Age of Strategy Forums

Allow infantry units to dig foxholes in appropriate terrain for defense bonus

By "foxhole" I mean single-man, occupiable, hole in the ground for cover. Not to be confused with the trenches engineers and rifleman construct. Not an obstacle for vehicles, simply cover, to give a bonus to defense.

Like the Age of World Wars trenches.

Different from trenches, but with similar function. Trenches are an obstacle to vehicles and can be built into complexes. They are occupiable by vehicles and mobile guns. This is for a single infantry unit, like paratroopers or rifleman, and not an obstacle. Simply for defense boost. A shallow dug out, just large enough for a man. Not an obstacle. Not a permanent structure.

This is something that can be done in-place. It's not as big as a trench. I figure something like for one turn, no movement, no attack, and penalty to defense as they dig. Following turn, gain defense buff that lasts until they move from that position. Cannot re-use the foxhole. Cannot move another unit into the foxhole once it's abandoned. No lasting effect on the map once the unit resumes movement. This is something I envision a paratrooper, rifleman, or SMG unit could do. In appropriate terrain, where digging is possible. Example: plains and forests.

Ok, I understand.

Hi there,

I am so happy that there is a post for this idea because I have been researching and thinking about foxholes in AOWW. Below is some history and usage during WWII. If you don't want to read, you can just skip down to the SUMMARY section.

• HISTORY:

From my research, there were officially three types of foxholes: 1. The Sitting type, 2. The kneeling type, and 3. The standing type. There were also other types of "hasty" infantry fortifications such as skirmishing trenches (basically a foxhole built under enemy fire), barbed wire, machine gun emplacements, and mortar pits, but I am going to focus on foxholes right now.

• STRATEGY:

Basically, foxholes were envisioned as a temporary solution to strong enemy presence and not as a permanent defense. (I will get to some exceptions later.) The fighting doctrine of the time dictated that if enemy resistance prevented forward progress, that the advancing infantry may be ordered "dig in" and hold the ground gained. Hopefully, reinforcements would arrive and forward progress could continue.

• EFFECTIVENESS and OPERATION:

Foxholes were extremely effective. It was believed and determined that soldiers who used the standing-type foxhole were mostly safe from artillery bombardments because it protected men against shrapnel (which is what men are usually killed by when a shell explodes). Unless a shell directly hit your foxhole, you were pretty safe. Another aspect that I found interesting, was that foxholes also provided the best defense against tanks. In a U.S training video about destroying enemy tanks, one of the procedures taught was to simply let the tank run over your hole. When the tank had passed, the soldier was instructed to through a Molotov cocktail on the passing tank, which would hopefully “Cook” the crew inside the tank. Whether this actually worked, I don’t know but it does sound effective. The last use of the foxhole was as a home. In the battle of the Bulge and especially on the Eastern front in general, conditions were extremely rough. With the nature of these battles being stagnate, these holes became homes, complete with toilets, water sumps, and makeshift kitchens. Despite the accommodations, soldiers lost toes because they froze off due to frostbite and water which would sometimes accumulate at the bottom of the foxhole.

• SPECIFICATIONS:

In an official U.S. training video, the specifications for each type of foxhole were given. For simplicity’s sake, I will only go over the standing type because this version provided the most protection for the solider. It was supposed to be about 3ft wide and 3ft deep with a parapet (mound of dirt) of 18 inches. This means that a solider could shoot comfortably while easily being able to duck underground for safety from artillery barrages and tanks. The holes were also camouflaged with the surrounding brush, making them difficult to spot. It was supposed that 1 infantryman could complete a foxhole in about 1,1/2 hours and depending on the squad leader, more than one man could be assigned to a foxhole. Between foxholes were trenches that connected the foxholes together for supply and communication purposes. These trenches were shallow and small, about 2 ft wide and 1 ft deep.

• SUMMARY:

Foxholes were a defensive structure used to hold ground that was won and could be built very quickly (under an hour and a half in medium earth) while also providing the best protection against tanks and artillery. In very cold conditions, they were used as homes that made the already hellish conditions a little easier to bear.

• GAME IMPLEMENTATION:

• Foxholes should be an ability of the infantry, paratroops, and mechanized infantry (Not SMGs) that allows a player to instantly place down a foxhole.

• Foxholes should have capacity of 1 for infantry units of all types.

• Foxholes can be capturable.

• Foxholes should hide the unit inside. There could also be a technology for this.

• Foxholes should be temporary. I think that this structure should have a vanishing time of 2 turns.

• The Foxhole ability should have a cool down of 3 turns.

• Possible Stats:

Armor Against Explosions: 11
Armor Against Armor: 9
Hp: 15

Yes! And I love what you said about it making a unit hidden and being something you can capture... looking at you, paratroopers!