In this month’s customer update, I highlighted The Player’s Aid website and the good folks that are creating so much high-quality game-related content there. After the update, I asked Grant if he’d like to write an occasional article for InsideGMT to provide some added content to our site, and also to help spread the word about their site to an even broader group of readers. We’re always looking for quality third-party articles about our games, and Grant writes well, so we think it’s a win-win all around.  This article is a look at playing the Americans in Combat Commander. If you’d like to read Grant’s article about playing the Russians, you can find it on The Player’s Aid site here. I encourage you to check out their entire site; it’s chock-full of quality articles about a bunch of games – many of them from GMT Games. Enjoy the article and The Player’s Aid site! – Gene

The 1^st entry in this series, found on The Players’ Aid website, is “A Look at Strategy and Tactics for the Russians in Combat Commander by GMT Games“.

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This is the 2^nd entry in our look at Strategy and Tactics in Combat Commander. Combat Commander: Europe is a card-driven board game covering tactical infantry combat in the European Theater of World War II. One player takes the role of the Axis (Germany) while another player commands the Allies (America or Russia). With additional Battle Packs and Big Box releases (Combat Commander: Mediterranean), the game has expanded into other theaters of war including Africa and the Pacific and introduces additional countries including France, Italy and England. In this series of posts, I would like to take a look at each of the major combatants and their specific strengths and weaknesses and offer some tips on strategy and tactics in their use. This doesn’t mean that I am a tactical genius or that I never lose. In our head-to-head games between my gaming buddy Alexander and I, I hold a slight 6-5 (I lost to him last week in Scenario #9 Rush to Contact using the Americans) lead so I have lost my share. Last week, we discussed the Russians and their strategy, while in this entry we will take a look at the Americans.

The American Army During World War II

In the United States preparations for war moved slowly. General George C. Marshall took over as Chief of Staff in 1939, but the Army remained hard pressed simply to carry out its mission of defending the continental United States. Defending overseas possessions like the Philippines seemed a hopeless task. In early 1939, prompted by fears that a hostile power might be able to establish air bases in the Western Hemisphere, thus exposing the Panama Canal or continental United States to aerial attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched a limited preparedness campaign. The power of the Army Air Corps increased; Army and Navy leaders drafted a new series of war plans to deal with the threatening international situation. The focus of military policy changed from continental to hemisphere defense.

After the outbreak of war in Europe the President proclaimed a limited emergency and authorized increases in the size of the Regular Army and the National Guard. Congress amended the Neutrality Act to permit munitions sales to the French and British, and large orders from them stimulated retooling and laid the basis for the expansion of war production in the future. The Army concentrated on equipping its regular forces as quickly as possible and in 1940 held the first large-scale corps and army maneuvers in American history. The rapid defeat of France and the possible collapse of Britain dramatically accelerated defense preparations. Roosevelt directed the transfer of large stocks of World War I munitions to France and Britain in the spring of 1940 and went further in September when he agreed to the transfer of fifty over-age destroyers to Britain in exchange for bases in the Atlantic and Caribbean. In March 1941 Congress repealed some provisions of the Neutrality Act. Passage of the Lend-Lease Act, which gave the President authority to sell, transfer, or lease war goods to the government of any country whose defenses he deemed vital to the defense of the United States, spelled the virtual end of neutrality. The President proclaimed that the United States would become the “arsenal of democracy.” In the spring of 1941 American and British military representatives held their first combined staff conferences to discuss strategy in the event of active U.S. participation in the war, which seemed increasingly likely to include Japan as well as Germany. The staffs agreed that if the United States entered the war the Allies should concentrate on the defeat of Germany first. The President authorized active naval patrols in the western half of the Atlantic, and in July, American troops took the place of British forces guarding Iceland.

Meanwhile, General Marshall and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson made plans to expand the Army to 1.5 million men. On 27 August 1940, Congress approved inducting the National Guard into federal service and calling up the reserves. A few weeks later the lawmakers passed the Selective Service and Training Act, the first peacetime draft in American history. By mid-1941 the Army had achieved its planned strength, with 27 infantry, 5 armored, and 2 cavalry divisions; 35 air groups; and a host of support units. But it remained far from ready to deploy overseas against well-equipped, experienced, and determined foes. This table shows the slow buildup of the Armed Forces for the United States from 1939 to the end of the war in 1945:

On 7 December 1941, while German armies were freezing before Moscow, Japan suddenly pushed the United States into the struggle by attacking the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Four days later Hitler declared war on the United States. President Roosevelt called on Congress for immediate and massive expansion of the armed forces. Twenty years of neglect and indifference, however, could not be overcome in a few days and the Americans would have to ramp up and train for war in order to be able to defeat the Nazis in Europe and the Japanese in the Pacific.

Review of Unit Statistics

Superior Fire Power and Range

In spite of the general lack of combat experience of the entire United States armed forces and their late entry into the war, they were the best equipped and most well trained army in the world at the time of World War II. The American Industrial Machine had the capacity to churn out weapons and vehicles to not only supply their own armed forces, but to assist the other Allies as well. This capacity is played out in the statistics for the Americans by giving them the highest Avg. Fire Power and Range of any of the other nations due to better weapons and more of them. The Americans Avg. Fire Power of 5.07 is 10.5% higher than the Germans (4.54) and 8.3% higher than the Russians (4.65) and their Avg. Range of 4.50 is 13.8% higher than the Germans (3.88) and 41.8% higher than the Russians (2.62). These two statistics are 2 of the 3 most important in the game, the third being Morale. These stats mean that the Americans have a better chance of breaking opposing units with Fire Attacks and have a greater ability to target those units. The Americans have the ability to shoot over half a hex more than the Germans and over 2 hexes further than the Russians. This is a deadly combination when properly used. Even when Broken, the Americans still have a better Avg. Fire Power (2.83) than both the Germans (2.02) and Russians (2.11).

The Americans have 4 types of units with a Fire Power 6 or greater including Engineer with a 7 (boxed), Elite with a 6 (boxed), Paratroop with a 6 (boxed) and Line with a 6 (boxed). Conversely, the Germans only have 2 types of units 6 or greater; Pionier with a 7 (boxed) and SS with a 6 (boxed). The Americans will nearly always have the better Fire Power in a battle with their enemies and more often than not better Range, which means you should plan for many Fire Attacks against them as you will break them more often than not.

For comparisons sake, here are the German statistics:

Good Percentage of Leaders per Unit

The Americans put a priority on quality leaders in order to execute battle plans that would give them the advantage. All three factions have the same number of Leaders with 19 but the Americans have more Leaders per unit than the Germans with 1 Leader per 4.42 units; the Germans have 1 Leader per 5.05 units and the Russians have 1 Leader per 5.84 units. This is a huge advantage for the Americans as they can be more efficient with their groups by minimizing the units that are reliant on activation by a Leader and minimize the risk of losing units along the way due to stacking as they move up to assault or fire. This advantage is realized when a 1 or 2 Command Leader is properly centered around a minimal number of units, allowing all 3-4 of those units to be activated with one card, which is much more efficient.  This will lead to more actions per game taken by more units, which will lead to greater chances of victory.

More Hardy than Russians or Germans (when Broken)

One of the key statistics in the game is that of Morale, or how easily your units are broken under fire. This is an area where the Americans are disadvantaged with an Avg. Morale of 6.50 as compared to the Germans who have a 7.33 and the Russians with a 7.76. This disadvantage though is flipped once the American troops are Broken, as their Morale actually increases by 19.1% to 7.74, while the Germans drop by 2.7% to 7.13 and the Russians decrease by 14.7% to 6.62. The American soldiers were determined and methodical. Once taking fire, they didn’t keep their heads down but gathered themselves, partly due to good Leaders, good training and good weapons, but also partly due to their reasons for being there. In various statistics I have seen, 38.8% of all U.S. Servicemen were volunteers with only 61.2% being drafted. This is by far the highest percentage of volunteers and shows that many joined up in order to fight for their country and to right the wrongs of the Germans and the Japanese. This increased Morale when Broken will help you keep your troops alive but will not improve them as a fighting force, as all units once broken suffer significant reductions in both Fire Power (1.00) and Range (1.00). You will need to make sure you are prepared with Recover Orders in your hand to bring their fighting abilities back. Passing the Recover rolls should be easier though as with higher Broken morale, there are greater percentages of pulling cards that are under their Morale.

Better Training Equates to Better Soldiers

The American soldiers were, on average, better trained than their counterparts during World War II. Many soldiers spent nearly 8 months at various training camps prior to combat including Camp Toccoa (Paratrooper), Camp Langdon (Artillery), Camp Irwin (Anti-Aircraft) and Camp McCain (Infantry). This focus on training allowed the soldiers to obtain skills in various types of assaults including flanking, leapfrogging, shoot-and-scoot, ambush, reconnaissance patrols, etc.  This focus on training is clearly identified in the stats block of the Americans as shown on the table below regarding the Boxed status of various units:

92.9% of the American units have Boxed Fire Power and Boxed Movement (total of 78 of 84 units), while 21.4% have Boxed Range (total of 18 of 84 units) which makes the use of various Actions such as Assault Fire, Smoke Grenades and Spray Fire a match made in heaven.  78 of their total units have at least 2 Boxed statistics and 18 units have all three Boxed! By way of comparison, the Germans only have 27.1% of their units with Boxed Fire Power and Boxed Movement (total of 26 of their 96 units) and have 26 total units or 27.1% who have all 3 Boxed statistics. Of all of the nations, I love playing the Americans because they have a lot of tricks up their sleeves. More on the use of cards a little later.

A Look at the Fate Deck

As I am sure that you know, each faction has their own Fate Deck which consists of 72 cards that are tailored toward the historical aspects of the fighting style of the country. We will take a look at the American Fate Deck here as compared to the German.

Orders

You can learn a lot about the play style of your faction by studying their list of Orders. The frequency of certain cards will give you insight into their preferred tactics. For example, you will notice from the list of the American and German Orders above that the Americans have 2 additional Fire Orders than the Germans (20 vs. 18), 1 additional Artillery Request Order (9 vs. 8) and 1 additional Artillery Denied Order. This should tell you that due to the Americans significant advantage in Fire Power, that they should attempt Fire Orders every chance that they get as they will have the best chance of breaking the enemy as any other faction. For example, with an Avg. Fire Power of 5.07 against the Avg. Morale of the Germans of 7.33, this means that on average, the Americans have to pull a roll of 3 in order to equal an 8 and cause their enemy units to break. In the Fate Deck, there are 70 cards that have a combination of 3 or higher which equates to a staggering 97.2% chance. There are only 2 cards with a combination less than 3, the 2 snake-eyes cards in the deck. So the lesson we can take away from this analysis is Fire early, Fire often, and when in doubt Fire! You obviously have to take into account Leader Command Bonus, cover, etc. but those odds are still pretty good with an Avg. Fire Power of 5.07. You also see that the Americans have more Artillery Request and Artillery Denied cards than the Germans and should be calling in Artillery any chance that they get, especially since the Americans have the best radio in the game with a 13 FP! The Americans do have 1 less Advance Order but I tend to use Advance more than I do with the other factions as most of their units (78 out of 86 or 92.9%) have Boxed Fire Power which grants a +1 modifier when in hand to hand combat.

Events

I didn’t discuss it in the Russian strategy post but I will discuss the makeup of the Events in the Fate Deck and their relative frequency.  The following is a look at the breakdown of the Events for all of the factions:

The Americans are less likely to become Prisoners of War than the Russians (only 2.78% vs. 5.56%), less likely to Cower when under fire (only 2.78% vs. 5.56%) and have greater frequency of becoming Veteran through the Battle Harden Event (6.94% to 4.17%). These three Events are the same frequency for the Americans as the Germans. The Americans also have a unique Event that is pretty darned good in White Phosphorous. The text of White Phosphorous reads as follows: “You may place Smoke adjacent to an unbroken American Squad. If you do, each player must break one of their own units in that hex.” This not only provides cover in the form of Smoke for the American player but the drawing of this Event card will cause the German player to have to choose to break one of his units in that hex, or if he only has broken units in that hex, he will have to eliminate one of them. Very powerful Event when it happens in the right circumstances and the Americans will see this event about 4.17% of the time, as there are 3 of them in the deck. The Americans will also benefit from the high frequency of the Hero Event (6.94% or a total of 5 cards) and the Reinforcements Event (4.17% or a total of 3 cards vs. the Germans 2.78% or a total of 2 cards) to get out more improved units with which to battle the Germans with.  I can assure you that a well-timed Reinforcement Event that allows the Americans to pull out that monster 13FP Radio is a lifesaver!

Actions

There are many Actions that the Americans must use in order to be successful.  Here is a look at their Actions in their Fate Deck as compared to the Germans:

The key that sticks out to me in this comparison is that the Americans have 20 total (Opportunity) Fire Actions while the Germans have 18. These additional 2 Opp Fire Actions tells me that the Americans should take up positions and wait for the Germans to move. This is probably a condition of the Americans lower Avg. Morale than the Germans as frontal assaults while advancing without the benefit of cover are risky and the Americans will break easier. The Americans also have 9 Smoke Actions, which is 3 more than the Germans, so they shouldn’t move unless they can provide the protection that comes with Smoke.

General Statistics on Fate Decks

I discussed this element in the Russian post but feel that it is important enough to reiterate here. Each nation’s Fate Decks have the same distribution of dice combinations on them used in rolling during combat to determine Fire Power or Total Defense.  The following are general statements about the distribution of those numbers:

• 60 cards out of 72 cards have a combination of numbers that are 5 or higher, which equates to 60/72 or 83.3% probability of drawing a combination of cards totaling 5 or higher!
• 42 cards out of 72 cards have a combination of numbers that are 7 or higher, which equates to 42/72 or 58.3% probability of drawing a combination of cards totaling 7 or higher!
• 20 cards out of 72 cards have a combination of numbers that are 9 or higher, which equates to 20/72 or 27.8% probability of drawing a combination of cards totaling 9 or higher!

I am not a statistician and don’t have the capability to put together a true look at the mathematical probability of drawing certain combinations but this is a simplified look at your chances to get certain numbers from your rolls that I think is very valuable. You must also remember that my numbers above are a look at the entire deck and as you know, each player starts with 4-6 cards in their hands, so these numbers would change in that case.

Review of Strategy

“It wasn’t that the Americans were cowardly – they just didn’t need to take chances. Slow? They were careful.” – Sergeant Helmut Gunther, 17^th SS Panzergrendiers

The Americans are complex! In order to play them well, you have to have a good understanding of the use of their abilities and statistics.  The standard American soldier, in stark contrast to their Russian ally, was well trained and had the advantage of some of the best equipment in the war (expressed in higher Avg. Fire Power most likely attributed to the versatile and powerful Browning Automatic Rifle or BAR that every American squad carried). Unlike the Russians, who are fairly simple to play, the Americans need a plan and then need to execute that plan.  This will mean methodical and slow advance when trying to take objectives, cautiously moving from cover to cover (remember that your Avg. Morale is lower than the Germans), the proper use of Smoke Grenades to provide cover when crossing open spaces, and remembering that Fire Orders are the American strength with that high Avg. Fire Power.

In the simplest statement I can make, Fire often, Fire again and keep Firing, but move less often while trying to gain ground. Does that even make sense? There is nothing quite as satisfying as moving a group of 3-4 Paratroop units (FP – 6 (Boxed), Range – 4 (Boxed), Movement – 5 (Boxed)) while being led by a great leader such as Sgt. Smith (Command 2, Morale 8) a full 7 hexes all the while having cover from Smoke due to having played Smoke Grenades (using the Paratroops Boxed Movement) and laying down a decent Fire Attack of 18FP by playing Assault Fire (using the Paratroops Boxed Fire Power)! That is power that will win you the game if meticulously planned and well executed.

So, enjoy playing the Americans! They are fantastically fun to play as long as you plan! Take advantage of their strengths (Fire Power and Range) and minimize their weaknesses (average Morale) and you will win with them more than you lose! To read examples of the use of some of the strategy and tactics discussed here in play, read my After Action Reports (AAR) for the following scenarios: Scenario #2 Hedgerows & Hand Grenades Part I & Part II, Scenario #4 Closed for Renovation, Scenario #6 Paralyzed from the West Down and Scenario #9 Rush to Contact.

-Grant