Tactics for enegaging an enemy squad hiding outside a building

[DarkFib3r]

An enemy squad is on the other side of a free-standing building with alleys and other buildings to either side of it. You have a squad outside the building and the only door is closest to your men. You can't see the enemy squad, but you know they are there. What is the best way to engage the enemy while minimizing your casualties? Here are a few ideas that I would like to hear opinions on:

1. Split a team off, run quickly into the building and hope to mow the enemy squad down from within the building. My results have been variable, but if the enemy squad is on the ball, it usually can mow down the team running into the building before it gets a shot off.
   
2. Run the whole squad into the building quickly, as above. My results have been variable, perhaps even greater losses or fewer options to work with if the whole squad gets pinned.
   
3. Send a team through one of the alleys to draw fire while sending the rest of the squad into the building. This will likely wipe out the team but you may be able to preserve the rest of the squad.
   
4. Sneak into the building. Is this a good way to infiltrate a building when an enemy is adjacent to it?
   
5. Pop smoke into the building before you run your guys into it. It's probably a coin toss on who gets to fire first when the smoke clears, so it seems risky.
   
6. Assault into the building. Is this a better way to infiltrate a building than using quick?
   
7. Split off a team and try to get an angle on the enemy squad from a different building that is further away. Draw the enemy squad’s fire, perhaps even suppressing it (best case). Then send the remaining squad into the building quickly to try to finish the job. Of course, this presents new problems like making sure that the pinning team can find a safe vantage point to hit the enemy squad without getting hit by the enemy themselves or taking sufficient time to allow the enemy to move away.
   
8. Lay suppressing fire down the alleys of the building the enemy is hiding behind and suppress areas where the enemy is not at, but where they are close to before you rush a team into the building to finish the job. Does this cause any suppression?
   

Any additional ideas or suggestions are welcome!

[JonS]

Lay suppressing fire into the building so that any 'overs' will carry through the building and into the location of the enemy squad. You probably won't get many overs, but since the enemy squad is probably sitting on cobblestones you shouldn't need many to have an effect. Do that for several minutes (like, 3-5 minutes) then assault the building.

Lay suppressing fire down the alleys of the building the enemy is hiding behind and suppress areas where the enemy is not at, but where they are close to before you rush a team into the building to finish the job. Does this cause any suppression?

Yes it does, as long as the spot you're targeting isn't too far away from the enemy location. It's basically this principle I'm describing above.

[Mord]

I am guessing there are apertures they could fire through once inside?

If you can, you could split the squad and maneuver one to where they could area fire on the alley without totally exposing themselves while the other hunts into the building. The area fire should suppress the guy in the alley long enough for the building team to get inside and notice them. I'd run right to the doorway...or as close as you could get and then have them hunt from there on in.

Mord.

[Erwin]

Could one use ricochet fire off a wall to the enemy's rear or side? I get casualties by accident that way, so maybe it's a usable tactic. (Just curious.)

[A Canadian Cat]

The schemes describing a head on assault would be my plan B. Plan A would be to maneuver into the nearby buildings and try to flank their position. If possible, time it so that the flanking team gets eyes on the enemy behind the building and has been firing for a time and then storm the building.

Which plan I pick would depend on how much back up your enemy has. In other words is it safe to find a place to flank them from or not.

[sburke]

I got ambushed by JonS defending a building from behind it so moving into the building itself was a deathtrap. My answer was to flank him, his infantry would now be exposed without cover. It helped I had armor coming. The danger in trying this in urban terrain is to make sure your proposed flanking position isn't just another ambush location. In my case the flanking position was hedgerow and there wasn't much chance to keep me from moving into that position.

[c3k]

Split into teams.

Have one team on each side isolate the sides of the building. If the squad back there runs to the alleyways, it'll be hit hard.

I'm assuming you have no other options. That your ONLY way is to go forward. (Really, why not take the adjacent building and fire on his guys from there? That'd be far better...)

Move one team adjacent to the front of the building, but do not enter. FACE towards the rear. Wait for it...

When his men poke up, your front-siders will suppress him. If he stays down, or gets suppressed, then have that team pop smoke into the building (FACE will aim the smoke) and TARGET LIGHT the space behind the building. (If no LOS, then TARGET LIGHT into the building). After 30sec or a minute of that, have another team QUICK into the building with a FACE to the back. (Use one of the flanking teams if you need to.) If you KNOW the enemy is still back there, don't use a FACE, use a TARGET to their action spot.

You will have men die. That's what happens.

Have your building front-siders join the other team inside after 30sec to 1 min. (Allow the grenade flurry to abate.) If there is a second floor, give another 30 sec delay to another flanker and move them in and up. Or, if you have enough survivors in the first two teams, have one of them move up. (QUICK or FAST, with FACE when they get there.)

Or, pull back 100m, keep LOS to the area, and call in the 155's.

[womble]

Lay suppressing fire down the alleys of the building the enemy is hiding behind and suppress areas where the enemy is not at, but where they are close to before you rush a team into the building to finish the job. Does this cause any suppression?

Troops take reduced suppression from 'bullet splash' in the tiles adjacent to the tile they occupy. So area targets as near them as possible, or which impact any terrain behind them, or the back wall of the building (fired through the building from adjacent to it) will cause variable amounts of suppression.

[A Canadian Cat]

You will have men die. That's what happens.

Some of you may die, but that's a sacrifice I am willing to make.

Lord Farquaad

But seriously: @DarkFib3r how did it play out? What plan did you pick and what happened?

[Sgt Schultz]

A picture of the tactical problem at hand can yield more relevant advice.

Personally, I would use a combination of things stated above.

First, check wind direction and strength. Your smoke preferences in order of usefulness may be... on-map direct-LOS mortar, armor pop smoke drifting in, armor/Gun direct fire smoke, personal pop smoke.

Smoke should cover the target area after 2-4 minutes of steady suppressing fire.

Attack from two directions, engaging from an upper story of a nearby structure if at all possible.

If you have any demo charges, use them to blast through a wall into the alley the target unit occupies.

[DarkFib3r]

...But seriously: @DarkFib3r how did it play out? What plan did you pick and what happened?

The scenario I presented was a generalized one I often am confronted with, with much variation, of course. The challenge I was looking to overcome was sending people into a building when they have not yet achieved fire superiority on the other side. As such, I have stumbled into many situations where I sent a brave team into the building, hoping to get a jump on the enemy, but getting wiped out in the process.

I'm a huge fan of trying to put eyes on the other side of the building from a distance before moving a team in. If I know there is an enemy on the other side, I will try to flank them from a wide angle in an attempt to suppress them out in the open. Even if they don't get suppressed by my flanking team, if I am really desperate I will send my assaulting team into the building while their target is distracted firing at the other group. If I have demo charges, I will always put them to use, either blasting a hole through a wall or creating a man-made door in a building to get that critical angle. I usually send my assaulting team in via Quick, but I have started using Hunt to play it safer. I like the smoke suggestions as well.

In summary, it is always preferable to have someone with line-of-sight on possible firing positions into buildings your teams may want to occupy. This can create chicken/egg problems, as the only safe vantage point may be another building that you would optimally want to have LOS on before you occupy it. But if you send out scouts and try to identify enemy defensive positions before you commit your main forces, you can often achieve fire superiority with few casualties once the lead starts flying. You are always gambling if you send your men into buildings without scouting the other side.

Thanks for the suggestions, everybody. Your ideas are helpful!