10mm Wargames Terrain: Trench Sections

Trenches are intended to impede an attacking enemy's movement, channelise him, intimidate and demoralise him and provide a psychological benefit for the men manning them.

To attack a trench frontally with infantry without proper preperatiion is to invite crippling losses, so an outflanking operation is essential or else you must spend time preparing the ground. Combined arms tactics where infantry, artillery, armour and aircraft cooperate closely made trench warfare a thing of the past.

The stunning victories by the Germans early in World War II using blitzkrieg showed fixed fortifications were worthless if there was room to circumvent them.

This is not to say entrenchments are redundant. It is still a valuable method for reinforcing natural obstacles to create a line of defence.

Trench warfare similar to that of the First World War was no longer viable in WW2 due to advances in mobility and weaponry. However, whilst no longer viable on the strategic level trenches still had a role to play in defence at the tactical level.

At the Battle of Sevastopol, Red Army forces successfully held trench systems on the narrow peninsula for several months against intense German bombardment.

At the start of the Battle of Berlin, the last major assault of World War II, the Russians attacked over the river Oder against German troops dug in on the Seelow Heights, about 50 km (30 mi) east of Berlin. Entrenchment allowed the Germans, who were massively outnumbered, to survive a barrage from the largest concentration of artillery in history; as the Red Army attempted to cross the marshy riverside terrain, they lost tens of thousands of casualties to the entrenched Germans before breaking through.

The best method of dealing with trenches is to by-pass them completely. If it's possible then outflank them and if an attack is necessary do so from the rear.

The only problem is that the enemy has probably placed his trench there hoping that's exactly what you will do and if his attempt to channelise you succeeds you will run into more trouble on the flanks than if you had assaulted directly.

Dealing with trenches is an object lesson in combined arms tactics. If you have at least two of the four arms at your disposal (infantry, armour, artillery and air) then you can take the trench without the enemy inflicting too many casualties on you.

Any infantry assault against an entrenched enemy is doomed to failure unless you have overwhelming odds and are prepared to sacrifice a lot of your infantry or you have prepared the ground. In preparing the ground you want the enemy either destroyed in situ before you attack or else severly disrupted by being suppressed at the moment you launch your assault.

This may mean a turn or two of 'softening' him up with air, artillery and tank fire. When you consider him to have been sufficiently weakened, go for a direct assault using the bayonet!