it seems that practically every single thread in the forum makes reference to how blitzkrieg tactics dont work anymore, that the enemy is overpowered and that your own forces (most cases say german forces) are too weak to do anything else other than attack heavily defended positions. also i read somewhere about someone saying that tanks are "worthless". lets look a bit deeper into this.
when a unit in HOI2 attacked another unit, usually very few forces came from other manned fronts. maybe it was because the AI back then wasnt as advanced as the one in use in DH, but it meant that if you pushed hard in one sector, the enemy wouldnt reinforce it much and you could breach their frontline. this happened to all of us back in HOI2, in poland trapping 30 divs, in france trapping 40 divs in netherlands/belgium/north france, and destroying massive chunks of the russian army. however, this changed with DH.
in DH, when a sector gets attacked, the AI immediately sends units from all sectors to stop the advance. they will do everything in their power to hold that sector. unlike the passive HOI AI, the DH one actively reinforces all points that get attacked. also, the airforce takes a huge role in the game. enemy fighters scramble the air constantly, and bombers decimate attacking divisions. the result is a massive attrition battle that, even if won, wont bring about the destruction of the enemy army. this has led many to say that you cant make breakthroughs, but i say this is the epitome of achieving a breakthrough.
allow me to take the example of the manstein plan: instead of doing what the french expected, a simple attack through belgium, the germans began to push north, into netherlands, making the french think that it was a repetition of the schieff... schilf... the shiffsomething plan. they sent their forces north, and then the panzers attacked through the ardennes. the key to achieving a breakthrough there was attacking a sector and waiting for the enemy to reinforce it. when they did, and subsequently weakened other sectors, they opened themselves for an attack and breach through.
ingame, it is basically the same, following all the principles of the blitzkrieg: first, attack a sector or two. nothing particularly strong, but to draw enemy forces there, thereby weakening other sectors. then, strike.
alluding to what someone said about tanks before, they are the best breakthrough weapon. high hard and soft attack, low softness and good speed. use them to lead the attack into the enemy rear. and remember that the airforce is a key aspect of blitzkrieg; it is nigh on impossible to achieve one if you dont control the air. personally, i use tac's all the way and dont bother with CAS. during the critical starting days of a war, lets say barbarossa, my tacs are divided into 3 groups:
1.- ground attack rear enemy sectors
2.- ground support the key breakthrough point(s)
3.- ground attack units engaged in battles
the first is a great one to do if you have a few spare TAC's lying around. right after a war begins usually the entire enemy army scrambles to the front sector, usually in highly vulnerable small groups, ripe for air attack. this is tremendously helpful as you can eliminate or at least seriously damage a lot of units.
the second is the most important one. literally an hour after you begin your breakthrough offensive, order your tacs to ground support the province they are in. they will fly there and heavily de-organize the non-dug in forces present there. the key here is not to destroy them, the key is to make sure they cant fight.
the third is secondary, but still good. order a couple of TAC's to ground attack the enemy units that are either retreating or attacking your own units. attacking units lose all dug in bonuses, and are especially vulnerable to air attacks. retreating units also suffer a lot from running away while under air attack.
(note: i dont have anything against CAS, so if you prefer to use them, do so. they will probably lack the range to attack rear provinces, but they can ground attack retreating or attacking units better than tacs. again, its just my personal preference. CAS are not bad, i just dont use them)
lets look at a hypothetical scenario during barbarossa:
i have 30 inf divs in the southern border with russia, along with 12 armored divs, 12 motorized divs, one HQ, a few fighters and a lot of TAC's. first step is to look for the lure attack, the place to draw enemy divisions to. i choose premizyl, as it borders 4 of my provinces. the breach point will be lutsk. it is bordering with a river, so crossing it might be difficult, but the tacs will soften them up. i use 12 inf divs, 3 in each border province with premyzl, and attack. at the same time i order around half of my tacs to ground attack the enemy rear, so enemy reinforcements suffer large casualties. a week into the attack into premz, the russians keep reinforcing it. my tacs reveal that the enemy rear, heavily bombed, is mostly clear and i see a clear route to the black sea right behind odessa. lutzk had 12 divs guarding it, now it is down to 4. the battle of premz continues and neither side gains an advantage. after 2 weeks, the enemy has 30 divs guarding premz, and they have no reserves in the rear. at dawn, i strike. 4am and my panzers and motorized divs attack. 5am and my airforce ground supports the ground forces. in 2 days the battle is over and lutzk is mine.i leave 3 motorized divs there and keep moving. then i see a problem. enemy divs now cover the 3 provinces between me and the black sea. i order my tacs formerly ground attacking the enemy rear to do ground support of the sectors behind in support of my tanks. the tanks break through the weakened enemy formations and reach the black sea. i order the attack into premz to stop. my infantry now begins to hold the captured provinces. i order all of my tacs to begin bombing convoys in the black sea. the result: 50 divs trapped, 7 of them armored.
of course, just because you want to do a distraction doesnt mean it should be in one sector. taking the example just given above, you can also launch an attack into lomza. it also borders 4 provinces, so you can have a tactical advantage there and draw a very large number of forces there.
in conclusion, a breakthrough in the game is indeed very possible, but you have to know how to do it first in order to achieve it.
when a unit in HOI2 attacked another unit, usually very few forces came from other manned fronts. maybe it was because the AI back then wasnt as advanced as the one in use in DH, but it meant that if you pushed hard in one sector, the enemy wouldnt reinforce it much and you could breach their frontline. this happened to all of us back in HOI2, in poland trapping 30 divs, in france trapping 40 divs in netherlands/belgium/north france, and destroying massive chunks of the russian army. however, this changed with DH.
in DH, when a sector gets attacked, the AI immediately sends units from all sectors to stop the advance. they will do everything in their power to hold that sector. unlike the passive HOI AI, the DH one actively reinforces all points that get attacked. also, the airforce takes a huge role in the game. enemy fighters scramble the air constantly, and bombers decimate attacking divisions. the result is a massive attrition battle that, even if won, wont bring about the destruction of the enemy army. this has led many to say that you cant make breakthroughs, but i say this is the epitome of achieving a breakthrough.
allow me to take the example of the manstein plan: instead of doing what the french expected, a simple attack through belgium, the germans began to push north, into netherlands, making the french think that it was a repetition of the schieff... schilf... the shiffsomething plan. they sent their forces north, and then the panzers attacked through the ardennes. the key to achieving a breakthrough there was attacking a sector and waiting for the enemy to reinforce it. when they did, and subsequently weakened other sectors, they opened themselves for an attack and breach through.
ingame, it is basically the same, following all the principles of the blitzkrieg: first, attack a sector or two. nothing particularly strong, but to draw enemy forces there, thereby weakening other sectors. then, strike.
alluding to what someone said about tanks before, they are the best breakthrough weapon. high hard and soft attack, low softness and good speed. use them to lead the attack into the enemy rear. and remember that the airforce is a key aspect of blitzkrieg; it is nigh on impossible to achieve one if you dont control the air. personally, i use tac's all the way and dont bother with CAS. during the critical starting days of a war, lets say barbarossa, my tacs are divided into 3 groups:
1.- ground attack rear enemy sectors
2.- ground support the key breakthrough point(s)
3.- ground attack units engaged in battles
the first is a great one to do if you have a few spare TAC's lying around. right after a war begins usually the entire enemy army scrambles to the front sector, usually in highly vulnerable small groups, ripe for air attack. this is tremendously helpful as you can eliminate or at least seriously damage a lot of units.
the second is the most important one. literally an hour after you begin your breakthrough offensive, order your tacs to ground support the province they are in. they will fly there and heavily de-organize the non-dug in forces present there. the key here is not to destroy them, the key is to make sure they cant fight.
the third is secondary, but still good. order a couple of TAC's to ground attack the enemy units that are either retreating or attacking your own units. attacking units lose all dug in bonuses, and are especially vulnerable to air attacks. retreating units also suffer a lot from running away while under air attack.
(note: i dont have anything against CAS, so if you prefer to use them, do so. they will probably lack the range to attack rear provinces, but they can ground attack retreating or attacking units better than tacs. again, its just my personal preference. CAS are not bad, i just dont use them)
lets look at a hypothetical scenario during barbarossa:
i have 30 inf divs in the southern border with russia, along with 12 armored divs, 12 motorized divs, one HQ, a few fighters and a lot of TAC's. first step is to look for the lure attack, the place to draw enemy divisions to. i choose premizyl, as it borders 4 of my provinces. the breach point will be lutsk. it is bordering with a river, so crossing it might be difficult, but the tacs will soften them up. i use 12 inf divs, 3 in each border province with premyzl, and attack. at the same time i order around half of my tacs to ground attack the enemy rear, so enemy reinforcements suffer large casualties. a week into the attack into premz, the russians keep reinforcing it. my tacs reveal that the enemy rear, heavily bombed, is mostly clear and i see a clear route to the black sea right behind odessa. lutzk had 12 divs guarding it, now it is down to 4. the battle of premz continues and neither side gains an advantage. after 2 weeks, the enemy has 30 divs guarding premz, and they have no reserves in the rear. at dawn, i strike. 4am and my panzers and motorized divs attack. 5am and my airforce ground supports the ground forces. in 2 days the battle is over and lutzk is mine.i leave 3 motorized divs there and keep moving. then i see a problem. enemy divs now cover the 3 provinces between me and the black sea. i order my tacs formerly ground attacking the enemy rear to do ground support of the sectors behind in support of my tanks. the tanks break through the weakened enemy formations and reach the black sea. i order the attack into premz to stop. my infantry now begins to hold the captured provinces. i order all of my tacs to begin bombing convoys in the black sea. the result: 50 divs trapped, 7 of them armored.
of course, just because you want to do a distraction doesnt mean it should be in one sector. taking the example just given above, you can also launch an attack into lomza. it also borders 4 provinces, so you can have a tactical advantage there and draw a very large number of forces there.
in conclusion, a breakthrough in the game is indeed very possible, but you have to know how to do it first in order to achieve it.
