The storm troopers infiltrated the lines for the express purpose of causing enough damage to collapse the entire defensive position, not just a single trench line. How do we get these effects on the wargame table? Well, we already discussed one method. If the storm troops knock out a command post, then its subordinate elements are pinned in place, not allowed to voluntarily attack or withdraw. Another way to inflict some real damage is to knock out an ammunition supply point. When an ammo supply point is gone, eventually the company machine guns run out of ammo. In my rules this occurs after four more machine gun firings. Put a marker by the machine gun each turn it fires and after it has fired four turns, remove the gun, it is out of ammo and there is no more to be had. Another way that the storm troopers can exploit their skills is by attacking a trench line from the rear. Most trenches were not set up for 360 degree defense. In fact, very little thought was given to selecting fields of fire to the rear. The way I handle this is to cut the effects of defensive fire to the rear by 50%. Relatively, this doubles the effect of the storm trooper’s fire. So, if defenders are taken under fire from storm troopers to the rear and supporting infantry from the front, they are in a bit of a fix. And one final way to make the experience of fighting against stormtroopers an event to rue is by giving the stormtroopers a bonus in hand-to-hand fighting. After all, they carry a high proportion of grenades and automatic weapons and are specially trained in clearing trenches. Putting it All Together The real fun is planning and executing the assault. I plan a specific route for each assault group and allocate the artillery to support each route. I allocate some batteries to clear the wire and others to fire against troops on the route. I target the battalion CP to try to paralyze all defenders, pinning them in place. After the preparatory phase, I fire a creeping barrage ahead of each assault party. I also allocate some guns to fire counter battery but the remainder remain available to fire on targets of opportunity, such as machine gun nests which come alive when the preparatory fires cease. I send the assault groups after the command posts and ammo supply points. Then they turn backward to fire on troops in trenches from the rear. This all supports the follow on regular German troops whose mission it is to clear the trenches by fire and assault if necessary. There you have it, some thoughts on fighting World War I German infiltration tactics. I leave it to you readers to further refine these ideas and I’d be pleased to hear what you come up with. Good Soloing! More World War I German Infiltration Tactics Introduction Infiltration Tactics Infiltration in Action Solo Play Artillery How to Use Storm Troops Large Scenario Map (slow: 100K) Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #135 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com