General Winter

Hi Don,

In regards to the Army of the Sylman, I totally agree.

Unfortunately, BGV is several month's marching away from Symkyn.

General Symkyn will easily handle Kaitswyrth, but the center's proximity to the MHoGatA's bivouac's in Gwynt may compel the Go4 faced with three theaters in crisis to bite the bullet and send a sub-army to the Daivyn, while sending others north and south, besides keeping a reserve for emergencies, although the soviet practice would be to exploit the only success, making 4 quarter-armies.

So I think BGV will remain busy in the north for this summer, since the Langhorne Canal means his is the only 'high speed threat axis' in relative Safehold terms, ie it might be more accurate to say in terms of mass or potential logistic size than speed of advance, and it keeps him near Spinefish Bay for a quick trip to Temple Bay, if the opportunity arises.

EHM is much closer to Symkyn, and his army's title is that of Cliff Peak, which is why I've previously tasked him with clearing it from the bottom to the top, getting to the Daivyn in time to meet the MHoGatA's center sub-army, which if it takes to barges at he Charayn Canal onwards, would be ripe for a tete-a-tete with some river type ironclads midway between the canal and Aivahstyn, where the ironclads can easily turn around for more firing passes as I detailed month's ago; leaving Symkyn and EHM mainly for cleanup, collecting the disorganized POW's etc, those that didn't drown, while their 'lost' equipment can be easily salvaged in the wrecks and relatively shallow water afterwards.

We have yet to see an open battle between the Go4 and the alliance, and given how long even a sub army would be on a road, it could take the rear guard two days to camp where the advance had, so defeating such an army in detail isn't impossible; since the advance will actually be considerably outnumbered by the whole alliance army, particularly when the scout snipers are doing their best to keep them in the dark.

I keep wondering if using mortars, rockets, and angle guns to savage the main cavalry force could create a huge stampede that eviscerates the infantry's morale and organization while they're still marching into position and a long way from what they think is the front, while the alliance exploits the chaos.

Despite previous threads we have yet to see surface to surface rockets used by the ICA, will HFQ break that silence?

I can only surmise RFC has held back until the new HE has been made safe for rockets [ie not too long at all] and there is a huge target that can't be missed, although I think the accuracy of the Katusha could be improved upon [Howsmyn and Seamount may consider the original too inefficient], such as a large bivouacked army at night when the wind is calm, or a train of troop barges that can't run away once the dragons have been killed or driven off...

Will the rockets all use metal rails that can be trained, or simple wood field improvised substitutes, but carefully aligned on their targets?

And we have yet to figure again which sub-armies could be cut off from their logistics, to be hammered and humbled into submission that way.

Of course the above possible solutions don't leave that much room for too many survivors to cause trouble in North Harchong later.

I wonder if South Harchong might accept them because it will need a larger work force?

Or will the alliance offer them land and citizenship in their new territories, or help in 'consecrating' the barren lands, previously suggested?

L

n7axw wrote:I think that the Army of the Sylvan Gap is toast. Frozen toast that is. What I get out of that last exchange between Merlin and BGV in LAMA. the winter campaign will start as soon as the weather clears.

What I find myself wondering is whether or not that part of it would be over soon enough to allow BGV to move over to the Daivyn to combine with Symkins (sp) facing Kaitswryth to wipe that army before facing the Harchongians in the spring...or even if the idea is practical...

Don

lyonheart wrote:Hi Don,

In regards to the Army of the Sylman, I totally agree.

Unfortunately, BGV is several month's marching away from Symkyn.

General Symkyn will easily handle Kaitswyrth, but the center's proximity to the MHoGatA's bivouac's in Gwynt may compel the Go4 faced with three theaters in crisis to bite the bullet and send a sub-army to the Daivyn, while sending others north and south, besides keeping a reserve for emergencies, although the soviet practice would be to exploit the only success, making 4 quarter-armies.

So I think BGV will remain busy in the north for this summer, since the Langhorne Canal means his is the only 'high speed threat axis' in relative Safehold terms, ie it might be more accurate to say in terms of mass or potential logistic size than speed of advance, and it keeps him near Spinefish Bay for a quick trip to Temple Bay, if the opportunity arises.

EHM is much closer to Symkyn, and his army's title is that of Cliff Peak, which is why I've previously tasked him with clearing it from the bottom to the top, getting to the Daivyn in time to meet the MHoGatA's center sub-army, which if it takes to barges at he Charayn Canal onwards, would be ripe for a tete-a-tete with some river type ironclads midway between the canal and Aivahstyn, where the ironclads can easily turn around for more firing passes as I detailed month's ago; leaving Symkyn and EHM mainly for cleanup, collecting the disorganized POW's etc, those that didn't drown, while their 'lost' equipment can be easily salvaged in the wrecks and relatively shallow water afterwards.

We have yet to see an open battle between the Go4 and the alliance, and given how long even a sub army would be on a road, it could take the rear guard two days to camp where the advance had, so defeating such an army in detail isn't impossible; since the advance will actually be considerably outnumbered by the whole alliance army, particularly when the scout snipers are doing their best to keep them in the dark.

I keep wondering if using mortars, rockets, and angle guns to savage the main cavalry force could create a huge stampede that eviscerates the infantry's morale and organization while they're still marching into position and a long way from what they think is the front, while the alliance exploits the chaos.

Despite previous threads we have yet to see surface to surface rockets used by the ICA, will HFQ break that silence?

I can only surmise RFC has held back until the new HE has been made safe for rockets [ie not too long at all] and there is a huge target that can't be missed, although I think the accuracy of the Katusha could be improved upon [Howsmyn and Seamount may consider the original too inefficient], such as a large bivouacked army at night when the wind is calm, or a train of troop barges that can't run away once the dragons have been killed or driven off...

Will the rockets all use metal rails that can be trained, or simple wood field improvised substitutes, but carefully aligned on their targets?

And we have yet to figure again which sub-armies could be cut off from their logistics, to be hammered and humbled into submission that way.

Of course the above possible solutions don't leave that much room for too many survivors to cause trouble in North Harchong later.

I wonder if South Harchong might accept them because it will need a larger work force?

Or will the alliance offer them land and citizenship in their new territories, or help in 'consecrating' the barren lands, previously suggested?

L

n7axw wrote:I think that the Army of the Sylvan Gap is toast. Frozen toast that is. What I get out of that last exchange between Merlin and BGV in LAMA. the winter campaign will start as soon as the weather clears.

What I find myself wondering is whether or not that part of it would be over soon enough to allow BGV to move over to the Daivyn to combine with Symkins (sp) facing Kaitswryth to wipe that army before facing the Harchongians in the spring...or even if the idea is practical...

Don

After carefully studying a map, I agree with you that BGV will be too far north to help with Kaitswryth. Using EHM in combo with Symkins would be better.

Just looking at the map and the current location of the Harchongians, it seems to me that its very important to liberate Silkiah and seal the land bridge to Howard as well as knocking Dohlar out of the war should be priority before dealing with the Harchongians.

Don

If they can knock out dohlar they can attack the other end of the canal, so wreaking havok on the logistics of the border lands and the republic campaign.

Hi Don,

I'm still assuming the September force is aimed at the canal and Silkiah, so it could be secured almost at the same time BGV and Symkyn are making their moves on the AoG.

Once EHM has helped Symkyn, Symkyn can go north to flank the MHoGatA from the south, including their supply line the Langhorne Canal, while EHM might go down the Fyrmyn to Dairnyth.

The alliance, thanks to the 15 new RSA divisions replacing the ICA in the defensive role, could enable the ICA, including the 43,000 man alliance reserve army with its 2 divisions, to go on the offensive against the IHA.

Indeed, Symkyn's presence if known to the northern MHoGatA group, could compel the northern sub army to detail a lot of guards [at least matching Symkyn's] every 50-100 miles, to prevent it from being cut.

Against a ~70,000 man ICA army, that would cut his front line strength by at least half along the canal's upper half and into the SR, yet still not save their supply line, but it'd be fun to watch its destruction in detail.

The alliance has a lot of possible tactics now, it'll be fun to see which ones RFC has chosen.

L


[quote="n7axw"]*quote="lyonheart"*Hi Don,

In regards to the Army of the Sylman, I totally agree.

Unfortunately, BGV is several month's marching away from Symkyn.

General Symkyn will easily handle Kaitswyrth, but the center's proximity to the MHoGatA's bivouac's in Gwynt may compel the Go4 faced with three theaters in crisis to bite the bullet and send a sub-army to the Daivyn, while sending others north and south, besides keeping a reserve for emergencies, although the soviet practice would be to exploit the only success, making 4 quarter-armies.

So I think BGV will remain busy in the north for this summer, since the Langhorne Canal means his is the only 'high speed threat axis' in relative Safehold terms, ie it might be more accurate to say in terms of mass or potential logistic size than speed of advance, and it keeps him near Spinefish Bay for a quick trip to Temple Bay, if the opportunity arises.

EHM is much closer to Symkyn, and his army's title is that of Cliff Peak, which is why I've previously tasked him with clearing it from the bottom to the top, getting to the Daivyn in time to meet the MHoGatA's center sub-army, which if it takes to barges at he Charayn Canal onwards, would be ripe for a tete-a-tete with some river type ironclads midway between the canal and Aivahstyn, where the ironclads can easily turn around for more firing passes as I detailed month's ago; leaving Symkyn and EHM mainly for cleanup, collecting the disorganized POW's etc, those that didn't drown, while their 'lost' equipment can be easily salvaged in the wrecks and relatively shallow water afterwards.

We have yet to see an open battle between the Go4 and the alliance, and given how long even a sub army would be on a road, it could take the rear guard two days to camp where the advance had, so defeating such an army in detail isn't impossible; since the advance will actually be considerably outnumbered by the whole alliance army, particularly when the scout snipers are doing their best to keep them in the dark.

I keep wondering if using mortars, rockets, and angle guns to savage the main cavalry force could create a huge stampede that eviscerates the infantry's morale and organization while they're still marching into position and a long way from what they think is the front, while the alliance exploits the chaos.

Despite previous threads we have yet to see surface to surface rockets used by the ICA, will HFQ break that silence?

I can only surmise RFC has held back until the new HE has been made safe for rockets [ie not too long at all] and there is a huge target that can't be missed, although I think the accuracy of the Katusha could be improved upon [Howsmyn and Seamount may consider the original too inefficient], such as a large bivouacked army at night when the wind is calm, or a train of troop barges that can't run away once the dragons have been killed or driven off...

Will the rockets all use metal rails that can be trained, or simple wood field improvised substitutes, but carefully aligned on their targets?

And we have yet to figure again which sub-armies could be cut off from their logistics, to be hammered and humbled into submission that way.

Of course the above possible solutions don't leave that much room for too many survivors to cause trouble in North Harchong later.

I wonder if South Harchong might accept them because it will need a larger work force?

Or will the alliance offer them land and citizenship in their new territories, or help in 'consecrating' the barren lands, previously suggested?

L


[quote="n7axw"]I think that the Army of the Sylvan Gap is toast. Frozen toast that is. What I get out of that last exchange between Merlin and BGV in LAMA. the winter campaign will start as soon as the weather clears.

What I find myself wondering is whether or not that part of it would be over soon enough to allow BGV to move over to the Daivyn to combine with Symkins (sp) facing Kaitswryth to wipe that army before facing the Harchongians in the spring...or even if the idea is practical...

Don[/quote]*quote*

After carefully studying a map, I agree with you that BGV will be too far north to help with Kaitswryth. Using EHM in combo with Symkins would be better.

Just looking at the map and the current location of the Harchongians, it seems to me that its very important to liberate Silkiah and seal the land bridge to Howard as well as knocking Dohlar out of the war should be priority before dealing with the Harchongians.

Don[/quote]

Hi Lyonheart,

My notion of things would be to hit the Harchongians and hit them hard before they have a chance to divide into more manageable sized armies. They are spread out along that canal like beads on a string which would make them vulnerable to flanking attacks. Their weakness is going to be lack of mobility for their infantry and poor logistics. Exploit that for all it's worth.

At the same time cut their supply line from behind by blowing the locks.

Don

Once BGV gets past the Northern Gap, he will be in the area of the COGA internment camps (death camps). The first camp that the BGVs army runs into will cause problems with his own troops and problems with his supply line because he will have to feed the people in the camps and get them to a safe area. I'm not sure how RFC will portray the situation, but I'm sure that I will find it interesting. Hopefully a lot of inquisitors heads on pikes.

It's already clear that the Alliance wants to deal with those camps.

In the last book, their major concern was that they had to deal with the Army of Shiloh first.

Now that they have, the camps may be the "next thing on their agenda".

iranuke wrote:Once BGV gets past the Northern Gap, he will be in the area of the COGA internment camps (death camps). The first camp that the BGVs army runs into will cause problems with his own troops and problems with his supply line because he will have to feed the people in the camps and get them to a safe area. I'm not sure how RFC will portray the situation, but I'm sure that I will find it interesting. Hopefully a lot of inquisitors heads on pikes.

n7axw wrote:Hi Lyonheart,

My notion of things would be to hit the Harchongians and hit them hard before they have a chance to divide into more manageable sized armies. They are spread out along that canal like beads on a string which would make them vulnerable to flanking attacks. Their weakness is going to be lack of mobility for their infantry and poor logistics. Exploit that for all it's worth.

At the same time cut their supply line from behind by blowing the locks.

Don

You know, I hadn't really considered the notion of attacking the Harchongese army right away. I've been thinking more in terms of assuming a strong defensive position, digging in, and making the Harchongese army attack them. Perhaps with preparations in place for a counterattack in the even that a significant defensive victory is won.

My thinking has been influenced by the sheer size of the Harchongese army. Historically, it has been easier to defeat larger armies by defending, rather than by attacking. However, your notion of hit them hard and hit them early is intriguing. Right now there IS a fairly significant difference between the Harchonese army and the ICA in terms of weapons and combat power. I think the ICA could mount a successful offensive against a larger Harchongese force.

But I wonder if that is enough. From what I seem to remember, the Harchongese army has over 1 million men (though not enough rifles to equip all of them). So lets assume the ICA assembles a 100,000 man strike force. Let's further assume they execute a successful attack at 3 to 1 odds and they inflict a favorable casualty ratio on the portion of the Harchongese army they attack. That being said, they have only defeated 300,000 men. There are still over 700,000 men waiting.

But your point about logistics is spot on. If somehow the supply line behind the Harchonese army could be cut, then it would be a game changer.

Henry Brown wrote:

n7axw wrote:Hi Lyonheart,

My notion of things would be to hit the Harchongians and hit them hard before they have a chance to divide into more manageable sized armies. They are spread out along that canal like beads on a string which would make them vulnerable to flanking attacks. Their weakness is going to be lack of mobility for their infantry and poor logistics. Exploit that for all it's worth.

At the same time cut their supply line from behind by blowing the locks.

Don

You know, I hadn't really considered the notion of attacking the Harchongese army right away. I've been thinking more in terms of assuming a strong defensive position, digging in, and making the Harchongese army attack them. Perhaps with preparations in place for a counterattack in the even that a significant defensive victory is won.

My thinking has been influenced by the sheer size of the Harchongese army. Historically, it has been easier to defeat larger armies by defending, rather than by attacking. However, your notion of hit them hard and hit them early is intriguing. Right now there IS a fairly significant difference between the Harchonese army and the ICA in terms of weapons and combat power. I think the ICA could mount a successful offensive against a larger Harchongese force.

But I wonder if that is enough. From what I seem to remember, the Harchongese army has over 1 million men (though not enough rifles to equip all of them). So lets assume the ICA assembles a 100,000 man strike force. Let's further assume they execute a successful attack at 3 to 1 odds and they inflict a favorable casualty ratio on the portion of the Harchongese army they attack. That being said, they have only defeated 300,000 men. There are still over 700,000 men waiting.

But your point about logistics is spot on. If somehow the supply line behind the Harchonese army could be cut, then it would be a game changer.

Just visualize how long the Harchongese flank must be along that canal. Heck, you could even divide your 100,000 man army into 4 sections each supplied with mortars hit it about four places. Their mobility is going to suck. There is no way on earth they could react and concentrate enough to prevent you from really raising havoc and chopping up their lines. Then, too, remember that only about 600,000 of that army are armed with rifles at all, and that mostly muzzle loaders. The rest are arbalasts, bows and stone slings, for pity sake.

Don

Hi n7axw, It seems to me that with confrounting a 700,000 strong army the best strategy would to stage hit and run attacks against the supplies. With that many troops to feed starvation will soon set in.