Doug Bush continues his Next War: India-Pakistan strategy series with this look at the India player’s strategic options. See Part 1 and Part 2 for a discussion of the strategic choices faced by the Pakistan player.

In the first two articles of this series, I focused on the war depicted in NWIP from the Pakistan player’s side. In this article I’ll switch to the Indian player’s perspective. India is the strategic attacker in four of the six scenarios in NWIP, including two standard game scenarios (“Lahore” and “Enough!”) and two advanced game scenarios (“Unification” and “Loose Nukes”). In the other two scenarios (“Kashmir” and “Border War”) India is on the defense.

India’s Strategic Choices on Defense

I’ll first cover India’s defensive considerations and options. In general, India has the larger force by the mid-point of both scenarios, but they also have a large front to defend and a limited ability to move forces around various sectors once they are committed. This means that there are some critical early decisions to make for the Indian player.

Choice #1 – Get help from your allies?

In “Kashmir” your reinforcements are set and there’s no possible outside help, but in the advanced “Border War” scenario the Indian player has several options for outside intervention. The first choice is between Russia and the United States, since the two are mutually exclusive.

The Russian intervention force is much smaller, but does provide a great deal of help in some critical areas and has a much lower cost in VP if players are using the VP balance rule: Russia @ level 4 is only 12VP, less than half the US @ level 4 cost of 25VP. With similar ratios at levels 1 through 3 as well. The Russian force nicely
compliments the Indian Army and Air Force where they are weakest: highly mobile ground units (four light infantry/airborne brigades) and high-end fighter and strike aircraft . Russian intervention can also provide 10 cruise missile points that can do serious damage to Pakistan airbases or nuke sites. The 3 additional SOF units
are more powerful than they look because they operate with favorable mods on the SOF mission tables.

It’s worth mentioning the “super size” option for the air portion of the Russian intervention force available under optional rule 16.14 “Additional Russian Air Units”. This allows players to use the Russian air contingent from Next War: Korea. Using this rule the air contingent grows from a base of five units (2 x SU-27, 1 x SU-30, 1 x SU-35, 1 x Tu-160) to a more robust 12 units (adding 1 x SU-25, 2 x SU-24, 2 x Tu-22, 2 x Tu-95). Players can get these additional seven air units for only 6VP, which given the strike capability of them isn’t a bad trade.

Overall, the Russian intervention force provides much needed mobile and air reinforcements, as well as strike capability with the cruise missiles. This can be a big aid to an Indian player on the defense, especially if he’s facing a Pakistan Army backed by strong Chinese intervention.

If the Indian player foregoes Russian help, there are many other possibilities. The United States contingent in NWIP is very powerful, with three Army divisions (82nd, 101st, and 10th Mtn) and a Marine Corps division-size MEF. Those four divisions also come with six attack helicopter units. The American ground units are extremely
mobile as the US intervention comes with much additional airmobile and air transport capability.

The US Air Force, US Navy, and US Marine Corps air contingent is almost as big as all the other countries’ air contingents combined, and by far the most capable once it all arrives: 2 x B-52H, 2 x F-35A, 3 x F-15C, 1 x F-16DJ, 1 x B-1B, 1 x B-2A, 4 x F-15E, 6 x F-16D, 2 x EA-18G, 4 x F/A-18F, 2 x F/A-18E, 1 x F/A-18 (USMC), 1 x AV-8B.

All this does come at a high price of 25VP for full US intervention, and the US forces do flow in at a slower pace than possible Russian support, so it’s an option for an Indian player planning on winning a longer game. That being said, the US full intervention can be a war-winning option for the Indian player once it arrives. It is mobile enough to get into hard-to-reach areas, like Kashmir, or even deep behind Pakistani lines via airmobile and airborne movement, which could quickly shutdown a Pakistani offensive and even threaten the capital of Islamabad. Given a couple of turns, the American air component can sweep the skies clear of Pakistani / Chinese
forces.

A final reinforcement option worth mentioning is the Commonwealth and French support the Indian player can also call on (at an additional price of 12VP) using Optional Rule 16.13 “Coalition of the Willing”. These are only available, however, if the US intervention level is high enough (has to be 3 for the air units, and 4 for the whole package).

This force includes the Australian 1st infantry division (3 brigades plus HQ), the UK 16 airmobile brigade, a motorized French battalion, and a French Marine light infantry unit. The air portion includes six squadrons of Rafale (2), Typhoon (2), and F18 (2) aircraft units, plus an Apache helicopter unit.

So, if an Indian player takes all the available options for international support, it adds up to a very large force that is much bigger on the ground than what China can provide. It comes at a high cost, however, of 37 VP “spotted” to the other player, and it may arrive too late to help, so it’s a tricky choice.

What’s the best approach? It all depends on how you think you can do with the Indians during the first five or so turns when they are pretty much on their own. If you fear getting almost overrun, then banking the late turn help from the powerful Americans is probably the way to do. If you think you can hang on and avoid disaster in most of the fronts then Russian intervention is probably a better insurance plan.

Choice #2 – “Forward Defense” or “Hedgehog”?

The second main choice that confronts the Indian player on the defense is whether to try to defend everywhere (“Forward Defense”) and bleed the attackers or to pull back to better terrain(“Hedgehogs”) to avoid taking excessive losses in units, with a hope of building up and counter-attacking in the mid/late game. Both options can
work, and are best looked at in the three key sectors of the front: Punjab, Jammu Highlands, and Kashmir.

The area shown above is the flat “Punjab” sector of the front in NWIP. I’ve written in the Pakistani and Indian Corps designations. At first glance, the border fortifications and river give the impression of an area that can be defended easily enough. However, the ability of HQs to build bridges in NWIP and the extremely attacker friendly CRT in the Next War system will make that very difficult for an Indian  defender. If Pakistan sends its powerful I Corps to some other sector, then it is pretty much a 1 to 1 fight here (2 corps on each side) until the Pakistan XXXI corp comes in from the southwest corner (upper left). If Pakistan’s I Corps is committed here, either in direct of IV
Corps in a direct attack on Amritsar or used to turn the flank on either side of the city (both viable options) then the Indian XI corps is in serious trouble.

A “Forward Defense” approach here would likely need to include blowing most of the bridges on the Sutlej River, combined with aggressive efforts to take out the HQ bridges the Pakistanis are sure to try to construct. The problem with that approach is that you have little room for error. With at least one initiative turn to start, expect the defenders to be whittled down by an aggressive attacker. The Next War CRT is extremely bloody, even for a defender fighting at decent odds, so protracted combat in flat terrain will stack up the casualties. Early in a game, the Pakistani player will have more units to burn, so you can quickly find yourself with very few units left.

A “Hedgehog” defense in this area would involve pulling X Corps back (on the left) to defend the Bathinda city + nuke site + airfield area while perhaps leaving a brigade or two behind to hold onto the cities closer to the border. With luck, the brigades can hold out at least one turn and then the Pakistani player will get bogged down clearing the cities. In the Amritsar / XI corps area, a hedgehog would leave at least 4 steps of units in Amritsar but otherwise see pulling remaining troops back behind the Sutlej River, blowing the bridges, and defending the river line until the reinforcing Indian II armored corps comes into play. In general, this terrain will be easy to counter-attack into later in the game when the full weight of the Indian Army is in play.

The key thing to keep in mind is the VP chart, which rewards killing enemy units more than it does taking cities, urban areas, and towns. For example, losing an Indian infantry division is 3VP, and it is very hard to rebuild later in the game. Taking a city in this area, such as Abohar, is only 2VP, and requires going through the clearing
process to get those VP in the first place. Even Amritsar is only 4VP, while losing two Indian divisions (and maybe an HQ as well) in trying to hold it is 9VP. The worst possible outcome for an Indian defender is losing the terrain and the units in the first few turns. If you can find a way to avoid that, perhaps by leaving behind brigades (1VP if lost) and preserving your divisions by pulling back, it can pay dividends later in the game.

If I had to point out one key indicator for what to do it is where Pakistan sends its I Corps. If it attacks this front, a hedgehog defense is probably best. If it goes elsewhere and you are feeling a little lucky, a forward defense of the border and all the cities on it might just work.

Here is the “Jammu Highlands” region of the map. Note the rough and highland terrain, including a lot of rough-woods and highland-woods. The roads north of the city of Jammu are secondary roads, which will greatly limit supply ranges and the Indian player’s ability to reinforce the area in the early part of the game.

You start with two corps, IX and XVI, but they are very spread out. Maximum pre-game movement can get most of XVI corps into the top half of this sector where the three towns and two airfields lie. Note that these towns are worth 2VP each under the SSR for “Border War” since they are in the disputed region of Jammu & Kashmir. IX Corps can, and should, be consolidated in the “twin cities” area around Jammu and Trikuta Nagar. Toward the bottom of this area is a highly valuable piece of terrain in/adjacent to Pathankot. The city is only 2VP, but the nuclear weapon site adjacent is 5VP, and there is also a town and airbase to boot (2 more VP).

The top part of this sector has very rough terrain that makes it easier to defend than the flat plains of Punjab. However, your forces here will likely be out of supply, which will limit counter-attack options and reduce HQ capabilities. If you decide to defend this zone, don’t plan on getting much help up that way until the mid to late game.

The middle part of the map is arguably the most critical terrain on the map (other than the Kashmir Valley). The reason for that is the VPs available (cities are 4VP and towns are 2VP) and the fact that taking the area will cut off Kashmir from ground reinforcement, effectively splitting the Indian defense in two.

Again, there are two basic options for a defender. A “Forward Defense” would have you send all of XVI Corps west (toward the top) to try to hold the collection of strategic towns and airfields as long as possible. IX Corps would have to hold onto the twin-cities area on its own. That is more doable here than in the flat terrain of Punjab, but if Pakistan I Corps is committed to either area then your lone corps will be outnumbered at least 2:1 for several turns. If the Chinese are in the war, you can find yourself quickly outflanked by airmobile operations behind your forces as well. Even if Pakistan sends I Corps elsewhere, it will still get reinforcements here before you do (in the form of XI Corps). This approach also leaves the Pathankot area almost defenseless. While it’s a long way for the Pakistani player to reach, if they take it that is a big VP shift.

A “hedgehog” approach in this area would cede the Jammu Highland towns/airfields to the Pakistani player while focusing the defense farther east (toward the bottom) on the map. This would make it more likely you can hold onto the twin cities area and Pathankot, enabling ground reinforcement of Kashmir later. It might also allow you to send a division or two from XVI corps to Kashmir early in the game, which can be critical to being able to hold it. Those initial VP will be painful to give away, but the Pakistani player will soon have logistics problems trying to push south toward the city of Jammu proper due to the secondary road.

That brings us to the last sector of the front, the Kashmir Valley. This area has the best defensive terrain on the map, with high mountains, rivers, and poor roads for an attacker trying to get into and stay in the valley.

India has the XV Corps in the valley with the XIV corps (made up of several mountain brigades) coming in from the southeast corner during pre-game movement. Pakistan,on its own, can really only commit part of X Corps and the FCNA Corps. So, in a straight up fight the Indians have a lot of advantages here and can probably hold the entire border of the valley (a “Forward Defense”) until reinforced later in the game.

But… if the Chinese are about then the situation is dramatically different. If the three PRC airborne divisions are in the game, you can probably count on at least one, if not two, being committed here and landing in your rear areas as you try to hold the major border areas into the valley. This could both cut off your supplies (assuming you have a supply depot in the valley, which is a must-do) and possibly lead to isolation and surrender of your force if enough Chinese get in behind your troops. So, with the Chinese in the game you are going to want to hold some troops back in Srinagar to protect the city and the  vital airbase/airfield. The other key terrain inside the valley is the high mountain hex in 4712 (“Baltal”) which if taken can cut off any forces left on the northern side of the high mountains.

Choice #3 – Where to put the Depots and Combat Outposts?

While not as exciting as figuring out where to position Indian Army divisions and brigades, placement of your three supply depots and five combat outposts is a critical choice. If you place them poorly, it can take a while to recover. The good news is that you do have one extra depot (a fourth, with three usually in place at start) and an MSU to play with, so all is not lost if your depot placement isn’t perfect or one gets taken out early via missile/SOF/air strikes. Again, I’ll go through the three primary areas of the map.

In the Punjab area, there are numerous supply sources built in. First, there is the urban hex of Amritsar itself. Second, there are two map-edge supply sources on the east edge (bottom) of the map. All three can throw supply 6MPs, which will reach most areas in good weather. So in general, a supply depot in this part of the map is
probably unnecessary. If you do place one, it could go in the centrally located city of Moga (2121).

In this sector combat outposts are best used to hold and/or blow bridges on the left side of Amritsar. Two bridges in particular, at Fazilka (1616) and Ferozepur (2008) have to be covered by an outpost or a real unit. The other place to consider putting them is on the right side of Amritsar, along the river. Hexes 2616, 2716, and 2817 are
prime targets for an HQ bridge being laid to to help turn the flank of the defending XI Corps. Putting a combat outpost in those hexes at least gives you a chance to destroy any HQ bridges before Pakistani troops start crossing them.

In the Jammu region, things get more difficult with regard to depot placement. There is one map-edge supply source way down in 3223, but that is a long way from where most of the fighting will take place. If you plan to defend the western (top) portion of this area, you’ll need a supply depot up there, most likely in the town of Rajauri (3709). A second depot is best placed in the strategic town of Udhampur (3516) where it can throw supply to the twin cities area of Jammu/Trikuta Nagar and, with help from an HQ, at least part of the way up into the Jammu Highlands. A depot here can also, in a pinch get some supplies to the eastern end of the Kashmir Valley.

Combat outposts aren’t very useful here in Jammu, except maybe to serve as slight speed bumps in the Jammu Highlands (hexes 3708 and 2808) if you think the Pakistanis are making a major push here. The fortified hexes will already slow down an advance by themselves (since you can’t use the road in them until turn 2), but the CO’s can eat a step loss if stacked with another unit, which can be handy.

In Kashmir, there is no inherent supply sources in reach, so a depot has to be placed somewhere in the valley. I usually go the simple route and just put the depot in Srinagar, which is a city you have to guard well anyway. All the roads in the valley connect to it, so the reach there is pretty extensive even in bad weather. The depot can
provide some extra defense for the city as well.

Combat outposts in Kashmir should go in the three routes into the valley: 4307, 4809, and 4912. The FCNA corps does attack with an advantage in steps, so a CO or two here can mitigate against the risk of some lucky Pakistani rolls early in the game eating into your defense. But, the terrain itself slows the attackers down.

The next article will focus on India’s choices on the attack in the “Lahore”, “Enough”, “Unification”, and “Loose Nukes” scenarios…

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Articles in this Series: Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4