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| Attack: - If you have to attack to win,one thing is very, VERY IMPORTANT! And that is TRY TO HAVE THE INITIATIVE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND KEEP THE ATTACK GOING!! Such an attack needs a well balanced BG, a cunning battle plan, a sound deploy and the right orders from a good commander. Only then the flow of the battle will be in your hands! *It should be noted that gaining and maintaining the initiative doesn't always mean firing the first shot. Often the best offense is a smart defense, especially when fighting operations and grand campaigns when different fronts require diferent posturing,depending on your objectives. - A lot of people will choose to defend a map, but there are some advantages in attacking too. The attacking side can focus on 1 area, while the defender needs to secure the whole defence line. Therfore, in the attack area, the defender has usually less troops than the attacker and it requires his best skills to hold on with his overwhelmed units. Nevertheless knowing the map and the LOS by the defender can make for the attacker a die hard task. - How are you going to make a well planned attack? Let's talk about it: 1. Overwhelming Force: use an overwhelming force whenever possible. Don't use solitary teams, always use more teams at the same time. Work with infantry, vehicles, guns or AT_infantry and indirect fire (like mortars) together. You will need enough teams to keep the attack (and the important initiative) going. 2. Concentrate your fire: When assaulting positions you want to be able to concentrate your fire. Have 2 or more teams minimum, which is 1 to move and 1 to fire. Concentrating fire is the key, win the firefight. If their heads are down, you can advance. Without direction, soldiers tend to fire at random targets. This leads to ineffective, dispersed fires. Unit leaders need to concentrate overwhelming fires on a single target-point fire. When that target is destroyed, all fires can be shifted to the next target. Sequentially destroying multiple targets with mass fires is far more effective than distributing ineffective fires across the battle field. Area fire is sometimes needed, particularly when suppressing suspected enemy positions. Assigning specific targets to specific weapons is sometimes necessary. Always realize, however, that dispersal of fires weakens your effort. (from Marine workbook) |
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| 3. Support & suppression leads to succes. Suppress your enemies teams and they will be much easier to kill off whilst taking only minimal casualties yourself. You get a feel for good supporting positions and also a feel for bad ones. Place teams where they are well protected from MG's and tanks and create zones of fire where you can concentrate the fire of perhaps 3 or 4 of your own teams. The result can be devastating (Marine WB). Soften up your target with tank, MG, and mortar fire before you assault, entering from 2 variant directions while your enemy is suppressed and shell-shocked. Your odds of succes go way up when employing these tactics. Make sure you call off your friendly fire as your squads are entering the target in order to avoid killing your own. That way the opponents bounding over-watch positions are suppressed and you wont get mowed down. Beware of enemy tanks when using a tank for suppressive fire. Suppression prior to your attack is vital. Charging in on a suppressed squad/squads who's morale is crashingyields far better results than going hand to hand against a healthy enemy (from Wruff - Pzt forum) |
| As first Squad moved from the streambed to building 52, enemy fire erupted from buildings 51 and 44. The platoon commander ordered: "Destroy the enemy in the slate roof building (building 44) in order to clear the route into town! 3rd Squad, main effort, flank left. Remainder of platoon support!" * 1st MG team moved south to mask themselves from the enemy MG firing from building 51. * 1st Squad took cover from the MG firing from building 51, and focused fire on building 44. * 2nd Squad and 2nd MG Team ignored the enemy MG in building 51, ignored the enemy infantry behind building 51, and focused their fire on building 44. * 3rd Squad's route masked building 51, had good concealment, but little cover. Overwhelming suppression of building 44 was needed to get 3rd Squad into their assault position. Any supporting units tempted to shift from building 44 and fire on other targets endangered 3rd Squad and risked the entire attack. * If mortars were available, they too would have attacked building 44. Smoke would be used to obscure the movement of 3rd Squad. |
| 4. Be bold but carefull: Long, unsupported assaults across open ground are deadly. A single enemy soldier with an automatic rifle can destroy a squad croosing 100 meters of open ground. Assault for short distances, from broken terrain, against weak or well-suppressed enemy positions, under the protection of suppressive fire and obscuration. Assault only across short distances. Select the closest covered assault position available. Choose a covered and concealed approach to this position. A long covered route is always better than a short open route. A covered approach keeps you protected and concealed. The enemy, unaware of your intentions, is slow to react. Short assaults from nearby assault positions surprise the enemy. Be carefull of approach routes that cannot be covered by an over-watching unit. Camouflage well to maximize your concealment. Long assaults exhaust your men, leaving them vulnerable when you enter the enemy's position. Long assaults expose you to increasing enemy observation and fire. The enemy has time to react with reinforcements and supporting arms. The accuracy of his fire is increased. Casualties increase yet evacuation is difficult. Failed assaults have to withdraw under fire. Long assaults by fire and movement require more suppressive fire and are critically vulnerable when suppression stops early. Assault only against small, lightly armed, demoralized, or well-supressed positions. Avoid mutually supporting positions. (from Marine WB) Last minute rushes: in almost every ladder game there si that last minute rush. If you think you are going to lose the game with it, you have two choices. Gamble and use a rush of your own, or be sure about victory and take some extra VL('s) before the last minutes. You have to be bold then. You only can do this if you still have the units for it, of course! 5. Make a counterattack: whenever possible, try to perform a counterattack! Divide your so as there a mobile platoon (tanks, elite infantry, commanders) is available to punch the weakest side which is an inevitable thing in combat, break throgh and move forward. 6. Use bounding over-watch: Use bounding over-watch to move: When you expect contact. When you don't know where the enemy are. When you are not in a hurry. Use bounding over-watch for: Movement to contact. Sweeps and searches. Crossing large danger areas. Hasty attacks. Withdrawal under fire. Assaults. The elements of the unit each alternate between moving and over-watching the movements of the other elements. Only one element moves at a time. Each move is a short bound from one covered position to another. The other elements provide over-watch--observation and immediate fire support, if needed. The entire unit moves in a continuous series of short bounds. Bounding over-watch provides significant benefits: * Maximum dispersion and stealth maximizes your exposure to enemy observation and fires. * Maximum security is gained. A unit surprised by enemy fire receives immediate suppression from a sister unit. Without over-watch, the unit becomes pinned, casualties occure, mortars fall, and the enemy begins to move against you. (from MWB) |
| Another important element of bounding over-watch is of the utmost importance for succes in Close Combat is the integration of armour units. One tank, supported by 2 or 3 squads complement a combat section to its full potential. Always leading with your infantry, clearing the way well ahead of your tank, with your tank in ready position to engage ambushing enemy positions and armour once they are detected. Infantry are your tanks eyes! Never lead with your armour! It's the quickest way to lose everything. We've all found that out the hard way, I'm sure. Generally, I break up my company into 3 combat sections of varying strength, always making sure that each section has the capability to destroy anything that comes its way. Two sections with specific tasks and a 3rd in a position to react to whichever section is in need of reserves. This allows the commander (you and I) to react to circumstances and threats as they present themselves on the battlefield, and prevents a total breakdown of a specific firing line, and providing cover when retreat is necessary. Grouping soldiers is an end all. One lucky enemy grenade can wipe out to many good men. Everyone ends up suppressed and morale goes to hell. At least 20m spacing. Then everyone doesn't get suppressed and his mortars are less lethal. Bigger is not better. 60- to 70% of your unit should support the assault. A small assault element is quicker, easier to control, and suffers fewer casualties. So the lead squad acts as scouts detecting enemy activity. Two teams in well spaced bounding over-watch positions, and a 2nd squad to immediately support the lead on the assault. Preferably from a slightly different path for a good close flank assault while the enemy is busy with the first squad. Blindsiding them as much as possible. (from Wruff - Pzt forum) 7. Choose the right units: - Like pointed out in the other sections, you need the right units to perform a lethal assault. You can't use a gun to make a swift attack, because it can't be moved quickly enough. Don't try to kill a Panzer with a Piat from a distance, it just doesn't have the power nor range. - In infantry ladder battles the key is how much you bring to the battlefield. Support weapons can work against you as they can work with you. I prefer a 7 man assault team over a 3 man MG team. - Rifle grenades are very effective in woods because they can easily hit and kill targets using indirect fire. Have you ever tried to place smoke in front of your team to block LOS and then fire with rifle grenades...very effective! - In woods (or maps with a lot of buildings) the Flamethrower is king. Because you often don't have LOS in these surroundings, the flamer is very easy to wipe out the enemy. Just put a fire dot close to the enemy squad and the flamer will do the rest. But you will need some other unit(s) to give suppressive fire at the same time. - Tanks are very useful to get the enemy scared and head for cover. Especially the ones with big HE shells: Stuh42, Churchill AVRE ... - You can make use of mortar too of course, HE shells and smoke. 8. Use diversion: - When you have to attack on a map to take the necessary VL's, the opponent will know you are coming. But usually you have a few choices where and how you are going to do it. You just need some diversion! - Make a first attack witha few infantry teams (and maybe a tank to make it more real) in an area you only want to defend. After first contact, withdraw your units a bit or just defend the spot, but keep the enemy busy over there. Meanwhile you have prepared your real attack in another sector. And you can start it after you have noticed some enemy troops are ordered to the other (first attack) sector. - When assaulting on a house or some stronghold, you can divert the enemy by using a false smoke screen. Simply pop some smoke on the wrong side of the building, give some suppressive fire, and pop smoke on the side you are really going to attack. This has to be coordinated by an experienced commander, because it isn't easy to do. Timing is important! 9. Use smoke: - Try to divert the enemy's attention, but do not always abandon using smoke grenades and mortar smoke to cover your squad's movement during assaults. There are times when it is very necesarry to reduce the enemy's ability to see and react. In charging an enemy position, the game engine will cause enemy troops to open fire wetter your opponent orders it or not. Moving in under cover of smoke saves lives and increases the morale of the assaulting force. You will see the top players use very thick smoke screens. Then you can't see the squads moving inand can't get a direct target on them. You're know they are coming, you just can't see them. 10. The Small Tips: - If you make a charge into an enemy building, try to do it in the corner, not in the frontal wall. Here I wanted to give a few more tips. Maybe you guys know some more? 11. Some examples: - Close infantry assault on enemy armour: (from Wruff - Pzt forum) When assaulting tanks with your infantry then always remember: infantry can only fight tanks in close terrain. Use broken terrain, vegetation, and urban areas to deny enemy tanks their key advantages of mobility and standoff range. Broadside and rear infantry assaults on enemy armour are most effective. Tanks are blind. The enemy tank won't know what hit them, especially when it has made the mistake of venturing out on it's own without infantry support to lead and flush out threats: |
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| I've found that it is more effective when assaulting tanks with your infantry to rush in, setting a path of movement through and beyond the tank you are assaulting (always from the rear or the side of the tank). This will cause your assaulting squad to bombard the target with grenades, and if you have a flamer then he is more inclined to use his weapon when you set a path through and beyond the target. In my experience, if when attacking a tank you charge it and then target it, when your target indication is green then your squad will very often only lie down and search for cover and thus be destroyed. It's better to run through or near the rear of the target, allowing your troops to attack the tank when they get at a lethal distance. |
| Acceptions to the rule: if you are already dug into a very good defensive position, and a tank drives by your position, then your men will assault the tank quite sufficiently. Here's an example where it wasn't necessary to charge the tank when it neared my position: |
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| An enemy Panzer makes his way to attack my assault squad flaming enemy infantry. My rifle squad waits in the hedge at the narrow. |
| Still unaware of my squad in the hedge immediately next to it, the Panzer is destroyed without my having to charge the tank. My position was already sufficient to assault the tank. I simply targeted the tank and my troops reacted. |
| Don't reveal your position until the time is right! Note: if it quickly becomes evident that the assault will fail then retreat for cover. |
_________________________________________________________________________________________________ Defence: 1. Ambush or Defend: - Ambush: often soldiers in "ambush" mode will not fire until the advancing enemy squad is literally on top of them. I know that the "user manual" says an ambushing team will open fire on anything that comes within 30 meters. This does not always seem to be the case. - Defend: often times I will have a MG team in a building or hedge overlooking an area I expect the enemy to enter. I put it on "defend", especially when I'm busy elsewhere, so that the MG will take the opportunity to fire on its own, should it spot teams in the open. Unfortunately, a common occurence is enemy soldiers running around right under their noses and no firing from the MG. Here again, the manual says that a defending team will fire on targets of opportunity if they have a 30 percent chance or better of killing. When I micro manage, and I find this a lot, the MG team has a green circle, indicating a higher than 30 percent chance. So, what can we do about this? The activity of a soldier in "ambush" and "defend" depends on morale and intelligence of your teams. They are only human! So i you want to be sure in "ambush", and you don't have a veteran squad overthere, give the order to open fire by yourself. A command team nearby is good in most cases too. If you do only have an inexperienced squad without a commanding officer nearby, this squad can be destroyed by the enemy without any shots from your troops. Tanks are (almost) always placed in "defend". They will be ready to fire upon every enemy unit that is spotted. In the deploy section you already read some tips about how and where to place your infantry in defence. I'll repeat a few, and give you some more: - Don't place your infantry in the front of a building, but place them at the back wall. The enemy wont have LOS on them, he probably can't even see them. When the enemy starts to enter the building, put your unit in "defend", and they will fire their smg's. The first man entering the building will be killed soon (maybe all of them), and they won't throw their grenades if your unit is in the back of that building. - You don't need to take every VL at the start. Keep a team behind a VL or just close by without taking it. Have another team nearby for the counte rattack. A neutral VL is more attractive than a captured VL. Captured VL's mean that you have someone nearby garding it, which is the deterrent. - Ambushing in hedgerows: say you have 2 hedges running vertically North to South with say 30 meters in between. Have one team on the left hedge and your main force on the right hedge. Once the left hedge comes under infantry fire run fast back to the right hedge with your main group. Normally (but not in all cases) your opponent will run after that initial team and teak up positions on the left hedge. Now you ambush him with your main force. Your opponent troops will be spraed out with only a few in the hedge as your ambush starts. Fastest get there first while the slower guys with the heavy weapons lag back They enter your ambush peacemeal and you can take them out. - Flamrthrowers typically work better with other groups. A single FT team can set up a good ambush on their own, but rarely survive after the initial contact. They are easy targets. - Try this one: if one of your units is seen by the enemy you can make them to become invisible by turning them in "ambush" mode again. After some minutes they disappear of the enemy's view (this works in house, not sure about hedges). Of course it depends on where the unit is...how close the enemy is, etc... 2. Cover and sight: If you want the best cover for your teams in defence, you have to check out two things: - When deploying your troops use the "Cover" outlines (see "Option settings" section). In most cases you wont be able to get a full squad in "green" outlines, there always will be a few with yellow or orange. You can use this everywhere on the map (buildings and hedges give a lot of "green"). - Check out the cover that is given by the different surroundings. Just right click on buildings, walls, hedges and so on. Then you know for sure what cover your unit really has. How to stay unseen as long as possible in a house?: - Your unit is in "ambush" at the back wall. Wait until everyone is close together. Then "sneak" tot the middle of the house, and wait again in "ambush" until everyone is there. If the unit was spotted, wait for a minute or two, they will disappear again. - When you take enemy fire from a house from more than 70meter, you never will see the enemy, or you can see them too late. 3. Concentrate forces and fire: - The best way to fight defence in CC5 is by concentrating your forces. Identify the most important areas of the map, usually VL's. Then, focus on defending those. Keep your forces under a tight rein, don't send little task forces enerywhere. And always, always, always have a powerful reserve with which to a) reinforce a flagging defensive position b) kick the enemy out of an important real estate c) launch a battle-ending counter attack - Concentrate your fire: see the "Attack" section. 4. Use of the terrain: A strong defence is tied directly to the terrain (from the MWB) 1. Try to envision the enemy's attack. Select the line (hedges, buildings, ditches...) where you will stop his attack. Tentatieily emplace your key units so their primary sector fires interlock on this ground. 2. Envision an alternate scheme of attack, or a secondary thrust. 3. Now modify your tentative positions to cover both possible attacks. a. Give key weapons primary and supplementary positions to cover the two approaches. Select a covered route between positions. b. Emplace rifle squads to observe and protect the flanks of your key weapons. Insure squad sectors contribute to the fire plan. c. Some units will not support both approaches but will continuously cover a single sector. 4. Be elastic. The enemy will do something unexpected. You will need multiple positions, a reserve, and a withdrawal plan. Multiple positions. Every position has a primary sector of fire. Some have a secondary sector of fire. Alternate positions cover the primary sector from a different location. Supplementary positions cover a seperate sector. Use alternate and supplementary positions to decieve the enemy about your strength, to react to enemy moves, and to dispers the enemy's ability to effectively respond to your defence. Defence in Dept. Some supplementary positions should cover friendly positions. How will you engage the enemy that overruns your former left flank position? The Reserve. A reserve force is kept back to respond to unsuspected enemy actions or take advantage of opportuneties. Squads and platoons are not large enough to designate a reserve. All commanders should keep in mind what unit they will pull out of contact to execute a potential reserve mission. The withdrawal plan. All your units must be able to withdraw. This is an important skill, essential to minimize your casualties. The goal is to delay the enemy, withdraw rapidly and secretly, and suffer no casualties. When you are first establishing your defence, do not select exposed positions for your units. Find positions that have at least one covered route of withdrawal. If the enemy does not realize that a position has been withdrwan, he wastes time and energy assaulting empty positions. 5. Machinegun Defence in Urban terrain: (from the MWB) Machineguns are the backbone of the infantry defence. Defensive positions: Positions with deep and narrow sectors of fire - keyhole positions - are best for machineguns. Double keyholes, primary and secondary sectors separated by frontal protection, are far better than one wide open sector. Machinegun positions should have defilade protection on both sides. This protects the gun from the concentrated return fire of multiple enemy units. Narrow sectors limit the enemies that may see you to return fire. When enemy units cannot over-watch eachother and concentrate their fire against you, their mutual support is defeated. The strongest positions are entrenchments or strutures that protect you from intens direct and indirect fire. The enemy will target your MG's. Observers and defensive positions on your flanks need positions with wider visibility, but MG's need the concealment and protection of narrow keyhole sectors. Alternate positions In the illustration, the primary positions permit interlocking fields of fire in both zones A and B. The MG's deep fields of fire permit the gun to remain in position and provide over-watch as the rifle squads reposition one block to the west. New sectors would then the intersection Northwest of building 43, building 43 itself, and the other buildings of that block. Develop an eye for Defensive positions Keyhole sectors are challenging to emplace, but their concealment confuses the enemy and reduces friendly casualties. This type of position is very dificult for the enemy to find and dislodge. |
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| 6. Defence against enemy tanks: - Fighting enemy tanks is far more difficult than fighting an un-armoured enemy. Large, open sectors of fire, which are an asset when fighting enemy infantry, are the primary danger when facing tanks. You have to have LOS on the routes where enemy tanks are expected. You can use AT guns (see "Guns" section), tanks (see "Tanks" section) and AT-infantry (see "Schreck & Piat" section). |
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