Attack or Defend with Half Squads???

[Lanzfeld]

Does anyone do this as a real tactic? I am PBEMing an enemy right now that does this exclusivley so far.

I thought that when you split a squad they are subject to much easier panic when under fire. Maybe you can offset this with good HQ?

Do you guys do this often? I see a benefit of having more squads to defend an area when a guy attacks. With a good HQ...does the benefit outweight the cons?

[ July 02, 2006, 02:34 PM: Message edited by: Lanzfeld ]

[stoat]

You will often see half squads used as scouts ahead of the rest of the platoon. They'll also be the first to assault across a road when the enemy is suspected to be near, so that the whole squad isn't lost in one turn. Half squads do panic faster than whole squads, and though HQs with morale bonuses can help, that only goes so far.

It is actually considered gamey to use half squads while defending as it will give you double the number of foxholes as combined squads would. These extra foxholes make for easy fallback positions that can make a defence line harder to break.

I personally don't use half squads all that often, but there are situations that cause me to break my units apart. I would suggest trying various combinations of whole and half squads until you find what works for you and your tactics.

[Kingfish]

Half squads also capitalize on a known CM bug, that of a unit being able to fire at only one target. If a split squad of 5 men each comes up on a defending full squad of 10 men, the defender will concentrate his fire on only one of the attacking halves. The half that is getting shot at will suffer badly, but in the meantime the other half is blasting away for free, and usually that is all that is needed to break the defender.

[Lanzfeld]

I guess unless the defender also has half squads then he can cover all attacking squads.....

[HarryInk]

Thanks for explaining that Kingfish. I use 'em heaps but didn't understand the bitch about it. I use 'em cos doctrine says you advance to engagement with the smallest tactical unit. So, the forward squad of my platoons is usually split as scouts. I also use 'em to inflate numbers when traversing exposed ground, especially in feints. The full squads though deliver the big bangs, so when I need steady firepower I keep 'em whole. Haven't had anyone prise me apart with half-squads using the bug yet, so I suppose I haven't understood why it's 'gamey'.

[HarryInk]

Oh, getting extra foxholes on the defence is not gamey, by a long shot. It's SOP for me. Set up a defensive position with fall back holes just out of LOS,then bring with rear half-squads up to the forward line in T1 before he draws LOS on me. That way the tea party lasts twice as long.

[Kingfish]

Originally posted by HarryInk:

Haven't had anyone prise me apart with half-squads using the bug yet, so I suppose I haven't understood why it's 'gamey'.

Probably because more often than not this trick backfires. If the attacker comes up on a mutually supported position, or a defender packing a lot of close range firepower, or if one of his attacking halves breaks too quickly, the entire attack falls apart and he is out one squad for no gain.

[walpurgis nacht]

Originally posted by Lanzfeld:

Does anyone do this as a real tactic?

yep. it's an artform.

check this:

http://www.battlefront.com/cgi-bin/bbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=010438

[jBrereton]

The only thing I find half-squads genuinely good for is mechanised reconnaissance.

That's because they can fit in Universal Carriers, unlike full squads, and are safer in those that on top of tanks.

That also allows, very rarely, for mechanised attacks, if one of the half-squads is quite well armed compared to the other, as I can use the APC's machine guns to pin down the defender when the half-squad attacks.

Still, the only real use for them is for platoon-level reconnaissance for tanks, armoured up (although I've had good results with them being moved around in jeeps, too).

[stoat]

Originally posted by jBrereton:

The only thing I find half-squads genuinely good for is mechanised reconnaissance.

That's because they can fit in Universal Carriers, unlike full squads, and are safer in those that on top of tanks.

The Commonwealth forces did a wonderful thing and designed a platoon made of squads that would fit in universal carriers. You can still break these squads up, but I'm wondering who uses three man half squads.

I've never really liked the carrier for its low carrying capacity. I prefer halftracks because they can carry whole squads plus support weapons, and have defensive armament as well.

[jBrereton]

Stoat - I was more talking about Russian forces who have to split their squads if they want them inside Universal carriers.

Hmm... three man half-squads, eh?

There are probably some scout cars which have a transport class so low that it was presumed that people'd put support weapons on them, but could be used to carry such half-man squads.

And halftracks have less going for them defensively than Universals defensively - if they button up then they can't do anything about attackers, as opposed to Universals, which can still fire their MG.

[Lanzfeld]

Well I just read a TON of posts in the CMBB forum about this topic. I tried some test with the same conclusions that Treeburst 155 got.....kinda.

Is the infantry model the same in CMAK as CMBB. As far as how fragile they are under fire?

BTW...one thing I did learn from my tests was never try it with anything less then vets.

[stoat]

Originally posted by jBrereton:

Stoat - I was more talking about Russian forces who have to split their squads if they want them inside Universal carriers.

That would make sense.

Hmm... three man half-squads, eh?

I tried it once. It was like fighting a battle entirely with section HQs.

And halftracks have less going for them defensively than Universals defensively - if they button up then they can't do anything about attackers, as opposed to Universals, which can still fire their MG.

You can go with Bren carriers or MG carriers, but the Brens have a lower carrying capacity, and the MGs can't carry a thing. And while M2 and M3 halftracks can't fire when buttoned, I tend to chose the M3A1 or M5 version, which can.

[stoat]

Originally posted by Lanzfeld:

BTW...one thing I did learn from my tests was never try it with anything less then vets.

Did you try this with HQs that had different morale bonuses? That might allow you to get the same result with regulars.