Tactics question

[helling3r 10]

Hello,

recently i had my team in a situation where i think i did made a tactical mistake.

The situation was as following:

- We where at a small hill side, nearly no cover, only some bushes fr concealment.

- Our Team: 1 FTL, 1 M240, 1 AAR carriing ammo, 1 R/Medic, 1 Sniper, 2 R.

- At 12oClock there was a enemy ZU23 which we should destroy, distance ca. 700 meters. It was heavily guarded by infantry, about 10-12 guys. The way from the hill crest there to us was also coverless.

- At 2oClock, 300 meters were several buildings with light enemy presence and also some trees, so we had bad visual on that position. From there was good visual to the mission target.

- flanks/back was free of enemy, but i supposed a suprise attack

- It was nightime with bright moonlight.

My initial plan was to get our infantry to the houses so we have cover from the ZU and then do an flank assault wile one part of our team acts as base of fire.

First, i ordered the sniper to the front of the hill, so he can spot and later shoot the guys at the ZU23, in case they respond to our advancement.

I ordered the two Riflemen to the back of the sniper, to support him and cover the rear area and the flanks.

The others i ordered to advance with me to the houses with bounding overwatch; The m240+AAR gived cover, the rest advanced to the trees and a small stone wall, about 200 meters in front of the houses.

What happened then:

While we moved up to the houses, we had several contacts there. The enemy did not see us, so we advanced more. Once in good position, we made a suprise attack and got all down. The guys at the ZU23 did not react, since we did the shooting with silenced weapons only.

The covering M240 and AAR moved up to us, but while doing so, the sniper team was attacked from behind. Shooting started and the backside was clear in short time; however the ZU-guards started spotting the sniper team and they came under fire.

I gived the sniper "weapons free" and he managed to take out nearly all ZU23 guards as well as the ZU23-Crew, so we had no threat from there.

I ordered the team on our hill to close up to our position while we give cover.

Some lone survivors (must be only two or three enemy men) mnaged to shoot the closing up men, so we suddenly had two casualtys on our coverless hill side.

While trying to maintain cover from the houses and seek the enemy, i deployed some smoke and tried to get the wounded out of the open area, but on my way back i also got shot down and soon the rest of the team also.

In my opinion the problem was, that covering was not very effective because the sniper team was a long way away from us (about 250 meters in open area). From down there we could not see all of the teams back, but i thought this was the job of the two Riflemen.

Indeed, the sniper and also the riflemen were extremely effective up there (sniper got nearly all enemy on our objective, the riflemen up there did a good job covering the sniper). The problems started when rejoining our teams, because the open coverless field was a death trap.

What did i wrong? How could i maintain security while not abandoning the good sniper position? Would it be better to let the sniper stick with us at the houses, to gain security but loose effectiveness? Or should we others stick with the sniper at the hill?

Edited September 12, 2011 by helling3r

[[frl]myke 14]

It's hard to tell afterwards, in a situation you have to react and give orders very quickly and rarely a good plan survives the enemy contact.

IMHO, after the units at the main target (ZU23) seemed to be down and no threats visible so far, the sniper team should have kept position and surveilling the ZU site for movements. Meanwhile, your group should close up to the ZU site to make sure it is really clear. It happens pretty often that a few soldiers remain undetected in a place where none of your teams could see them.

So sniper scanning the target area, his buddies covering his position and your team clears and saves the area. A area isn't cleared unless you walked through at least once looking behind every bush and stone. From what you describe, this was the only "mistake" you and your team made.

But again, referring about it while actually didn't being there is somewhat heavy guesswork.

[DaveP 66]

-The sniper team should have done adequate clearance patrol/flank protection to not have been raped from behind. A sniper up fighting up close is a poor rifleman

-Were there any other routes to the objective? Perhaps you were stuck on a coverless hill (suicide territory) but was there any dead ground or other cover in another route, albeit a longer one?

-Sending the m240 gunner to the snipers could've offered them basic flank protection and you a support fire capability -it's a heavy weapon and has the calibre to hit out at long range- without sacrificing the ability to bring fire on to your position (sending two rifleman up there means their flanks are covered, however the rifleman don't have the range to fire on to your position)

-As soon as the snipers fired on the ZU23 guards they should have changed position; no matter how far they are away it's possible the enemy could work out where it was coming from, treat it like a long range ambush: as soon as the damage is done get the hell outta dodge, whether that's to an FRV or another firing position

-Did you have any kind of ERV (Emergency Rendezvous) set up in case you came under more fierce contact than you were expecting?

-If you take casualties, leave them. If you are using ACE medic system or something similar there's a window of time that you can operate in that's bigger than you think (especially when they're whinging over comms/chat as to why you're not there). Win the firefight, take down the enemy's capability to fight, then sort your casualties out. You at the least wasted your own life trying to save them, possibly more, and as the team leader you shouldn't be doing the dangerous stuff like that -your mind works best when it isn't splattered against the sand.

Night fighting is difficult, and there are always lessons to be learnt. Make mistakes to improve to fight better another day

[helling3r 10]

Thnaks so far for the tips.

The problem was, that we were still not prepared to move to the ZU-objective to ensure its clear, because we were engaged in fighting at our position. The enemys appeared at our back and flanks, not from the ZU, that was actually cleared and kept clean by the sniper.

Especially DaveP's tip to not let the leader do the dangerous work is absolutely true, but we were taking casualtys so fast that i feeled the urgent need to commit action to get the team together. I had the feeling that we were too much spread out.

How many guys should at least always stick close together? Is there a general rule?

We did not had an ERV, but i doubt that we would have reached it if we had.

There was another route of approach: The said houses are located in some kind of pot. We could have tried to use the right hill side, but there we would be much more endangered by the ZUs, thats why i choosed the left side.

Edited September 12, 2011 by helling3r

[nkenny 1057]

DaveP's got the long and the short of it. Particularly in terms of establishing an immediate fallback position (and being willing to use it!) and not loosing your head should casualties pour in.

Positioning is everything. Yourself and your team may be itching to get stuck in-- but taking your time saves lives.

How many guys should at least always stick close together? Is there a general rule?

We try to operate in the principle of Buddy-Buddy teams. Each soldier has one person to keep track of. I tell each buddy-buddy team what I want accomplished (not how) and then leave it up to each team to find a dynamic that works.

When conducting an attack of any scale; resist the urge to send everyone in. For each attacking unit (be it buddyteam, fireteam, or squad) I try to keep at least two-thirds of available units on Overwatch, Support, or security roles.

-k

[OrLoK 20]

Hello all

@NkEnNy

I like the buddy system, but especially I like your attitude towards giving teams goals and leaving it to them.

Micro managing or insistence on keeping ultra regular formations has got me shot more than once.

Overwatch is particularly important.

Also, if using light armour (bmp etc) I tend to use them as long range weapons platforms, (very stable,nice zoom and most light weapons wont affect it), don't bring them into town areas though, especially in PVP, as they'll be an rpg magnet.

And move them every so often, those sneaky enemy will try to flank you every time.

rgds

LoK

[helling3r 10]

Positioning is everything. Yourself and your team may be itching to get stuck in-- but taking your time saves lives.

I think this is mostly what im courious about. What defines a place as "good position"? And what are not so good positions?

[maddogx 13]

I think this is mostly what im courious about. What defines a place as "good position"? And what are not so good positions?

A good position is one where you have a good overview of the situation (so that it is difficult to flank you, for example), you have decent cover for protection, and if possible even a safe avenue of retreat, should it become necessary.

Less good positions would be ones lacking any of the above, the worst kind of position obviously being one where you lack an overview of the battlefield, don't have much cover and nowhere to fall back to. :D

[nkenny 1057]

Well a good position is when you get the girl to sit on t.. oh not that kind of position.

What MadDogX says. Also on the individual level keep in mind that:

- If you can see everyone, everyone can see you.

- Concealment is not bulletproof

When working with larger groups spread across multiple fighting positions it is beneficient if they are capable of suporting one another, Ie, the task force as a whole can focus fire on an enemy.

One thing that hasn't been touched upon is how important it is to either seize or preserve the element of surprise. Surprise is the ultimate force multiplier. When that fails the WW2 era rule of thumb covered by the four F's Find-Fix-Flank-Finish will usually see you through a firefight of any magnitude.

FIND-FIX-FLANK-FINISH

- Find the enemy. Recon, communicate, intel, planning.

- Fix the enemy. Render the enemy incapable of moving or taking offensive action.

- Flank* the enemy. Move a team/unit to a position where more of the enemy can be seen & destroyed.

- Finish the enemy. Comb through the enemy position killing any straglers.

*Modern parlance removes this step in favour of 'Follow' . Possibly adequate when fighting towelheaded amateurs. Positively suicidal when fighting an enemy of similar resources and training.

Elements of an attack

When conducting an attack of any sort I try to mentally divide my forces to cover the three principal roles. Making sure you have an exit and above all consolidating your position when you are done is important.

- Assault. The team actually entering the enemy ground.

- Support. The team covering, reinforcing, or replacing the assault team.

- Security. The team responsible for everything else.

Two SAS (special air service)'isms which you could do well to heed are:

1. SAS. Speed Aggression Surprise

2. The six P's. Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance

-k