Now that we have covered all the basics of Decisive Action, including fire combat, movement and opportunity fire, and activations and actions, it’s time for the piece de resistance: Assets. These are the combat multipliers available to the commander (i.e., you) to dispense with as he or she sees fit and include capabilities like Close Air Support (CAS) aircraft, UAVs, electronic warfare, and attack helicopters, as well as more colorful optional assets like chemical weapons and drone swarms.

Of course, this smorgasbord of bellicose lethality is not an all-you-can-eat buffet: rather, you will have to make some tough decisions about what Assets you want served up to complete a particular mission, as well as when the serving is going to happen. Each mission provides a list of Assets you get pre-mission for free and a list of other Assets you can acquire with Operations Points (remember, Operations Points are an abstraction of the time and attention the staff and commander have to direct orders for changing Activation cards, calling in artillery, and, in this case, communicating with a higher echelon to request support). Assets can be “bought” either before the mission begins or while it’s taking place, but requesting them beforehand costs less Operations Points since the staff can focus all its attention on these tasks without getting distracted by Private Perkins umpteenth request for orders shouted over the radio above the din of artillery rounds going off. Nevertheless, the tactical situation may unexpectedly end up requiring a different tool, so you as the Commander will have to decide if you can live without that extra A-10 Close Air Support sortie or not.

Likewise, the decision of when to commit Assets can be taken before or during the mission. It’s free to commit to bringing on an Asset on a specific game turn if you do so before the mission begins, but if you wait, it costs one Operations Point to commit during the mission. The latter method gives you a lot of flexibility since you can hold your Assets until you decide you’ll need them, but Operations Points are scarce, so even spending one to retain that flexibility can be a difficult decision.

Once the game starts, Asset markers stay hidden on the game turn track until the start of the turn on which they are placed, at which point they are revealed. Assets remain available for anywhere from one to four turns; if they are not used in that time, tough luck. Consider them bingo on fuel or pulled back by the higher echelon for someone that could really use them.  Some Assets like Electronic Warfare persist, potentially for the listed turn duration, while others, like Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), go away once they are employed. Some Assets, such as CAS aircraft and Attack Helicopters, appear on the map as a physical counter and can be attacked, while others, like Reinforcing Fires (i.e., off-board artillery) work more abstractly and don’t appear on the map physically.

Assets can be game-changers if utilized properly. A well-timed MLRS strike can vaporize an advancing formation or an Electronic Warfare attack can incapacitate the enemy UAVs calling in artillery on your troops. But the timing is key, and getting that right all comes down to – you guessed it – planning. As discussed in previous blogs, Decisive Action is a game that rewards good planning just like with actual combat operations. (Of course, you can play by the seat of your pants and manically pepper the board with sploshions willy-nilly, which is a lot of fun too). To get the most out of your Operations Points, you have to anticipate if you’ll need, say, FASCAM deployable mines or a Drone Swarm to slow an enemy attack. You’ll also need to anticipate when you’ll need that critical combat multiplier, which ties into the rest of your plan for the mission. Do you think you’ll reach the enemy’s forward line of troops on turn five, or is it more likely going to be turn eight since you want to take your time clearing the minefields? Figuring out which it’s going to be will tell you on what turn you should put that A-10 Close Air Support mission so it’s synchronized with the assault.

That’s it for Assets. They’re like the tactical cherry on top of the operational cocktail, but like the cherry, they can make or break that cocktail, so choose and allocate them wisely!

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