 NOTES - No-Flight Turn UN wins initiative and takes it. On right flank, ROK 6th XX has trouble disengaging, so it forms a line blocking approaches to Andong, which is occupied by ROK 11th XX (one step remaining). ROK 1st XX pulls back to south, helping man defense of Kumch'on. US 24th XX pulls back to SE, occupying Uisong with two regts and moving reinforced divarty to a hex which can also support ROK to north. (Kumch'on defense has no arty support, but US 25th divarty is in Reserve at Waegwan to potentially move forward. We are likely to be fearing a Comm double-turn for quite some time. Comm attacks central hex of ROK 6th XX line, exchanging losses and taking the hex. Along double-track RR Kumch'on is taken after hex is DG'd by barrage, but two NK steps are lost at no cost to enemy. We fuel up the 105th to overrun the retreating stack during Exploit, but kill just one step (the AR 4 ROK regt) and take our option as a retreat to end the movement. Comm forces are again in good position for double-turn, but the two major attacks burned most of our supplies (just four SPs remain south of Seoul). End of Turn 8 RULES COMMENTARY The UN has been trying hard to get as many units as possible within arty support range. This adds some tactical interest, but in some ways it seems like HQs should be the defensive hubs, not arty units. AR is such an important factor that I'm questioning the way we're testing support. Might be better to have arty "throw" its defense-only strength to a defensive combat in range, or act as a shift on the CRT, instead of affecting AR. The slight MP cost increases have helped the UN defense in central Korea, as hoped. Hills are now harder for Leg to infiltrate, and the tanks of the 105th can't scoot through Low Hills like they used to. Flak change REALLY favors the UN. A '9' used to abort a plane; now '11' is the target number (with most aircraft having a +1 drm in this game due to air-to-air strength even when dropping full bomb loads). Maybe target number should be a 10? TURN 10 NOTES (26 July) - Flight Turn Comm wins and passes initiative. As before, initiative was passed because UN air could have otherwise been flown twice this turn, and we have too little supply on map to attack anyway. UN player is feeling frisky all of a

sudden, and moves US 25th XX to attack lead element of NK 4th XX at Anui. Support tables are turned: we attack with advantage of support. After air barrage DG's the enemy regt, the attack succeeds easily. 1st CAV XX is now defending Taegu, with 24th XX now east of the city. ROK 6th XX is withdrawing to the east, leaving the road open south from Andong. Interdiction will delay the Comm advance here and through Kumch'on. UN position is starting to look stronger. Great rolls generate 4 SP and two Pax, and this relieves some of the sting from punch taken by 4th XX. A turn of slowly marching forward through Interdiction. A double-turn would not be desirable, since there are no UN stacks in real danger. No attacks. TURN 11 NOTES - Flight Turn UN wins initiative and will pass. Two carrier planes are ready for Reaction. Planned attack NE of Taegu is partially disrupted by an airstrike which kills a step of an NK division. Attack succeeds anyway, so we end up exchanging losses for the player turn. Next turn we should be able to launch a more vigorous attack on the line defending Taegu (front is currently 10-15 miles from city). 25th XX pulls back behind Naktong River. Perimeter is starting to form. During Reaction, 105th Tank gasses up and swing over to Comm left. Barrage against the unspotted stack misses. Another barrage DG's a NK division. Two planes were kept Active in case Comm goes first. Next turn could be very exciting. TURN 12 NOTES (1 August) - Flight Turn Comm wins initiative and will move first in hopes of breaking the UN line at Y'ongch'on (20 miles east of Taegu. The 105th XX is already gassed, and swings along eastern coast to overrun a regt of SK 6th XX near Yongdok. The tanks proceed to a hex SE of Y'ongch'on; the 105th's infantry regt. occupies An'gang-ni, to keep supply path open to tanks. In Reaction, the tanks will be DG by airstrike. Only one infantry regt can cross the river next to Y'ongch'on, and it will be DG via arty barrage in Reaction. Attack goes ahead even with failed barrage and with DG units, and it's a disaster: AL2. A lone regt of 1st CAV XX is attacked at Waegwan, and all we can muster is an Ao1/Do1. We retreat; CAV regt goes low ammo. No Exploit worth mentioning: no sense in killing the low ammo regt, and Y'ongch'on is too strong (two regts of ROK 1st XX and a corps HQ). End of Turn 10 Given the 50-50 chance for bad weather, the UN player decides to use all of its planes and set up for a couple of attacks. He s accumulated some

decent-sized dumps, and feels the time is right to start punching back to keep the enemy off-balance. A just-arrived force in Pusan kicks off the action with an overrun against the enemy blocking position between Taegu and Waegwan, and succeeds in clearing an escape path for the low-ammo CAV regt. Attacking troops retreat to a position due south of Taegu with their retreat option, and we then pull back the CAV regt to the hex that was just overrun. The 25th XX then forms a continuous line SW to Pudong. 24th XX forms a continuous line to the east, but the ROK had to pull away from Y'ongch'on to maintain trace supply (giving the NKPA their bridge across the river). We don't think the Comm forces have supplied to launch more than one serious attack each turn, so the continuous line (thinly held in places) makes sense. Don't tell my alter ego, but we're also "trying" to get some US regts killed so we can rebuild them at the cheap cost (two US Pax have been shipped from Japan to Pusan for this eventuality). Airstrikes and arty barrages are mostly disappointing, but we do kill another tank and DG'd an enemy division near Waegwan. To their everlasting glory, two ROK regts manage to destroy the last tank of the 105th during the Combat Phase (the organic truck displaced to safety). EPILOGUE The Flak change works fine, but let me say it is tedious to roll for each strike plane when the chance of anything happening is usually boxcars. I like my House Rule that adds a "1.5 MP" terrain to each mobility type. I think it helped the UN delaying action in central Korea, and makes it significantly harder to surround delaying forces. It deserves credit for our successful (so far) defense along the Naktong River. The changes to how we handle "divisions" worked well. I really like having a single division never count as more than 3 REs for barrage shift calculation -- it just seems right. Halving attack strengths of multi-step divisions after 1 loss hurt the Comm forces slightly, but not to any great degree. It might be more of a problem for the Chinese army. Rod Miller pointed out that I was applying arty support to ROK troops with US divarty -- that would be a no-no. Oh well, it was just a test of the effects of the proposal in action, and I have drawn some conclusions from this. In a nutshell, I don't think my proposal works well in KOREA s opening scenario, since it will upset the balance of existing games. As mentioned earlier in these reports, time and again the UN forces are defending with a net AR disadvantage due to this option. It seems to me that any new "ability" of artillery should have a focused & special effect. We don't want to hunt through a bunch of stacks to check for arty, etc. The focus could be... 1) Hedgehog + artillery unit. This stacking situation creates a ZOC that cannot be negated or the "sticky ZOC" proposed by Carl Gruber. 2) Combat Mode artillery in any stack could give the stack a 1-left shift versus enemy arty barrage. Sort of a counter-battery effect. End of Turn 12