Shock attack

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LeeChard
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Shock attack

Post by LeeChard »

Does anybody have a 'rule of thumb' for when to choose a shock
attack over a deliberate?
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RogerJNeilson
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RE: Shock attack

Post by RogerJNeilson »

As an Allied player I would say around 99.9% of my attacks are deliberate.

Never quite understood the reasoning behind setting shock attacks except in a time pressured situation - of course sometimes the nature of the attack makes it a shock attack - river crossing and Atolls.

Roger
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HansBolter
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RE: Shock attack

Post by HansBolter »

Shock attacks, as I understand it, and that understanding could well be flawed, expose the attacker to a preliminary round of fire from the defenders wherein the attackers can't fire back.

So while it doubles your assault value it comes at a heavy cost.

My rule of thumb is that I use it when I know I have overwhelming superiority such as a division attacking a battalion. After all the battalion only has 36 odd squads to fire at my 300-400 squads so I won't suffer to great a disablement.

The time I use it against a large opposing force is when the large opposing force has become heavily disabled or is totally out of supply.

In a large siege situation you have to gauge when the opposing side is beaten down enough for the shock attack to work without leaving your forces heavily disabled.

If the enemy attacks me in this siege situation and fails taking heavy disablements, I may decide to capitalize on that the next turn knowing that his free fire phase isn't going to be devastating to me due to his heavy disablements.

If he isn't attacking me than steady daily LCU bombardments, daily air bombardments and if coastal, regular sea bombardments may, over time sufficiently prepare for a possible shock attack.

Usually in this situation though I would deliberate attack first before risking a shock attack.
Hans

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BBfanboy
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RE: Shock attack

Post by BBfanboy »

Another rule of thumb - I never SA into forts 4+. Reduce them first with DAs.

Never SA against armour unless you have tanks/TDs of your own and/or plentiful A/T weapons. The latter is so that they are distributed around the battle area and there is less chance a bad die roll could leave your attackers exposed to enemy tanks with no A/T support.

No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
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obvert
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RE: Shock attack

Post by obvert »

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Shock attacks, as I understand it, and that understanding could well be flawed, expose the attacker to a preliminary round of fire from the defenders wherein the attackers can't fire back.

So while it doubles your assault value it comes at a heavy cost.

My rule of thumb is that I use it when I know I have overwhelming superiority such as a division attacking a battalion. After all the battalion only has 36 odd squads to fire at my 300-400 squads so I won't suffer to great a disablement.

The time I use it against a large opposing force is when the large opposing force has become heavily disabled or is totally out of supply.

In a large siege situation you have to gauge when the opposing side is beaten down enough for the shock attack to work without leaving your forces heavily disabled.

If the enemy attacks me in this siege situation and fails taking heavy disablements, I may decide to capitalize on that the next turn knowing that his free fire phase isn't going to be devastating to me due to his heavy disablements.

If he isn't attacking me than steady daily LCU bombardments, daily air bombardments and if coastal, regular sea bombardments may, over time sufficiently prepare for a possible shock attack.

Usually in this situation though I would deliberate attack first before risking a shock attack.

+1

Shock attacks are useful as a finishing touch on an already decided battle. It can hurry things along, force more of the opponent's troops to surrender, and also usually wipes out more industry/oil/fuel/resources at a base upon capture.
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geofflambert
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RE: Shock attack

Post by geofflambert »

Use them if you're in a hurry and confident of success, otherwise don't. Use them against troops that have not had the opportunity to dig in, such as paratroops, a unit that just arrived in your hex, which would obviously include amphibious operations against you. You need to have overwhelming odds or your casualties could be anything up to and including catastrophic. Go ahead and use them against unoccupied enemy base hexes if you like. Quasi-non-combatants like HQs and the like. I believe one of the benefits is that the defender is less likely to be ejected from the hex and more likely to be overrun and destroyed.

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crsutton
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RE: Shock attack

Post by crsutton »

Pretty much anytime I suspect the enemy is ready to break. If you are at that point, you are not at risk of losing greatly and if you win the enemy will be totaled. So overwhelming initial odds or after a deliberate attack or two when the results indicate that I can do it.
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Dili
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RE: Shock attack

Post by Dili »

If the enemy is heavily disrupted.
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Lowpe
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RE: Shock attack

Post by Lowpe »

Armor vs troops that are weak in anti-armor devices -- set the armor to shock.

Feel free to shock with two armored units while deliberate attacking with infantry and bombarding with artillery for example.
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geofflambert
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RE: Shock attack

Post by geofflambert »

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Armor vs troops that are weak in anti-armor devices -- set the armor to shock.

Feel free to shock with two armored units while deliberate attacking with infantry and bombarding with artillery for example.

This is so correct. There is no reason why all your units should be ordered to shock attack and a lot of reasons why you shouldn't. Another issue involves the commanders of the units ordered to do it.
If you choose to do it with a commander who is highly aggressive, you simply amplify the possible results, which include abject failure.
Using commanders who know when to stop limits your losses. Most of the time, those are the guys you want in charge.

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