Originally Posted by
SASless
it is far more than 3:1 advantage the defending forces will have to have in order to prevail
Ah, we are argueing the same point.
The 3:1 I was referring to was that of the attacking force over the defending one. In a simple case, like Bastion as it happens, 3/4 of the defending force are facing the 'wrong' way. Only one quarter of the force is looking toward the front. Of that force potentially 50% will be off duty thus reducing the effective local defence to 1/8th.
As that 1/8 is spread over a wide front then the TB needs only to have 3 times the number of attackers to defenders in a local area. Obviously they achieved local superiority for a time. Ultimately the defending force, which was much larger as a whole, would prevail.