Many games are lost not because of the things you do, but rather the things you don't do. In fact, the most prevalent cause of defeat I have identified from observing games of Scorched Earth is the misuse of units. Each unit has its best use and provides an important benefit, and if it is not used to maximum advantage, the result is mediocre play and often a humiliating defeat.

John Astell states in his FitE Designer's Notes that "the supply trucks ... are a crucial German asset." This is no overstatement. The misuse of trucks by the German player heads my list in the area of misapplied assets. These units are perhaps the most precious resource at a German player's disposal, especially if faced with a "Runaway Defense" strategy. But often the trucks fall far short of their potential due to neglect, poor planning, lack of understanding of how the truck rules work, or just plain stupidity.

I can't explain how to best use trucks in every situation in so short a space as I have available here, so I will have to break my discussion into segments which will run over the next several issues. In this, the first installment, I will cover some of the fundamentals of truck usage in hopes of stimulating Axis players' thoughts in the right direction to capitalize on the true strength of their truck units.

First and foremost, the most important function of the German truck units during 1941 and 1942 in the game of Scorched Earth is to extend the supply lines of the German army as it lunges to the east. This seems simple enough, so why should it ever be a problem? Well, there are other things that a truck can do. It can shuttle around resource points, thus freeing up rail cap and relieving other ground units of the task of having to carry the RPs overland.

Another function they serve is to provide supply for units able to trace a supply line to them for one turn. This seems to indicate that if a panzer corps breaks through the Soviet lines and moves into the rear, having a truck along with the spearhead is a great idea. Then when the Soviets cut the tankers off (which they almost surely will), they can be put back in supply during their next turn by burning the truck. Indeed, John Astell remarks in the Designer's Notes for FitE that "the trucks can, to a degree, overcome the broad gauge problem by extending the non-rail portion of the supply line. At least as important, the truck counter may be used as a source of supply itself, and this may often be the difference between a faltering drive and a successful one."

This is all well and good; there are times when sending a truck with a panzer spearhead or burning it to supply a group of unsupplied units is exactly the right response to the problem at hand. However, I detect that many German players are blinded by the glamorous potential of truck-supported spearheads piercing the Red line at multiple points and moving east with the trucks in tow as a sort of insurance policy. The result is that all their trucks stay near the front, tagging along with the spearheads, and usually going unused.

To not use a truck unit in Scorched Earth is to misuse a truck unit in Scorched Earth. Often while the trucks are lolly-gagging around with their panzer buddies, all of Army Group South is languishing because the Soviets have executed a deep drop and the Germans are at the end of their supply tether. While the Soviet army is thus unpressured it grows exponentially and inexorably and soon the German player finds himself overmatched and overwhelmed. And sadly, he often never knows what hit him and cries that the game is unbalanced and that the Germans need more potent overrun rules, etc.

So, let me reiterate the main point of this, our first lesson: the main function of German trucks during the Barbarossa and Fall Blau campaigns is to extend the supply lines of the German army. Not a stack of panzers which runs into the Soviet rear, not a flying wedge of raiders creating a distraction, but the GERMAN ARMY.

I postulate that what hampers the proper usage of trucks boils down to two major points:

• the best way to use trucks, namely keeping them in the rear to extend supply lines is also the least glamourous way to use the trucks, and
• the truck units available to the Germans are primarily concentrated in Army Group Center, but are most urgently needed in Army Group South. In team play, a player is reluctant to part with such a "crucial German asset."

More on this next time!

Situation Report